St. Nicholas's Day

Ernie had a full day on Saturday. Grandma Bonnie made sure he had something to enjoy from St. Nick, a little stuffed snowman and a holiday book (he's also enjoying his "Charlie Brown" advent calendar from the Halls in this picture, which he begs for constantly knowing it means chocolate).

We went to our first Star City Parade with the Mohrs. Ernie was pretty stoic the whole time, but we're thinking he just had to process the invasion of giant balloons and marching bands into his community. Really, parades make very little sense without much prior cultural reference.

And then we went out to Spilker Farms to get our Christmas tree! It was a cold day, but we enjoyed it!

Old School

Just sharing a picture of Ernie from a couple of weeks ago. He's dressed in a sweater worn previously by Uncle Chris and Daddy Jeremy, and playing with the Lincoln Logs that Grandpa Darrell got him. The classics never go out of style.

PUPPY!!!!!!

So the Hall/Mohr household got an early Christmas present this year in the form of a 7-week old black toy poodle we named Chester. He's from the 'hood (his parents live about three blocks away) and he's bound to be Ernie's bestie.
Also, Mommy likes him a whole lot. Daddy did a good job surprising us.
Chester being ferocious on the night Mommy was surprised by his presence.

He's almost as tall as our baseboards!

The headshot.

Ernie and Chester like to scamper around in the yard. So far they play pretty well together!

But if Ernie's on all fours, Chester's all up in his bizznezz. Ern will say "tight!" like Chester's just tried to scootch him too far into a table and ask us to "hold him!"

Hall Reunion!

Ernie had a great time with his aunts, uncles, cousins, great-aunts and uncles, second cousins, and on and on the Hall Reunion weekend.

So how come we only have one picture with Ernie and another Hall in it? Because Ernie doesn't like to party, and the Halls like to party. So here's just some nice pics from the weekend, with Ernie or otherwise.

Conversations with a tub

Ernie : [in bathtub, knocking on the side of tub]: knock knock
Ernie: Hooooos dair?
Ernie: Tubs dair!

Pirate Booty

Ernie's still enjoying his candy from Boo at the Zoo and Trick or Treating. He's shared some twizzlers and sixlets with Daddy (the latter being another good way to practice colors) but mostly he just enjoyes sorting through his booty in his "punkin purwse."

Note the adorable ironic old T-shirt he's wearing. Jeremy dug some of his old (and I mean "old") stuff out of the basement so Ernie can start looking like a hipster thrifter.

Ernie and "Beebee" or "Sisser"

Ernie has a babydoll and every once in a while he'll get her out and be so sweet to her. He calls her simply "beebee" or "sisser" and gives her hugs, shares his food or drink with her, and points out her various body parts.

Trick or Treat

Ernie's still mastering conjoined phrases, so most of the time he just asked for "treat" instead of the full "Trick-or-Treat." Of course, it could just be that he's direct and honest. We hit a few houses with friends of Ernie's in our neighborhood, and he got a sucker to enjoy on the way home in the stroller.

Boo! at the Zoo!

Ernie had his second (he's getting so old!) Boo! at the Zoo last week, and was joined by his besties Jonathan the Stormtrooper, Morgan the Kitten, Ernie himself as Captain NoBeard, and Johanna the Couger (can I also add that I love Morgan and Johanna went as a kitten and cougar respectively? I know they're only months apart, but it's hilarious nonetheless).
And we got a nice family-o-pirates portrait.

Captain NoBeard with Pirate Wench Mom.

Captain NoBeard with First Mate Daddy.

Pumpkin Carvin'!

Ernie had all his friends over for the annual Pumpkin Carvin' par-tay!

Patch with Cousin Kitt!

We had a lovely day at Vala's Pumpkin Patch with Cousins Kittrick, Lisa, and Toby Wells. Ernie got a little possessive of Mom when she would try to interact with Kitt, but everyone was happy we got to ride the train and see plenty of pumpkins (and more goats!).

I like this picture out of the half-dozen or so we tried to get. It's impossible to get both of their faces looking at you, so I'll settle for one where both look confused and fairly angry. Especiall love Kitt's wind-up punch fist.

I took this picture of Kitt looking adorable with Mommy Lisa riiiiiiiight before Ernie slapped my hand (SLAPPED! MY HAND!) for touching Kitt's sweet little hand. Jealous much?
Happy October, Wellses!

Ernie Associations

Not all Ernie's cuteness is photographable.
Last week Ernie had his 18 month appointment with the doctor. He's finally chubbing up (25% for weight) and still a shorty (3% for height). Of course he hated his shots.
Jeremy keeps a lot of his favorite childrens literature around, including the Ramona Quimby series by Beverly Cleary. Ernie loves these books, just carrying them around, leafing through them, and occasionally listening to a page or two. He calls them all "Mona" but his favorite to tote around is "Ramona the Brave."
After his shots last week we were cuddling him to make him feel better, and I told him I was proud of how brave he was.
He said, "Mona?"
We agreed, he was a brave as Ramona.

Get Ready: Pumpkin Carvin' Par-Tay

Ernie would like to extend an invitation to all Ernventurers to once again attend the

Annual Bone Chillin', Gut Spillin', Pumpkin Carvin' Par-Tay!

The event will be Sunday, October 19th at 3:30 p.m. As usual, we'll have some pumpkin-related treats, including pumpkin ale, and we'll have some pizza around 5:00. Bring the kiddies (if you got 'em) and your carving tools (we'll share what we have) and your gourds to be carved. A lighting ceremony will take place as soon as it's dark enough.

See you there!

Roca Berry Farm

Ernie made his second trip ever to the Roca Berry Farm on Sunday. He probably never would have left the goats if we hadn't convinced him there were other things to see. The whole ride up he seemed really concerned that we would be able to experience both goats AND crickets there. We also got him a small pumpkin and some gourds. Sunday evening we held him pumpkin and kissed it, and instructed us to kiss it as well. He's always been very affectionate, but I think autumn really brings out his huggy-kissiness.

Ernie's Camping Adventure

We finally took Ernie camping. We like to wait for cooler, less buggy weather, and we didn't want to take him before he was old enough to sleep with a blanket. So on Saturday we drove to Hamburg, Iowa to Waubonsie State Park. The weather was perfect, and Ernie loved being outside all day and saying "camping! camping!" over and over. He slept great in the tent . . . Until Mom and Dad joined him at 10:30. Then he played jungle-gym on our sleeping-bagged bodies for the next four hours before somehow finally falling back to sleep himself. Apparently we're just too much fun to sleep through. Several times I woke up to a giggling boy saying "Pac! Pac!" (short for pacifier, of course) and jamming a Soothie into my lips. He's still recovering from the lost sleep, but he loved camping nonetheless.

Mt. Michael Fall Festival

We all went to Jeremy's alma mater for their annual fundraiser Fall Festival. There was way too much fun stuff for us to even try to experience it all. But Ernie's favorite things were the tractor pulled hayrack ride and riding a horsie. On the horse he kept passing other riders and telling them "Horsie!" as if they did not already appreciate the shared experience enough. Afterwards he promptly asked "Again!" He now draws horsies almost as much as he draws buses (for the record, it's a bunch of scribbles but he'll tell you its either a horsie or a bus).

Just being Ernie

Just a few shots of Ern on the porch yesterday. He loves being outside and to pretend he's fixing his tractor and strollers.