Shave November

We all know that it is "No Shave November," a time when men forgo shaving for a cause.  Sometimes that cause is legitimate, like "changing the face of men's health" and sometimes it's to compete to see who can get the scraggliest, ugliest beard and 'stache going.
But what would a man who never shaves anyway do during this month?  Clearly the only thing to do is to shave it all off...and that's exactly what Julian did!!!
We were both so nervous before he started.  I mean, he had a full goatee since the day we met.  I had never seen Julian without facial hair and he could hardly remember a time with no facial hair.  He first grew in his goatee 8 years ago!

This is Julian's "I'm not too sure about this" face

Lathering up, thinking "Am I really going to do this?!"

Once he started buzzing it, there was no turning back...

We decided to have a little fun and take funny pictures along the way.  Here is once he shaved off the bottom portion of the goatee.  Doesn't he look like an '80s pro wrestler in this pic??!!

"Ohhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhh"

 And then he shaved off the sides, leaving just a moustache.  I've seen old pictures of Julian's dad from the '90s and he looks just like him.  Or he looks like Tom Selek or Ron Burgandy... =)

"I'm Ron Burgandy?"

And last, the moment of truth, the point where it all came off. Up until this point, Julian still looked like himself to me.  But once it all came off, man did he look different!!!  It was at this point that I freaked out.  Who was this man standing in front of me?!  He sounds like my Juli-Bear and acts like my Juli-Bear.  But he looks soooooooo different.   And, well, it's been over 7 years since I kissed a clean-shaven man so that was wild, too!

It's all gone!

We did this after the baby was asleep for the night.  When she saw him this morning, she kept looking at him, as if to say, "Hey, is that my daddy?!"  And I wish I could be a fly on the wall as our family, friends, and co-workers see this picture or see Julian in the flesh! 
Here's to a NO Shave November.  The jury is still out on whether his goatee will be back by month's end. =)

Jillian's 6 month pictures

Back in August, we took photos with our amazing photographer, Miss Sarah Giles.  She is so amazing at what she does and I could not be any more grateful to have such a sweet person capturing our life as a family of 3.  Here are some of the great photos from Jilly's 6 month shoot. 

This first one is of sweet Jilly in her baptism dress.  Isn't she such a doll?!

Jillian is definitely in a mommy phase.  She just loves being with her mommy and her mommy loves being with her.  I love my little girl!!!

Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that one year ago, there were only 2 of us and we were renting a place in Bryan...



And in one year, here is Julian and I standing on the front porch of our brand new home and we are now a little family of 3!

And here is Jillian in her blue room.  We took more pictures in her nursery and I can't wait to see how those turned out.

Jilly got a little fussy during photos so we put her down for a nap.  And then we went back outside with Sarah for a little fun.  Since we had just bought our house, we wanted to show our excitement...

And here's Jillian and her daddy.  Don't they look stunning in yellow?!

These pictures were taken after Jillian's nap so she was much happier!

Jilly Bear is our little monkey girl!  It is crazy how much bigger she's getting and pretty soon, she'll be bigger than her monkey friend!

And this last one is one of my absolute favorite pictures of Jillian of all time.  I just love her little face sooooooo much!  I wish I could keep her this small forever!

Once again, a million thanks to you, Sarah, for taking such amazing photos that we will cherish forever!

Happy 9 Months, Jillian!

Today, Jillian is 9 months old!  And as always, time is just flying by! 

Once again, we are in El Paso for one of Jillian's month birthdays (so half of her pictures are from home and half are n El Paso).  Jilly is back to being a little traveler as we are in El Paso to visit family and for my work.  I am on a regional conference planning team and the conference starts tomorrow at UTEP.  While I am busy at work, Jillian will be spending lots of time with family!

Jillian is so smart as she is showing off her skills more and more.  She now waves hi and bye on command.  She also claps any time you say "Yay," whether that is clapping for herself or for a sports team, or sometimes I say "Yay" and she'll clap for me (any time mommy needs a boost)! 

At Jilly's most recent well-baby check-up, here were her stats:
Weight: 18 pounds (25th percentile)
Height: 26.5 inches (35th percentile)
In terms of percentiles, Jillian has dropped pretty significantly.  But her pediatrician said that it is ok and that the dip is normal for babies who have started crawling, since they are burning off a lot more calories and energy to be little busy bodies.

And she is definitely a little busy body.  In the past month, Jillian has really taken off in crawling.  She has grown more independent and will crawl in and out of rooms, even if we aren't in them.  It has made baby proofing really interesting and I am finding that I have to follow her around a lot more now to make sure that she is not getting into things she is not supposed to ! =)

Jilly still does not have any teeth, but her doctor said that she can see them up in her gums, ready to come out any time now.  The doctor also did tell me that the longer it takes for the teeth to come out, the stronger the teeth are. 

We moved her to her own bed this month and I wish I could report that we are well sleep-trained, but I guess that's still a work in progress.  Maybe next month's update will say that we are all happily sleeping through the night (sigh, a mommy can dream...)
Anyway, thanks for keeping up with Jilly as she turns 9 months old!  3 more months until the big 1!

Happy Halloween!

FIVE LITTLE PUMPKINS

 Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate,

The first one said, "Oh my, it's getting late."

The second one said, "But we don't care."

The third one said,"I see witches in the air."

The fourth one said, "Let's run, and run, and run."

The fifth one said, "Get ready for some fun."

Then whoosh went the wind, and out went the lights,

And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight!

Anonymous

Happy Halloween everyone! 

Love, The Acosta-Stones

Fall Fun Weekend

We had a busy weekend spending time at our first ever Halloween party as a family.  I can't believe that it is already time for Halloween.  It seems like just yesterday that we were deciding on our family costumes.  We were the Acosta-stones!

Fred, Pebbles, and Wilma

We attended the 2nd Annual Hayes Halloween Party.  In true Christen fashion, her costume did not disappoint!  Last year, she was Dr. Loftin, President of Texas A&M University.  This year, she was Flo, the Progressive Insurance Lady!

It's crazy how much she actually looks like Flo!

We were glad to spend some time with such great friends, like the Shelburnes...

A "Sleepy Housewife", a Baby Tiger, and 2% Milk!

And the Malnars too!

Snow White, Prince Charming, and one of the 7 Dwarfs!

These two Halloween cuties surprised us by staying up super late till nearly midnight to enjoy the fun.  Thanks Jake and Christen for hosting this fun time!

Jackson and Jilly AKA Happy and Pebbles =)

We have also been to two of the local pumpkin patches!  Isn't she the absolute cutest pumpkin in the patch?!

We also went to the Pumpkin Patch at the Farm Patch.  The weather is still pretty warm here so we were dressed for summer but it is definitely fall!

We met up with the Malnars and Jackson had a great time running around and feeding the goats. 

And then Jilly posed for some cute photos on a pumpkin!

Aren't these two precious?!  I hope they enjoyed their fall fun weekend as much as us grown-ups did!

A Preview of Jillian's 6 Month Photos!

Sarah has done it once again!  Our amazing photographer, Sarah Giles, put out a preview of Jillian's 6 month photos.  Be sure to check them out on her link at Butterfly Chaser Photography! 

Pumpkin Carving Fun

Over the weekend, we had some friends over for Pumpkin Carving (and baking) Fun!

We laid some table clothes and trash bags out in our driveway and got to work.  But after the mosquitos ate us alive, we decided to move the party inside.

At first, carving pumpkins seemed like a good idea.  But once we got into it, and it was messy and a little harder than we thought, each of us at one point said "Man, maybe we should have just put stickers on them'" or "hey, maybe that regular jack-o-lantern face would have been a better design." 

Those moments were short-lived, and once the pumpkins were carved, everyone was happy again and proud of what they had accomplished.

Adriana really is making the same face as her pumpkin!

Here are the finished pumpkins, all lit up. Don't they look great?!

And what party would be complete without baking some goodies.  We made brownies, but demolished them before I could even get a picture!  And here are the cute pumpkin sugar cookies all decorated.  The bottom one is supposed to look like Jillian (with a bow in her hair and no teeth, but still smiling)!!!

We had so much fun at our Pumpkin Carving Party.  And as great as these carved pumpkins are, I think this next pumpkin is my favorite one of all!