At the Fayetteville square looking at the Christmas lights. I don't remember what he was upset with. Probably wanted down.

Picture's a little fuzzy, but it's the only one of Eston and I at the square.

Eston is now into hiding. He loves to cover his face and he thinks he disappears. Then he giggles when we "find" him. He also runs and stands very upright and still against the wall. He thinks we can't see him. Cracks me up. Of course, we act like we can't see him and that makes him laugh when he comes out of his hiding place.

Last weekend, we went to Sammie and Brent's and ate dinner. We took our Wii over and had a great time. Here's a picture of Stratton and Eston wanting to play! We had been playing games on the Wii Fit board. They both had the same idea, I guess, because they both stood on it at the same time and looked at the tv like they were saying, "We're ready! Let's begin!" And both had sippy cups in hand.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! I'm off of work for 4 days! Yipee! We are going to hang out at mom's tomorrow, since it's so much more fun over there. And we are going to watch the LSU/AR game Friday with some LSU friends. They'll be in purple; we'll be in red. We'll see who gets bragging rights. I'm not getting my hopes up. Ha! Corey and Whitney are coming in Saturday, and we'll go get my grandpa Troy from Marshall, and have Thanksgiving at my parents' house.

Happy Thanksgiving Second Birthday to Stratton Smith!

Here's a picture we took a couple of days after Halloween next to the pumpkin Travis carved to put on my parents' door step.

My mom loves to cook. She always made dinner when Corey and I were growing up. Always. And it was a meat, potatoes, veggies type of meal. She's pretty picky...won't eat cheese or most milk products, spices, or dressings. But it was always good nonetheless. Today, she will hardly let us help her. She wants everyone out of the kitchen so she can do her stuff. I think that's why I'm such a horrible cook today. She never really taught me. Travis on the other hand, does most of our cooking because he had to find a way to feed himself growing up. His dad was always working at the hospital. So, Travis had to learn. I was spoiled and never had to learn!

I wanted to post this picture of what Mom had waiting for Eston the other day. It cracks me up. But that tells you how much she loves us and does for us. If you know her, she's very selfless...is that a word? She never takes time for herself and is always trying to please others. With Dad sick and her taking care of him, she still cooks dinner for us. We try to make it over to their house a couple nights a week for dinner. We should be cooking for her...and lots of times, we do. But she still manages to sneak in a meal on us when she's got several things to do. And clearly worn out. My dad keeps her busy. She's done great keeping up with him. I knew she would.

Happy Veterans' Day and Happy Tuesday! (I'm trying to stay positive since the warm weather is gone. :-( ) I am not a cold weather fan. Last weekend we went to Fayetteville and got to visit our old stomping ground as my mom would say. We stopped in for little bit Saturday night to see Mitzi, Tim, and Sam. Sam shared his cars and trains with Eston...oh and crackers too. Well, actually Eston ate them all. And Eston got Sam in trouble a few times...he's learning to play with others and hopefully will get better in his new class at school. We've got to work on sharing and not stealing toys from others.

We missed Halloween this year. Hence the reason you have not seen a Halloween picture posted yet. Eston came down with double ear infections and a touch of pneumonia from a cold. So, he was running lots of fever on Halloween night. His Yoda costume is going to have to wait until next year. Thankfully, he's too young to know what he was missing.

When I usually think of Veterans, I think of elderly men. Those that fought in WWII (my great grandfather) or Korea or even Vietnam. Now, we've got several veterans who are young...my age and younger. And they aren't all men...women too. I'm stopping for a moment to honor all of the armed forces and all of the sacrifices they make all over the world.

What a disappointing lost to Ole Miss this weekend. Mom and I drove over to Fayetteville for the Razorback game. She arranged for nurses for my dad. It was great for her to get out, and meet up with Corey and Whitney also. Travis and Eston stayed home. Eston looks pretty rough right now. He's got scratches, bumps, and bruises all over his head. He looks like he's been in a fight. Poor kid runs into and trips over everything. Either he's inherited clumsiness from his dad or he's in too much of a hurry to look where he's going. Probably a little of both. I'm glad his daycare knows us well, or they might think twice about turning us into DHS!

Back to the Razorbacks...Whenever Eston sees a Razorback or we mention that word, he holds up one hand in the air and says "woooooo." We're working on perfecting the hog call, but it's pretty cute for now.

Eston's starting to transition to the "big boy" room at daycare. They have been letting him go to the bigger kids room for a hour or two each day so he won't be in total shock next month. He starts it at 18 months. He just turned 17 months yesterday. They said he just looked around at the other kids and observed the first few days. Now he jumps right in and plays. They eat at tables instead of high chairs. He did well with that...of course, it's food, right! It keeps his attention usually. And they nap on mats instead of in cribs. That transition is more of a challenge. Eston doesn't like to nap anyway. But don't confine him, and he sure isn't going to stay still and nap. Bless Miss Lilly for trying that one. So, a few evenings he's come home a little cranky from being tired.

The past few weekends we've been out and about. Two weekends ago, we went to dinner and watched football at our friends' Dan and Brandi Smakl's house. They have two kids and also had some other couples over. Eston rode a motorized car for the first time there. He did pretty good! Last weekend, we went to a cookout at George and Judy Lawrence's house. They had lots of families over and the kids had a blast playing outside. Apple bobbing, crafts, cookout, smores. We had a great time visiting with old friends. Eston wore himself out walking around and watching the other kids. Uncle Corey and Aunt Whitney were also in to visit last week. Eston had fun throwing Derby Dog's ball for him. Alli and Zoe mostly keep their distance from Eston and don't play with him much. That is, unless he has food. Then, they are his best friends!

Eston's first Happy Meal at Mickey D's! Oh how this kid loves fries. We really don't feed him fast food all the time. Promise! With this picture and the other one eating Sonic, you'd think that. This was actually a few months ago. We went to McDonalds before we went to the high school to the Blue and Gold Scrimmage football game. Eston wasn't all that interested in the game, of course. He just walked and walked. So we followed and followed.

Here's Eston at the park climbing through a tunnel on the play ground equipment. He loves slides, but I didn't get a picture of him on one. Travis would be at the top of the slide, and me at the bottom to make sure he didn't fall. So, no time to snap a picture. I've found that I take alot of pictures with my phone. I've always got it with me and don't carry around our camera. Travis is in the background trying to get his phone to take a picture too. Actually this is a surprise to me. Or maybe I told him to! I'm usually always the one that takes the pictures or thinks to get the video camera out. So, I'm hoping Eston doesn't think I was never in his life, since there aren't too many pictures of me and him. Hopefully he will be smart enough to realize Mom's the one behind the camera. I try to give Travis a really hard time about this!

After playing at the park at Cranfield, we walked down to the lake and threw some rocks in.

Grilled cheese and fries! We love Sonic!

Here's a picture of Eston eating lunch a few weeks ago with his friend Stratton Smith. (Sammie's little boy.) Don't they look like a couple of old men eating lunch? Ha! Stratton is 6 months older than Eston, so they may turn out to be great friends. They should be in the same class/grade together in school. Sammie and I have been friends for the last 25 years. I'm sure our boys will be too!

Wagon Ride...Doesn't Dad look happy? :-)

He loves for us to pull him in his wagon around the block at my parents' house. Only one of the dogs made it into the picture, but they both go too. Good exercise walking up those hills.

Eston on his 4 wheeler! He loves to scoot around on it. We can't wait to get him a motorized one! He looks so big! He's growing up so fast.

Here's a picture of Eston "helping" Travis work on the truck. He loved playing and mixing up all the sockets and tools. His dad is definitely his favorite parent right now. I say right now, hoping there is still hope for me! Eston wants to be outside constantly. He says door and points to it while he is grabbing one of our hands to lead us outside. If we are over at my mom and dad's house he wants to go for a ride in his wagon. I think he could sit in his wagon all day. He cries when we have to bring him inside. Something tells me Travis is going to have him changing the oil in the trucks before too long. He's going to spend many of hours outside and with tools...just like his dad. And why shouldn't he? So far, he is a clone!

Our computer crashed and I have no internet at home! So, I'll post this really quickly from work so you all know that we are still out there and okay. Hopefully I can get the other one up and running this weekend. Here's a picture of Eston on his first boat ride at the lake. We sold my parents' ski boat recently and Travis and I took him for a quick ride to test it out. He really didn't like it all that much. Of course the life jacket bothered him, and the sun did too.

The family that owns Eston's daycare, the Masotto's, made my mom and us food the other night. It was so good! I've posted some pictures of them below. They are Italian and as you can guess, their pasta was delicious! Travis has had two plates full last night and tonight. Eston just loves Miss Lily and Mr. Frank. He and Mr. Frank are big buds. The other day when I picked him up, he hardly knew I walked in the door because he was too busy having fun with them. Travis and I are so glad that we found them and we love them too. Eston and Mr. Frank

Mr. Frank, Miss Lilly, and their youngest daughter Angela

Eston eating off my plate! I guess he didn't get enough the first go around. (The pictures are fuzzy taken with my phone.)

Eston with sauce all over him. He went straight to the tub!

As you can see, I added a countdown to the top of the page just for fun. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, so it's the countdown until the 6th movie comes out. I know, I'm a nerd, and I don't care! My friend, Kristin, will appreciate it. (I won't give out her last name in case she wants to keep her identity secret.) If you need something to do this summer, pick up one of the books. They are awesome.

Hot Hot Hot! Our air conditioning is out in our duplex. It has been since Tuesday. This is not the best time of year for something like that to happen, but I realize that is the time it does. And since we have to rely on the rental company to do something about it, who knows when we will have cool air again! Those of you who know Travis know that he would have bought a whole new unit and installed it by moonlight that night if he had too. So, we packed up toothbrushes and pajamas and headed to my mom's Tuesday and Wednesday night. She has a crib, so it works out well. The rental company put a window unit in this afternoon...we'll see if it's enough to get us through or if we'll be heading to mom's again.

How did my grandparents ever get by without air conditioning? I remember going to their houses as a kid and burning up! I guess they were used to it? There were several visits that we would sit outside under a shade tree because it was cooler outside than it was inside. And with my great grandmother's garden, that usually meant we'd sit outside and snap green beans or something like that. Good memories. Hot but good. I was blessed with lots and lots of grandparents.

BTW, Happy Birthday Sammie!

Congrats to Sam and Julie!!

Our friends had a beautiful baby boy, Drew, last Saturday night. 9 lbs 4 oz and 21.5 inches. Quite a big fella! Everyone's doing great and went home yesterday. A link to their blog is on my page.

Sam is one of my brother's best friends and has grown up with Corey since they were little. There was a small group of guys that always hung out together and it's been fun to watch them grow up and start families. Julie was our next door neighbor when we first moved to Mountain Home 25 years ago. We spent numerous weekends with her family at the lake in the summer. She also worked with me at Tyson my last few years there.

Can't wait to meet Drew!

My brother is famous! Here is a clip of the San Antonio news that he appeared on. He works for a company that sells the equipment that food companies use to test their products for bacteria/salmonela/etc. He is based in Dallas and has a 4-5 or so state region.

He was also on NPR in Houston, but we didn't get the clip for that.

Check out the gut! ;-)

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Eston watched some fireworks at the Czanstkowski's back yard. He got to play with his friends Sydney, Jacob, and Ali. The fireworks didn't seem to bother him at all. Don't know why I thought it would...he's pretty easy going.

He's walking around everywhere. And he loves to go up and down steps. He needs help, but wants you to hold his hand and assist him going up and down and up and down several times. We also went to see his Great Grandpa Troy in Marshall. And his Great Great Uncle Bob was also there. He showed off his new skills for them.

Now on Eston's menu is grilled cheese and PBJ sandwiches. He even ate some steak tonight. His front teeth are now coming in. So, he's up to 6, now.

Eston is walking! He looks so funny...actually he looks like a drunk man. Stumbles around. When he gets several steps into it, he'll start smiling like he's so proud of himself! It's so cute!

Eston is now signing. He knows "eat," "more," and our made up version of "all done." We're still fine tuning when to say them, but he does know to say them when he is eating. Still not walking on his own, but he walks with you holding on to just one hand now.

He had eye surgery a couple of weeks ago. It was to open his right eye's tear duct. It had been closed since he was born and has always run tears. The past few months it has been infected and green goopy. We had to take him to the hospital for the procedure since they put him to sleep. He did great and all the nurses in the prep and recovery rooms were telling us what a good baby he was. We went home a few hours later and he didn't even know what had just happened to him. We are waiting to see if the surgery was successful. He was on oral antibiotics last week for a cold, and that clears his eye infection up. So once the antibiotics are out of his system we'll be able to tell if he has to go back to do it again or not.


My dad went home after 8 weeks in the hospital. He was home for a few days and then went back in a week ago because of a staph infection. He finally got to come home Thursday. We have him all set up in a hospital bed in his bedroom with his home vent and feeding tube. He's got nurses that stay with him while mom is at work, and during the night. He sure was glad to see Eston since we could not take Eston to the hospital into ICU. Even Alli and Zoe were happy to see him last night. They did not understand why they couldn't jump up on his bed and tell him "hi." They were whining and staring at him.

Happy Father's Day to everyone!!

Eston and Travis when he was a couple of months old (look how skinny he was!)

Eston and Travis in our back yard at Cave Springs last August (plumped up a little, didn't he!)

Eston and Travis at his 9 month pictures.

Sorry for the silence...again! My baby is 1! Eston had his first birthday May 22nd! This past year has flown! We had a small party at Wilson Park in Fayetteville for him the weekend before, and then a small party in Mountain Home the weekend after.

Mom and Eston at the parkDad trying to get Eston to have a small interest in the icing!

Get this stuff off my tray! I just want to go for a walk around the block in my new wagon.

The following link is the pictures that Amber Lanning took May 17th. Click on E Ford, and continue, and password is Eston.
http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/storesearch.aspx?p=40460

We gave Eston a cupcake and he really didn't like it. I don't think he knew it was food. And also the pictures on senior walk are some of Travis's grandparents' names. They attended the University in the late 1920's.

Happy Mother's Day!! I always heard people say parenthood is the hardest thing they ever did, but the most rewarding. That is so true. You have no idea what you are getting into. Both in a hard work perspective, and also from a loving heart perspective. You have no idea how much it is possible to love your child. They can light up a room and always put a smile on your face. Even when I'm covered in puke or spit up or poop, it's still so worth it! And my mom always said that I would never know how much she loved me until I had a child of my own. That's true too. So, I'll close the "Deep Thoughts by Kara Ford" and I hope mom's all had a good day today. I did.

Sorry for the silence. My dad went into the hospital 3 weeks ago. We've been busy going to see him during all our free time. Most of you know that he has ALS. He went into the ER having trouble breathing. They had to put a ventillator in, and then his heart stopped. After reviving him, he has spent lots of time in ICU. They have put a feeding tube in, and also a trach(sp?). So, he is hooked up to a ventillator through the trach in his throat.

On a more positive note, Eston is growing up so much. He's not walking on his own yet, but he is taking steps holding on to the coffee table. He's getting his two upper teeth next to the center ones. However the center ones have not poked through yet. I sure hope they are in there! He's really jabbering alot too. Says dada all the time. I'll post a few pictures from the past month.

Here he is on Easter.
Taking in a little nap with mom.

Rain, rain, go away... germs, germs go away. Too much rain and too much sickness! Eston was sick this past weekend, and then I got it. On Monday, the dr said he had and ear infection and pneumonia. He got a shot Mon and Tues. :-( Last night he slept through the night, so maybe we are on the mend.

On a more positive note, Eston's crawling all over the place. He has made it to the dog dish twice and dumped the water over. He's so happy with himself when he gets to moving. He also raises his hand up like he's going to wave at you, but only holds up one finger. So, we are constantly saying, "you're number 1!" to him.

Eston's mobile!!!

It seems like he's changed so much since we've lived in Mountain Home! A week and a half ago, we were at Tom & Jill's house and he started clapping! Miss Lilly at daycare has been teaching him patty cake. Then, last weekend, we were at Brent & Sammie's and he started crawling! He was going after a ball and just took off on three steps or crawls or whatever you call it. Sammie tried to take a picture and Brent tried to film it after that, but I guess he was camera shy and didn't want to. But he is now crawling! Not too fast just yet. His second tooth has broke through and they both are visible when he gets a little frustrated when you don't have his dinner ready fast enough! He is pulling up to his knees on the coffee table, and I'm sure it's going to be soon that he is pulling up to a stand since he loves to stand up when you hold his hands. However, he wants so badly to be independent and tries to let go of your hands. He'll be 10 months this Saturday. This past month has flown!

Eston and Piper playing at daycare in Springdale.

Eston and G'ma at her house in Minnesota. (It's actually in Wisconsin, but right on the border. We still say we're going to Minnesota out of habit.)

Eston has a new cousin in law! Whitney's brother (Bret) and wife (Angie) had a baby Jan 30th. His name is Cooper. We got Eston and Cooper together for a photo shoot the day before we moved. Their Aunt Whitney got them matching onsies that said "Stud Muffin" on them for Valentine's Day. Not planned, but they even had the same pacifiers.

"Hey, he has more hair than I do."

Aunt Whitney, Uncle Corey, and their two nephews, Cooper (3 weeks) and Eston (9 mos).

Eston's feeling so much better. Still tugging on his ear from his ear infection but sleeping again. As soon as I say that, he'll be up all night tonight!

He's getting a tooth! First one! I noticed it yesterday and it's just barely poking through. He's also so close to crawling. He rolls around a lot and can get back into a seated position from laying down rolling. He scoots backwards a little and gets up on all fours. So, crawling will come soon and then he'll be all over the place. I keep telling Alli and Zoe to enjoy this time while he is still not mobile! I'm afraid he'll be chasing them everywhere.

We moved! Although so much is in storage, and not all of our stuff has made it yet from NWA, we are somewhat settled. We may have to go back this weekend for another load of things. I just got the internet turned on last night, so that's the reason for no postings or e-mails. Everything is going okay. Eston's been sick and waking up every night several times. We took him to the dr today since he didn't seem to get better. Hopefully the antibiotics will help. He also went to the hospital for an RSV and flu test. Those were not fun. He's doing great at daycare though. Seems to be adjusting just fine. Everyone at my new office is really nice and helpful. And it's been so nice to not have rush hour traffic! I'm exhausted from being up with Eston and just the stress of a new job and moving, so I'll write more later!

-Kara

Sorry for the radio silence. Lots of stuff going on! First of all, our trip to Minnesota went great. Eston did so good on the long drive. He watched a DVD for a little while and was so patient the rest of the time. Especially for facing backwards in the truck and not being able to see out! He had a great time with G'ma and G'pa. We went to the Mall of America, and Eston loved looking at all the people.

Second, we are moving! In 2 days! We are very excited to be moving back home to Mountain Home. Travis has been working there since the beginning of January at the Strother Law Firm. I will start work Monday at Arp Foot Clinic as an office coordinator. I am excited to learn something new. It'll be very hard to leave our friends here in Northwest Arkansas however.

Where has January gone!? Eston is sitting up now easily and grabbing everything in sight. He's even reaching for things that are slightly out of his reach, so I'm wondering if he'll want to start scooting toward things. He's not crawling, but loves for you to hold him up in a standing position. If you hold his hands, he will pull up to a stand from sitting. And then gets a big smile on his face...sometimes even a chuckle. He's still so happy, and smiles and laughs all the time!

We are taking Eston on his first "long" trip soon. He has gone to Mtn Home several times, but Thursday night, we are heading up to Minnesota! He has been out of the state twice, but I told Travis that I wasn't going to count those. This is his first real time out of AR. (The first one was to a lumber yard in Tulsa to take back some lumber for a project Travis was working on. The second was to a junk yard in Joplin for a car part. See why I don't want to count them?? Ha!) Anyway, we are leaving Thursday night for KC, and the rest of the way Friday,(weather permitting) to see Travis's mom and Mike. And yes, it's cold up there!!! Hopefully Eston won't mind several hours in the truck. Too bad he's still facing backwards and can't see a dang thing.

We got his 8 month pictures taken a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say they are awesome!!!

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/store.aspx?p=40460

Click on Ford, Password is Eston.

Here is a picture of Eston and his girlfriend, Piper at school. Piper has been with Eston since he started daycare at 3 months old. They were both at the first daycare together and switched to the current daycare on the same day. She's 3 weeks older than he is and her mom works at Tyson with me.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I haven't had a chance to load any Christmas pictures yet, because Eston and I have been sick. His started the weekend before Christmas and mine started the day after. So, needless to say, his first Christmas wasn't the best time for him. Seems like this bug wants to linger and not go away. We're stuffed up and coughing still.

Eston has done some firsts during the last two weeks! He's now sitting up on his own! Yea! And I know he's been able to roll over for a while now, but won't let himself since he hates being on his tummy. So, he'd always roll over to his side and stop for awhile and then go back. Well, last night he completed the roll over to his tummy, pushed up, and then rolled back to his back. Twice.