My husband is kind of a rock star

I just need to brag on my husband for a little bit. I'll keep this short and sweet.

He's awesome.

When I first met him he was a gifted musician with a heart for leading worship and serving the Lord. His talent was one of the first things that attracted me to him. But little did I know that his worship leading abilities barely scratched the surface.

Since we have been married he has tried his hand at many things and there isn't anything that he can't do, and do well, once he puts his mind to it. Not only does he play several musical instruments he also does graphic design, editing, photography, videography, and a host of other things.

I was inspired to write this blog post because just in the past 2 weeks, he has once again blown me away with his talent. All of the following has come to fruition in the past few weeks.

He entered some of his photographs in a very reputable contest here in Dothan. There were nearly 1000 entries and 8 of his photographs placed and one even won best in show.

Two people have asked him to either photograph or video their weddings for them.

A shop in New Orleans is now displaying his photographs for tourists to buy.

He was asked to lead worship at a family camp this winter.

And this evening he is driving to Nashville to photograph the CD cover for Ron Block who is one of the best banjo players in the world. He plays for Alison Krauss and is a member of Union Station.

Music, Video, Design, Editing, Photography.... you name it and he can do it. He buys random musical instruments and teaches himself how to play. His latest purchase was a cello, and yes, he can play that now too.

But what I love most is that he always uses his talents to glorify God. His heart for ministry comes through in everything he does.  I love hearing him pray or watch him transition between songs on Sunday mornings. The way he is able to quote scripture seamlessly as he explains to the congregation why he chose a particular song is so moving and incredible to watch.

I am so blessed.

But just don't ask him to do laundry. I had to throw something in there to keep him humble. :)

Six weeks old and more beautiful than ever

My little Lainey Bug is 6 weeks old. It's amazing how someone can work their way into your heart so dramatically in just six short weeks. There are only three people in this world that I can say changed my life completely in six weeks. You can probably guess who those three people are.

Lainey is a sweet sweet baby. She hasn't had any problems at all so far. No colic, no acid reflux, and no other health issues. Her biggest problem is that she loves to be held a lot, which is pretty much the perfect problem to have.

She melts my heart when she grasps my finger. I don't care how many kids you have. That will still get you every time. I love every time her big blue eyes find my face after searching for me. The small gasp she lets out is the most beautiful sound in the world.  And the best moment is feeling her racing heart beat slow down when I pick her up after she has been crying. I hold my ear close to her chest and it is just incredible when I feel her heart beat fall back into a steady rhythm once she knows that I am near.

We've been very busy since our little girl arrived. In her short little life she has moved to a new house, taken 2 road trips to Montgomery, and taken a road trip to Tuscaloosa. She has spent the night at her Grandparents house and her aunt's house. She has been to pumpkin patches, a peanut festival, church, a baby shower, meetings, the University of Alabama campus, playdates, stores, and more.

That's what you get with your third baby. Life goes on. It makes me long for that 8 week cocoon I kept Bennett in when she was born. Oh, well.

Milestones at 6 weeks-

-She can easily turn her head from side to side.
-She can reach for objects, but she can't quite grasp them yet.
-She follows you with her eyes and can follow objects that are close to her face.
-She has started smiling, and it is the sweetest thing I have ever seen.
-She has just begun to coo when she is happy and content. Best sound in the world.
-She hiccups a whole lot.
-She loves her bath. She was the only one of my kids who didn't cry during their first bath.
-She cries when you put her down after holding her. She's going to be a cuddly one.

Okay, I know these stats aren't interesting to anyone but me and my Mom, so feel free to skip on to the pictures of the most adorable six week old that I know. We love you so much, Lainey Bug. Thank you for completing our family in the most perfect way imaginable.

I love love love the annoyed look on her face. It looks like her older brother got to her before I did.

So calm and relaxed in her first bath. 

Someone adores his little sister already.

Best big sister in the world.

First smile!!!

Halloween 2012- Gangnam style. Not really.

I'll have to admit that Halloween was hard for me this year. I missed my friends in Kansas so much. And I missed, well... Kansas! It just didn't feel like Halloween in South Alabama. I couldn't get in the spooky spirit when I was wearing shorts and T-shirts and there were only a handful of yellow leaves. I missed my girlfriends and our Halloween traditions. I missed my kids trick or treating with their best friends.

But, I rallied. I am Claire Dunphy Lauren Webster after all and I do love Halloween. So there.

Before I share pics of our Halloween, I will have to step back and describe the neighborhood we moved into. It is lovely and picturesque and wonderful. And for some reason it attracts every single trick or treater within a 20 mile radius. I kid. Kind of.

We were warned about Halloween here before we moved in, but we ignored the warning signs. I could go on and on, but let me just say that police block off the entrance to our subdivision so only residents can drive in. Everyone else parks at a business center and walks in. Or buses drop them off. Every resident has to have a sticker on their car to enter on Halloween and guests have to have their name on a list and they must provide police the address of the house they are going to. It is NUTS! It felt like a block party instead of a neighborhood night of trick or treating. We bought nearly $100 (I know, I know) in candy and were out by 7:20. And that was us giving everyone one piece of candy and we were gone ourselves for 45 minutes. I think we had 1200 people by our count and again we shut off our porch light at 7:20. The streets were still packed.

Okay, let me back up. Our neighborhood has a really fun festival at the park in the middle of our subdivision the week before Halloween. How cool is it that we can load up our wagon and walk to this Festival? I love it here!

Here is the vendor taking our peanut and cotton candy to the neighborhood Fall Festival

Another shot of our beautiful walk. I love all the houses here with white picket fences and front porches. Such a great neighborhood for kids.

The popcorn wasn't so sure about this. She needed a nap.

Wonderful afternoon

Except we had tired kids when we got home. Can I just say that I love this picture? It's a keeper.

We carved our pumpkins like we do every year. 

And roasted the seeds. Rob's favorite.

And now here's the tricky situation regarding future Webster Halloweens. My kids want to pick out their own costumes. WHAT? You mean dressing up with their parents in rolls of pink tulle isn't appealing? What is the matter with these two? I knew this day was coming. And it is just as awful as I knew it would be.

Fortunately this year, it was fine. Our family costumes were cheap and easy. Red bowties, aprons, white and red felt, pink tulle... and voila. I did order Will's peanut costume, but I did it with Amazon credit. So we were okay doing two costumes this year, but unless we can figure out a cheap idea for next year, Rob and I will force Lainey to be a trio with us, and the older two can do what they want. Tragic.

So, anyway, Bennett wanted to be Merida from Brave and Will wanted to be a horse. I convinced him that a cowboy riding a horse was just a little bit cooler. Fortunately they obliged. So here they are trick or treating  at their preschool in their preferred costumes.

Cutest kids ever!!! But I digress. The night before Halloween was so exciting. Most families do matching Christmas PJ's. Not us. Okay, so we do both. I have a problem.

And here is our new house ready for Halloween. Keep in mind I took these shots before Rob had the strobe light and fog machine going.  And it's not at night so you can't see the orange lights wrapped around the porch. And obviously you can't hear the spooky music playing from the upstairs window where Rob hid a Buzz Lightyear CD player filled with creepy music on our roof. Maybe he's the one with the problem.

Notice that our house fell on the Wicked Witch of the East. Fabulous.

Our plan was to have a quick dinner at 5, get the kids in costume, trick or treat ourselves for a bit, and then hand out candy to the masses around 6. Yeah, right. As Rob was just getting the fog machine into place at 4:30 he yelled inside the house, "Ummmm.... the first wave is coming." What? This is what the entrance to our neighborhood looked like at FOUR THIRTY! Let the madness begin.

Yeah, ummmm... change of plans. Forget dinner. Forget getting our own kids in costume. We started furiously handing out candy at 4:30 instead. But we managed to get the kids dressed and head out to do a little candy grabbing of our own in between waves.

Aren't the adorable?? I just love these little guys.

 Had to get this shot because they reminded me so much of my little Peter Pan and Hook from last year. And just compare these two pics for a second. Look at the throngs of people ahead of Rob and Will in the first picture and then look at our peaceful and quiet neighborhood in the shot from last year. I've never seen anything like it.

  

Candy, candy, candy

We got home and started furiously passing out candy to the lines of trick or treaters. My kids didn't even have time to take off their costumes before they had to help Daddy.

.

And it went on until we ran out of candy. The crowds never let up. 

Whew! But I will say that as crazy as it was here, Rob and I loved it. Every house was decorated to the hilt. Here is an example of just one houses that we went to. And I would say the majority looked similar to this.

Nearly every adult handing out candy was in costume. It was such a fun and festive atmosphere. And let me just say that Phil Dunphy Rob Webster has huge plans for our house next year. Theme and all. I can't wait. Happy Halloween!