Trick or Treat!

As the post title says, this is a strictly a "trick or treat" post. But before I get to writing about the adventures we had on halloween night, I need to update you on my trip to Las Vegas. Although that mini-break didn't land on halloween weekend, it was still full of tricks and treats. The treat was that Sydney, Jake and I got to go down and spend a couple of days with Jess, Nate and my adorable nephew Sawyer. The trick was that Jake actually got a terrible cold, and was horribly fussy and miserable for the better part of the weekend. And besides all that, it always feels a bit like halloween walking down the strip--you never know what kind of weirdos you'll come across there :)

***Disclaimer.. if you read either of my sister's blogs, you probably already saw most of the vegas pics--feel free to skip down to the halloween part of this post ;)

The drive down to Vegas couldn't have gone better. I broke down and finally invested in a DVD player for Jake, and he was kept thoroughly entertained with that. We stopped in St. George for a couple hours and did some shopping and got some In N Out (of course).

Jake was so happy to be out of the car and stretching his legs!

We arrived on Friday evening and stayed at Nathan's parents house. On Saturday we headed out for the Vegas strip!

I brought down my doubles kit so we were able to spend the day pushing around one stroller. It was so nice to pass it around between the three of us!

Jake was pretty unhappy for most of the day, due to what we later learned was the start of a nasty cold, but he did have a lot of fun at FAO Schwartz! Looking back, I feel sort of bad--we didn't realize he was sick yet, and he ran all over the store grabbing everything.. needless to say, he spread his infection to probably a hundred other kids in the process--yikes.

A happy moment--Recently Jake has become obsessed with Sesame Street. Meeting Big Bird was an exciting experience for him!

I think he wanted to take cookie monster home with us!

At the end of the long fun/stress filled day. Sawyer hit his limits at that point, and Jake was (finally!) passed out under his blanket, sick and exhausted. Vacations with kids are not exactly relaxing!

Since Jake was just getting worse, Syd and I decided to take off a little early and left the next morning. It was so nice to spend a couple days with my sisters. we are planning the leave the kids behind next time! ;)

Onto Halloween! So Jake had a rough week trying to get over his cold, and by the time Halloween night rolled around, he was all better but still kind of a tired grouch. We were planning to take him trick or treating around 6 with his cousin scott. However, Jake decided to throw the biggest tantrum he's ever had. We sent Scott and his parents on their way, and I spent about an hour trying to calm down my insane child and convince him to put on his costume.

At 7 o'clock I was just about ready to call it a night, and decided to try one more tactic. I forced his costume on him and took him outside.. as soon as we got out there, he was happy and ready to go!

He was a bit hesitant to walk up to the houses.. but after a couple he realized that his bravery would be rewarded with a piece of chocolate per door.

Within a few minutes, Jake become a fully converted trick or treater!

It got even better when we went home and let him enjoy his spoils.

I don't think we'll have any problems from him next year! :)

While walking around the neighborhood after the tantrum, I joked around with Sydney asking if spending time with us would be good birth control for her in the future.

The truth is, there are always going to be hard days, but I still stand by my claim that being a mom is the best gig ever. I feel so lucky to have such a healthy and smart little boy. The times of chaos just make me more grateful for all the tender moments. And lets face it, how abnormal would it be if your kids were always perfect little angels? I love Jake's spunky personality, and all that comes with it--tantrums included. After all, the treats wouldn't be as delicious without a few tricks! It could be argued that I should have dressed him as a monster this year to reflect on his behavior.. but Jake will always be my lovable little pumpkin.