Halloween fun

I've decided that the holidays are a lot more fun when you have kiddos to celebrate with! Halloween was no exception. Jake LOVED carving his first pumpkin (with dad's help) and was super pumped to dress up in his monster costume! I just have a few quick pictures to show--I hope everyone had a fun halloween season!

We went to Macey's so Jake could pick out his pumpkin. Not as cool as a pumpkin patch, but Jake didn't seem to mind :) I LOVE his cute little smile!

Jake absolutely refused to touch the pumpkin goo, but was all for helping dad carve out the face.

We named his pumpkin "Jack" (I know, so creative) and Jake was very excited that Jack had a "happy smile". Over the next few days, he constantly brought his crayons and sketch pad to me, requesting pictures of pumpkins with all sorts of facial expressions. In the following photo, Jake is trying to mimic Jack's smile--seriously. He did this constantly for about a week, pointing out his amazing impression of a "Jack Smile".

We used one of those battery tea-lights for the pumpkin so that Jake could put it inside all by himself. I think he was super impressed that the faced glowed.

In Utah, if Halloween falls on a Sunday, it's basically understood that everyone just celebrates on the Saturday night before. It was actually a small miracle that we got to go trick-or-treating at all. On "Halloween Eve" we drove down to Salem, to spend the holiday with Wesley's family. It started thunder-storming like crazy around 5 PM, and we thought that going out with the kids would be a big FAIL. I felt so bad that Jake wouldn't get to put on his costume and walk around the neighborhood. But right around 6:15 the clouds parted! We were so happy, and hurried to dress the kids and get our there before the weather decided to change again.

Wesley with Jake and his two cousins, Mark and Scott.

Jess and Sawyer's visit

In mid-October, we had a fun visit from Jessica and Sawyer! They caught a ride up from Phoenix with some friends and stayed for just over a week. It was so nice to spend some time with my big sis, and Jake LOVED playing big brother to Sawyer. When we weren't chasing the kids around the house, trying to keep them from getting into too much mischief, we had all sorts of fun outings! We went out to eat at all those wonderful places that you just can't get outside of Utah County, went to the Kangaroo Zoo bounce house, and to Cornbellies Pumpkin Festival to name a few. We took about a million pictures, but I narrowed it down to a few favorites.

One day we went to Macey's to get some groceries, and they had the cutest display out front! The kids loved sitting on the giant pile of pumpkins :)

Jake was PUMPED to have a friend driving with him in his Maceys shopping cart.

For those who don't know what the Kangaroo Zoo is, let me tell you--it's pretty much the best discovery we've made since moving to Pleasant Grove. It's a toddler friendly bounce house. We have already gone several times, and I continue to be amazed at how good Jake is getting at conquering all those ladders, mazes and slides! He's getting so tough! I just know it'll be such a wonderful thing to have nearby this winter, when the cabin fever sets in. While Jess was here we took the kids one evening, and they had so much fun running around together. There is nothing more satisfying to me than seeing my little guy work up a sweat by running around and having fun. It makes him so happy, and then later, it helps him sleep nice and long (which makes me so happy!)

Since we were juggling the nap schedules, we spent a fair amount of time just hanging out at my apartment. They were so funny together. Jake was either following Sawyer around like a little protector, or running and crying to me because Sawyer stole something from him, and Jake is too much of a wimp (ahem--i mean softy) to take it back by himself.

Although Sydney was super busy with school, she managed to meet up with us for lunch a few times. One day we went to Kneaders--soooo yum. Jake LOVES going there, and picking out his own special treat from the window display.

After we went to Kneaders, Jess wanted to visit her old nurse friends over at Orem Community hospital. I was excited to come along for a couple reasons. It was nostalgic to go back with Jake and see the place where he came into the world 2.5 years ago, and I was excited to show him around, and talk to him a little bit about how he would be coming there to meet his little sister at Christmas!

One night we made a spur of the moment trip to Sub-Zero ice cream with the kids. It was right before bedtime (that's right, cookies for lunch...ice cream for dinner :/ I'm an awesome mom..) So we put the boys in their PJ's for the outing. They looked so cute in their Halloween jammies! Thanks to my mom for buying those!

The Sub-Zero in Pleasant Grove is awesome. It looks kind of like an old remodeled brick fire house, and the upstairs level has a small arcade area, a pool table, and some love sacs and couches. Also, since it's not in Provo, it wasn't over-run with BYU students. Jake and Sawyer loved having the place to themselves!

This year's visit to Cornbellies was particularly great. Not only because Jake was a year older, and able to really appreciate all the excitement and activities, but because we had such great friends with us! Jess and Sawyer came of course, along with Uncle Mitch and Aunt Syd (Jake was practically shivering with joy--he LOVES them.) And our friends Meghan and Tyler came down with their adorable little Caitlin. Thanks especially to Meghan for making it down--I know you were in the middle of first trimester morning sickness, and you were so tough! It was great to spend time with so many wonderful friends and family. :)

A little trivia--Jake is looking across the parking lot where Mitch and Sydney had just driven up in their car. about two seconds later he was shrieking with glee.

Jake loved having Caitlin and Sawyer to run around with!

The awesome Aunt and Uncle.

I was sad to have the week come to an end, but as always, life had to go back to normal. Thanks for a really fun week Jess!

Maternity Photos

The last few weeks have been soooo busy! We are finally starting to feel all settled into our new place, and meanwhile we have been finding all kinds of fun things to do during these beautiful fall days! My sister Jessica came up for a visit with Sawyer this past week, and I'm so excited to post all about the trip--but it'll have to wait because I have a few other things I want to catch up on first.

Jake has adjusted to the new home so smoothly, and is loving his new bed and new room, and the fact that he gets to spend lots more time with daddy--now that the work commute went from 40+ each way to about 5 minutes. (Mommy loves it too!) But it's still probably not quite as much time as we would like :). Wesley started going back to school this semester for a couple nights a week, and is enjoying both work and school--but they definitely keep him pretty busy!

As for me, I've hit my 30 week mark of pregnancy, and am still feeling pretty good! I'm able to exercise most days, and continue keeping up with a few hair clients here and there in the evenings. I'm definitely stretching out my shirts to the max, and this baby is starting to feel enormous, but it's not too bad. Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that I'm the same pregnant lady that was pregnant with Jake a couple years ago ( i did NOT feel this chipper at 30 weeks on round 1!)--it goes to show that every pregnancy is unique, and that chasing around a toddler is definitely a good distraction. The time is flying by, and I just know that these last 2 months are going to be over so quick!

We've been taking lot's of pictures of all our adventures, but for tonight I just want to post my maternity pictures! We wanted to take them before my tummy got too alarming and huge, so we did it just before I hit 28 weeks. As usual, Sydney did an amazing job--she has a great eye for capturing so much joy and feeling in each shot, and I'm always impressed that she can get such nice pictures of Jake--a kid that refuses to pose for the camera. Thanks again Syd.

I hope everyone is getting their fill of pumpkin flavored foods, and lighting those apple cider candles. Happy Fall! :)

All kinds of summer fun!

Finally catching up!!! This post is just a collection of some of our summer adventures. I also did a post about Syd's wedding day, which you can find right below this one :)

About a week after the wedding, Wes and I took Jake to the Spanish Fork Fair. He loved watching all the carnival rides, went down a giant slide with daddy, and generally had a blast.

Jake's favorite thing was the duck game. He got to choose a duck and trade it in for a prize!!

He chose this blue ball as his duck prize. The rest of the fair we sat down in the park and let him run around til he passed out.

At the end of July we had a ton of thunderstorms--Very unusual for a utah summer. Jake and I spent a lot of time cooped up in the house. He found lots of ways to stay entertained :)

Yep-he put on the headband himself--and wore it all afternoon. yikes.

We weren't able to use Jake's swim diapers for the pool with all the rain, but he found other uses for them :)

A few weeks ago I went to my good friend Cheronne's baby shower. Wesley watched Jake so I could go and enjoy the afternoon. I made some yummy yummy cupcakes to contribute to the fun!

Bellies! I was at 20 weeks in this picture--Cheronne had 3 weeks left :)

About a month ago Jake starting climbing in and out of his crib, so we decided it was finally time to get him ready for a big boy bed. We did it in phases, starting with just taking off the bar of his crib. Eventually we converted the crib into a toddler bed, and then this weekend we introduced him to his new twin bed! The transition has been smoother than we could have hoped, and I'm so happy to see him enjoying his new bed!

These were taken on the day we took off the crib bar. He was thrilled to see his crib could do something that cool!

A couple weeks ago we took Jake to the petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point. I don't know why we never did that with him before now, because he loved it!!!! His favorite things were feeding the goats and riding the ponies!

He was amazed to see a cow indoors!

Jake loved feeding the baby goat :)

The animals were completely forgotten every time an airplane or helicopter flew by.

He wasn't so sure about the lamas at first, but he warmed up after awhile!

After the wagon ride

After one round with daddy holding his leg, Jake decided he wanted to ride all by himself! Jake isn't much of a daredevil, so the bravery was a nice surprise.

So my main reason for going this long without posting is that we moved up to Pleasant Grove this month! It's been an exhausting experience, but we are slowly getting unpacked and settled. Jake is doing wonderfully in his new room and new bed, and we couldn't be happier about our new apartment! It's less than a mile from Wesley's office (main selling point for renting here) and I have a grocery store about 30 seconds away. Life is good, my pregnancy is going great, and I'm feeling joyful about this new chapter in our lives. I will take some pictures once things get a little less hectic. Until then, I will be unpacking, organizing, and diving into another spectacular utah fall season. In fact, I think I'll go make some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies right now :) Thanks for reading!