Fall Fun

A couple of weekends ago we spent some time enjoying some Fall fun.  We decided to check out a different pumpkin patch in our town.  It's not as cute as the one we like to go to out in the country, but Evan had fun nonetheless!

 

Evan's favorite activity was BY FAR the pony ride.  We thought he would be a little scared but he surprised us with his courage.  We definitely need to find more events that have pony rides.

Finding his way through the hay maze

Learning to hoola hoop

Enjoying the petting zoo

 James has been changing so much!  He has started smiling a lot and it is adorable.  His favorite weekend activity is to relax and cuddle with anyone and everyone.  To say he is spoiled would be an understatement! 

I'm absolutely enjoying this precious time with these two boys...even if that time includes temper tantrums and an endless amount of dirty diapers.

It's Fall!!

I'm beyond thrilled that Fall is finally here.  It is by far my favorite season of the year!  One of our favorite October traditions is to visit our favorite little pumpkin patch.  They have animals you can feed, a hay maze, a hay ride, food, and of course...pumpkins!  This is our third year in a row to go and it has turned into a tradition of sorts.

October 2013

October 2014

Check out how much Evan has grown in the past year!  I was able to get so many more pictures of Evan last year.  Nowadays he won't stay still and he doesn't want to smile when you ask him to.  He is definitely independent and will let you know it!

Evan was scared of the longhorns and only wanted Matt to feed them.  He eventually found a nice, safe spot on Matt's shoulders. 

The goats were a different story.  I guess they were less intimidating.  After much coaxing, Evan put food in his hand and fed the goats.  He was so very proud.  My mom LOVES coming with us to the pumpkin patch.  I think it will be a tradition to also bring Gaga along with us.  My mom was kind enough to stand behind the camera and capture some family pictures.

Confession:  I seriously cannot believe I have a kid who has BLUE eyes.  I've always wished that I had blue eyes...but boring brown is what I was given.  I know that James is still very young and his eyes can change any day, but I will soak up these blue eyes for as long as I can.  And then I'll cross my fingers forever in hopes that they stay blue. 

I attempted to get a couple of brother pictures.  James was all for it.  I mean, he was even okay with the dangerous lean your kid against some round pumpkins act.  He's a rebel I tell you.  Unfortunately, Evan would have rather followed the cute little kitty that was wondering around in the background of this picture.  I'm the mean mama that set him down next to the pumpkins and wouldn't let him chase it.  He punished me by whining and refusing to smile.  Touche Evan.  Touche.  

I'm loving this Fall tradition of ours.  I mean, I'm an Aggie.  We love our traditions!

Life with Two

James was only about 1 week old in this picture

Two children.

Four boys (including Matt and Joey).

One thousand diapers.

Not enough sleep.

Tons of love.

Evan has been asking to hold baby James ever few days

Our life lately has definitely been an adjustment.  A LOT has changed in just a very short amount of time.  Not only did we add another little one to the mix, but Matt started a new job, and I will be teaching a different grade when I return to work (this equals more work on my end).  

First visit with the doctor

Quality time!

Overall I'm happy to say that it has been a somewhat smooth transition.  I have to partly attribute that to the fact that we started sending Evan back to his babysitter about 2 weeks before James was born.  We wanted him to have a clear routine and not feel like he was going to the babysitter because the baby was around.  He returned to his babysitter 5 days after James was born.  I initially struggled with the thought of sending Evan to daycare while I was home on maternity leave, but I realize now that it was the best decision for our family.  It gives him time to be social with other children, and me time to love on this baby (and nap of course).  I was blessed with 4.5 months off with Evan and I will unfortunately only have 8 weeks off with James.  I want to be able to soak up this time with my littlest one as much as possible. 

A lot of people have asked how Evan is doing with this change in our family.  I'm happy to say that he hasn't regressed in any skills!  I hear that a lot of kids will regress when it comes to using the potty.  Lucky us because Evan is nowhere near ready to be potty trained so that means double the diapers and wipes (she says with sarcasm).  In all seriousness, he does become jealous at times (usually while I am nursing) and promptly tells me to put James in the swing.  I make sure to love on Evan as much as possible while James is sleeping.  He has become more cuddly in the past month and I'm going to count that as a win!

Joey: the protector

Love this kid!

Since Evan is gone during part of the day and James is sleeping a great deal, I have some free time on my hands.  What am I  doing you ask?  One word:  Pinterest.  I have never considered myself much of a cook, but I have been trying out new recipes left and right!  They are mostly low carb recipes (my diet of choice) and I'm enjoying it much more than I had anticipated.  I'm also going through each room of our house and purging unnecessary items and reorganizing things.  If you know me at all, you know I'm in heaven while I do this!  It's not every day that the house is quiet and you can organize a closet without a two year old asking to be picked up, have his boo boo kissed, or simultaneously terrorizing another part of the house.

I officially have only 3 full weeks left to enjoy my maternity leave.  That is 3 weeks to make new recipes, kiss my baby whenever I feel like it, and lose those last pesky pounds so I can fit into my work pants again.  Let's hope these are the three slowest weeks of my life!

 

October in a Nutshell

I haven't been so great at blogging lately.  Instead of giving a list of excuses that aren't good excuses at all, I'll just give some highlights of our October.

Gaga (Grandma) came to visit for our first cold weather weekend.  We cooked, played, and went to the pumpkin patch!

Amongst many football games, band concerts, and Cowboys games, we found time for the State fair.  This was my first time ever attending and Evan's first time as well.

Evan rode one ride.  About 3/4 of the way through he was done and ready to be O-U-T.  At least he enjoyed himself for a little bit.

On Halloween Eve we finally decided to break out the pumpkins and get our carving on.  I wish I could say it was a success.  Instead we ended up with a toddler who wanted NOTHING to do with the pumpkin guts, and a mama who spent 30 minutes crafting an Elmo pumpkin that just fell apart.  Oh well.  You win some, you lose some.

Halloween night was a grand success.  Our good friends came over and the firefighter and princess had a blast!

Overall I'm going to call the month of October a success.  We definitely had our downs, but I am willing to say that our happy times made up for anything else we went through.  Thank goodness for good family and kind friends!