A pumpkin patch field trip

We have a few fun fall festivities to catch up on...before I can get to my traditional Halloween run down for this year...first up...a pumpkin patch field trip!

Owen's school set up for us to enjoy an hour long field trip to a local pumpkin patch.  It was such a fun little visit.  Someone from the farm passed around different shaped pumpkins and gourds.  We got to take a short tour of the farm and look at walnut trees, asparagus, a pumpkin patch and they even hid a gourd in the peach tree orchard for us to each find a gourd to take home.  We finished up the trip with some serious playtime with friends and called it a day!

Owen's class of kiddos...such little cuties :)

After our trip we were hungry!  So Owen and I enjoyed a little lunch date.  Such a fun afternoon!  Thanks bubba for a lovely fall date.  I couldn't have had more fun!

Happy Birthday!!

Today my husband turns 31.  For some reason 31 feels and sounds older than 30 sounded.  Maybe it's a trend...but it feels like we're going to blink and we'll be 40.  But then I remind myself.  When we're 40 we'll have an almost high schooler, a middle schooler and an almost 10 year old.  So maybe it's a ways off!

Jer, I hope today proves to be happy.  That though our life feels very full, stressed and hectic right now, that you can spend some time today thankful for the blessings we have...there are so many!!  My biggest blessing is you.  My husband.  Who works tirelessly to accomplish our goals.  Who meticulously has spent hours already in our boys bedroom wanting everything to be just right.  Who crawls into bed at 1am, to get back up at 6am and head back into an office you got off from at 11 the night before...and rarely complains...except to mention that you might want to take a beach vacation somewhere instead of go back to the office.  And that same afternoon you return home to have dance parties in the living room with our kids who could not wait to see you.  Our boys adore you babe.  I hope you see how much!!  And do too! I could not have picked a better man to take care of me or to build a family with.  So thank you.  And I love you.  Today I want to celebrate you...and all the wonderful things you are to me and our kids!!!

Happy birthday babe!!  Love you always.

This kid says the darnedest stuff!!

At a recent appt for the doctor, Cooper let out this little gem:

Holy CRAP Mom.

Except his r's sound like w's and so it was more of a

Holy CWAP Mom.

Yep.  Just like he was 12 and totally amazed with something. I encouraged holy cow and chastised myself under my breath because I know exactly where he's heard holy crap from before.  Definitely me!  And thanked the Lord it wasn't the alternative curse word.  I also stifled a serious laugh because it was darn funny.

It wasn't too long after that, that I laughed out loud with no ability to control myself.

Same doctor's visit...just about 30 minutes later.  While waiting for the doctor to come into the room and do our check up....this came flying out of his mouth as he pulled on the door knob:

Holy CWAP Mom.  We twapped in here.  We twapped.

Out of the mouths of babes.

Hair Cuts All Around!

Owen hates getting his hair cut and always has.  It's a major ordeal and I hate putting him through it. Hate hate hate it!!  (Direct quote from Lightning McQueen in Disney's Cars.  Yes we've watched it so much it randomly pops into my dialogue!!) So we often let his hair get super long and shaggy before we subject him to the torture.  Well shortly after school started...it was torture time.  Between school pictures, a family photo session and a church directory family portrait, we had to bite the bullet.  Here is a before...when I mentioned the haircut he melted down.

And here is the after. All smiles and happy it was over.  So was Momma...though that's not pictured!!  He was a little trooper and broke my heart asking if it was over...and am I done...and begging to get down.  He also said it hurt and he was scared.  Did I say it was torture for him?  Maybe I meant torture for me!!  Talk about no fun!! This smile was all I needed to know it was ok though!!

We also finally bit the bullet and trimmed Cooper's hair.  He was beginning to get wings behind his ears and we just wanted his curls to have some consistency.  If you wet them down and spritz with a tiny bit of gel, they are perfectly and adorably spiral!!  But seriously...the Gene Wilder/Donald Trump comb-over look was starting to wear on me!! 

So here are some photos from his very first hair cut!!!

Before:

During...

He did so amazing!  Not a tear was shed.  Aunt Jackie's color gloves were a good distraction ;) He wasn't a huge fan of it by any means, but it wasn't torturous for him.  Praise the Lord for that!!  It's hard enough putting Owen through it.

All done!!  Not even really noticeable except for to anyone who does his hair!  But it is much better!!

After the haircutting photos were taken...shenanigans started happening.  Aunt Jackie picked out his hair into a puffy fro...and he posed for some pictures with his older bro.

These two...seriously kill me!!  No two faces I love seeing more :)

Pumpkin Patchin' 2013

Our first fall outing this year was this past weekend.  We took off on a Linley family visit to the pumpkin farm!!

Though we had a crabbing Cooper who ended our trip with a major meltdown over needing food and a nap at the same time, we had a great visit to Eckerts Pick-Your-Own-Pumpkin patch!

A Smattering of Life...via a mid-month October photo dump.

We have been sick, renovating and just getting through our day to day routine with preschool/playgroup/laundry/ear infections and life in general...so I don't have a ton of big events to post about.  That being said...there are photos of fun and memories all over my phone...so since I missed September...it was time for a mid-month October photo dump:)

Why yes Cooper, that trucks run best right over Mommy's hair...and also, no you shouldn't be sitting on the back of the couch like that!

Owen loved this blue shark that was supposed to grow when you left him in water.  We started him out in the bathtub!  He later grew larger in a pitcher of water on the counter...but after some strange growth he wasn't looking shark like anymore...and he "got sick" and had to get thrown away.  Owen wasn't super happy but he didn't like the deformed shark either! 

Hawk in the tub...it's a pretty good one he's got going here!

We eat a lot of chocolate chip cookies around here...and sometimes they end up on our face.  Wups!!

Leftover apples in the fall??  Apple tart with a crumb topping for a dessert one evening.  I have to say...it was pretty delicious!

One afternoon I was enjoying a particular beautiful fall breeze coming through our house...the boys were running around with race cars in hand playing so awesomely together...I was just feeling like though life is never perfect, it is perfectly mine and I'm so thankful for that!

Our Deci girl is getting old.  She turned 11 years old this September.  When the weather turns she gets super achy hips.  Between an advil like medicine for doggies and a glucosamine supplement, we have it under control now and she's back to being her usual old, sleepy, gray-eyed self.  

I bought a bag of pre-cut halloween sugar cookies...Owen had a blast helping me.  Not pictured?  The burnt disaster that came out of my oven.  I set the timer for less than the recommended time.  BUT they still burnt.  The second batch baked for less than 6 minutes (and I did have my oven setting correct).  Be careful if you buy these! They cook up thin and fast!!

The boys enjoyed opening and assembling a new Jake and the Neverland Pirates Lego Duplo set from Uncle Josh one evening after bath time!

I had a me, myself and I date the other afternoon.  I took off to the Galleria to secure some super important and requested halloween costumes. While there I treated myself to a dare I say lonely lunch at Bread Co!!  The food was delicious as always though so it wasn't a complete let down!!

This kid has been working really hard to wrap up potty training! We were one final step away and after a week of staring at this boxed up Octopod on the dining room hutch...he finally did it!!!  We can say with certainty that this kid is potty trained because since then we have had multiple successes and he is getting the concept of how much better it is to poop on the potty!! Go Owen!!! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!!! 

8 Years...

Jer,

As we are getting ready to start our 8th year of marriage, I'm so proud of us.  So happy that we've made it this far.  That you still love me like we were 15...only deeper and better and more than ever. That you come home to me.  That we still want to date each other.  That I notice when we haven't kissed since the morning b/c the day was too busy.  It's special what we have.  I know it.  And I never want to forget it or lose it.  I love you babe.  And on our day this year, I couldn't think of a better way to express my feelings than to share my favorite lines from this song.  It's the perfect expression of how I feel and look at our life together.

Love you always,
Your Wife

Excerpt from "Still Into You" by Paramore.

Can't count the years on one hand

That we've been together

I need the other one to hold you.

Make you feel, make you feel better.

It's not a walk in the park

To love each other.

But when our fingers interlock,

Can't deny, can't deny you're worth it

Cause after all this time.

I'm still into you

I should be over all the butterflies

But i'm into you

And baby even on our worst nights

I'm into you

Let em wonder how we got this far

Cause I don't really need to wonder at all

Yeah after all this time

I'm still into you

Some things just,

Some things just make sense

And one of those is you and I

Some things just,

Some things just make sense

And even after all this time

I'm into You

Baby not a day goes by that

I'm not into you 

I should be over all the butterflies

But i'm into you

And baby even on our worst nights

I'm into you

Let em wonder how we got this far

Cause I don't really need to wonder at all

Yeah after all this time

I'm still into you

24 Week Checkup!!

Somehow since our ultrasound I've already had another appointment!!

This was one of my fastest appointments to date.  After showing up about 15 minutes early (per instructions I might add!) to do my glucose test, I was informed my glucose test isn't until week 28 (which I recalled at that very moment). Somehow they thought I made it up and showed up early on my own...I'm still confused!  I got right on in to my appointment though and after talking with Dr. Talsky the verdict was everything is going beautifully.  From my weight gain, to Greyson's heartbeat, to blood pressure...all of it was great!  I was told to keep up the good work and not to get discouraged as subsequent pregnancies are usually more uncomfortable than the ones before because everything is stretched out.  Truth!!

Since the appointment was fast and I don't have much to report, I'll just put in a few thoughts about the pregnancy so far...

*He is a mover and shaker.  If I sit down, within minutes he's moving.  At night, I get a solid 30 minutes of kicking and moving before falling asleep. Same in the morning when I sit down to have a drink of coffee.  I think we might be in trouble!
*Since about 20 weeks, every afternoon I hit a lull. I feel an overwhelming urge for a nap, I am often nauseous and in general don't feel too great.  It passes usually within an hour or so, but for now...it's quite frustrating!
*I've had a great healthy appetite. I enjoy eating, but I don't want to eat all the time.  A little heartburn has started to settle in, but he and I are losing space fast so it stands to reason!
*I've been trying really hard to soak up this pregnancy.  There is a lot happening around me with two little ones to potty train, drop off at preschool, dress and love on every day. All the while, I've got another one who depends souly on me for everything else.  It's tiring and most days I'm more than ready for bedtime and 15 minutes to worry just about what I want to do with my time.  But I try and stop each day and soak up a kick, bump or nudge from him.  I know down the road, I'll ache for these crazy days in my life...and ache for the feeling of a baby kick or bump in my belly.
*I've loved knowing Greyson is Greyson...including having his name decided.  I feel such a close bond with him doing pregnancy this way.
*Our next appointment will be my glucose test and it happens October 25th.  It's crazy how fast time is flying!!!

Let the Adventure Begin

We have officially started the biggest renovation undertaking we have ever attempted at our house....or anywhere!!  Wow is all I can say.  I'm excited and a wee bit nervous...but I plan to keep things updated here so I don't forget anything!!  

So far we've had a big red dumpster out front for demo, the walls have been stripped to the studs and after two grueling days of wiring with my Dad, over half of the loft has newly run wiring!!! Jonnie has also lent a hand!  Currently thanks to him we have bathroom walls, the framing all set for a cool pocket door to the new bathroom...and we got an amazing deal on a great tub (thanks for standing guard while people circled like vultures at Lowe's!)  Progress progress!!  I'll post more pictures as we go along...right now we are framing up a closet, moving storage doors, running a new vent duct and replacing more wiring!

I should note, when I say we, it's loosely.  I am not doing anything besides supervising (there is so much dust and debris Jer barely lets me spend more than 15 minutes at a time up there!)...which is new and hard for me...I love digging into projects and makings things happen as a team.  For now, Project Grow Greyson Linley is my main job...so I'll stick to that.  And watch as things unfold while I get my head together for paint and decorating!  Hey, supervising isn't such a bad gig!!    

Wish us luck!!  So far our biggest snafoos have been asbestos testing.  I'm praying it stays that way!

Girls Weekend 2013

Mid-September, I took off to Lake the Ozarks with two people I've known forever!!  Missy, Leslie and I rented a condo...ate delicious food...shopped till we dropped and generally got caught up on things we'd missed in each other lives the last year or so.  

Our first lunch stop included this AMAZING chocolate cake!!

 Sunset Number 1:

Our shopping buddy and a quiet little Mister who joined us on our trip!

Sunset Number 2:

The selfie I sent my family right before heading to dinner Saturday night.  I had fun visiting and getting away, but I missed my boys something fierce!!

Thanks ladies for a fun girlie weekend :)

A few favorites...and a look-a-like!

I really enjoying using Instagram to capture daily moments.  These two are two of my Coop faves from recent weeks!

And for the look-a-like portion of this post...with Owen I never had a baby picture that screamed OMG that's so you.  Well that has all changed my friends.  Other than the hair being a few shades darker...we are dead ringers...and I LOVE it!!!

Corrupting our Niece!!

A few Sundays ago, we had a surprise Sunday morning hang out with Miss Isabel.  The boys loved the surprise and they loved dragging out all the fun boy stuff around the house.  Her Uncle Jeremy enjoyed it as much as the boys!

Here we have our Iron Man mask...

 Jer does a pretty good Tony Stark impression...

 And the kids thought it was pretty funny...and maybe a smidge bit scary!

 There was much race car playing and action figures that got drug out...as well as this moment.  Isabel climbed onto our bed with stuffed animals...and she was putting them to bed...and laying down so cute and peacefully.  Enter my kids.  And then my husband.  There was loud yelling, bed jumping, blanket tossing and overall mayhem!!

 Coop's face says it all!!

Thanks for hanging out with us little miss! Can't wait for your next visit!!