The ghosts of Halloween Present, Halloween Past, and Halloween More Past.

Last night we took Max (and GB) out trick or treating at our town's downtown area. It was fun and it was nice to have an excuse to have him wear his costume an extra time. We have a family theme but I was lame didn't wear my costume last night. Don't worry I promise to bust it out on real Halloween. I seriously love Halloween so here is a look back through the years.

2012:

Mario and Luigi

2011:

The cutest little garden gnome around

Trick or treating with Momma. We went to a few houses for the photo op (and I may have enjoyed the bonus of candy)

 2010:

I loved this stage because he was like a little doll. I got to play dress up.

Barney, Betty, and our sweet little BamBam at GB's unit party. (Please excuse what I mess I was postpartum.)

Actual Halloween day. Our sweet little bumble bee!

2007:

And taking you way back to the first Halloween GB and I celebrated together. Officer and inmate. 

Because it's October

and we live in the real world (aka the lower 48 aka a place where there is currently no snow on the ground), we decided to head to the pumpkin patch last Friday. Max was really in his element. There were sticks, "punkins," and he got to be outside so he was in heaven. GB and I had fun, too!

He didn't know what to think at first.

It wouldn't be an adventure with a 2 year old if there wasn't a slight meltdown . Apparently telling Max that he can go play in the woods by himself is the meanest thing ever followed closely by not letting him go for a cruise by himself on the random riding lawn mower.

We even got a family picture with smiles on every face!

Checking everything out.

"More Daddy! Max fly more. More please!"

Getting creative

I make no secret about the fact that I was born without the creative gene. Like it never developed, ever. Luckily the men in my life make up for me. GB has had more free time this month than ever before since the Army has taken over his life. He has used it to his advantage by making getting his creative juices flowing. He has made us graves for our front yard, a new corn hole set, as well as an awesome Lego table for our little guys.

Lego table fun!

We decided to jump on the creative train and give painting a try again. When Max was littler, finger painting was a big time fail. He did not like his the feeling of the paint and you would think I was torturing him by having him do it. This time I decided to try a brush instead and that was a big time hit. He also did some spontaneous finger painting and he was much happier to do it this time. I made my own paint using the standard equal part flour and cold water plus a little food coloring. I did 2 cups of each and the only thing I would have done differently is make the paint a little thicker. I think when my helper did the stirring he stirred too much flour out of the bowl so the color wasn't the best, but we had a blast.  

What do you think? Next Picasso, right?

"Pway wif frens!"

Sometimes I find myself teaching Max things and then later being like "Why would I ever think that is a good idea?" The latest of example of this would be calling other kiddos his age, friends. We have spent quite a bit of time at the park lately and he loves to run up to the other kids, grab their hands, and say "Pway, frens. Come on. Pway wif Max!!" When they just look at him, he starts yelling at the top of his lungs, "FRENS!" The other little ones don't know how to respond. He is definitely the opposite of shy.

Getting him to leave is like pure torture. He is so happy on the walk there; laughing, pointing at squirrels, and talking about how excited he about "pwaying on the swide." Then on the walk home, he is such a sad little man. For at least the first block he cries, then he tries really hard to keep looking at the playground, then he asks, "Where frens go?" And it happens the same way everyday. Life is rough when you are 2 y'all.

He loves counting these balls. He can even count backward! I did not know he knew how to do that.

Crazy driver.

So much sass. 

So sad that he had to leave the toys.

Playing in the backyard made life better.

I hope everyone had a great Monday!

Halfway!

That is right. I am halfway done. The bun is half baked. I remember with Max that it felt like I would never ever reach this point, but with this little one it has flown by. With the holidays coming up, I have a feeling time is going to keep flying and we will have this little boy (that is right and another sweet little boy!!) in our arms in no time.

How far along? 20 Weeks 4 days

How big is baby? The size of a banana

Total weight gain/loss: up about 8 lbs today, but it has been fluctuating 

Maternity clothes? Definitely in pants about half and half in shirts.

Sleep: Getting up is the hardest thing in the morning. I have had a little more difficulty falling asleep at night, but when I fall asleep, I sleep hard. 

Best moment this week: Road trip with my family. We had so much fun!

Movement: I have really been feeling more and more lately. 

Food cravings: Avacado as well as chips and salsa

Food Aversions: Nope

Gender: It's a boy!

Labor Signs: No, thank goodness!

Pregnancy Symptoms: Holy heartburn and aches and pains.

What I am looking forward to: Finding a name for this little boy and having his movements become stronger so GB can feel them more.

20 weeks and 1 days and really thinking this baby is going through a growth spurt , because my belly is sore!

Fall Boy!

It is hard to remember that this is fall, but the leaves are slowly changing and there are even some on the ground. In the Pacific Northwest, fall means much lower temperatures, but I am liking in the mid to high seventies we have had the past few days. Yesterday morning and evening, Max really lived up to the terrible two hype so after dinner I decided it was time to run around outside to make bedtime a little easier. All I can say is he is all boy. He was picking up sticks and leaves, throwing things, and running everywhere. It was definitely the right choice and I love to watch him learn even doing small things.

Big Girl Dreams

Alabama, Alaska, California, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming.

So it may be a lame dream, but I want to go to all 50 states before I kick the bucket. This is one situation that being part of a military family comes in handy. This weekend we decided to take advantage of GB's long weekend and road trip to my 24th state Mississippi! We went to visit one of GB's friends and to see an SEC football game.

Oxford, MS is an adorable town with a cute square and a lot of history.

Hanging out in the square.

Max was being a silly little guy!

The history teacher in me got way too excited by the signs like this throughout the town.

It wouldn't be a trip into Oxford without venturing onto Ole Miss territory!

The next day was game day, but unfortunately this momma was not prepared enough. I checked the weather earlier in the week and it looked like a perfect day for football in the mid 70s, with it cooling down on Sunday, which would be fine because that was our drive home day. Well from now on I am going to check more than once, because it was freezing and rainy. I only had sandals. We had to run to Walmart to buy Max a pair of jeans, and he used a pair of GB's socks. Max and I didn't last until the game because we were both drenched and cold (how does it go from 85 on Friday to 50 pouring rain on Saturday). We really enjoyed the little bit of tailgating experience and were happy that GB still managed to watch the game (I was more than okay to cuddle into my sweatpants, watch Sweet Home Alabama, and have some girl time with our hostess).

Ready to cheer on the rebels!

Momma and her boy!

Taking in the game day experience!

Max was such a little trooper even in the rain! He loved people watching!

WW: What's for dinner?

Can you guess what Max had? We will consider this a win because the past week dinner has been a struggle!

Happy October!

This is one of my favorite months of the year and not just because of it's my birthday month. I love fall. I love Halloween. I love changing leaves and sunflowers. Last year, October marked the halfway point of GB being gone and it was full of fun times for Max and I including adorable photo ops like this:

This month plans to be busy for us as well.  We have our big u/s coming up very soon, which means getting serious about naming this little one and starting organizing everything.We have several short trips planned. I want to go to a pumpkin patch. There is going to be a legit family costume theme for Halloween. Plus the smell and taste of pumpkin make me happy so that only adds to greatness that is this month. I wish every a fabulous 10th month of the year!

Bonus: Here is baby at 19 weeks. I started feeling sweet little movements this week , which was definitely of my week. Also one more week for good measure.