trick or treat

Chris' parents had a Halloween Party Saturday night over in Columbus. It was a good time, they bbq'd, had 4-wheeler hayrack rides, a haunted spook trail, games, and tons of candy! Jack had a great time running through the hay in the garage, searching for candy in his hay pile, chasing balls around, and of course eating candy!

Pointing at the scary decorations!

Daddy trying to get Jack's costume on...

Still trying...

And trying...

xoxo

happy halloween!

a baby shower

Saturday Jack and I traveled back home to Chanute for one of my very good friend's baby showers! Congratulations Jenny! We can't wait to meet Sophia Claire!

Gorgeous little Hayden!

It looks like they are holding hands, but really Jack was just going to his lego that Hayden is holding! He isn't good at sharing his legos!

xoxo

Wood Farms Pumpkin Patch

This was our second year going to the Woods Farm Pumpkin Patch and I have to say our experience this year was TOTALLY different than last year! Jack was only 5 months old so we could prop him up and he would smile for hours and let us take all the pictures we wanted. This year he was more interested in "people watching" to let me take any posed pictures! He also wanted to do everything he isn't quite big enough for, which lead to multiple break downs on his part! Overall though it was a good trip and it actually made me super excited for next year when I know he will be able to do all the activities his little heart desires!

Seeing that we are in the middle of deer season Chris was hunting, so we met up with my friend Chelse and her little girl Tylee. Thanks Chelse for all the pictures!

Jack was in love with the miniature pigs! He went straight to them and stuck his hand threw the fence to pet them! He didn't want to leave them and we even went back for a second visit!

Honestly, Jack loved all the animals which is making me think we need to visit the zoo or Deanna Rose Farmstead in KC as soon as possible! I know he would love it!

There was a bumble bee blow up obstacle course that Jack really thought he wanted to go in, but I knew he would never make it out because there were 4 foot tall walls that he would have had to climb and then slide down the other side once he got to the top! He was NOT happy about this, so we decided to let him try the bounce house!

I love this picture! When Jack got in the bounce house it was all younger, smaller children. But as luck would have it, about 2 minutes after Jack and Tylee got in - a 200 pound 10 year old jumped in and started reaking jumping havoc on all the little kids! After seeing Jack take a couple good hits I decided it was time to get out - of course Jack had a different idea. As soon as I said, "Come on Jack, let's get out!" he immediately headed towards the back of the house as far away from the door as possible. With the 200 pound 10 year old still going crazy I started to lose my cool (as the 200 pound 10 year old's parents stood by watching their huge son demolish 8 small children), and promptly kicked off my shoes, told the 200 pound 10 year old to STOP JUMPING! and climbed in the house to grab Jack. Jack was less than appreciative of me trying to save him from the 200 pound 10 year and decided to scream bloody murder the entire way out! Oh, the joys of a 16 month old that loves to throw tantrums! Ha! I smiled, looked at all the wide-eyed parents standing around and said, "Oh, he's just having a bad day!" Ha!

Jack also got to play in a huge corn box (think sand box, but full of corn), ride a barrel tractor ride, and then take a hayrack ride (minus the hay) through the "haunted" pasture!

Next year we might hit up Chelse and Tylee's pumpkin patch in McCune - just for a change of scenery (and hopefully not so many people)!

growing up

Jack is getting to be such a big boy these days and with that comes his independence, which is good and in some cases not good! When he doesn't get his way he now throws full out tantrums! He throws himself down on the floor and screams! Jack loves playing outside and making him come inside will guarantee a meltdown! I've started letting him come in on his own terms and then having him shut the door - this usually helps until he realizes that I'm not going to reopen the door for him to go back out!

Jack has also started insisting on holding a fork during meals. He uses it sometimes and he gets so excited when he successfully pokes his food and actually gets it in his mouth! It's cute!

Jack is now running around the house and loves it when people knock on the door! He gets so excited to see who it is! He is back in his own crib, but still plays for quite awhile before actually falling asleep!

We went to the doctor last week for Jack's flu shot and he weighed just over 23 pounds and was 30.5 inches long (yes he is getting taller)!

The cutest thing happened this morning when I dropped him off at Tonya's! Usually I sneak out when he isn't looking or I say a quick bye and Tonya takes him the other way. He never really cries too much and I can always hear him stop before I even get off the porch, but this morning was different. As soon as we walked in Jack wanted to play, I sat and talked to Tonya for a minute and then it was time to leave. I told Jack I was leaving and he made a bee-line for me, I thought oh he is going to cry! He walked over arms out (I thought b/c he wanted picked up), but I just squated down and said "Ok, give me hug and kiss," he hugged me and I kissed him on the cheek and he promptly turned around and went back to playing! What a big boy! That was the first time HE ever gave ME a goodbye hug and kiss!

xoxo

mini vaca pictures

at our condo/cabin!

one of the towers at ziplining!

getting ready to head up our first tower!

he's really walking

So I know I've been mentioning in posts about Jack starting to walk, but I can officially say that he is now preferring walking over crawling for the most part! It's so cute to see him walking around, I can't stand it! It only took 15-16 months, but he's got walking down! I'm so proud of him!

Oh - HAPPY 16 MONTH BIRTHDAY JACK!

vacation

I went on a mini-vacation with two of my best girlfriends from high school this past weekend so I totally got lost on the blog challenge and I really don't want to get caught up so I'm going to call it a fail and move on!

So Taryn, Julie and I set out for Branson Thursday afternoon! We stayed right on Table Rock Lake (which was nice, but we now know wasn't necessary), we shopped our hearts out, we hit up SDC (Silver Dollar City) and rode some rides, and Taryn and I went ziplining! I have to say ziplining was probably the high light of the trip for me! I had been wanting to do it forever! It was so fun - Taryn might disagree, she was nervous at first but by the end she was a pro!

We ate good food, we laughed, and we caught up! It was nice! Of course I missed Chris and Jack and was definitely ready to get home once Sunday rolled around, but I think it was a much deserved/needed vacation for this mommy!

a website

www.babylegs.com

There is a huge sale at Baby Legs right now! Spend $50 get 50% off! Can't beat that!

Just wanted to share!

a recipe

No Bake Cookies

(which is as close to baking as I get!)

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups white sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

3 cups quick-cooking oats

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa. Bring to a boil and cook for 1.5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter, oats, and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool until hardened.

Servings: 3 dozen