Happy Halloween!

We decided this year that Nate was old enough to go trick-or-treating and actually know what to do with himself. My friend, Catie, invited us over to trick-or-treat in her neighborhood. She has a son who is Nate's age and a daughter who is one. The three kids had fun playing together, but, as it is true with toddlers, at some point all three had some form of meltdown. It was a blast getting to hang out with them, and Matt was able to make it over right as we started our trick-or-treat route. 

"There's a snake in my boot!" 

Nate and Olivia checking out the jack-o-lantern! 

Nate and Will riding in style after walking up and down the street!

Nate had so much fun and my normally bashful child was not shy at all! He had no issues walking up to doors, holding out his pumpkin, and saying "trick-or-treat!" He had it down. I am so glad Catie invited us over! We were dragging at school on Friday, but the kids had so much fun it was worth it!

"It's the Poo-kin Patch"

Well, we learned one thing for sure this year -- Nate is obsessed with Halloween! He had a blast during all of the October festivities associated with fall and Halloween. He calls a pumpkin a "poo-kin" and loves any form of skeleton and/or witch. We took Nate mid-October to the pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin, or three. He had a ton of fun walking down the rows of pumpkins, playing on the tractor, and playing in the pumpkin chariot. 

"Look at all those poo-kins!" 

Taking a stroll through the pumpkins 

"It's a green poo-kin!" 

He loved sitting on the tractor. He wasn't sure about the pedals, but the did try to push it with his feet! 

Prince Charming 

The pumpkin chariot! 

Nate did not want to get out. Ever. 

Pilgrims

It was a fun trip and we are very excited that Nate is getting in to all of the festivities. I can only imagine what Thanksgiving and Christmas will be like this year!

Summer fun -- just a little late!

I am behind. Way behind. I had a noble goal for blogging this summer, but I didn't achieve it. My summer pretty much flew by and by the time school started I really didn't have the time or energy to catch up on blogging. The chaos of back to school has finally started to die down and I had a few minutes this afternoon to update my blog. Let's go back to July.....

Nate and I made our yearly trip to Alabama toward the end of July. Nate and I drove up to Beulah on a Friday and stayed the night with Matt's mom and Tim. This was our first solo trip at such a long distance. It was long and dramatic, but we made it. We stopped off in Phenix City to visit with Matt's granddad before heading on to stay the night with Renee and Tim. We left Saturday afternoon and headed to Birmingham for John and Noah's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. Nate had a fun time with the games, but he had the most fun counting his 'coins' at a table.

Hanging with Big Daddy at Chuck E Cheese 

Nate refused to smile. He was busy with his coins that were in the cup. 

Nate and John enjoying their pizza. 

Nate enjoyed his cake! 

Noah stopped by to give Nate some kisses.

After the party Nate and I headed to Moody to visit with my brother, Chanlee, and Indiana. We stayed the night with them in order to be around for Indiana's birthday party on Sunday. Indiana had a farm themed party and Nate had a blast helping him celebrate.

The cake 

Nate had fun watching Indiana opening his gifts. 

Nate and my dad had fun with the train table. 

The birthday cowboy! 

Once again, Nate refused to look at the camera.

We spent several days visiting in Gadsden. While there my dad and I took Nate to the falls. He had a ton of fun riding the train and looking at the animals. He had so much fun that when it was time to leave he had a fit.  

Riding the train 

Looking at the falls

Our time in Alabama was short, but we had fun. On the way back to Florida, we stopped by and spent the night with Renee and Tim again. Sadly, on our way up to Birmingham the DVD player died so I had to purchase a new one before our trip from Beulah to Florida. Like the trip a week prior, the six hour drive was long and dramatic, but we survived. I don't plan on driving back with Nate any time soon, but it's good to know we can (somewhat) handle it!

Lucky Number 7!

Happy Anniversary to my sweet husband who has been putting up with my craziness for awhile now! We've had many great adventures, and here's to many more!!

Summer fun

Where is my summer going?!?! It is hard to believe that July starts tomorrow! The past few weeks have been nothing short of crazy. Nate had swim lessons about two weeks ago. This was the parent-child class and even though Nate loves the water he does not like being told what to do in the water. We worked on kicking, blowing bubbles, moving arms, jumping, floating, and picking up rings. Well, Nate pretty much wanted no part of any of it. He loves to blow bubbles, but not on demand. He enjoyed getting the rings, but only when he didn't have to get his face close to the water. Finally, on the last day, Nate decided that he liked jumping into the water and wanted to do it over and over. Hopefully we'll be able to practice some of these skills the rest of the summer.   I was on my way to swim lessons one morning when I received a text from Andrea. Matt got resident of the year! A huge congratulations to him!

We did a little shopping at Whole Foods after swim lessons one day. 

Nate loved having his own shopping cart and was very good at running it in to people and things. 

We played hard at the park after swimming one day.

Matt's mom (aka Nanny) came for a visit about a week ago. The hospital's new year starts in July and because of this June and July are typically very crazy for Matt's schedule. He was off a few days over the course of the week and we decided to take a quick trip to Orlando. Matt was sleeping off his night shift on Sunday, but he got up Sunday afternoon and we made the trek to Orlando. I wanted to take Nate to a character breakfast, but procrastination doesn't pay off for that! Everything was booked so we'll have to plan that outing for another time. Instead, we went to City Walk Sunday night and ate at Margaritaville. We then went back to the hotel where the napless Nate played in the pool. He was still going strong around 9pm, and we finally had to call it a night. 

Nate decided to sleep in on Monday (probably due to his lack of a nap on Sunday) and we ended up at Downtown Disney. We had lunch at Paradiso 37 and spent the first half of our time trying to soothe a very cranky toddler. Since Nate slept so late we ended up missing breakfast and I have a feeling his meltdown was due to hunger. Once he calmed down he happily ate his hot dog and fries without complaint. We went to the Disney store where Nate decided he needed a new Jessie (the arm recently fell off of the old one) and a cowboy hat. Once he was entertained we grabbed a treat from Ghiradelli and relaxed for a few. After shopping a little more, we decided to head home. 

On Tuesday Matt and I both had to go to work. I had a workshop to attend and Nate stayed home with his Nanny. They went to the pool and had a fun time. Matt and I were going to have a date night Tuesday, but plans got a little derailed when his mom noticed my car tag was missing. Yes, someone stole my license plate. UGH. I had to file a police report and after all of that we decided to can the movie and just grab some food.

Thankfully Matt was off on Wednesday and he was able to take me to the DMV to get a new tag. I was told I couldn't drive my car until a new tag was issued. Matt and I used Wednesday afternoon as an errand day. We all went to eat lunch at the French Pantry and then sent Nate home with Nanny. Matt and I spent some time at the police station, the DMV, the auto parts store, and Comcast. How fun!! We left Nate with Nanny again Wednesday night in order to go to trivia night with Andrea and Lori. I'm glad we did because our table won!! Yay!!!

Our somewhat crazy week culminated on Friday when Matt's mom accidentally locked her keys in her car on her way out of town. Matt, Nate, and I drove out to sit with her until roadside assistance showed up. Her car was opened and she made it home safely. Matt headed off to work Friday afternoon while Nate and I spent the rest of our day playing and watching Mickey. I'm hoping that next week we'll be able to practice some of our swimming skills and relax!

I will leave you with this parting image. Nate has learned how to wear his daddy's boots. Bless him. When he falls down wearing them he cannot get back up. However, he does put them right back on and tries again! Happy Sunday!!

Everyday is a winding road....

Okay, so I have fallen behind -- again. I am going to attempt to post weekly this summer to try and get myself back on track in the blogging world! I make no promises that it will happen, but I'm going to try. There have been many things going on since I last posted. April passed without too many crazy activities. However, May was nuts!

The month of May started off like a normal month, but quickly picked up steam as the month progressed. Let's start with Mother's Day. My sweet boys got me some new sheets that I requested. I was so excited that I washed them and put them on immediately! I also got a card from each of my three boys (yes, even Moose remembered!).

My loot!

Matt had to work on Mother's Day so I found my gift when I woke up that Sunday morning. Nate and I had the entire day to ourselves. Matt and I never go out to eat on certain holidays in order to avoid crowds. I honestly don't think we've ever been out to eat on Valentine's Day and well, Mother's Day was no exception. Since Matt had to work and we wanted to avoid crowds, Nate and Matt took me out to eat on Saturday. We went to one of Nate's favorite restaurants, Mitchell's Fish Market, and pigged out on some yummy food. Afterward, we decided to stroll around the Town Center. We were having a lovely stroll until the train passed by. Nate never showed any interest in that train until today. He made a beeline for the train stop and the next thing I knew he and I were on the train going for a ride around the Town Center. He had a blast! After we got off the train the three of us headed for the car. It was about to pour. Unfortunately, we were a little late and the three of us were soaked by the time we reached the car!

 After eating 

That smile did not leave his face for the entire ride! 

So, Matt went back on a night rotation midway through May. Since May is a crazy time for teachers in general, and I had a field trip to Universal coming up along with a promotion ceremony, my mom came back for a few weeks to help out. I was so glad she did because the day of the field trip and the promotion ceremony Matt was on nights. She stayed until school was out and went home last week. While she was in town I was able to spend some time with her, and some time with Matt! We rarely ever get to do things together without Nate because of scheduling and hiring a sitter. Mom was more than willing to watch the little man so Matt and I were able to go out on a few dates. We went out for my birthday and watched The Hangover Part III. It was funny. I laughed. It wasn't as good as the first, but was better than the second. AND -- I got to watch Bradley Cooper for two hours. That alone was worth the $7.50! Matt and I also got to go out one night and try out a tapas restaurant called Ovinte. It was delicious! We had a fun night hanging out without worrying about getting home to a sitter.

I am now enjoying my first full week of summer vacation! I was so ready for a break and I have spent the week cleaning, relaxing, sleeping, and hanging out with my boys. Next week Nate starts swim lessons and I'll have to get up early to get him there, but I'm hoping he'll have fun! Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks!

How cute is this chair??? I found it at BJs and showed it to Nate. He loved it and of course it came home. Now don't get me wrong, we didn't need another piece of furniture in our house, but really -- how cute is this chair??

There is also a matching ottoman that didn't make it in the shot. He likes to sit in his chair and watch movies.

M-i-c-k-e-y M-o-u-s-e. Nate is obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse at the moment. While shopping at the outlet mall for my birthday, he had to ride on the Mickey toy.

My child often has very strong opinions about what he wants. Please notice how he is dressing himself these days........ 

Yes, it is June and we live in Florida, but this child love, love, loves his cowboy boots. The hat often goes out with us, too. Thankfully, I have been able to talk him out of the boots for most of our trips out.

I found this flavor of Ben and Jerry's the other day at Target. If you like peanut butter then this might be a flavor for you! I will warn you though -- it is rich! I can only eat about two spoonfuls before I have to put it away!

Matt was off yesterday and we took advantage of the day and went to the beach! Nate loves the sand and water and since we waited until late in the afternoon to go the weather was perfect!

It's hard to get Matt to smile sometimes. He later told me the sun was in his eyes. 

Beach buddies!

My sweet beach baby!

Well, that is all I have for today. Here's hoping that my posts will be a little more frequent over the summer months! Happy Thursday!

Party Time!

We celebrated Nate's second birthday this past weekend. We had family coming into town all week and by Saturday the weather was ready to cooperate and we had a wonderful day for a party! Let's start with spring break week...

The weather was pretty cold most of the week. We finally got some warm air on Friday, but unfortunately we weren't able to spend too much time outdoors the rest of the week. On Monday my dad flew into town and began his visit. My mom was already in town because she had been helping out while Matt was on nights. Nate got to spend some quality time with his Baddaddy on Tuesday and then on Wednesday Matt's mom and grandfather came into town. My brother, Chanlee, and Indiana came into town on Thursday and Matt's dad and Tricia were in town for the party on Saturday. Nate has a lot of family that love him and were willing to travel to celebrate his special day!!

The party was scheduled for Saturday morning so as not to interfere with nap times. I've learned that as a parent you pay attention to things like that! Nate had several friends show up to party with him. The theme of his party was pretty much anything that goes! Cars, trucks, airplanes, boats -- you name it, he loves it! Here are a few pictures from the big day!

The cake courtesy of Matt's mom! 

We made the tables look like roads. 

The food table -- yum! 

A front view of the food table 

The birthday boy and his bubble machine! The bubbles were a big hit :-) 

Food!! 

I think Nate ate chips, chips, cake, applesauce, and a side of chips. 

I wasn't exaggerating about the chips! 

Hanging with Uncle Jeffery 

The food table was a huge hit!

Family photo! I'm so excited Nate was actually looking at the camera!

We had so much fun celebrating Nate's second birthday. Everyone had a great time and we enjoyed visiting and hanging out with family and friends. Here's to another year of fun with our little man!