As always, the start of fall means that our family is on the go...constantly! This year was no different as Jonathan had a TON of fun activities and my belly was expanding pretty rapidly as well!! We had a blast with everything and managed to survive the chaos that seems to reign this time of year. Here are a few highlights from the month. (Oh, and there is another new post below this one. Trying to divide them into months...)
This picture is at 26 weeks. I have gotten involved in the Holy Sews ministry following the death of our Gracie. The group had the opportunity to do an interview for the local news station here in LR. I had gotten dressed up for that night, so we decided to take a few pictures. The interview was a huge blessing as we were able to reach several hurting families, make connections with new hospitals here in Arkansas, and recruit a few new volunteers as well. There is a link from the main website to the interview.
The October bulletin board at Jonathan's preschool. My good friend Edie designed this one and did a great job. Each "spider" is the kids hand prints, which they then painted. It turned out great and Jonathan loved pointing out his spider every day.
The first weekend in October we decided to go to the Johnston Pumpkin Farm in Greenbrier. Unfortunately, we picked the absolute HOTTEST day to go. It was just miserable. I just cannot tolerate the heat and felt so bad the entire time we were there. Jonathan tried so hard to play, but he was just burning up as well. We had fun, but I will honestly admit it was not our best pumpkin patch experience to date. We just could not fit it in on another weekend, so sometimes you just make it work...
I think our favorite activity at the patch this year was painting a pumpkin. Jonathan just loved it and I had a great time watching him. He wanted to paint the entire pumpkin - the top, bottom, AND the stem! He actually liked it so much that we let him painta another one. The 2nd time he picked a little bitty pumpkin.
Jonathan and Daddy sitting in the patch.
Our family!
Jonathan has gotten very into taking pictures. He has taken pictures of everything, including himself. It is always interesting to download the camera and see what he has captured lately. His favorites seem to be whatever is on tv. He likes to take pictures of his shows.
We had a baby shower at work for one of the other PT's, Carrie, and her husband, Kurt. They are adopting twin girls who are just absolutely beautiful! The shower was a lot of fun to buy everything in two's. So happy for them both!
Jonathan decided he wanted to be Superman for Halloween. He was so excited when his costume came in. Mark flew him around the living room for weeks! He is also wearing his light-up Superman ring that I found as well. (It has super powers in case you didn't know!)
We said goodbye to a member of our family this month as well. We bought the Jeep Liberty in 2003 in anticipation of starting a family (and because I wrecked my Mustang). It has been a great SUV and we have really enjoyed it. The 4WD has gotten us out of some places and it has kept my baby safe for the last 3.5 years. However, it will be a little tight with two car seats in the back. Plus, we would not have any room for people to ride with us when they come to town. All of this led to us researching a new car/SUV/van.
We ended up getting at 2007 Honda Odyssey minivan. Trust me, I have gotten harrassed by everyone who sees me for driving a van, but you know, I really kind of like it. I'm not lying, I would like a big Suburban or Yukon, but that is just not in our price range right now. This van meets all of our requirements for a car, at about $30,000 cheaper!! Mark has become a big fan of Dave Ramsey, so we are trying to follow his money management plan to get out of and stay out of debt. In the mean time, I have auto-open/close doors, a drop-down DVD player, and several other fun extras in my new van. We ended up buying it in Shreveport, so we made a weekend trip down there. Stayed in a hotel, had a great dinner, and did a little shopping before coming back home.
The next weekend we went to Vicksburg and Jackson for Mark's sister, Kim's, engagement party. While we were in Vicksburg, we stopped by to see Johnson. Unfortunately, we have not been to Vicksburg or been able to see her in a long time. So, we were very excited to spend some time with her. We even got to take her to run a few errands. Jonathan loved having her ride in the back of the van with him, he thought that was pretty hot stuff.
Saturday night we went to the engagement party. My sweet little boy told me, "Mommy you look so pretty" as we were getting ready. Just made my whole day. For a Mommy who is getting bigger by the day, it was such a sweet and loving thing to say. He took this picture of me himself. Such a sweet little boy who is going to be such a great big brother!
That Sunday we drove back to Little Rock for a special memorial service at Baptist Hospital. This service was to remember every baby that had been lost this year at this hospital. It was a beautiful service. At the end, each family wrote a message to their little one and tied it to a balloon. So many balloons floating away, so much love, so much loss, but still so much love and hope for the future.
Jonathan's class at school asked each of the kids to decorate a pumpkin for the Fall Fest. Jonathan has been on a BIG acorn kick. He collects them everywhere we go. So, we decided to make "ACORN"ucopia as our pumpkin. He told me where to put each acorn and I used the hot glue gun to put them on the pumpkin. We both had a blast and I think his little friends at school liked it too.
Jonathan's preschool puts on a Fall Fest every year a few weeks before Halloween. All of the kids dress up and play games all over the preschool. Jonathan loved wearing his costume and seeing all of his friends from school.
This is his best bud Sam. They were too cute in their matching superhero outfits. There was also a baby there that night dressed as Superman. He thought that was so cool that there were two Supermans.
The next night our church had their Fall Funfest. So, once again, Jonathan dressed up and we went to the church for a ton of games, candy, and treat.
He did really good at throwing the darts at the balloons. Boys got good aim, baseball here we come!
The NEXT day (yes, all three of these events happened in the same week), Jonathan's class went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. This time it was not hot thankfully. I did not get to go, but Mark and my Mom were able to go and enjoy it with him. The field trip was very neat as they had a couple of learning activities for the kids to participate in, not just walking through the patch.
Mrs. Meagan's class at the pumpkin patch. Jonathan's on the top left side of the step.
MaMa Deb (my Mom) was able to come spend this entire week with us and go to all of the fun Halloween activities. On Friday, Jonathan decided that they needed to make a pumpkin pie. They worked really hard and made an excellent pie. I don't think he ate too much of it, but he really did enjoy the process of making it!
The Friday before Halloween Jonathan's preschool did Trick-or-Treating around the building. Jonathan loved it, especially all of the candy!!
Jonathan's class after Trick-or-Treating time.
The PT's at work usually do a theme. This year we were a little lazy and just bought matching t-shirts. As you can tell, Michelle (32 weeks) and I (29 1/2 weeks) are both getting rather big and prego here. Kim did a skit with another group, thus why she's not wearing the shirt.
After the trick-or-treating, Jonathan and his friends changed back into regular clothes. They then had a pizza party with green punch. They had a blast and especially loved the cd of Halloween music during the party. See the dancing below!
Finally, Halloween arrived, and Jonathan went trick-or-treating. We went through most of our neighborhood and he got a TON of candy. Oh my, the candy. We always have fun on Halloween, though, and this year was no exception. I do miss giving out candy at our house, but nothing beats watching him have so much fun.
Our family trick-or-treating
Superman Jonathan
Jonathan and his loot from trick-or-treating. This does not include any of the candy from the Fall Fest at preschool, Fall FunFest at church, or trick-or-treating at chuch. Yes, we have waaaayyyy too much candy. Yes, yes we do. :)
Thanksgiving was fun and busy. Jonathan's class had a Thanksgiving Feast at school the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. They were given the choice to dress up as Indians or as Pilgrims. Jonathan thought he was one hot Indian! They also had personalized placemats which were very cute. There was enough food there for an army and of course all the kids wanted to eat was the sweets. It was a very fun party though, and I was glad that I was able to go.
