Halloween 2013 (and 1984)

Here's a few pictures from our pumpkin carving this Halloween.  The kids liked their Ernie pumpkin, although I failed to take a picture, apparently.

We had a fun Halloween party with friends the week prior to Halloween.  This is the third time Susan and Jackson have hosted and it's been fun every year.  

Jackson

On Halloween we planned on meeting up with Aunt Christy on Fountain Square.  It turned out to be a rainy day, so we grabbed lunch with Daddy.  We thought that there was a break in the rain, so we ran over to the Square after lunch.  We missed Aunt Christy and ended up in the rain.  But the kids had fun!  

Meow!

Jack got to wear the same costume that Jacob wore when he was little.  Grandma Mink made this cat costume in 1984!  When we were trying to figure out what Jack would wear this year, Jack was pulling for Nemo.  But when Nana showed him this costume, he was sold.  He fell in love with the tail and was so excited to wear his Daddy's old costume. Here's a look back:

2013 and 1984

July 4th

It was a rainy 4th of July this year.  We were hoping to walk in the College Hill parade this year, but the rain kept us away.  Fortunately, we found a much more exciting activity:  Lunch and train watching!

We headed to Glendale with Mom and Carl and Christy and Pizza Man (aka David) and grabbed lunch at Cock & Bull.  Jack loved the trains and it was a great distraction from the rain.

The rain didn't cancel or plans for dinner with friends last night.  The Larson family came over for a 4th of July cookout.  It was moved inside, but worked perfectly for these little guys.  It cleared up long enough for us all to head outside for sparklers and pop-its.  Patrick (with the red hair) and Graham are two of Jack's buddies from church.  He talks about them all of the time, and it's great to see him have friends at such a young age.  Jack also adores Annabelle!  She's been sweet to him and gives him attention even though she already has two little brothers vying for her attention.  

Halloween 2012

Halloween was a week-long celebration for Jack and Audrey.  We kicked it off with a party with some my friends and their children.  Susan threw another great party and all of the little one (and adults) had a great time.  Susan and her husband recently purchased a fire truck -- yes, a fire truck.  It was a great backdrop for a Halloween picture!

The Monday before Halloween Jack got to wear his costume to Music Class.  One of Jacob's childhood neighbors Erin (Fischer) Bullard teaches this class every Monday and Jack loves it.  It was fun to see the whole group dressed up!

He was so excited to carve our pumpkin this year -- until he realized what it meant to carve a pumpkin.  All  day we planned and prepared and talked about what we were going to do.  He even woke up from his nap early, calling "Mama, pumpkin!"  Then it came time to do the cleaning and carving. He was completely grossed out by the seeds and bored with the entire process, so I ended up sitting on the kitchen floor carving the pumpkin alone.

And finally, here are the pictures from the big night:

Jack spent the majority of the night passing out candy:

He was so disappointed when there were no kids at the door. He loved his job.  I'm sure next year he'll know what Trick or Treating is, and we'll have to take him out.  This year, I was glad to stay inside!

What we've been up to...

So, I'm totally behind again.  I've been spending Jack's nap time working and prepping for my maternity leave, getting ready for this baby's arrival, or napping.  I can't believe that his or her arrival is coming up so quickly!  According to our due date we've got less than two weeks to go.  I'm already progressing in the right direction and Dr. Grim is guessing that I won't make it to July 26th.  I'm hoping he's right!

Rather than trying to recap each and every thing we've done this past month I'm going to give you a few highlights.

We checked out the new Washington Park last week.  It was a huge hit!

We hung  out with our cousins:

Jack learned how to eat corn from the cob:  Happy 4th of July!

I've been working to find activities that Jack would enjoy playing independently.  Here he is exploring his new Mr. Potato Head:

Jack learned about the joys of splashing in a puddle:

I can't promise that I'll be great at updating the blog after the baby comes.  But I promise to try and I'll do my best to keep you informed about this baby's arrival.  

Here are a few pictures from our last session with Leah Robbins:  Enjoy!

http://leahrobbins.com/blog/2012/06/jack-18-months/

Easter 2012

This is the first year that we've spent Easter Sunday at our church, New City Presbyterian Church. We all drove together and Jack and I got to watch the band practice before the service.  He enjoyed watching Jacob play is bass on the stage, but really loved listening to the drummer play.

We had an Easter egg hunt immediately after the service:

Trying to patiently wait for the hunt to begin

Searching for eggs

After church, we headed to two Easter parties - one for each side of the family.  Here's our 2012 Easter picture:

Jack:  17 months.  Baby Samad: 24 weeks

Christmas Day 2011

Christmas morning started out with just the three of us, which was a great way to spend the early hours of the day.  We snapped a shot of Jack waiting patiently at the top of the stairs, although I'm pretty sure he had no idea he was supposed to be anticipating anything more than breakfast.

Jack watched as Jacob and I exchanged our gifts before he opened anything.  I bet that's the last time that will happen!  He was happy to eat his cereal bar and drink his milk, so we went ahead and opened our gifts.  I was lucky enough to receive parent/child swim lessons from Jack.  We start of Friday, and I'm so excited!

Later in the morning, Nana and Aunt Christy came over to eat breakfast and open gifts with us.  By the end of our time together, Jack seemed to be annoyed by all of the gift unwrapping.  I think he was a bit overwhelmed!

Jack has loved playing with his new kitchen.  I know, I know.  A kitchen for a boy?  When Jacob's mom asked me what Jack wanted for Christmas, I knew right away that this would be a great idea.  Our family spends countless hours in our kitchen and I wanted Jack to have a kitchen that fit him perfectly.  He really has enjoyed it and it has proved to be great for independent play.  (Thank you, Nana!)

Aunt Christy's boyfriend, Joe designed and built these amazing chairs for our family.  I know it took him a lot of time and effort, and we love them!  Jack really enjoys being 'big' in his own chair and you can find him sitting up high, smiling, and swinging his legs.  (And check out those new kicks from Aunt Christy!)

One of Jack's favorite parts of the day was sitting by the fire at Nana's house.  Christy made the tile base for the fire pit.  These people are crafty!