Happy 2nd Birthday, Paxton!

Disclaimer: In all of the following pictures, I am not looking the best. You would think that over the years, I might improve, but no, not yet....Don't say I didn't warn you!

So today we celebrate our Paxton Boy's 2nd Birthday! Its hard to believe that my baby is 2 already! How did he go from this...

To this....

So fast? He is so much more than we would have ever imagined. He is full speed. I tell people, he has 2 speeds, full blast and sleep, with nothing in between. He's a sweet baby who still likes to be held, and I will savor that for as long as possible. He comes up and says, "holds you", wanting to be picked up and loved on. I LOVE that! He's also getting quite a personality. He loves to joke around and kid. Its funny to see what he understands and what he will kid back about. His new thing is when you hand him something or do something for him he responds with "thanks dude!". We don't know where he got that, but its so cute. So many things about him we love so much. Does he wear me out? Yes, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! Happy Birthday Paxton, we love you so much and can't wait to see what life holds for you!

A side note: While going through the pictures tonight, I came across one from Adriana's second Birthday. Just thought you would like to compare the kids at the same age. Its funny. Everyone always says how much Adriana looks like me and how much Paxton looks like Ryan, yet they look so much alike. I can't get over how much their faces look the same. Also, we had Paxton's party last night, a post will be coming soon about that.

Trick Or Treat!

So each year, the age old question comes around, about early October, you start stressing out on what your kid is going to be for Halloween. If they are old enough to tell you, then you try to make it work, if not, and you're like me, I HATE spending money on something they will only wear once or twice, so you start thinking about what you can find at Goodwill or what you can make at home. Okay, maybe its just me that does this, but needless to say, it can be kind of a stressful thing. This year, I lucked out. One night, me and Adriana were going up to Goodwill (I say "going up", because Goodwill is literally less than a mile from our home and its just up a big hill. I LOVE it!). Anyway, I had asked her what she thought she wanted to be for Halloween and to my surprise, she said she wanted to be a super hero. I have NO idea where she came up with this. She isn't into any kind of super hero stuff right now, but I thought I could maybe change her mind, if I found something different. Well, that night, at Goodwill, I found a Wonder Woman outfit for $2! In a separate bin, they had the hair band and the boots, for $1.50 more! Adriana LOVED it and I loved the price, so she was set! I was so pleased with how it turned out!

Paxton was a different story. I had NO idea what to make him go as. I thought about putting him in a super hero outfit, but then again, I was having trouble finding something reasonably priced. Then it dawned on me. I had bought a little Micheal Jordan jersey this summer at a garage sale. I think Paxton wore it once all summer, but I thought that would be perfect, since he loves sports so much. So, I just had to go and get a sweat band and he was set. The jersey, by the way, only cost 50 cents at the garage sale, so I can't complain about his outfit either. I thought he turned out pretty darn cute too!

So for Halloween this year, we did the same thing as we did last year, and go with our good friends Matt and Mandy and their kiddos. The kids get along so good and we love being with Matt and Mandy. We are blessed to have them in our lives. This year, Matt and Mandy also dressed up. I LOVED their outfits and they got so many compliments. My picture didn't turn out so good, but you can see they are Mary Poppins and Bert.

We ate a "scary" meal over at their house before we left. I wish I would have taken a picture of all the food. We had Mummy Dogs, Eyeballs, Teeth, Worms, Ghosts and Frankenstein Brownies.

It was a lot of fun and super yummy!

Then we were off to Trick or Treat. The kids had so much fun, Paxton had a blast and couldn't believe how much candy he got.

Our cute little kiddos. They were all so sweet and thankful to the people handing out candy. Truly a fun memory!

Pumpkin Carving

Well the Saturday before Halloween (which Halloween was on a Monday this year), we all of a sudden got in the mood to go to a pumpkin patch. It was a nice Saturday, and we woke up and decided we were going to go. Well, that quickly got squashed when we saw how expensive it was going to be and for the amount of time we were going to spend there, we didn't think it was worth the money. Second best thing? Carve pumpkins at our house. My dad was in town for a visit (currently they are living in Jefferson City with my grandma, being her full time caretakers, so they alternate coming home each week). I felt bad, my dad signed up for a pumpkin patch and by the time he drove out to our house, we had changed our minds, so instead, he sat outside and watched us carve pumpkins. We had a good time. It was such a nice fall day, actually quiet in our neighborhood and just had a good time talking. I love it when "plan B's" end up working out probably better than Plan A would have.

Adriana was SO excited about carving her pumpkin. Well, as you can guess she didn't really do much carving, Ryan got stuck with that job, but she loved pulling the seeds out and coloring on her pumpkin once it was carved.

We had bought a "Carving Kit". Those things are tricky and very time consuming. I branched out and created my own. I got real creative and made a big letter "N".

Poor Ryan worked feverishly on both Adriana and his and here I never got a picture of his finished pumpkin. His turned out really good, he made a haunted house, but by the time he finished, I had already put the camera away. Sorry for not getting a picture, Ryan, but here is the hard work and determination that was written all over your face.

Of course we did all of this while Paxton was down for his nap. I don't even want to think about the mess he would have made if he was in the mix. So when he got up, I let him color his pumpkin. He was so excited!

All our little pumpkins in a row. Starting at the top step: Ryan's, Adriana's, mine and Paxton's.

Such a fun, fall memory!

In Pictures....

When you see your kids everyday, its hard to notice how fast they change and grow up. You may notice that they all of a sudden seem to have a mouth full of teeth or super long hair, but you miss the settle changes, which is kind of sad. Thank goodness for pictures, right? There are things you may forget, a facial expression, a cheesy smile or a goofy way they stand, but pictures capture it all for us. I LOVE having pictures all over our house, I think it makes it seem so cozy and I always enjoy seeing pictures hanging on people's wall when I go to their houses too. Its fun to see kids grow up and change.
Recently I updated some pictures that are hanging in our stairway. Its kind of sad to update pictures. Its like you're covering up your children as babies and making them grow up through pictures. Anyway, as I prepared to change them, I took pictures of the before and after. Its amazing how much they have changed within 18 months or so. Time goes by too fast!

Daddy Daughter Date

Okay, so since I'm so far behind on my blog, this Daddy Daughter Date Night probably happened about a month and a half ago or so. Chick-Fil-A had a daddy daughter night and I just KNEW Adriana would LOVE some one on one time with her hero, her daddy. I told Ryan about it, he was all for it. We told Adriana about it and told her that she gets to go on a date with Daddy. So we did hair, make-up and a fancy dress for the occasion. Ryan kept reminding me that it wasn't a fancy event, but what girl doesn't like going on a date and getting all dolled up? She was so excited, Ryan even went and got her some flowers, which she LOVED!

I'm so glad they got to go, they had a blast and hopefully made memories for both of them, that lasts a long time! Here's to many more date nights with Daddy!

I'm Back!!!

I come before you with my head held down, ashamed that it has been well over a month since my last post. I will say, that I had typed up a quick note that I THOUGHT had posted a couple of weeks ago, letting you know, my faithful readers, that I was going to take the month of October off. Actually what had happened is before I knew it, October was half way over and I felt a ton of stress to write a post in my blog, but then I thought, "I don't want my blog to be stressful, so I will take a month off!". I enjoy my blog and I enjoy writing stories and posting pictures, but it does take time and lately, time is pretty precious to me, because I don't feel like I have a lot of it free these days. So forgive me, check back this week and hopefully, I can get caught up before the major holidays are here (which is in a little over 2 weeks for Thanksgiving!) How is any of this possible??

First Day of School

Yeah, Yeah, I know, school has been in session for a month or so, I'm a little behind, what can I say. School has been busy and we have been busy ever since it started up. The kids like school a lot. Adriana LOVES pre-K and comes home everyday telling me all about it. Her teachers brag on how well she does in school, that's what a momma wants to hear. Paxton likes it good enough, I guess. He's good about not fussing when I drop him off, but my class,that I teach and his class have gym class together and that hasn't gone too well, with him seeing me and then having to leave. Our classrooms are right next door to each other and we take every precaution to avoid him seeing me while his class or mine walk by each other's room. He'll adjust, I'm sure. My class is doing great! It took the kiddos a few weeks to get use to being dropped off by their parents, but they are doing good, not crying anymore and starting to get into the routine of things. I think its going to be a great year! Here are pictures of all of us, as we rushed out the door on the first day of school.

Paxton on his first day of preschool, ever.

Adriana all geared up for Pre-K!

All of ready to head to school.

The kids with Daddy.

Notice that in every picture they have their breakfast bars. Sadly, that's their breakfast on school days, its just too hard to sit them down to eat and be out the door by 8am. They adjust well though. Hope everyone else is off to a good start this school year!

Potty Training???

One day, the kids were in the bathroom, door shut and being pretty quiet. Not really a good combo. I could tell that they weren't really getting into anything, but I knew they were probably still up to something. I opened the door and found this.


Adriana trying to potty train Paxton. Her intentions are good, but that child is no where near ready to sit on the potty. He thought he was pretty big stuff though. It was cute and funny. I love when they are being sweet with each other in moments like this.

Labor Day Weekend

I can't believe another Labor Day has come and gone. That means, summer is over and fall is right around the corner. It seems like this year is just flying by! We just got back from another great trip from seeing our family in Chillicothe, MO. I say another trip, because if you remember, we went there last Labor Day weekend. We are so blessed to have such great families, on both the Bowen side and the Naylor side. We love our family in Chillicothe and were so blessed to be able to make the trip again. There are tons of pictures and tons to write about, but since I'm a woman with many things to do and small kids to attend to, I'll kind of let the pictures talk for themselves. Take in the country smells, the sticky fingers and faces, the giggles from 5 kids, the laughter of a family who loves to kid each other and the smiles on our faces from being in each other's presence.

All the kids. Electronics were plentiful and ALL
of them enjoyed playing with them.

Repunzel, Oh, I mean, Ryan taking a little nap.

You know you are in the country when, riding your

4 wheeler to Walmart is legal...

I love being out in the country. I love that we have family that lives out in the country so that when we visit we truly feel like we are on vacation. Thank you Barb and Roger for feeding us wonderful food, boarding our brute and loving our family. We are blessed beyond measure!