Batman & Cowboy

One afternoon, post Halloween, we busted out the costumes to have a some fun in the backyard.

  

 

 

 

It's time to put away the Halloween decorations till next year, farewell spooky decor. 

  

  

  

Halloween 2011

Our Halloween was a whirlwind of festivities, friends, good food and CANDY!!!

We started the goody munchin' a little early with some cake pops after lunch.

A happy Mommy is a nice Mommy.

Nathan had a party at his preschool.  They put on their costumes, hunted spiders, and got lots of treats.  Nathan inventoried his haul first thing after getting home.

After a delicious spooky dinner with our good friends, we made an appearance at Trunk-or-Treat.  We propped our little basketball hoop in our trunk again, it has been a hit every year.  The kids really like having to attempt making a basket to earn their candy.  Nathan made the parking lot rounds with another little friend while I followed Bracken around at his own pace.  He made it to 4 cars before his need to rip open some candy became too strong to resist.  He spent the rest of the evening getting comfy with his treat bag while chillin' in a camping chair. 

After, all our candy was gone, we packed up and joined several other families in our ward for some good ol' door to door trick-or-treating. Mr. Cowboy continued his relaxing streak, sitting in the stroller while pieces of candy came rolling on in.  His boots were all done walkin'. 

Batman could hardly hold himself back.  He was a streak of black racing from door to door with a great group of energetic kids.  We, the parents, had a difficult time keeping up.

The neighborhood we hit up had a few houses that really out did themselves.  One older couple was giving, out pennies, Nathan was sure he scored it big.  One house had their TV set up on their carport showing a football game and they served everyone chili and cider.  Another house offered lemonade, popcorn and they were projecting the movie Monster House on their garage door.  Nathan was in HEAVEN.  

Just before the kidlets reached their breaking point from having too much fun, we called it a night.  We barely got their pj's on and teeth scrubbed before they crashed.  Our evening was everything Halloween should be.  Fun and excitement shared with family and friends.

Prescott Harvest Festival

The Saturday before Halloween we spent the afternoon in Downtown Prescott enjoying their Harvest Festival.  The kidlets loved the extra opportunity to wear their costumes and all the activites and games increased their acticipation for Halloween. 

Our little cowboy and his boo boo.

Fry's supermarket sponsored the cake walk and they were giving away some awesome jumbo cupcakes.  We played a few rounds and came very close to winning, Nathan was only one number off on the last round we played.

Nathan LOVES his batman costume.  For the last 2 weeks he has been dressing up in it.  Then he spends hours running, jumping, summer saulting, and creeping around the house perfecting his Batman moves.

We ended the day with a ride on the barrel train and it was the best ending for a festive day.

Bracky Brack

You @ 2!

Stats: 33 lbs, 36 1/2" tall

 

1. I love your obsession with hats.  The way you lead me by the hand to your closet, point to the bin up high and say "My cowboy hat?" tickles me pink!

2. Your recent love of all things Potato Head is so adorable.  I love watching you carry around your Mr. Potato Head along with all the body parts and accessories your little hands can carry.  I also love how you consider all the accessories to be yours, "My boots"  "My glasses" "My hat" instead of belonging to Mr. Potato Head.  And the little conversations you have and songs you sing to yourself while you play are priceless.

3. I love how you are our little parrot.  Hearing your little voice repeat such grown up words and phrases like "Nathan go timeout!" or "Look! I made a mess!" cracks me up.
4. You love your big brother Nathan.  You want to do everything just like him.
5. You are Mr. Independent.  You want to do everything "All by self!"  I just have to step back and let you try because you won't allow me to help until you have given it your best shot.
6. You always wake up starving.  My morning wouldn't be complete without your little wake up call "Mom, I need snack. I want Cinmon Toast Cunch."
7. I love to hear you sing.  Your favorite songs are I Am A Child of God, It's Autumn Time, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Happy Family, and Happy Birthday.
8.  You can peel your own banana.  It amazes me everytime.
9.  You are 100% BOY.  Balls, bikes, motos, monster trucks, race cars, trains, runing, wrestling, you name you LOVE it.
10.  You are still my snuggle bug.  I love to cozy up in a blanket with you and watch a show, or just hang out.

I love you Bracky!

Park Play

A few weeks ago we hit up one of the boy's favorite parks.  This park's best feature is the sidewalks.  It has a giant circle with lots of tangent sidewalks making for endless bike/scooter riding fun.  The playground equipment isn't too shaby either; Nathan adores the seesaw.  And the boys love chatting up the retired folk who walk their dogs around all the trails.  So while we have some amazing Arizona Autumn weather, we are going to make the most of it.

With Love, From

Nathan, Bracken, &....(drum roll please)

Soon we will have three little amigos.

Disclaimer: You wouldn't believe how long it took me to get this picture with both boys looking at the camera and looking pleasant.

Bracken still doesn't grasp why my belly is slowly swelling.  Whenever I explain that there is a baby growing in my tummy he just smiles at me as if to say "Yeah right Mom, that's a good one!"

Nathan is totally excited about a new addition to our family.  He had his heart set on a little sister.  The first thing he asked me when I picked him up from preschool today was "What is the baby, boy or girl?"  I said "It's a little boy!" with all the excitement I could muster to help dampen the blow.  He sighed a little with dissapointment, and then responded with a big grin "Yeah another little brother! I guess we have to go to the store and buy us a mini van today!"

The results from the ultrasound concluded that everything is perfectly fabulous with this little guy.  We are at 21 weeks now so he is well on his way.  With the holidays looming around the corner, I'm afraid this pregnancy will fly by so fast I won't know what hit me.  At first I was a bit more tired and more bloated than I usually am at the beginning of my pregnancies, but I guess I have 2 little scally wags to thank for most of that.  Since the first 2 months, the rest of this pregnancy has been identical to my other two.  I can't complain, I know I have easy pregnancies and I am thankful for that everyday.  My OB apointments are practically unnecessary; my doctor is in and out in 5 minutes because, as she puts it "You're so easy I possitively love it!"

Here are the most recent pictures of Numero Tres, who for the time being is nameless.  We had several girl name options in mind, mostly because they were rollovers from the other pregnancies.  But no boy names have striked our fancy yet.  That part remains to be determined.

A profile shot complete with a little arm and fist.

Clear shot from the bum looking up, there is no mistaken this anatomy.

Here's to posterity!

Kickstand Kid

Ever since we took his training wheels off, Nathan has been very bothered with the fact that his bike couldn't stand up.  He didn't want it to lay down or require another object to be propped up against.  He wanted it to be just like a "real" bike.  We remedied this problem with a quick trip to Kmart and a brand new adjustable kickstand!

Nathan's life is now complete, for the time being.