Halloween - Take 1

It was Family Day at the base this past Sunday, so Jackson and I met Phil there after his meeting in the morning. For those wondering, Phil has to work one weekend a month - that's why he was at work on a Sunday. He gets two Mondays off per month, though, so that makes up for it. Anyway, we ate lunch with friends and then walked around outside for a bit and visited some of the activities that were set up for kids. The kiddos got to wear their Halloween costumes and go "trick-or-treating" at all of the different booths that were set up. We didn't stay too long after eating lunch since we were past naptime and J was too young for most of the activities, but he did have fun walking around in his costume. I realized that I need to do some alterations on it before Halloween. The legs are really long on him and I'm going to try to attach the headpiece to the body of the dragon suit. I also need to throw it in the wash- the underside of the tail is almost black from dragging on the ground. He was such a cutie in that outfit, though.





By the way - J is a dragon for Halloween because Heidi wants to go trick-or-treating with us and wear her princess costume. We thought a princess and a dragon would be cute together. He was going to be a knight originally, but I couldn't find a knight costume that was small enough .

Well, I think Little Mr. Dragon just woke up from his nap. He took a 3 hour nap today!! Woo-HOO! When he first transitioned to one nap a day (about a month ago) his naps were only about an hour and a half, which was really just like dropping a nap. I guess he's more used to the one nap a day thing now b/c the past few days he's had 2-1/2 to 3 hour naps. It is so wonderful! He had his first cold last week (thanks to a combo of church nursery and MMR/chicken pox shots) and I originally thought that's why he was sleeping longer, but it has continued this week. He still has a runny nose, which I can't get to go away. I hate it - any suggestions for what to do to stop a runny nose? Have a great week!

Fall Fun

Last weekend we went to a scarecrow stuffing party that my friend Rocky hosted for our Mom's Club. It was so much fun! I had never done anything like this before and what a great idea it was! Everyone brought old clothes to stuff and Rocky provided all of the straw for stuffing. There were tons of kids there and everyone had a great time. The weather was absolutely perfect - cool enough for sweaters and long sleeves, but warm enough that we weren't freezing. Jackson had a great time, too. Look at this precious little farmer...

My sister, Becky, bought him those overalls before he was born. They are lined in plaid flannel (SO cute), but since we've been in Florida and then in summertime here he hasn't been able to wear them at all. They were a little short, but I had to put him in them at least once. He loved being outside and playing in the straw. Some babies there cried when they were in the straw, but J loved it.

This isn't a sad face - it's a mid-happy-yell face.

Jackson got to take several hayrides...


That baby with Jackson is 2 months younger than him and so much bigger! There are three other babies that we are friends with that are almost the same age as J and he is smaller than all of them. Granted, they are huge for their age, but with J being small for his age it really makes him look smaller! We took him to the doctor for a checkup on Tuesday and he weighs 21 pounds, which puts him in the 5th percentile for weight. We think he looks very well-proportioned, though, and he has a chubby belly and thighs, so we're not too worried about it. Here are some other pictures from the day.







This is how our scarecrow turned out. We ended up using a flight suit to make a fighter pilot scarecrow. His pumpkin head is a little small, I know. We're going to a pumpkin patch today so I might get a bigger one, although that would smoosh his body down. Oh, well. We took these pictures yesterday and it was FREEZING outside! It even snowed yesterday - three different times. It was only little tiny balls of snow that didn't stick, but still! I guess summer is officially over - bring on the real snow!!

Last, but not least, I went to Rocky's the other day to take some pictures of J in the leftover straw. We got a lot of really good ones. These are some of the pretty good ones. :)

Little Man Walking

Take note of the small tantrum when I take the ball away from him to throw it again. These little outbursts are becoming regular occurrences! And I didn't mean to hit him on the head with the ball when I threw it - honest!

Snoring and Belly Laughs...

This first video is kind of boring...although Phil and I love it and I thought the grandparents might, too. It's just a few seconds of J-Man snoring while sacked out in the car after our hike. We had to pull into a parking lot to sit and let him sleep a little longer. I couldn't believe that he stayed asleep even when we slowed down, turned, and shut the car off! He was tuckered out.



Here are some great belly laughs. Phil was playing with J - hiding around a corner and then popping out to surprise him. He LOVED it!! I had to get it on video.

Definitely Don't Miss That Humidity...

Boy, we love this Oregon weather (so far)! We've had such nice days lately and have been trying to spend time outside to enjoy them. We went to a beautiful park in town the other day and Phil spent some time walking with Jackson in the grass. I had to take pictures - the two of them together were so sweet.




Up in the mountains on the way to our nearest "city" we always see signs for hiking trails, so we thought we'd try one of them out this past Monday. We wanted to find one that was relatively flat and went through the woods, and this one was perfect. It actually took us a while to figure out how to get to the trail, but it was worth it. Jackson started out in his Ergo backpack that he used to love, but he didn't have anything for it that day. I do feel a little bad for him when he's in it b/c he can't see in front of him. That would bug me, too.


So good Daddy Phil put him on his shoulders for most of the hike. He absolutely loves being on Dad's shoulders, so he was a happy camper from then on out. I guess we need to break down and get a real baby carrier backpack that sits up higher so he can see over the top of Phil's head.


We took Hank with us and he had a great time, too. He's such a good dog. Here he is in Lake of the Woods enjoying a water break. The lake is so beautiful and the water was surprisingly warm.


We passed a huge tree on our way home. Even Jackson was impressed...


Okay, here's a sight you don't see very often - J sleeping in his car seat. He started out screaming at us for a few minutes, then I sang some songs to him (which Phil enjoyed, I'm sure) and he finally gave in and conked out. I'm really not a good singer, but J loves to hear it. Some favorites right now are "Wheels on the Bus", "If You're Happy and You Know It", You Are My Sunshine", "Jesus Loves Me" (I googled this one and memorized the four verses - I didn't even know there were four verses), and "My Cherie Amour" (by Stevie Wonder - if I ever wanted to be on American Idol, this is what I'd try out with - just kidding, of course - it's really bad). :)

Phil and Jackson get to spend some quality man time together this weekend as I get to go to Bend with some other Moms for a girls' trip! I'm so exicted! Real shopping, real restaurants, and a spa day! Yay! I'm so blessed that I have such a wonderful husband who takes such great care of our baby. Thank you, Phil!