Just Lately...

More zoo fun with our little friend Avery a few weeks ago

Jackson reading TO daddy! Grandma Linda has been teaching Jackson to read the Bob books. He does a good job!

I have been venturing downtown on my lunch break recently to visit the Kansas City Public Library. It is absolutely beautiful-- and what's not to love about a city block of book spines of all the classics??

Swinging!! (notice the big girl swing!?)-- And the Carolina Tarheel shirt-- well, Belle says "there's chocolate on the foot!" 

Belle spent some time up with my parents last week I got to spend some time with Jackson. We had so much fun!! I kept thinking about how I could blog about it, but ultimately, there just aren't words to express how neat it was to just hang out and have awesome quality time with my son doing the things he loves-- games, puzzles, reading, snuggles, and lots of conversation! 

I taught him how to play Slap Jack and War. He loves it!

We also played Cooties a couple of times. This is my picture of the cooties and a cutie! :)

Belle is always quite the helper when we box up items at Aldi....

Glass doors-- the best way to play water guns with the kids! 

Belle and our little friend Yooli on a wagon ride! :)

And today, I volunteered at the HUGE Convoy of Hope event up in KC. People could come to get groceries, new shoes, clothing, hair cuts, family portraits, and more. Lunch was served and there was a great big kid area with inflatables and face painting... and all of it was free! It was such a great event for our city. I volunteered with friends Caren and Jeanette in the Breast Cancer Awareness Tent!

Cousin Time

Last week, we had a cute little addition to our family—my nephew, Eli Christian!

{He’s dreaming of cuddle time with Aunt Amy!!}

I can’t wait for him to come visit this weekend so I can just hold and snuggle this little guy. In the meantime, Eli’s big brother Gabe has been staying with us since Wednesday. It works out great— my brother/sister-in-law get to enjoy baby Eli all by himself for a few days while my kids get to spend some special time with Gabe.

It’s been fun! The first night was a little crazy, as expected. Lots of giggles and squeals of excitement.

But the boys looked like this by the time 10:30 rolled around, so it wasn’t too crazy. They’ve gone to bed perfectly every night since then!

We’ve gone on walks, played at the park, visited Grandma Linda & Papa Forrest. It’s been a little crazy with three kiddos, but it doesn’t feel like it’s all that different from two kids really. It’s just been really fun!

    
We even conquered the grocery store with three kiddos in tow tonight! I am sort of disappointed we didn’t get a trophy as we exited. Even without a trophy, I’m still feeling proud. Not only did we get what we needed—the boys had SO much fun. They giggled nearly the entire time, thanks to Derek’s crazy driving.

Belle has been having fun and playing too, but it’s just really, REALLY hard to get a picture of all three kids. But here’s a picture of her from tonight… she couldn’t find her sucker.

Hahaha. We’re all looking forward to a super fun week! Hoping yours will be too!

January Sunshine

I don’t want to be lame and talk about weather, but seriously… it has been SO nice lately! The past two winters here have been cold, snowy, and overcast. And so far this year, we’ve had mild coldness, one light dusting of snow, and lots of sunshine! Temps were up near the 60s on Christmas day {kinda weird, but I won’t complain}.

We’ve totally been taking advantage of the sunshine and nice weather. Goodness knows, we might have a snow storm tonight! I snapped some pictures while we played today.

Swinging is definitely the favorite activity of both my kids

This is a happy face, I promise!

Check out the crazy hair!

Belle is always watching Jackson. He has a special way of making her laugh. I love watching them interact together!

All week, Jackson has gone out “driving” to go “pick up some ketchup”. Apparently he thinks we are running low, but thankfully he is keeping up fully stocked. At the time I snapped the picture, he was looking at the smoke line that a rocket ship {airplane} left in the sky.

It’s so crazy to think about Belle being old enough to actually play outside and that Jackson has such a wild imagination. Watching my kids grow and learn is such a blessing! I love most every minute of it!

Dashboard Confessional

There are two things that you don't want to see only days after buying a new van:

The service engine soon light and the error light were both present on our van just two days after driving off the lot. How nerve wrecking, but it's part of getting a used vehicle I guess. The good news is that we have a 90 day warranty. The better news is that after I called our dealer guy, he told us just to bring it back and they'd look at it and get it taken care of without even having to use the warranty. Isn't that great customer service!? And the guy sent me home in a different van they had on the lot until ours gets fixed! 

But did you notice that the dashboard also says it's 68 degrees outside?! What great weather for November 1st!! We, of course took advantage and played in the leaves for a little bit this morning.

 {notice our non-Nissan sitting in the driveway? It's a 1998 Chrysler. It comes with a tape deck and everything if you're interested!}

Belle really wasn't having too much fun in the leaves....

But she did in the swing! And check if you look closely-- you'll see our little girl now has TWO teeth! :)

Happy November!

Pumpkin Patching

Derek had the day off yesterday so we ventured out in the perfect weather to visit the pumpkin patch! It was super fun! 

We enjoyed...

Feeding Goats

Riding "tractors"

Swinging on tire horses

Lasso-ing

{oops, he lassoed himself!}

Maze Navigating

 {looks like Jackson won this race!}

pumpkin photo-shooting

Hay Riding

Pumpkin Exploring

{this one is too little}

{this one is too big}

 {but this one is JUST RIGHT!}

We had so much fun! We bought the just-right pumpkin to carve and we got a smaller pumpkin to cook with. Let's just hope that's not a complete disaster. The best part is that we have a season pass {thanks Groupon!} and so we're sure to go back again!