To Grandma's House We Go!

If you have checked out the About Me tab above, then you know I grew up in Vidor, TX. And yes, I am proud of that. Because people need to know that normal nice people come out of there haha and maybe some of you are saying, well who are you talking about???

When I was in college, most of my classes were huge, so most days I sat by a new person and usually people are good about small talk before class starts, so a common question was, "Where are you from?" And I would get one of two responses... one was, "oh... really... you're from THERE??? Isn't that where blah blah blah..." or people would have no idea where Vidor was and couldn't care less. Anyway, that's a total tangent when all I'm about to say is that we went to visit my parents in Vidor this past weekend haha... and I love my home town and am proud of it. It was such a great little place to grow up and I have sweet memories and friends there.

Friday, we spent the morning at home playing and watching movies so mommy could frantically run around trying to get all of our stuff together. If you have kids, you know it takes an incredible amount of stuff for them to function.

"Why do you buy me toys mom, just give me a measuring cup."

Then one of my best friends stopped by to pick up some oils she ordered and she dropped off EXACTLY what I needed to get through the afternoon!!! Love!!

After Jacob got home from work and the boys woke up from their naps, we packed up the car and headed over to Vidor-ville. It takes almost/about two hours from Friendswood to get there, and once we can get out of our part of Houston, it's not a bad drive. 

This little dude takes soooo long to fall asleep in the car... and then only sleeps 30 minutes.
Had to bring his fox to cuddle with. :)

As soon as we walk in the door, the boys are ready to PLAY. My parents saved so many of our old toys from when my sister and I were growing up, and Jackson thinks they are the greatest things ever to play with! Novelty gets you everywhere with kids!

I love watching my Dad play with my boys. Sometimes I feel bad for him that he had to put up with my sister and me being all dramatic and girly our whole lives, so it's been fun to watch him play with these little dudes. That toy to the left in the picture below, the little people zoo, was a "gift" from Joanna when she was born haha... 

And because my Mommy loves me a lot, she made my Great Grandmother's gumbo. I'm obsessed. I jokingly suggested it for dinner when she asked me what I wanted to eat, and the next time I talked to her she was all like, "yeah I got the stuff." :)

Thanks MOM!

It's always been a good dinner if you end up only in your diaper afterwards. #bluestripe #momchangemydiaper

And again because my mommy loves me... apple crisp. I may or may not have eaten this three times this weekend. I did go run Saturday morning... as if that helps at all. ;)

On Saturday, we just hung out at my parents house and just let the boys play. It's nice to just get up and sit around on a Saturday morning and let your momma make you breakfast. That's what I did. And I can't remember the last time I did that! Again, thanks Mom! :) 

Snuggles with Papa!

One of the perks of your baby deciding they don't want to nurse anymore, Gramma can feed him!

Jude has recently started eating solids, or beginning to figure out solids I should say. He loves to try to feed himself. I did baby led weaning/solids with Jackson because he also liked feeding himself and didn't really like me spoon feeding him. I've been trying to do both with Jude, but he really enjoys trying to eat with his own hands and it's a really cute mess. He's had pears, bananas, avocado and softened apples so far and also had some cheese and cantaloupe at my Mom's. It's really impressive to watch him I think, and he gets more of it than you think! 

After naps, my Dad came in with his annual "I have something red in my pocket for everyone and am trying to be sneaky about it even though I do it every year so you know it's coming" haha... For the last 15 years or more, my Dad has been getting my sister and I silver coin ornaments. They are so beautiful and each year have a different holiday design on one side and the year on the back. The last couple of years Dad has been getting them for my boys, and this was Jude's first one! 

Who needs a fancy coin, just gimme that pouch to chew on!

My sister and I with our coins! (You might spot my favorite mug from my Granddad sitting there!)

After lunch, we just cuddled and played some more. I really love days like this where I don't have anything "to do" or anywhere to rush around to. I can just sit with my family and enjoy them. The best. 

I love this so much!

After Jackson got up from his nap, my Dad gave him his coin too. Love his little face! So sweet!

We were planning on going to a Fish Fry Saturday with my parents that was being hosted by some sweet people from church here, but both boys woke from naps not feeling good and coughing... of course!! So we just stayed in out of the cold and let the boys rest. I feel like almost every time I bring them home they get sick haha, how does this always happen?!

Sunday morning we got up and went to church and then came back to my mom's for lunch, more playing and naps!

Because once you have kids, no one cares about taking pictures with you anymore!

This one may or may not have ended up becoming my mom's new phone background mysteriously... still not sure how that happened. ;)

Not sure if I've said this lately, but I love this guy. He has made my life so wonderful. :)

My sweet Grandmom June :)

We headed back home once the boys had a chance to take naps. Jackson was pretty miserable the whole way home, crying every time he coughed. I think he ate 8 pieces of chocolate because I was just trying to keep him distracted and happy so his little brother could get a little nap haha... #desperate

So of course, Monday morning we ended up at the doctor's office with a Starbucks vanilla frappucchino in my little one's hands. Because "milkshakes" always make doctors visits easier. He did so great and did everything the doctor asked him to without getting upset. I was really proud of him! Thankfully it was just a cold, but this momma would rather be safe than sorry, especially when they are having trouble breathing from coughing so much! Eek! 

Hope you enjoyed our weekend! More to come soon for Thanksgiving activities!

A "Happy" Halloween

I never have been a huge Halloween person, I liked giving out candy once I had a place of my own but I wasn't crazy about dressing up once I got older. I don't know, it's just not my thing haha, and apparently my son inherited that trait from me. You'll see more about that later. I think since I've had kids though it's a lot more fun to dress them up and see them get excited about running around the neighborhood getting candy from our sweet neighbors. :)

hehe this made me laugh...

We started this year's Halloween week with a couple of playdates with our besties, one at their house and then met for Chick-fil-a lunch another day!

Photo creds go to Lucas, I'm not that awful at taking selfies haha...

Jumping games in the play place... these other boys kept wanting me to take their picture and I was like uhh I don't think your mom would like that haha...

My little skeletons!!!

He loves his baby brother!

Thursday night, we went to Halloween in the park at Stevenson Park in Friendswood. We didn't go last year, so we were curious to see what it was all about. This place was PACKED y'all. I mean, we could hardly move! There were tons of vendors set up throughout the park and they were all passing out candy to the kids and coupons and flyers to the parents. I have to say, I was pretty excited about the Dunn Brothers coffee coupons I got, it's totally my favorite place over here. Jacob was able to get off of work a little early and join us (YAY!) and his parents also came with us.

So one thing I wasn't expecting was how overwhelmed Jackson was by the crowds. This boy stuck close to his Momma the whole time we were out there. We brought the stroller but uhh why would he want to use that when Mom can just carry him around?! And who needs a gym, right???

Big Rhino! At least we got him to look here. ;)

On our way back to the car, we stopped by the fire station and they were nice enough to let us look at one of the fire engines and take a family pic haha! One of the firefighters even picked up Jackson to get inside but he was like "uhh who are you no thanks." So I was kind of sad he didn't want to get in, because he LOVES fire trucks... he loves all things transportation right now. It was still fun to get a good look at one though.

Back at the house, Jude showing off his cute Nana shirt!

It was kind of fun having Halloween on a Saturday this year, just because we could do fun stuff the whole day and not just that evening. :0) Momma started the day off by making sour cream coffee cake muffins (YUM) and of course my little man helped me "clean up" hehe.

Y'all these are so good... sooooo good with coffee. You like my Halloween plate from Pottery Barn kids? :)

Since it was raining the whole morning, we spent the morning inside playing and hanging out. A lot of Saturday mornings we go to the neighborhood playground if we don't have anything to go to, but obviously that wouldn't have worked out today hah!

This kid has gotten so happy lately... and I am SO thankful for that. He still has his moments, (don't we all) but seriously, not nearly as grumpy lately!

Trying on his Yoda hat for later!

I made some play dough dinosaurs for Mr. Jackson :) Not too bad, if I do say so myself!

My parents got her a little after lunch. They like to come over and go trick or treating with us. My mom is so sweet to always bring them little buckets of candy and random stuff.

Big Ted and Mini Ted :) Love that Jude shares my Dad's name.

Can you please take this thing off of my head???

hmmm... haven't seen one of these before...

These little light up pumpkins are always a hit!

And then the fun really started... this was Jackson's third Halloween... obviously his first He was about 4 months old and didn't have a choice. His second Halloween last year, he wasn't crazy about the Paw-Patrol costume but once he figured out what we were doing and that he could get free candy he was totally into it. This year, was a different story. This kid screamed and cried the. whole. entire. night. about this silly costume. 

"I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it! I don't like it!"

You would think I was forcing him to do something painful and horrible.

So what does any normal American parent do??? They bribe their child with McDonald's "chicken nuggets, french fries and apple juice" and make them put on their costume to go get FREE candy from family and neighbors. I know. I'm an absolutely horrible parent. Forcing my child to go get free candy. Made him so miserable the entire night. Can you tell I'm rolling my eyes right now??

But bribes work, and we had smiles for about 3.5 seconds at my sister's house, just long enough to get a family photo so everyone thinks we had a super great and easy night hahaha... oh how social networks are so deceiving. ;) Don't you love how Jude is like what in the world are we doing???

Yep, I'm this person too. I totally dress my dog up for Halloween and I laugh and laugh about it because I think it's absolutely hysterical. She's a good sport, she stays still long enough for me to get a picture and then sets to work trying to get out of it. We were going to take her out around the neighborhood with us, but then it was raining Halloween night and we had a crank emo toddler so we decided for her to stay home. I know, I was sad, but she's WILD out of the house on her leash. And trust me, I worked with her for a LONG time on leash behavior and then I gave up because she's just as stubborn as the rest of us are. Maybe next year Jace!

Princess Leia of course. Who else would she be??

I love how it looks like she is holding a light saber here hahah... don't you love her hair buns??

We went over to Aunt JoJo's house first. Her and her hubbie just bought a house a couple of months ago so of course we had to be their first Trick-or-Treaters!

This isn't Michael's normal hairdo in case you were wondering ;)

From there we picked up the promised McDonalds and went home to eat, let Jude take a quick nap and then walk around our neighborhood. It was enjoyed by all as you can see below. :)

"I don't like it! I don't like it!"

Yoda couldn't care less.

Gramma and Pa-Pa with "I don't like it!"

Our sweet next door neighbors

This was the turning point...  of course we dragged him down the road and back, it was sprinkling but not raining too badly, and then we say ok let's do one more house and then we'll go home. Jackson says, "One more house. Go home." So he agrees haha... and then this little cute pooch runs out and he plays with him for a few minutes and suddenly this is the best night ever. And he turns around and says, "One more house!" and takes off down the side walk haha... Oh two year olds... if you've never had one, they are an up and down emotional roller coaster ride. They like to keep things interesting and fun that's for sure. Of course by this point it was raining harder, so we kind of got soaked walking down the road but he had a good time. That's what matters, right? ;)

Now I'm ready!

My parents spent the night and went to church with us Sunday morning. Since it was raining the whole morning, we just picked up lunch from Cheddars and came home. Jude is usually ready for a nap by the end of church anyway. Jude and Jackson like pretending to drive while we waited on the food.

My Dad "racing" Jackson in his car.

Sunday evening, we were getting in the car to go back to church and this was the view from our house. How gorgeous and perfect is this? Perfect time to talk about Noah and God's promise to us. There are actually two there but it's hard to tell from the photo. Great ending to the weekend.