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.

Our Sunday Funday :0)

So this term/hashtag "Sunday Funday" has been relatively recent I guess... either that or I'm oblivious, so it's totally possible that it has been thrown around for the last decade or two and I didn't realize it haha... but it always makes me a little sad to see it, because generally it is people out doing something recreational and "fun" on Sunday instead of spending it worshipping our Creator. There is nothing more that I would rather do on Sunday than worship God, because He has done so much for us. I just can't imagine skipping out on worship to go fishing (not that I fish) or to a game or concert to have "fun" when there is an opportunity for me to praise God for the sacrifice He made for us, for how He Shepherds and watches over us.

Now that I've had two boys of my own, I just can't even understand how our Father gave up His Son for our sins, to be brutally murdered and treated so maliciously. I was telling Jacob this week that one day when I was rocking Jude for nap and looking at his sweet sleeping face, it occurred to me that I couldn't fathom giving him up to death for someone else, and standing nearby watching it happen. Mary was such a strong woman and not faint of heart.

So it occurred to me this past Sunday that I would snap a few pics of our "Sunday Funday" and maybe put a different spin on the phrase, because there is nothing more that I want to do than worship my glorious Father in Heaven and share that time with my sweet family. And yes, Sundays are so incredibly hard with babies/crazy toddlers and naps, but they are enjoyable to me. It is fun to be with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and it is fun to sing praises to our awesome God and learn more from His word.

We always start our mornings getting ready for church, so I snapped a few pictures of me and my littlest man before we left. Love his little man shirt and shoes. You can just imagine the pictures of worship because I didn't take any of those today, hah! ;)

So bashful ;)

After services, we usually come home and eat but sometimes go out. Today it was raining because of the hurricane that came in so we just came home and ate leftover Mexican food. Which I don't know about you, but a rainy day plus Mexican food is my love language.

I put Jude down for a nap, and the nice thing about Sundays is that Jacob puts Jackson down for a nap, so this momma jumped in bed with a cookie from my sweet friend, Miranda, and my iPad to read a little!

Opened the curtains and blinds so I could watch the rain.

My trusty sidekick, whenever there is food around, she's always close by. :)

My other sidekick. He came to give his momma some snuggles before his nap.

Snuggling on the floor, watching a show after his nap.

My shadow, always sticks close to her momma. Thinks she's the size of a chihuahua.

So anyway, this isn't anything groundbreaking, just a sweet day of worship and snuggles with my family. I am so thankful for the life I have and the opportunities we have to worship our Lord so freely. Hope you take advantage of them too! :)

San Diego, CA Vaca - Day 1: Traveling from TX to CA

So usually I am kind of a basket case when it comes to getting ready to go on a trip. I'm obsessed with traveling, I think if you've known me for ten minutes you can pick up on that, and even though it kind of makes me a wreck the day we fly I still have to go. This trip was honestly the most calm I have felt leaving, I wasn't nervous at all, so I was kind of proud of that haha!

Jacob's mom picked us up this morning and drove us to the airport for our 9 a.m. flight... of course there was a wreck on the high way but we were able to get around that and of course when we were parking we got behind the slowest person on the face of the planet going up to the 4th level (because seriously the other three were already full?? WAT?!) but we finally parked... and of course my suitcase was one pound over, so I had to move to something to Jacob's (that makes it better to just displace the weight...) and of course I forgot to dump the water out of my bottle so they had to check it out and make sure the prego woman with a crazy toddler yelling, "out! out!" (he was in the stroller) didn't have some master plan to take over/blow up the plane ect... We did get some yummy Dunkin Donuts breakfast sandwiches though without much of an issue, and then we go to board the plane... and Jackson acts as if he has never ever flown in his life (this is his 4th flight) much less gone anywhere with me in public by himself and starts screaming and flailing (I do not lie!) as if his little world is ending... (I am laughing now but at the time I was not!) So Jacob had stepped to the side to fold up our stroller and because people are NUTS when it comes to getting onto planes, about ten people got in-between us and that was just too much for little Jackson, who recently decided that Dada is the coolest person on the face of the planet and completely flipped out. So I'm wrangling this kid trying to get down the aisle and of course everyone is staring at us like, "please don't sit by me...." but thankfully a nice Dad stood up and took my drink and bag so I could sit down with him and then people realized I was prego too and were like whoooaa...  Jacob finally caught up to us and once Jackson got some Daddy snuggles he calmed down and the rest of the flight was perfect. We only spilt two drinks, one on me and one on the third seat companion winner (he has twins so he was like no worries) so I would call it a success, right? We got into San Diego early, got our bags, caught the shuttle to get the rental car (yes, you shuttle to rentals here! Be warned!), got the rental car and found a place to eat lunch thanks to the most awesome app in the world... yelp.

Looking at planes before we boarded!

This kid is obsessed with breakfast sausage... for real.

Post flight freak out... all smiles!

Buuuut maybe I'll do it again??? hehehe.... nope, just knock over a few drinks instead!

Lacey, your bachelorette weekend ring pops came in handy for helping with the ears popping!

And of course the ambulance had to make an appearance. 30+ years old and well traveled. :0)

So after landing and getting our rental car,we were starving and our room wasn't quite ready, so we looked on Yelp for a place nearby to eat and this amazing find came up. Luche Libra. 4.5 stars and over 4,000 reviews so it must be good, right? Y'all, this place made me want to put on a mask and jump in the ring for some smack down. The decor in the place was great, I wish I would have taken more pics, but the tacos and guac were even better! Loved the surf and turf tacos! And, a toddler's dream... they had HOTDOGS! So of course we documented Jackson's first Californian hotdog. (I know, I didn't want to become a hotdog mom, I don't really care for them but once your kid has one taste, there is no going back. Especially once they learn to request them. Thank you Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...)

Yep, ate the whole thing. 

So apparently we realize when Mommy and Daddy want you to smile for pictures now and are rebelling!

We got a call from Homewood Suites that our room was ready, so we headed over after we finished lunch. Our room is great, there is a sitting area and kitchen separate from the bathroom and our room so we don't all have to sit in the dark once Jackson goes to sleep haha! This place has a great location, free parking (most hotels charge 18-20 bucks a day) and free breakfast! Whoo hoo!

Views from our Room

 Jackson took a nap and we rested (so tired from traveling!), and then we went to see the U.S.S. Midway and Tuna Harbor Park before getting some dinner. I would have liked to actually tour the battleship, but no strollers plus stairs plus small openings is a no go for this prego momma right now! Maybe next time Midway! We still enjoyed looking at the ship, and playing in the park a bit. Jackson loved running around and the fearless daredevil that he can be at times, kept wanting to go over the ledge to play on the rocks and water below... I don't think so!

I love this statue! So cool!

Hi, I'm Jackson and hate taking pictures today so mommy looks ridiculous because she was trying to get me to look and smile!

This is why Jacob had like 2000 more steps than me on his fitbit today haha...

We drove over to Little Italy for dinner, and found a place (thank you Yelp again...) called Pappalecco's. We had yummy paninis, salads and pizza for the munchkin! They had the BEST gelato here too. The sweet girl working gave Jackson a taste and he kept asking for "mo!" haha she gave him about 3 samples I think! (Don't worry Mom, half of mine was sugar free and I had a salad so I could save my pancreas prego problem carbs for dessert!)

You think he enjoyed himself?? haha...

After dinner, we stopped by the Trader Joe's down the road from our hotel to get some milk for the Little Man! And some snacks!