Ben turns the big 3-0!

For Ben's big 30th birthday I wanted to do something special. After eliminating some grandiose plans due to being on a fresh out of grad school budget, I decided to make him a video. I emailed 30 of his close friends and family members and asked them to send me a video clip of them wishing him happy birthday, sharing a funny memory, etc. Then I emailed/harassed them some more until I got all of them :) I put all the clips together into one movie for him, bought some of his favorite treats, put the kids down for a nap, and surprised him with his movie screening. This was a hard surprise to pull off since Ben will sometimes use my computer (I saved all the files under "YW ideas". I knew he would never look there :), and we use each other's emails, so I will thrilled with how shocked he acted! It was so fun hearing from everyone and gave us some really good laughs.

We also had a few friends over for ice cream cake and games. And long story short, Marble Slab and Groupon were complicated, and we ended up with 2 cakes. Yum!

He also got tickets to the Mavs vs Timberwolves game. The game was such a fun date and the arena was amazing!

Happy birthday Ben! 30 looks hotter than ever!

Trick-or-Treat!

We were one of "those" families this year that went with the Frozen trend. I knew Paige would re-wear the Elsa costume for dress-up, and well Deacon was just too cute in his Olaf outfit. Turns out though, my kids are at not the easiest ages to get a good picture, especially since Deacon hates to stand still and hated keeping his hat on even more.

Bribing Olaf...

We weren't sure when people headed out in our neighborhood, so we waited and waited, and then finally realized a big group was gather for a little pizza party beforehand. Apparently they always do that and they came over and invited to join. Such a fun idea!

Then we made the risky move of leaving a bowl of candy out so we could both trick-or-treat with the kids. We fully expected some kid to dump it all, but we were shocked when we still had a ton of candy leftover! Again, love our neighborhood! Paige had a blast running from house to house, and then finally told us she was done and it was time to go home. And then we made ourselves sick on candy. Holidays like this are when I especially love being a mom- seeing how excited my kids get, dressing them up, and getting to steal their candy :)

Fall Festivities

I feel like we crammed a lot of Halloween celebrations in this year. Paige was so into all of it, it made it really fun.
-We carved pumpkins. Paige ended up gutting out her little pumpkins and decorating them with marker. Deacon was fine with the pumpkin until we cut the top off, then he was absolutely terrified of it! He cried and demanded to be held the rest of the night and didn't want to be anywhere near it. Very strange fear...

-We had a little Halloween play date with friends, where we decorated pumpkin cookies, made a pumpkin craft, and played pin the hat on the witch.

-Paige had a little preschool Halloween day at her friend's house where they made cheese and veggie pumpkins, got their face painted, and played ghost bowling.

-We got "Booed" from our neighbors (they leave you a bucket full of Halloween treats and toys). Our neighborhood does some really cute things, I am loving how family oriented they are. We also had fun being sneaky and "booing" two houses.

-We went to our friends' adult Halloween party, where the decorations were amazing! We were feeling a little lazy/cheap with our costumes, so pulled out my Goodwill Minnie outfit from a high school ASB day, and put some suspenders and a bow tie on Ben for that "Chippendales" Micky look. Too bad his suspenders were apparently meant for shorter people and kept snapping off :)

-We went to the ward trunk-or-treat where we lined up as many Elsa's as we could find.

And we kept our tradition alive by eating too much of the Halloween candy early and having to go by more the day of. Ahh family traditions :)

Pumpkin Patching

We hit up our first miniature/free pumpkin patch while Ben was out of town. After about 30 minutes we were too sweaty, but the kids had fun with the mini corn maze and bounce house.

Then we did our official pumpkin patch outing with daddy. Maybe we were spoiled by the IL and NC pumpkin patches we had, but I thought this place was a little odd. Yes it had bounce houses and a mini corn maze, but the pumpkins were just in boxes, our "hay ride" was us being pulled by a Hummer, and our "mini pumpkin" was really just a gourd. But the kids had a great time so I guess we'll take that as a win. And I had to just cave and do what I had really tried to avoid: go to the pumpkin patch in shorts and sandals. 80 degrees is too hot for fall clothes.

September & October Mix (Or as I prefer...Autumn Mix)

Here's some of the random things from September and October:

-Deacon's latest favorite way to get hurt...

-Preschool fun! Getting energy out on the trampoline and a field trip to the pizza parlor.

-It was still crazy hot the last week of September, so we lived up one more trip to the community pool.

-The beginning of October Paige, Ben, and I all got the stomach flu. Ugh...

-Deacon developed my same addiction to candy corn, or more specifically, "Autumn Mix"

-Paige went on her first official daddy daughter date. They rode the carousal and then played games at Dave and Busters where Paige won some sweet prizes. She was in heaven putting makeup on for her "date", holding Ben's hand as they headed off, and was so excited to tell me all about it. 

-I got a date with Ben, too, to see Meet the Mormons. Loved it!

-Ben was out of town for a few days the end of October, and it was still in like the 80s (which I was very sick of), but one night I tried to make the most of it and burn off some energy with water balloons on the trampoline. Deacon liked them until one popped in his face, then he was terrified. Paige wanted them all to be her baby eggs and didn't want me to pop any. Apparently they didn't really get the concept ;)

-We finally caved and cut Deacon's curly locks. I adored his curls, but it had just gotten to a shaggy stage. He sat fairly well for his haircut and now looks so much older. 

-And just one of me snuggling this big sleepy baby, because well, this doesn't happen very often.

27!

In September I turned 27! Not much of a milestone birthday, and to be honest I was slightly dreading it just because we were still pretty new here in Texas and I didn't think people would even know it was my birthday, plus I had to teach preschool that day. But it ended up being a great birthday! During preschool and throughout the day, friends from the ward stopped by with little treats and gifts. So nice and such a sweet surprise! Another friend threw me a girls lunch a few days later with friends from the ward at Panera. This all really meant more to me than these girls realized, and really made me feel apart of the group out here.

That night I got a babysitter and met Ben for Top Golf. This was a blast! Plus I got to show Ben my mad high school golf team skills (or lack thereof ;) My "real" gift was the shopping trip I did with my mom to buy new fall clothes, but Ben also bought be a bag full of my favorite treats. Then we grabbed dinner on the way home and finished the night off with my birthday tradition, Cinnabon. I really had such a fun birthday this year- thanks 27!

Deacon's 1st Birthday

We had Deacon's birthday party a week early to celebrate with my mom, grandma, and aunt. I decided to go with a nautical theme so I could basically just use all the decorations from his room and bathroom :) He was a very happy birthday boy! He was curious about all of his gifts, didn't love his hat but tolerated it, was hesitant about the cake at first but then devoured it!

The cake progression:

 Not sure...

 Trying it...

 Now trying the plate...

Realizing he loves cake!

Happy birthday boy!

I had no idea I could adore a little boy so much. Deacon is definitely more of a mama's boy, and cries and wants to be held more than I remember Paige did. But with one of his little flirty grins he has you melted.
1 Year Stats:
-Weight: 24 lbs 11 in (91 percentile)
-Height: 32 in (99 percentile)
-Head: (76 percentile)

-Nicknames: Deacon Boy, Deazy, Weazy Deazy, Deazer
-All of the sudden he had a lot of teeth (multiple came in at once)
-Already had lost one fingernail, thanks to the door hinge...
-Walks/runs everywhere
-Can quickly go up and down stairs
-Words: mama, dada, hi, hello, buh-bye
-Gives slobbery kisses
-Still very addicted to his binky
-Claps, waves, and points
-He dances/bounces up and down to Micky Mouse
-Folds his arms for prayers and mumbles things
-Doesn't take long naps, usually only 1 1/2 hours, so we are still holding on to 2 naps (we tried one...)
-Had to get weened off breastmilk at about 11 1/2 months when Paige was in the hospital. Luckily loves whole milk and drinks it from a sippy. He eats a lot and will eat just about anything, but it appears he's allergic to strawberries. He's definitely my child and will stand under the cookies or treats and cry until you cave and give him some :)

Favorites: riding the scooter (he holds on while you push him), using toy hammers, throwing balls, playing in the fireplace, emptying q-tips, playing in the toilet, pushing the barstools around, trying to put his binky in your mouth, and being outside (screams when you shut the door). He is all boy and prefers to hit or push things than to sit and play with toys. He thinks he's 3 and is fearless about climbing toys, going down slides and anything else he can get into. He gets in trouble the most for pulling Paige's hair and has already bit her once. He is feisty and big so he can easily hold his own.

Some days with this little boy can feel exhausting, especially since he's had a lot of diaper and diaper rash issues that we're still trying to figure out. But then I'm smitten by his blue eyes, kissable big cheeks, golden locks, adorable grin, and hilarious little personality. Here's a picture of our sweet boy on his actual birthday. Can't believe he's one!