October

What church looks like with a 16 month old.

We used to be chapel sitters but now we try to claim the front row of cultural hall seats so he has ample wandering room.

Giving celery juice a spin. (It lasted 10 days.)

We love bath time! He has only pooped once in the tub and it boy howdy was it  traumatic for Olive who was sharing with him. Hysterical, non-stop crying as though she had her arm ripped off. I almost had to slap her just to bring her back to her senses. 

Grandma offered to take the boys to one of Craig's golf games! They had a blast! Craig's lady friend, Camille, went too so we were hammering him with questions about her, haha. 

Nothing is sacred. That would be oatmeal dripping down the walls.

Wiggle Worms at the McQueen Activity Center! 

The Shaheens came a'resort'n! I was eating up Miss Navee! She is 100% baby model/squishy yumminess! It was a packed weekend for our family, so we had to divide and conquer if we wanted to see them! I drove out to meet them Friday afternoon with Olive and Weston and Travis went out to meet them with Collin and I forget which other kids on Saturday.

Bron is ridiculous. In a wonderful way. He insisted he take all the kids to dinner at Scottsdale Fashion Square while Megan and I shopped with Navee. I cannot even imagine what the waiter thought of him! Daddy daycare!

It was a treat for sure! I got my first pair of Madewell jeans and some earrings! Ooo la la!

Now it was Rusty and Weston's turn for a golf game with Grandma!

Olive had her first performance at the Queen Creek Halloween Festival. Battling traffic everywhere to rush to a stage in a place I'm not familiar with is NOT my jam. She was teary and resistant to leaving me to go in the back with her group but she was brave and danced beautifully!! So proud of my booty shaker!

Afterward, we walked over to Mod Pizza to share some dinner. That was my favorite part... having a little mommy/daughter date at the end!

Girl's brunch for Abbey's birthday! Normally, I ask Abbey to watch Tanner if I need to go to a girl's lunch because he is impossible at restaurants, but obviously that wasn't going to work this time! We sort of managed...oy! 

Della girl turned TWO!!! I'm not usually good with niece and nephew gifts but she is a special case. If you get named after me, you're gonna get a little preferential treatment! Just how it goes, folks! I know she has a penchant for the orange crack, so she got a big bag of that (sorry, Shell) and some fancy, dress up shoes!

Another girl's brunch for Jenni's birthday at Joe's Farm Grill! At least here, I can let him roam and still have a decent conversation! This was the first time I've gotten their pancakes and shut the front door they were amaze-balls!!! Why didn't I know about these before?!!! Rich, fluffy saucers of heaven! When can I come back?!

Soccer practice. Following Tanner around, cleaning up after his wake. 

Collin invited his friend, Nathan, and family to our neighborhood Halloween Festival. I think all of Gilbert came out!

The missionaries manned the haunted house. Love it!

Vertuccio Farms with Marcie and her kids! We like to go early on Friday's when Travis is home from work by 4pm and the crowds haven't hit. It's perfect.

He was super intrigued by the animals... so cute!

I love that Marcie took this picture! Just sad we didn't get one of all of us together!

Made it through the corn maze!

Peaceful sleeping pictures have my heart. Normally she's on her back, spread eagle, half snoring. But this time she looks like a dainty princess!

Our ward had a Trunk or Treat. We walked up feeling super out of place, still not knowing anyone. I hate that feeling. I kind of wanted to get back in the car and zoom home. We met a few people though and the kids loved it. I may have lost Tanner at one point and had a mini heart attack. It was dark by then and crowded and I didn't know anyone to ask for help. A few women noticed me frantically run to the road to make sure he hadn't gone there, and immediately asked if they could help. I love that moms are always looking out for other moms. Luckily, I found him in just a couple of minutes. He had just wandered over to a car with an inflatable character and was trying to touch it. 
I didn't take a picture of our car but I pulled out the old tongue and teeth decorations to make our trunk into a mouth. We won an award for most creative car! As I was handing out candy, Chad Harris walked by with his kids and stopped when he saw me to say hi. It was dark of course and I never would have realized it was him if he hadn't said something! Such a nice surprise! I didn't know we were in his ward. It was fun to catch up a little with him.

Tanner's face, haha! Carving pumpkins really tickled him!

I turned around to see Tanner like this one day. Soooo bored. This poor child spends unprecedented amounts of time in his car seat.  

Olive had TWO costumes this year! We just couldn't decide. First, she was a cheerleader, wearing MY old skirt and shirt from when I was her age at Halloween. She used my pom poms from the dance team in 9th grade! I made little pom poms with bells out of yard for her shoes. I wish I had an old picture of me to put side by side!

Collin was Ky Lo-ren. I have no idea if I spelled that correctly. It's someone from Star Wars. I found out later he's a bad guy. 

And Weston was Hans Solo! That name I recognize and I think is a good guy??

Marcie hosted the family Halloween party at her house the Monday night before and as usual, the costumes were on point!

Guy Ferri and a hot dog, haha!

A Mesa High jackrabbit and Mountain View Torro! I loved this one! They won best costume in my book!

Some pretty legit Ninja Turtles! Marcie can make anything look super cute.

Travis came late, but we were "Holy Guacamole"! Get it?!

Mom brought this fruit salad! So impressed!! 

Hard to see the dry ice but it was wafting!

Marcie orchestrated some games for the kids which was so nice!

Craig's girlfriend, Camille, came later too and even helped in the mummy wrap game!

This was a first for our family! Usually we like to dance, but this time karaoke got busted out!

David and Abbey led out, but Alison's boyfriend, Bret stole the show, singing "Stacy's Mom"! What a guy! He barely knows us, but he was willing to get up BY HIMSELF (Alison wanted nothing to do with it, haha) and sing! Major props. Everyone joined in on the chorus, laughing. Good times!

Actual Halloween! 

Ariel is the reigning favorite princess right now! I had bought the red spray paint for her hair, but hadn't really figured out how I was going to style it. Somehow, it worked out perfectly and stayed all night!! I thought she played the part well!

And finally, Mr. Tan-man! Aubrey brought him back this outfit last spring when she came back from China. I had no idea what to do with it, but stored it away thinking maybe it would fit him for Halloween. Well, it fit like a glove. The mustache and stinger were the finishing touches! I got the giggles every time I looked at him!

Our next door neighbors invited us over for their drive-way potluck, then Travis stayed on our driveway, handing out candy while I took the kids up and down the street. Tanner stayed in the push car for about 3 houses before he figured out what was going on. Then, it was a headache. He wanted out and in every time, got distracted by dogs and rocks with every step and screamed when I tried to convince him to put the candy into his bag instead of eating all of it. It took us FOREVER to just go up and down Morrison Ranch Parkway. All the old people thought he was adorable. I just thought the church should allow adult beverages in special circumstances. ;) 

When we finally got back to our house, I was done. I took the screamer upstairs to the tub and Travis took the kids on one more street. Happy Halloween!