Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!! 

Just for fun, I thought I'd share a comparison of Jackson from his first 3 Halloweens!

2011

Only a week old at our Harvest Festival at church, dressed up in his little Halloween outfit.

2012

We dressed him up as a "Little Golfer".

2013

We're dressing him up as a "Little Train Conductor". 

We are looking forward to Trick or Treating tonight in our neighborhood and praying the weather cooperates for at least an hour or so. :-)

Everyone have a fun and safe Halloween!

Jackson's "Little Blue Truck" 2nd Birthday Party

We had Jackson's 2nd birthday party this past Saturday afternoon! It was such a fun day and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! 

Jackson's favorite book is "Little Blue Truck" so I decided to go with that theme for his party! It was so much fun planning and decorating for his party. It's not a very common theme, so it took some research and a little creativity on my part for some of the decorations. We had the party in our church dining hall again this year. Its just so easy to have it there. We served a Farm/Fall themed menu of chili and chicken noodle soup (and hot dogs for the kids). We also had a hayride, which was a lot of fun. The party turned out really cute and I think everyone had a great time. Most importantly, Jackson had a great time!

Here are some of the decorations.

A few pom poms we made for over the food table.

The "Happy Birthday" Banner I made for the party.

This was a little table I set up with all his scrapbooks on it and his Little Blue Truck book.

The kids table.

Since Jackson's favorite part of the book is the Dump Truck. I had to incorporate that somehow. :-)

The goodie bags we made for the kids.

We made a place setting for each kid with their name tag on it.

Some of the adult tables decorated for the party. I also used the big dry erase board as a picture board with pictures of Jackson from his 2nd year.

The centerpiece for the adult tables.

 

The cupcakes my sister made. I ordered the file for the cupcake toppers here. I also used this file for the banner, the goodie bags, the kids name tags and the invitations that I made.

A close up so you can see the cupcake toppers better. They were so cute.

My MIL made the food and the blue punch! It was all so yummy.

 The cake table.

After many outtakes, we finally got a decent family picture. We had to swing him up in the air to get him to cooperate! Ha. What us mom's will do for a picture with our kids. :-)

While everyone was getting there, I had Little Blue Truck color sheets for the kids to color. Once everyone was there, we ate lunch.

Then we took the kids out to the entry way of our church where I had hidden some plastic farm animals for the kids to play "Animals on the Loose". 

Then we sang Happy Birthday and ate cupcakes! Jackson did such a good job blowing out his candle. He new just what to do and surprised everyone with how well he did. I wish I could have gotten a picture, but it's on video so that will have to do. :-)

After cake, we sent the kids out for a hayride while Jackson opened up his presents. He had so much fun opening his presents and did so good. Normally he cries at other kids' parties because he doesn't understand why he can't open the presents too. This time he got to open them and he was pretty happy about it!

We waited til he was done opening up all his other gifts and then gave him his gift from Mommy and Daddy, a Lightening McQueen car he could drive himself. :-) He loved it!

After presents, I took him on the hayride!

We had such a great time! The party couldn't have gone any better! Here's to another year and another fun party for Jackson!

13 Week Bump Date

How Far Along: 13 weeks yesterday.
 (You can check out my 13 week post from when I was pregnant with Jackson here.)

Size of baby: (According to babycenter.com) 13 weeks: Your baby is about the size of a peapod. Your little peapod is now almost 3 inches long from head to bottom and weighs nearly an ounce.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Around 4 lbs gained.

Maternity Clothes: More and more Maternity clothes these days.

Gender: We should be able to find out in about 5 weeks. Sometime in early December. I can't wait.

Movement: I think I've felt a few flutters here and there. Can't wait to feel it more often though.

Food Cravings: None yet. Just whatever sounds good at the time.

What I miss: Nothing really.

Sleep: Sleeping pretty well, other than having to get up once or twice to use the restroom.

Symptoms: The nauseous feeling seems to be subsiding, which is great. I am still having to make frequent trips to the restroom and I still have this bad taste in my mouth, which I can't get rid of unless I'm eating or chewing gum. It's really annoying!! I had it with Jackson too and I've had it all through this pregnancy as well. Hoping it goes away soon like it did when I was pregnant with Jackson.

Best Moment this week: Feeling a few tiny flutters and Jackson's 2nd Birthday Party this past Saturday!

What I am looking forward to: The second trimester and finding out the gender of this sweet little baby. I can't wait.

My Little Train Conductor

This year, Jackson is being a little Train Conductor for Halloween and he's got to be the cutest Train Conductor I've ever seen!!

Yesterday evening, I took Jackson up to an old train station where they have two train cars for you to walk around on. He had fallen asleep on the way there and wasn't in the best of moods for these pictures, but we got a few cute ones nonetheless.

 

What are you or your kids being for Halloween this year??

Halloween Pajama Party Link Up

I'm linking up with Darci and Meredith today for their Halloween Pajama Party Link Up!! 

I love dressing Jackson up in cute Halloween jammies. So this link up was right up my alley.

Here he was last year in his Halloween jammies.

And here he is this year! It's amazing how big he has gotten in just one years time.

Jackson's Two!

This past Sunday was Jackson's 2nd birthday! I really can't believe my sweet boy is 2 years old already! Time certainly does fly by. It seems like just yesterday he was born and changed our lives forever in the best of ways!

We spent the morning at church and then went to a local Pumpkin Farm with Jake's side of the family. 

(Someone doesn't like to cooperate for pictures anymore.)

Picking a Pumpkin.

He loved the slide.

Waving bye bye as he rode off on the barrel ride. He's such a big boy!

Walking through the corn maze.

We have his "Little Blue Truck" Birthday Party this Saturday!! I'm praying that the weather is nice. We are planning on having a hay ride and we won't be able to do it if the weather doesn't cooperate. I also have a few kids games planned and we're having a very Fall/Farm menu of Chicken Noodle Soup and Chili. I can't wait!

(A little sneak peak of the "Happy Birthday" banner I made for his party!)

His present has been delivered. I can't wait to give it to him at his party!

And finally, I just finished up his 2 year photo book yesterday and ordered it in time to get here for his party! I can't wait to see it in person!

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We feel so blessed to have this super sweet, funny, adorable and amazing 2 year old in our lives! He is getting so big and growing up right before our eyes. Its so fun to watch him grow and learn new things! We love you so much Jackson! 

12 Week Bump Date

How Far Along: 12 weeks today.
 (You can check out my 12 week post from when I was pregnant with Jackson here.)

Size of Baby: (According to babycenter.com) 12 weeks: Your baby is about the size of a lime. Your lime-sized little one now weighs 1/2 ounce and is just over 2 inches long from head to bottom.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I'm not really sure, I should find out on Wed. at my 12 week appt.

Maternity Clothes: A few things here and there.

Gender: We should be able to find out in about 6 weeks. Sometime in early December. I can't wait.

Movement: Not yet, but I can't wait for this as well.

Food Cravings: None yet. Just whatever sounds good at the time.

What I miss: Nothing really.

Sleep: Sleeping okay. I just have to get up a few times a night to use the restroom. I can usually fall back asleep pretty easy, so that's good.

Symptoms: Feeling a little better as long as I keep my stomach full and chewing gum seems to help any nauseousness I have. For some reason I don't feel so good in the evenings and I'm pretty tired as well, but I'm really hoping this is over soon. With Jackson, the "yuckiness" starting subsiding at around 12 weeks, so I'm hoping thats the case again this time. My chest has been very sore, which I never had with Jackson and I'm still having a little heartburn occasionally in the evenings.

Best Moment this week: Spending a beautiful Fall weekend with family and celebrating Jackson's 2nd birthday yesterday!

What I am looking forward to: Baby Related: Hearing the baby's heartbeat at my appt. on Wed. and hopefully feeling the baby move soon. Non-Baby Related: Jackson's 2nd birthday party this coming Saturday, the Harvest Fest at church on Sunday evening and Halloween Night next Thursday!

5 on Friday

I'm linking up with Darci and the other ladies above for 5 on Friday today!

Happy Friday! 

We have a busy "Fall" weekend planned. I can't wait to get it started!

Tonight we are (finally) taking Jackson to hopefully find a Halloween costume! I haven't a clue what we'll end up with, but I've been thinking maybe a farmer or a scarecrow would be cute!

Tomorrow my mom, sister and I are taking the boys to Relleke's Pumpkin Patch. We've been going there since my sister and I were young, so I can't wait to take Jackson for the first time!

(My sister and I at Relleke's Pumpkin Patch back in 2008. I think we need to re-create this picture again tomorrow. Ha!)

 After the Pumpkin Patch Saturday we are going back to my parents' house for some yummy chicken noodle soup and some fun pumpkin painting/carving with the boys.

(Jackson and I carving pumpkins at my parents' house last year.)

Then Sunday is Jackson's 2nd birthday! It's so hard to believe my sweet little "Punkin" will be 2 in just 2 more days! Where did my baby go?

We are spending his birthday at church in the morning and then we're going with Jake's family to a different pumpkin farm. It looks like it will be a lot of fun. I've never been to this one before, but I'm excited to try it out.

Have a great weekend!!