Deck the Halls

I'll admit we put up our Christmas tree a few days before Thanksgiving :/ I couldn't resist.  I love decorating for Christmas! Hayes was a cute little helper. Here are a few pictures of our night putting up the tree.

I love the cozy feeling that Christmas decor adds to a home!

Our First Snow Day!

We had our first snow day of the winter yesterday!  Hayes was running from window to window in the morning saying, "It's snowing!" I thought I'd put together a little video of the fun we had playing in the snow and then getting warm and making muffins together. :)

Give Thanks

I didn't take many pictures on Thanksgiving Day this year but, I thought I would at least document what I did capture.  We had a great day with family and lots of yummy food as usual!

I was in charge of the kids table and this is what I came up with!

Pie anyone?

You can't turn your back on Hayes with the pies for 2 seconds :)

Hayes - 2 1/2 Years Old

With a new baby making his arrival in a couple of weeks, life is going to get busy and I’m going to be tired, so I thought I’d take some time to write down a few things about Hayes and his 2 ½ year old little self.

Hayes is a 2 year old… I feel like that says a lot by itself.  Some days are awesome and some are exhausting.  He is taking in and learning so much about the world around him right now.  He likes to test his limits, he likes to throw ridiculous tantrums, he likes to push my buttons just to see how I’ll react.  I’m often reminding myself that this is normal and it’s just a stage in life; that he is always learning from what I do and is already being shaped into the kind of person he will grow up to be.  Some days are hard to be patient and keep from getting frustrated.  Sometimes I have to stop, take a deep breath and decide to change my attitude on the spot.  I often pray for patience with my energy filled 2-year old, because it’s not something that always comes easily to me. 

Hayes often likes to be Mr. Independent.  He doesn’t want help with this or that and is certain he can do most anything by himself.  On the flipside of that, he likes to be entertained.  He wants Mom, or someone to play with him all the time.  We are trying to teach him he can play by himself sometimes too.  Although, it’s hard to resist his sweet requests,  “Mom, do you want to play cars with me?”  “It will be fun!” “Is that a good idea?” “Okay, let’s do it!”  He is always by my side and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I’m fully aware that I need this little boy just as much as he needs me.  

Hayes is ALL BOY.  He loves trucks, tractors, guns, sports, outdoors, and especially loves wrestling with Dad.   

I realize more all the time how much I can to learn from him.  He can be so sweet and so polite; it melts me.  Hayes is a loving little guy and engulfs us with hugs and kisses multiple times a day.  He is also quick to apologize.  “I’m sorry I did that, Mom.  I didn’t mean to.”  He really does want to please his parents.  We love to shower him with praise when he makes “good choices.”

He finds joy in simple things and his excitement shows all over his body.  His enthusiasm for life is contagious. 

He is hilarious. The things that come out of his mouth are constantly making us smile.  He is such a little man.  People always think he is a lot older than he really is because he talks so well and is so tall! 

A few Hayes quotes to remember:

(While taking him out to the hall during church) “But, I wanna learn about Jesus!”

 “Dad, I think I love Trey and Carter.” (His cousins)

“Oh!! That’s so nice of you!”

(While studying Joe’s adam’s apple…) “Dad, are these your batteries?”

“Uhhh… I think so!” and “That would be a good idea!”
(He says both of these all the time:))

I’ve had mixed emotions about this baby coming so soon!  It has just been Hayes and I for quite a while now and we are just best buds.  I try to take advantage of our one-on-one time together as I know it will be limited here soon.  It will be new for both of us, but we’re excited to add a new pal to our club :) I’m excited to watch Hayes be a big brother!

We just love this little boy and we are so glad he is ours!

Playing dress up! Police man Hayes!

One Sunday, I decided to dress Hayes just like Joe.
Such cuties.

Hayes helping us teach our primary class.
He actually got up on the table and started asking the class what each letter was. Haha.
They are 4 and 5 year olds, so they totally just went with it and answered enthusiastically.

Joe's "Tower of Babel" FHE lesson. Hayes liked it :) I loved his face.

Hayes getting excited to ride the "train." (Front runner)

I though I'd add this cute little video of Hayes' excitement to ride the train.

A Nursery for Cohen

We finally finished the Nursery for baby Cohen!  I had my mind set on lots of bright and white and I'm loving how it all came together.  Joe is the best handy man and painted and put up the wainscoting completely on his own. My Mom and I (mostly my mom) picked out the fabric and sewed the bedding and curtains. I can't wait to add our sweet little babe in there!

Here is a "before picture" to give you an idea what the room looked like when we started this project.

Picture some really cute canvases of Hayes and Cohen on the wall above the wainscoting.

I'm not super good with pictures and lighting but you get the idea :)

A Little Wooden Boat

We got this cute little boat kit for Joe and Hayes to build together one Saturday.  Hayes thought it was pretty awesome using Dad's tools. They were so cute out there building it, I had to snap a few pictures.

Happy Halloween!!

We packed a lot of Fall/ Halloween activities into the month of October and I have loved it all! We had a really fun Halloween day/night this year and I took a million pictures of everything.  So get ready for an overload because I can never choose which pictures to put up!

We did some serious pumpkin carving the Monday night before Halloween at my parents' house.

We contributed the little minion pumpkin.
Hayes loves Despicable Me!

Story time at the Library on Halloween morning with my little Iron Man.

Trick-or-Treating

Hayes showing me his "powers."

One cute Iron Man!

Grams and all the grandkids.

Super heroes!

Hayes and I getting ready to collect some candy!

TRICK-OR-TREAT!!

Family Party

After trick-or-treating we headed over to my parents' for a fun Halloween party.
Mom made delicious soup and pumpkin bread bowls for dinner.

My mom and I had fun decorating the treat table for the party.

Amanda, (my sis-n-law) had some really fun games prepared for us to play.

The night ended with some tired, sugar-filled kids needing to get to bed.  But overall, we had such a fun Halloween this year! Happy Halloween!