Halloween 2009

As most of you know, the boys were Buzz Lightyear and Woody for Halloween. We went trick-or-treating but it was pretty cold out so we only went to about 10 houses. You can tell by looking at the boys that they had layers underneath their costumes.

Buzz

Woody discovering the candy by the front door

look at those chubby cheeks

it was too cold for the cowboy hat so instead he wore this

Jack picking his own candy. This house had things hanging in the trees that would shout at us as we walked by. Dustin was not impressed.

they are both looking into the trees as we walk away

After we went trick-or-treating we came home, watched Toy Story, and ate candy from their baskets (and ours because we had NO trick-or-treaters). It was a great Halloween!

Fall is here...

These are all pictures from the month of October. The first one was taken when Grandma and PaPa were at our house and then the next few are when the boys and I were in Kansas City and took a trip to see Uncle Danny at the Fire Station. The last ones are just at our house and playing in the leaves in the backyard.

wearing Uncle Danny's helmet and sitting in his seat

Danny let him "drive" the fire truck

Jack loved standing on the front of the truck

putting on his jacket

brothers

sweet

playing in the leaves with Daddy

throwing leaves at Daddy

more matching pj's

Jack's trucks on his shirt saying cheese

Dustin aka Woody

Daddy and Jack

Dustin

Some old and new pictures

So some of these are really random and they are all out of order but I didn't have the patience to mess with them. This first picture is Dustin's hair one day after a nap (notice the mullet--he had a haircut soon after this). Then it goes to a few weekends ago when my dad came and spent the weekend with us. Then it goes back to sometime in September when we went to the park on afternoon and the boys loved playing with the leaves.

Grandpa and Dustin (post haircut)

1st Corn on the Cob (not too impressed)

Jack didn't eat it after this--he didn't like his fingers being dirty :)

Pulling out the fall clothes--bad picture of Dustin but he looks so big!

Buzz and Woody

Jack & Dustin's "Tricks"

Here is another video of the boys, this one taken on Brian's phone. This was right before book time on Saturday night and all of a sudden they went crazy! :)

One more video...

I have emailed this video to quite a few people but thought I would add it to the blog too. This is such a classic example of Dustin's fearlessness and how he knows exactly what to do to irritate Jack. :)

First Day of School

Here is a sweet picture of Jack from his first day of school. He is going to Preschool 2 mornings a week this fall at a church a few minutes from our house. He absolutely loves it and last week told me, "Ok have fun Mommy, I will see you later". I always wait around for a few minutes but he just goes in and starts playing. After his first day, I asked him where he wanted to go to lunch and he said Chic-fil-A so that is where we went!

Weekend Fun

We had a great weekend with Mia! It was a busy couple of days but we had lots of fun! We went to Purdue and walked around campus and did lots of playing in the backyard. The weather has been beautiful and we are trying to enjoy it as much as we can before the cold gets here! :) Here is a decent picture of the four of us on campus.

the boys love to run around--it was interesting because we were there on a Friday morning so there were students everywhere and Jack had to talk to everyone he saw, so funny!

trying to get a picture of the 3 of them

Mia and Dustin

Mia and Jack

this is in the backyard--Dustin "sleeping" on the step

we have a big, flat backyard with soft grass and they like to play on the little concrete step

Jack with all his stuff

mid-swing hitting the baseball--he is good

he knocked over the "swingset" with his car

driving

Dustin trying to push McQueen--I think he gets bored because Jack sits in the car probably more than he actually drives

Dustin, Mia, and Jack after waiting for cupcakes outside. We had to put candles on them and sing Happy Birthday to Jack once again :)

Dustin using the bat as a phone

Driving and Other Lessons

Ok--Jack may kill me later for posting this video but it is so funny!! This was over his birthday weekend driving his car. The video is a little long but will be worth it in the end! It makes me laugh out loud each time.

Jack's BIG Lightning McQueen

Here is one of the videos we took last weekend. There will be more...

Jack's 3rd Birthday

For Jack's birthday my Dad and Becky (Grandpa and YaYa) came to our house to spend a long weekend with us! We had lots of fun doing birthday celebrations and also got a lot done at the house! This first picture is out of order but I just love this one! This is on Jack's birthday after he opened presents. In this picture you can see his BIG Lightning McQueen from Grandpa and YaYa that he can drive!! He loves it--although right now he is more content to just sit in it :). You can also see all of his cars lined up on the coffee table. The second picture starts the first morning after Jack woke up and got to open his BIG Lightning. I have really funny video that I will post soon.

walking into the living room and seeing the CARS wrapping paper

had to find a spot to put his cup where Dustin can't get it

a little apprehensive about ripping the CARS paper :)

had to sit in it immediately (from my phone)

Dustin wanted in too

Jack wants him out

ate a quick breakfast, got dressed, and out we go to drive

he was really funny driving...Brian got quite the workout trying to keep

him from hitting cars, curbs, Dustin, etc...

when it was time to go in, Dustin got a push from Jack

Grandpa and Jack

Grandpa, Jack, and Dustin

Jack opening presents on his birthday

We went to Monkey Joes (a bounce house place) on his birthday. Jack loved it!

Dustin not so much.

Lighting the candle on Jack's Lightning McQueen birthday cake

(it was a full out CARS birthday)

our big 3 year old

blowing out his candle

Dustin stopped halfway through his piece of cake and went back to potatoes

YaYa and Jack

he was getting tired and kept laying his head down

We had such a great time! I still can't believe Jack is 3 years old!

The Zoo

We made a weekend trip to the zoo! The zoo here is very different from the one in Fort Worth but is really fun! It is free which is great and has a barn area where the animals (mostly goats) wander around. It is the perfect size for little kids! The boys and I had been once before but yesterday was the first time Brian had gone with us.

they have a few different kinds of little monkeys

here are the boys walking through the barn to get to the petting zoo part

Jack driving the tractor

Dustin wanted in on the action

there are 10 baby goats and Jack loved to pet them

so did Dustin

Dustin didn't let Daddy get too far away

Happy Hollow Park: Round 2

Yesterday we decided we would try Happy Hollow Park again. The last time we were there it ended badly (Dustin fell face first onto the concrete after running down the hill in crocs) and las night it was beautiful outside. It rained most of the day yesterday so everything was pretty wet but the boys still had fun! We also decided that we would take Lucy along with us since she doesn't seem that happy to be our dog again (I think she had turned into a farm dog in Kansas City). Jack LOVED being in charge of holding her leash! If he wasn't coming down the slide, he was holding onto it! The other big news was that this was our first outing in big boy pants (no diaper)! We were only there about an hour or so but Jack did great!!

Summer

We have had a busy summer to say the least! Although it has been busy, we have remembered to take some pictures along the way! These first pictures are from our new home in West Lafayette, Indiana. This first one was after our first trip to the park. Unlike Jack, Dustin has no fear and went running down a hill only to land face first.

here are the boys swinging (pre-fall)

also pre-fall

Kirsten, Jack, and Dustin enjoying Ice Cream Sandwiches

on the picnic blanket in our new backyard

Dustin and me swinging at the park

cute pic of Dustin

sweet cousins

these pictures go all the way back to 4th of July--we were in Kansas City and

spent the evening at the carnival in Parkville

you can't tell but Jack was quite scared on the carousel, his legs were

shaking from trying to hold on so tightly

Dustin's 1st Ice Cream Cone

more carnival rides

Dustin enjoyed them too!

some of our last Fort Worth days

our wonderful party at church (Jack enjoying lots of cookies)

the boys playing after our party in their cute plaid!!

Sick of these yet?

I realize that some people may not like this as much as I do...but if you haven't noticed I love matching pajamas!  I think it is one of the cutest things so sorry if you don't enjoy it as much as me.  This is the latest round and these pictures also capture one of the best things right now: the boys playing together.  When I was pregnant, I heard many horror stories about how hard it would be in the beginning having two children eighteen months apart.  However, those stories were always followed with how sweet it would be to watch them play together when they got a little bit older.  We have reached the "little bit older" stage and it is wonderful!  Our favorite thing to hear is these two little boys laughing and running and playing together.  It makes those stressful moments at the beginning (nothing was as bad as the stories I heard :) ) hard to even remember.

Dustin chasing Jack around the living room

the big brother

the little brother (who is looking more and more like Jack with each passing day)

"happy face"

Dustin's monster face

more of my favorite thing

Jack's monster face

We are so thankful for these two!!!

1st Haircuts

Last weekend while Grandpa and Ya-Ya were in town, we decided it was time to get Dustin's first haircut.  His hair was really starting to get out of control in the back (see top picture).  You will notice that Dustin was quite happy while having his haircut--only because of the sucker.  I don't think I would have ever let Jack have a sucker this young but when we were flying back from Indiana Dustin got his first one on the plane in a moment of desperation and obviously he loves them!!  You will also see I put in a couple pictures of Jack's first haircut.  It is amazing how different they look!  Jack's head was so much bigger!!  The other thing you will notice is they are intently staring at something in front of them...the tv.  At Cool Cuts they get to choose a movie to watch while getting their haircut.  

notice the curl

post sucker

still enjoying it

sweet Jack watching his movie

this is pre sucker and right after this picture, things went south

Jack with his paci