Getting Closer...

How far along: 31 weeks (the picture is actually at about 28 weeks though)
Total weight gain: 20 pounds...but the great news is that I am 20 pounds lighter than I was with Grant at this point. Whoo-hoo!
Best moment this month: It is actually a moment that I get to savor every night. When we put Grant to bed each night he always wants to give Aubrie a hug and kiss. He has to pull up my shirt, because as he says if my shirt is down, "I not see her little hole" (my belly button). He kisses her without his binkie (directly on my belly button every time), then he gives her a "binkie kiss", and finally a hug along with a little pat. Then he says, "Nigh-night Aubrie. Love you". It melts my heart every time!
Food cravings: Still none
Gender: Sweet little girl!
What I miss: A full nights sleep. I seem to have so much more aches and pains when I sleep than when I'm awake. I wake up multiple times with really bad back pain. I have even woken up a few times with painful contractions.
What I'm looking forward to: Starting to get the nursery ready. The last few months have been full of getting Grant into his big boy room, cleaning out his old room, and getting ready for Christmas. Aubrie's room has been the staging room for all of the Christmas gifts. So, I am looking forward to really getting in there and doing some girly decorating.
Milestones: Hmmm...since the last time I did this I guess we found out that she was a girl. So that's a pretty big milestone, even though it feels like it was so long ago. Also, I finally feel like I am actually showing like a pregnant person, not just a "maybe kind of fat" person. :)

Meeting Santa...Again

Grant got a second chance to see Santa this year. We went with his cousins, Blake and Hailey, to see Santa and his reindeer. I'm really shocked that we got all of them to sit there and take a picture (well, plus Auntie Heather).

Happy Feet Two

Gammy took Grant to his first movie at the real theater! He was very excited to see "Happy Fee Two". We walked into the theater and he stopped dead in his tracks staring at the huge screen. We could hardly pull him away to find seats. Luckily it was just us and one other group of three in the theater at midday on a Wednesday. Grant did a pretty good job of sitting still for the movie. About 2/3 of the way through he got a little bored and started to move around the theater. He told me, "Be right back Mom", and proceeded to walk all the way down to the front of the theater where he yelled, "I not see your face Mom!" It was an adventure for sure. But he still remembers his trip to the movies...and the entire large box of popcorn that he spilled. I loved it when he started dancing along with the songs.

Watch This Santa!

Our annual Santa Party at the Allred's was fun as usual. Grant was especially excited this year about seeing Santa. Last year he was less than thrilled...

This year he has been a little more aware of Santa and all the hype of Christmas. He notices Santa wherever we go and has been so excited with every tradition we have done. When Santa arrived at the Allred's house, Grant was squealing the loudest (pretty impressive considering he was the only boy there in a crowd of young girls). The funniest part of the night was when Santa got there Grant decided to show off his moves. He kept saying "Watch this Santa!" and then would proceed to jump off the couch or do a somersault in the middle of the room. He loved Santa this year...

 We had a wonderful time with friends, eating yummy food, and making gingerbread houses.

 

 It is getting harder and harder to get a good picture out of Grant. If he even allows you to take a picture and doesn't hide his face, it ends up looking kind of silly.

 See...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Grant was really excited for our annual Christmas tree hunt this year (although he doesn't really know it's an annual thing at this point). He couldn't wait to go into the woods and find our tree. He got to decorate Gammy and Poppop's Christmas tree a few weeks before, and was all into putting the ornaments on. Getting to go out into the woods was an extra special treat. And he was excited to go be with his friends. He is finally getting into noticing other kids. He likes to talk about "my friends" and he often tells us that so-and-so is his "best friend".
So, as has become our tradition...we bundled up and headed out to find our tree with some of our great friends. We found a perfect tree, and had a great time in the process. I think Grant's favorite part was throwing snow. He had recently seen the part on "Elf" where Buddy throws a ton of snowballs at the mean kids to get them to go away. So he was telling us that he wasn't going to throw snow at his friends, only at the trees. We told him that throwing snow was okay as long as the other people didn't mind and as long as he didn't throw it in their faces. Well, needless to say, all the other kids were into throwing snow as well, and he was beyond excited to join in!

Ready for the hunt

 

Everyone looking for the perfect tree

Throwing snow at Daddy

All the kiddos had a blast

Measuring the tree (It's amazing how small they look next to all the huge trees in the woods...but when you get them home they are gigantic!)

Love eating the snow

Cheese!

Our Tree

Cuttin' it down

Haulin' it out

We found our tree

The whole crew

 Mmmmm...hot chocolate afterwards

The finished product

Kitchy-Kitchy Koo

If you don't know this about me already...I like to be organized. Things just feel better when everything has it's place. I don't know how many hours I have spent organizing drawers, cupboards, closets, etc....but I love it! When I look into an organized space and can tell exactly what I have I get so giddy. When I need to put something away and there is a perfect spot for it (I don't have to cram it in) I am so excited. Ok...so I'm weird. :)
Anyways...last month our mom's group had a lady come who talked to us about pantry organization. At first I wasn't all that excited because I don't have a pantry. She quickly assured us that any space can be considered your pantry no matter how big or small it is. I was inspired by her talk and went home to tackle my kitchen cupboards. Now, my cupboards probably aren't as bad as some, but they bothered me (no big surprise). I couldn't wait to get my cupboards looking beyond good.
Here is how they looked BEFORE...

 

 Like I said...not TOO bad, but I was not satisfied. Especially with this little area...

 It was impossible to find anything in that mess without pulling everything out. And really, who has time for that?!
And so I began. I started by getting rid of everything that was old/expired or I just knew I wouldn't use. I repositioned some things to make everything fit better. I put all those dry ingredients (which were previously in bulk plastic bags) into jars and plastics. I used my amazing label maker (a birthday gift from Paul) and made sure that I could tell exactly what was in every container. It looks so much better! And every time I open my cupboards I get a little smile on my face. I know...I'm weird. :)
Here is the AFTER...

Celebrate!

The beginning of November is really a party time for us. Paul and my birthdays are two days apart. His was on a Friday and mine was on a Sunday. We celebrated his bday with his family at his parent's house. The next night just the two of us went out for a special birthday dinner. We were going to go watch the Duck game at some friends' house afterward...but that turned into a surprise 30th birthday party for me with some of my friends and family! (And I just realized that I don't have any pictures from that!) Then Sunday was a day of eating...my mom was in town for the weekend if that explains it. Growing up, she always let us pick whatever we wanted for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on our birthdays. This year was no different even though I don't live at home anymore :) She truly spoiled me. We ate at The Breadbasket in Ashland for breakfast, Gorilla Bites in Ashland for lunch (as we took a stroll through all the cute shops), and Bella Union in Jacksonville for dinner! We celebrated my bday back at our house with my mom, Paul's mom, and our friend Sabrina. It was a wonderful weekend! Here are a few snaps from the celebrating.

OCTOBER!!

Our October was full of fall fun! I can't say for sure that fall is my favorite time of year, because I love Christmas...and summer...and spring...hmmm. But I do love fall! :) We fill our weekends up during this season. I probably should have done a post for each of these activities, but our schedule wouldn't allow for that. So here it is...our October in review.

We started out doing our own individual activities. I hosted a Party Lite candle party, which was right up my alley for fall decorating and hostessing. And Paul went on a big fishing trip with a bunch of his friends. Which of course was right up his alley for many reasons.

We had a rare weekend morning at home before all of the rush started.

We got out for a hike in the Jacksonville Woodlands. One of our favorite places to hike, because it is beautiful and easy for Grant to walk along with us. What better way to enjoy the fall?

Then we found out that we are having a girl!!! See my earlier post for more on that.

We did our yearly pumpkin patch adventure with the Stone family. My parents and sisters were both here for the big baby announcement, so we decided to take advantage of the weekend and go to Pheasant Field Farms. Grant got to ride a pony for the first time

 The best part about this trip to the pumpkin patch was watching Grant pick out his pumpkin. He was filled with purpose! No hesitation...as soon as he saw a pumpkin he liked, he picked it up. He had about three pumpkins loaded into the wheelbarrow before we could even pick out one! Funny thing was that all of the pumpkins he picked out had some green on them. It was interesting because whenever we pick out pumpkins we try to look for the ones without any green and that have a nice shape. He seemed to like the exact opposite. They were funny shaped and green!

 My favorite picture! :)

Later that week we took Grant to our church's Harvest Party. We thought he was going to love it! We were wrong...sort of. They had many games for the kids to play such as fishing, bean bag toss, milk bottle throw, etc. We would get in line for each one, and then when we got to the front, Grant would start backing up and wouldn't play the game. I guess he didn't like being put on the spot...although I can't imagine that! The only things he thoroughly enjoyed were the cookie decorating table and the jump house. I guess there is always next year...

The next adventure was our annual trip to the Allred's cabin in Northern California. We started this tradition when Grant was first born and it has continued each year. It is always a wonderfully relaxing time with great friends! The kids get to do tons of Halloween activities and the adults get to enjoy time together. We were originally going to have Grant be a dragon for Halloween. But then a friend gave us the Buzz Lightyear costume and there was no going back!

We got back from the cabin in time for one more trip to the pumpkin patch before Halloween. We went with Grandma this time. Grant loved feeding the goats, just like last year. He also really got into taking pictures. When we were at the other pumpkin patch it was almost impossible to get him to look at the camera. Once he realized you were going to take a picture he would automatically look away. This time he really got into the "cheeses". I have so many pictures in this one because he was actually cooperating!

And then it was finally Halloween! We got together with cousins Blake and Hailey for some quick pictures. Went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with friend Lydia. And went to another Harvest Party at Grandma's church. Check out last year's costume here.

Whew! That was a lot of fall fun! Hope you all had a great Halloween and are enjoying your fall as much as we are!