Just One Month!?!?!

I feel like I'm getting further and further behind. October has been so busy. It started with the zoo, than Benjamin's first trip to 6 Flags, the Yamboree and a pre-birthday party for Benjamin, Jamie turned 6 months, is getting her first tooth, and got her ear's pierced (and I LOVE THEM!!!) and Halloween is today and we're on our way into crazy holiday season!! And I have so many pictures! I LOVE TO TAKE PICTURES!! I've got to work on my less is more philosophy and apply it to my picture taking. But I love all the different faces my kids make and I can't imagine not having pictures of them later on in life. This phase is going to pass by so fast. Benjamin turns 2 next week! WHAT THE @*#!^$)#(*!!!!!!!!!! I just love my kiddos!!!

This is when Jamie had just learned to sit up. Boy, did it make grocery shopping about 100 times better! She hated her carseat and I hated to take her grocery shopping. But now, she is just the happiest little thing, sitting up, and smiling at everyone. She's so cute!!!

THE ZOO!!!!
Our first family visit to a zoo. Bryan had the day off and we took off early in the morning. The weather was amazing and it wasn't very busy and we had a great experience! We'll be doing this again soon!
I think Benjamin liked these little statues of animals a little more than the real thing. Except for the gorillas. He was very impressed with the gorillas.
Everyone look at the monkeys!
Sometimes we don't like to sit in the stroller
Benjamin got to pet this giraffe. Bryan was super excited about that!
Benjamin's favorite thing to see at the zoo?? This jeep you could sit in. This boy loves him some cars!
Little miss spits a lot and always blowing bubbles. She is always very wet and moist. But oh so cute!!!

6 FLAGS
We started with the carousal.
Jamie liked sitting on the horses more than Benjamin.
Luckily we found this bench and Benjamin enjoyed it a lot more!
Benjamin's first ride. Yosemite Sam. It's like a Disney ride, with a boat that floats in water and you see different characters along the ride.
This was his expression through the whole thing!
They have old antique cars that are on a rail that you can drive. Little Benjamin was very excited about driving his car. He took it very seriously, hence the tongue sticking out...he's concentrating!
Benjamin loved these little airplane things that went up when you pushed the button. He pushed the button a lot!!
Jamie had a good time too. She slept for over 3 hours in the stroller and woke up to play with Aunt Joanna and Maggie!
This was Benjamin's FAVORITE ride!! He would get off and run back to the line and patiently wait the two or three rounds before his turn again. So cute to see him so excited!

CAMPFIRE
Our friends invited us to a campfire with them. Baby girl was super excited to wear her hat!!
Benjamin loved the idea of playing with fire!
This is out of order, but he was very good about finding wood for the fire.
And what campfire is complete without some marshmallow roasting?!!?!

YAMBOREE

Jamie enjoying a turkey leg!
The adults went to play at night without the babies. Fun to just hang out with my favorite guy!
Jamie all dressed up to celebrate the yams! Her outfit was made (head to toe) by her cousin Megan. SO CUTE!! Thanks Megan!!
Benjamin and I playing before the parade.
The YAM Queen! She was beautiful!!!
And the back of her dress, the train, was extremely impressive!
Benjamin LOVES parades! He loves to wave at everyone. And he loved that cars kept coming by. If there was ever a minute when something wasn't in front of us, Benjamin would get up, look around the corner and say more?? All in all, the yamboree was a giant success!!

EARLY BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR BENJAMIN!!
Since we had so much family together during the Yamboree, we decided we would have an early birthday celebration for Benjamin. My sister, Christine, made his awesome cake. She asked me what he would want. It was easy...something with airplanes, cars, and trains! Boy did she deliver!
He did great and waited until they were done singing before he blew out his candles!

Boy was he excited about his new car!

PUMPKIN PICKING

Bryan and Benjamin played in the hay maze.
Family ride on the hay-less hayride! I was a huge fan.
Jamie with her pumpkin.
Benjamin loved being able to reach and pick the pumpkins.

JAMIE GETTING HER EARS PIERCED!
She was asleep when we got to WalMart. We let her sleep while we cleaned her ears and put the pen marks on.
And here she is all done! The lady was awesome, did them very quickly, but very well, and Jamie cried less than she does when we get her shots! She cuddled for a quick second...
But totally sat up and smiled when she heard the camera! What a funny little girl! I love her little earrings! And so does Benjamin. He very much would like to get her earrings and stick them in his ears!

HALLOWEEN!!!!!
Jamie was a duck for Halloween!
She was almost too tall for this costume. The hat only covered 2/3 of her head. To see the actual duck face you had to get above her! But it was too cute not to use!
Benjamin was a Ninja. I wouldn't say he was thrilled to wear a costume...but after we got to the ward Trunk or Treat and he saw other kids wearing costumes, he stopped tugging for his to get off.
OK...so this is our first time decorating anything like this. I'm not one to decorate for Halloween in general, so thankfully my mom had some things we could use! We did carve out those pumpkins though!

The first couple trunks, he wasn't sure about this...but by the end of the night he was saying "Trick or Treat" and grabbing for candy to put in his bucket. His little bucket was completely full by the end. Crazy!!! So fun to have a little kid to play with at things like this!!

So that sums up our month. Crazy how much can get jammed packed into one month. And lesson learned...I will not be waiting until the end of the month to blog again. I'm super excited about the upcoming holidays. I'm excited to have my little family, in our first home, celebrating with our own traditions!!