The Country Mercantile

This Saturday we went to the Country Mercantile that isn't far from our house. The main thing we were going for was the pumpkin patch but I told Haley we were going there and she told me not to buy pumpkins because my mom had tons growing in her garden. So we didn't buy pumpkins, but there were lots of other things to do there. Of course Ezra had no idea what was going on, but we really thought Darcy would love it all. She really didn't seem to care about any of it though. Maybe next year she will think it's more exciting. Drew and I thought it was a really fun thing to do as a family.

We got there early to beat the crowd and it was a good thing we did. We got to hurry and get everything done and just as we were finishing up it started getting really packed. This is Drew with the kiddos in front of some of the vendors, but most of them weren't even set up when we first got there.

We thought Darcy would like walking through the straw maze, but she seemed a little nervous about the whole thing and asked me to pick her up. We just hurried through it.

I took Darcy on the little kid roller coaster, which is honestly the only kind of roller coaster I am ok with. After the first drop Darcy said, "Darcy done!" (We are working on moving away from talking in the third person :) Every turn and bump and every time we went on that drop again she would tell me she was done again. I was worried she would start crying, but she never did. She wasn't a fan though.

This was something she liked a little better, but she still wasn't really that excited about it.

Going down the slide.

We were the only ones on the airplane. I decided to ride with her, but it really wasn't made for someone my size. It killed my knees! Darcy wasn't a big fan of this either. She told me she was done after a couple times around, so after a couple more times around I just told the guy to stop.

She maybe kind of liked the carousel. We were the only people on this one too.

I wanted Darcy to smile big for the camera so I started fake laughing really hard and it definitely got her laughing and smiling, but not really toward the camera.

I really thought Darcy would like the petting zoo, but once again she wasn't into it. We took her out of the stroller when we first got in there, and she wanted right back in. They had signs that said, "pet at your own risk." Drew went to pet the pony and it turned and snapped at him. He kept trying and the pony kept trying to bite him. We saw him do the same thing to another guy. I hope no kids tried.

There were lots of people climbing to the top of this hay bale stack so Drew decided to take Darcy up. She didn't hate it but didn't love it either. Haha. We tried right?!

At the very top.

Then we went out in the pumpkin patch really just to take pictures. I LOVE this picture of Drew and Darcy.

Darcy and I did some staged walking up and down the rows holding hands. :)

I had Drew stand behind me and fake laugh, and we got this amazing picture of Darcy. I think it is so cute!

Another cute one.

I really wanted to have a family picture at the pumpkin patch, but Ezra was sleeping and I was not interested in waking him up.

Done for the day.

We were in Mattawa for the weekend and we grabbed some pumpkins from my parents' garden. Tonight for Family Home Evening Drew and Darcy (really just Drew) carved one of them.

The scary pumpkin!

2 Months

With Darcy I always wanted to have her doctor's appointment right on the month mark so I would know her stats exactly on those days, but then I decided after a few months of that that it wasn't really that important, and she ended up having shots on her birthday so I have changed things up with Ezra. So, now he is two months and eight days. I was just looking at pictures of Darcy at two months and although her and Ezra look similar, she was just a lot chubbier! At least in the face and legs. I ended up using the Babywise book around six months for Darcy and I started using it from the very beginning with Ezra. I think it has made all the difference in the world. I have decided though that I'm pretty sure I was doing everything wrong with Darcy and that's why she was miserable which made us miserable. It breaks my heart, because I think she was just tired all the time, and I didn't know how to help her then. Oh, I have guilt! Anyway, Ezra is just such a happy baby and I love him. Lots.

Some things we want to remember about Ezra's second month:

- 14 lbs 4 oz (95th %) 22 1/2 inches (25-50 % (Why can't they narrow that down a little?))

- He loves to talk. He talks so much and it is my favorite thing! I could just sit and listen to him make his cute little baby noises all day long. It is SO cute.

- He has regressed a little with sleeping. Sometimes he still only wakes up once at night, but sometimes he wakes up twice and I'm not a big fan. He started waking up from naps after 45 minutes (called the 45 minute intruder according to Babywise). So we have been letting him cry in out the past couple weeks and it is so hard! I hate hearing him cry like that, but I think he's working back into a good schedule now, and he is so much happier when he sleeps so it's worth it.

- He is so smiley.

- He watches the TV. I don't think I like it. Darcy has gotten into Dora lately and when Drew watches sports he is glued to the TV. He smiles and talks to the TV. (That part is kinda cute.)

- He still gets mauled regularly by Darcy. Mostly it's love, but yesterday she bit his nose (I really don't think she's trying to be mean. It seems like it's just curiosity.) and left teeth marks. His cry was so sad.

I know there are diapers in the back, but I kind of LOVE this picture!

Wreath, Scarves, Blue Eyes, Action!

 Wreathes are my favorite new thing. I saw a wreath like this online last year but basically we were poor college students and I didn't ever like to spend money on things like this. I saved it in my memory though and I was so excited to get to try it. I really love how it turned out. It's just a bunch of fake roses that I spray painted black and then a big bow on top. Easy as pie!

 

 I was noticing the other day that I don't have hardly any pictures of me with the kiddos lately and I don't like that. I am with them ALL the time and I want that documented. The problem is I am usually the one that does the documenting. So the other day when Drew was home I had him take a picture. I need to do that more often. We were getting ready to go visit our bishop's family. I put on a scarf and Darcy wanted one too. Then I taught her how to pose. :)

I love these blue eyed babies! We were at Drew's soccer game today and I was noticing how blue Ezra's eyes looked so I got Drew's phone to take his picture. The lighting wasn't as great for his picture (or maybe it was my photography skills) but I still thought it was a sweet picture of him. Then I tried with Darcy and I love this picture of her! I think it's my new favorite.

 

This is the third time Darcy has asked me to take these pictures of her. She likes to stand at the corner of the entertainment center and then run past me and have me take her picture while she does it. Then she likes to look at the pictures. Today she tried hopping by. She cracks me up!

YEE-HAW!

On the 23rd of September my dad turned 55. Haley had the BRILLIANT idea of having a little kid cowboy themed party for him. It wasn't the best planned party ever but it was so much fun and we could tell by my dad's expressions that he loved it. It was going to be a surprise but Drew and I drove up with our kids all decked out in our cowboy gear and he was standing right there, so that ended up being the surprising part. Haha. I don't know if there's a girl in the world who loves her dad as much as I love mine, and once again I am so happy we live so close so I could be there for his awesome party.

The first activity was calf roping. This is Drew, my dad, and Brian.

Darcy with her stick-horse "2". She has recently learned to say she is 2 when you ask how old she is, but she thinks that is the answer for any question you ask her now. So we kept asking what her horses name was and she said "2".

Riding ole 2.

Family picture in our cowboy gear. We found these hats at the dollar store and I could hardly handle how hilarious they looked. We all looked so stupid in them. Drew especially was sporting his proudly. When we drove up and got out of the pickup wearing those beauties everyone else got a kick out of them too.

This is a obviously not the best picture of Ezra but it was the best one we could get of his shirt. I just had to show off the shirt I made him the morning of the party. Darcy has a boots shirt she got from Grandma Christensen and I just copied the boot and put it on one of Ezra's shirts.

My mom was in charge of my dad's "happy cake". Haley found this idea on some blog and my mom made it happen. Pretty awesome huh!

My grandma, who is an expert pie-maker made two delicious peach pies with this adorable boot cut in the top.

Blowing out the candles.

In my family we always let the little kids have a turn (or 5) blowing out the candles after the birthday person.

After dinner and cake we went outside and I taught everyone a line-dance. It was so funny watching everyone try to figure it out.

This is my dad dancing and laughing hysterically (we all did a lot of that).

Haley is the best baby-holder in the world! She even held Ezra while she learned the line-dance. (Notice Brian's dance pose in the background.)

After line-dancing my dad opened his present from Uncle Don, Aunt Elaine, and Grandma and Grandpa...a new hunting jacket! He will be an awesome hunter now for sure.

Then we had stick-horse races. Drew and I went first. We used flower pots for obstacles. Of course I lost, but I don't know if it was because I was slower or because I was laughing harder (OK maybe I know it's because I'm slower.)

At this point Darcy had shed her pants. We're country like that. :) We were laughing that she was looking her horse in the face while she rode.

This picture is a classic. Drew and Brian taking their stick-horse racing very seriously!

Drew and Ashley racing.

The last activity of the night was a free-style horse racing event. I thought this picture of my dad's free-style run was the perfect way to end this post.

Haley also made a pin the tail on the horse game, but we never got to it. Rats!

Giddy Up!