Sweet, Sweet October

October was a really busy month for us, but we also had plenty of fun.  Maren, my sister-in-law came into town with her boys, Braden and Brody.  I always love it when Maren comes because my usually drab, boring life gets instantly exciting .  And this time was no exception.  We spent the first day just chatting and hanging out.  She gave Austin his first taste of squash.  Upon first bite his realization was clear: his mom had been holding out on him.  I couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough.  It's been downhill ever since (we welcomed carrots and, most recently, sweet potatoes).  Funny, though, he still doesn't care much for the rice cereal.  Don't you just want to kiss that last photo?  MMMmm...delicious!

 

The following day we took a trip to IKEA and the Scholastic Book Warehouse (where I bought about 8 books for less than $25!).  But the highlight of the entire week was our trip to Roloff Farms.  If you're an avid TLC viewer you know the farm is owned and operated by Matt and Amy Roloff from the show Little People, Big World.   We watch the show, and were absolutely beside ourselves to be going to the farm.  We saw EVERYTHING...the house, the Previa, Molly's castle, Old Western Town, Zach's soccer field, and (of course) the family.  I'll post the pictures of our brush with the celebs later.  I still need to get them from Maren.  I can't say that it was the best pumpkin patch I've ever been too, but it was absolutely worth it to see the place that has charmed my Monday nights for so long.  Note the picture of the boys and the pumpkins.  Austin was on his way to a very dramatic face plant.

And, of course, we celebrated Halloween.  We actually moved on the 30th, but we were lucky enough that Toren's parent's had a ward party on Friday night.  It was fun to get the boys all dressed up.  Sadly, though, we failed to get a picture of all three of them in their costumes.  As you can see, Toren and I dressed up as frazzled, sleep-deprived parents.  On the 31st Austin and I met up with cousin Parker (the duck) and went trick-or-treating to Nana and Papa Spader's house.  The boys both crashed on the drive over, but woke up long enough to stash a few pieces of candy in their jack-o-lanterns and get some kisses.  Neither of the boys were too impressed with Papa's Barbie Graveyard.  Disturbing yet amazing, huh?

Finally Exhaling

Wow.  It's been a busy few weeks.

1. Toren accepted a job offer from Collette Vacations.  We've been wanting/hoping/looking for a new job for probably a year now.  But I can say for sure that we now have the right job at the right time.  He started work the end of September and has been out of town training every other week since then.  He is absolutely loving the job and he feels like it's got great future potential for him.  Oh, and it's in Seattle, which  means....

2.  We've moved.  I LOVED living in the Portland area.  I can't really explain it, but I was just really happy where we were.  Perhaps it's because we'd been in the area for two years (more than half our married life) and I dreaded the thought of packing and moving.  But, alas, pack and move we did (thank you family for your help....we probably would've been packing til midnight without you).  We are actually living in my parent's house in Auburn (just south of downtown Seattle) while they are living in Thailand.  We are so grateful to them.  The transition of all of our "stuff" from a third-floor, two-bedroom apartment to a two-story, 5-bedroom house with a garage and backyard has been glorious.  In the kitchen I pretty much have room for a plate on every shelf.  I'm in absolute bliss!  The only thing we need to do is install a bigger doggie door.  Baxter has been driving me absolutely bonkers from wanting to go outside about every 3 minutes. 

3.  Austin is changing by the hour...or so it feels like.  He started his first round of teething (during the week I started packing, of course).  After a late-night trip to Rite Aid for some baby Tylenol and keeping him drugged every 6 hours we managed to keep him comfortable.  Still, though, he refused to be put down for more than a half a second at any given time, making packing quite a challenge.  We've also started feeding him baby food in addition to the rice cereal.  So far he's only had squash, but tonight we'll branch out to something more exotic...carrots or sweet potatoes perhaps.  He's also starting to sit on his own.  He can sit for a quite a while slouched over with his hands by his toes, but when he tries to straighten his back he gets a little tipsy. 

4.  My sister-in-law, Maren, came into down the week of Halloween with her two boys.  We had an incredible time, to say the least.  I'll dedicate another post for this. 

5.  I've had an eye twitch for a week and a half now.  I guess I've been stressed.

Back at Nana and Papa Spader's

I already alluded to our trip to the pumpkin patch with Carmen and Parker.  Well, that was only a brief moment of a fun trip (for Austin and me....business for Toren) we took to Nana and Papa Spader's house.  We arrived late Monday night in the middle of Dancing with the Stars.  Austin assisted Nana in judging.  Austin and I spent the next few days playing.  Austin spent time lounging in Papa's chair, zipping (sort of) around in a walker from the 80's (not kidding.  I'm sure we have pictures of my 24-year-old brother in the exact same walker), and getting innumerable amounts of smooches from Nana and Papa.  And we, of course, went to the pumpkin patch.  Thanks Nana and Papa for letting us come stay with you!!

Notice how Austin's head is glowing in the first picture.  The curse of the towheads.

Enter: Rice Cereal

At Austin's four-month appointment his doctor said we could start him on rice cereal if we wanted.  I didn't want to.  Mostly I don't want to accept the fact that my little baby is growing up.  So I planned to wait as long as possible (six months, according to the doctor) to feed him anything other than milk.  Austin obviously had different plans.  He's been really interested in food for weeks now.  He enviously eyes our food when we eat and he's been acting like he just needs more of something.  I still managed to hold off.  But now he's not sleeping very well at night (again).  He's waking up more often than "normal"...and he's ravenous.  So I had to finally admit that maybe it is time to give my starving baby a little bit of rice cereal.  Today was day one.

Look at him in the first picuture -- so proud and optimistic.

He doesn't seem to totally hate it in the video.  But the more bites he took the more disgusting it got.

Conspiring Cousins

Today we went to a pumpkin patch with my cousin, Carmen, and her son, Parker.  I'll post more about the trip, but I thought these pictures of the boys were worth posting right away.  I just know they were conspiring against us.

P.S. I'm sure you'll notice that Austin has socks on but no shoes.  Be grateful I went that far.  This was probably the third time I've put anything on his feet because 1. being barefoot helps with the sweat issue and 2. I'm lazy.  Once he's actually using his feet for something (i.e. walking) I promise I'll do a better job.

Mini Vacation to Pullman

Last Sunday I took Toren to the airport.  He was going to be in Rhode Island all week for training.  Well, by Sunday evening Austin and were already bored to death.  I knew it was going to be near impossible for us to survive the week.  So, I called my sister-in-law, Maren, to see if we could take a mini vacation to Pullman.  She was ecstatic...of course!  Austin and I headed out early Monday morning.  The six-hour drive went surprisingly well.  Austin slept through most of it while I listened to conference.  We only stopped once for a feed and potty break.  And, once we arrived, the party began!

I wish we would have taken more pictures, but we were really too busy having fun.  We found some amazing deals at Walmart, Shopko, and Old Navy.  We spent some time playing outside.  Maren and I stayed up late to eat junk food and watch TV.  It really couldn't have been a better week.  Austin loved watching his cousins, Braden and Brody.  Thanks again Maren for rescuing us from a week that would've been awful!

The boys sure have changed a lot since we saw them last.

Save Money. Live Better. Leave (surprisingly) Happy.

I usually try to go to Walmart first thing in the morning on a week day.  It just seems like the "riff raff" aren't out and about yet.  I know, it's terrible to think that way.  But I know you know what I mean...and have probably even thought the same thing.  Anyway, last night I had to pick up a few things before Toren left for training in Rhode Island (update on our lives post to come later), and headed out to Walmart.  It was 5:30 on a Saturday evening and I mentally prepped myself for the herds of "Walmart shoppers" I was soon to encounter.  A half an hour later I left reflecting on one of the friendliest shopping experiences ever.  No joke.

First: While I was in one jam-packed aisle a nice lady (not an employee) asked if she could reach something on the top shelf for me.

Second: Three people commented on how cute little Austin is.

Third: After I bought my groceries the checkout lady grabbed all my bags and placed them gently, and orderly, into my shopping cart.

Fourth: Upon loading up the van and getting Austin strapped into his carseat, another nice lady came by and asked if she could take my shopping card back along with hers.

So nice, huh?  I attribute it to the fact that Austin looked absolutely irresistible snoozing in my baby wrap.  But, still, it's great to be reminded that there are genuinely nice people in the world...even at Walmart.  I take back all the ill thoughts I've harbored, though I will probably still stick to venturing there early in the morning just to be on the safe side.