Better Late than Never...October Recap!

Good LAWD. Happy New Year Y'all.  That's right, on New Year's Day, I'm backing all the way up to October.  This catch up game is more for my sake than yours though, because I just love looking through our monthly recaps; it's almost like a digital scrapbook and the only thing I semi-keep up with. (I made it all the way to September with my recaps, so I figured 9 out 12 is a pretty good success rate, right?) The ultimate goal is to finish up my monthly recaps for the year, so I can wrap up 2017!

To be honest, this is the best I've felt since my pregnancy test revealed a double line in August.  Between first trimester exhaustion, sinus stuff, and my sweet Grammy's passing, let's just say it's been a rough 4th quarter.

At the same time, we really have packed in some good memories.  But this mama is ready to SLOW. DOWN.

But here goes nothing....I bring you, October.

I LOVE October, namely because it's when my little cherub was born.  Plus there's football, a break in the heat, and Halloween (which I've decided is most fun when you're in college and then when you have small children.)

We kicked off October with school pictures, which shockingly turned out in our favor this year.  And you know when you nail a school picture....ER'BODY gets a framed one for Christmas.  Just look at how handsome Mr. Tinypants looked on picture day...

The next week the sinus stuff hit me with FULL FORCE and I was so miserable.  Fortunately, I had booked Jeremie's Mom for a visit during my first trimester (like I literally text her while I was hanging over the toilet and asked her to buy a plane ticket.) I was so happy she was coming to rescue us that weekend.  

UNFORTUNATELY, Mother Nature had different plans in store.  Nona arrived on a Friday afternoon, giving me just enough time to get my hair cut and grab a nap.  But then Hurricane Nate headed straight for South Mississippi and canceled her return flight on Sunday. The only reasonable option was for her to hurry up and fly out the next morning, which left us with about a 18 hour visit. Y'all, I was DEVASTATED. I cried like a baby as we took her back to the airport. (I know this sounds crazy, but if you have kids and live far away from family, you know exactly what I mean.) I had been banking on some relief for 3 weeks and there was no end in sight for me.  Perhaps there were a few hormones involved too. It was no one's fault and totally out of our control, but I was SO SAD. Anyway, if Hurricane Nate doesn't ring a bell for you, that's because it ended up being a little rain shower.  Clearly, the Weather Channel was on HIGH ALERT after Harvey and Irma. 

We tried to redeem the day by stopping by Oktoberfest in Southlake. It was super cute, but I admit, I ate my Bratswurst very grumpily. 

Then there was "Cowboy Day" at school, and my boy WAS ALL IN. 

 I lucked up and found him some Wranglers and the CUTEST little cowboy shirt at the consignment shop.  I think I was as obsessed as he was....

He pretty much dressed wore this look for the remainder of October.

We had appointment #2 with the little nugget, which gave me a scare, as they couldn't find her heartbeat with the regular Doppler device. So I rushed into a sonogram and everything was fine...she was just hiding.....(this was at 12 weeks; SHE CAN'T HID ANYMORE.)  I'll be doing an extended post on my pregnancy/fun girly baby stuff soon...I hope...maybe before she's born.

                                      

Afterwards, we hit up Pumpkin Patch #2 with our Besties, Jorie and Preston.

Because after appointment #2, I COULDN'T WAIT to tell the world we were expecting....so we brought our props...

Greyson was SUPER into pumpkins in general this year, and also took to the Petting Zoos, which usually isn't his thing.  I had to all but drag him away from the goats. 

Our last pumpkin patch visit was to the Dallas Arboretum, of course.  The MOTHER of all pumpkin patches.  This places just takes my breath away every time I go. This year the theme was "Wizard of Oz", and it was spectacular. 

A great pumpkin patch picture is every Mother's dream come true, right?!!!

And of course we had to "Follow the Yellow Brick Road"...

As I said, Lil G was super into the pumpkins this year.  But he sealed the deal by KISSING the pumpkins on the way out of the Arboretum. Bless it.

Then this little muffin turned THREE, so I had to take a picture on his last night as a two year old.  TEAR. Actually, there were lots of tears (on both sides) during the two's.  But the transitions and changes from two to three are really amazing and it was a great year.

We celebrated with gifts and donuts since his party wasn't until November.

His favorite gift was probably his Gecko costume, which is what he wanted to be for Halloween.  Listen, this child is WAY into costumes.  We are accumulating quite the collection. 

We headed to the new Playstreet in Allen, and it was adorable! We stayed in the plane most of the time, because my pilot said we were "flying to Mississippi".  Pretty sure that's the only place he thinks planes go. 

Since we were destined to be in costume ALL of October, Greyson's school also hosted the "Noah's Ark Parade".  Fortunately, my little guy is in the lower end of the growth percentile, and we re-used last year's monkey costume.  

Jeremie and I left Greyson with "Aunt Jorie" for his first official "sleepover" with a friend, and we headed to College Station for the MSU/Aggie game.  We've been once before and this school is just amazing with all their traditions and customs. 

Our dear friends and Aggie Alumni, Holly and Clint met us down there and were the best tour guides.   We had the best time! And the Bulldogs pulled off the win. ; )

This is in "Bottle Cap Alley"...a literal alley that is Lord knows how deep in an assortment of bottle caps. ; )  I know that the Aggies think "tradition", but all I was thinking was Tetnus shot. 

At this point, the vest already wasn't zipping up.  

After checking out of our hotel, I noticed this sign for a business that I feel like sums up my life....

We got back into town and immediately headed to Trunk or Treat at our church.  No rest for the weary!

These are Clint and Holly's precious three that we all adore.

We didn't plan on Trick-or-Treating for actual Halloween night, but Greyson was (of course) already in his costume and we thought what the heck. Lil Gecko enjoyed himself and was super into the candy this year.  

These little moments are what it's all about.  Love making these memories with my people. 

Okay! And that was October! Fingers crossed that I can stay feeling good and get back to blogging more regularly again! November's up next! Stay tuned!