Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween leaving me too tired to do justice in this blog. Stay tuned for more pics, but I can't say goodnight without leaving you with this face...

Worthy

I left off one particular thing we did while in Marble Falls, because I felt it was so awesome it was worthy of an entire blog post. We went to the Exotic Resort Zoo in Johnson City (just 20 minutes outside MF) and had quite an encounter with the animals. I've never been to anything quite like this before. We rode in a trailer pulled by a tractor through the property filled with animals. In the past, I've been to exotic reserves where you drive your own car through, but this was MUCH more intense and up close. Here's just a small peek into all the action....
Jake stayed in my dad's arms nearly the entire ride. I'm not sure what he thought about all the animals...

You were able to hand feed all animals, but they warned to only let the ostriches eat directly out of the bucket...The camels were probably the most intense. Because they are so tall, they could easily stick their heads right into the trailer, and they really liked the treats we had...
This guy was definitely not shy. Does anyone else think it's crazy we were this close to a camel, or is just me?I've been known to willingly tell embarrasing stories about myself. I'm not so sure why I do this other than I think it's good to be able to laugh at yourself. Well, now is one of those times when I'm going to "tell" on myself. I was actually scared at the beginning of the tour. Logically, my brain was telling me, "It's OK, these animals aren't going to hurt you," but I was finding it hard to listen to logic. When we first went inside the gates the animals literally swarmed the trailer, and I admit, I was freaked out. After about 10 minutes in, I did calm down and toughen up, but not before I was throwing the food away from the trailer trying to get the animals away. Anyway, in time I gained courage and was able to actually hand feed some of them, but not before some honest moments of terror. Here's the terror caught on film...As I said, I'm not sure what Jake really thought of everything. I'm sure it was pretty overwhelming for him(obviously Mommy thought so). Fortunately, he had several loving shoulders to nestle his head on. Thanks, Grandmama for keeping me safe from the crazy animals... These are just some of the animals we got to see up close and personal...

Check out this tongue!They also had a nice petting zoo (as if I didn't already feel close enough to the animals from the trailer ride). We felt like Jake already had enough excitement for the day, so we decided to stay on the other side of the fence to take a look. It was still fun to see the looks Jake gave ....

Thanks again, Grandmama and Papa for a great trip! We hope you had a wonderful birthday, Papa.

Our latest

This past weekend, I spent my very first full night away from Jake. It was for a very good cause (our Junior Huddle retreat), and Jake was in good hands (my parents'), but of course, we missed our little guy. Here's a pic of our Huddle. We are blessed to have the opportunity to work with this great group of kids.On Monday, Jake and I headed to Horseshoe Bay, Marble Falls with my parents in order to celebrate my dad's 65th birthday!!! Jake did lots of fun stuff while we were there. He hung out on our balcony and enjoyed the beautiful view of the lake....He enjoyed some friendly duck friends....they were especially friendly when we threw down food...

He went to some really yummy restaurants. Of course, when it comes to table food, he still prefers to stick to Cheerios, Puffs, and goldfish, even though we offer him some really tasty treats, but that doesn't mean I still don't try to offer him some of the good stuff...

He got to wear this really cute make-shift bib when Mommy forgot his bib. Howdy, partner!He went shopping in some really cool shops. This one was especially fun because he got to practice his saddle skills....He enjoyed hanging out in the condo, cruising around lots of new furniture and looking out the window in anticipation of Papa taking him out on the patio...He hung out with Mommy...And most importantly, he spent lots of time with Papa in order to say "Happy Birthday!"

It's the perfect weather for....

anything and everything outside!!! I absolutely love this kind of weather. In the fall, I'm so excited for the cooler temperatures and relief from the heat, and in the spring I'm ready again for sunshine and short sleeves. Jake loves being outside, so I appreciate this weather even more when I'm trying to keep him happy and entertained. We are able to go on longer walks, and often go on 2-3 walks a day! We also love going to the park, especially with friends. Here are Jake and Mia playing in the sand...I was hesitant to let Jake crawl around in the sand because he really likes to put parts of nature (rocks, leaves, bugs, etc.) in his mouth, and I can't trust that he won't eat those things. I was feeling rather brave (and tired of carrying him around) so we gave it a try. He did pretty well. He really liked to feel the sand on his fingers, and only tried to eat nature a couple times.

It's always fun for me to watch Jake interact with other kids. Here he is with Mia and Ally. Mia, already an expert at being on older sister, is especially great around Jake. She's super sweet and always comes up to talk to him.
A park visit isn't complete without a ride on the swing. What a happy boy! Thank you, God, for such amazing weather. It's really a reminder of Your amazing creation.

Little Stinker

Jake hangs out in the exersaucer while I'm getting ready in the mornings--it's awesome that he's still entertained by it and I am able to have some time to myself without worrying about what he's getting into. Well, yesterday morning he was in the exersaucer while Kevin and I were getting ready for church when the next thing I know he is pulling out our dirty clothes. We have a wicker laundry basket with a lid in the bathroom, and I guess the exersaucer got a little too close. Jake managed to get the lid off, then continued to pull out as many clothes as he could reach. What a little stinker...

"What are you looking at me for? These windpants belong to me, right?"

Crazy Fun

Over the past month, it's been raining a ton! One day last week, we went out for our walk as usual. It was overcast, but with no rain and the temperature was great. Well, I should have watched the forecast beyond just the temperature because we got caught in the rain. Luckily, we were pretty close to home so we weren't too drenched. It actually gave the morning some unexpected fun. Once we got home, we stayed in the garage for a while to watch the beautiful rain. Jake loves the water; rain included. I think he would have been perfectly content if we would have continued on our walk...

I feel the need to preface the following picture by saying we do not allow our baby to play with the oven. We are very well aware it is not a toy and could cause serious injury, so it is one of the things in the house that is off limits. Now, with that being said; so far as a parent I've learned you can't really believe what your children will do until you see it with your own eyes. One moment Jake was cruising along the kitchen cabinets....the next he was trying to scale the oven! Yes, it appears he's actually trying to climb up. Luckily it was not on, and he's not nearly strong enough to pull down the door, but this moment reinforced the need to keep our eyes open. I just had to capture this on film because I could not believe my eyes!!

A New Friend

Jake and I made a quick trip to Houston Thursday to Friday to visit my best graduate school friend, Sara. Sara lives in Iowa, so we haven't seen each other in a very long time. She was in Houston for a work conference, and her husband and 5 month old baby, Abram, got to join her. Of course, Jake and I weren't going to let our friends be so close by without making a visit. Here's Sara and adorable Abram... Abram has an awesome head of hair. It's a good thing Jake's hair has been growing a lot lately, or he might have been jealous ;-)
Here are the two new friends...

Abram was very nice and shared his Mama and Papa with Jake for some play time. Jake showed Josh how he can play ball...

Sara read Jake a new book. It was very interesting...And here are the 4 friends all together. It's crazy how much topics of conversation have changed since our days in grad school together. I guess there's something about parenthood that seems to take over and dominate conversations. It was so great to spend some time with Sara, Josh and Abram. It made me wish they lived closer.....well, maybe one day?!?

Wonderful 3 Day Weekend!

Our weekend started on Friday because Kevin took off work in order to give me "Mommy's day off." It's my opinion that every so often, even if you love your job, you will have days when you need a break. Well, I was feeling that way about my job as Mom at the start of the week, so my sweet husband offered to take off from his job so he could take over mine for a while. He told me he would take off on one condition: I wasn't allowed to do ANY chores on my day off....no objection here. The day was AWESOME. The morning was just for me. Kevin took over for Jake (and even went grocery shopping!!) while I lied in bed and read, watched DVR'd episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Oprah all the way through without any interuptions, blogged, soaked in the calm and peacefulness of a quiet house, and just generally relaxed. Kevin is a wonderful husband and dad. I am blessed to have someone who is attentive and sensitive to both Jake and my needs. Thanks honey, for the wonderful break. I love you. Jake had a great time with Daddy!

We also enjoyed family time in the afternoon. The rainy, chilly weather put a little damper on things, but we managed to get outside for a walk between showers. Jake was happy to get some fresh air...Check out this goofy grin. We're seeing this one pretty frequently these days...
Nana and Big T came in for a quick trip, so we got in lots of good play time. Nana knew exactly how to bring out Jake's giggles...

Jake also showed Nana how he can throw the ball...

Of course, Big T got in on the fun too. Jake taught him all his favorite places to crawl around...
I know you can't see Big T in this picture, but Jake's looking right at him, like, "Hey, are you coming?"Of course a grandparents' visit isn't complete without some eating out. We enjoyed some Mighty Fine hamburgers and yummy Mexican food. Jake wasn't really able to enjoy the food too much, but he definitely enjoyed the water...

After saying our good-byes to Nana and Big T :-(... it was back to the 3 of us Sunday afternoon. Now that Jake is into everything, it was time to install a few safety latches for the cabinets. Both Kevin and Jake worked really hard getting them in...

Hope your weekend was as great as ours. Have a great week!