Pumpkin Patch

Just a couple minutes down the road from our house, we have a wonderful pumpkin patch that we've had the pleasure of visiting a couple times already this season.  It is actually quite large and somewhat of a hidden treasure.  It feels like we are out in the country when we are there but it is basically right in the middle of town.  

They held a special night last week where they gave hayrides along with all their normal activities.  The kids and I went along with Stef and Sydney.  The place was packed and we waited for quite some time to get our hayride!  It was pretty much dark when we finally got our turn and it was most definitely dark when we were done but that just made the ride that much more fun!  The girls had a blast!  And Jace (hidden and riding in the baby bjorn!) thoroughly enjoyed the bumpy ride as well!  

The following morning we participated in some pumpkin painting at the local rec center.  

Then we decided to return to the pumpkin patch, this time with daddy.  We conquered our very first corn maze...in the daylight!  We were very impressed with the corn maze and decided it would have been super tricky in the dark like some people attempt!  Ruby was kind of confused with the whole maze thing but she had fun trying to hide from us!  Jace slept through the entire maze!  Ruby also played in the corn box and picked out some pumpkins for us to take home.  

Carrots

Ruby got to help Sydney harvest carrots at Papa Gary and Grandma Ruth's house.  The evening was a chilly one, but the girls had a great time pulling the carrots out of the ground! 

The next morning, we washed them up!  

Finished product!  She was quite proud  ;)

Time with Dad

Time with Dad usually includes CANDY... and some sort of "activity" that wouldn't happen with Mom.  Like getting to ride in the front seat (just up the driveway and into the garage)!  

And why not get out the leaf blower!  

 And I caught this cute moment too ;)  A little chat in the grass!

A Night with Friends

Our great friends, the Kallemeyn's, invited us over for supper around the campfire.  We had such a wonderful time!  Ruby and Lauren are only two months apart and are becoming fast friends!

Both Lauren and Ruby are in the "cheesy smile stage."

Ruby's first smore!

The girls also graced us with some music around the campfire.  They sang Jesus Loves Me, Awesome God, Jesus Loves the Little Children, God is So Good, and Holy, Holy, Holy.

Pokey Visits

Paul's grandma, "Pokey," came to visit a week ago.  It was so nice to see her!  Ruby loved having Pokey here and Jace was just as smitten to finally meet his great grandma, who also happens to be his birthday buddy!

Unfortunately, our little familiy got hit with our second stomach bug in just a few short weeks so our time with Pokey was cut shorter than we wanted.  And what was even worse, is that we passed the bug along to Pokey before she was able to go home.  We are thankful and blessed that Pokey came to visit and we look forward to our next visit where we hope and pray everyone stays healthy!

Jace - 8 Months

Jace turned 8 months old on October 9th.  We are still working on the eating thing... he has some days where he does a great job and then the next day we can't even get him to open his mouth.  He can be easily distracted by his big sister or anything else that seems exciting but we've found that he loves having puffs or veggie sticks on his tray.  They seem to hold his attention a little bit!  

Jace is still in the infant carseat, although we have a convertible seat waiting for him.  We are trying to keep him in the carrier for as long as possible.  He often times falls asleep in the carseat and it is so nice to just plop that in the stroller and let him keep sleeping when we go places.  But he is getting so big that its not going to hold him much longer!  

He has started to wave and sometimes we can get him to do it on command.  He says "Mama" all the time...mostly when he's sad, tired, or hungry.  When he babbles, he also says "baba" and "dada." 

He is starting to get up on all fours but has yet to crawl.  He usually just gives up and decides its too much work!

We bought a double stroller off of craigslist, mainly for daily strolls around the neighborhood.  He loves stroller rides and doesn't mind the colder weather we've been having.  His sister isn't so tough.  ;)

Jace is a pretty good sleeper and sleeps around 10-11 hours a night.  He occasionally wakes during the night and mainly because I don't want him to wake Ruby, I usually feed him.  And apparently he is hungry because he will down a bottle and go right back to sleep.  We can lay him down awake for naps and at nighttime and the little sweetheart just goes to sleep!  He needs to teach his sis a thing or two!    

He managed to get himself stuck under the chair but as long as he had his basketball he wasn't phased a bit!  He also managed to get himself "unstuck."  

A rare snuggle moment.  Jace is such a happy kid, it's crazy.  Sometimes I just can't get over how sweet he is....  

Hawkeye Homecoming

We were able to participate in the University of Iowa's homecoming festivities this year.  Friday night started with the parade.

Ruby loves parades and was quite serious about the several bands that participated.  

Ruby, her cousin Sydney, and friend Ella

Jace, being his happy and wiggly self!

Then late Friday night, my whole family came to town!  We got up Saturday and headed down to Kinnick.  We tailgated and then some of us went to the game.  It was my parents first time at Kinnick Stadium and even though the Hawkeyes lost, they still had a great time.  

We enjoyed the rest of the weekend at home and Ruby was in her glory having her cousin Tate here as well as having the attention of some of her favorite people!  Bathing all three kids at the same time was Grandpa Bill's idea and I'm pretty sure it lasted all of three minutes!  I'm pretty sure Jace got splashed by the big kids and didn't think it was so cool.  But it was cute and funny while it lasted!

Ruby can't wait for her family to come back!  I hear that almost every day.  :)  And I'm pretty sure she would still be wearing her Hawkeye tattoo if it still had some stick left to it!