Lyla's Baby Shower!

Blessed...really that is the only word I can imagine to try to capture how I feel after the beautiful baby shower I had today. My sweet friends gave me a wonderful celebration for my second baby girl, and my family feels so incredibly loved!

I couldn't decide which pictures to include, so I decided to just collage a few to help capture the event. My mom was able to drive down for the party, and it was so fun to have Grandma and PaPa around for a short weekend visit. Enjoy the pictures!

Trunk or Treat

We headed to our church again this year for the annual Trunk or Treat. We modestly decorated our car, and Evelynn was thrilled to get to dress up as a bumblebee once again!

Skeleton Daddy and Bumblebee Evelynn ready to begin the festivities!

Daddy took Evelynn around while I manned the trunk, so I don't know much about what happened. Brad informed me that she was too shy to play the games, but was thankful for the candies she received nonetheless. We had to take her bumblebee hood off because it was stinkin' nice outside! Once her cheeks got a little rosy, we decided it wasn't worth sweatin' it!

I have no idea what this picture is about, but I love it!

Here is Evelynn's friend, Michael, playing the game at our trunk in order to get candy. Wasn't he a cute little soccer player? Oh yeah, and that's his Daddy...I have seen that wig more times than I can count!

Snow White Pumpkin

It has become a bit of a tradition for Daddy to make some intricate design on the pumpkin for his girls, and this year was no exception. Evelynn requested Snow White, and that's what she got!

Daddy traced the design and then used the pumpkin carving tools I got on sale last year to work his magic!

Evelynn was a big helper with the flashlight, helping Daddy by assisting.

As you can see, she took her job very seriously!

I forgot to take a picture of the pumpkin before the night was through, so unfortunately, she is a little shriveled from the long night. You can still see what a great job Brad did though! We got soooo many compliments! Most people thought we bought it and that it wasn't a real pumpkin! Next year I am going to hand out Brad's business cards...this could be a money maker!

Halloween Day

We had a gorgeous Halloween, and decided to spend a little time outdoors!

Here is the annual picture of Evelynn by her tree. She wasn't entirely cooperative, so this was about as good as it got.

We call Evelynn our little squirrel for lots of reasons, but she has started to take it literally we are afraid. She has stolen a bucket from the garage and has been hoarding her findings from the pecan tree for a little while now. Here she is showing me her treasure!

Brad put the extension chains up on her jungle gym, so Evelynn was able to swing REALLY HIGH!

Brad tried to get the children to take a picture with me, but dogs and two year olds are not the best models. I thought some of you might appreciate my Halloween costume this year...the irony of the skeleton shirt was a hit at Trunk or Treat. I am 35 weeks, and counting the days until d-day!

Sketti Slurping

Storybook Forest

After my mini-birthday party celebration, we headed to a local park for some Halloween fun. It is aimed for the younger crowd as a non-scary alternative, and I have to admit, the price tag was quite reasonable as well. There were so many fun pictures that I wanted to share, so definitely click on the album if you want to see more!

Here is our cute little bumblebee ("bunglebee" according to Evelynn). She had this smile pasted to her face most of the trail. I think the idea of getting candy from "friends" and dressing up seemed like the best time ever to a two year old.

Though she was a little too shy to say Trick or Treat to the fairytale characters along the trail, she definitely looked them in the eye and said "thank you" to each and every one of them.

We told Evelynn that she needed to try to get the sword out of the stone...picture opportunity!

Here she is talking with Red Riding Hood about the wolf in her bed. She told her "dat not gwanma." Ha! The girl knows her stories!

All in all, it was good time. I am not sure we will be back next year, as we are also interested in trying some other places too. Evelynn loved the trail and getting candy from all of the characters, but the games they had available to play weren't very much fun for the long wait. She enjoyed her hayride, but probably liked the tractor even more than the actual ride itself. She also got to listen to some stories, but she was so distracted by all of the other kids that I don't think she even knew that the lady was reading from a book. She probably would have loved roasting her own hot dog and marshmallows, but since we had already had my birthday celebration...we really weren't hungry. Anyway, a great time, but we will probably explore different options next year!

My 26th Birthday!

My sweet little family threw me a little birthday party last night! After we ate my generous neighbor's meal that she had prepared for my birthday, we opened a present Brad and Evelynn had bought together and the cake they had prepared together the night before.

All of my children getting in on the action of opening the present!

Jammies! Evelynn picked out the pink pair and my sweet husband gave me the polka dot pair.

Showing off my new duds!

The best part: the cake they made me! Brad said that Evelynn helped with the decorating, and was very picky about the placement of the candles and frosting flowers. I can't tell you how blessed I am to be part of this family!

A few pictures from the weekend

We spent a whirlwind of a weekend with friends and family, and we really had a great time! However, like most "vacations," we came home exhausted. Brad hasn't downloaded the pictures onto the computer from his jump drive yet, but I will show you a few that my mom-in-law took while we were having a family lunch on Sunday.

Evelynn and Uncle B, being silly.

Trying to take a family picture, even though Evelynn was EXHAUSTED!

Uncle B, Auntie A, Daddy, Evelynn, and Preggy Mommy

For those of you who have been bugging me for a belly bump picture, I hope this satisfies you a little.

Grandma and Papa trying to make tired Evelynn cooperate. I must admit, I was so thankful that she wasn't too cranky. Though she was extremely tired, she didn't really whine too much or start falling apart while we were there. As soon as we got in the car, she was asleep within minutes...I mean literally, maybe one minute.

Too Funny

I just thought this was too funny not to share...

Rain Rain Go Away!

We have been dealing with quite a bit of rainy weather lately, which to say the least, has been hard on my outside-loving kiddo! I decided to take some pictures of Evelynn and Finley on one of the days we were able to play outside, and I couldn't decide which ones to share! There are also a couple of landscape photos hidden in the collage for those of you who are interested in how my flowers are starting to fill in from the big Spring planting we had.