November and December 2011

 NOVEMBER 2011

This month went by so fast! We had Thanksgiving at my brother's house where he deep fried a turkey. It was tasty! Nick has been trying to convince me to get a deep fryer for this very purpose. I'm still not convinced but I really liked the turkey. Nice try though...

I made some homemade finger paints so we could paint some fall pictures. Jonah  wasn't as interested in painting as he was in eating the paint. (it's edible)

I did a lot of baking over the holidays. Jonah likes to "help" me in the kitchen.

 DECEMBER 2011

We celebrated Christmas twice this year. Once with Nick's family and again with my side of the fam. Jonah had some experience opening presents by now and by the time we got to the 2nd Christmas, he was a pro. I'm pretty sure he ended up opening mine and Nick's presents as well as his own.

Jonah helped decorate the tree this year. It was so cute! He couldn't really get the hooks on the branches so he needed help on every single one. It was a little tedious but we got it done. It was hard to get him to leave the ornaments on the tree. I kept finding him with a snowman and a drummer boy fighting to the death.

His stocking is deeper than his arm is long.

He loved his cars though.

Aunt Michelle made ginger bread houses and you are not allowed to eat anything off of them until after Christmas. However, Uncle Mike had been picking at it all day. Jonah decided to try some. I'm pretty sure he had observed his Uncle's sneakiness and decided he'd try to be sneaky too.
Here he goes...

 

Almost got it...

Nope! Aunt Michelle caught him. He got pretty close though, and this was not the only time he tried. I'm sure he got some while no one was looking:)

So, Jonah decided to put on some of Daddy's clothes. I would have gone for a shirt but, to each his own.

OCTOBER 2011 PART 2

We had a friend take some beautiful pictures for us. We haven't had a family pic taken since Jonah was born, so this was kinda fun. Jonah was able to run around in the park and get some energy out and my friend chased him around trying to get some good shots. It was a challenge, but she got it done and did a great job.

                                                                

Happy Halloween! Trick-or-treating was fun this year! Normally, we have to do everything twice, once with Nick's side of the family and then again with mine. This year we all went together! It was nice because the girls, (Kami, Emma, & Grace) got to play together and Jonah and Brooklyn kept each other company. 

He's a garden gnome!

Jonah and Brooklyn got a pretty sweet deal. All they had to do was sit and look cute. 

I don't think you can get much cuter than a garden gnome. It's going to be really hard to top this one!

OCTOBER 2011 PART 1

October was a super busy month for our family! 

Jonah is 2!!! I can't believe it. Time has flown by so fast, it seems like he was just turning 1. We had a Special Agent OSO party! 

My sister, Kathy, helped me with the cake.

Of coarse, in true toddler fashion, he was cranky and not at all interested in the cake.

His cousins were ready for CAKE!

This may have been the only present he stayed to open before he ran away to jump on the trampoline. 

Poor little guy was pooped.

 Jonah and I went to an orchard to pick apples. He had a blast running up and down the rows. We were the only ones there so I let him go farther than I normally would. It wasn't long before he got a little lost, which he didn't particularly like. After that he made sure he could always see us. 

Who wants a brownie?!

One cold, cold morning, we met some friends at Homestead. We had no idea it was supposed to be so darn cold that morning, but Jonah didn't mind at all. He had a great time on the big slide and  playing in the corn.

There is a corn-box which is like a sandbox but has corn kernels instead of  sand.

It was his favorite and near impossible to get him out of it!

He really like the animals. That was the only thing he'd willingly leave the corn-box for. 

There were a lot of bigger kids and he was very patient waiting for his turn to touch the little horses.

We went on a hay ride and got to pick a pumpkin! This should be fun right? Sitting on a bed of hay being pulled by a big tractor...not for Jonah. We were with a "Mom's Group", so of coarse he was the only kid who screamed the entire way to the pumpkin patch. Once there, he refused to have anything to do with the pumpkins and decided to scream instead. So naturally, I took him out of sight of the other moms, gave him a swat on the rear and told him to change his attitude. He may be only 2 years old, but he knows a good "come to Jesus" talk when he hears one. The whole way back he sat in my lap and didn't make a sound. Once we got back, he went straight to the corn-box. Luckily, we made it home alive...

This is Jonah before we left the parking lot.

About 2 mins later...This is Jonah at the stop light before we got on the freeway.

Stay tuned for October 2011 Part 2!

SEPTEMBER 2011

The kids practically lived outside. We went through a lot of sunscreen...especially on myself. Jonah is so tan! He tans just like his Daddy. 

Can't get enough of that smile!

Lucky for me, they exhaust themselves at the park making nap time longer so I can catch a few z's too. ; )

Took a trip to the zoo. Jonah loved it! 

And when I say "he loved it", what I mean is, he loved the giraffe slide...

After the slide, the outing was pretty much over. But it was fun while it lasted!

Our neighbor had some bunnies escape from their backyard. They became the neighborhood bunnies because no one could catch them. We live in a cul-de-sac so they never went very far and seemed to love our backyard. The kids really liked them but never got quite close enough to touch them. : )

AUGUST 2011

Leaving my job was quite an adjustment. Luckily, I have a friend who is a stay at home Mom and she helped me stay busy with regular play dates. I really don't know what I would have done without her! (Thanks Dani!) Jonah is loving the summer and he loves having his cousins Kami and Brooklyn to play with.

Whatever Nick does, Jonah wants to do too. Like wear cool shades.

We spent a lot of time at Settler's Park because it has a water park area. Our usual routine went like this: Play in the water, eat lunch, play in the water again, play on the playground equipment until dry, then go home and have naps. It's so hard being a toddler.

At this point Jonah is starting to get into a lot of mischief. There were a few mornings I found him like this. So we had to change his crib into a toddler bed. He did awesome! Stayed in bed all night and took naps without any fuss. It took a while before he realized he could get up whenever he wanted. 

Remember what I said about the mischief? Jonah decided to "cook" breakfast one morning. I'm actually really impressed he got most of it in the pot and not much on the floor. He likes "helping" Mommy in the kitchen.