October in Pictures

Will there ever be a month where I don't start with "man, was that ca-rrrrrrrazy!" ever again in my life? I am thinking no. Not possible when you have children and a business and a home to run. Thankfully God has done a little work in my heart (can I get an Amen?!) and I'm much more at peace than I was when I wrote this post. While it may not have come off in the post, I was struggling with balancing my new life at home and an expanding business. (I just so want to do everything well and am learning to say "no".) We made it through October with flying colors and had so.much.fun (as we struggled not to sink, ha). We had friends and family come visit, made trips to TWO zoos, celebrated our 5 year anniversary, traveled back down to Iowa for ISU Homecoming, and dressed up for Halloween all while (somehow) fitting in 22 photography shoots. Phew! 

Big thanks to my hubby for taking over dinners, skipping his gym workouts, and caring for Gwendolyn with all of my evening and weekend shoots. He's the best and the greatest assistant who gets no pay or benefits!! (Except for in hugs and kisses, of course.)

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Liz and her three kiddos came for a couple days in the beginning of the month. It was so sweet to see the kids together and just have a few days to talk. We did life together (meals and bed time and outings...stuff like that) for two days, which is rare. She's a loving, patient mom and the best friend a girl could ask for.

Anna, Gwendolyn and Max watching a movie before bed. 

Jack felt left out.

Good moooooorning, everybody!

We went to the Afton Apple Orchard. Little did we know we'd have four of 586 kids there. That's perhaps an exaggeration, but I do.not.like.crowds and I just shuttered when we drove up and saw row after row of school buses. We made the most of it though and had a great time.

They have this cool tunnel thing and finally Gwendolyn was able to go through it without 10 other kids in the way. She started off with a smile and by the end of it was signing "all done" and close to tears b/c some little kid jumped on top and was rocking it back and forth. The protective mother in me asked him to please get down b/c there was a baby in side (*smile). Thankfully she survived but didn't request to try it again. Huh.

This slide rocks. Never gets old.

I think the slide has new fans!

The next day we hit up Lookout Ridge Indoor Playground. So much fun!

Jack and Gwendolyn on the boat.

By the end of our time there, she was climbing up the steps and going down this slide all by herself! So brave! For a little one who is pretty cautious, this is a big deal.

I stepped in for Grandparent's Day at our nephew Grant's school. They had an adorable program and then we went back to his classroom where the kids all sang us songs and we got to make a craft together. Precious!

Tom and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary on October 6th. Trisha and John were so kind to come stay the night at our house so we could go relax and eat room service in bed at a hotel. It was fabulous. Gwendolyn decided to have a little party from 1:30 to 3:30 am with them - bless their hearts. This was all happening just as we were ending weaning so she wasn't quite used to not having mommy if and when she woke up in the middle of the night. They did a great job with her though and Uncle John sang and rocked her back to sleep.

Saturday morning (our actual anniversary) we had breakfast at IHOP and I got myself one fabulous gingerbread hot chocolate. Tom thought it was too sweet. Never!

Our annual anniversary picture taken at IHOP. You bet!

Gwendolyn is such a little mommy to her stuff animals and dolls. Looks like bunny needed some baby powder...

Trisha, John and I went and cheered Erin on as she ran her very first marathon. Um....WOW! It was amazing and so emotional to see her out there running her little heart out. We decided she was the most adorable runner. My face would have been bright red and I would have looked horrible. She was smiling (through the pain) and looked as cute as ever. This was taken at around mile 22 I think? She's my hero!

She doesn't know if she'll do another one, but says it was a great experience. I can only imagine crossing that finish line and how amazing that would feel. So proud of her!

Daddy took a day off and we went to Como Zoo and Conservatory...

My little best friend (she put her arm around me herself. Heart melted.)

Sometimes the conversation at small group is a bit boring for a then 18 month old. She got a little sleepy and decided time was better spent sleeping.

My brother Brent and his family came to visit! Hayden loves being outside so despite it literally raining, he was out there kicking around his soccer ball. And trying to teach Gwendolyn a thing or two....

Uncle Brent's "Gwendolyn" face. (They kind of look alike! Could it be b/c they share a birthday?!)

The kids at the Minnesota Zoo. The zoo grounds are so pretty! You can see the regular zoo animals but then get up close and personal with animals you rarely get to see so close....a fox, porcupine, wolves, and raccoon (these were alive). It was just cool. After spending a couple hours there, we decided to buy a yearly pass so we're looking forward to going back!

Baby doll and snack bucket make for one happy zoo goer.

She took a little snooze right on schedule. Phew!

Bath time!

Mimi and Papa came up for a weekend visit and Papa's Kindle was a crowd pleaser.

Ohhhh this scenario still makes me chuckle. Gwendolyn loves cousin Brookie and they play very well together. They would randomly make pit stops to draw and color so I tried to take a picture of them both sitting up to the table like big girls. Immediately upon seeing me enter the room with my camera, Gwendolyn starts saying "no" and shaking her hand at me. She then gets up and comes over to me (I'm thinking, "ohhh, how sweet. She wants me to hold her!") and literally pushes me backwards while whining. After realizing that my daughter was telling me to leave I just couldn't help but laugh. I mean, my feelings were totally hurt b/c it was the first time she was ever "mean" to me, but I was also amazed b/c she really is growing up and has a mind of her own! She stood there and watched me back up until she knew I was out of sight. Wow wow wow. I thought that wasn't supposed to start until their teens?! *smile.

Here she comes to give me a hug! NOT.

"Cheeese!"

Meeting baby Jocelyn Ellen for the first time at Iowa State Homecoming. I love baby snuggles!

Lunch with my three best friends (and their families) from college. Does it get any better?! What a fabulous day.

So many memories at Pi Beta Phi. Crazy that we all have at least one child now (Liz has everyone beat with THREE and we won't even start about how she still looks the exact same as she did in college. Not fair.)

We took the tandem bike out for a spin around Greek land, just like old times.

What does a monkey say?!

This bench is special to us. Tom proposed here and we took 20 week belly pics here when I was pregnant with Gwendolyn. 

Someone was pretty pumped about her trick or treating bucket.

In front of the ISU campanile.... 

Checking out the beautiful butterflies at Reiman Garden's butterfly exhibit.

Buddies...

We stayed with Brent and Sara and Gwendolyn took her turn on the trampoline.

We love our cousins!

And we love animals, including Bella the cat and Obi the guinea pig.

This girl amazes me with how much she carries at once.

As you can remember from this post, Halloween was super fun this year. (She was ready to get the show on the road and didn't like us wanting to take a family picture.)

In addition to all of the above, we had our first mid-wife appointment on October 4th at 11 weeks and got to hear the precious heartbeat of our little one! Separate baby update post coming soon!

Happy, happy holidays!