Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!! The day has come where all the little goblins are out running amuck and we eat our weight in candy. 

The last few days we've been spending every last minute in our Halloween Jammie's, eating festive treats, and spending hours at the pumpkin patch. 

I hope you all have a great and safe night with your little monsters! 

4 Months Old

 

 As always, I can't believe how fast Gage growing! He's not a fragile newborn anymore and although I'm loving this age, I'm kind of missing my teeny tiny newborn. His 4 month check up went great - He weighs 15 lbs 6 oz and is way off the charts on his height of 27.5 inches long. We also got the okay from his pediatrician to start him on solid foods so  Today we gave him some baby oatmeal mixed with breast milk and he seemed to enjoy it. I'm still not sure how often we will give him solids because he does pretty good with just breast milk right now. He is a champ at breastfeeding and I'm happy we are still going strong. He eats every 3 hours or so but only nurses for about 5 - 10 minutes so it's not bad that he eats so often. 

I don't even know where to begin on his sleeping habits. Some days he sleeps really well and other days he is up all night and all day. I cannot get him on a schedule for the life of me. He is just like Ryder was at this age and he is terrible at napping. I can't tell you how many times a day I go up and down my stairs putting his binky in and trying to get him to sleep.  We are just taking it day by day until we can get him on a sleep schedule. 

Gage is starting to take interest in toys and he will grab and put things in his mouth. He absolutely loves Ryder and laughs and smiles at him all day long. Tyson calls Ryder his "secret weapon" when Gage is fussy because he can calm him down in an instant. Ryder loves him just as much and makes sure he introduces him as "my baby" while patting him on his head when we go places.

I find it funny that 90% of the pictures I have of Gage are when its dark out and most have cups of coffee in them. And although we aren't getting much sleep most days we sure do love this red headed, blue eyed monster! We can't wait to see him grow up and can't imagine life without him. Love you Baby G!

 

I'll eat you up - I love you so! {Halloween Week}

Happy Halloween week! We are so excited for Halloween this year and are counting down the days until we get to take Ryder trick or treating. I wanted the boys' costumes to match this year before Ryder gets old enough that he will want to choose what he wears. "Where The Wild Things Are" is one of Ryder's favorite books so I thought it is perfect. It took me so long to find these costumes and I really wish I was crafty enough to make them myself. But how cute are my little wild things??

We kicked off Halloween week bright and early Sunday morning and headed for a pumpkin filled breakfast in our Jammie's. Ryder put a smile on everyone's faces when the waitress walked up to take our order and he quickly responded with "copee {coffee} and sprite please" 

The rest of the week will be filled with Halloween crafting, movies, lots of goodies, parties, one last trip to the pumpkin patch and our annual chili dinner and trick or treating Halloween night. What are you guys doing to celebrate Halloween??

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! We are so glad it's finally the weekend! On top of Gage having a respiratory infection we also found out yesterday he had a double ear infection. Poor baby was so miserable he screamed for hours. We made yet another trip to the doctors office and they gave him some antibiotics and ear drops which have really seemed to help. The doc said we need our own parking spot after this week. Ain't that the truth. Want to know what's even better then having two sick kids? Having to take care of said kids all by yourself with the hubby out of town for work. Both boys decided Wednesday morning that they wanted to party from 1-4am. I swear they planned it! Ryder talked to me about grass hoppers and elephants while Gage screamed about how he didn't feel good. Thank goodness the hubs will be home for a while now. Now on to my favorites this week....

Whenever I need to nurse Gage in public I have been going outside to my car to feed him. I just hadn't found a cover that I felt gave me the best coverage. With Winter coming up I really didn't want to have to keep nursing in the car so I did a lot of research and stumbled upon Covered Goods. Their covers actually go over your head and cover your back and I love that people cant see when they look over your shoulder either. They are especially great if you have other little ones that you have to chase after like me. You can wear them as a scarf and a car seat cover as well.
 

I went to the Freshly Picked Warehouse Sale last night so they of course have to be included in my Friday Favorites today! My favorites for little boys are the Camo, Stone Suede and Weathered Brown. I got a really good spot in line last night and was able to get some awesome deals. I barely made it out alive though!
 

Ryder especially loved the Emoji stickers I brought home from the sale. I turn my back for 2 seconds.....

With cooler weather on the horizon I'm on the hunt for some jackets for the boys. I really love this Mix-Media Moto Jacket for Ryder and this Hooded Camo Jacket for Gage. I'm really loving Camo lately!

I know it's not even Halloween yet but this Philosophy Holiday Spice Rack Trio has me so excited for the Holidays! I love all of their body washes.

Now we are off to enjoy this 75 degree weather while we can because their might be SNOW on Sunday!! Have a great weekend!

Our {sick} Week & Weekend

 our weekend was pretty uneventful because Ryder has his second cold of the season and he of course gave it to Gage. I'm pretty sure he got it at nursery school and I just cringe every time I drop him off thinking about all germs. Germaphobe for sure. I'm looking into buying some essential oils and hopefully they help this cold and flu season. This is Gage's first time being sick and it's turned into a respiratory infection that just has to run its course. He has been very clingy and all he wants to do is nurse and sleep in my arms so it's been hard to get anything done. He also refuses to sleep in his crib at night and just wants to cuddle up next to me in my bed. I am getting pretty good at doing stuff with one hand though!  Ryder has been so nice to help me take care of Gage. He wipes his nose, pats him on the back when he coughs and makes sure he is always wearing socks. {seriously. Don't try to take off his socks}

Tyson worked out of town last week and he got home just in time to catch the cold himself and help me with the boys all night long. He didn't complain once even after working long hours, being sick, and going into Ryder's room 100 times each night. I on the other hand was a hot mess. I don't do good on little sleep and I even fell down the last 2 of my stairs at 3 am. Yep that happened.

We are slowly on the mend and the crisp Fall air is all we needed some days. 

{his puppy needed to wear some Moccs too}

I also gave Gage his very first haircut and I can't get Over that little curl! Ryder's hair has always been stick straight. I also think it's going to stay a strawberry blonde color and I'm loving it! 

This was the scene after Gage's haircut when "wreck it Ryder" put a whole roll of toilet paper in the bath tub while I got Gage undressed. He just looked at me and said oops! Nice try kid. 

We're pretty frazzled over here but I'm glad that everyone is starting to feel better and I'm looking forward to doing some Halloween filled activities this week/weekend. Hope you are all having a great week!

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Pumpkin

Kidding. This post is all about pumpkins. Sick of hearing about Fall and all things pumpkin?? Good, me either!

A few days ago we spent the day painting pumpkins and listening to thriller. Ryder carefully painted his masterpiece then decided it was more fun to line up the paints in whatever order he decided. It seriously kept him entertained for an hour. 

Last weekend me and Tyson went on a date to watch The Dance Odyssey "Thriller". I used to be a dancer and watching this every year makes my heart so happy! Except for the zombies that walk around the hallways. That brings out my irrational fear of zombies taking over the world. 

This morning the boys decided to wake up waaaay to early, so we made some Jack O Lantern pancakes in our Halloween Jammies. I just threw some orange food coloring in my buttermilk pancake batter and added some chocolate chips and whip cream. Which by the way will make a 2 year old be on a sugar high and run around the house like a wild man. More coffee please!

Happy almost Friday!!

Halloween Favorites

Sleep deprivation has hit a whole new level over here. With Gage teething he not only doesn't nap during the day but he also has been getting up multiple times a night. The last few mornings we have started our day around 4:30 am. This morning Gage was up for the day at 3:30 am and didn't go back to sleep until 7:30 am right when Ryder woke up. You know you are sleep deprived when you rinse off your paper plate and stick it in the dishwasher. I obviously don't do well on 3 hours of sleep. The good news is Halloween is right around the corner so we've been staying busy getting costumes ready and doing festive activities. I'm loving all the Halloween goodies in stores, most of which are on sale now. Here are some of my favorites...

 

 

Web One Piece // Chalkboard Print // Helloween Drip T-Shirt // Striped Boo Jammies // "I put a spell on you" Onesie

 

I love the chalkboard print because it is one of my favorite Halloween sayings. It looks perfect next to some pumpkins and a felt garland. I love how Jessica from Little Baby Garvin Blog used it in her home.

You of course can't go wrong with anything Hocus Pocus and when I see the "I put a spell on you" onesie I can't help but finish with "and now your miiiiinnee!!" 

I love all of Hello Apparel's Halloween line because you can pull them off all year long and who doesn't love a glow in the dark tee??

And now I'm off to tackle this Tuesday with two teething boys, not enough coffee and on three hours of sleep. Wish me luck. 

 

 

Life Lately

If I wasn't already obsessed with Instagram {@whitrichins} chatbooks has put it on a whole new level! They print your Instagram pics for only $6 per 60 page book. It includes dates and captions {which you are able to edit} and they automatically send you a new book for every 60 pics. Scrapbooking made easy!

These cute boys have been keeping me on my toes and even though I'm a little sleep deprived, I'm loving every minute of it. Ryder has been extra sweet with Gage lately smothering him in lots of kisses. He is the best big brother and I already know he's going to protect and watch over Gage for the rest of his life. 

Gage decided Wednesday morning that 4:30am was the perfect time to start the day. Ugh. But I was able to catch a glimpse of the blood moon thanks to him!

This week temps have been back into the high 70's so we've spent a lot of time having picnics in the park and feeding the ducks. Soon there will be snow and we will have mad cabin fever, I'm really not looking forward to that.  Ryder decided to throw the whole bag of bread into the water instead of tearing them in pieces and he was not happy that all the duck food was gone. The ducks were in heaven though. 

Today we spent most of the day inside lining up little trucks and cars until we all started to get a little stir crazy so we ended our night with an evening walk. 

I love this picture of Ryder so much. This is what he does all day long. I love how boyish he is and God definitely blessed me with boys for a reason. 

It's been another long week of Tyson being super busy at work so I'm really excited the weekend is almost here. We have a cool down coming so we are going to be painting pumpkins and watching Halloween movies. October is going by fast so I'm trying to soak up every last minute of it!

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday's temps were in the low 70's which made it perfect pumpkin picking weather! We took a hayride to the pumpkin patch which also had a maze, sandbox, big slides, an apple cannon and little tractors for kids to ride. Ryder's favorite part was seeing the tractor that pulled the hayride and he of course wanted all of the pumpkins from the patch, he couldn't pick just one. Gage just slept in his moby the entire time, the bumpy hayride put him right out. 

After we each picked a pumpkin we took the hayride back to a cute little Red Barn store where we snacked on Apple cider donuts, ice cream and fresh apple cider. Last week was really crazy between Tyson working late everyday, two teething boys and one shattered iPhone so it was really nice to get outdoors and spend some time as a family. This week I'm looking forward to just relaxing and hopefully doing a little pumpkin painting and baking! Hope you all had a great week.