Fall Favorites

I just cannot resist using the beautiful fall weather as an excuse to take extra pictures of Joel. The leaves are just so gorgeous this time of year! Here are some of my favorites:

As a side note, I cannot believe that I only have a little more than five weeks left of this pregnancy! I'm still feeling really good, but I will admit that I'm getting a little anxious about handling a toddler and a newborn at the same time. Joel is really starting to understand as much as he can about the baby coming. We talk about it often, and he likes to give my tummy kisses and hugs. He's even started sticking his "gaga" (his pacifier) in my belly button for the baby! What a nice big brother! It won't be long until he can meet his little sister in person.

By the way, I think we have a name......but we're not telling!!!

More Candy, Please!

Let me first just say that in no way does having a dad who is a dentist prevent any child from loving candy. Joel proved this to be true this weekend with all the Halloween festivities! Our cute little monster kicked off the weekend by attending a Halloween party hosted by his friend Evie. His birthday buddy (they're one day apart) Ryan and Ryan's little brother Carter also came to the party. It was so cute to see all four of them dressed up in their costumes! I didn't get a good picture of all of them together since I was too busy swooning over little Carter, but here's a good one of Joel and Evie. Aren't they cute?

Friday night, after the party, we took Joel trick-or-treating at both of his grandparents' houses. Let's just say once he got his hands on that candy, he got the hang of it pretty fast! 

On Halloween day, we took Joel trick-or-treating to just a few houses in the neighborhood and ended the night at Bethany's Boo in the Park celebration where sadly, Joel did not win the costume contest, even though he clearly deserved it! Aunt Elaine was able to go trick-or-treating with us, too, which was extra fun for Joel. He loves his aunt!

Open it for me, Aunt Elaine!

Although Joel really enjoyed EVERY kind of candy on Halloween, suckers definitely hold a special place in his little heart. Throughout he evening, I think he opened and started about six different ones! He was so happy when our neighbors gave him this big one! Can't you see it in his face?!

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday, Joel and I went to the pumpkin patch just south of Liberty with our friends Mindy and Gracelyn. Joel LOVED the pumpkin patch, especially riding the train and taking the hayride out to the patch (although the patch itself was not much to be seen as the frost had done a number on the pumpkins). He was in such a great mood all day, and the weather was absolutely beautiful for our outing! Here are a couple of shots from the day:

 I want this one, Mommy!

What is this?!

Toot-toot! I love the train!

Joel was also fascinated with the chickens and how they peck. Here's a good shot of him eating like a chicken. It was so funny to watch him!

Here's a good one of Joel and his friend Gracelyn enjoying the day.

Bye-bye pumpkin patch!

My Little Early Riser

So by precious little baby Joel, who used to sleep until 7 or 7:30 each morning, has started waking up earlier and earlier...the other day, however, Joel decided that 5 a.m. was a great time to wake up for the day. This is just not okay, especially since Baby Girl had kept me up all night kicking and rolling around. Come 5 a.m., I had already given up on sleep for the night, so I gave in to Joel's idea and got up early with him. But here's the funny thing....when I went into his room to get him, he decided to inform me that there was a fly (a "bly") in his room. After searching and searching, I found no fly. I tried to convince him that there was no fly in the room, but he insisted, following closely with "Mama, downstairs." Ah-ha. The little squirt tricked me by telling me there was a fly in his room so he needed to go downstairs. I think I just witnessed my sweet baby telling his first lie. I suppose my next challenge is teaching a 20-month-old to be truthful...and to sleep past daybreak.

Here's a great shot of Joel's "Who, me?" face. I saw this face after the fly lie came pouring out. He's so sneaky!

Hmmm...I Wonder What This Means?

Today as I was taking out the baby's clothes and hanging them in the nursery closet, Joel came in, stole two hair bows from my pile and threw them in the trash in the bathroom. Is this a bad sign?

Go Crusaders and Happy Birthday, Daddy!

A couple of weekends ago, Jack, Joel and I got to go watch Uncle Matt play football when Evangel played at William Jewell in Liberty. Joel had a good time tailgating and watching the game, but he had an even better time running around on the football field after the game. By the time he got in the car to head home, he was covered in field turf!

On October 1, we celebrated Jack's 28th birthday. Joel was so excited about the day that he got up super-early with Mommy to help me make Jack's cake! When this picture was taken, it was about 6:30 in the morning....and yes, that's frosting he's eating. Don't judge!

Joel loved helping Daddy blow out the candles on his cake....but not as much as he loved eating it!

And here's one more cute picture for good measure. Notice the big-time bonk marks on his head....he lost a battle with our driveway chasing Aunt Elaine around her car.

Joel-isms

Lately, Joel has been talking a lot more and even putting a few words together in "sentences." Here are some of his favorite phrases as of late:

"I Joel."
"I fast!" (this is usually followed by him putting his arms up like chicken wings and running at a full-speed)
"It dark." (He likes to say this when he wakes up in the morning and it is, indeed, still dark....)
"All gone."
"Iah know." (a.k.a. "I don't know.")
"Uh-oh, Mama!" (usually, I don't want to know what this means!)

Too cute!

Joel is still very fascinated with fixing things, so when Daddy got a new drill for his birthday, Joel inherited one of his old ones that doesn't work very well (and is not dangerous because it's pretty slow-going). Here he is playing with his new toy. He loves it!