Soccer Pictures

As promised, here they are! He looks so cute in his uniform!

The GREAT Pumpkin

Patrick was off for a couple of days, so naturally we were looking for something fun to do together. Our fun neighbors were nice enough to invite us to go to Apple Annie's with them (in Wilcox) to raid the pumpkin patch. So after soccer, we headed out. We got to enjoy some GREAT hamburgers and pie (Oh, I LOVE pie!) in the orchards. (If you look close enough you can see some "fall" colored leaves in there!)
Harrison sniffing around the table for leftovers! :)
Jackson and his friend Wyatt, they had so much fun together and got SO dirty.

And then there was a hay ride to the pumpkin patch.

Their favorite thing was the hay ride, Harrison is obsessed with tractors! Even with the dust in their faces we had to sit as close to it as possible.

Patrick had the boys looking for the most perfectly round pumpkin in the bunch, they took to the searching very seriously. And I think the one we came home with was as close as we could have found!

We even got a family picture opportunity with our pumpkin, thanks to the Elams! (The wind was blowing really hard, and Harrison was pooped!) :)We had a lot of fun outside in the warm sun, with our friends, and most of all together as a family.

We laughed a little at the fact that we used to be surrounded by pumpkin patch opportunities and never took the chance to take the boys. The one thing we are learning very quickly about living in AZ is that driving (for an hour or more) to go to or see something is pretty common. It's not what we are used to, but it's been a great lesson in patience for the boys, and we do get to spend the extra time together in the car... so it's not all bad! :)

Out of Hibernation

Now that the weather has cooled off a little (it's 90 today) and we can spend more time outdoors without being in the swimming pool, Patrick thought it was time to get the 4-wheeler out and running. It took a minute to get it started (it's been sleeping for a LONG time). All three boys took it out to explore, they were all pretty excited. And fortunately ATVs are allowed on the roads here, we are considered rural, and there are a lot of trails. We see/hear people out all the time. So off they went. Harrison wasn't as sure about it at first, he hasn't been on it in probably a year, but he ended up being the one who could have gone all day! :)

PS. I plan to go for a spin myself... in about 3 months! :)

No News is Good News

Things are moving along as always, not much going on outside of the normal. So I thought I would post a little something about the little happenings at our house. (Mostly for journaling purposes.)

I finished editing and organizing it months ago, but finally got around to ordering it. My 2008 Blog Book. I did it through http://www.blurb.com/ and I LOVE the way it turned out! I am excited to start my 2009 Book already. I wasn't going to pay to have someone do it for me, but after looking at it and the cost to print it myself, it was about the same either way. So I let them do the work! ;)

Jackson got his soccer pictures back, and as soon as I can figure out how to make my scanner work, I will post them. He is growing up so fast and is really loving soccer and preschool and primary and everything else that involves socializing.

Harrison has spent the week looking like we use his head as a wrecking ball. Poor kid can't manage to protect his melon in a collision. But luckily none of them were serious! He is talking a lot more and has to color every day!! And he continues to be Jackson's little shadow.

Swain baby girl is very active and GROWING. Time feels like it is flying, and I am still waiting for inspiration for her room. I have some ideas, but I haven't started anything yet. We have picked a name, or at least we haven't found one we like better. So she is most likely going to be Reagan Leigh Swain. Yes, I know, it's a President's name... that is a complete fluke!

I FINALLY got my hair done/cut! WOOHOO! (Ya, I don't take pictures of myself, so that one is going to have to wait too!) I am blonder again, and I cut about 4 inches off, so it's a change but nothing too dramatic! But I have to admit, I feel better just having had it done. It's been way too long, like since I was living in UT! (Thanks Patrick for "babysitting" and for the fund-age!)

And poor Patrick has started his 3 months of graves! Yuck! We never see him, and he is pretty much always tired, so thus far, it sucks! But I bought him some ear plugs and a sleep mask the other day and those seem to be helping with the sleep deprivation and noise (since he has to sleep during the middle of the day). The good news is that he has managed to have more days off on the weekends, so he has been able to go to soccer and church a few times.

So there it is, an update of sorts. I still can't believe it is already October. Where has this year gone?!

Fall is in the air...

We got into the spirit this week. Decorated the house, watched Jack the Pumpkin King (Nightmare Before Christmas) twice, did some Halloween crafts and... the temperature even dropped outside just below 80. I love fall!


We still don't know what the boys are going to be for Halloween this year, which has me a little worried! (Jackson just can't seem to make a final decision, Harrison doesn't really care.) But we are enjoying October so far.

Growing, Threats & Girl Stuff

24 weeks, and growing! I have been threatened into taking another one of these lovely pictures. You'll have to forgive my appearance, I have been cleaning up puke all day! And a special thanks to Jackson, (he's the sick one) for helping me take this and for achieving this awesomely flattering angle! :) I can't believe we only have 3 and 1/2 months left before she gets here! I have started panicking/freaking out a little bit! It's going really fast, which isn't all bad, I am SUPER excited to meet her! I am just really intimidated by the thought of having 3 kids... and one of them being small and fragile while the other two are like mini natural disasters!! ;) Although Jackson is so excited about having a baby sister, and Harrison is in love with all babies, so maybe this won't be so hard! We will have to wait and see.

But in the mean time, I get to start putting together my first ever "girly" room! WOOHOO! Patrick tried to tell me I couldn't do pink, but after I burned holes threw him with my eyes, he decided he probably wasn't going to be able to stop me! lol! Our cousin Jenny was SO sweet and let me have her girl bedding... it is freaking adorable! So here is a preview. (And a close-up for Mom.) I will for sure post pictures of the room, I am hoping to get it done pretty soon, before bending over becomes too huge a challenge!

PS. For Angie: I love that you left a threatening comment, threatening to leave more threatening comments! lol! You make me laugh!

Day 2

So today has gone much better than yesterday! (Thanks for all of the advice. I am going to start working on the thumb sucker next!) We cut back to only sleep times a while back, I'm almost sure that's why he has struggled with sleeping! But I think the exhaustion finally won this battle for me. He went to bed last night really well, without tears, and only woke up once during the night. And the truly amazing thing: he went down for a nap today at his regular time and went to SLEEP!! Alleluia! So things are looking up. He hasn't even asked about it! :)

Note to self: If I ever have to do this again, I will do it before he is old enough to argue with me about it!!! Or even remember it or say the word Binky! lol!

Day 1

We have almost survived our first 24 hours without a Binky! (We started last night.) And by survived, I mean barely! There have been tears and tantrums and a serious lack of sleep (by both mom and Harrison). Why, oh why, did I wait this long? Because it's always easier not to do it. But we are. He hates me a little bit, but I can handle that too. It's the refusal to sleep that is making me crazy! So if anyone who has done this has advice, I am all ears!

**Side note: I still prefer a Binky to the thumb!!! Jackson sucks his raw and I swear it's pulling his teeth forward! How the crap do I take that away??? Sigh. One battle at a time.