Jaxton's Birthday!!!!

Jaxton is one!!!!
How is it possible that he's already been here a year?? And it seems like he grew up into a little boy overnight. He has his one year checkup on Wed, and I'll post more about him at 1 then, but this post is for his birthday & party! 

We started out his day with a picture. Luckily we still had some balloons from Preston's Halloween costume that made a good prop for him. 

    After our 1st breakfast we went to Krispe Kreme for a birthday donut. Or 12. 

After naps we went to the Arizona State Fair! I'm pretty sure that Preston thinks Jaxton's birthday is like the best day ever since he got to do all this fun stuff too. 

Once again I was the nervous one at letting him go on by himself. But he was fine! He loved it! 

Sadly about 3 seconds after he got off that ride he tripped and scrapped his knee up pretty good. There were lots of tears but they stopped once Daddy showed him a video of him going on the ride all by himself.

Jaxton loved all the lights and people watching.

This airplane ride Preston went on twice because he loved it so much. You had to push down on the steering wheel to go up in the air and he got the hang of it quick. 

I love his face in this picture! He's just SO EXCITED! 

He kept standing up and turning around (talk about give me a heart attack) to talk to the kid behind him. He was probably just telling him to keep his seat and tray table in the upright and locked position until landing.
 

And of course there was some fair food. YUM!!!!

They had a display of giant bugs that Preston liked, but was a little unsure about. Not that I blame him. Seeing an enormous bee's head wasn't a pretty sight. 

Then later that night they had monster trucks that were doing a show- see, Preston's best day ever!- and while Patrick and Preston were at the show Jaxton and I walked around looking at all the pretty things. 

Sunday we had his actual birthday party with family over.
Preston was all kinds of excited for this too. 

We had chili and cornbread , an excellent fall meal, and cupcakes with oreo cream cheese frosting. So good. I made Patrick take the rest of them to work today because I just do not have the will power to resist things with oreos and cream cheese in them. 

See what I mean about how he looks like a little boy!?!?!

Presents time!!! 

Preston was a little confused as to why it wasn't his turn to open a present, and I'm sure he will enjoy playing with Jaxton's new toys. In fact he slept with Jaxton's new giant monkey last night. He knows however that they are Jaxton's things and he asks Jaxton before he plays with them.

Cup cake time!!! 

He was a happy messy baby.

I'm so grateful for Jaxton. When him and I had our time together at the fair I just had a heart so full of gratitude thinking of him and for the rest of my family. He's such a sweet boy. He is definitely a key part of our family  and we love him so much. 

Halloween!!!

I'm learning to love Halloween.
Each year it gets better.
I think its because when you have a group costume its easier for people to tell what you are. 

This year we decided to go as the cast of the Disney/Pixar movie Up!
Mostly because we have watched this movie a trillion times now.
Seriously.

And of course our children were less then happy about taking pictures, or in Jaxton's case less then happy about being awake or being held or about having ears. (rough day). 

I'm pretty happy with the results. Especially Preston and Patricks.

The best part about this is that thanks to the magical land of Goodwill/Savers we got everything we needed for our costumes for about $20 total! 

The Pumpkin Patch!

We purchased a Groupon this year to visit a pumpkin patch. It was a different one then he one we went to last year but just as enjoyable!
And while the weather has been cooling off the past few weeks it warmed right back up again just in time for our outing. 

First thing we did was the pony ride. I didn't think that Preston would want to do it since he's never ridden a horse before, but I was wrong, he was all over the idea. Probably because he's very into Toy Story and wanted to ride a horse like Woody does. 

His horse's name was Ruby & had red hair just like Preston.
 

Such a pro!! 

Jaxton hung out and watched all the action. For some reason everytime we went to take a picture of him on Saturday he would put his arm up. You'll see what I mean by the end of this post. 

Next we did the barrel train ride. Or rather Preston did. Again I didn't think he would go by himself, but he was fine! I of course was the anxious mom watching thinking "do you think he's ok? do you think he's scared? Do you think it's too bumpy? Do you think he's going to try to get out?" But he was GREAT! I can't imagine what type of wreck I'll be when he has to go to school or something! 

I showed him where we would be watching him and as soon as he turned the corner he waved and yelled Hi to us. 

After that Jaxton was done with sitting in the stroller watching all the fun so we went on a hayride to the petting zoo. 

And lastly the hayride dropped us off at the pumpkin patch. The boys had fun crawling all over the hay, and I only had to tell Preston 3 times to not throw pumpkins, so that's good! 

See what I mean about the hand raising?!? 

We tried to get a picture of the two boys both looking at the camera smiling but it was a lost cause.  

And with a little begging I got Preston to take a few pictures with me. 

Fun times! We've been to a different Pumpkin Patch every year since having Preston so we're becoming Pumpkin Patch experts. We'll have to see what next years is like! 

6 Weeks

It's been 6 weeks since I started trying to lose weight. Any day now I expect it to get easier. The eating has gotten much easier. It's the exercise part that isn't so easy. I just get BORED with it. I've been running a lot lately, and watching a show or two while I do, and that helps, but I don't feel like I'm doing enough. My dvd's are just getting old to do, so I need to figure out something.
About once a week I'll hit a wall where I just get into a funk and just feel TIRED of just trying so hard all the time. I get tired of thinking about everything I eat and if I should or shouldn't eat it or how much of it to eat. I get tired of constantly thinking "i hope this is worth it". I get tired of giving up my time to workout when I hate doing it so much. But it usually doesn't last long and I snap out of it (with some encouragement from friends & family) and I just keep trucking.
The weather has been cooling off slightly which means more walks in the morning time. I can't wait till it's really cool and we can spend our afternoons outside.
But everything is going well and moving in the right direction with my weight. As of yesterday, my 6 week mark i was down :

16 pounds

I'm beyond happy about this. I worked for this. I sweated for this. I sacrificed for this. I earned this.

And as for what else is happening around these parts:

*I have been without my iphone for a few weeks now. RIP. I hate not having a good phone. I miss taking pictures whenever I want, music, maps, apps, emoticons, fast texting, EVERYTHING. Only a few more months and I can get a new phone. Lets hope I and the 7yr old Razor phone I am currently using make it that long. This also explains my lack of blogging lately since who wants to see a post without pictures of the orange one and the dimpled one?! I know I dont!I do have a camera to use in the mean time thanks to Krissa so my boys lives wont be undocumented for a few months.

* It's almost Jaxton's birthday!!! I can't believe it. Where did the year go???? Seriously I feel like he's only 6 months old. But He's not. I'm working on his birthday party which I think will be cute. We have a chalkboard countdown going for Jax's bday and everyday when I change the number Preston tells me "It's almost Jaxton's birthday!" He'll then tell me that about 6 more times during the day. It's then followed by "It's almost my birthday!" Not quite kiddo. 

*Toy Story is always playing at our house now. It's not so bad I guess since there are 3 movies to rotate. For some reason the first time you see Buzz Lightyear in the movie Preston will always yell out "Buzz Lightyear Buzz Lightyear Buzz Lightyear!" 

Time out, Preston just came up to tell me it's almost Jaxton's birthday. See? Happens a lot. 6 might have been a wrong guess. 

*Our callings at church are going well. I'll feel relieved when the Primary Program is over. Did you know it was the job of the 2nd counselor to write it & organize it?! Neither did i! But it's been a learning process. 

*Halloween costumes are being assembled. We decided to go as a family as the characters from UP. Preston will be Russell the Boyscout, Patrick will be Mr. Fredrickson, Jaxton will be the dog Dug, and I shall be the bird Kevin. I'm pretty dang excited for it to all come together. 

*Jaxton is getting his first haircut tonight. Goodbye who-hair. I'll miss the curls. I might even cry. 

I could go on and on, but I wont. I'll take pictures of the haircut. Because lets be honest, this blog is nothing without the pictures!!!