we went to lenexa's enchanted forest thursday night. lucy was pretty spooked by the people dressed in head-to-toe animal costumes :)

& friday was spent at the farmstead. we're having such a warm october- summerlike some days!

saturday was ballet. the theme this week was angelina ballerina's halloween. perfect trick-or-treating practice!

kinlee & lucy <3 lucy's super excited for kinlee's birthday party this weekend. she turns 2 ON halloween! is that not the best birthday?!

jon hung up eloise's newborn canvases. this wall has quickly become a shrine to shannon lockwood of baby day photography, who has been photographing our family since i was pregnant with lucy :) again, slowly but surely, we're turning the house into our home. we've picked out new kitchen appliances- we're getting rid of the electric oven & switching to gas + adding a hood. we're changing the backsplash in the kitchen & changing our fireplace from tile to a rocky stone. i think we'll have a home project going on at all times for the next several years... i, as someone who likes everything done at once, am learning to embrace the journey :)

eloise will be 5 MONTHS new tomorrow! i honestly can't believe it. time speeds up once you have kids. she's happy, laid-back, still loves the moby & is ready to be on the MOVE when she's down. love this little pumpkin so so SO much. 

we brunched at lauren's parents house yesterday for the chiefs game. the boys had devin's bachelor party saturday, so were happy for greasy food. catch my drift? :) the royals lost last night, but we still believe! game 6 is tomorrow night in kansas city & kc is ready to take the crown at HOME! i seriously can't believe how into baseball i am all of a sudden- total bandwagon fan! 

we spent all morning at the park- a gorgeous warm, windy day. lucy is napping now-surprisingly. she didn't nap all weekend, and has been sleeping from 7PM-8AM. with devastation, i hate to say i think she's slowly giving up naps. 

some lucyisms for the road:

"this is the BEST DAY EVER!" -said by lu...everyday :)

lucy's 2 favorite phrases are "i don't!" & "let it go!" [frozen] welp, she's started combining them & now says "i don't let it go!" all day. everyday.

"mommy, hold you!" "mommy, rock you!" "mommy, CHASE YOU!" ["you" of course means "me"]

xoxo,

-ivy

how gorgeous is this tree? we need to get outside & rake a pile of leaves for lucy & charlie to jump in. the back of our house has huge trees with leaves starting to fall- wheeeee! last night on our way to dinner, several of the neighborhood kids were out raking & playing. i love our street :)

SO so excited that the royals are tied 1-1 with the giants in the world series. jon went to game 1 & wasn't the good luck charm we'd hoped for. it's such fun to have this added level of excitement to fall this year! my royal girls- 

lucy made up a ballet class the other night since we've missed a couple of saturdays. she made up in a 3 year old class, which isn't a mommy & me [although i stayed with her!], and she actually did really well! she so enjoyed watching & listening to the older girls chat away. 

so sweet dressed up as pocohontas- one of her very favorite princesses :) can she please stay this size forever?! she is still at the age of discovering something new each day, and her language is forming drastically. it's wild hearing her pair different thoughts & words together for the first time. she is so proud of herself when she figures out something new ["i DID IT!"] [...and as a side note, that whole "weaning" thing went down the drain with her fever last week- we'll see where we're at over the next few days as she's feeling better...]

yesterday jon's parents had lucy over to play for the morning. she always loves going to g-mom & g-dad's to play with her toys there. they sent us these gorgeous pictures of my girl :)

it was a peaceful morning at home- jon worked from home, and eloise & i drove to starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte :) we're still working on that sippy, but with lauren's wedding only a couple of weeks away, i'm rather certain that my mom & eloise are going to be following me [& therefore, the entire wedding party] around on the trolley all day. she'll play with the sippy spout in her mouth, but when she's actually ready to eat- no go. thankful for my wonderful, supportive, lifelong friend who jokes "how dare eloise need to eat on MY wedding day!" :)

speaking of aunt lauren, lucy was pretty pumped to open the mailbox to halloween stickers from her Godmama!  

jon took lu to the fitness center pool last night, so eloise & i got to dine with the bride-to-be at nordstrom :)

tonight we're going to the lenexa enchanted forest for halloween crafts & big bounce house inflatables. i went as a kid & always looked forward to it! rather than dressing lucy in her actual costume, she'll be wearing a princess gown from her dress-up closet [...because there's no way that mouse outfit would survive a bounce house & pumpkin painting craft:)]

-ivy

few things compare to that moment when both girls are napping, the house is picked up & i have a moment to myself to either organize pictures, drink a cup of coffee, read, or do mindless things on my phone. ahhhh...

we had a long friday, saturday... lucy ended up with a virus & didn't feel well at all. i was so thankful to have jon's help tag-teaming- he took her to the pediatrician & was up with her at night while i cared for eloise. whew! happy that's behind us.

here's what else we've been up to-

jon had some fun with webbing last week- the house looks fun at night despite my camera's lack of excellence in capturing it :)

he's really getting into the halloween spirit this year, as apparent by the fake spiders he's hidden in my dresser, vanity & just this morning- my keurig. 

payback's around the corner, my dear...

we've had the most insanely gorgeous weather!

eloise has especially enjoyed some outdoor afternoons :)

which has led to some quality naps on mom- my favorite :)

i was so relieved to have lucy back to her happy self!

we had a sunday morning coffee date with meme

who gave us this picture of jon & me from his senior prom in 2005...

we spent sunday afternoon at the park, cooking chili & watching football- sights, sounds & smells of fall!

the littlest CHIEFS cheerleader in a hand-me-down from sis!

lucy at 1 month new in october 2012 :)

last night, we got together with the brewers for a little fall festival- all 8 of us!

my ghost girls :)

lucy & kaitlyn glittered up some pumpkins...

proud little artists :)

football & babies for the dads-

we're always behind the camera, so utilized the dads while we had them around...

anna & elsa- so royal! & so sweet watching lucy learn from kaitlyn how to pose with a friend for a picture :)

a beautiful monday morning at the park today. as i was pushing lucy home in her pink car she started yelling "mommy, stoooop!" then ran to pick a lone dandelion she saw sprouting up in the grass. i am so fortunate to get to spend my days with these sweet girls and see moments like these. 

blue-eyed beauty.

happy monday :)

-ivy