our family- october 2015

i'll cherish these forever-

as always, thank you so so much to shannon lockwood of baby day photography. simply the best. 

xoxo, 

-ivy

today's rainy & cold weather has both my girls extra sleepy, which has given me an unexpected afternoon "off" with both napping. how's that for a theme lately? my favorite weather has always been cold & either rainy or snowy. i love these days because i feel like i can relax & get cozy inside & be okay with it! it's nice to have a chance to slow down & enjoy the little things like the fireplace, coffee & my unusually quiet house this afternoon :)

& i seriously can't believe that halloween is this week. i think this october has been the fastest month of my life! the girls are changing at rapid speeds & i'm already 26 weeks along in this pregnancy journey. i'm due 3 months from this upcoming sunday, which completely blows my mind. 

eloise has started to realize that her language has real power & meaning. she really asks for things now & is so proud when our responses follow through with her desires- she also gets extra mad when she doesn't get her way :) her newest thing is asking to nurse ["nuss! nuss!"] either before bed, or to let me know that she's sleepy. lucy's seeming to get older each day & i see myself in her more & more. when i ask for her help with something, she responds "you got it!" which totally made me realize that's how i respond to her several times per day. both of these girls are smart as a whip with the sweetest hearts. eloise is strong-willed, silly, fearless, up for adventure, cuddly. lucy has a kind giving heart, loves predictability & learning anything new, and taking care of people & things. really, not a day [or even a couple hours] goes by that i don't think about how truly grateful i am for these little girls. 3 daughters is such a dream for me & i was just telling jon that there are many days where i so look forward to having 3 adult daughters who have each other to guide themselves through life, but these are the days. watching lucy be brave & try her best in gymnastics class, eloise screeching with excitement when jon or i walk into her room, dressing my girls in coordinating holiday outfits- this is what it's all about. when i'm asked why jon & i don't travel just the 2 of us ["don't you like your husband?!"] it's simple- we love time with our kids & we know how quickly this time will [& is!] passing. of course i need breaks to recharge, but a trip away from them isn't the answer for me. jon travels so much with work that when he's not working, he really does want time with his daughters. this is the season we're in & all too quickly, we'll be on to the next season where our girls are less dependent on us & jon & i take more time for just the 2 of us. but for now, we're so content with evenings together after we've spent time with the girls & they're asleep, and squeezing in dates when we can- like the coffee shop drive-thru & cruises around town while the girls nap in the backseat :) maybe this comes from nearly half our lives spent together [next summer will be 14 years, & we were 15 when we started dating], or maybe it's just from being on the same page with how we want to parent our family- every family does what's right for them & this is definitely what's right for us. i love time with jon & i really look forward to having more of it one day, but i wouldn't change anything about the time i get with him, or the time we get with our daughters, now :)

lucy loved painting her pumpkin & is quick to show anyone who comes over which of the pumpkins on the porch is hers [not that it stands out with the glitter or anything...]

little goblin ready for dance class saturday morning! this upcoming saturday, class will be on halloween so the girls get to wear their costumes :) & this past saturday, we were all up & ready for the day by 8 [woah], so we actually went to breakfast before lucy's 10am class. pumpkin pancakes all around!

jon took eloise on a daddy/daughter date to bass pro while i had lu at dance- what a priceless picture of our fearless gal!

that night we had plans to go to the midwest hot air balloon festival, but when we arrived to an insanely crowded parking lot & the only way to get to the fairgrounds was by taking an old church bus with 100+ people jammed onto it [seriously, who would be liable in a wreck?!?], we turned right back around & ended up at the t-rex cafe for dinner, where the girls sat through scary thunderstorms, dinosaur roars & chose this lollipop for dessert :)

sunday we went to the early service at church to make it in time for boo at the zoo! it was the perfect fall day with gorgeous weather & happy girls. 

pumpkin jammies :)

& a morning at the farmstead yesterday-

lucy riding lucy the pony :) i don't blame them for choosing one of the cutest names ever for their horse! :)

royals play the mets for game 1 of the world series tonight! royals shirts & lucky cardigans are definitely a staple this week- [let's hope eloise sleeping in until 7 is, too, because i was actually able to get showered & completely ready for the day before she woke up this morning!]

watching lucy in gymnastics is quickly becoming one of my favorite times of the week-

there's plenty for eloise to climb on & explore that she wears herself out, too :)

26 weeks! go royals!

beyond excited for all of the halloween festivities to finish out the week! see you in november!

xoxo, 

-ivy