my wild turkey-

one of my very favorite things as a mom is seeing lucy's weekly progress in gymnastics. gymnastics is her favorite activity these days :)

eloise enjoyed a rare chance to run around the gym this past week [click for video:)]-

grapes & cheese picnic [gotta start 'em young!]

poor charlie pulled a muscle in his back this past wednesday, as i've been obsessively exercising him over the last few weeks. jon & i noticed that he was getting a bit thick around the middle [thanks to half of eloise's meals landing on the floor...] but the silver lining, i was pretty pleased his weight was back on target when jon took him in to get some puppy pain meds :)

lucy & i made a "thankful turkey" & she noted that she's thankful for both her sisters, her daddy, both her grandmas, herself & her dollies. no love for mama! :)

friday at union station with my little girlfriends-

my sweet lu waiting in line for the giant hamster wheel [an example of something that i never thought i would LOVE witnessing- my child waiting patiently for her turn. when it's your own kid, it's just magic!]

i love how eloise jumps right in with the big kids. fearless!

saturday morning, eloise had a date at meme's while jon worked on painting lucy's new room & i took lu to dance- she loves all the christmas knick knacks meme has out for the holidays-

& during eloise's nap saturday afternoon, lucy & i went to a fairytale princess party at the library. she made a tiara, magic wand, dragon mask, built a castle, drank "elsa blue punch" & ate "olaf frozen ice cream"- she loved it! it is such a gift to get to do these fun things with her :)

little turkeys before church today-

& this has actually been a bit of a dramatic week for me. i ended up switching OB's after a series of events that i didn't feel comfortable with. i absolutely LOVE my new doctor [she's the mom of one of my former students], but the hassle of switching doctors, let alone practices, at 28 weeks pregnant was pretty overwhelming. the paperwork, phone calls, waiting time, etc. thankfully my new doc was able to squeeze me in at the end of the week & i got a little sneak peek of our littlest one! such a treat! she's in the 47th percentile, head down, healthy & i got to see her try & suck her thumb :) i can hardly believe i'll be 29 weeks tomorrow- the same week that i turn 29. it'll be a lucky year for sure! lucy said to me at least twice this week, "mommy! you're getting bigger!"

lucy & eloise are as sweet as ever. lucy still speaks for the 2 of them, ["excuse us, mommy"] & both of them spend their days singing. eloise alternates between the ABC's & "brown bear" :) they both have sweet tooths [sweet teeth?] & eloise loves popsicle sticks after a popsicle's been eaten about as much as a pig loves mud :)

looking forward to this last week before thanksgiving. jon's taking me out for my birthday saturday night & next week is shortened, so we'll start pulling out christmas then [always a worth-it chore!] we're in the midst of the room switch-over- jon finished painting today [yay!], picked out all of of the new bathroom finishes & hardware, and the next step is refinishing furniture. we looked & looked, but just couldn't find a bedroom set we loved [or we loved a couple pieces, but it didn't come as the bunk-bed set we were hoping for]. so we've ended up keeping the guest room furniture we have & jon's going to refinish it with white chalk paint. it'll look great- it's just a huge project! we still may have kids share rooms at some point in the future, but this is best for now. baby steps...

happy week to you!

-ivy

beautiful autumn weather for a couple trips to the park this week-

wednesday morning we went to our favorite story time at the library & followed it with a trip to the museum at prairie fire to dig for dinosaurs with the jansen boys-

amazed we got all 4 kids in the same picture frame :)

for the first time, i let both girls loose in the basement while i did laundry- & i am so glad i did! i hadn't seen them for nearly an hour when lucy ran upstairs in costume & exclaimed, "oh i just LOVE playing dress-up!" the wild mess in the basement was totally worth it for them to have some independent playtime & for me to have a bit of time & space to get laundry folded, put away & beds remade [which is getting tricker as my mobility becomes more limited with the growing beach ball under my shirt!] i can't believe eloise is actually big enough to join her sister for big kid stuff like this!

couldn't illustrate their individual personalities better if i tried-

wonder woman & her sidekick :)

& how nice of daddy to get a new playset for the girls :)

lunch at fritz's with meme after dance class saturday morning- eloise's train-sighting excitement is quite a sight :)

& eloise has started calling lucy "cici"- it's pretty much my favorite thing ever!

28 weeks tomorrow! this dress has carried me through 3 pregnancies- into the 3rd trimester we go! jon said the other night just how excited he is to meet this little girl. my anxieties about delving into the newborn stage again have pretty much washed away over the past couple of weeks. eloise is getting more independent & lucy asks when her baby sister will be here multiple times per day, while checking in to kiss the bump. i am so grateful to be adding another precious girl to our family & this world, and i'm giddy with excitement to see my THREE girls together!

jon left town this afternoon [after letting me sleep in this morning, making pancakes, cleaning the house, grocery shopping & bringing home lunch for his girls!] adore that man. his travel is really picking up from now until mid-december, but he somehow managed to start painting lucy's new room yesterday! we went back & forth & back & forth about what to do [as did lucy] & we finally decided to tie it into the other girls' rooms. the nursery is pink & gray, and lucy's current room is lilac & yellow, so we took the gray from the nursery & the yellow from lucy's room, and we're doing gray & yellow walls, yellow closet, gray bathroom, white furniture & bright pink accents- bright & sunny for our sunshine girl. jon got all of the yellow done yesterday, so we'll pick back up with the gray next weekend. side note- while digging through storage the other day as i put away halloween decor, my jaw literally dropped at the number of baby girl clothes tubs i have stored down there. ohmygosh. i'll be glad to get all of the girls' clothes switched over to their rooms- it'll be a BIG project that meme will be excellent at :) :) :) i just can't wait to dress this little one in soft baby clothes & gowns- swoon!

enjoy your week! we're getting extra excited for the holidays with such fun adventures filling up our december calendar!

xoxo,

-ivy

#tookthecrown

our boys in blue- the kansas city royals- won the WORLD SERIES on sunday night! it was the first time in 30 years- longer than jon & i have been on this earth. our whole lives growing up in kc, comments have been made like, "yeah- THAT'LL happen, when the royals win the world series!" [kinda like "when pigs fly"] so fun to see our city come together & celebrate this awesome occasion!

jon's work sponsored the parade [that had 500,000 attendees!] & thanks to it & the most stressful drive downtown of my life, we made some special family memories that we'll always remember!

congrats kansas city! love our hometown.

xoxo,

-ivy

baby girl is due 3 months from today! we are definitely less prepared in terms of the rooming situation etc than we have been in either previous pregnancy, but we are by far the most prepared in terms of our hearts & knowledge of what life will look like for the next several months plus. we can't wait to meet you, littlest sister!

friday morning my mom had off work- she invited us over for made-from-scratch pumpkin pancakes, then she & i took the girls to story time & trick-or-treating at a neighborhood nursing home with our library friends. the girls loved this, of course!

glinda really loved being front & center of the action :)

friday afternoon, jon's work hosted a big halloween bash for employees & their families. it was a blast! i snapped this picture of lucy & thought it only appropriate to do a side-by-side of my 3 year old halloween- like mother, like daughter :)

friday night, we carved [errr... drilled:)] pumpkins during the royals game. the girls really enjoyed this & eloise especially loved digging into the sticky pumpkin insides :)

halloween edition of dance class- there were 3 dorothys! so much fun :)

after dance, we met up with auntie amy, tasman & milo for lucy's friend kinlee's 3rd birthday party! super cute my little pony theme. jon headed home with eloise for naptime-

& ta-da! halloween from our family to yours! the yellow brick road, wizard, lion, tin-man, dorothy, glinda, baby girl as a "munchkin", the scarecrow, wicked witch & best of all- the tornado. jon in a nordstrom bag with toilet paper hanging from the top- lucy was THRILLED!!! :)

meme with her grandkids-

ready for some tricks & treats!

this was by FAR my favorite halloween ever & i can only imagine that it gets better with each year. lucy's enthusiasm for ringing doorbells & holding out her candy bag is something i'll never ever forget- it really was magical. & we totally lucked out with gorgeous weather!

glinda was more than pleased to be chauffeured all around the neighborhood by daddy :)

when we got home, jon & lucy sat on the stoop handing out candy. lucy, our little mommy, would pass out one piece to each kid then say "happy halloween, guys!" we had over 200 trick-or-treaters again this year. we definitely live in a halloween hotspot!

we finished the night watching the royals win their 3rd game of the world series! 1 more game to take the crown!

& this morning at meme's before auntie amy & fam had to head to the airport, lucy checked on her littlest sister & reassured me that she heard her heart saying "thump thump, thump thump"-

goodbyes are the worst-

welcoming november with christmas music [it's all a part of the holiday season!] & lucy's newest obsession with wonder woman. she wants to be just like tasman :) be prepared for some wonder woman sightings over the next several months-

happy new month to you!

xoxo, 

-ivy