Happy Halloween!

We went trick-or-treating with some friends of ours from church since Paul couldn't be here. It was so fun! Their neighborhood rocks! We got a king size Snickers bar!!! Woohoo!!! Ethan had a great time and everyone thought he looked adorable, which he did. And of course Jabba looked super cute too. It was kind of a pain trying to wrangle them both by myself but luckily our friend Anne was kind enough to take Ethan up to the doors so I didn't have to keep Jabba away from all the other kids. All in all we had a blast and now have sooooooo much candy to eat. Like we really need more sugar.

Happy Halloween!!

Hey ladies, you like my hat?

I GOT CANDY!!!

This trick-or-treating thing is sweet

Oh man, I'm so wasted...

Look at that awesome haul!

Baby Sadie!!

Our ultrasound this morning was so fun to watch! Much more detailed than the one we had with Ethan. We got to see everything- the four chambers of her heart, the different parts of her brain, spine, kidneys, stomach, fingers, toes, everything! She was resting most of the time, kind of lazily wiggling around and sucking on her fingers. All in all it was great and we got to see her for over half an hour! I can't wait to see what a Paul/Sarah girl looks like!!

Here are the shots we got from the ultrasound. She's so cute already!

Firemen and cookies

We went to a fire station today for a tour and Ethan loved it! We got to climb inside a fire truck and an ambulance, which Ethan thought was the coolest thing ever. I of course forgot the camera because I am a tool. But we got this little plastic fireman hat to take home and Ethan has been playing with it all day. He puts it on and runs around the house saying "I'm a fireman!" Well, actually he says "I a pireman" because he can't say f's, but you get the idea. Here are some pictures of that:



And for some reason he didn't feel like taking a nap today, so to pass the time I decided to make Halloween sugar cookies (it was a kit- don't be too impressed). So here are some pictures of those:

All in all it was an excitement-filled day! : )

More Shenandoah pix

Shenandoah, take four

Well, we made our fourth annual trek out to Shenandoah Nat'l Park yesterday and got some great pictures. I don't think it was quite peak foliage, but it was still beautiful and cold! Much colder and windier than it was here in Manassas. Ethan complained about the wind, but he seemed to especially enjoy a little mini-hike we took where he found a bunch of sticks to use as lightsabers and big rocks to climb on. Such a boy. We seem to be reconnecting with nature this fall! So here are the pictures- enjoy!

Happy birthday Jabba!

Today is Jabba's first birthday. And even though he chews everything in sight we still love him and think he's adorable. How can you not?? So I think I will buy him a new bone and some sort of little cupcake or something to celebrate.

Happy birthday, Jabba!!!

Remembering our angels today

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day. I have been crazy busy all day so haven't had a chance to really think about our losses today, but thought it definitely deserved some of my time tonight. I know we are so blessed to be expecting a healthy baby right now, but I can never ever forget the ones we lost. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. It's difficult to talk about it even still, and I love and miss them like it happened yesterday. My heart goes out to every mother and father who have ever lost a child. It is a pain that truly defies description and never fully goes away. A piece of me left with each angel and resides with them still.

Mommy and Daddy love and miss you. Please watch over your brother Ethan and this baby that's waiting to be born in March. I know you will. Not a day goes by that I don't think of you and what should have been. I hope we meet again in a better place.

love,
Mommy

Indianapolis with the fam

Ethan and I went out to Indy for my grandma's 90th birthday this past week (her birthday was the 11th). It became a family reunion of sorts, as both my aunts and all three cousins came too (my mom and sister and niece were there too). It was great! Haven't seen two of the three cousins in 15 years; everyone is doing well, looking good. Ethan and Finley (my niece) had a blast playing together. Most of us went out to the Speedway on Friday, and Ethan was in car heaven. It was pretty cute to watch him run around in awe of all the cool cars. We're both a little sleep deprived, as Ethan wound up sleeping in my bed next to me every night we were there, but it was still fun. And we get to see Grandma and Grandpa King again in a month for Thanksgiving/Ethan's birthday!

Enjoy the photos:

Ethan in his cute new jammies

This car is so awesome!!

Mom, can we live here?

Ethan likes to splash

Finley and Mommy in the pool

Apple picking!!!

Our friends the Snyders invited us to go apple picking with them this morning and of course we said yes! I've always wanted to go to an orchard and it was so much fun! It was only about 45 minutes west of here, out on 66. We got there and the worker handed us two 1/2 bushel bags and this big long stick with a little basket-type thing on the end to pick the apples. So we drove out into the middle of the field (thank you four-wheel drive!) and started picking away! Paul was having a hard time getting the apples into the basket part so I took over; I think I've found my life's true calling! For some reason I was really good at it. Who knew? So anyway, we picked a bunch of golden delicious and stayman apples, then headed over to the Granny Smith orchard (my favorite). They are awesome- very big and that beautiful green color. We picked a whole bag full of those. And let me tell you- a bushel is a LOT of apples!!! We are going to make applesauce on Monday afternoon. YUM!!!! We also bought a gallon of apple cider and a jar of apple butter on our way out. They had a place to cut your own pumpkin too, but it's too hot still so we figured it would just rot on our front porch so we skipped that part. And no orchard outing is complete without getting at least one bug in your eye, so check for both Paul and me! I had to fish it out of Paul's eye- blech! Stupid gnats.

All in all it was great fun! And we already have plans to go back in the summer for blueberries, peaches and cherries. YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!