20, 21, & 22 months

 Well these past few months were pretty crazy... trying to balance being a mother and working outside of the home has been a really hard transition for me.  I feel lost most days.  I miss spending all of my time with this little man and I am sad when I miss out on the little milestones that happen so often.  On top of that I don't feel as though I am as good of a mother even when I am with him, generally I feel too stressed out and rushed for time.  I know some women excel at working while also excelling in their home life.  I do not think I am one of them : (  I am writing this blog much later than I should have so forgive the lack of specific details.  

At the beginning of September, Evan's work had a family fun day at a big arcade/fun center.  We took Sara which was great because while Leo was still too young for most of the rides, Sara was not so she got to enjoy lots of free activities.  Her favorite was the Frog Hopper which was a little version of adrop ride.  She loved it!  Leo was more than a little upset that he was not allowed to go on the bumper boats, the go-karts, or the frog hopper. 

 

Leo loves the turtles...

 Most of our family excursions are centered around weekends now for obvious reasons so while the weather was still nice we made it to the zoo and parks a few times.  We even were able to meet up with friends!

 In mid October, my parents came to town.  While I was at work Leo got to do lots of fun things with them including (but not limited to) hiking, zoo trips, and even a Gymboree visit.  I'm sad I missed out on some of it but glad he still got to have lots of Mimi and Papa time.

 They had a beautiful day for hiking around the Arboretum.

Beautiful girls!

I can't remember what it is officially called but this is a small play area that makes a house out of trees.

 Leo had lots of fun with Mimi and Papa in the mornings.  As you can see he liked visiting and talking with them : )

 We took a few trips to nearby playgrounds and had fun swinging Leo up high and pretending to almost being run into by him.  He thought it was great!

I particularly love this one.  Perfect timing!

 October also brought Leo's second Halloween but his first time trick-or-treating.  We made a family trip to a pumpkin patch to get a pumpkin for carving.  While we were there Leo even got his first pony ride.  I was glad he was old enough to go on that one as I am pretty sure he would have freaked out. We had a great time on Halloween.  Leo LOVED it.  He was excited by the whole thing.  Walking up to doors, knocking on them, holding his bucket out, getting CANDY!, everything...  he really liked the decorations too but had a few that he was a bit intimidated by. 

At the pumpkin patch there was a lake monster and a shark that popped out of the water.  Leo was very intrigued by that...

After the pumpkin patch we made our way to McMenamins for dinner and had fun running around near the apple trees with the kids.  We all participated in a spur of the moment game of tag.  It was lots of fun. 

Pumpkin decorated/carving commenced that weekend and the kids had lots of fun with it. 

 Halloween night we went around Emily's neighborhood and our little Yoda was adorable.  He demanded to hold his own bucket and walk to the doors...even after he was exhausted and his bucket was really heavy.  When we would arrive at a house he would walk to the door say trick treat then walk about four or five steps promptly drop his bucket then sit down.  He would allow us to carry him until the next house where we would start the process all over again. 

 This spider was one of those decorations that Leo wasn't to sure of.  Of course with me by his side I was able to convince him it wasn't real and that he could even touch it.  As he was reaching out his hand to touch it, Evan decided (being unaware of what was actually going on) that it would be a good time to jump up and scare Leo.  Poor kid about jumped out of his skin.. he was okay but definitely  did not want to touch the spider after that.

I know this wasn't the end of the months but I need to go ahead and wrap this up.  I will try to post again soon!  I'd really like to get caught up by his 2nd birthday!  Love to all!