Our "little" pumpkin

In October 2007 we announced that we were pregnant with Cade by sending out an email that said "We're having a little pumpkin"!

In October 2008, we took that little pumpkin to the pumpkin patch, where he sat still until we moved him.



And in October 2012, that "little" pumpkin climbed up on top of the pumpkin pile and had to be stopped before he crushed them!



Time is moving so fast with our four-and-a-half year old! It is hard to believe that we will have another little pumpkin to visit the patch with us next year!

Aggie Habitat for Humanity offers a pumpkin patch right by our house and we visited it 3 times this year because I could never remember to buy enough little pumpkins for our mantle. Cade obliged my picture taking during just one of the visits.



HEAVY!



While he did not sit at the photo station like I asked, this is the first time we've actually taken a picture there, so I was still happy.



Of course, some jumping.



Last week, Vandi and I took Garrett and Cade to the Farm Patch pumpkin patch in Bryan. This is one of the best (free) pumpkin patches you could ever imagine. The boys were entertained there for an hour! They probably would have stayed longer but I was melting so we had to go. Love the fact that it is 90 degrees the week before Halloween in Texas!



They checked out the giant spider (made out of a huge hay bale)



And they even posed for some precious photo ops.




Most of their time was spent racing through the hay maze and hiding from us in there. They *may* have also thrown some pumpkins down some stairs that *may* have broken into pieces. We left shortly after that.

The owner of Farm Patch always gives bananas to kids that visit the market. We think he might have given them to Cade and Garrett as a gentle sign that it was time to leave. Regardless, they boys loved their bananas and their time together!

Soccer!

We have now finished Cade's 3rd semester of Smart Soccer with the City of Bryan and he loves it more each time! Coach Marty does a great job, and it is still really fun having a parent-child activity with no emphasis on competition yet. The kids just focus on having fun, following instructions, and learning basic ball skills.

The kids always got to warm up on their own by kicking the ball around. I think Cade was just happy to run!



Jackson, Cade, Garrett, and Luke all know each other, which made soccer really fun but a little hard to pay attention sometimes. The parents sure enjoyed the chance to catch up each week!



Very important to stretch!



They really focused on kicking the ball with the inside of the foot this session. It was a hard adjustment, but Cade caught on pretty well!



Good job, Buddy! And thanks, Oma, for taking pictures one week!



A little instruction from Coach Marty



Practicing stopping the ball



Hot and sweaty Cade and Garrett



After 5 weeks of drills, the kids were ready for a "game". Since they don't have uniforms, it is hard for them to tell who is on what team, and the whole experience is usually pretty hilarious. Of course, we have to start with the stretches.



And then each team learns which direction to kick the ball. Good job, Luke!



Thankfully, with a bit of re-numbering and parental intervention, all 4 boys ended up on the same team :) Cade wanted them to be the Hornets, but the team settled on Tigers.



Each team takes turns kicking off. I'm sure there is another term for that, but football is all I really know!



Not to brag, but Cade did GREAT at the game! He always stayed up with the ball and scored the first 2 goals of the game. He also didn't get mad or frustrated when other kids took the ball and scored. We were really proud of our team player!



Who is that strange man giving Cade a fist bump??? Chance got to come to the game! His head coach let him leave practice early so he could make it. We were so surprised and happy to see him!



One of the boys' preschool teachers, Tori, also came to the game. She definitely goes above and beyond her normal duties and the boys had fun playing with her during halftime!



The 2nd half of the game was too dark to take pictures since the field lights did not turn on. The kids all had lots of fun and we are calling this soccer season a definite success. Can't wait to do it again in the spring!

Dewberry Farm

After such a great time at Dewberry Farm last year, we couldn't wait to go again this fall! Chance had a rare Saturday off last weekend (amazing!!), so we went to the farm with Cade's friend Garrett and his parents. I was so thankful we could all go together... Cade and Garrett's friendship has brought a wonderful family into our lives!

First stop - Hay Mountain. Our "city" boys were not thrilled about the hay and we actually spent very little time there.







After the requisite cheesy, fake smiles, we moved onto the pumpkin swings. Yes, Cade is about to fall off, but he was having a great time!



Then, the highlight of the day - the Jumping Pillows! These are like gigantic trampolines slightly raised off the ground. This was Cade and Natalie's favorite spot last year when we went, and this year was no different! They had a great time jumping.



But then Cade got very tired of the jeans that he insisted on wearing.



Good thing I packed shorts! Much better for jumping in the hot sun!





Roller Slide



Another really fun spot - the zip lines! Here goes Garrett!



And Cade! It was a good workout for the dads, too, as they ran along behind to give the boys a push if they didn't make it across



Whee!



Shooting the Corn Cannon. I was so glad Chance was with us to do things like this with Cade!



Sweaty boys outside the baby animal barn



We also had fun doing rubber duck races, seeing animals, listening to the singing chickens, and eating a tasty bbq lunch. The boys jumped on the pillows again and we all had our first taste of a fried oreo. I am embarassed to say that it was DELICIOUS! We were ready to call it a day after that. Until... I saw this cute Dewberry Farm sign. When will I learn that taking a family picture is never a good idea on our way out?



Even though it was 90 degrees outside, this was a perfect fall outing!

School Days

We are all mostly settled into our school routine, and we are really proud of Cade for adjusting so well to his new classroom at school. They are learning so much about reading and writing, and it is cute to hear him sounding out words to himself while we are driving. Each child in the room has a different job each week. The class recently adopted a guinea pig, and Cade was the first pet helper. He gave the guinea pig food, water, and treats each day, and took his job very seriously. He was so proud of it and loved showing me the guinea pig (named G-Force) each afternoon.





A few weeks ago, they had their school pictures taken. Cheesy again? Yes. Amazingly cute again? YES!



Isn't he just a 4 year old version of Chance? Too precious!

The blog has been lacking lately because...

We're having a baby!! I know this is not brand new news to anyone reading this blog, but I did want to do a catch-up on the pregnancy so far. I'm going to try to do monthly updates here, but since I'm actually 15 weeks today and I like even numbers, I won't do my next update until 20 weeks. Anyway... here is our pregnancy story so far:

We found out in mid-August that we were expecting a baby. We mostly kept the news to ourselves at first just to sure everything was OK. We did tell Cade pretty early because I was feeling so yucky that I couldn't play with him the way I usually do. Chance and I each gave Cade a Star Wars toy, and also gave him one from the baby. With his current obsession with Star Wars, we figured this would butter him up in case he didn't take the news very well. Chance and I explained that he would be a big brother, we were very excited, etc. We thought we were really having a precious family moment! But, when we asked him if he had any questions about anything we talked about, Cade said, "Does Chewbacca just have a gun, or did he come with a light saber too?". Ah well, at least he has his priorities!

The next few weeks were very busy with going back to school and starting football season. I have to admit that I was really, really nauseous and tired pretty much all the time, and this pregnancy also has the added joy of periodic dizziness. Eating was something that I absolutely did not want to do, and my taste buds were very fickle. So, this is what our weekly meal plan looked like:



For the first time in my life, I actually lost weight without trying! Who knew that the solution to losing the last bit of my pregnancy weight was to get pregnant again? Jeez!

Our first doctor appointment was on September 14. It was so great to see our baby on the ultrasound! He/she was VERY active, which resulted in somewhat blurry pictures. The baby was also somewhat big for the gestational age, so Dr. Dawson moved my due date to April 9, which was about a week earlier than we expected. A healthy baby would be absolutely perfect, but let's keep it under 10 pounds, please!



We found out at our first ultrasound with Cade that we were having a boy, but Dr. Dawson does not make early guesses anymore. So, we will all have to wait!

The next few weeks were just a little bit easier... I was down to just 4 days of feeling crummy per week, which was a welcome change. Cade has been so good and understanding the whole time. When he wants to jump on the trampoline, he asks if it is a good tummy day or a bad tummy day so he can know if I will jump with him or not. Don't worry - jumping on the trampoline was one of the first pregnancy safety things I looked up, and it is perfectly fine as long as I don't slam myself down :) No problem.

The 14 week doctor appointment was on October 11, and I heard the heartbeat for the first time. This is one of the most magical parts of pregnancy! The past week has been much easier, and I'm happy to be reaching the "honeymoon" phase of pregnancy... not toooo big yet, energy is coming back, and we have the joy of spreading our news! While I am not really, really big yet, I'm confident that maternity clothes will make an appearance earlier in this pregnancy than the last. I'm pretty sure I can actually feel myself expanding throughout the day.

So there you have it! I promise to do a better job with the blog... I have posts planned for Cade's school activities, the pumpkin patch, and Dewberry Farm. But, I definitely "treat" myself to more sleep than usual these days, so it may take a few more days. Thanks to all of our friends and family for sharing our pregnancy joy with us!

Football and the Fair

Two weekends ago, Cade and I made the long drive to Gonzales for the Cougar game. My parents met us for what turned out to be a VERY wet game!





Cade was not bothered at all by the rain and had a great time slinging water off of his umbrella onto anyone sitting near him!

The next day, we did one of my favorite things - we went to the Comal County Fair! I have great memories of going here as a child, and I'm so glad we've gotten to take Cade the past two years.

First stop: the baby chick pen. We are still working on being gentle with the baby chicks. We also learned that the chicks in this pen are all between 1 and 4 days old. Not to be morbid, but I wonder how many make it to 5 days old? Such a sacrifice for the kids!



Cade was much nicer to the goats and really enjoyed petting them.



We ran into some New Braunfels friends! This is my friend Jennifer's husband Tim and their 2 oldest boys, Fischer and Hayes. Apparently the boys were much less interested in the impromptu picture than Tim and me.



Last stop: carnival games! The carnival wasn't officially open yet, but apparently the workers are adept at spying grandparents that are willing to spend money for their grandchild to play silly games. So... here go Cade and Opa playing the fishing game.



Success! Last year, Cade won a giant shark, which thankfully resides at my parents' house. Looks like it now has a little swimming buddy!



Once again, Cade is not too thrilled with a picture. We can pretend that the shark is covering up a smile, right?



Thanks, Oma and Opa, for being such good spirits about a very wet game and for taking us to the fair!