Thanksgiving Memories

Remember this post? The one where I said that this Thanksgiving was going to be different than all the rest? That this Thanksgiving was going to be one that my heart would never forget? Well, I was right. And I'm sure glad our Thanksgiving memories of 2011are all nestled into my heart because I haven't got a single photo to show for any of them. That's right, I've got pregnancy brain like no other & would you believe that I headed out of town without my most prized possession--my camera?! Grrr. Talk about frustrating.  Oh, but don't worry, that's not all my pregnancy brain had me leaving behind. The pumpkin cream pie that I slaved over? The one I debated on even making because I was absolutely exhausted, but then mustered up the little bit of energy I could to stay up late to finish it so that my family wouldn't be disappointed? I forgot that too. It got left behind in the fridge. Grr.

I have stewed & fretted & stayed up at night thinking about the fact that there will be blank pages in Jett's scrapbook & it will look like Thanksgiving 2011 never even took place in our lives. I have beat myself up. I have rummaged through my phone trying to see if I captured any decent photos of the day on there. And then finally, I have had to come to terms with the fact that this is life. Pregnancy brain happens. And just because I don't have thousands of photos of the holiday to showcase here on my blog, I can't let that steal away the real, true, precious moments that did take place.

This Thanksgiving was a special one, no doubt. But it had nothing to do with the golden turkey, the perfectly seasoned stuffing, or the made from scratch pumpkin pie. This year was so much more than slaving over a hot stove, getting everything out of the oven & onto the table at exactly perfect timing, & stuffing ourselves into a turkey coma. This year was about giving thanks. Real thanks. Where my heart bubbled over in a way that it never has before & I looked at my husband & thanked God for the man that he is. Where I held my son & praised the Lord for trusting me with his little life. Where I placed my hand on my belly & considered the tiny life blooming inside & how truly blessed I am to know motherhood in this way. Where I looked around the room & saw family that has been there, is there, & will always be there for us. Where I counted my blessings not once during grace, not twice throughout the holiday festivities, but hundreds & hundreds of times. My heart was changed this Thanksgiving & though I don't have any photos to whisk me back & let me see the many memories made, I hope to always have an imprint on my heart, one that whisks me back & allows me to feel those memories.

So without further ado, here are a few of my favorite memories from our 2011 Thanksgiving holiday:

* Jett man not taking a single bite of turkey, stuffing, or mashed potatoes at dinnertime, but when it came time for dessert, whoa buddy! I'm pretty sure the kid ate half the carrot cake on his own {& Aunt Aubry makes a mighty big carrot cake}. Coach was the one spooning the carrot cake into Jett's mouth all evening & claimed he was alternating spoonfuls of mashed potatoes in between spoonfuls of cake, but I'm not so sure about that one. Grandparents will be grandparents. {And I wouldn't have it any other way, just for the record}.


* How the dining room boomed with laughter, the way it always does when our clan is together. And how Great Grandma gets so frustrated because we're all too loud & she can't ever hear the story over all the ruckus.

* Jett sitting on Gigi's lap the next morning after breakfast, skimming through toys on the Toys R Us website, pointing out every single thing he wanted. Not even two & already workin' it.

* Trading in our after Thanksgiving feast nap for a stroll to the local park where Grandma, Papa, & Uncle Curtis all took turns pushing swings, climbing jungle-gyms, & exploring through rocks & mud. It was a beautiful day & the sunshine & breeze was the added little touch that made up for the Pumpkin Cream Pie that was sitting in a fridge a hundred miles away.

* Watching Jett point at my dad & actually call him by name-- "Papa". Don't get me wrong, he knows exactly who his Papa is, but he's never come out & called him by name {without prompting} before. You should've seen that proud as punch look sweep across my dad's face!

* Jared & I getting to sneak off for a lunch & movie date while Grandma strolled Jett to the park, to the quaint little shops, & all around town. The time Jared & I got to spend together was so needed & we enjoyed every minute of it. I think Jett really enjoyed his one on one time with Grandma, as well. He didn't seem to mind the lollipop & m&m's, either. Spoiled, much?

So there ya have it. I told you there were some sweet memories made.  And while I'm pretty sure those memories won't ever be forgotten, there's one other thing I'm pretty sure I won't be forgetting in the future--my camera. Lesson learned.

I sure hope you all had a beautiful Thanksgiving, full of memories you can hold onto & treasure forever.

Enjoying The View

Check out this view.

There's so much to fill you in on--Thanksgiving memories, decking our halls, the starstruck look on Jett man's face when he woke up from his nap to find a fire glowing in the fireplace & white twinkly lights strung all over the living room floor.

Don't worry, I'll get to it.

Just as soon as I pry myself out of this cableknit blanket & off of this downfilled couch that my butt is perfectly sunken into. I mean, seriously...would you move if you were me? Didn't think so.

I'll be back Monday with all the details. Right now, I'm enjoying the view!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart! I will enter his courts with praise! I will say this is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice for he has made me glad!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

He's Home!

I'm catching up on kisses, I'm staying up til' 4:30am clinging to every detail about his journey, & I'm not letting more than a millimeter come between us when we're sleeping. It's pretty safe to say I'm over the moon that my husband is finally home from his recent trip to Guatemala.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm lost without my hubs. I know many of you have husbands who travel frequently & for long periods of time for their jobs, some who juggle work & school in an attempt to provide a life for your families, & your time together as a couple is so very limited. Let me just say, I admire you. You are strong, you have superpowers, & I wish I were as tough as you. Seriously. I'm a big wimp when my husband isn't with me. Don't get me wrong, I desire for him to go on his own little adventures, & me on my own, but I have to admit that when we're apart for very long, I honestly feel like part of me is missing. I cry, my heart longs for him, & I literally count down the minutes until we're together again.

I know, I know, it's mushy, it's sappy, it's cheesy & may even have you gagging. Eh, sorry about that. The fact of the matter is that I love my husband. I adore him. I treasure our relationship & one day when we're old & gray & looking back, I want to be able to feel that bond between us, not just read some watered down version of the love we share. This is the real deal, the depths of my heart, & if it all happens to be a tad too sappy for ya, well my friends, you may want to go find yourself a barf bag. Because this love? I'm celebrating it, not toning it down.

In all actuality, Jett & I managed quite well while Jared was away. I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth the entire week went. This was Jared's very first missions trip, & mine & Jett's very first time having him away from us for such a long period of time {nine days, eight nights...but who was counting?}. God was so good. He provided to me such a strong support system of girlfriends & family that took me in, checked in on me each & every day, filled my days with activity & laughter, & last but not least, prayed for me morning, noon, & night. I realized this week more than I think I ever have, just how much I sometimes take my simple blessings, like my marriage, family, & friends, for granted. Some people don't have a lifeboat of support to keep them afloat when they need a little assistance, & when I laid my head down each night, thanking the Lord for my blessings, I realized that the list just goes on & on & on--the blessings don't ever end. God is so very good, indeed.

And even though the week went smoother than anticipated & Jett & I actually survived without our third muskateer, my heart couldn't have cared less about all of that. Because I'm tellin' ya, it nearly leapt out of my chest when I finally laid eyes on my husband coming through the tunnel of GATE 68, scanning the crowd for his wife & baby boy. It was all tears, hugs, & kisses after that. Such a sweet, sweet reunion.

We stayed up well into the morning swapping stories & I couldn't go to sleep until I'd heard every last detail of his trip to Guatemala. It's an exciting one & here soon I'm hoping to put a post together that goes into more detail about all that this trip held for our family. Maybe, if we're lucky, Jared will even guest post about some of his experiences.

But for now, I just want to be still. I just want to be in this moment. Where my heart sails as I climb into the warm arms of my husband rather than a cold, empty bed at the end of the day. Where a secure & comforting feeling floods over me when I think of the support system I have in my life. Where I am completely consumed with thanksgiving, gratitude, & deep appreciation for the abundance of blessings the Lord has so graciously poured into my life. I don't deserve any of it, but I am thankful, nonetheless.

I sure am glad my hubby is finally home & that I can throw my arms around him or smooch his lips at any given moment. There is no better feeling than having my little family all under the same roof. But I must say, that nine days that he was away really did my heart good. It took the thankfulness I already carry within me & it stretched it, it deepened it, & it opened my eyes to blessings I have been overlooking for some time.

I get it. I grasp it. And this Thanksgiving, I won't simply utter a "Thank you, Lord." No, I will celebrate, I will sing, I will praise the Lord & give him the true reverence He deserves. This Thanksgiving will be different than any other Thanksgiving of my past. My heart won't ever forget this one.

Now I'm off to bake pies & prepare casseroles. Thanksgiving festivities start tomorrow for us!

Happy Thanksgiving week, friends.

Homecoming

There's a homecoming taking place at our house tonight.

After nine days, Daddyboy is returning home from his missions trip to Guatemala.

We're not excited or anything!

Hump Day

To say this week is busy would be the understatement of the century.

We have crammed so much fun into the past few days that my mind is spinning & exhausted & begging to be powered off for a good nights rest. And because my tired body & droopy eyelids are in complete agreement with said exhausted mind, I'm gonna go ahead & shut er' down for the night. But before I do, I'll leave you with a little peek into what we've been up to.

* A Coach & GiGi kind of day. The Christmas shopping, the rambunctious lunch date, the mid-day ice cream treat, the racing arcade cars with Gigi...I'd say that adds up to a pretty great day.

*Roadtrip. Because sometimes it's fun to load the car, grab a Starbucks on the way out, & burn up the highway!

*Going to Grandma's. Where new toys {it seriously looked like Christmas morning around here} & an ice cream sundae with sprinkles are a given.

Clearly, we're not lacking in the fun department.

I sure hope this mind of mine can keep up because the forecast for the rest of the week is calling for plenty more where that came from!

Happy Hump Day! Hope you're having a fun week, yourself!

"DD"

**No, this post is not going to be about anybody's double D's. Besides, I don't want the whole world to know my bra size! {Ha! A girl can dream, can't she?}

Now that we've got that straight, let's move on.

My husband insisted that I write this post. He reminded me that first of all, it's funny. Secondly, if we don't document it somewhere that it will slip from our memories & be forgotten. And lastly, that even though it is driving us absolutely mad at the moment, one day we'll look back & cherish it.

If you've learned anything at all about our spunky little Jett man, it's that he's one determined cookie. He has a habit of becoming slightly obsessed with whatever it is he has his mind on at the moment {or day, week or month}. Remember the UGG boots phase? When he thought he needed to wear the darn things morning, noon, & night? So glad we're done with that one.

But no sooner had we overcome the Ugg boots obsession just to turn around find that he hadn't actually overcome anything at all. He'd just traded that "boop" obsession in for a new one. This time he's fixated on an entirely different subject.

His "DD" {as in DVD}.

This kid is obsessed with our old portable DVD player {that I believe we got as a wedding gift over seven years ago. I mean, who needs a fancy, schmancy IPad when you've got a Polaroid portable DVD player?}. I'm not kidding when I say that little mister wakes up in the morning & the first words out of his mouth when I walk into the room are, you guessed it, "DD". And you thought I was exaggerating. The dad gum thing is plugged into the wall nearly every second of the day, playing "Yo Gabba Gabba--Love My Family". And when it's not? Boy howdy, look out. It's a steady, "DD! DD! DD!" until I get so sick of hearing "DD" that I just turn the darn thing on for him & let it roll. Because the kid is relentless. He will.not.give.up.

This "DD" phase sure is driving me batty, no qualms about it. But I do suppose that husband of mine is right. One of these days we're going to look back at this quirky little phase of Jett's & we're going to smile. We're going to wonder how our little toddler who used to climb up into our laps & snuggle in close to watch his "DD" is all grown up & headed out the door to the movies with all of his friends. One of these days, I betcha we're going to miss these funny little obsessions.

So I suppose I'd better go make sure that Polaroid DVD player is all plugged in & getting a full charge for tomorrow. It has a long day {week, month, however long this particular phase lasts} ahead of it.

Goodnight friends.

What I Wore

Let's just get one thing straight-- I'm not proclaiming to be some fashionista, here. I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to clothes, shoes, accessories-- I draw a complete blank. I mean, I know what looks good & I can see an outfit on someone else & think, Man, that looks great. I could totally do that. But to pull all the elements together on my own, that I cannot do. I literally get overwhelmed, the room spins, I & shut down. That, my friends, is why most days you'll find me in a pair of comfy sweats, my hair thrown up in a messy ponytail, & house slippers on my feet. Because you can't screw comfy-cozy up, right?

But just like most every other girl on the planet, I do like getting all dolled up once in awhile. A cute outfit, a few curls in the hair, a fresh coat of lip gloss--it sure can go a long way. It can turn a frumpy stay at home mom into a one super-hot momma! 

And while being fashion savvy is probably never something I'm going to be particularly great at, it is something I'm getting better at. Pinterest has helped, learning my own style has helped, & not being afraid to take a couple of chances has helped. The task of finding a cute outfit isn't nearly as daunting as it once was for me...it's actually becoming really, quite fun.

And I must be doing something right, because y'all went nuts over the outfit I wore in our recent Fall family photos! Many of you have asked me where my outfit is from, where I got this piece or that piece, so I thought I'd just go ahead & share from head to tippy toe just exactly how I whipped this outfit up!

Here ya go:

Dress--Charming Charlie. I had never before bought a piece of clothing from this store, but once I browsed through the racks, I found that they actually have some really adorable {& affordable} clothes. Their line blue bird {which is the brand of my dress}, is absolutely darling & so sweet & feminine. I found so many blue bird pieces I absolutely adored. 

Scarf--Charming Charlie

Long Sleeve Undershirt--Buckle. I actually wasn't fond of the sparkles on the shirt at first, but I came around.

Belt--I've had the belt for some time now, but I *think* I got it at the Buckle as well. 

Argyle Tights--JC Penney

Knit Socks--Target

Boots--Kohls

So there you have it. Easy, right? Trust me, if I can make an outfit come together, anyone can. 

And a big thank you to all of you who had such sweet compliments to send my way. You not only made me feel like a million bucks, but also got me thinkin' that maybe, just maybe, there is a fashionista buried deep within me somewhere!

Happy shopping, friends!

Memory Lane Monday: Spilling The {baby} Beans

It's Monday. And I'm feeling like a little stroll down Memory Lane is in order.

So come along. Let's stroll, shall we?

One of the reasons I absolutely love having this little blog of mine is because it acts as my own personal  Memory Lane that I can stroll through any ol' time I feel necessary. When I want to see what we were up to a year ago....easy...just a click away. When I want to sail through the baby days of my little Jett Jett...simple...one click of a key. When I want to see how I've grown in my own personal life, what I've overcome & conquered...there it is...a pick me up, just like that. The memories that are documented throughout the many months of this blog are priceless to me & I have found that for every month this blog turns a little older, the more valuable each little post comes to mean to me.

But there's just one little problem I've found myself running into lately. You see, I've got baby on the brain like crazy these days & when I go to click the button that pulls up all of my little pregnancy moments from back when I was carrying my little Jett Jett, well, sadly, they're not there. Unfortunately, happenings of our home hadn't been birthed yet at that time I was pregnant with my Jett Jett & all of those pregnancy memories aren't just an easy click away. They are documented, but those documents happen to be inside a journal that is tucked away in a dusty attic. I'll drag it out one of these days, but until I do, we're gonna have to settle for something I like to call Memory Lane Mondays. Every once in awhile, when I'm feeling all nostalgic & sentimental about my first born, I'll set aside a Monday where his own story has a chance to be told on this blog.  That way, some of the most memorable moments of my pregnancy with Jett, the ones I don't ever want to forget, they too, get their very own pages here at happenings of our home.


So first up for Memory Lane Monday: Spilling The {baby} Beans

Jared & I are big planners. To be honest, it's more like control freaks, but planners sounds so much nicer, don'tcha think? We've got plans set in place for all kinds of things & you'd better believe that there was a plan set from almost day one for the expanding of our family. We called it The Five Year Plan.  Our family knew about The Five Year Plan, our friends knew about The Five Year Plan, anyone who knew us very well at all, knew about The Five Year Plan. What did this said Five Year Plan consist of, you may be wondering? Simply this: At the mark of our five year wedding anniversary, we would take a wonderful last hoorah trip, come home & get busy makin' babies. God must have really been humoring us when he allowed for "our" plan to fall into place perfectly & seamlessly. Shortly after our return from that wonderful five year anniversary trip, we soon found out we had brought home with us, a little souvenir.

I must have taken a gazillion pregnancy tests before finally seeing the word PREGNANT show up on that tiny digital screen. I raced as fast as I could into the laundry room where Jared was, half panicked, half elated, & held that stick right in his face. His reaction was skeptical. Here I'd been taking test after test after test, all of them coming back negative, & rightfully so, he was fearful to get his hopes up. But by the end of that day, our hopes had sailed sky high when my doctor called me himself to congratulate me on my pregnancy. It was the beginning of a journey we had been dreaming of & we were beyond ecstatic!

I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. I wanted to scream it to the world. I wanted everyone to know that we were having a baby! I could not contain myself... but I had to. Because you know me. It's not my style to simply call up our loved ones & say, "Yo, I'm pregnant." I had to come up with a master plan. We were having the first baby on both sides of our families, so we had to come up with something that would not only surprise them, but something that would shock them.

We told my family first. We were visiting home for the weekend & actually had the intention of keeping our secret until a later date when we had figured out some spectacular reveal. But after spending a few hours with them, I was busting at the seams & I had to spill the beans...& soon. So spur of the moment, Jared & I made the best of the resources we had at the time-- Wal-Mart. We hit up Supercenter at about 10 p.m. that night, purchased an "I love Grandma" bib, two child sized fishing poles {a princess one & a Spider Man one--for my dad, the avid fisherman}, & a baby onesie that we ironed "GO CHIEFS" to the front of {for my brother, the die hard Chiefs fan.} It wasn't exactly what I had in mind for the big reveal, but we knew it would get the job done. And boy did it. The next day, while sitting out on my parent's back deck, we handed them gifts--told them we had brought them back a little something from our trip. Little did they know...

It may have not been part of my exact plan, but looking back, I wouldn't have had it any other way. Tears, laughter, pure joy, perfection.

Now, Jared's family was a different story. We knew immediately how we were going to be spilling the beans to them. Jared's mom & dad had been talking about having family photos done for as long as I had known them, so this was gonna be a piece of cake. Mother's Day rolled around & we informed both my mother in law & father in law that for their Mother's & Father's Day gifts this year, we would be paying to have photos of the whole family taken. We got the entire family together, coordinated outfits, met at a beautiful park & got all set up for what seemed like an innocent family photo session. Innocent until the very end, anyways. Here we all were, huddled together on a picnic table for our last set of photos to be snapped, when the photographer announced, "Alright, this time, on the count of three, I want everybody to yell...Holly's pregnant!" Jared & I braced ourselves. We squeezed each other's hands tightly. We waited. Laughter, squeals, shrieks, tears...it should all be bursting in a matter of seconds, right? Wrong. There was nothing. They weren't taking the bait. Not even a nibble. Everyone kept posing for the photographer while Jared & I cracked up laughing. My sister in law even made the comment at one point, "No! We can't say that! Then we'll jinx them!" Everyone continued posing for the photographer while Jared & I literally died laughing, looking at one another like, Welp, what do we do now? Finally, after what felt like forever, I piped up, "No really. We're pregnant."  The rest is history...

Both are moments that are so very beautiful & sacred to me. They are moments that I could tell again & again & never grow tired of. Moments I want to share with my children & ones I desire for my children to share with their children. These are moments I feel are so special, so meaningful, that there is no possible way I could ever forget them. But just incase, just incase this memory of mine fails me one day, these perfect memories are captured. They are frozen in time. Documented forever & ever.  Right here on this little blog of mine. 

Yay for Memory Lane Monday.

Real

In more ways than I can count, this pregnancy just hasn't quite felt real to me. I don't know if it's because this is my second go at this thing & that's just how it is the second time around. I don't know if it's because this time I'm busy tending to an energetic toddler rather than spending hours upon hours daydreaming my time away about pregnancy, future, & what if's. Perhaps it's possibly because I haven't felt like a human being for what feels like forever now, & the only thing that steals my focus is wondering how long I have before I make a mad dash to hang my head over a toilet.  I'm not quite sure what it is & I can't really put my finger on one single reason, but in my heart, this pregnancy has just felt different.

Until this past Tuesday, anyways.

I had my scheduled ten week O.B. appointment Tuesday morning, where Jared met up with Jett & I at the doctor's office {Jared refuses to miss a single appointment--even the quick ones where nothing exciting happens. I love him}. Together, the three of us marched in, fingers crossed that today would be the day we would hear that rapid, little heartbeat pounding away. The true sign that life is really happening in there.

No such luck. Turns out, ten weeks is still a tad early to detect our baby's heartbeat on a fetal doppler monitor. Boo. With each passing moment that my doctor searched for that thumping rythm & came up short, I laid there feeling my eager & excited spirits slowly dwindling & deflating. Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I heard a beautiful music to my ears! A heartbeat? Nope, even better. My doctor announced, "Well then, we'll just have to go take a peek!" 

We all huddled into the dimly lit ultrasound room, & I found myself holding my breath as that screen on the wall lit up & the ultrasound wand glided across my belly. Out of the big dark blot of uterus & bladder & whatever else is in there, there appeared a white, glowing, tiny, little baby. Not a cluster of cells anymore, not something that resembles a tadpole anymore, but a baby. We peered closer, necks stretched as far as they would reach & gazed at the softest little flicker in the middle of that baby's chest, just beating away. I finally stopped holding my breath & exchanged it instead, for squeals, laughter, & sighs of relief. From then on, my eyes never once diverted from the screen that was showcasing my new, little baby to me.  We saw a sweet, teeny face, short, little arms with fists doubled at the ends of them, & even an itty bitty jump & wiggle. Tears filled my eyes when in just a flash of a moment, my whole world shifted & this pregnancy that had just minutes before felt so different, quickly transformed into something extremely real.

I walked out of that appointment with a completely different view on this pregnancy. My all day nausea that has seemed so very daunting these past ten weeks, well it seems a little more do-able now. The little aches, pains, & strange things happening within my body, it all seems to have purpose now. My days seem a little bit brighter, I'm feeling a little cheerier, & I have an excitement that there for a time, I had questioned whether or not would ever settle in. 

It's not just about being pregnant anymore. It's about so much more than that now. It's about a life inside of me, a beautiful soul within me, a baby that will come into my life, into my home, into my heart & will change the very core of who I am. I know this because it's already happened to me once in my life.

Everything about this pregnancy has been different. I know this baby will come into this world & be one of a kind, not like any other, but different. I know that once I hold my second child, snuggled against chest, that I too, will be different.  I know that having two children that fill up my arms & my life will make my whole world completely different.

And for me, it just doesn't get any more real than that.

trick or treat

Between the miniature snickers bars, tiny packages of peanut m&m's, & little sour gummy worm packets, one might think that Halloween night couldn't possibly get any sweeter, right?

Wrong-o.

Because when it's a momma & daddy's very first time watching their little one go toddling up to doorsteps holding out that little bucket for a Halloween treat, I can tell you first hand that it'll top any sugar induced high you get from a package of candy coated chocolate.

Trick or treating was most definitely a sweet, sweet time--for little man & his momma & daddy.

There's something about experiencing those "firsts" with your kids, isn't there? Something magical, something sentimental, something that repeatedly whispers to you, "Remember this. Remember this. Don't ever forget this." It wasn't his first Halloween, but it was his first adventure in trick or treating & while I stood behind him, trying desperately to record each detail into my mind so to be able to hold onto it forever & ever, little guy was taking the Halloween bull by the horns & nailing this whole trick or treating bit.

I have no clue how he knew what he was doing, maybe it was Trunk Or Treat that helped him get the hang of things, or more than likely, it's because this kid is no dummy & can figure out a good thing when he sees it..yeah, I'm pretty sure that's it.  Either way, home boy marched himself up to every door, shimmied his way to the front of the line of kids, & balled that little hand into a fist to knock on each & every door {I say knocked 'cause he was too short to reach the doorbell}. He'd wait patiently for his piece of candy {or sometimes if they held the bowl in front of his face, he would continue plucking piece after piece & dropping it into his bag. Little squirt got away with it, too. Being cute goes a long way, apparently}. And then, what he would do next would cause this momma to melt into a puddle on every single front porch in the neighborhood--he would put that chubby little hand to his chin & do the sign for "Thank You" before he marched off to the next house on his mission for more candy loot. I die.

See there, how he has managed to squeeze right up to the front door? Boy gets down to business.

Look, look, look! See him there in the background? He's saying "Thank you". Oh how I heart him.

Told ya it was a sweet night.

It truly could not have been a more perfect evening. The weather was a blissful sixty-five degrees, Jett wore his gnome costume like a little champ, & we hit up about ten houses & still managed to have happy little trick or treaters, free of meltdowns, by the end of it all {even though we were inching close to bath & bedtime}. 

We came home, ate yummy homemade potato soup, snuggled, & counted our first trick or treating experience a true success.

And then we did what every other parent on Halloween night does, just after they've put their little ones to bed...

we raided that candy stash!