Brooks' First Halloween!

We had SO much fun getting dressed up for Halloween this year. Basically, a baby makes everything a little more fun! :)

My good friend Katy...yes, the same one who gave me Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit, also gave me a Pistol Pete outfit for my baby shower. She did GOOD, to say the least! THANK YOU KATY! So, Trevor and I decided to stick with the theme and Trevor was Bullet and I was the Spirit Rider. It worked out perfect because it was also OSU's Homecoming this past weekend.

Our good friends and former LifeGroup leaders host a Halloween party every year. We decided to just make this year about Brooks, so we only went to the kid friendly part of the party. Here are some fun pictures...

We got him dressed for the party and he passed out before we left the house.

There was no good way to ride in his car seat with his costume on...so this is what he looked like! Ha! I sat in the back with him and kept checking on him. He was just sleeping.

Sleepy Pete

So cute! 

These babies are THE CUTEST!!!!

He loved swinging

We also had a couple other "costume" clothes that we wore throughout the weekend.

Ninja Turtles of course! 

And a skeleton...I love that Winston cuddles with him.

Trevor's work hosted a little "Trick-or-Treat" party today, so, of course we got one more use out of this awesome costume.

I can't get enough of his smile! :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I hope everyone had a good and safe time tonight! and PISTOL'S FIRIN'!

Devil's Den

 

If you read our October Date Nights blog post you know that one of our dates was planning a day trip to Arkansas to hike Devil's Den. This was also part of our 30 Day Marriage Booster-to plan a trip together. So we decided to take that trip today. We got up, got Brooks ready, packed the car and hit the road. We drove to Fayetteville and got their just in time to watch the OSU game. We watched the first half and ate lunch.

We walked around Dickson street during half time and went in a couple stores. When the second half started, we found another restaurant to post up at. We were a little sad to miss homecoming, but we had a great day and we were excited for an OSU win!

We then headed to the start of Yellow Rock Trail. Here are some pictures from our day...

 

Such a good dad, carrying Brooks all day!

 

 

 

 

 

We found this neat spot to stop and feed Brooks at. 

 He is getting so big! I can't believe it.

 At one point he was just over the baby carrier, so carried him like this for about a half a mile! 

 We finished our hike!! Wahoo! 

What a fun date day! We are now driving back on the scenic route. Although the leaves haven't changed yet, it's still a beautiful drive. 

I loved rockin our new Armor Accounting cups!

 

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October Date Nights

Trevor and I are still going strong on weekly date nights and I wouldn't want it any other way. For those of you just joining me on this journey, before Brooks was born, Trevor and I decided we wanted to implement a weekly date night. Our date night is Thursday (unless our date requires it to be on a different night) and they are pre-planned. We switch off every week who plans them so it doesn't always fall on the guy. It doesn't have to be fancy, it just has to be planned. Most of them are at home after baby goes to sleep. 

If you want to read about our previous date nights, here they are!

July Dates 1

July Dates 2

August Dates

September Dates

October Dates...

October 6th: Trevor planned this one and we went to the fair! Trevor actually doesn't really like hates the fair, so it's kind of funny that this is what he chose. I enjoy it just so I can get my yearly corn dog! We thought this would be fun to take Brooks since he loves being outside. I think he enjoyed his first trip to the fair. Poor guy couldn't enjoy all the delicious food though. 

October 13th: was actually moved to October 14th because we bought tickets to go to a concert with some friends. One of Trevor's favorite artists is Cody Johnson and he was making an appearance at the Cain's Ballroom, so we got tickets. Our friends, Ben and Shelby, also like red dirt country, so we got tickets together. This was only the second time we asked someone to watch Brooks while we went on date night. The first time was in Michigan when we went Blueberry picking. I was less nervous this go round. We wanted to make a night of it, so we went downtown a little early and ate dinner at Prairie Brew Pub. We then went to Inner Circle and played some Connect 4 (I haven't played that since I was a kid) and then headed over to Cain's. 

We won every time!!

What a great night with awesome friends!!

Cody Johnson

October 20th: Trevor planned this date night and I have no pictures to show for it, but I will...on Saturday! I did a blog post last month titled Will You Join Me in a 30 Day Marriage Booster and it had a list of 30 things to do for/with your spouse to boost your marriage. Even if your marriage doesn't need "boosting" they are still fun to do for each other. One of them was "Plan a vacation for just the two of you." Since we just had a baby and we have some major trips coming up next year, we don't really have the budget/time to take a big vacation...so Trevor had the idea to plan a day trip. We researched and planned a trip to Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas. The weather has been beautiful, so we thought it would be fun to go hiking. Brooks loves being outside, so we are actually going to take him with us. We love going places with him and experiencing things with him, so I think it will be a really fun day! I can't wait to share pictures on Saturday! It was fun to have this date night also include one of our marriage boosters! 

October 27th: We went to Bixby and visited Carmichael's Pumpkin Patch. We, of course, just took Brooks on this date night. It was fun to be there as a family and take pictures together. 

I LOVE my family!!

Like I said before, I am LOVING this date night idea. Yes, it takes a little effort and you have to be intentional with your time, but I look forward to it all week. You have to make your marriage a priority daily! It's that simple, but it's not always easy! Now, go date your spouse!

Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit

Ever since we brought Brooks home from the hospital we have swaddled him. We quickly found out that he likes his right arm out of the swaddle, but the left arm in. We tried it differently ways, but this one consistently was what he wanted. Well, about two weeks ago I go to feed Brooks for his 6:00am feeding and then put him back down because he usually sleeps until 8 or so. I went and cleaned up the kitchen before heading to get the monitor to check on him and Oh My Goodness! He rolled over! Never once has he rolled over or shown any inkling that he might roll over! So, I ran in his room and un-swaddled him! I know that once babies are able to roll over you aren't supposed to swaddle them, so I had to find something new to do. A good friend of mine had bought me the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit for my baby shower (THANKS KATY!), which is used to transition babies from being swaddled to not being swaddled and it works like a charm!!! Before using this little gem, Brooks would go from about 8:30pm to 5:00 or 6:00am, I'd feed him and then put him back down until he got up for the day around 8. Now, there is no 5:00 or 6:00am feeding. Since the day we put him in this crazy thing, he literally goes 11-12 hours every night without waking up! Hallelujah! I'm sure a part of it has to do with his age and getting to the place where he can sleep all night, but I think the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit definitely helped! 

I have to share this picture because it is HILARIOUS!! He looks like a big marshmallow or the Michelin Man or an astronaut! Ha!

See the similarities. I literally laugh out loud when I see that picture! 

And I laugh out loud every time I look at the monitor and see this...

He is seriously so cute...but that outfit takes it to a whole new level! 

Other than letting you all get a good laugh, I also want to say, if you are looking for a transition sleeper for your baby, I would give the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit a try!