halloween & anniversary trip | wk. 44 recap

I’m frantically typing this because I feel like I’m running behind in everything lately. I haven’t posted consistently on instagram in weeks, my weddings that I need to finish are starting to pile up, and my kids are exhausting me each and every day. If I’m being honest, I just want to type up this blog post and get it out as quick as possible. I considered skipping, but this recap shares some of the most fun things we’ve done all month, so I knew I couldn’t skip out on sharing all of that. Just please excuse the rush if you read this and notice any typos.

Here’s a look at some stories from the week:

📸 Strike a pose

Greysen is all about posing for the camera lately. He’s always loved photos, but now he has some creative direction behind the shots he wants. My camera roll is filled with multiple photos of the same shot except Greysen is doing a different pose or making a different face. I love that he has these little quirky personality traits now. He’s really starting to grow into a cute human.

4️⃣ Some random photos

Okay, a couple of things about the four random photos below.

1- I have been obsessed with reading in the bath. I cannot wait until we finally start building our house, and I get to design the master bathroom because it is going to have a luxurious bathtub designed only for comfort while I read. I pour in some bubbles or a bath bomb, get myself a glass of wine, light a cute little candle, and enjoy a good hour or more just soaking in the tub while I devour a book.

2- There’s a friendly dog 🐶 that followed us home one day when we were on a walk. Apparently she’s a escapee celebrity because I chatted with a few people who knew her name was Willow and that she gets out often. Being that she’s a husky I can totally understand because I know that they are notorious escape artists. The beautiful part about this friendly little visitor though was that it was just days after Skye’s (our late husky) “birthday.” I say birthday with quotes because she was a rescue and so we just made a day up for her since we aren’t sure when her birthday was. Anyways, what a nice surprise it was to see a husky hanging around just after what would have been a celebratory day for Skye if she were still with us.

3- We have officially entered that stage of the season where when Greysen wants something I can have him take a picture with it to send to Santa and he is sooo happy about that. We are no longer upset in the stores because “Santa might get it for me!” 🎅🏻

4- A picture of Forrest devouring some chocolate. 🍫 One thing that is so true about that second child is that some of my previous stipulations go out the window—you want sugar? sure, go ahead. wearing your jammies all day? why not! you fell down and bumped your head? darn, are you okay, good, on to the next thing. So many things that I previously thought were so important or was constantly scared or coddling about are no longer as important or triggering for me. Maybe it’s just the lack of energy on my part.

🎃 Halloween!!!

I am obsessed with this year’s costumes. Firstly, Forrest was always going to be a bull. We are having two first birthdays for him this year (one in Kansas and one in Indiana), and his Indiana birthday party theme is “My First Rodeo.” All of the inspiration and things I find online show the 1yo as a cowboy, but I knew instantly that no, Forrest is not a cowboy, he’s the bull, and we’re all the cowboys. So, this costume is actually going to do double duty because I think he might wear it on his birthday in Indiana too. But then, Greysen just added the cherry on top by wanting to be a chicken. One day, weeks before Halloween, I was asking Greysen what he wanted to be and he said, “ummmm… a chicken!” 🐓 and then stuck with it ever since. I thought it was a hilarious choice, but then the fact that he repeated it and stuck with it just made me smile so big over this goofy boy.

Forrest’s outfit it one we found on Amazon, and Greysen’s is homemade. A white sweatshirt, two feathery boa scarves, a red stocking cap, face paint, yellow pants that he already owned, and rubber gloves on his feet. And then of course Mama threw on a cowboy hat to the play the role farmer who’s wranglin’ these feral children. 🤠

💕 our annual anniversary trip

Every year Trevor and I try to take an annual anniversary trip up north to a hotel and spa for a night. It started as an anniversary trip a few years back and has morphed into an end-of-the-season celebration too for when we finish our last wedding of the year! We actually have one more left, but this seemed like the best time for us to go anyways. We started the trip with an early morning couples massages first thing as soon as we got there, then went out for dinner at a nearby sushi spot that we hit up every year, spent some time shopping just for fun, tried to get in the hot tubs at the hotel but they were out of service 😡 and then ended the night in the hotel alone while the kids stay with Nana & Papa.

Trevor and I have always been really intentional with our relationship. We always strive to take time our of our busy lives (especially now that kids are involved) so focus on one another. Whether that’s a weekly date night, a quick and meaningful conversation over lunch while the kids nap, or an all out anniversary date like this one; I love that we both know that a good relationship is one that we have to actually try at.

🔮 What am I looking forward to?

Okay, so now, let’s look ahead. I wanna get hyped about what’s coming up. Here’s what’s got me feeling excited in my life:

1) Honestly, not much. And I’m kind of bummed to say that. Last week I mentioned Christmas 🎄 and while I’m still looking forward to that, I am also dreading the trip to Kansas that that will entail, I’m nervous about being away from home with two little ones for so long, and just all of the logistics leading up to it. So, while Christmas and the holidays are definitely something I am looking forward to, it’s also something that’s stressing me out.

Lastly, here’s what I’m currently consuming:

📖 reading- Hexed (Never After, 6), by Emily McIntire

🎧 listening- an audiobook

🖥️ watching- Spidey and His Amazing Friends (nonstop, and not by choice)

🍿 eating- too many snacks left over from our anniversary trip

☕️ drinking- coffee (this will probably never change every week)

And that’s it for this week’s recap. What are your thoughts on the new blog? How are you enjoying these yappy posts? Be sure to follow me on my socials and DM me on Instagram to let me know what you think! But for now, bye critters!