Happy Halloween from two of the cutest dalmatians ever!  This is the only pic I have right now since my computer with all my pics on it is in the shop. Will take more later once trick or treating starts.  Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween.

Ten on Tuesday

1.  Our computer is in the shop again. Don't even ask what happened this time.  I just wonder if I can somehow suspend the computer from the air so that whenever the boys got around it, it would just lift right up and out of their way...

2.  Really glad that we took the boys Trick or Treating Downtown this weekend since the forecast is 44 with rain and wind on Wednesday.

3.  Do you like Cauliflower?  Then you need to try this recipe. I don't necessarily agree that they taste like fries, but they sure are good.  Grant and Ashton loved them.

Source: delightedmomma.com via Mallory on Pinterest

I bought the largest cauliflower I have ever seen at the Farmers Market last week.  It has fed us for 2 meals and I still have half of it left!

4.  Have I mentioned that I love fall at the Farmers Market?  The pumpkin donuts are my least favorite of the season, but all the punkins and squash and fall veggies are so yummy!

5.  Now that the weather has taken a chill, I am in the mood for Christmas.  Grant and I watched a Hallmark movie on Saturday and it was based around my favorite holiday.  Ever since, he has been asking to watch Polar Express and walking around singing Jingle Bells.

6.  Note to self- get on Amazon and buy the Polar Express.

7.  I think November 1st a perfectly appropriate date to start listening to Christmas music, don't you?  Jason disagrees big time.

8.  My mom and I are headed out for a girls day at Ikea this weekend.  I can't wait!

9.  What is your favorite pumpkin recipe?  I need a good dessert and am looking for something new to try.  Would love to hear your suggestions.  You can email me at  jandkblog@yahoo.com if you can't leave a comment and don't already have my normal email.

10.  Blessing of the week:  Ashton has slept through the night the last few nights.  Now, we just need to figure out how to get him to sleep past 6 a.m. 

Ten on Tuesday

1.  I  finally got a chance to lay down during nap time and watch Mystic Pizza- my ultimate favorite 80s fall movie!

2.  Grant beat me in a legitimate game of memory.  Not once, but twice!  I always said he had an amazing memory, but now I have proof.

3.  75 here this week.  What?  Obviously I shouldn't have packed away all the summer clothes a few weeks ago...

4.  My favorite shot from my portraits homework for my photography class.  Can you say JCrew model?  Seriously, is he really my kid????

5. Great moment of the past week:  Grant and I having a conversation about heaven, God and his sisters.

6.  Not so great moment of  the past week:  having someone tell me that I couldn't do something because I don't have girls.

7.  Ashton has started saying,"uh oh."  It is the cutest thing to watch him drop his cup and then say, "uh oh."  Not so cute after the tenth time however.

8.Exactly a month after slicing off a chunk of my thumb, I finally have full use of it again.  Changing diapers, washing bottles and bathing children were all extremely difficult without a thumb!  So happy to have it back.

9.  We finally broke down and took A to the dr last week after his poor sleeping patterns.  He had a sinus infection and ear infection.  He slept straight through for 2 nights and then got back to his horrible sleeping patterns.  Crying it out took 2 hours the other night to finally get him quiet and last night he was wide awake and ready to start the day at 4 a.m.  Ugh....

10.  Blessing of the week:  a great family weekend.  Jason was home on Saturday and the only thing we had was a birthday party for Ashton's girlfriend.  It was so nice to relax and slow down a bit after a crazy busy week.

Teddy Bear Picnic

On Thursday, we went on a Teddy Bear Picnic to celebrate Ashton's First Birthday!  The party had to be moved due to family schedules so I wasn't able to do as much as I wanted since it ended up being on a work day for me.  But, it still turned out ok and I am pretty sure our little love had an awesome time!

Sign welcoming guests

Ashton's monthly pictures- so fun to see how much he has changed!

New happy birthday sign for the big day.

Bear hug birthday favors.

Ashton's teddy bear shirt.  My first attempt at sewing on edge on something.  Not sure why I thought it would fine to sew the curviest animal ever for my first attempt at this!

He loved opening presents and was very animated.  And then he got this firetruck book and wanted nothing to do with any of the other presents!

Can you tell he loved his cake???

What a blessed little boy!

On February 25, 2011 I walked out of the OB office in tears after being told my pregnancy was not viable and I would have a miscarriage. Today, I hold Ashton in my arms as we celebrate his first birthday and I praise God for deciding to give him a second chance at life.  Happy Birthday my little love!

1.  I am so thankful for our parenting class.  Not sure if it is making any difference in the boys lives, but it is filling up my spiritual tank at a time when I really needed it.  So thankful that God placed this opportunity in our lives.

2.  Speaking of parenting class.....sorry if you were in Barnes and Noble the other day when Grant decided to scream at the top of his lungs because Ashton took his train.  Hopefully his 5 minute long temper tantrum didn't disturb any of you!

3. I am trying to get Jason to go to this event with me.  He usually runs away from things like this so convincing him to go and pay $25 a person might be tough!  I really hope I can twist his arm though because after losing the girls, I turned to her blog as a source of hope and inspiration and I would love to hear her speak.

4. Ashton will be one this week and he is still not sleeping through the night.  I would like to say that it is due to his ear infection, but honestly, he never sleeps through the night.  Any advice?  We have done the crying it out and the Ferber method and this stubborn little boy fights it for hours and then we are all just exhausted.  Please help!

5. When we bought this house, everyone was so excited that there were "good" wood floors upstairs.   And then, we moved in and I realized just how annoying old wood floors are...  every time our feet hit the creaky old wood floor, the sound echos through the upstairs and Ashton wakes up instantly.  It is really making me consider not ever putting wood floor in my house someday!

6. We have a birthday party this weekend for a girlfriend of Ashton.  I was thrilled at the chance to go out and buy the cutest girly outfit ever.  And then once I got there, I realized that I had no idea how to pick out girls clothes anymore.  There were dresses and shirts and shirts that look like dresses or were they dresses that needed leggings, or did they need jeggings?  I guess I should be glad I just need to shop for shirts and pants!

7.  Ashton is on his second ear infection since getting tubes.  The drs claim that they don't feel the pain after they get tubes.  I beg to differ.

8.  Saying lots of prayers these days for friends trying to get pregnant.  Those struggles are never far from my heart.  Thinking of you and praying for God to give you the desires of your heart.

9.  Younger brother revenge..... Ashton actually managed this one all by himself.  Although, Grant was more than willing to crawl in there, silly kid.  And, no fears, I took Grant out right after I took this picture.

10.  Blessing of the week:  Rain.  I love rainy days that we can cuddle inside and forget all the errands and busyness of life for at least a day.

We are lighting our candles tonight in honor of Brooke, Alexcyn, the baby we never met and all the babies of friends and family that we prayed for but never got to hold.  Please light a candle at 7:00 p.m. tonight in honor of these precious lives.

Under Construction...

Grant LOVED his birthday party this year.  He talked about it for months and actually spent time on Pinterest picking out cakes and decorations.  It was so fun to have a partner in my party planning!

 

Hard hat favors for the kids

Birthday shirt that he helped me iron

Table full of "struction" vehicles- dump truck has dirt dessert in it

 

 

Grant's second choice cake.  The first one was an excavator made out of fondant.  That was way too advanced for my cake decorating skills so thankfully he settled for this one.  The rocks were even candy!

This birthday boy loves corn on the cob and specifically requested it for his party!

One spoiled little boy!  He was less than thrilled with all the clothes but I was very happy because his winter wardrobe is seriously lacking!  It was a wonderful evening celebrating with our family.  We just can't thank God enough for the last three years with our Grant Weston!!!

Ten on Tuesday

1.  I am still working on posting Grant's birthday pics.  Life just hasn't allowed me much time to get on here and post.

2.  Pure Michigan!

3.  I am bummed that our apple supply is down this year because I am in serious need of some good applesauce.

4.  I am following a lot of fellow friends and bloggers as they honor their babies during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month through Carly Marie's Project Heal.  I am a little late to the game, but I figured I would add a few of the items already discussed to my TOT posts this month.

5.  Day 2- Before Portrait- taken on a family trip to PA.  I was pregnant with the girls- can't remember how far along I was, but I do remember being extremely happy.

6.  Day 3- After Portrait- taken at a family wedding in Cincinnati about a month after we lost the girls.  I may look happy, but inside I was dying. I specifically remember that I spent the evening wishing I could crawl in a hole and hide.

I am adding an After After Portrait- This is where I found my genuine happy place again.... with my boys in my arms. 

7.  Grant made reference to a girl friend having nice buns the other day.  I think we are in serious  trouble with that little flirt!

8.  Please tell me it isn't true that my baby is going to be 1 in less than two weeks...

9. I started my photography class last week.  I was overwhelmed and slightly intimidated so I am praying that this week goes better.

10.  Blessing of the week:  getting away.  Jason and I went up north for a night away just the two of us.  It has been over two years since we did that and it was much needed!  We enjoyed great food, delicious wine tasting and some quality time together.  Thanks to J's parents for taking the boys!

Ten on Tuesday

1.  Good news- I got 4 bags of bean bag filler for 1/2 off.  Love saving $ that I didn't expect.  Bad news.  While I was making lunch, Grant ripped a whole in one of the bags.  Imagine 100 liters of little beads all.over.the.floor.

2.  Ashton is a stubborn little boy.  While making him cry it out one night, he screamed for 30 minutes straight without giving up at all.  I went in to calm him down and then left and he went right back to it.  Stubborn like his daddy I say.

3. Things come in threes...a few weeks ago my good friends mom discovered a mass in her pancreas.  She will have major surgery on Thursday to have it removed.  Still waiting to hear if it is cancerous.  A week or so ago we heard about one of Jason's friends being diagnosed with testicular cancer.  He is down in Indy as I write this determining if his surgery rid him of the cancer.  Last week another good friends 4 year old nephew (Jacob) was diagnosed with a rapidly progressing brain tumor.  Within 72 hours, he was diagnosed, went to Mayo and had the surgery.  The last I knew, they think they got all the cancer but he will need to do chemo and radiation to be sure.

4.  Please, take a moment and say a prayer for our friends mentioned above.

5.  Cancer sucks.

6.  Ever since I heard about Jacob, I have been giving my boys lots of hugs and kisses and telling them that I love them about 5 seconds.  I usually do this, just not as suffocating as I have this past week.

7.  Grant's birthday party was so much fun!  He loved decorating the chocolate cake and tells everyone that he ate dirt.  Dirt dessert that is.  Pics will come later this week.

8.  My new addiction- Stacey's Pita Chips.  Delicious with a little homemade hummus.  Even Grant likes it.

9.  Castle last week, Revenge this week.  So happy to have my shows back on the air!

10.  Blessing of the week:  celebrating another birthday with Grant.  I take birthdays very seriously.  There were so many years that I wondered if I would ever get to celebrate birthdays of my own children.  Now that I have been blessed with two birthday boys, I want to spoil them rotten on their special days!

Happy 3rd Birthday to this handsome boy!