Pumpkin World

Down the street from us is a place called Pumpkin World.

Jackson: Why is this place called Pumkin World?
Sales Lady: Because this time of year we have a lot of pumpkins.
Jackson: Why do you have a lot of pumpkins?
Sales Lady: Because we are called Pumpkin World.

And it goes on like that.

The boys were on the quest for the perfect pumpkin. That would be one that is perfectly round, and one that they could carry all by themselves. It took awhile, but they found their perfect pumpkins.



And here is my perfect pumpkin. At four weeks old, check out her cheeks! She is well on her way to being another chubby Parrish baby.

Do you have candy for me?

Asher has been singing, "Trick-or-treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. If you don't, I don't care, I'm gonna pull down your underwear."

I was worried that he would sing that at every door we hit while Trick-or-treating. So I was very surprised when, at each door, he said, "Do you have candy for me?" And I am not kidding, people would not give him candy until he said "trick-or-treat." I think they were shocked by a kid not saying the words they had been hearing all night.

Jackson was a pilot, Asher was Dash and Lily was a lady bug. She was already too big for the first costume I had made for her. I will have to get a better picture of her. Her hat was so cute.

A Big Birthday Blow Out!

We finally did a friend birthday party for Jackson. It wasn't the most convenient time to do such a thing, but I am a sucker for my Jackson, and he has been wanting to have friends over for his birthday since last year. From the moment we got here, he has been seeking out friends that he could invite to his party. He had an airplane/Halloween themed party. Here are some images of his shin-dig.

Jackson made the invitations himself. I think they are genius! I will give a gold star to anyone who can identify the airplanes in each picture.

We ate Mummy dogs, and I threw in a few healthy foods to appease the mommy's.

Doughnuts on a string

Mitch did an amazing job creating this F-16 cake.

He received amazing gifts. Airplanes all around!

The kids had a great time on the tramp.

Jackson age 6

Growing Pains

Five months ago, I was told, (among other things) that I could not longer hold this little boy.
I realize that he is HUGE, but until four weeks ago he was my baby. It was really hard not to hold him. As I got better, I let him sit on my lap, but my growing belly wouldn't really allow that for long. Now the pregnancy is over, and four weeks have passed, I feel great. Like I could do (almost) anything I could do before. So, I picked Asher up. In the last 5 months, he has grown up, and I think put lead in his belly or something. I could not believe how heavy and long he has become. He has changed so much in five months. He has been asking me to "hold you me" for a very long time, and it made me so sad every time I had to say I couldn't. Now I can hold him, even if it is just for a little while. I will need to hit the weights to get the strength to hold him any longer.

Another Asher note:

Yesterday he told me we need to go back to the blue house where everything was "right." In this house everything is wrong. He said, "Jackson need to go back in his bed, and I have my little airplane bed [which he never slept in, btw], and the blue house had a side walk and I could ride my purple bike. The movers need to take our stuff back to the blue house."

I found this speech both cute and sad. We did give up a lot leaving our house in Montana, but We love it in our new home and I know that given time, things will be right in this house.

...but he was still hungry

"The Very Hungry Catepillar" PJs were one of my favorites when my boys were babies. (I am sad that I don't have a picture of Asher in them.) And now the book is one of my boy's favorite night-time reads. They love to count the food, and "read" along with me. I was so happy to find the baby girl version in a thrift store recently for our little Lily. I knew it had been 6 years since Carter's made them, so I didn't think I would be so lucky.

So Cute!

So Beautiful

My little girl. I think she is so beautiful!

6

Jackson: These are my favorite parts about my birthday; Eating pizza, talking to Ryder on the puter (computer), being with my family, making cupcakes and eating cupcakes, getting presents, and all of it! I loved all of my birthday!

You gotta love a boy who loves everything.

Jackson's present, which was replaced with a Search & Rescue helicopter, after it took an adult over 5 hours to put the army vehicles together. He was very happy with both.

We decorated cupcakes, as Asher put it, "We made them into people." I guess we did put a face on a lot of them. They were crazy boys with the candy, they enjoyed making them as much as eating them.

Jackson loves Lily

Jackson love his little sister. It is so wonderful to see the way he is around her. He always wants to hold her and give her kisses and hugs. When she cries he tells me he wants to help her to stop crying. And he really can get her to stop crying, just for a moment. I think our little Lily is lucky to have her big brothers.

One week old

A Happy Surprise!

This pregnancy has been a little crazy with a number of unexpected surprises (some not so good). But we were blessed with a happy final surprise with the birth of our Lily Kate. I was attempting a VBAC and it was starting to look like I wasn't progressing (10 hours and only dilated 2 cm), so I was wheeled into the operating room in preparation for a c-section, when, surprise! The baby was ready to come (in 30 minutes I fully dilated). With no anesthesia (remember that IS what Mitch does) I got my VBAC, and I only pushed for maybe 10 minutes. We feel so blessed that after so many crazy things this pregnancy, the ending was so happy. It was so wonderful to see my little girl for the first time, with my husband by my side. It is a moment we were unable to experience with our first two children.

Welcome to the world Lily, and welcome to our family. We have been waiting and praying for you for a long time.