Our Weekend - The One Where We Met My New Niece!

Hello, and happy Monday.  We had another great weekend filled with lots of fall goodness, family time, and newborn snuggles and I’m just loving life right now!

Friday evening we headed out to try a new pizza restaurant that opened here, but the wait was an hour and a half (at 5:15 – crazy) so we ended up grabbing Carrabba’s take-out and heading back home.  After dinner, we turned on our twinkle lights, pulled out our trusty rusty pumpkin carving supplies, and we got to work!  Jacob requested a scary pumpkin but I didn’t want to do anything too crazy scary since Olivia is afraid of everything, so we opted for something in between.  I drew the face on the pumpkin, B carved out the top, and then we all took turns pulling out the guts.  Jacob and Olivia have never loved that part, so they didn’t help out too much other than to pick up a slimy pumpkin seed here and there.

In the past I have always left the carving to B and I’ve never actually tried my hand at carving before, so after B had carved one of the eyes I decided to take a shot at it.  Turns out, I’m a pumpkin-carving wizard!  ;o)  The kiddos were so pleased with the outcome and I was, too.  I think he’s just the right amount of cute and the right amount of scary. 

Saturday we had an early morning because Jacob had a 9 AM soccer game.  His team ended up winning 6-2 and Jacob played so well!  The other team never scored a goal while he was playing defense and he had an assist!  Towards the end he got knocked down and hit in the head – don’t know if it was with the ball or somebody’s foot – but he left the field in tears and then didn’t want to go back in for the last ten minutes.  Hopefully this won’t turn him off to playing.  It seems like every time he gets his momentum he gets knocked down and it makes him too apprehensive to go full throttle.  My sweet, sensitive Boo.  <3

After our win we stopped by Starbucks for a PSL and then we hit the road to make the two-hour drive to my brother and sister-in-law’s house to meet my new niece!  The day was finally chilly enough for boots and scarves and it was also rainy so that was by far my favorite PSL of the season.  ;o)

We were all starving by the time we reached their town, so we grabbed Chick-Fil-A on the way in and carried it back to their house.  My Daddy came outside to greet us and he was carrying the sweetest little bundle.  (He and my Momma have been there all week to help out.)  The kids oohed and aahed over her and Olivia just couldn’t get enough.  She’s never been around a baby that tiny before so she didn’t know what to think!

I was itching to get my hands on that sweet girl so as soon as I got the kids set up with their lunch I took her off of my Daddy’s hands and got some snuggle time in before eating myself.  When there’s a newborn baby around, food can wait!  Or at least that’s my motto, anyway.  ;o)

My SIL came to grab her a few minutes later because it was time for her to eat and I reluctantly gave her up so I could eat, too.  But after she was fed and changed, I was ready for her again, and I pretty much sat on the couch all afternoon just holding her and smelling her sweet little head and admiring her.  She is absolutely perfect, y’all.  And my Momma and Daddy said that she looks exactly like I did when I was that age!

Olivia asked me twice if she could hold her and my brother said it was okay, so we got her all set up on the couch (after she washed her hands thoroughly, of course) and she was so, so excited when we handed the baby to her.  She smiled and cooed and looked like a proud big sister!  She apparently loves babies just like her Momma… and Jacob and my nephew, Tucker, do not.  Haha.  Once Jacob looked at her for a bit, he was over her.  #BeenThereDoneThat  #BigBrother

Late in the afternoon the rain had cleared and it was a gorgeous (but very chilly day) so we decided to get out of the house and we made the five minute drive to a little park that’s right around the corner from Zach and Cheryl’s house.  We took a little stroll around the lake and let the kids throw rocks for a long time.  By the time our walk was over the sun was starting to set and it was time for us to get back on the road for the drive home, so we said our goodbyes and parted ways.  And y’all, it was so hard to leave that sweet baby.  The next time I see her she’ll look totally different because they change way too fast at this young age.  Everybody knows that babies don’t keep.

Photo cred - my Momma

There was a Panera just around the corner from the park, so our family of four stopped on the way out of town to grab some soup to warm our bones after being out in the chilly afternoon air.  We grabbed some cookies for the road, set the kids up with their movies in the back seat, and then made the two-hour drive back home.  We saw the most beautiful sunset on the drive home and then we made it back just before 9... the kids fell into bed and passed out almost immediately.  What a full day!

Sunday was sloooow.  We had not one thing on the agenda so we slept in until 8:15, made pumpkin cinnamon rolls for breakfast, got the kitchen all cleaned up and the road trip stuff put away, and then I worked on my plans for the week ahead.  Jacob completed his first school project.  He had to research St. Michael the Archangel, write about him, and then draw a picture of him.  And then the kids played while I did some laundry.  We had sandwiches at home for lunch and then B headed off to a tennis match while the kids and I got ready and headed out to get them some new boots for winter.  We had success after a stop at just one store, so we headed over to our favorite park in midtown to play on the playground for the rest of the afternoon. 

The day was crisp and cool, the sky was as blue as I’d ever seen it, and the leaves were turning colors in full-force.  It was a positively gorgeous day.  The kids played on the playground for a good hour before I finally reeled them in to head back home.  Jacob has been trying for months to cross the monkey bars in their entirety and he was able to do so the very first time he tried on Sunday!  I was SO PROUD.  By the time we left he had probably crossed them ten to twelve more times and by the end he was speeding through them like a little monkey. 

My Momma didn’t do Sunday dinner since they have been gone the last week, so we grilled some hot dogs at home and ate dinner on the back porch to soak up the last few minutes of the gorgeous day.  B and I made some Moscow Mules and then after dinner we watched Room on the Broom on the back porch under the twinkle lights… such an extra special treat for a Sunday! 

It was a wonderful weekend and now I’m looking forward to a somewhat slower week this week.  We had a ton of appointments and other things going on last week, so this week should be pretty tame compared to the last.  And next week is going to be another crazy one!  Happy Monday!

Don't forget to link up with Heather, Johannah, and myself... just grab our new fall graphic (seriously how cute is it?!) and link up below!

*Linking up with B Loved Boston for Weekending and HoHo Runs for Weekly Wrap.

An InLinkz Link-up