love.

Nate is only two, but I think the number of times that I have said that I love him is countless.  After begging, pleading, coaching, bribing, and giving up, Nate finally decided that he was ready to say it back. Not the best video quality, but I love Nate's little inflection in this.

After a rough day, this made my heart melt.

happy halloween.

I think it's safe to say that Nate 'gets it' this year. The costume may not make all that much sense yet, but the joy of candy and the fun of trick-or-treating has certainly translated to his two year old little mind. You may recall that in the past, Chris and I have switched off years in deciding what Nathan would dress up as. For Nate's first Halloween, I decided that he would be a monkey. For his second Halloween, it was Chris's choice so he and Nate were Batman and Robin. This year, we ventured into uncharted territory and let Nate make the decision on his own...naturally he chose to be Jake the pirate from his favorite show, Jake and the Never Land Pirates.

We had quite the night, trick-or-treating at both set of grandparents' houses, riding on a hayride, running wild from sugar, and even visiting some of my friends. Here are some photos from our fun night out!

pumpkin patch, round three.

I've decided that there's no way to overdo the fall festivities this year. We now have eight pumpkins and I wouldn't be opposed to more. Chris and I took Nate to the little pumpkin patch in town today, the same one that my mom and I took Nate to a few weeks ago. Remember this?

I wish that I could adequately do justice to Nate's little voice and inflection when he says "punkin patch". Obviously I'm a bit biased, but it's one of the sweetest little sounds that anyone could hear. Nate was so excited to play, run, and pick out [more] pumpkins today. Take a look!

little painter.

There's nothing like the fun that a little one will have when he gets to play with paint and be encouraged to make a heck of a mess. Luckily I had the foresight to take advantage of a beautiful afternoon, so Nate painted outside for a bit. Granted, he was only interested for all of six minutes or so but such is the attention span of a two year old.

Nate did a great job painting on the paper (and not his momma!), except he tried to eat the red paint. Only the red, he never tried to eat the other colors. Here is my little budding artist:

cox farms.

If you had asked me last week if I thought it was worth it to pay $17 for my two year old to go play at a farm, I would have looked at you like you were crazy. I have been converted :)  Some friends, Nathan, and I went to Cox Farms on Saturday and had the best time. Corn maze, goats and pigs, lots of slides, kettle corn, a great hay ride, and a little pumpkin to take time.

I definitely want to go back next year, although I could certainly be persuaded to go again this season! Here are a few of my favorite pictures with Nate from that day:

pumpkin patch.

My mom and I took Nate to the pumpkin patch here in town a few days ago and he had so much fun! This particular place has both an area to buy pumpkins, plus a complete play area for the kids. Here are a few photos of Nathan playing!