Iowa trip

Our trip to Sioux City could not have gone any better.  My cousin Chris is in the Marine Corps and is leaving to go on his first tour of Afghanistan so while he was home he had a "see you next year" party that weekend.  With my mom being in Italy I took off 4 days and decided we would head up so we could see him and he could see Jaris before he left.  Danielle, Jaris and I left around 5:30 Thursday but we had to take 75 hwy up north through Topeka because parts of I-29 are still closed due to the flooding.  It was fine but we had to go through a ton of small towns in KS and NE so there was a lot of slowing down and the hwy was only two lanes so if we got stuck behind a slow person it took some time to pass them and on top of that it started to rain.  Jaris slept the entire way but we stopped in Council Bluffs and ate dinner so Jaris was able to be out of his car seat for a little bit and so I could feed him.  I somehow forgot to get gas when we stopped so we had to stop once more but we finally made it in around midnight.  I was worried that Jaris wouldn't sleep since he had just slept 6 hours so I decided to treat midnight like it was our normal 8:30 routine.  So I fed him some cereal and carrots, gave him a quick bath and bottle and by 1 am he out like a light and slept until 9:30!  

Friday I had to run and find a zip up sweatshirt for Jaris because it was coooold up there however it took 3 different stores to find one for a boy in a 6 month size.  They had ones for older kids and one in every color for girls but I only found ONE for him so we just went with it and we had to pick up a little hat for him too :)  My aunt Sarah and god-daughter Savannah came over and we headed to lunch at my favorite Sioux City spot....Milwaukee Wiener!! I love their hot dogs and milkshakes...it's old fashion...no frills...and delicious!

His chubby little hand makes me giggle 

Then we headed out to my aunts house in the country so I could take photos for Chris of his family before he left.

Then we headed to his going away party.  It was good to see most of my Iowa family there and I'm glad they got to see Jaris.  I'm so glad we got to see Chris before he left, he is such a good kid (I guess he's not  kid anymore but to me he is ;)), he has a good heart and his faith is strong so I know he'll be alright over there.  We love you Biffer and we are praying for you as well as for Celesity and Cevaeh, and your wonderful momma.  Be safe over there, keep your head down, and we'll see you in one year.

Deanne, my aunt and mom's friend

Jaris and my uncle Joey (whom he LOVED....maybe it's a red head thing ;))

My little snuggle bug

Good face Jaris

My cousin Chris and I

My grandpa makes THE BEST cake. No lie. THE BEST.  When he comes to visit he can't leave w/o making me a cake!

My aunt Sarah

They were giving kisses earlier but Cevaeh would rather kiss hands! The cutest little cousins!

say whaaat?!

My god-daughter Savannah and I

Great grandpa Joe and my sleepy boy

My uncle Joeys evil bird.  Ok it's not evil but I HATE birds and this one talks and talks and can mimic the sound of any voice and that is just not right...evil :)

My uncle Matt back from Afghanistan.  There are red-heads on my side too so Jaris doesn't stand a chance as you can tell by his skin color lol!

My uncle Mark

Great grandpa Joe and great grandma Betty

We left Sunday morning and met up with some of my Nebraska family on the way back.  My grandma wasn't able to make the trip as she is going through chemo and didn't have strength to make the trip. 

My cousin Heather 

My little cousin Lyndi and Jaris, how adorable is Lyndi?!

Miss Emma  was such a good little mommy!

Jaris was awake pretty much the entire rest of the way and the only noise I heard from him was his conversations with Danielle and Petey.  He was such a good little traveler and he slept through the night every night we were there. He was a little more fussy during the day then normal, he had a tooth coming in and now has two little bottom teeth growing up! He's had a lot of mucus/congestion lately because of his teeth and has had a low grade fever with it and it's been no fun.  He HATES the booger sucker and it's no fun for me to make him cry :( but there is no other way to get it out and he can hardly swallow with all that junk in the back of his throat.  But I still feel bad!  

Seriously...could he be any cuter?!

He is a drooling and finger sucking machine recently.  I think he is ready to start the "johnny jumper" so hopefully tonight we'll get that on video and see how he likes it!  He has finally achieved his goal of getting his toes in his mouth and now it's all he does. 

 Feeding time has become my favorite time of the night.  He talks talks talks and laughs so much, it cracks me up.  We tried banana's for the first time in Sioux City and he did NOT like them! His face was priceless but we tried them again recently and it wasn't so bad this time around :) 

I just love him so much.  I can't get enough of him and everyday I have to leave him to go to work kills me.  I'm so excited for the upcoming month, fall....pumpkin patch...and Halloween! I LOVE Halloween and the pumpkin patch and I want to make sure that the pumpkin patch is a tradition with my little family.  Growing up we went every year and it was so fun and I can't wait for this first trip with Jaris!

Maisy likes to help out EVERY night at bath time :)

Getting in his pj's trying to suck on his toes through his socks

A good laugh especially at 1:24...apparently he thinks me telling Maisy no is funny!

I think that's all for now!