At Home with the Tracy's: I love October

October has to be my second favorite month of the year, Christmas of course being my favorite time of the year. In October we celebrated Isabella turning four months old, my 28th birthday, and had fun at the Big Fresno Fair, the pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, and Halloween festivities! Fall is such a fun time of year, beautiful weather, pumpkin bread, soups for dinner, and changing leaves...

I had fun shopping for her first fall clothes, what a happy baby she is.

Turning 28 felt great, but I told Jake this would be the last birthday I celebrate. Forever 28. Sometimes I can't believe I'm almost 30 when I still feel 18 in some ways. We had a great weekend celebrating my birthday. We went to dinner at the best Italian place in town called Five, and talked with no interruptions for a couple hours. Afterwards we wanted to do something fun, so we headed over to Boomers and had fun trying to beat each other at miniature golf!

--Isn't he handsome --

We had a fun time at the fair, I love this tradition. We basically ate our way through the fair, looked at all the expo booths, visited the animals, and played a couple games. We watched some of the races but didn't got on rides because the boys were too scared, hmm, time to change that! If Jonathon can go on space mountain at Disneyland he can go on the ferris wheel right!?

Chocolate covered cheesecake, fried twinkies, watermelon lemonade, tacos, churros, candy apples, oh my!

My cute boys love to dress up, especially before Halloween, in their many costumes. Bella was mesmerized by her hero Iron Man :) She is lucky to have big brothers to protect her throughout life.

Bella turning four months old meant her first try of rice cereal! She took it like a pro, no gagging reflexes like the boys did on their first bites. She ate it like she was starving. She loved it. This girl can eat :) Look how polite she is holding her hands while eating. Love this girl to pieces! At two months she started smiling, three months laughing, and at four months eating cereal, rolling over from tummy to back, baby talking, blowing raspberries, and trying to sit up with support! As much as I love all these milestones, it makes me sad how fast she is growing, I'm trying to soak it all in!

Chubby babe :) Can't stop kissing her rolls.

In October we donated Minnie Mouses to the Children's Hospital in honor of my friend Mimi's darling daughter Mia who passed away last October at five years old. The boys thought it was so special, as did I, to donate these toys in her honor. They were touched by her story and we loved the fact that when little heart patients are about to undergo surgery these will be given beforehand to give them that extra bit of strength. I'm glad the boys went with me as it teaches them so many great life lessons. My mom used to take me and my siblings to retirement centers just to visit and brighten their lonely days. I hope to instill in my kids the same compassion I developed at a young age.

Caleb asleep in one of his outfits, this day was power rangers. Even superheroes have to nap, I said.

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch the weekend of my birthday, after a morning of Jake bringing me a yummy waffle breakfast, a 90 minute massage, and shopping in Fig Garden Village at my favorite stores.

They loved picking their pumpkins right off the vines, riding the train, jumping in the bounce house, eating frito boats, and walking through the corn maze.

Bells looked utterly adorable in her pumpkin patch outfit. Cutest pumpkin in the patch!

We celebrated my Grandpa's 90th birthday on October 28th! We celebrated with gifts, chocolate cake and Thrifty's ice cream. He recounted some funny life memories to us all and we all wrote on cards our favorite memories with him. I love this man, he has been a wonderful patriarch and example in our big Ferguson side of the family. I'm so grateful for him. He says he wonders why he's still around, we are lucky to still have him!

Halloween time! Baby's first Halloween!

Caleb's preschool Halloween party. He had fun dressing up as Superman this year, walking in the costume parade, decorating sugar cookies and doing fun Halloween crafts.

About to head off trick-or-treating, my Ninja and Superman! We loved having family over for chili, hot cocoa, hungry bear cookies, homemade caramel apples and kettle corn! I wanted to coordinate our family in a cute family theme, but these boys wanted to be this, so... I didn't want to tell them what to be for Halloween!

My adorable fairy princess! I have never seen a cuter fairy in all my life, with those chubby cheeks!

She wasn't a big fan of being outside in the cold trick-or-treating with the boys, so she only lasted a little while. Grandma came to the rescue and brought her home and put her in her warm pajamas and she was quickly her happy self. The boys got way too much candy. Our neighborhood is always so quiet, a lot of older couples and young couples with no kids live around these parts, but we kind of like it that way and they give out full-size candy bars!

Pumpkin carving time! The boys looove doing this, Bella and I watched the boys get creative together, making a scary face monster, a goofy monster, Bella's name, and a cat.

Jonathon had his First Grade performance in October, his class sang songs and recited fall poems. It was very cute to see him on the stands smiling shyly and waving at us. He also had red ribbon week at school, say no to drugs! Crazy socks day was "sock it to drugs" and crazy glasses day was "shade out drugs." We had quiet a few conversations about drugs, what they are, what they do to your body, your life and your family, and someday we will talk more with him about our family history and how to learn from that.