Bob the Builder

Can he fix it?

Spencer was Bob for Halloween. Of course he loved his toolbelt and hard hat up until it actually came time to wear them. Then he threw a fit and really wanted nothing to do with them. Fortunately he let me get one picture (though I wouldn't call it good), before my parent ward's trunk-or-treat.
Then on the REAL Halloween we went to an afternoon trunk-or-treat at a burger joint by my office. Lunch and trick-or-treating which was perfect. He refused to wear his toolbelt there, but everyone still knew who he was! He loved walking up to all the different people and looking at the "pooky" decorations and costumes. He especially loved when they let him pick his own treat. He favorite this year is definitely "sticker" (suckers).
One of my favorite stories from this Halloween season is that there is a house decorated on the way to his babysitters. They have a pretty scary looking werewolf along with some spiders, spiderwebs, a witch, and some pumpkins. Well everyday on the way to the babysitters Spencer would get so excited for "the pooky werewolf!!" We would slow down and look at him every day. We're gonna miss seeing that "pooky" werewolf!
After that, everything became "pooky". "pooky" spiders, "pooky" ghosts. Spence also loved passing out candy on Halloween. Trick-or-treaters are still alive and well in Nampa and we loved passing out candy and seeing all the "pooky" costumes.
It was so fun to see Spencer get the idea of collecting candy this year, and see him in awe at all the decorations. He was always the one pointing out the "pooky" things to me.
I love this age, I can't believe we almost have a 2 year old, I really can't call him a baby anymore!

July & August

This summer was a very busy one for us! I finished out my tough semester with straight A's! Along with working 25+ hours a week, it made for some late nights.

Nate still worked a ton, and tried his best to get in mountain biking and archery practice.
Spencer did very well with his summer babysitter. They spent a lot of time at the park and playing with Callie.

At the end of June he had his first real sickness. He had a really high fever, lots of puking (mostly on dad) and then a weird rash. I diagnosed him via Google with having roseola and the doctor said I was right. It took a few days to recover and he got a nasty rash but after that he was back to his good old self!

Spencer also got very independent this summer and will climb through the dog door to go play in the backyard by himself whenever he feels like it. He also helps himself to anything he can find on the table or anywhere else he can climb up to or reach.

His talking exploded and I've had many people comment on what a great talker he is. He has started putting together 3-4 word sentences and most of the time I can understand what he's saying. He loves to wear shoes and for a while loves wearing mittens too. He spent a lot of time in just a diaper this summer when it was over 100 for 9 days straight.

For my birthday in July we decided to redo out living room floor. The carpet was pretty worn when we moved in, and Spencer getting sick and puking on it multiple times just expedited the process of tearing it up. Nate and my dad spent about 3 or 4 days working on it and we couldn't be happier with it, it looks great! Now if we could just find some time to finish the molding...

After that we decided it was time to upgrade some of our furniture. We spent many Saturday mornings at the auction in Boise and got a new couch as well as a roll of carpet and plan to someday redo one of the bedroom's carpet (we also got a weed eater, a coffee table, and some other things at the auction. We've created a monster).

At the end of July we had a fun little visit from Nate's sister Allison and her little family on their move from Tennessee to Washington. Jake also came by to see them on his way to Arizona for his off semester.

Spencer and Lizzy had a lot of fun together and we crammed a lot into the 2 days they were here!
I had a 7 week "break" (I still took one class and worked) between semester so Spencer and I tried to live it up as best we could. We went to the fair, went hiking with friends and lost our dog, we went on lots of walks, played at the park and just soaked in the last bit of summer we could before me and Nate started back to school.

Spencer got a new babysitter who has a little boy a few months older than Spencer and we have really appreciated her taking such good care of Spence. She takes them to an indoor playground, has taken them blackberry picking, on lots of walks and to the park. He has a lot of fun with them and we love knowing he is in good hands.

In the middle of August, Brayden brought his girlfriend up and we took the whole family camping at a yurt. It was a short little trip but lots of fun. Brayden got his car stuck, Spencer beat his smore into the dirt, Porter tricked Nate into eating a smore full of dirt, and we didn't all kill each other.

 Summer quickly came to an end when Nate started school on August 24. In 2 weeks we with both be full time students again and Nate will still be working full time, and me part time. We have already determined that we won't see the light of day until the semester ends. But we are looking forward to a little break over Thanksgiving, and a big vacation for Brayden's wedding in December!
See you all then!