End of Fall

 I am a holiday behind here so allow me to catch up!

My grandparents came to visit again on their southern migration.  We always look forward to that quick but special time with them.


The week before Halloween, Mia had some days off from school so she and my mom came for a visit. My dad came that weekend.  It was so good to see them!  The weather was great until Hurricane Sandy rolled through (hence the bowling).  We hardly noticed her effects except for some rain and wind.  The northeast was not as lucky, surely will be a hurricane that our kids read about in their history books one day.

Seriously, Mia...stop growing up, its freaking me out

We had a fun Halloween!  The boys looooove to dress up and had so much fun going around the neighborhood.

Our neighbor Taylor

We only went to a few houses then headed home to hand out candy.  The boys loved to pass out the treats and I was distracted by everyone's costume. It wasn't until later that I realized Alex was giving the candy out of his candy bag.  I am sure he had no idea what he was doing but it was cute....and I didn't mind getting rid of some of that candy!

Always wearing a soccer jersey!

We had two separate people say "Aww, a pilgrim and a bear! How cute"! 

Lydia started crawling in October and is so fast.  She just wants to stay in the action but I can see a very exploratory side of her.  She will wander off on her own and check out something she sees that seems interesting.

She is starting to pull up on the furniture and look for things to grab.  She is still our super happy & content baby.  She is always smiling but has definitely entered the stranger-danger phase.  She isn't too keen on being passed off to strangers...hopefully this stage doesn't last too long.

The weather continues to be cool & sunny and beautiful.  Weather is definitely the most attractive part of this area.  Next up: Thanksgiving!

Fall 2012

The sound of crunching leaves as the kids ride bikes and run around is the 1st sign that summer is over and fall is on its way.  Its been pretty busy here and we love it!

Some pictures of Jess & Derek's wedding:

The boys go nuts over the pumpkin patch.  Really anything with the word "pumpkin" in it, they love. Matt's parents were here for a quick visit and we had some fun at Briley's (even though it was hot)!

100% Perfection is right!

Lydia has finally started to like solid foods a little more.

He climbs trees.

 Evan loves to build with legos during quiet time. I love to see what he comes up with, something new every time!

Everyone is doing so well.  The boys love preschool so much, its been so good for everyone. Lydia is on the brink of crawling and just cut her 1st tooth this week. I can't believe how quickly she is growing. My chest tightens up with every milestone she hits although I know every new stage brings more amazing changes that make life even more enjoyable. No one can get enough of her. She is turning into a bit of a daddy's girl and I fear that once she is done nursing, I will be toast and he will be her favorite:)  But for now, she reaches for me when anyone else is holding her and I eat it up. I don't even feel guilty taking her when she does that...after all, she won't do it forever.

We have a busy fall coming up but its our favorite season and we are loving the cool weather.

A lotta catching up...

Life has been wonderfully busy.  We had a great summer and now its time to catch up.  

1st, our sweet girl is growing too fast but still just as delightful as the day we brought her home. I need to video tape what she does when she sees the boys 1st thing in the morning.  Her smile stretches ear to ear and she thrusts out her chubby little arms frantically trying to grab and hug them. It might be the most heart-warming thing I have ever seen.  Luckily, they are equally as excited to see her.  Its like a little reunion every morning between people who have short term memory loss.  They act like they haven't seen each other in years.

Lydia and I had a girls getaway to Jess' bridal shower in PA.  I think everyone fought over her the whole time, there might have almost been some bloodshed.   

My Aunt Jan wrote all of these name tags.....so talented!! 

 

 

Daddy and his girl...in boys clothes.

 Solid food trial #1.

Fail.  For the record, trials #2 and #3 had similar outcomes.  

6 months old!

 Preschool has been a huge hit.  As in, they get in the car from preschool and are already begging to go back. Ms. DeeDee is doing something right!!

Evan looks forward to quiet time and usually comes out with some crazy structure.  I love how his little mind works...clearly got the engineer genes.

We made a little road trip out of our drive to PA for Jess' & Derek's wedding.  The kids and I were able to see lots of friends and visited with the Campbell's for a couple days.  Such a great time all around!

Alex took this photo:

in micro-machine heaven...

Alex LOVES to help.  He can work a hand mixer like a pro.

Helping to feed cousin William!  Nothing better than being surrounded by all these sweet boys!

Finally made it to PA!  Aunt Diane's chickens were a huge hit.  Aunt Diane wrapped up the eggs they found and we had them for breakfast.  Nothing better than fresh farm eggs!!

Matt just started in a soccer league.  I don't know who is more excited, he or the boys!

AM snuggling.  He is ALWAYS holding her hand.

Climber.