Carving Pumpkins

Mark ended up being off of work yesterday because of Hurricane Sandy.  He actually got to leave early on Monday as well, so we got to spend some extra time with him this week which was great!  Since he was home all day yesterday we ended up carving pumpkins together.  Had a great time doing that!  Jim had fun helping out as well!  As you can see in the pictures, he helped clean out the pumpkin...he helped carve it out...I think he had the most fun taking out the carved pieces!

Here's Jim helping me carve out the eyes...

Supervising his Dad's work...

How sweet is this 'lil Pumpkin?!?!

Jim checking out the light in the pumpkin...

The final product -

Four little pumpkins -

Ben gets very excited to be touching the pumpkin!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Fall Leaves

Yesterday was the first time that we had to rake our leaves out back....Jim had a blast playing in the piles of leaves.  Ben on the other hand was not a big fan.  I tried to get the two of them to sit together, but whenever Jim got near Ben he started to throw leaves up in the air - and Ben did not like that.  Ben had just woken up from his nap, so that may have played a part as well. 

Jim had lots of fun throwing the leaves up into the air!!

Love this picture of Jim-

Action shot - jumping into the leaves!!!!

Running from the leaves -

Ben not too sure what to think...

Jim was too busy to look at me...

See, Ben was not a fan...

Jim had to take a break from playing in the leaves to put gas in his lawn mower...

And one last picture...

Happy Fall!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!!

I know it's not Halloween quite yet...One of our friends had a little get together today.  It was down at a park in Old Town - and had this little photo op all set up for the little ones.  I know I am biased as Jim is my son, but is he not the cutest little fire fighter you have ever seen?  And his puppy pal, how adorable is he?  I can't get over the cuteness!!!  I'll leave you with just a picture or two...or five...

Half Marathon

A couple of weeks ago grandma and papa came down for the week to visit!  They picked that week to come because we were running in the Wilson Bridge 1/2 Marathon on the 7th (what a great birthday present for Aunt Aldi!!)  It was going to be the 4 siblings running together but unfortunately Rob hurt his achilles and he postponed the race until next year - so it ended up being me, Ashley, and Allison.  (We missed having Rob & Jenna here!) 

For once when they were in town the weather wasn't extremely hot - so we all got to enjoy some time outside together!!  One afternoon we went to the playground down the road here - and everyone had a blast!  Jim played on the playground for a bit, and even got me and Papa to go down the slide...then Jim decided he wanted to run some bases - so everyone joined in on that fun and had a really good work out.  (It was pretty humid that day - hence why Jim is so sweaty!)

Another day we went to the playground in Old Town - and again Jim had a blast!  And Ben even got to play a little bit.  He had a great time on the swing!  And enjoyed a ride in the car!  I think he's going to love the playground as much as his big brother.

Ashley & Allison were both here on Friday - and we decided to take Jim & Ben to the pumpkin patch.  I think it's safe to say that everyone had a good time there!  That afternoon we went and registered for the race, and grandma cooked us a very good spaghetti dinner!  Aunt Judy drove up from NC to spend the weekend with us - it was great getting to see her!

Saturday we just decided to hang out!  The boys loved all the company, and it was gorgeous outside so there was lots of playing out back.  Me, Ashley, Mom, and Aunt Judy went into Old Town for a bit.  We had to make our usual trip to the GAP - followed by some cupcakes, a walk down to the water, capped off with a drink at Pat Troy's - and Aunt Judy's first shot of Irish Whiskey!  It was a great way to spend the afternoon! 

Sunday was the race - it was great seeing Mom, Dad, and Aunt Judy around the 7 mile mark.  They were cheering us all on!  And then Mark picked us up at the finish.  We came home, took shower, and putzed around for a bit.  We were going to do brunch at Southside, but decided to do dinner there instead.  And ended the evening with some Birthday cake and ice cream for the birthday girl! 

It was a great week and weekend, and as usual we loved having company here!  Thank you all for everything!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we met up with some of our friends at the pumpkin patch.  Jim had a great time running around there!  And he loves his boots!  I think he'll be wearing those out - thank you grandma!!!  I am loving being at home with the boys - it's so much fun to be able to do fun activities like this with them.  Looking forward to a couple of fun Halloween 'parties' we have planned in the next 2 weeks!!!Here are a couple of pictures from our day -

Jim is 2.5!!!!

I've been doing monthly updates of Ben - and I figured it was time to do a little update on Jim - and what perfect timing he just turned 2 1/2 (on 10-11-12!!!)

You love, love, love being outside!  Love playing get-you...playing baseball...football...golf...riding your bike and truck...coloring with chalk...

You look forward to the weekends.  You know that on the weekend Daddy's going to be home and you get to do jobs together.  Some of these jobs include mowing the lawn (he follows Mark around the entire time with his lawn mower)...using the rake and shovel...using the lawn mower...using the ladder...cutting down branches...picking up leaves...using the weed wacker...and chain saw...using the broom...the list goes on and on.  And sure enough when we ask you what jobs you want to do you list all of those!!

You love your baby brother.  What a wonderful big brother you are!  You are such a big helper to us!  And are very good to Ben.  I love watching you two interact which is more and more everyday.  And  love the way you can make him laugh!

You are a great sleeper.  We go upstairs at 8:30 to start getting ready for bed.  PJ's, brush teeth, and then story time, before going down around 9:00.  (You love reading your dad's airplane books!)  And lately you've been sleeping until 8:00!

You're starting to recognize more and more letters...are counting up to 14, although lately you've decided to skip 5...

You really aren't interesting in potty training.  I can get you to use the big boy potty, and you have no problem with that.  But you aren't really telling us just yet when you need to go.  I know one of these days it's just going to click with you.

I am loving being home with both you and Ben!  We get to do so many fun activities together!  You love going for ride in mommy's car - whether it's to a friends house, to the playground, or some local activity!  We have a blast together.

You are a crazy boy!  You love taking all the cushions off the couch and jumping all over them!  You love climbing up the ladder when you're outside with dad...and just the other weekend I saw you climbing up the fence in the back.

You love anything and everything to do with trucks and trains!  You get so excited to see the garbage truck come by - and have even made friends with the garbage truck workers.  They are always waving to you, and you wave back to them.  You love seeing how many big trucks you can find when we're driving places.

What a wonderful little boy you are Jimma!!  We love you so much!!!!

Ben is 7 Months!

Happy 7 months Benjamin!!!  It's hard to believe that it was 7 months ago when we were welcoming you into the world.  It's also hard to believe that he's now less than 1/2 a year away from being one!!!  How is that possible?  What a wonderful 7 months it has been!

This past month has been a little rough.  I think when I go to do his 8 month post there will be lots of new teeth to talk about!  I think he's having a hard time with teething.  Any day now and his top middle teeth should be breaking the surface.  And I'm wondering if it's more than just those 2.  I'm not sure if it was because of the teething or not, but he had a runny nose and a little cough for a week or so.  The poor guy was having trouble sleeping, often waking up a couple of times a night.  Waking up at all in the middle of the night is very unusual for Ben - as he's been sleeping through the night right off the bat!  But I am happy to say that his sleeping has gotten a lot better. 

What Ben is up to at 7 months:

- Has his 2 bottom middle teeth.  (And like I mentioned, he should be getting his top ones any day now!)

- He's gotten a lot better at solids!  He prefers his fruits over his veggies - and has tried bananas, apples, pears, mangoes, squash, sweet potatoes, green beans - all which he has loved!  He's not a big fan of zucchini, carrots or peas, which I think is more of a texture thing, they are a lot harder to puree smooth for him. 

- Wearing 9 month clothes.  (I packed up all his 6 month stuff last week :( )

- Still in size 3 diapers.

- His nap schedule is no longer.  With the cold / teething he's been sleeping all over the place.

- He's trying really hard to pull up on things.

- He can go from sitting to laying down - but hasn't figured out how to crawl yet.  He does scoot himself backwards - his preferred method of movement!

- He was 18 pounds on our scale here at home.

- No longer using his binky.  He was having a real hard time with it when he was stuffed up, and I've tried giving it to him a couple of times and he spits it right out.  The same thing happened with Jim around this time when he was getting his top teeth.  Not sure if it has bothered both of them when teething. 

Here are Ben's 7 month pictures.  Not sure why the last one won't post the correct way for me. 

I finally realized why I was having such trouble uploading pictures.  Apparently I have reached my limit on the storage of pictures allowed.  I think I found a way to fix this - so stay tuned! 

I still need to catch up with our trip back up to New York in August...

Nothing overly exciting in September - lots of playdates and having fun with our friends!

And then I need to recap Grandma & Papa's October visit, as well as Aunt Ashley & Aunt Allison in town. 

I was hoping to get this all caught up before Ben's 7 month post - but I doubt that will happen.  So I may have to just work my way backwards. 

Okay, I may have lied about finding a way to fix posting pictures.  I'll have to keep working on that, and once I figure that out be prepared for lots of posts!  (I am only able to upload one...)