Happy 1st Birthday, Drew!!!!

We had a great time celebrating Drew's birthday this past weekend!!! I can't believe he is one already!  He is starting to stand on his own, but isn't taking steps.  He can crawl really fast and loves to climb anything he can!  He is still a good eater and still wakes up EARLY every day.  Most nights he sleeps until about 5 or 5:30 a.m. but sometimes he still wakes up in the middle of the night.  He can say "hi", "dada", "uh-oh", and "choo-choo".  He likes playing with cars and trains, balls, blocks, and reading "touch and feel" books.  We are transitioning away from the bottle and is doing well.  He's starting to drink quite a bit of milk from a cup now.  We found out last week that he is allergic to peanut butter....we'll talk to his doctor about it more at his one year appointment.  I posted all his monthly pictures from his first year because I can't believe how much he has changed.  I don't think he looks anything like he did when he was first born!

Happy 1st Birthday, Drew!!!!!

We love you!!!

Crown Point

Last Wednesday I went with Taylor's class to Autumn in the Country at a farm in Garrett. It was cold but we still had fun!  After the field trip (and some new brakes on the van) the kids and I headed to Crown Point for a few days.                           (Taylor is 4th from the left)

In Crown Point we hit up our favorite spots.  First we HAD to eat at the "Train Station".  The kids love it here...they sit at the counter where a train brings your food.  There are trains to play with and trains to ride!

We also went to Bellaboos one day.  I don't have many pictures from there but Taylor and Ben loved playing in the ball pit! 

Oma and I also took Taylor to see a stage version of Cinderella!  It was cute and she really liked it!

Pumpkins and Apples

Last week Grandma Parker and I took the kids to pick out some pumpkins and pick apples.  It was a beautiful day!!!

 Ben in the pumpkin patch!

 I love how the boys are both doing the same thing!

 There were only about two trees left with apples, but the kids liked picking them and they ended up tasting really good!

Fort 4 Fitness

I ran the Fort 4 Fitness half marathon last weekend!!!  It really was a fun time and I did much better than I thought I would.  Below is our "group".  Six of us in the picture are neighbors and the others are friends of some of the neighbors.  Troy and Taylor came out and saw me in three different spots along the route, it was fun to see them cheering us on!

 I finished in 1:53:51 which put me in 703rd place out of 2,582 runners.

Kim, Karen, Me, and Abby ready to start!

Drew - 11 months

Drew is 11 months old!!!!  I can't believe his 1st birthday is almost here!  He is all over the place now crawling, pulling up, climbing, and walking around furniture.  He shows no interest in standing on his own or walking on his own.  He is still a good eater....he'll eat most anything you put in front of him, especially if he can feed himself.  His sleeping still has room for improvement.  He slept until 7 or 7:30 a few days in a row and I got excited, but now we are back to 6:30 (or earlier) most days.  He also fights pretty much every single nap.  He now has 8 teeth (4 on top and 4 on bottom).  He can say "hi" and "dada".  He loves his mommy and really likes to hang all over me all day long!  Drew loves playing with balls, bathtime, playing in the sand, and pushing cars around.

We love swinging and being outside!!!!

 I love digging in the corn....

 until Taylor tries to make me a construction worker by putting a bucket on my head!

Here is a short video:



September....

We've been spending as much time as possible outside while it is nice out!  The kids have been playing out back a lot on the swingset, in the sandbox, and picking up acorns!

 We are trying to go to the zoo at least once a week before it closes in October.  Drew likes to ride the carousel now!  Taylor and Ben got to pet a kangaroo joey last week.

 Taylor's soccer league had a midseason party last weekend.  The kids had a good time dancing, eating snowcones, and watching fireworks!

We also celebrated Grandma's 60th birthday!!!!  Happy Birthday, Grandma! 

1st Day of Preschool

Taylor started her second (and final) year of preschool today!  She is going two mornings a week to a different school than last year.  She had a great day today and keeps asking when she gets to go back!  I asked her about some of her "favorite" things today.  Hopefully I remember to do this at the start of every school year so we can see how she changes!

 She was adament that she "just wants to be me" when she grows up.  I gave her many examples of jobs, etc. but she seemed almost offended that I would suggest she be something other than her!