Happy Halloween!

We spent a great Halloween with my sister and her family! We attended a harvest party at a local farm, with Braiden dressed as a fireman and Noah as a monkey. Unlike last year when Braiden was roasting in the monkey costume, this year we were glad for the bulky and warm costumes. It was chilly!!

However, the best part of our Halloween was Michael flying here late last night. He came to get us home... our fun time with the cousins is coming to end. :( But the boys (and me too!) were so excited to find Daddy here in the morning.

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween. More pictures to follow!

2 Year Pictures... and "Where Did Noah Go?"

Braiden's official two year pictures, taken in Pennsylvania on his birthday weekend.

Noah has a new favorite mode of transportation; click here to see it. He has also found a new favorite spot: the pantry! Here is that video.

Following are some other pictures from our time in Pennsylvania, taken on Braiden's birthday.

Birthday Pictures

Finally, party pictures (it wasn't the photographer's fault - the blogger didn't get to it earlier)!


Opening a present from Ellie Claire!


Andrew is helping - the package revealed a Lego firetruck from Muori & Vaari!!



Little People!!!



His favorite gift - a garbage truck! Thanks, cousins, Uncle Scott & Aunt Sennu!!!


Annabel lends a helping hand.


They have to be in the right order...! Braiden is very particular, especially about his cars.




Blowing out the candles.


Birthday boy approved of his m&m cake!

Preview of Party Pictures

The official birthday pictures aren't in yet, but here's a sneak preview! These are all cell phone images from my sister.


Braiden's birthday party was so much fun! Sarah, Andrew, Thomas, Daniel, Annabel, Scott and Sennu were all there, and Braiden loved all of his presents (especially the garbage truck!). He loved his m&m cake too. :-)

We had a great long weekend in Pennsylvania with Sennu's family! The weather was perfect, the cabin was nice and big, and we just had a fabulous time all around! We drove up and have been hanging out with the cousins this week. What a great time! We've done some special things (apple orchard, school concert, etc), but mostly just have hung out together - and there's nothing better!! We all miss daddy terribly though...

Some random things from this week: Noah has started clapping, and does it constantly! Braiden has lots of new words, such as "upstairs". Annabel and Braiden have been inseparable - today there was an incident with them deciding to play in the bath tub (with no water) in the middle of the day. :-)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Braiden!!!

Braiden eating his birthday-waffle-cake. :-)

Happy Birthday, Braiden! We can't believe you are 2! It has been such a joy to see you develop from a tiny baby into our busy, busy toddler boy. We love you more than words can tell!!

Braiden is a very busy boy. His favorite activity is playing outside. He also loves fire trucks, garbage trucks (Friday is the best day of the week; the garbage truck comes to our street 3 separate times!), trains, and anything else with wheels. His favorite toy is still his little cars! He is a big reader too; that activity balances out all the running around. :)

Braiden loves Noah so much, and it has been amazing to see their relationship develop. They play together, share toys, laugh a lot, and really delight in each other. Sure, there's fighting too, but those moments are far outweighed by the good ones. Braiden's favorite time of the day is when Daddy comes home from work. He asks about Michael throughout the day, and the days we go to visit Michael at work are really special! Braiden really is a Daddy's boy.

Braiden is talking more too! We haven't counted his words, but my guess is around 50. Some of them are very clear, some can only be deciphered by Michael and I. :) He is also my big helper at home. Braiden vacuums, keeps his toys well organized, puts trash away, helps me with laundry, and has even started to bring groceries in from the car!

Our weekly schedule is pretty full. On Mondays and Wednesdays we have playgroup, and on Tuesdays we have Romp N Stomp on the base, where a big gym is filled to the brim with all kinds of ride-on vehicles and toys (and about a 50 kids under 5 yrs with their parents!!). Thursdays and Fridays are for grocery shopping and other errands. The boys wake up around 7, we have breakfast, get dressed and head out. Noah sometimes takes a nap in the car, and by the time we come home, it's time for lunch and naps (if there are gaps to fill, we go to the playground, bookstore, or meet with friends). After naps we play outside and wait for Daddy to come home. After that we have dinner and the boys take baths. Around 7:30pm they head to bed, falling asleep immediately, tired from our busy day. :-)

Braiden got a special birthday breakfast, but other than that, today will be low-key. We are driving to Pennsylvania to meet up with my sister's family, at a cabin we rented together for the long weekend. We'll have a party there tomorrow for Braiden! From there, the boys and I will continue up to my sister's house for a few weeks.


Braiden got our early birthday gift on Sunday!

New Videos

Braiden really loves his little cars. They travel around the house in this little toy container! Only the "coolest" cars make it in there - the rest he gives to Noah. :-)


Noah riding the zebra - he really gets going on it too!


More cars...


So helpful.

Ready? Lots of new videos, mostly of interest to our families, I bet. :) Some of them could have been edited, but the program isn't working for me tonight...

(If you only watch one, my favorite is the fifth one!)

First, some videos from the fire station on Saturday. First one has Braiden driving the fire truck. Second one is where Braiden gets a helmet and a badge from one of the firefighters.

Third and fourth are of Braiden's antics in the bouncy house.

The final two are from today. My favorite one is of the boys playing in our fort in the living room. The last is mostly of Noah, who has really started to play with cars too. I don't think you can hear it in the video, but he even makes car sounds when he "drives" them back and forth. The fascination starts so young! You can also see him crawling on all fours, which he has been doing more of!

Dreams Do Come True!

Firefighter Braiden, ready to respond!

On Saturday, two fire departments close to us held open houses! And since Braiden's one passion in life right now is fire engines, we couldn't miss this. To our surprise, he wasn't the least bit shy either. He got to sit behind the wheel of three different fire trucks, and we had a hard time getting him to leave!


Turning on some lights and sirens.


Noah is starting to get interested as well!








The first fire station even had a bouncy house set up for kids!


At the end of the day, the littlest fireman just couldn't keep his eyes open.

Warning: questionable content...


A wolf spider, found in our backyard... I'm so glad it's not my job to mow the lawn.

Noah Is 10 Months!

Unbelievable! Our little man is in double-digit months already!

Noah is getting to be quite busy. He loves to type on the computer, be "helpful" around the house, imitate us every chance he gets, and point at anything and everything. He is pulling up and standing with great confidence, and scooting pretty fast!

And yes... he is still the happiest baby we know (when he isn't tired, that is!)!

Fall Is in the Air!

In the last week, the mornings have felt more fall-like, and we have dug out our sweatshirts! The days are still hot though, but we've still spent more time playing outside.



Noah has decided he is done with baby food and will only eat something if he can do it all by himself. Here enjoying chicken, cheese and broccoli. He also likes to hide some in his clothes, for snacking on later, you know.



And why wouldn't he ditch pureed food, since he's got these brand new chompers?!