Friday, December 1, 2017

September 2017

It's now December 1st, so these pictures will mostly have to speak for themselves, but here's our first September in New Hampshire. What a great month it was! It's the month of Ian's fourth birthday and the month we learned we were pregnant with our third sweet baby! Yes, we are pregnant! The test shown positive on September 25, 2017 and we were/are ecstatic.

Here's a sweeping pass through what we did in September!

Owen & I enjoyed many walks through Wagon Hill Park, located just about five minutes from our home. It's beautiful and adjacent to Great Bay, making it gorgeous at any time of the day.

 We had campfires almost every weekend because... why not?
 Gramee & Grandpa visited us and we took them to Wagon Hill, too. Hence, the wagon in the picture ;)


 Ian loved watching this monarch butterfly emerge from its chrysalis while he was at preschool. I love the look of amazement on his face in this picture.
 Gramee & Grandpa always come bearing a few new gifts and the boys love unwrapping them :)
 Two sweet brothers, just hanging out.

 All the heart eyes.
 Jim & Ian can be found scaling the rocks on every beach we visit.
 Gramee brought watercolors!
 A huge thank you to Gramee & Grandpa for shooing us out the door for a lovely date night. And then we ended up at Home Depot... so romantic. We're homeowners! Haha.
 A view of our yard in September.
 Jim and I spent a few naptimes working on hugelkulturs in the woods.
 Exercising with my little one.
 You can't beat the beauty.
 Such a daring lad!
 One of my favorite things about our new home is that I can look out the windows and see them playing in the front yard. Dinner gets made, dishes done, and boys are getting much-needed play time outside.
 There will come a day when they don't walk around in diapers and underwear all the time, but that day hasn't come yet.
 Sweet cuddles.


 We were reunited with my host parents from Germany (though Brits, themselves). Mark is working in Boston for Reebok and we are thrilled to have them so close! Meg visits for weeks at a time and so we saw her too! They came for a weekend visit and we hit the beach and Portsmouth. We love spending time with them.

 Mark and Owen became good buds, and so did Meg and Ian.


 Snacks in the play rooom :)
 September began library story times at the library, after a summer hiatus. Every week we go and attend story time and then select a new round of books. They boys absolutely love it and have come to expect it each week. When we get home from the library, Ian sets himself up with the bag of library books and pages through each one as he waits for me to prepare lunch.
 We attended our neighborhood annual potluck and discovered that our neighborhood has a sweet band of children. This was a very special moment to see our kids included and comfortable with a new gang of kiddos.
 More hiking with Owen :)

 Our peach tree produced LOADS of peaches!
September marked the end of the breastfeeding relationship for Owen & Mama. It was so bittersweet and I will forever cherish how it bonded us then and always.

 Our stylin' lad heading to Durham Day!
 SOMEHOW, just somehow it's been FOUR years since our dear Ian Forrester entered our lives!
 We had great fun celebrating him on his special day.




At four years old, he's proclaimed that he will become a farmer when he grows up. And he really just might. He loves learning about farming with Papa and enjoys every opportunity he gets to be on a farm, visiting animals, or getting fresh produce. 

For his birthday he chose to go apple picking and we couldn't have chosen a better activity for our beloved little farmer. He climbed the ladder, handed apples down to us, and ran all over the orchard. He also loved feeding his apple cores to the goats in the paddock nearby.
This is his, "You're never going to believe what I'm about to tell you" face.
 






 From darling baby to strapping four year old, we've been so grateful for his life and this parenthood journey.



 We have a journal that we use to write to the boys and have a new one started for our little babe in the womb. I love this intimate, sweet tradition.
 For the first time ever, we made dessert for Ian's preschool class to celebrate his birthday! Dirt dessert seemed like the perfect choice for this budding farmer.

 Trot, trot to Boston! The boys and I took the train to Boston to visit Meg and see the Boston Aquarium. It was a fun, full day!!







 We drove up to Unity, Maine for the Common Ground Fair! It's a new tradition for our family. Jim and I LOVED it, and so did the boys. It's definitely worth the drive, incredibly fascinating, family-friendly, and so up our ally.











 LOTS of apple processing occurred. Apple chips, apple butter, apple sauce, apple pie filling, frozen apple slices.... always a busy, but fun time.

 We just can't get enough time at the beach. Looking for us? You'll find us there.

 Another use for Brio train set pieces. I love what a little free play and independence can produce. This happened during Ian's quiet time, while he listened to books on CD. He rarely naps anymore, maybe once or twice a week.
 Here's one of those times... ;)







 Next we attended the Deerfield Fair, with our friends, Dan & Carole. What fun we had!




 Ian was THRILLED to see Charlotte's web and sit on a Wilbur statue. He had just finished listening to the story on CD.

 This was fascinating. We were amazed at the strength of these steers and Dan loved teaching Ian all about it.

 And soon the calendar changed to October. The fall was mild here, but the leaves were SPECTACULAR. More to come. Maybe in a few months, but hopefully sooner ;)