Summer at Home

Don't ask me why, but all of these pictures uploaded completely out of order. Oh well! It's a smattering of pictures from our summer that have finally been uploaded and gathered.

Ian loves toys! He's gotten so imaginative in his play and uses different voices for each toy, allowing them to converse. We just love listening and watching him play. Ian's animals are still a very popular toy. While we were at The Pinery last week he was gifted a bunch of matchbox cars from my family in Miami. He spends lots of time arranging them in lines and rows around our house.

 Owen's gotten stronger and stronger. Rolling over and lifting his head far about his hands. He can crane is neck in any direction necessary and often turns 360 degrees around on the blanket. Owen's quite interested and observant.

 At the very beginning of the summer we had about a week straight of grandparent visits!! It was lovely.

Fourth of July- Owen had some very appropriate leggings!

 These boys are found like this all throughout our days. They LOVED being together, babbling back and forth, and smiling at each other. It's going to be fun to watch this relationship unfold.

Ian learned how to catch a ball this summer! He loves throwing back and forth or dribbling or chasing us as we dribble around the yard.

 

If this picture is any indication, Ian definitely approves of cooling down with a cool smoothie! No matter the color ;)

 Owen's dexterity has improved greatly. It's so sweet to get purposeful caresses and watch him manipulate his toys and other objects around him.

We've read loads and loads of books. The local library had a challenge to read 20 hours over the summer. This kid easily surpasses that in very little time. He's started asking more comprehension questions while we're reading, which is really fun. Ian's also quoting the books we read a lot while he plays or walks throughout our house. It's so fun, almost like a auditory scavenger hunt, to listen to him speak and figure out which book he's quoting. We have a pirate book called, "Pirates Don't Change Diapers" and that is a common source. It's fun to hear pirate jargon (all appropriate) coming from our sweet two year old's mouth!

 Jim's parents are clearing out his childhood home and brought us six adirondack chairs. They needed to be stained and so Ian and Jim spent some time painting them together. What a pair they made!

 Owen's favorite past-time (other than rolling, nursing, sleeping, ha!) is sticking his feet in his mouth. What delectable treats his toes must be! Ian continues to be a huge fan of apples, but the tomatoes currently growing in our garden are the most recent winner! He downed a whole pint before I even noticed he'd been sneaking them off of the kitchen counter!

These two. More of the sweet, sweet same.

Papa continues to bring so much joy and love into the lives of these boys. 

 Owen's taking notes. Soon he'll be in the mix, too. It's going to wild around here!

 Each homemade dinner is brought to you by either naptime or the jumper! Thank goodness for this jumper! He loves it (most of the time)!

This HAD been a really cute moment when both boys were lying on their bellies on this blanket. Right when I grabbed the camera, Ian turned around. Oh well! I still love the way his legs are crossed.

 I told you these are crazy out of order. Here are some of Aunt Erin and Seraphina when they visited last week. We loved having them here and getting the cousins together again! Sadly we didn't get one of all three of them together. So silly!

 They enjoyed playing together a lot. Ian did a great job sharing his toys.

 More grandparents visits...

 Sweet moments between brothers.

I don't bring my big camera on many excursions, so Instragram has a lot of our outings. But I love these moments captured around our home with the boys. This is everyday life.

Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!!!

This week my dad came down to visit for a few days and it was a really great time. We went on little excursions, hung out and relaxed during the boys' nap times, chatted and caught up, and just enjoyed being together.

My dad's always been a determined, strong-willed, funny, talented, and physically strong man. I've admired his musical prowess since I was very young. I love this picture of him; this is him in his element. His eyes become lost in another world, the world of music. His fingers, though we tease him about them being short and stubby, dance across the keys with ease. If you were to study his handball-callused, rough from hard work, hands, you'd never believe the grace they have at the piano.

He's a man of many talents and interests. He plays handballs with his "handball buddies" twice a week. He's a music teacher, composer, and now a church children's music director. Jim raves about his grilling... he's the best griller we know. We don't think we've ever had a better pork tenderloin, ribeye steak, or chicken than when it's been grilled by my dad. Recently, he built and earth oven at their cabin in Pennsylvania and he's gotten into making breads and pizzas. These, too, are delicious and enjoyed by many.

The thing I've most enjoyed is seeing him become a grandpa. Boy, does he love our boys...

....and the feeling is mutual. Both Ian and Owen enjoyed having Grumps around for a few days. We went on walks exploring Pandapas Pond and the Huckleberry, we went to the farmer's market and dancing in Floyd. Ian loved telling Grumps all about everything under the sun, and Owen shared his smiles and giggles non-stop.

Though we aren't together today, my heart is full from your recent visit, Dad!!! 

We love you.

To the father of our boys, I also wish a happy, happy day! Unfortunately, he's pulling a long shift at the hospital today and so our celebrations will be limited on this day. Just looking at these pictures, I see the exhaustion in his face, but the love and dedication he has for our family and our life together is always first in his mind and on his heart. 

This road hasn't always been easy, we've had to spend a lot of time apart. Lots of late nights and early mornings, lots of missed events and moments. When he's here, he makes such an effort to be present for our boys. That often means waiting to get all of his notes done until after the boys go to bed, or even after I've gone to bed. 

Our boys are blessed to have a father who works so hard to build a life for all of us. A father who, though he's incredibly busy with medicine, pursues so many interests and passions outside of his profession. Ian's already benefitting by being allowed to work with you in the garden, on small woodworking projects, and in the kitchen. As the boys grow older, I cannot wait to watch your relationships grow as you explore your own passions with them as well as take an interest in theirs. 

 From wrestling, to playing ball, to bike-riding, to planting seeds, to reading books, to singing songs, to running errands, to playing animals, to running laps around the house, to taking the night-time wake-up shifts, to supporting me in every parenting decision/woe/debacle, you are one heck of a father. I knew you would be. And I'm sorry for the times I give you a hard time.

 You lay down your life for us daily and our boys and I are truly blessed.

On this day, we celebrate you, Papa/Jim. We miss you and love you. See you later tonight!

Full Fall Day

A few weeks ago my dad came to visit. He brought with him a little red wheelbarrow, which is perfectly Ian-sized and great for playing in our wonderful backyard. Thanks, Daddio!

We always try to get a little music session with him when he comes, so here he is playing the xylophone he gave us last spring and singing for Ian.

On his one full day here, we gave him the true New River Valley, autumnal experience. We went to The Palisades for brunch, which is an amazing restaurant tucked in an unlikely location in an old, run-down town. Seriously, I dream of their brunches. Each dish is unique and mouth-watering. It's reasonably priced, and kids eat free until they are five. Woot!

Next we went to Doe Creek Orchard, which has incredible views and a large variety of apples. We picked a whopping 84 pounds. Now, two weeks later, we only have five apples left. We used them to make apple sauce, butter, crisps, pies, chips, and then a whole lot of eating. Many bags contain frozen pie fillings and sliced, cored, and peeled apples to throw into baking and cooking throughout the year.

Ian napped for the first part of the picking and then came to join us.

He sure loves apples!!

This kid.

Ian and I picked a few more to add to the bounty that Jim & Grumps had already accumulated, and then we joined them down at the wine tasting. We didn't join in, though ;)

Next we headed to Joe's Trees, which is a wonderful pumpkin patch/Christmas tree farm between Blacksburg and the orchard. We couldn't have asked for better weather to show off our area.

Ian milked the cow...

showed us how tall he was...

and then led the way to the pumpkin patch.

Err, maybe just led me. Ha! I love this picture of three generations marching over the hill. We could have taken the hay ride, but the line was pretty long. We decided to take it on the way back.

Jim ran back to double-check on the pumpkin prices, so Grumps & Ian took some time to enjoy watching and waving to the tractors as they went by.

He was surprised to find that this one had a hole in it...

Me and my three pumpkins... that belly is growing, growing, growing.

22 Weeks Pregnant

"Hey Grumps, how about this one?"

We tried to take a few family pictures for our Christmas card. I'm saving them for later, in case we use them. But here's one of all of us :)

Me and my boy. He chose one little pumpkin to bring home.

But not after piling a whole bunch in my lap and counting them over and over again. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, two... one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, two..."

Here comes the hayride!

First let's explore this tractor...

While we figured out which pumpkins we wanted, Grumps played with Ian.

Ian helped us choose a bunch of pie pumpkins to process later.

And soon our pumpkin hopped into the wheelbarrow with all of the other pumpkins to head home.

Our car was full of people, apples, and pumpkins. The sign of a harvest-full, autumn day.