Fall Weather

It was so refreshing to open the door this morning & feel cool air! I always loved this outfit my friend, Amy, bought for Filson when he was born. I was worried Ian would outgrow all the warm clothes before he was able to wear them, but we finally were able to open up the windows & put on long pants today.Filson looks like he could be up to something in the first pic & in the second one Ian looks like maybe his big brother is squeezing a little too hard!

Rainy Days

Snacking on Pretzel Bites
Ian is so alert & watches Big Brother's every move!

We tried going diaper free for a day last week....didn't work out so well, but he does look pretty funny in his Thomas diggers!

Already trying to push each other out of the way!!

It was not a pretty weekend here, lots of rain & clouds, so we spent most of it inside playing. John returned from VA Thurs night & had unfortunatley picked up the flu. He was miserable Fri & Sat & stuck at home, so there was not a lot going on at our place. We did have a sitter come for a couple hours yesterday. It was the first time we had left both boys with someone & they seemed to get along great. Filson was pretty much shooing me out the door, so I guess that is a good sign! We finally got around to giving Ian his first bottle yesterday , which he did ok with, so hopefully this weekend the sitter can come back & John & I can have a night out on the town! John seems to be feeling a little better, but had to take off again today for about a 5 hr trip to VA, so he won't be getting the rest he probably needs. It looks like the weather has changed & hopefully we'll have a drier week with cooler temps!

40 years.....

You have to get older, but you don't have to grow up.

Four - Ohhhhhhhhhh!

Somebody is having a birthday today! (And so is his twin....Happy Birthday, Jenn!) Since he'll be heading out of town today, we celebrated with cake last night. Filson loved blowing out his Dad's candles!

Ian's new trick-he loves being pulled up onto his legs. Big Brother doesn't want to miss out on any fun, so he's lying there waiting for his turn.

Filson is not happy here, he is concerned that his fingers are dirty from the frosting!

Ryan's Visit

Filson showing off his golf game
Filson still asks to hold his baby brother a lot & gets all the pillows lined up in just the right spot Bedtime stories NC Battleship on the Cape Fear River Downtown Wilmington Wrightsville Beach
My younger brother came to visit us from sunny AZ & we had the best time! Uncle Pups, as he is affectionately known by his neices & nephews, was a fun playmate for Filson & great help with the boys. John & I had a lot of fun with him too, even though our bodies were not used to the late nights we encountered! We packed in a lot of activity during his short visit & Filson barely napped as he didn't want to miss a thing. He crashed on the way to the airport tonight & stayed asleep for close to 3 hrs. He is really going to miss running in to give his uncle his morning wake up call in the morning!

3 Months

Ian turned 3 months old Friday. His day did not get off to a great start. He began the morning having to pose for professional pictures & from there I took him to the doctor's office where he had to get a shot. Not a great way to kick off the weekend! However, his Uncle Ryan flew in Friday night & made up for it! We picked him up at the airport & headed to the beach to grab dinner & watch the waves. Yesterday we took the boat to the beach & then on down to Dockside to grab lunch. Last night we had friends over for a cookout. The weather has been gorgeous & we were able to turn the air off a couple days ago & open up all the windows. We are having a great time & Filson loves having a new playmate! The boys are out fishing today while Ian & I are hanging back at the house.

More Weekend Pics

Uncle John giving Reece a ride
Enjoying the hot tub & pool

Filson swimming with Aunt Jenn

Busted...Filson spent 90% of the night at this candy table

Getting down on the dance floor

Topping the night off with some rock candy

Labor Day Weekend

Holden-7, Filson-2, Garrett-9, Riley-12, Reece-5, Jensen-11, Ian-12 wks

We had a really fun & eventful holiday weekend! We took off Friday for Clemson, SC to attend the wedding of John's college buddy. It took us about 5 hrs & the boys were good travelers. That night we enjoyed the rehearsal dinner & hanging out at the bonfire with friends. The wedding & reception were held on Saturday at Clemson's Outdoor Lab. The weather & scenery were beautiful. We had a great time & Filson enjoyed playing & dancing the night away with the other kids. We had two very late nights, but luckily the boys were both troopers : )

John's family called us Saturday to tell us they had decided at the last minute to rent a mountain house & invited us to join them. We were just over an hour away, so drove up Sunday morning to meet up with everyone. It had been over a year since the whole family had been together & we were excited to be able to see everyone. The mountain house turned out to be more of a "mountain mansion"! The place was gorgeous with amazing views & the weather was perfect. We all were able to take advantage of the hot tub & pool & enjoyed hanging out on the deck & visiting. The Ippolitos live nearby in Hendersonville, so they also were able to join us for dinner Sunday night. Filson had fun playing with his cousins & Ian got all kinds of love & attention.

Most of our pics from the trip were downloaded to John's laptop, so I'll have to wait until he gets back from VA to post the rest, but Kim has a lot of great photos on her blog if you want to check out all the fun we had! We really enjoyed seeing so many friends and family & made a lot of great memories this weekend! Thanks to John's sisters for arranging such a fun time!

Vada comes to Visit!

Anna Leigh & Vada came down Tuesday afternoon & spent two nights with us. It was so fun to have Vada around & watch the kids interact with each other. Filson loves having her here & likes to show her his toys, but also likes to get bossy & grab things away from her! He has one year on her, but before long she'll be toughened up & won't put up with the Big Bully anymore! They had a lot of fun running around & playing lots of peek-a-boo together. Tuesday night we went out for pizza & went to an outdoor concert until our tired little ones gave out on us. Yesterday we played at Fit for Fun & went downtown for a little while. By the time we were ready for lunch, all 3 were worn out & ready to be anywhere but strapped into their car seats. The following video was the sweet serenade we had while we waited on our take-out order. We couldn't help but laugh & wish John & Patrick were there to see it. Next time we hear about how "cushy" our SAHM job is, I'll replay this one for them : )