aaand we're up

it happened. I knew it would be coming, but didn't expect him to do it so soon. henry quickly decided that mommy's favorite "potted plant" stage was for the birds and he took off. I mean he's all over the place.

and to add insult to injury, he's also figured out how to stand up to anything and everything. it just happened overnight and now we sit and watch the buggy glide across the floor with this funny little one-armed army crawl technique. this kiddo is fast, too. he's managed to eat more than one piece of dog food already. proud mommy moment, let me tell you.

he's growing up too quickly. when he waves to me from across the living room while balanced precariously with one hand on his music table - it brings tears to my eyes. I'm so proud of him, but I wish he could still be swaddled up in my arms.

then I turn and see my precious two year old learning to draw and carry on conversations with me and it's all I can do to hold it together some days. but I do. I'm just making sure to stop and remember these moments. I am sure to cuddle with them and to carry them around whenever possible. miles is getting so tall and I feel like I can barely scoop him up in my arms.

ok, so this isn't exactly the route I thought this post would take, but as I post big milestones like this, it makes me get sentimental. these babies of ours are growing up before our eyes and we are having such fun with them. who wouldn't giggle when you see a two-year-old boy nursing his super why doll or lounging on the couch watching mary poppins on the iPod?

we live every moment to the fullest with our monkey and bug. these are good times people.

eight months old

staying true to my newfound routine of taking these a little late and posting them even later...here is the latest installment of monthly pictures. I decided to take advantage of the green grass one last time this year and we thought that the john deere stuff was only appropriate given the fact that grandpa and uncle clayt are working hard in the fields in the BIG tractors.

henry is already eight months old. I can't believe it either. he continues to be a very content and happy baby. his biggest news is that he's now mobile. he gets up and rocks on all fours, but prefers his own unique army crawl method. it gets him where he wants to go...quickly. he is finally getting over two back-to-back bouts of an ear infection. he took it in stride and tried so hard to not let us know how much it hurt. he's such a good baby.

he is eating two meals of solid foods a day and we are probably going to need to add in lunch soon. this boy loves his food! he's dabbling in finger foods, most recently trying cheese, puffs, and bananas. (yes please!) we've even had good luck with water in a sippy cup. he's babbling quite a bit and his vocab now includes ma-ma-ma, da-da-da, ot-ot-ot, n-ga-n-ga-n-ga, ba-ba-ba...the usual.

we still can't believe how tall and skinny he is; he's still in size 2 diapers and 6 month carters clothes. maybe the addition of lunch will take care of that. (he's sporting some 12-18 month overalls in these pictures. a might bit big if you ask me!).

mostly, we are amazed that he has been here for 2/3 of a year. I am always asking him, "what did you do with my tiny baby??" - to which he responds, "a-ba-ba-ba." typical.  

all things september

I'm behind on posting. there. I said it. and in an effort to get caught up, I'm going to bombard you with a smorgasbord of funny happenings here in our little world. I realize that much of this post is henry-related, and for good reason. our little bug is changing rapidly and we can hardly believe he's the same little baby we had in august! for starters, he's mastered the sitting-to-tummy and tummy-to-sitting maneuvers.

which only fueled the fire for him to get mobile. I'm SO not ready for him to be crawling, but henry works on "henry time" not mommy time. shucks. if I had it my way, he'd stay in my all-time favorite "potted plant" stage for months. but our little buggy is a mover. unfortunately, the fun of mobility is always interrupted by the occasional goose egg. rocking chair = 1, henry's forehead = 0

miles seems to enjoy this new little brother. we'll see how he feels when henry swipes his beloved train right off the track. I predict it won't go well.

welcome back, gerber puffs. we missed you. and hello baby mum-mums. you are delicious. how is he old enough to chew food and drink from a sippy cup?

oreo cookie anyone?

the gorgeous weather in september lent itself perfectly to a many trips outside and even a couple jaunts over to the neighborhood park. on this particular day, the sun was warm and we were the only ones there. it was magnificent.

two great get-togethers

I'm not sure how this post slipped past me, but somehow I forgot to grace you all with pictures and stories from our annual trip to the great minnesota get together - otherwise know as the state fair. in sharp contrast to years past, the weather was phenomenal. it was so great that henry wore long sleeves...unheard of on a typical labor day weekend in minnesota. we packed up the van and ventured up to st. paul to take in the sights and sounds of the fair...on one of the busiest day of the year. by some stroke of amazing luck, seth routed us around to the northwest end of the fairgrounds where we quickly found ourselves a cheap parking spot within walking distance. thank you seth!

the boys were so well behaved. they tolerated the crowds and barely complained. especially kyle. seriously though, a special muuuah to my wonderful hubby for putting on a happy face and joining us for a jaunt around the fair. I think he would rather be shoveling six feet of snow than hanging out at the fair with thousands of other people who are just as excited for hot dish on a stick as beth and I were. it's fair to say (pun intended) that crowds are not his thing. we tried to ease the pain a little and came up with a plan of attack before we stepped foot on the fairgrounds. kuddos to beth for printing out maps and marking out all of the food stands we planned to hit up. we also scored a coupon book that basically became our menu. frugality at its best!

we always make it a point to hang out at the john deere display for a good half an hour. josiah started to relocate the mulch and quickly recruited miles. I'm sure the john deere reps weren't shedding any tears when we left.

miles and josiah really loved the little farm hands activity. they both donned adorable aprons, picked up a pint-sized pail, and made their way through a mock farm-to-shelf ditty. we were soaking in the cuteness of it all until we hit the backed up crowds half-way through. beth and I both decided that it wasn't quite worth the free stuffed sheep we picked out at the end, but fun was had nevertheless. next year we plan on going on some random weekday morning instead of the most crowded day EVER. adorableness prevailed, though, and we captured some great pictures.

I like to think of the state fair as my newest birthday weekend tradition. I'll admit, I celebrated thirty-two years of life on the 5th of september. I am sure I said this last year, but I feel like I couldn't be more blessed.

nothing like a shameless plug for thomas bubble bath...he's in love.

the gift of my amazing family is certainly enough for this birthday girl...but who doesn't enjoy a little morsel wrapped in pretty paper and a shiny bow? so thank you to all who spoiled me on my big day. you rock. besides a trip to the state fair, I really just wanted a good ol' end-of-summer bbq. my dad certainly knows how to do up a tasty cookout. it's definitely an added bonus that I get to "share" my birthday with my mom (her's is just one week later).

this year we posed for our annual mother-daughter-birthday-cake photo with my mom's good friend and our phenomenal daycare provider, go-go. love her.

I didn't set out for this to be such a long post, I guess it just happened. maybe it was me getting a little sentimental about my birthday, or perhaps an ode to my natural gift of gab. whatever it may be, it's long. so let's blow out the candles on this one. ta-ta.