beautiful fall

I absolutely love the changing of seasons in DC. This Fall has been gorgeous - countless sunny 60 and 70 degree days, which is something this Seattle girl doesn't take for granted. The brilliance of the colorful leaves are just now reaching their peak, so yesterday morning we bundled up (5o degrees felt chilly!) and went for a walk in our surrounding neighborhoods. We then finished our walk with some quality playtime in the leaf pile out front. Andrew should have been at preschool, but had a very persistent asthmatic cough, and our pediatrician recommended we be extremely careful with him this week because of the "epidemic" level of sickness and h1n1 in our area. We also want to do everything possible to have a healthy birthday boy this week/weekend. So as much I enjoy bringing Andrew to school ;), it was fun to have the chance to soak up a beautiful Fall morning with my boys!

ready to stroll

caden watches andrew throw leaves

andrew chillin in the pile of leaves

happy boys

this is so fun, mom

i just realized all of the other pics were pointing down - so this one shows the beautiful leaves and sunny blue skies in front of our house.

VOLT

After surviving a bit of Friday afternoon craziness (waiting 1 1/2 hours at a packed doc office for Caden's h1n1 vaccine), and rainy evening traffic, we were SO excited to get away with some of our favorite people for dinner at Volt in Frederick, MD (head chef Brian is currently on Top Chef). It was an early celebration for Dave's birthday (10/30) since we'll be in the midst of celebrating Andrew's bday next week. The food was WONDERFUL, and we loved our time with these dear friends. Thanks Choi's for such a fun night.

a complimentary "bite" (halibut with cilantro and other yummyness)

Dave's dinner - beef strip loin, potatoes, dragon carrots, mushrooms (Laura had pork loin)

Choi's with their dinner - rabbit 5 ways and guinea hen

Dave's dessert - tasting of local pears (the white powder is dehydrated pear!), Laura had textures of chocolate....which was inhaled very quickly.

Sooo good. And we were also so thankful for a sweet friend from church who watched our boys until after midnight. These nights out are such a cherished gift these days!

rough. tumble. and sweet.

So these past few days there have been several sweet things the boys have either done or said that I just have to record. I want to make sure that when I look back years from now I remember more than just the couch diving, fort building, wrestling, and capturing of bad guys. So here are some of these moments:

Andrew, climbing up on the ladder next to me as I'm making dinner saying "you're such a good wife....you're beautiful!".

Caden running up multiple times a day and saying "kiss" before kissing my leg, and then running off to his next adventure.

Andrew randomly saying "mama, i really like you".

Caden, so often when I hand him something or do something for him will say "oh, tank you mama!". Yesterday in the waiting room of my doctor's office I dropped a piece of paper, and he quickly grabbed it and said "oh, here you go mama".

Sweet, sweet boys...some of the time anyway ;). We'll save the hitting, spitting/throwing of food, tantrums, and resulting disciplinary measures for another post.

first field trip

Looking at goats with buddy Nathan

This past week, Andrew and mommy got to experience our first field trip with his preschool. We ventured out to Homestead farm for a hayride, pumpkin picking, and petting some farm animals. It was a cold day, but we bundled up and had a lot of fun. Stopping at Starbucks on the way home to warm up and eat lunch with friends was nice too :). A sweet lady in our church offered to help with Caden for the morning so I wouldn't have to juggle two and 3/4 boys and 3 pumpkins - that was really nice!

walking to the hay ride with his new buddy, who reminds us SO much of our nephew Taylorhay ride to the pumpkin patch
feeding goats
pumpkin face

the pretender

Caden has been asking more and more lately to sit on the potty. We try to indulge when we can, although I have no interest in officially potty training this little guy until he's closer to 3 (and we're adjusted to baby boy #3!). Still, I thought this picture was cute :).

the boys share a room

Since we've now reached the 30 week mark of this pregnancy, we decided it was time to move Caden into Andrew's room so he's a little adjusted (and doesn't feel totally displaced) by the time his baby brother arrives. We've been talking to both boys about this change, and they've been VERY excited. We had to bail on our first attempt Monday evening after getting them down way too late (we were out at a friend's house), and Caden wasn't settling down quickly. So Tuesday night Caden fussed a few minutes, Andrew was very patient (very sweetly telling him to lie down), and then they were both out. Andrew woke up needing water at 12:30, but they both settled back down right away. We've been worried about how early Caden gets up (6:30ish, vs Andrew's 7:30ish) - but he slept until afer 7 today. I'm SO hoping that continues! For naptime, Caden slept in his new crib, and Andrew had rest time in basement, which worked very well. Seems we're getting through one more transition...there's been so many this Fall!

Storytime before bed. And I have to mention the yellow dresser - found it though craiglist, but these gals paint quality pieces of old furniture in cute vintage/cottage style at a very reasonable price. You can view their stuff at www.primitiveandproper.com.

Fun Fall Day

acting out "meet pumpkin happy"

These are a few pictures from a beautiful, fun Fall afternoon at a friend's farm. Since this fell on Monday (Dave's day off), Caden stayed home and took a much needed nap, while Andrew and mommy drove straight from preschool and loved having some quality time together.

kids on a tractor
Enjoying a hayride with friends - stops included feeding the cows, feeding a turkey, and picking a pumpkin to bring home. Such a fun afternoon!