Giving Thanks

pumpkin pie with Williams and Sonoma leaf cutouts - so easy, and fun

A few of the things we're thankful for this year:
Laura- healthy boys (finally!), the sweet babe about to join our family
Dad - his wifey, boys, our wonderful church, and our Father's great love
Andrew - candy on halloween, my cousins
Caden - he just bashfully smiled...but we can imagine that he's thankful for his family, Addy dog, and choo choo's.

We had a sweet day - watching a little of the parade (the boys loved it this year), a wonderful service at church, resting/napping in the afternoon while mom baked, gathering with family and dear friends for dinner.

the OC fam

happy boys

little sickies (oink oink)

So I'm happy to say that as of today we are FINALLY fever free after 12 straight days of fevers (the boys tag teamed me). Caden came down with it while Dave was gone on the ycf retreat, and his fever lasted over a week. Andrew came down with it 5 days later, and ran a fever of 102-104 for 6 days. We took Andrew to the doc on Monday and he tested positive for h1n1 (I guess the first round vaccine only gave him 70% immunity). The good news is that he's now extremely immune, and we got it out of the way before baby boy arrives in just a few weeks. It's quite possible Caden had it too, but we won't know for sure. They were pretty sick little dudes, and it was a long run of being home from preschool, church, and Bible studies - but hopefully we've gotten it out of our systems for a bit.

Caden just wanted to read this Thomas book over and over again
Andrew fighting a high fever with all of his "essentials" - puppies, sword, "tasty" the crab, pillow, blankets, and mickey mouse clubhouse

Snugglin up with Grandpa Jerry while mommy had a 2 hour hematologist appointment

favorite girl

Bringing home the first official school picture was super fun. But this is what really made me laugh - when Andrew saw the class picture he got really excited and said "Mama, let me show you my favorite girl!" "She's right here (pointing to girl right next to him), her name is Alli". I asked him if they ever played together, and he said no. He just really likes her - she's super nice. I wonder if he'll take after his daddy and start having girlfriends in preschool ;).

hello, November

running to "tackle" grandma kathy

The arrival of November has made this baby's arrival seem that much closer. Hence the focus on "nesting" this past week, and not as much computer time. After our weekend of bday fun, my mom and I had a full day of digging, cleaning, cutting apart, labeling, and preparing dahlias for winter storage, while Dave took the boys out for one last Fall adventure at Cox farm in VA.

My mom flew out on Tuesday afternoon, which was extremely sad for our sweet, sensitive Andrew. The fact that she's coming back in just over month wasn't much consolation for him - he was actually pretty teary the entire drive up to BWI...poor dude. That night I took him down to Georgetown to wait in line for an h1n1 shot, and couldn't have been more proud of how patient and brave he was. We waited outside for over 45 minutes, and he just stood there next to me. Once we got inside, we had to wait in the auditorium for another hour. When we finally got to the table for his shot, he sat right up there, stuck his arm out, and said "I want it in this arm". SO brave. A few pics..

hangin with farmer jack

both boys on the slide

trick or treat

After filling our bellies with pizza and cake earlier in the day, we had a fun night of trick or treating - despite a little rain and walking up hills, our little lion and fire chief were pretty hard core (they didn't want to stop!). We started in our neighborhood, and ended the evening with a visit to see Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Dee Dee.

walkin with Grandma Kathy

enjoying lollipops with Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Dee Dee
one last treat before bed

weekend full of party fun!

Dave carved Ben this year

This past weekend was full of fun and celebration! Friday eve (aka Thurs night) kicked everything off with the annual YCF pumpkin carving party at our house (see Dave's creation above). Friday morning Caden and I picked up Grandma Kathy at the airport and brought her to school to pick up Andrew. Friday was also (well primarily!) Dave's birthday, so we attempted to celebrate amidst him being sick and preparing for Andrew's bday party the next morning. He did get Ruth's Chris steakhouse takeout, and dessert from one of his favorite bakeries - but I promised I wouldn't post the pic of him bundled on the couch eating it ;).

Saturday late morning we had a crew of Andrew's buddies in for a fireman themed birthday party, which was super fun and super crazy. Saturday evening we enjoyed Halloween trick or treating (Andrew is still asking when we get to go again..pics to follow on our next post), and then Sunday after church we had the OC fam in to celebrate Dave, Chris, and Andrew's birthdays. Whew, so fun. Here are few pics!

Decorating the cake with my huuge baby belly was interesting

ready to party

painting pumpkins

exiting the moon bounce, which we borrowed from a friend...SO fun.

fireman pizza time

the cake

a very pleased birthday boy
present time

And lastly, here's a few pics from the OC family gathering on Sunday - I wish I'd been able to capture more.

Andrew and Dave blowin their candles
Uncle Chris..who landed in the ER later that night - he was such a trooper
thanks Grandma Dee Dee

Andrew turns 4

Opening a few presents that morning

So we officially have a 4 year old in our house. It's been a fun week of celebrating (Grandma Kathy came to town, Dad had a bday, and Halloween!), which is why I'm just now getting to writing about it! His party wasn't until Saturday, but some fun from the actual day included presents in the morning, cupcakes at preschool followed by the halloween parade (so cute), picking out a fish at the pet store, and finishing the evening at church with dad and fun friends.

Andrew, you are such a joy and delight to so many, and we are loooving watching you become the sensitive, fun, strong, caring, expressive, and creative boy that you are. Here's a few pics from the actual day.

the happy bday serenade from his fellow grubbies - he was a very happy boy
his class performing a pumpkin song during the halloween parade
introducing "Momo"(his fish) to Caden after bringing him to the table to watch him play