Trick or Treat

Trick or treat... smell my... BANANA! Our little monkey celebrated his 3rd Halloween tonight, and our little tiger's 1st. This year was so much fun taking Shawn trick or treating. He loved walking up to everyone and saying "ooh ooh ahh ahh" and and getting little "tokens" for in his pumpkin bucket. We stopped to visit with Aunt Lizzy, Uncle John, Mary (Liz's mom), and Delilah. Shawn and Landon finally got to meet their new little play mate. Mary's ego was inflated nicely by Landon as he smiled adoringly at her. Shawn's first encounter with Liz's mom started and ended with tears. We are still trying to figure that one out, as she is one of the sweetest ladies!

Monkey Business

He's Grrrr-eat!

Happy Halloween!

Delilah and Landon's 1st picture

Book Worm(s)

From day one Shawn has been a book worm. Even before he could sit up on his own there was a book firmly lodged in his little grasp. I have pictures of him sitting in his bumbo baby seat with a serious look on his face as he tried (and successfully) turned each page himself. Now that Shawn is a big brother one of the only times that we can get him to sit near his little brother without bribery is when he's "reading" a book to Landon. And Landon being completely infatuated with his older brother just soaks up all of this precious attention that he is getting from Shawn. Talk about melting our hearts to see our little "worms" sharing a book.

Daddy's Turn

Since I am the "photographer" in the family Jon is always front and center with the boys. Occasionally I will let him handle my precious Canon friend only to find that he doesn't do too bad of a job capturing some really great moments. Today it was a little harder to pry my camera out of his hands as he so amusingly said "I'm having way too much fun with this!" I guess Mommy should learn to share more, huh? ;)

Pumpkin Carving 2008

Tonight we rounded everyone in the kitchen for a family tradition of carving the pumpkins. Since Shawn is too little to help Daddy carve yet he had his own "tools" which consisted of orange and black markers call "pip squeaks" (basically mini crayola crayons.) Shawn ended up being covered in black marker 'til it was all said and done! He had no interest in playing with the pumpkin goo. Jon took his hand and stuck it in the pumpkin and the look on Shawn's face was priceless! He must have thought "what is this disgusting junk!" Even Landon got in on the fun and "rearranged" the newspaper for us. It certainly was a fun night for the kiddos (Daddy & Mommy too!)

Just Because...

A few new ones of my little ones :)

Sweet Baby

I went to the hospital to visit baby Delilah and of course, take a few pictures. If it was even possible I think she was even more beautiful today when I walked in. And Liz looked wonderful for just undergoing surgery. I can't wait for Jon, Shawn and Landon to meet this sweet little princess.

4 generations of Beautiful Women!

Welcome Baby Delilah!

Our best friends welcomed to the world a beautiful baby girl on Friday October 24th. At 8:25a.m. baby Delilah Mary entered this world via c-section weighing in at 8lbs 4ozs and 19 1/2 inches long. I was so delighted to be able to be there with her, her husband, and her mom through her labor.

Welcome Delilah!

Love,

Auntie Ashley, Uncle Jon, and the boys!

Falling Leaves

What a beautiful fall day it turned out to be yesterday! Even with the bit of chill in the air, it was nice enough out to have a good romp in the leaves. My grandfather raked up two huge piles of leaves for Shawn and the two of them had a blast jumping and rolling in them. Even Mommy put down the camera for a while to join in the fun! The scent of those crisp leaves brought back many fond memories from my own childhood. My grandfather raked up those same over-sized piles for my brother and I nearly 20 years ago. For a 70 year old man he isn't doing to bad at keeping up with my two year old. Since Landon will have to wait until next year to join his brother in joys of fall we had our own fun inside with a mini photo shoot with a pumpkin.

Wishful Thinking

I have had my mind set on trying to get some nice fall family photos for a while now. When I get my mind set to something like that I might know that it never turns out how I imagine. In my head I picture us going to the park. Shawn smiling adoringly at the camera. Landon giving a cute goofy grin. Everyone perfectly in position. HA! Am I kidding myself or what? Shawn had no interest in pictures what-so-ever. He just wanted to run. Landon was more interest in his socks and hands then looking at the nice blinking light. Next time I am going to need a helper to distract the kids toward the direction of the camera and to get everyone to smile. Any volunteers?

Autumn

As hard as it is to say goodbye to summer the beauty that fall brings certainly takes my mind off of missing fun days at the pool and running through the grass with bare feet. The leaves are changing into gorgeous shades of yellow, red, and orange. While at my grandparents the other day I took advantage of the backdrop that nature provided for me. Shawn and I went outside to throw the football around and take his toys for a wagon ride. I can't help but look for that perfect photo opp with my favorite two year old ;)

The Caterpillar Catching MeMe

Today my parents came down from their little hide away up north to spend some time with their parents, children, and grandchildren. Shawn was especially happy today to see his MeMe and Pappy, so happy that he gave them a run for their money. It seemed he saved all his naughty behavior this week just for them ;) The kiddos had a good time and enjoyed the day with their family. It was beautiful outside so we took Shawn for a wagon ride out the road. He had fun catching caterpillars with MeMe. He also followed his Uncle Mike (Gunkle Bike as Shawn says it) around for a while. Its funny when I ask Shawn to give his uncle a kiss... even as an adult I can still torture my little brother ;)

Landon also enjoyed all the attention from his grandparents. MeMe pulled a nice trick and popped the liner of his bottle and formula spilled all over him (and his ADORABLE outfit!) The day sure had its share of good laughs.

My grandma cooked a delicious meal for us all of homemade chicken corn soup and hot sausage sandwiches. Its always nice having everyone together around the kitchen table.

(If you click on each picture you can view the collages in full size.)


After a long day, all Shawn needed was a hug from Pappy... awww!

Part of the fun!

One of the things that is so fun about having boys close in age is dressing them a like! And two of my favorite stores have cloths that run from 3 months to 5T that I can get the boys matching attire... Gymboree and Target. So I have at least another 2 years to go to have my "mommy fun" of dressing them similar. Hey, why not have some fun while I'm pulling my hair out as two little boys are throwing two not so little hissy fits ;)

10/7/08

A little camera happy lately...

Solids!

Landon had his 4 month check up today. Everything went really well (other than the screaming from the shots) :(

He now weighs 15lbs 2ozs and is 26inches. He's my little guy! Shawn was almost 19lbs at this point. No wonder some of Shawn's cloths for this season are huge on him!

His pedi gave us the go ahead to try rice cereal today. Our first attempt did not go so well. Landon got pretty upset that we sat him in the bumbo seat! After a few minutes of rocking to calm him down we tried again (this time in Jon's lap instead of the bumbo) and he really enjoyed it! This is one of my favorite things about this stage; all the goofy faces they make when trying new things.

Landon is now happy in his swing with his thumb securely fastened in his mouth. Ahh, a full belly!

What happens at Grandma's... Stays at Grandma's.

One of Shawn's favorite things to do in the whole wide world is be a big helper to his Peeps (great-grandfather.) Where Peep's is you are sure to find Shawn there lending a hand. Today the "guys" were outside raking a few leaves. This was Shawn's first time with a rake. Talk about cute! He was trying so hard to mimic his Peeps and rake up a few of his own. Afterward, the boys played a little football and took a wagon ride. Poor Shawn is very tuckered out from his long hard day of work!


Nan (my grandma) and Landon were sitting at the kitchen table looking out the window. What a perfect photo opp! I love how you can really see the chemistry between them in these photographs.


Seriously, how much mischief are these brothers going to get into in a few months? These two little guys are the best :)

Four Months

Today Landon is four months old! With this milestone comes new adventures for him. Next week he will be trying rice cereal for the 1st time. What a photo opp that will be! Then next month he will be starting on veggies. I remember with Shawn the funny faces he made as he tried new things. He was so comical as he gagged down peas for the first time. Bananas on the other hand were an instant favorite. It will be interesting to see what Landon enjoys and what he cringes at.

Happy 4 months lil guy!