Haydn is Huge!

Today we took Haydn to the doctor for a well-child check. It was for his 6 month check even though he's 7 1/2 months old (we got behind when we went to Hawaii). Well, he passed with flying colors. My chunky little guy is 18lbs 14oz and 27in tall!!! He is doing everything he should be and MORE! He's crawling like a champion up on his hands and knees now. He's climbing everything too. He can climb to a stand and stand fairly steady. He loses his balance every once in a while but he's getting better! We had to lower the crib already because he'll climb and stand up against the side. He's eating solids great. He likes everything so far. In fact, if he sees anyone eating something and he's not included he gets very distressed! He can even feed himself little cereal bits and he drops less and less down into the highchair everyday. It helps to have something for him to eat with his fingers while we feed him because we can't go fast enough. He's hard to hold now because he always wants down to play. Don't even get me started about the struggle I have to get him in a diaper or clothes. He's such a cute, happy little guy. He smiles for anyone. He is SO ticklish and his laugh is just adorable. He LOVES the water. When I put him into the bath he immediately starts flailing his arms and legs and splashing everywhere with the biggest grin on his face. When the water gets in his face he pauses for a split second and then keeps on going, it doesn't phase him at all. Now he crawls around and tries to climb in the tub so it's quite an active bath. He's definitely going to be a swimmer! Well, that's just a little about Haydn to keep everyone updated! We are so happy he's part of our family.

Connor's Great Ride

Connor is such a firecracker! He talked with Grandma the other day and she asked him if he had ridden his bike to the park. I told her that it was a little far and up hill the whole way there and I didn't have the courage to try it yet. Well, the power of suggestion is real! The next day Connor decided he wanted to ride his bike to the park. When asked what would happen if he got tired he said he'd just keep riding! So, we gave it a try! Off we went. By the way, he's on this really BIG Lightning McQueen kick because of his new Lightning McQueen shoes that, of course, make him super fast everywhere he goes. So on that ride not only was he as fast as Lightning McQueen...he WAS Lightning McQueen AND I was Sally. If I referred to him as Connor he would correct me every time. Every time we stopped and started again he would start up his engine and ask me if I started mine. Then he would speed ahead til I told him to wait up. While going super fast he would randomly, but frequently, shout out "KeerChow!"(a Lightning Mcqueen phrase if you haven't seen it). It was so cute. Boys are too fun! Anyways, we made it all the way to the park and back with no problem (almost 2 miles). It was awesome! I'm so proud of him and he was awfully proud of himself too!

Also, his newest word is "Fusterated"(frustrated). If he gets upset he'll say, "I'm fusterated with you Mommy!" and give me a great frustrated look! He's very expressive in his facial expressions! Don't know where he gets that one!

The Princesses Party

Connor went to a birthday party today. Not just any birthday party...a birthday party for two Princesses. Everyone was supposed to come in Princess or Knightly attire so we had some fun with this. Well actually, I think I had more fun with the dress up part than Connor did but he did ok putting up with it. We got him a red robe and a sword at the store and Connor and I made a crown. He looked SOOOO adorable. When we went shopping for presents Connor found some flowers and told me,"Mom, Katie loves white flowers!" so, of course, we had to get some. My little prince showed up all dressed with two bouquets of white roses (the princesses are twins) in his hands. HOW CUTE! He got to do some really girly things like make necklaces and bags. He was actually a natural at making a necklace but he wouldn't wear it when he was done. He said he made it for me...THAT'S MY BOY! I did finally (he was tired) get him to pose for some glamor shots with one of the twins, Katie. They were being too cute together...just look for yourself.

The reason he was tired was because he was up late while at the Father/Son Camp Out. From reports Scott and Connor had a blast. I'm so glad I have such a great husband that takes the time to spend time with our kids. Our boys adore their Daddy. Haydn wanted to go so badly. He was crawling around after Scott while he was trying to get everything ready to go. He almost even got out the door only to be foiled by me.

Fruit Picking

So we've been having such a busy month. Full of fun and exciting things. We have found a new love in fruit picking. Scott and I are already making a list of all the things that we will have growing in our backyard. These pics are of our blueberry and apple picking adventures. Connor loves it too. We went blueberry and raspberry picking one day and he would carry the pints around, drop a few in, eat a bunch off the bushes and then eat what was in his pint. Silly boy! He loves berries. We've been making all kinds of things with them too--pancakes, syrup, muffins, cobbler, jams, etc. And more to come, I still have about 7 lbs of blueberries in the fridge.
We also went apple picking with our playgroup. We picked half a bushel. I can't wait to smell the pies that will come out of my kitchen. I'm going to have to be giving them out right and left with this many apples! Blueberries and apples are like our new candy! Have you ever had blueberries in vanilla ice cream--DIVINE!!!

Teething!

Haydn's been awfully grumpy and had a fever for a couple days. I couldn't figure out what was wrong! I figured it out...he's got his first tooth today!!! Woohoo!

New Hampshire Camping Trip

This is a slide show of our camping trip in New Hampshire. We went there over Labor Day and had a blast with some friends. It was a little on the cold side but overall an awesome trip. As we drove into New Hampshire we told Connor we were in New Hampshire now and his response was, "Haydn's not a hamster, he's a baby!" Fun, fun, fun! We love our boys!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

Today Jenn decided to ask Connor some questions to determine what his favorite things are. Here are his responses:

Favorite color: Yellow (though this may be skewed as we had just been talking about our yellow house and his new yellow remote-controlled car)

Favorite Number: W

Favorite Letter: W

Favorite number (given that W is not a number): 3 (also his age, but who's counting?)

Favorite shape: Circle

Favorite movie: "The mouse movie" (Flushed Away, today's favorite)

Favorite toy: "Lightning McQueen!" (a birthday present from grandpa and Ana - thanks guys!)

Connor's a character!

A "Relaxing" Week

Scott quit his job last week so he could have a week off to recharge and be with us before school starts again. It has been so fun and CRAZY around here since then. He had his first "real job" interview in Washington DC last weekend. Who knows what will come of it. He got home late Friday night.

During the day Friday I went with a friend to her families house. We had great fun. My friend, Andrea, has a baby boy, Spencer, a couple months younger than Haydn. Her mom has 4 year old twin boys that Connor had a blast with so it was a fun outing while Scott was gone.
Sunday night we had friends over for dinner and games. Monday we had a new law student get into town so he came over early for breakfast and then we helped him find an apt. We went to a law review Bar-BQ and baseball practice Monday night. Connor is so into baseball now! He loves pitching and hitting and even tagging the runner with the ball. This may be his sport! Scott helped our friend move in Tuesday morning. Then we decided to hit the mall and see what the had for tax free week. Scott got some new pants (if you haven't noticed he was drowning in his old ones!) and shirts and I got a cute shirt too. Connor got some awesome Lightning McQueen shoes! Today we are going to have a Bar-BQ with some neighbors and the missionaries. It should be interesting and fun. It seems like it's been Go-Go-Go! Not really the relaxing time we thought of but even better!

Connor went to K-mart with his Daddy today to get some things and he came back so ecstatic. He was so peppy it was contagious. Scott got him a baseball mit and ball! It has some Velcro action so he can catch everything which, of course, makes him thrilled. He also got a little bat and a remote car(I think this was more a toy for Daddy). Connor was talking a mile-a-minute telling me everything they got and did. I love it when he stutters because he's trying to talk so fast! It's so darn cute!

Our little Haydn is 6 months old and an official crawler. If he wants it, he will get it. He rocks on his hands and knees but he's perfected a little army crawl. He'll be chasing Connor in no time! He's been a little sick with a cold the last couple days and that's no fun. He is such a smiley little guy though.

Last night Scott and I had a tickle war. Now, if you know me you already know who won. It lasted for like half and hour. We were laughing so hard together. I just wanted to announce publicly that I am just so in love! I am so HAPPY! I have 3 beautiful, wonderful boys in my house! Yes, that leaves me a bit outnumbered but I couldn't be happier. I love how our little family is turning out!

Grandpa's House

We went to my Dad's last weekend to let the kids catch-up with Grandpa! We had a great relaxing time. We spent some time at the lake near my Dad's house first...We all tried out the kayak! It was pretty fun.We let the kids go swimming in a little kiddy pool as well and then jumped on the trampoline. The boys found it great fun to be all wrapped up in their towels and be bounced around together. They were laughing hysterically!
Connor is ALL boy! He loves any game you can play with a ball. He must have really enjoyed playing baseball with Grandpa because he announced to me today that he was so excited that he was going to play on a baseball team tomorrow. Oh boy...I better start looking for a team quick, he didn't give me much notice. I can't wait to see what this boys aspirations will be.

Garbage Museum

We went with Scott into Stratford, CT, where he's been working. The kids and I spent the morning at the Children's Garbage Museum. It was great! They got to learn all about garbage and recycling. The coolest thing is walking in and seeing a huge T-rex made of trash! It weighs a ton (which is the amount each person throws away in a year!)! They made a scavenger hunt out of it so you had to find different items in the dinosaur! They had activities and movies to teach about decomposition, as well as how much energy is saved and gained by recycling different items. They had coloring, books, puzzles, and games. We even got to watch as the recycling trucks brought in their loads and dump it and see people sorting it and see the bales it gets crushed into. Very cool and informative and all FREE! Totally recommended! Here's some pics of our trip...