Too Cute

Say what you want but I think he looks precious.  Sorry Jay.  John Henry can wear his camo another day!

Happy Birthday Holland

Our niece Holland turned two.  Crazy how that happened.  We were just visiting her as a newborn in the hospital...

Holland is the baby of her family (by about 6 years) so she and John Henry will be more like siblings than cousins.  They go to the same daycare, always sit next to each other, and are equally spoiled by everyone in the family.  I'm sure they will be very close and get in lots of trouble together.

As the baby in the family, Holland was outside trying to keep up with the big kids when we arrived.  She does a pretty good job playing football!

Poor John Henry, he didn't get to play but he enjoyed watching.

My sweet Holland. 

Holland with her Daddy.

Holland with her older sister Sumner and CeCe.

Look at that party hat!

Holland had both grandmothers at her birthday.  Lucky girl!

Even John Henry wore a birthday hat.  For a few seconds...

Big Brother Max

and Holland's other big brother, Henry.

Singing to the birthday girl.  She loves the song Happy Birthday and started singing it a month before the actual day.  She went around singing "Happy Day!  Happy Day!"  It was pretty funny once we figured out she meant Happy Birthday.

What a sweet little lady eating her cupcake with a spoon!

And even sweeter to share with her daddy!

Sherridan and Henry.  I can't believe I never got a picture of Holland with her mom!  Sorry Sherridan, I'll do better next year.

Happy Birthday Holland.  We love you!

Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday I convinced Jay and my brother to leave the football behind and head to the Berry Farms pumpkin patch.  I'm sure they would've loved to go if they thought John Henry was going to get some real enjoyment out of the experience.  But they knew that wasn't the point of going.  Truth be told, John Henry could have cared less.  He would have had just as much fun looking at pumpkins at Home Depot, and it would have been a shorter drive.  This years visit to the pumpkin patch was strictly a photo op, and I didn't try to disguise it as anything else.

When we arrived they had a little wagon set up for pictures.  Clearly they recognized that many parents, like myself, where there for the pictures. 

My brother was taking the pictures, I was making funny noises/faces to make John Henry laugh, and Jay was keeping an eye on the line forming behind us so we didn't tossed out for taking up too much time.

This was the last shot we got before Jay pulled us away.  I think he was worried the other families would started rioting if we didn't move on.

The Berry Patch farm had your typical farm animals the kids could look at.  But don't let your kids too close, clearly the animals bite.  Seriously, you are going to let children near animals that bite?  Doesn't that scream lawsuit to anyone???

After looking at the animals, you could load up and take a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch.  We ended up walking, which got us out of having to pay for the tractor ride.  Although I promise that wasn't the point of walking. 

Headed to the pumpkins...

When we arrived, we tried to get our first family shot.  This was the best one, even though John Henry isn't looking. 

It was pretty cute to see our little man using the pumpkins to balance why he practiced his standing.  Since the pumpkins rolled, it made it a little difficult but I was pretty impressed.  He also enjoyed smacking them.  Such a boy!

My sweet boys.

John Henry and Uncle Josh. 

Our second attempt at a family shot.  Again, John Henry is not looking. 

I finally figured out why.  It was the tractor.  He didn't know what to make of it so anytime it was around (and there was one arriving every 30 seconds) he refused to take his eyes off of it.

I love this kid!

Realizing that our family shot wasn't going to happen, we thought we would put him on a pumpkin for a cute picture.

Yeah, not so much...

Oh crap, here comes that tractor again. 

The boys.  I still couldn't get a full smile from John Henry.  We'll continue to blame the tractor.

I would like to thank Jay and my brother for humoring me.  We took 101 pictures in 35 minutes.  Even though I didn't get my family shot, it was worth it for the pictures we did get.  Hopefully Jay and Josh agree.

Visit With Uncle Josh

My brother came in town for a quick visit this weekend.  We had a great time just hanging out and enjoying the beautiful fall weather.  In addition to being outside, there was lots of cooking and eating, watching football, and entertaining John Henry.  It was perfect.  I didn't get a lot of pictures of John Henry with his uncle, but here are some of the ones I did get.

Uncle Josh learned that John Henry is an early riser.  So regardless of how hard you may try to sleep, you will hear him playing in the family room at 6:30 in the morning.  He's loud, so it's best to just get out of bed and join him.

They made lots of funny faces together.  They're both pretty expressive people!

And of course, there was lots of cuddling.

Thanks for coming to visit Uncle Josh!  We'll see you for Thanksgiving.

Behind

I know, I know.  I am so behind on blogging.  It's been a busy two months and any free time I've had has not been spent in front of the computer.  I have a lot to catch up on:

• John Henry's 9 month update
• Other random stuff...

I promise to get my butt in gear.  But probably not this week...

1950's?

Jay really enjoys Costco.  He goes at least 1-2 times a week and last Thursday he brought home a small vacuum.  Our current vacuum does a great job but it's big and heavy.  It's perfect for the carpets and big cleans, not so much for day to day clean ups.  The new vacuum is light, swivels easily, and is pretty powerful. 

I love our new vacuum.  I mean I really love it.  I've used it at least 4 times in 3 days.  After I started thinking about it, I realized that if I were to voice my feelings out loud, I would sound like a 1950's housewife.  You know, the ones that were in the ads saying all they wanted for Christmas was the new vacuum?  That's me.  I really thought I would have made the perfect 1950's commercial for my vacuum.  The only thing is, I think Jay loves and uses the vacuum just as much as I do.  I overheard him bragging about it to his dad.  Definitely not the 1950's...   

Fall Festival

This was our first year attending the Mt. Bethal fall festival.  Since it's half a mile up the street (literally) we decided to join in this years festivities.  Jay signed us up for the mile fun run and we got to walk with some of our favorite friends.  Notice I said walk and not run...

Me with JH.  Sarah with Maggie, Hunter, and Avery.  Ragan with Charley.

Daddy and John Henry posing during the race.  Clearly we didn't take it too seriously.

John Henry posing with my number.

After the race we headed over to the festival with our friends.  John Henry got his own tickets that he could use for whatever he wanted.  As you can see below, he wanted to use them as a chew toy.

Hunter and John Henry.  These boys are constantly eating.  At least Hunter is eating food and not paper!

We decided to use the tickets for a pony ride.  John Henry refused to let go of his remaining tickets but he was quickly became interested in his pony.  I can't remember the pony's name.  It was something like buttermilk, butternut, squash, something..

When John Henry finally let go of his tickets he realized he could pet the pony.  He loved it and wanted to have his hands on the pony (not the saddle) throughout the entire ride.

Hunter and Clint.  Doesn't Hunter look like a natural?

Maggie all grown up!

Avery loved it! 

The boys waiting to take a ride on the train.  Why is it that Hunter and John Henry are never smiling in these pictures???

After the pony ride we walked.  Then we walked some more.  This is John Henry's favorite thing to do right now.  He does not want to sit still, as documented below.

Sorry Hunter.  Don't take it personally.  It wasn't you.  John Henry was just in a walking and not sitting mood.  Maybe next time!