Happy Halloween!

Weekend in Ohio

This past weekend we took Andrew on his first trip to see his Omi and Opaw in Ohio. He loved all the grandparent attention and we enjoyed getting to see Nate's family too!

 

Hanging out with Opaw, a.k.a. Nate's dad

We went to a harvest festival and took some photos among all the fall produce!

Our little pumpkin among the pumpkins:)

Awwwwww.....

Drew got to meet Bentley too:) Lately, he has been really interested in dogs, especially Sadie, of course. If she so much as walks by, he will just watch her with this wide-eyed look on his face. 

Aunt Kelsey and Uncle Joe came by to play too!

We stopped for a brief visit with Grandiddy (Nate's grandma) on the way home. She hasn't seen Andrew since he was just about 2 months old!

Weekend pictures

We had a few friends over to cook out this weekend, kids and all.

Annie's son, Brooks, was quite fascinated with Drew and I think they'll be buddies someday:)

And Drew seemed quite smitten with Hannah as well.

And some more cuteness for your viewing pleasure...

Sitting on the front porch with Dad

One of his favorite things to do right now is grab Nate's beard!

In his PJ's, ready for bed:)

Day at Bernheim Forest

I've never gotten professional pictures taken of Andrew...just couldn't stomach paying that much money. This is probably why whenever we venture out of the house on a pretty day I turn it into a photo-op of the little guy.  He's been photographed for free approximately 6,000 times by me and Nate with our  not-so-great little 6 year old digital camera. If I had it my way, I'd own one of these and take approximately 6,000 more pictures of him but for now, we'll have to make due with what we have. So Monday,  Nate was off work (yay!) and we ventured over to Bernheim Forest and Arboretum just outside Louisville. Let me say that if you live in the area, you must go see Bernheim in all it's autumn glory...beautiful! It has miles of hiking trails (paved and rugged), bike paths, and picnic spots, plus an amazing visitor center that has been recognized for its green design.

We started with a picnic under the trees.

Then we found some great walking trails through the trees so we could check out the fall colors.

...and someone enjoyed the view from the stroller.

But then he needed to get out and stretch his legs...check out the chub on this little guy! I can hardly stand it!

Happy baby!

Trying to grab the camera from me...(he pretty much tries to grab anything and everything these days)

Sitting in the grass

One of his new favorite things to do is be lifted up and down in the air, like an airplane; however, this activity sometimes has consequences. Right after I took this picture, Nate got hit with a huge amount of drool, right on his chin!

 

One more...just cause he's cute!

4 Months Old

 

 This post is a week late but we just had Drew's 4 month doctor's appointment Friday so I've got his stats. Most of this is just for my own memory and won't be very interesting except to us! Here goes:

Height: 26 inches long
Weight: 14 lbs, 8 oz

• Everything looked good at his checkup...he's healthy and doing well!
• Drew is eating every 3.5 to 4 hours (still a pretty good schedule for me and him!)
• He takes a one hour nap in the morning, a two hour nap in the afternoon and a short little 30 minute nap in the evening.
• Bedtime is 7:30 and lately he's been sleeping through the night without eating till 7:30 again! He is still figuring out how to soothe himself back to sleep and wakes up once or twice now and again during the night but usually it just takes a little pat from me or Nate and he is back asleep. So basically everyone in our house is happier now that he's sleeping well, and by that I mean Drew is too. He's in such a better mood when he's gotten a good night of sleep! 
• Do I write about his sleep habits too much on here? It sure feels like it but until you've had a baby you never know how much you will think about, worry about and obsess about their sleeping! Just no way around it:)
• He is way more active lately, trying to sit up and put weight on his feet like he just wants to walk or stand. He's rolling over from back to front and sometimes front to back but still prefers to NOT be on his stomach. 
• He still seems to love being outside and will calm down just as soon as we go out. Nate and I will walk or go running with him almost every day and I'm still worried about what's going to happen when the dreaded winter season arrives...
• He's awake so much more now and that makes it easier to run errands, go to the grocery, etc. He loves to just look around and check out the scenery and smiles at pretty much everyone he encounters.

 My friend Annie gave me her son's old exer-saucer and I think we've got a winner as far as toys go! He loves it because it lets him sit up and sort of "stand" if he wants to. We've got an active one on our hands, that's for sure!

But when toys aren't around, toes will do anytime!
I know I've said it before but it is amazing how fast 4 months can go by and how fast he has grown. Nate and I are having so much fun with him at this stage and loving (almost:) every minute of being parents. It is a challenge, to be sure, but also such an amazing experience too. We feel blessed!

Life lately...

It's been awhile since I posted but I have a few pictures I wanted to document before I forget the last couple weeks. We went on vacation to South Carolina and on our way back, stayed with some friends in east Tennessee. We decided to stop by Milligan and snap a quick picture. Milligan has so many memories for me and Nate, of course, and it was such a beautiful evening. You can sort of see Buffalo Mountain in the background where we've hiked so many times. Hopefully, when Drew is a bit older, he'll be hiking there with us again.

Some friends were in town at Jeremy and Casey's house, where we stayed. Drew got to meet Becky for the first time...

 

...and Elijah (one of our neighbors from when we lived in TN) got to meet him too!

Just hanging out at the Walkers' house...Lily seemed to like "baby Drew" as she called him.

Meanwhile...we've been pretty low key since vacation.

We've gone to the park a few times...

...where Drew got to swing with his friend Isaiah. It just took a little arranging and these guys were happy as could be for a good 45 minutes!

Meanwhile, fall has arrived in Louisville which means cool weather, mums and our fall vegetables (in the background). This year we've got lots of good salad ingredients: arugula, carrots, kale, spinach and squash.

As I said, the weather has cooled off a lot, so we bundled up in our best bear hat...

And took a stroll on Frankfort Avenue...

Drew and I also made a quick visit to Nashville this week to see Aunt Erin who would have gladly shared her dinner if he was able to eat it!

We went on a run through the park and Erin offered to push the stroller, which I was fine with:) It's amazing how much faster you can run not pushing that up a hill!

Dilemma: How can you try on clothes while shopping with a baby asleep on your chest?
Solution: Grab whatever you like off the rack and make your twin sister try it on for you! I think that's the best of both worlds since trying on clothes is the worst part of shopping in my opinion. And Drew peacefully slept through both the Old Navy and Target trips:)

A quick family picture my parents took...they came over to babysit on Saturday so Nate and I could go out to dinner. Have I mentioned how great it is to have grandparents near by? Now if we could just convince Nate's parents to move here...