Harper laughs

Harper had her first real case of the giggles while we were in Ohio. Here is a cute video Nate took of me, DeeDee and Kelsey hovering over her and making her laugh. I love that sound so much!

A visit to Omi and Opaw's house!

We  made a long-overdue trip to Ohio for a fun 4-day weekend. Both kids did great in the car on the way up...Harper slept like a champ and Andrew was happy so long as his favorite music was playing, which, as of this moment is Gillian Welch, the Decemberists, and any version of "Shady Grove" or "Keep on the Sunny Side." It is hilarious and cute to hear him sing along in the backseat.

 Harper got to bond with Aunt Kelsey (and in this picture she may also be saying hello to her future cousin, coming in March!)

 Nate and Harper got some quality time watching the Ohio State game.

 A nearby park had a trick or treat party with trucks of all sorts. We dressed the kids up and Andrew had a blast checking out the fire truck.

 But the excavator was his all time favorite, especially since he got to get in it with Dad!

 Omi and Opaw with their little teddy bear! Most of the good pictures from the weekend are on their camera since I unfortunately forgot my good camera in the midst of packing:(

Family photo time!

A fun fall weekend!

 We are enjoying the last beautiful days of fall here...Cherokee Park is so pretty this time of year!

 We fit in another trip to the zoo and Andrew made a friend as you can see.

 Erin came up for a visit with Leena and we had to dress the cousins up in their Halloween costumes!

 Erin and I with our little ladybug and bumblebee:)

I love my little ladybug!

 Grandpop and Andrew the bear!

 Nate tried to teach Leena learn to stand up

 And Marcia got to hang out with the kids too...we were lucky to have a fun weekend with family!

 Andrew helped Nate rake the leaves and enjoyed jumping in them too!

 He absolutely loved getting leaves dumped on him as well!

Fun October

It's been a fun and busy October so far...we've been to the zoo with some friends:

 Aunt Laura came to visit! Drew had so much fun with her and I was happy to have the extra help of course. We did exciting things like play with diggers on the couch and go to Lowe's...Aunt "La La" was kind enough to not mind the lack of excitement:)

 Striped pajama night! They looked so cute and snuggly in their pj's...don't be fooled by the cuteness of this picture though...approximately 2 seconds later both melted down, a surefire sign that it is bedtime in this house!

 Sweet Harper continues to grow (as all babies do:)...here she is before her bath.

 We bundled up and went for a walk one evening...I love this time of year so much (not to betray my affection for summer but October is a great month if the cooler weather insists on arriving anyway). Andrew wore Nate's hat and by doing so aged 5 more years...where did my toddler go? He's growing up so fast too.

 Whenever poor Harper is just minding her own business in her little seat, Drew often comes bounding in the room and gets right in her face, saying, "Heeeeey, Harper!!!" Can you just hear it?

 I think she's trying to say, "Help Mama!" She's toughened up a lot in her 3 months of life with an older brother:)

As usual, we spend part of our weekends still working on the new addition of the house. Nate was doing all the woodwork around the windows and doors this weekend and Andrew was fascinated by the saw...Nate gave him a piece of scrap wood and he went to work with his own little toy saw!

 The other part of the weekend, we tried to get outside and enjoy this fall weather. We headed to Bernheim Forest again and Andrew hiked for the first time not in the backpack. Despite my irrational fears that he would stumble off of imaginary ravines, he did pretty well following behind Nate. We had to remind him to look where he was going as he tripped a lot on the rocks and tree roots, but he loved "hiking" the real way.

 Down by the creek, he spent a good 20 minutes throwing rocks in the water with Nate.

 This is how Miss Harper spent the hike. 

And here's a little video of our time in the woods:

This is the best I could do for a 3-month photo of Harper...I pretty much just put a bow on her and snap a picture right after her bath when she's pretty happy (and laying on the white towel for a simple background).

Meanwhile, this kiddo won't hold still long enough for me to take any pictures of him. This captures him best though...outside and playing with his toy construction equipment!

I've been meaning to write down some of the funny things Andrew says, since age 2 has proven to be the most hilarious of ages so far. While 2 year olds can be a little bipolar sometimes (meltdowns over the smallest of things!), this age just makes me and Nate laugh every day.

• In the morning before Nate leaves for work, Andrew says, "Have fun at work Dad!" or "You want some coffee Dad?" 
• He likes to say, "It's okay" whenever something "not" okay happens (throwing a toy, playing with his plate at dinner that then ends up on the floor, etc.)
• On Saturday mornings, when Nate goes to get him up, he says, "Dad, let's talk!" while they listen to the radio in bed.
• He likes to say "play with toys...just a couple more minutes!" or "Play out side, just a couple minutes." but has no concept of "a couple minutes" at all. When I tell him it's time to clean up or come inside after aforementioned couple minutes, he says "Just a couple more minutes, okay, Mom?"
• During the day, out of the blue he tells me, "I'm behavin' Mom!" Sometimes this statement is true but not always:)
• He has started requesting music from us. Gillian Welch and the Decemberists are his favorite. The second we get in the car he says "Down by the old main drag!" which is a line from a Decemberists song. Then he sings along the whole time which is pretty funny.
• When Nate comes in the door getting home from work, he says, "You want some dinner Dad? We're havin' chicken! (or pizza or casserole or whatever I've told him I'm making

So while 2-year olds are a handful, the crazy mood swings and meltdowns are certainly balanced out by the hilarious things they say!

A few videos

Life is certainly entertaining these days! Here's a few videos we took of the craziness! As you can see from the ones below, Andrew loves to ham it up for the camera.

Pictures from September

September flew by! Here are the pictures from my iPhone this  month to summarize it all:

First, Andrew got his first "real" haircut. I have been cutting it since he was 1 but when the lady at the grocery store told me he looked adorable with his little "bowl cut" I decided to go to a professional:) No bowlcuts in this family!

 Before: sitting in the chair feeling all grown up:)

 During: chopping it off!

 After: He looks so much older!

 Nate went kayaking after work one beautiful evening and Drew had to try it out on the front lawn. He kept saying, "I'm gonna go fishin' with Dad!"

 Watching the gorilla cage get cleaned out at the zoo.

 Harper getting some Granna time!

 This sweet girl just gets cuter and cuter (in her mom's humble opinion:)

 2 smiles from my favorite little girl and boy!

I cannot believe Harper is 3 months old now. Where did the time go? These have been a busy and fun past 3 months. Before I forget, here are some details of Miss Harper (I was so much better about this with Andrew's posts!)

• She weighs about 11 lbs as best I can tell 
• She still eats every 3 hours and takes 2 one-hour naps in the morning and then a long 2 hour  one in the afternoon, sometimes doing a 30 minute one around 5 or 6 if she can't quite make it to bedtime.
• She is doing great sleeping from 7:30 till about 6:30 in the morning...this was a shock to me as Andrew took awhile to do that! I did nothing to get her to this point but I'm just happy to get sleep at night!
• She loves taking a bath and it calms her down when she gets a little tired in the evening.
• She does great in the stroller or the car...pretty much just hangs out and then falls asleep if she gets tired. She's laid back!
• She does, however, like to look at whatever action is occurring (say, watching Andrew play or me cook dinner or looking at whoever is in the room). 
• She loves to be carried around in the baby Bjorn (carrier) looking out at everything and everyone.
• I can always get a smile or little giggle out of her if I sing to her.
• She is super smiley when she wakes up and makes the sweetest baby sounds!
• She still loves to be swaddled like a little burrito...it calms her down.
• She is a really sweet and happy baby and we lover her so much!