October

Wow, it's hard to believe this month is almost over! We have been busy with Nolan's soccer twice a week and enjoying other fun things on the weekends. We went to Cagle's Farm with some friends where we got to take a hay ride, see lots of animals, and of course the boys spent lots of time jumping on the bouncy floors with their friends!

The next weekend, the boys stayed with my parents while Mike and I enjoyed going to a friends' wedding kid-free. Although we missed them, I think we all had a fun weekend! The boys had a blast with Gram and Pap helping them pick out and carve pumpkins, going to a farm, and even making a chicken nugget pizza!

Fall Begins

Fall is definitely here with the high temps only in the 60's this weekend. Mike's mom came for a visit, so we decided to go up to the mountains to pick some apples. None of us had actually ever picked our own apples before, and we had a great time! Besides the ride on the tractor, the boys were in heaven tasting all of the apples their little hearts desired (and we enjoyed it too)! Afterwards, we stopped by downtown Blue Ridge to snack on some apple fritters, see the train, play on the playground, and visit some shops.

Grant's 18 Months

Grant turned 18 months old last week, but we didn't have his check-up until today. We switched pediatricians to one that's much closer to our house, so now we have actual percentages instead of ranges. He's 27 lbs. 12 oz. (73%ile) and 33 in. tall (69%ile). He had quite a growth spurt over the last few months and is catching up to Nolan very quickly! He loves to be Nolan's little shadow, doing everything that he does. They have the most fun together doing things that they're not supposed to be doing (go figure), such as standing on the tables, jumping on the couches, and throwing food. There's no doubt they keep me on my toes! Grant's vocabulary is expanding daily and he is now getting really frustrated when I can't understand what he's trying to say. He's also really enjoying his days at Parent's Morning Out (as am I)!

 

 Thanks to Grandma Creasy for these awesome Browns outfits! We're looking forward to her visit this weekend!

September

My parents came to visit again for Labor Day weekend and my birthday. We've been really lucky this year to see them fairly often, considering how far apart we live! My dad almost always has some Jelly Belly's around for Nolan and Grant. Here's a video of the dance they have to do to get one!

My boys made me a delicious cake and got me an ipad 2 for my birthday! Mike has been working locally all summer, so I've been able to use his ipad and I've gotten pretty addicted. It makes my elliptical workouts so much easier when I can play games and surf the internet. I'm very excited to have my own (although Nolan and Grant seem to think it belongs to them)!
Nolan has started playing soccer and had his first game this weekend. He doesn't go after the ball much, but he runs his little heart out up and down the field- and he sure does look cute in his uniform!

And these are just some other recent ones of the boys...

Chicago

Our final trip this summer was to Chicago to visit my brother Dan and his wife Carly. We went for a long weekend and made the most of the time we had with them! We had such a wonderful visit and loved seeing their new place. The boys hadn't seen them since Christmas (I can't believe we went that long!), but they acted as comfortable as if they had seen them last week. Of course Dan and Carly enjoyed spoiling them with toys and treats, and they also took us to Chuck E. Cheese (back-up plan due to rain), a local playground, and the airshow (although Dan spent his time in the car looking for parking...). I hope we can get back to visit them again next summer, if not sooner!

Catching Up

We've been pretty busy these last few weeks! Toward the end of July, Grant had an accident and fractured his collarbone. Our double jogging stroller (with Nolan in it) fell backwards on top of him. The poor guy was in a lot of pain and wasn't able to do a lot of his normal activities. The doctor said they would normally give someone a sling for this kind of fracture, but since Grant wouldn't understand that, there was nothing we could do except be careful. Luckily, it only took a few days for all of us to figure out how much he could do without hurting, and he was already feeling a lot better the next week.
Shortly after that, we took a trip to Ohio to visit with our families. We had a great time seeing everyone and being up there this time of year makes it seem not so bad afterall. Seeing the boys with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins really does make us wish we lived closer...only we wish they'd all decide to move further south!

Nolan caught his first fish at Grandma and Grandpa Peresie's, and then we played some wiffle ball. Grant loved playing the game with his cousins, but Nolan was more interested in checking out the tractors  :)

Next we went to visit my parents, where we spent a day at the zoo among other fun stuff! Unfortunately, I only had my point and shoot camera for the entire trip, so most of these pictures were taken by other people!

School Starts

As soon as we got back from Ohio, school started for Nolan. He's in a new room this year and is very excited about it! He's also going 3 half days a week now. He absolutely refused to let me take a picture of him on his first day (I got a few of the back of his head), but one of the other moms got this one of him with some of his buddies.

I also started Grant in the same Parents Morning Out program that I used to take Nolan to. Right now he's going once a week and next month he'll start going twice a week. It's a big adjustment for him to be away from me and Nolan, but he's doing alright and crying has been pretty minimal. My little baby is growing up so fast!!