Pumpkin Patch

Every October we look forward to our annual trip to the Oakes Farm Pumpkin Patch. There is so much to do and the 40 minute drive to get there is beautiful! It was a bit hotter than we anticipated, but we had a blast. Noah was covered in dirt, sand and hay by the time we left. I think he went down the slide about 30 times. The boys enjoyed the hayride to the pumpkin patch too. When we arrived, Noah would pick up the biggest pumpkins and say, "I'm big and strong!" He ran around like crazy among all the pumpkins and thought the small ones were really cute.

Playing at Smart Toys and Books

We are so fortunate to have such a fantastic toy store like Smart Toys and Books in Knoxville. They offer tons of kid-friendly activities throughout the week like Thomas Play Dates, Mommy and Me art classes, music classes, storytellers, etc. A few weeks ago, I took Noah to the Mommy and Me art class. We sponge painted fall leaves on different papers. Noah could hardly make it through the class though because all he wanted to do was play in the store. That's another great aspect of the store because kids can play with so much of what the store offers. There's a slide, mini trampoline and of course a huge Thomas the Train play set. Noah could've played in the store all day I think. He loved the train set...just a mere $600! Anyway, we left with a Thomas floor puzzle instead :) Here he is playing with the miniature sand boxes and Thomas the Train set.

Later that night our great friends from Nashville came up -- Lewis (or Lewie as Noah calls him), Mary and their son Emery who is just 4 months younger than Noah. Here they are pretending to be super heroes flying around in their capes. They had such a great time and played really well together.

Meeting cousin Haley

 The second weekend in October was a special one because the boys got to meet their second cousin, Haley. She is SUPER cute and just 10 months old. Noah loved playing with her, but got a bit rough at times. Eric's cousin Megan, her little girl Haley, and Aunt Susan drove up for the night. We had pizza and loved catching up with everyone.

Later that night, Noah played with his Thomas the Train "Figure 8 Coal" set. He loves playing with it. There is so much to learn about trains! There are three varieties of Thomas toys --Wooden Railways series, Take 'n Play and something else...anyway, it's been a learning curve for Eric and me since neither of us played with trains when we were growing up.

 Here he is filling up the train with coal. He's good about putting the track pieces together too.

 

And here's sweet B one morning before heading to school. He looks quite grown up in this pseudo-tie!

Hot Air Balloon Festival and Fall Fun

We took the boys to the annual Knoxville Hot Air Balloon Festival in Hardin Valley last weekend and had a great time. Noah loved the balloons, and enjoyed feeding the ducks in the nearby pond and seeing a dog-show, where the dogs did tricks like running obstacle courses and catching frisbies.

The weather is finally starting to turn cooler, and we're looking forward to some chilly fall weather.

Brenton is doing awesome. He is growing well and has started eating rice cereal now. He does pretty well with it and keeps most of it in his mouth and not on his face or shirt. He is a smiling machine and likes to laugh a lot. He loves being entertained by Noah, who continues to be a great big brother. Brenton weighs a little bit less than Noah did at this age, but he's taller, so some of Noah's clothes fit a little bit shorter on him. he loves to be held a lot, but is now enjoying playing in his exersaucer and play mat for a few minutes at a time. He is also good at dodging stuffed animals that Noah may be tossing around the house.

Noah is learning more and more in his new class at school. He always comes home with new songs to sing and new prayers to say. It's always so neat to hear him bust them out at unexpected times. His imagination is growing more and more and he really enjoys pretending with his many Grover dolls. He is still very much in the "super hero" phase and is hooked on Super Grover and Super Why. If you haven't seen Super Why before, we encourage you to check it out. It has really helped supplement what he's learned about letters and numbers at school in a fun and interactive way. Here are some more tidbits on our always energetic, strong willed, and rough and tumble 2 1/2 year old...

Favorite foods: Pop-Tarts, Cereal Bars (only the Apple/Cinnamon flavor), pizza, fruit snacks, Chick Fil-A nuggets, Rice Krispies, Cheese, and sandwiches. He's not the best dinner eater, but eats his other meals really well. He is losing most of his baby fat and is looking more and more like a little boy instead of a toddler, which is bittersweet.

Favorite Shows: Sesame Street, Super Why, Thomas the Train, and Tom and Jerry. We really have to limit the Tom and Jerry, as it's pretty violent for his age. He thinks the cat's name is "Tom and Jerry" so he often refers to it as "Tom & Jerry and the mouse."

Other fun facts: He is always very proud to wear his "Rocky Top" (orange UT) football jersey and Peyton Manning jersey. He loves to pretend he's going to work and grabs one of our coffee mugs and a bag and says "I go to work...." leaves the room then returns and exclaims "Noah's home"...it's funny! He is good about memorizing songs and enjoys listening to the Roger Day kid's cd in his bedroom. He loves putting on his super hero cape and pretending to fly around the house. He's is still a VERY early riser...5:45 am wake-ups almost every day. Sometimes a little later if we're lucky, and earlier if we're not.

Here are some recent photos from the past few weeks:

Noah loves swinging on the back deck

Gabi decided to come cuddle with Brenton

 First bites of rice cereal

Eating a picnic dinner at the Balloon Festival

Loved feeding the ducks

Noah and Addie loved the balloons

Noah took over the exersaucer and loved playing with it more than B



Labor Day Weekend & Brenton's Baptism

September 4, 2010: The annual "Daddy - Son" helmet pic in honor of the Vols season opener.

Neyland Stadium looked awesome with the new brick facade. It was definitely time for a make-over! The Vols opened the '10 season against UT-Martin and totally beat up on "little brother" with a 50-0 shut-out win!

On Sunday, Sept. 5, Brenton was baptized at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church by Pastor John Wood. He and Noah were fantastic during the service. Noah loved sitting in church with us and listening to the choir and band. When Pastor Wood took Brenton from Eric's arms, Noah turned to us and said, "Hey, that's Daddy's!" What a funny moment! He's so protective of his little brother. After the baptism, Eric took Noah to his classroom since we knew he'd never make it through the sermon :) While walking down the hallway, Noah kept turning back to the sanctuary saying, "By songs!" and pointing his finger in the air like he was keeping in tune with music.

Here's Grand Don, Aunt Alyssa, Gigi, Noah, Eric, Tyra, JenMommy and Uncle Andrew after the service in front of a beautiful magnolia tree - the same tree we stood in front of after Noah's baptism on May 4, 2008.

This is the same blanket Noah had on the day he was baptized. It's a beautiful handmade blue and white blanket that we'll pass on in our family for years to come!

End of Summer Wrap-Up

On July 12, I went back to work after an 8-week maternity leave. Eric took this photo before I headed out the door to take the boys to school. We did the same thing with Noah after my return to work when he was 16 weeks old. I honestly thought I'd be fine dropping Brenton off on his first day because Noah's been attending the same school for a year now and I'd gotten to know all the teachers really well. Boy was I wrong! When we got to school, I took Noah to his class first and then headed to the nursery. I'd brought all Brenton needed the week before, so all I had to do was give him to his teacher, Miss Sherri. Well, I started to cry before I even handed him off! She was so sweet and said I could call or text her as much as I wanted to. Sherri sent me a text picture of Brenton later that morning and said he was having a great day so far. Since then, B's been doing great and as of this week, is no longer the youngest in his class because a 6-week-old boy is in there with him now.

Here's a picture of the boys playing together on the floor. They were both hamming it up for the camera! At the end of July, we went to my 10-year high school reunion. We went to Eric's 10-year reunion last year, but this time around I had to plan it.  It was a great weekend and I loved catching up with everyone, but I'm not going to lie...it's been tough planning it for the past year and taken up a lot of time, especially with a newborn! Eric was a huge help and my committee was great. If you want to see more pictures and read a re-cap, visit http://hendersonvilleclassof2000.blogspot.com/. We had a blast and loved seeing everyone.  

We had a great time for Alyssa's 26th birthday, too. Mom a.k.a "Gigi" came up and we celebrated at Bayou Bay and goodies from The Cupcakery.

Brenton is definitely getting more animated lately...just check out this face!

Here's Jennifer (JenMommy) hanging out with the boys on a beautiful summer day. It's tough to try and get a good shot with both boys, but they did great here!

On August 7, we went over to Addie's house to celebrate her 3rd birthday party. Noah devoured a strawberry cupcake while Addie enjoyed the frosting of two cupcakes. They are hilarious to watch together. He loved playing with water balloons, water guns and with Addie in the kid pool. As soon as Noah arrived, Addie grabbed his hand to show him around...she just melts my heart!

On August 18, the boys started the first day of the 2010-2011 school year. Noah was promoted to the older 2s class and we love his new teachers. He's been much more interested in going potty lately, too. I meant to get a picture of the two of them together July 12 on Brenton's first day, but just couldn't get my act together that morning! It can be hectic dropping them off and picking them up at times with bags, bottles, blankies, Noah's lunch, etc, but I love giving them kisses goodbye and seeing them first thing after work. Noah is a big help, too. For the first week though when he and Brenton started going together, Noah wanted me to carry him while having to carry Brenton in his carrier at the same time. Needless to say, my arms got a nice work out for a few weeks. Now, Noah runs to the front door carrying the security card and lets us in the front door.

On August 22, Brenton and I went to AOII Bid Day. Of course he had to wear red! It was great to catch up with the girls and show him off as he flirted with over a hundred cute college girls :) Noah stayed home and napped while Eric got some time in on the PS3.

There's a cute story behind this photo. Brenton was in his crib having tummy time and playing with some toys. Noah was standing on the side of them crib watching him when I grabbed the camera and took some pictures of Brenton playing. I kept telling him to "say cheese!" Well, after a few shots of Brenton, Noah looked at me and said, "I say cheese, too!" and tilted his head to pose. We love these little guys so much!

Eric's been super busy with work events lately and went to a conference in mid-August at Ole Miss. He ate some great food and got to hear Archie Manning speak. We're so excited for football season to be here and can't wait to cheer on the Vols this Saturday as they take on UT-Martin!