It was a spooktacular day!

We had a fun Halloween today. To start the day, Caleb and I met Heather and Isaac at Bull Run Park to go hiking. I had another case of mommy brain...about halfway to the park I realized I had a jacket for Caleb, but not for me. It was in the 40's, and fortunately Heather packed an extra jacket - thank you Heather -:).  We had a good time hiking, and afterwards we had a picnic and talked for a while. It is very nice having friends with babies around the same age, and it will be fun for the boys to play together as they get older. Just look at those cute little boys!

This evening we took Caleb trick or treating at a few of the neighbors houses, and then he helped us pass out Halloween candy to the neighborhood trick-or-treaters -:). Our cute little dalmatian (not a cow) got tired about halfway through the evening, so we put him to bed and hung out in the rocking chairs outside to pass out candy (with the baby monitor on -:).

Our neighborhood was alive with kids of all ages trick-or treating, and we got a few laughs during the night too. There was the stalker car...yes, someone was driving from townhouse to townhouse (to keep warm?) while their kids went door to door, and then their was sweet little Rapunzel. This adorable little girl ran up to our house yelling trick-or-treat, and when she bent down to get candy she farted really loud. Not even flinching, she looked up, said 'excuse me,' and then thanked us for the candy. Now that's good manners! Our candy bowl was pretty pathetic by the end of the night and we got desperate and scrounged up some starburst and werthers. Hopefully our house does not get egged.

Happy Halloween!

Sisters, Sisters, Sisters....

Yesterday I saw lots of sisterly love. I do not know many people in the DC area with 3+ kids, more less 3 girls, and here we have a couple of friends with that lucky combination - the Kerns (Justin and Tara) and Warnick (Justin and Sara) families. The Warnicks are only here for a couple of more months before they leave for Addis Ababa for the next couple of years, so I'll call it two families with 3 girls in VA for now -:).

A couple of weeks ago, Sara and Justin welcomed their 3rd little girl, Ashlynn Olivia, into the world. I was excited to go visit yesterday to meet Ashlynn, and to hang out with Sara and big sisters Addie and Bella. Ashlynn is such a little angel. She has a very sweet and calm temperament and looked so peaceful sleeping. She was sleeping the whole time I was there...good girl!  A highlight of my visit was watching Addie and Caleb interact with together. I find it amazing to watch kids play and laugh together. I love the innocence and joy they share, and I wish at times that we can be more like children.

 

Afterwards, we visited Justin, Tara, and their 3 daughters. They always have fun playing with Caleb and it was good to see everyone. Zoey and I had an intense game of Chinese Checkers going while Delaney and McKenzie played with Caleb. Dad and mom got their baby fix too -:). All of the girls are so sweet with him, and here is a cute picture of Delaney and Caleb.

Our little guy was a great sport for being drug around all day with mommy!

Those People

This weekend we had a night out on the town in DC. On Saturday evening, we met one of Nathan's childhood friends from Salem, Tim Tolka, downtown. Tim just started a 2 year graduate program this fall at American University, and it was fun for the two guys to get caught up and for me to meet him. We ate dinner at a nice Italian restaurant and the food was delicious. I was however getting the stink eye from the host for bringing a baby into the restaurant...likely because he was scared that he would scream and ruin everyone's dining experience...I felt like we were 'those people.' Caleb was such a good boy, and when he got tired I took him outside to fall asleep. Once asleep he was out like a light for the rest of the night aside from waking up briefly to eat at 10:30. We are not negligent parents, but we did think it was funny walking down the streets of DC at night with Caleb in his car seat with a blanket over the top to keep it dark. I'm not sure people passing by us really knew what to think -:).

After that we started heading home, and who would have known that I-66 would be taken down to 1 lane on a Saturday night....2 hours later at 1am we finally arrived at home, and Caleb stayed asleep in his car seat until 5:30am! The next night he was back to 4-5 hour wakings, which is just fine.

We were too tired to get up for church on Sunday so we (all 3 of us) slept in till 9:30, and went to Mackenzie's soccer game at Long Park. She played really well, and it was a very nice day to be outside. Afterwards Justin and Mackenzie came over to give us a double bike/jogging stroller that we can use when Caleb gets a little bigger - thank you very much! Caleb loved playing with Mackenzie and Justin, and I think we have a future babysitter -:)

Here is a video of our little talker this morning. He is one happy boy, especially when he wakes up in the morning!

Smiles!

It is not easy to catch smiles on Caleb's face, but this sure was a good one! One happy boy -:).

Let's get outside!

This past week we went outside a lot since the weather has been really nice, and I am enjoying it before it gets too cold in the next couple of months. Here are a few pictures of the beautiful fall week.

Run mommy run

This weekend I ran in a 5k race. It started and finished at Battlefield High, our local high school, and the course was down one of the main roads in Haymarket. The last time I entered a race was the half marathon in December 2010 where I injured my achilles and foot and was on crutches for a few weeks, so it was a lot of fun to get out and do a race again. Nathan and Caleb were my #1 fans and they cheered me on at the start and finish.  I finished the race in 25:00 which was one minute faster than my goal time, so I was happy with the results. This was Caleb's first race, and we told him his daddy spent a lot of time on the track growing up and maybe he will too when he gets bigger. He was a great sport, considering it was 45 degrees and early in the morning! Thank you Nathan for supporting me and for the race day photography -:). 

 It was a beautiful morning for a race

All done!

 Mommy and Caleb post-race

Mommy and her number #1 fans

 Daddy with our future runner

 I loved my first race!

3 Months Old!

It is hard to believe that Caleb is 3 months old today! Where has the time gone?? He is sweet as can be and just pure joy and love. At 3 months, Caleb smiles and coos a lot, he can entertain himself for a while on his playmat, enjoys tummy time, and he holds his head up very well. He loves playing with his hands, putting them in his mouth, and he holds onto small things like his puppy dog, car keys, pacifier, necklaces, and shirts, just to name a few. He likes to try to stand up and he kicks his legs and flaps his arms a lot. He nurses every 3 - 3.5 hours, sleeps 4-5 hour stretches at night, and naps 4-5 times a day for about 45 minutes each. He wears size 1 diapers, he fits into 0-3 month and 3 month clothes, and he loves to look at himself in the mirror. We love you Caleb and we are so thankful to have you in our lives!

We love the fall!

We have had amazing fall weather, and the leaves changed a lot thanks to the rain we had everyday last week. Nathan had midterms this Friday and Saturday, and then had Monday off for the long Columbus Day weekend, so we took a few family outings and enjoyed the long weekend.

On Saturday evening my friend Courtney and James got married. Courtney looked gorgeous and James very handsome. It was a beautiful ceremony, fun reception, and we ended up knowing quite a few people from work there.

Caleb did great at his first wedding and he was a huge hit with their guests.  He was quiet during the ceremony and awake for most of the reception. Poor little boy was so exhausted by the end of the night, and he slept for 7 hours before waking up to eat! (If only he would do that every night -:). Doesn't he look so nice?

On Sunday we went to church in the morning and dropped Caleb off at the nursery. He did very well and the ladies enjoyed watching him. Afterwards, we met our friends Josh and Melanie for lunch and then went on a short hike at the Manassas Battlefield. Caleb loves to be outside, and it was a fun day with friends.

Since Nathan was away for his birthday and our anniversary we celebrated them on Monday at Shenandoah National Park. Fall is in full effect at the park, and the leaves were so colorful. This year they were more of a burnt color and less bright and radiant, but still beautiful. We did a hike on the Appalachian trail, stopped at a few overlooks, and drove through part of the park.

On the way home, we stopped at Striebling Orchard and pumpkin patch to look around and eat apple donuts and have apple cider.

Another fun day and a tired sweet little boy!