Land of Nod

It's Friday night and I'm home alone. Yes, I should be doing umpteen different tasks to make myself feel as if I have accomplished something today. There's an Open House on Sunday to straighten up for. I could use more baby food (yes, I make my own. And yes, my food processor just broke in the middle of making a batch. Ugh!). I have volunteer and ministry work I need to get finished for early next week. But instead, here I am. Online. Again.

Apart from a brief visit from some friends this afternoon, today has not felt very productive. The dreary weather made for a *fun* trip to the grocery store with two babies. Due to unforeseen circumstances, now that I think about it, I didn't really get to complete many of the tasks I attempted to finish. And let's not forget that I am lamenting about not getting enough computer work, cleaning and baby-food-making done on a Friday night. Woohoo, exciting weekend here in North Wales!

And then I took out my trusty spirit-booster, my little mechanical fix, and decided to go visit my favorite subjects in "stalker mom" mode. Yes, I took my camera and headed to the boys' rooms and here is what I found.

Benjamin...

Nathaniel...

And all of a sudden my night seems brighter and less of a waste. It is amazing how peaceful two of the most spirited, silly, and energy-filled little boys can look in the Land of Nod. Like two angels. These two little boys have captured my heart and I love them both so dearly!

Apple Picking

Today we went apple picking with one of our playgroups at Tabora Farms and Orchards in Chalfont, PA. We had a lot of fun, even if there were hardly any apples to pick (literally!). All of the apples on the trees had black spots so we literally left with ONE apple. As we were walking through the orchard, Ben kept saying "one apple" in this sad, little voice. He had been looking forward to this for a week and I had told him we would buy an entire bucket to make applesauce and other goodies with. So, he didn't understand why we only picked one! We will have to go someplace else to pick apples soon but the good news is that we had a great time with the playgroup and bought some apples and other treats from the market before leaving Tabora. Plus, Ben got to eat his lone apple for lunch today and really enjoyed it! :)

Ben on the prowl for apples without spots. At least he and the other kids had fun running through the orchard!

Ben picking our prize apple. Ha ha!

A group shot of some of the kids, namely all of the "big boys." This playgroup has many, many boys from 2-3 years old so it is perfect for Ben. Plus, many of these boys have little brothers (and yes, a few sisters too, even though the group is mainly boys) around Nate's age.

The funny part about this group is that I joined it after striking up conversation with two of the moms at a local park near my house one day. Turns out that many of them live very close to our new house in Telford and had just happened to be down my way for the day but they usually meet in the Telford area. So, I joined the group and later found out that a good friend from college and my roomate for a year - Sarah Stewart - is also in the group! There are two small playgroups that meet every week at different locations and then all of us get together every few weeks for a big outing. So she goes to the other half weekly but will be at the large outings with me every few weeks. What a small world! It was nice to see Sarah and the kids today.

Here's another group shot of the big boys without Ethan on the right but with Sarah's son Will right next to Ben.

Brothers

This is just a fairly decent recent photo of both boys together. With an infant and a toddler who likes to not look at the camera on purpose when I try to take his picture lately, it's hard to get a decent photo.

6 Month Pediatrician Appointment

Today I took Nate for his 6 month check-up. Apart from several shots that he needed to get, he had a good visit and flirted with the doctor the entire time. He loves ladies, our little man! She said that he is a bit ahead of the schedule physically given his rolling, sitting and lunging/scooting habits lately and that his bottom two teeth are on the verge of popping through any day now (as if his teething behavior lately didn't already tell me that :)). They were impressed with the variety of foods he prefers - avocado, prunes and sweet potatoes being the favorites - and also with his sleep patterns - over 12 hours at night (10 hours straight and then back to bed for a few more hours) and approximately 4 hours of naps a day. Here are his stats:

Height: 27" (55th percentile)

Weight: 16 lbs. (25th percentile)

Head Circumference: 17-3/4" (50th percentile)

His weight has dropped a bit since last month (percentage-wise, not in actual pounds) as he had always hovered around the 50th percentile, but they said it's no cause for concern since he still nurses well and is eating two meals a day. They think it's just because he is so physically active so early. It's strange for us to have a child in the lower percentiles since Ben was always our large, strapping boy in the 90th+ percentile :). Of course the difference in weight is so minute that Nate doesn't seem much smaller than Ben was at this age. Just goes to show that all babies are different and our two boys are as different as can be!

WE CLOSED!

We are excited to announce that after over 14 months of trials and tribulations, a whole cast of shady characters we had to deal with and waiting, waiting, and more waiting...we are finally owners of a house and piece of land in Telford, PA. This is a long story but in a nutshell this property had a questionnable past that needed to be sorted out before we could purchase the place - 2 foreclosures and a bankruptcy being the biggest obstacles we had to get past. As of approximately 1PM yesterday afternoon, though, we own it! Now we are focusing on getting the house and land fixed up and also selling our current house.

Andrew and I were there until late last night cleaning and will be there again this week to get some odds and ends done. He plans to start construction of some improvements in the house we plan to make this Saturday. In the midst of scrubbing and disinfecting last night, I forgot to take any photos of us looking our finest :) but I will be tracking our progress going forward on a blog that I created last summer when this whole process started.

There is a link under my Friends and Family section called Our Big Move. Or, keep checking our progress at http://martinbigmove.blogspot.com We have our work cut out for us these next few months and we plan to move in in Novemeber. We will keep you posted and we hope you all will come and visit us very soon!

Little Cutie

What can't you love about this little face?

Eating his toes, a favorite pastime of nate's lately...

Painting with Brushes

During today's thunder storm, I broke out the poster paints and brushes and Ben had his first stab at "real" painting. He has only done finger paints up until this point. What a fun time he had!

Starting out nice and neat, exploring his new art supplies:

Ah ha, I knew that wouldn't last very long from Mr. Messy himself!

Alright, which one of you brushes splattered me with red paint?

Ben likes to get messy but doesn't like to be messy lately so we had an interim clean-up.

All clean again! (well, sort of!)

Getting cleaned up at the end. Do all of you Ramapo-ers recognize this shirt? Who would have thought that my 2-1/2 year old would be using it as a smock, eh, several years after graduation! :)

Backhoe

Our friend Steve recently bought a backhoe and well, Ben has been obsessed with it ever since we told him about this, even though he had never really even seen it up close! It's one of his favorite trucks so he just found it amazing that his friend's daddy actually has one! So, the other day when we were visiting, Steve brought the backhoe home from his office and Ben finally got to see it. He was a bit too afraid to go for a ride on it but he did warm up to standing on it with Tyler to explore. Here are the two boys with their big yellow machine:

Finger Foods

Doesn't Nate look like the biggest boy sitting in the high chair eating Gerber puffs and drinking from a sippy cup? I decided to try this after talking with some friends this morning who said they have tried some Puffs and Cheerios with their 6 month olds. Nate will be 6 months old in a week. He's getting so big!

Rough Housing with Barney

Ben loves to rough house with Barney and as you'll see, Barney is a big Gentle Giant who just sits there and lets Ben do anything to him. And yes, Ben does get reprimanded when he pulls Barney's ears or tail (hence the reason why I stopped the video, to deal with the toddler!).

Cooing

Mr. Personality getting changed.

Samantha's Birthday Party

This morning we went to Samantha's 2nd birthday party. What a fun time! Here's the birthday girl eating her butterfly-shaped cupcake. Yummy!

Ben enjoyed decorating his cupcake and then tasting it.

Nate had fun too...this was the first birthday party for a friend that he has been to. He loved the swings out back.

...and had a fun time in his seat for a little while even though he was exhausted and missed his morning nap. (Of course a few minutes after this picture was taken, he opted to have Mommy pick him back up, as usual!)

Ben and his buddy Jonathan in party hats with their moms. Even the little guys can have fun at a birthday party. Samantha handed out special goody bags for the two little guys - a big baggie of Cheerios!

The three newest members of our group with their mommies: 1 month old Brianna, 7 month old Jonathan and 6 month old Nate.

Blankie

Someone is very happy snuggling up with his blankie!

Labor Day Weekend

We spent Labor Day weekend with Grandpa G, CC, Maggie and Billy at the NJ Shore house. It was beautiful weather and we did lots of activities so it was a great time for all. Ben had so much fun that once we got home, he slept for over 12 solid hours last night and took a 4 hour nap this afternoon to recover!

Here, Andrew and Ben are getting ready for a boat ride to see the Barnegat Lighthouse.

On the boat. Ben barely protested this time when we put the life jacket on him and really enjoyed the ride. He is obsessed with seafaring lingo and was actively pointing out all of the buoys, boats, bridges, the lighthouse and all of the symbols on the signs.

He loved playing with the buoy!

The swift sea air can make one drowsy, Ben included. Here, he takes a little snooze in his Daddy's arms during our trip. How cute is he in the last photo, curled up into the fetal position while sucking on his fingers?

Our destination!

We went to Jenkinson's Boardwalk and unlike the 4th of July weekend, when Ben was terrified of the rides, he actually enjoyed them this time and wanted to keep riding the truck-themed ones!

Here we are on the Crazy Bus ride.


Here's Ben on his favorite ride, the Big Rig truck ride! First with Grandpa G and then all by himself!

The pony ride, again all alone! He also went on a firetruck ride by himself but my photos did not come out. I can't believe this is the same boy who screamed on every ride just two months ago!


Nate chilled in the stroller for our entire trip. What a charmer he is, now that he's close to 6 months old. He'll smile at everyone!

Yum! Ben always loves a good treat!

Nate had his first experience with the sandbox this weekend, now that he is interested in observing the world around him and is also able to sit up. He loved feeling the sand in his fingers and playing with the sand toys.

OK, more fun photos of Nate while I was home alone with him one afternoon while the rest of the group went on the boat. He had a great time playing on the floor and being watched by Charlotte and Frances, the French Bulldogs.

One other afternoon on the boat to watch Andrew and Billy ride the tube. I tried this a few times in the past and am not outdoorsy enough to brave it again!

Maggie and Billy and then Ben and I on the boat.

Andrew at play on the tube. He loves that thing!

Billy had a great time, too!

Finally, some miscellaneous pictures of Andrew, Grandpa G and CC playing with the kids in the sandbox one evening.