Trip to NJ

This past long weekend I made my annual visit to NJ to visit Pop and Nana with the kids and to also spend some time catching up with some other family and friends. We had a wonderful visit and perfect weather so we spent a lot of time outdoors. Pop and Nana always love their long visit with the grandkids and are completely worn out by the end of the trip - lol!

Here is everyone playing outside in the yard. The boys got new baseballs and (extra wide) bats so they spent a good portion of the weekend playing with their new sports equipment. They both love baseball and will probably enjoy being on the tee-ball team over the next few years, if I were to make a prediction, based on their interest.

We've been trying to teach the boys to bat properly, which is difficult with a two-year-old and also with a four-year-old lefty! So, we are still working on this skill but are getting better every day :).

Ben steps up to bat...
Nate is on deck...

Miss Abby enjoying her view from the bleachers...("I'm watching baseball, so where's my hot dog and ice cream?" our little chow hound is likely thinking!)

Hmmm...the Yankees fan in the Mets batting helmet. What is wrong with that picture?

Yes, the Charmer is also the Jock. Watch out in a few years, girls! :)

Bath time for Abby. We figured she needed a few photos in Nana's kitchen sink, just as the boys both had taken. What I didn't anticipate was that although around the same weight, the boys were only 5-6 months old when their pictures were taken and were not yet crawling or pulling up, like Miss Abby. We had a few narrow saves at an escape attempt!

Mmmm...bubbles! Tasty :)

I think I'll just crawl right on out of this sink....or at least try!

We decided to go to the Bronx Zoo yesterday. We had wanted to do something with the kids one of the days and the prefect weather yesterday convinced us that it needed to be something outside. We hadn't been to the Bronz Zoo in over 2 years so it was nice to revisit it. The kids had a great time!

Pop and Nana with the grandkids (who won't smile for a photo!).

At the lion's den. Nate leaned over and told me that the lion was "be-u-ti-ful."

Peacocks were everywhere!

The giraffes...

The brown bears, another favorite of the boys.

The sea lions were another favorite. We remember that Ben called them "dinos" the last time we were here, when he was Nate's age!

The polar bears were another memorable exhibit for the boys but they just couldn't believe that there was no snow there for them!

The flamingos were also coined "be-u-ti-ful" by Nate since they are pink....pink like Miss Abby. I guess I know which color she wears a lot of around here :).

So smiley....and now with teeth (if you look closely!).

Walking with Pop, a favorite pastime!

Hi, it's me again and I'm still smiley (as always).

Nate was very serious about the exhibits and stayed longer than anyone else to analyze the animals!

Now this was fun. We turned a corner and discovered one of Nate's favorite books...in life-size form! Alphabet by Matthew Van Fleet takes you from A to Z, meeting all types of animals and being able to feel their fur, scales, scratchy tongues, etc. on every page. The life-size version was no different, and A to H were featured. Nate loved this!

Abby is starting to zone out and get ready for her afternoon nap.

Aaaaand.....we're out...and so is the two-year-old brother. They got more looks and smiles than any of the exhibits as we walked around the zoo :).

We're up again...just still trying to wake up in this photo but all rested up for the rest of our time at the zoo. Thanks, Pop and Nana, for taking us!

Abigail's 9-Month Check-Up

Abigail had her 9-month check-up this morning, which went along with a shot this time. Poor little girly is taking a late afternoon nap as we speak to sleep it off. This was the worst of the morning, apart from the fact that she missed her morning nap, and loves her sleep, so this wasn't the highlight of her day :).

All in all, she is doing really well and has no concerns. She is now crawling, trying to climb and pull-up, is waving, says some words that Andrew and I like to skew as either "Mama" or "Dada", eats well, sleeps well, is happy all the time. She checked out at 100% and the doctor was pleased to hear that she was only really sick once around Christmastime, even with two older siblings in the house. She is eating more than Nate these days (Mr. Picky) and is still a tiny little girl. Here are her stats for the day:

Height: 27-1/4" (25th%)
Weight: 16 lbs. 6 oz. (12th %)
Head circumference: 17" (25th %)

The only other thing we need to do in order to give her a clean bill of health is to take her for hemoglobin tests, which will check for anemia and any other blood disorders. It is routine at 9 months. I cannot believe that the next doctor's appointment we will have will be when she is one year old!

Keeping Busy Outside

Today's weather certainly made up for the fierce thunderstorms and rain we had yesterday afternoon; it was perfect outside with blue skies, a slight breeze and low humidity. So, granted, we spent the majority of the day outdoors. The boys could stay outside all day long and even Abby loves it now that she can crawl. So much more to explore (and try to eat, much to Mom's chagrin)!

The activity of choice today was riding bikes and using the wagons early in the day and then the swings later in the afternoon. Here are some pictures I was able to get when someone actually was still enough for me to flash a photo. Enjoy!

Wagon rides were first on the agenda. We have two Town and Country's - one was Andrew's as a little boy and is now Ben's and one Nate got for his birthday this year from G and CC. The original wagon was repainted 4 years ago and got accidentally left outside in the rain last year so now it is in need of a new paint job. So, usually the boys fight over who gets to use the new wagon since the paint on the original one is "yucky." But, of course, today Nate decided to get the old one out and naturally Ben wanted that one, too. Come on, give me a break for once! I wonder what will happen when I give the original one a new coat of paint over the next few weeks? Maybe we will actually have two boys with two wagons that nobody will fight over. Probably not...

Ben pulled first to exert his true position of eldest sibling. Come hither! I will pull you, my two subordinates!

Yeah, so that was short-lived. Next thing I knew, Ben had wheedled his way into the wagon and actually had Nate thinking that the better job was to pull the wagon! I repeat, Ben exerts his true position of oldest (aka bossiest) sibling. And, yes, to all of you offended oldest siblings out there, I can say this since I am the oldest sibling. I'm not bossy in the least though. Must be the exception to the rule, right, Mike? :)

So, Nate pulls the 55lb. load that is Ben and Abigail...with a smile on his face, as always. Except in pictures. Seriously, he was perfectly happy the entire time he pulled even though he looks quite bored in this photo. He knew I had the camera so he put on his best poker face!!

I took pity on poor Natey and told him to hop in the wagon. So now I get to pull the 85lb. cargo around. This was after I weeded some much-neglected beds for an hour while Abby slept. Uh, yeah, I think I got my upper body workout for the day!

Once the notion that I was serious when I announced I couldn't pull them for another minute longer sunk in (and the begging and pleading ceased), Nate decided to walk around and fill up the wagon with sticks. I love child labor! This helped to clean up the branches that had fallen out of the trees during yesterday's storms.

But I guess Nate isn't quite as "green" as his shirt, as he proceeded to take one of his sticks and start scratching frantically at the bark on this huge tree. In the second photo, he is pretending to ignore me when I start telling him how he is hurting the tree and he needs to be nice to our green friends. Oh, how I wish I had one of those cantankerous, old, apple-throwing trees from The Wizard of Oz to get the point across :)

Hey you, gimme that stick! How'd you like it if I poked and prodded at you all day long, Blondie?! Hee hee.

Abby sat on the grass and watched all of the action. And then she remembered that she didn't need to sit on the blanket anymore and could go off crawling and exploring. She was not at all weirded out by grass, as both boys had been when they first crawled in it. And this didn't surprise me at all since she is probably content about 99% of the time. She just got around, picked up everything and had fun exploring.

Love the ruffly heinys :)

I love her!!!