She Knows How to Relax

Yes, it took me way too long to actually post about this...here's what we did on Saturday. Thank you, Jen, for wondering what we did!

There is a place within driving distance where you can pick apples and do all kinds of fallish, apple-related activities, especially eating things made with apples. We went last year in October at the peak of the season. Traffic was crazy, but despite the crowds, we had a fun time. (I was very large and pregnant at the time and kept getting asked if the baby was due "any day." I got tired of explaining how he/she was not due until Christmas Day. This year, I feel soooo much better and am so thankful to have a cute baby in tow instead of a huge belly.) We decided to go again this year and caravanned with another family to share the experiences of the day.

Our dear friends, Tim and Jo, just posted about their apple picking experience. It actually looks like fall there! It is still very summery, hot, and dusty, here, but the apples are beginning to ripen anyway.

Our family is not very serious about apple picking, so we spent a lot of time goofing around, picnicking, and rolling down a big hill at our favorite apple orchard.

The boys

Our kids are pretty excited about the hill since we don't have any hills where we live.

Grace didn't know how to roll down the hill, and Jonathan tried his best to teach her.

You can see how excited she was to finally get the hang of it!

Benjamin kept himself occupied by scooting in the grass for a long time.

He needed to go visit his little buddy, Sofia. She's about the same age as his cousin, Charlotte.

Here's our crew. This was the shot with the highest number of people actually looking at the camera.

And here's the crew for a day. The hanging out family, and the family that was actually serious about apples. We had a fun day!

Must've Been a Good Day

Asleep

Asleep

Asleep

Not asleep!

Post on the actual day coming later...

The Tooth Is Out!

Can you believe he's old enough to be missing both front teeth?

Yet another tooth lost during a meal. It's a trend with Jonathan's teeth. They'll both be out for school pictures, which are just around the corner. It's a cute, classic, first-grade look!

And, for those who want the graphic details, here's what the snaggle tooth looked like a couple of days ago. It took a lot longer to come out than we thought it would. It has been hanging there sideways, looking crazy, for too long. I'm glad it's out.

He has blue eyes, (or so I thought,) but with this shirt, they sure look green!

What She Does

I should add that these are some of the constructive things she does. Both Grace and Benjamin are very interested in non-constructive activities these days...activities that harm the house or its contents or themselves. I spend a lot of my time keeping them out of trouble. But, Grace does enjoy a few constructive activities:

Dressing Maggie Leigh. She's the wooden/magnetic version of a paper doll and lots of fun.

Accessorizing and pushing the stroller.

Coloring. (It's very fun that she's willing to color this young! Maybe it's a girl thing?) She said, "I'm spelling the letters!"

Taking Requests

Every now and then, Jonathan will ask me what I'd like him to make for me. This time, I requested a baby in a crib. He came up with this creation, and wanted to make sure that I noticed the cushions around the baby and that he was wearing footie pajamas like Benjamin.

Because He Cries

So, I was thinking that I only post smiley pictures of Benjamin. Partly this is because he smiles so much, and partly because when he is crying (or yelling) I don't have the time to take a picture. I decided to take a picture of the poor guy when he was crying.

Then, I got the comment from Jen (on the post below) about this very issue, so here you have it, readers...a picture of sweet B crying.

While we're on the topic, I should mention that my kids seem to love each other dearly, and they show it by crying. If Benjamin starts crying loudly, Grace cries because it makes her sad. Or she hates the loud noise. If Grace cries or screams loudly enough, it scares Benjamin and he starts crying. As you can imagine, once that cycle starts, it's hard to break. And if Jonathan happens to be home from school at the time, he'll start crying in sympathy, too. It's quite the choir of cries. Especially if it happens in the car. Oh, my!

Nine Months

Our sweet boy is nine months old already! He had his month-birthday on Saturday and a checkup on Friday. He was 23 lbs., 3 oz., but only 29"...I'm never sure about the accuracy of the height of a squirming baby, and he was really squirmy. The doctor was really happy with how he was doing, especially because he had learned to sign "more" and "all done" as of that visit. Of course, he has quit doing both of those this week. He is very mobile and getting into everything, although he's not technically crawling yet. It's more of a slither on his belly. He can sit, but doesn't have any interest in sitting still. He can reach high enough to grab whatever is on the ottoman, mostly books, and pull it down on himself. (Not my favorite skill!) He can climb the two stairs to the playroom and pulled up to his knees today. I'm really happy that he's showing interest in pulling up. Not because I want him to grow up, but because Jonathan pulled up at 11 mos. and Grace pulled up at 13 mos., and since she was such a late walker, I'll be thrilled if he walks at a younger age than she did (19 mos.) That was a horribly constructed almost-sentence, but hopefully it got the point across! :)

He is still nursing, but not very well, and I have a hunch he's going to decide he's done soon. I need to teach him to drink from a cup, and quick!

Anyway, here's our bundle of joy. He's too big to be called a bundle, but he really does bring us so much joy.

Antics

Almost forgot to share these from August 25. Check out Benjamin's expressions in each of the pictures. My youngest two are a ton of work right now, with LOTS of diaper use between the two of them, but they provide so many laughs, the joy far outweighs the wiping.

Playing with the Little People House

Wearing boots, of course.

Pictures to Illustrate Jonathan's Story

Even though this is his third lost tooth, there is just something really important about those top two front teeth...

A Visit from My Nieces

My sister's twins have dropped their morning nap, so that means the beginning of a little more visiting than we've been able to do so far. Amanda and the girls came to see us last weekend. Here are some pictures we took. My three kiddos keep me hopping, but not-quite-walking twins are keeping Amanda busy in a different way!

What Jonathan Typed

I  lost  my  tooth!  This  is  the  story.  I  was  eating  my  lunch  and  I  was  like… huh?  My  tooth  was  out!  I  got  100  cents  from  the  tooth  fairy!  She  also  left  my  tooth  so  I  could  put  it  in  my  lion!  I  also  saw  my first  tooth  in  my  lion!


(It's official...I have given my children the curse of using the phrase, "I was like," in everyday conversation.  As if it's standard English.  Oh, dear.  Anyway, Jonathan wanted me to put this story that he typed on the blog!)

Clearly...

there is no question who these kids belong to!

Ben & Jen

I'm still behind on posting stuff that I don't want to forget about, so here's one from August 31. Jen and Delia came over for a visit, and here is Benjamin snuggling up to Jen while Grace and Delia ran around outside. Super cute!

Daddy's Girl

Cousins (August 30)

I guess you could call these the middle cousins, because the oldest (Jonathan) and the youngest (Charlotte) are missing. This was the end of a quick playtime at my sister's house.

Hello?