Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our Badger Cheerleader and her Football!

Here's the whole family ensemble.

Cheerleader, Referee, Football Player, Football

We went to a party at one of the preschools in our neighborhood so that Kylie could experience some Halloween activities with friends her age! It was so cute to watch her dress up as a mummy, paint pumpkins, and read stories with other kids. Brooks had fun too...He played with pumpkins, tried to put paint in his mouth, and danced to songs.

In the evening, we thought we'd have a little fun taking Kylie trick-or-treating. I thought it'd be the typical experience...You know, knock on a door, say trick-or-treat, get candy, say thank you, walk to the next house, and so on. I totally underestimated how AWESOME Halloween in the city actually is. First, it's basically all row houses pinned tightly together which means lots of doors in a small area. Also, pretty much everybody in our neighborhood went all out with decorations and costumes. People don't wait at the door either, they sit out on their front steps with HUGE baskets of candy and practically throw it at you. They also drink. So, needless to say, everyone is in good spirits. And this isn't just a small cluster of streets that do this...No, this went on for blocks and blocks and blocks. We walked around for about 45 minutes...I think we covered maybe four streets, and Kylie filled her bucket to the brim twice! We have enough candy to last us until next year, but, believe me, it won't last that long in our house! Clearly, we enjoyed it! It was a great Halloween experience!

Kylie dressed up like a mummy.

 Brooks thinking about whether or not he should taste the pumpkin.

He did.

Kylie in the costume parade!


Trick-or-Treating

 Here's an example of a typical house.
Lots of decor surrounding the doorway.
Adults and children of all ages dressed in elaborate costumes.
And there's our little cheerleader politely asking for candy! 

Washington, DC

Jon's mom travels quite a bit for work. Lucky for us, she comes out east on a pretty regular basis. Sunday was one of those times. She just happened to be down in Washington, DC, and we just happen to live a short driving distance from there. It actually ended up being a 2.5 hour drive, but so worth it for a little adventure.

We arrived in DC at 11:00am, and immediately decided to explore the Georgetown area. It's super cute with lots of little shops and restaurants. The sidewalks are all brick, and the houses are beautifully maintained. We walked around, ate lunch, and then headed to Kriss' hotel so the kids could take naps.

 Exploring Georgetown.

 Inside the oldest house in D.C.

After nap time, we drove down to the main Washington, DC attractions. We saw the White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and many other cool buildings.

My little girl at the White House!

 I don't remember most of the buildings, but they are all so beautiful that I had to post the pictures!

 The Washington Monument.

Unfortunately, it's being renovated and is covered in scaffolding.

 The back of the White House.

The front of the White House.

 I think this is the Department of Treasury.

 I can't remember this one either, but it was right next door to the White House.

 I had to take a picture of Jon's favorite president's building.

The Ronald Reagan Building.

 The capitol.

The Lincoln Memorial.

It was so fun to see Grandma Kriss for the day, and DC is a cool city. I hope we can get back there again before we are done out here!

Brooksie Boy is 11 Months!

I love this picture, but...

 Getting a good picture of Brooks sitting still next to his monkey and smiling is nearly impossible.

Here are a few examples of the boy who never stops moving...

You get the picture...

Another month has come and gone. Brooks is 11 months old and mere weeks from graduating to toddlerhood. It's a bittersweet time. On the one hand, it's wonderful to watch him grow up, develop his personality, and become independent. But on the other hand, it's sad that he's almost done being a baby and is needing his mama less and less. I truly do love each stage better than the last, though, so that makes his growing older a little easier! This little guy is such a joy and blessing. He is sweet, silly, and sassy. He shows his sweet side by giving big kisses, and cuddling for short periods of time. He spends much of his day being silly with his sister. They share a bedroom, and can be heard laughing at each other and "talking" to each other many times throughout they day when they are supposed to be sleeping. Brooks is actually the instigator most of the time. I can hear him trying to get Kylie to talk to him in the mornings and at nap time almost everyday. Those two also play chasing games, which always gets them both laughing as hard as they can. Kylie will run around the apartment, and Brooks chases her by crawling just as fast as he possibly can! As I mentioned, Brooks can also be a little sassy-pants! He lets us know when he wants something by screeching/whining at us. Usually he sasses when he wants some attention or wants to eat. He also puts up a big fuss fest when he is getting his diaper/clothes changed. But I love his little personality. I even like the sassiness...He's going to need a little attitude to keep up with his big sister!

Brooks is loving life these days. He especially loves to play with his sister, and with his cars. We really don't have too many boy toys, but he has found the few that we have, and he loves them. He drives the 3 or 4 cars/trucks/trains around all day long. He also seems to like being read to, though his attention span for books is about 30 seconds. I know I've said it before, but the boy loves to move! When he is awake, he moves constantly. Even when he is strapped into a seat, his legs and/or arms wiggle all over the place! He likes riding in the jogging stroller as long as it is moving. He LOVES eating. We still can't even sneak a bite of food without Brooks thinking he needs a little snack too. He eats anything and everything we give him. It's mostly good, but I've had to pull a few choking hazards out of his mouth a few times too. We have to keep a close eye on the boy! He still likes the pacifier, and has recently developed a strong love for the Wubanub. His is a dog, and it's hilarious to watch him crawl around with a little doggy hanging out of his mouth! He also still loves bath time. He does an awesome move in the bath tub now. He gets into a crawling position, and then crawls in place as fast as he possibly can. Imagine running in place for adults...except he crawls in place...FAST! 

There are very few things that Brooks dislikes...But he does let us know when he is not pleased. He doesn't like having toys taken away. He has actually started having temper tantrums when we take toys away. I was a little surprised when this happened for the first time a few weeks ago...He seems a little young. But it's a full on tantrum, complete with throwing himself on the ground, rolling around, and crying as hard as he can. I'm just ignoring it for now...Maybe it will go away!? He also does not like being in the stroller when it's sitting still. As soon as I stop for whatever reason, he wants to get out. He goes from super content when the stroller is moving to extremely agitated as soon as it stops. It's not all bad though...He keeps me motivated to keep on going! And probably his most hated moments of the day are getting his diaper/clothes changed. Also my most hated moments of the day. It's like trying to pin down a writhing, screaming, but really cute, alligator. And on top of pinning him down, I have to try to clean his bottom and/or get clothes onto his wiggling, flailing appendages! It's wild!

This time is clearly a time of rapid development. I can't believe how much he is changing each month. This month he started walking with the stroller (9/7), transferring between furniture pieces, opening cabinets, clapping (9/17), mimicking sounds we make (especially, "mmmm" when we are eating), saying a few new sounds ("ma-ma" FINALLY-9/21) and words ("car"-9/18), signing "more" sometimes, and holding his own bottle. At first I was doubtful that he was actually saying, "car," but now I am becoming more convinced. It sounds like, "gaaaar," and he only says it when he is playing with his dump truck, train, or cars. Also, he says it quite regularly, so I don't think it was a fluke. Regardless, I'm counting it as his first word! :) He is spending more and more time upright, so I am thinking that walking is in the not too distant future, though I'm not sure he'll do it by his first birthday. Physically, he is changing too. He is getting skinnier, probably because he is mobile. His hair is growing in...about the same color as Kylie's. And he popped through his second right bottom tooth on the 10th, so he is up to 6 teeth! His schedule is basically the same as last month, though his morning nap is getting shorter. He sleeps from about 8pm-7:30am (pretty sure day light savings is going to through this off), and naps from about 9am-9:45/10:00am, and 1:30pm-3:30pm. He is still eating four 5-6 ounce bottles a day of either formula or breastmilk at 8am, 12pm, 4pm, and 8pm. I just finished pumping last week, but my mom brought my frozen supply with her from home when she visited last week. We're almost out of breastmilk, so Brooks will spend most of his 11 month on formula before switching to cow's milk next month. I also plan to start working on the sippy cup this month. Hopefully he's not as resistant as Kylie was! I'm not sure what Brooks' exact weight is now, but I weighed him on our scale last week and he was at 21 pounds. He seems pretty true to his size as he is wearing mostly 12 month clothes, though I think he has big hands and feet. I haven't had him measured, but I'm pretty sure he is wearing a size 4 shoe. He is also still wearing a size 4 diaper.

I have moments when I still can't believe we are a family of four, and I have other moments when I can't believe I've only known Brooks for 11 months...it seems like so much longer! Either way, he is one amazing little blessing! We love being his parents and couldn't imagine a life without him in it! We love you, Brooksie Boy!

Our first visitors!

We've only been in Philly for a little over 3 months now, and we already had our first visitors! My mom and Aunt Nancy were here last Monday through Friday, and we had a blast! We were very busy doing lots of cool, Philly things.

After driving the 20+ hours from Minnesota, they arrived on Monday evening. We only had time to grab a quick dinner, but it was so great to see them upon their arrival!

Since Tuesday was supposed to be the warmest day of the week, we decided to do all the outdoor, walking, touristy things. We walked to the Reading Terminal Market, which is a HUGE, indoor farmers market. They sell everything from fresh meat and produce to chocolates to grilled cheese sandwiches. It's one of my Philly favs! After that we walked over to the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Definitely major tourist attractions, but it's always surreal to see those things and contemplate our American history. Then we walked around Old City a bit, which is a part of Philly that still looks like the 1800s. There are old row houses, cobblestone streets, and horse drawn carriages. It's beautiful and I love thinking about what that part of town looked like hundreds of years ago. We trekked home for naps, and then ate at Honey's Sit and Eat for dinner, a delicious diner a couple of blocks from our apartment.

 Grandma Susan and Kylie.

So happy to be together!

 Kylie and the Liberty Bell.

 Walking around Old City.

 Dolley Todd (Madison) House.

I don't know who she was, but the description said, "Home of the woman who would become First Lady."

I'm assuming it was President Madison's wife...

 One of many old cemeteries. 

The flags on the graves are the old American flag with 13 stars.

They are on the graves of men who fought in the Revolutionary War.

A cool, old sign in Honey's.

We heard there was going to be rain on Wednesday, so we decided that would be our shopping day. We made our way over to the King of Prussia Mall, which is the second largest mall in America (after the MOA). We actually didn't spend too much time there because there is an outlet mall about 15 minutes from there, and it's hard to pay full price when discounts are so close! :) We hung out at the outlet mall for a couple of hours (and got some GREAT deals), and decided to take a driving tour through Valley Forge on the way home. We were well into nap time, so we hoped the kids would crash while we drove. Of course, Kylie was too excited to sleep, but thankfully, Brooks snoozed for 45 minutes or so. Valley Forge was beautiful with the changing leaves, and interesting with the Revolutionary War history! We got back to our apartment around dinner time, so we ordered a pizza and hung out.

 My little shoppers!

 Of course, we had to stop and play for a bit! :)

 A monument at Valley Forge.

Notice the beautiful, red tree on the right!

Fall happens a little later out here!

 Old homes at Valley Forge.

When we were living in Collingswood, NJ with Joe and Catherine, Jon and I discovered a cute little town near there called Haddonfield. It has a bunch of little shops and big, historic houses. I knew I had to take my mom and Nancy there! So Thursday morning we headed over to Haddonfield, NJ to explore the shops. It was a little chilly, but very charming!

A dinosaur statue in Haddonfield that Kylie just had to get her picture taken with!

Since mom and Nancy were leaving on Friday afternoon, we just stayed near our area of the city, Center City, on Friday morning. It was cool, but we took a walk through the neighborhood, and ate lunch nearby. When it was time to put the kids down for nap, they took off on their long drive home.

The time went way too fast, but we had so much fun! We loved having visitors, and I welcome any and all to come out here for some Philadelphia fun!

Falling behind again...

I've been slacking on the pictures again because we've been having so much fun! Over the past two weeks, we've had visitors and road trips and lots of fun, fun, fun! Here's what we've been up to...

10/17/13

 Learning about the letter E.

10/18/13

 Visiting Benjamin Franklin's grave.

You have to pay $5 to get into the cemetery, but it's kinda' silly because that's his grave right there next to the fence!

10/19/13

 Enjoying Bloktoberfest!

10/20/13

 All dressed up for picnic with Jon's co-workers.

10/21/13

 It's blurry, but he's playing with his dump truck.

He said his first word while playing with this toy.

"Car."

10/22/13

 The Liberty Bell.

10/23/13

 Grandma Susan bought both kids new hats.

10/24/13

 A dinosaur statue in Haddonfield, NJ.

10/25/13

 Chillin' with daddy.

10/26/13

 They love each other!

10/27/13

My loves!

Visiting Washington, DC!