Pumpkin Patch

Our pumpkin patch gets more fun every year!

Rachel Visit

Rachel came to visit us last weekend! We cooked, we ate, we walked, we shopped, we relaxed, we held baby, we drank coffee, we wore pajamas, we worked on our laptops, we had mimosas, we played Legos -- it was lovely to have her here.

She noted that it was nice to visit on her own, because she actually got to spend time with Carter and be "Aunt Rachel" for a while. When we all get together, the kids are so involved with each other that we don't get to enjoy each others' kids (not that we're complaining that they get along so well!).

Back to Work

I started back to work last week -- just two days my first week back. The first day, John gave Thomas a pretty hard time, but the second day went much better. That may have had something to do with Rachel arriving halfway through the day, but I'm going to give the credit to Thomas' parenting skills. This week I worked two days in the office and two from home. The office days seemed to go well for Thomas and John. I'm trying to ramp up slowly and work from home when possible, so that I can feed John myself.

I'm not sure how the upcoming week factors into my ramp-up-slowly plan... I'll be in Las Vegas for a conference from Tuesday-Friday. But John will be with me, so I suppose it is just a step towards full-fledged business travel! Granny B is coming to meet us to enjoy some more John time while I'm in meetings.

We've had John's spot in daycare reserved since August. They take babies as early as six weeks, so he can start any day now. He won't go full time, especially now that Thomas is home, but it will be nice to have when he needs a break, and we'll need it when we're both back to work full time. We're actually anxious to get him started soon because he's in a class where several of the babies haven't been born yet (people are just paying to hold their coveted spot). We stopped by his classroom last week to drop off supplies and found that there are currently only two babies attending -- and there are three teachers in the classroom! So it seems like an ideal time to get him acclimated. 

On a break from work earlier this week

Granny B's Visit

Granny B came to meet John in mid-September. Her visit coincided with Carter's fall break, so she spent a lot of time with both boys.  (Our school district has fall, winter, thanksgiving, holiday and spring breaks - 1 week each, except the holiday break, which is 2.5 weeks.) Some pictures of our adventures below.

In less than 2 weeks, Granny B will be meeting up with John and me again in Las Vegas! (where I have a conference)

We took the train downtown

We tried a lot of sodas at World of Coke

And then we hit the aquarium

Baby tigers at the zoo!

Bronwyn's friend Polly is a docent at the zoo...

and she gave us a terrific tour!

We had dinner with the other Fowlkes

Granny B and John got some time together, too!

The Boys

Many things to blog. Currently too tired to do it. In the meantime, here are some sweet recent pics of my boys.

  

 

John - 4 Weeks

Here are some sweet photos of John that I don't think I've shared yet.

Mass on the Grass

It was Mass on the Grass at church again this weekend. Here's what the boys most enjoyed.

Brotherly Love

Carter continues (so far) to really, really love his brother. We have to watch carefully to be sure that he doesn't love him and squeeze him too hard, but it's very sweet. And, it's actually remarkable how much John responds when Carter sings to him...

Reaching Us

A note to the few people that have our home phone number and haven't deleted it in frustration after realizing that we never answer it - nor do we check the messages... Please delete our home phone number from your contacts, as we have disconnected it. We finally got tired of paying money for a device that was only serving to annoy us with it's incessant ringing, mostly from telemarketers. Reach us by cell going forward. I'll try to do a better job of remembering to turn my ringer on at home!

Thomas and Carter Time

Hoping to soften the blow of transitioning from only child to big brother, Thomas has been doing a great job coming up with one-on-one big kid activities to do with Carter. From water play, to attending the local high school football game to camping in the backyard (they made it the whole night in the tent!), this has been a special time for the two of them.

But, Carter doesn't just like weekends because of all of these fun activities. As he said this morning, he also really likes "home days" because, "I get to see my baby a lot."

Note from Thomas: In case anyone was wondering: a two person tent is fine for two adults, but not nearly big enough for one adult and a five year old. Also, for S'mores in the microwave (the grill is broken), 10 seconds is just a few too many. Marshmallows go a little crazy of you're not careful.

Note from Thomas: We left at the half, with Decatur up 57-0. I have not seen a final score yet (they might still be playing....)