just some leafy fall pictures

because the sun was too bright - this is what their faces looked like when they looked at me.

We went to the Marine Corps Birthday Ball on Saturday night. It was really nice and MUCH better than last year's. We actually ate at 7, instead of 10:30. Thanks to Karen for lending me her dress!

I took this picture of Alison the day after Halloween. I think this is the post-sugar coma look. We were 'sweeping' leaves off the deck. That or playing in them. One of the two.

These two really have a good time playing together. This makes me very happy. I think it makes Alison happy too.

It's really funny how they light up when the other one comes in the room. If Alison is in her room 'napping' or in the morning before she's up, Andrew will crawl to her bedroom door and push it open. I have to be careful he doesn't wake her up! She's always asking where he is too. "Did you put Andrew to bed?" "Where's Andrew?" I took her grocery shopping with me this morning and we left him home with Nick and she was confused she was not going to have her back seat buddy by her side.

These next two pictures crack me up. I got a new storage bin that isn't as tall as the other one. Andrew was going after something at the bottom and was pulling off quite the balancing act.

And yes, he did end up falling in.

How to enjoy yourself on Halloween

Order up some perfect blue skies and warm weather. And throw in some autumnal colors.

Go to the pumpkin patch and play in the cornbox.

Slide out of the bouncy house on the big slide with a friend on either side to make it less scary.

Unknowingly wear a matching shirt with you neighbor friend - and look doubly cute.

Swing on the swing with your mom.

Feed some animals.

Pick out a pumpkin.

Climb on some straw.

Swing tandem.

And dress up for some trick or treating!

Tagged, I'm it!

Okay, this is like the 4th time I've been tagged in the last few weeks, but this one I don't really have to think about - so sorry to the list girls, I'll get to them eventually.

Here is the 4th picture, from the 4th file in my pictures on the computer. This was taken June 1, 2006 in Oceanside. I believe this was baby Alison's first experience with green beans. She liked them then, I wish she wasn't so picky now!

I tag Robyn, Abi, Allyn, Debbie, and anyone else who feels so inclined. Don't worry, my feelings won't be hurt if you don't do it.

only the cool boys wear pink

I was getting ready in a rush the other day and kept hearing Alison say, "Andrew's a princess, Andrew's a princess!" I didn't pay much attention to her because everything is princess related lately. As much as I've tried, you really can't escape this 2-year old girl princess thing. Anyway, when I looked over to check on them to see how they were doing (playing quite well together, actually) , this is what I saw.

Oh, the horror. This will be good blackmail for down the road.

Yeah, Andrew. I kind of feel the same way about you in pink.

from Alison's perspective

I'm not really sure why, but she knows how to use a camera. She got a hold of Uncle David's camera while he was down here one day and took this picture. From her vantage point, he does look tall and scary. Just like an orthodontist should look.

Andrew stealing, Alison singing

Andrew loves to eat. Everything. I have to be careful because not everything agrees with him just yet. I keep forgetting that - he's only 8 months old after all. The other day Alison was eating her leftover pizza and he kept coming up behind her, pulling himself up and then trying to reach it. She was in the way so he came around to the other side. He was on a mission!! So here he is and I got Alison singing a song too - just because she loves to sing and I wanted to get it on video. More of her singing to come, I'm sure. Oh, and don't mind her taking a snack break mid-song. She just couldn't wait.

grandma speed vs. kid speed

I have so many pictures to post from our last couple of weeks with Grandma and our trip to Busch Gardens yesterday. But I thought this picture was interesting. It was a mistake - I've been learning how to use my aperture settings so I don't have to use a flash inside. The downside is the shutter is open longer and busy kids don't always come out in focus. That is certainly true in this picture. But I thought it was a funny representation of the different speeds at which kids and adults move.

Maybe this is why I feel so tired all the time?

We're so glad when daddy comes home!

Nick is finally home from his month-long business trip! Alison really is happy to have him back. She's just going through her "contrary" phase. If I want her to do something I have to tell her NOT to do it. Like, "Don't you even think about going to take a nap!!!"

And this is how Andrew looks every time he sees daddy. Permagrin.

The bummer is that now I have to take Grandma to the airport to go home today. We sure have had fun with her!

isometric exercise with weights

My brother, David, took Alison for a run the other morning. Then he was doing some post-workout stretching and stuff. Alison decided she needed to help him out. Or something.

When we went to the park last week Alison wanted to help push Andrew. She almost got knocked over a couple of times. When he started grabbing his toes like this I decided the title "monkey-boy" was going to fit.

all that braiding hair in high school paid off

The many expressions of my almost 3 year old.

little devildog

We went to the National Museum of the Marine Corps yesterday - it was really cool and a great place to go (without toddlers, so you can actually look at stuff). David found this in the gift shop and couldn't resist.


Thanks for the cute bib, Uncle David!

Baby Bear

Around the time Alison was born there were 2 baby pandas, one at the San Diego Zoo (where we were living at the time) and one here at the DC Zoo. We were all enamored with the Panda cams and watching these delightful little cubs interact with their mothers. It was a little uncanny how the interactions were not that different than ours with our own children. My mom got Alison this bear when she came to see us. The bear hugs, makes noises, and slurps its bottle. It's really pretty cute. But it was too much for a little baby at the time, so it got put away.

The other day while I was cleaning out Alison's closet, I found it. It is perfect for her right now and she loves taking care of her baby bear. It's pretty cute. She's pretty happy taking care of her animals. Last night she was in her room showing Andrew all of her stuffed animals and telling him what each of them were.

She got confused as to where the bottle goes here, I guess. She really loves Andrew. They love to be around each other. He lights up when she comes into the room and she is always asking for "my Andrew". Like the other day when she was upset in bed, "I need my Andrew!!".

I also overheard her one day calling to him from her room, "Andrew, come here! I NEED you! I really love you!" She gets frustrated when he doesn't come when she calls for him. And right now, he's just woken up and she asking, "can you go get Andrew, mommy?"

I better get going!

practice

I took Andrew outside today to practice with my camera. I got some good shots, but halfway through realized I was overexposing them with my aperature setting. So now, he just has an angelic glow.

Here I fixed the setting. But you can also see the evidence of that tooth that came through today. I was wondering why he was drooling all over the place!

the cookie monster

Andrew loves cookies. He really just loves food. He eats pretty much anything I give him. It's a good thing his first tooth broke through today! (or maybe it was yesterday...)

swing induced daze

Wrestling

Nick and Andrew were having a wrestling match the other day. Andrew was protesting.

Free at last.