Blessed by Bosnians...

Hard to believe that Dzemal was Mallory's age when we first started hanging out with our Bosnian friends and now he is in 1st grade! :)

Vahid even got down on the floor and spoon fed Mallory...it was quite funny!

Our Bosnian friends showered us with gifts tonight! We have been trying to get together ever since Carter arrived, but they are such hard workers and create their schedule in such a way for one of them to be home with their son at all times that this was our first opportunity to all be together! We are always so humbled by their genuine love and affection....We lived in the same apartment complex as they did the first yr of our marriage. There were refugees from all over the world living there. It was such a neat place to live! We started meeting with our friends and tutoring them in English and a friendship blossomed. Even though we haven't been the best tutors and there is still a language barrier (we know like 4 Bosnian words!) we know they would do anything for us and we would do the same!

Tunnelin' Towards 2!

There are so many fun things about this age! Mallory is communicating with us more and more! The down side is she also knows how to "push more buttons" and try to manipulate with HUGE crocodile tears...ohhhh she tries! But some of our fav phrases as of late are:

"I unna (want to) go!!!"...every 5 secs we have to switch locations!

"Hi!!! I see you!!!" with a gi-normous smile!

And when you put her down for nap or bed she says, "Momma?!?"....(or Daddy)...And we say, "Yes?" and she says, "I seepy!" So sweet...

She has also been SUPER needy lately...I think it is finally sinking in that she isn't the "baby" of the family anymore...so she wants to be held and snuggle more and she says, "My turn!"

And we are so grateful for all the toys passed down to us this weekend by Aunt Kirsti and Uncle Neil! She loves her tunnel and her castle not to mention everything else! Thanks Cousins Alex and Eleni! :)

Pumpkin Wumpkins!

Excitement! Notice little purple frog had to be a part of things!

She put her head in and started to nibble on the rim...hilarious! This girl loves to eat!

Then she reached in and grabbed a huge glob of seeds and pulp and put it in her mouth! Crazy! We had to redirect her to the bowl! And after a few mins and after realizing this event had nothing to do with eating she said, "I done!!! I done!!!!" And Daddy was left to finish...bc Carter was wailing wanting to eat from his seat in the corner of the kitchen...not quite the "Norman Rockwell moment" I was envisioning...but we made a memory! :) And Mallory loved eating the seeds once they were cooked...That's my fav part too!!! Yummmm Yummm!

Carter with the finished product! :)

Hayriding in the Hood!

Taking a trip around the neighborhood...

Mallory was so excited to walk the streets in her "raffe" suit!

Hanging out at home beforehand...

Looking over the balcony at Ginny and the "Carter Bee"...don't you just love the "toy aftermath" of a toddler...you can def see her wake! :)

We had so much fun with neighbors at the annual hayride! Ginny had to leave before the festivities...(SAD! We had to postpone until today bc it rained like crazy on Sat.), but Aunt Susan was here to enjoy it! Susan listened out for kids as they napped while I attended the whole thing...and then we woke them both up at 5 to take a quick trip before all the fun was over! (I totally forgot to put Mallory down for naptime today...what!?! How does that happen! So I put her down at 3:30 when I realized the error!) Susan then came back home with the kiddos and when I returned after the last caramel apple was eaten (except for the 2 I took for Mike and I to enjoy once he got home) Carter was happily asleep and Susan was feeding Mal dinner! People really took care of me this weekend! Susan then cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes! I am sooo lucky! :)

Mr. McSmiley

It's official! We have a smiler! :)

It Takes a Village...

How blessed am I to have so many people helping while Mike was up North for his Grandmother's Memorial?!?!....Friday night we stayed over MiMi and PaPa's and Sat. Ginny (aka Mary Poppins) arrived to spend some time with us!

Ginny makes the coolest towers...Mallory has to say, "Again, again?!?!?"

We had fun walking the trail behind our house and playing on the playground...Carter loved meeting Ginny and snoozin on her many a time! :)

Ginny even watched Mallory this morning when I went to church (I was on Welcome and couldn't find a sub last min) bc Mallory is fighting a virus (although you would never know it!) It was so nice to catch up with Ginny and also reminisce about the college years...

TOTAL Chaos!

I want to remember the time I was cooking dinner for a family at church, Mallory was happily playing independently, and Carter was snoozin'...when all of a sudden total chaos broke lose! :)

Both children instantaneously needed diaper changes! What?!?! And Maggie (our cat) bolted inside with a lovely "catch" and I had to throw her out and Mallory started crying bc there was a bird in our house and she was worried...meanwhile dinner is cooking on the stove! Craziness! We ended up playing "Hide and Seek" with the bird and found him in Mallory's "Big Girl Room" (Thank goodness he wasn't harmed.) We closed him off in that room and after much more panic from the toddler he eventually flew out of one of the open windows....whew! What an adventure! :)

Bundled for the Bus Stop

I'm loving my new job of Before and After School Care for so many reasons! Getting to see elem. age kids that I miss out on when I'm home, the joy the children bring to Mallory, and it gives structure to my day...not to mention being comforted by the way the Lord is helping us financially through it! It also gets us out and walking twice a day! I love the fall and the leaves are starting to finally change in our area!

"Sunshine spills through autumn colored leaves, lighting up their brilliance like stained-glass windows in a great cathedral, expressing the wonder of God's love, declaring His glory."

~Unknown

2 Month Check Up

We are so blessed to have Carter as a son! Can he really be turning 8 wks tomorrow!?!? He is showing more and more personality every day! He has the cutest lopsided smile and dimples!!! (You still have to work pretty hard for a smile...but he is learning!) He is following us around more with his eyes and really "looking" at us! So fun! :)

He did a great job at the doctors today....and here are his 2 month stats:

Weight: 11 lbs 8 ozs...75th%tile, height 75th%tile, and head 90th%tile

As compared with Mallory's at 2 months:

Weight: 8 lbs 9 ozs...8th%tile, height 10th%tile, and head 20th%tile

It's so neat to compare them and see the differences in stats! (A "moose" and a "peanut"!!!) And Mallory loves her brother and just learned how to say his name instead of calling him "Baby"...just in time for his 2 month appointment! Yay!

A "Berry" Good Time with Ber

We got to hang out with Ber this weekend for the 1st time since he was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma last Dec. (Susan has seen him a lot though.) It was soooo good to see him...he is such a CUTE little boy and so smart! He was our leader in the corn maze....it was quite an EXTENSIVE maze...we were so lucky to have him lead us! Please continue to pray for him and his family as he battles his cancer...please pray BOLDLY for healing! And visit

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ber

Pumpkin Patch!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We had an INCREDIBLE time this weekend at the Pumpkin Patch! Aunt "YaYa" (Laura) and her boyfriend Matt came up for the weekend and we headed over to the patch! Mallory loved all the activities they had! She loved the "corn pit" and didn't want to get out and she loved the barrel tractor ride. It was so cool for us as parents to see her doing new activities without being scared. It was also a little sad bc she is growing up and becoming more independent! Carter slept through the whole thing all snuggled up warm and cozy on Mommy. It was so nice to be with family all day enjoying Autumn! :) It was def. a "day to remember"!

Excitement with a Capital E!

Aunt Laura is in town from NC for the weekend....how EXCITED are we?!?!?!

Pure DELIGHT!

We didn't know if Mallory would like the "Barrel Tractor Ride," but she LOVED it and when she got off the first time she said, "Oriiiinge" bc she wanted to ride in the orange barrel next...it was hilarious bc she spun her wheel "driving" the whole time and was cheesin' it up when she drove next to us! There are tons more pics of our day that I will download when we get home, but my camera died at the end and I had to capture this with MiMi's camera...

Cousins are the Coolest!!!

We got to hang out and eat pizza all together before Mike headed back to chaperone the Middle School Dance...Mallory and Carter loved having their cousins over tonight for a visit! (Matt and Sandy had an out of town wedding to go to.) Thomas read a book to Mallory and every time he finished Mallory would say, "Again???" He was very gracious to read it 4xs! And after dinner Abby made a special dessert of whipped cream and chocolate chips...no wonder Mallory loves her cousins!!!

Go BROWNS!!!!!

Daddy's team won 35-14 last night and Carter enjoyed the MAGIC! :) It's neat that we get special time with him alone after Mallory goes to bed each night...and he usually has some good awake time! :) He also loves playing video games on occasion with Daddy in the evenings!

Debut de la iglesia!

Our handsome little guy....

This morning Carter went to church for the 1st time and was dressed in his "Sunday Best" thanks to MiMi! Since our babies have come early we always wait until their "official due date" to take them to church since it's such a large group of people. We had the wedding in MD on the 27th and then last Sunday we had every intention of going, but couldn't get our act together in time to make it! This Sunday we were still late, but that was bc of the "photo shoot" that happened before we left... :)! It was so nice to be back and fun for Carter to meet his Church Family for the first time.

Folk Festival!

Getting ready...Mallory loves helping MiMi with her makeup...

Both kids took their 1st ride on a bus! We took the shuttle to the festivities!

MiMi and I headed over to the Folk Festival today after naptime with the kiddos. There were a baQUILLION people there and so many vendors and lots of fun music! We mainly walked around and people watched....and wondered why Mallory is super gregarious and loudly greets people in situations like the festival and is so shy when meeting people one on one or in playgroups....Such a mystery! :)
I also wanted to say that yesterday Mallory said, "I wuv you" for the first time to me out of the blue without me saying it to her first...it was the BEST!!!! :)

The 2nd Floor!

Daddy and PaPa are busy building the 2nd floor today in this beautiful weather....

And Carter is doing some snoozing with MiMi...while Mallory plays...

What a fun day!!!!

Our Little Rascals!

I never want to forget how small Carter was as a baby....he has grown so much already!

Carter got the cutest "Lil Rascal Racoon" outfit from the Jenkins Family! Thank you! :)

We love our little rascals so much...they bring us so much JOY!

Rascal #1 has been quite spunky as of late...Mallory loves the kids who come for Before and After School Care now...at the bus stop the other day when the 4th Grader threw his hacky sack up really high and caught it Mallory said, "Niiiiiiiiiiiiice!" It was hilarious bc the inflection was perfect! She also has been saying "mine" and "no" a lot. She even says, "NO!!!!!....Momma I funny???"....goodness who is almost 2 going on 13?

And Rascal #2 turned 6 wks on Wed and is weighing 11 lbs on our home scale!!!! We think he smiled at us yesterday! It was the sweetest moment! I love when they can smile socially! Mallory came over and we all tried to make him smile again w/o any luck. Mallory smiled socially at 11 wks (6 wks + 5 wks early = 11....maybe he will be a pro at 9 wks based on his arrival!) For now we will have to settle for the random smiles and winks like the ones above in the cradle pic! :)

He and Mallory both woke up this morning with colds...Who knows why...maybe this crazy up and down weather or being in the mix with more kids! I think tomorrow we will have a low key day at home and try to shoo the sniffles away! :)

Back the Truck Up!

The view from our back deck...Can you see the work being done behind PaPa's truck?

The first floor is complete! Mallory loves her sandbox's new location!

Today was another phase of "Operation Playground!" Daddy and PaPa are building a swing set for the kids...Mike has been busy clearing a spot in the woods and now PaPa is teaching Mike all about construction! They got a lot done today...Can't wait to see what the next phase will yield!

As of Late...

I was snuggling with my little guy on the couch and looked down to see that he had grabbed some of my hair...he is so sweet!

Thanks for the fun carepackage Becca! I love decking him out in boy stuff!

The kids watching Super Why...such a cool show! The music is addictive...same with Sid the Science Kid...thank goodness the shows are enjoyable for the parents as well! :)

Feeding the geese with Daddy in our dream neighborhood...we def park our car and pretend to be residents in numerous neighborhoods in the area....

Mallory loves turning the light switches on and off now...she is also quite the commentator when it comes to the "baby"....saying things like "uhohbabycying" "babyhun-gee" "babyhappy"...she also has been getting more Time Outs lately....guess she wants attention where ever she can get it...she actually goes and sits herself down in Time Out now...(it's hard not to crack up) And I was wrong about her knowing the color "boo"...she just gets lucky sometimes and guesses it correctly!

Carter is 5 wks old today!! He weighs 10 lbs 3 oz already! He is such a sweet boy. And a noisy nurser (not dainty like his sister was) and often burps himself while eating...it's hilarious! I love when he is done eating and lifts his head up like a little turtle!