We had a 2nd birthday party for friends and family the weekend after Nathan’s birthday. Why in the world do I decide to have parties when I don’t actually like throwing them?

This is why:

(Perhaps you remember some of these babies?)

And this:

And definitely because of this:

My grandmother (GiGi) came to visit for the party from Dallas, which was really special. I am so grateful for the time that she and Nathan have been able to spend together and I hope there is much more to come.

More party photos here.

We went to Virginia last week to celebrate Passover with our friends Matt & Erika. It’s been a fun tradition to attend their sedars and this made 4 years! Things have definitely changed since our first one…by the second sedar I was pregnant…but the third we had Nathan and they were pregnant…and this year Nathan had a playmate named Penelope (or Elpy if you ask him). Even with the one year age difference they found ways to play together and seemed to have a lot of fun- Penelope liked following Nathan, Nathan liked bringing Penelope toys and he talked about her constantly, even this weekend after we’d come home.

Nathan made it through the four questions at both sedars, but didn’t want to sit still for long and ended up going to bed around his normal bedtime. He’s definitely a kid who likes routine!

In late November, Nathan and I met a friend and her daughter at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. Wendy lives about 2 1/2 hours away and Longwood Gardens was about halfway between both of us. We weren’t sure how the day would turn out because it was rainy, but there was an awesome indoor children’s garden with fountains that the kids are encouraged to play in. We didnt know this of course, and weren’t really prepared for two soaking wet kids, but they had a great time splashing in the water and running around.

Eventually the weather cleared and we took a nice walk and ate lunch. It was a great way to spend an afternoon and so nice to catch up with Wendy. Nathan and Ava are only one month apart, so I think they had fun playing together too. They would copy eachother, like one would take off their shoe, so the other one would too, or one would have a cup of water, so the other one would want one, and they were pretty similar developmentally so it was nice to hang out with another mom going through all the same toddler drama

Spray!

The kids were pooped by the end of the day!

In the last couple weeks we hit another farm and went to the Maryland Zoo again for their annual Zoo Boo. Nathan loved it all and doesn’t seem to get tired of feeding goats or watching animals, but I think Gary and I are ready to take a break since we’ve had two farm trips and two zoo trips in the last month (not to mention another farm and zoo trip in the late summer.)

A couple of weeks ago we met friends and their 19 month old at Elioak’s Farm. It was a gorgeous day and we got to take a hay ride and play in the pumpkins.

Nathan & Jonas

You know you wanted to see another picture of Nathan feeding goats…

Nathan really seemed to love the hay ride

Checking out a tractor.

This past weekend we met friends at the Maryland Zoo for their annual Halloween event. We didn’t do more than walk through the Zoo Boo part since most of it was too old for Nathan, but it was fun to dress Nathan up, catch up with friends, and stroll through the zoo. Surprisingly, Nathan didn’t mind wearing his costume and even liked roaring for us.

Nathan the Lion

The kids weren’t very interested in posing, but we had to try.

Nathan took his first spin on a Carousel and loved it.

More pictures from Zoo Boo here.

Nathan got invited to a fun pool party with his baby friends recently. We’ve only had a couple occasions where we’ve managed to get them all in the same room at the same time, so it was great to see everyone again. The last time they had a play date like this was in February, so you can imagine how much they’ve all grown since them.

Before we left for the pool, we managed to snap a few pictures of all the babies (er, toddlers).

Nathan (15 mos), Olivia (2 years), C (16 mos), Caroline (the host, 14 mos), Becca (13 mos), Jonas (16 mos) & Jackson (one year).

The pool was great because there was a separate kiddie pool that was no more than a foot deep, so the kids could play pretty freely.

Nathan still loved the big pool though, so we also spent some time there playing games we learned in his swim class.

It was a blast, and we can’t wait to see all the kiddies again!

This past Sunday we went up to Delaware to meet some friends at a zoo in Wilmington. We don’t get to see them much because they live 2 1/2 hours away, but Wilmington is pretty much exactly half way for each of us, so it was the perfect way to get together. Besides the brief hail storm we got caught in on the walk from the car to the zoo, it was a great day!

Nathan and Ava checking out the goats.

Nathan must have remembered feeding animals at the petting zoo we went to, because he went right up to the goats and tried to feed them hay.

Besides the goats, Nathan really liked the monkeys, some of the birds, and all the bright, animal shaped things in the gift shop. He came home with a plastic monkey head on a stick. A stick with a handle at the end that lets you open and close the monkey’s mouth. Of all the fun, soft, plush things in the gift shop, this is the thing he very clearly liked the best. Go figure.

After the zoo we all got some lunch before heading back home. Nathan decided a beer was in order. (Don’t worry, we didn’t let him drive.)

We visited Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA this weekend with some friends. It’s a great park for younger kids because it has lots of rides for the little guys. There was one ride that went up and down that Nathan didn’t like at all, and unfortunately we had to wait out the whole ride while he kind of screamed in terror, but at least we were with him. Other than that he liked everything else and we all had a great time.

He LOVED this bulldozer ride and got really upset when it was over. Watching him ride that by himself made me really proud, and made me realize what a big boy he is now.

Nathan loved the ducks and horses that we saw. I love this picture of him looking at me and pointing to the horses like “Look! Do you see that?!”

Other random pictures from the day:

Riding the train. I had to work for that one.

Playing with flowers and trying to hand me some petals.

Snack break with his bud Jonas

Running toward me. My new (awesome) camera (thanks Gary!) lets me take multiple quick pictures, so I got this cool little sequence.

Family Picture

Nathan was exhausted when we left and was falling asleep as he drank his bottle in the car.

More photos here.

We went to a 1st birthday party recently. They had pools, and a slide, and all kinds of fun things for the kids. Nathan had a lot of fun going from pool to pool, almost always toting a tennis ball he’d found.

They had a huge stuffed dog that Nathan liked cuddling with, though some of the other kids liked to cuddle with it too and he and C had a little head collision at one point. They were both fine

It was great to catch up with friends and see how much their babies have grown!

The weekend after Nathan’s first birthday we had a small party to celebrate. The timing worked out perfectly, so my brother was already on the east coast and could come visit, as well as my grandmother, mom and her fiance, Bob.
Gary’s mom graciously hosted the party (thank goodness because it took SO much potential stress away from me), and it all turned out great.

I think Nathan had a great time. He played on the floor with the other babies that were there, helped open presents, and ate lots of junk food, including a good bit of his cake!

Here are the other mommies and babies that came.

And some of the family

There are a TON of pictures here. Between the three camera’s going, we really got a lot.

Thanks to everyone for coming and for the awesome presents. Now Nathan has lots of great toys and a stylish summer wardrobe too!

“The Baby Girls” is what I call them, six of us who got pregnant within a few months of eachother, and one mom who had recently had her first (who is now about to turn 2!!). They have been a great source of support and friendship through pregnancy and beyond, and this weekend we made our second attempt to get the group together since all the babies were born (the first was last October.) We almost managed to do it, but poor Jackson got his first bad cold from daycare and couldn’t make it.

It was crazy to see how big all the babies are now, and so much fun to see them all playing together.

We somehow managed to get them to sit still for a few pictures.

Nathan definitely had fun!

There are more pictures from the afternoon here.