Spoiled!

The kids (including mommy and daddy) have been spoiled this Halloween. Oma and Opa did their fair share last week-end (see previous posts); Grandma Birch ("Ma B") sent homemade pumpkin cookies, a trick-or-treat bag filled with gum (Annie's new favorite thing), among other sundries via fedex yesterday (this is the FOURTH Halloween package from Ma B - earlier packages included Halloween lawn decorations, Halloween window lights, and a huge tin of popcorn and other treats); and then today, Nana and Poppy sent a Halloween cookie bouquet just in time for lunch - Annie couldn't have been more excited! While Annie happily munched away on her spider cookie ("I like spiders mommy!") , Harry sat drooling near by.

Sunny Sunday

We had a beautiful Sunny fall day in Boise with Oma and Opa. As you can see we all had some fun. Annie jumped in the leaves that daddy raked up; Harry played with his pumpkin in the shade with Oma; and Opa took a nap! (actually, Opa helped carve all the pumpkins).

Boo- at-the-Zoo

We had a great time with Oma and Opa and the kids at Boise's Boo-at-the-Zoo! Annie loved wearing her costume - she was Earnie the kitty (that's her cousin - Uncle Andy's cat). And Harry has got just the right sized cheeks to pull off the pumpkin outfit. We had fun checking out all the little costumes, Annie loved all the blow up decorations and people in character costumes (winnie the pooh and tigger), but most of all she LOVED eating her first sucker. She repeatedly told me: "I Like suckers mommy! mmmm!"

The Cook

Annie helped us make pizza pie crust on Sunday and we discovered (gloriously) that flour can entertain a 2 year old for more than 30 minutes . I remember going to visit our friends Sarah and Dave when their first daughter Ellie was about 2 and being amazed at how short her attention span was - she went from playdough to blocks to Dora DVDs to running around in her diaper all in less than 10 minutes. We now know that's typical 2 year old behavior so I was thrilled to make this discovery - I've vacuumed up flour off the kitchen floor nearly every day this week, but its been worth the 20 + minutes of entertainment its provided Annie!!

Prost!

We were in Salt Lake recently and caught the last day of Snowbird's Oktoberfest. Harry modeled his hand-me-down lederhosen (as you can see he was pretty happy about it - especially because mommy put him in red tights). Its amazing to think that Annie wore that same outfit just a year ago (which became inspiration for an amazing painting by Aunt Kathi). Prost!!!

Chocolate and Mush

We managed to keep sweets from Annie until her second birthday when she had home-made ice cream, but it has been down-hill fast since then. This week she had her first taste of chocolate (organic dark-chocolate chips). As you can see, she thoroughly enjoyed it!
Instead of chocolate, Harry's been getting organic brown rice cereal which can't be all that bad since nearly every time we give it to him Annie demands that she get "baby mush" too!

How Time Flies

I meant to start this blog about 2.5 months ago, but somehow settling into Boise and taking care of 2 little ones took more time than I expected. We wanted to start a blog because, well, all the cool kids are doing it, and also so that we can keep all our family and friends posted on the fun adventures we're having out here in Boise.

Annie is really talking up a storm these days - its great. For awhile her favorite sayings were: "Annie do it!!!" and then, "I did it!!!" Very cute ways of asserting her independence. Now, its "NO!" and she runs away. Not such a cute way of asserting independence (at least not when its happening to you - when it happens to someone else, like say, Grady, its a little funny).

Harry is 5 months old tomorrow. He weighs nearly 20 pounds and is probably close to 30 inches! He is BIG. He had a 1.5 week rough period where he stopped napping until we discovered that he was likely starving to death so we started feeding him more (not that he needs to get any bigger) and he's been much better. He is a very happy baby - making cute noises, high pitched squeals (yes dad, even boys know how to make that sound), gurgles, and one of the best full belly laughs you'll ever hear! He can roll over both ways and is starting to sit up all on his own for a few seconds.

Well, I think that should be sufficient for my first blog posting - fun stuff! I hope to post pictures and messages at least 1-3 times a week so remember to check out the blog on a regular basis.