La La La

One of the millions of reasons I love Anderson is because he  loves it when I sing (he loves it when anyone sings to him to be fair).  Usually singing will stop fussing in its tracks and bring out the sweetest, pacifier-dropping, heart-melting smile.  Like this one I earned this evening:

Love, love, love, love.

He must have reached his limit today... this picture (just a song or two later) makes me laugh everytime.  :)  Making sure Mama doesn't get carried away thinking she's TOO cool.

Ha ha ha :)



and so it begins...

Well I did it.  I worked two days last week (Thursday, Friday).  Tomorrow is Monday.  The schoolday went pretty well.  I do work with the warmest, nicest staff ever and my kiddos old and new are very loveable.  But I missed MY boy very, very much, and I couldn't wait to get home.  And once I did I took 27 (I just counted) pictures of Anderson holding a ball.  He was amazing to his mama. :)  I'll share 4 of my favorite with you.

 Notice he is gripping it and even (accidentally) throwing it.  He's just starting to put things in his mouth, although he's not yet coordinated enough to do this very successfully.  He's growing up!

And as a bonus, look at this great picture of Ryan and Anderson!  Aren't they cute?

State Fair

It was the perfect day for Anderson's first trip to the State Fair!  A high of 61 meant we could wear our jeans and sweaters (although Anderson was stylin in corduroys) and be totally comfortable all day.  Great way to start fall!

We decided Grandma and Grandpa need alpaca!

Or a pig!  This adorable kune kune pig was for sale.  Unfortunately for all involved, nearby Mama was not nearly as cute as her piglets.

Grandma and Grandpa said no to alpaca and piglets.  Anderson's trying to move on.  ;)

Another mama and her baby boy enjoying the fair.

They were both humoring me on this one.  :)

The men loved the chainsaw carving.

Right at home.  :)

Giant pumpkins!  Grandpa got seeds from one...  next year??

Racing pigs

Flying Squirrels

 Our local AA baseball team is in the championship series, and Grandma, Grandpa, Mommy, Daddy, and Anderson were all decked out and ready to be Flying Squirrels (yes, Richmond voted on this mascot a couple of years ago) fans for the evening.  Anderson has enjoyed watching Daddy play softball, and he even enjoyed a Babe Ruth 12-yr olds world series game- awake and looking around for most of the game.  Besides, Anderson's daddy had gotten him the littlest Flying Squirrels t-shirt you can buy, so we already knew he would be the CUTEST fan at the game.

While he WAS the cutest fan, he was NOT the happiest.  Turns out that professional games are significantly louder than softball or little league, and it took one good hit by the Squirrels for Anderson to let us know he wanted OUT of there.  Mom and I walked him around behind the stands for a good little while so he could calm down.  We all hated to see him afraid.  We made a couple of attempts back out in the stands before deciding Mom, Anderson, and I would probably all be happier at home getting bedtime started.  Ryan and Dad stuck it out and enjoyed the rest of the game, although the Squirrels lost. 

We did, however, get a couple of good family photos- something we haven't had a lot of yet.  Anderson doesn't even look terrified!  :)

Next year we will be back, and I have a feeling Anderson will love it.  He is an Ives, afterall!

Maymont

Saturday the boys had a fantasy football draft, so Kelly and I decided to take the babies to Maymont.  They were such good babies!


Our first task was to fit both carseats and strollers into one car.  Luckily Kelly's new car was just the right size.  Here are the cuties in the backseat.  They didn't seem to pay each other too much attention, but they were great little companions.

Kelly and I didn't remember Maymont being so hilly, and on a warm September day it felt like quite a workout getting the strollers around.  We settled on doing most of our "sight-seeing" at the Nature Center, which was indoors with a/c.

 

 We saw fish...

And fish saw us! (notice the fish staring at Anderson)

The highlight for me was seeing the otters!  The babies had as much fun watching the kids watching the otters as anything else.

I was sure Anderson loved the otters, and I reached over the stroller to capture his (surely smiling) face while we watched them:

Haha :) He looks uncertain.


Next time (in beautiful fall weather) we'll really get out and about and check out the big animals, like the bears, bison, foxes, and bald eagle!  I'm going to love being out and about this fall.... but with October comes mommy going back to work.... so for now I cherish these hot summer days spent indoors.

CHEESE

 The smiles have begun!!  The first smile was spotted August 8th, but they are now a daily occurrence, and I LOVE it!!

 

 

 

Good Morning

Everyday is different, but most mornings start out about the same way.  I love our mornings, and I know how precious they are.  Soon they will be reserved for weekends and summer break, but for this sweet time in our lives, these mornings are wonderfully normal for Anderson and I. 

This morning...

8 a.m.
After getting me up once in the early morning, Anderson was still asleep when my alarm went off, so I got a few quiet minutes this morning before waking Anderson.  It still seems a little crazy to wake a sleeping baby, but we're working on getting a routine in place.  So when I can help it, our days begin around 8:00. 

 This has proven to be the perfect formula for a sleeping Anderson.  In the "Swaddleme", in the car seat, in the crib (and the green grass grows all around, all around...).

On the changing table working on waking up...

Look at this sweet boy.  He LOVES his sailboat mobile.  It has gotten more sweet smiles than I have at this point, for sure.  So I'm completely jealous but glad he loves it. 

8:20- Breakfast for Anderson, followed by cuddle time.  We love cuddle time!



Some days Anderson falls into another nap at this point, but other days we get play time.  Luckily, this morning he was ready to play.

Story time in our rocking chair...

Ryan built us the book shelf.  :)

And 9:00- play time on the farm mat. 

So that's it... Anderson gives all new meaning to "good morning."