October so far...

I do LOVE October, but this one has gotten off to a sloooow start.  Almost entirely due to a yucky hand, foot, and mouth virus that the boys both had.  Anderson came down with it the weekend we had planned to go to the fair.  He woke up feeling great, super excited for the fair.  We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel, arrived, quick family photo:

(We tried.)

And in no time, he looked like this...

And then this...

Poor baby!

Brady even fell asleep in his stroller right as we got to the animals, which I knew he would love to see.  Luckily a 20-minute nap was good enough for the time being, and when he woke up, he really seemed to enjoy the animals...

I love his tippy toes!

We even managed to squeeze in a pony ride for this little guy before heading home...

(That's his brave face.)

So not exactly the fun-filled day I'd looked forward to, but it was a nice little trip.  Hopefully next year we can make the most of it.

Anderson was burning up by that night, but his fever was down to 100 Monday morning.  I planned for him to miss school Tuesday, although by Monday afternoon and definitely Tuesday he was feeling so much better.  Then Wednesday morning, a few spots appeared on his chin, hands, and feet.  Womp, womp...  I was worried he'd end up feeling bad again, but he never did.  Except for Sunday, the virus barely slowed him down.  He ended up missing school Tuesday and Thursday (so all week), but luckily had a very mild case.

Then Friday night (after a fun date night with the late movie), Brady woke up crying throughout the night.  Finally at 5:30, there was no getting him back to sleep.  This was the beginning of a much worse case of HFM for my little guy.  Saturday night his fever was 103.7 with no spots yet, and he was up allll Saturday night, so I took him to the doctor Sunday morning.  Literally, between the time I got him in his car seat Sunday morning and the time I got him out (20 mins.), the spots started to appear.  I almost didn't take him in, since now I was sure it was that darn virus.  But I did, and I'm glad I did.  We saw one of the best doctors at the practice, and she confirmed it was just a bad case of HFM.  She showed me the blisters that were already in his throat, and gave me a recipe for some "Magic Mouthwash" that would coat his throat and ease some of the pain.  

It took Brady several days to start feeling better, and the sores on his legs are still working on healing.  But as of Friday, I'd say he's finally feeling 100%.  Yay!  So we finally got a fun weekend with everyone feeling good.  Ryan worked Saturday til 2, so we didn't do a whole lot.  But Sunday, we got to try out the new local Pumpkin Patch, Lloyd Family Farms.

We had beautiful, chilly fall weather and (most importantly!) two healthy, happy boys.  Who are both napping right now thanks to a busy, fun morning.  

Here come a lot of pictures..........

This looked like way too much fun!

Brady loved running back and forth, looking at all of the animals!

Love my three guys!!

 The beautiful setting...

Food truck lunch with some hay to play on...

 And finally, the pumpkin patch.  Anderson found the very perfect pumpkin!

On the hayride over

Anderson requested this shot. :)

Thankful for beautiful weather, beautiful Virginia, and my beautiful family!  Always, but especially this weekend.

Brady hugs

Brady really doesn't seem like a baby anymore.  He shows more personality all the time, and he is talking a ton!  Some of my favorite new Brady phrases: "Phew- dat close!" and "Watch dis!".  Last night after watching a little Mickey episode about exercising, he kept doing squats saying "Bend, bend, bend." Ha :)

Anderson gets a kick out of it.  The  other night, Brady walked up to Anderson and said, "Hello Anderson," and Anderson said, "He's talking to me!"  And at breakfast the other morning, Anderson would ask Brady questions that he could actually answer (like, "What's your favorite color?" ) which was fun for all.  For that morning, at least, Brady's favorite color was "lellow."

He can be rough when he wants something from his brother or is frustrated, but overall I think they're playing better together now than ever.  Brady will get on a roll with hugging his brother, and Anderson is usually happy enough to stop what he's doing to hug back.

The hugs usually come in bunches.

The sweetest sound!

So I heard the sweetest sound yesterday!  Baby #3's little heartbeat was a little hard for Dr. Dausch to find, but sure enough, there it was, at a rate of 162.  So at 13 weeks, we are making our exciting news "public" to the world wide web.  We haven't been able to keep the secret from anyone we see in person because at 10 weeks, I had to start wearing maternity clothes...  I've told quite a few people just so they don't go through the uncomfortable "should I ask?" thing.

But now with 13 healthy weeks under our belt, we are singing it from the mountaintops :).

The boys have been great about the news!  The timing of announcing Baby #3 to our families (at almost 9 weeks) has coincided with Brady talking so much.  So right away he started naming "mama" and "baby" pairs he's found.  If you're little, you're baby.  If you're bigger, your mama.  I think he's pretty sure he's the baby, which is exactly as it should be.

Apparently Brady is dealing with mixed emotions.

Anderson is exceptionally cute about the whole thing.  He's really getting into pretend play, so added to our repertoire of "Firefighter Mama, Firefighter Anderson" or "Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy", or any of the Nationals baseball team, Anderson often refers to himself as "Baby Anderson" and (my favorite) I'm "Baby Mama" and Ryan's "Baby Daddy." :)

Also, last week Anderson and I had some quiet time together while Brady was still napping.  I decided to talk to him about my belly getting bigger.  He looked all wide-eyed when I told him there was a baby inside, and he immediately started looking under my shirt to find it.  I told him that we can't see the baby yet because it's inside my tummy.  He wanted to give the baby a hug and kiss, which I loved.  Then over ice cream as a family that night, Anderson said a dozen times, "Mama, you know what! Your tummy's getting bigger cuz there's a baby inside!"  That night I asked him if there was ice cream in his belly.  He looked and said, "I have a baby in my tummy, too!  Two babies!" Haha.  He asked me to hug and kiss his baby (I obliged.)  Then just before bedtime, he said, "I love you, Daddy.  I love you, Mommy." He lifted up his shirt, looked at his belly and said, "And I love you, Baby!"  Oh my goodness, one of the sweetest moments.

Also notable, Anderson has consistently said he wants another boy.  He even told Ms. Gina at preschool that the baby is a boy.  She said he reported, "Three boys!"  We shall see.... (and by that I mean at our 20 week ultrasound on November 12- woo hoo!!!)

Anderson's first day

I was anxious about this morning, but I didn't get teary until I picked him up.  First, there was seeing him walking- in line- down the hallway with his class (so cute!), then there was hearing and seeing him all happy and comfortable, and I just felt such relief.  I knew he would have a good day, but it made such a difference to see it with my own eyes.  So I picked that big boy up, gave him a hug and kiss and held his hand as he happily chatted away telling me all about his first day.  

This morning went smoothly.  I got up and got myself ready, Brady woke up, and then I went in and got Anderson who was chillin in his crib (toddler bed is on our to-do list next month!) Got the boys dressed, breakfast (a 30-minute affair), quick trip to the potty for Anderson, and then 1st day of school pictures.  Thankfully my usual tricks worked, and I got especially good smiles!

I got the boys in the car (to be clear, Anderson still in a Pull-up. Ho hum.) 5 minutes later, we were parking at church/preschool.  

I thought having Brady in a stroller would help me, but Anderson wanted to push the stroller through the parking lot by himself.  When I told him, "No," he announced, "then no preschool!", which he repeated a couple of times as we came in the building.  

Quick facts about Anderson's class: his teacher is Ms. Gina, who everyone tells us is wonderful, and the assistant teacher is Ms. Melanie.  So far I've gotten to talk to Ms. Melanie a little more, and I really like her.  There are 13 cute, cute kids in the class- 7 girls and 6 boys, I think.  And I'm one of the room moms. :). Lots of other friendly moms in our class, which will be fun.

Back to drop-off, Anderson knew I was going to give him a big hug and he was going to say, "goodbye, Mommy!" But when the time came, he was starting to reach back for me and stamp his feet when Ms. Melanie swooped in and helped him start unpacking.  Phew! No tears.

Brady and I had our own plans, a mom's group I joined last year at church with classes for the kids, too.  So that's where we were 9:15-11:45.

Then at 11:45, I picked Brady up and headed down the hall, where I was first in line for pick up at noon.  So like I said, at 12, Anderson's class was walking back from music, and Ms. Melanie said it was the best first day of 3's preschool she's ever seen (her 8th year with 3-yr-olds).  No tears, all sat for story time. So all of us mommas and daddies in line breathed a sigh of relief.  So now we're back to the part where a happy Anderson bounded from the room, and my little mommy heart felt all kinds of happy.  I asked him what was his favorite part, and he said "making faces".  I thought he meant like a picture, but then he showed me a silly face that he made.  Ha!  

Anderson told me he clapped his hands and stomped his feet and hugged his knees.  Music class, I'm guessing.  He said something about Willabee Wallaby Woo, which starts with W.  So until parent conferences in November, this might be all I have to go on.  Hoping to get a chance to check with one of his teachers real quick on Thursday to hear how things are going.  Basically, I want them to tell me, "Anderson is so cute/ wonderful/ smart, etc." That's all. :)

Breakfast

I thought about it this morning, and breakfast may be the best part of our day. It's one of the most peaceful times, for sure.  These photos were taken while Pandora played "You are my Sunshine" in the background- the perfect finishing touch for the already sweet moment.

This morning, Anderson even happily shared his beloved totem poles with his brother.  A rare and sincere peace-offering, indeed.

The beginning...

Tonight Anderson and I took a little "School Supplies" (or "School Surprise", if you ask him) shopping trip, complete with a trip to Sweet Frog.  At this point, I am excited for Anderson to go to preschool.  I think he will love it, and I think he is ready for it.  Nonetheless, I know I will be so nervous for him that first day.  He will only be going Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8-12.  But I know this is the beginning of a new phase in his little life.

A few things to note....

1) Shopping with one toddler is waaay easier than shopping with two.

Everybody happy!

2) Anderson's favorite supplies on the list, by a landslide, were the glue sticks.  Go figure.  And I'm sure he has a very limited concept of what they are or do.  But it was traumatic to put them on the conveyor belt to pay, and they rode home with him in the car seat.

3) (He may get this from his mother) When asked if he wanted the green scissors or red, he replied, "Both!"  I was easily convinced that it's a good idea to have some safety scissors at home, so both it was.

After shopping, we went to Sweet Frog.  To make it a real date.  He was such good company, and he was very happy to eat every bite of his ice cream.

We even brought some home to Ryan and Brady (who'd had some one-on-one time at the school playground behind our house.)  This ice cream was gobbled up, as well.

I think Anderson is excited!  After bath, he asked to try on his backpack.  (Notice his hair in desperate need of a "back to school cut"!)

So we're definitely not completely ready for school to start just yet, but we do have until September 9.  And today was a big step in the right direction.