To the Mountains!

The weekend before Thanksgiving we headed to North Carolina to my aunt & uncle's mountain house--very appropriately named "Hallelujah"--for so many reasons, each and every one of them realized the very first time you watch the sun crest over the hills shedding the day's first light on the mountains surrounding you. This is hands down one of my very favorite places. Ever. It's an amazing place to bask in the greatness of our God and the earth He created for us. I feel like no matter what stresses & worries I come with, they melt away during my stay & I leave feeling relaxed & refreshed. It's a rejuvenation for the soul!

"I lift my eyes unto these hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."
-Psalm 121:1

Some of my favorite things about Hallelujah...Spending precious time with my family

Snuggling on the couch in jammies with these two cutie pies

Watching the sunrise...coffee in one hand, this little fella in the other :)

Did I mention the sunrise?!

Playing outside...the air doesn't get much fresher than in the mountains!

Capturing sweet moments of my boys


Running around the yard with my best lil' buddy

Hallelujah!

Blogging...what's that?

My goodness, it's been a while :) I've had a busy, busy, season business wise with Christmas cards this year! It has been such a blessing to have so much business, but time sure passes by quickly when your face is glued to a computer :) I haven't had any time to blog & I'm WAY behind on so many great things that have happened in our lives over the past month and a half! Here are highlights from what's been going on...

*Halloween...

ARRRGH!!! We celebrated Cap'n Owen's 3rd & 1st Mate Evan's 1st Halloween as pirates...well except Tony, he was a Gator fan since the Dawgs were playing them that day! We had our annual Halloween Bonfire & Party with 13 families & a whopping 27 kids over to our house to celebrate Halloween, it was a crazy, exciting, fun, chaotic party & we had a spooktacular time :) Our band of pirates with a Gator fan in tow

*Evan turned 3 months old...

Our sweet, happy boy turned 3 months old! No dr. appt. until 4 months so we didn't get any growth stats at 3 months, but he's a growing, healthy boy! He rolled over for the first time just a few days before his 3 month mark. Also at 3 months: he gained a lot more head & upper body control, the sweet smiles increased, & a few laughs started coming out every now and then. Our sweet Evan at 3 months old!

*Tony had a birthday!...

My amazing, wonderful husband and equally amazing & wonderful daddy to our beautiful children celebrated his 31st birthday in November! Owen was my BIG helper with baking his cake & we celebrated Tony with family & some of Tony's long time buddies from high school as we watched the UGA vs. Auburn game at our house. Owen helping make daddy's chocolate praline birthday cake..yum! yum!

*Trip to the mountains...

Just before Thanksgiving we took the boys up to my aunt & uncle's mountain house in North Carolina. My parents went with us and we had a much needed vacation before the busy holiday season began. Surrounded by some of God's most amazing creation, we had a relaxing & restful long weekend at "Hallelujah" (the name of my aunt & uncle's house) VERY appropriately named, because Hallelujah! check out this view at sunrise from the back deck...... a separate blog post to follow soon--this short tidbit simply won't be enough :)

*Thanksgiving...

We sing praises to our AMAZING God & are so very thankful for the many, many blessings He's showered over us! We spent Thanksgiving surrounded by our wonderful family, eating lots & lots of delicious food! The first part of the day was spent at Tony's parents' house & the second half at my parents' house. We are so thankful to live in the same town as our parents--not only for the love & support they give us, but for the same love & adoration they give our boys (and the free babysitting is great too, hehe!) Evan with my grandmother & his great grandmother, Nonnie on Thanksgiving Day. So thankful to have my wonderful Nonnie whose face absolutely lights up any time she's around her great-grandchildren! Such a proud great-grandmother :)

Whew! Okay, so that catches us up through the end of November....more on our trip to the mountains & the 1st part of December to come shortly!

Owen's Fall Party

Owen's preschool had a Fall Party the week before Halloween as well. Owen was a cowboy for his school party & even though that's what he's been the past 2 years in a row--he was as cute as ever in his adorable little costume! Evan went & stayed with Noni while I went to the party so that I could have some special time just with Owen. It was such cute little party and so fun to see all the kids in his class all dressed up in costumes. I really enjoyed watching Owen interact with his teachers & his friends in his class too. After the party I checked Owen out of school a few minutes early & we went to lunch, just the 2 of us. It was a special day & I absolutely treasured the precious time I got to spend with my sweet boy! Reach for the sky, cowboy!

Owen's class enjoying their party treats

My sweet little cowboy :)

I loved getting to watch Owen interact with his classmates!

Halloween Parade

The week before Halloween we went to the annual Halloween Parade in my parents' neighborhood. Owen & Evan were pirates this year for Halloween and so Beebee turned their wagon into the cutest little pirate ship you ever saw! Owen was very excited to ride in it for the parade. After the parade there were lots of fun games for the kids to play & yummy treats to eat. Owen had quite a ball playing with some of the other kids, running around the neighbhorhood & best of all, riding around on one of the neighbor's scoooters. We were so glad we could attend the parade this year & we all had a great time! Our little pirates in their pirate ship!

And off they go!

Adorable Lee, the cowboy! My sweet little pirates :)

My BIG boy riding on the scooter!

Pumpkin Farm & Petting Zoo

A few weeks before Halloween we took a family trip to a local pumpkin farm & petting zoo. We all had SO MUCH fun!!! Seriously, Owen is STILL talking about it 3 weeks later :) This farm had beautiful pumpkins & we really enjoyed walking through the patch and looking at all of the different pumpkins. We told Owen he could pick out a small pumpkin for himself & he picked the cutest little mini punkin' of his very own. There were also bounce houses & a petting zoo so our 2 year old was absolutely over the moon excited!!! Owen had a ball jumping of course & the petting zoo was so cool! They had llamas, camels, sheep, goats, a snake (not for petting though, just to look at, thank goodness!), a kangaroo, and even a porcupine (again, just for looks!) It was a GREAT family day for sure!

Owen being silly in the bounce house

Evan was so content, taking it all in

Feeding the goat with Daddy

Owen really got the hang of things quickly!

This picture makes me laugh so much...
Evan looks disgusted that Daddy is feeding that camel!

Trying to feed the sheep, but the persistent goats wouldn't have it!

I love this one, too precious!
Owen thought it was hilarious too :)

Picking out a pumpkin

Which one we gonna have?
(Owen says this phrase a lot!)

Hmmm, maybe we'll get this one...

Owen found a lil' punkin' of his very own

Hooray for the pumpkin patch!

Evan at 2 Months

Well, he's actually almost 3 months now, but we'll just pretend I am not posting this almost an entire month late ;) Evan's 2 month pictures were taken right on time though so at least I can get credit for that!

Goodness, our sweet Evan is a happy, happy little fella & such an amazing blessing to our family! He follows a great schedule these days--waking up about 6:30 a.m. to eat & then eating every 3 to 3 1/2 hours throughout the day with his last meal being about 10pm. He sleeps through the night (with only the occassional 4 am wake up) and mama & daddy are both VERY thankful for that! Evan is quite the vocal little guy--always cooing & making funny noises, which Owen in particular thoroughly enjoys :) He's very active and alert and one of his favorite places to hang out is the changing pad on the pack & play oddly enough. (We're always right there with him I might add--don't think we leave him there!)

Tony in particular is always remarking how he loves how chunky he is! We always say that, but really, he's not really all that chunky--Owen was just such a slender baby that the contrast makes Evan seem like quite the big baby :)

Speaking of size, at 2 months Evan...

weighed in at 11 pounds, 14 ounces (50th percentile)

measured 24 1/2 inches long (97th percentile)

had a head circumference of 39 cm. (25th percentile)

Here are pictures of our sweet little guy at 2 months old... Beautiful boy! Happy little man! Making sweet little noisesTony thinks he looks like me in this one...I'll take it :) So in love with this amazing little guy!