2 months!

It is hard to believe that yesterday we celebrated Abby's 2 month birthday! Seriously, where does the time go!? I think I notice it even more now because I know how quickly it has gone with Nolan. It feels like just yesterday he was just a baby in my arms. Now he is a grown up 2 year old! But anyway, here's what's new:

Abby had her 2 month check-up and is growing like a weed. She is now over 14 and a half pounds. For the record, that is the average weight for a 4-6 month old. :) But she is growing right along the proper curve for where she started so we are happy. The nice thing about being a big baby is that she is sleeping a lot (hence the picture above)! She is sleeping up to 8 hours on a pretty consistent basis. That is pretty awesome for a 2 month old! She is also smiling a lot more now. There is nothing quite like looking at your baby girl and having her smile back up at you. It just melts my heart. Seriously sometimes I think my heart has grown so big it might explode. I am so blessed!

Nolan is doing great too. He has had a few "terrible twos" moments recently - he just doesn't seem to know what he wants. For example, the other night after dinner he just refused to get down from the high chair. There was no apparent reason for this. He just didn't want to get down. We left him there for a while but finally made him get down - at which point he threw an absolute fit and locked himself in his room. Fine with me if he wants to have a self-imposed time-out. He eventually came out a little while later and was in a much better mood - as if nothing ever happened. Silly 2 year old!

On the flip side, Nolan is still his normal happy self most of the time, and is being a great big brother. Sometimes he just walks over to Abby and gives her a kiss, for no apparent reason. I love it! The other day in the car we passed by a train and Nolan got really excited - "Look Abidale! Look! A choo choo train! cooool!" It was really cute. Love those two!

Daily Stroll

One of my favorite things about living on the farm is going for walks. The scenery on our walks here is so much more enjoyable than that of living in town. Nolan has always enjoyed walks, and now Abby seems to like it too. We were blessed with a double jogging stroller from our cousins, The Cliffords (thanks again! :). The jogging stroller allows us to survive the terrain of the farm pretty easily! Here are a few pics of some recent walks:

My 2 kiddos:

Morning walk with Abby:

Evening walk:

*These last 2 pictures also prove that Abby IS in fact awake sometimes. Usually when we visit people or get out and about she falls asleep in the car, so people don't believe that she is ever awake. But I promise she is! :) She just enjoys a good nap - just like her momma!

Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend we took our annual trip to the Westemoreland Berry Farm. We started going the year Nolan was born. It's been fun to go back each year and see how much he's grown/changed. And this year we had Abby to add to the mix which was fun too - although she slept the entire time! Here are a few pictures from our time there:

Jack and the kiddo's measuring up - Nolan has grown at least half a foot since our trip there last year!

Me and Nolan taking a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch:

Nolan picking out a pumpkin:

Nolan's pig face:

Abby's cow face:

Magic Oven*

This is a picture of Abby sleeping in the kitchen:

Why is Abby sleeping in the kitchen, you ask? I promise there is a logical reason… someone recently mentioned to me that the solution to a fussy baby was turning on the oven fan. Really? I couldn’t believe it could be that easy. But I assure you, it works. I’ve tried it on 3 occasions now. Each time Abby was being fussy, and I couldn’t figure out anything that could be wrong – she was dry, fed, and gas-less. Each time I brought her near the oven, turned the fan on, and I kid you not, she was out like a light instantly. I mean that literally – it was INSTANT. There is seriously something magical about the oven fan. This past time I decided since it made her so happy I would just move her little chair in there and let her sleep away!

In related news, Abby has been sleeping well at night lately. Last night she slept for 9 hours! She doesn't do that every night, but she has been going for longer stretches and I'm hoping that it will become more consistent. I feel like a new person after getting some decent sleep!

*I am crossing my fingers that by publishing this post I am not jinxing anything. Hopefully the oven fan will continue to sooth her and she will continue sleeping well at night. Knock on wood!

Happy Birthday Nolan!

It is hard to believe, but my sweet little boy Nolan is 2 years old! His birthday was 9-15 (yes I know I am a few weeks behind in updating this). I can't believe he has grown up so fast! And I know it will only continue. Before we know it he is going to be off to college! OK I better stop before I start crying ;) In the meantime here are some pics from his birthday:

The birthday cake I made (ignore the clutter in the background - the other pictures I took somehow got deleted so this is the only one):

Nolan opening a present on his actual birthday:

Playing with his new farm set:

Blowing out candles (in Blacksburg):

Birthday cake (he was acting shy in this picture, but just before we started singing he kept saying "Happy Me! Happy Me!" - which is his version of Happy Birthday to Me):

This was Nolan's main birthday present - a new swingset! (which is actually a hand-me-down from our cousins, the Cliffords - Hunter is in the pic w/ him). He definitely loves it!

Nolan ate about 2 bites of his cake and icecream, and then abandoned it for a hot dog bun:

Since it was warm enough we decided to get the slip 'n slide out (because Nolan LOVES playing in the water). The boys decided it would be more fun to put it at the end of the slide and go down from there. Here is a video of Nolan going down:

I think it is safe to say that Nolan was sufficiently spoiled for his birthday! :)

Birth Announcement

See below for the birth announcement we made for Abigail! I didn't order a lot because I figured Christmas cards would be coming right around the corner and I'd rather spend more then. So don't be offended if you don't get one. You can just enjoy the pic below! :)

Photo Card

Spring Branch Girl Baby Announcements

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View the entire collection of cards.