Peter Van Gogh

Whenever we go out to eat the the server gives us crayons we attempt to show Peter how to color. Everytime the crayons go in his mouth, the paper goes on the floor and the "art lesson" goes to waste.

Until this weekend!

We were at Chilis and after showing Peter how to color and putting the crayon in his hand he actually continued coloring!

Eventually he did decide that using the crayon as a drum stick and then biting the tip off was a lot more fun. However he did stick to the coloring for a while and we were still pretty proud of him.

The blog we have all been waiting for...

1 year, 1 month, & 2 weeks into his life... PETER IS WALKING!!!



For the past week Peter has gotten a little braver and started taking a step or two from one object to another. More than 2 or 3 steps however and he would plop back down to his butt. Until Sunday!

Sunday after church I was cooking in the kitchen and Brett was playing with the kids and watching football in the living room. Then all of a sudden Peter decided to walk over to Brett from where he was standing by the arm chair!

Since then he is getting braver and walking all over the place!!! Crawling is still the more normal means of transportation when going long distances, but over the past 3 days walking is becoming more frequent. There are a couple spills, but Peter has been getting back up on his feet right away.

We are completely thrilled and couldn't be prouder!!!

Aaron is a FISH

So a couple weeks ago I posted a blog about how Brett and I call Aaron a Fish.

A few days later we got a costume in the mail from my Aunt Marilyn:





I am really excited for Halloween now!

DHS Class of 1998 10 Year Reunion

I married an old man. So old that he last week we attended his TEN YEAR high school reunion! Mine is in 2 years, but I am milking being younger every chance I get ;)

Anyway, the reunion took place at the Cracked Claw restaurant in Urbania, MD (i.e. the middle of no where), but once we found it we had a good time.

We pretty much hung out with Brett's friends that he still keeps in touch with, but there were also some people that Brett got to reconnect with too.

It was fun just to get out without the kids (Thanks Merrills for watching our babies), and nice to meet Brett's old friends.

Dinner with the Merrills

After Sarah and I finished up the ABC project for the kids last Friday, we called our Hubbies and told them to meet us at Chevy's Mexican Restaurant for dinner on their way home from work.

As usual, Aaron slept the whole time, but Peter had a ball with his "Aunt" Sarah!

Design on a Dime

After all the unexpected renovations that we had to do to our basement due to flooding this summer and mold issues Brett and I are very quickly learning how broke you can get when you are a home owner and disaster strikes!

Lucky for us, we did have the saving to cover the damage. However the huge chunk of change that we had to drop also meant that we needed to put ourselves on a tight budget to build back our savings. Which therefore meant that if I wanted to decorate the kids new play room I was going to have to make everything myself.

My first project was furniture! We had tons of mismatched furniture that we weren't using in other parts of the house (a side table, a small book shelf, a magazine rack, and two twin mattresses). The only issue was that everything was in different woods and colors. A few cans of spray paint solved that problem and I tied the room together by painting them all blue.

With the twin mattresses we decided to stack them on top of each other and using pillows we created a couch effect for the kids to watch TV on. When we have couples visiting the top mattress can be pulled down next to the bottom mattress to make a king sized bed.

My next project came to mind after spotting a huge antique frame in my mom's garage. She wasn't using it and said I could paint it if I wanted. Taking the same spray paint as I used for the furniture I painted the frame blue, and then nailed it directly to the wall. Next we purchased chalkboard paint (a paint that gives the finish of a black board) and painted inside the frame for a useful and decorative addition for the kids.

Next I wanted some other wall decor, and after spotting a canvas with the alphabet on it at babies-r-us I had my inspiration! First I found 26 frames in our storage closet and around the house that I wasn't using (or didn't mind giving up). Once I had found them all I arranged them on the floor to figure out what frames would have each letter.

The next step was painting! I had more of that blue spray paint, so I lay everything out on our patio and got to painting.

While I was painting my friend Sarah used her new Cricut Machine (an electronic dye cut tool) to cut out the A-B-Cs in different sizes and colors to match the decor in the playroom's bedding.

After the paint dried we assembled all the frames, and hung them in the play room:

The whole thing cost me under $400 because I already had all the furniture and most of the supplies:

Wall paint - $20
Black board paint - $14
4 cans of spray paint - $24
Bedding - $200
A-B-C Floor mat - $30

On the HGTV show they get a $1000 budget, so I think I did pretty well!

I didn't tell you?

I recently found out that I don't share enough with Brett about what happens with the kids during the day.

I found out because one night last week I was in the kitchen cooking when I heard Brett yell, "HE IS WALKING!!!"

I ran into the living room to find Peter walking with his little scooter like he does everyday... which I guess I never informed Brett about.

Brotherly love in full force

The week after we brought Aaron home from the hospital Peter started showing interest (instead of jelously) in his little brother. He gave him kisses, hugs, and was running over to check on him anytime Aaron made a noise.

Then last week Peter decided that he was no longer satisified with sitting next to Aaron's bouncy seat and watching him; he wanted in on the action! When I turned my back to get a glass of water from the kitchen, Peter was cozying up to baby brother.

I arrived back to find Peter laying next to Aaron hugging him:

The next day he did it again:

And the day after that he did it a third time:

The funniest thing is that Aaron doesn't seem to mind at all, he just sits there giving Peter a look (or sleeping) but never making a peep.

Family Fun Day!

Saturday a week ago (again, I am playing catch up with the blogs), Brett and I had an entire day of fun with the boys. The morning started out with some backyard fun when we let Peter play in his baby pool full of water and balls.

Next, we packed up the kids and headed to our favorite place - Target - so that Brett and I could indulge in some much needed clothes for the fall (for us, not the kids... our kids have way more clothes than we do).

After our shopping spree it was off to Fairfax Corner for lunch and Peter's favorite - the water fountain. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen, which is my new favorite place based on their kids menu alone. They actually have healthy options, so we didn't have to order pizza or chicken fingers and fries! Peter got a chicken breast and broccoli just like he would have at home, and Brett and I enjoyed salad and sandwiches.

Once our bellies were full it was out to the square to play in the fountain. There were tons of kids there, so Peter enjoyed people watching while he played in the water. Unlike the fountain at Brett's office, this one has different patterns for shooting water into the air, so we were startled a few times getting splashed in the face as we walked through.

Needless to say I had packed a towel and change of clothes for Peter, but forgot to do the same for myself. The ride home was a little cold and wet, but it was totally worth it for the fun day with Peter.

It was a long hot day, so we were really impressed that by the time we left at 4:00pm Peter was still in a good mood and had not fussed the entire time (even though he had missed his nap). On the car ride home, however, he passed out so Brett and I drove around for a while to let him sleep as we toured around Annandale looking for new parks we had not been to and a bike path.

Once we finally did drive home it was almost time for our best friends Troy and Alex to come over for dinner and to see the boys. Peter showed his Aunt Bubbs (Alex) how he gave open mouthed kisses, before he went to bed.

After we were kid free, the Goodes stuck around for a little while to play cards and tell us all about their upcoming move into their first home!

It was a great day, and we really hope that the weather holds up for a while so we can continue to enjoy the outdoors on the weekends.

Back to see the Banjo Man!

Last week, the boys and I piled in the car to go meet my friend Heather Witherspoon and her daughter Morgan at Jammin Java to see the Banjo Man's performance.

The kids loved the show, and spent the hour dancing and playing the maracas (and Peter crawled all over the place whenever he could). When the performance was over Banjo Man came down to the dance floor and let the kids strum on his banjo and take photos.



After the show we stopped at Jerry's Subs for lunch and to let the kids spend a little more time together. It was a lot of fun and most of all we enjoyed seeing Heather and Morgan!

Small group FINALLY grows!

Brett and I joined Matt and Andy Spray and Tony and Heather Witherspoon's small group last November after meeting them at a Halloween party. Since then every Thursday we have committed our evening to enjoying the company of our friends and doing Bible study (or game nights).

When we first joined the group we were meeting at the Witherspoon's house in Centreville, but after Brett's office moved to Rockville the commute became too much for us and we all moved to our house in Annandale. The hope was that with the move would also be an opportunity to get some new group members in the area.

The first month went by and the only addition to our group of 6 was a friend of Andy's from High School, Alan Ivey. Then in July our friends Mike and Sarah Merrill decided to join us. In August however our group decreased by 3 when Alan left for school, and the Witherspoons "multiplied" our group to 2 by starting a second group in Centreville on Wednesday nights.

I was kind of beginning to worry about what would happen to us, and then out of no where our prayers were answered! 2 new couples and 2 single girls decided to start coming to Westmoreland Church and all of them accepted our invitation to join small group! Additionally, Andy had two friends who have joined!

The first week we all got together we had a game night, and found out that we are not very good at pop culture (we played the Pop Culture edition of Trivial Pursuit). Now we are going through a series called Starting Point, which is fitting since this is a new start for our group and our church!

Look-a-likes!

Ever since Aaron came along we have been trying to figure out who he looks like. We always excepted him to look just like Peter (who has very distinct features of both Brett and I), but he doesn't look as much like Peter as we once thought. Of course everyone had an opinion, but Brett and I really had a hard time seeing either of us when we looked at our new baby.

Until I noticed the photo of Brett as a baby that we have posted on the side of our fridge. It is almost identical to Aaron:

Peter gets his hair did...

The other day Peter was sitting on my lap while he was watching a Baby Einstein video... I got bored:





Maybe if I keep doing this stuff to Peter's hair, Brett will FINALLY let me cut it!