Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving

Just catching up on pictures for the family on here.

Thanksgiving at Nana and Grandoc's in Asheville.

Charlie the rooster and Griff the turkey. Irby was Thomas the Train again (wanted to be Buzz Lightyear until he discovered that the Thomas costume is the only one with a special candy pocket. He may be Thomas for the next 5 years I'm afraid...)

Our happy pumpkin. What is it with people doing really scarry Halloween decorations and costumes? Maybe it's just up here, but seriously, even people with kids! (I'm talking skeleton's crawling out from behind grave stone, grimm reaper kind of things. So inappropriate!?)

At the pumpkin patch.

The Big Birthday Party

We had a beautiful fall day for the boys birthday. We did our usual cupcakes at the park with friends. It was a blast, and I love the sweet simple nature of birthday parties up here, but I think next year I will have to get a little more creative...

Charlie inspecting the chocolate cake....not so sure about it.

Griffin loving his cupcake (not really).

The spread including apple cake made from apples we picked ourselves at a farm in Maryland. We somehow ended up with 60 pounds of apples, but that's another story...we have had applesauce, apple pie, apple cake, apple muffins, apple tart, apple pancakes (the favorite), apple juice...you name it, we tried it.

I borrowed my friend Shellye's idea for '2 Peas in a Pod' birthday party, and this is the picture I modeled the cupcakes after. As you can see, I was a bit rushed and they turned out like nothing this beautiful. Oh well, they were delicious!

Milestones

We've had a busy week, Charlie and Griffin are officially walking (they also dance as pictured above). They've been walking for a while, but now they use it as their main mode of transportation...until a few days ago, if they wanted to go somewhere fast, they would crawl, now they just tear off across the room on foot!

Feeling the pressure from his brother's new tricks, Irby decided he wanted his training wheels off today! I'm amazed as my mom told me last week she thinks I rode with my training wheels until I was about 7. They grow up fast, don't they?

Happy Birthday Charlie and Griffin (wow, I'm late...)

Well, only 2 months late, but I have a real excuse...my computer is full, and I can't get any more photos off my camera, unless they are taken on my phone, which takes horrible pictures. So, one day very soon I will have some more pictures up. I know you are thinking, but your husband is a computer genius? Well, if you worked on a computer all day would you want to come home and fix all your family and friend's computers? (Nor do I want to lose him to the computer abyss for a whole night, so....the blog has suffered bc of this).

Birthday at home when the Irbys returned.

(More pictures from their birthday party to come soon).

A little about each of the birthday boys' personalities. Below is a picture of each from their birthday morning. I had them by myself on their actual birthday while Irby and Irby were in Alabama. It was such a treat to get to be with them and just reflect on the past year; what a fun, exhausting, and surprising year it has been!

When I was pregnant with C&G, the perinatologist told me Charlie (baby A) would be the feisty one because his umbilical cord was deteriorating and he was in the more 'difficult' position (bottom); therefore, he was used to fighting for nourishment from the placenta, and so he would be the 'fighter' outside the womb too. I kind of thought, "whatever Doc." Coincidence or not, Charlie rules the roost. Always the first to come play with me when I come in the room, screams his head off when he wakes up, usually does things a few days before his brother. Most nights wakes up around 3-4 each morning acting like he hasn't eaten in days. If Irby goes in

to calm him down, he acts like it is the biggest insult in the world, and screams even louder. Lucky me, huh? At least I know I'm loved, right? Actually, he has gone back down for Irby a few times in the past few weeks, that's a start! If we read a book, he is eating it, sitting on it, or trying to rip out the pages. Charlie will tear across the room like he is a man with a mission and then start playing with whatever toy he is after like it's his job, total focus on the plastic animal at hand. If Charlie sees something he wants, he takes it, no matter who is playing with it(including big brother). He is almost always the instigator of he and Griff's little 'tiffs.' (First fight, Charlie bit Griff, Griff pulled Charlie's hair....Charlie's been biting, any tips on how to stop that?) Charlie will eat most things, but his favorite food is any meat, carb, bread or Cheerios, oh and raspberries and avocado. I think one day when they can have cheese, he will love it. For now, with no milk, eggs, or nuts, they pretty much just eat every fruit, veggie, and bean under the sun, and Cheerios. If anyone has suggestions of food ideas that are high in fat (like milk and cheese) and protein I'd love to hear about them (but nothing with milk, eggs or nuts).

Griff is my more chill child. He is my only one of the three who has ever actually sat still enough to snuggle with me, and I absolutely love it, even though it never lasts more than about 30 seconds unless he is asleep. "Late to the party" is one of his nicknames, I guess that's more like a nick-phrase...it sometimes takes him a little longer to catch on to what everyone else is doing. He will actually play in his bed when he wakes up, sometimes doesn't realize I'm even in the room for a few minutes before he sees me and then will come over to play, but once he does realize I'm there, he wants up in my arms; he loves to be held. He will sit in my lap while I read, and I won't say there is no eating/sitting on/ripping of books, but there is much less with Griff. He's also my climber. This week I have discovered him in the basket under the coffee table, on top of the train table, in the pocket/holder underneath the stroller, on the sofa, and trying to crawl over the back of the sofa (as encouraged and demonstrated by big brother, Irby). Griffin also bares his teeth (all 8 of them) when he is upset, or when Charlie takes a toy from him. As the youngest, he's a momma's boy, happy when he's held. I'm loving the attention the babies give me, because I know soon, they will follow in the footsteps of their older brother and love their Daddy more for his tremendous wrestling skills. Oh, and Griffin will eat anything and sleep anywhere for long periods of time, wish that would rub off on Charlie!

This year has absolutely been the craziest of my 30 years to date, but it has also been the happiest. A few weeks ago, I was blessed with a weekend of just the babies for 5 days, and it was such a treat! I was kind of sad about it at first, a weekend without both Irbys, what were we going to do? It was such a sweet time, and really felt like vacation only having the babies (who would have ever thought I would say having the twins alone for 5 days would feel like vacation!) I have loved getting to have some one on one time with them and have really gotten to reflect on the past year and see through the blur and insanity of it all how good and merciful God has been to us. I had several moments where I was just totally overwhelmed with joy over them, wanting to freeze their little blonde heads playing together forever. Over that weekend a friend wrote a wonderful blog post about the kind of moment I was having, so read her post on Ab's Gab. I sure am glad she explained it so eloquently because it is the exact type of moment I was having, and she is an incredible writer. Her post is about those transcendent and timeless moments of joy you experience that are a teeny, tiny glimpse of what Eternity with the Father will be like, except on earth, those moments don't last and are even kind of haunted by the knowledge that they won't last forever. In this case kids grow up, but there will be no end to this joy and sense of home we will experience in Heaven.

I told Irby the other day, if you had asked me 10 years ago what my ideal life would have looked like when I was 30, it would not have looked like this, but I couldn't have dreamed up something that brings me as much joy. It is such a blessing to be living life with my 4 sweet boys. I am so thankful for each of them!

More pictures soon, I promise!

A Visit from Kirsten

Charlie...you can never be too prepared. 2 EPI pens in hand. I guess he takes after his Nana, Safety Susan!

Happy Griff with his favorite musical instrument, the moracas (mostly he likes to bang them very loudly on things, like drum sticks).

Irby and Kiki.

I love this picture even though it is a bit blurry/dark. They both look so much like my dad's baby pictures, especially Charlie (left). I will have to find and post a picture I am thinking of featuring my Dad on the potty as a teeny boy.

My bike buddy. He's a great partner on the road. Never ending narration is good distraction on big hills!

Irby, Griffin and me 'fishing' down by the river just past the monuments (one of our favorite picnic spots because you can just ride your bike or drive over there, it is about 3 miles away and in the midst of a huge city, you feel like you're actually getting out of the city for bit, lovely!)

Colorado Pictures, Finally

First of all, I want to say I am sorely disappointed in myself for my lack of pictures. I was finally able to get them off the camera and these are the best of them. We were there for 5 weeks and this is all I managed to get. I guess we were too busy having fun to take pictur

es. Mom, help! I hope you have some I can add to the collection...and I need some of you.

3 BIG boys. Irby has gotten so skinny and tall, it cracks me up that the little fat-fats look almost as big as he does in this picture! Irby is holding Charlie, Griff on the left. This was taken in our favorite little grove where we would often stop to feed the babies/stretch our le

gs right by the river off the Rio Grande Trail.

Favorite daily activity. Irby is becoming quite the swimmer!

Very dangerous activity for all 3...bathtime.

Ahnie and Papa came to visit. This was us after a walk up Faraway Road, and let me tell you, Faraway is a good description for that road.

Mr. Matt and Mrs. Emily also came to see us with little Becker. Also Norfleet and Will were there but of course I have no pictures to document that. Sad.

Maybe the last time the little guys fit in a swing together, they love it!

On our 8th anniversary. We went on a beautiful gondola ride to a little cafe where we sat outside and had lunch. Later we went out to dinner to celebrate, but this picture is from our actual anniversary. A lot has happened in 8 years!

While most of the people in line to get faces painted ended up being butterflies and fairies, Irby got Lighning McQueen. (He is Lightning if you hadn't heard...)

Me and Charlie at the concert on the bunny slope (Fanny Hill).

Grandoc and Griffin having a little chat.

The Irbies at the concert (it is really one of the most beautiful things to do in Snowmass. You just sit out on the slope and listen to the concert while you're overlooking the valley below. It is pretty awesome.) I really hope we can go back for a long trip next summer!

A Favorite Pastime

This is an old picture I just came across but shows a great rainy day activity or just a good way to cheer everyone up if anyone's fussy. They all three love the music. I'm very thankful to have a husband who is so musically inclined to teach them these things because I'm basically tone-deaf. Notice little Irby flipping through a Fisher-Price catalogue. They reel them in early, don't they?! He looked at it every day (even wanted to read it instead of books at naptime) until I finally put it in the outside trash without him seeing (he had already fished it out of the kitchen trash a few times). There was a purple plastic minivan toy, and he kept telling me "Mommy, I'm going to get you this mini-ban, OK?" If I haven't mentioned, he's in love with our minivan (which is silver, not purple - I imagine the only thing worse than a silver minivan would be a purple minivan), I told him he could have the 2002 Honda Odyssey in 2023 when he turned 16! Needless to say, he's pretty excited about that. Hilarious.

Playing Cowboy

Sorry for the long absence, we've been out in Colorado. We were so thankful to get to go for almost 5 weeks and had a blast, good family time and lots of fun visitors. I hope to get some pictures posted next week, but here's the first one as proof that I haven't been around to update (thanks for the pic, Mom!). This picture was taken at Maroon Bells, one of our favorite places. From there, we hiked up to Crater Lake about an hour each way, steep and rocky, and little Irby hiked (actually he ran!) pretty much the whole way. He was a real trooper. He also completed a 5 mile hike (Government Trail across Buttermilk to Aspen) and a 7 mile hike (both sections of the Rim Trail) before we came home. Charlie and Griffin also win awards for just chilling on our backs for these long hikes. My mom also should get a trophy for carrying our stuff (food, diapers, wipes, you name it, it was in her backpack), since we each had a baby on our backs. I am very thankful to have some pretty laid back babies who will put up with these long hikes and bike rides, and a family who just jump in to help us wherever they can. We had a GREAT time!

3 going on 16

We've been getting Irby to play in his room after he wakes up until 8 (usually he's up to go to the bathroom around 7-7:30). If you can't tell we grown-ups in this house really love to sleep! The babies still eat around 5, then go back to sleep till 8-8:30, and during the week, I just stay up, but on the weekends, I love to get back in bed. So, having the babies sleep in is great, but if Irby is up, they might as well all be. So, Irby has been great about playing in his room until the clock says '8.' I just have to share this story because it totally cracked me up and made me realize how fast my boys are growing up, even though they are all under 3.5. So, like usual on a Saturday, I fed the babies around 5, then got back in bed. Irby and I both woke up around 8 and looked at each other totally shocked that the house was still quiet (from the little Irby front that is). Usually we hear a little noise and just kind of doze...anyway, I came down into the playroom only to find little Irby fully dressed, eating a piece of pizza and drinking his milk. He told me he was hungry so decided to get his milk and eat lunch (which meal is which is sometimes confusing, especially if you're eating pizza for breakfast, I guess). He is too big for his own britches! Acting like he doesn't need his Mama to fix his breakfast!

10 Months

Watching airplanes land at Gravelly Point. They literally come about 50 yards over your head by the time they get to you, it's pretty amazing. That little white dot in the distance is Irby chasing the planes and jumping up trying to touch them. He LOVES doing this.

Swinging together. Griffin loving it above and Charlie happy as can be below.

I cannot believe how big my 2 little boys have gotten. They are crawling all over the place, pulling up, and even holding on with one hand and will transfer from table to couch standing. They love to talk. Mama, Dada, and Baba (brother, I think, at least they say it whenever Irby's in the room). Charlie loves to clap and Griffin is very quick to tell you how big he is (How big is Griff? SO BIG! - arms over head). They are such a joy, and I love seeing them interact, although they had their first fight over the weekend. We went on a bike ride, they were in the trailer, Griffin bit Charlie's hand and then Charlie pulled Griffin's hair!

Irby at the building museum in the house we built for him. If you are ever in DC, this is a wonderful place for kids, especially if you don't want to be outside because of heat or cold. Great indoor space to run, run, run and the 'Building Zone' with tons of blocks and cars and legos. Also, usually not crowded as it is not a normal tourist hot-spot.

Costco grocery cart. The only place big enough to fit all the kids AND groceries in the cart. Excuse the food all over the faces. We had an emergency lunch while shopping, and of course this mama forgot wipes and bibs. Can't remember everything, right? We buy produce in bulk these days. Don't know if I said, but we found out the allergic reaction they had last month was due to food allergies. Milk, Egg, Peanut and Tree-nuts. You have got to be kidding me. The Dr. says they will probably outgrow them all, but maybe not peanuts. That is extremely limiting when you are making meals. So, last week the fruits and veggies we went through (all 3 boys, and one nursing mother included) a box of cheerios, 4 pints of cherry tomatoes, 2 lbs of blueberries, 2 lbs of strawberries, and 8 sweet potatoes, and a huge bag frozen of mixed veggies (this is not including other non-produce food or dinner when I cook a normal meal). I am trying to figure out how to incorporate the foods they can have into everyone's diet, because a short order chef is not really on my list of things I have time (or energy!) to do these days. At least now we're all getting our veggies, and they really are doing great with eating food, at least the food they're not allergic to!

Charlie pulls up! Playing like he owns the place at the train table.

And not to be outdone, Griff follows shortly behind him.

Ditch the Pacie, Quick!

Look what Charlie did to his pacie. Those 8 little teeth are pretty sharp, and he was pretty mad! This was about 6 weeks ago....our boys don't use pacies except under the dire circumstance of Irby being out of town and both boys wanting to eat at 5am. Griffin woke up first, so I was feeding him and Charlie had the pacie. Well, when I went to get him to eat, this is what the pacie looked like. The bitten off part was no where to be found, I guess he swallowed it. Danger! So, this and the other pacie went straight in the trashcan. I hope you are all learning from my stupid mistakes!! Maybe I should change the name of this blog to "If You Are a Mom, Don't Do This."

The Beach!

These pictures are from our trip to Perdido in May. I am very late in putting them up! We had a great time, and loved getting to be with Irby's family. The trip was filled with lots of helping hands, good food and fun family time. Below, Uncle Pete showing Irby how to use to super-soaker.

Sandcastles!

Me and my sweet babies, Charlie (L) and Griff (R).

Ahnie and the baby boys.

Lulu and Whitt

Snuggling with my oldest and middle (Charlie) in the hammock.