Fall is my favorite time of year, the smells, the weather, the activities, and the colors! We started off Fall with AppleFest in Adel at the local winery. It was the first time we attended and as we arrived we weren't quite sure, but it ended up being a lot of fun. The Chesnuts, Papa, and Grandma as well as some other family joined us. We walked around and got to see craft vendors, sample some wine, roast marshmallows, get our face painted, go on a tractor ride, have a picnic with brick-oven pizza (really tasty), and listen to live music.
We also headed up to Boone to attend Avery's soccer game and have dinner with the Chesnuts, Grandma and Papa. Liv is over the moon for her cousins, she talks about them all the time. She always says I Love the Chesnuts and calls Avery her best friend. It really makes me happy to see them get along so well and I hope they continue to be close.
Liv and Blake headed to Iowa City to attend a friend's birthday party, her first friend party. She had difficulty understanding that the present they picked out wasn't for her, but her friend. She of course got a My Little Pony for herself as well. When they got there, she had a blast. She bounced her little heart out in the bounce house, had a cupcake, and got a sparkly snake painted on her face.
While they went to IC, Ben and I headed to Boone to watch Sam's flag football game. We ate lunch with the Chesnuts and they snuggled him. We then did a little shopping to buy his letters for his room. It was overall a great weekend. Next time, we will make the trip to IC together.
We head up to Boone every so often, and this weekend we attended Sam's flag football game, rode the trolley through town, and went to lunch in Ames. Liv likes to cheer, "Go I State!" The trolley was an interesting experience as it mostly goes behind people's houses-it was a long enough ride (30 min) to give the kiddos their experience on a train until they're a bit older. When they're older there are other train options: a picnic train, the Kate Shelley Bridege Ride-which are a bit longer, etc.
Ben enjoys his daily morning walks with mom, feeling sad we will be giving these up soon-back to work and winter :(
Month 2: BTM
It is crazy that my time left being at home is down to the last 1/3, it really goes so quickly and Ben has changed so much. I am loving my time with him. As hard and guilty sometims I feel about sending Liv to daycare, it really is the only time he won't share me. She demands the attention these days from both Blake and I. We are doing our best to include her and make it seem special and a big deal that she is the big sister, but every day life gets busy.
Ben is now oohing and aahing, loves our faces and smiles at us, and he is really into looking around. He is our smiley guy. So far, he has been a laid back kiddo, but we will see how long that continues. He is starting to sort of have a schedule (at least at night-wakes up 3-4 times to eat and goes right back to sleep, unless it's the last one in the cycle-then he likes to get some snuggles in. Then he usually sleeps until between 8-9). Daytime, I am starting to track as day is different, being on the go sometimes. We are starting to get in a routine- breakfast, go for a walk, play/read/do some chores/or run errands, lunch, and then hang out in the afternoon until we head to get big sis.
He is 12.2 lbs. and almost 23 inches. He is in the 50th percentile for everything-so we are on the right track!
