Crisp Autumn Eve 3 Column from TCBOTB

Monday, September 8, 2008

Weddings Galore and More......

Well.... one wedding down, and one more to go. Two weekends ago we headed down to Annandale for Shannon Bishop's wedding (high school friend of Chris's) and it was by far the most beautiful and elegant wedding I have been to. No details were spared and it was a lovely ceremony and fantastic reception. The bride and groom also did everything "green" which I thought was such a nice touch. Got to meet a lot of Chris's high school friends which was fun, and when the boys woke from their nap (their schedule got thrown off with the ride down to Annandale) ~5:30ish, Dean and Bonnie drove the boys over to the reception for us to show off to everyone. They did really well at dinner (considering we totally forgot to pack their sippy cups or any toys for them to play with while there) and enjoyed crawling around in the grass once they did get a little rammy at the table. MacKay really was hamming it up with Shannon (bride) as well when we introduced them... what a flirt. Then Dean and Bonnie came back to pick them up a couple hours later to bring them home and give them baths and a bottle before putting them to bed - to which they TOTALLY conked out immediately for - they were exhausted. I should note, Dean and Bonnie were grandparents on steroids that weekend... not only were they watching the boys and carting them to/from the wedding for us, but they also had Stella to watch as well. I was quite impressed :)
Last week I had Kelly over (niece) for the day to help and visit with the kiddos. School didn't start for her until Thursday, so Jolene dropped her off on Wednesday to hang out. That was fun and the boys enjoyed having someone new to play with. We took them swinging and for a walk in their wagon, and Kelly had fun taking TONS of pictures of them.
This past weekend we laid pretty low and relaxed (god, how we love those chances) and Grandma Diane and her friend Dave popped over on their way back down to Monticello to see the boys. They were in good moods so they were giggly and cuddly - so that was fun.
Some new things with the boys.... well, first off I am proud to say that both the boys have learned to feed themselves (hand to mouth). They completely shocked us (me the most) at Dean and Bonnie's the other weekend while having lunch. We put out their puffs for them to play with and apparently we weren't putting them in their mouths at a fast enough pace cuz MacKay just grabbed one and crammed it in his mouth and did so a few more times after that. The very next day Oscar did it as well - and this was all unprovoked by us. It is great - they are learning something new practically every day. Speaking of which.... MacKay learned how to open Angus's kennel early last week as well. I had Angus locked in there (probably for either barking for no reason, or for stealing one of the boys toys) and MacKay went over there (as he usually does) and couldn't get in so he played with the door until he unhinged one of the locks on his kennel. Couldn't believe it. That MacKay just LOVES Angus and is constantly going in his kennel with him. Oscar is still pushing around his walker like crazy - I love the proud grin on his face when he does it. Oscar also stood (alone) for about 4-5 seconds the other day. I was playing with him and trying to make him stand and/or walk a couple steps alone, and he did stand for a while. He was laughing SO hard the entire time we were doing this (probably cuz I was giggling the entire time) I wish we would have gotten it on film (kicking self). And MacKay now has his first real boo boo. The boys love to pull on one of our plants that is sitting on an end table.... we weren't watching close enough and he pulled the plant right onto him and it fell on his foot. So he has a little "egg" and black and blue mark on his foot now. But it doesn't seem to be getting him down as he is standing and walking around (assisted) just fine on it.
We also booked MacKay's surgery for Sept 29th. AHHHH - I totally need valium for this - I don't think I can bring him in.... very nervous about it. But Gma Bonnie and Gpa Dean are coming up to watch Oscar when we take him in. They assured us MacKay would be under for less than 5 minutes as the procedure takes only a couple minutes... and they only put him under really just to keep him still. Scary all the same to put an infant under anesthesia - I hate it. But apparently he is supposed to all healed and back to 100% within 2 days - much faster than the healing time for a normal "circ" - so that is good. And we have our 1 year photo session booked with Mandy Birdwell for Sunday Nov 2nd (my birthday) - so I am trying to figure out what outfits the boys should wear for those. They are still in 18 month clothes but outgrowing some of it already (crazy).
Well, I better get going as I need to get more stuff packed and organized for our big trip to Duluth on Wednesday for yet another wedding. Another Shannon (weird eh), but this one is my cousin, for which I am the matron of honor. Heading up Wednesday for the bachelorette party, and staying through the weekend. Grandma Chris is popping up here tomorrow night so that I will have someone to ride with me and the boys to Duluth, and she is going to stay at my Dad's (or 2 doors down at my Aunt/Uncles) to help out with the boys while I am doing pre-wedding stuff. Will fill you all in on how that went in the next post - until then, take care and check back again.

Just some funny pictures of Oscar. The first is what he does very often to us. He chomps down on the spoon and won't let go with his jaws of steel. Then he plays with it in his mouth and makes it go up and down and giggles until you finally wedge it out of his mouth. The second is a VERY tired Oscar who just couldn't wait until lunch was over to start his nap.... poor little guy.

Some picture of the boys at Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Dean's the other weekend, playing with some balloons left over from Sarah Rasset's bridal shower. I love these little button up shirts on them - they look so studly. Tried to get them to pose together but these days they are just a little too active to sit still for me like they used to before.


Here are the boys (and Stella) playing with the riding toys that Dean and Bonnie have at their place. They have a little John Deere pedal mower, and an electric car that can be controlled with an attachment. So the boys and Stella had fun riding around on the driveway in these.



Here is some proof of MacKay feeding himself.... tried to get one of Oscar but he is much more shy about showing this skill... but great at giving those big toothy smiles.

The boys' radio flyer wagon from Grandma Diane. They love riding around in this. They really liked making noises and shouting in it cuz I think they could feel the bumps in the road and vibrations and were liking the way their voices sounded when they were bumping along. It was a bit chilly (what happened - it went from 90 to 60 in one day?) so we put these adorable terry hooded sweatshirts on them that were also from Grandma Diane.

Just some miscellaneous pictures of the boys that I like. The first is where I constantly find the boys... playing with Daddy's chest and looking out the window. Second is just a cute picture of MacKay looking out at the big outside world through the window and giggling. Third is a picture of MacKay with yet another favorite toy - the wireless phone. Chris actually picked it up the other day after they were playing with it and it showed that the boys had dialed a number (probably not valid) and was connected/on for 20+ minutes. Nice. And lastly, just a cute picture of Oscar and Daddy.


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