Growing up

A 2 year old who flosses this teeth, all by himself!  100% growing up too quickly!

New hiding places

Xavier has found a new favorite pastime. He is opening everything and climbing in!  Cabinets, closet doors, boxes, dryers etc...We have officially unplugged the dryer.  The other day he was watching a movie in the basement and I ran back upstairs to do something and when I came back down he was gone, nowhere to be seen, I freaked just a little about losing my kid and then heard this faint, "mommy I'm in here."  And there he was, happily sitting in the dryer.  The scary part, he can actually close the door so it latches while he is in the dryer, he can get it open from inside by pushing on it.  BUT OH MY GOODNESS.  The other day he took his tractor in the dryer with him and was driving it all around.  Not a fun new place to play in my opinion, but obviously the new HOT spot in his. 

 Paper boxes are also fun.  He tends to like to 'tip' them over and then tell me he bonked his head and I need to come over and rub it.  Then he gets right back in and does it all over again.  Bless his little noggin. 

Fabulous Fall

Fall is here!!!  And nothing is more fall than Xavier deciding to test out his new fall clothes.  Geema and Papa bought Xavier this lovely vest to maximize his outdoor playing ability and let me tell you, it has been a huge hit!!!  When he first tried it on, he did not want to take it off, he wore it with his hat for an entire evening (please also notice that he has his "running boots" on, he calls his cowboy boots his running boots). A slight meltdown happened when we had to take off the vest and hat to get in the bath.  But doesn't he just look adorable!!!  So cute!

 Xavier and Jeremiah went pumpkin patch picking at Drumheller's Orchard last weekend and had a blast!  Per Jeremiah, Xavier was more interested in riding the hay wagon than picking out a pumpkin.  He quickly ran into the patch, picked a pumpkin and was ready to get back on the wagon for another ride!  We have not yet gotten a big pumpkin, but Jeremiah thinks we are going to get one tomorrow and do some carving, last year our lovely dogs ended up getting ahold of the big pumpkin from the porch and took a bite out of it, so hopefully this year it will not happen.  This little pumpkin that Xavier picked at Drumheller's is currently sitting on our kitchen table holding his Halloween costume hat!  Can't wait to get pictures of that!!!!

 Jeremiah and Xavier picked me up some lovely yellow delicious apples at Drumheller's and it has been discovered that Xavier is a yellow delicious dude himself!!!  Every morning when Xavier gets up he asks for a cup of juice and an apple.  So sweet!!!

Love the fall weather and we have been making the most of staying outside whenever we can!  Lots of walks, running around and playing at the park!  Happy Fall!!!

Fun Times

There is nothing better than a bubble bath that has 3 inches of water and 6 inches of bubbles. Xavier and his cousins had a blast while at Massahnutten Resort each night in the bath. They had to take showers after getting out of the bubble bath! In 3 days we went through an entire bottle of bubble bath, but the pictures and the hour plus bath every night was totally worth every drop!!! When Xavier sat down, just his head and shoulders would stick above the bubbles!

We had a great condo at Massahnutten, right across the parking lot was a playground, tennis court and walking trail. Dinner could not be finished quick enough to get out to the playground to burn off all last minute energy before the epic bubble bath and bed! Xavier had a blast on the motorcycles and rocket ship thingies. He wanted to get up and down all by himself and would have a fit if you tried to help him; he ended up with a rub on his back from sliding off, but if you came within 2 feet of him while he was on the motorcycle he was tell you to go away and that he was riding.

Xavier's first ride on a Ferris Wheel, he was a little nervous and did not crack a smile the entire time. Maybe next year...

Cleaning with Daddy. Xavier is a huge help around the house and has probably vacuumed miles. He prefers when you vacuum while he is vacuuming and wants to get the exact same spot that you are cleaning. I honestly think we have turn the vacuum on more in the last 6 months than we have since we moved into our house in 2007. They even vacuumed the window sills yesterday! I hope this love of cleaning continues, if only I could convince him that putting his toys away was fun too.

Beaching Fish style

The verdict is in, Xavier LOVES the beach. The sand is the biggest draw for him. Today, he just kept jumping in the sand, he would count to three, then jump again. He was covered from head to toe with sand. The above was taken while Xavier and Jeremiah were hanging out in the sand.

Swimming in the ocean with Geema and Daddy. It is killing him that he can't just run and jump in the water, the current is pretty strong. After a wave crashes, he will either run up and jump into the surf or run away screaming.

The great distructor. He can take down an entire sand castle and village in under 30 seconds!!!

Walking the beach with Geema

Beach Bums!

Great vacation so far! Hopefully more wonderful pictures to come!!!

Time with the Parks'

When you bring 4 boys under the age of 5 together you are bound to have tons of fun, exhausting for sure, a few tantrums and tears and many good pictures! Xavier and I headed down to Bluefield this past weekend to visit Merri and Rob and the boys. They just moved into a a bigger place with a fabulous backyard and it was high time for a weekend of togetherness. It was lovely to see how much Merri's boys have grown and their different personalities and to see how Xavier interacts with other kids (sharing is not his strong point). Rob had to work, but we got to see him for a few hours, it seems that whenever we get together either Jeremiah or Rob has to work, one of these days we will actually have both entire families together! Merri and I got a good old-fashioned gossip session in and she also introduced me to "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" Oh my, it is fabulous! Funny how much we both still love wedding shows; we used to meet back in our room during college to watch "A Wedding Story." So funny, but if you have not seen "My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding" I recommend taking in an episode-totally worth it!!

Highlights from the weekend below:

Ethan sliding down the make-shift water slide-"did I go really fast?" Ethan was tame compared to Davis as he went down the water slide, Davis was all about going down on his tummy and he had the red chest to prove it went we finally headed in for dinner.
Xavier's first attempt, with Ethan's encouragement, going down the water slide, it wasn't that big of a hit for him, which surprised me.

Taking a break in the pool before fulling the cups back up with water and hitting the slide again. Xavier was IN LOVE with the cozy coupe and drove it all over the yard. Xavier and Colin had some sharing issues with the coupe, but it seemed to work out. Xavier only pushes it backwards, and he ended up getting it 'parked' under the slide, which suited him just fine.
Ethan at the fabulous park in Bluefield. It was hot as all get out and Merri and I only lasted about 35 minutes before we were a little sweaty. The boys I think could have stayed out the rest of the afternoon.

Xavier driving the airplane, which he referred to as a helicopter.

Merri pushing Colin and Davis. If there had been more shade, we might have lasted longer, but chasing 4 kids around is hard work!

A little time on the stairs, Colin, Xavier and Ethan.

It was hard to leave on Sunday, especially the big play room full of toys and the cozy coupe for Xavier. We had to take a few minutes in the back yard to say bye to the coupe and then go back to the park to make sure all Xavier's energy was used up for a pleasant ride home. Xavier slept most of the way down to Bluefield, so he did not get to experience driving through the tunnels on 77, but on the way back home, he was still awake and loved going "in a mountain." He just laughed in the back seat and would say, "cool." When we got home Giema (my mom) had arrived back from visiting Uncle Heath in Wisconsin and I am pretty sure Xavier's life was complete then; had a fabulous weekend playing hard with friends, new mountain experiences and seeing Giema after she had been gone for over a week.

So much fun, I can't wait for the next adventure!!!

The Business of eating

I am pretty sure Xavier does not chew while eating spaghetti, I think he just slurps it all down. I can cut it up, but he still slurps and honestly it is way more fun to slurp down long pieces (I find myself doing it every once in awhile still!).