sa-wing

Second time on the swing was just as much of a success as the first.  This time instead of lots of talking, I got lots of smiles.

I tried to get a picture of CC and 2 out of 3 of her grandsons.  This was the best out of the batch.

Although it appears that way, Declyn is not wearing shorts -- his sweatpants (actually any pants for that matter) seem to always make their way up his legs to find a new home nestled in his rolls and/or thighs.  Almost like a permanent camel toe.

James couldn't quite grasp this concept. He kept sitting on the other side of the seat, facing backwards.

This is what I call the blind man -- one of my favorite things that Declyn does. He literally leans in with both hands and feels your face, as if to confirm that it is in fact you.

[If you do a double take you can also see the present Dec left CC on her sweater.]

familia

Joe, Jamie & Parker were able to visit us this weekend.  Here's a little re-cap of what went down.

S'mores at Cosi -- highly recommended. 

Right before Boston won the Detroit v. Red Sox series ... there's nothing more beautiful than a father and his son (except of course for a mother and her son).

Little Parker is obsessed with her Uncle Mike.  In all of these pictures she was starring at him and the one time she did look away was to cheer on his favorite baseball team.  It's sweet to see such a special bond forming at only three months (not to mention that they live 3+ hours away, so we don't get to see them nearly as much as we want to).

Jamie and I took our little ones to the pumpkin patch while the boys were at the Redskins v. Bears football game. Declyn was wide eyed the entire time and Parker was super smiley.  I mean I even took Declyn down a slide and that still didn't tire him out.

And of course the second we got to the car he was out.

Zip up here.

Sweatpants found here.

Two bro's living it up at the football stadium.

Pumpkin with ticket purchase? Yes, please!

hey buuuuddy

This is what happens when Aunt Meg has too many drinks at supper club.

Kristen told me about this interesting experiment she found on Pinterest -- both parents lay head to head next to their baby to see who he most resembles.  Mike won.

Here's how the conversation went down for this photo shoot (right before Mike was walking out the door for work):

Me: Babe, can you quickly lay down next to Declyn?

Mike: I literally just put my suit on. 

Me: I know, but real quick.

Mike: Seriously?

[a few pictures later]

Me: Now do me.

[two double-chinned, horrible angle photo's later]

Me: Damnit. He looks like you.

Mike: I could have told you that.

His periods of sitting up by himself for longer amounts of time are slowly increasing.  He does it best when he's distracted with something -- aka he doesn't realize what he's doing.

Cousin love on the couch.

Cousin love on the floor.

James: "I read to Declyn."  

This boy is so smitten with baby Declyn... it's the most precious thing to watch.

safari animals

I am realistic to the fact that this isn't the most amazing picture of Declyn and myself, but there's not too many out there of us, so I thought it'd share. 

Now that it has started to get a little cooler outside, fires are officially part of our Sunday night football watching.

Giraffes and elephants seem to be a staple in Declyn's life.

Oh yes, and he is finally out of the car seat stroller adapter and can now sit/lay in his actual stroller-wahoo!

Kristen and I spent four hours walking around with our babes and it was these sprouts of water that allowed Declyn to give into his sleepiness.

A woman was 'kind' enough to tell us about this little area where we could take our lunches, and more importantly our fussy babies, and eat.

Ignore the fact that it looks like his left hand only has two (three at the most) fingers and instead focus on that face ... it's expressions like this that make me see past the baby that he is and into the face of a little boy.

elbow patches

Us girls had our weekly get together at Oktoberfest -- family friendly, of course.  Did I enjoy myself a little too much? Perhaps.  Did I publicly shame my son? Not that I can remember. 

The best part was my sweet and loving husband who allowed me to take a 'nap' when we got home at 6:30 and only made me love him more when I woke up at 9:30 to a sleeping baby and leftover pizza for me.

Poor guy is teething like crazy.  Kristen showed me her son's pearly whites getting ready to emerge (he has three) and when I looked at what she was talking about in reference to Declyn's mouth, it literally looked like he was going to get them all at once.  Time will tell.

Auntie Lyss woke him up from his nap, so she was stuck holding him.  Hey, you wake the babe, you take care of the babe.

Getting ready to strut his new sweater thanks to Uncle Joe & Aunt Jamie.   Finally, fall clothes were appropriate!  And no, that's not a small goatee hanging from his face -- it's a large pile of spit.

Cardigan :: FAO Schwarz 

Carter's has super comfy jeans

Sperry Top-Sider shoes

selfies and sippy cups

It blows my mind whenever I catch him holding his cup with both hands ... he's turning into such the independent little boy.

Carter's zip up.

Riding dirty in the backseat with me.

Since it was his half birthday, I condoned having the second part of his nap time in bed (his poopy diaper woke him up after only 30 minutes in his crib). I mean come on, how can you resist this sweet face?

Kristen sent me a family selfie in bed, so I of course had to reciprocate with this bad boy.  The funny thing is, in both pictures the dads are sleeping ... huh.

half a year

Today our little man turned 6 months.  I think these pictures do a nice job of summing up how he felt about the occasion.  He was in one of those moments where you took away food for literally a second and he would loose it.  On a positive note, he did keep his composure long enough for me to stick a fake mustache on him, as well as a party hat.

Dapper bib.

I thought it was fitting that since we used mustaches for his gender reveal party that we used something similar for his half birthday.  What you can't see, though, is the circulation being cut off from his party hat due to the fact that Mike had the string only around one set of chins.  Priceless.

Mike's sister was in town for the weekend, so she luckily got to partake in the activities. 

peek-a-boo

I met up with two of my girlies from college - Rach & Jurd (Rach was in town from Cali so we jumped on the opportunity to try and get together). We went out to eat and this guy was a champ. He kept it together while I fed him his solids for the first time in public (and by myself).

Janie and Jack top.

Sperry Top-Sider shoes.

Our first run with the Bob and he was in heaven. Since it reclines, Declyn just laid back, arms up, and slept almost the whole time. Even after he woke up once, he immediately went back to sleep.

Stroller blanket here.

Good Morning!  For once we all napped together in our bed (minus poor Mike who was at work).

Oh hey there, happy boy!

These two.  Cali wouldn't leave Fen alone. Everywhere Fen sat, Cali had to also sit. It got so bad that at one point poor Fenway was sleeping and Cali came and sat on her face. Legit on her face.

Since it's getting colder out (and the rain has been miserable) I've been pressing Mike for a treadmill (although we have a gym membership that he'll be able to go to the daycare center when he's 6 months) we finally got one (for free!) and sweet Mike devoted Tuesday night to setting it up and making it run smoothly. This was my second time using it and since this little one was fighting his nap, I put him in his mini swing while I ran. He literally just starred at me for the first mile... I'm almost positive he didn't even blink-- that's how confused / in shock he was.

rainy days

Despite having crappy weather, it was neat to watch Declyn taking it all in the for the first time. Granted he has seen rain before, but this time it was pouring and he got to see it from behind a glass window without getting hit with it.

Top Picture: my fault. I put Declyn's mat on top of Fen's bed to get it out of the way when we had company for the football game.

Bottom Picture: the mat was back in it's original spot, but she still felt the need to lay on it like it was hers.

A moment of peace when Declyn isn't reaching for Cali and/or Cali isn't trying to lick him.

Alyssa stopped by for what she called a Monday pick-me-up and got to feed Declyn his bottle after lunch. He looks especially sad thanks to the cut on his face --- obviously I trimmed his nails as soon as I saw it. 

besties and wine

Saturday morning.

Despite the cute pictures I get, I still think it's gross when the girls lick his face and hands, so I'm always standing by with baby wipes ready to wash him off in case they don't listen to me (which is 9.8/10 times).

My sleeping angel. Cliche as it is, I could stare at his for hours when he sleeps.

Spending a little Aunt and nephew time in the beautiful 90 degree weather we had.

Similar shirt found here.

Baby Toms.

My besties and I made a vow to take turns planning weekly get togethers for just time with us. Kristen planned this beautiful day at Bull Run Winery and we followed with an impromptu mani/pedi.

freaks

I looked over and saw this. I mean... I can't even try to defend what's happening.

Socks found here.

Just a small example of what happens when his dad feeds him breakfast.

Hat (and gloves) set here.

Dapper bib.

And this is what it looks like when I feed him... ha. Day and night. 

Mike overdresses him, I put him in just a diaper (there's only so many stains of solids I can wash).

[I have to admit I may have sent this out to a few close family members with the caption, "Excuse me while I shadoob / Hold that thought, I need to poop.]

We had a little double date slumber with Mike's best friend, Drew, and his girlfriend.

This is why we both are with partners who cook because all we do is goof off and drink wine while dinner is being prepped.  So thank you, to our loves, you're the best.

multi-tasking

Sometimes the best pictures are those that you accidentally take.  This one is my case in point.

I was trying to document Declyn eating his mangos when he started sneezing and laughing at the same time, while his face was covered in orange mush.  The more he sneezed, the more he laughed...it really made a mama proud.

Skip Hop bib.

He's slowly making his way up to a full sitting position.  He can do it, but it usually only lasts for a little while before he starts to lean or face plant.

On a fluke in Florida, Meagan found Penguin for babies.

Window gazing.  Being on guard constantly is a tough life.

These are the rest of the pictures I snapped during his mango sesh.  Needless to say they were one of his favorite foods thus far.

We had a tripple play date so that Doreen could meet Brent and Smalls could meet Caden.

In this picture we have...

5 moms

2 grandmas

1 great-grandma

4 sons

3 cousins

2 pairs of best friends

2 brothers