Special Visit

A few weeks ago we enjoyed a visit with our precious friends Michael and Laura. Michael and Laura are missionaries in Peru with Missions to the World. We were at JMU together and love them and miss them greatly! It was a treat to spend a few hours with them in Richmond when they were home. We love you all!

Preschool Update

For those who have been wondering/praying, Owen is doing MUCH better at school!! He has really enjoyed week 2 and week 3. We are so thankful!

Just a few from last week

Me and the boys.



we're still at the "almost" crawling phase, but it's fun to watch!



Matt always captures the greatest shots of the boys! I love the joy in their faces.

A little Purdy adventure

Because Matt works on Sundays, he gets to take Tuesdays off. Usually we just stick around Richmond and get chores done or run errands. This week we decided to take a little bit of an adventure. We went to Charlottesville to walk around and dine at one of our favorite pizza places - Mellow Mushroom. We were introduced to Mellow in Charlotte - it was a staple of our lives - Matt had church intern lunches there, we had many date nights there and many nights out with friends. We have known that there was one in Charlottesville, and just now made the trip. It was great!! The boys did great - a train came by right when Owen was getting antsy - we enjoyed our time together and the food was great too!

The boys.



Owen watching the train going by.



The remains. Mmmm. (For those who are interested - I'm guessing not many - we had a sausage pizza with mushrooms on half of it.)

First day of Preschool

We had a big milestone this week - Owen's first day of Preschool! We decided to enroll Owen in the community preschool that our church runs. He'll be going one day a week from 9-12. We were all really nervous and excited about it. How could it be time to send him to school ALREADY?! He's been with us all day every day for 2 years!! The day went better than we expected in some ways and much harder in other ways. The drop-off went great - no tears from any of us! The hardest part was picking him up - he just seemed sort of out of it. He has told us bits and pieces from the day - seems that it was ok except for an incident with a little boy named Matthew. All we can gather from Owen is this: "Big toy...Owen push Up, Matthew push down, Owen push up, Matthew push down, Owen say No No." Needless to say, it's hard to tell if Owen or Michael were in the wrong. Owen seemed a little distressed by it all. We'll see how week 2 goes.

Our sweet Owen.



One last check out the back door.



Dropping Owen off at the door. (Check out his teacher's stylin' smock. Love it!)

6 Months Old!

It's very hard to believe that it's been 6 months since Baxter was born! What a whirlwind!! There have been so many hard days and so many sweet moments in the mix of his 6 months. Baxter is a very sweet and content boy - wouldn't have imagined in the height of his reflux that we'd say that!! He loves to roll around on the floor and is getting into the crawling position and rocking back and forth. One of these days he's just going to take off! He LOVES to watch his big brother run and sing and play. He loves his jumper toy and anything he can chew on!! He is a great blessing to us and we thank God for him!

(Note: For those interested in stats, Baxter weighs 15 lbs. 10 oz. (15%) and 26 in. long(50%). Owen was over 19 lbs. at this age. It's strange to have a slim baby. Our doctor said he's within his healthy range and not to worry.)

Look who's sitting!

Baxter has been doing a great job sitting up recently! He's also started to rock a lot on his hands and knees...crawling may be in the near future. What does one do with two mobile children?

Just a little fun.

Here are some of the fun moments we've been having recently. Woven in with the fun have been challenging times with Owen's 2 1/2 year old self and Baxter's continual spit up, but overall we are enjoying life with our two precious boys. We are so thankful for them. They are really starting to enjoy each other a lot too. Baxter laughs 9 times out of 10 when Owen does something silly with him. The one time he doesn't laugh he cries because Owen is a little too rough - usually by accident. When Baxter is sad, Owen says "SSHHHHH Baxter. SHHSSHHH Baxter." and Baxter calms down more often than not. It's a precious relationship that we pray will remain precious in so many ways as the years go on.

Owen sitting in a bin of balls.



Baxter LOVES his jumper!



Fun in a box! Matt is always more creative and fun with the boys - today I came downstairs to this. What a great daddy!



Baxter was enjoying himself, but slightly unsure of the whole thing.

Fire Trucks!

One of our friends here at West End is Mr. Andy. He is a fireman! He mentioned that we could come to see his fire house anytime they want. We finally took him up on the offer this past weekend with the boys. At first, everything was a little overwhelming for Owen, but he warmed up quickly and loved it!

Matt and O sitting in the truck.



Checking out the fire hat up in the truck.



Intently looking at something that Mr. Andy is showing him.



Our firehouse family.

Then and Now

We captured a moment of Baxter's life this week that reminded us of a picture we took of Owen when he was this age...Note two things that Owen has MUCH more of than Baxter - HAIR and CHUB!

Baxter



Owen