Griffin's 1st Steps!

We caught some of Griffin's 1st steps on video tonight! Here he is walking to big brother, Ronan, who is enticing him with grapes.

Preschool Fun

I went to school with Ronan on Halloween to help out with his pumpkin party. It was a lot of fun being back in a preschool classroom and watching Ronan enjoy his first school party. He worked so hard on his little art project and was excited that he got to be the line leader. I'm sure his favorite part of the day was getting to decorate a cookie with as much frosting and sprinkles as he wanted (:
Keep watching for more Halloween posts...

Prepping for Foundation

Here's a quick update on construction:

Here are the workers marking the ground for foundation and digging holes for the footings.

They came back a few days later to set up the forms, and will return on Monday to pour the foundation!

11 months old!

Griffin turned 11 months last Friday. I can hardly believe it! His birthday is coming so fast! He is such a fun little guy. Here he is doing his favorite trick: "How big is Griffin?"

So Big!

Josh and Griffin were home together while I took Ronan to a birthday party, and when we came home Josh had taken a bunch of pictures of Griffin riding the 4-wheeler! He even managed to push the pedal a few times and moved forward a bit. I think he felt pretty proud of himself (:
Anytime Griffin sees us open the door he crawls as fast as he can to go out (: He loves being outside! We have been taking advantage of the dry fall days when we have them. He is starting to become interested in all of Ronan's toys, especially the trucks!

Griffin loves it when I brush his hair, so one day I handed the brush to him and he just brushed and brushed his hair for the longest time. I love the color of his hair (and Ronan's too), I wonder if it will stay the same color as he grows up...

Griffin officially took his very first step on Sunday night! I went to get him from the nursery after our small group and he was so excited to get to me. The nursery worker stood him up and as I got close to him he took a step and leaned to reach me. He hasn't taken any steps since then, but he can stand on his own for a really long time and squat to pick something up, then stand up again! He is getting so big! Almost one!!!

Happy Birthday!

We celebrated my dad's 55th birthday last night! It was a great party! The house was full of family and his closest friends. Mom prepared lots of yummy appetizers and Papa had two of his home brews on tap in his Pub: Jolly Roger IPA and ProfessR's Amber Ale! Several of Papa's students from LCC were there and it was neat to read cards from them and see what an impact he has had on their lives. This will be a very special year for him because he plans to retire from teaching after this school year! I'm excited for him and proud of all the hard work he has put in over the years! Here's to a great year....Happy Birthday, Papa!

Breaking Ground!

What an exciting day! We returned from spending time with friends this morning to find a dump truck and an excavator parked in front of our house! It was finally happening! Josh rode his bike home as fast as he could so that he could answer any questions and see them get started. We all stood on our deck as we watched the excavator cut into our backyard.

It was pretty amazing to watch! Ronan, of course, was hyped up by all the excitement. He could hardly contain himself, but he managed to stay on the deck and away from the construction site for the most part. Josh had to go back to work....so I took lots of pictures and video for him. I called a few people to let them know what was happening in case they wanted to stop by to see it. My friend Kelly came with her two boys, John and Eli, because John is really into "diggers" like Ronan. They were pretty cute watching the excavator together.

Then, Amy (Josh's sister) came over with her kids, Ethan and Macey, and later on, Katrina (my sister) came over with her son, Finley. It's always fun getting the November "cousins" together.

Here is Griffin, Ethan, and Macey playing on the floor together. On the couch below is Finley, Macey, Ethan, and Griffin. They were all born within 20 days of each other last November!

OK, back to the excavating (: We were so impressed with "Digger Dan", the excavator. He was really efficient and friendly, too! He asked Ronan if he wanted to ride in the truck with him....and Ronan said yes. I thought he would be too scared or nervous, but he wasn't.

Ronan sat in the cab for a few minutes and got to use some of the controls. That really made his day!

Above: Dan finishing the excavation.
Below: Spreading the gravel

Here is Finn and Griffin watching the big truck! Finn kept pointing to it and saying, "Oh!"

And here is our lot! This is all really happening now! I can hardly believe it!

I had to put this video in. This is what Griffin and I do in our spare time (:

Ronan's 1st Field Trip!

Today I got to go with Ronan on his very first field trip! It was so much fun! We went to Detering Orchard where the kids got to pick out a pumpkin and an apple. Ronan was soooo excited. It seemed like he was the most excited kid there (: He is so full of energy and life! Ronan looked for an apple that would fit in his pocket. Yummy! He ate it to the core. Here is Ronan with his teacher Miss McKenzie.

Sadie's class was there at the same time (yeah!) so they got to look for pumpkins together. They both searched for a long time!

Then Ronan, Zack, and Brooklyn found some mud to stomp in. I'm glad he was wearing his new froggy boots!

After they found their pumpkins we all went to the produce stand to try a sample of apple cider. There was a hay maze there, but instead of walking through the maze Ronan decided he would walk on the hay and jump over the maze. Like I said earlier...he is full of energy and does everything to the extreme. Hmmm, sounds like his daddy (:
And here's one last picture of Ronan and Sadie. They are such good buddies! I'm so glad they are going to the same school this year! It's been a lot of fun for them.