Randoms

"Sometimes the things we can't change, end up changing us".

~ My Dear Valentine

My current motto.

And a few images from last week...

DC Stop #2

So last Saturday we decided to visit the DC zoo. I realize we'll be out here for another 16 months but the weather will be colder soon and we'll be doing more inside events then. It ended up being a bit chilly in the morning (around 40) but by afternoon it had warmed up a bit and the hats and gloves were able to come off. 

The zoo overall was great. It's a free zoo with several entrance points that you can walk right into which was odd. The animals were all fairly similar to most zoos except they had PANDA BEARS! The kiddos LOVED watching one eat the bamboo and that's what cause Ady's face in the 2nd picture below. And 2 pandas had a baby a few weeks ago that we will get to see come January! EEK! A baby panda!! 

Drew and I took a selfie with the black bear who was just hanging out on his rock soaking up the sun. It's hard to tell from the pic, but man it seems like a small enough moat that the bear could just jump right over.

We splurged on overpriced souvenirs stuffed animals for the kiddos and not less than 9 minutes after we bought them, Ady lost hers. I looked down in the stroller and she was no longer holding it. After backtracking our steps and checking lost and found, we decided that we had to get another.

It stayed out of her hands until we were home.

I'm sure this will be a zoo we frequent a lot in the coming year!

DC Stop #1

If you follow me on IG, you'll notice that we're using the hashtag K6doesDC. Since we all plan to visit most of the big sights together, I thought it would be fun to have a hashtag so that we can always pull up images from those times! So Saturday was our first trip downtown and we enjoyed the Washington Monument (going all the way to the top too!), the Reflecting Pool, Vietnam Memorial, Lincoln Memorial and Korean War Veterans Memorial.

I had to...

Drew did so awesome walking the entire day with the exception of a few piggy back rides. Ady enjoyed the trip mostly from her Beco but did get down to run around a few times! Our legs were so tired from all the walking, but it was the perfect inaugural tourist day!

And So It Begins...

Drew said something the other day about his tooth and how it was wiggling. I brushed him off and told him it was in his head because he wasn't even 5 yet.

Boy was I wrong.

He came home on Friday and told me his tooth was loose again and could wiggle all over. I took a look and sure enough, it was loose and there's an adult tooth about to pop through behind it!

I guess when you get teeth before you're even 4 months old, you're going to lose them early as well.

I figured we had a few days to a week before that sucker came out, but nope! I came home this morning from a session and it was already out. The stinker pulled it out this morning all on his own!

Hopefully the tooth fairy makes it to our house tonight! 

The Worm & Turkey

Love them.

Exploring

We're pretty much settled into our new city now and although there's still tons to do around the house, at least we're set up and there is food in the fridge. Drew started school today at a local preschool and the kids have adjusted awesome. Sleep wasn't really interrupted and Ady has enjoyed exploring EVERYTHING in the new house. We love the outdoor space we have in the house and can't wait to do some DC site-seeing this weekend! 

Bailey

Haven't posted pics in a while but she turned 8 back in August and is still the best dog ever. She's doing awesome out and around our Virginia house and we haven't even set up the shock collar because of that. The kids play outside with Mimi and Grandpa a lot and she's always out there with them.
Overall she's still a picky eater but knows to stalk Ady during meals in hopes of catching some falling food. She is starting to go grey around her nose more and more but really hasn't slowed down as far as with her physical side. She's still pretty slim and still doesn't have a mean bone in her body. Ady still is learning to pat gently and not pull her tail and she puts up with it all.
She generally can hold her pee until 8ish in the mornings and goes outside for the last time around 9pm at night. Although she needs a bit of melatonin on long car rides, she's a pretty good traveler.

So, to summarize, she better live to be 49.

Costume Pics (3 days late)

It's been a crazy 48 hours here in DC but had to document the kids costumes for Halloween 2015!

Drew, of course, is out of the "cute" costume phase and into superheroes. He chose Captain America for this year.

Although I'm a dog person, I thought this cat costume was freaking adorable for Ady!

Obligatory family pic...

 And the 'grandparents are in town' pic...

Happy Halloween

Just like the rest of America, we carved pumpkins last night. Except this year a power drill was added to the carving tools!

I think they turned out quite perfect if I do say so myself! 

Oh and Ady is 15 months old now. We had her well check yesterday morning and she's perfect as can be!

The Transformer House

So this man in Cleveland has been building life sized transformers since 2008 and this was the very first year I heard about it! We packed the kiddos up after dinner Tuesday and drove 30 minutes to see the exhibit and it was awesome. Optimus Prime was like 15 feet tall maybe?! They were incredibly detailed and even lit up. Drew was kinda nervous but Ady walked right up and stared at them the entire time.

Weekly Recap

So last Friday night I started off the weekend with several of my girlfriends for a ladies night out! We enjoyed an awesome dinner and drinks and, of course, lots of discussion on things like Justin Bieber's recent 'picture'! It was a great time and I'll miss these girls so much while we're in DC.

Then it was time for the local pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins. Drew loved the hayride and corn maze and sissy loved carrying around a mini pumpkin.

I had tons of sessions this weekend seeing that it was our last full weekend in Cleveland but we were also able to squeeze in the neighborhood fall fest. At least I got pictures of the kiddos in their costumes if it's too crazy on Saturday! :)

Breath

5 more days and then we are off on our 18 month adventure in the DC area. So yes, this week is full of doctors appointments, 957 photography sessions, packing, goodbye's with friends, haircuts,  more packing, other appointments and more. Thankfully Mimi and Grandpa are in town to help and we're trying to enjoy the last of Cleveland when we can. Snapped this sunset that was watched last week from a pier on Lake Erie and it was pretty magical.

5 more days.
And breath.

The Opposite's Blog

My children are alike in so many ways, but in others they are complete opposites. I thought it would be fun to write some out so that we don't forget any of these fun facts!

walked late vs walked early

mellow baby vs active baby

back sleeper vs tummy sleeper

scared by loud noises vs thinks loud noises are funny
super slow eater vs super fast eater
blond vs dark hair
drooling champ when a baby vs doesn't drool a bit

I'll be adding to this in the future, but this is a good start for today!