We’ve had a busy week filled with all kinds of fun and adventure though most of our fun happened over over the weekend as you’ll see in a minute.
Throughout the week various family members began arriving in Ohio in preparation for Jim and Pat’s 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration on Saturday, August 12th. Uncle Todd spent the night with us and Griffin really loved having him here. He wanted him to do everything – play superheroes, dodge ball, read books, color, any and everything he asked Todd to do it with him and Todd obliged 🙂 
On Friday I went Kroger and Costco to pick up white flowers to make arrangements for Jim and Pat’s anniversary party.  I got home and put them all in big vases and from there began making arrangements. It was so fun! And I think they turned out pretty well. 
Later on Friday night we headed off to drop the kids at Uncle Andy and Aunt Amy’s house with the cousins while Kevin and I went to our friend Laura’s 40th birthday party. The theme was Prom 1995 (the year she graduated high school) so we got all decked out in dressy stuff. I was fortunate to borrow a dress from a friend and I found a matching bow tie and cummerbund for Kevin. I ordered us matching corsage and boutonniere as well. It was a fun celebration and I enjoyed getting the below text updates from Amy and Andy letting us know all was well with the kiddos. We’re grateful they were able to watch them for us!
Saturday morning we woke up early and got the car packed up and headed to Enon to begin the party prep for later that afternoon. When I made all of these flower arrangements I had no idea how many I would end up with or what size or how we would get them there! Turns out we had five (four pretty large ones) to somehow get there in one piece. Kevin did a great job of making support boxes for them so they wouldn’t move during our trip. They all arrived looking great thanks to his packing genius. 
Here they are, the celebratory couple standing next to their party sign! Kevin had this banner made locally in Columbus and they did a great job. The picture on the left is from their wedding day and the picture on the right is from our wedding almost 5 years ago. It worked out great and was easy to setup and take down.
We brought cookies, cupcakes, and an anniversary cake for the celebration. I went and visited Sweet Tooth Cottage, a local bakery in Powell where I’ve previously gotten custom cookies. I had heard good things about their cakes so I figured we would get it there along with cupcakes too. Oh my goodness – the cake was delicious! It was chocolate with vanilla buttercream and the frosting was so good. Flavorful but not too sweet. Â And that cake, oh my goodness, four layers of chocolate loaded with beautiful flowers and gold dust on top. It was SO HEAVY! And we had cute little cupcakes to match and custom hearts with “fifty” written on them and wedding cakes with “fifty” as well. And we enjoyed finding decorations and having pictures made for everyone to see Jim and Pat 50 years ago!
It was great to have so many family members make the trip to Enon to celebrate and also to see the progress Jim and Pat have made on renovating their “new” home! It was also nice for everyone to be able to meet Reid! He was passed around for most of the afternoon and got to meet many aunts, uncles, and cousins from Ohio to Texas to California. 
After the party we headed down the street to Kevin’s high school friend, Eric’s, annual pig roast/party. It is literally a few houses down the street. Tons of people were still there and they had a lovely bonfire that Griffin really enjoyed. 
Pat’s request for her anniversary was that she wanted all of her kids under one roof! Who knows when that may happen again, but we made it happen this time complete with grandkids too! Here Griffin is fast asleep after a super late night and a loaded party day!
On Sunday morning Griffin enjoyed more play time with Charlotte and Max who were in town from Albuquerque. Charlotte and Finn really loved playing with the cars and the track forming it into various shapes with different ramps and such. 
Chris and I joked as we sat around on Sunday morning that this is the new “family” time. Every single person in the room was using their electronic device be it a laptop, tablet, or cell phone.  Too funny, but the way it is these days it seems. 
On Sunday afternoon Brett and Missy made fried chicken for dinner for everyone. It was tasty!
And here are some others from throughout the week. 
rother
Thankfully Debbie watched Griffin and Reid while we were out having fun. When we got home she was putting down a towel near the dogs water bowl. I got the towel and was trying to fold it and Brutus just wanted to play tug with it so I finally dropped it and this is what he did.  Silly pup. 
Griffin has really been enjoying coloring. Nearly every morning he comes in when he wakes up and after a couple minutes picks out a picture and grabs his colored pencils and gets started. That along with Lily and Brutus snuggles are pretty regular around here. 
On Tuesday Reid had his 2 month well check (a bit late as we had been on vacation when we normally would have gone). He is doing great! I was surprised that he only weighs 13 pounds 8 ounces (66th percentile) as I thought he felt much heavier! He measured 23.5″ (55th percentile) 1 inch longer, though when I had her remeasure she got 24″ which I think is more accurate but she didn’t change what she’d written originally). His head is still a big one, lol, measuring 42 cm (98th percentile). 
One afternoon I was downstairs and I heard Brutus playing. I actually thought he was chewing his nylabone. I called for him and he met me on the stairs with a big half chewed roll of toilet paper! I walked up into my room and this is what I discovered! He’s always entertaining himself. 
For Griffin’s 4th birthday we gave him a big kid bike. It turns out it was a bit large and we were hoping to transition him right from his balance bike to a big kid bike with no training wheels. We finally gave it a go and he did pretty well! We decided to put the training wheels on though as he just isn’t tall enough yet to get safely off and on and stop himself easily. 
This week Debbie put some pictures in the app and one of them is the picture at the top this week of Reid. Griffin took it all by himself! He’s getting pretty good 🙂
I love that google puts these together. Makes my blog-making much simpler. 
On Thursday evening we headed to Dublin for the annual Kid’s Dash as a part of the Irish Festival. This is Griffin’s third year running with his cousins. It was really nice weather, almost fall-like with a breeze and low humidity. They had fun and this year were included in Dublin’s promo video they posted to Facebook!
Saturday was Griffins last t-ball game of the summer. It was a cool morning and perfect weather to spectate. We headed from t-ball to Emmaline’s birthday party which was full of fun frog activities. Kevin was even coaxed into helping get the kiddos prepped to play “push the lips on the frog”. 
We quickly stopped at home after the party to grab Brutus and Lily and then we were off for Enon for the day to visit with Sean, Chris, Eliza, Max and Charlotte who are in town visiting Jim and Pat in advance of their 50th wedding anniversary party. Bretty and Missy were there as well as Sebastian and Alexis who were in town with baby Damian. They were visiting from Florida and luckily we were able to see them while they were here. Damian was born 6 days before Reid so it was neat to see them together. 
Sunday we headed to the Dublin Irish Festival for the day. We met up with Sean, Chris, Eliza, Max and Charlotte and we all enjoyed tasty food (I had a delicious potato pancake!), music, and a lot of children’s activities. The younger kids all loved the bounce and inflatable activities. Griffin loved being  “ninja” on the red ball course (see the video below). He probably did it 6 times. He also was brave and waited in line to climb up a really tall inflatable and then jump from the top – which is probably somewhere around 20 or more feet tall! When you jump you land on a super tall (8′ perhaps) inflated surface to cushion your fall. He was so brave he barely paused at the top, just long enough for me to give him the thumbs up.  I was so super bummed that somehow I screwed up the video recording and only got him reaching the top prior to jumping off and then at the end running off to hug Kevin.  Ugh!  Then I was unsuccessful in getting him to do it again. Oh well, it’s the courage he had we are most proud of!
And I love this picture of Griffin from May of 2014 (14 months old) and then from this week with Brutus. Growing too fast!
Griffin used to sleep in this exact same position!
Reid went to the doctor for his 4 week well check this week where he checked out great! Dr. Wilde remarked that his big belly and chubby cheeks are the telltale signs of a growing and thriving baby. He did get one shot in his thigh – the poor guy turned beet red and did the whole no-sound-making-angry-crying face for a minute or two before he calmed down and then he was just fine. He weighed in at 10 pounds 15.6 ounces (we had guessed 11 pounds at home for this visit so we were close!) which is the 78th percentile.  He was 22.5″ long (92nd percentile) and his head circumference was 40 cm (99th percentile).  We have ourselves a super healthy and big baby! We did have some concerns at this appointment as Kevin had noticed a marble-like lump off to the side under his right nipple last week. As it turns out it is a normal thing in breast-fed babies. Something about hormones from the mother….I’m just glad it is nothing to worry about and it seems to be going down already since last week when Kevin discovered it. He is really a happy and content baby a majority of the time. There have been some times though that I wonder if he has a bit of reflux or issue with something I’ve eaten. So I discussed that with the doctor who asked if he spits up much. I told him he hardly ever spits up and so he mentioned silent reflux when the baby may have some reflux and it is most noticeable when he’s feeding as it would arch his back, be really fussy, and pull off while he’s eating.  Learning about that made me question if he does have a bit of reflux because he has done that at times, but the more I think about it I think in his case he just has a fair bit of gas as he will burp or toot and then calm down. He also has baby acne, which I’ve wondered if it is truly acne or a reaction to breastmilk (or a factor in something I’m eating). So I’m hoping both his complexion and gas get better and I’m working on not worrying about them!
This week Reid’s right eye was also oozing some yellow sleepies. I’m pretty sure he has a clogged tear duct so I’ve been massaging that and hoping it will clear up soon. 
One of the projects on my list has been to repurpose the loft into a more usable space and also less of a junk collecting area. This week I moved all of the leftover wood (blue boxes) from the middle of the wall down into the corner and I also moved my craft/work table up against the wall so the room is more open. We are going to convert the existing storage bookshelf from craft and miscellaneous storage into kids storage and also move the identical storage shelf from the family room up to the loft. I think Griffin will really enjoy having a carpeted playspace and Kevin and I will enjoy having the kids toys (read that as at times messy area) up in the loft. We are gradually moving toward improving our family room area so it will become a place where we spend our time as right now we hardly ever use it!
This week Kevin interviewed for his job as he had updated he resume and had to reapply for his current position. The state’s fiscal year begins each July 1st and this year Kevin is hoping to change the company he uses as a pass through for billing. So, I bring that up as he wore a tie to work for his interview. He looks so handsome, eh? Luckily a friend snapped this photo of him and he sent it to me as a typical work day doesn’t involve ties!
We enjoyed a quick dinner followed by family movie night on Friday. Â It was awesome – Â we were all snuggly and I loved that I was in bed at 8 pm, lol! We watched Trolls, which Griffin really loved. It had him up dancing and I loved watching that the best!
Saturday’s mean t-ball time! The kids this week were feeling more comfortable and getting the hang of how things work. It made for a smoother game where we made it through each of the batters twice in an inning and were able to play two innings this week. Each week there is a sportsmanship value that the coach teaches the kids and this week it was about sharing. At the end of the game the coach awards a player a medal for demonstrating the value and this week Griffin was awarded the medal for sharing! It was so appropriate as he is wonderful at sharing with others. Each time he makes a craft he wants to give it away to someone, or he gets a snack and will share it with someone, he regularly shares toys, and so on. I was super happy for him and I could tell he was proud that he had been given the medal by Coach Abigail.
Another fun Saturday afternoon spent with Cole and Cooper, complete with Mr. Brian making them all lunch!
Brotherly snuggles before we headed to the Powell Festival at Village Green Park. It was a beautiful night to be outdoors listening to live music, having dinner, and watching Griffin enjoy the kids play areas. 
Kevin pressure washed the porch and patio over the weekend and it looks a-m-a-z-i-n-g! The floor is so clean and the patio is also weed free as he used the flame thrower and burned them all up!
On Sunday we had a neighborhood block party that we helped organize along with 3 of our other neighbors. Our neighborhood hadn’t had one in a few years and we thought with the turnover we’ve had in the ‘hood and the new kids and families it would be good to have a gathering. Kevin was the grill master and we setup the bounce house in Brian’s yard, along with other outdooor games. We had a decent turnout and it was nice to meet new neighbors and others who’ve been here a long time but that we just don’t know! 
Check this guy out at almost 5 weeks filling out his new 3 month outfit from Grandma Beilstein. Â So big!
Lily always getting comfortable on the couch. I’m not sure how we’re going to teach her not to get up on the furniture once we replace our awful couch someday!
This week we made impressions of Reid’s hand and feet. They turned out really well, though we did have to round the bottom of the footprint. We had planned to have them be the same length but it turns out his feet are longer than his hands :). 
Griffin really loves to learn and has shown an interest in numbers and letters. He regularly asks what the letters he puts together spell and he’s been doing some addition here and there. He also really likes matching the written number to the number of objects or coming up with words that end in certain letters, for example, “at” (cat, bat, pat, rat, etc). 
Oh Brutus, he’s just killing me some days. He is the sweetest dog, but he definitely needs more attention and exercise that he’s been receiving lately. This week while rearranging the loft I was vacuuming as I was moving furniture around so the cord was all over the floor. He and Lily were laying on the floor playing with each other and I looked at them and realized he had chewed through the vacuum cleaner cord. Â Ugh! Â Killing me. He’s been ruining a couple of items a day sometimes, from Finn’s toys to Kevin’s Keen sandals, to my shoes, Griffin’s shoes, etc. He is all puppy. Â 
This video was put together by Google from various photos that I’ve taken over the years. I thought it was so cute I’m posting for everyone to see, not only the dogs through the years – but look at Finn grow up too!