We’re gearing up for the month of December around here, which is looking to be a pretty busy one. With swim one night and soccer another during the week, the weeknights seem to be shorter than ever. I’m trying to be a better meal planner and eating more at home, rather than our typical grab-on-the-go. Reid insists on having everything that everyone else at the table does. The cup, plate, utensils, all the different foods (even though he doesn’t eat half of them!) he fusses until you figure out what it is he wants! He continues to love all things carbohydrate: bread, rolls, cereal, sometimes pasta, any kind of cracker. He also loves cheese, yogurt, and applesauce. Not currently a fan of any real meat items. He loves to dip everything in anything, but favorites include barbecue sauce and ketchup.
Hannah and Finn made brownie trees this week. She took the boys on an adventure to the main Columbus Metro Library where they have a large train display. The boys had a lot of fun!
Reid’s 18 month check up went really well. His growth is great! He now weighs 26.1 pounds (75th %tile, up from 24 pounds, 7 oz at 15 mos), is 32.5″ (51st % tile – up from 30.75″ at 15 mos), and his head is 49.8 cm (96th %tile, up from 49.5 cm at 15 mos). He’s still only saying about 4-5 words right now (mama, dada, up, dah {for down}). Though he doesn’t say many words, he understands e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. And he usually listens well, unless he’s being stubborn. I asked the doctor about it and he said just to continue to watch his speech and talking and that he’ll likely explode in the next three months, but, if he doesn’t not to wait until the 2 year well check. So, we’ll just continue talking to him all the time.
Griffin was excited we had a little dusting of snow this week. He couldn’t wait to be outside shoveling and playing in the light covering of snow. 
In advance of my college friends from OU coming to our home over the weekend for our Christmas cookie making party, we went on a two night decorating spree to get our tree and house Christmas-pretty. As per usual decorating the tree requires the large extension ladder. Griffin is becoming more and more brave each year, wanting to go higher up the ladder to put ornaments on. He absolutely loves having Christmas music on and decorating the tree and house. 
On Saturday the OU gang gathered for fun times. We hadn’t seen each other in awhile so we enjoyed a fun day of baking cookies, talking, being silly, and catching up. There’s never enough time in the day and as always the day went really fast. We made peanut-butter kiss, molasses, sugar cookie cutouts, oatmeal, and chocolate chip cookies. We had lunch, some drinks, and lots of laughs. 
Reid was his typical shy self when first meeting everyone. Then he turned on his charm and personality :). We were in the middle of making our first batch or two of cookies and Griffin came up from the basement to check in. I immediately saw his face was red and upon looking more closely realized he had hives! He’s never in his life had hives so I was a bit nervous! Thankfully my friend Kim is a pediatrician so she looked him over. He had them on his face and back. We gave him Benadryl and watched him closely, but the hives went down pretty quickly. I started to worry about potential food allergies as he’d had a PBJ for lunch! So she recommended avoiding peanut butter until we get him checked out. That night, I was beat, so I went to bed before Kevin and Finn. Before bed, apparently Finn had a peanut butter kiss cookie – oops! He came into the loft Sunday morning and had hives – again, this time on his legs, knees, and face. Ugh! 
One of my favorite spots to take the boys for a quick dinner is Corner Bakery. They have healthy options for kids (and adults!) and it’s pretty quick. Conveniently there is one near Costco 🙂
It’s that time of year again! We had a lovely week filled with two Thanksgiving feasts, black Friday shopping, and Christmas tree hunting. This week of the year always seems to be here so quickly once the Fall season arrives. And it’s filled with so much activity it passes so fast! We really enjoyed spending time with family this year.
I always enjoy the artwork at Thanksgiving. This year Finn brought home a colorful handprint. Hannah has taken the boys to the new Hilliard Library a few times, including this week. From what I hear they have a nice donut and coffee shop, amongst other things in the nice new facility. 
Tuesday after work I headed to Mansfield with the boys and the dogs. Kevin stayed home as he was working part of Wednesday. In the end, we always seem to need two cars anyhow with the dogs, kids, and all our stuff! Griffin was SO excited that there was snow on Wednesday morning. He kept wanting to go outside to see it and touch it. Grandma watched Reid and Finn, while Andy, Dad, and I covered the greenhouse with plastic. It ended up being perfect weather with little to no wind and a nice temperature. We got it covered really easily this year 🙂
The kiddos happened to all be wearing matching black jammies when they came down on Thanksgiving morning! I had them line up for this photo all in their Heat 32 Costco jams, lol. 
On Thanksgiving Day we headed to Enon mid-morning for the Armstrong family lunch held at Dave and Gayle’s. We all gathered for a posed family photo this year, which turned out great! Reid enjoyed being a big boy sitting at the table in a big kid chair and entertaining Jason and Lisa. We hung out with everyone for a few hours before piling in the car and heading to Mansfield for Thanksgiving Dinner. Nothing like two big meals in one day! I actually enjoy it as each meal has different items so we end up getting an awesome assortment of foods!
While I didn’t snap any family photos in Mansfield, I did manage to get on of Brutus, ha! We woke up Friday morning and headed to Bob Evans for our traditional fuel-up before heading down to Columbus for shopping at Polaris and Easton. We had a very successful shopping day this year – making tons of headway on our shopping lists! The traffic was rather crazy, but the lines really weren’t too bad anywhere. So many stores offer good deals online that I think just as many people are home shopping as are in the stores! Reid did really well being in his stroller so much of the day. I love the pic of him snuggling Finn. We enjoyed a tasty dinner at Bon Vie where we once again had the private room. It is awesome as it can be closed off with a curtain so it’s nice and cozy and quiet! Mom and Dad brought a mini-lego kit for each of the kids to work on while we waited for our dinner. They had them put together really quickly. 
On Saturday morning we met up with the Bethune’s to have our family picture taken and also get some of the cousins together. It was cold and wet and yucky, but in the end Amy got some really great shots. Even a really good out-take of Reid having a meltdown!
We went to church on Sunday and afterward headed to Cackler Farm to pick out our Christmas tree. It was a wonderfully warm (for November) and sunny day, perfect for tree hunting. I was afraid it might we muddy and yucky but it turned out to be just right. The boys trekked through the field and each rode in the sled. We found a tall canaan fir, about 12 1/2′ tall, really pretty quickly! We took turns hauling it this year up to the barn (as we were also corralling Reid!). While Kevin got the tree bundled up and checked out the boys and I hung out inside the play area, which is a greenhouse structure. With the sun and clear plastic it was warm in there! Another ear of tree hunting in the books!
Look at those blue-eyed babes! Here we are enjoying a quick dinner at Panera after swim lessons this week. Reid ate really well – he had lots of the grilled cheese sandwich and some fruit, and Finn re-fueled all the energy he burned from being in the water.
My snuggle bud Brutes. This boy just wants to be sure he’s loved!
Friday marked the third anniversary of Nathan’s birth and death. Each year when June rolls around, actually more like May 15th, all kinds of thoughts and memories become more vivid as the date is a constant reminder of losing our little boy. Each year we visit the cemetery together, say a prayer, and then have dinner together after as a family. Even though three years have passed it so often still seems surreal and the emotions can be overwhelming. We don’t yet have a headstone or a family plot stone at the cemetery – hoping we will be able to make that complete by next year. Thanks to my parents for the thoughtful arrangement to remember all of our boys, the red roses for Griffin and Reid and the white calla lily for Nathan.
Saturday began the summer baseball season for Finn. This year it is coach-pitch so it’s a step up! Griffin is enjoying it and gets so excited during the week and counts down the days until he has a game. 
After his game we were home and Reid and Kevin were napping. I had asked Finn to play on his own for awhile so I could get some bills paid and work in the office for awhile. As I was working I thought, forget this – let’s have some fun! So we headed to the zoo only to find out they closed early for Zoofari! So we quickly switched it up and went to Zoombeezi instead – thankfully Finn was wearing his dri-fit OSU gear (basically like a suit!) and I had on yoga pants, flip flops, and a dri-fit shirt too! He had a blast in the tiny tides area for a couple of hours. 
I love these smiles!
Sunday was Father’s Day, and Kevin was excited to take Finn fishing for the first time ever. They headed out (in the crazy heat!) to Liberty Park for an afternoon adventure. As it turns out, Finn caught a fish really quickly (not very realistic first fishing experience – but they clearly stock the pond from this area where they were fishing!) and he was pretty happy about it. He held the fish and then they threw him back in! My favorite part is his outfit. He had asked, “so guys, what do you wear when you go fishing?.” We told him just comfortable shorts and shirt. He was asking about getting wet and such. And then he came down in this outfit, complete with his boots to keep his feet dry. Love this boy and his attention to detail – camo for fishing 🙂
I’ve realized I don’t have too many recent pictures of Kevin with both of the boys so during our dinner at Rooster’s I wanted to snap a pic. That went as well as I thought it would, as in not well, but here are a few for memory sake. 
And this week we received Finn’s Kindergarten information from Tyler Run! He has Mrs. Menary and will be going to school on Tuesday/Friday and every other Wednesday. He is in the same class as our neighbor, Cole, so he is super excited!
