November

I have 3 hours until the new year, so that's plenty of time to close out the blogging year, right? haha. It's amazing to me looking back on the last 2 months how much Levi has changed! It's so fun to watch him grow!

Anyway, here is my picture dump! 

A bunch of us RSA girls went to tea at the Flour Box in Old Salem! It was really yummy and the weather was amazing. 

Handsome boy after church. We go to this Mexican Restaurant (Monte de Rey) that's next to our church one Sunday a month and Samuel LOVES IT (mainly because they give you a chip with some whipped cream on it for dessert. haha). This was that Sunday, and he was so so so excited and wanted me to take his picture. 

Levi is over high chairs and would much rather sit in my lap and munch on chips. 

Eric was off so I had him watch the boys while I did a few things around the house. This was the result.

Wanting to crawl so badly! 

Cutie pies.

Fall decor.

It took FOREVER for the leaves to start turning this year. It was seriously mid-November. We finally got a couple of weeks of fall in, though, and I was so grateful! 

I love that they can both swing together.

Samuel has finally gotten good at chewing gum and he wants it all. the. time. 

I walked into Levi's room after nap one day to find this. His mattress got lowered the next day. 

It's crazy to me that this was only last month since he's pulling up and standing in his crib now! 

Crawling prep.

Samuel brought home his "class pet," Nico the Narwhal, the second week in November. I almost feel like I should have a whole other post about Nico. He went everywhere with us, then we printed pictures and put them in a journal that travels around to other kids in his class. We were so into Nico that we ended up making ourselves a second journal to keep at our house. Eric was on call and totally uninvolved, but I will say that it was kind of nice to have a little project to distract me from his absence!

Nico meeting Samuel's "babies." I can't remember if I've posted about them or not, but Samuel is SUPER into his stuffed (unstuffed?) animals right now. There are 4 teddies - Folly, Collie, Fluffy and Wile. Wile is the newest one and by far his favorite. He says he's his "real baby." He also tries to nurse him. There are also two "monkey babies," Ga-Ga and Goo-Goo Ga-Ga. 

You can't make this stuff up. 

Sweet baby laughs. I wish I could keep him this size forever. 

They really really REALLY love each other.

This basically sums up my life.

Walking to the park with Nico.

There was a free Wake Forest women's basketball game, so we hit that up. We lasted a whole half. I thought that was pretty good considering these two hardly sit still for anything! Clearly Nico was impressed too.

Oh man, this hardly ever happens anymore. It called for Starbucks. 

Samuel finally started wearing PJs again!

Samuel loves to sit in his "little spot" on the couch. I found him like this when I came in with my breakfast one morning. 

This one is pure sweetness.

We've perfected the duck face. It's especially effective when you have a monkey on your head.

More fall. 

Baking with Nico.

Playing hide and seek. 

Nico's favorite food is fish tacos. Duh. 

Yeah, that's my 7 month old reaching in that box. Tears. 

Sometimes I have to save stuff like this, because it's just true.

Daddy + Levi.

We're letting Samuel's hair grow out. His bed head kills me.

Seriously, though, these trees are amazing!

Levi finally started crawling around the 16th or 17th, about a week shy of 8 months. I was simultaneously excited and heartbroken. My baby boy's not so much a baby anymore.

He follows me everywhere now. This was the first time he followed me into the kitchen. He was pretty darn proud of himself!

And this one got all cheesy one morning. He's a stinker sometimes, but man I love this adorable guy! 

Seriously, could he be any cuter?

Dewey's.

Not sure about how to feed himself puffs. He has quite gotten over that dilemma now.

"No, mommy, you will not be allowed to go to the bathroom alone for the next 2 years."

It was fun while it lasted.

OH yeah. My third baby. This one causes as much trouble as the other two combined. 

This box has been in Samuel's room for well over two months now. It's basically his favorite toy.

Samuel ran his first race on Thanksgiving day! This is us practicing at the track by the Y.

And Levi turned 8 months.

This kid.

Samuel found another 3 year old to run with. 

Unfortunately, we got a little distracted. 

He also got tired of running and told me it was a "fun walk, mommy."

I did convince him to run across the finish line though. 21:00 mile.

He was pretty proud of his medal. And yes, Wile ran with us, in my pocket.

Yup. 

Thanksgiving spread. Turkey, Mac and cheese, Green bean casserole, dressing, mashed potatoes, roasted butternut squash... and I'm honestly not sure what the other item is over there. There was also fruit salad and chocolate pie. Way too much food for 3 people, but it was delish.

Black Friday (Thursday?) shopping with my little.

So. Stinkin. Cute.

We got out the nativity. It was a huge hit with both boys, and I may never want to hear "Away in a Manger" again. 

More trees. I'm a nerd.

I might be the worst mom ever, but this picture from Newk's makes me laugh every time. Levi loves those breadsticks, but maybe gnawing on them when he's super tired isn't the best idea. Haha.

Samuel's first ever viewing of "Elf." He was a fan.

And we all played Scrabble together. Sort of.

I guess Thanksgiving weekend wore this one out too.

Those eyes. And lips. Gosh, I could just eat him up. Sweet, sweet boy.

Levi made a habit of crawling over to our beanbag, sitting in it, then getting stuck. I felt bad for him, but it was admittedly a little funny (especially after the 6th, 7th, 8th time).

Samuel's "runaway pancake."

Levi is obsessed with this toy. 

Little sunshine!

Side by sides of me as a kid/baby and both the boys.

Oh, and I almost forgot - I finished up my half marathon training for the Misteltoe. I logged a lot of (slow) miles in November. It was exhausting, but definitely helped me feel more like myself after a long year of being out of shape. :-) 

Anyway, it's not that well organized, but that's a wrap. :-)