Fall in Maryland- colds, soccer and races

My little "James-ers" (as I like to call him) or "James-a" (Naomi) is so sweet. He's seriously such a fun little baby! I guess he's not really so little.

He's had a little cold that's just about gone, we've all had a cold this last week, and he's been so cheerful anyway. He just loves to be held and carried but will play with his toys so well too. He sits up officially now. He falls occasionally, especially when Naomi is nearby.... and he loves his exersaucer too, he jumps in it now.



We went to the zoo with our friends; Cassie and Abby, Claire and Drew. Naomi and Abby are great little friends. I'm so glad they get along well, It's nice to hang out with Cassie and a bonus that our girls like each other too! Naomi tagged along to Abby's soccer practice this week. She LOVED it. She wants a pink ball just like Abby's. I was impressed that she followed most of the coach's directions and could actually run and kick the ball at the same time:) It's really cute to watch all the kids running haphazardly after their balls- buffalo ball, I think that's what my dad calls stuff like this.



We've been having family home evening (finally) and it's been a big hit. Naomi asks every few nights if it's time for FHE. I think she enjoys the treats and games the most, of course. We decorated cup cakes and ate them for one of the nights. Last night Zach taught the lesson on "helping" and we sang When we're helping" and then we all helped fold the laundry! Nice huh. I'm a total advocate for incorporating things that need to be done anyway into our family time. Naomi sorted while we folded. James just sucked on a towel.



For other awesome news; I ran an 8k last Saturday! We did it with our friends Jess and Ashley Theodore. They are real runners and I am trying to be and Zach is pretty good too. I think I was the only one who walked part of it, but I ran nearly the whole thing and made decent time too. I was/am SO proud of myself! 8k is 5 miles- that's farther than I've ever done at one time. I've done about 4 a few times. It was the first time I've run a race too. I'm excited about running now. I want to run more races, I felt so happy with myself when I finished. I almost threw up, but I was happy.

After the 8k, Naomi and I went to Disney on Ice with Cassie and Abby while the "boys" stayed home. It was a sweet girls outing that we all really enjoyed. The show was better than I expected and Naomi liked it more than I expected as well. I would definitely go again, Naomi actually loved it. She spent the last half of the show twirling in front of her seat like the ice skaters! I don't have any good pictures from that though. Or any souvenirs, they cost more than the tickets. Disney....

Naomi starts preschool tomorrow. I'm still undecided if I really want her to do it- It's for two hours M-Th, so 4 days a week. James needs a nap usually before I need to drop her off for preschool. He naps from 8:30-10 and preschool is 9-11. If I could just get him to sleep until 7 a.m. we could shift our nap times 1/2 hour too.... anyway. We'll see what works out tomorrow. I think she'll really enjoy it. If it's too much for me, us, her, then I can just pull her out. She's only 2 anyway.

So we're off to another busy week here in Maryland. I'm not sure what I actually spend all my time doing, but the weeks fly by anyway. We are having the most beautiful fall weather. The leaves haven't started to change colors yet but the temperatures have been lovely. I love fall. But I think I say that about every season. Conference is this weekend, that's something to look forward to.


Rub a dub, dub, two kids in a tub, and who do you think they be? Naomi and James, James and Naomi- as chubby and cute as can be!






FHE treat- cupcakes:)






Pigtails today- she looks old with her hair up.






My little rolly-polly




BFF Abby and Naomi at the zoo






Seriously, I have cute kids.




I "lurve" these pants on James!



Soccer Stars


Drew and James, hanging out


Naomi and Abby


I walked into the room to find Naomi "reading" her Book of Mormon! Too cute.


"James is a Prince!!!" - Naomi

Project Postcard

This is the post where I am calling out all you lurkers- people who live in states where I don't actually even know anyone...and also all those people I do know from all over too.....

I have this awesome nephew who lives in Utah. His elementary school class is collecting a postcard from every state in the USA. And I thought, how cool would it be if they could really get a postcard from EVERY state!

That's where you all come in:)

In my particular situation I was able to send him postcards from 3 "states" (DC isn't a state...) because I regularly within the borders of VA, DC and MD.

So if you have a soft spot for these kind of things, and a little bit of time and a stamp.... drop a postcard in the mail to my nephew Tommy, can you just imagine how cool it would be to get all those postcards from all over:)

Tommy M.
c/o Mrs. Frazier
Syracuse Elementary
1503 S 2000 W
Syracuse, UT 84075

SNL - it doesn't get any better...

I don't care who you support, this is great!

Ocean City

We had one last hurrah before we called it quits on Summer. Ocean City, MD was wonderful. we went with our friends Natalie and Adam (and Charlie too:) and spent two lovely sun filled days on the beach. The water was warm and the waves just rough enough to have some fun in. Actually, I got bowled over a few times, lots of sand in my ears....
It's amazing how much sand can stick to a baby! James had sand everywhere- in every little leg roll:)
Naomi loved every second of it. She loved the sand, the waves, the seagulls, the rocks and sticks, everything you need to make a little girl happy. She had sand in her ears and everywhere else too.

I had a great time, I'll be the first to admit that traveling/vacationing with little ones takes more planning, more patience, more time and more energy, but it's definitely worth it. James was content to sleep in the baby bjorn any time he was in it, and Naomi played hard, not minding missing her naps.
So of course I have photos to share.

babies, sand and stuff.

Nurses nurse

And teachers teach

And tailors mend

And preachers preach

And barbers trim

And chauffeurs haul

And parents get to do it all.

-- Babs Bell Hajdusiewicz

I definitely feel like a parent:)

We've been playing like it's the last day of summer. I guess it is.

This last week we've been to Butler's Orchard to pick berries twice, visited multiple various playgrounds and parks, spent the afternoon at a awesome water park in VA, made play dough at a friends, had friends over here to play, and spent today at the bay at Sandy Point. It's been lovely.

Zach starts school tomorrow but I've not lost all hope yet, we will still have fun. Mostly on weekends and days off now. I love having Zach home.

I've been taking pictures of James with his buddies... like they even know what's going on at 6 months. But I like to take pictures of my kids with their little friends.

James and Drew- having some guy time.

Hazel and James. She gives him a run for his money on the sweet baby chubs!

James is tipping the scales at about 20 lbs now, that's just 2 shy of outgrowing his infant car seat. And it's probably a good thing. I lug him around in that thing, to and from the car, often into church because he fell asleep on the way (that's one of the really nice things about the infant seat, you can let them sleep....) and all this hefting my big boy is killing my back! But he wears me out holding him in my arms too. I just love how cute his chubs are though. Naomi didn't hit 20 lbs until she was a year old.


Siblings, so sweet. Those girls love their babies!

Abby and Naomi in their matching swimsuits down by the bay...


Naomi, Abby and Sam in the sand.

And Naomi, she's become the specimen collector. She *must* have a berry or rock or cone from that tree/bush/whatever every time we go outside. She has a little box where she keeps her treasures. Since she visited the dentist a few weeks ago, her new Dora toothbrush has made "special box" status.