"A good snapshot stops a moment from running away." - Eudora Welty

Just some recent photos of our boys♥

My babies sitting on the rocking chair together

Finding his hands. Yumm-o.

Being goofy on the couch one lazy morning

My cheese ball

Ready for the game :)

Bridger loves his bath time.

All clean and snuggled up

Holden is always quick to sound the alarm: "baby cryin', baby cryin'" :)

This time he ran over and laid down beside him to watch. Silly Big Brother.

Playing with his favorite toy, the "boo-a (blue) car", one night before bed time

8 weeks old and getting big!

Weighed him the other day, just at home, and he was about 11 pounds already!

It starts with a pumpkin....

Cool weather, football games, sweatshirts and jeans, mums blooming everywhere, and piles of pumpkins at the roadside produce stands.

Although the calendar says it won't be official until next week, I can definitely feel the arrival of Fall.

* * * * *

Last Sunday, after church, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa Himes' for lunch. It was such a pretty afternoon and we got to eat outside (probably for the last time this year).

After lunch everyone played outside for a little bit and then Grandma gave each grandchild their first Fall pumpkin :)

So we had to take a few pictures of all the kids with their pumpkins. (Not necessarily such an easy task!)

Here are some of the shots I got of everyone.

Welcome, Autumn♥

The best one I got - even though Holden looks totally ornery

Got Bridger in the back now....

Close up of my little mini-Jareds :)

Holden and his pumpkin. Looking so grown up.

I can't even believe how different he is from just last Fall. How fast it goes!

He's still my little pumpkin though♥

(I have a feeling I'll still be thinking of him like that for a long time. Probably much longer than he's going to like :) )

A Night at the Fair

Tuesday evening, we went to our first ever Wayne County Fair as a family :)

Jared and I used to go in high school, but since then we've barely made it back. I think I've gone once with my mom and sister, but Jared wasn't able to come with us.

So this time it was especially fun to go back since we got to all go together. And Holden had so much fun. He was really able to recognize all the different animals and he knew what we were talking about when we would go try to find another kind. It was so much fun taking him around to all the different barns.

And then he even got to ride a pony and sit on some of the tractors! He had a great time.

And little Bridger Dean even did pretty good at his first fair. He rode around in the Jeep® carrier and pretty much just slept on and off until it was time to eat :)

I can hardly even wait until next year when Bridger will be big enough to really enjoy all the animals, too!

Mimi knew someone who had cows there, so first thing when we
got there, Holden got to pet a calf!

I think he was a little confused, but excited :)

Me, Mom, and Bridger

Checking out a Piggy

Woah, Baby.

He was 2400 pounds and taller than me.

The owner said that when he opens the trailer, this guy just walks right in - he likes to come to the fair.

And I think that's a pretty good deal. Because I can't imagine getting him to do anything he didn't want to do.

And while we were supposed to be looking at the sheep, Holden kept pointing
and saying "Jeep! Jeep!"

So..... here are my boys in front of a Jeep. Of course.

Crackin' up outside the Poultry Barn.
Har-dee-har-har :)

Rooster!
(Incidentally, the Poultry Barn..... quite noisy.)

Silly Boy

Petting a bunny

And riding the pony!

He loved it.
We stopped once for a "Pony Potty Break" and he looked at me, about to burst into tears, and said "Ride? Ride?" Thankfully, we kept going a bit longer.

Kinda blurry, but my favorite. Little cowboy♥

Eating his corn dog and being goofy






Bridger sitting with his Mimi







Playing on the tractors with his Mimi and Pap Pap

He was so excited. Holden loved riding the tractors.

One of my new most favorite pictures♥

"I have a tickle in my brain. And it keeps making the corners of my mouth point toward the heavens." - Jeb Dickerson

Bridger Dean is now 6 weeks old (already!) and he has been practicing his smile for about the past week or so now.

I finally caught one last Saturday.

He was getting changed and he was being a pretty happy boy :)

"We do not remember days; we remember moments." - Cesare Pavese

Hip Hip Hooray!!

For the Jeep® baby carrier!

We loved it when Holden was a baby, and now we're loving it again with Bridger.

I honestly forgot how nice (and priceless) it is to be able to "hold" Baby while still enjoying 2 free hands.




And thankfully, just like his big brother, Bridger seems to really enjoy riding around in it. :)

♥

Hello, I'd like to introduce you to....

.......TROUBLE.

Of course, I realize this is my own fault. I was the one who gave him the chocolate covered spatula, after all.

Oh my.

"Kids spell love T-I-M-E." - John Crudele

I believe with all my heart that we could have no more than a handful of rocks to play with, but as long as we sat down and really played together, Holden would absolutely be just as happy as he could be.

All he really wants is just for us to play with him, talk to him, listen to him, acknowledge him. And now that Bridger is here, honestly, I know Holden doesn't get the same amount of attention during the day that I used to be able to give him.

Which is why Jared is proving to be an even more wonderful Dad than before.

Somehow, he always manages to have time for Holden. And Holden is absolutely a "Daddy's Boy." Literally, as soon as Jared gets home, Holden is with him every possible minute that he can be. He is his Daddy's shadow.

The other day Jared had one foot crossed over the other, leaning on the chair, drinking some water and talking to me..... I looked down and Holden was drinking his juice, leaning on Jared's leg, trying to cross his one foot over the other like his Daddy was doing. It was absolutely adorable.

And even with all Jared has to do, when he gets home at night, he still manages to be a Dad first.♥

Playing with the boys before dinner

Daddy and Bridger

Getting bigger by the day..... soon I think Jared may have yet another little shadow :)








♥ ♥ ♥

Friday Night Lights

And so begins the first of many "I love fall" posts....


Last Friday night was the first home high school football game of the year. The boys played Tuslaw and after a rocky start - and poor senior Ben getting injured so badly - they ended up doing a great job and earning their second win of the season. Two for Two now.

We all went to support them - and just because it's always fun to watch football when you know/like the team playing.

Holden did really well basically staying in one spot the whole time, and Bridger (just like last week) slept the whole time. Oh how I love when he's sleeping.

I'm also loving that it's starting to really feel like fall now and that we've had such nice nights for football games so far. I'm really hoping it keeps up, for at least the next few games, so we can all continue to go as a whole family. Once it gets too chilly, Daddy may be listening on the radio at home with the boys while Mommy braves the elements to watch Uncle Tyler's last high school season....

Cheesin' with Daddy and ready for the game to start

Tyler - #55- running out onto the field

(And I'll just admit, I'm already way too emotional about the
whole "senior year" thing... it's only been 2 games so far...)

Snacking on some Gummy Bears :)

The Bulldogs

He was such a good little football fan

First home game was a success!
(And Holden fell asleep in the car before we even got out of the parking lot :) )