The highlight of our week was Graham's big 4th birthday party on Saturday. Graham was so excited to have a birthday party with all his friends there. The RSVPs steadily flowed in over the last couple weeks and we ended up with 23 kids under the age six!!!! And, over 30 adults! It was quite the blowout! Dean and Graham headed out first thing Saturday morning to swim lessons and my parents went with me and Evan to pick up the balloons and cupcakes (and a good thing they went with me as it took two cars packed full to get everything to the YMCA!) Tammy and Mark joined us early to help set up and Dean and Graham got there right after swim lessons, but before any friends arrived. Graham was very pleased with all the handy manny decorations and the room looked very very festive! Once all his friends arrived, the kids lined up and we headed down to the gym. There was an inflatable obstacle course, basketballs, soccer balls, hoola hoops and jump ropes. The kids (and adults) went as hard as they could go for about 45 minutes and then we lined up and headed back to the party room. Graham had been telling us for over a week that he got to be the line leader, so he was very happy to lead his friends around.

The kids settled right in to the tables and chowed down on pizza and then cupcakes. They were all super cute sitting around the table, most wearing their Handy Manny hard hats! They were all so well behaved and just so cute! As soon as Graham blew out his candles and ate a few bites of his cupcake, he was ready to tear in to his presents and boy where there presents! He opened cool gift after gift and just loved it all. Then, it was almost time for us to wrap things up and so he went over to the goodie toolboxes and all his friends formed a line and he handed each friend one. He had helped me stuff them and knew they were to thank all his friends for coming. Then, he and I stood by the door and told everyone bye and thanked them. He gave out lots of hugs and of course was all smiles! I think all the kids had a blast and it could not have went any better!

Evan hung out a little bit with his buddy from school, one of Graham's classmates little brother and got held by lots of family and friends and hung in the stroller some and was his general happy self! He even had a little Handy Manny shirt on as well as Graham!

We headed back home and had the after party party with my parents and Dean's parents and he opened more gifts! And, we re-opened everything from the party and really got to take it all in! My parents got him a bike with training wheels and so he of course wanted to head right outside and took off up the driveway. He really got the hang of it, so that was really fun! He spent the rest of the evening playing with a few new toys at a time and then crashed hard at bedtime!!!!

We changed in to our JDRF t-shirts and jeans and headed down to the Transportation Museum, it was peppering down the rain pretty good, but we were troopers and quite surprised how many people were braving the pouring down rain to walk. Evan even managed to fall asleep in the stroller on our one mile loop through downtown. We headed back in to the museum to dry out a bit and Graham enjoyed looking at all the trains and then we called it a day and headed home. Graham didnt want to leave the trains, but when I reminded him of all the birthday new things waiting for him at home, he was eager to leave!!!!

On Wednesday, we will have more bday fun on Graham's actual birthday at snack with his Panda class at school!

We had our first normal week in quite some time, no travel, no craziness in the schedule, just a regular ole week. It was very very nice. Graham has adjusted quite well to the Panda room and seems to be doing really well in there, so that is great! Evan is now one of the oldest in the baby room and he looks sooo big, compared to the tiny little babies that have joined the class. He weighs in this weekend at 21 pounds and 2 ounces! He has three teeth that have broke through on the top and the fourth one is coming on fast! He is going from 2 teeth to 6 teeth in a hurry! His teacher says she is going to give him the award for the happiest teether of all time though!

Evan is definitely a man on the move these days. He is still doing his same army crawl, but he can get across the room fast and especially if he gets his eye on one of Graham's toys. My favorite line of the week was when Graham exclaimed - Evan needs to stop messing with my stuff! He can sit for long periods of time now and just really looks like a big boy and not a baby anymore! He fully transitioned to the stage 2 jars and is having about 5 of those a day. We started adding in the ones that are mixed and have meats in them and so far, so good. We have started experimenting with puffs and sippy cups, and it just seems like things are moving so fast with him!!!

On Saturday morning, we headed to Portrait Innovations for photo shoot time. We got Graham's official 4 year pics done and Evan's 8 month shots, so lots of pics of them together and by themselves. They did really good and only towards the very end (after about a half hour) did they start to loose it a little and become less interested. It was lots of fun. Dean and Graham left there and headed to swim lessons and Evan and I stayed and picked out all the pics.

We had Elaine's wedding to go that afternoon, just the ceremony, the reception is in two weeks. Charlene from work came over and watched the boys for about 3 hours while we went. Graham was very excited to have a visitor and they did all kinds of playing and reading and such. Evan played for a while and then konked out and was sound asleep when we got home. So, that worked out well.

On Sunday, Graham was very excited to get to go to Sunday School again and is really enjoying it! Evan was mostly quiet during church, but awake the whole service, I think his Sundays of staying in church are numbered for sure! We left church and headed home, Evan napped all the way home, so that was good. I spent a good bit of Sunday afternoon working on Evan's closet, I packed up all the remaining 6 -9 month clothes and some of the 12 month clothes. Evan is pretty much in 12 month bottoms and 18 months tops / onesies and growing like crazy. It is kind of sad how much of Graham's clothes are not timing out for him to get to wear at all!

On Sunday evening, Graham and I headed to Pump it Up for his classmate Zoe's bday party. About half his class was there, so he had a blast and I enjoyed talking to all the other parents. Graham was worn out when we left after bouncing, pizza and cake!

The countdown is on until Graham's big birthday party next weekend. He knows that his party is the next one after Zoe and he has been checking out all the party supplies as they arrive and even helped me make up the goody boxes (Handy Manny toolboxes) one night.

Hare are a couple of my faves from the big photoshoot!

We settled back in to home from our vacation, well the boys did and I made one more out of town trip for work Tuesday and Wednesday. Dean and the boys stayed home on Tuesday and headed back to work and school on Wednesday and we tried to settle back in to a normal routine, with no more travel coming up for awhile!

Evan is still holding steady at about 20 pounds and 13 ounces. He is getting so much more active! He will roll over and over and over across the room, grabbing anything and everything in his path. He was pivoting and scooting on his belly and now finally started doing his army crawl and occasionally lifts his belly for a couple seconds. I dont think it will be long before he is full force all over the place! His mouth is a mess, he appears to have four teeth working their way in on the top. He has a runny nose and even ran a little fever over the weekend. He is just like Graham cutting so many teeth all at one time! He is still a smiley little trooper though and flashes his big ole smile at everyone who speaks to him!

On Saturday, we headed back to swim lessons for the fall session. Graham was excited to go and went right in for lesson like a champ! He has moved from the Toddler classes to the Learn to Swim program and is working on more strokes and consistency. We left there, grabbed some lunch and headed to Christiansburg for Grey's fifth birthday party at a gymnastics center. Graham had a blast and Evan even got to roll around some on the mats. We had pizza and cake and headed home with two sleeping tired little boys!

On Sunday, regular church session resumed with Dean heading back to choir and Graham started a Sunday School class. He was very excited about it and really enjoyed his lesson and the activity sheets that he got. Then, after Sunday School, he headed in to the nursery and then joined us in church for the blessing. Evan was jibber jabbering for a bit and then finally fell asleep in my arms. It probably wont be long before he joins Graham in the nursery as well! We headed home and had a relaxing day at home rounded out with some time on the playset in the swings. Graham loves pushing Evan in his swing and Evan just laughs and laughs!

We started off the week exhausted and dealing with sickies and then making arrangements to head out for Granny's funeral services. I headed to the doctor and got meds for a sinus infection. Graham seemed to be over whatever bug he came down with over the weekend, so that was good. Madison was also sick, which also started while we were gone! Evan and I took her to the vet on Wednesday and left her there to be examined and then to be boarded while we went out of town for Labor Day. As it turns out, she appears to be having some separation anxiety issues when we leave her. So, they gave her some meds and kept an eye on her and got her eating again and so we will just have to take precautions in advance the next time we need to leave her.

Evan and I headed on to my parents for the visitation service. It was the first time I had made a trip with just me and Evan, so that was a little different. We went to the funeral home that evening with all the family. It was very sad, but Evan was a bright spot for everyone to see and enjoy throughout the evening. We went back to my parents and spent the night and then took Evan to Sandy's to stay during the funeral. Dean and Graham were on their own and Dean dropped him off on Thursday morning at Kelly's and he had a big playdate with Grey and Reed and that way we didnt have to worry about trying to make it back to First Baptist by 530pm. Dean joined us for the funeral and then we picked up Evan and then picked up Graham and finally headed home. We sat down with Graham before I left and talked to him about Granny going to heaven and being an angel. He kind of acknowledged it and went on his way. He is still praying for her every night and so we are not quite sure if he really understands or not.

On Friday morning, we headed out to Baltimore for the weekend. We had a pretty good trip, but definitely takes us a little longer to get places now with potty breaks! Evan sleeps alot just like Graham did at this age, so that is good. We stop, he takes his bottle and then goes back to sleep! Graham snuck some naps in too, so that was good. We got in Friday evening and met up with my mommy friends and kiddos and headed down to the Inner Harbor. We had dinner and then hung out at the train table in Barnes and Noble, always a big hit! On Saturday morning, we headed out to the harbor and Dean and Graham toured the USS Constellation. It was the first tour of the morning and they were doing colors and Graham got to raise the American flag, so that was pretty neat. We had lunch and then spent the afternoon at Port Discovery Children's Museum, it was really neat and Graham had a blast. Evan had lots to look around at and napped some in the stroller too! We rounded out the afternoon with Dean and Graham riding paddle boats in the harbor, which Graham was thrilled about!

On Sunday, we headed out to a pool party and there was a sandbox and playground too, so Graham and all his friends had a big time in the pool, on the playground and in the sandboxes. Evan got to roll around on the ground a little, so that suited him! We headed back to the harbor for dinner and walked back to the room as the sun was setting and all the boats lighting up along the water. It was really pretty to watch! We headed home Monday morning and again, had a few stops, but a good trip!

Evan weighed in at 20 pounds and 13 ounces and is looking less and less like a little baby! He hit a really fussy stretch right before we stopped for lunch on Monday and sure enough, his upper gum was all bloody and his top tooth broke through! His gums had been really really swollen for days, so we knew it was close! SO, that is tooth number 3 and it looks like a few more are gonna be right behind them!

Here are a few shots of Evan hanging in his stroller, bright eyed and smiley.