Ashville getaway

Near the end of September, Patrick and I took the opportunity to sneak away for a few days ALONE, while M&M stayed with the 4 boys (Thank you:)

I was so excited that we were finally able to visit Ashville, NC. We stayed in a beautiful condo, slept in and then went out for coffee, took our time eating dinner and dessert at 2 unique local restaurants, and toured Biltmore Estates.Biltmore houseIf you ever have a chance to visit Biltmore, be sure to book the Rooftop tour. It was well-worth the few extra dollars.Looking down on the roof to the winter gardens.Look closely at the detail, and you will still be able to see the gold etching.

This cheeky gargoyle really cracked us up:)

Waiting for the Somelier seminar followed by the wine and chocolate seminar! The vineyard is on our to-do list for next time ; so the closest we got to vines and grapes was on the way to tour the winery. (they are fake)

One handsome cowboy!!!Patrick on Rusty and Rachel on Dusty

We love to ride horses, and the last time we had a chance to do this together was on our honeymoon 12 years ago.

Luke's 1st Haircut

So I guess this will be another Luke post since his 2 Aunts (Katie and Sonya) requested it. In fact, his Aunt Sonya was the wonderful photographer - thank you so much!!!!
I actually started it days ago. But between me not feeling well and the boys having the stomach flu, it took a bit longer to finish it up.....

Following tradition, Luke did not have his 1st haircut until after his 1st birthday.
In fact, I held out until he was 15mth. old!

This silly picture gives you some idea of just how long it had gotten;)

Mommy and Luke after a long day of shopping with Sonya and Max!

My very last closeup of "Samson."

(Patrick's nickname for him because of his long hair.)

All ready to go in his firetruck!

And watching Baby Einstein too!!!!
It doesn't get any better than that........

little did he know what was about to take place.

Pretty cool spray bottle.I am putting up with this, but could you please move over so that I can watch my show.Okay, this is really not that cool.Hmmm, she is touching me.Get her away from me.Oh yeah, Baby Einstein......Just kidding.I have had enough - can I be done?(Distracted again.)I H.AT.E. this.Nope, the puppy is cute, but Einstein is better.Finally, all done!!!I love driving my firetruck while holding my balloon:)So what do you think?

About his hair of course, because I am sure all you mommies can guess what is soooooo interesting (baby dope)!Time to slide.

He normally loves to slide. However, by this point he was extremely tired and so proud of his balloon, that little else mattered.He was very curious about the "weight" at the end of his balloon.

Shhhhhhhh, I didn't tell him it was candy - a sucker to be specific.

I paid a few extra dollars for this certificate, picture and lock of hair. To me, money WELL spent!!! What a special first for us all! Our little baby is growing up too quickly!

It's way past time..........

for a post dedicated to LUKE:)

These pictures are from August and September, and I did place them in order from oldest to newest.

On a side note: as I was working on this entry, I realized that since I took a hiatus (intended or unintended) back in June from blogging, I failed to post the pics from Lukes' 1st birthday (and Sean, Aidan and Drew's birthdays too)- YIKES! In fact, the last "Luke post" I could find, was way back in May before Luke turned 1. He has changed soooooooo much and my blogging friends have all missed out on it :( So I think I have come up with a plan - for every new post, I will create 1 old. I will leave it current for about a week and then edit the time stamp to move it "back in time". This way you can view it without having to scroll back through the "older posts", looking for ones that you haven't you seen before and then wondering if indeed it is new or if you had already viewed it and just forgotten.

Okay, enough already!

Get ready,

Set,

GO!!!!!

It is LUKE time!

Sweet boy!Showing off his cute grin and tiny teeth.Favorite past time:

emptying cereal boxes on the floor and then playing in the midst of it all.Believe it or not, the above picture is Rice Krispies and this one is Cheerios.

I cleaned up the first mess and left the room. Upon returning, I found this!

He was so pleased with himself - little stinker pot!Do you recognize what he is holding?

Gotta start them young. Used to be his favorite place to chill -

(under the high chair)

Just learning to climb. Luke LOVES the bath!
Caught red-handed!Luke also LOVES animals.

He is quite different from our other boys in this respect - they were terrified of animals.He just woke up in this picture (notice the wild hair).

He was hungry and Drew decided to let him sit at the table like a big boy. He was quite pleased.From breakfast to gaming.Mmmmmmmmmm, spaghetti is so good! Followed by dessert - double yum!

Time to go for a drive.
Bubye.Hanging out in his stroller at Dollywood.
Notice the ever-present finger and puuu-puuu!!!
(Puppy is the little blue spot in the lower left corner)


These last few pics are a collection.
You can see a bit of his personality in his various expressions.
Silliness
Angst


Concentration

Wonderment

There is nothing quite like seeing life through the eyes of a child.