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We had a little fun after finishing folding the laundry over the weekend!



"Last" dance class

Specifically, it's her last class at Baby Ballerina. I decided to end this session a little early for a number of reasons:
1) I had only paid for half of the class up front, so it was time to pay for the rest
2) leaving work for 2 hours every Friday was starting to be very difficult (hence us going to makeup classes on Saturdays)
3) Miss Lori had missed 2 of the 6 classes we'd gone to, and the sub teacher wasn't that great
4) while not too far away (still in Loudoun Co), the class was farther away than I really wanted to drive every week. So, last week was Natalie's last class at Baby Ballerina. I didn't get too many photos as both of my camera batteries died during class! But I did get a few and a pretty cute video.

 They played some very cute games with these scarves, including throwing them in the air and catching, which Natalie did very well at!

Here's Natalie looking at her Belle dress.

And then telling me about it.

But we are still doing dance classes! I had seen an ad for a new dance studio right by the new Wegmans, which is only about 5 minutes away. This one is locally owned by a woman named Helen, and this is her second studio (her first is in Round Hill). I liked the idea of supporting a local business run by a woman my age. So, I went over to talk to her, and I really like the studio. I've signed Natalie up for a tap & ballet class on Wednesday afternoons that should be fun and much easier for me to get to after work. Not only that, but we're having her birthday party there! I'm excited to see how these classes go.

Saturday dance class

A week ago Saturday, the whole family headed to Natalie's dance class. I couldn't take her to her normal class on Friday as I had a work thing, so we all went together on Saturday. Evan had yet to see Natalie dance, so he was very excited to get to watch. And there were at least 2 other dads there, so he didn't feel out of place amongst the girliness. :)

 Natalie practicing her arabesque.

Then the girls got to put on Belle dresses and dance with a flower.

And what does Henry think about all of the girls dancing?

After dance class, we had brunch at Panera..

When we got home Henry got to have some floor time after being cooped up in his car seat during class.

Attempt at being artistic

Every now and again I remember to use the black and white or sepia functions on my camera to take some "artsy" photos. I've gotten better ones than these in the past, but I still like how some of them came out.

New plates!

I finally decided to go ahead and get personalized license plates. It took me a long time to decide what I wanted, but I'm pretty happy with my choice!

Enjoying the fall weather

The other day we spent a little time doing things outside. The weather was beautiful, so we popped Henry in his bumbo chair and I took some photos. We did the same thing with Natalie around this age, so I knew they would probably come out pretty well!

I love this first photo; look at those GIANT blue eyes!

Happy boy!

Meadows Farms Trip #2

One week after our first trip to Meadows Farms, we ended up going again! We were potentially going to go to Pumpkinville (we took Natalie there in 2008 and 2009) with our friends Jen & Justin and their little girl Alie. However, Jen was about 36 weeks pregnant and not feeling well, so we decided to do a shorter trip with Justin and Alie and just spend an hour or so at Meadows Farms again. The girls (and Henry) had a really great time, particularly in the moon bounce:

Alie and Natalie on the pumpkins

Natalie LOVES this slide, as you can see.

Henry and I

And then with both kids

Look at Henry's happy face!

I saw this beautiful monarch butterfly on the hay and had to take a picture

Henry with the pumpkins

Natalie liked sitting up on top of the hay bales

I was hoping for this one to come out a bit better, but it's still cute!



So there you have it: our fall pictures so far! I have a few more that I took out in front of our house (hopefully I'll get those up soon), and I know we'll end up getting more over the next couple of weeks. I love pictures from this time of year!

Meadows Farms Trip #1

Two weeks ago, on my birthday, we took the kids to Meadows Farms. It's a nursery nearby where we've bought flowers, plants, and our Christmas tree from in the past. For the fall, they decorate the whole place and have cute kids activities, including a moon bounce, big slide, and a hay maze. Plus, it's free! So, we headed over there to buy the kids a pumpkin and let Natalie play for a bit. We were also able to take our first good outdoor fall pictures, as it the weather had finally cooled off!

Henry was in his car seat at the beginning while Natalie played in the moon bounce.

But then he came out to see the sights and take some pictures.

He still can't sit up by himself, but we were able to prop him against some pumpkins to take a few pictures.

Here's Natalie after coming down the slide.

Daddy and Henry

I only wanted to get a shot of Henry's shirt (it says Mommy's little monkey), but Evan managed to get this super cool shot of us watching Natalie in the background! I like it a lot.

Natalie had fun running around in the hay maze (even with the scary skeletons & ghosts they had hanging in it)

We tried to get a really good shot of the kids sitting together in the pumpkins. This was the best I could get!

Natalie super cute on a pumpkin.

And the best part of spending a couple of hours outside: the double nap afterwards.

Happy 6 months, Henry!

On Tuesday, Henry turned 6 months old! I can't believe my little guy is so big.

And I mean BIG...but apparently only to us! Yesterday was his 6 month checkup, and here are his measurements:
Weight: 16 lbs (23%)
Height: 23.5 inch (53%)
Head size: 16.75 inch (18%)

So to us, he seems like such a big boy, but compared to all other little boys, he's just a peanut! I honestly thought that he'd be in a higher percent for length - he seems to outgrow his bodysuits so quickly! Maybe his torso is just really long, but overall he's average. Otherwise, the rest of his visit was good...or so I was told. For the first time, I didn't take him to the doctor. It's difficult for me to take off work right now, as my PTO days don't kick in until around Christmas. Plus, Evan had yet to take him to the doctor for a well check-up, so it was good for both of us. The doctor gave him a clean bill of health, and he handled his shots very well.

Here's my happy boy at 6 months:

Henry & Calla

Last week, Henry started really noticing Calla. He loves watching her run around, and whenever she gets near him on the floor now he starts grabbing at her, particularly her ears. I remember when Natalie went through this phase too; I think that was also around 6 months old.

Last week I propped Henry up in the boppy pillow

and Calla ended up laying just in front of him.

He became so interested in her, I had to video it.

Dance classes #3 & 4

Week #3 wasn't the best dance class. We had a substitute teacher who obviously wasn't used to teaching little girls every day. She did fairly well, but the girls had already gotten used to the activities the first two weeks, so everyone was a bit lost, and you could tell the activities weren't as fun for them. Natalie was really shy; she didn't want to even dance at first when she saw Miss Lori wasn't there. But after the other girls arrived, she got over most of her shyness and danced, but still didn't have as much fun as the previous classes.

This week, week #4,was a little different. I couldn't take Natalie to her Friday class, as I was at NIH all day for work (manning a booth at the vendor show; I got a few new leads from it!). So, I took Natalie (and Henry; Evan was out of town at a wedding, so both kids had to come along) to her makeup class on Saturday. Miss Lori was back, which was good. She also said that we could do a make-up class for her missing the previous week, which is great!

I didn't get too many photos as I had Henry with me. He was good at first, sitting on my lap and watching the girls. I was able to take photos then.

Note Natalie's new leotard - I finally found one that fits her! I like that she's the only one in hot pink.

The girls were supposed to be mermaids - I'm not entirely sure what the point of this is, but maybe to get them to stretch? Regardless, they had fun doing it.

Natalie LOVED hula hoop time! It was really cute watching the girls "dance" through the hoops, and try to twirl them.

Henry did get fussy and need to be walked around some, so I bounced him around at one end of the classroom. Another mom there (who's daughter is also in the class) had her 4 month old boy (John Henry - too funny!) with her, so she and I chatted while walking with them. Her name is Katie, and she's really nice. We'll be seeing her again next week - who knows, maybe a new friend for us both!