40/52 sweeping leaves

We’ve had beautiful fall weather and have enjoyed spending time outside. Raelyn especially enjoys sweeping the leaves into a pile on the deck.

39/52 banana breakfast

Raelyn has a banana with her breakfast almost every single morning. I think it’s safe to say this is her favorite fruit.

38/52 cool dude

How cool does Max look in his hat and sweater vest?!? I say, super cool. :)

37/52 daddy’s helper

Raelyn helped Daddy install a latch on the cabinet door. I don’t think she understood that she was installing a device to keep her out of this cabinet. :)

36/52 room for two

You’ll find the three of us like this quite often. This was right after dinner (yes, I wear an apron to cook) one evening. I hope to be able to squeeze them both on my lap for a long long time!

35/52 first day of school

Raelyn started her Mother’s Day Out program at Church at the Crossing this week. She’ll be going one day a week from 9am to 2pm. Her first day was abbreviated from 9 to 10:30. Next week she’ll go from 9 to noon and the following week will begin the full time. When we arrived she found a toy and waved me off. I think she’ll do just fine!

34/52 assembly required

Mark’s first big toy assembly project…Raelyn’s kitchen. It’s so cute and she already loves playing with it!

33/52 tummy time

Raelyn is being the supportive big sister as Max screams through his tummy time. You can see in the mirror that he isn’t really enjoying himself.  :(

32/52 better luck next year

Our little garden didn’t do very well this summer. Here you can see that our cabbage has been destroyed by a caterpillar. It must have been Very Hungry. ;)

31/52 sunday best

How adorable is Max wearing a “tie”? Thanks to Auntie Peeper for the cute outfit!

30/52 new friends

Raelyn had her first play date with her new friend, Jack. Jack’s mommy is my long-time friend, Jen, who was also my matron of honor. We are so happy that they have moved to Indy and we are finally living in the same city. Welcome home, Bute family!!

29/52

This week Raelyn has taken an interest in coloring. I’ve found this is a great activity toward the end of the afternoon when she is getting restless. She colors with both her right and left hands.

28/52 splash park

We took Raelyn to a nearby splash park one evening to try and cool off in this heat wave. Look at those thighs! I just want to pinch them. :)

27/52 sweet boy

Just a photo I took of Max this week. No story behind it, he’s just a sweet boy.

26/52 clowning around

One night this week we ate dinner on the back deck and enjoyed a beautiful Indiana summer evening. Raelyn got a kick out of not sitting in her booster chair and after dinner played peek-a-boo behind the chair cushion. She can be such a clown!

p.s. Can you believe we are 1/2 way through Project 52? Time flies!

25/52 family of four

This is our first family photo as a foursome. We celebrated Father’s Day & Mark’s birthday with a cookout and family at our home only two days after we returned home from the hospital.

24/52 new addition

This week we added Max to our family. Here we are just moments after his birth. We fell in love immediately!

23/52 biking

For Father’s Day last year, Raelyn and I bought Mark a bike trailer for her to ride in but she was too small to sit in it.  Mark attached it to his bike tonight and took Raelyn for her first spin around the neighborhood. She loved it! Next summer, we’ll have two kids sitting in there. :)

22/52 swim lessons

Today Raelyn experienced her first swim lesson. She and Mark will go to Broad Ripple park every Saturday morning for 9 weeks. There were 4 other children in her class (all closer to age 2+). We are so proud of how well she did and that she tried each task the instructor asked (splashing, kicking, etc) without crying! She’s becoming such a big girl.

Bonus cute video:

21/52 at the garden

 

Mark took this week off from work to do a few things around the house. Monday the weather was so nice we spent part of the afternoon at the IMA grounds. What a beautiful girl we have! (Even if she was sleepy and drooly.) ;)