Beautiful Fall Weekend!

Last week was my first week switching to part time at work.  After Owen was born and my maternity leave ended I returned to work full time.. it was absolutely horrible.  I think I cried at some point every day over that!  I have a pretty hefty commute (1 1/2 - 2 hours both ways), and there's nothing worse than sitting in the car stuck in traffic thinking about how much time I'm missing out on with my baby.. Shortly after finding out I was pregnant again, I made the decision that after baby #2 came along I needed to adjust my schedule.  So, after pressing and pressing at work, they finally approved my reduced schedule request!  Can I just say.. 3 day work weeks are amazing!! I love having 4 days home with my boys -- best decision ever!  Sure, the paycheck was a whole lot nicer before, but the time I'm gaining now with my boys is invaluable :)

It's been a perfect Fall weekend here, filled with tons of fun, laughter and a few big milestones for my OJo! It was such a nice day yesterday that we decided to spend some time playing outside.  I had high hopes of getting some pictures of both boys with the beautiful Autumn trees in the background, but Aidan man had other plans.. instead of his typical 30 minute naps, he decided to stay sleeping the entire time we were playing outside.  Oh well, I'll take good naps over a good picture opportunity any day.  Here are some OJo shots from our front yard:

And, shortly after we started taking pictures, we had some visitors arrive!  My younger sister had just bought a new car nearby, so her and my parents stopped by for a quick hello!

 

And, despite sleeping the afternoon away, Aidan passed out again during dinner!  Ah, tis` the life to sleep as much as you please :)

Yesterday couldn't have ended any better; as I was giving my OJo his bedtime tubby, he said "I love you" to me!  It was the sweetest thing I've ever heard in my life.  The first time he said it (which sounded more like "eye-you"), I thought I was hallucinating.  And then, he repeated it!  Now, let me just say that Owen is one of the most stubborn kids on the planet.. especially when it comes to speaking!  He's bright, no doubt, but doesn't like to do a single thing to please anyone else!! With that being said, the fact that he said it and repeated it was a huge success!! He then said it a third time this morning in front of both me and J.  Made my heart melt!  On top of saying "eye-you", we've also heard him saying "unk" (Chunk is our dog's name) and "up" several times, too!  Timing couldn't have been any better as I was just expressing my concern for Owen's lack of speech to our pediatrician at his 15 month appointment Friday.. she assured me he'd start talking any day.. who knew "any day" would actually be the very next day!

Also.. my other Sister was so kind to do some family photos for us today at a local park :)  More on that in the coming days!