First part of December

I can't believe hold old my baby boy is getting! His head is bobbling less and he is smiling and cooing more and more. Between 7-8 weeks he started sleeping through the night, then had a little relapse when he got sick, but now is back to being an awesome sleeper. He still loves nursing and is now over 14 lbs and in 3-6 month clothing. He is a happy, content little boy and loves to snuggle.

11 weeks

Paige has become quite the helper and loves to alert me when "Deacon's crying". She likes to put his binky back in and I often find random toys she has set next to him or in his crib.

 She can also make Deacon smile better than anyone. He adores her and thinks she's hilarious.

 

She likes to include him in everything. She'll run over to tell him, "Deacon, I pooped in the potty", or "Deacon, I'm a princess"! She also includes him in her picnics.

 

In between Ben finishing up this round of classes we were able to fit in some fun events.

-The LDSSA Christmas party

 -A trip to the fire-station

 -A spotting of the Duke basketball team just minutes from our house! We were driving home from errands and spotted them leaving the movie theater, so naturally we drove through the parking lot to get a picture. Nothing like a good Jabari Parker sighting to top off your night :)

-And enjoying our Christmas decorations. Our tree is definietly not the gorgeous giant Washington-type tree I grew up with, but it's perfect for now. Deacon was less enthused about taking a picture by it.

 We've been talking a lot about Christmas and trying to teach Paige that it is celebrating when Jesus was born. She usually follows with, "Baby Jesus' birthday, cake, balloons"....we're getting there :)

Thanksgiving Visitors!

We got to have my parents come visit this year for Thanksgiving. In order to look our best, Paige and I both had hair appointments :) I swear that girl has more hair than I do.

My sweet parents took the red eye so they could get here Thanksgiving morning. They were pretty exhausted, but we still a great Thanksgiving meal, complete with good ol' southern smoked turkey (I was happy with any turkey I didn't have to cook). Then they were real troopers and waited in line with me at Toys R Us to snag a few deals.

The next morning we made a stop at the outlets and then headed to Asheville! The Biltmore Mansion (the biggest home in America) has been on our list of things do while in NC and it didn't disappoint! (The creepy hotel we stayed at on the other hand....) Once we arrived that night we drove around trying to find a cute local restaurant to have dinner at. After one place looking shady, another having a huge wait, etc, we decided to just grab Olive Garden that would be more kid friendly. As soon as we parked and Paige got out of the car she puked everywhere! So I cleaned her off in the bathroom, let her look super classy in a pull up and boots while we waited for take out, and ate in the questionable hotel while we watched a Duke game :)

The next day we hit Biltmore and it was AMAZING! Those Vanderbilts don't hold back- 175,000 sq feet! We told Paige it was Sophia's castle so the whole time she was looking for Sophia :) It was extra fun that they had the Christmas decorations up, so almost every room had a Christmas tree in it.

The grounds were incredible, too, a huge amount of property.

 

 After 4 hours of touring, we were all completely exhausted. We could see how people spend much longer, but with 2 kids, and a 4 hour drive ahead of us, we were happy with our tour and mini history lesson. Then we squeezed in some Cookout shakes, Christmas decorating, and a few games. We're so glad mom and dad made the trip out to see us and the kids loved the extra attention.

November mix

November felt like a busy month over here, with Ben flying out doing interviews, sick kids, a birthday, anniversary, etc. To start off the month we went to a walk to cure diabetes to support our cute little friend, Anthony.

Then we celebrated Ben's big 29th early (before he flew somewhere) with the traditional Red Robin birthday burger, and (on a separate night), pizza and a Coldstone ice cream cake with friends- birthday boy's favorites.

That was followed by Ben being gone for multiple days, and Paige throwing up ALL over her bed....

This little boy's cheeks just kept getting bigger...

 He loves his binky

 And the swing

 And he was one adorable 8 week old

Paige has adjusted really well to being a big sister. This is her "taking pictures" of Deacon with a remote.

 And in big news, Paige is potty trained!!! (This felt like all we did the entire month ;) I had tried training her this summer but after day 2 realized she was definitely not ready. But she did great this time! We rolled up the rug and she was running around in only "princess panties" for a few days, but about day 3 she started to get the hang of it. Bribing her with "special treats" (and piece of candy) was key. She is now a full fledged pantie wearer and does awesome with it! Huge relief to check that one off. I don't think I've ever talked about poop and pee so much in my life.

We went to a Duke game! I know this seems crazy, but it was family night (so the kids only chance to go) and we only stayed until half. Paige liked seeing the mascots and all the cheers. We stood with our little LDS- MBA group, and since we stand out like a sore thumb with all of us young couples with kids, Paige made the jumbotron twice!

We went to Marbles kids museum with Fuqua Families. Such a fun place, Paige loved every minute.

We celebrated our 4th anniversary by finding out both kids had double ear infections. And then a company dinner. Keeping the flame alive :)

And then we just rested.

Halloween Duke style

I love how the older Paige gets, the more she's in to each holiday. This year she learned the word "scary" and deemed all Halloween decorations "scawee". She also thought it was very fun to dress up and had the trick-or-treating thing down.

A few days before Halloween we went with Fuqua Familes to a cute pumpkin patch. Paige had a runny nose and wasn't in the best mood, but we still had fun exploring.

We also had a Fuqua Friday Halloween party where the kids got to trick or treat to students at their lockers. We figured if there was any year Paige should be a cheerleader, this was the year. And Deacon therefore just had to be a Duke basketball player. When in Durham :)

Halloween morning we met up with Gavin and Ben to get free Krispie Kremes and Paige sported her Minnie costume.

That night we headed to the Hamiltons for a big group potluck. Then we hit the neighborhood for trick-or-treating. Paige tripped at almost every uneven driveway, but that didn't deter her from running to house to house.

We finished the Halloween festivities off with the ward party the next night, where Ben and I donned our referee looks and we trunk-or-treated in the rain.

Paige and Sage

Fall break

One (of the many things) I will miss about being in grad school is the breaks. I don't think too many companies have random "fall breaks", so we tried to enjoy it by doing a couple of fun things around here and checking off some of our "things to see in Durham" list.

First we visited Monuts downtown. We didn't feel quite hipster enough to be eating there, but the apple cider donuts were delicious.

Next was parking in a super shady parking garage (there are some serious ghetto parts of Durham), and walking to the Durham Bull.

Then we walked down to the American Tobacco Campus. It used to be a giant tobacco factory, but they recently turned it into a hip little area with restaurants and a stream going through everything.

Another thing on our Durham list was to visit the Duke basketball hall of fame. It was pretty cool to see all the trophies, magazine covers, etc. Paige's favorite part was a tiny room that played different Duke chants.

 This picture shows just how crazy Duke students are, camping out for tickets. The undergrads have to do this for EACH game!

To complete our break we decided to go to the park. Ben was with Paige getting the mail, and I left my purse since it was a quick outing. As I was closing the door we realized neither of us had keys....which led to us waiting for our landlord for 2 hours, walking down the street to some sketchy Chinese restaurant for dinner, and an exciting trip to the gas station for dessert.

Along with all of that, little boy turned 5 weeks

 And gave us his first real smile (all credit goes to Paige babbling at him)

Fall breaks, we will miss you!