Finally Getting to Jump in the Leaves

Yes, it's the end of November, but we just had the chance to have the kids jump in the leaves in the backyard.  During October it tended to rain every few days so the leaves were never dry, or it would get dry during the week, but then by the weekend when Andy could get to it get wet again.  It was starting to look like the kids wouldn't get a chance before it snowed.  It was cold last weekend, but dry enough that Andy could finally rake them into a pile.  He started during the kids' naps, but by the time they got up it was almost dark, so we bundled them up quickly and threw them out there.  Brady was of course ecstatic!

Izzie looks like she's not so sure.

She's a connoisseur of leaves, she's tasted them all it seems.

Not loving being on her belly and not being able to crawl out.  It's like quick sand!

Definitely not loving laying in them.

Brady could live in the leaves.

Oh no! Where'd he go?  He could double as Peeta from the Hunger Games with his skills of camouflage :)

Football Fanatics

We are huge football fans (we're from Pittsburgh, DUH).  This is Izzie's first football season and she's getting into it just like the rest of us.  The only difference is that she's the first one in our family to be born outside of Pittsburgh.  What does this mean?  Is she genetically a Steelers fan?  Or perhaps she's taken with her native Lions?  Only time will tell.  Since living in Detroit the first time three years ago, we've rooted for the Lions as long as they weren't playing the Steelers.  Their winning isn't very detrimental to the Steelers as they're on opposite sides of the league so it's not much of a conflict.  The Lions haven't been very good historically, but are starting to turn things around.  Two years ago they even went to the playoffs.  This year, their playoff hopes look good (and we're pulling for them since the Steelers are having a rare bad year).  As you can see above, both kids have Lions gear.

 

Izzie can't help but be cute in whichever team's gear, so she's usually all smiles.

This year, it's the coordinating headband, but next year we add the tutu.

Both kids rooting for the Steelers.

This past Sunday, the Steelers played the Lions (something that happens every five years or so).  The kids dressed in their hometown teams' apparel.  I love how Izzie is looking at Brady like, my team has a winning record, so why are you wearing a losing team's shirt?

Izzie is ready for her shot at football, she's always tackling Brady.

Brady still loves his sister, no matter which team she roots for.

Izzie glued to the game wearing her matching Lions headband.

The Lions looked good for most of the game, but the Steelers won in the end.  They're very inconsistent this year and tend to beat the teams they're not supposed to and lose to the even worse teams.  Go figure, since they have no playoff hopes and the Lions are trying hard to stay at the top of their division.

Christmas Portraits 2013 (Izzie's Nine Month Portraits)

The weather has turned cooler and Thanksgiving is almost here, so it's time for Christmas portraits!  I know what you're thinking, shouldn't you wait until after Thanksgiving?  I did that when Brady was a baby and the place was crazy!  They also offer better discounts if you get in before Thanksgiving, so that's when we've done it ever since.  I love getting my pictures back in time to slip into Christmas cards, otherwise what's the point?  Both kids have done well in the last two sessions we've had (4th of July and family portraits), so I had big expectations for their holiday portraits.  I was greatly disappointed.  Brady had spent days practicing his "pretty picture" smile and looked so great.  The moment he got in front of the camera, his smile became forced.  We had to wait because they were behind schedule, so Izzie got hungry in the middle and started to scream whenever put down.  It doesn't help that she can get away now, either.  Any time she'd start to crawl away, Brady would move and we'd have to set them both all over again.  It was a very stressful experience all around.

Following what we did with Brady, Izzie had her stocking (made by me) in the formal shots so we have matching pictures for both kids.  It's also nice to get handmade things like this caught on camera.

Brady was either not looking directly at the camera or forcing a smile in all but one or two of the pictures that were taken.

Getting ready to run away.

The together shots were the hardest of all.  Brady solo came in at a close second.  You'd think he'd be easier than the baby.

The best one of Brady.  I don't think I want to share what I said to him to make this smile happen.

My mom likes to get the ones where they put the kids into something special, so I made them make one like this.

These are the ones my mom has collected over the years.

Switching to pajamas and getting this year's Christmas Winnie the Pooh into the act.

There were four like this one and not one had the kids both looking or smiling.  If Izzie was smiling, Brady either wasn't looking or not smiling.  Such a bummer as none of the two in the jammies were worth buying.

Santa hats and again a not great one of the two of them.  Brady looks like he's in pain (I think I was at this point).

Those eyes are starting to look more green than blue :)

The 9 month collage to match the ones we have for 3 and 6 months.

It's always fun to put the kids side-by-side since they're identical ages at any time of year.  So at the top is both kids with their stockings and the bottom is their jammies and Santa hat.  It's the same hat and it was apparent immediately how much smaller Izzie's head is because I had to stuff it on Brady's head, whereas it was falling off of Izzie's.