Happy Halloween!

Paxton Marshall

A Year in the Making

When we moved into this house over a year ago, one of the things I was drawn to was the very wide, long hallway upstairs. I thought to myself, "that would be a great gallery wall for family photos. I bought an awesome wall decal the next week, starting filling up the wall after that, and now it is FINALLY done! The two oldest photos are of my Great Aunt Virginia under a cherry blossom tree in DC in the 1950s and of Wes' grandfather holding him as an infant in 1980. The most recent photos are from the twins' "almost 3.5 year photo shoot" from a few weeks ago.

 Here's the wall from left to right:

There's my Aunt Virginia on the bottom left.

There's Wes and his grandfather on the left kind of near the top.

I love it and I just can't get enough.

Definitely Brothers

Here's Gavin at 6 months and Paxton at 5 months.

Tricks & Treats 2012: Sorority Row

We picked the twins up early from school yesterday, got them in their Halloween costumes, and took them trick-or-treating on sorority row at JMU. It's a fun, free event for families in the Harrisonburg area. Each sorority had candy, games, and a craft for the kids to do.

Of course, Pax was the Incredible Hulk.

We let the twins pick their own costumes this year. Vivian decided to be a Pink Princess and Gavin was Ironman.

 

It was awesome.

Pumpkins

Last weekend, we sat on the front porch and carved the pumpkin for Paxton's photo shoot (see it HERE) and colored the pumpkins that the twins got when they went on their classroom field trip to the pumpkin patch (see that post HERE). 

Paxton and I watched from the sidelines.

Yes, I have a receding hair line. I lost a ton of hair after I had the twins and the
same thing has happened this time around. It'll come back... hopefully.

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Last Friday, the twins went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch with their class at school. Wes and I couldn't chaperone, but luckily, their friend's mom (Diane, Olivia's mom) took some pics for us.

He's Giggly

My MD Visit

A couple of weekends ago, Wes' mom, brother, and brother's girlfriend came down to VA for some weekend shenanigans with the twins (post to come) while I traveled to MD with Pax to spend a couple of nights at my mom's new place. It was exactly what I needed. I hadn't seen my mom since the beginning of August and it was definitely nice to have some time alone with Pax (without G & V pushing and pulling and screaming and whining in the background).

It's about a 3.5 hour drive (with mild traffic) and I only had to stop once in Tyson's Corner to feed Paxton. My mom and her fiance, Max, recently moved into a brand-spanking-new luxury apartment complex. And let me tell you, it is gorgeous and absolutely fabulous.

Here are a few awesome things about their new place:

1. The hallways are ridiculously wide.

2. There's a gorgeous glass rock electric fireplace in the "lobby" of the complex.

3. All of the fixtures, lighting, and furniture in the

common areas are to-die-for. I was totally in love with it all. 

The interior designer spared no expense.

This couch was very long. And beautiful.

This chair is so sick. You can't really tell by the photo,
but it's a faux alligator skin that's super shiny. It's so flashy. I love it.

I just love a tufted couch. Heart it.

4. There are a lot of amenities like a bar where

specialty coffees and fruit is served in the morning,

a game room with a pool table and foosball table, 

 a test kitchen that you can reserve and host a cooking class, dinner party, or catered event,

 and a movie theater, library, conference room, fully equipped gym (with an awesome playroom for the kiddos), a huge outdoor pool, and then another club house with second set of all of the stuff I just mentioned. It's actually quite incredible.

My mom's apartment is two doors down from the gym (awesomesauce!), has two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a fully updated kitchen, and a large balcony overlooking the outdoor pool (it's like they live at a resort). 

Max's mom actually painted three of the paintings in their apartment. They are vivid and vibrant.

Here's another one. Love it.

While I was in MD, I went to my friend Stephanie's house to help her paint a dresser for her nursery (post to come). The rest of my time in MD was spent with my mom and Max. Paxton was so well-behaved. He barely slept during the day on Saturday or Sunday, but he wasn't crabby and he slept well at night, so it was all good. 

It was a fun time, but it was way too short. See you again soon, Mama!