Granny Cato comes to town.

Catching up over here. . .
     Early October Melody took Granny Cato on a grand adventure, an ambitious road trip to meet the great-grand-babies and also visit old places and friends. She's done this before and it has so inspired me. Melody is so good at prioritizing special relationships and in this instance, making sure the new generation meets the old. I believe it truly was a blessing to all those involved.
     We love spunky Granny Cato and wish we could see her more often. We are so thankful her health allowed her to make the trip! I know I benefitted from her lighthearted joking and especially from her wisdom. My kids don't quite understand how special it is to know her, but I do, and for now, that's what's important.

(Granny Cato and Baby Wells (2mo), Phoebe (1mo) and Tobias (2yr))

A jaunt downtown

one evening in October. 

     We were still enjoying the light evenings that, in a good way (mostly), made it feel like bedtime would never come. For that reason, and to ensure Gray and I didn't lose our sanity, a stroll around Falls Park on the Reedy was the perfect family activity.

 We have been experiencing a drought this year. The Fall was not as spectacular as it usually is.

     We thoroughly enjoyed watching the ducks swim and eat. Tobias liked to get as close as was physically possible before falling in, aka. he loved to give me a fright. He would point and observe and point some more while repeating "Mommy! The Ducks!" more times than I could count.

 This poor goose was so ugly, we came to find out he/she is an actual specie that looks like this ... 

I felt slightly bad for mocking him.

 Little toes dangling too close to the water!

We made a loop around the park stopping at our favorite tea bar, Ocha. The cherry, almond, vanilla milk tea is my favorite thing on the menu right now! On our way back we gazed into the high end art shops and stopped again to admire the ducks. It was perfect, so much so that we had a meltdown in the car about leaving ...

Grate gazing. I'm pretty sure he spent some time dropping stones down there before I noticed.

Sexy butt dad wearing that Ergo like a model, hehe.

Enjoying the porch

on a cool fall day. 

     On Thursdays we wake up a little early. It is a mad dash trying to get out the door by 8:15am which is the latest we can leave. An 8:15am departure ensures we arrive at Mommy's Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) class on time. 

Ty showing Well's his "baby truck" ... Well's got a little scared hehe.

     If we are successful, everyone ends up having a great time. Ty goes to his class and mommy enjoys some grown up Christ-centered discussion while Well's sleeps. This year we are studying John and I am loving the in-depth view. I learn and grow so much through BSF.

 Snot nose. This has been our life this fall!

     Ty loves his class and has picked up quite a few habits from there. Some are cute, some are not so cute. We enjoy the hand in the fist "Amen!" after prayers but the obnoxious "Roar!" could definitely go. He learns a story, sings hymns, and recites a Bible verse that mirrors what the adults are studying. Even though he is too young to tell me what happens in class I had the opportunity to witness it one week. That week was such a blessing! It warms my heart thinking about the intention of his class leaders and what he is being taught. 

     BSF usually ends around 10:40am and we make it home by 11am. On this particular morning they were being so pleasant. We sat on the porch for awhile. Ty drove around his "baby truck" and I snapped pictures while Well's chilled. I like capturing those rare moments of calm.

The monster truck phase is a thing. We have a lot of trucks around here ... I secretly love it.

Well's on the porch.

     My babies are fuzz heads and I love it. Tobias had the wispiest bird like hair for so long. Just recently has it decided to grow in and thicken up and I'm afraid this change has turned my first baby into a boy. This is why I'm so relishing Well's and soaking in all those baby things that tend to change so quickly.

(Rigg's butt totally photo bombed this picture, haha.)

     I took these photos at two months. He just turned three months and from the time we found out I was pregnant until now, I feel like I can't catch my breath. Keeping up with both my boys and soaking in all the details as they morph and grow takes all of my time and leaves me dizzy. I know I miss things, but I hope that somehow the big things imprint themselves on my brain.

     Right now I'm loving Well's chunky thighs, his knee dimples, his buddha belly, his healthy arm creases, and just his overall thickness! I spend a lot of time squeezing him. He is seriously so yummy. His huge open mouth smiles that happen every time you catch his eye make my heart stop. And man oh man those occasional giggles, well, they just make the world a better place. He is definitely a talker, he babbles and blows bubbles content to communicate with whoever or whatever happens to be in his line of sight. No rolling yet just some great head support along with push ups and wiggles he can turn himself around if you aren't looking.
     He does all of his naps in his crib. I'm pretty sure he would sleep well in his crib at night, but currently he still sleeps in his rock n' play by my side of the bed. A good night he sleeps from 7:30pm to 5:30am, he eats and goes back to bed until 7:30am. He takes three naps during the day and if he needs it a short cat nap before bed. It took me awhile to figure him out, but once I did, he has been the happiest of babies!
     He is obviously a great eater. He doesn't struggle to put on the pounds. He does struggle to take a bottle or a paci. Also known as he refuses both. It makes him pretty hard to leave. I have to time my absences just right. Occasionally I'm over all of the attention, but then he smiles and I forget all my frustration.

     Tobias loves him dearly which has made the last couple of weeks hard. Ty came down with a fever and has had a lasting cough and runny nose. I've had to curb the touching because sick babies are no fun! Despite the sick he still asks to hold Baby Well's and is the first to tell mommy when Baby Well's is crying or unhappy. He even throws away Baby Well's dirty diapers, he is a huge helper.

The Riverbank Zoo.

Family trip to the zoo, a rite of passage I think ...

     We are members of the Greenville Zoo and as such we are afforded certain privileges. One such privilege is half-off entry to several zoos across America! We zoo people (more so my husband than me) think this is a pretty sweet deal. Especially when it includes the Riverbank Zoo.

(These little creatures put on quite the show popping in and out of their burrows.)

(The stroller was massive and therefore a huge pain to maneuver and overall very useless.) 

     The Riverbank Zoo in Columbia is only an hour from our house. So on a day off it makes a great extended morning. We took off around 9:30am with way more bags than we needed. I've resigned myself to the fact that this is my lot in life for the time being. We arrived around 10:30 and proceeded to spend two hours at the park.

     With a toddler two hours was definitely sufficient. We looped the park twice, saw two "shows" and spent extra time viewing our favorite animals. We then drove home while our two babes snoozed in the back seat. Aside from losing out on grownup naps it was a huge success! It is a day we still talk about and a day Tobias desperately hopes we repeat. He asks about it on the regular.

(I took these pictures through the glass, but it looks like the glass wasn't even there! Kudos to the glass cleaners, seriously.)

(My favorite photo from the day.)

     Gray and I loved the Gorillas even though Tobias wasn't as interested. They didn't do much (probably why he wasn't impressed), but their positions and looks were hilarious. Other animals of note were the lions and monkeys, always fascinating for various reasons. We really wanted to see the Tiger, but he was too sleepy to make an appearance, hopefully next time!

(We face-timed Nana because she loves Gorillas too!)

(You could walk through this open exhibit, pretty neat!)

     Tobias loved the Elephants and the Prairie Dogs, but we probably spent the most time at the Brown Bear exhibit. We watched them dig and swim and do bear things like pee massive amounts of liquid (sorry, it was hard to miss). I don't know why he loved them so much, but he did.

(I mean he was glued to those bears, they didn't bat an eyelash without us knowing. He made sure we were informed about every move they made.)

(The smelliest exhibit at the zoo, no joke. Barf worthy.)

     The two shows we saw were great, not too long. We watched a zoo keeper feed penguins and also saw sea lions perform tricks. I really liked the sea lion exhibit, you could go "under" the exhibit and watch them swim. If you stood at the right angle they looked like they were swimming at you, this totally freaked Tobias out and made me laugh (very compassionate of me, I know).

("Tobias, sit down!" This phrase was on repeat for the short amount of time he spent in the stroller.)

     In my opinion, the giraffes were the highlight! You could feed them!! Tobias was brave for about two minutes and let the giraffe grab lettuce from his hand once before delegating the task to daddy, "daddy feed," as he backed away.

(This giraffe was loving the food.)

     Overall it was a great experience! If the worst decision we made was paying too much money for cotton candy, I'd say we did pretty good. We will definitely be going back. Maybe by the time our next trip rolls around Well's will be soaking in the sights and sounds as well ... for the most part, he snuggled me in the ergo, made us both sweat and slept through all the excitement!

Aunt Cesca captures me and Wellington

I love when everything comes together so nicely. 

     I convinced Francesca to snap a few pictures of me and Wellington and the resulting images are magical. We dragged an unassuming stool out the side of my house and plopped it right in front of the massive tangle of vines taking up residence along our fence row.

     She took a few and then told me to move my leg here and my arm there and tilt my chin this way and I obliged because she is good at making me look good. It is impossible to hide all the baby weight and pudge, but she did a pretty decent job and I am very grateful.

 (this perfectly peaceful baby face makes my heart stop)

     Having my sister around during such monumental moments in my life has enhanced those moments and made them sweeter. Her joy and excitement is contagious, she's exactly the individual you want to share big news with because she will squeal and cry and make such a fuss that you cannot help but smile bigger and cherish the news better.

     My boys have no idea how blessed they are that she lives here. I know she brings qualities to their lives that I cannot. She gives them special experiences, teaches them lessons, and buys them clothes. She enforces my rules and breaks them too, as she should.

 (I think this will go in my gallery wall)

     She is an encourager. She will make much of your successes and challenge you through your failures. She is a true friend and companion, someone who will pursue you. Mama and Ty love their Cesca and I am certain Well's will too, it is impossible not to.

(such a little squish, I could kiss him all day)

Thank you for taking these photos Cesca, they are perfect!