A Little October Catch Up

To start the month off we had to get a couple pictures of Eliza and Nathan together.  Eliza loves to hold "My Nathan" and it has been fun to measure his growth by how well she can/can't hold him.

Nathan is all smiles when he wants his mom to pick him up.  I love this boy!

We also took dinner to our old neighbors after they had their twins.  They had family in town for the first four weeks, so we waited until they left.  The kids were more excited about the cats than the babies.  Bradley got this one cornered long enough to play with it.

These are the new arrivals.  They are so cute even when they are crying.

As we were hurrying out the door we learned a good lesson.  When your mom tells you not to leave things behind the van you should listen to her and this is why.

One of these things is not like the other. 

Hard lesson learned.

Park Days

Nathan loves the great outdoors.

We took Owen and Margaret with us.  It was a park we had never been to before.  It was a lot of fun.

We are going to have to take our brothers here one day.

This little car was a favorite.

 

"Peek-a-boo!"

One little monkey climbing on the playground.

Movie night.  Our dad was on call so we decided to celebrate the best we could with out him.

Nathan loves to be a part of the action no matter what it is.
Oct. 5, 2012
 

Conference Weekend

Since conference doesn't start until noon here we have all morning to enjoy some family time before quieting everyone down for the main event.  Sunday morning it started to rain, so we sat in the garage and watched the rain while dad read to us from "Serpent Tide."  It is a really good book.  We recommend it to everyone.

Eliza and Nathan relaxing with mom during conference. 

Ward Camp Out

We went to Falls Lake for the ward camp out.  We got there in time to set up and get in on the dinner.

The excited campers!  Eliza didn't get to stay the night, but she was actually okay with that.

Dad and Nathan eating by the camp fire.

The continued to play after Mom, Eliza and Nathan headed home.  A friend that lives near us road home with us for the night.  We were back for breakfast the next morning.

Dad cleaning up the tent site.  He was a good sport to stay with the boys considering I forgot the air mattresses and he isn't as young as he use to be.

Nathan trying to keep warm by the fire.

A couple of people brought some fishing rods so the kids could try their hand at fishing.  They loved it!  Eliza stayed busy throwing sticks into the water.

Bradley using some line, a hook and a worm to fish.  He couldn't get it out too far since he didn't have a pole or rod.

Daniel getting his line and hook.

He was so proud of his line, hook and worm.  He was excited to go "fishing".

Fishing on the rocks.

Dad and Nathan kept a close eye on the fishing.

One of the kids caught a fish and started yelling.  ALL the kids went running like rats to the Pied Piper!  It was cute.

They caught a small blue gill.  Brother Dattilo had to hold it and let all the kids touch it before they released it back to living free and in the wild.  It was the one and only lucky fish caught by our group that day.

We walked around enjoying the fresh air and the trees.  We met up with another family and the kids played soccer for a while.  Daniel was excited to be bigger and finally have the upper hand.  Poor kid...it is rough being Bradley's younger brother.

Eliza didn't want to go back to the cars because she didn't want to go home.  We had to sweeten the deal by offering her a piggy back ride.

A quick family shoot before heading home.

Do you think Andy backed in close enough?

It was a great Ward Camp out.  We really enjoyed visiting with more ward members. 

Oct. 12-13, 2012

Sharing the Laugh

 

Nathan thought that his Dad was extra funny this night. 

He is 12 weeks old.

 

Eliza is pretty good at keeping Nathan entertained.  She got him laughing pretty good one afternoon.

Too bad I am a little slow with the camera. 

 

 

 

I love this stage when they start to interact more with everyone.  Nathan has the ability to brighten my day no matter how tired or frustrated I get.  He is truly my little sunshine!

13 weeks

Big Smiles

Nathan continues to be a very pleasant baby.  He loves to play with his family.  He still takes lots of naps, but has recently decided he likes to have things on his face.  This is how I found him one day...and NO I did not cover his face.

Nathan also likes to have his hands out.  He has never liked to be swaddled tight.  He likes to be able to move when he wants.

12 weeks old

Nathan has also discovered that his dad is pretty funny.  Nathan has been smiling big for me for a couple of weeks, but he has just started laughing hysterically at his dad!  You can't tell form these pictures, but he was.

Nathan is also good at putting Dad to sleep.  :0)

Nathan is getting more aware of his surroundings.  He likes to kick and look at his toys.  He is quick to smile when he wants to be picked up.

Eliza is getting to be such a big girl.  She loves to help with Nathan and she is enjoying her new found freedom.  Now that she is the oldest at home during the day she takes every opportunity to choose what she wants to do.  She is so sweet!

Bradley is doing very well in school this year.  He has made a lot of progress in his reading.  We are very proud of him.

On another note Daniel is also doing well.  He is so excited about things he is learning at school.  He tells me what he did at school in more detail than I am use to getting from Bradley.  I can't believe how big the boys are getting.  I don't feel like I am old enough to have a 2nd grader and a kindergartner, but here we are.  Daniel is pretty wiped out by the time he gets home.  I have to be pretty careful how I deal with him or he dissolves into tears.  One day after school I asked him to try on some pants I recently purchased to make sure they fit.  He started sobbing and said, "I don't want any pants!"  It was pretty funny to me.  Hopefully he will adjust to the long days quickly.

A Little Catching Up...

No matter how big Nathan gets he still loves to snuggle with his brothers and sister,

and no matter how big Nathan gets Eliza and Daniel still love to hold him!

Eliza and Nathan

10 weeks

Daniel and Nathan

 

 

LABOR DAY BBQ:

 



Every year the LDS DDS has a BBQ on Labor Day Weekend.

This is for all of the LDS dental students and dental residents.  We usually meet at a park in Chapel Hill, but this year it was pouring buckets!!  So we all met at the institute building.  The food assignments were given according to what year of school you were in.  Unfortunately only the residents came and none of the dental students.  This was unfortunately since they were in charge of the plates, cups, and utensils.  We did have quite a few side dishes though.

 



Eliza playing pool for the first time.

The kids loved playing with all the "toys" at the institute building.

Bradley and Daniel spent most of the time playing Foosball.

There was a short brake in the rain and the brave cooks hurried outside to cook the meat before the rain started up again.

Bradley briefly gave ping pong a try, but it was a little more complicated than he originally thought.

Nathan slept through most of the party.

 



Nathan loves to kick and look at the ceiling van.  It doesn't matter whether it is on or off, Nathan is quite enthralled.

Eliza loves to be with "My Nathan" when he is awake, especially in the morning.

11 weeks

WARD MEET N' GREET: PIG PICKIN'

Every year our ward has an opening social to get to know all the new families that have moved in during the summer.  We have a pretty high turn over each year since we are so close to UNC and Duke Universities.  This year they cook a whole pig.  We ate the whole thing too!

 

I didn't think to get a picture of the pig before they started cutting it up.  I was hoping to see the head with an apple in the mouth or something, but no such luck.  It was a pretty delicious piggy.  :0)

Andy has been busy at work and sometimes doesn't come home until everyone is is bed.  He likes to snuggle with Nathan while he eats dinner.  Nathan is happy to oblige him.

Nathan has recently discovered that he LOVES taking a bath.  Now that his belly button is cord free he can lay in the water and kick until his little heart is content.  Eliza usually comes to help me bath him.  I have to reminder her to stay out of the tub. ")

12 weeks