Green Lakes and Fall Photos: Round 2

Fall is such an amazing time of year around here and I LOVE taking fall photos. We had a beautiful day last week and I took the boys out to Green Lakes for some fall photos. I promised Charlie a stop at the playground if he cooperated. I think the results were worth the bribery!

Pumpkins and Fall Photos: Round 1

We took the boys out to the local farm market a couple weeks ago with the promise of getting pumpkins - little did they know I had full intentions of torturing them with a photo shoot as well! They were good sports about and and had a lot of fun while I also got some good festive fall pictures.

 handsome boy!

 We even brought Noah along with us for the fun!

(by the way, this may be the best picture we've ever 

gotten of these two in their entire three years...)

 Still smiling, but starting to look a little spacey

- pondering how to put an end to this, I'm sure!

 Such a good sport!

 "Really, guys??"

 And the big payoff...

Look at that face!!

One Fall Favorite

After picking bags full of sweet crispy apples, what better to do with them than bake delicious apple cinnamon goodness. This year we have enjoyed the best applesauce we have ever managed to make, apple pie with my first successful pie crust from scratch, and this Charlie created apple crisp. Charlie is an especially big fan of fall and all the goodies that go along with it!

apple picking adventures

We made it out to the apple orchard a few weeks ago and I haven't posted any pictures from our excursion yet! It was a perfect fall day and we definitely picked (and ate!) our fair share of apples. We just love this time of year and all New York has to offer right now! 

Evidently being 6 makes him too cool for pictures - 

It was a challenge to get him to let me take any!

Why pick apples from the many branches within your 

reach when Aunt Bridget will lift you up to the high ones?

Charlie, Emanuel, and Noah

No little girls in our crew yet!

My dapper little man!

Love him!

3 months

Ben is three months now and growing like crazy. Still struggling to get his reflux under control, but overall he is an incredibly happy and healthy little man...

85

That is the number of days Charlie lived in the NICU at Crouse Hospital being taken care of by some of the finest people I know.

It is also the same number of days that Bennett has been with us now as of today.

This is a strange milestone and one that we never anticipated being meaningful to us, but somehow it is. We've come so far in so many different ways.

 April 30, 2009 - 85 days old

October 4, 2012 - 85 days old

brothers

There is no denying that Charlie LOVES his little brother - maybe a little too enthusiastically at times! :-)