Roadtrip!

I'll write more later, but I wanted to post a few photos from our wonderful weekend in Northern Ohio.  A few amazing things happened this weekend --

1) We were able to introduce Gavin to his great grandmother and two of his great aunts for the first time.  We hadn't seen them since Kenny and Erin's wedding over a year ago!  It was a lovely afternoon at Champp's.

2) We were able to see Grandma Nancy for the second time this year.  We went to Longhorn for dinner and had fun playing with Savannah (and her toys) afterwards.  Gavin had changed a lot since we last saw her!

3) Gavin slept through the night in the hotel!  :::ahhhhhh!:::  We were SO NERVOUS after the fiasco in Indianapolis last month...so this was literally bliss.

4) We were able to spend Sunday with Ken and Erin for the first time since late May -- I had missed them so much!  We had a great lunch downtown and went to COSI in the afternoon.  I'm always sad to leave them...  

  

5) Gavin was incredibly well-behaved the WHOLE weekend, despite two more teeth popping through, missed naps, and new locations.  He was charming and adorable and I don't think we could've been more proud of him.  (My dad joined us on the trip and was SUPREMELY helpful in keeping Gavin content!  It was so nice having him there with us.)

We are beyond blessed to have such wonderful family, and such a wonderful son.

Celebrations

It was a really great weekend in the Dowd household.  For starters, we bought a new car!  It's a beautiful blue 2013 Ford Explorer (the color is my favorite part, haha).  I'm hoping that actually having the new car will help me start to heal a bit from the accident.  It'll probably take me awhile for the jitters to disappear entirely, especially on the highway, but at least I feel safe driving the new car.  It's also the first car Stephen and I have bought together, and the first NEW car Stephen has ever bought, so it was definite cause for celebration.

Also cause for celebration -- Stephen and I were both offered promotions at work last week.  Exciting new jobs call for wonderfully indulgent dinner dates, so we had a great evening at Embers in Kenwood, complete with champagne (of course).  It was awesome, and Gavin rewarded us that evening by sleeping eleven straight hours.  For the first time EVER.

On Sunday, we had a big pancake breakfast (which Gavin loved), went grocery shopping (which Gavin did NOT love), and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  In the evening, we went with another family to a local sunflower field to take photos.  I've loved sunflowers since I was a little girl and I've been driving past this field for years, so it was especially fun to get the camera out and snap some photos.  Afterwards, we went to our neighbor's house for dinner and had a great time chatting while our kids played.  It was a perfect way to end a wonderful weekend.

My boys are so handsome.

Our neighbor, Amy, took these family photos of us.  It's rare for us to have photos with all three of us in them, so this was really special.

So in love with my little family!

We oftentimes feel like we're flying by the seat of our pants during the week, so the weekends are usually when we play catch-up.  We put away the piles of laundry, we vacuum the tufts of cat fur off the floor, we reorganize cabinets and shelves.  This weekend, we did none of that.  There are still baskets of laundry sitting on top of the dryer and tumbleweeds of fur adorning the basement -- but sometimes you just need a weekend to relax as a family.  We have a lot to celebrate, so celebrate we did.  :)  

New Template

I thought I'd switch the blog template up in honor of my favorite season...what do you think?

Stephen and I met in the fall, got engaged in the fall, got married in the fall, and welcomed our first child in the fall (though it felt more like winter) -- I can't wait to see what the season has in store for us this year.  I am SO excited for pumpkin spice lattes, Sundays at the Loveland Bike Trail, football games, crisp temperatures, visits to the pumpkin patch, Halloween, Thanksgiving...the list goes on.  I just love this time of year.

In other news, Stephen got a new job!  He's still working at Mitsubishi, but he'll be working in client relations and planning now.  From my understanding, he'll serve as a liaison between Mitsubishi and the companies it creates parts for (Ford, mostly) to make sure that the proper shipment gets to the proper location at the proper time.  Better hours, less physically taxing, business casual...the whole nine yards.  He's so much happier in this new position, and I'm soooooo happy for him.  It just goes to show how hard work, loyalty, and perseverance can pay off.

And on that note, I'm off to wake my little sleeping beauty from his afternoon nap!  He's been sleeping for almost THREE HOURS.  He's been dealing with teething, newfound mobility, and a mild case of separation anxiety recently (though we've only had two flare-ups, thankfully).  I think we'll take the pumpkin out to dinner tonight to celebrate Daddy's big promotion.  :)

Fun at Butterfield Park

I know I brag about the family-friendliness of our neighborhood a lot, but one of the things I like the MOST about our neighborhood is the park.  It is literally across the circle from our house and has a huge open field, a playground with a swing and a slide, a gazebo, and a nice concrete path (which will be fun when Gavin gets his first bike in a few years).  We take Gavin there fairly often and love that it's a quick way for him to burn some energy outdoors.

Here are some photos I snapped of G-Man playing at the park this evening.  We're having to work harder and harder to wear this child out before bedtime...this park visit was part of our effort today, haha.

Gavin loves the swing!

This is the face G makes when he SQUEALS with excitement!  He balls up his fists and makes the highest pitched noise you could ever hope to hear.  This happens at the park, at restaurants...any and everywhere.

Kisses from Daddy!

Ready for football season!

...so excited!

Who Dey!

Football season is upon us, so Stephen and I took Gavin to Bengals training camp at Paul Brown Stadium this weekend to get everyone amped up for another season!  We call Gavin our little Andy Dalton -- it's the red hair -- and we can't wait to take him to actual games and get all decked out in our Bengals gear.  :)  (Plus, I'll actually get to see Peyton Manning play this year!  I'm still excited, even if he's playing for the Broncos.)

So happy to be at Paul Brown Stadium for the very first time!

We took these pictures with our new telephoto lens!  It's amazing what a difference it makes.

"No, Daddy, I'M the biggest Bengals fan!"

It might've been 100 degrees outside, but I'm loving the start of my favorite season!

I'm sure this will be the first post of MANY relating to Gavin's adventures at Paul Brown Stadium this year.  We are taking him to the preseason game against the Jets on Friday.  WHO DEY!

8 Months

As promised, here are my FAVORITE eight month portraits of my gorgeous son!  I can't believe how fast it's gone...  

HAPPY EIGHT MONTHS TO MY FAVORITE (LITTLE) MAN IN THE WHOLE WORLD!