Saturday, December 6, 2008

First Few Days Home

With everyone slowly becoming adjusted to life with 2 kids, we decided to try and get Ayden to take a picture with Abigail. Oddly enough the child that will touch anything and everything does not want anything to do with his sister. The closed we could get to him holding her is this picture:

As you can see, he'd rather touch her and run away laughing. Never-the-less, we did get some good pictures during this impromptu photo shoot.







Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Everyone is home!

Baby Abigail arrived home this morning to hugs from her grandfather and a confused stare from her brother! Everyone is doing great and adjusting to the newest member of the family.

Here are some pictures from the past 3 days:


















Expect more posts and an updated family picture to come!

Monday, December 1, 2008

SHE'S HERE!!


Abigail Jane Klavan was born today at 1:52pm. 6 lbs 6 oz, 19" long. Everyone is doing great and I will post pictures in the coming days.

Friday, November 28, 2008

She's Coming!

Well, we've spent the last couple of weeks preparing for the arrival of our newest addition (we've decided to name her Abigail Jane), hence no posts. We found out today that Rachel will be induced early Monday morning (Dec 1st). I will post pictures as soon as I get home. Until then, here's Ayden playing with a fire truck.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Not Rich's Fright Farm, but still fun!

In years past, this time of year would see Rachel and I heading to the West Virginia, Pennsylvania border for a night of frightes and laughs at Rich's Fright Farm (best haunted hay ride/house I've ever been to). Instead we've decided to tone it down so we could have fun with Ayden. This past weekend we took Ayden to Fright Fest at The Great Escape (6 Flags) so he could trick or treat and show off his new Halloween costume.



We decided to go with the vampire look this year. The fangs and make up were left off and anyone who has a 2 year old can tell you why.


Besides being one of my favorite times of year, October also brings leaves....lots of leaves. Luckily we bought a blower/multcher which not only saves my back but allows me to use a power tool to do chores. Like any normal child, Ayden just liked playing in the pile.


Sunday, October 19, 2008

October fun

We've had a busy first couple weeks of October so far. So instead of writing a book on what we've done, I'm just going to upload a bunch of pictures and hopefully do better next time at commentating.


The Goold Apple Festival

Ayden picking a fish for a prize.

Ayden winning a green snake

Alpacas
Apparently they shave these things like sheep and weave their hair into purses, blankets, and hats.


Ayden at the Goold Festival kids play ground...which basically consisted of a plastic cube.

Ayden exploring the pick your own already picked and placed nicely in rows so we can charge people a picking fee pumpkin patch.


Head wound and Collins Park

We got home from the Goold Festival late so we decided to throw some stuff down and head out to eat. During the down time Ayden ran into a wall corner and cut his forehead. Luckily it was just a small cut. Needless to say, the next day we decided to relax and go to the park, after all it was a gorgeous day.








Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Afternoon Hike

This past weekend we had an impromptu trip the Adirondacks. We loaded up the car and headed north to check out the peak fall colors. We weren't sure where to go so we stopped at a rest stop and grabbed a bunch of brochures. After thumbing through them, we decided on High Falls Gorge because it was close by and only a 1/2 mile hike, perfect for a 2 year old and a pregnant woman in her 3rd trimester.

Along the way we made sure to take some time to stop and enjoy the scenery






Finally arriving at High Falls, after stopping every 100 yards so I could take a picture, we took to the trail! It was an awesome hike. The guard rails had a metal grid that extended to the ground and the trails were well maintained making it one of the most kid (and pregnant lady) friendly hikes I've ever been on.











Before heading home, we made our way into the town of Lake Placid to check out some of the old Olympic relics and eat at a local diner. A great end to a great day!

Friday, October 3, 2008

September Continued....

The rest of September was pretty uneventful so I've just added some photos for a typical evening for us, well typical to me at least.

For some reason whenever I get home I have some animal loudly squeek at me as soon as I get out of my car. So after a month or so of this, I finally just grabbed my camera and went to see what it was.



Don't be fooled by the picture, this vicious little thing squeeks at me the whole time I'm outside letting me know that I'm in HIS yard.

After being yelled at by a demonic chipmonk, I come inside to a hungry 2 year old ready to do his share so we can get started on dinner.


Armed and ready for action, he awaits the buzzer to go off so he can run to the oven and help us!



After eating and rubbing the majority of his meal into his hair, it's bathtime! Those pictures are on the previous blog so we'll skip that. When he's had his fill of coloring all over the tub with "water crayons" that don't come off with water (we're pretty sure the coloring will stay there forever), we do one of two things.

Call my parents.



Or video chat with my parents.





Either way, Ayden loves talking to his Grammy and PopPop. So much so that anytime we turn on the computer or the phone rings he starts yelling "Grammy and PopPop!". After telling my parents about his train, it's story time (again, see the previous post) followed by brushing our teeth and then bed time! As soon as his door shuts Rachel and I collapse on the couch and ask ourselves how we're going to handle 2!!

So that's a typical evening. Pretty boring huh? Well, at least its more eventful (and interesting) than a Vice Presidential debate.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

New Bed, the Bath, Sliding, and of course, APPLES!

September so far has been hectic. It began with Ayden graduating from crib to toddler bed. Of course it isn't as significant as it sounds, we just took the front end off of his crib. We've been very lucky with him though. For some reason he refuses to get out of his bed until one of us opens the door in the morning (or after a nap) and tells him he can get out. Not that I'm complaining, but as much as he purposely defies us we were surprised he doesn't get up.

Here Ayden gets ready for bed with story time in his "new" bed.


This month we also decided to get him some "Bath Crayons" to play with.....and play he did.

Ayden showing his artistic side.....we just hope it comes off.

The artist at work


September in upstate New York means the start of apple season! We decided to visit a larger orchard this year and man did it ever pay off. This place had more apple trees than I've ever seen! Not to mention one of the better bakeries I've been to. We knew it was good when they put out the Frisbee size cinnamon rolls! Anyways, they gave us a map of the orchard and which varieties were in season. We stuck with Gala and McIntosh since those are Ayden and my favorite varieties.

Ayden helping me pick some Gala.

Ayden a sea of Gala apple trees.

We left the orchard with 6lbs of apples. Not the greatest horde, but believe me, we're just getting started for this season. Fall in this area definitely has its perks, including nice cool weather. We do are best to take advantage of it since we know what is coming next. So, to end this part of September's blog, here are some pics of Ayden and his slide.