Tractor Adventures

On the Saturday before Elliott's birthday, he and Jesse went on two tractor adventures. We talked up this "adventure" with Daddy and Elliott now asks to go on adventures all the time. This particular adventure was actually two tractor shows. The morning consisted of an antique tractor show and plowing competition in Ridgeway, Ontario and the evening was a tractor pull in Marilla, NY. I was not there but will do my best to caption the photos.

Playing with a frisbee at the plowing competition.


The competitors are judged on their ability to plow straight and uniformly deep furrows. 

Playing in a wagon.

Look, Daddy! Over there! ("Look!" is one of Elliott's new phrases but it comes out as "wook." It's very cute.)

Someone else was taking pictures there and emailed a few to Jesse. My boys.

Hard at work.

But full of smiles.

After coming home for a nap and snack, the boys went off to the Marilla tractor pull. We tried to go earlier this summer but it was rained out. This was the rescheduled event. Elliott was a great spectator and wore his hearing protection that he got from Grandpa Brad.

Big tractor!

In case you (like me) are unfamiliar with tractor pulls, this is what it is all about:

Elliott was enthralled with the action.

The next morning, we met my parents out for breakfast. Elliott and Poppy are deep in conversation about the menu at Charlie's Diner.

And now deep in discussion over the Thomas 1, 2, 3 book.

 

Ned's Cyclocross Race

Two weeks ago, Ned competed in a kids' cyclocross race following Mike's race. He was awesome!

Getting ready to go out on the course.



Business-mode with his eye protection and gloves.

He needed a little help on the uphill portions, which his parents were happy to provide.

Showing off his medal and hydrating post-race.

 

Museum of Play

Flashback to pre-Lucy . . . A week and a half ago, we went to the National Museum of Play in Rochester with Leah and her kids. We wanted to cram in some one-on-one fun with Elliott before his new sibling arrived. We went there once before in February but this time was much more enjoyable since it was a less crowded weekday and Elliott is a bit older.

Riding on the tractor in the mini-Wegmans farming area.



Loading his groceries onto the belt.

Scanning each item with help from Daddy.

Elliott and Tucker spotted the train and immediately asked to go for a ride.

Levi, Elliott, and Tucker (mostly hidden) ready for their train ride. It was hard to get phone pictures in focus on the moving train.

Leah and Lincoln.

Tucker was very interested in posing with the Berenstain Bears.

As was Levi.

At the end of lunch, Elliott started to dissolve in pre-nap exhaustion. The one thing he asked to do before we left was ride a horse. We were confused until we remembered the large carousel in the main lobby. This was his first carousel ride and he loved it!

A video of the fun.

Post-ride smiles with Daddy.

After a nap, we went out in the woods for a walk. I put Elliott's hood on and told him he looked handsome. He ran outside to show Daddy, saying "Elliott handsome." Such cuteness!

 

Lucy Holloway Doren

Lucy Holloway Doren
A beautiful little girl joined our family at 4:35 pm on September 17, 2013. She is exactly two years, one day, and 20 minutes younger than her big brother, Elliott. Throughout my pregnancy, I only wished that the two did not share the same birthday and she waiting it out just long enough for that to be true. I'll write up my birth story another time but here are some pictures from the minutes and hours immediately following her arrival.

Clasped little hands.



Here we are getting to know our little girl. The nurses and doctors were great and let me keep her on me for about an hour and a half before they did her stats and such.

Meeting Aunt Hol.

We missed the shot with the weight actually showing but she weighed in at 8 pounds, 2.6 ounces and measured 20 inches in length.

Proud Daddy.

Lucy (still nameless here, actually) looking up at Jesse.

Meeting Coco.

Elliott came to the hospital with my Dad so he could meet his baby sister. Jesse said he was saying "Baby Sister" for the whole walk from the lobby to my delivery room.

We got some snuggles before he met Lucy.

 

 He was thrilled to meet her and full of smiles.

As Grandma said, he looks like he's opened a new present here.

But, Elliott is still a two-year-old boy and wanted to jump on Lucy and me.

He looked like he had hit the jackpot when he spotted the birthing ball in the closet.

After our first round of visitors left, we had some quiet time to work on names. We had a boy name selected but were still discussing girls names on the drive to the hospital! Lucinda is an old family name on my side. We selected Lucy from Lucinda. We both really like strong family middle names. My middle name was Wallace. Jesse's is McLean. Elliott's is Stafford. We picked Holloway because it has three pieces of significance to us - it is a strong family name from my mother's side, the Holloways established the community where our Canada house is and built that house, and, of course, it is Holly's first name. That is how she came to be Lucy Holloway Doren.

Beautiful Lucy, sleeping peacefully.

3/4 of our family (3/5 if you count Dutch).

Helping with the Trash

As I discussed here, taking out the trash is one of the highlights of the week. Elliott has helped collect the small trash cans in the house for a few months. Last week was a big step. He carried the recycling bin all by himself!

A video of the little helper. He likes to announce when Dutch goes to the bathroom, so you get to hear about that too.

All ready to help Daddy take the trash down.

Elliott got these great Thomas counting cards from Elisa for his birthday. He is very excited about them. He sits with them on many mornings and talks about all of the things he sees on the cards. Thanks for the great gift!

 

Happy 2nd Birthday, Elliott!

Our little boy officially turned two today. Where has time gone? The past two years have been the best of our lives. Elliott brings us such joy each and every day. We love watching him grow, learn, and play. We are looking forward to watching him grow into his next role of big brother in the coming week!

Elliott's party was last weekend. Today, on his actual birthday, we had a quiet dinner at home with Coco and Poppy. Here are some pictures from this evening. Checking out his new chalkboard easel from Mama and Daddy after getting home from school.



He was so excited to get on his new Skoot from Coco and Poppy.

His feet don't quite reach the ground and he got upset.

Poppy is a quick thinker and flipped the bike over so Elliott could play with the wheels.

Elliott is full of smiles for the camera these days. "Cheese!" He and Jesse were skyping with Grandma Sue so she could wish Elliott a happy birthday.

Another day, another cupcake! He loves hearing the happy birthday song.

More big smiles.

Look at that big grin.

 

 Taking a look back at the previous birthdays.
2011. Here is Elliott when he was less than an hour old.

2012. Full of smiles on his first birthday.

And, I'm getting ready for his sibling's birthday. Two days until my due date. Let's do this!