Eckert's Farm

Today we enjoyed some fall fun at Eckert's Farm. We ate, we played, we watched magic shows, we rode rides, we bought pumpkins, we drove tractors, we pet a llama, we bought fudge, we had fun.









My little triplets!



















From a photography perspective, Owen is tough one to catch. Of all three of my boys, he is the least likely to cooperate with me when I want to get his picture (thus the reason you see many photos of Drew and Evan on my blog - it is not just that I'm ignoring my middle child!) Owen has the sweetest little dimples and round face - a smile from Owen just melts your heart. We call Owen our 'gentle giant.' He is an amazingly strong two-year old boy and is a thick kid! He weighs 40 pounds and has an arm like a rocket (Dan's eyes radiate with pride when Owen picks up a football and fires it at his target showing off his incredible strength!) But inside our little giant, is an extremely sensitive and kind-hearted little boy that just wants to make everyone happy.

Given the chance to capture some Owen moments here, I took advantage . . .









We watched a magic show today at Eckert's and the magician was extremely interactive. So much so that when he asked for volunteers, all of the kids' hands went up in the air, including my two boys! I was super surprised when I watched Drew and Owen get selected and march right up to the stage without a moment of hesitation to participate in a magic trick. Such confidence! They were definitely the youngest on stage and I feared they wouldn't be able to understand the magician's directions (as an example, when the magician asked Owen how old he was, he hesitated for a moment and then said, "I'm FOUR." His mother had to correct him, "No Owen, you are TWO!") The boys did great and Dan and I were cracking up!

Untitled from Lauren Niebruegge.

Nine months old

My little angel baby is already nine months old. I cannot believe it. Evan is already 3/4 of the way through his wonderfully precious first year of life and time is just a 'rollin. I'd love it if I could slow down time for just awhile or find a way to bottle him up, just as he is right now, for a special treat to pull out when he is all grown up and refuses to snuggle with me anymore (I secretly hope that this never actually happens . . . although, I'll admit, I'm a naive mommy). I just adore his stage right now and can't hardly believe that we'll be celebrating his first Thanksgiving, first Christmas and first birthday in only a few short months. Seems like I was just enormously pregnant for the holidays last year and here we are, celebrating them again already!

I vividly remember the day we learned that we were to be blessed with another little angel, and it seems like only moments ago. In keeping with our tradition, Dan was actually the first to find out that we were expecting (he read the result on the pregnancy test and I simply looked directly up at his face, rather than down at the stick, to determine the results). I'll never forget his expression for each of the three times that that beautiful 'pee-soaked' stick indicated that a baby was in our future. Magical moments, for sure.

Given my love for photography and my obsession with having a ba-zillion photographs documenting every move my children make, I decided that it was time to stop paying other photographers for every milestone and that I should take ownership of Evan's nine months photo session myself. So while Owen took his 4+ hour nap this afternoon (what an awesome sleeper, he is:), Drew, Evan and I headed outside on a gorgeous Sunday evening and enjoyed some beautiful natural golden light.















This is my absolute favorite . . .



























And of course, I have to taken some photos of my favorite little 3 1/2 year-old too . .







He likes to pretend that he is still my little baby sometimes too - and of course, he always will be!

Day Out With Thomas!

It was our third year in a row to see Thomas the Tank Engine. Aside from the accidental detour we took on the way there, we had a great time. It was nice to have an extra set of hands this year too - Grandma Darlene and Grandpa Bob joined us!







This picture of Owen totally reminds me of my brother Mark!











And talk about a small world! When Drew and Owen were riding this small train, Drew got off and said, "Mommy, Mommy, look! There's Brady from preschool!"

It was so sweet to watch the two of them immediately recognize each other. And just what you would expect from two little girls, I watched Drew and Brady wrap their arms around each other for a BIG, tight hug! It was soooo sweet! I was happy to watch two little boys demonstrate the behavior I thought was reserved for sweet little girls . . . I'll definitely take it while I have it. I know that my sweet little boys will be all grown up way too fast!





By the way, this picture surprised me - I seriously thought that Drew was the tallest boy in his preschool class, but apparently not! Brady has Drew beat by a long shot!

Day Out with Thomas! from Lauren Niebruegge.

Baby Evan enjoyed the day with Thomas too (check out his video)! He has officially expanded his vocabulary to include, "Uh-oh!"

Evan and Drew from Lauren Niebruegge.