swinging into fall

This photo sequence snapped on my phone of the boys swinging makes me so happy. It's been a crazy summer -- actually, a crazy year -- with lots of ups and downs and big decisions to make but these happy boys are so good at putting up with it all. I hope to offer them more stability one day soon.

For those who haven't heard, Shane accepted a job with a D.C. firm last month. The offer came as a complete surprise and even though it's not what we really want, we couldn't really refuse. At the very least it gives him more experience as he tries to work his way to the kind of job we really want. And it gets him out of his current awful firm situation (now that he's quitting I tell you it's been a nightmare from start to finish). So -- he heads to Army JAG training at the end of October, where he'll study military law for five months now that he's joined the Reserves -- and then start at the new firm mid-March. At least that's the current plan. We welcome a new direction if the Lord has one for us but in the meantime, we're trying to work with what we've got.

In recent weeks we've actually been looking for a house to buy, believe it or not. We figure why keep paying rent which you'll never see again? Plus, we need more space and we get much more for our money as buyers than renters. Unfortunately, we've made two offers and still have no house to show for it. The good news is the D.C. housing market is alive and well. The bad news is you can see a house the day after it's listed, think about it over the weekend, and make an offer Monday morning only to find it's already been snatched up by someone else. So we're trying not to get so emotionally attached to things because there's no guarantee you're going to get it. I'm still slightly in mourning over the first townhouse we lost. It's been quite the learning process. It was fun at first but now it's really starting to feel like a chore so we may take a break till after the new year.

Other than that we're excited for another fall on the East Coast. We can already feel the change in the weather and look forward to pulling out our sweaters and boots. And -- I'll confess -- we've already busted out a pumpkin recipe to get us in the mood.

our extremely mobile nine month old

Pierce is nine months old -- and then some. I took these photos over a week ago. He's a happy-go-lucky kind of guy unless he's hungry or tired. He's especially happy now that he can get around the house on his own. He just might be the fastest crawler I've ever seen. He's in the kitchen one moment and the toilet down the hall the next (gotta train Christian to close doors behind him). He's cruising and standing all over the place. Getting more and more steady. And tonight he took two steps on his very own!

He's got six teeth now. That's right. Six. Four on top, two on the bottom. He chews on everything. If you aren't careful he'll get your toes when you aren't looking. He's a drooling machine. Shane teases that he's our little puppy -- chews things up, drools all over and crawls up your leg to stand up and beg. ;)

We still need to get him in for his nine-month check-up but I'm guessing he still weighs around 16 or 17 lbs. He's a skinny little guy but probably pretty average in the height department. He's not the biggest fan of baby food but begs to try anything we're eating. His favorite foods are sweet potatoes, carrots, black beans, avocado, and bananas. Oh, and those baby rice snacks that melt in your mouth. He still loves to nurse but he's also becoming a big fan of drinking water from a cup. In fact, he begs for my water whenever he sees me taking a sip.

Pierce is constantly smiling and loves to interact. But he's also good at self-entertaining. He's a sweet little snuggler and loves to nuzzle his forehead into yours. He loves to play with Christian. One of his favorite things to do is crawl in and around the "forts" Christian builds with couch cushions and pillows. Until he gets stuck, of course. He's also into legos and blocks -- at least when it comes to demolishing Christian's towers. And yesterday, for the very first time, he and Christian played catch. He'd throw the ball and Christian would retrieve it and hand it back to him. Maybe you just had to be there but it was one of those tender moments I won't soon forget.

P.S. One thing Pierce doesn't like these days -- the car. He starts screaming and wriggling before we can even strap him in. It's awful!