thank you, neighbors!

our neighbors are pouring a new cement driveway, which means von hasnt left the windows/doors since monday. the digger & cement truck offer pure fascination (as well as some pretty neat beeping and vroooming noises) for our little guy. today we decided to scoot the loveseat in our bedroom over to the window for a new view of things. von got the attention of the 'crew' with his window-pounding and digger noises ... they waived, which MADE HIS DAY. we probably sat there an hour this morning - just me & my lil guy, wrapped up in the moment :)

so this was our wednesday

little bit of rain ...
cooler weather ...
front porch sitting ...
kisses for daddy ...
doritos (um, yes, doritos) ...
and of course, a cute little boy in a raincoat ...

evening stroll

we know that old man winter will soon coat our road with slick ice & snow, so we've been enjoying evening strolls (aka evening cruises) as much as possible lately. von makes his siren blare and 'steers' his little cozy coupe ... it's really super duper cute!

growing up

gone are von's baby face and baby characteristics.
here are von's drinking-from-a-milk-carton-thru-a-straw days. he also shakes his head yes and no now, which makes for quite a bit of amusement.
sigh, 14 months, sigh ...

steely mcbeam

... meet steely mcbeam. he cheers for the steelers, throws his arms up for touchdown celebration, oh ... and he smells flowers too :)

diggers & more!

our most recent trip to PA was filled with machines ... little ones, big ones, loud ones, scary ones. and these days, von is literally 'all boy, all the time', so he was just in heaven. von sure did have fun with everyone on elm drive!! thanks all!!

'secret' look out

now accepting volunteers who are willing to break the news to these two that the windows will soon be closed due to cold weather ...

happy birthday, daddy!!

daddy turned 31 today :)
von started off by giving a great present: he slept until 8:10!! a relaxing morning filled with a big ol' breakfast and some gift giving followed. a quick grocery run before football started @ 1 and then home to our palace for the remainder of the day. von must have been giddy with birthday cheer because he played and played and played this afternoon - never once showing signs of an impending nap. finally at 2:45, i decided to lay him down (much to his dismay), but after we had a little heart-to-heart (and some lullabies/rocking), he passed right out.

the chicken wing fairy made a stop at our house tonight, and both von & josh (and myself) enjoyed. in fact, since josh doesnt have much of a sweet tooth, it was a "chicken-wing-birthday-cake" kind of celebration! grandma & grandpa popped in for a quick visit, and then a little more goofing around before it was bath/bedtime.

HAPPY 31st BIRTHDAY, JOSH/DADDY! WE LOVE YOU <3 <3 <3

no photos

well today was an epic day, yet i have zilcho photos to show for it :(
von saw horses for the first time today ... we went to port allegany to visit the kunkels (and had a wonderful time), then went to meet murphy, jackie, and wide eye (the horses). mr von sawyer thought that they were pretty neat from a distance and from head-on views, but not so much when standing beside them (understandable, seeing as how they are 6+ feet tall, and big ... really really big!).
upon arriving home, we met up with daddy and then headed over to indiana ave, so that grandma & grandpa could babysit while mom & dad went out for a bit. while we definitely enjoyed some "couple time", i think von enjoyed his "grandma & grandpa time" more. very very appreciative!

we live a wonderfully awesome life!

oh no ...

... look out, it's the sleep bandit!!!
no worries though, he's a friendly bandit and sure is a cuuuutie!!!

monday night

there must have been something in our dinner on monday night, or we all just took a goofy pill, because man was that evening silly!

von started it off by wearing his new winter hat around the house for a bit.

then we played 'let's make ollie run to the top of the steps so that von can squeal with delight' for about a half hour (poor ollie, she was exhausted!).

next, von decided daddy's tie was the most interesting toy in the world and refused to put it down for any reason whatsoever.

after all of that, it was bath and bed (with a little monday night football thrown in for the grownup entertainment).

autumn kickoff

so i'm the type of person that usually likes to have something to do. sure, von & i have downtime quite a bit, but i always have some sort of project/chore/to-do list going on behind the scenes. however, not this past sunday. you see, FOOTBALL IS FINALLY HERE!! which means, momma & dada plop themselves in front of a tv for a majority of the afternoon/evening hours. von thought this was pretty nifty yesterday ... he kept running in an out of whatever room we were in, looking at us like "ok, good, just checking to make sure you're still here" .. and then off he'd run again to resume whatever adventure he was enjoying throughout the house. now dont be concerned - we did feed, hydrate, and change him :) we also got new toys out and/or rearranged whatever he had just left in the room, so he thought that was pretty interesting too. it was a sunday funday (von even sat thru the entire service @ church yesterday morning!) ... the air had a certain nip in it, the leaves are starting to fall off the trees, a few short rain showers, and obviously, football on the teley.

* you may be asking yourself: why is von not sporting any black & gold? the season is young, and i thought his rugby jumper was pretty adorable too!