Meet Owen, Colin's new baby brother!

We are blessed to welcome a new addition into our family this week. Owen David Edwards was born on October 26th at 6:12 p.m. He was 8 pounds zero ounces and measured 20 inches long. He is healthy and happy and behaves perfectly so far. Mommy and Owen came home from the hospital on Wednesday and Colin finally got to meet his baby brother. (the hospital will not allow children to visit with the swine flu outbreak) Colin has been wonderful with Owen, wanting to hold him and love him all the time. He seems to be adjusting well to the change and we all could not be happier. Mommy is personally thrilled to not be pregnant anymore and spends her limited free time relishing in having 3 wonderful boys in her life.

Colin Is 3!

Colin celebrated his third birthday on October 22nd. We had a quiet celebration at home with some cake made special by Daddy. Colin got to pick the candles and put them in his cake (which is why you see 5 and they are not very well placed). He had a great day and went around telling us all day that he was old. If he only knew...

We're celebrating his birthday with friends at a party this weekend, more pictures of that event to follow next week.

My Very Own Rock Pit

After many months of work, the diggers on the street north of us have finally finished. Colin is very sad to see the workers and diggers go. He became quite the "groupie" after months of watching each and every day. He and I happened upon the biggest digger being loaded onto the semi truck this weekend and it was a sad moment for us both. Colin made such friends with the foreman, Todd, that Todd took him for a drive in this huge digger a few weeks ago. Thankfully the worker loading the truck was very kind and recognized Colin. He gave Colin an actual key to the digger! Colin is thrilled and keeps it on his own key ring to hang by his belt loops.

With the loss of the diggers and Colin's birthday this week, Daddy came up with a great idea to build for Colin. Colin now has his very own "rock pit" in the back yard to use with his diggers. Daddy and Colin worked hard on Saturday and finished it in one day. Colin loves it and although it's not the same as the big diggers, it sure is fun.

A Cleaner Table?

Colin enjoys yogurt. And "usually" he eats it. However, a few days ago he got the genius idea to "clean" the table with it. He kept saying "mommy, don't come out here." That typically spells trouble, so this picture shows you what I found when I went into the room. It's funny now, but it sure wasn't funny then.

Fall Festival and Friends

The city of Upper Arlington has a lot of great activities for kids. Each fall and each spring they have a festival in a local park with inflatable jumping and sliding toys as well as seasonal items. We went to the fall festival yesterday, which included the usual inflatables as well as a tractor ride, pumpkin painting, caramel apple making, and a chili cook off. The festival was 4 hours long and, yep, Colin was there for 4 hours yesterday! We saw several neighbors, including Colin's friend Cole and his sister Alayna (all in bouncy thing together above), and we even had a special visit from our dear friends the Hoppers who live in Cleveland. Mommy is a little camera shy these days, so Daddy posed with Andy, Melissa and their daughter Lily.

Fun on the Farm

This summer we've been members of a local CSA, Paige's Produce. October 3rd they held an open-house at their farm near Circleville, Ohio. Colin had a lot of fun "driving" the tractor, picking out pumpkins, watching the cider press and watching the chickens. Being a typical 3 year old boy, his first question about the chickens was "How do they poop?" We've already joined the CSA for next summer and look forward to more fresh produce and eggs!

The Park and The Diggers

We really enjoy the free entertainment we have around our house... Fancyburg Park is a great place to run off some energy and you can see Colin enjoying himself tremendously. And the construction continues on the street north of us, the diggers being an ever-present attraction for little boys. To Colin, there is no such thing as too many diggers.

A Toy That Works For Everyone

Colin finally picked out a toy we can all appreciate... a broom! Larson's on Lane Avenue sells great kids toys and this broom is a great example. Just the right size for a child and sturdy enough to actually sweep things. Colin was a big help to Daddy who was trimming ivy this weekend!

Boy Meets Hose

One of Colin's favorite things to play with is the garden hose. Even on the lucky days he gets pretty wet. As you can see, he's obviously not so bad since Mommy let him back into the house. (he got up on the counter himself, of course)

Some Fun Outside

Colin loves the outdoors. These are some fun shots of him outside yesterday doing "his thing." Today he's started asking me when the snow will come, he wants to make a snowman. I think he got the idea from a Curious George story, and I've even convinced him that he will enjoy shoveling the snow off the driveway. We'll see how anxious he is when it's cold outside...

Ever Wonder How Dandelions Spread?

Answer: (almost) 3 year old's who have a knack for finding them and blowing the seeds everywhere! Luckily he finds them in our neighbors yard and has yet to acquire enough patience to bring them back to our yard before scattering the seeds!

Hard at Work or Hard at Play?

Colin loves his toolbench... He uses it to "fix" things and it also doubles as a cooking device. He makes dough and bread with the sander and puts cookie sheets down below to bake. Imagination at work!

A Fun Week

It seems every week brings new adventures for Colin. This week the belt broke in our vacuum and Colin got to help Daddy replace it. We also dug out the old "ball tent" and Colin had a blast jumping in the balls and throwing them every which way. He even has his own ways of keeping warm on the cooler mornings we've had around here lately. Benj and I are continually amazed at how fast he is growing up (and how easily he voices his opinion these days!).