Welcome Fall!

Ready for Patriots Football!!

Payton's favorite "toy:" The REMOTE!

OUT on the way home from Mother's Morning Out...Melba Toast hanging out of her mouth!

When I opened the car door...

Fun with finger paint!

It's fun painting your legs too!

Trying hard to get her Tevas on

Hi, Mom!

Look at all those teeth! She has 14 currently, with 2 just on the verge of poking through.

All dressed up after our photo shoot got rained out...

"Silly Face"

Payton LOVES her new stool...

...when she wakes up, she asks for her stool...

...then brushes her teeth!

Griffin loves his bathtime!

Using the bumbo seat at just 5 weeks old!

Makes that neck good and strong!

Our handsome, happy little man!

For now, and by default, a Panthers fan...the only NFL attire he owns currently

What a cutie!

HUGE DEAL: Payton shares her Baby Abby AND her "BB" (bunny blankie)

She's been the best big sister to Griffin!

Payton loves to help with everything!

Granddude and Grandmommy come to visit!

Riley (11) and Payton (17 mo)

Jacob (3 mo)

Morgan (3)

Jacob and Griffin, though 2 months apart, have the same size foot!

Baby Jake and Baby Griffin...BFF's to be!

Gavin (7) and Griffin (6 weeks)

Auntie Julie and a very happy Griffin

So, I cut part of his head off, but it was too cute not to share!

Sam (2) & Payton

Gavin beginning his modeling career ;)

Baby Wes (3 weeks)...Griffin's other BFF to be!

...and last, but not least, Payton and Raegan, already besties!

Griffin's nursery...which is just about finished, finally!

I love to wake up to the crisp smell of fall in the air...it makes me think of football, bonfires, jumping into piles of leaves (which hopefully Payton will get to do this year), Halloween, and friends. The cooler mornings have been awesome to help me get back into the swing of running, and the cooler evenings have been perfect for "porch wine" with the neighbors.

The Kugler Family has done a lot over the past month, and the vast amount of pictures will catch you up, and illustrate how much Griffin has changed and grown. Payton is really enjoying school and is proud to show off her artwork each week. We bought some finger paints for her, and as you can see, she had a blast painting on the paper, and her legs :) Her first "incident" at school occurred Tuesday...she was bitten on the back by another little girl, and evidently Payton did nothing to provoke it. My mom was asked to come into the room at pick up, and she was told about what happened. The teachers aren't allowed to say who did it. I just hope Payton never learns biting, hitting, or anything else ugly! There was a small bite on her back, but I think she probably handled it just fine. I hate that happened her though! She gets really worn out at school every day, and is evidenced by the pictures of melba toast hanging out of her mouth while sleeping in the car on the way home...she fell asleep mid-melba toast! LOL! Payton has been testing and pushing her limits lately, which makes me laugh (although I can't let her see me!) For instance, when we are on the front porch, I tell her she's only allowed to stay on the deck, and that she can't go on the sidewalk. She'll get to the edge of the deck, look at me, and smile. Or, she knows she's not allowed to put her hands in the dog's water bowl. She'll get over to it, look at it, then look at me and say "no!" Sometimes she manages to get a finger wet. She is really quite funny, but we already knew that! She's beginning to show her imagination a bit, in feeding her "BB" (her bunny blankie) and her baby dolls her juice, water, or milk, and she pretends to share her snacks with them. She also takes them for walks in her stroller, while waving at me and saying "bye bye!" In the car I'll catch her hugging her BB and patting it on the bottom, as she's seen me do with Griffin. It's really cute! She knows EVERYTHING we are saying, but she isn't saying a lot back thus far. She has many words, but uses them rarely. We're working on that, and I'll probably regret pushing it once she's talking all the time! She's a very sweet little girl. We are so proud of her!

Granddude and Grandmommy came from Virginia to visit last Thursday. They spent most of the day hanging out with Griffin and Payton which was great, as I got lots of work done! The weather wasn't very nice, so the day was spent indoors, but they had a blast entertaining Payton, and doting over Griffin. They will be back in a few weeks with Payton and Griffin's Great-Granddude, Burton Kugler, who will be here visiting from Colorado, while on a honeymoon trip. This will be the first time meeting Griffin, and only second time seeing Payton...but he's a loyal follower to this blog, so we hope he feels like he's a big part of their lives!

Griffin had his one month appointment a couple weeks ago. He was 22 1/2 inches and...wait for it....TWELVE AND A HALF pounds!! 90% height, and 95% weight. Good Lord, we grow them big! He's the size of a three month old, and evidently as strong as one. While we were there, he rolled over, from stomach to back, not once, but TWICE, then repeated it a couple days later at home. I keep trying to get it recorded, but he hasn't done it for the camera. Strong, and very healthy, boy! He has been sleeping really great, only getting up once through the night. We've just had to move to size 2 diapers, and he's eating about 4 ounces per feeding, about 7-8 times a day.

We've had lots of photoshoots this month. Our friend, Jen Greene (Aniston's mommy) is getting into photography, and wanted us to be her models. We met her Saturday morning at Marshall Park, uptown Charlotte...it had been raining all night and morning, and it was very wet. Unfortunately it started raining about 15 minutes after we arrived, but she still managed to get some cute shots. I'll post them once I get the CD of the photos. Griffin and Payton were also models for a group of professional photographers. I'll post those pictures separately, as well, since there will be so many! I'll try to be selective, but it's so hard. They are so darn cute :)

Saturday night we hosted the Kreutzers, Tophams, and Boughmans for a cookout. We had a house full of great friends, and our many children. It is SO incredibly neat to have so many friends with kids so close to our kid's ages. Everyone had a great time, even in our close quarters!

Granby went to the Sardis Consignment sale over the weekend and scored some really great items for the kids, including a Radio Flyer wagon, a step-stool for Payton's bathroom which she LOVES, a swing for Griffin, which he LOVES, clothes for Griffin & a cute shelf for his room, and some guard rails for Payton's room at Granby's...which she will transition to once she starts keeping both kids mid-November. Her first "big girl" bed!!!

And last, but not least, Cheryl, Raegan, Payton, and I went Halloween costume shopping, as Halloween is one of our favorite "holidays." Our girls must carry on the tradition! We weren't all that impressed with what was available, so I just ended up getting Payton some fairy wings, and I'll put that with a tutu....Payton, however so far, has had no interest in putting the wings on. Hopefully we can work on that! Raegan is thinking about being Minnie Mouse, but she's still on the fence. Payton wanted to be Elmo, but both Elmo costumes have things she'd have to put on her head, and well, that would be a waste of money!!

Enjoy the pictures, and look for the "professional" ones to be posted soon!