OSU vs. Iowa Tailgate Weekend

Well, the McLaughlin Fam made a weekend of OSU tailgating and an early Thanksgiving, inlcuding those from Iowa, Colorado and Missouri. It seemed to go by in a blur to me, but it was awesome seeing so many I love.

No tailgate would be complete without a little cornhole. The best was when AJ started running towards the board, throwing the bean bag at it, running up the board, and then jumping off the back.
The party crew! GO BUCKS!

AJ making his way down to the Scioto river with Grandma and Great-Aunt Barbie. We made several trips to the river throughout the day. Throwing rocks in it was the highlight.

Despite being sick with the flu, my cousin Matt joined the tailgate fun and even went to the game. A truly dedicated fan!

Carter having a sample of the ymnmy tailgate munchies.

"Hey, it's Brutus!"

Tristan and Tyler checkin' out the river with Great-Aunt Ruth.

Our family photo attempt... What a shock, AJ's not looking.

AJ may not say a lot when surrounded by strangers, but he sure doesn't let that stop him from doing what he wants. Man, he was into throwing and kicking that football just like the big boys!

All four of the precious boys playing in the sandbox during our early Thanksgiving. This is the next generation. My niece Megan is our only girl so far, and she now has a little brother too!

1st Belly Pic of the Next Sauer

I decided to make a comparison with AJ's belly pics... The top picture is me at 15 weeks with AJ, the next picture is me at 17 weeks with the new baby Sauer, and the last picture is me at 19 weeks with AJ again. I definitely look more like the last picture! We have our big Uutrasound on Monday the 30th, so check back then to find out if baby Sauer is a boy or girl! Sorry... the actual belly just isn't very pretty anymore :(.

Trick-or-Treat

At first, AJ told us that he wanted to be a fireman for Halloween, which was no big suprise since he asks to see the fire trucks every day on our way home from the babysitter's, but when he went into the Halloween store, he headed right for the Buzz Lightyear outfit and never let go!

Here he is... Buzz Lightyear. "To infinity and beyond!"
Proudly posing with the jack-o-lantern we made the night before (no pics because my camera was at school). You would think that as tactile as AJ has always been, he would be all about yanking the goop out of the pumpkin. However, this kid stuck his hand in once and decided there was no way he was doing it again until I had it all scraped out. Of course, then he wanted to scrap it out himself.

Mommy and her little Buzz.

Checkin' out the goods. Brian and I have decided that by the time AJ is five we will no longer be able to steal candy from him as he will have the candy logged and inventoried. Seriously, this kid started sorting the candy by type without any prompting. See the picture below.

He continues to sort the candy that's left at least once a day.

Pumpkin Patch

It was back to Circle S Farms for more pumpkin fun this year. AJ has definately surpassed the 3' mark!"I'll take ya for a ride on my big, orange tractor..." Needless to say, this was a HUGE hit!

Last year for a family photo of three... there'll be four next year!More fun on the slide. WHEEEEE!!!!!

It just doesn't get any better than playing in the hay! AJ asked for a week to go on another hayride. Whenever he does or sees something he likes he talks about it everyday for at least a week. He also tells you that he "likes it," or "loves it." So cute!

So I misseed the best photo opportunity, which was AJ actually carrying this pumpkin, that he picked out himself, back to the hayride. He was such a man about it! Too bad some loser stole it off of our porch that same night. I could have cared less that our big one was taken, but wanted to cry that AJ's had been taken.

He sure tried to take the biggest pumpkin home!

King of the hay!

Circle S Farms even provided us with a little snack-time music. Man, this kid knows how to jam. Enjoy!

Sorry for the Delay

I honestly can't believe that it's been 2 months since I posted on the blog. With a very hectic start to the school year and pregnancy fatigue at it's worst, every free moment went to sleep. I can't promise that the blogging will improve (as I've been really bad about even taking pictures), but I do want to keep record of our precious memories so I will continue to TRY!!! Love to all!!!

5th Anniversary Gift - U2

Brian and I decided to celebrate our 5-year anniversary a little early by traveling to Charlottesville to see U2 in concert. Despite the fact that I was just getting over being sick and Brian broke out in hives, we had an incredible time and truly enjoyed ourselves. They played all of their best old songs (except 1 - All I Want is You), and the new songs were very easy to listen to. Here are a few pictures from the show (they had quite the set-up), and a couple of videos of my favorite songs.

1 - Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

2 - One

Buckeye Maniac

Well AJ is a definitely a Buckeye fan. He recognizes all Buckeye-related symbols, and requests Buckeye music in the car (he sings "bum, bum, bum... to the script Ohio music). About two weeks before the season he started asking for a Buckeye shirt, which we got about a half-hour before the first game. Here are just a few picture of him showing off his NEW Buckeye shirt.

Heidi and AJ pretending to rest.

Wrestling and tickling... that's a little more like it.

Video 1: AJ and Heidi wrestling.

Video 2: AJ doing flips off of the couch!

Family Fun

Angie and Megan came to visit in late August, so here are some pictures from the family fun...

Grandma got out the frog tent again for Megan and AJ to hang-out in and watch movies. They loved it when Grandma climbed in with them.
Uncle Eric's little helpers... collecting wood for the campfire.

Angie and Megan... Can't wait to see you at Christmas and to meet new baby Hyun!

Megan and AJ helping to roast marshmellows. We had lots of lessons about fire safety!

MMMM! S'mores! AJ actually preferred eating the marshmellows, chocolate and graham crakers seperately.

Grandpa's little helpers... picking the tomatoes and carrying them inside.

Nuge, Rug and Big Boy Bed

AJ and his buddy Nuge... too cute for words! So the story goes... One day when I had AJ at school with me, he helped me and 2 other teachers roll up and move one of our big classroom rugs. Later that day at home, I found him carrying our door rug up the stairs, all rolled up of course!

AJ has graduated to his big boy bed as of last Saturday. He was very excited about it, and never even had the smallest issue with giving up his crib. He sleeps very well in it and still goes right down when it's nap or bedtime. We haven't got a rail yet, but don't think we'll even need one. There is a pillow on the floor just in case.

Heidi and Ryan's Birthday Party

Okay so the commentary is a little (2 months) late, but here it is...
We celebrated Heidi's 3rd and Ryan's 1st birthday! Ryan got the traditional ride-on toy from Aunt Cindy... of course!
Baby Wesley enjoyed the paper from the cards the most!

AJ made it his mission to make sure that all of the paper and trash was picked up and trown away. His papaw was SO proud!

This was about it for Ryan and the birthday cake. He really didn't want much do with it!

AJ sure wanted some of Heidi's cake though, so he made sure that the candles were blown out!

Zoo Trip

We went to the Columbus Zoo this past Saturday with the Sauer Clan. AJ really enjoyed the animals this time once he got over his fear of the leopard and gorillas (he seriously threw a fit and clung to me for almost a half hour while we waited for the rain to pass).

Off we go... Heidi, Ryan and AJ.
Heidi and AJ in the arms of the gorilla.

AJ exploring the touch pool in the aquarium.

As soon as AJ saw this fish he screamed, "Dory..." like in Finding Nemo.

AJ and Daddy on the train ride, which he loved! AJ's looking at the picture with me right now and telling me that he wants to ride the train!