Happy 1st Birthday Maya!

We went to Maya's first birthday party this afternoon. We took some pictures before we left...which was a good thing because I was too busy visiting to take any while we were there. We were the last ones to arrive because the party coincided with Brady's nap time, but we still got some quality time in with the Thaivalappils. Happy Birthday big girl!
I love how Brady put his little hand on my belly in the picture on the right. Not sure he really knew what he was doing, but I still thought it was sweet!

After we got home, Brady relaxed with Daddy and read the "Mr. and Little Miss" books Auntie Amber got for him. Fun!

Beckham Returns

While Daddy endured the pouring rain in Blacksburg for the VT vs. Miami game, Brady and I had a fun FavDay together. We went to our second Lil Kickers class this morning. Brady did a little better with class participation this week. He actually did a few of the activities...but still preferred to have his own practice time running and kicking the ball. On his own agenda, he did some stretching, running kicks, and then had a snack/water break. I still think these uniforms are the cutest thing...love the front and the back (hence the pictures).

A Split Girls' and Boys' Weekend

This weekend the Littlest Luhring and I went to Charleston, SC to meet my one month old nephew. It marked a milestone in the Luhring Life as it was the first time ever (2.5 years if you count the time I was pregnant with him) that I have been apart (overnight) from Brady. Yes, I have been with the child his entire life...in 21 months I have not spent a night without him. Brett has had a few business trips and overnight Hokie games in this time, but I've always been with my boy. I was so much more dramatic about this than Brady was. I cried in the airport security line when I saw a family ahead of me putting their stroller through the x-ray machine and thought, "This is not how it's supposed to be! I want my family!" Oh the drama. :) Good thing I had my other baby with me in my protruding belly because that seemed to offer some sort of explanation to the TSA agent working the security line. "Hormones," I said to him. He just looked at me like I was crazy, but I wasn't flagged as a security risk or anything. :) (The picture above was taken on the way to the airport. I thought little dude looked adorable just chilling with his feet up on my suitcase.)

Anyway, so I survived and actually had a great time visiting with my sis and B and b had a fun boys' weekend. I told Brett he was to take his temporary duty assignment as family historian seriously and blog about everything they did. He did do a great job taking pictures, but if I wait for him to post, we'll really be back-blogged for a while! So I'm posting the pictures sans stories because I don't know them completely.

Here's how the Littlest Luhring and I spent our weekend- relaxing, chatting, and admiring the cute sweet baby that Josiah is.

The boys met up with visiting amigos (Neil, Stacey, Renee and host Michelle) at Chevy's for dinner on Sunday night.
Apparently on Monday, Brett organized a community service project. That is, he attempted to seed our lawn and employed several neighborhood volunteers to assist.

Don't worry- Brett is mindful of child labor laws. He did permit some goofing off and of course, water breaks.

Pre Game Show

Before watching the VT game together today, my Hokies did some yard work. Brady still Loves to help his Daddy mow the lawn. Brett's hoping this interest will last throughout Brady's teenage years when he inherits the job completely.

All work and no play...no way!
No "dull boys" around here.

Go Hokies!

Wyatt's daddy, Sean is also a Hokie. Both boys showed their Hokie pride at soccer this morning (before they changed in to their uniforms).

Lil Kickers

Our Lil Kickers soccer session started today. Brady Loves soccer and kicking the ball. So when we found this class at the same place where Brett used to play indoor soccer, we thought it would be perfect! An added bonus- his buddies Riley and Wyatt are in the class too. They all got these adorable little soccer uniforms. As soon as Brady had a ball and saw the net, he was set for the next hour. He chose not to participate in any of the class activities (red light, green light; bouncing the ball on your head; or cone-stacking) and instead preferred his own private one-on-one time with Coach Daddy. That's cool dude- whatever, have fun!

Little Tykes Tumbling

Brady and I attended the first of four "tumbling classes" today. It really was just a room with a bunch of mats where the kids could run around and play. The teacher knew better than to have any truly structured activities (with the exception of the parachute) for this age level. This time was fun for Brady, the super physical kid. After his initial "warm-up, let me figure out what's going on here" introductory period, he was all over the mats, jumping and laughing. I'm not sure if Brady is the oldest kid there or if he's just the most physical. The teacher kept using him as a role model for the other kids for things like, well, rolling. There was an incline mat that she wanted the kids to try rolling down. I plunked Brady down and began to roll him and he squealed and laughed the whole way down, got up at the end, and said, "Again!" The same thing happened with jumping off the mat and walking on the balance beam. Boy, all boy, he is! There are no great pictures because it was impossible to take them while also trying to keep safety first with this kid. :)

Spa Treatment

Brady got a spa treatment tonight before bed. :) When he saw the penguin humidifier we had going in his room to provide some extra moisture to help him sleep well and clear the congestion in his chest, he yelled, "Mist!" and ran up and stuck his face in it. Cutie!

Mountain Views

Too bad you can't see more of the gorgeous view from our house's back deck in these timer pictures. It was so pretty!

We had one more family meal together before hitting the road and enjoyed lunch at a neat restaurant at the foot of the mountain. In our group picture, Brady is showing us how he is eating "trees" and Eashan blends right in with his homemade bib/cowboy bandit look. Too cute!