Pumpkin Patch Pals!

We've enjoyed a few trips to the pumpkin patch this fall...first with Maddie's heart bff Teagan, her big brother Gavin and mommy Susie to The Country Mercantile. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! There was tons to do there and when you're with great friends like the Maxwell's, it makes it even more enjoyable. The kids kept us busy chasing after them in a straw bale maze, corn maze, barn full of farm animals, corn pyramid, and the pumpkin patch of course.





We also enjoyed a pumpkin carving party last weekend at the Schonewald's. This picture should include all of the kids at the party...crazy thing is Bryan and I grew up with at least one or both of all their parents! It's so unique that now all of our kids are growing up together and making fun memories like this! What can we say, we can't leave our quaint town of Royal. Should start a colony here...(our 3 kiddos are on the left side of the photo)
And our third and final trip to find that "great pumpkin" was with the preschool class on Tuesday. The highlight of this trip was driving Cade's entire preschool class, teacher and a couple of mom friend's in our farm's bus :) Good times!

H1N1 Vaccine

Yesterday Maddie was able to get her swine flu shot! Phew. Our family doc, Dr. Allred (uncle), called and only recieved 10 shots for his clinic...Maddie was lucky to recieve one being she's in the high-risk category and in 30 days will recieve the rest of the dose. The boys were also able to get the H1N1 flu-mist so a big SIGH of relief for us, hopefully we're covered now! We've had our Flu shots, H1N1, and Miss Maddie now waits for her VERY EXPENSIVE, monthly, super ouchie, 2 pokes each time Synagis shots regime to begin. Poor thing.

baby blues

The biology lesson I remember most was learning how to create the Punnett Square. It was a way of working out what the possible offspring traits of two parents would be by recording the dominant and recessive genes. It's funny thinking back to that same high school biology class that my future husband sat just a row away. We were great friends, who knew we'd eventually fall in love and marry? So what are the results of our square you may ask? We have one of each, how I love variety. Our calico kid's eye colors are as different as their personalities. It's been fun guessing whether the blue eyes these three were born with would change in time or not. But it looks like Maddie's baby blues are here to stay! Here's our little darlings, all at the same age, 18 months...

Maddie with her blue eyes, inherited from my side of the family...
Cade has the darkest eyes of the bunch...brown. He also has the LONGEST lashes too, maybe this darkens them up a bit more from the hazel color they used to be?!? And yes, those lashes have grown back after his trimming :) Jace has his daddy's green eyes that tend to change with what he's wearing...he's our chamelion

soccer fun

It's been so fun watching Jace play soccer this fall! This has been his first organized activity to participate in and it's been great watching him progress. He even scored a goal this season! Bryan coached his team and he and Derek have done a wonderful job with the kids. Before the season began, Bryan and I laughed that he may feel like Will Ferrell in the movie, "Kicking and Screaming" but this blue team was impressive. I do really wish I could have found Bryan that tiger striped blue sweatsuit to coach in though :) They've improved all season long and the smiles on the players faces prove that they've enjoyed it as much as the parents have! Way to go blue!!!

Our little superhero turned 4!

Boy, did we have some great lookin' superhero's at our house last night! I wished I had gotten a picture of all of them at the same time when they were dressed up at the same time :) Cade loved having a few buddies over for his party as well as family to celebrate his big day. Our little man adores his cousins and especially loves superheroes (Spidey still being the lead contender) so what a great time for him. We bared the cold, windy weather and we weren't surprised that these supers could handle the chill!!!
Cade with cousins, Kylie Rose and Jett Henry (aka "Ironman", "Fireball" and "Zorro")
Lots of cousins & friends...a few missed the photo op, gathering up all of the supers was tough!
His cake was totally awesome...made by our talented friend, Alisha!
Pinata time!
Even the Maxwell's made it up for the party, and because of these sweet girls hearts...
their big brother's have become great buds! Happy 4th Birthday to a SUPER son! Caden, we love your cuddles and hugs, your early rising and crawling into bed with us each morning, the creativity you share, your obsession for red, after all, you are an ALLRED, and the fun nature that only you could add to our family. We love you so much and hope that every wish you made will come true!!! Happy Birthday Bubby!

what a process

We have officially started our house! So far it's been a 9 month process...just like having a baby! I'm thinking we're going to learn patience and we're only at the beginning stages. We started designing our plans in January, submitted the plans to the county in July, broke ground in August, poured our footings in September and basement walls will be poured this week! We're so excited and just hope that we can get it enclosed by the winter! Our current home is pretty "squishy" as Caden called it last week, and we all really look forward to our new home. We won't know what to do with ourselves with so much space, room to play and run, and grow up in! Our beautiful view of farm ground, orchards, our little town, Saddle Mountain and even Mt. Rainier on a clear day... our house sits in the middle of the "main orchard" and new apple trees will go in around it this spring. It really is a wonderful location and place to build a home.

Bryan moving ground on the Cat...this took a couple of weekends, we had to dig down about 8 feet. That accounts for A LOT OF DIRT!!! The kids have loved going up to the house site...lots of dirt, hills to climb and slide down and it's perfect for great truck playing and of course getting really dirty.
I even ran the backhoe one day, and boy was it exciting!!! Really, it was lots of fun :)
I happened to be at the housesite when the inspector showed up to inspect the footings.
Our basement foundation after the footings were poured.
Jace and Cade are standing in their bedroom in this pic. Currently, the basement forms are almost all up and walls should be poured this week! Yippee, progress!!!

She's 18 months!

Miss Maddie turned a year and a half a week ago. Amazing. She's really become a busy body lately and her attitude is as spunky as that hair of hers. Here's a few tidbits on our amazing, Little Miss that I don't want to forget!

Maddie's personality is pretty serious. She's reserved around strangers and people she doesn't know well...still stingy with her smiles but has been randomly doing this scrunchy,cheesy grin at people lately...especially if they're not paying attention to her! She really makes you work to get that smile and she pays close attention to who's always around. But to sum her up, she's quiet, shy and sweet. Maddie loves being held, rocked, and is really affectionate. It's so fun having a little girl :)

She just started "jumping" and it's hilarious! Running is her other new skill (just a faster walk with her head tilted). She loves to dance, climb up the bunk bed ladder and of course on top of all of the furniture and into anything she can fit into.

Words she uses often: "itty" (kitty), "beebee" (baby), "ow" (cow), "orsie" (horsie), "oooie" (sophie), "heago" (here you go), "sup" (up), "eeees" (please, cheese), "memememe" (mine), "oys" (boys), mama, daddy, nany (naneeee), ba, papa, ma (grandma), "ace" (Jace), "ade" (Cade), bye, hi, owie, "baba" (bottle), no, "ses" (yes), go

She is still getting up once at night. I can count on one hand the number of nights she's actually slept continually through. After "force feeding" her for all of those months as an infant, she now loves her bottle and enjoys a little snack around 2am. I'm mixing her bottle and sippy cups at 25 cal (half Pediasure/half whole milk or half & half/whole milk). She has actually turned into a great eater and likes a variety of foods. Some of her favorites are green beans, rice, peaches, spaghetti, cottage cheese, grapes, honeynut cheerios, cheese, noodles, and popcorn.

Weight 22 lbs. 6 oz. (21%) and Height 32 1/2 in. (83%) and her 02 Sats range 76-78%

She loves reading books and will sit for long stretches of time just going through piles of books. Maddie also likes her baby doll and especially pushing it around in the stroller. She loves putting on jewelry, shoes, and puts everything over her head to "wear it" (towels, brother's underwear, my shirt). Her absolute favorite though is being outside. She loves to swing, climb around on the playset, play in the dirt pile, and chase the cats and dog around. She's not a big fan of the horses...yet. She also loves to carry around markers, taking off the caps and putting them back on is major business for her as well as coloring on herself!

Maddie Mooms is so much fun and watching her grow, progress and thrive these past 18 months has been an absolute blessing!