Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Adventures

Deciding to carve our pumpkins 6 days after we took them home from the pumpkin patch was a very bad idea. After we came home with our pumpkins I realized that we didn't have a carving kit so we decided to wait until we purchased one. Once we had purchase a carving kit with all the right tools we had to wait until Nick's and Reilly's schedule matched up. Anyway, in an attempt to prevent Maddy from playing with the pumpkins, the pumpkins were removed from our tile entry and placed on our carpeted office floor (another bad idea). And unbeknownst to us Reilly's poor pumpkin had begun to mold. It was totally disgusting, the mold that was eating away it's insides turned it mushy from top to bottom, plus the mold had traveled from it's inside to it's outside (remember I mentioned that it was sitting on carpet)! After the disappointment wore off we began to carve the other pumpkins only to find that the Luna pumpkin that Nick had picked out was also moldy... but not as bad as Reilly's. We were actually able to salvage Nick's. The moral of this story is never choose pumpkins that have rotten looking stems or little holes in the stems (we think that moisture was able to get inside of the pumpkins and began the mold process) and NEVER place any pumpkin on the carpet (the carpet wasn't damaged but if we hadn't caught it when we did it would have been)!

After we finished dealing with all of the mold we began to clean out and carve the remaining 3 pumpkins. I gave Rei my pumpkin and I carved Maddy's. Reilly choose the howling dogs in the night template and because it was probably the most challenging one she needed a little adult help. Maddy's pumpkin was to small to use one of the templates so I picked a face that I really liked and drew it on the pumpkin and then carved it. Nick didn't use any template at all, just his amazing love for the Lord!

This week the second graders at Rosedale North Elementary School put on a cute 'little' school performance as a treat after the PTC meeting on Tuesday. The kids all dressed up in their Halloween costumes and sang a couple of songs and told a handful of Halloween jokes. It was pretty cute... also did I mention, super short? Which was a blessing because Maddy's attention span is also super short. At the end they told all the kids to stay up on stage so that all parents could take pictures... I was stoked about that!

Strong Willed

Maddy is always trying to get a hold of something that she shouldn't. For example she loves to try and play with our stereo. So, I decided to place two chairs in front of it to prevent her from pushing all of the buttons and changing the settings. Lately that hasn't stopped her. She's figured out how to move the chairs and squeeze her little self into the space between the chairs. Once she's accomplished that she'll scream or squeal to get my attention. I'll then take her out from between the chairs, move the chairs back to their blocking positions, and put her over by her toys. She'll immediately crawl back do it all over again! I guess it's time to move the stereo.

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Last Thursday we decided to take a quick trip to the pumpkin patch. Maddy and Reilly had a great time. Maddy always loves being outside and Reilly enjoyed checking out all the pumpkins, the animals, and being pulled around in a wagon. This particular pumpkin patch is on Taft Highway and SO cute! We were able to choose from tons of pumpkins of different sizes and colors. Nick's favorite was the "black" pumpkin... I asked the lady what kind of pumpkin the black one was and she looked at me like I was crazy. I took another look at the pumpkin that Nick had been calling black and realized that it was really a dark green color... those are called Norwegian something or other she said. Nick actually picked the white pumpkin, which the lady called the Luna. I guess it was named after the moon.

Maddy and Reilly are such good sports... I don't know how long that they'll let me put bows in their hair so I am going to live it up while it lasts!

Reilly is our little scarecrow and Maddy is our little birdy.

Nick is also a great sport for letting me take as many pictures as I do!

Play date for fours babies...

Our play date consisted of four babies all born between December 2007 and June 2008. We tried to time it around feeding and nap times... Jocelyn's twin boys are named Keller and Maguire, they are 3 1/2 months old and are so handsome. Andrea's little girl is named Emery, she is almost 8 months old and looks just like her daddy. It is amazing how fast they grow!

Check out little Emery just chillin on the ottoman while my daughter is trying to attack the play station on the floor.

Here she is trying to stand over little Maguire and use the play station for support.

And now she's decided that Emery doesn't need her sock on anymore so she's removing it as Emery watches.

Here's all the babies... Keller, Maguire, Emery, & Madeleine. Can you believe that they will all start kindergarten in 2013? Wow!

Fire Station Visit

Yesterday afternoon the girls and I drove out to Buttonwillow to visit Nicholas at his station. Anytime Reilly visits a station that Nick is at they end up playing something... either basketball, soccer, or some kind of exercise machine in the workout room... she's actually pretty good at balancing on the stair master! During this visit they kicked one of Rei's soccer balls around.

Maddy's bow is compliments of Jill Kelsey. Thanks Jill. It matches Maddy's fire house onesie!

Girls Weekend

Jill, Maddy, and I went to San Francisco this weekend. Originally we had planned on going because Jill had signed up to run in the annual women's marathon and had been picked from the lottery to run. She booked a hotel many months ago and we put it in our calendars. But due to this terrible cold season she had come down with a stubborn head cold. So our plan changed... we decided to go up there anyway and check out the marathon expo and enjoy a girls weekend. We drove up on Friday night and arrived about 11:30 pm. Maddy slept almost the entire way. As a consequence she was wide awake at midnight when Jill and I were ready to go to sleep. Other than her sleep pattern being disturbed she was a fabulous traveler. We hauled her around in the Baby Bjorn. She waited in line with us as we waited for free manicures and massages at the expo. She even took her nap in the Baby Bjorn while I tried on shoes at Niketown. She rode in her first bus and taxi during the trip and she ate for the second time at pier 39. All in all we had a wonderful weekend.

I fed Maddy while we waited in line for Manicures.

This was the outside of the Expo tent.

Maddy was just relaxing while I received a foot massage.

Jill took over carrying Maddy after we went into Macy's.

Jill and Maddy in front of the huge wall of marathon participant names.

Jill pointing to her name.

Jill's name is in the middle on the fifth row.

Poor Maddy had to take her nap in her Baby Bjorn while I tried on shoes at Niketown.

This is at the top of our hotel. We stayed at Club Quarters and this is the view from the sun deck.

Auntie Jilly with Maddy.

Maddy Is 10 Months Old Today!!!

Boy the time sure has flown by! In just two more months she will be a year old... where did that time go? She is growing up so fast! She is crawling all over the place, says da da and mu mu, and pulls herself up to stand anytime she can. She's not walking yet but she can take two unassisted steps and then she falls. One day last week she opened the cabinet where our pots and pans are... Nick and I need to put on those cabinet latches before she finds the cabinet with all the cleaners!

Making Bows

Yesterday the girls and I went over to the Kelsey home while Nick studied his paramedic materials. He takes the written portion of the paramedic exam this coming Wednesday. We are very proud of him. He has been working very hard and studying long hours. We will be extremely thankful when that is behind us.

Anyway, back to the Kelsey home. While Reilly played with Ian and Maddy played with Ria, Jill and I made some bows. It was lots of fun. I can't wait to do it again. The girls even let us use them as our little models.

Sore Throat

Happy news! Maddy and Nick are feeling much better. They seem to be completely recovered from their head colds.

I however am not. My head cold seems to have gone away but the sore throat that kept it company is still here and going strong. Nick encouraged me to call the doctor yesterday but I resisted because I was hopeful that it would be gone in the morning. Anyway, my doctor's office was able to get me in this morning. After looking inside my mouth my doctor determined that she needed to swab it, send it off to a lab, and get me started on an antibiotic.

Here we come cold and flu season!!!

Maddy's picture @ 7 Months Old

This picture was taken on July 22. She is now almost three months older but I couldn't resist posting it.

Sick Baby

I think that one of the hardest things about being a parent is when your baby gets sick. Aside from Maddy's hospital stay, she has only had two runny noses. The first one was when she was getting her two top front teeth about a month ago. It only lasted for about two days. The second one started about a week ago and is still lingering. At first I thought that it was due to two additional top teeth breaking through but it turned out it was a head cold... in fact both Nick and I have been fighting the same head cold! Germs suck!

God Can Do Anything

God is amazing on so many different levels. He created all of creation and reigns over everything. Almost ten months ago He brought our little Maddy in this world to experience His creation. And when she was just six weeks old He reminded Nick, me, and everyone else around us how powerful He is. He took a challenging situation to bring together many of his children. Friends, family, and strangers from across the United States prayed, and prayed, and He answered. Words cannot describe how awesome God is. He is faithful. He is loving. He is patient. He is merciful. He hears our cries. He provides for us. He created you and me. He is God.

Today I realized that I love to blog about our girls. I share with the world what our family has been up to and post pictures to show how much the girls have grown. But today I want to share how wonderful God is. Even when there are hard times God is with us. Even when it seems impossible God is with us. Even when I think that God didn't hear me, He did. When my prayers aren't answered the way I'd like them to be, God is right there too. Recently I've had something very heavy on my heart that I've been trying to give over to God. I pray about it everyday, sometimes many, many times a day. Today, just thirty minutes after my prayer the Lord lifted that heaviness off of my heart and freed me from that burden.

The heart of this post is to share with the world that God does hear us and He loves us. When we live our lives away from Him he misses us and desires us to return to his presence. I am in awe that He hears even the littlest of prayers. When faced with a challenging situation I am reminded of this verse from Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" If any of you are experiencing a challenge in you life my hope is that you follow your heart to the Lord and find comfort in Him through his word.