He's crawling!

Yeah! Colson starting crawling this afternoon with the help of his sister, Maddie. Maddie was trying on her ski's in preparation for her ski lessons which start next week when Colson crawled right over to her! Now instead of "sausage" rolling around the room, he's crawling! Now its time for teeth!! :)

More Christmas

More pictures from the big day!

Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas at home this year! The kids had a blast opening presents and now are connected at the hip with a baby doll that eats, drinks and you guessed it, poops. And of course Cole playing with his tonka truck are a constant scene. Happy Holidays!

Soy far, no good.

Well, I was getting really excited about the possibility of Cole overcoming his soy allergy this week. But, with the last diaper change, we're on our way back to the doctor... blood... again. :(

Soy far, soy good

It has been 6 days since we started adding soy formula into Colson's diet and so far so good! Other than a little crankiness, which we've chaulked up to teething, things are progressing quite nicely! We've got our fingers crossed!

Minnesota

Here are a few pictures from our trip to Mn.

Back to Seattle

We arrived home from Minnesota last night. We had a great week filled with family, food and fun! The week went by very quickly and we didn't have a chance to do everything that we wanted to, but we crammed in a lot! Maddie had a blast eating snow, swimming in the snow, making snow angels and trekking in the snow to see her first rabbit dropping. Colson took 3 long nights to learn how to sleep at Grandma's house, but finally made it past waking up every hour on night 4. He was fussy most of the trip because of those darn teeth-would you come in already?! I got a chance to visit with my best friend Joy which was super fun. And everyone got some time to spend with cousins, sisters and brothers. A fun trip. On a sad note, Noche Pig passed away while we were gone. Perhaps a good thing for Maddie as she hasn't asked about her since we've been home. I still walk by the spot where her cage was and say "hi". Three pets gone in one year-tough.

I'm not getting married...

Maddie's latest favorite phrase is: "I'm not getting married because I don't want to have to kiss a boy on the lips... bleck..that's gross..." We'll remind her of that when she's 16. hee hee.

It's the Pope!

During our trip to Leavenworth, Maddie got a chance to see an "old" Santa and she went up to him and asked if he was the Pope. hee hee. She also got to make a lantern. Colson had fun in the tub, and they both loved hanging out with dad.

What a place to take a nap

Maddie has finally learned something from Lucy... where to sleep... in a laundry basket of course!

Christmas Tree... found and decorated!

We went yesterday to get our Christmas tree. Everyone helped to pick the perfect one and I think Brion was proud of me because it only took about 10 minutes to find it! They had soooo many to choose from! Brion cut it down, we hauled it home, and decorated it! Beautiful!

First Christmas Cookie Batch

Made and eaten. Check. :)

Thanksgiving Weekend

We went to Leavenworth for Thanksgiving and had a great time with our friends Markus, Sherri and Katarina! The girls made Christmas lanterns, went to a holiday bazaar, walked around the town and just enjoyed the cool weather. (in the 20's). Colson on the other hand did not have such a great weekend. He cried all weekend, night and day, and his parents still cannot figure out why. Other than the fact that his top gums are rock hard and the outline of teeth can be seen, we're not sure why he's so grumpy-poor guy. So much so we came home a day early from Leavenworth to see if being at home would help. It did help his night schedule...he actually slept until about 4am before he first woke up. wahoo!

Another ER trip...

We made another trip to the ER last night, this time for Maddie. She woke up at 10pm screaming as from a nightmare. The only thing was, we couldn't get her out of the panic ridden state! She was drooling profusely and wasn't coherent and couldn't be calmed down at all. Both Brion and I had never seen her like this, and after the behavior continued for many minutes, we decided to administer Benadryl and head for the ER. The verdict? Night Terrors. Wow, we knew she had been having some bad dreams lately, but this was scary. She slept in today until 8am and seems to be fine today. Whew.

Colson's baby girlfriend

Maddie gave Cole her pretend phone today and he immediately held it up to his mouth to chew on it, then he put it to his ear. I asked Maddie who he was calling and she said "his baby girlfriend... they talk about dates and stuff and then he gives her a kiss through the phone...". Boy, they grow up fast!

Peas Peas Peas

WAHOO! I reintroduced peas to Colson again today and he LOVED them! Not only did he love them, but he had zero allergic reaction to them! Yippee! I've got my fingers crossed that we've turned an allergy corner!! (He's reacted in the past to peas). Green beans here we come! Perhaps I'll save those for another day - one victory at a time!

Bug

In true form, winter has arrived. Along with it comes the winter coughs and colds. The kids, Brion and I have been passing it back and forth for a few weeks now, and we're ready for it to end. Maddie has been coughing and coughing and told me last night that she can't go to school anymore because she's "dangerous". I said, dangerous? Yeah mom, dangerous is when you have a cold and can pass it on to someone else - oh, contagious. Cole has the runny nose, but has remained in good spirits despite his cold and very frequent diaper changes.(side affect of cold-diarrhea).

Gusty Day

It's a very gusty day today, as a matter of fact, the power is out up the road from us due to downed trees-again. Welcome winter I guess! We've got our fingers crossed that this winter won't be like last winter with 10 days of no power and extremely expensive gasoline!
We built a fire in the fireplace, made some more farm animals and played together before nap time... what a great day.

Puppy Love

Lilo finished her last puppy class for this session last night. She even got the gold star-stuck right on top of her forehead, for doing the best job yesterday. She really learns quickly and was showing the other dogs last night how to "mark" (point her noise at a toy she wants to run and go get) stay, and then go grab the toy and run back. She has definitely proven to be a supersmart pooch, and has made a big difference in all of our lives. We still miss Arlo a lot, but now Lilo has brought a different kind of light into the house, and Lucy is really enjoying her-drug free!

Bathtime

We have changed our normal bath routine due to the fact that Colson gets the entire bathroom wet just taking a bath in his baby tub in the sink. So last night we tried out the dual routine which seemed to work out well, until Madelyn realized that now her brother was taking up way too much room in "her" tub. Cole took a quick bath, got out with daddy, and Maddie stayed in the big tub, by herself, to finish playing.

Calm

Colson has seemed to rebound very quickly to his fall. Much faster than his mom has! There are always lessons to be learned as a parent, I guess. Colson has quickly adjusted to life on the ground and has really been trying hard to get this crawling thing going. We're still working on lurching and crying, lurching and crying.
Maddie is loving the new craft projects mom and dad bought. We've been working on coloring crazy farm animals, and Maddie is sure to draw a big necklace, earrings and/or dress on them. The princess in her has really come out and continues to show itself in new forms everyday. We love it!

Lessons Learned

Yesterday was one of the most horrible days of my life. I had Colson strapped in the bouncy chair on the kitchen counter like we've done countless times before when the dogs fighting in the next room caught my attention. I left the kitchen for 5 seconds when I heard a loud thud. I ran back into the room and found Colson face down still strapped into the bouncy chair on the floor. I grabbed him, called 911 and waited for the ambulance to come. The paramedics checked him over and suggested we make a trip to the ER. We did this immediately and after 4 hours and a CT scan, they had determined that nothing major was wrong. Whew. We followed up today with a visit to our Ped Dr and have been happy that he's finally eating solids and formula. We're on course to continue using Tylenol until everything is "normal" again. No more bouncy seat on counter that's for sure!
We've had requests for pictures of his noggin'.. thankfully he doesn't have a shiner and the picture shows a happy moment.

Ahh.. winter arrives...

And with the arrival of winter comes the flu virus. Maddie had a fever today and Cole was actually a lot better behavioral-wise than he was yesterday. He cried non-stop all day yesterday, for what we think is new teeth "syndrome". I'm still battling a sinus infection and also a bum knee. Ahhh... winter arrives.

Trick or Treating

Maddie's friend Dane in the neighborhood had us over for dinner and then we went Trick or Treating. Cole slept through the whole thing. :) Here are pictures of Maddie and her friend Dane (Dinosaur) going up to houses for the "goods". We had a great time!

Pumpkin Carving

Last night we carved the pumpkins! Wahoo! Maddie wanted hers to look like Bert from Sesame Street, but decided that carving one big eyebrow was too much work, Brion carved a K State Wildcat into his, and mine was just Swiss cheese.

And here they are!

Lilo and Stitch at Lilo's school Halloween party

Halloween Party

Maddie's school Halloween party is today and the little ones will be all dressed up! I've posted the cartoon pictures of the characters that they will be dressing up as. Then I'll post pictures of Maddie and Cole in their costumes!

Brother and Sister

Here are the little ones huddled up in a hug on the couch.

Yoga Koala

Here is our little koala bear doing her favorite yoga pose-the tree pose.

Wild Animal Park... in Woodinville

We have our own Wild Animal park here in Woodinville. Whether it's Lucy and Lilo going nuts and chasing each other all over the house, to the guinea pig squealing for some treats, to the fish who recognize when it's dinner time, we have it all! Lilo has also learned that she can see better when she's on the back of the couch!

Lilo Bean

Tonight is Lilo's second puppy class. Last week was a very successful one, so we're hoping that tonight she will continue to build on her knowledge of good behavior and use it. I know that Lucy is sure rooting for that!

Cookie? Did someone say cookie?

Yes, mama did! We've been avoiding giving Colson any foods that contain soy or dairy because of his allergies, but after thousands of guilty looks given by Colson, I caved in and bought baby biter cookies. Yes, they do contain soy, but he loves them and his tummy doesn't seem to be bothered! We've got our fingers crossed on this!