Forty Five Weeks - Addisen's First Halloween!

We were a little late getting to our pumpkin carving this year..

Brody had already helped carve one pumpkin at school, so he was brave enough to scoop out some of the guts!

Eww!

His favorite part of carving pumpkins is using the "drill" and hammer to pound in the little light pegs that we have.

Mr. Cheese posing with our pumpkins!

On Friday Brody and Addisen had their Halloween Party at School. I got there and found Brody like this - the headless dragon! He said his hair was too hot for the head.

The teachers loved Addisen in her skunk outfit!

Tonight Grandma and Bobo came to our house to go Trick or Treating with us. Addisen and Brody did a great job and they even kept their heads on for the majority of the time!

Addisen was so interested in Brody's costume tonight. She was crawling all over him, which of course led to him crying because she scratched him. I can't wait to see what happens when she can really move!

Skunk and Dragon kisses!

Grandma showing off her pride and joy!

Brody did a great job saying Trick or Treat and Thank You tonight!

A rare photo with Bobo and Grandma!

The big accomplishment this week was Addisen pulling herself up to standing! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of it - but she can pretty much pull herself up on anything. I think it will be just a few weeks before we have a toddler in our house!

The other big news was Addisen's check up on an ear infection she had about a month ago. Unfortunately the infection was still there, so she is on another antibiotic and we will be going to see the ENT at the end of November. This girl is following in her big brother's foot steps - Jim and I just don't make good lungs or ears!

We hope everyone had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Forty Four Weeks - Fall Fun!

We are very blessed to have two kids that love each other so much!

This weekend our neighborhood had a Halloween Party for the kids. My mom did an AWESOME job making the kids their costumes. I don't have many great pictures of them together (or Brody alone) because he isn't too into the picture thing right now.

This photo is not the best quality - but by far one of my favorites! The look on their faces tells the story in our house most of the time - Addisen is in LOVE with her brother and all of his toys and he tolerates her!

The cutest skunk I have ever seen!

Laughing at her daddy!

This picture tells the story of our trick or treating. The whole time the kids were in the wagon Brody would say "Mom, Addisen is taking my candy" and I would say "She isn't going to eat it, just let her play with it".

On Sunday we finally made it to pick out our pumpkins. We have been meaning to go for the last few weeks but the time just seems to be flying by!

Brody was very excited when he found a lady bug on one of the pumpkins - he was insistent that we do not buy that one because it would bother the ladybug! Shortly after this picture the ladybug ended up on his pant leg - thankfully daddy was to the rescue and removed the bug!

Finally a good picture of Mommy and Addisen - now we need to get one of Brody and Mommy!

I love how Brody's smile has evolved into a Joker like smile!

I was really hoping to get Addisen's 10 month pictures when we were at the pumpking patch - but unfortunately it was past nap time and she wasn't happy! This is the best we got!

And then we have Mr. Cheese!

Forty Three Weeks - Three's a Charm!

On Saturday we celebrated Brody's Birthday with his third party! We had our family here to celebrate with the Spiderman Cake! This was a much easier cake to decorate than last year's Buzz Lightyear!

Brody was a little confused by the end of the week. On Saturday I showed him the special "4" shirt I had bought and he said "I'm not 4, I am 5 now!" He was very insistent that he turned 4 when he took the cupcakes to school and so now at this birthday party he was 5.

He got a cool new racetrack from my brother and Jenny, a new game for his Leappad from Grandman and Bobo, Spiderman shirt and 4 wheeler from Aunt Judy and Uncle Bob, Puzzle and marker sets from Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary, Superhero shirt, puzzle and stickers from Aunt Kathy and Uncle Brian and a superhero movie from Jim and I. I am thankful that this is the last party until Addisen's 1st Birthday in 2 months!

On Sunday Jim ran in his 3rd Marathon. His parents, Brody, Addisen, my parents and I all headed down to Grand Rapids to watch him. We were nervous that it was going to be a rainy day, but luckily it turned out to be perfect running weather for him.

Brody and Addisen made Jim a special shirt to wear for the marathon. Jim said he heard a lot of spectators comment on the shirt and cheer "Run Daddy Run!"

Jim did an awesome job finishing at 3:31:50 - a more than 30 minute improvement on his personal best! We are all SO proud of him! He did give me a small panic attack at the finish line when his calf cramped up and he had to stop to try to work it out. I just lost it, knowing how much he wanted to make the 3:30 time - but luckily he ran through it and finished in great time!

Brody is so proud of his Daddy's medal!

My dad did a great job taking pictures of the event!

Addisen was a trooper that morning, but finally fell asleep on our walk to find Jim after the race.

We were so lucky to have Jim's parents here to witness Jim's great accomplishment!

Happy Birthday Brody!

It was four years ago today that I was sitting in the hospital right now just waiting to see when I would meet my baby. I had no idea on that day how much this little guy would come to mean to me! I don't think I could make it through one day without him!

During that first year I was just amazed by all of the milestones he could accomplish. I remember being so eager for him to do it all - crawl, walk, talk - it just couldn't come fast enough.

During the second year I started to think - Do I really want this little boy to grow up? He seemed to be getting so big so fast. I remember being amazed by how much he was learning while at daycare and that he was becoming this little boy.

During the third year we started to think about adding a sister or brother to our family. I loved this little guy so much and thought it would be great to have another child for him to grow up with.

This year I sit here and I just think - how could this be my little baby? The day he was born is still very vivid in my memory - I can remember what I was doing that day, waiting for Jim to come home from work, calling the doctor to see if we should go to the hospital, the nervousness and excitement I had when we finally got to the hospital and they confirmed that we would be meeting our first child very soon. Some days I wish I could turn back time, take in all of the moments with this little guy - but then I look at him and my mind starts to think - who is he going to be, what is he going to do in his life to change this world? I am so proud of the little guy that he has become, he is polite, friendly, caring, and so smart! It was hard for me to believe I could love this guy anymore than the days when I was pregnant with him, but man I love him more every day!

We celebrated with the 4th birthday cake this week (with still 1 more to come)! Brody said that he couldn't wait to have his next birthday party on Saturday! I don't think he realizes that a birthday is suppose to be only 1 day!

Addisen really enjoyed celebrating Brody's birthday!

Nanny and Poppy are here to visit from Pennsylvania and were able to watch him open their presents this year. Nanny made him a special Penn State blanket! I love the expression on his face!

He was a very lucky boy tonight - he got books, markers, a new cars sweatshirt, a Penn State Tshirt, blanket and a LeapPad from Jim and I.

We recently bought an IPad and thought that it would be a good idea to get the "educational" version for Brody. He took the wrapping paper off and said "I got my own IPad!" It really is a pretty cool toy for a kid - it seems to make learning fun.

The Heisman Trophy was at Rockford High School tonight so Jim took Poppy and Brody to see it. It appears that Brody got pretty nervous when it was his turn to take a picture!

I guess it was just the trophy - maybe this is a view of the future (if Jim has his way!).

Happy Fourth Birthday Brody! We love you so much!