Isabella's Turns One!!!

Today is our baby's first birthday. What a blessing she is to us all. It has been a precious year, savoring every stage and age and knowing too well how fast it all slips by. We had a lovely family birthday party yesterday but I do not have the pictures yet. I have been dying to post these pictures that my friend Michelle took for Isabella's first year picture. I know there are a lot, but there were so many good shots it was difficult to narrow it down to even these ones. I know the grandmas will appreciate the number but the rest of you will have to bear through them.

So Isabella is walking and talking (sort of) and changing every day. She is quickly moving from a cautious walk to a little run. Still falling every once and a while but no crawling anymore. She loves the steps and we now have to keep the gate up at all times or she is up them before you know it. She is talking. She says "mama" but it is mostly when she wants to eat and now that I don't have the milk and she is with daddy more while I work the "mama" days seem to be fading out of the picture. She say "dada" a lot! She loves to say "dada" every time I say "mama" and she seems to say it with some attitude almost like she knows that I want her to say "mama" and she is messing with me. She just started saying "uh-oh" which sounds more like "uh-uh" but works like magic when she falls or crashes, she almost cries but then someones says "uh-oh" and she pushes back the tears and says "uh-uh" and picks herself up and moves on. She just started to say "no" but it is mostly after we say it, she has yet to figure out she can tell us no. She says "hi-ya" when she picks up the telephone or remote and carries it around the house on her ear, pretty cute. She continues to be fascinated by Kadie and Jack and totally loves Lucy (the dog). She is eating all kinds of finger foods and drinking whole milk and loving it. The 2 signs she does are dog and milk, she refuses to do any other sign language and stares at us like we are idiots when we try to get her to. She remains petite and super light. She does not like to cuddle much, as she always has things to be doing. She loves to carry her blanket around and wrap it around her head. She absolutely hates getting her diaper changed and it sucks for anyone who has to tackle her to do it. She is a crazy child in the bathtub, just crazy. She loves the water and is out of control in the bath. She loves to wrestle with Daddy on the bed. She loves to chase Lucy around the house with her toys. She loves her crib. And we love her. She has a sweet smile, brilliant blue eyes and a happy little personality. Happy Birthday Issie. We thank God every day for the blessing you are in each of our lives.

Pumpkin Patch

We did our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend. Brad was out of town at a retreat so I had another crazy mom moment and thought we should go anyway. It was fun, until it wasn't. Isn't that the story of my life. We got up early, skipped church and thought we will be the first ones there, go through the whole thing, get pumpkins and be home by lunch. Apparently we were not the only people thinking this was a good plan. The line to get in was wrapped around the parking lot. I had Issie in the backpack (too muddy for the stroller) and I thought we were all dressed warm enough as it was supposed to be in the 60's . It never got about 45 while we were there. Jack and Kadie did great, played on the hay stacks and the hay maze, went through the petting zoo, got yummy hot chocolate and fresh squeezed cider and even reluctantly agreed to not do the corn maze (Issie was starting to loose it and my back was aching at this point). So this is when we jump on the tracker and head out to find the best (or easiest to carry) pumpkins. Issie is freezing, starving and sleepy by now. We get to the field and find that most of the pumpkins (at least the close ones) are rotten. I finally figure out we will need a wheelbarrow and find one, we head at least 500yards into the patch with the baby on the back and the wheel barrow. The kids finally find 2 for themselves (they are well trained and pick small ones, since they know they will have to carry them but also have learned it is easier to clean small ones when it comes time to carve). I however, find this funky shaped gigantic weird looking pumpkin that I have to have. I find some other dad to put it in our wheel barrow, I can barely push the thing back up the hill to the tracker. At this point Issie is passed out in the backpack and leaning over the edge. I irritate the entire group at the hill by just by passing the line and asking the tracker driver to help me. It takes several men to get my pumpkin on and off the hay ride and then we need to find another wheel barrow and another man to get this thing in the car. The kids are DONE, I am exhausted and aching and we still have a huge somewhat ugly pumpkin in the back of the minivan that I have yet to convince Brad to get and bring into the house. I really think I have moments of temporary insanity. It was however a good day, I love pumpkins, I love fall, I love watching my kids run around having fun.

This picture does not do justice to my pumpkin. When I get it out of my van I will post a proper picture.

Grandma Mary and Grandpa Al

My new schedule has left me a bit behind on posting the happenings of our family but I still want to document it all so I may just have to do it in little bursts of energy. My mom and Al came to visit in September and had a wonderful time at the coast, Mt St Helen's, the zoo, and visiting with the kids. It is always fun to have them come and stay for a while.A beautiful day for the viewing of the volcano!
The kids took every opportunity to perform for a new audience and we had several concerts and dance performances. Jack sings song after song and Kadie plays along on the drum or occasionally does some extra dance moves. It is very entertaining and Grandma and Grandpa were a great audience.

Jack just belting it out.

Precious moments captured of sisterly love.

My favorite moment of my moms visit was when we did a bomb fire in the fire pit and Jack sang to us. Kadie was so hilarious. She stood behind him up on the hill and danced the most precious and funny dance. We would laugh and Jack would whip his head around to see what she was doing, she would then promptly stop and then he would continue and so would she. It was beyond hysterical. I have rarely laughed as hard as I did that night. The pure innocence of these kids catches me by surprise sometimes. Love you mom.

Back to Work??

It is a crazy time in our family but we know God is faithful and we are feeling blessed in many ways. Brad unfortunately lost his job this week. I will be temporarily heading back to work 3 days a week this week. We are totally blessed by the flexibility and demand of my work and know that God is always providing for us. We feel secure in knowing that all the things that really matter, money cannot buy and lack of money cannot take away. We would cherish your prayers for opportunities for Brad as his desire is to work and our desire is for me to be able to stay home as much as possible with the kids. Also prayers for peace and faith in this time of transition. We are grateful for all of our friends and family who continue to support and encourage us as we know many of you are in similar situations. God is good, we have grateful hearts. We will keep you posted.

Last day at the Beach

These pictures are a little bit late but I just recieved them from my friend and I could not resist posting them as we head into fall. We went to the beach the last week before school started for one last day of fun. The weather was rotten but the skies opened up with beautiful sunshine for about 90 minutes while we were at the beach. It was perfect. The kids had a great time, and me and my friend Mel had a great time too. I love that the coast is only a few hours away. We live in a beautiful part of the country. There are a lot of pictures but I could not just pick a few.

Isabella at 11 months

What a fun age!!! She is getting so big but still is so little. She is still only about 17 pounds and is just barely ready for 9mos size clothes. She is petite and oh so sweet. Issie started doing all kinds of new things this month. She is now walking (short distances) and eating all kinds of finger foods like green beans, noodles, eggs, fruits, chicken and more, and she is becoming much more of an explorer. She is serious a lot of the time, staring you down with those big blue eyes but once you get her giggling it is super contagious. Lately she has been really making herself laugh, really laugh, like the big belly laugh. She did it when she pushed the little car walking around the house for the first time. She did it when she took her first steps. And she did it when I let her play in the bathtub without her seat for the first time. I think she is so proud of herself and thoroughly enjoys her new freedoms in mobility. She also loves books, much more that Jack or Kadie at this age, she will sit and play with a board book for an hour. She loves Jack and Kadie. She loves playing "chase" and keep away. She is still mesmerized watching them play, I think inside she is just waiting til she can run with them. Here are some of our favorite snapshots of this stage....

Watching the dogs, longing to be able to go outside with Kadie.
Crazy child in the bathtub. She is hilarious, flopping around in 2 inches of water and laughing so hard. I cannot believe she does not have bruises all over from hitting the side so many times.

One of her favorite places to be, under the table. I always laugh when I see her there, it is like she is putting herself in a little jail. She loves being under things and she loves being upside down.

Here's my public confession. I am usually the parent that is afraid of the kids getting hurt ( partly my control needs in my personality and partly from being a Physical Therapist and seeing the worst case scenarios of everything), but Brad has always been much more afraid of the kids falling down the stairs than I have. I guess I always think, we will just teaching them to do stairs and then it will be fine. Isabella has not even noticed the stairs yet, so I have not been great at putting up the gate. Brad said she is going to do it anytime and we will be sorry, I said she is not even interested. Well today, I thought I heard her playing by my bedroom door when I was cleaning up lunch, but apparently she was exploring some thing new. By the time I found her she was on the top step and again, laughing her big belly laugh. I am pretty lucky I found her when I did as she was just about to dive down the steps when I got there. Sorry Honey, the gate is up now. Anyways, we proceeded to spend the next 40 min going up and trying to teach her how to go down backwards. She much prefers going up and every time I turned her around to go down backwards she would just start going back up. I think it will be awhile before she gets it. I am sure practicing the stairs will consume the next few months.

Cutie pie.

Kadie took this, as I worked on teaching her to go back wards, not quite getting it yet.

The famous walking bike. Jack got this bike for his first birthday and each kid has loved it. Issie has been pushing it around the house and Kadie loves giving her rides around the house. That bike has really been worth the $19 we paid for it 8 years ago!

Walking to Jack. She loves her big brother.

Well that is the scoop. She will be 1 next month! I cannot wait to celebrate that with all of you. We love you Isabella.

Jack-- Fall Soccer

The Cheetahs

Like I mentioned earlier, I have become a total soccer mom. Running from practice to practice during the week and game to game all day on Saturday. Jack is on a U10 (under ten years old) team this season and is just absolutely loving it. Our friend Nello recommended putting him in the Timbers U10 Academy this summer and the improvement in skills and confidence is just incredible. It is fun to watch him play and to see how much he totally loves it. I wish I was able to put some action shots but I am not the good of a photographer. Here are my personal version of his team photos. Keep up the good work Jack, we are so proud of you!!

"These shoes are made for walking....

and that's just what I'm going to do. One of these days I'm going to walk all over you."

Issie is officially walking! These are her new shoes. It is sad to say she did not get the Roobeez her sister did but the Target brand. They are cute and I believe will work the same for a fraction of the price. Anyways, she has been flirting with the idea of walking, standing in the middle room and up on her feet all the time, using one finger for balance as she walks along the wall and pushing the car around the house. But today she took 4 steps in a row and was so proud of herself. And then proceeded to do it again and again. It is amazing how little she looks when she is walking versus crawling. Another little peanut of a girl. She is still wearing 3 months old clothes in this picture! It is exceptionally difficult to catch her on her feet with the delay of digital camera but I finally caught it this afternoon. I know our lives are going to change around here.

Got Milk? Apparently Not.

I find it pretty ironic that I dressed my little Isabella in this cute little "got milk?" outfit today of all days. She turns 11 months this week and we were home sick today. Today was the day I think I have finally come to accept that my milk is running out. As for all of us, I think, breastfeeding is a blessing and a challenge. I have blessed with pretty good situations but it seems this time around it has been a little more on the challenge side. I don't know if it is because I am older so I have less of a milk supply or if she is just too much of a snacker and complacent with whatever she gets or if maybe it is always hard like this but with her possibly being our last baby it just feels more emotional.

In one sense, I am totally ready to be done, but on the other side it is sad to know I will be done. Then there is the transition. I am usually a rule follower but I have started all of my kiddos on whole milk when they were about 11 months (not the recommended 1 year mark). I don't know why but I just would prefer not to do formula (especially for only 1 month), if I don't have too.

So back to today. She just does not seem to get anything anymore and with her being sick she seems pretty frustrated. I absolutely did not want to initiate whole milk when she already had a cold but I did. First I tried to go straight to the sippy cup and she did OK but did not take much. So I gave it to her in a bottle. I think being a little sick it just was a bit more comfort to have the bottle (especially since there was actually something coming out when she sucked).

So I am grieving and praying she does not have a reaction to dairy. I am excited to see her growing up and toddling around but it is definitely a season passing and I am rarely ready for that.

Grandma Kramer (May 6, 1927 to Sept 14, 2008)

My dad's mother passed away on Sunday. She was diaganosed with lung and bone cancer less than 3 weeks ago and passed away much more quickly than anyone expected. Her husband of 50 years died 3 years ago and she was just ready to go and be with him. She lived next door to my dad for all of my life. She was a master gardener and a wonderful cook. She always had something to send over for us to eat when we were in town. She lived a long, healthy and fulfilling life and will be missed. God bless you Grandma.

Elenor Kramer, 81.

Kadie's First Soccer Game

Watching a bunch of 4 and 5 year old little girls play their first ever soccer game is something I recommend to everyone. At this age they play 3 on 3 with no goalie. It is hilarious and heartbreaking. For the first time in most of these little girls lives they are thrust into some mild form of competition. Up til now, they have been taught to share and take turns and give other people a chance and all of a sudden the same parents that have been shoving that stuff down their throats are yelling, "go get that ball", "take if from her", "get it away". The girls were shocked and some started crying, most of the other team refused to play and Kadie's team often just ignored the coach and let them "have a turn to get a goal". At one point, Kadie came to me and said she would only play if I could promise her it would be her turn to get the goal. Soon they pretty much gave up, started hanging on the goal posts, looking longingly at the playground and waiting not so patiently for snack. I am not sure if it is this age or if Kadie is not wired to be a soccer player. Time will tell. Here she is posing with her pink soccer ball and pink uniform. What are the odds that out of all the teams and color choices that her team would get pink uniforms. It was like the cherry on the top for Miss Kadie Girl. She loves pink.


I caught the one time Kadie actually looked like she was running for the ball, I actually think she was running to do a ballet move but I could be wrong.

The favorite part of the game, snack time! It was very hard to get the girls to go back out for second half. We had to remove the snacks and use them as a bribe.

Laying on the blanket, watching the other girls play. She is having so much fun.

Kadie's favorite spot, hanging on the goal posts. "It's just like gymnastics when I do this mom". Great!

Kadie's #1 fan. Issie.

First Days of School

Well the last 2 days have been the busy back to school days for Jack and Kadie. Jack was super excited and had a great first day yesterday. He has an awesome teacher, his first male teacher. And all of his favorite friends are in his class. And he has a new bus driver. He was on cloud nine getting off the bus. It was a good day.

Our Fourth Grader!

Then today was Kadie's first day of Preschool. It was not quite as smooth of a day. First off, Kadie totally bit it on the retaining wall yesterday and got a big goose egg on her nose, making for a sad first day of school picture. Then on the way to the bus for Jack this morning, the van got a flat. Jack hitched a ride with another family and we went back to the house to get the truck. After loading up the girls we realized the truck had a dead battery. Then we realized the jumper cables were in Brad's car. Fortunately we have plug in battery charger so we could charge the battery. Both girls crying, and mom a bit upset as well, we finally got to Kadie's preschool (an hour late). She was happy to be there and of course did not want to leave when I came to get her a short 2 hours later. A bit bumpy but we survived.

Kadie at her first day of Preschool