Fall time!!!

It's almost Halloween, but Kyler is already in full swing with his Christmas carols! Actually, he is pretty much into them year round. See, Chris doesn't really know many children's songs, so year round he sings Christmas songs to the kids in addition to The Star Spangled Banner and O Canada. Anyway, there is nothing cuter than hearing Kyler belt it out about Dasher, Dancer, Pantzer, and Fixin', Comet, Coopid, Darnit' and Blitz-it:)

Here is our annual Pumpkin Patch trip (Mia's first).




Serious artist at work: "Mommy, don't sing, don't take pictures, I am painting here!"

Lyla's baptism

Cousin Lyla had her baptism this week. She looked like such a beautiful little angel and was very good the whole time.
Since our kids were dressed up for the baptism, we decided to take a few photos of them. Here is Mia and Mommy in the same dress 35 years later! So great that my Mom kept this stuff!





Mia has been taking solo steps since last week. She started with 1, then 2 and 7 is now her record. She is so happy and proud of herself. She has been a bit cranky the past couple days, though, because she is finally getting more teeth. She had been holding at 2 teeth for a while. Poor baby, though, her entire top gum is a huge eruption. At least 3 are coming through at once and maybe more.

Mia is 1 year old!

Wow, how this year has flown by so quickly. It seems like yesterday, I can remember the anesthesiologist saying, "I see his head...I see his shoulders...I see his...ohhh...It's a girl!" And now after just a year, she really is a little girl. Where did my baby go? As fast as it has gone, however, I can't seem to imagine life without her. What did I do with myself before Kyler and Mia? Having them in my life is a total joy!

On her actual birthday, Friday 10/9, we went to the library for story time. She loves it. She just crawls right up to the front and dances around.
She's crawling all over now and fast. She pulls up but she can stand straight from the floor too. She walks with her walker or holding fingers but no solo steps yet (maybe soon???) She claps and signs for, "more", although not very often considering she is not a very big eater. She weighs the same as last month: 19 pounds 7 ounces (26%) and is 30.5 inches (94%). Because she is less then 20 pounds, we can't turn her car seat around yet! She started regular milk and seems to like it so we can start weaning the nursing, but not today since the poor girl got 4 shots:(

Party Time!

The 3 girly cousins: Kelsey with Aunt Renee, Lyla with Grandmom, and Mia with Mommy.



Yeah!! Presents!!!


Bring on the cake!
Lyla wants cake too! Soon enough...soon enough.


Kyler is having a great time with all Mia's new toys (including the blender, tea set, and purse!) This is a great toy. It's a walker and a rider. So Mia walks pushing Kyler while he rides! (She is literally pushing him around the house while he has his feet up!)

Hayride, movie night, and Aunt Renee's Birthday

We did a hayride and apple picking with the mom's group. The kids had a blast. Kyler ate 3 apples before we left the place and another 2 that evening. Funny thing is, we have apples in the house all the time and he NEVER eats them!




Look at the back up of kids trying to get on the death trap slide. I think that slide is older than me.
Our friends set up a projector and big screen in their yard and did movie night. It was so much fun. They showed old school Alice in Wonderland and Kyler was mesmerized the whole time. However, after eating popcorn, candy and chips all night he didn't feel so good the next morning. He called me in his room early the next morning saying, "Mama....Mama...I ate too many food!"
Kyler managed to get his stomach ache under control by that night for Aunt Renee's birthday cake and ice cream! You'll notice that Kyler isn't in any of these photos because he took them. Maybe another photographer in the family??

Back to school and Soccer!

Back to school.
An old pro this year.

First day of soccer and he loves it!


The only time Mia doesn't scream about being in the pack and play is when her brother is with her. Which is nice because Kyler insists on getting in with her every time. However, the problem is that I am often putting her in there to protect her from him.

Mia is 11 months old!

Only one more month and my baby will officially be a big girl. She is already starting to act like one. What a difference it makes when they get mobile. She is into everything, just like Kyler was at this age. The 6 gates are in place and I need to check up to make sure all the old baby proofing is up to speck. She especially loves getting into her brother's stuff, which he finds terribly annoying. Of course, now he is into more intricate play, putting together complex hot wheels tracks and building real things with his leggos. Then along comes baby sister and thrashes it all! She finally made a big jump in her weight this month, gaining over a pound. She is now 19 pounds, 7 ounces (35%). It is probably because she is loving eating more big people food and feeding herself. She likes pasta, grapes, and grilled cheese sandwich pieces. Still just the 2 teeth.

We just got Kyler signed up for soccer and he is so excited. He starts next week, but we went to the open house and he did a free practice class. He loved it. Every time we say the word soccer, he says proudly, "I play soccer!"

Ocean City, MD 2009

We had our big annual trip to Ocean City, MD last week and had a great time. Kyler was able to remember the beach this year and was excited before we even went. He really enjoyed it. One night, pulling into the parking lot, he said, "I love coming home to our beach house!" Mia had a great time too. She is so daring, she just jumped right into the sand, the water, biking... Kids make everything so much more fun.
Mia's first time in the ocean!

The boys' annual kite flying adventure. Sponge Bob took flight again this year!
Kyler was able to keep up (for the most part) by himself on his big boy bike this year.
Mia enjoyed the ride.
Kyler walking to the beach...Daddy walking to the beach...
Aunt Chelle, Uncle Dave, and cousin Lyla joined us for 3 days.

Aunt Renee, Uncle Erik, and cousin Kelsey too.
Kyler's first year at putt-putt. He did pretty good on the first couple holes, then turned into hockey (must be the Canadian in him).
Just a spectator this year.
Assateaque Island boat trip. We "caught" a great clam shell.