Madeline's 9 Month Photos... Love this girl!

Annual Trip to Apple Hill

We enjoyed a wonderful day at Apple Hill last Monday. Our friends Danielle and Sophia joined us and we really enjoyed spending the day with them. We had a picnic lunch, Connor rode a pony, fed fish, played with the goats, and ate lots of yummy apple-stuff. Another wonderful memory for us!

Captain Hook and His Princess

West Sacramento Fire Station Open House

We had a great time at the Fire Station open house this year. We got to see a simulated call where a fire fighter rode down the pole and got dressed in under 2 minutes. We also got to observe two real calls, which was exciting. Connor enjoyed the bounce houses and the free hot dogs, and we were able to get both kids' fingerprints done which was one more thing off my to-do list. It was a really nice event put on by our local fire station.

Tball

We had another fun Saturday filled with Tball and Connor had a good cheering section as usual. Grandma and Pops were there and Mandy, Chad and CJ came to cheer him on too. He did great and had fun!

Grandma and Pops came to cheer Connor on!

Connor loves his Cousin CJ!

Running the Bases! Grand Slam!!

Making snacks for the team

9 Months

Our sweet baby girl is 9 months old! My how time flies... it seems to just be speeding by. Maddie is really getting around now... crawling and cruising! She follows Connor everywhere and tries to play with all of his toys. The cutest is when Connor plays baseball with Michael out back and Maddie will stand at the window watching and tapping on the window. She's also very talkative... lots of mama, dada, baba, daba, etc. going on. She's a very happy girl... smiley, energetic, snuggly, playful. We just love her so much. She's still sleeping well... 2 naps during the day and 7:30-6am each night. For eating, she's pretty much moved on to whole foods instead of purees. She'll eat some fruit purees (apple sauce, oatmeal with banana) and yogurt, but pretty much feeds herself everything else. She loves bread, fruit, pasta, and some vegetables. At her 9 month well baby check up today, Maddie weighed 19lbs. 3 ounces and measured 27.5 inches tall. She got the first shot of her influenza vaccine and tolerated that well. She's perfect in every way and we are just completely blessed to be her parents. 

Annual Trip To Dave's Pumpkin Patch

Our wonderful group of friends met for our annual trip to Dave's Pumpkin Patch this weekend. Michael missed out since he was at the Giants playoff game (poor guy, huh?) but my dad stood in for him and it was a nice memory to share with my dad. It was a beautiful evening... cool weather, a delicious pot luck picnic, pony rides, hay bails to climb, animals to pet, a live band to listen to, hay rides, and most of all... amazing friends who we're raising our kids with and creating traditions with each year. It really was an awesome night.

Tball... GO GIANTS!

We are really enjoying watching Connor play Tball. It's so fun to get to know the families and watch Connor participate in something he loves so much. Tonight at practice, his coach went out of his way to tell me what an awesome kid Connor is and how impressive it is that "he's so into the game already." That made my heart beam with pride. Connor seems to really enjoy playing and especially enjoys his fan club (thanks to the grandparents for coming up to cheer him on!). On the ride home today, Connor said, "I wish it didn't get dark so I could play baseball all night long. I love baseball."

Mimi brought up some costumes for Connor to try on. He had a blast trying on all sorts of costumes. He still changes his mind each day on what he wants to be... A Pirate, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and Ghost are all still in the running. Here are some pictures from his fashion show...

A Very Belated Mother's Day Tea... For Mother's Day this year, we bought my mom a gift certificate for a tea house in Davis and this past weekend we finally used it. It was a nice afternoon, and Connor was her "guest of honor." We are so very blessed by my wonderful mom!

Connor's First Tball Game

Today was Connor's first Tball game. What a joy it was to watch him play ball. He is the very youngest on the team, but man, he can really hold his own! He played hard, hit well, went after the ball, and really hustled. He was attentive throughout the game, even when many of the players were losing focus. The best thing to me was hearing him cheer on his other teammates. You could hear him from the stands saying, "Nice hit!" or "Go Giants!" He seemed to have a great time. Michael assisted the coaches again and I think he's found his niche as the dugout coach. He's great with the kids and just really seems like he's in his element when coaching baseball. I'm so proud of my boys!

*Special thanks to our friends Danielle and Brian who gave Connor his lucky wrist guards and Danielle's mom for the adorable Giants bow for Maddie.

Water Park Fun!

One afternoon last week, we took the kids to the water park and it was Maddie's first time splashing and participating at the water park. She was a little hesitant, but eventually crawled all over the place and splashed around. We all had a great time!

Capital Airshow

We recently went to the Annual Capital Air Show with my parents and Mandy and Chad. It was a fun day, with an awesome show and lots of planes to explore. It was hot, but Maddie and CJ were troopers while we explored and watched the show.

Poppy and grandkids in a plane very similar to the one he rode in as an 18 year old boy headed to Guam in the Navy

Happy Grandparents Day!

Michael and I often talk about how we are so blessed to have such wonderful parents! We also talk often about how blessed our children are to have such wonderful grandparents! Both sets of grandparents love our children unconditionally, nurture and support them like they're their own kids, and spoil them rotten! We are so very thankful for Poppy and Mimi and Grandma and Pops. Connor and Maddie just adore spending time with them. Happy Grandparents Day!

Madeline is 8 months!

Our sweet baby girl is already 8 months old! Wow, time flies! Life is so, so good with our sweet children. Madeline has completely blessed our lives with snuggles and that sweet baby girl charm. Over the last month, she seems to have grown so much. She is exploring lots and really likes to play with Connor's games such as memory pieces and puzzle pieces. I think she just wants to engage with Connor rather than play with her baby toys. She has mastered the army crawl, and on her 8 month birthday she began crawling with her tummy off the ground. She's officially on the move! Over the last couple weeks, she's had the same cold we've all had which included a minor fever and a runny nose. She handled it like a champ and seems to be feeling much better now. She is still not fond of baby food or purees, but enjoys sucking on watermelon, chunks of apple, pear, or peaches, teething on zucchini sticks, and eating bread or cheerios. I still attempt 2 meals a day, but she often turns her head and seals her mouth shut when I present pureed food. She might just skip baby food altogether! Maddie has been sleeping well- usually from 7:30pm-6am. Wahoo! Life is so good when we can all get a good night's sleep. She has become great at putting herself to sleep too... we just give her a pacifier, her blankie, and kiss her goodnight and she gets herself to sleep. So easy! She still naps twice a day... usually one short nap and one longer nap. She laughs often and babbles quite a bit now. She also constantly makes a raspberry sound with her lips which is so cute to listen to. Overall, we feel so blessed to have her in our family. She is our little gift from above!

Back to School

Connor and Maddie started their new preschool/daycare this week. Grandma Jill has so kindly been caring for them throughout August while we waited for openings at Ms. Robyn's daycare. It was so nice to have Jill care for the kids while I transitioned back to work, because I could leave them in the comfort of their home with someone who loves and nurtures them all day long! Jill did fun activities with Connor such as making chocolate cars and jello jigglers. He had a blast! Thank you Jill!

Connor started preschool last Wednesday, but Maddie was still under the weather from a cold, so she didn't start until Thursday. Connor seems to love it at Ms. Robyn's! He's met lots of friends and seems to like the teachers too. He's been doing art projects, singing songs, playing outside, and eating yummy food. He's even been taking naps for Ms. Robyn! I think we've found a good fit for him. Maddie is still adjusting... only taking 1 of her 3 bottles and not sleeping well at daycare yet. It's just a transition and I know she'll get more comfortable soon. 

1st T-Ball Practice and A Broken Thumb

Connor is participating is Fall Ball this season and he is so very excited to be on his first t-ball team. He had his first practice a couple weeks ago and seemed to be a natural! He enjoyed meeting the other kids and his coaches seemed great. His team is the Giants which is very exciting for us!

Unfortunately, Connor isn't able to play in the first few games due to his first major medical issue... he has a broken thumb! When we were leaving his first t-ball practice, I was putting Maddie into the back seat and Connor's thumb got caught in the door hinge when I opened the door. I usually can keep my cool, but this time I cried almost as hard as Connor. I can't express how badly I felt. We called upon our close friends and doctors, Liz and Greg Kann, and they gave us a phone consult and helped us through taking care of Connor that night until we could get into his doctor. After seeing Dr. Jain, she was fairly confident that Connor hadn't broken his thumb because he was handling the pain so well and he still had some movement. However, we still took x-rays just to be sure. Sure enough, Connor's thumb was broken. We met with the orthopedic doctor and she assured us that he was healing well with the use of his splint and should be able to participate in t-ball and gymnastics in a few weeks. Connor has been such a trooper and has been very responsible about wearing his splint.

Maddie is 7 Months Old!

Oh my! Our baby girl is 7 months old today! She is just an absolute blessing! Happy and joyful, laughing often, and such a snuggle bug. This month, Maddie has really started getting around. She army crawls and rolls back and forth to travel to where she wants to go. She'll be crawling soon I'm sure! She's reaching her arms up to be picked up or to show that she wants to go to someone else. She's babbling so much more now- and we've even heard her say Mom and Da-Eee a few times. May just be babbling and playing with sounds, but it sure melted our hearts! Connor is trying to teach her to say BuBu for Big Brother. Maddie is still nursing well, but not doing as great with solid foods. She had a high temperature and rash (likely Roseola) at the end of July and then with traveling to Orgeon, she really slowed down on eating solid foods. Hopefully we'll get back on track now that we're home and establishing our routine again. Also affected by her getting sick and traveling was her sleep patterns! She's no longer sleeping through the night, but instead waking to nurse 1-3 times each night! Yikes... not the direction we wanted to go. I'm sure it's just a phase and may be related to teething. She's still taking two to three naps a day and has really become attached to her blankie. As soon as you hand it to her, she snuggles in to your arm to go to sleep. She had her first flight this month and did awesome! She watched out the window during take off anf landing and took a little nap on both flights. What a trooper! She loves to unload her bucket of toys and seems to like to suck or chew on the tags of her plush toys. She enjoys music and being sang to and will bounce her arms up and down when we sing to her. She lights up when she sees Connor and he's still able to make her belly laugh better than any of us. There's not much that she dislikes except getting in the carseat (usually followed by a minute of screaming and then she gives in), and when Mommy tries to encourage her to eat solid food! :-)

Also, today was my first day back at work. Oh how the last seven months have flown by. I've enjoyed being home on maternity leave so much! Getting to spend every moment with Maddie and sharing quality time with Connor has been such a joy. I've even enjoyed the extra time to try new recipes and make dinner each night. It's going to be a hard transition, no doubt, but I know it will get easier. Mallory watched the kids today and Grandma Jill is going to watch them through August and then they'll start daycare/preschool at Ms. Robyn's Preschool in September. I think having them home with Jill for the first month will make the transition so much easier. Ahhh, it's never easy to leave your children. Makes me tear up just writing this. I'm thankful that Michael and I are able to have me just work 75% so I still get some quality time with them.