Halloween, Thanksgiving and everything else...

I know, I know I am way behind on posting. Since October we have either had visitors at our house or have been away every single weekend making it even harder to get to the blog. Therefore, I have a lot to update in a little post :)

Lets start with Halloween, we had a wonderful Halloween. Here in Maryland we had the cutest little Dorothy and a not so scary lion. We went to Trunk or Treat at Church the weekend before Halloween  and actually headed to VA for Halloween weekend. I'm not sure what Madelyn loved more; getting the candy, dressing up or doing it all with her cousin Tate. Surprisingly our shy little Madelyn was excellent at going trick or treating, she rang the doorbell and said trick or treat so well. I'm sure the candy wasn't a motivation, lol!

After Halloween, we had our good friends, the Millers, come visit for the weekend. Madelyn had her fist sleepover in her room with Lilly sleeping on her trundle bed. It was so nice having them here for the weekend and we had fun at the park, out to dinner and even went to the zoo. It was hard to say goodbye to them and miss the days we got to see them all the time in Charlotte.

Two weeks ago the kids and I headed off to Iowa, yes I was crazy enough to fly alone with two. It was a long day of travel filled with some plane issues but all in all the kids were excellent. A week after we got their Derek drove the long 14 hour drive to meet us.  We all had the best time, and it never gets easier leaving home. It was extra special this time having two weeks to really enjoy time with family and not being so rushed. We celebrated Thanksgiving at Aunt Sues house and I couldn't help look around the room and think how blessed we are to have amazing family. We may not get to see them as often as we would like but we sure do have the best time when we do.

Now that we are back we are busy trying to enjoy the most wonderful time of the year!!! It is even more exciting this year now that Madelyn is understanding and loving Christmas things. The elf has made his appearance in our house and Madelyn knows he reports to Santa on her behavior. However, not to sure she is to worried, the other day she wasn't doing something she was suppose to and I reminded her about the elf, her response  (while looking up at the elf on the shelf) "Elf tell Santa no presents" like it was no big deal!! She always keeps us laughing.

As for updates on the kiddos:
Gabe: He is such a love and sweet boy. Though he always wants to be right by you and cries if you walk away, when with him he loves to snuggle into you, hold your hand and smile at you. He is sitting on his own and not showing signs of crawling yet. Unlike with Madelyn we are totally ok with that, I'll take the days of only 1 mobile as long as I can!! He is eating solids foods twice a day and haven't found a food he won't eat yet! We also started the baby puffs with him to teach him to self feed and work towards finger foods. Time sure does need to slow down with him.
Madelyn: She has decided she doesn't need naps anymore. Yes our daughter who took until 18months to actually nap well decided at 2 1/2 she doesn't need them anymore. We still get one out of her 2-3 days a week and the other days she had quiet time in her room. The crazy part is she really isn't that tired on the days she doesn't nap and it makes bedtime even easier. We shouldn't be surprised we all know she is 2 going on 16.  She still is the most determined little girl I know but is the sweetest big sister to her brother and always wanting to feed, hold or play with him.

 

Park with Lily and Gracie

 

Snuggles with Aunt Elly

Woulnd't be at Nana's house with out some cooking baking

 

Special Date with Grandpa

Such a good big sister

Out to lunch in Iowa

 

 

Growing to fast!



 

Most thankful for these cuties

 

Two little Turkey's only 5 months apart

Off to Kara's Baby Shower

Love my Aunt Katty

 

Cousins, Cam wasn't feeling the pic lol

 

lil Hawks for the Iowa game

 

 

All dressed for Daddy-Daughter Date night at Chic-fil-A

 

Pumpkins, Cider, Cool Nights....FALL

Pumpkins, Cider, Cool Nights....just to list some of the best parts of this time of year. Needless to say we have been busy trying to enjoy all those wonderful "Fall" things. One of the best parts of Easton is it seems every weekend there so many festivals, fairs and seasonal activities going on that we are trying to take advantage of. This past week Madelyn and Gabe were very excited to have Nana and Papa come visit and even got to go to the beach for the weekend. It is really nice having the beach only about 50 minutes away now! We of course also had to go to the pumpkin patch:) It was so nice having them here and wasn't as hard to leave them this time knowing we are flying home in 3 weeks!

Gabriel has changed a lot over this past month, and hard to believe he is almost 6 months.  We have started him on solids and so far he has tried carrots, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes and pears. He wasn't a big fan of the peas and beans but loved the sweet potatoes and pears, typical kid doesn't like the green veggies! He is grabbing everything, really developing a personality and a little rolling machine. He is still such a sweet boy that smiles ALL the time. Everytime we are in public he just smiles and flirts with everyone he sees, making a lot of peoples day!

Madelyn's big change is we finally had our first haircut. She was starting to have a mullet, with a section in the back much longer than the rest so decided we probably need to trim it up some. We went to Annapolis to Pigtails and Crewcuts children's salon. She did such a great job and of course loved sitting in the car to get her haircut.

Happy Boy!

Off to school

Mads BFF Kate :)

Swim Lessons

Love our dates :)

Gymnastics with some buddies

!st Haircut

Nothing better than swinging with Nana

Add caption

 

Off to play in the sand with Papa

Last day on the beach

Fun day at the Boardwalk on Rehoboth Beach

So blessed

Just two cuties watching the waves

Preschool

We are starting our 4th week of preschool and Madelyn loves it! She is going Tuesday and Thursday's  from 9-12 and though drop-off was a little dramatic the first two times, ever since then she is very excited to get there!  We also have her back in swim lessons and now is swimming without Derek or I in the class with her.

Gabe went for his 4 month check up and weighed 15.5 lbs and was 25 inches long. The Dr. was very impressed with how alert he was and mentioned if she didn't know better she would think he was more like 6 months. He is a rolling boy these days, we can't leave him unattended for long at all. We did start him on oatmeal this week, the first night of course he would spit it all back out but by tonight we couldn't get it to him fast enough. 

We were very excited to welcome another nephew, Cameron James, born yesterday to my brother and sister-in-law. We were so happy for them and can't wait to meet him soon! It will be so fun for Gabe and Cameron as they get older, being so close in age!

No other big changes here, so just a few pictures from the past couple of weeks :)

First day of Preschool

Apparently someone doesn't want to be 4 months!

Went toVA for a wedding 2 weekends ago and Gabe loved snuggling with Aunt Gracie and Aunt Whit

Walked in on them doing this, melts my heart!!

First homework assignment, decorate it to look like you!

Went out on the Bay with some friends, Madelyn LOVED it!

Shirt says it all

After church picture with these cuties! 

Madelyn was reading him the story, precious

Our new nephew, Cameron

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End of Summer

Hard to believe September is already here and Summer has almost come and gone.  There hasn't been anything big and exciting going on here just trying to enjoy what's left of Summer. This week Madelyn started the next level of swim lessons which means she no longer is in the parent and me class and safe to say Madelyn is not a fan of this.  We will continue to work on these and hopefully schedule a one on one lesson with her instructor to help build the confidence as she is extremely shy.  Madelyn has been doing great on her ABC's and can now recognize all letters of the alphabet when capitalized, we starting to work on lower case.  Last week we went to meet her teachers and she will be starting preschool tomorrow.  She had a great time visiting her teachers and was very proud to show off her new book bag and shoes, both pink of course.

Gabe continues to grow like a weed.  He has started to roll over on his stomach, although he tends to do this when we're not watching.  It's amazing to watch him learn, this week he has started grabbing his toes and bringing them up to his face.  He has also started grabbing toys, bottles, hair and faces as they get close to him.  He's tracking things with his eyes now and continues to be a ham. Just today I realized it was the 3rd and reminded Derek we need to take his 3 month picture when Derek said "You mean 4 months," how can that be already!

Of course I will post pictures of Madelyn's first day after tomorrow:)

We have a thumb sucker, against mom trying to stop him he loves his thumb!

At the fair, not sure who was more excited for funnel cake or as Mads called it "funny 
cake"

Getting her Y tattoo 

Park time with two cuties

Dress-up in our new Princess dress from Uncle Bimi

Gabe helping me at work, lol!

Trying on our new school shirt

Favorite thing at Lowes, Grandpa would be proud she always picks the Deere ones :)

Mom and Dads bed, you mean the family bed!

Love this boy!

Just washing my car ( in a dress and with a cracker, lol)