Hawaii and Halloween

Hawaii
This year we went to Maui for our family vacation. We have been planning this trip since Brooklyn was born and we were more then ready 9 months later when we finally got to go. The Jones Family went with us so that was great for Baker because they have a 3 year old boy, Kevin. Those two always have a great time together.
We left on a Sunday to Portland so that we could fly out early Monday morning. The plane ride was good and Brooklyn was way better than I expected and Baker slept on the floor of the plane for at least half the trip! We got to Maui around 2 pm Monday and Brooklyn was throwing-up by 3pm. The trip didn't start off the best since Brooklyn had the flu but 24 hours later she was feeling back to normal and our vacation could really start.
Baker loved the beach and we were lucky it was only a short 3 minute walk away. He spent as much time as he could running in the waves. Baker was not scared one little bit, which was scary at times. He would run into the water get hit by a wave, fall down, and then get right back up and do it again. Brooklyn liked the water the last day we were there and we wished we could have stayed another week. We really didn't do any activities with 3 small children planning anything was out of the question. So our vacation consisted of Beach, Pool, and Tommy Bahamas, which is where the Adults took turns going for drinks while the kids were napping. If you ask me it was a perfect vacation. The flight back was a complete disaster but I'm trying to forget that so that I will want to travel again with my children! We are seriously already planning our next trip to Maui!
Halloween
We got back from our trip just in time for Halloween. I love Halloween and am so happy that Baker shares the same love. He has been talking about pumpkins and trick or treating since we went to the pumpkin patch and still to this day tries to hunt down all the pumpkins while we drive around. He was Spiderman this year which seems to be a popular choice for 3 year old boys since we had a few friends with little spiderman's too. Brooklyn was a Pig which my mom wasn't to happy about at first but then she had to admit that Brooklyn made the cutest little pig ever. We had a great day with the Gisi's doing Halloween games and decorating cookies and finished up the night with some Trick-or-Treating. Baker carried around his trick-or-treat bag for a couple days after until it finally ripped. He was happy to trade all his candy in for some toys around the house. He didn't really care what was in the bag as long as it was FULL! I wonder how long I can pull that off? Overall a great month of October and I'm already looking forward to next year!

October

I figure the only way to do a blog this month is to title it for the month and sum it all up in one quick blog. October has been very busy for us. With Baker in school and speech therapy it really feels like our time to do things as a family is cut in half. We go to bed early to make up for the early mornings, mommy is still trying to get use to, so it feels like we do less with friends as well. We did squeeze in time this month to do some of our favorite October traditions though. The month started off with a trip to the corn maze. We went with our good friends the Gisi's and enjoyed the maze for the first 30 minutes and then we were all tired and more then happy to find a group of people getting led out. We followed the pack and were out of there in no time. After the maze we decided to shoot corn out of cannons. This ended up being the highlight of the afternoon for both the kids and the dads. I'm pretty sure Baker got the closest to the target. Another fun activity we do as a family in October is the Pumpkin Patch at Klickers. This was Brooklyn's first year and she loved riding in the wagon with her big brother. Baker picked out pumpkins for each person in the family including Emiliano his cousin. So with 5 perfect pumpkins we called it a day. We decided not to carve the pumpkins this year since we will be leaving for Hawaii the last week of October anyway. Baker is happy with them all lined up perfectly on our porch. Today he decided to take the pumpkin he named "Brooklyn" to school for show and tell. He has become some what pumpkin crazy.
Brooklyn also turned 9 months on the 15th. Were did the time go? I know I say that every month but she really has turned into a little girl out of no where. She is moving around like crazy. Crawling on her hands and knees, walking around the furniture and even trying to take a step or two. She follows her brother everywhere and he seems to enjoy her at this point. I love the interaction between the two of them. He sometimes gets to rough but she holds her own for a little girl. She is just a shorty like her mom. She goes to the Dr. in 2 days and I cant wait to see her stats. She is waving good bye and saying Dadda and Momma every once in a while. She loves people just not holding her. She has become a mama's girl and if mommy's in the room then that's who she would prefer to be holding her. I have to admit it feels good to be loved. She is as sweet as candy and has a temper as hot as fire and we love her so much!

Our Kid to R-Kidz

Preschool for Baker
Sept.1, Baker had his very first day of Preschool. He is going to the preschool that I use to work out before we had kids of our own. It is such an amazing place with lots of fun things for the kids to do. I have been looking forward to the day that Baker could go here since the day he was born. He had to be 2 1/2 and potty trained. We knew he would be ready to go on the first day of September. He was so excited when we woke him up that morning and explained to him that he was now old enough to go to the same school that Emiliano, his cousin, got to go to. I'm pretty sure he thought Emo still went there, but we didn't have the heart to tell him that Emiliano is now even older and gets to go to a even bigger school. We figured he would forget about that once he saw all the kids playing and all the new toys to explore and lucky enough we were right. Baker opened the door to the dino's room and started playing like he had been going there his whole life. I kept telling him "Good Bye Baker we are leaving" and got no reaction from him at all. So we walked over to him, gave him a quick kiss and left. I think he looked up for about one second said' "Bye" and went on with his day. I was a nervous wreck all day wondering if he was going to be able to use the bathroom by himself, if he was going to be able to explain what he needed from the teacher, or if he was going to hit another kid. Finally after a very quiet morning at home it was time to pick him up. I was so excited to see how he did. Tyson, Brooklyn and I went and spyed through the window and saw a very happy boy playing with some other kids and enjoying every minute of it. I went into the classroom knowing by the look on his face that he had had an awesome day. When I walked in I expected for have him run up to me give me a big hug and tell me about all the fun things he did that day. Instead I got a 3 year old who decided to throw a huge temper tantrum because he didn't want me there! "No Mommy, No Mommy!" I looked at the teacher and asked if he had been like this all day and she said, "No he has been great" So we exited quickly with a screaming 3 year old and decided to feel lucky that he liked it so much instead of totally embarrassed. After we got to the truck the tears stopped and all the stories of the day began. ahhhhh I made it through his first ever day at school and I'm hoping it gets easier and easier with each day to come, on me, since he is obviously fine with the whole thing!

Weekend with the Hintons

We are so lucky to have great friends like Joe and Gina Hinton. I could go on and on about how amazing they are but this video pretty much sums it up. Gina you are the video Queen. Thank you so much for putting this together.

3 Years Ago

Baker Samuel Turns 3
Today was a big day for us. I can't get over the fact that my little baby is 3. Where does the time go. 3 years ago I was sitting in the hospital looking into my babies eyes thinking he was the most gorgeous baby I have ever seen. Things don't change, today I was looking into those big brown eyes thinking I was the luckiest Mom around. Baker is full of energy and will always keep Tyson and I on our toes. He is a dare devil at heart and will try anything at least once. I am worried about this on a regular as he is always jumping off chairs or climbing up the highest thing he can find.
Baker loves to eat, especially breakfast foods. Pumpkin bread from Starbucks is one of his favorites but cereal, pancakes, scones, bagels or yogurt will do just find as well, as long as you don't forget the glass of milk.
Baker is an organizer. He loves to sort things by color or shape. He will put all his yellow cars together and all the blue cars together and then they will crash into each other. He likes things to be in some sort of order always. You cant just throw all the toys into a bucket they need to be sorted and then put into different compartments. This he gets from his dad.
Baker had his 3rd birthday party on July 31st and it was a Soccer theme this year. As always we had all the kids we knew over and really celebrated Bakers big day. Today for his real birthday we spent the day at Chuck E. Cheese. Here are a few pics from the party and Chuck E. Cheese. Yes he is wearing the same shirt both days, its a soccer jersey and he loves it and picked it out to wear today. Cant argue with him on his birthday. I have many many more pics to share and will do that soon.
Happy Birthday Little Man

Welcome to Chuck E. Cheese

Soccer Pinata time











And like usual the party ended with a movie in our room
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6 Months Already

Brooklyn Riley
I can't believe that Brooklyn is already half way through her first year. So much has changed since the last time I wrote about her. She is weighing in at 16lbs 7oz and is 25 in tall. She can sit up really well and even has started crawling a little, or scooting I should say. She is super strong and would love for me to hold her hands and let her walk around all day. If she isn't walking then she wants me holding her and walking. She just needs to be moving.
Our little sensitive girl has turned from weenie to meanie in a matter of months. She loves to yell and scream at her brother now and yesterday decided to turn around and bite him. Lucky for him she has no teeth. I think she is going to give him a run for his money. Even after all the yelling and biting she still loves him the most. She wants to be just like him.
The bows that she use to love have become more of a chew toy then a headband, and she would give up any doll to play with some hotwheels. I'm not sure she is going to be the girly girl I was thinking she would be. She might just be a Tom Boy like her Mommy.

July is my favorite!

July 2010
Its only July 5th and like usual it is my favorite month of the year already. We started July off right by taking the kids to Silverwood for the day. We drove up early in the morning, around 7:30 am, and got there around 11:45. It wasn't the best July weather but we didn't let that bug us. Baker was so excited to get in the water he didn't care what the temperature was. It was a little to cold for Brooklyn though so she happily watched her big bro from the comfort of her stroller. After about an hour of the water park it was off to the rides. Baker wasn't scared of any of the rides that he was tall enough to go on, even the ones mommy was a little worried about. He is such a brave little boy. After a long day at the park we headed back for Grandma and Grandpa Basel's cabin in Hayden for a good nights rest. Then early the next day we were off to head back home to celebrate Tyson and I's 5th year anniversary. We were so tired when we got home though that we didn't celebrate to much more than some popcorn and a movie with the kids.
4th of July is my favorite holiday and this year was exactly why I love it. BBQ, Family and Friends. We started off with the BBQ at my parents and then headed to our house for a couple hours of fireworks. All the kids did amazing and stayed up the whole time. I think we finally went to bed around 11 PM. Well everyone but Brooklyn who passed out around 8:30! Baker is so lucky to have amazing second cousins. All together we had 7 second cousins running around ranging from 8 years old to 5 months old. They all love each other so much!
PICTURE TIME:
Baker riding the big boy rides!




Brooklyn is already like her mommy! Enjoying the sunshine!

You gotta love this smile! Getting ready for the wave pool!



HAPPY 4TH OF JULY
The kids did NOT want their pictures taken at all but Auntie Kristin didn't give them a choice :)

The only semi good picture I got of my two kids. This is the 10th picture we took and the only one that even kind of turned out.

She is one beautiful girl.

This is the swing set I made my mom and dad put up in their yard!

Baker was a little obsessed with the fireworks. He carried them around everywhere.

10 years ago!

This weekend was my 10 year reunion. I was really looking forward to seeing all my friends from High School again. We are all so spread out that we rarley all get together anymore. Tyson probably got sick of me talking about it for the past month. The best part of the weekend was having my friends see my 2 best accomplishments, Baker and Brooklyn. The kids were showered with love all weekend of course.

10 years ago on graduation night


10 year reunion night

A weekend in Seattle

This last weekend Brooklyn got to take her first long trip in the car, and where else would we go but to see the Hinton's! It was for our annual birthday trip (Hailey's and Tyson's). This year Hailey turned two and so far we haven't missed a birthday :) and they haven't missed one of Bakers birthday parties either. So we headed up Thursday morning and both kids did amazing. We only had to stop once on the way there in Yakima to get everyone fed and diapers changed and we were off again! Took us about 5 hours to get there but it was well worth the drive! Home cooked meals, Golf, Shopping, Birthday Parties, Games and most of all some quality time with some amazing friends!


Baker showing Hailey his Ipod or (mypod) as he calls it


Hailey giving Brooklyn her first of many big squeezes


Baker enjoying the gorgeous Snohomish weather


Baker loved Gina's cupcakes with homemade frosting


This was Hailey's very cool train cake which Gina also made


Happy 4 month birthday "B"


Hailey getting in one more big squeeze before we left


Baker and Hailey had a candle lit dinner the last night we were in town. Mac N Cheese and Milk :)

Peer Pressure

Hairbands and Race cars
OK after my friend Gina got on me this weekend about never updating my blog I decided that it's way past due. So life is great, having a boy and a girl is an adjustment but I'm loving every minute of how different they are.
Brooklyn is 3 months old already and is complete opposite of Baker. She is super sensitive, its full out tears if Baker bumps her slightly. She gets scared easily and then its tears again. She loves to cuddle and be held, which I love because Baker has always been a go go goer and never wanted to be held. He was always happy sitting in his rocker. Brooklyn is a great sleeper. She already sleeps through the night. Last night she slept for 10 hours. Baker didn't do that until after he was over a year. She loves when I put headbands on her, all I have to do is pull one out and start to put it on her and she is all smiles. Baker likes to try and pull them out. Brooklyn is a really easy baby. She is a great nurser as you will all see in the following pics she is our chubby monkey. Baker wanted the bottle from the beginning and still has a Binky at night. She gags at the thought of a Binky.
Baker is 33 months old and full of energy. He is talking more and more and his favorite word is Race car! I hear that about 200 times a day. He is always pretending he is a race car or his toys are race cars or he wants to watch race cars on TV. I love every minute of it :) He got a new bunk bed this month and it is the coolest toy he has. He climbs up and down all day. He gives me a heart attack because he has no fear, but boys will be boys. He is a big Grandma's boy and I use it to my advantage everyday. When he isn't wanting to get out of bed I tell him "want to go to Grandmas" and he jumps right out of bed. Brooklyn on the other hand loves the men in her life! She gives Daddy a smile every time she see's him and she would let Papa Dan hold her all day if he would. She has definitely taken over the princess role! She is going to use her Blue eyes to get whatever she wants from her daddy and papa.

Brooklyn Riley 13 weeks

Baker and Hailey on their race car!

Brooklyn with her baby blues!

Gotta Love them!

Baker's Turn

2 1/2 years!
Wow where has the time gone? My baby boy is about to be 2 1/2 on Feb. 3 and it seems like yesterday he was Brooklyn's size. I have been looking back through pictures of Baker when he was a baby to see if his sister looks like him at all, and I have to admit he was one adorable baby boy. He always has a smile ready for the camera and is so full of life. I sometimes wonder how we got so lucky. He brings joy to Tyson and I everyday.
Fun things Baker is doing at 2 1/2
* Can run so fast and likes to race everyone. Ready Set GO, he says!
* Likes to draw and is pretty good at holding a pen or pencil. We have been practicing circles and lines
*Loves to practice his colors and shapes and even though he doesn't have them perfect yet, I'm proud of how many he knows already.
*Is in speech class and is really starting to talk a lot. He loves his speech teacher and the toys she brings.
*Takes time to read books in his big bean bag chair daily. For a little boy who hates to sit down this is a big accomplishment for him. Tyson and I will find him in his room reading. Its so sweet.
*Loves his baby sister! He hugs her and loves her all the time. He likes me to hold her and doesn't like others to hold her. He is always asking where she is. It's so cute. I have a feeling these 2 are going to be great friends someday.
I could go on and on about what a great little guy he is. I love you Baker Samuel!
Did I mention he is a HUGE daddy's boy :)