Halloween 09

Our little Bumble Bee and Han Solo (Jakob was insistent on being Han this year, not a Jedi, not Vader - Han - thanks to Grandma Kathy for the awesome costume - he LOVES it and has asked to sleep in it!) Sarah loves her little bee costume, I brought it home from the store and she said "Peeeetttyyyyy Beeeeeeee BZZZZZ"

We painted our pumpkins this year for the first time, it was super fun and a lot less messy - except for Sarah!
Oh, Jakob lost his 2nd bottom tooth on t0/30/09 - very exciting!!


We went down to our little downtown in our neighborhood - called Multnomah village (shops, restaurants etc) - where they blocked the streets for kids to trick or treat in the shops, it was quite busy and Jakob had a hard time waiting in line while looking at his candy!

Sarah, sugar high. Jakob, sugar low!
Mommy and Sarah taking a rest!
The village full of families out trick or treating!

We drove a few blocks over to visit our friends Amber and Josh, and went trick or treating on their street. This was one of the spooky houses on the block, too spooky for Sarah (music and all), but Jakob or should I say "Han" was quite brave!

Here we are at the first spooky house, right next door to Amber's house. Sarah is on the porch a bit freaked by a skeleton that you can't see - she was just standing there pointing at it - no words coming out. It was really funny!

Sarah, enjoying her "Wolleeeeeee POP"

Mouth full of candy, working on his next choice!!

If you want a good cry read these lyrics from Zach Gill...

Mark is finally able to sit down to work on our dvd's of our kids, the last one was, I believe done just after Sarah was born - so almost 2 years ago. He found this song "Watch Them Grow" by Zach Gill, he emailed me at work today and said I would cry like a baby when I heard the song and that he could barely watch the videos of Sarah and listen to the song at the same time.
So, I watched the video, already teary eyed over the fact that I couldn't even remember when Sarah was 5 months old and making super cute noises, rolling over, had no hair, just that little hair chunk in the front with those huge cheeks - then about 5 minutes into the movie this song starts, I didn't know when it would start but as soon as I heard the first words "She's close to God," I started balling, I knew it was the song, maybe because I hadn't heard that lyric before, but as it went on "You see, for her, he'd do anything" I knew it was THE song! He paired the song with me and Sarah in swimming lessons, nothing that special, but she is so darn cute! Anyhow, Mark always knows how to get to the core of my soul - damn him! :)
The rest of the video is priceless, it follows the kids everyday activities and big accomplishments, like Sarah crawling, Jakob playing sports, turning 4 and Sarah walking! I think I cried harder at the fact that I didn't remember some of these things, I remember Sarah walked early but don't really remember her first steps, thank goodness for video! I remember Jakob's first steps, I feel a tinge of guilt but then when I have a reality check, I remember that I wasn't working while taking care of him, and didn't have another kid to take care of. Plus Sarah was everywhere and I do remember her always trying to take a step and then falling down, not like Jakob who would take a step and basically ran right away - nuts! Even seeing little things like how we had all our toy boxes around our TV to prevent Sarah from touching any buttons, or how big Sarah got so fast- she didn't fit in her little tub at 5 months, how she LOVED Roxy and would say "da" for dog before "Mama", or Jakob's sweet little voice and how he used to say "world' in a sweet little way when he sang "Twinkle Twinkle" or how he used to have a "mean face".
Anyhow, I guess I'm trying to say, I wish I could remember all their sweet noises, movements just like the first time they happen. Watching the movie made me realize that life moves sooooooo fast, I knew that before, but this really hit home. I think about how stressed we've been as a family with work, money, moving, etc. and I think, "Look at this movie it shows how precious our life really is, who cares where we live (rain or sun),or what we are wearing or driving, look at our gorgeous kids and all the amazing things they are doing, because of us - how great is that!"
What a great feeling, to be able to realize the enjoyment of watching our kids grow.

"Watch Them Grow" by Zach Gill

She's close to God, I'm sure of that
She sits him down, and they have a chat
She asks for sunshine, and he agrees
You see, for her, He'd do anything
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
She is a monkey, and I'm her tree
And now she's climbing all over me
Swinging on my vines dancing on my limbs
Her monkey sounds sound like angel's hymns
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
She is an angel, she is an imp
She's got my big toe, and her mother's lips
She gives fishy kisses, and great big bear hugs
42 pounds of pure love
Then one day she'll be 17, feelin' too big for her home
Seems she was just only 3, oh how our children they grow
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
Then one day she'll be 33, maybe with a child of her own
Seems she was just 17, oh how our children they grow
He'll ask for sunshine, and she'll agree
You see for him, she'd do anything
He is her child, the center of her world
She is his mother... my little girl
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go
You watch them grow, then you let 'em go

More fall fun, before the rain set in!

Saturday morning at the Westmoreland park.

Fall fun

This is by far my favorite time of the year, the weather is cooling down, enough to wear skirts w/tights - love that - sweaters and even rain boots. Rain boots are something special to me since I never had them growing up in California.
I absolutely appreciate and love the fall color, it's amazing, I feel so lucky to see the rainbow of colors outside our window and as I drive around and in the forest across the street from us. We've started collecting some leaves to decorate with this year, but it rained quite a bit over the weekend, so the leaves were pretty wet.
We attempted going to the pumpkin patch and got rained out - not just drizzle - we would have stayed if was drizzling, but it was pouring!! I knew it was for casted to get 1 inch of rain but it was sunny at our house when we left, well we drove about 40 minutes to this pumpkin patch and the sky was black when we got there. We stayed just to buy a few gourds and a pumpkin, and to take a picture of the kids in front of the sign, it's a little tradition for me. I love this pumpkin patch, there is a train to ride out into the patch, and a boat to take you back. I think it's so special to me because it's the first pumpkin patch we visited when we moved to Portland and in fact I took Jakob there when he was just 2 years old, by myself and we had a blast. So, we've had to make the trip every year since.
So, because of the rain, the kids were able to stomp in some serious puddles - Sarah's first time - which she loved - until she fell in it (no pictures of that).
We've been keeping busy with walks at night thru the forest, flashlights and all, very exciting for Jakob, Sarah gets a little scared but Jakob stays right next to her while she is in the stroller, "to protect her", but I'm thinking he's a bit scared too. He really enjoys listening to the frogs in the creak and the crickets and finding things with his flashlight. It's quite an adventure, and we get some exercise and fresh air.

At Lakeview farms pumpkin patch - you can't see the rain coming down, but look at Sarah's face - she is totally wondering why she is standing there in the rain - meanwhile people behind us are running to get cover from the downpour!!
Puddle stompin'!

Walking in the park, noticing some really big, pretty leaves!


This is the trail we've been taking at night - so fun!
Jakob on his bike, hunting for puddles to ride thru!

Lady Killer

Sarah's newest accomplishment!

Before her newest accomplishment, I had to post this picture of the kids - they look so big to me in this picture - how does time go by so fast!!

Sarah's new words - almost 21 months old

"No Mommy, mo wiggo", No Mommy, more Wiggles - she LOVES the Wiggles

"I know a chicken", from the Lori Berkner song "I know a chicken"

"Baby poop, yay...nemo", talking about her baby that apparently pooped in the potty and is going to get a Nemo fruit snack. This goes for any of her animals - Zebra, Cow, Neigh Neigh (horse) all apparently go poop and get Nemo snacks.

"Sarah's turn"

"Kank u Bradha" - Thank you brother

"Hello Enee" - when picking up the phone, she is trying to say "Hello Ian" - she loves Ian!

"Deeno Bradha" - Dinner Brother - whenever dinner is ready, she likes to call Jakob.

"Buckle Up" - when getting in the car

"Yogurck" - yogurt

"Oh No, baby all (fall) down" - when Jakob has hit his clown punching bag and it falls over - she calls it a baby.

"EEEWWW, YUCK" - to anything that she might not like - food, objects, poop in the potty!

Jakob's 5th Birthday Party!

We celebrated Jakob's 5th Birthday with his friends on Saturday, with a roller skating party! Jakob is a good skater, he can do it slowly without any help. He has never roller skated on a rink before, only on our drive way. He has ice skated, which I'm sure helped with his balance. Most of the other kids had not skated before, so it took awhile to get them comfortable or even just to get around the rink! We found a beginners skate maze that they really liked. The other Moms and Dads enjoyed skating as well, they all thanked us for the party, said they even had a good time!! I did too. Mark was sick with a sinus infection so, he tried to take it easy (in the loud roller rink with screaming children), and took pics and watched our stuff for us! We are so going back for a date skate night, it was so much fun and a great work out! I seriously just wanted to dance while skating the whole time, but didn't want to embarrass my child too much!!
When we arrived, Sarah immediately stopped in her tracks and started dancing - the music was really loud and fun - she had a good time just watching and dancing. Amber took over caring for her - Thank God for Amber - as the dancing didn't last too long, she was playing with the video games and doing a lot of exploring.

So cute on his skates, I think he's not sure why he is by himself, his whole party is behind him going much slower and falling down!
The skate maze!

Jakob and Mommy rollin!
Couples skate with Mommy! (We are in front of the kids on the floor)
Party time - complete with balloon hats, cotton candy, cupcakes and ice cream!
The Moms at their best!!
Sarah, keeping busy!!

The new extended family!

Well we finally did it, we all got to meet Mark's birth Mom, Molly and his 4 half sisters, in Omaha! It was so fantastic, the Rouse - Sorrell's are a great bunch of people, super caring, fun and accepting of us. Jakob instantly fell in love with his aunt Chloe, "the teenager", she spent a lot of time with Jakob, whether she liked it or not! He was even spotted waiting near her bed in the mornings, waiting patiently for her to wake up - of course a teenager doesn't wake up at 6 a.m. like Jakob!! We did a lot of visiting with family, had a little birthday celebration for Jakob, hosted by Molly (so sweet), went to the zoo (awesome) and Jakob, Mark, Chloe, Maddy, and Molly went ice skating. The kids were a handful with the traveling, time change and all the spoiling and attention that was given to them, but all in all they were very good.

Jakob with his new Aunts, Chloe (Chlo Chlo as Jakob calls her) and Madeline (Maddy) - seriously these ladies are such spoilers, but so great with kids. We are thinking of kidnapping them and keeping them as our nannies!

Jakob and Molly ice skating
Jakob waiting for his surprise 5th Birthday cake!
Jakob going for a swing ride with the Sorrell's in the front yard, in the table cloth no less!!
Jakob LOVING it!
Jakob, Molly and Mark
Jakob lost his 1st tooth on the morning of his 5th Birthday - he is officially a big boy now!
The Tooth Fairy made a visit to Omaha!
Omaha Zoo - the gorillas - so amazing!
In awe!
Sarah and Kate - Sarah's look like - at least in baby pictures, I seriously think she will be a twin of Kate's when she grows up - which is good - Kate is gorgeous! Funny thing, Kate used to stick her tongue out like Sarah does now - we have to tell Sarah to put her tongue in her mouth! Oh and I had to tell her not to lick the seats in the airplane - yeah - that was fantastic!
Me and Sarah up close with a gorilla - Sarah was not as happy as I was!

The whole gang - (left to right - Maddy, Chloe, Kate, Emily, Molly, Mark, Sarah, Me and Jakob)
Had to put this picture up - if you look closely, Sarah is biting my head and Jakob is completely frowning - we left the zoo after this - breakdown time!
Sarah, Molly and Emily - playing.
Had to put the next two pictures together - not sure if this behavior is in the genetic code or who taught who, to do this!?!