Christmas Recap

Christmas was wonderful as always! I didn't think Caitlyn would be so into her toys this year... she absolutely LOVED unwrapping them and oohing and aahing when she was done... she was adorable! For the past few days we have been celebrating an extended holiday and still have more to come this next weekend! Hope everyone enjoys the pictures...


Our traditional family picture at church... we sure missed dad and his singing christmas socks!

Stay tuned for more christmas picture after this weekend!

Silent Night...

Holy Night... All is Calm... All is Bright!

Santa Claus Trip

I don't really think this picture needs a caption!

Soccer Stud

Ash has been playing on an indoor soccer team for a few months now and every monday I'm stuck with the decision of whether or not I'm gonna be a good mom and focus all my energy on keeping Caitlyn's routine by feeding her, bathing her, playing and reading with her and getting her to sleep at a normal hour... or if I'm going to focus on being a good wife and pack Caitlyn up to go and support her dad. Well, I was a good mom and wife for only 4 games. Some of them were scheduled for 8,9, and 10 o'clock, so I only went to the early ones. It is always so much fun when we do go and show him support because Caitlyn loves to run around the indoor soccer center, play on the bleachers, and watch her dad score loads of goals! Sorry, Ash, that we couldn't make it to more games...

We sure love our soccer stud!

Let it Snow...

Let it Snow... Let it Snow!!!Just thought I'd snap a few shots of the pretty snow!

Caitlyn was a little afraid of it. She'd walk through the shin deep (for her, ankle high for me) but only if I held her hand. So, when I let go to snap a shot of her... she was not happy! This picture was taken Friday. She hates wearing her hats and mittens, she ripped them both off for this picture. Also, I received a text from Ash today and it read...

Caitlyn just jumped out of her crib.

Naturally, I stopped everything I was doing at work and called home immediately and he told me the whole story. I can't believe it... 16 months and jumping out of her crib. She did not suffer a single injury from this experience... Thank God. I am now off until Christmas Eve day then I am off for a whole week... with Ash and Caitlyn... I can't wait...

Let it Snow!

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

Hopes and Dreams
Mischief and Laughs
Climbing up Trees
Splashing in Baths


Yep... That's what is in our near future!
We're expecting Baby Boy Riggs this May!
Ash and I couldn't be more excited.

3rd Annual Holiday Sweater Party

With much anticipation, the sweater party has come and gone!

Ash and I went all out this year and even planned for it to snow!

This year was quite the year for creativity. It was very hard to narrow down the best sweaters so ash and I picked our top 6 and tried to do vote using an applause-o-meter... with a record turnout, that didn't work very well, so we tried a show of hands and when that didn't work either we just gave all 6 contestants gifts and nominated an overall winner.

Larissa and Brendan were wearing lovely christmas-tree-green turtlenecks decorated with colorful garland, ornament bulbs and lights! They accented their sweater by wearing a tree topper star on their heads!

Hana and John wore beautifully designed poinsettia sweaters with garland trimming their neck line and to accent them they each wore a head piece with extra poinsettias.

Jon and Ian both wore christmas trees attached to their sweaters. Jon's glowed with Christmas lights on the back saying, 'Ho Ho Ho!' Mandy decorated her sweater with cotton balls to form a lovely frosty the snow man. Jason was pretty in pink... and last but certainly not least there was David, who wore a lovely red v-neck sweater decorated with nutcrackers, ornaments, holly leaves, red bows, and a missletoe placed everso cleverly above his christmas 'package'.
Way to go to this years contestants and thanks for all the good laughs!This years party was filled with so much laughter and good times to include... jagerbombs and keg stands, snow and snow ball fights, chanting and cheering, food and more food, friends and family. I'm already looking forward to next year!!! I used collages to get some of the good shots I took but I upgraded my collage so you can now click on it to make the pics larger! I'm so glad that everyone made it to the 3rd annual holiday sweater party... and that everyone also made it home safely. Thanks for a memorable year... see you next year!

* For more great pics, check out my friend Sarah's blog. She has a great collage that I know you can click on and enlarge :)

Cookie Time

It's that time of year again where us ladies (and a few gentlemen) get together to make and decorate cookies! This year we had an amazing turnout and not enough cookies to go around in the end... all in all, they were beautiful and delicious (I should know-I had 5 for breakfast this morning)!

The girls enjoyed the cookies. They took turns biting and exchanging them. Avery kept that bow on her head for a long time... I was very impressed, Caitlyn won't let me put anything in her hair.They also enjoyed reading together...

It was so nice to see Kory home after his long trip. We could tell that Avery missed him too!

And of course Santa made a trip to our house to see if the girls were being naughty or nice. He brought them little bags of pretzels (Caitlyn's favorite) and an Alaska Mint Coin. What a guy! Caitlyn (as you can see from the picture) was scared to death of Santa. She let out an ear piercing scream when we got near him. On the other hand...

Avery did pretty well. She was frightened at first but warmed up to him pretty well!

What a fun tradition.

Oh... and this morning, when I was typing this post, I heard a big bang, looked outside to see sparks and our power lines swaying... and the computer shut off... we lost our power. Luckily it came back on and we are ready for our holiday party tomorrow!

Perfect Tree Hunt

Saturday we trecked through the rough terrain of Western Washinigton to find our perfect tree. After an hour of searching we found it. We bundled up a little too warm cause ten minutes into our hike, Ashley, Caitlyn, and I had all shed some layers. The sun was blaring down on us almost making it difficult for us to see and pick out the right tree.This is Caitlyn all bundled up like the kid from the Christmas Story.
This is her... after she took off her jacket, she thought she found the perfect tree... Just her size!

(We'll probably be back in 10 years to cut this one down)

This is her... tired of walking, so I decided to give her a shoulder ride. She was for some reason more interested in my head band and putting her fingers in my mouth.

And... finally we found it... the perfect tree!!!
She very much wanted to be a part of helping Dad saw the tree down. At one point I thought she was going to climb on his back.And... this is my hunk of a husband carrying the tree that we used to carry together... but this year I was carrying Caitlyn, the camera, the saw, Caitlyn's jacket, and her half eaten cinnamon bread. What a stud muffin!!! The tree is decorated and ready for the 3rd annual holiday sweater party... hope all your sweaters are coming along wonderfully!

It's Beginning to Look...

A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!!!

I swear I didn't pose her for these pics. In the above picture, she had been playing with the box as a hat on her head. By the time I went to grab the camera she sat inside it... a perfect gift!
After gathering the garbages to be taken out I found Caitlyn underneath all my holiday pillows. When I entered the room, she popped up and said, "IIIIIIIeeeeee!" (her favorite word right now). She says hi to any and everyone that is around! Her favorite to say 'hi' to is Roger our cat (atleast a hundred times a day)!

What used to take us 1 day to do... took us 3 this year! Decorating the house was so much fun with an almost 16 month old. She loves the lights, the snow, the huge gold ornament balls on our tree, and the little village people (especially the firefighter). We haven't gone to cut down our tree yet... our plan is to try and do it this saturday! We did already put up our fake prelit costco tree though (I love prelit trees)!

I am getting very excited for our 3rd annual sweater party!

Let the Production Begin...

...of Chex Party (farty) Mix that is! Caitlyn and I got started early this morning right after our waffle and yogurt breakfast! Still in our pajamas, we began mixing and stirring and baking! Hopefully all of you will get to enjoy some soon!Caitlyn was really excited about her role as the 'stirrer of all the ingredients'! She practiced with nothing in the roaster the whole time I was measuring. She was such a great helper. We have 2 batches complete, the 3rd is in the oven, and the 4th is measured and ready to go! Oh... our house smells so yummy!

What We're Thankful For...

Family & Friends
Health & Happiness...
& everything that our life is blessed with!

This year for Thanksgiving, the girls (plus Steve) walked the Brown's Point Turkey Trot while the other boys competed in thier traditional mud bowl. For some of us... it was our 2nd time walking it... for others it was a 1st... and it was fun! I was lucky enough to get s low census day (I didn't have to work) so I was able to participate in what has become a great tradition.

Caitlyn enjoyed being all bundled up in the crisp fall weather.

Afterwards, we ate a wonderfully prepared Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Cindy's and enjoyed the holiday while being thankful for the many things that we all have in our lives... Then Ash, Caitlyn and I went to his parents house (we must have been over-loaded with tryptophan cause we forgot to take a picture) and enjoyed more food and good company.
What a great holiday!

A Girly Date

Thanks to Tiffany and Avery... We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the Spaghetti Factory! Afterwards, the girls played on the toy at the mall. I bought Caitlyn some new jeans for the date (which, I swear, fit her perfectly when we left the house) but when we got to playing... her pants kept dropping to her knees. We took a break to buy some new pants and she threw a huge fit in the middle of the mall. She threw herself backwards on the ground and hit her head hard on the tile floor. You would have thought there was another mall shooting the way she screamed. After she calmed down and we got some new pants, we took the girls back to the play area and they had a blast. It sure was fun watching them run and play with all the other children. Tiffany and I were both tired after just watching them run around. What a fun and very tiring afternoon.

Here's the girls after lunch... you should have seen Tiffany and I chasing them around in the gazebo with our cameras in hand waiting to get the perfect picture of them hugging!
Avery and Caitlyn playing on one of the toys... and wait for it...
a shot of poor Caitlyn's behind! Her pants wouldn't stay up. Size 12 months are like capris on her and 18 months pants fall around her knees. What's a mom to do?!?
Here she is... loving the toys! She went to bed at 6:45pm last night and today after I got home from work... I found a 4th tooth has popped out of her little pink gums.

Maybe the cause for the tantrum?!?!
Thanks Tiffany and Avery for a wonderful afternoon out on the town!

Teeth & The Tub

Caitlyn has grown quite fond of her baby tooth brush now that she has teeth! She is fascinated with my toothbrush and simply can't get enough of brushing her teeth!

Also, in the bath, she has learned to wash her body and her hair... All I have to do is say, "Caitlyn, please wash your hair" and she dips her hands under water to get them wet and then scrubs her hair. While she does this, I sing to her a song that my dad used to sing to us (I think it's from the Wizard of Oz)...

Scrub, scrub, scrub,

Scrub, scrub, scrub,

and a couple of la tee da's,

it's time to wash the world away..

in the merry old Land of Oz!

She gets very serious. I stop singing when she stops scrubbing... and sometimes she gets a kick just out of that. She'll start to wash her hair then quickly remove her hands from her head and laugh so loud because I didn't get to finish the song. She cracks me up!

(These bathtub pictures look boring. They were taken at the end of her bath when all the bubbles were gone and all of her toys had drifted to the right of her at the end of the tub).

These pics were taken last week. Caitlyn had just woken up and I got her out of her crib. I put her down and grabbed a load of laundry. In the meantime I found Caitlyn in the study. I swear these pics are not posed... she just kept on working on the computer while I snapped away!
She can type very fast!
One last pose for the camera!

11.21.80

Husband,

Highschool Sweetheart,

Handsome,

Heaven Sent,

Hot Lips,

Humourous,

Happy-go-Lucky.

I love EVERYTHING about you!

Hope your day is wonderful because you totally deserve it!

Happy Birthday, Hubby!

I Almost Forgot...

While I was in Cali., Caitlyn's doctor called me and gave me outstanding news...
ALL OF HER TEST RESULTS WERE NEGATIVE!
I was walking on the beach when they called and just started crying (happy tears of course). Ash was close to a break in his conference and he came running outside to us and gave Caitlyn and me the biggest hug ever! So, now we just have to keep an eye on what might be making her bum turn red... which she hasn't had in a very long time! Our prayers have been answered! Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers too!

A Much Needed Vacation!

We returned yesterday from sunny San Diego. The trip was amazingly perfect. We traveled there for a conference Ashley attended...it was our 2nd time attending this particular conference. We went last year too during the same week in November, except unlike last year's weather (cloudy, misty and in the high 50's)... this year it was hot sunny and in the 80's!!! I absolutely LOVED the trip and the weather! Ash's conference was really only for one full day and then a couple hours on Friday so we had plenty of time to relax and vacation as a family.

We found ourselves constantly comparing what it was like last year to travel with Caitlyn to this year and imagining what it'll be like next year (we stayed in the same hotel on the beach both times and ate at a lot of the same places). It was interesting because one night we went to a restaurant we remembered liking a lot last year (Caitlyn was 3 months then and slept in her car seat inside her stroller)... this year we took turns enjoying the food while the other was chasing Caitlyn around the restaurant... around the lobby, around the Internet bar, around the lobby again, and back into the restaurant.

I also made a big deal about getting a crib in our room for Caitlyn to sleep in, I called twice to make sure it would be there... we got there...and it was ready for her... and when it was time to go to sleep for her, she would just stand up and look at us from across the room with eyes that said, "hey mom and dad... what are you doing over there, I'm stuck in this thing but ready to play!" So we learned that each night she would just run herself ragged all through our room until she crawled up on the bed with us and teetered out... then we'd gently transfer her back to the crib. (It was so nice last night just setting her in her own crib in her own room as she just rolled over and went peacefully asleep).

Each afternoon for her nap we would walk down to the ocean and walk and walk until Caitlyn fell fast asleep in her stroller. We would then sit next to some beautiful trees in the shade and I would read while she'd sleep, then when she was awake again we'd play in the grass for a long time! I could definitely get used to a life like that!

We enjoyed the pool, the beach, great food, great company, the lamp district, and lots of much needed rest and relaxation! Last year we went to the San Diego Zoo and this year we were planning to go there or Sea World, but decided that it was way too hot (88 degrees) on both the days we were thinking about going, so we went to the pool instead. I don't think Caitlyn minded a bit though... She LOVES to swim! She loves it so much that one time when we were resting on the pool chairs, she high tailed it away from us and ran straight into the pool! I swear she even did a little jump off the edge :) Ash jumped up and into the water before Caitlyn even realized what she had done and was totally surprised by her own courageousness!

The vacation was just what we needed... to get away from everything that Washington entails (especially flooding weather). As Caitlyn and I walked on the ocean front I had found that old pep in my step, that I swear pregnancy had taken out of me, had returned. I swear to you... I was smiling and almost skipping as the sun shone and the birds sang! Who knows if it was really only the vacation or maybe my 2nd trimester energy came back to me... or both... but I LOVED it!

Caitlyn with her own luggage (gifted to her by my friend Kum). She got to have the pacifier a lot this trip... she now has 3 fully visibly teeth!

This is her enjoying the water front after one of her naps!

We went to starbucks too and I found that she isn't into hot chocolate yet!

Caitlyn running on the water front. I really just love this little outfit...

the skirt was still too big on her, but it's darn cute!

We hung out with our friends Tobi and Xian, we had a blast. We did lunch, the beach, dinner, and we went to Ghirradelli's for a wonderful sundae dessert. It was so festive in there with peppermint chocolates and Christmas music! I loved it! I know I have been getting a lot of requests to NOT put collages on the blog, but I'm pregnant and in a bathing suit... so i don't particularly want you to be able to click on the picture to make me look gigantic :) I love the middle picture in this collage cause this is what Caitlyn looks like after a day at the pool with sunscrean all an her hair! Beautiful!