++Ten on Tuesday...the visitors edition++

October was known as the "month of visitors" around our house.

1. First up was Nana. She came to help me get things more settled. We had fun. One night we even went shopping and to dinner with just the Halbach girls. So fun! Can't wait for more times like these in the future. Love the cooperation from the three-year-old in this shot?

2. He was much more cooperative about napping on the couch with Nana.

3. On the heels of Nana's visit arrived Uncle Matt and Aunt Taylor. We did our best to give them to nickel tour of Seattle (even though I don't really know my way around yet) even though the weather didn't cooperate. We went to the top of the Space Needle. We could see about three feet in front of us. The cool part was on our way down it was raining and the elevator moves at about the same speed as rain so the drops appeared to "hang" in the air.

4. Claire came too.

5. Next we explored Pike's Place Market. As you can see Wyatt had no trouble warming up to Uncle Matt and Taylor.
6. We bought shrimp and crab at the market and had a shrimp and crab boil for dinner. YUM! Lots of work though! As we expected, Claire found the one wayward crab claw the next day.
7. Bringing up the rear were Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma came equipped with all sorts of goodies to keep Wyatt busy. Isn't he lucky to get all that one-on-one attention from a veteran teacher. I think if they had stayed any longer he may have been reading by the end of their visit. 8. Grandpa did his best to wrangle Claire but he quickly learned what we did long ago...there's no cuddling with this one.

9. Wyatt engaged Grandpa in his two favorite games: chase and hide-and-seek. I think Grandpa got a little carried away...let's just say it took him a little longer to get out of that spot than to get in!10. I'm not quite sure what to say about this one. It begged to be posted though!
Wyatt got quite accustomed to his visitors. As each group left he would ask "who is coming next?"

++Pumpkin Patchin' done right++

Our day at the pumpkin patch was a picture taker's dream. We met the cousins at the same organic farm we get our weekly produce box from for a day of pumpkins and hayrides and fun...oh, and did I mention mud?

The first key was to be sure to dress the children in pumpkin patch colors so as to make sure they do not clash in the photos.
The second step is to make sure that you hold up the line of people trying to get off of the tractor just so you can get the right shot.

The rest is left up to nature. The fall colors...the fog on the hills...that man's beard...it sure does beat our 90+degree day at the pumpkin patch last year!

It is also important to take a day off from wearing the baby and pass that job onto your husband. It frees you up for more photos. As an aside...Claire missed her nap and stayed in the carrier just like that for over two hours. Champion.

Cousin Cora wanted to get in on the fun too. Unfortunately she's not super-steady on her feet yet and it was muddy--not the best combination.

Uncle Brett shows off his pumpkin find. Is it me or does it look like the background is fake? All real...welcome to the Pacific Northwest!

All that pumpkin hunting made the boys hungry so we needed to stop for a snack.

And, finally, I handed off the camera for a quick shot of ME (gasp!) and the family. What a crew! What a fun day!

++Eight Months++

Our little sunshine is eight months old. And let me tell you, she is a girl on the go! We put away the baby toys and brought out the large plastic ones. She is no longer interested in being constrained by the Exersaucer (in fact, she never really cared for it too much) and just wants to explore the house. Did I mention...ALWAYS with a smile?
She is finally crawling up on all fours. She reverts to her army crawl on our hardwoods though as she can't quite seem to get enough traction.

She is starting to experiment with pulling herself up on things. And loves to show off her tongue.

She will happily entertain herself on the floor for hours. No joke. She will, however, get herself into trouble. I'm constantly fishing things out of her mouth or taking shoes away from her. This does not make her smile.
She is a great eater. I am blessed with my second champion chewer. She'll try anything you put in front of her and prefers large pieces to bite on herself over small things (pizza crusts are a favorite). She's not so into sleeping but has FINALLY starting gracing us with sleeping through the night. Her naps are give and take. Nothing like Wyatt at this age who slept like clockwork. The funny part is that she can take a twenty minute nap and be happy as a clam for the rest of the day. Me? Kinda could have used a little more of a break.

She chatters her day away "ba ba ba". She'll imitate us shaking our heads or tapping her high chair. She's super-curious and very determined. All in all, we've decided we are going to be in so much trouble when she gets older! For now, we just dress her in pink and soak up every minute of our little one!

++Who knew?++

Who knew that when we bought this house we were in for so much fun?

Imagine my surprise when I woke up one morning to this sight in our back yard:

The funny thing is that I thought it was human vandalism. What animal could possible be capable of such a thing? Raccoons is the answer. Lovely. Did I mention that this was just PART of the damage? Of course (as it seems to be the case when anything goes wrong) Mark was out of town so I got to put it back all by myself. Well, it didn't just happen once. After about the third time we decided to get creative so my little helpers went to Home Depot and bought chicken wire and some stakes. We raided the croquet set for the wickets and tried to stake the lawn down. To no avail...they came back again, and again, and again. The worst part is that I didn't even want to go outside, even in the day. I had visions of the raccoons sliding down Wyatt's slide. Ugh. Nature.

We finally resorted to hiring a man to trap them. You pay an initial set-up fee and then a fee per "critter". Lucky us! We caught two opossums. This was becoming one expensive wildlife lesson for Wyatt. He became very well versed in the whole situation. He will happily tell people about "those naughty raccoons". The neighbor kids got to see the opossum up close. Funny, they seem so friendly in storybooks.
Finally, as my dad would say we "Got eem." One on Tuesday night and one on Wednesday night. The "raccoon man" (as Wyatt calls him) said that they were two of the biggest raccoons he has seen all summer. I think I know why. The underside of our lawn has never been cleaner. Let's hope we're done with this saga now. I'm so glad I had a zoom lens for these photos.
Did I mention that we are fighting a major ant infestation inside our house as well? Who knew that that pretty lookin' house I showed in those photos would come with so many treasures? We do like it though. I promise.

++Still Here++

We're still here. Our hotel has had some visitors which were so fun...but take away from my computer time (which is good for me!) My computer is FULL to capacity with photos. Literally, I tried to download more and it told me there was no more room. Who takes 11,000 photos anyway? What am I supposed to do with all those? It's a lesson in editing AS YOU TAKE THEM and not leaving it for three years. Now I have a big project ahead of me. I'm tempted just to buy a new computer as that seems easier. Maybe if we didn't keep moving all the time I would have time for projects like this. Maybe.
Hang in there and keep stopping by. I promise some fun stuff soon. Like the new header? It's only about three months late...

++The [not so] Big Bash++

The celebration began at pre-school on Thursday. At Wyatt's school we are asked to rotate bringing a healthy snack except for on birthdays. That day all rules are off. We made cupcakes that look like puppies. The cake was from a box but the frosting was homemade...there is nothing like homemade buttercream (as Wyatt was happy to demonstrate).

The idea seemed simple enough but all I have to say is I'm glad I bought a big bag of pretzels as my discard bowl was mighty full trying to get that part for the snout just right. The tongue? The snipped off front of a swedish fish.

We celebrated at home with a mini-party on Sunday. Mark was out of town on Saturday so we made Sunday the official Birthday Day.

He woke up that morning to find the birthday banner hanging. If you recall last year he was really into this banner and we ended up leaving it up until Christmas. Not sure we'll do the same this year. He got to open one gift before breakfast.

Claire liked the ribbon.

But Wyatt preferred what was inside.
We then celebrated modern-style with Grandma, Grandpa and Busha. If you look closely you'll see their shining faces on the computer screen.
Finally the chaos, I mean party, really began with the arrival of the cousins. Wyatt and Larson seem to woop it up whenever they are together. The addition of cake sure doesn't hurt!

Happy 3 Little Guy! May all your wishes come true.

++THREE++

The little guy turns three today. Getting to be such a big boy. So fast. I am on the perpetual quest of a nice photo of him sitting still. He doesn't sit still though, unless there is TV involved. I will keep at it. I may need to call in professionals.

Three is supposed to mean we are done with the terrible twos. I will see. With all the energy and vigor and zest for life comes some attitude at times. He makes us smile. He makes us laugh. He wears us out!

At three Wyatt loves: his Daddy best, closely followed by his lovey; playing outside; helping Daddy with household chores like mowing the lawn and taking out the trash; running...anywhere and everywhere; trucks, trains, firetrucks, diggers and obscure trucks like street sweepers and "vacuum vick" (if you have mighty machines, you know what I'm talking about); eating fruit, pizza, french fries and chips--how's that for a balanced diet? He eats more than this, those are just his favorites; Finding things that aren't toys and playing with them all day--this could explain strange sightings in our house like the breast pump tubing in the shower or a roll of shelf liner running across our foyer floor; asking questions...not just why but also how; cutting paper--usually into fifty million pieces; going places--most mornings he asks me "where are we going to go today?"; preschool--he can't get in the car fast enough on Tuesday and Thursday mornings; making Claire laugh (see below).
Wyatt is not so fond of: trying new foods; being told not to do something by a stranger; being told it is naptime or bedtime by his parents; talking to people he doesn't know; sitting still; using an inside voice; brown shirts (at least this is what he told me yesterday); sharing his toys with his sister; helping to clean up his toys (but he's getting better!); playing independently; sitting still and being photographed (ha ha).

Every day he amazes us with the things he remembers or the concepts he puts together. Everywhere we go in the car he talks to me (THE ENTIRE TIME) and asks questions about what he sees. What's in that truck? Where is it going? How does the driver get into the truck? How does that plumber get into the pipes to fix them? What is that man doing? Where does he live? and on and on and on. He sure keeps on us our toes!
It is so fun to watch him grow up and see the world through his innocent eyes. I laughed the other day watching him play "tag" with some older boys at the playground. One of the boys got Wyatt and grabbed his hands. To which Wyatt responded: "let's dance!"

Yes little guy, let's dance.