Happy Halloween!

Ok, so I really have not been feeling well all week this week. Besides the cold which won't go away, I'm also getting a touch of morning sickness...I haven't actually thrown up, but it's just that constant nauseous feeling, so I think all I'm going to do tonight are post the pictures from our Halloween and then I'm off to bed!

This one isn't technically from Halloween, but it's just so cute, I had to share it.

Tyler and Timothy ready to get some candy!!

Trying to climb the cabinets to get to the candy, looks familiar, huh mom?

Our sweet little lion (wearing Mardi Gras beads, holding a baseball, and pointing a sword at me...)

News!

Timothy had his 18 month check up on Friday and everything is looking good! He weighed 26 pounds, 11 ounces and was 34 1/2 inches long so that put him in the 95th percentile for height and around the 50th for weight. The doctor said Timothy seemed to be right on track developmentally and everything was fine. He got all his normal shots and we went ahead and did a flu shot too.

The big part of the day, at least for me, was actually that morning when I woke up. I had been feeling really tired all day Thursday and figured I was just getting sick (which I am, I've totally lost my voice and I'm coughing every five minutes) but I went ahead and took a pregnancy test and it was positive!!! So, in about nine months - around the 4th of July - we're going add another little one to our family. Thankfully I found out in time to call Brandon before he got on the airplane to come home on Friday, he was pretty excited. Other than having a bad cold, I've been feeling fine, just really tired.

So our weekend was pretty exciting. We had a lot more going on, the Fall Festival at church and Ethan's birthday party, but I was a little distracted! I took a lot of pictures, but I'll have to post them later, I'm exhausted for now. Pray for us and our little one as it grows, we've got a long way to go, but I know it will go by quickly!

A Blessed Weekend

Few families get the chance to do what our family did last weekend. We all packed up and drove (not in a mini van by the way) five hours over the mountains to Walla Walla, WA. Why did we subject ourselves to being cramped in a "crossover" (not a minivan), holding on for dear life as my dad tried to drive (I think it's time for another eye exam!), and surviving the stench of an eight year old little boy? We endured all of this for the chance to meet the family of the my sister's organ donor.

It all started a couple of months ago I guess, they sent Heather an invitation to come meet them and the rest of the organ receipients and we decided we all wanted to go. We got there Friday and we all had dinner together and then we went to their youngest son's Homecoming football game and finished up the weekend with brunch at their house on Saturday. It was an amazing trip. I've never met a nicer family. It felt like we had all known each other our whole lives and it was just a bunch of old friends getting together.

Their son's name was Tyler and he died of a brain anurism when he was 25. That was almost two and a half years ago. Heather received his pancreas and one of his kidneys. He came from a great and loving family. His parents were so nice. They kept thanking us the whole time and it seemed so strange that these people who lost their son (and he was their second son to die) would be thanking us for coming to visit them when it was their son who gave my sister and five other people another chance to live. It's so hard to put down in words how emotional and meaningful it was so meet them and to know that their Ty was a good person, a good son, a good brother and a good father.

It was an incredibly emotional weekend and I've sat down a few times trying to make it sound worthy of what it really was, but everything I wrote just didn't sound right. I decided this time it didn't matter. Our family is so grateful to Ty and his gift and that's really all that matters.

Some of the highlights from the weekend were watching our Tyler and Timothy play with their Ty's son Joe, watching our Tyler wear their Ty's old football jersey and help the ball boys at the football game, cramming Heather, Tyler, me, Brittany, and Timothy all in one hotel room, listening to all the organ receipients tell their stories at brunch that morning, and hanging out in the RV during the footbal game (they borrowed it from their neighbors and parked it in the end zone so that if it started raining - which it did - people could go sit in there so that they wouldn't get sick). It was a wonderful reminder of how short life can be and to make sure that the legacy you leave behind is one your family and children can be proud of. And, it was an excellent reminder to become an organ donor. We all know that we're not taking anything we have with us when we die, so why not save a life or two (or six!) if you can.

There have been some funny moments over the past week too. Brandon left last Monday for a class in Alabama for two weeks - he comes home tomorrow, yeah!! So, it's just been me and the little guy on our own. And, of course, Timothy got a bad cold which I've now inherited so he's been a little fussy and not sleeping well, but it's all over now, so it's ok!

We did have a milestone event last Saturday night, Timothy got his first hair cut! We had been to a friend's house Thursday night and the men there kept calling him "Mullet Boy" and trying to get him to say "mullet" so I decided I would take care of that and I cut his hair. It's not perfect and it's not really short, but it refutes the mullet argument so that's all that matters! He officially turned 18 months old last Friday, the 19th and he's just such a big boy now! I'll have more to update on him after tomorrow, we're going in for his 18 month check up! Enjoy the pictures and if you have a chance, say a little prayer for the Baffney family in Walla Walla, thanking God for their son Tyler.

Pumpkin Patch

Today was a busy busy day. We started the morning early, someone decided to wake up at 7:30 which is early for him on a Saturday. We went to Tyler's soccer game at 11 and they won and Tyler scored!! It was weird because when we left our house it was 65 and sunny and when we got to Tacoma for the game it was 50 and foggy. Oh well. It warmed up and it was a beautiful day! We came home after the game and I put Timothy down for a nap and Brandon went outside to mow and after about 20 minutes I went up to check on Timothy and he was standing in his crib with the blinds pulled up watching Brandon mow so we decided to head down to the pumpkin patch early since he wasn't going to nap. He did end up falling asleep in the car and slept for about an hour so that was nice.

We got to the pumpkin patch and decided to go ahead and find out pumpkins and get them in the car and then take our time walking around and checking out all the fun stuff. We found two huge pumpkins and then I got some of the little white and orange tiger baby pumpkins, they're really cute. So once that was done we walked all over the place and checked out all the attractions. Timothy wasn't too sure about this one thing they had, it was a corn-shooter, they would put an ear of corn down in a tube thingie and then shoot it up in the air to see who could shoot it the farthest and it was loud and every time someone would do it he would scream. It got to be funny once he got used to it, but he was really scared of it in the beginning. We met the Herkens and their friends there and the boys had fun running around and playing with all the stuff there.

We left from the pumpkin patch to go to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate Ethan's 2nd birthday. It was packed, but we managed to fund two tables in the toddler area so that was nice so the kiddos hung out and ate pizza and played and we got to sit and talk and relax a bit. Candice made an Elmo cake for Ethan so we all got some yummy cake!

So needless to say, we're all tired. Timothy crashed when we got home and I'm on my way to bed now. Some new things that he's picked up before I go - he repeats pretty much anything you say to him now and his favorite phrase is, "Where'd it go?", he says that about everything, it's so cute. He also loves to dance now, like with hand motions and things, he loves the "Wheels on the Bus" song and he can sing "Row Row Row Your Boat" pretty well too. He also loves m&m's. He's cutting like all of his bottom teeth right now, we saw two of them the other day coming in, and then today he was crying pretty big and I saw at least one molar coming in down there too. Poor guy, he's only had two bottom teeth for so long, this should be a big adjustment! He's also become very cuddly lately. He likes to play with his toys and run around, but he also will just come and sit next to me on the couch and bring a book or a magazine and we just sit and read. I love those moments.

Anyway, I should get to bed, here's some of my favorite pictures from today. I didn't think I had taken that many, but when I downloaded them it said there were 83! Enjoy!

This year's pumpkin patch picture

Last year's pumpkin patch picture

The pumpkins are that way daddy!

This year's picture with mommy

Last year's picture with mommy

Walking in the pumpkins

I love this face - the "Look at me, I'm running away from you!" face

Such a sweetie!

Timothy and Ethan checking out the bunnies

Big boys

Playing at Chuck E Cheese

Birthday cake time! Happy Birthday Ethan!

Yummy Elmo cake!