Cozy Brother and Sister

Madelyn absolutely loves snuggling with her new baby brother (if not too much!) Sometimes we have to pry her away from him because she wants to love on him a little too forcefully! But for the most part, she's super-sweet with him and just wants to be near him as much as possible.

Halloween Party

It was nice to have another excuse to wear the cute fairy costume. Here's a few photos from the fun annual Halloween party hosted by Jon, Janie and Maci Sammons.

Trick or Treat?!!

Hard to believe this was Madelyn's 3rd Halloween! She was only 22 days old for her first Halloween...sort of like Connor this year - only 17 days old! Here's a quick flash-back photo of Maddy on her first Halloween (wearing the very same costume Connor just wore a few days ago!) Oh, how the time flies, and how quickly these little babies grow into fast-moving toddlers.

Madelyn Rachelle, October 2006

So, here we were this year, getting ready for the big candy fest. I got one little baby dressed up and just needed to get Madelyn in her sweet little costume.

Madelyn was a fairy this year. And she was so proud of her outfit.
With her candy bag slung over her arm, she was ready to collect some yummy loot!

Isn't she just so pretty? I know I'm a biased mommy...but c'mon!

"Mom and dad, check out all this candy! Now, the real question at hand...are you gonna let me eat any of it?"

We were blessed with a relatively warm trick-or-treating evening and had lots of fun catching up with our neighbors, and seeing all the adorable costumes. Madelyn really got into it this year and was so excited to ring doorbells and hold her bag wide open. She wasn't shy at all! And we bundled up Connor in a cozy blanket and took him around the block with us too. It was a real family event.

Pumpkin Season

Just a sampling of some of our porch decorations. We're excited about trick-or-treat (a.k.a. Beggars Night) tomorrow evening. Hopefully it's not tooooooo cold. And hopefully Maddy won't want to hoard all her candy. I'm sure excited about the thought of snacking on a Butterfinger, or KitKat too! =)

Maddy's New Very Favorite Show

Well, Maddy is just now venturing into the world of television in terms of actually having a real opinion about the shows she watches. If she doesn't like a particular episode of Dora, she'll adamantly say "No, not this one!" Well, for her birthday, Natalie and Mike bought her a new dvd "Elmo in Grouchland". And let me tell you, since her first viewing a few weeks ago, she instantly fell in love. And let me also say that Gary and I really try to do our best to limit the t.v. time in this household. For instance, I'm feeling really good about the fact that it's 4pm and I haven't turned on the television once all day...AND Maddy didn't ask for a "show". So, with that said, we try not to always give-in when she's begging to watch Elmo over and over.

This was the sequence of events that happened on Tuesday morning. Madelyn happened to find THE Elmo dvd somewhere near the television. "Hmmmm," she thinks, "I would sure love some Elmo time right now!"

I happen to be standing right there with a camera in my hand because I was just thinking that her outfit was so darn cute that I should get some photos of her looking adorable! Meanwhile, she says "Mommy, I want show. I want Elmo!" (as she hands me the dvd with her best sales skills at work).

I quickly reply "No Madelyn, we've already watched a show today. How about picking out some books for us to read together." And this was her response:

Once I saw this face for long enough, I totally caved. You win Madelyn.

So, she climbed up on the couch, and when the opening credits started to role and the music played, this was her next reaction. Totally priceless!!! (I was glad I happened to have the camera handy)

And here she is watching her Elmo with adoring eyes. I guess it's not so bad to say "yes" every once-in-awhile.

So Great having you here mom!

Well...here I am back on my own again. My mom came over every day last week to help with the new baby. Well, actually mostly to help with Madelyn! It was so amazing having you here mom and I miss you lots already (even tho you're just 20 minutes away!) Here were a few sweet Kodak moments we captured with her here.

This was the day mom and Connor dressed alike. How cute!

Proud Nana with her new grandbaby.

I love you mom. Thanks for all you did! (Maddy thanks you too for all the fun playtime!)

Memorable Moments from Connor's 1st Week

What an amazing week this has been. Part of me wants to say "Whew, I actually survived my first week as a mommy of 2 little ones." But honestly, the overwhelming feeling I have right now is that being a mother of two is going to be the greatest blessing and wildest "ride" I've ever experienced. It was fantastic having Gary here at home with us all week. I was a bit scared when he left for work yesterday morning, but so far, we've made it thru pretty well (at least I can say that today!) Of course we've been taking loads of photos. So, I finally weeded thru all of them to show off some of the highlight moments from Week #1 with our beautiful Connor Scott. Like most newborns, he spends most of his days sleeping and eating. But when he's awake, he seems to have a very sweet disposition...AND he's amused us with many great facial expressions that we're learning to read. I know you've all been patiently awaiting some photos, so I hope you enjoy. The next blog entry (scroll down) has photos from his first day. What a miracle he is. Hopefully you'll get to meet him soon!

Just look at him! How can we resist this face? He's obviously having some sweet dreams.

Four Generations: My mom, my grandma, me and Connor
Totally smitten.

Madelyn is doing so well with holding him carefully. And if she had it her way, she'd sit and snuggle with him for hours at a time.

Smiley Baby Boy

Gas...or are you thinking about that yummy milk again?

"Oh, Hi Mommy. What's that thing you keep pointing and clicking at me?"

(He'll get used to the camera rather quickly, I'm guessing!)