Playing together

With Caddie not so little anymore Cooper is loving the freedom we give him to "play" with her more. She is so active though that she is always chasing him around the house. Today I found them in Caddie's room and Cooper was reading her a story. The only issue we are still working on is the way he "hugs" her....right down to the ground. I think he is just working on his football moves but we are working on the gentle hug!

Santa's Little "Helper"

Cooper is understanding more and more as the days go on, so it was not a shock that he wanted to help with the tree this year. He caught on really quickly that the balls were suppose to go on the tree and not get thrown across the room. For next year we will work on spreading the balls out and not putting them all on one branch :)

Cooper is also loving the lights outside on the house and loves to drive through the neighborhood and look at everyone's decorations. We have also begun to read his Christmas stories and are counting down to the various activities we have going on in the month of December.

It's beginning to look a little like Christmas...

With it being so warm here it has been hard to get into the Christmas spirit. So setting up the tree felt really weird with the windows open and it being 82 outside. I turned on some music and began the process of trimming the tree with the kids. Cooper was cracking me up dancing to the Christmas music I just had to get it on video. More to come....

Happy Thanksgiving

This year we had so much to be thankful for...

We have a healthy and active toddler, Cooper, who is so happy and full of life. He brings so much joy and laughter to all he meets. He is teaching us patience and to take life completely in. He is such a loving and compassionate boy who can warm the coldest heart with his laugh. He is always on the move and getting into something new around every corner. We are thankful that he is so smart and active.

We welcomed into our world a little girl, Cadence, this year. She is such a doll and so loving. Her face lights up with excitement and joy with every smile. She has found the tender spot of our hearts and wins us over more and more as the days go by. It has been a blessing to see her advance through out the first 8 months of her life. She is so determined and works hard to do what she wants to do. She is so happy and we feel blessed to have such a healthy and loving 8 month old.

We made a move to Orlando this year, which was a huge leap of faith. With the unknown of the Orlando market and what it would take to open up a new restaurant under Ruth's Chris, Rob and I took on the challenge with open and willing spirits. With a 13 month old and a week old baby we made the move over to Orlando. We have adjusted well and have found our spot in our new community and have already met some amazing people who have welcomed us with open arms and hearts.

We found a new church home. This has been the biggest challenge of the year with the move and the amount of hours that Rob was working it took us a lot longer to find a church then we had hoped. But a couple of weeks ago we joined Oviedo Baptist and feel right at home. They have an amazing children's ministry and support for Rob and I. I have joined MOPS (mother's of preschoolers) and have met some amazing mother's and have begun to feel connected.

We are blessed beyond what we deserve and are so thankful for our family and friends and the support we get from all of them.

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Orlando. Rob surprised me with an early Thanksgiving dinner for our close friends that live here the week before. We were able to have all of our friends over and had a great meal with a wonderful time of conversations and games. A week later Rob woke up early and made Thanksgiving for his entire staff at the restaurant. All day his staff trickled in and out and enjoyed the wonderful food that Rob had made. We were even able to open up the bar and serve some guest that did not have a place to go for the holiday.

Overall it was a fulfilling and uplifting Thanksgiving. It was a great time to look back at the year and see how far we have come and to look forward to the upcoming Christmas season and all the fun that will hold this year.

Caddie has been more and more interested in what Cooper is eating and doing. So we went out and got her some puffs to begin the process of moving towards table food. She has been doing really well with them and will even sit with a few and eat them herself. I think Thanksgiving will be the first time that we start giving her a few more "soft" food items!

Pulling up

Caddie from the time we went up to Indianapolis has been pulling up and has even began to stand a little on her own. She can go for almost 30 seconds before she will fall but we are getting closer and closer to walking every day. This new found freedom also has its downfall, she is now able to pull herself up in bed. The way we have her room her bed is right by her door, and she has figured out how to open that door by standing in the corner of her bed and reaching over to the door. It is really funny and the first time you see it you will jump a little to see the door just opening.

Halloween

We spent Halloween this year up in Indiana. We went out trick-or-treating with my Mom and Robert to the square in their town. We only got 5 pieces of candy but it was enough just to get the two of them out and get some pictures. Cooper was a train conductor and Caddie was a bumblebee.

Caddie was fine in her costume but Cooper we had a harder time getting him to wear it. Thankfully Rob had his way with Cooper and we got all the parts of the outfit on and kept them on for the trick-or-treating part of the day.

We had worked with Cooper all week to say "trick-or-treat". He was a pro at it saying it all week. When we finally got out and about he clammed up and would not say a word....oh well :) We were so proud of him waiting his turn and saying please and thank-you.

Caddie looked adorable and was flashing huge grins to everyone! She was the sweetest bumblebee ever.

We had a great time getting them all dressed up and out for a while. Another year in the history books!

Caddie is 7 months old

Our little Caddie is quickly moving through her first year. She is now 7 months and has made huge steps this last month. From sitting up on her own to pulling up and now moving around the coffee table and across the couch. She is active active active.

She is eating a little bit more and with her teething she is always wanting to chew on ANYTHING. She is our professional sleeper and is still going through the night without issues. She is still so tiny but she is not letting that keep her down, she is all over the place.

She is beginning to gab a little more. We now get the normal goo's but have added in the Dada and lots of laughs and screams!

She is obsessed with keeping up with her brother and gets very frustrated when she can't move fast enough or do what he is doing. She laughs at him all the time and he is always putting on shows for her to get her to laugh.

She now understands when you leave the room that she is all alone and she does not always like that. She has started to cry when we leave the room or walk away from her being able to see us. She will some times cry and follow us through the house...so sad!

Overall she is really laid back and has such a sweet spirit about her. She loves to be held and cuddled and loved on.

Cooper is 20 Months

Right before our trip to Indiana Cooper turned 20 months old. I can't believe we almost have a 2 year old on our hands. It is daily that he is learning new things and understanding more. He can say so much now and we are understanding him more and more each day.

He can count to 5 and some times can get 6, 8, and 10 out if I count to 10. He knows how to sing row row row your boat and loves to to all the motions. He can point out multiple family members in person and while looking at pictures. He does the same with animals and all things with wheels. He will point out a bus, a car, a truck, a bike, a plane, and a boat. I have noticed he is becoming a more independent player and not needed me as much to keep him busy.

He loves his sister but in the same aspect will push her down or roll over her with his toys or hit her in the head. So I feel that they have a very "normal" brother sister relationship :)

Potty training is still an interest of his. He will let me know when he needs to go pee but will never let me know when he has to poop. So we will keep going at his pace for a little longer then hit is hard core soon :)

Overall he is just a busy toddler with so much to say and do! He is just a happy kid with a love for making everyone laugh!

Trip to Indiana

We just returned from a 2 week visit to Indiana. It was a bitter sweet trip with being able to see family and friends but also having to say good-bye to Grandma Schaal. Rob was really bummed that we did not make it back in time for her to meet Caddie, but we know she is looking down and is watching over all of the kids now.

So we spent some time up in South Bend with Rob's family, visiting with the Grandparents and cousins. We were able to go out to eat at some of Rob's favorite places and even got a Notre Dame football game in. We also were able to spend some time in Frankfort, IN with my mom and got to see some friends in Indianapolis. We went to a Colt's game and went trick-0r-treating with the kids.

It really didn't seem like much of a vacation because Rob had to make a trip to Ohio in the middle of it and we were so busy seeing everyone that we really didn't have too much down time. The kids did awesome on both plane rides and even the rides back and forth to South Bend.

It was so nice to get to spend some time with all the Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins but it was also so nice to get back home and get back to "normal". It was hard to live out of a suitcase for 2 weeks with 2 little ones.