Oh how time flies when you are busy. I don't know if that's a good thing or not but looking through the photos from this Fall makes me realize time flies and kids grow up fast.

Maddie took her first 3 steps on Sunday and every day takes more and more. She hasn't said any words yet except for "mamamama" but every time we turn around, she's hugging or kissing something...a picture, a book, a stuffed animal or Brady! :) I think she'll be more into actions and Brayden will always be more into words.

Brady is loving school and discovering new things and also seems to always be getting into some kind of mischief! His latest thing is insisting that he is on Dad's team and Maddie is on my team.

We went tide pooling in search of a star fish and almost gave up hope but then on our walk back down the beach, Daddy discovered one! Brady didn't enjoy the star fish as much as the sea anemone.

We celebrated 7 years of marriage by heading down to LA for a getaway and lucky us, Eric's best friend Tim and wife Amy were in Palm Springs having a little Baby moon so we got to have an extra long double date with them. SO FUN! She's 35 weeks pregnant but WHO could tell!!??

Then there's the daily park visit and bath.

Then Halloween...these crazy nuts! Brady LOVED being Spider man for the day and sweet Maddie was a Ballerina girl!

Then one day, we wanted to get out of town so we headed up to Santa Maria where we went to the Children's museum there which was SO COOL! The kids had so much fun and it was our own personal playground because there was not ONE SINGLE person there the entire time we were there...I taught Brady how to rock climb! :/

We've had a couple fun dates...the first picture is from a favorite restaurant, The Palace, which is a New Orleans type restaurant where the atmosphere is splendid and the entire restaurant sings "It's a Wonderful World" while toasting once a night. Always a good evening! The next picture is from the U2 concert that we got to attend along with the other 98,000 fans which was quite an occasion to remember.

And sweet Maddie turned 1! Here are her friends: Ryder, (Maddie), Macy and Stella.
..and her cousin Sydney, Aunty Stephy and Brady.
And the last photo is of our dear friends the Lawlers who always offer a splendid time of friendship over dinner and usually a good margarita. Here's Stella, Phoebe, Brady, Macey, Maddie.
So there's what's kept us busy this Fall! Now onto the Holidays!

How could she be turning ONE!?!?!?

Brady's sweet little friend Carter turned 3 and Jess threw a fabulous party for him. Brady found a toy gun that I didn't know about til the end of the party but it showed up in this picture...see that finger...it's on the trigger! :/Maddie lounging watching Toy Story 2 with her bro while Mama cooks dinner.
BEACH DAY....I took the kids to the beach the day before Fall swooped in on us and it was glorious. Both kids loved the waves and it was perfect temps...

(as you can see, everything is now a gun...this is a vacuum cleaner part that made it's way to the beach as a toy gun)
So, I tend to let my kids feed themselves at a young age. This is what happens...yogurt art.
I didn't take too many photos in Tennessee, but here are two...good times.

I took Brady on a bike ride before dinner and he rode around the entire block without stopping or complaining. I did have crackers to keep him going.
Don't ask me what Maddie is doing in this photo...looks like she is trying to catch the sun.

Good times at Camp Eacker but it's always better when Daddy is around.

Mom and Dad came to celebrate all 4 of our birthdays that all fall in september and october and we had a fabulous time...double date out, cuddles, laughs and just good grandma and papa time.And this crazy kiddo turned 3 this month and I let him lick the spoon of something I made (can't remember what). He absolutely loves his new preschool where he spends more time outside than inside (very different than his last school). This was a classic moment...on his first day of school. I asked him if he wanted to take a picture with his buddy Jack. After I took the photo of the two of them, slowly ONE by ONE kids kept walking up, lingering to be in the photo. It was hilarious...so I have 5 pictures each with an additional kid. :) September has been such a busy month. We started a new service at our church on Saturday nights, Brady and I had birthdays, my parents were here and then I went away for 4 days to Nashville Tennessee, leaving Maddie for the first time.

When I got home from my trip, I went in and held each of them...smelled their skin, kissed their lips and felt their love and spirit anew. And it was sweet. She has grown up quite a bit though, even in just the 4 days I was gone. She can go from sweet to funny, then to spicy in the matter of seconds.

I was in Tennessee for a conference that was (hate to say) possibly life changing. I got to go with one of my best friends and it was a sweet sweet time of renewal, rest, fun and adventure. We attended the MOPS convention (mothers of preschoolers) and to be honest I didn't know quite what to expect. But after worshipping with Matt Redman and Christy Nockels and attending a Matt Redman and Plumb concert, I have to say it was a phenomenal experience. The vulnerability they shared from their own lives and the struggles that they have walked through spoke loudly of persverence in their faith ...and it spoke to me like nothing else has since Matt died.

And to be affirmed that being a mother of preschoolers is one of the hardest seasons of life to go through was so good to hear. So good to hear.

Most days are extremely challenging. Remaining calm, patient, loving and still fun with Brayden and Madison is harder for me than I ever thought it would be. However today, we had many sweet moments together where life caught me by surprise and I thought...ah...this life is sweet.

I think those moments are harder for me to find because I still have a big hole in my heart that only Matt can fill. But those moments are still there and I have to fight to find them. And it's good for me to document them to have to look back and remember! So here are todays for whoever still reads this silly blog:

1. Mornings often start with cuddles between these two. Madison is absolutely smitten with her brother and lights up when he comes in the room. He often just says "I want to give Maddie a hug" and gives her a snuggle. I caught this moment on film...


2. No photo, but Madison and I read books together today while Brayden was at preschool and I realized that it's the first time I've ever told her what a cow says...I think Brayden was saying MOO by 11 months. The life of a second child... Well, she just lit up as we looked through the books together and I pointed to pictures of animals and told her what they said. Then we got to go visit with Spencer, the Hilzers dog and she could not stop shaking her arms and legs of excitement when he licked her! I wonder if she'll be a vet.

3. We got to borrow a friends bike for a few months! Thanks Jack! Yippee for us...Brayden cannot stop talking about his bike. He doesn't want to wear his helmet but we told him no helmet NO BIKE! So he obliges. He got the hang of it right away....just in time for his 3rd bday tomorrow. 4. Then after a really fun bath (as B and M are really starting to play together in the bath) I got Maddie out and put her in her room with some toys and went and got Brayden out of the bath and when I came back, this is what I found....(the floor was clean before). First time she's pulled herself up. She's not even crawling on her hands yet...still army crawling.And then my day ended reading books on Brayden's top bunk with him...on his birthday eve. Pretty sweet day! Cannot believe my baby is 3!

My prayer is that these two always love each other deeply.

The kids and I just got back from a big adventure...a trip to Seattle without Eric. As we knew he would have to work a lot due to the big fires in southern cali...he suggested I head north to be with family and friends in Seattle.


It was so much fun to celebrate the boys birthdays together. Brayden's cousin Chase turns 2, two days before Brayden turns 3, so Aunt Tiffany (also sometimes referred to as called Aunt Piffany by our silly rhyming son) made beautiful cupcakes to celebrate!!! We decided that Madison was having her first birthday soon enough that we'd let her celebrate turning 1 a little early and have her first cupcake which was HILARIOUS...this girl had no problem downing her cupcake before ALL 3 boys. Thanks Aunt Amy for putting up with the mess.Here's Grandpa Bob representing Santa Barbara County Fire with his hat! Grandpa Bob loves snuggle time with Maddie and she's awfully happy being snuggled!After fun times with Joanna and Jack (forgot to take a pic but Jo, your good friend Breann is in the picture..hahah), we went to an awesome park up in Issaquah Highlands. Here's my big (potty trained) boy. He told me this morning that he's sad he's potty trained. He wants to still be 'learning'...ie still getting candy! Smart boy!

Brayden and I went for a long walk in the rain...each with our own umbrella...crazy Seattle weather--never know what to expect!

It was so great to spend so much time with family and friends. My dad and I ran Greenlake one day, we had adventures to really fun parks, my mom slaved endlessly helping me with cooking, laundry, sewing, shopping and loving on my kiddos! Thanks Fam for an awesome trip!!

And...it could not have ended better. A good college friend of mine, Martha Kidney Holt was on my flight home and helped with the kids!!! What a blessing!

So, now back to the daily grind. Brayden starts preschool next week and we get back into a routine.

A little 9 1/2 month photo shoot...