Trick or Treating 2011

Day Out with Thomas (And the Shiels)

Addison at 1 Month

Our little princess is already a month old! We are having so much fun getting to know her and enjoying all her little changes. She is growing a lot and at the time of this post just reached 10 pounds. We don't go back to the doctor until she is 2 months old so no official stats but she is definitely filling out and losing the chicken legs she had when she was born. Here are a few things we would like to remember about our little lady's first month milestone:

-She has a great little smile and gives a very happy face when you says hi and she makes eye contact with someone, but especially Mom

-Newborn clothes are getting a little tight and we have already moved on to size 1 diapers

-Her record sleep is 5 1/2 hours at night, not great but she does seem to be a better sleeper than her big brother and most of the time a little easier to get back to sleep at night

-She is sleeping in a pack n play in our room which has been working out great

-The 'witching' hours that Griffin had are back and there are a couple hours every night where she she turns into M"addison"

-She has a purple blanket with her name on it (thanks Coogan!) that she likes to snuggle with and sleeps wraps up in it most of the time

-White noise really helps calm her down and get here to sleep as well as rocking or walking around

-Most of the time we all still call her baby sister/mister but we are working on actually calling her by her name before she turns 1

-She is starting to have some longer awake periods and be able to hang out for a few minutes before eating, sleeping and no longer goes from 0 (calm) to 10 (really mad) in a matter of seconds

We love her very much and already can't imagine life without her!

Linvilla's Pumpkinland

Those of you not from the Philadelphia area may not know about Linvilla Farms. But it has an amazing Pumpkinland each year. My family used to going when we were kids and it is much more extravagant now than it ever was but so much fun to go as a parent now.

Thousands of pumpkins to choose from, all sorts and sizes

After looking at all sorts of kinds we forgot to get a pumpkin that day! But no worries the next day Griff picked a little one at the grocery store.

Even Addison enjoyed the day, although this was a brief moment with her eyes open as she slept most of the time.

The big hit of the day was the hayride being pulled by a tractor! Tractors are right up there with firetrucks in Griffin's eyes right now so it was a huge moment to sit right behind one and drive around the orchards.

They also have lots of animals to see and visit. Griffin really liked the duck pond.

A fun day for everyone and a great start to the Fall.

Firehouse Thrill Show

The Middletown Firehouse, right behind Aunt Bekah and Uncle Ben's house, celebrated fire safety week with an awesome thrill show. Griffin was in awe the whole night.

There were lots of firetrucks helping out with "emergencies"...

Firemen with all their equipment to touch and play with...

Fun new trucks to sit in, like an ambulance...

And a little tractor/rescue vehicle...

The highlight was a real helicopter that flew right over and landed so close. We didn't get a picture of it but the whole event was truly thrilling!!

We built a bear!

Thank you Jason and Jodi! Griffin loves his new bear, Victor, and sleeps with him every night.

First we picked the bear and filled him with fluff...

Then we picked a heart...

And put it inside and sewed him up...

And he got a bath...

After a hug we were ready to take him home!

Visit to Papa's House

We had our first family road trip with a visit to Papa and GrandB's house in October. We were pleasantly surprised how well both kids did in the car for the 2 hour drive and we got a chance to enjoy the beautiful fall foliage and mountains of PA. It was a wonderful and warm Fall weekend and Griffin had all sorts of new adventures...

Riding on the tractor!

Scranton has steam train??

Ride from Papa

Griff slept (or tried to sleep) in Nick's room while he was at college...thanks Uncle Nick!

Tried his skills as Amanda's Caddy

Driving the golf cart

Addison spent most of the weekend cuddling with everyone, or eating...

Daddy decided Addison's head was cold during one her naps

Aunt Amanda and I are going to be buddies

Addison is 2 weeks old already!

Griff goes to school

Hard to believe but our little 2 year old started school last week! (Sort of) It is a program called "mothers morning out" and a pre pre-school. It is only 2 hours and he is going twice a week but a big step towards real school in a couple years. It was a really rainy day so Griff had his rain jacket on and he wad to wear his new backpack. Griffin really seemed to like it and can't wait to go back. When we asked him what he did at school he told us:

-Played with the trains (Thomas obsession continues)

-Cooked something in the kitchen (They have a play kitchen)

-Ate goldfish

-Sang songs on the carpet

And he even brought home some coloring that we now hang proudly on the fridge. Hopefully he always likes school this much.