Ah, fall !

We are finally feeling like fall in Cincinnati. The weather has been great and we get to enjoy some of our favorite outdoor adventures. We have had another busy weekend spending Saturday visiting Ms. Emily & her sore foot and then parading around the zoo. Sunday we went to Young's Dairy up in Dayton for a true taste of fall- what a treat ! It's a very affordable family outing that I recommend to all with young kids. We took the tractor to the pumpkin patch and for $6 a piece we picked some HUGE pumpkins. Madelyn loved the Moovers & Shakers ride - she suckered us into 2 rides and Mia loved petting the goats. Of course you can't visit Young's without some of their DELICIOUS homemade ice cream which we waited in line for quite a while for.

September also brought my 30th birthday where I got to go away with my husband for 4 nights to Baltimore and just relax, have fun and be an adult. It was a great weekend- we had such an amazing time together. I felt like all we did was eat and sleep (and catch an Orioles baseball game and the Bengals/Ravens home opener) but it was a great trip.


The next weekend in September brought some weird weather to Ohio, we had a windstorm courtesy of Hurricane Ike that knocked power out to most of the city for days, somehow we were spared. We had to replace our roof, grill and patio table, but thankfully nobody was hurt by the 70 + mile per hour winds. Nobody realized the magnitude of what was coming, Maddy and I were out shopping for shower gifts, debating if we should try to go to the store even though we could barely open the car door and debris was blowing everywhere.

The following weekend we had a shower for Emily, followed by a Reds game in lieu of a Bachelorette party. I picked up a nasty staph infection on my chin and looked like a leper for a week.

We celebrated all our September birthdays at Mom's house the last weekend in September as well as our 8 year anniversary with dinner at El Coyote. It was a laid back night where horrible service didn't seem to be such a bad thing.

September Birthdays (Note Carrie's Face Funk and that was 5 days post antibiotics):

The Family:

We spent Septembger getting back into a routine. Madelyn is at a new preschool where she goes Tues-Thursday mornings. She really likes it.

I somehow have overcommitted us during the week though. Brandon coaches upward football on Mondays, Madelyn has soccer on Tuesdays (which is absolutely adorable to watch and she loves it) and Madelyn has cubbies on Wednesdays. Saturday AMs Maddy has swim lessons and Brandon coaches his flag football team. He loves coaching and giving back to the community, but he is so competitive that not winning is hard on him. This team is really helping him to realize that as long as they are working hard and having fun that is all that counts. Hopefully it is a good test for when he coaches his own girls in sports.

Maddy's 1st soccer practice:

Mia looks like she might make a good goalie some day !

Mia eating her way through practice...

Mia enjoying being a big girl and playing outside on the playset !

So I think that catches everyone up on us and one day I'll get more regular about updating our blog !

Madelyn's 4th Birthday & Hilton Head (a little late)

It's hard to believe my little Madelyn turned 4 last Weds. We started the birthday fun by going to Chuck E Cheese on Tuesday night with Aunt Lisa, Uncle Aaron, Elizabeth, Sammy & Nick. On Weds 8/20 (her actual birthday) we went shopping, had a picnic lunch and played at the waterpark. On Saturday 8/23 we had a big Hawaiian Luau where we combined family and friends. The kids had a blast limboing, digging for treasures, hula hooping, making picture frames, smashing the pinata and a good ol' water balloon fight.

Mia is walking everywhere now, but mostly barefoot because her feet are so fat and short, and I am too cheap to go to Stride Rite for shoes... But I will have to soon. She is starting to eat with a fork and loves all kinds of food. She is in the 50th percentile, despite her chubby cheeks, feet, legs etc. She points at everything and when she wants something she says "this." Her sister loves to give her hugs that at some points almost look like she is being strangled, but usually she doesn't mind them.

And I finally got the camera situation all settled, so here are some pics from vacation too. Good luck getting ready for back to school (if you aren't there already) and have a great Labor Day !

Getting ready for the Beach

So the past 2 weeks I have been attempting to pack and get ready for the beach. I cannot believe how much stuff 4 people need to take to sruvive for a week. The dining room table looks like a war zone and the amount of clothes longing to be put in our suitcases is unreal. We are looking forward to a week with 2 other families in the warmth of Hilton Head.

I have not looked at Hurrican Bertha- hopefully she has turned around and does not put a damper on our vaca. It has been a year (when I was on maternity leave) since I've had a full week off from work. So Friday can't come soon enough.

My blog looks a little bare because I sent my camera to get fixed at the beginning of June, so that I'd have it for vacation. I always buy the warranty for a camera because I've been told it's cheaper to just replace than fix a camera. So this warranty was to expire in August and I wanted it fixed (a.k.a. a new camera) for our vacation. Well after way too many phone calls to Best Buy and a different story given about the camera's status by each person we talked to, they tell us the camera is shattered and that it was our fault... so after a heated conversation they sent us a gift card and I now have a fancy new touch screen Sony camera that I hope I can figure out how to use before we leave.

I will try to take some pics of the girls before we head out of town and post lots more when we get back.

Summer time fun

Yeah, summer is here. We went from rainy and 60 to super hot and 90 within a week. We missed that nice spring weather. We have enjoyed our evenings out on the playset with the neighborhood kids, visiting the park, taking walks and even spent last Sunday at our friend's community pool ! We are looking forward to many more weekends at the pool and summer nights at the park and hanging out with our neighbors.

Maddy finished up school with an adorable school program- where she sang with all her might. She even stepped in to take the lead as the swimmer to Noah's ark when the other child backed out at the last minute.

Mia turned 1 on 5/18 and enjoyed her giant cupcake birthday cake. She is such an early bird that she was too pooped to even open her presents that night, so she opened them the next day on her actual birthday.

I have switched jobs within Children's. I am working as a business manager job for our new Liberty Twsp hospital that opens 8-8-08 ! I had to give up my Mondays working from home, but had found it to be quite stressful trying to be Mom in charge and working from home on those Mondays. I will instead enjoy 8 hour work days and less than a 10 minute commute. I will be close to the girls if they need me, which will be crucial if Brandon gets a job with a lot of travel. Keep him in your prayers as he interviews in Pittsburgh on Weds 6/11 with Johnson and Johnson. This position would utilize his lean background, but he would be on the road 2 weeks at a time and then work from home 1 week at a time.

Getting Started

It's been one of those weeks that I'm counting my blessings and reaching out to those who I care about because of circumstances others near me have had. When I received a friend's blog, I thought what better way to keep in touch with others. So here is my attempt to start blogging.

For some I see daily, monthly, yearly... for others I might have only said hello via email in recent years... and others I might not be in touch with much at all- but know you are all important in my life.

To catch those up who I have not talked with in a while... I'm back at work full time, although I'm not in the office on Mondays which is nice. Madelyn is enjoying preschool 3 days a week. It is hard to believe she is already 3. She is doing pretty good at this big sister stuff and it is so cute to see her interact with her lil sis Mia, who is almost 5 months. Time certainly flies. Brandon started his last class tonight to complete his bachelor's classes next month. Now he is looking at MBA programs.

Mia Lauren 4 mos

Recent adventures include a last minute mother/daughter weekend when Madelyn and I flew down to Florida to visit "Mickey." We had a great time with just the 2 of us visiting the parks and hanging out together. Daddy and Mia survived at home just fine !

Madelyn and Mommy 9-07

The Power of Prayer

• A co-worker of mine delivered a beautiful lil girl on Friday AM and her older daughter ended up in ICU that same evening. What a tough time emotionally for this family. The daughter in ICU is medically fragile, but has never been this sick, there have been moments she is touch and go.
• Another friend ended up with her son rushed to the ED with febrile seizures last evening. He is doing ok, but a scary situation for them as well.
• For working moms everywhere trying to balance their jobs of mother, worker, wife, house cleaner, cook, etc. that we have strength to be successful at each role.

Have a great weekend !

Carrie