11, 13, 25, 31, and 0

eleven. The number of months Carson has been with us! He is 11 months old. I can't believe our boy is almost a one year old! He is so small, it's hard to believe we'll soon be celebrating his birthday.

thirteen. This is as high as Macie can count on her own. She is already a trickster and loves doing or saying anything contrary to what I do or say, enjoys helping me do my chores, and loves being the biggest sister while Addie is away at preschool.

twenty-five. This is how many days until Grandma and Grandpa Hutchinson come to see us on the train, and Addie CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM! It is also approximately how many times per day Addie talks about getting/owning/buying a pet. "When can I get a pet?" "Can we go to the pet store and see the pets?" "Can I have a turtle/kitty/elephant/dog?" "I'm a kitty, and you're my mommy." "Why can't I have a pet?" "Mom, I can work hard and take care of it!" (I'm pushing for a dog for Christmas.)

thirty-one. The amount of ghost pretzels I made for the Edgar Allan Poe book club this week! Aren't they cute?

ZERO! The amount of insurance companies Jason has left to be approved on! YAY! It sometimes felt like this day would never come. Now he can see EVERYONE and his schedule is picking up quickly. We're hoping in a month that he'll be able to finally finally finally add another day of work. Whew. It's been a long 5 months, but we know it will totally be worth it in the long run.

He visited Addie's preschool class on Wednesday (it was their medical professionals day) and spoke to the kids about their eyes, and then gave everyone a free eye screening. He and I had a good time, and Addie was proud to show him off.

It's been a good month, and we're all looking forward to Halloween!

rain, rain, stay all day, come and play any day!

I love the fall and I love rain, which means I have been LOVING the weather we've had the last few weeks. We've had plenty of overcast and rainy days, the air is getting brisk and the leaves are starting to change...and fortunately for us, we have PLENTY of gorgeous leaves!

I was fortunate to catch these sweet sister memories recently. Watching my girls play together, hearing their little secret giggles, fills me with so much joy. Addie loves showing Macie bugs, new dances, how to sing, the proper way to be a kitty, and Macie just eats it all up. For her, Addie sparkles. I hope to capture on film their reunion hug after Addie has been at preschool. The first time I nearly squealed out loud! It is adorable! (On film? Ha!)

Typical of them- Addie in front, and Macie as happy as can be to be following.

I love her smile peeking out from underneath the umbrella, she is just so happy!

I believe she was singing to herself here.

Bug inspection in the rain! And yes, I realize we reallyreallyreally need to get these girls some wellies! I'm waiting to find some on an incredibly awesome sale...

look at this! how exciting!

http://visionsource-fredericksburg.eyehub.com/index.cfm?content.display&pageID=107

9 months & more

Carson has made it! He has now been out as long as he was in!

Fun with makeup. Yes, they're even wearing mascara!

When we can get Addie to smile normally, she is just sooo pretty. Don't you think so? Or am I just a biased mother? Good thing I don't have to worry about boys quite yet.

In case you were curious, here's what we look like opening our mouths as wide as we can-

And here is Macie refusing to do anything she doesn't want to do. This hilarious pouty face is new.

And here is cute cousin Hannah! Well, daughter of Jason's cousin Katie. (First cousin once removed, right? I have no idea.) Her and her parents came for a short visit. It was great having them- we thoroughly enjoyed beating them in every game we played. Ha!

every day life

Macie's outfit is Jason's strange sense of humor. She thought it was hilarious.

As for me, I'm still running. Jason and I will be running in Richmond, VA's half marathon on Nov. 13th. I've been having a more difficult time committing to this race. My running partner is a high school teacher, so she starts school in a few weeks and won't be able to run with me anymore. That means I'll be training on my own and I'm a little worried. But it will be awesome to do it with Jason--too bad we can't train together. I've also been doing Weight Watchers for about a month and have finally been able to steadily lose weight. Hurrah! It's true what they say about the third kid. This time the baby weight is NOT coming off easily! So, here is a picture of me from a few days ago...I think I look a little thinner! Yay!

Carson is cute, but more needy than ever. Much more than either of our girls. He is a Mama's Boy through and through. This morning, after I ran 4 miles, I opted to mow our whole lawn for another hour of time away from him. He is very charming but also very demanding of his mother. It was perfect, though. Jason got what he wanted--time to sit and chill out with the kids watching a movie--and I got what I wanted--time ALONE. I love my husband! (And I really do love my kids, too, but sometimes a mama needs a break!)

Just a cute picture of him falling asleep on Jason's lap.

Now here is a happy story. I bought a box of 100 Curad bandaids. I was ignorant of the fact that they were the world's WORST BANDAIDS. They came unstuck minutes after being put on. I have never been so annoyed by a product before, so I decided to email the company. Well, about a week later, look what came in the mail!! Carson's face looks about how mine did when I opened the mysterious box!
It was so fun to have them send me all this free product, and they are the much nicer, more expensive bandaids...so they actually STICK! Hurrah! I will definitely be writing more companies in the future.

The end.

you'll never guess my new hobby

It has to do with these: Some of this:

And faces that look like THIS:

It's true! Lately, I have been ENJOYING COOKING! (well, more often than not anyway...)

As many of you know, I have never been one who likes cooking. There are always dishes afterwards, half the time it isn't even good because I don't have natural cooking instincts, the kids are always whiny at dinnertime...yadda yadda yadda. WELL...

I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH FARMER'S MARKETS!

There is something so wonderful about fresh, colorful food, bought directly from the people who lovingly planted, watered, cared for and picked it. I ask them questions (What do you do with a lemon cuke? How would you use the mini-eggplant in a dish?) and then go home and invent something. And the best part? Usually I invent something GOOD. Usually. (Our eggplant-zucchini-tomato soup the other night was a complete bust.) And it has been pretty FUN.

8 months

Carson turned 8 months on the 18th. He is getting to be such a big (but little) boy! He army scoots all over our house, often gets stuck under chairs and tables, and has been known to explore an entire floor just to find me. He is definitely a mama's boy. Each of our kids have gone through the "I want Mom" stage, but he seems way more attached than either of the girls have been. And while I love feeling loved, it has its drawbacks, too.


Carson's eyes are a bright, crystal blue and he has long blond eyelashes- longer than the girls. He always sticks his tongue out when he smiles. He smiles easily, and LOVES his sisters. They can make him laugh better than anyone else. He isn't very interested in his pacifier (which has been different for us) but will take it in his crib. He nuzzles his blanket when he sleeps. I can tell he's going to be curious. In fact, I think his personality will be similar to Addie's--interested in everything, somewhat sensitive, and goofy!

He has been such a joyful addition to our family!