Wednesday play around the house

Thanks for coming to visit us Martin girls!

Everyone had a grand time playing and reading and running around the house (well, Zach just crawled fast).

It's fun to have play dates, especially with cousins.  We appreciate Barb bringing the girls over on her day off.  We wish we could have visited longer!  The kids are pretty close in age and match well in play.  We think Gramma and Grandpa Reed enjoyed watching us 'tear' up their house!  ;-)
  They smiled for the camera, at least.

Zach around the Reed house

He can stand without support (for a few seconds but will not walk).  

Here is Gramma Reed with Zachary, commenting how nice and small his ears are.  ;-).

And pictures of our beautiful boy, all smiles.

From bunnies to guns...ahh life in MI

It was the first day of of hunting season when we arrived...

We had a marathon day of visiting, and it was good.  After breakfast at G'ma and G'pa Reed's we had lunch at the Getter's (3 girls) and dinner at the Lipski's (2 boys).  Lots of laughing and chatting and play among the kids.  The two stops had a different flavor, if you will, though.  The Getter girls played dolls and brought in their pet bunny for Caleigh to pet.  The Lipski boys ran around and encouraged Caleigh to shoot a gun and play with their Star Wars light saber.  She was comfortable with both types of play and was thoroughly exhausted that night.  Zach kept up as much as possible!  We only got to see the men of the homes briefly, but so enjoyed everyone taking time out of their day to be with us (and feed us too!).

More from our first Sunday in Michigan

Look at all this family! Here are a couple pictures of some of the great-grandkids of G'ma and G'pa Reed. The oldest is almost 14 and Zach is the youngest at not quite 1. We are so fortunate to have so many people who love us and like to be with us. It's a joy to be able to visit them and have our kids get to know their extended family. We wish we were all able to get together more! It was really special to be at the Sunday family dinner. I wish we could have one of those every week.

Zach likes to pull himself up to a end/small table, pat it vigorously and "read" books there if possible. He turns the pages, points to pictures and words and "talks" about life. He knows what he likes. Crackers are a bit hit currently. If spotted, he will point, grunt, sign "eat" and "more" and generally make himself heard until he receives said cracker. Same with Mexican food. ;-)

Because we didn't travel on an actual holiday, we were able to see people/families on a smaller scale. Better for communication and catching up, although we'll miss the en masse gathering for Christmas at G'ma and G'pa Reed's. They 'let' us win a couple card games the last night we stayed with them, I guess so we'd leave a little happier. ;-) They are pros when it comes to 3 to 13 (and don't you forget it!).

Let the Thanksgiving road trip begin!

So we decided to go to Middleville/Caledonia, MI and then Dayton, OH before ending up in Floyd, VA this Thanksgiving. Spending five nights in each place gave us some good times hanging out with family and recovering from each drive before making another. Here are some thoughts from the road, and some surprising developmental milestones, too!

First stop was Gramma and Grandpa Reed's house in Michigan. After a really good Sunday sermon based on Isaiah we joined the Blain family for Sunday lunch and to celebrate Wendy's birthday (that's her with Caleigh in the second pic). Our kids enjoyed being around so many cousins, aunts & uncles for the day. Caleigh especially enjoyed running with Kate, who is a few months younger. Well Kate is fully potty trained (and Caleigh is not) and wants to go quite frequently. Caleigh felt left out or something because within a couple of hours both girls were going with Aunt Connie into the bathroom and coming out having GONE! This Mama was quite happy, but a bit skeptical this new trend would last. Well...here we are more than a week later and Caleigh is faithfully going potty with just a few wet diapers. Having not expected this milestone, we didn't bring anything but diapers. Should have made it up to MI earlier, I guess. ;-)

The other amazing thing that Sunday was Uncle Bob got Caleigh to pet a dog. It was like being in another universe or something -- we're pretty sure this was OUR Caleigh. Rose is a very tame, but large (non-barking and non-figidity) dog. Caleigh would still 'start' when Rose walked toward her but didn't run and scream for Mama like she normally does when in the same room with a dog. Pretty cool!

Zachary just loves everybody. He liked crawling around trying to catch Emma, who is about his size and a little cutie! He'd give that dimpled grin to anyone who would look at him. He was held a lot and didn't seem to mind (even fell asleep at one point).

It took 14 hours from point to point on Sat. 11/15 (PA to MI). The kids had a rough night, but G'ma and G'pa Reed said they didn't hear much out of them. Zach did have a runny nose and we were all in one room. The other nights went better. It took 7 hours from MI to OH and the kids got their own room, and didn't mind sharing at all. In fact, they enjoyed it a bit too much. We found (heard) them one time around 10 PM talking. Dan investigated and when he opened the door both kids looked at him and giggled. Hard not to find that cute. Caleigh has gotten better about not calling out Zach's name or rapping on his pack n play when she has trouble sleeping. Once asleep, though, Caleigh doesn't wake up (and fuss) if Zach has a crying fit. I am still feeding him once a night and guess I will until he's weened! AUGH! We are happily still breastfeeding and plan to for the next couple months or so.

Another visitor!

Mr. Paul Bowman stayed overnight with us mid-November. We enjoyed dinner, and then dessert and coffee over long conversation after the kids were asleep. Just what you'd expect from an evening with Paul. Glad he could come join us while taking a class in PA. We love visitors!

Caleigh wasn't too excited (at first) about posing for a picture. Zach didn't seem to mind at all. ;-)

2nd visit to the PTM

With another friend, Anna. So fun! You gotta come and experience this. Look at the sheer space!

Caleigh likes that when you walk by the beanstalk to hear "fee fie fo fum..." ;-)

She got the hang of the loader, but needs more practice (supposed to pick up balls and move them around).

Just Zach

Our happy guy...in early November. Around the house and enjoying life. See the teeth!

Zach and the walker

This is a great representation of our cautious little boy, venturing out on his own two feet with a little help from his walker. For this great feat, though, Zachary looks like a snail compared to Caleigh whizzing by (check her out as a flash 3x). He takes it all in stride, not altering his gait based on his sister, but purposefully making his way. Gotta love his diligence, perseverance and good-natured attitude. ;-)

He is so proud of himself when mastering a new skill. We are so pleased that he looks to us with that big, open-mouthed grin hoping we are also overjoyed at his progress. And to hear Caleigh say, "Good job Zach!" while patting him on the back and smiling at him is pure joy.

2008 World Series Champions of Baseball

The Philadelphia Phillies!

What an experience! The kids will only remember through pictures, but we parents are scarred for life. ;-)

Dan is very good to me, his crazy wife. I really wanted to attend this rather large Philly event -- with the kids. So we three (Lori and the kids) headed from the western suburbs, straight from Bible study and toward the city. Dan took the subway out to meet us in west Philly and ride the subway in with us. Three trains went by us, too full for us to get on. The kids and I squeezed on the fourth, with Dan saying he would walk and meet us in Center City. Thankfully, we were pitied and people squeezed even more to make room for Dan (AND our double stroller ;-)

I held Zach and kept breathing room for Caleigh by creating a barrier/pushing back against the crowd through two more stops into the city. We could only see her little face looking up at us, so innocent...;-)

In the third picture you can make out the trophy and the coach (far left). And the dancing Philly Phanatic.

All dressed in red, the kids fit in well to the crowd on Dan's floor and in the Market side office at Radian. Here we are in his office. We had a great 4th floor view of the parade. The last picture is looking out at Market at 16th. There were a LOT of people cheering and enjoying the party. It was good to be inside looking out. We decided to walk back to the car -- some down the middle of closed streets, across the river, and probably 20+ blocks. It was good to be home together early that afternoon.

Around town and the house

Thanks for the hat, Papa! Oh, it's for Caleigh? Well, it fits her head and mine, so....maybe we need another up here in PA so we can cover twice the area, advertising cattle. ;)

Caleigh is a big fan of library story hour and enjoys playing with her good friend Hazel (and sitting really close to the librarian!). They dance, skip, hold hands, sing w/motions, and stare at each other to see what reaction they get for their actions. We've had a couple play dates and they are fast friends.

Zach in his monkey suit, looking so cute crawling through the tunnel. A couple days before Halloween. Caleigh was a prairie girl and a princess (pictures to come...did I say that last year, too?!)

Look at the two front bottom teeth! No others in sight, but these two keep getting bigger and bigger. Can you see them (last picture). He is eating whatever we put in front of him and enjoys showing everyone that he is 'chewing!'

More from the PTM

It's so much fun to watch the kids have fun. Caleigh built some airplanes and then went dare devil on me, climbing on the foam pyramid and tumbling down.

Zach tries things and then looks at you with that smile, mostly inquisitively. Yes, Zach -- what you're doing is okay I usually say, and he smiles wider and then laughs or says, "yeah yeah yeah" while shaking his head vigorously. ;-) Here he is deciding on some fish, and picking veggies from the grocery store.

Caleigh is pouring some tea with the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. She thought putting on the dress up clothes was a little too much.