What's in a name- take 2!

We are so excited to have officially landed on a name for our baby girl!

Madison Abrielle Crowl

Ben and I have both loved the name Madison for years. When we found out we were having a girl, we were pretty sure we would call her Madison, but wanted to wait a bit in case something else jumped out at us. No matter how many different names we talked about, we always came back to Madison. We both just love that name. Who knows what she'll look like, but i've had visions for years of a little pig tailed girl singing Jesus Loves Me in a little rocking chair and the name Madison, or Maddy, just seems to fit. There are a few different meanings out there, but the one we like best is as a surname to Matthew which means "gift of God," which no doubt this sweet girl is. 

I heard the name Abrielle when I was working in adoption and loved the name instantly. I love the way it sounds when you say it. To me it feels very elegant. The name means "God is my strength." We hope that Maddy grows up to only rely on God as her strength- not us, friends, or herself. 

We love you so much already little Madison. 

Halloween 2012

My what a change in our Halloween this year from last! Last year, Colter was barely crawling, and definitely not at all aware of what was going on. This year was such a blast!! Colter dressed up as a monkey and you couldn't help but smile when you saw his padded monkey bum waddle by.

We started the night with Chipotle and 2 buck burritos for dressing up. It had been raining pretty hard for 2 days straight, so we were delighted when the rain randomly stopped right when we were getting ready to go back to our house for trick or treating.

He LOVED trick or treating. I thought he might go up to a few houses with James & Saisha and then be done, but he walked our whole neighborhood (even up the huge hill) and went to every single house. He quickly got the routine down.. running up the driveway, knocking on the door, saying "treat!" (definitely no tricks for him!) and then running back down the driveway with a piece of candy in his hand. If someone put the candy right into his pumpkin bag, he would dive bomb to their bowl and try to take another piece. Funny thing is, he never even tried any of the candy he so graciously collected for his parents and friends :)

Back at our place, we decided to do some smores in the oven since it was pretty chilly out. I made the awesome choice to give Colter 1 square of hershey's chocolate, 1/2 a marshmallow and a graham cracker square. I didn't think it was a big deal until... bedtime! He was so exhausted but could no go to sleep so he didn't fall asleep until 9:30. Party man!!

Holidays are so much fun with little kiddos! Can't wait until next year when we'll have two little munchkins to dress up!!

Fall fun

We've been enjoying Fall and the change in weather as best we can! It's definitely a little more challenging to think of new things to do with all the rain! Here's some things we've been up to lately!

I hosted a harvest party with some of my lady friends one evening. I didn't take any pics, but it was a ton of fun! Lots of delicious recipes, some of my favorites were this soup: pumpkin soup,  pumpkin cheesecake crumble bars, and the apple crisp my sister in law made. I'll have to ask her for the recipe.. There are so many endless yummy desserts I am trying to squeeze in!

Pumpkin bash at the zoo. I didn't take any pics because it was raining pretty hard and I was too busy attempting to read my shredded, rain soaked zoo map. We've got to do this again next year. The zoo gives pumpkins to different animals and you get to watch them devour them. The best to watch were the hippos! Man can they destroy a pumpkin quite easily!

Shopping for operation Christmas child shoebox. This is our 2nd year taking the cousins shopping for Samaritan's Purse operation Christmas child program. Basically you fill a shoebox with lots of different toys, hygiene items, etc. for a boy or girl and then take it to a drop off location during collection week. Such an easy way to serve others and have fun at the same time! Plus our shopping day has conveniently happened on the first day of eggnog drinks at Starbucks. YUM!

The leaves outside our house were so gorgeous this year. Colter loved gathering huge handfuls and throwing them in the air.

                       
Carving pumpkins before Halloween. Colter was definitely not into the slime, but he got a huge kick out of us hiding his bus inside the pumpkin. After a while, he decided he would rather smell spices.

We FINALLY made it all the way around greenlake with Colterman. He's not one for sitting in strollers for long periods of time, so we were armed with a serious amount of snacks! The leaves were absolutely gorgeous!

This is probably one of my all time favorite pics. 

We ventured to Swanson's nursery for the first day of their live reindeer display. We got to feed a reindeer a piece of apple, check out their HUGE camel, take a picture on a sleigh, and watch their amazing train display for a loooooooong time. I love free activities like this!

                       

In other news, Colter still loves to cook. This is my sweet view almost every afternoon.

 Sometimes I look at Colter and think, "man he looks big." This was one of those moments.

It's hard to believe it, but I hit the 7 month mark in my pregnancy. We can't wait to meet this little lady girl! 

I love my fam.

driving his bus up the big "hill."

We've had a few fun dates recently. We saw the movie argo which was awesome and we also went out to dinner at 5 bistro in Edmonds. Ben went out with the guys to see skyfall which he said was great as well. Jessie, Kelsey, and I went to tea in Bothell for a super fun girls outing.

As you can see, we're gearing up to switch to Christmas festivities!! This is such an awesome time of year!

dear 50 year old self

There are a lot of times during this whole motherhood journey that I think of things and hope to remember them later in life when I'm not parenting kids under my own roof any more (hopefully!). I'm going to call this series "dear 50 year old self." Things I probably wont remember about life now that I hope to remember then.

You and Ben check on Colter before bed most nights. There's nothing easier to get rid of memories of a challenging day than watching him in the dark, his quiet breathing filling the room. He typically lays on his back, arms and legs sprawled out, with his blanket and "friends" all around him. Sometimes he has really awkward sleeping positions, like his head bent around one side of the crib while his body is on another side. Sometimes he starts to stir and you and Ben either dive bomb to the floor or run out of the room at lightning speed.

Even though Colter's not a baby any more, he is the perfect snuggler. You can be frustrated one minute and then that little head snuggles up against your chin and he tucks in his little legs and turns into a melty ball of yuminess. If you wonder now, you take every chance you get to rub your face in his hair, breathing in his scent.

There are days when you think "I don't want to be a mom today." You usually pray to God to give you the strength to get through just one day and the patience to love Colter in a way that only is possible through Him. It is amazing how that always helps.

Give your husband a hug. He kept you sane during this time and helped out way more than you probably remember at this point. You honestly couldn't do it without him.

You sing all the time. Colter must think he's in a walking musical because you'll bust out in song at all times of day.

Grocery shopping is one of the most challenging things to do with kids. If you see a mom lose her patience or seem frazzled.. this was once you. Things that seem super simple to you now, like returning your cart are an added challenge with kids. Take her cart, better yet- load her groceries.. Even better? pay for them, load them, AND take her cart. Give her a smile and tell her she's doing a great job.

I hope that you still know young moms and can bless them. 2 hours ALONE... amazing! Offer to watch her kids, pay for a pedicure, and wipe down the fridge fingerprints while you're watching her kids. Encourage date nights .. support marriages.. these are hard years.

One of the most challenging parts of motherhood is avoiding comparing your parenting style, your kids, and your talents with those of other moms. It's easy to feel inadequate in this online world of facebook and pinterest. Know that if anything, you were there. You really tried to provide a joyful home and you spent a lot of time on the floor playing and looking them in the eye with a smile.

I hope you remember what it felt like to give butterfly kisses, or go nose to nose with your kids. What warmth it brought to your heart when you got an open mouth kiss on your check.

Even though life moves at lightning speed, you still notice how quick Colter is growing up... especially when he gets a haircut. You are constantly amazed and at how much he picks up and learns on a daily basis and most of the time you're really thankful to be at home with him every day.

Know you really tried to savor the time with Colter and enjoy even the days mixed with ups and downs.

20 months

Multiple times a day, you want to hide under a blanket and want to say "hush hush hush" over and over again.

We used to never be able to keep your helmet on, now you love to wear it walking around. 

We gave the garbage man cookies a week ago and every time you see a garbage can you shout "cookies!" 

You still love stuffed animals and will take them out of the basket and give them huge hugs and say "aww" while patting them on the back.

I love your hugs because it always includes getting multiple pats on the back.

You always offer a sympathy cry when other kids are crying around you.. this whole having a newborn sister thing might be interesting. 

I love to listen to what is on your mind when you wake up. A lot of times you'll say "ohhhhhhh sailboat" or "ohhhhhhh choo choo."

I have a bin of clothes that I borrowed from a friend. You are obsessed with taking off the lid, saying "shirt" and putting them around your head and walking around. You cried when I wouldn't let you wear one into Bible study on Tuesday.

Today you found a long pin in dad's old stuff and you said "oh a truck!" You climbed on top of a box of paper to look at our dresser. You saw a dried small rose in a picture frame and you said "oh a mouse!"

Almost every day you ask for pancakes for breakfast. 

You still love to cook, but really enjoy pulling out spice by spice saying "this is.." and waiting for me to tell you what it is. You also think the honey bear is the best thing ever. 

We've been reading a book called pumpkin faces a lot. There's a witch in the book that I told you is a  silly lady with a mouse on her head. Even though she has warts on her face and it's really a rat, that is your favorite page and you laugh every time you see it. 

You've discovered that the easiest way to get me to turn on the computer is by asking to "print" I thought you just wanted a lot of coloring pages, but I think it's just an excuse to look at the computer screen.

You say the word "dong" a lot which sounds like down. It pretty much as 50 different meanings. More, next song, done, you name it. It's a catch all.

When you really want something you have the best pleading voice. Pineeappplee or luuuuuunch.

Basically, I love every day with you.