September little things

Hello September!

Lots of changes this month, as the season began to change as well. 

On September 1st, we finally got the keys to our new house.

This is after a few days delay, which left us nervous for the shortened demo/floor timeline. We had family over to celebrate the new beginning!

The kids museum never disappoints! The kids are at a great age to go and my ability to keep tabs on them is much improved!

For Saishas birthday party, I made some Minnie Mouse cupcakes. I always love the delight she gets on her face when she sees my cakes. The party was so sweet with all the little girls, and then the fun moved outside where the kids transformed into pirates, running all over the playground. Colter loves playing in groups now, and it pretty much melted my heart to see them all huddled up together, making a plan to capture the pirate ship. 

Ohhh the joys of demolition! Ben took a week off work to do some painting, and lots of demo. I've never seen someone work as hard as he did that week. He never complained and somehow rarely ran out of steam. Thankfully we had some help

We met my mom for dinner at the perfect spot for kids/adults in edmonds.  Anthony's has an outside sand pit which allows kids to play and parents to talk! A beautiful combination! The sky was beautiful that night. 

We went apple picking with my mom and sisters family on Labor Day. The farm was super funky, but there was an incredible selection of apples! We made some tasty applesauce and a delicious apple crisp.  After picking, we went to downtown snohomish to walk around and eat lunch. 

In the midst of demolition/painting craziness, I got my hair done which was a delightful treat in the middle of everything. 

And then it was school time! I wrote about that here. 

Really helpful packers.. Complete with colter in his wet suit because that is necessary!

We decided to get the largest moving truck we could get to hopefully get it all in one move! That thing was a beast! Our new floors got a bit delayed because of the closing delay, so unfortunately we had to move everything into the garage instead of the house.. So we kind of did a two part move which was super fun. Ha. Aren't the floors pretty though? 

Bye bye old house . Tear. 

Went to the zoo on moving day with the cousins. Again, getting so much easier to do with the kids. I don't even bring a stroller any more! Crazy.. Of course that will change again in about 5 months! 

We had a 12 week ultrasound which took a measurement of the nucheal fold in the baby's neck to check for downs, and everything looked great. Look how incredible this shot is! Beautiful baby !

My friends pulled off an incredible surprise, I couldn't believe it! They arranged for a private couples cooking class at the cutest house. We made homemade ravioli with a sage butter sauce, a panzanella salad, fried asparagus, and a turtle cake for dessert. Everything was so perfect .. The huge table from a castle in England, the beautiful lights overhead, the endless laughing. It was my favorite night in a long long time. 

We went to little diggers sandbox play and enjoyed the warm , dry sand. There was some definite disappointment  when colter discovered that they had gotten rid of the broken digger arm he has always used. We recovered and found new things to play with. Afterwards, I drove them around some side streets where we saw a TON of parked trains including a grouping of 10 bnsf engines . We also went under a light rail track, after which colter declared it the most exciting day of his life! 

We announced our pregnancy to the Facebook world.

I watched the twins at the play gym while my sister took Harper to a music class . This was maddies first time at the play gym and she loved it! 

While brother was at play group, I took maddie to starbucks and the park. I love our one on one time. 

This picture doesn't look like she's bawling, but she is. She wanted me to carry her on the tricycle all the way up the driveway. No thanks little swimsuit lady. Just a little real life for you. 

In all the middle of the craziness of moving, first trimester pregnancy, and Colter starting school, Ben and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. We both looked at each other about a week before the anniversary and knew we were just exhausted. We decided to set aside expectations of an elaborate celebration and gifts, and just keep things simple. We got a couple's massage on the morning of our anniversary and then went to a really romantic lunch. A free brat at the country's largest traveling grill. Ha. But seriously, I love this man so much. We have been through a lot this year, and without his partnership and encouragement, it's hard to imagine surviving. He's my friend, lover, partner, and sidekick in everything.

On my birthday, I met some friends at starbucks and then we all walked down to the beach with our crazy caravan of kids. Someone asked Jessica if she ran a daycare. It was such a special morning. 

My celebrations continued with a karaoke night! It was so so funny and all of our voices were hoarse by the end. We sang all the classics.. Single ladies by Beyoncé, all I want for Christmas by Mariah Carey.. You know only the best. We brought in some tasty appetizers and his our illegal lemonade under the table like rebels. Such a fun night!

Whew, what a month!!