downtown day 2012

One of our favorite holiday traditions is our downtown day! We had such a fun morning looking at the Macy's train display, sipping hot cocoa (or choco cocoa as Colter calls it), riding the monorail, driving the trains at the Seattle center and riding the carousel. We are so thankful to live in such a fun city that has so many holiday adventures at our fingertips!

                       

                                   

more holiday festivities!

I LOVE December. The lights, the desserts and warm drinks, the fun events around the city, extra family time, our tree all lit up, and the coziness that days upon days of rain brings.

Unfortunately I haven't been that wonderful about taking pictures lately, but I do want to document the fun we had in December.

I had Jessie's kids over for a gingerbread man day. We read the book and baked and decorated a gingerbread man together.

I had the kids go upstairs to look at Colter's new room and my sister took out the gingerbread man and hid him in the garage, leaving a note behind that said "run run as fast as you can, you can't catch me i'm the gingerbread man!" It was so hilarious to watch the kids be confused about where the gingerbread man went.

We went to a FANTASTIC holiday party at the church of one of my old coworkers. It was definitely one of my favorite events of the year. Church members brought their model trains and set them up around a huge room. There were probably 10-15 different incredible train sets at Colter's level. He kept saying "next train! next train!" There was a whole narnia theme with different characters walking around, and you entered through a wardrobe into an incredible snow filled forest of trees. The treats were amazing- seriously the best cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies we've ever had. Not to mention the hot cocoa bar and beautiful live piano music. Colter was mesmerized.. by both the trains and the piano!

After a baby appointment one morning, we went to the teddy bear suite. Colter absolutely loved snuggling up with all the teddy bears!

We ventured down to Kirkland to listen to the argosy cruise ships broadcast Christmas music onto the beach. It was a gorgeous day, but seriously one of the coldest days EVER!!! I think we were all dancing trying to keep warm!

On Christmas Eve we ate some Christmas themed pizzas, baked sugar cookies, played some Just Dance, and caroled around the neighborhood. It is so fun to see people's faces light up and get excited when they open the door. Colter apparently thought it was enter everyone's house day. Definitely didn't understand the concept of waiting outside and then leaving. I'm so thankful for fun family to carol with, and a great neighborhood that enjoys our tunes.

As you can tell from Colter's face, he preferred to eat the dough rather than partake in the cookie cutter process.

little things

Life doesn't slow down at all during this busy season, so I'm trying to jot down a few things going on right now.

We bought Colter a potty chair- just in case he decides he's interested one of these days. 90% of the time he has a diaper off, he pees casually all over the floor like he has no idea what is even coming out. He has decided the potty chair is best used as a hat or for storing toys. I think we've got a while... He absolutely loves to be nude and calls himself "nudey man" During most diaper changes he'll start pulling at his shirt saying nudey man nudey man! The instant all his clothes are off, he bolts around the living room, jumps up on the couch and basically goes crazy.

We're working on getting Colter's big boy room all ready. Ben and I both say it's our favorite room in the house. The painting is done and the curtains are hung.We set up a really cool craft corner for him that he absolutely LOVES. He's been in the room all week and it doesn't seem like he even thinks about his other room! We spend most afternoons up in his room doing crafts. We tell Colter it's his "AWESOME room!" Every time he goes in it he yells "AWESOME!"

One of my favorite things he does right now is when he says "awesome" or "big sailboat." He gets totally red in the face and almost holds his breath while he pushes out the words.

Colter is more into trains and cars than ever. We bought him a cars mat recently and he loves to drive his cars around. He knows "red light STOP!" and "green light GO!" so he makes all his cars stop at the stoplights, crossings, and parking garages.

He's also obsessed with cranes. If he sees a crane, or thinks he's going to see a crane, that's all he talks about. BIG CRANE! over and over and over and over and over... no amount of distraction ever works.

Another favorite thing he's started to do is narrate about our day. I'll ask him questions like "did we go see a train?" and he'll totally remember parts from the day and will say things like "amtrak. LOUD. Crossing goes down. ding ding ding ding." It's so cool to see his little memory form.

He also listens and repeats EVERYTHING. I've realized that I say oh my goodness a lot because he was saying it quite often, totally during times that I would say it too.

Colter loves Christmas. He begs to turn on the Christmas tree lights every day, and he cries when the outside lights aren't on during the day. He gets so excited when it's time to light the candle in the lantern outside, and he LOVES looking at lights. Except he normally gets focused on a very small strand of lights and that's all that matters. He pretends to name the colors and it's the sweetest thing.

We had an ultrasound for little lady last week because I was measuring 1 week behind. Turns out she's still transverse (laying across instead of head down) and that is probably why i'm a little smaller. Of course I immediately thought of Saisha who was transverse and never turned, so we're praying thatthis little lady gets on turning! Madison is right in the 50th percentile for my due date- weighing in at a whopping 3 lb. 14 oz. The ultrasound tech could see some peach fuzz forming on her head. She said this is just when hair starts to grow, so we'll have to wait and see if she comes out rocking hair like Colter.

Colter is really into his guitar right now. I pretty much have to hide it when anyone comes over because every kid wants to play it. He used to hold the guitar straight up and down when he played, but now he's figured out the right way to hold it. He's always asking for "next song" or says "play a song." He really loves Christmas carols, but also likes a little ba ba black sheep and wheels on the bus. Sometimes he gets the urge to clap and he'll bend his knees, hunch over his guitar to keep it straight and then clap his hands really soft.

When Ben's parents were visiting, one night after putting Colter to bed we heard banging on a door upstairs. We bolted upstairs and found Colter had escaped from his crib. We lowered the mattress to the lowest level and he escaped again the next day during naptime- this time not as graceful. We took out the bumper and he hasn't gotten out sense. For a minute there I thought we'd have to transition him to a big boy bed before Madison arrived!

Ben did an awesome job with our lights this year. Every year we add a little bit more and start to come up with more and more ideas. I think we're Grizzwolds in training.

Maternity pics

Our friends from community group took some pictures of our family before baby Madison makes her big debut in a couple months. So special to have pictures to document this sweet time as a family of three.

Gigi and Grandpa visit

It had been a while since Gigi and Grandpa were up for a visit since they just got back from an almost two month amazing European adventure! It was so fun for us to have them see how much Colter has changed in just a few short months! Our visit was full of fun adventures and it was a huge blessing for me to be able to get out on my own a few times and get some much needed errands done! Thanks for the visit Gigi and Grandpa Crowl!

Here are some of our fun times together:

Ben's grandpa made Colter this awesome dump truck totally out of wood. Colter loves filling it up with all sorts of cars and animals. Ben's parents also brought up Ben's conductor hat from when he was older and Colter immediately fell in love with it... although it seems he associates it more with playing guitar.. a railroad riding guitar man perhaps?

Gigi and Grandpa got to attend one of Madison's appointments, but before hand we went to check out the gingerbread houses at the Sheraton. This year was probably my favorite! The theme was "Once upon a time" and it featured a ton of disney movies that I love.

We have a running joke that it always snows when Mary & Greg come up to visit.. because it really almost always does! No luck this time (I even bought a sled at Costco)- but it was cold!! All the more reason to warm up with some cocoa!

 Colter has a mild obsession- ok, mild really isn't the right word. A CRAZY obession with cranes. Mary & Greg spotted this one in action one day and took Colter to it. It was such a fantastic experience! The crane went right over our heads and we saw it lift up an entire dumpster and load it onto a flat bed truck. I don't know who was more impressed- me or Colter!

                                             

Mary & Greg also got to sit in on one of Colter's swim lessons. By the look on his face, you'd think he knew it was the day we were going to practice going under water. He did surpsingly SO well.. no tears, choking, etc. I was over the top enthusiastic so he would come up rubbing his eyes to me yelling "GREAT JOB BUDDY!!" and he would reply between wiping his eyes "good job buddy." He has really enjoyed our time in the water.. who will he take after? Sailing papa or synchronized swimming mama? haha.. hopefully papa!

There was also some down time that included looking at the lights outside, going for walks to the park, playing lots of trains, and spotting goldbug in Colter's favorite Richard Scarry book.

Colter got an early Christmas when he got to open some presents! He definitely got the hang of ripping paper and loved everything he got!

A new choo choo train complete with two guys that fit inside.

A puzzle with his name. He's already totally into naming letters (He usually says CO2) when you ask him to spell his name. Hopefully this will help even more!

A new truck that loads up cars. Super fun.

Thanks again for spending time up here loving on our man!

The tree hunt adventure 2012

Our loyal tree farm went out of business this year, so we had to find a new place to go for tree fun. We randomly got 3 recommendations to the same place out in North Bend, so we figured it had to be a good one! We had a blast with the Grants on the tractor ride, meeting Santa, eating cookies (that were conveniently placed right when you walk in at kid eye level), and of course, finding the perfect Christmas tree. Although quite a bit pricier than our other one, it was such a great experience.

Turkey day!

We have so much to be thankful for this year. Our growing family, overall good health, Ben's stable job, amazing community of friends, all of my siblings now living in one place, a church that loves Jesus tremendously, and living in a place that is absolutely fantastic.

Our thanksgiving morning was surprisingly rainless, so we headed to greenlake with family for a stroll around. Gotta love Colter's turkey hat!

We put Colter down for a nap over at Jessie's, and spent the early afternoon relaxing and watching the Macy's parade.

Dinner included the McIntires (our neighbors) and my brother and Kelsey! SO fun to have them in town this year. The food was amazing- from the spicy artichoke dip in wonton wrapper appetizers, to the creole stuffing.. I just couldn't get enough! Well, Madison did and certainly let me know at the end of the night when I drank a glass of water and thought she might come right through my belly button.

It's so fun to see our families growing bigger and bigger by the year. This was the first year that the kids outnumbered the adults! This is what we think of that!

Definitely a special day to remember!