Comfy lap + Cool phone =

Comfy lap +

Cool phone =

You're welcome over any time Chad =)

5 months: It's a...

BABY! No, we didn't find out the gender and our ultrasound technician did a great job of zooming in so much that we didn't have a chance to accidentally find out either. So...we have NO idea!! All appendages were accounted for along with a healthy looking heart! Here's the latest pictures of Cocalynn!

Nicely developed skull (hopefully not a sign of a hard-headed little one! haha)

A good-sized foot!!

Mr. Mom

We've been very blessed that Chris's employer, Pathways, has been so supportive of their employers being with their family as much as possible. Chris is one of two employees that have been able to bring their children to work and adjust their schedule as needed to meet the needs of their children. Each school year has looked a little different, but this year Chris is home with Willow Mondays and Fridays and doesn't start working until her nap time, which allows them to have quality Dada-Willow time in the mornings. Chris has always been a hands-on father, taking an active role in caring for Willow. It's fun to come home and see the projects that Chris has come up with for them to do together based on her interests. He always knows just the right ways to challenge her. One day, to work on shapes, he'd made his own construction paper puzzle with shapes. He "hid" the shapes around her playroom, then she'd go find them and put them on the appropriate outlined shape on the "puzzle." He also made a file-folder stage necklace for her to use with her fingerpuppets as well as other fun projects out of our recycle bin materials. Chris even gets the holidays worked in to his art projects for her (see below). Clearly Chris is a super Mr. Mom and is such a blessing to our family! We love you Dada!

Did I mention he's an artist, too?

Letting Mama know she's not forgotten....

Fun Bus

The "Fun Bus" comes to Willow's school on Tuesdays for children who opt to participate. She always seems super excited about Tuesdays for that exact reason. We've wondered how much she actually participates since she can go either way in new situations - either sitting back to watch and take it all in, or joining right in with the other crazy kids. I think they caught on to our nervousness about how much she was participating after Nana went to watch her when she was in town recently and Willow just sat and watched. They took these pictures for us to reassure us that she really does have a great time!

Not quite ready for this one yet...

"I Am So Glad That Jesus Loves Me"

Around the House

Here's what Willow's been up to lately...

Sorting 52 cards... Can you say "Type A?"

I wouldn't say that Willow "sat still" per se, but she did allow me to braid her hair for the first time:

Silly face!!

Helping Mommy make apple muffins:

Helping wash dishes too, of course:

And just hanging out together as a family...

Happy Halloween!

Willow hasn't been very "in" to getting dressed up - she's not even interested in putting on the tutus they have at the Children's Museum. We had ladybug and fairy costumes from last year that could still fit, plus we were given a jack-o-lantern costume so we figured we had enough options. I think they read enough books about Halloween at school that she'd figured out the benefit to dressing up and going trick-or-treating. We had a group of friends from church going together in a different neighborhood (key detail) so we thought some peer pressure might get her motivated too =) After seeing her friends getting in their costumes, Willow didn't put up a fight when we went to put on her jack-o-lantern costume.

Here's the crew ready to go!

Unfortunately, though, as we were all getting ready to go, it started raining. Luckily the more prepared parents had umbrellas, raincoats, and wagons so Willow got to ride in Ella's wagon between houses. It didn't necessarily keep her dry, but the girls had fun giggling under the huge umbrella:

Willow really seemed to have a good time in spite of the rain....

...until the 7th house when Chris picked her up and she threw up all over him!!! The very sweet homeowner was very kind and offered to let us come in and get her cleaned up. We decided to end our adventure there and go home to some crackers and water. Willow was very understanding in knowing that her stomach couldn't handle any sugar on the way home, but it was the first thing she asked for when waking up this morning. Maybe her expression in the group picture that we thought was a "Oh my gosh I've never seen so many of my friends running around a house in costumes" look was actually a "I feel really sick" look.