But, before we start in with the stories of all of our family visitors... we mustn't forget the major house project we undertook... Replacing our floors! Now that the kids are crawling up a storm, we couldn't bear to have them crawling on worn out carpet (ok, so really, our carpet had been pretty much ruined by our dogs - it had to go!)... SO, we decided to rip out all of our flooring and replace it with wood laminate flooring. Andrew and I picked out a nice cherry flooring at the local flooring store and Andrew got to work. The kids and I stayed at Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Wayne's during "construction" (THANK YOU Mom and Dad for opening your home to us for so long and for letting Cody, Callie and I take over your house, your bedroom, and for all those nights you stayed up with the kids and let me sleep!) Andrew took a week off work to dedicate to the task at hand ; A task it was indeed. Turns out we have a lot of furniture in this little rambler of ours and a lot of baby "junk" that made the job 100 times harder for Andrew. But, I can happily say that the floors look fantastic and the kids have a nice clean surface on which to explore. Here is a pic of Cody punchlisting the installation by his father, in his Husky Jersey, of course! And Andrew teaching Cody the value of DIY Projects! Priceless! I am THANKFUL for a husband who perseveres thru tough house projects, even when his wife nags at him, constantly :)
So, back to giving THANKS to our family...
The beginning of November brought a visit from Grandma Lauren and Grandpa Don! Oh how excited we were to have them visit and see how much the kids had grown from the B&K wedding in September and how much C&C are on the move. Don and Lauren stayed at a lovely cottage in Bellevue, over looking Lake Washington. Cody and Callie loved playing there and looking out the front window to the lake. During their stay we visited Molbaks in Woodinville. Molbaks, for those that don't know, has the most wonderful Holiday displays at this time of year and I was anxious to show Don and Lauren. We had a terrific lunch there, found the most delicious apples I have ever tasted (Ice Apples from Wentachee - apparently, they are picked after the first freeze and have the sweetest, most crisp taste I have ever tasted!), and toured all the decorations and Poinsettias. We even stopped for a family photo in front of the poinsettia tree Molbaks constructs every year.
We also ventured to Snohomish to check out their new farmers market and have some lunch. It was the first weekend of the farmers market which is housed in two buildings which were previously antique malls. We found two cool mobiles for the nursery - one is an airplane mobile and the other a hot air balloon. The kids really love them and they are especially handy when we are trying to change diapers and need a good distraction for these wiggle worms. Kind of off the subject, but it is seriously a miracle these days if I can get a diaper on these two babies... they are intent upon flipping, sitting up, bouncing, turning, kicking, hitting, whatever it takes so they don't have to wear a diaper... ok, where was I... oh ya, Snohomish... so after lunch, we were headed home and noticed a rug store... since we now had no carpet we needed some area rugs. Jackpot! We found 5, yes 5, rugs that we loved! The owner was super nice and let us take all 5 home to try out before we bought. Of course, my absolute favorite is our living room rug... it just goes perfectly with our furniture. But I guess anything is better than the blankets we had thrown down to protect the little noggins of Cody and Callie! Special thanks to Grandma Lauren for having such a great eye for decorating. She really helped to pick out just the right mix of rugs, colors, shapes and sizes. It is always so nice to have a second opinion on such things!!! We were sad to see Don and Lauren go... but knew that we would see them at Christmas for sure! We are very THANKFUL for Grandpa Don and Grandma Lauren!
On November 13th a very special boy entered the world at 4:19am, Samuel Nainoa Wilhelmsen, to Kiera and Kraig Wilhelmsen. I was so thrilled to be able to visit them in the hospital, just hours after Kiera gave birth. Kiera is such a strong woman and she and Kraig are very proud parents. Welcome to the world Sam!
A few days after Don and Lauren's visit, Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Wayne, Cody, Callie and I all packed in Grandpa's GMC and headed to Coeur D Alene to visit our dear friend Sam Norton. Grandpa Wayne needed to assist Sam with some paperwork, so we decided we would all make a trip so Sam could meet the babies. What a quick trip... we left around 7am, drove to Moses Lake for lunch at Burger King, got the kids their signature Burger King crowns, changed diapers, and continued on our way to CdA. The kids slept most of the way there and did very well in the car. I have to say, these two babies are good travelers thus far. I was sad to pass thru Spokane without stopping but was happy to see the campus from the freeway. I miss Spokane! We arrived to Sam's apartment around noonish. Sam was so thrilled to have visitors and even more excited to meet Cody and Callie.
While Grandpa and Sam took care of "business", Grandma, Cody, Callie and I went to the Coeur D Alene Hotel for a drink and bottles for the babies. We hung out in the lobby area which was perfect for the babies to explore. I am sure it wasn't the cleanest idea I have ever had, but they had fun and that is what mattered...
Boy, have I missed Coeur D Alene. It is where my Dad grew up... So many great memories spent there. I wish we could have stayed longer, but instead we took Sam home and then headed back the five hour drive to Sammamish that night. It was a long day/night indeed, but a very worthwhile trip! We are very THANKFUL for Sam and I am THANKFUL the babies travelled so well!
Cody and Callie got to meet two other special family members, cousin Clint and Uncle Jim (C&C's Great Grandpa Crow's brother)... Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Wayne took Cody and Callie up to Mukilteo to visit Clint and Jim. They had such a special time up there. Clint is an old pro at entertaining kids and Uncle Jim was so happy to meet them. We are very THANKFUL for Clint and Jim!
The end of the month brought our family out from Pennsylvania, Uncle Eddie, Aunt Janise, Cousins Sarah and Cameron! I hadn't seen Janise nor Cameron since Andrew and my wedding in '08. I was very grateful that since I am no longer working full time, I was able to spend much needed time with the family! I just have to say that I love when all the Crows get together. It is no exaggeration that this family loves each other and loves FOOD! More than just eating it, the Crows love to cook it! The newest chef in the family is cousin Sarah... her cooking skills simply amaze me... In anycase, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner together... Aunt Anne and Aunt Susan came up from Shelton, Uncle Jim and Clint from Mukilteo, Dick and Melody also joined us... It was a full house for sure. Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Wayne really did a fantastic job hosting... Here is our family picture:
Sarah and Cameron were so great with the babies. I honestly don't recall changing diapers, feeding them, playing with the babies, etc... Sarah and Cam took care of everything. Sure wish they lived closer to us - they would be the perfect babysitters! They also made sure that Cody and Callie would wear the appropriate team colors and brought Penn State jersey and cheerleading outfits for the kids... so cute... Here are some pics:
We are all so grateful for our wonderful family and even though we don't get to see each other as often as we would like, I truly appreciate the efforts made to come to see us! When we are all together there is no shortage of love, smiles and great memories.
So, on to the updated Cody and Callie "stats" for the month...
The babies turned ten months old and their favorite past time is to steal each others pacifiers...
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| Here Callie has the paci... |
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| Here is the swipe and grab by Cody... |
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| Cody, proud owner of stolen paci... |
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| Cody taunting Callie rubbing it in that he stole her paci! |
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| Callie retaliating and swiping the paci back into her possession. |
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| Regardless of who ends up with the paci, they are still happy little cherubs! |
Cody: plays peek-a-boo with his washcloth in his high chair; laughs and giggles when you tickle his collar bone, loves to do flips and rolls at gym and at home, sleeps in EVERY car ride no matter how long the drive, loves his horse jumperoo, blows raspberries and is very vocal. Since he is now on the move, he is a new person. His personality is really blossoming... he is less frustrated and certainly less fussy... long over are the days when he would cry and cry and cry... he is now smily, happy, and adventurous.
Callie: is able to walk along furniture, pull to a stand and sit back down, she can crawl up stairs, loves to go to gym, laughs when you tickle under her arms, waves and smiles at stangers, most notably she smiles pretty much all of the time. Everyone always comments what a smily happy girl she is. Such a charmer. When we are at gym, Callie is very independent... during separation play, she rarely looks to see if I am there. She keeps Cody in her sights and that seems to be all she needs. I am sure that in time this will change.
These two munchkins make us so proud. They have come so far from the NICU days and as I reflect on the past 10 months, I am so thankful for the journey. I am thankful for my husband, these two miracles, our extremely supportive family and friends, and for the ability to stay home and experience the joys and challenges of motherhood. We are truly blessed and I am THANKFUL!
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