All about the Do

I'm sure this is true with a lot of kids, but Kades hair has grown so unevenly that we finally decided to get a real hair cut. It's pretty funny how into hair and hair products he has been. When I'm getting ready it a good chance that Kade will be sitting in the bathroom with me just taking it all in. He LOVES the hair dryer and hair straightener to be specific. So when we got to the Salon to have cousin Abby cut his hair, he was in heaven!

Thank you Maurine!!

Thought we'd give Dad a new do

The other morning Cole and I had some Nirvana on and Kade started head banging to the beat and we both started laughing so hard. I thought that it was pretty odd considering I can't remember Cole or I really head banging too much to where he would catch on. I finally realized after him doing it multiple times that after I get out of the shower and brush my hair I 'head bang' to shake my hair out a bit, and he's been taking notes. My little copy cat :)

We'll see how long this new phase lasts but usually he's already over it and onto the next. This one might be around for a while.

Happy Halloween Ya'll

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, but I do think it's fun to dress up. Last minute I went to the Spook Store to see if I couldn't find something perfect for our little guy. Sure enough I found The costume for our partner.

HOWDY COWBOY!!

haha This is how our always sweet and always happy baby started out Halloween at daycare. He was REALLY excited about everyone dressing up..... as you can obviously tell ;)

Some kisses from mom usually can do it :)

My boys

Some of the daycare crowd all dressed up :)

Cousin Lawsen.... Seriously..... Look at those eyes!

Got over to Auntie Juju's and Uncle Piss' place and went straight over to the neighbors dome and did NOT want to leave!

I was practically forcing this kid to eat candy.... Really didn't get it or care! I'm sure that will change with the years!

All the boys :)

Had to make a stop and Nanny and Papa's and cousin Stelli was there visiting! Perfect timing :) Papa of course was at work :(

Then to the Maassen's and we found a toy gun that was pretty interesting. Kade's in such a stage of mocking and really has it mastered. It's so fun to see him soak everything up and take in every little detail. He's growing up so fast :(

After this stop my camera died..... of course! But we then went to Papa and Memi's house got the whole family there and the boys got to play a bit longer together. Our last stop of the night was of course the Loefflers..... Seems to always be the last stop but it was perfect. We sat around the fire in the backyard and chit chatted till the wee hours of the night.

So excited! Mama made orange chocolate chip cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles! haha He even got to bring them as treats to daycare..... a definite hit! :) Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

Stoney Ridge

That time of year again, and the annual trip to Stoney Ridge was a must. This year we decided we'd go as a family and my mom insisted she would come because now she has a grandchild to go with :) The week we went was VERY wet however we ended up getting a perfect window of time rain free! One problem..... all of the sawdust they had spread out everywhere soaked up all the rain and that was a MESS!

We did feel a little rushed because Cole had drives that day, so we hustled to make sure we got to do the main things with all 4 of us and then my mom Kade and I hung around and relaxed a bit after that.

I feel like this year they decorated and had so many more cute little areas that I loved! Talk about the perfect place for family photos.... might be something I'll ask them next year :)

As a parent, it's the best to watch your child grow and learn new things. Bath time seems to be our best 'learning' time and have know several animals and what the say for a while now. Kade's favorite whats a           say is the cow and mooooooo. The kid was killin' me because 100% of the time he will always get it right but when we get to Stoney Ridge.... Not havin' it! Every animal said moo whether it be the chickens, the horses, goats etc. Cole and I got pretty determined to find a cow for him and we finally did and then it did not say moo. haha Oh well, when you want then to perform they don't.

Some of my favorite people :)

Yes.... This mama got her hinney into that little car! If Kade wasn't so excited and 'vroom vrooming' at the car I wouldn't have even thought about it. Hard to say no when he's so excited :)

The Loefflers and Kettle Corn!!!! Tom and Bert had a little stand right inside and made sure we didn't leave without saying hi and grabbing some delicious kettle corn.

A reason for the season

This time of year takes my love of hosting and cooking to a whole different level. Something about wanting to be warm and cozy with loved ones just sounds really good.

I invited my grandparents, parents, siblings and the Pugh family over to our place for dinner on the 26th just because it's been a while since we've seen the Pugh's. We've been really close family friends for about 20 years now and the last couple years have just gotten really busy, so I decided now was as good a time as any.

I cooked up stuffed peppers, roasted potatoes, caesar salad and amazing garlic bread. I wish I could take the credit for the recipe I got for the garlic bread but I can't and even better it's super easy--it's one of my favorite things I make! I also made sure to get my favorite red wine considering I can never finish a bottle myself (I probably could but never would...) Rosenblum Cellars Vintners Cuvee Zinfandel. You red wine lovers out there.... PLEASE try it! I have only been able to find it at Food Pavilion here in town and it's very well priced I think like $11.

Rudy and Anna couldn't make it due to work schedules but the rest of the clan made it and our house filled up! :)

Nanny and Papa. My papa got to our house first and seemed a little out of sorts from a long day so I offered him the remote, recliner, and a glass of red. He passed of everything but the wine and said I'm enjoying watching you work! haha Such a smartass but I can't help but love everything about that man.

Our little guy is such a ham when there's a crowd. He's gotten into the idea that say HI is the first thing you do when you see someone you know haha or don't know. I love guessing what he's going to do or say these days. So much personality and ridiculously cute!

The parents

Such good friends for the better part of my life. A lot has happened and even though we don't get together as much as we used to it doesn't feel like any time has passed.

Okay well even though Cole and I weren't really paying attention this was the best one of everyone else.

Ignore my mess of a kitchen in the background but my mom was just so excited about going somewhere else for dinner and having someone take care of her. Love this time of year.

Honeymooners :)

While deciding where we wanted to go for our honeymoon Cole and I both wanted sun and not to far away. We started looking into Hawaii and Mexico and found several places that looked amazing and somehow got to Fiji. Real close! Chuck and Leslie have a time share and way to generously offered us some 'time'. We figured when would we, now that we've started our family, ever for one feel okay with spending the money and two get to take that time to get away again! Our parents were beyond amazing with taking our little guy and that put us at ease because we knew he would be in great hands. So Fiji it was and really I was so excited and really looking forward to getting away, but the closer it got the more anxious I got. I finally decided that we were going to need some good alone/family time to put myself a little more at ease. I booked a camping spot at the Chelan City Park and when Frank and Joy Mansfield found out we were going camping they offered up their motorhome for us! SO cool!

They day after our wedding we packed it up and got on the road..... with the one and only Cruiser as an addition :) His Nana and Papa were camping that same week so we got to play matching games for the whole 5 hours. haha Actually fun and surprisingly hard. I started out letting him win and realized he kicked my butt and definitely decided to up my game!

My very trustworthy Captains. Crew wouldn't stop bothering us about getting to sit in the front seat so for 5 minutes of the trip I finally gave in. haha It was pretty cute how excited he was to be like Uncle Cole.

My and my Kader in the back. We started traveling really late so I broke the rules a bit. I can't stand it when they fall asleep in the carseats and their necks look completely kinked and if it's a quick trip from Bellingham, it's a different story but for 4 hours? I was his seat belt. 

Crew on the other hand I made wear a seat belt. Not only because I'm not his mama to be making those decisions but because it was set up perfectly for him.

Goodness I can never get sick of this face! He's got my heart for keeps!

Well we ended up spending a lot of time with our Cruiser :) The ride there went really smoothly and we ended up having a lot of fun. It was pretty cute when we would get to the 'beach' he would come running over to us screaming and making sure we got in the lake ASAP! We made sure to do a walk every morning to go see Crew--If we didn't we would hear about it :)

Kade loved the motorhome and we did as well! Just being able to make sure he got his naps in and having the quiet space was a life saver! Chelan was exactly what I needed with my boys. Camping with little ones is no easy task and being so close to the water we really had to have our eagle eyes on! Needless to say, I was really excited about peace and quiet on a beautiful beach.

And so we were off to travel half way across the world! Dropping off Kade at Chuck and Leslie's I balled like a little baby and I don't know how many hugs I got from Chuckie telling me it's going to be okay, I got into our car and had Cole and Tom (Tom took the car home from the airport) laughing at me. After we got on the road a little bit I started getting back to myself a bit around Marysville. The craziness of the airport and the nightmare of my traveling *I'll spare you the details but it was HORRIBLE!* actually acted as a blessing in disguise. I was so frustrated with what was going on that I hardly thought about missing Kade too much. Yeah that bad. haha I can laugh now.

VERY big plane :) Made me feel safer for some reason even though the saying is the bigger they are the harder they fall. I'm not the best flyer....

This is what the next day after travelling looked a lot like considering I got ZERO minutes of sleep on the plane.

I can't deny my love for the sun and Fiji gave me a lot of it!

Cole and I caught a lot more sunrises than sunsets. I think it probably took us about 4 days to really get on Fiji time. It was weird because minus a day difference we were only 5 hours off time wise. Just enough to throw a bit of a wrench.  

A little Fijian dancing for your pleasure. It was so incredibly hot to be in direct sunlight and they were sweating bullets! Surprisingly they LOVED all of their tourists. Such amazing and genuinely kind people there and when we told them we had a little one at home they made sure to get every detail about Kade :) Almost made missing him worse!

We got away for a REALLY nice dinner about a mile down 'our' beach and the restaurant was beautiful. I was so excited to try their cuisine in general being a food lover and we were both so disappointed at most places! It was awful however, this dinner was AMAZING! 

So handsome, Cole Carl :)

We met some of the most awesome people and hung out a lot of the second half of our vacation. Craig, Kat and Jessi Pike from Australia. Craig, the total bser, gave me so much crap on a daily basis because of how us Americans talk. It was hilarious because he made me sound southern.... Hardly the case! Jessi made sure to give me lots of kisses when I said I missed Kade -- it was often.

Fiji was pure paradise and I was so happy that we decided to spend our honeymoon there. The time travel was worth it in the end and just to be able to say we've been there is awesome. Only bad part now is that I want to go back SO badly. Cole and I got to spend a lot of very nice quality quiet time between the two of us and of course enjoyed our romantic time with no Kader interruptions. We have a vacation in the books with the Pikes already and this time we're bringing them our way to Hawaii and I'm so excited to introduce Jessi and Kade!

The most perfect day I never dreamed of

Now I never was the girl to dream of my wedding day or my Prince Charming. I usually was busy getting into trouble, getting dirty, playing with the boys and that usually enjoyed a ball of some sort. Never would I be described as girly and usually more of a tomboy. I hated having my hair curled or teased, wearing frilly 'stupid' dresses or ever wearing make-up. Funny how times change! I still love my sports don't get me wrong and don't usually wear too much make-up still however, ever since Cole and I came back into each others lives I had been dreaming of August 20, 2011 ever since till it finally came! There have been some awesome people in my life and this isn't meant to play them down at all but I really do believe that there is a certain chemistry between people that you can't deny, and Cole and I have that. I count my blessings everyday that we found each other when we did.

The day was so beautiful in an otherwise really crummy summer and all of our families and closest friends were there to help celebrate our special day with us. I had been so calm planning and prepping, in my opinion busy being a mom, and still was the morning of. I stayed the night at my parents house with a few of my girls.... Felt like old times! I woke up knowing it was our wedding day however I don't think it really hit till my sister, Emma, and I got in the car and drove into Bellingham to get our make-up done; one of my favorite parts of the day! We talked a lot, not too out of the ordinary, but cried tears of joy. I think it was really good for me to be able to feel so comfortable and get it out then instead of in front of 250 people!

Make-up was finished, hair perfected, and I decided I wanted to go barefoot and fancy free so the last little bit was the dress. I loved the dress when we picked it out at Alicia's but when I put it on with all my t's crossed and i's dotted it was perfect and I felt like I was on cloud nine.

When we arrived to the condo to finish getting ready, I think it really started to hit me and it felt like a million butterflies were set free in my tummy! I went through waves of happy tears and painful laughter. Abby literally did my hair in 10 minutes *insanely talented* and it was exactly what I had imagined. I can be super picky and usually I can pick something out that just isn't right but on that day everything was perfect. I remember thinking I was going to just not be my normal OCD self and focus more on the laid back side but I never had to. haha

Cole laughed at the pictures later because I was walking around in my underwear and tank top... yes braless. I swear it's the most comfortable thing to me and is often how I am in the privacy of our own home. I did later put on my 'bride' robe for most of the pictures. :)

The first look..... There's something about a man shedding a tear that is so endearing. I'm not going to lie, I was an emotional wreck for this part as well. There has just been so many different obstacles that we have been faced with and have always come out stronger and this moment was just an amazing victory. Definitely found the man of my dreams.

My studly boys. While most of the guys have been childhood friends or family to Cole I have come to love all of them just as much. One of my favorite things about Cole and I is that I feel like we genuinely share every aspect of our lives.

The Price family photo. Wouldn't be normal if we didn't have some funny faces going on (I'm talking about Brody and Crew)

My girls. While they might not all be family technically they sure feel like it. I searched and searched and searched for a decently priced dress and found these. I fell completely in love with them and in my opinion some of the best bridesmaid dresses out there..... $69!!! Beat that! The dresses were beautiful and my girls for sure rocked them.

The Van Ry family photo. Alls I got to say is that I love my family and even though I'm no longer a 'Van Ry' I'll always claim them :)

As parents you are totally biased towards your own children. So dang adorable and NO the didn't make it all the way down the isle, but I loved it even more.  Our little flower girl Almira who seriously couldn't have been any cuter and my main little man Kade Charles Price!

We were so honored and privileged to have our good friend Steve Loeffler sing at our wedding. We are at their house often and it's always a treat when he pulls out his guitar and we get to do a sing along but this was extra special. The man is incredibly talented!

Oh yeah baby! Why is it that you can kiss multiple times every single day and then be SO nervous for The Kiss. Neither one of us is a big PDA type person so that could be why but even so.... nerve racking!

SO incredibly happy. There is something to be said of saying your vows and professing your love in front of God, family and friends. When our Pastor Randy Pries announced us as Mr. and Mrs. Cole Price there was no way to wipe that cheesy smile off my face! 

The flowers were so gorgeous and I owe all the creative control and design to the one and only Lori Tenkley at Blossom's downtown Lynden. Lori's been a close family friend for a long time and when it came to my wedding there was no doubt who I wanted. Not only is she an amazing individual but she is incredibly hard working and efficient!

My family officially as one! :)

Most of the day was spent with the emotional wave of pure happiness and this was no exception but not in tears. We just laughed and 'BSed' the whole time. Reiterating over and over how happy we were and how that day couldn't have been any better.

Party on Garth!.......Party on Wayne!

No there is never any competitive edge in our family....ever! :) Go Jean GO! haha

Oh Chili Bean! I love you....

haha I'm sure I'm trying to tell him not to pull a Brittney!

Ol' Unit.... You're next?! Yeah right... haha

Such a beautiful day full of amazing people and such a strong and unveiling love. There is not one thing that I could have ask more of and am going to be forever thankful for everyone who was involved in the planning and decorating. You only get one special day and we did it exactly right.