Cohen LOVED Halloween!! We put him down from 4-6pm so he'd be able to take part in the festivities and it worked like a charm. Cohen trick or treated for an hour and still wanted to go to more houses. Our neighbors had the best decorations complete with a live Jason from Friday the 13th, except didn't quite have a hockey mask (but he was scary enough). Cohen didn't cry or scream...he starred and starred at him. It was too funny. I tried to put him next to him for a picture and he didn't want any part of that...but again he didn't cry for freak out. Instead, we both sat with him and said cheese. If you click on the slide show and view the pictures in Picasa you will see a video of Cohen at our house (his last stop). Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!!

From Trick or Treat 09

Here are pictures of our progress. I have more pictures but my card reader is dying on me. We are in the last couple months of Phase I. Should be finished by Christmas...cross your fingers. Chris is done with football in a couple weeks, so he'll actually have some time to work. It's not easy to get things done when you leave the house at 6:30am and get home at 7pm (and sometimes later than that). Enjoy

Apparently, craving pumpkins seems more fun than it really is...One 'look see' during the slide show and you will notice, the adults are doing most of the "gutting" and "cleaning." Olivia thought it was dirty "notice the blue gloves" and Ethan just said "no" Cohen on the other hand, enjoyed sampling some raw pumpkin and picking out seeds. But the best part was pretending to scoop out the pumpkin guts when all was said and done. AAhhhh...Happy Halloween!

From craving pumpkins

As I was carrying the baseboards from the family room to the dining room to be painted...I quickly had the undivided attention of Cohen(who was riding his giraffe around the island). Within seconds he was following me signing "please, please" So, I put the kid to work. Come to think of it, I should have had him helping in the first place. He is quite strong for an almost 15 month old. From then on, we slowly co-carried the remaining 4 baseboards to the dining room. Cohen grunted, (probably learned that from daddy) as he picked them up. (so so funny) When we were finished, he was bummed. He sat in the window sill waving his arms and pointing to a stack of nothing (where the boards used to be). Gotta love this kid!

From New Folder (2)

From New Folder (2)

From New Folder (2)

This isn't the first time Cohen has destroyed a box of tissues, but it is the first time I got it on video. Also, it you ever take care of Cohen it's a good idea to shut the bathroom door or else you'll discover the toilet paper bandit!!

Today we traveled an hour east (I think) to enjoy the day in Hood River. It was gorgeous! Beautiful sun, fall colors, great company...what more could you ask for. Cohen took everything in...He is so curious and loves new adventures. After an hour train ride we arrived at the pumpkin patch. They had little pumpkins for all the kids, live music, a hay maze, hay rides, and a bounce house. Cohen even got his first chance at the bounce house. The guys running it were nice enough to clear the house of the big kids and let two little ones in. Although it only lasted a couple minutes~ Cohen left wanting more :) Thanks mom, for an amazing trip!!
ps. If you click on the slide show you can see the pictures in Picasa

Oh my! What a totally awesome place! Grandma hit the nail on head when she booked this week-end last July. The Great Wolf Lodge is like Vegas for kids! You should have seen Parker and Rowan walk into their room for the first time...They were totally amazed they had their own bunk beds that were sectioned off from their parents complete with a TV and video games. What more could you ask for?

Cohen loved running after his cousins, playing in the water (after he got used to it) watching the animated creatures at story time and running after his cousins...did I mention he loved running after his cousins :)