Trick or treat!!

Smell my feet! Give me something good to eat! haha
We had SO much fun on Halloween!! We got to hang out with family, laugh a lot, and eat a ton of candy. What in the world could be better?
The world's prettiest Minnie Mouse...
And sweetest puppy dog. Cade wasn't so sure about it at first. :)

And definitely the scariest bloody soccer player I've ever seen!!

Ella loved giving hugs to the cute puppy. I love Cade's face, Mom, help me! Get her off! :)

Ready to trick or treat!

Last minute touches from Kellie...
What a little doll!

My blessings. :)

Kyle, Kellie, and Payton (Loved spending Halloween with you!)

Heading out!

Hot on the candy trail!

Ella had more and more fun as the night wore on and she got the hang of it. She would wait for Payton to ring the bell, then when someone answered the door, she would run up the driveway, yelling "Trick or treat! Trick or treat!"

What did you get, Ella?!

Cade heading back with Papaw and Mamaw...

Look at this precious face!!

Passing out candy with Momma...

Payton and Kellie checking out the loot...

Ella's first pick- a sucker!

We finished the evening off with candy, hot chocolate, and White Castle!! What a combo!

It was such a great night, and we even managed to get the kids to fall asleep eventually! haha! Ella's already asking if she can go trick or treating again in a few days. Hope yours was just as fun!

Pumpkin time!!

It's been a wonderful week around here! Chris and I had a mini-vacation here at home early in the week. We spent some great time together, getting lots of things done around the house, going shopping, going out to dinner, sleeping in (!) and just enjoying being together. Our parents are the best, willingly taking such good care of our kids and letting us have a few days of peace and quiet. Thanks, Everybody!
I missed my little kiddos though! I was so excited to see them and get things back to normal. Last night, we carved pumpkins. Chris and I enjoyed it; Ella, I'm not so sure. haha!
She started out pretty excited...
But absolutely refused to put her hand in there!

The revulsion eventually gave way to poutiness...

She was excited to see them all finished though!

Here is a close-up. Aren't they spooky?!

I hope everyone is having a great week, and has a fun and safe Halloween! Much love to you all!

E-L-L-A

I'm pretty proud of this little gal. She really impressed me today. She's been learning to write her letters, and can do a lot of them really well. Today, she wrote her name, but that's not the thing that impressed me (she's been doing that for a while), even though that in and of itself is great for a three year old! What impressed me was that I was sitting across from her and Little Miss Smartypants wrote her name upside-down and backwards so I could read it.
She wrote it from right there where she is sitting! I don't know if that's a big deal or not, but this momma sure thought it was!!

I've been trying to keep track of a few of the funny, cute (and some not so cute, but still kind of funny) things she has said to me lately. I always get a kick out of going back and reading these a few months after the fact. Plus, I want to always be able to remember the sweet and creative little girl she is now. So, for your reading pleasure, here is a sample of
Life, according to Ella:
"Being a good mommy means getting me stuff I want at the grocery store."
"Candy makes you healthy when you're sad."
"Lose your attitude, Mommy! That is your special assignment."
"Don't go to work tonight, Mommy! Let your friends take care of all those sick people!"
"Sorry I talked back to you and threw my cup, but you shouldn't have put me in time-out because it really hurt my feelings."
(While eating chicken soup) "Umm, Mommy... I think I'm getting a very warm tummy now."
Me: Ella, do you know where God lives? Ella: God lives inside of me, but Jesus lives in my throat and makes me say nice things to Mommy." (haha! I love this! We're always praying that Jesus will give Ella nice words to say to others, so I guess she thinks he's right there in her throat, telling her what to say!)
"Daddy goes to work all day and night, and it's just all for nothing!" :)

Sunday with the Davidsons

We spent most of the day Sunday hanging out with the Davidsons and had dinner together to celebrate Mark's birthday. We love our family and love family time like this!
Papaw was definitely happy to see his grandkids!

Uncle Kyle and his two favorite stinkers :)
Yea! We were excited to get to see Lindsey at Grandma's!

Kyle, Chris, and Grandpa & Grandma Martin

P Money

Cade was very content to hang out with Kellie. He definitely has a thing for pretty girls! haha Playing ball

Slam dunk!

Love these kiddos! Cade getting some time with Payton.

We tried and tried for a picture of the three of them, but that is so much easier said than done! This is the best one I got!

A little snuggle time with Mamaw before we had to hit the road...
Can't wait till next time! We love you all dearly!

Meeting Laila

We had the best weekend! We got to see, dine, and hang out with both sides of the family (except Carla- we missed you!) in a matter of about 36 hours, then we jumped in the truck and rushed back to Cincy so Chris could be at work first thing this morning. It was a whirlwind of a trip, but we loved it! We traveled to Evansville on Saturday to meet little Laila Faith. She's tiny and beautiful and we love her so much already!
The happy family...
Seeing how little she is made me realize how big Cade already is! I can't believe the difference six short months makes. Isn't she so pretty? She's such a perfect mix of Chad and April.

Holding her for the first time. Ella was so cute and just thrilled. She had talked of little else for two days- "I can't wait to show Baby Laila my...", "Baby Laila is just going to love to see my...", "When Baby Laila gets older, I'm going to teach her to..."

Proud Uncle (and I have to say Hail to Old Purdue! It was a very good day for Chris!)
Ella and her buddy, Carson...

Grammy and her sweet new grandbaby...

Carson trying to figure out what all the fuss over Cade is about. :) He's heard so much about how he and Cade are going to be such big pals, but he's just not seeing it yet! Haha
Cade and his big cousin, Lex...
The grandkids (minus Laila) with Pappaw. This is definitely one of my all-time fave pics!!
All five of our little Lawyer sweeties. Our family has been so blessed!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Now introducing...

The Cutest Kids on Earth!

Aren't they just the sweetest?!

I have the best day job in the world- getting to hang out with these rascals and watch them change and learn and grow. Have I told you lately how lucky of a mommy I am?!

Guess who...

...will soon be sitting up all by himself?!
Look at this little guy! Getting stronger everyday!!
"Look what I can do, Mommy!"

Let me give you a quick update on little Cade (and his little head!)- we saw a neurosurgeon several days ago and things are looking better and better. Cade's head has grown one whole centimeter- not much in the whole realm of things, but the doctor was encouraged by the fact that it is growing. That puts him back in the 1.5% on the growth chart, so yea for that! There was a bunch of medical jargon thrown around about volumetrics and stuff, but to put it simply, according to the CT scan, his head appears to be pretty long from top to bottom. The thought is that possibly his brain cavity is a funny shape, but hopefully average size. We will continue to see the neurosurgeon every couple months so they can plot his growth, and will probably have an MRI done around 12 months, because that is when results can most accurately predict brain development. The doctor was very encouraged by Cade's social skills and muscle tone (seriously, see above!). He discovered he has torticollis ("crooked neck") and we have already been to physical therapy a couple times for that (which let me tell you, the little guy hates! Can't really blame him though, wouldn't want anyone pulling at my neck either!). All in all, we are very encouraged and so thankful for a more positive report. All of these unknowns can create such stress and we couldn't help but let a few happy tears fall when we heard some better news. Once again, thanks so much for remembering sweet Cade in your prayers. It has been amazing and so uplifting to hear from so many of our dear friends and family from all across the country who are praying for him. The Lord has blessed us over and over. We love and appreciate all of you so much!

Shiny pickle :)

Ella came running up to me this morning, holding out her hands, and saying, "Look, Mommy, it's a pickle! I found a shiny pickle!" I had no clue what she was talking about, but she opened her hands and showed me several shiny coins. She held up the nickel and said, "See? It's a shiny pickle!" :) I love her!!

And one more-
On the way home from church Sunday, we were asking Ella what she learned in church class. She told us she learned that God made giraffes and penguins and bugs. :) Then we asked her if they said prayers in class. She thought for a minute, then told on herself, "Well, Miss Jeanie said a prayer, but Ella didn't. Ella didn't close her eyes, because she was too busy reading her Santa book. That wasn't very nice, and she really shouldn't have done that!" :)