Look who's 1 today!

This time last year we were just being introduced to Megan Olivia Washburn. It's amazing that she has been a part of our family for a full year now! I can't imagine our family without her in it. She is such a sweet, funny little girl. She is so loving, always giving us hugs and kisses. She absolutely adores Ally and Drew (and they adore her). Her face completely lights up whenever they come in the room. Megan is very observant and seems to love learning already. I love seeing what new things she's learned each day. She is already trying to do a lot of talking, saying, "Mama," "Dada," "Aaee" (Ally), "Doo" (Drew), "Dasey" (Casey), "ba" (ball or balloon-depending on what she's looking at), "bir" (bird), "tar" (star), and just yesterday, "anta" (Santa). I know that she'll continue growing and learning so many new things. This past year has flown by and been so memorable. In some ways I wish I could slow Megan's growth down, but in the same hand, I love watching her grow. We are trying to enjoy and savor each stage as they come. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for our baby girl! Enjoy the pictures from Megan's first year.

Megan Olivia Washburn-just a few minutes old. I love the footprints next to her.

One week old-not long after she had come home from the hospital

1 month old

2 months old-her personality is starting to shine through

3 months old-showing her Tarheel pride

4 month old-Megan smiles all the time. She is the happiest baby ever!

5 months old

5 1/2 months old-I really liked this picture.

6 months old on her first beach trip with the Washburn family

7 months old on her second beach trip with the Spragins family

8 months old

9 months old-still smiling

10 months old-the expression says it all!

11 months old-in the woods trying to keep up with her big brother

1 year old

Happy birthday Megan! We love you so much!

Rewind to Halloween...

I realized that I had never put on pictures from Halloween. The time just got away from me. I'll do a couple of posts about our exciting, fun-filled Halloween weekend!

It started off on Friday morning. Ally's school had a costume parade and party. They had a great time!

Ally and Ellie, her good friend, in the parade.

Playing Pin the Eyeball on the Monster-Ally got bull's eye!

With a few girls in her class before they wrapped each other like mummies with toilet paper.

We carved a lot of pumpkins that night! Ally actually carved most of them herself this year!

On Saturday morning, the Lions had a Family Halloween party at the complex for all of the kids. The kids got donuts while we waited for practice to finish. Then they had a parade through the players followed by trick-or-treating from the players. The kids loved it and really racked up on the candy!

Waiting in the cafeteria for the fun to start. Drew was a t-rex, Megan was a chick, and Ally was a snow-woman.

Drew and Christian Schwartz-Megan would cry every time she saw Christian with that mask on!

Allison, Megan, and Ally waiting for practice to finish.

Parading through the players. The players were cheering for the kids while they walked through. Luckily Ally carried Megan so I could just watch.

All of the kids after the parade. Allison was holding Megan while Ally was holding Savannah Loper.

Trick-or-treating to our favorite group-the o-line!

Ally thought it was funny (and so did the other players) that Louis Delmas got in front of her on his knees with a bag to trick-or-treat too. She talked about this for a long time!

Checking out their loot.

After the party, we headed home for a soccer game and then to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood. What a fun morning!

Trick-or-treat

We had a fun night trick-or-treating. It was pretty cold, but luckily the kids had warm costumes!

Megan crawled over and picked up the basket to let us know it was time to head out!

Sitting on the porch ready to go!

Drew with his pumpkin-the ghost

Megan was checking out her pumpkin. Ally designed and carved it. She even added freckles!

Ally and her cat pumpkin-she carved most of it herself!

Ready to head out. We had made a pumpkin in the window too.

We saw a bunch of our friends from the neighborhood when we left, so the kids were excited to trick-or-treat with their friends. Drew loved being able to run as fast as he could from one house to another! Ally took her time with her friends.

Jeremiah was with us for some of the time. We were glad the Lions had a home game that weekend!

All of their loot on the counter. They definitely got the most candy they've ever gotten this year (which is way too much!). They were very excited though. We are sending a lot of the candy to soldiers to use overseas.

Hmmm, I wonder which one would taste better. The wrapper is kind of yucky though!

We had a wonderful Halloween! We're looking forward to Thanksgiving next week (and having Nana and Jessica here!)!

Where have these past 5 years gone?

When your child has a birthday, it's inevitable that you'll wonder where the time has gone. Drew has been such a blessing to our family for the past 5 years. He knows just what to do to make us laugh. He gives the best hugs and kisses. If you want to know anything about dinosaurs, sharks, or whales, he's your guy! Drew has such a kind heart for others. Happy 5th birthday Drew!

only a few hours old on November 18, 2004

Drew at 1 year old

Drew the 2 year old

3 years old

4 years old

Our big 5 year old. How time flies!

It's Pumpkin Time!

Last weekend I took the kids to a local pumpkin patch. We had a great time, although it was quite cold. We also missed Daddy, who was on his way to Green Bay. Our morning was filled with a hayride, pumpkin patch, playground, and apple cider and donuts. This was a fun way to get into the "fall spirit!"

We went on a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. The kids loved this!

Ally took this picture. She did a nice job getting all of our faces.

When we got to the farm, it was 38 degrees. We're not used to those temperatures in October!

Drew loved the hayride! He said it was one of his favorite parts of the day.

The field of pumpkins was huge! Of course we had to go to all corners in search of the "perfect pumpkins!"

They were ready to find their pumpkins.

Megan enjoyed standing in the pumpkin patch!

Such a strong girl! Showing off those muscles!

I liked this picture because you can see her smiling eyes.

Drew and Ally with Drew's pumpkin

Isn't this pumpkin huge!?! It was a real one, from near Toledo. Fortunately ours aren't quite that big!

Ally thought this hay bale was really neat.

Ally was "teaching" Drew how to milk a cow.

Can you spot the clue that shows that we're not in the south? The farm had a fabulous playground. The kids would have stayed there all day long if it hadn't been 40 degrees!

The view from the playground out to the pumpkin fields.

Evidently no trip to the pumpkin patch (or anywhere else for that matter) in Michigan is complete without fresh apple cider and spiced donuts! The kids love this!

What would a visit to a farm be without farm animals?!

Feeding the goats was another of Drew's highlights of the day!

The kids with our pumpkins

We had a fun day and now have lots of pumpkins to carve. Looks like we'd better sharpen the knives and get to work soon! Halloween is just around the corner...