New Bike

Here is Maddeck riding his new bike around the kitchen.

New Jacket

Kyle got me an awesome Patagonia jacket for Christmas! I am super excited to stay warm and DRY in the snow. It is so nice and completely out of our price range normally except that we have good connections (Jordan) for buying sportswear at below wholesale prices. I wore it today and LOVED it.

Happy New Year!

We are finally getting settled after a busy Christmas. Believe it or not I just got all of the new clothes and toys put away. It is hard to find a new place for everything. We have been so blessed this year by everyone's generosity. Maddeck got a brand new red Radio Flyer bike that he has been riding around the house (thanks Grandma Cindi). He also got a bunch of cool games and toys and of course, lots of cars. We spent yesterday evening counting all the new cars and forming a line organized by color and type (which was just as much fun for Mom as it was for Maddeck!). Papa Jim and Mimi got an easel for Maddeck and Evan with a chalk board on one side a dry-erase board and paper on the other. I bought Maddo some paint today because he has been begging to paint with his new paint cups and brushes (thanks Uncle Pete and Auntie Sarah). Thank you everyone for all the thoughtful gifts. Every year with our Christmas money we buy something new for the house (last year we bought an area rug) and put the rest into savings. We are thinking about buying a used treadmill this year. I am surfing craigslist for the perfect one. With two tiny ones it is hard to get out of the house so hopefully we can get in better shape and get healthy with a treadmill.

We hope you all have a great new year. We were supposed to have our friends the Wilkinsons over to spend the night tonight (visiting from Texas) but Maddo has come down with a cold and the rest of us feel like we are right behind him so we decided to cancel. Nothing special besides going to bed early for us this year.

Evan Laughing

Although Evan is still having a hard time sleeping through the night, he is such a happy baby boy. Check out his little giggle.

Bye-bye Broccoli

Maddeck's fish, Broccoli, is no longer with us. Maddo may not notice ... ever. He really hasn't even looked at him since his 2nd Birthday. We flushed him almost two weeks ago and Maddeck hasn't realized he is gone. Fish are pretty boring.

More Snow and Christmas Plans

We are getting more snow at our house today! It has been so cold the snow should stick around until the end of winter. I have more Christmas shopping to do but I don't want to take the boys out in the freezing cold so I think I will need to go in the evening when Kyle is home from work.

We are celebrating Christmas this weekend in Seattle with the Strong family and if the the forecast is right the passes should be decent for traveling. Then on Monday, Aunt Keri and Adam will be visiting our house and touring Leavenworth. Adam is from Texas and we are so excited to show him Christmas in the snow globe we call home. We will be home for Christmas for the first time in our seven year marriage. We are SO excited we aren't sure what we want to spend our time doing. We would love to start some Strong family Christmas traditions of our own. One thing we plan to do is make a birthday cake for Jesus so we can be reminded (and teach the boys) that Christmas isn't about us but about Him, our Lord and Savior, and our God. We will, of course, cook a nice big breakfast after Christmas morning presents. We love breakfast at our house! Pumpkin pancakes and sausage may be our breakfast of champions this Christmas. We will be celebrating Christmas with the Head family on the 26th. We will be having our second annual puzzle war which I am thoroughly looking forward to. Guys vs. girls racing to complete identical puzzles. Last year the girls lost miserably so we are hoping to redeem ourselves this year. Maddeck is looking forward to spending time with his cousins and playing with new toys.

Kyle and I are baking goodies tonight to bring to our fellowship group tomorrow night and to Seattle this weekend. We have narrowed down our recipes and plan to make eggnog cookies and glazed pumpkin cookies. Yuummmm.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!


You can also view our Christmas video by clicking on the link. The quality isn't great but it is too large to email or post on the blog so it will have to do.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=thestrongfam&target=PHOTO&id=5278583146301646834&aid=5278579912977337297&authkey=mL4eTYrgcPc&feat=email

AZ in May

Jesica and Steve are getting married in May and we are so excited. Check out the photos of the Westin La Paloma in Tucson where the wedding weekend will take place. Maddeck is especially excited after seeing pictures of the pool and waterslide. It is going to be great! Who doesn't love destination weddings?

Oh Christmas Tree!

Maddeck said "take a picture of me by the tree"

Kyle, Dad, and I went up in the mountains last Sunday and cut down trees. It was really fun but the fog was pretty thick so it was hard to tell the color of the trees. Some of the trees are pretty dry around here so we kept stopping the truck and climbing out to see how they looked up close. Normally we are tromping through the snow looking for a tree so it was nice to be able to drive up higher in the mountians and stay dry this year without snow.

Maddeck Video

Playing Around Pics

Evan is ready for an exciting trip to run errands.

Love this one of Maddeck's eyes.

We were laughing so hard.

Being silly. So fun.

Walk

We went on a walk yesterday afternoon to take in some sun while we still can. It was pretty cold but so nice to get some fresh air and exercise. Maddeck brought along his monkey - brownie! Evan fell asleep almost before we got to the end of our road.

CHEESE

This is funny because he falls down at the end.

Fun Stuff

Boyz 'n the hood!
So much fun.

Cute clip of Maddeck having fun in our yard. Kyle and Maddo raked up the rest of the leaves that are in the front lawn today. It was chilly out but it was nice for Maddeck to get outside.

Wind

We just had a great wind storm the last two days and it blew about 90% of the leaves out of our yard and into the nearby orchard. If you have seen our GIANT trees you would know what a blessing this was. We spend hours in the fall raking and we don't have a lot of time on our hands with a newborn so I am so incredibly thankful. Kyle was so shocked when he came home from work to a clean lawn. Soooooo awesome!

allrecipes.com

I like the recipes from this website so much I thought I should share the site in case you haven't tried it. I have never been disappointed with the recipes that I have tried and the reviews are always really helpful. I normally pick a recipe with high stars and lots of reviews. One of the coolest things about the recipes is that you can enter the number of servings that you need and it will automatically calculate and change the recipe for the number you need ... so cool. Try this Pumpkin Cookie recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Iced-Pumpkin-Cookies/Detail.aspx. Kyle has made these several times and they are amazing cookies that taste like a mix between a scone, cake, and cookie. Sooooo tasty! Of course, I am never disappointed with anything that has pumpkin in it.

Halloween Pics

Here are some Halloween pictures from this year. Maddeck, Elisa, and I went to Starbucks for coffee and then stopped by the Schatz' to say hello. This year was pretty low-key as Kyle was out of town and Caed moved to Texas. We missed you Caedmon!

Jesus Made The Moon

Last night when we were driving home from Sunday at my parent's house Maddeck looked up at the moon and said
"Mom, Jesus made the moon, and the river, and the trees ... and Jesus made Mommy and Daddy and me and Evan."

I gushingly said "That is right Maddeck!"

He replied "and Jesus made my carseat too ... I love Jesus."

Shout Out from Ev

Evan is making all kinds of cute baby sounds - besides grunting and crying. Here is a little shout out from our tiny one. Enjoy!

6 Week Milestone for Evan

I have been trying to push Evan to sleep through the night for the last week. He has done well but it has taken a few rough nights. Last night he went from 9:45 PM to 6:00 AM without nursing. Hooray for Mom! Hooray for Ev! I slept from 11:00 PM to 6:00 AM without waking up which was amazing. Maddeck even slept through the night (he has been waking up a lot with the noise from Evan and I and also from staying several nights at Papa and Mimi's instead of being at home while Kyle is in N.J. for work). I will be praying for another good night for Evan tonight. We are all so excited for Dad to come home. I am lonely without him this week and I miss his help with Maddeck. I am spoiled with a husband who helps out so much with the boys. In the morning, Kyle and Maddeck normally have breakfast together while I feed Evan. In the evening, Kyle gives Maddeck his shower while I give Evan his bath and feed him. This week has been an adjustment for me and has made me appreciate my husband more.

Fall

See Maddo run! See Maddo fall!

Smallwood's Harvest

We went to Smallwood's Harvest to pick out a pumpkin for Maddeck. Grandma Cindi carved the pumpkin because Maddeck is still a little too young. It was really fun to spend some time together and run around at Smallwood's. Maddeck would have been happy to stay on the swings the whole time!

Maddo's Moves

I think he could do a tae-bo for toddlers workout video!

The Strongs Visit

Here is a picture taken last weekend when the Strongs came for a visit. Evan was sleeping so he missed this photo op. Kyle, Great Grandma Strong, Grandpa Tim, Maddo, and MorMor!

My Three Boys!

Sometimes I can't belive that I have three boys in my life. I am so out numbered! I would be happy with a litter of boys if it is the Lord's will for me though. I honestly cannot imagine our lives any differently. I pray that God has a mighty plan to raise up strong Christian men in our family with hearts after Christ. After chatting with a friend I decided that I need to be praying for the future wives of my sons ... they may be the only daughters I ever have!

Evan was so happy and content last night that I decided to take a picture of him with his Dad and brother. As soon as I set him down he started to cry. Kyle and Maddo are pretending to cry in the second picture ... Maddeck decided it would be cuter to smile than cry I think.

He is learning ...

Learning to smile!

Learning to focus on objects.

Learning to be chill during his wake times.

Learning to take naps without crying.

Baby Hiccups

Check out this clip of Evan!

Costume for Halloween

New Backpack

Thank you Gross family for Maddeck's dog backpack. He loves it (as you can clearly see from the picture)!

Guitar Man

Jesica, Maddeck, and Steve

Maddeck playing the air guitar at Angelina's (Karen's Daughter) wedding in Seattle last weekend. Maddeck was excited to eat cake throughout the reception. He had fun visiting with his aunt Jesica and (soon to be) Uncle Steve at the wedding.

POLL - Which one is Evan?

PICTURE A
PICTURE B

Make sure you are voting on the right poll. This poll is under the title "Which ONE is Evan?". Good Luck!

Looks like Evan (Picture A) is not a clone of Maddeck - Thanks for voting!

POLL - Which Baby is Evan?

Picture A
Picture B

Everyone seems to think that Maddeck and Evan look alike. I went through Maddo's old pictures and found one (actually I found tons) that look like Evan. Take a guess at which one is Evan - Picture A or Picture B? We will see if most people can tell the difference. If the majority can't tell the two apart then I will consider going into the clone baby business.

Good job everyone - Picture B is Evan!

Evan Pics

Little Evan basking in the sun trying to get his jaundice to go away. He had to be hooked up to a blue light (phototherapy) around his torso for 24 hours a day for 5 days. His levels went down on Monday and Tuesday and we were so thankful to hear we could pack up the glow worm and send it back to the hospital on Wednesday. Hooray!
Cute pic from the hospital.
Taking a snooze on the couch.
Sleeping on Mom's shoulder with a full belly.