Best Friends

First of all I have to appologize for neglecting the blog for two months. We have been so busy and the only time I am on the computer is when I'm nursing Cade which means I only have one arm free to type with. So here is a quick update... November went by so fast that I really don't even remember what happened :) I do know that we had Thanksgiving at our house. We are so blessed to have families that not only get along really well, but actually enjoy spending time together so Ryan and I have both of our parents, siblings, grandparents and my cousin Talena and her family over each year. It was 16 people in our small house, and it is always a great time. .. especially when the Kegorator is filled with home brew!

I tried to make the most of the month because it was my last month of maternity leave. I went back to work on December 1st. It has gone pretty well so far. I do know that I would never be a great stay at home mom, but I really miss Cade during the day. It has been hard to get used to those 7:10 am meetings on Thursday mornings! My dad stays with Cade on Mondays and the rest of the week he goes to a small in home daycare which has worked out great. Christmas was great this year. We spent the Christmas Eve at my parents house and Christmas Day at Ryan's parents house. It was the first Christmas since we have been married that we both truly enjoyed. In the past we tried to please everyone by sticking to old traditions and in the process ended up going back and forth between 4 different houses multiple times during the two days. I have felt extremely blessed to have this little guy to celebrate the holidays with. Ryan and I tried to get pregnant (and stay pregnant) for two years before we had Cade. I keep thinking about the saying happiness is not in having want you want, but in wanting what you have. That describes my life right now perfectly. I feel so blessed to have this sweet, busy little guy in my life!

Cade has been so busy! The first thing people say when they hold him is "wow! he is really strong!" He is always on the go and is semi mobile now. He is practically crawling already. He can get up on all fours for a couple seconds before he loses his balance. He does have the inch worm technique mastered though and he's not even 5 months old yet! He loves to stand and jump and roll over and over and over. Cade's newest interest is the dog. I have always wondered what their relationship will be like. I hope that they will be best buds because I know Sammy would love to have a little guy to tag along with around the neighborhood. Here are a couple of pictures and a video of their friendship.

This is Cade and Sammy at 1 week old. I love the look on Samps' face :)

Cade was about 6 weeks old in this picture and I'm pretty sure this is the fist time he saw Sampson. He was mesmorized by him. He layed his hand on Sammy's elbow and was so still. It was so cute!

Cade has been laughing more and more each day. This week he has been laughing mostly at Sammy. For whatever reason the dog is hilarious to Cade.

What a month!

So let me warn you that this post has a ton of pictures! We had a very fun yet busy month of October. The first weekend we visited our good friends in Chelan. Chris Hughbanks was Ryan's room mate in college and his best man in our wedding. We decided to head to Leavenworth on Saturday for Octoberfest. Camisha, Pia and I headed over with the kids and the guys met up with us when they were done golfing. It was so fun! I highly recommend Octoberfest and we will be back next year. I'm really looking forward to not breastfeeding in public anymore :)

The next weekend was Susan's 60th birthday so we decided to go wine tasting in Walla Walla to celebrate. My parents and Ryan's parents and brother all met down there for some great wine and a very fun weekend. It was beautiful and they even rode their bikes around to a couple of the wineries.

The third weekend we went over to Herron Island which is east of Tacoma in the Puget Sound (I think). Ryan's aunt and uncle have a house on the island which is amazing! It was a fun, relaxing weekend and we both enjoyed getting to spend it with the fam. The car ride over was quite interesting. It is a long drive (about 6 1/2 hours) and I was a little nervous about how Cade was going to do. He did great. We only had to stop and feed him once, although, we did have a lot of spitting up and a big blow out all before we made it over the pass. He made the rest of the trip only wearing diapers because I was tired of changing him. Ryan's grandpa, cousins and aunt and uncle were all up at the beach house. We got to meed Heather and Erik's son Koen for the first time who is about 2 months older than Cade. They all also got to meet Cade.

The fourth weekend my aunt Debbie and Uncle Steve came over from Kent. They had never met Cade before. We had a great weekend with lots of family. On Sunday we took them up to Greenbluff before they headed home. My uncle said it was nice to see "classic americana" lol. They had a good time and Cade got to pick out his first pumpkin.

Ryan's birthday was on the 28th and he decided he wanted to go to Flaming Joes for dinner to watch the Yankees play. Ryan's mom came as well as my family. We had a great time and topped the evening off with a delicious home made golf course cake!

The fifth weekend was Halloween. On Friday night Ryan and I dressed up as my dad and headed over to the Naslunds. We borrowed his coveralls and Ryan wore a mullet wig (my dad has NEVER had a mullet) and I wore the mead tennis hat (classic Bill attire). We had a great time, although I feel like I am fortunate to be alive because I'm not sure how my parents ever conceived any kids after wearing his coveralls. They were SOOOOO tight in the crotch! I'm only 5'9 and my dad is 6'1. I can't image what they feel like on him :) On Saturday I was so excited to dress Cade up in his little monkey outfit. He was so cute when I first put it on him that I almost cried a little. He is such a sweet little guy, but he didn't like his costume very much. He is a hot baby and started sweating as soon as we put it on him. We took him to visit his grandmas and grandpas and then spent the evening with the Mills' and had soup. It was a great way to spend Halloween.

Babys and Booze. My favorite part about this picture is that the security guard took it for us :)

Ryan wanted a bavarian family picture so he handed Cade to this lady and before I knew it we were all posing with this group of dancers. She was so excited to be holding a baby and told Ryan "I hope you know that you just gave a baby to a grandma and I'm going to have a tough time giving him back" She was pretty cute and a heck of a good dancer!

Pia with Jensen and Ryan with CadeThis picture says a thousand words... but I bet only Camisha and Pia know what I'm talking about...

Cade and his buddy Jensen. Jensen is about 3 weeks younger than Cade. Next summer will be so fun with the two of them.

Cade and I were both thirsty. Never thought I'd be the type to just plop down on a bench and nurse with a beer in my hand. Thank goodness for the hooter hider to preserve a little of my modesty.

Brynn and Cade. Unfortunately Cade didnt really like sitting in her Handy Manny chair with her.

The fam at Basel Cellars in Walla Walla

Also at Basel. It had an AMAZING view of the valley.

All the Pughs at Dunham Cellars

Ryan's cousin's son Koen. He is two months older than Cade and sooooo cute!

Grandpa with Koen and Cade

The Pugh clan

Ryan and Tyler. Sometimes they like to take pictures and pose... what a couple of geeks!

Heather, Hudson, Grandpa, and Tyler in the living room watching baseball and playing cribbage.

Cade thought Uncle Rich was sooooo funny. It was so cute to see them together.

Grammy and Cade snuggling on the couch by the fire.

Four generations!

Cade thinks his Daddy is the greatest (so do I!)

Susan and Auntie Nella

Terry, Erik and Tyler watching football and playing cribbage.

Heather and Grandpa playing cribbage. Did I mention we had a cribbage tournament? I lost first round so I didn't think it was worth mentioning.

Picture from the balcony at the beach house. The ferry dock is on the right and the mainland is across the water. I love the fall colors!

I love my Sammy Bones! He has had a rough month and has been dealing with a knee injury :(

Uncle Steve and Cade at Greenbluff

Ryan and Cade picking out a pumpkin

I thought this picture was so cute. I had been cleaning the house with Cade in the bjorn all day and he finally fell asleep. Too cute!

The double decker golf course cake. The sand trap is made of brown sugar. I learned that trick from watching Cake Boss :) The trees and flag are actually candles... I know, pretty fancy right?

Ryan and Ryan at Flaming Joes

Dad and Susan

Cade and my mom. This would be the cutest picture if there wasn't a Coors Light sign in the background...

I'm a sucker for sleeping baby pics.

Look how sweaty his hair is... poor guy :) I think he's wondering what the heck I just made him wear lol

awwww. my lil' monkey

Cousin Eddy? ohhh Uncle Scotty with his Nephews

Ryan in the mullet wig and coveralls rocking a baby to sleep. It was quite the sight :)

Greenbluff, Grandma and Dad

The past week Cade has started to really become a little person. He is aware of what is going on around him and who is around him. It is so fun to watch him grow and change from day to day! I feel so lucky to get to stay home with him for these 4 months. I am dreading the day I have to go back to work even though it is still two months away! I am trying to take advantage of my time off and really enjoy our time together. We go for lots of walks and have lots of visitors!

If you haven't noticed, a lot of pictures are taken on his changing table. He loves it! He will be fussy and I'll put him on the table and he'll just relax and hang out. His name is on the wall and I painted the letters dark grey and he loves to look at them! I guess they're pretty funny too!!!

I love this picture. Ryan decided to have his own little photo shoot with Cade one day. He is wearing the funniest outfit that Cole's mom gave us. It has matching shorts with sharks all over them. We have started calling him "shark bait" after this outfit. I think it might stick:)

Cade loves when his Grandma comes to visit! He wasn't very happy in this picture, but he loves his Grandma very much! She has always been able to get a big smile out of him since he was 2 weeks old! Needless to say I was jealous because when he is around me he is just hungry :)

I love how his little legs dangle when he is sleeping in the baby bjorn!

Ang was the fastest green bean picker. Good job Ang!!! She does have the advantage since she worked at the Harvest House when she was in junior high.

Angeliki, Karissa and I took the kids to Greenbluff a couple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. We picked green beans, garlic, apples and zucchini. After trying to get pregnant for almost 2 years I am so thankful to have Cade in my life. This day in particular was so much fun to be a mom and take my son to play with Maddie and Nicholas (even if he slept the whole time)