Happy Holidays!!!

Daddy and Caden have spent many hours building Legos this week.

Addie's First Christmas

Caden building a gingerbread house on Christmas Eve with his cousins....I think he was better at eating the candy than decorating the house...ooey gooey mess!

What are these people doing to me??

Caden helping to prepare our Christmas Eve meal....he is the pickiest eater ever but he will suck on a lemon - crazy kid!

Great Granny Frannie keeping Addie company by singing and dancing with her.

Our first big snowstorm of the year....Daddy and Caden built a tunnel together. Addie isn't really sure how she feels about the snow yet, but Caden certainly loves it.

Addie's first visit with Santa at our firehouse Christmas party.

We hope that everyone had a very wonderful Christmas this year. We certainly did in the Mitchell household. This was the first year that Caden was really into Christmas and it was so much fun to see his excitement. Both kids had colds and Addie woke up with a slight fever on Christmas morning, but we didn't let that ruin our day :-)

We were able to spend lots of time with family and friends. Jason and I are both on vacation this week so it has been great to have the kids home with us. Caden went to his first movie the other day to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Squeakquel." He was a trooper and made it to the end, but not without a lot of bribing with candy and popcorn.

Caden and Daddy have a big thing for Legos right now. Santa and family brought a bunch for Caden and our dining room table has now turned into Lego land....with all the new toys, we are going to need to put an addition on the house.

Addie is growing like a weed. She is 7 months old now but wearing 12-18 month clothing. At her last doctor appointment, she weighed 21 pounds! She has 6 teeth already and is eating anything we give her. She is too cute and her smile brightens even the gloomiest of days :-) Caden continues to wow us with his vocabulary. His newest line is "That's ridiculous!" On Christmas Day when we sat down to eat dinner, Caden had to remind the adults that we had forgotten to say our "God Bless" or Grace. I think it was God's little way of reminding us of what the real meaning of Christmas truly is. Both of our children are a constant reminder of the many blessings that God has bestowed upon us. We wish for everyone to have a very happy and healthy new year with many blessings to count!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Caden does not enjoy getting his picture taken lately...which is really annoying while we are trying to get a good shot for our Christmas cards!!
Gampy Mark loves his dessert!

Addie with Zac and Alexa

Gammy Pammy with Great Granny Frannie and Pam's sister, Mimi....it was great to have her here visiting from Georgia for Thanksgiving.

Daddy's little firekids!

Happy Thanksgiving from Addie!!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be thankful for this year....our beautiful and healthy children top our list. We had a large meal with lots of family, and we are definitely grateful for the meal and to have our families so close to us to share in the holidays. We know there are many people that are not as fortunate as us and our thoughts and prayers are with them.

Addie and Caden are getting so big, as you can see from the pictures here. We are getting excited about Christmas already. Caden wrote his letter to Santa with help from Mom, of course. I think the only thing he cares about these days are his Legos and the long list of Legos that he wants Santa to bring.

We hope that the holidays don't get too busy for you and that you are able to take some time to spend with family, friends, and all those close to you. We are trying hard this year to remember the real reason for Christmas and to not get caught up in the all the hustle and bustle. Caden has been saying his prayers each night and grace before his meals...we hope that the spirit of Jesus continues to be with us through this holiday season and in the new year.

Happy Halloween!

The only dinosaur we know who is scared of everything! We had to carry Caden around most of the night - thank goodness we had lots of people with us to help out!

It was great to have our Uncle Tay-Tay with us for Addie's first Halloween!

Yummy Nerds!!

I love my Gampy Mark!!

The most ferocious leopard you will ever meet!

Addie dressed in all black on Halloween and looked like a burglar...here she is in her get-away car!

The peapod below was too hot so we settled for the witch shirt.

Not a great pic of Jay, but the only one I have of our little peapod!

We hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! We had a party at the firehouse for the kids last weekend. Last night we went to Trick or Trunk at one of the schools here. The town sponsors this safe place for kids to trick-or-treat. People bring their cars, decorate their trunks, and give out candy to all the kids. The firehouse brings a fire truck and decorates it. Jay was in charge of this for a few years. This year he passed the job onto another firefighter, but still helped decorate. The firehouse won first place for the decorating contest - Go Company #3! We also had a big slumber party at our house with Gammy, Gampy, Aunti Kara, Auntie Becky, and Uncle Taylor (Tay-Tay as Caden calls him). Enjoy the pics of our fun night!

Rainy Day Fun

So we were stuck inside one rainy weekend. Thought these pictures were cute. Caden just inherited lots of train tracks from a student in my class and we've been having lots of fun building with them!

Columbus Day Weekend

Our happy little girl now has two teeth on the bottom, and we think there are more on the way...otherwise we are not sure why she has been so crabby today!

Caden bought a Lego Po-Po car with his piggy bank money.

Making our own pizzas - lots of cheese of course!

Our two little pumpkins

Our little thumbsucker - just like her mommy did.

Addie with Grandpa Hubert

Yummy cupcakes....Caden would have eaten the whole bowl of gummy bears if I let him!

Besides apple picking, we also went pumpkin picking at Jones Family Farms here in Shelton. Gampy Mark, Gammy Pammy, Auntie Kara, and Auntie Becky came with us. It was a beautiful fall day that reminded us of why we live in New England. Caden had fun running around the pumpkin patch. It was tough to get a picture of both kids together....but we had a few photo opportunities. After pumpkin picking, we came home and made our own pizzas - yum, yum.

We also celebrated Alexa's birthday on Saturday. Caden had fun painting, decorating cupcakes, and jumping in the SpongeBob bouncy house. Happy Birthday Alexa!!

Today we took Caden to Target to buy some toys with his piggy bank money. Each time Gampy Mark sees Caden he gives him $1 to put in his piggy bank. We finally filled it recently so it was time for Caden to pick out some treats. He is really into building with Legos...as you can see in one of the pictures here.

Tonight we will be dropping the kids off at Mark and Pam's house so that Jay and I can go out to dinner. We had our first date 14 years ago - how fast time goes by! And how quickly our family has grown. We are blessed to have Caden and Addie....and each other.

Apple Picking with Poppi

We have had a busy weekend! On Saturday we went apple picking with Grandpa Jeff - better known as Poppi. Poppi works for William Raveis Real Estate. Every year Mr. Raveis invites his employees and their families to his house to go apple picking. We picked many yummy apples!

September News

I am 4 months old today!
What a pair!

Jason showing off his photography skills. We went to a tractor show this past weekend. Caden had a blast playing on the tractors and watching a bunch of diggers in action.

September has been a busy month with me going back to school, the kids in daycare, and Jason very busy with his job and the firehouse, too. The highlight of our month has been that Caden got a big boy haircut. He had a mohawk for the day when he got it, but now his hair is straight down and he looks like such a little man.

Addie turned 4 months today! We can't believe how fast the time has flown. She is eating like a champ - hopefully starting solids in the next few months. And she is sleeping through the night most nights.

Some of my favorite Caden quotes this month....

After watching me put nail polish on my toenails, he told everyone "My mommy got new toes." When asked from where...he said "From inside a bag."

He is beginning to learn about God. In the car one day, after telling me to "Stop singing, Mommy!" so he could sing....he told me "Mommy, you know that guy up in the clouds...he helps me."

As you can see, he just lights up our days all the time. We can't imagine what our lives would be like without both our kiddos around. Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather! Happy Autumn!

Summer is over :-(

My high school friend, Megan, came to visit with her son, Patrick. It was great to see them. Patrick is 6 months old and Addie is only 3 months, so you can see what a big girl we have in the picture below.

We knew it was time to get a haircut when we could make a ponytail out of Caden's hair :-)

Our first baby, Xena! She is 11 years old now and still kicking.

Our second baby, Molly. She has more energy than all of us combined :-)

Well the summer is coming to an end this weekend. It is time for me to go back to work :-( I am happy and sad about this. I will miss my free time and spending time with the kids but I am looking forward to a steady routine and being with adults at work too. Addie has been going to daycare at my aunt's house with Caden for the past few weeks. She is doing really well and it is comforting to know that she is in good hands. I don't have to worry like I did when Caden was an infant.

Overall, we have had a great summer. Caden has really grown into a little boy now instead of a baby. He is talking up a storm. It amazes us each day how verbal he is. He is singing his ABCs and a bunch of other songs, too. If I have to listen to his kid CD in the car one more time, I think I might shoot myself! But driving to work is entertaining each morning listening to him in the back seat. He even tells me to stop singing so I can hear him sing :-)

Addie is sleeping through the night finally. Now I wish she would just wake up a little later. Five AM is just too early for me! But I am glad she has decided to sleep through the night now that I have to go back to work.

Enjoy the pictures. We hope everyone had a great summer. I had to include our "other" children in the pics...they tend to be forgotten now that Caden and Addie are here, but we do still love them!