School Halloween Party and Parade

Getting ready to go around the neighborhood

The 3-year old MWF LUMPS class

Showing off their goodies

Our little spider

Owen (aka "our little spider") enjoyed watching Tatum (aka "Belle") trick-or-treat around the neighborhood with her class as they celebrated Halloween. After a nice walk around the block the kids enjoyed some Halloween treats courtesy of their teachers, Ms. Megan and Ms. Wendy.

Tatum's 3rd Birthday!

It is hard to believe that our little girl is 3 already! She had a wonderful fun - and gift - filled day. We celebrated her birthday with a few of her friends at the base bowling alley where the kids enjoyed bowling, pizza, and cake.

Dressing up like Mommy

Today Tatum came to me and informed me that she was dressing up like a mommy. After calling her "Mommy Tatum" I was informed that she was dressing up like "Mommy Lindsey!" If only I wore as much "bling" on a day-to-day basis as she was wearing today!

Using the baby backpack - something I actually do!

Hanging out at home...

These days it seems to be few and far between that we are just at home playing. Between Tatum's school days, errands, and our daily trips to the gym we are almost always on the go. Tatum really enjoys dressing up in her princess and fairy clothes so when the chance arises, she enjoys playing dress-up. It is quite hard to get a nice smile out of her these days but sometimes we just snap away and take what we can get!

Some of the many faces of Owen...

Like old, like new...

We are enjoying taking pictures of Owen and relishing in memories of Tatum at the same age so we were excited when it was time to get the backpack out once again. If you notice, Mike is wearing the same shirt in both pictures! Tatum was approx. 7 1/2 months in this picture so just a tad older than Owen.

October Update!

October has come and gone quicker than we could have ever imagined. After returning home from a great trip to Disney World life was back into full swing and we were trying to catch our breaths once again. Tatum is in school M, W, F this year and Mike averages 1-2 on-call nights per week so we often find ourselves wondering on Sunday night what happened to the previous week?! Although it is sad to know that with each passing month our children are getting older and bigger, we are excited at what the future brings. This time next year we may be calling Europe or Asia or the Pacific Northwest our home which is such an exciting prospect for us so we are looking forward to the near future with a lot of excitement.

October was also a wonderful month in that we celebrated another milestone, Tatum's 3rd Birthday! It is hard to believe that we already have a 3 year old. Tatum is a wonderful, happy, sweet, and strong-willed little girl who can be both easy going and challenging at the same time. No one ever said that having a 3 year old was easy and we sure have found this to be true. She is now out of diapers 100% and she can dress herself independently and her world revolves around Princesses.

At 6 1/2 months Owen is as sweet and easy going as can be. He has learned great patience from day 1 as he has a big sister who requires a lot of attention. Owen has been on solid foods for about 2 months now and he has 8 sharp chompers already! Tatum did not even have her first tooth until she was 6 1/2 months. Although he is not yet sitting independently, he is managing to get around quite easily as he rolls and rolls and rolls on the floor all day long. We are finding it quite amusing to note the differences between a boy and a girl as they are quite apparent. Owen is much more interested in throwing toys and grabbing than Tatum ever was.

We will try to be much better about posting pictures and blogging updates as to our comings and goings. This weekend we are journeying north to Washington D.C. to cheer on Mike, Kieran, and Melissa as they run the Marine Corps Marathon on Halloween Day so check back for an update!

Disney World!

It is hard to believe that our trip to Disney World is already over; we have been planning this trip since March...pre-Owen! In that span of time, while the planning and anticipation was occurring, Tatum morphed into a 3 year old GIRL who is obsessed with princesses. While taking in all of Disney World can be overwhelming, Tatum definitely warmed up to the idea of meeting and hugging the various princesses from her night time stories. We could spend countless hours typing about our experience, but figured that some pictures would serve much better! An added bonus to the trip was the we had the opportunity to meet our friends from Maine, the Orletski's, for a short play date at the Fort Wilderness campgrounds.

Tatum excited to meet Belle

Tatum eats Pork Sausage while hugging Piglet!

Tatum and her favorite non-princess character at breakfast

Grandma Liz, Mom and Tatum on a classic ride!

Owen enjoying some "down time" at a playground

Riding the ferry from the Wilderness Lodge to the Magic Kingdom

Tatum excited to get to the pool

Owen happy in his stroller

A bat at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Owen trying to take a nap

The Magic Kingdom at night

The remainder of our pictures are posted at http://picasaweb.google.com/mrsmiley1979/DisneyWorldPictures2010#

Owen goes for a swing...

Owen's first time in a park swing; he had a great time!

Gotta Love Puppy Love!

Tatum and her four-legged b.f.f. Sadie...

chilling on the deck with chocolate milk

Dancing Queen!

First Day of 3 year-old Preschool

Another year of school has begun...

Ready to go...

Probably the first of many school pictures together!

Tatum and Carter

Look at the difference...

What a difference one year makes! Here is Tatum on her first day of school last year compared to today (the quality is not so good - sorry!):

Age 2

almost 3!

Labor Day Weekend

Compared to some holiday weekends in the past, this Labor Day was overall very low-key and quiet. Mike worked both Saturday and Monday but we were able to squeeze in some beach time on Sunday and a BBQ on Monday night at our friends home. Now it is back to reality with school starting for Tatum as the summer is officially over!

Cuddling with Daddy before bedtime