Busy Mama! October in review

    Life just seems to fly by faster each day. I can't even really remember where time went since Lucas' birthday party. Good thing I have pictures to refer back to, to refresh my memory! October is always a busy month for me personally. My friend Camie and I plan a semi-annual girl's scrapbook weekend. We go the first weekend in October and sometime in April. This time we didn't have as much interest (usually about 12 girls go, this time 7 came) so we were able to use our friend's family house in Lake Chelan. It was such a blessing that we didn't have to pay for the trip this time, after Lucas' birthday party and then Halloween not long after, September and October can get expensive. We usually pay about $50/person for a cabin and then everyone signs up to do one meal. It really is an inexpensive way to get away with your friends and do crafts for 2 days straight. This time I rode with my friends Amber and A.J. and my sister Rachelle, and of course I couldn't leave Channing at home.=) So we loaded Amber's small SUV and barely got everything to fit, but we did. Amber and I left Bonney Lake at 10:30am on Friday and picked up everyone along the way and ended in Chelan at almost 6pm! It was a really long drive with many stops to take care of Channing-he is NOT a baby that enjoys the car seat. But we were so happy to be in Chelan...only to realize I had completely forgotten the house key! I was so sad and didn't know what we were going to do. I called my friend Julia, her family owns the house, she was already on her way. But that didn't matter because it was her key that I had left at home. So she then had the task of finding someone that Camie could get the key from. She hadn't left yet, which was great for us getting the key, but not so great because she was still hours away and Channing was not having any more of the carseat. While we were waiting to hear that a key was on the way, we decided to go to the house and try to find a way in. We prayed and prayed and within 2 minutes of arriving at the house, Amber found an unlocked window! Hallelujah! After that small hiccup, we had such a fun time together. Saturday morning we went to the local scrapbook store and ooh'd and ahh'd over every paper, embellishment and sticker. Then a quick stop at Starbucks and the grocery store and we were back to doing what we came to do. Unfortunately, Channing was not loving the girl time and was quite fussy so I didn't get much of anything done. But I was ok with that and didn't expect much except some quality time with my friends. With that said, I really look forward to another weekend with no kids so I can do what I really love, scrapbooking. We left late Sunday morning and thankfully, Channing was so tired from not napping Saturday, he slept from Chelan to Puyallup and it was a much peaceful drive.=) I do want to share a fabulous recipe for some cupcakes I made for the girls. Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes. Enough said right?! An added bonus for me: I made them gluten free! I just replaced the flour 1:1 with a gluten free all-purpose flour that I keep on hand now. Don't frown upon this, nobody could tell. I also made the homemade caramel sauce that goes along with this and it's A-MAZ-ING! It's also delicious with apple slices. One suggestion for the cupcakes, if you really like coffee, I would add a little more coffee granules. The recipe calls for espresso powder but I have no idea if you can get that in the store or not so I just used what I had on hand- instant coffee granules. You could also add more brushings of coffee/espresso, I did 3 and I still think it could use more coffee flavor.
    The following weekend, I participated in a cancer walk with my mom and her friend. Praise Jesus, my mom is a Breast Cancer Survivor the same year she was diagnosed. My mom was unemployed at the time and thanks to the donations of generous people and amazing doctors who donated their time for free, she was able to receive the care that she needed. Strides For The Cure is the organization that put on the walk. It started in Bellevue Park and looped around back to the park. Here's some highlights from our walk...

My mama and I

My mama's friend Kat and us, they won "Best Team Theme" for their "Treasured Chests" outfits

Doing Zumba before the walk...I just couldn't get myself to participate...maybe someday=)

We were towards the end of the crowd, there were a lot of people on this walk

I had to take a different route in the beginning because I had the stroller so I got a great view of my mama & Kat

Channing slept 2/3s of the walk and woke up happy as a clam!

Channing with Grammy, wearing his "Team Grammy" & "Arrgh...Wipe Me Booty" shirt=)

This boy has my heart!

    The following weekend we had our 6th annual Corkrey Secret Costume Party! I'll do a separate post following this one.
   Then finally, the last weekend of October, I went for the third time to Women of Faith. It's such a great event. Encouraging, fun, refreshing. All three years I have been spoiled and we've been in a suite at the Key Arena. It's a true luxury but I don't think I'd do it any other way. We get comfy chairs, a sink and fridge and our own bathroom! Plus, the suite entrance workers always let us bring in food, which is especially nice when you have food allergies.;-) This year was a little difficult because I did bring Channing and once again, he was extra fussy. I see a trend here...I wonder if he's going to be a homebody like his daddy. Anyway, it was fun to spend time with my best friends and this year some friends from my church came too.
   That's the major events from October. I had something big every single weekend and I was looking forward to November being a slower month for me. Josh was too.=) So far a few things have come up but I'm trying to limit my time away from Josh and the boys and trying to spend more time at home. Not to mention, my house would appreciate me home a little more too! Ha!

Stuck in fast forward...

   The lack of posts means life is extra busy these days. I thought that once Summer came to an end (going by everyone else who have kids starting school) things would slow down. But with September being Lucas' birthday month and Halloween soon after, I think these are some of the busiest months of my whole year!



This is how Channing is most of the time...happy, talking and smiling



Lucas discovered a new talent...taco tongue! It's a dominant trait and I told Josh he must have it because I don't. It took Josh a few days but he figured it out, haha!



   The boys are changing so fast, I can't believe Channing just turned 3 months old and in 10 days Lucas will be 2 years old! Channing has now passed Lucas' weight at 3 months: Channing is 14lbs 10oz and Lucas was 14lbs 3oz. Though Channing is 24 1/4" and Lucas was 26" at 3 months. Channing hit a big milestone and rolled from his tummy to his back last week for the first time. He can hold his head very well, sits nicely in the bumbo, loves to stand in my lap and currently in his 3 month growth spurt. I was told sometime when I was pregnant with Lucas, to be prepared for the 3 week, 6 week, 3 month and 6 month growth spurt-lots of extra feedings! With Lucas, he was so fussy all the time and seemed like he was eating all the time, I never really noticed a difference during those ages. With Channing, I have noticed each one, especially this one. Each time, as he approaches the milestone, he begins eating more frequently. This phase started last week and is in full force! He's eating at LEAST every hour, mostly every 20-30 minutes and not sleeping all night anymore.=( He was to the point of sleeping 10:30pm-6:30am. Now he's up so often I don't even look at the clock. It's really quite inconvenient at this point because I'm working hard trying to finish everything for Lucas' 2nd birthday party that is this Sunday. I'm slowly falling behind the schedule I set for myself. Hopefully tomorrow is better because I'm going to my friend Amber's to make fondant race cars for Lucas' cake.=)

  Lucas is also ever-changing. He learns at least one new word every day. Today, the most impressive was "Jenna". That's Amber's daughter who is just a few months older than Lucas. They came over today to hangout and Lucas and Jenna were having fun running down the hall chasing each other. It's always nice to have playdates. They make the morning go by so fast and Lucas always is worn out, ready for his nap. Lucas is also putting two word sentences together. The most common is "Big" anything...big car, big ball, etc. His second favorite is "dada car" which refers to any big truck. My favorite new thing is he's beginning to remember events that happened days before. Last week we were in the car and he was telling me how he spilled yogurt at Grandpa's house..."Mom!" Me: "ya?" He starts laughing "yogurt" still laughing. Me: "Yogurt?" Lucas: "Da! (yes) "Gampa"...still laughing. Me: "You spilled yogurt at grandpa's?" Lucas: "Da!" And this same conversation repeats until our destination. I only knew about the spilling part because Tracy told me. The other story he loves to tell now is about a bee that flew in the car after church. Josh got it out and Lucas thought he saved the day! At least that's what it sounds like when he tells me the story.=) Basically, "co" is bug and he throws in a few "dada" and "car" all while giggling.=)

  The past few weeks I've been to the doctor several times. I've been trying to figure out why I'm so nauseous all the time. It started when I was four months pregnant and because of several symptoms, I began by removing most gluten and all dairy from my diet. It seemed to help though I had my normal reaction to pregnancy-my stomach was never really 100 percent. After I had Channing, I began eating all gluten again and adding dairy back in slowly. I never did get back on milk, I tried it and didn't like it...funny how 5 months can change your taste...wish it would have worked for gluten, would make this whole thing a lot easier! It took about five weeks of eating "normal" again for me to start having bouts of nausea. These were strong and unavoidable. These bouts usually last a few hours and I always try to sleep them off, which helps tremendously but is hard with a newborn. Anyway, I decided since our deductible had been met for the year thanks to Channing=) I should take advantage and try to figure out what is wrong with me! After hours and hours of trying to find a doctor (stupid insurance! Blessing and a curse!) I got in to see a PCP in Auburn. She recommended blood tests, another test (that I'll spare mentioning) and to meet with a nutritionist/dietician and then we'd go from there. I received my blood test results a few days later, they were normal, and then I saw the nutritionist. From what I told her, she didn't suspect gluten intolerence and was hoping for a parasite. Yes, funny I know but it's really the best case scenario. I would take antibiotics and be done with all of this. So I was hoping but to no avail. I tested negative for a parasite. It's funny to be disappointed that I don't have a worm living inside of me. So my next step would be to meet again with the nutritionist and she said we'd work on an elimination diet to find out what it could be, gluten or otherwise. Since the week before my first doctor appointment, after a dinner with a friend and leaving feeling so sick, I went back on my "mostly" gluten free diet. That means no bread and no pasta. Sounds easy...it's not. I also want to ask the doctor if she tested my hormone levels and if not, to do that. I also want to ask her if I can see a GI specialist. I just can't come to grips with a gluten intolerence, at least not without ruling out anything more serious. I'm going to set something up with the nutritionist in the meantime but I've got to get through this week of party planning first. Priorities people!=)
   It is Puyallup Fair season! I've already taken the boys 2 times and we're going again on Thursday. The first day I went with my stepmom, sister Stephanie and nephew Levi. We were there 6 hours and it was so fun! We saw animals, a few of the booths in the big building, ate a loaf of fries=) and I brought home cotton candy for Josh and a caramel/nut apple for myself. Then I took the boys 3 days later with my friend Michelle for her son's 3rd birthday. He's Lucas' buddy. My friend Camie and her son Landon joined us too. We were only there a few hours but saw lots of animals, ate scones and a corndog and watched the stunt skate boarders. This week Josh is coming too and we're going with our life group from church. The others will be going the Counting Crows' concert so we'll eat dinner with everyone and then enjoy the fair while they enjoy the concert.



Channing is very serious about his first time to the fair



Levi and Lucas captivated by the big cow



He wanted to touch the goat so badly

 

Lucas loved that he could get out and walk. He did really well holding Auntie Stephie's hand.



 

As cute as can be, ready for our 2nd day at the fair.

 

His 2nd scone in his whole life. The 1st was right before he turned 1, last year.




Landon and Lucas, eating bagels=) Friends for life!



 



A second attempt at a ride. Michelle got him buckled in and he was good for about 20 seconds, then he lost it and I took him off.





   This past weekend we went to Carter's birthday party. It was John Deer & Farmer themed. It was Lucas' first time at his friends party, where he was old enough to play games and enjoy the party. He still doesn't understand what a birthday is but it was fun to see him play the hay game and throw the eggs-that were for another game but he didn't have the attention span for it.=) He also loved eating a cupcake and riding their fire truck in the driveway. Here's just a few of the pictures I took.



 It was John Deer themed so of course you gotta wear flannel and overalls=)



The kids did a candy hunt in the hay and my sweet boy only wanted to fill his bag with hay=)



It was cold and rainy so Josh warming up with some hot cider and Lucas is chowing down on a cupcake...he doesn't get sweets a lot so this was a treat!



   Two weekends ago we had our first garage sale and made $350! It was very successful in my book and has been great for funding the numerous fair trips.=) My friend Vicky came and spent Saturday with us which was so nice because I hardly see her and we had few customers. We decided not to do the garage sale on Sunday. Instead we lounged around the house and then had dinner at my parents. My sister and her husband and their son, Rachelle, Chris and Levi came too. We got to see my brother Josh before he left for sea for about a month. He's in the Navy, stationed in Everett.

  That's about all I can remember from the past few weeks. I'm going to add pictures and then head to bed as I decided I should get up with Josh tomorrow (well, today) since I have so much to do for Lucas' party prep. We'll see if I decide sleep takes priority in 5 hours.