Life Lately for the Rabans

This boy is crawling everywhere!!! (8 mo. old)

For the last month or so, Hunter has been worm-crawling and could basically get anywhere he wanted to go. I guess that seemed to be the secret-- he had to want to. Cuz up goes the Christmas tree with so many temptations and suddenly, he wants them all and is going for them and anything else he sees lying around. So for the last week or so, he really has been traveling the house and I'm still not sure how I feel about it yet! He is growing too fast, and finally has 1 tooth!

And these two are growing, too--

They've become really good friends and play mates lately and that has been nice to see. Cole looks out for Mason and in return, Mason is Cole's faithful follower-- in all things, good and bad! Just the other day, Cole told me that he thinks he should be Mason's boss, like I'm daddy's boss. I thought that was pretty funny (and probably more true than I care to admit!).

Cole's been going to a preschool this year and while many days it is still a struggle to get him up and going (he likes sleeping in like me), he does seem to enjoy it. And he is learning a lot. The other day, he just started reciting the Pledge of Allegiance-- I was shocked! Mason and I get to spend some one-on-one time together while Cole's away. Mason likes his independence and I fear that he gets overlooked because of that, and because he is currently the middle child. So I'm grateful for more time with him. I feel like that is a lot of the struggle of parenting for me lately-- making sure that each child gets their own alone time, as well as time with their siblings to learn how to get along. And then finding time for the husband, church, time for myself, the house, etc. Ahh, finding balance is tough!

All in all, life is good for us. Rusty and I feel very blessed this holiday season- grateful for our family, and grateful for the Gospel. Hope all of you have a happy holiday (in the event that I don't update this blog between now and then). Merry Christmas!

Feeling Like Winter!!

This last week as we've had FREEZING temperatures not only at night, but also for much of the day, my little family has spent a lot of time enjoying the warmth of our stove--

Ahh, a renewed gratitude for heat (and a talented husband who insisted on putting this in last year, despite my unexcitement for the "mess" of burning wood!).

Christmas Creche

Every year, we visit the creche in Maple Valley and participate in this way:
The boys love to dress up, despite the straight faces when it's photo time!!

O Christmas Tree

Our search for a tree proved successful...


But how many boys does it take to put the lights on 'er?


Oh well, at last-- here she is, decorated with a little love from these guys!

November 2009- Hunter Is Seven Months Old

Rough week for the Rabans

Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009

We've been having a rough week. Here are just a few of the things we've got going on in this crazy house of ours lately:

• A lot of whining, and screaming tantrums, too. Mason especially has been really frustrated with wanting to do things himself, but not being able to and not letting anyone help. Makes for quite the ordeal.
• Off and on fever for Cole (105 last night). So I make him drink lots of fluids, which leads to:
• Accidents in the middle of the night (sometimes several, which require stripping down of his clothes and bed/blankets, etc at 2am.) He gets sad that he "didn't make it" to the bathroom and cries a lot. Then lots of laundry the next day.
• So none of us are sleeping good (Mason was awake last night from about 12am-3am & in our bed, or else he would roam the house). No sleep=hard days. He's been binky-free for a few weeks and he's still struggling a bit when he needs something to help calm him down when it's time to sleep.
• I lost Cole at Costco on monday. I let him walk beside the cart and he wandered away. Long story, but my sister was with me and we both thought the other was watching him. I hadn't planned to go there that day, so I was wearing shoes that were not broken in. And then I was running everywhere looking for him, so I got blisters and sores. It took a long time to find Cole and when I finally claimed him from the store employees, all he told me is that he finally found the lady who makes the chocolate milk. Must have been a sample that day??
• Hunter fell off my bed backwards onto the wood floor last night. It's at least a 2 ft drop. Mason actually did the same thing when he was a baby, but went face first. I took him to the urgent care cuz he'd had a bump on his forehead, but Hunter didn't seem injured beyond the initial scare it gave him. Cole also had a similar experience at about this age-- climbing up a ladder and falling off. Is this always the outcome with boys?
• Rusty's been working late all week. 'Tis the season, but it sure makes for long days for the rest of us when the day's already been tough.
• Despite all that yucky stuff, we continue to be blessed-- we've had to laugh our way thru most days. We made our thankful tree and we've been adding lots of leaves of our blessings, so it's nice to remember those. We checked out some great books from the library so we've been reading for sanity and listening to lots of primary music. And we're all still alive and kickin'!

But I think we're done with this week and ready for a new one! And now as I type this, Cole just comes in and says "Mom, I think I'm starving". You think you are? I guess I better go feed my kids...

Birthday & Halloween

Last friday, Oct 30th was my birthday. 31. Yikes, we'll just leave it at that.
And on saturday, the boys had fun for Halloween; Rusty & I have been enjoying the fruits of their labors.

Weekend Get Away to the Beach

Last weekend, we got away--

Just the three of us... We didn't go far, but it was still a good break.

We stayed in a friend's "beach house" (which was actually more like a mansion), where we had to wait for low tide just to walk to the house (cuz you couldn't even drive there), it was that seriously on the beach.

It was fabulous to say "goodbye world", at least for a little while!

(Many thanks to Rusty's brave parents for keeping Cole & Mason)

Thomasson Family Farm

For about the past 5 years since Rusty and I moved back to this area after living in Eastern WA, I had heard great things about this pumpkin patch farm in Enumclaw. We drive by it every year and every year I think "we should go there!" But we'd never gone. So I was really excited for an opportunity to experience it this year with my parents, sister, and my brother & his fam. We almost didn't venture out since the rain had been so heavy this last weekend, but we lucked out and stayed dry while we were there. And we had a wonderful time tromping in the mud-- definitely a place that I plan to return to in future years!
For those in the area: Thomasson Family Farm
Some of our favorite things: taking the hay ride and the tractor train ride, the field of toys and games, jumping in the corn box, seeing animals, and choosing our perfect pumpkin! (The only sad event of the day: little Ryder got a little too close to a biting bunny who nibbled on his fingers; poor guy!)

My parents enjoying the hay ride; Hunter loved it too!

Cole wanted to stay at the sandbox (made from an old hot tub-- genuis; makes me want one for a real hot tub and for a sandbox!); Mason riding the horse and roping a cow.

Alissa taking a turn roping; Toby, KyLee, and Ryder

Cousin Ryder and Mason; Cole

Hunter had a great time with G-ma Cherie Ann; And with Mom

We loved our day-- thank you to G-pa Jack and G-ma Cherie Ann, Aunt Lissa, Uncle Toby, Aunt KyLee, and cousin Ryder for the great company (and the help with my kids!). And "thank you" for the fun that we had with more cousins that evening at Grandma's where we carved out and made our Jack-O-Lanterns.

Monday, October 12, 2009
Cole's preschool had their first fieldtrip to Carpinito's Pumpkin Patch.

It was cute to watch his class of 3-4 year olds fascinated by all of the pumpkins.


We enjoyed a hayride, but someone was mostly just interested in being pulled by the tractor--
Choosing his favorite was tough, but he settled on this one whose new home has been our front porch, where Cole regularly checks in on him:

First day of Preschool

My Handsome Boy
October 5, 2009
My baby is growing up!! Rusty didn't want me to bring Cole to a preschool yet-- at least he wanted to schedule his jobs around it so he could be there with him. It was very sweet... But I told him if I didn't bring him soon, then I never would. And I had a really hard time bringing him to his 1st day. Months ago, I couldn't decide if I wanted to even sign him up in the first place. He's an August birthday and I haven't fully decided if I'll send him to Kindergarten next year or wait a year. And if I wait, then I didn't want to pay for 2 years of preschool. But I knew he needed some socialization and some time without us. By the time I realized that I probably should just send him, most places were full. I found an opening at "Busy Bees" in Auburn, we met the teacher, and told her we wanted to come (late sunday night I called to bring him in the next morning-- I sure put off that call!). First day was yesterday-- He was excited, but shy as we stood waiting for the door to open while another mother consoled her screaming 3 year old next to us. Cole was holding my hand really tightly. I wanted to walk back to the car; no one would've known we were there. But we walked inside and found something for him to play with while the other kids arrived. The teacher offered him a box of dominos and he looked up at me from his table and whispered so innocently: "Momma, how do you play this game?". I wanted to scoop him up and leave right then and there. But then realized I should probably go before he got too comfortable with me there playing dominos. He gave me lots of hugs and kisses and ran to give me more when I was at the door (I'm so glad he isn't old enough to be embarrassed about that kind of stuff). I cried as I walked away and had a hard time driving thru blurry tears. I wanted to turn the car around and go rescue him. Awful, but I was sort of secretly hoping he'd hate it and then I wouldn't have to send him back. But he had a good day and I'm glad about that and hope it continues.

Six Months

Hunter's growing tons; dr appt is next week to know all his stats for sure.
But he sure is one happy, smiley baby, and we are all loving him!
10/13/09 Update: Saw the Dr today. Hunter weighs 16lbs, 4 0z, and is 27 1/4 inches long.

Me and the boys did the Puyallup this year

Sept 2009

A new shelf unit to reorganize my pantry items-- these 2 think it's a climbing toy...

and this one just smiles and giggles at them from his place on the floor...

probably anticipating the day when he can join in on their fun!

Cheese!