Happy Halloween!

Eating a lollipop at the pumpkin patch - this was the only time he stood still!




We found the perfect pumpkin in Santa Cruz last weekend. Brock was not really interested in looking for a pumpkin at all. He just wanted to play!

Carving a "Jack O Lanter" as Brock says.

We thought we would get good use out of the wetsuit - Check out that surfer dude! And the hand made surfboard, sculpted by Mom and Dad.


Eating some sweets after trick or treating with Tay and Annie. These three got the hang of trick or treating really fast! We just went to a couple of the neighbors houses - that is more candy than any two year old needs! Brock has had more sugar in the last two days, than he has had in his entire almost two years on earth.

Candy coma.

Playing the piano together - so sweet. Brock was a surfer, Annie a flash dancer, and Tay a Geisha girl.

Beach Fun

We had a blast at the beach last weekend! The weather was amazing!

Brock in his new wetsuit surfing with dad. Can you believe how big our boy is?

That uncle Arthur is hilarious! Brock would not leave Arthur alone. If his door was closed he would stand on the other side and yell, "ARTUR"!

Brock riding on daddy's back in the pool.

Yikes, don't let go of me yet!

Boogie boarding

Sand surfing!

Brock looking studly in his new wetsuit.

Building sand castles with ma and pa

"I a worker"

My aunt Connie has been visiting for the last week. She helped us load some concrete on our trailer and as you can see she had plenty of help! He did about a hundred trips with tiny pieces and when I got home from work he proudly announced, "Mommy, I a worker!" Brock loves having Connie around to play and work with! Turn up your volume so you can hear him talking the whole time - "I'm skipping", "1..2...3" as he throws the rock, "I all dusty" as he brushes his hands, "go down, coming?".

Now and Then

Brock spotted his "bumbo chair" in the closet the other day and just had to play with it. He was never fond of it when he was little - he just preferred to be held constantly, but now he is enjoying it.

We had a quiet weekend - Brock came down with his first stomach bug. We were grocery shopping (yes, a cart full of groceries) when Brock announced to me, "I throw up". And that he did - right in the middle of the store! I quickly peeled of my jacket to try to catch some of it, but had no luck - we were both covered and our shopping trip came to a screeching halt. The joys of motherhood. Despite the upset tummy his mood seems fairly normal, but needless to say we didn't leave the house again this weekend.

Still got it.

Well turning 30 doesn't seem to have slowed Cory down. In the last week he finished second in his class at a bike race and won his Alumni rugby game. The rugby game is simply to prove, while they continue to get older, that they can still beat up on the youngsters - I should add, they usually lose! Brock loved the Rugby game - he was hard to keep off the field and yelled "Go Wolf Pack" the whole time. It was a great reunion of college friends.


Mom has still got it too - by the way. This week I did a hike, a 5k run and have been keeping up with the youngsters in a wellness program I started on campus. This is an awesome program (if I don't say so myself) and it means I pretty much get paid to lead work outs!

A Few Chapters in the Parenting Book

Chapter One: Who Needs a Sippy Cup?
Brock likes drinking from the "pack pack" as he calls it. It is Cory's camelback.


Chapter Two: Be Careful Where You Put the Step Stool!
We have this stool in the garage that gets moved around. On this day it happened to be in front of the washer and Brock climbed right in. Notice he is wearing his new helmet. This kid, who refused to wear a hat all summer, wore his new helmet around the house all weekend.


Chapter Three: The Bottle Fairy
This weekend the bottle fairy came and took Brock's bottles. He was down to only two a day and losing interest so we decided - no more bottle. The story we told him was that the bottle fairy collects the bottles and gives them to babies that need them. Brock had no problem giving up his bottle - but he didn't like the idea of sharing them with babies. He specifically told me, "No give the bottle to baby". I guess if he can't have them - no one can! Otherwise, he couldn't care less. I guess I was more addicted to the bottle than he was because it gave me a few moments of peace. Oh well!
Here he is packaging up his bottle for the fairy. We left them on the porch and then in the morning he got a new little hot wheel motorcycle.
Chapter Four: The Narrator
I feel like my whole life is narrated these days. The everyday things that you do and ignore are pointed out when you have a toddler in the house. His new wake up call is, "Mommy, I heard a noise" (yup, that is me trying to wake you up). After he yells this a few times I come in and he says, "Mommy, I heard a noise in the back room". Whether it is eating or peeing or pooping, Brock lets me know what is going on at all times. And just in case you missed it the first time, he repeats it over and over again. He is talking in sentences - most of the words pronounced correctly and in perfect tense. Impressive for a 22 month old!

Happy 30th Birthday Cory!

No pictures to post - just a belated Happy Birthday to Cory! We had a big party on Friday night to celebrate the big 3-0 with friends. Cory has an incredible list of accomplishments to be proud of for his first three decades of life. Most important to us - he is the World's Best husband and Dad! We love you soooo much!