Picture of the Pirate Princess and more Halloween

On my last blog I told you to compare Addison's custome with that of the Pirate Princess for Jake and the Neverland Pirates, but that forgot to add a picture of her. So here it is, she is the one on the right!

I have also included a few more from Halloween!

Halloween

For whatever reason, Addison loves Halloween. She has been talking for a year about last Halloween and started talking about her costume in (probably) August. And not only talking about her costume, but changing her mind about what she would be on a daily basis. One thing was for certain though, her brother was GOING to be a pumpkin. Eventually she decided on a pirate princess for her favorite cartoon, "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" on the Disney Channel.

My mom was - again - tasked with making her custome. And it turned out really cute and pretty close to the acutal character, I think. (See pics above.) She also made Sawyer's custome, the pumpkin. It was sooooo darn cute, but our little moose man couldn't fit into it. He was too big! But even though he didn't get to wear it, we still have a cute little t-shirt for him to wear with happy bat on it. He still looked cute, custome or not.

The day of Halloween Addie's school had their fall festival. Because Chuck's family was here, he was on leave that day so we both volunteered to help out. We had fun playing games with all the kids. Addison got lots of prizes - mostly junk. But it was obvious that she had fun and she got to show off her custome.

Halloween night we took Addison trick or treating around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful night and there were a lot of people out and about in the neighborhood. We left Grandpa Jim at the house to hand out candy and Addison, Kathie, Edie, Charlie, Sawyer and myself set out to gather up some candy. However, Sawyer screamed from his pack for the first 15 minutes and the grandma's decided to take him home. Addison loved the trick or treating and she did really great. Unlike last year, she didn't try to walk into people's houses when they opened the door. She liked to say "Happy Halloween, Trick or treaty!" It was especially nice for Charlie to be involved in this because last year he missed Halloween while he was at Weapons School!

It was a great night for us all and the next day Addison was asking to do it again. Luckily, her excitement has worn off some and she is now looking forward to Christmas. But I know her well enough to know that it wont take her long after Christmas to be asking about Halloween again. She really does love it which I find odd. Because neither her dad or myself are huge Halloween fans. But that again, I guess it is different for a little kid....

Aunt Valerie and Uncle Chris Come for a Visit

Late in October, Chuck's sister and her husband (Val and Chris) came down to Florida to meet baby Sawyer and to see big sister Addison. They came on a Friday night/Saturday morning and left the following Tuesday. It was a very fun filled weekend for Addison! Addie and Aunt Ballarie (that's what she calls her) did all kinds of baking and crafts. We all went and picked out pumpkins for carving - but we never actually got around to carving them. They watched cartoons together, played with the dogs. And loved on little Sawyer man.

It was also fun in that Valerie and Chris are expecting thier first baby in April. I think it was nice for them to be around a new born to kind of see what things are going to be like. I think it also helped them watching us because we are so much more confident this time around and they got to see that! They asked a lot of good questions too!

It was a great weekend, and of course went to fast. And in true Addison form, she was not at all pleased that they left when they did. Even though we saw them again later in the week at breakfast when Kathie, Edie and Jim were her. (Chris grew up in Destin and his sister lives there so they spent the second half of that week over there with her.)

On the move...

Can you guess where we are off to next????

The week before Sawyer was born, I got a phone call from Charlie. I will never forget his words to me EVER. He said "Baby, I just got called up to the big leagues." No, Charlie didn't change careers and is not going to be playing major league baseball. In Air Force terms, the "big leagues" is the weapons school. He has been asked to come back to Nellis in Vegas to be an instructor at the weapons school. A very big honor as you have to be asked to come back - not assigned. We have been talking about the "what if's" in regard to this assignment since he graduated from wic last winter on the off chance he would ever be asked back. Unlike any other assignment, this one can be turned down. It is a very time intensive assignment and he will be working very long hours over the next three years - even more so than normal. But after discussing it for months on end and than getting the phone call, we decided that it was in his best interest to accept the job.

Which means we are off to Vegas! However, we are off in not the normal six months but three. And that three was when we got the assignment two months ago. We are now down to three weeks left in Florida! (Yet another reason my blog has been in a seriously neglected state.)

Needless to say, with a new baby and all the craziness of this short notice assignment the Schuck's are completely chaotic right now! Stay tuned for more move information....

And baby makes 4!

Obviously if you are a follower of our family blog, you have probably noticed that I have fallen FAR behind once again - this time, it has been for a very worthy cause and not just from laziness...

I am so pleased to introduce to you, a little late, but introduce to you all the same:

Sawyer David Schuck
September 21, 2011
1:38 p.m.
10 lbs., 8.5 oz
20 3/4 inches long

I will not go into details about the birth because really, who wants to hear about that anyway, but I will say, it all went well. And it all went quickly! And we were so shocked to learn how big he was - even bigger than they anticipated. The hospital stay was longer than we thought - they released us at the 48 hour mark rather than the 24 hour mark due to a slight fever on his part and his failing his hearing test twice. (Eventually, he did pass.)

In regard to his kidney issue, at this point - two months out - all is well. The pediatric urologist will only be monitoring him and thankfully no surgery is required. We did learn however that he does/did have a slight thyroid issue which may have contributed to his size. But he is on meds now and the number has fallen quite a bit. Honestly, he is the picture of health!

Over the last two months we have had many visitors coming to meet our little man. My mom was here for the birth and stayed for two weeks after he was born. We had two weeks on our own and than Chuck's sister and her husband came for four days. After a two day interlude, Chuck's mom, grandma and grandpa all came for a week. Whew! It was a lot of company.

Addison is doing well adjusting to her big sister roll. She is totally smitten with him and at times is a little too much in his face. However she is a good helper and is eager to fetch diapers, burp rags, or anything that might help mommy take care of little brother. We have had some behavior issues with her, but fully expected those. Having her in school, I believe, has been a tremendous help for her adjusting.

I have almost totally recovered. I feel like it was a much faster and easier recovery this time. However, the weight is still there and I know I will be fighting with that for a long time.

I think it is probably safe to say that we are all in LOVE with this little boy. He has started smiling now which is a heart stopper for me. He is so charming! And he is such a good baby. He sleeps well, unlike his sister and he is for the most part HAPPY HAPPY! I don't like to brag, but I have to say he is very handsome and Chuck and I make super CUTE babies!!!