Playing....

...on the new street. We had Cohen and Sadie over for a little while on Monday and the kids thought it would be fun to run around on our new street. We all bundled up and braved the cold...for about 15 minutes (It was really cold!). Griffin did not want to be held once he saw the other kids running. He tried to keep up with them (:
Griffin is wearing new Birthday clothes! The hat and mittens are so nice and warm!
After work on Tuesday Josh laid all of the under floor insulation for the new house. He worked outside in the cold until midnight (with a short break for dinner and to help put the kids to bed) so that it could be inspected today (it passed!).
The framers (Nick and James) will come tomorrow to work on the decking and Nick said they will probably start on the walls on Friday!

Griffin's 1st Birthday

We celebrated Griffin's 1st Birthday a few days early with family on Saturday. I baked and decorated the cake all on my own using some of the new skills I learned from Becca's cake decorating class (: It wasn't perfect, but I thought it turned out pretty cute. It was chocolate cake with raspberry filling and butter cream frosting...yummm!

Griffin went crazy for it! He grabbed the whole piece and put as much cake as he could in his little mouth. He liked his first taste of ice cream too!

Papa and Memaw holding the Birthday Boy!

All nine of Griffin and Ronan's cousins were at the party, so we attempted a group picture on the couch. From left to right: Tyler holding Finley, Griffin, Ronan, Sadie holding Cohen, Lydia, Dylan holding Ethan, and Audrey holding Macey. Whew!

On November 26th, Griffin's actual Birthday, we stayed home and celebrated with just our family. Griffin got really into trying to open his presents by himself. Ronan did a good job of watching and cheering for Griffin (:
Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!

So Thankful

Thanksgiving weekend was FULL of fun. We packed in a lot of really good times with family and close friends. On Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family. Erik came down from Seattle, so we were all together (except for Celeste- we missed you!). We used to split the day between our two families until a few years ago when the Ruddick side decided to celebrate on the day after Thanksgiving. It's nice because we get to relax a little more and really enjoy our time with each family.

We are so very thankful that we are close with our families and that we all enjoy being together. We always have fun, and it's great to watch all the cousins playing together. I am thankful for Josh and for our boys! I think this holiday now feels extra special to me because it reminds me of anticipating Griffin's birth last year. I was 41 weeks along in my pregnancy last year...and just waiting on God's timing for Griffin's arrival. I have a lot of special memories of the days leading up to his birth, which ended up being amazing and one of the proudest moments of my life!

Griffin's 1st Thanksgiving!

You can always find Ronan playing outside in the dirt and leaves. He doesn't mind the icky weather.

Griffin is walking so well now! He has great balance, which comes in handy having an active big brother running around him all the time. He really looks more like a kid now (:

We never managed to get a group picture of the Ruddick family, but here is a picture of the cousins at the kiddie table. Ethan and Macey are in the background and I must be holding Griffin. Amy took some pictures of our family that we will probably use in our Christmas card, so I'll wait to share them (: It was a full house, but again, lots of fun! All of Josh's grandparents were there along with his Aunt Diane. It really was a special day!

Our New Street

Running Around

Josh and I ran our first 5K today in EWEB's Run to Stay Warm fundraiser. The proceeds of the event went to the Customer Care Program which helps people who are having difficulty paying their utility bills. Ronan had been talking all week about running in the kid's 400m dash, but when we got to the starting line he got pretty nervous. The picture below shows me trying to encourage him to run with the other kids. I didn't want to push him to do it, but I thought that he might be sad if he chose not to run after seeing the other kids doing it. So, he decided to run and as soon as they said "Go" along with a loud horn he got really startled and wanted me to hold him. Josh and I ended up holding him through most of the race, but we did get him to run on his own at the end. I think he was scared of all the unknowns and the loud horn didn't help, but he got a goodie bag full of candy and stickers that kept him entertained while we ran the 5K!

Above: Holding hands with Ronan as he finished his race

Below: Our family at the start of the 5K run.

The boys did great in the stroller and Josh and I kept a pretty good pace. We started out way in the back of the pack and got stuck behind a large group of people walking the race, so it took a bit of maneuvering to get to where we could start running. It was a really pretty route right along the river path. It rained a little, but it was warm and not too windy. We ran almost the whole way...stopped two times to walk for a minute so I could catch my breath...and we finished in 32 minutes, which wasn't too bad (:

After the race I went to my scrapbooking group for about an hour, and then we all headed to the Greens to celebrate Ethan and Macey's 1st Birthdays! It was a fun party with lots of family and friends! They were so cute eating their 1st taste of cupcakes!

Yummy frosting!!

It was a busy Saturday, but lots of fun! Happy Birthday, Ethan and Macey!

When the workers are away...

...the kiddos will play!

Street Excavation

On Monday the excavators returned to start cutting out the street for our new house. It has been quite a process! They first had to remove barricades since 3 streets dead end along the right-of-way, then they stretched out an erosion barrier along the perimeter of the alley. The streets will still dead end around ours, but we will be able to create nicer barricades using shrubs and boulders.
Some neighbor boys came over to see if Ronan could play, and when I went outside to check on them I found them all standing on the side of the house watching the workers. They stayed there for the longest time!

They will be working the rest of the week grading, compacting, and prepping for the asphalt which should be laid before Thanksgiving!!

Sub Floor

Birthday Boys

Cohen and his Mama at his Birthday Party! Becca made an awesome frog cake for his special day. It was so cute! Happy 2nd Birthday!

Kenton, Katrina, and Finn on his 1st Birthday!

Finn wanted to blow out his candle the whole time we were singing Happy Birthday, so as soon as the song was over he blew it out on the first try! He loved his cupcake and ice cream!

Firm Foundation

What a Halloween!

Josh was the star on Halloween morning when he danced as Michael Jackson in Thriller with some of his co-workers. It was amazing! You have to check it out (: I was so proud of him for being brave enough to do it, especially since he is so new at EWEB. I think more people know who he is now and can see how COOL he is! Click here to watch the performance if you want to.

After work Josh met us at the 5th Street Public Market for trick-or-treating. Ronan was dressed at Darth Vader and Griffin was a Rooster. Ronan only kept his mask on for a few minutes, and as the evening went on he got down to just his pants and shirt. Oh well (:

From there we went to the hospital with the Greens to see Grandpa at work. Ethan and Macey looked so cute in their costumes (Yoda and a pumpkin).

Then we made our rounds to Grammie's and then to Memaw and Papa's house where we met up with the Chases and Henrys. All the kids looked great in their costumes! Aaron & Becca and Katrina & Kenton were dressed up too...again great costumes!

Finley, the Dragon

Sadie was dressed as Snow White

Tyler was an Armor Bat and Cohen was a cute little Doggy

Aaron and Becca dressed as Danny and Sandy from Grease for the bank's 50's theme. And the Henrys dressed up as a Prince, Princess, and a Dragon....so cute!