Pumpkin Patch 2009

We've been busy here, running a business, being run by a 2 year old (yes the fun has begun) getting the homestead winter ready and tying up some loose ends. We can't wait for Halloween! Christopher has been practicing saying "Trick or Treat" and is excited to go out with his buddies Beckett and Grason to grab some candy.

We had another fun day at the pumpkin patch this year... and what a difference a year makes. Christopher was much more able to enjoy what the Pasco Country Mercantile at 2 and 1/2 than he was last year; hay maze, corn maze, tractor ride, pumpkin picking, bounce house, hay towers (these were fun) and petting zoo.

We ran around, tasted many yummy goods, bought some cider and fudge, Christopher fell into a couple of rotten pumpkins... stinky, very stinky, hah. Here are some pictures of the fun. Hope you all are enjoying fall as much as we are.

Climbing the tower of hay, as unaided as possible.


Sitting with daddy in the barn.


Smile!


Super fun tractor ride!! Don't you wish you were there.


Taking our bounty to the car.


The corn is so tall!!

A sick little man.

Christopher is finally getting better after having a very serious fever for five days and a cold/cough and runny nose for many more days than that. I relented and took him to the Dr. on the 6th and sure enough the night before we went in his fever broke. He has a borderline ear infection, meaning he doesn't have one yet but is working on it if his congestion doesn't clear up. So Mucinex is our friend right now. Everyday he's getting better and better, he's not giving any indication that there is an impending ear infection (ear pulling, crying, acting like he can't hear me) so I think we're in the clear and get to avoid antibiotics. I've yet to give him any and I certainly don't want to start now if I don't have to.

Thank you to everybody who was concerned and wishing him well. All that positive energy flowing his way really helped. Lots of love to all of you.

Wisdom from Christopher

Adam: Where does food go?
Christopher: In my mouth.
Adam: Then where does it go?
Christopher: In my tummy.
Adam: Where does it go after that?
Christopher: In my shorts.

Me: What do brothers do?
Christopher: They walk.
Me: What else do brothers do?
Christopher: They talk.
Me: Do they do anything else?
Christopher: Play with toys.
Me: What do sisters do?
Christopher: They in kitchen.

I love the things he comes up with sometimes, Christopher really makes us laugh. His answers are all unprompted and completely derived on his own, most of the time amazing us with what he comes up with. We can see his little mind working away as he comes up with some of the greatest things. Can't wait to share a little more wisdom from Christopher with you.

What can I say...

Christopher is 2 1/2 now. I can hardly believe it, time has gone by so darn fast. His wit amazes me along with his understanding of the world around him. Most days I can ask him a question that I'm sure he won't have the answer for and low and behold he gives me the cutest right on the nose answer almost every time. We really are blessed to have such a smart, funny, loving little man in our lives.

This summer we went through a lot of stickers. Most of which were stuck to Chris at one point or another.

Christopher enjoyed many an ice cream sandwich with his daddy after dinner. This always results in quite a mess and lots of smiles.

Another breakthrough we've had is that Christopher now "smiles" for the camera. I laugh my butt off every time we try to take a picture of him now as he does it without us asking.

We're off to the Fair!

We headed to the fairgrounds Ssaturday, bright and early at 9:00 a.m. in order to beat the heat. Our goals were simple; take Chris to see the animals, get some food, see some booths, and send the little guy down Big Pink. Adam was volunteering in the Elephant Ear booth the rotary club runs at noon so we had three hours which was plenty of time.

I'd forgotten how active the animals are earlier in the day during fair week we always seem to go in the evening and by then they are hot and tired. As we walked through the pig barn more than a couple of pigs were eager to check us out, sniffing and talking as we let Christopher take it all in. He got a little scared when one big snout touched his leg but was enjoying it otherwise. He pet quite a few bunnies, but was much more excited about the chickens. He kept saying we were at the circus. He had fun in Old McDonald's Barn and loved running on the hay barrels that surrounded the duck pond.

After the animals we went through the booths and non-living exhibits rather quickly. I even purchased my first duck ever. The next stop was funnel cake, Christopher's very fist taste of one. It was cute we pretty much had to tear it away from him. He found it very very tasty and was trying to finish it off by himself.

Then we headed over to Big Pink. Christopher loves slides so we had to get him on this one. Adam volunteered to go down with him. Chris loved it and was beaming by the time he got to the bottom of the slide. He even tried to walk back up it, silly boy. Next year we'll try to get him on more rides, he saw the strawberries and really wanted to get in one, however he's a bit short to get on most of them and we were pressed for time.

We meant to get turkey legs however they somehow were forgotten at the end of the day. Twitter saved us however. You see a friend of Adam's was still at the fair, we knew this because of her tweet and she graciously delivered turkey legs to the house, saving the day.

August, come and gone...

Not much new going on in the Baldwin household. Christopher is 2, and acting every minute of it. While he's exploring his environment and figuring out the workings of his world I'm trying very hard not to scream and hide in my room. It's hard to stay upset at him for all the naughty things; painting my desk with lotion, writing all over the couch, bending a beater beyond recognition, pouring flour all over the floor, and wreaking general havok... when you've got this looking back at you during most of it.

He's very charming when he wants to be and for every bad thing he does he also does something extraordinarily darling or smart. The time out step/corner is getting a lot of extra use right now, which I hope will slow down one of these days.

Adam is very very busy with nGenuity. He was featured as a young professional in the Tri-Cities Journal of Business this month which was a great achievement, here's the article. If you can get the actual print it has a very nice picture of him in it. Our friends Jennifer Mitchell (Account Sense) and Adam Brault (&yet) also were chosen, kudos to you!!

He went to Defcon at the beginning of the month and hacked his way through some fun with the mystery challenge. There are talks and things to learn... but I'm not sure he did any of that. Beer was drank, codes were broken, friends were made.

He's been talking to realtors and is looking to expand into some office space. This is a big and positive step forward. We'll see how this pans out over the next couple of months.

In between those things he's working very hard, he's out and about networking and making sure that he's doing all he can to have nGenuity be successful. While we miss his presence at home sometimes were hoping all the hard work now will enable him to be home/present more later.

July... whooosh!!!!!

Well ladies and gentleman, July is almost gone and it feels like it just started. The Baldwin household has been a bustle this last month and barely have had time to breath. Here are some highlights:

Adam: Was asked to speak at Toorcamp at the beginning of the month. Getting things to a roaring start for him. Camping in the desert for a few nights left him dirty and a little worse for wear but he had a great time and made plenty of new contacts.

Adam is even now, as I type, driving down to Vegas with his business partner and friend Aaron and another friend to play at Defcon for the weekend. He goes every year (for the last few at least) and has a blast. They participate in the mystery challenge and really enjoy all the fun stuff that gets thrown at them, lock-picking, coding, social engineering and more, they thrive in it.

Rachel: I just got back from cheerleadership camp, doing my thing in Ellensburg the 18th through the 24th. I had 28 girls this week and had a lot of fun. It was hot, there was no AC, and I got pretty dang sick on the 22nd which I'm just now pretty much over. It's hard to be a "mommy" to that many girls when you're running a fever and can't keep your meals down, but I did it. Yay me. Now I'm dealing with allergies which are leaving me sleepy beyond comprehension. So, I'm napping every time the little guy does.

On Monday I started a three month chiropractic treatment that will hopefully restore the curve in my neck and halt the degeneration taking place (starting to fuse), correct the twist in my spine, and maybe (it would be a miracle but I still have hope) relieve some of my many other ailments. So for now it's three days a week in the Dr.'s office for treatment and daily stretches at home with lots and lots of water. I'll keep my progress posted.

I'm addicted to my Kindle, I'm now reading no less than three books a week and I don't see myself slowing down. It's just so easy to pick it up and start reading, and I have a endless library at my disposal. Definitely one of the best gifts Adam has ever given me.

Christopher: This little man is so great, he's growing well, talking and conversing and showing signs of just what an awesome little guy he's going to be. He has his days where I wonder just how I'm going to handle his very stubborn slightly OCD tendencies, but for the most part is just a normal, fun two year old. He laughs at all the appropriate times, like when you've discovered the grossest diaper ever is the one you get to change and when he's completely fooled you into thinking he's asleep in the back seat, a large boisterous "AH HAHAHAHAHA!!!" laugh usually accompanies these feats. I love that he thinks if he moves slow enough I can't see him being sneaky either, always makes me laugh.

He's going potty on the potty for me at least once a day now if not more, I lost a little ground being gone during camp but I'm sure we'll make it up again very quickly.

I love how conversational Christopher has gotten, he's such a smarty (most of the time not a smarty pants). He's also a little particular (we joke that he's OCD), everything has to be in it's place and he'll let you know if he doesn't like where you've moved it. If you ask him what color something is he'll tell you it's green and give you "the eye," even though he knows what color it really is. He's gonna be a handful.

The Animals: Dart managed to bore a pretty nice sized hole in our pocket when he got loose in our bedroom and decided to eat everything he could get his maw on. We discovered over the course of two (almost three weeks) that he had eaten, not chewed, just swallowed, four pairs of underwear out of my drawer, a pair of Christopher's knee high socks, and two or three hair ties. Ended up taking him to the vet as he tried to pass the last of it as he was getting very dehydrated and couldn't keep any meals down. The vet suggests a cage muzzle to prevent further incidences until he's gets the idea. At least he's not eating rocks anymore.