The seasons are changing...

Fall is finally here! I can feel the seasons changing, I even turned the seat warmer on in my car the other morning. This is my absolute favorite time of the year; the weather is still nice but has that wonderful crisp feel, you can start wearing your favorite boots and sweaters again, soup and hot chocolate is suddenly much more appealing, football has begun... I could go on and on! Plus Payton has a ton of cute fall clothes that I've been dying to see her wear :)

Everytime I look at her, I marvel at how smart and beautiful she is. I'm trying to teacher her numbers, but the only one she is interested in saying is "two", she just likes saying that one over and over again! I've taught her "thank you" and "please", and she will even say them on her own (although most of the time it's "what do you say Payton?") She likes saying "excuse you" too. She can say so many words, but we're still working on her stringing more sentences together. For example, she can say "up" and "daddy", but doesn't want to say "up daddy". I'm sure that will come with time though! Her appetite has started decreasing a little bit, although she's still always ready to eat. She has officially moved up to the toddler room at daycare, which is 18 months to 3 year-olds. The biggest difference is the kids sleep on little cots instead of cribs, but they've said that she's done great so far! She has become extremely shy if she isn't familiar with you, but she warms up after a while. She's pretty fearless, and therefore pretty clumsy. She's a trooper though, and gets over stuff pretty quick! She wants nothing more these days than to be your helper, whether it be laundry (see below), dishes, or even throwing away her own dirty diaper!



I like going down the slide all by myself, but Mom still feels better when Dad goes down next to me :)





My mom is worried that I'm going to be taller than her soon!



Little daredevil rockclimber

Oregon girl :)

Kyle has officially been at the high school for a couple weeks, and is absolutely loving it. A lot of his students recognized him from when he student taught last year, and they were all excited to have him back, which is a good sign :) He's even been making extra money by supervising the students at the football games and dances, he says it's fun to be so involved.

The official first day picture!

I have been very hesitant about saying anything until it was a for sure thing, but it looks like Kyle and I will be buying a house in Albany in a couple weeks! We couldn't afford the loss we would have to take on our Portland home, and so we decided we will be turning it into a rental, and we are going forward with purchasing a home down here. We have a signed contract and the inspection is done, but as we know from our last real estate experience, nothing is for sure until you have a key in your hand. We are so extremely excited though to be able to have our own place again! Living at Rick and Sue's has been wonderful, and we will forever be grateful to them for everything they've done for us to be able to make this move down here. We are very much looking forward to our own house though, which I'm sure anyone can understand. It's a one story house, about 1600 square feet but on a quarter acre lot, so it has a big backyard. It's in a very established and safe neighborhood, which was important to us, and only about a mile away from the school and 1.5 miles from the hospital. It's a little older, built in the 70's, but the home inspector said it's a great home and in great shape. We're hoping for a smooth closing and a smooth move, so please keep your fingers crossed for us and I will keep you posted!

Next weekend we are headed to Gig Harbor for my Grandma's memorial. It will be a very tough and emotional day, but I know that grieving together as a family and remembering and celebrating my Grandma's life will be extremely helpful for all of us to gain closure. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her, and I don't think that will ever change; but I think this will help us all feel more at peace about her not being here with us anymore.

Hope you all have a wonderful week, enjoy this beautiful fall weather!