Maddox Update

Hi Friends & Family!

I haven't posted a real blog update in a few months and we have a few new pictures and videos to share.

We have been faring the Orcas Island Winter as well as can be expected. Full time jobs on the island during the winter months are scarce and challenging to keep, but Tim still has his full time job at Ace, and I still have a few cleaning clients and we are thankful for all that we are afforded.

It's been cold the past couple of weeks and we even got a few snowflakes, but not enough to stick for long. I can only speak for myself when I say that I am ready for some snow! After spending the last five Christmas's in San Diego, where we went to the beach after opening presents, I am ready for some snowmen and sledding on Christmas Day!

We spent Thanksgiving Day on Shaw Island with our friends Jay and Amy, who were dog/house sitting for our good friends, The Laursen's. Jay built a turkey sculpture out of scrap wood that we burned in the fire pit after dinner. It was slightly sinister, but great fun after a huge meal!

Maddox has been growing so fast I can hardly stay on top of things. He is 14 months old as of December 10th and is wearing size 18-24 month clothes (and has been for the last 3 months). His feet are like square, flat bear paws... thick and big. His hands are huge, his legs are chunky, his belly is jolly and his cheeks continue to entice us to eat his face! He has started to walk, FINALLY! He thinks he's pretty cool, and we do too :) He is starting to talk more every day. He says "Mamma", "Dadda", "Hot", "Yes", "Bubble", "Cracker", "Uh-oh!", "Woh!" and other unintelligible things that one day will turn into English. He LOVES to be outside and go on walks and watch Mom and Dad chop and stack firewood (which, little does he know will be his job soon enough! MUAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!).

My days of having the super easy baby are coming to an end. His sense of self and entitlement to anything he sees is becoming stronger and stronger and the battle of wills has begun. Bedtimes are sometimes a struggle. Who would want to go to bed when there is so much to explore! There are books to read and cupboards to open and close and pictures to be colored!

We are proud to report that Maddox is still the happiest kid we know.

Tim and I are excited for the Spring/Summer season to start. Orcas is a great place to earn some dough during the tourist months, and we plan to milk that cow this season and head toward Bellingham before the 2010 winter. There are more opportunities out there for better jobs that can better fit our family's needs.

Until then we are thoroughly enjoying the "Island Life" and have spent many nights cuddled up by our fireplace, drinking hot cocoa and reading books, taking walks in the woods, and catching up with old island friends.

We hope you all are doing well this winter, that your nights are filled with undisturbed slumber (unless you're Annie or Danielle- *wink*), that you are in good health, that your homes are warm and your bellies are full, and that everyone has a peaceful and sane holiday this season :)

Cheers!

Maddox, Alison & Tim

Maddox at Sammie's Birthday Party

Here is a really cute picture of Maddox at our friend Sammie's 3rd birthday party. He had so much fun jumping in the Moon Jump (right? Moon Jump?) and flirting with all the little girls!

I Know, I Know, I Know....

I'm not sure what happened to these two pictures. They were taken at my friend's wedding and I kind of jacked them from the photographer's website. I didn't want to pay for pictures of my own kid. Anyway... he looks like a smurf, but you get the gist. These are in order from most recent to least recent... going back to June-ish...

Sorry for the delay in the post, and sorry that this is so brief. In short... I'm tired and busy and we just got our lives back in order... so give me a couple more weeks and I'll be back to my monthly updates with new pictures and videos and funny stories.

Maddox is crawling, talking (sort of), and cruisin' around, jumping from chair to table to couch. He LOOOOOOOVES bananas, and will eat just about anything... but he says "Nana" for banana, and he says "kak-kak" for cracker, and "kak-kak" for "Quack-quack" (when he sees a duck), and he's said "duck" before but hasn't in awhile... he says "bubba" for bubbles when we blow bubbles. He's still the happiest baby in the world... he just knows better how to get his way... has WAAAY more attitude... he's a lot like his parents... ;)

Tim and I are working non-stop (it seems), getting the bills paid and debt chipped away at- slowly but surely.

Traction has been gained and the new chapter of our lives, titles, "The Calhousters Do Orcas Island".

Cheers!

The Many Faces of Maddox...

Maddox is growing so fast I can literally tell that he gets bigger overnight. It sounds exaggerated- but I SWEAR!!! Some of his clothes say 12 and 18 months... he is 6 months and three weeks old. Now, some of his clothes still say 6, or 6/9 months... but this kid is swelling like a balloon! He'll go through a couple of weeks where he's super-chubby, and then it seems like he'll slim down a bit- but really I think he's just getting longer/taller.

So these pictures are just random cute shots, taken either on Shaw or at home. We have caught him doing some funny things now and then. One of which is the "fist/hand-along-the-side-of-the-face" move... he let it sit there for so long--- I shot a lot more pictures than I posted...

Maddox LOVES the bath! We have to use distraction techniques to get him out of the tub without tears... he and his rubber ducky are pretty tight.

He continues to be one of the happiest babies I've ever known.

>>>Mom: I regret to inform you that the adorable plaid overalls with the giraffe only got two days of use. It was too big, and too big, and too big... and then... too small... but I did get pictures of him in it for proof that he wore it...

Happy Easter!

Hi All!

So we are living on Orcas now for the time being while we wait for the next opportunity to rear it's head. We still want to make it to Shaw but it all depends on when the home is available/safe to rent, and when the construction work starts up.

I have a few small cleaning jobs on the horizon as well as some freelance marketing opportunities so we are staying afloat as well as can be expected.

We took some new pictures recently and just wanted to share :)

Cheers!

Easter Pix on Shaw with The Laursen's (our surrogate family)

We ate a SCRUMPTIOUS dinner of Shaw Ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans, strawberry banana jello, rolls, and JELLO SHOTS! Then we went to the beach to run the dogs and walk off some of our dinner. Laurie made our family an Easter basket BY HAND! It's so cute! It has pastel Easter colors and it is something we will keep forever for Maddox's FIRST Easter basket :) Very special! Thanks Laurie and Del for having us! We had a blast :)













Maddox loves to play with his toys and discover anything he can get his hands on. He loves his Daddy very, very much and we have found a "sweet spot" right by his ribs... we can get a gut chuckle out of him almost every time by eating on some baby ribs!!!!













I don't know what the whole deal is with the hand and/or fist along side the face bit- but it's Maddox's new "pose". He will sit there for quite awhile with either his hand or his fist along the side of his face. It's pretty cute....