Freda and Simon

Thanks for the pictures Ryan, it made my month.

Looks like watching all that cage fighting on TV is paying off!

Kisses after tho, k?

Our First Gift

This is the Christmas present my 22 month old daughter, Freda Lucia McCoy, made at school and gave to her beautiful mother and I this year. My tough guy exterior is shredded by things like this, sending me into a moment of pride so great my eyes leak. This I can admit with zero shame.

Baby got Drums

Climactic ending!

White Christmas!

So much fun and so beautiful.

Woke up to 4 more inches of snow this morning.

Freda got her own snow fort!

White christmas?

Looks like a white Christmas, in some capacity this year. Two more storms lined up between now and xmas for another possible 6" of snow. We ended up with about 9.5 inches at the house. With the winds, it was bare in a couple spots and 4 feet deep in others. We've had a few fires for that warmth only fire can give you. Freda always wants to get nudy when I make fire, it's real cute.

Seems like fall was sooooo long ago...

Oh the NOWES!!!

At least thats what Freda calls it.

Well, it's been quite a weekend. We had crazy North Easterly winds from the arctic and moist air from the north pacific converging on our corner of the state. The Nooksack river started freezing over in places.



We really could not go out in it because of the wind and frigid temps (in the teens). Until finally we got to venture out on Sunday for a few minutes at a time. She gets real upset when we have to go in and warm up. I see a date with hot chocolate coming soon? When we first went out, she was enthralled. I tried to get her to eat some. She resisted. Once she saw me eat some though, she stood there and ate it like it was going somewhere. Then we sat in the snow. That made it alot easier to eat the snow. Bought a litte sled we can pull her around in and she loves it. It's been too cold for a snowman or an igloo, but hopefully we catch it right when it warms back up someday. She is going to be so sad when it melts...







Brainfreeze!

Snow Day

The wind finally stopped blowing but the snow is back. I got Freda up early to take her into school today. It snowed only an inch or so last night but it is snowing heavily today.

Snow princess



Me and mini scoping the road before we head out.



Cute little motel I pass on the way to work in Mt. Vernon

Cabin Fever

We are stuck inside so we play. Man do we have fun.

Playing music

Reading books

Running around crazy

'Wiggin' out

Sitting in pots

Winter Storm 2008

It's pretty crazy out. blowing a constant 45 with gusts to 60 from the arctic NE for 25 hours straight now. It's 19 degrees right now, which puts us right below zero with lows to -11. That wind is so harsh. It snowed saturday and sunday. We took freda out yesterday for groceries and the wind scared her. Honestly, it kinda scares me. You can hear the gusts coming about 5 seconds before they hit. Sticks are breaking off the trees around our house and hitting the roof 24-7. The yard and roof are completly littered with sticks. The heater has been runnig since noon, as this duration of a storm is not typical. I started a fire a few hours ago and we are all cozied up in front of it watching spongebob squarepants. Just got word it's not gonna stop blowing and we are getting more snow Wednesday and then another storm Saturday. High temperatures of 25 degrees and lows of 9 (minus the wind chill) thru to the new year.

the dogs got front row seats

snow saturday night

took this sunday morning before lunch. it was so dark and cold.

Holidays 2008

Well, the holidays are proving to not only be busy, but a little stressful this year. As our family grows, the ease of getting everybody together becomes a little less simple but all that much more rewarding at the same time. We are looking forward to Christmas this year with a might-as-well-be-two year old owning the house anymore. She totally understands who Santa Claus is and what happens when he comes and she is excited. She loves the tree in the house and calls the lights "pretty stars". What a great little person I have to hang out with. Her vocabulary is exploding with two and three word phrases and multiple syllable words starting now. She has started calling me "Charles" as of a week ago. It is really adorable.

Here are a couple of pictures our good friend Lesley Keefer took of my girls.


Cute by the pond


srsly cute

Halloween 2008

Here are a few pictures from trick-or-treating in Mt. Vernon. More to come.


Frefre the love bug.


Mini and chachi.

Mama and Mini

Too cute!

New School

We've been waiting for a spot to open at St Francis daycare and finally one has. Freda will start in the coming week, getting her foot in the door once a week. Freda made a lasting impression on the teachers and she is going by today with Mandy to play. She will miss her first peer friends Simon, Bella and Jenasis to name a few.

Playing. I love play time. Reading, coloring, blanket forts, chasing...Freda can put her socks and shoes on. and she does it alot. all day. socks on. shoes on. shoe off. shoe on. shoes off. socks off. shoes on. shoes off. socks on. shoes on wrong feet. shoes off. sock off. shoe on. sock on. shoe on. repeat. She also has used her potty chair twice.

She is really turned into a mocking bird again. She says a bunch of names now and things like 'woah dude' and 'windy' and 'sic-a-treet' (just in time for halloween). Definately on another learning bender right now, the new abilities and language are a daily thing.

Berries and Haircuts

Freda enjoying the last of the Blackberries

Freda got her first real haircut.

Amazing how quickly she has become a little girl in the past few months.

As the holidays approach, we become so busy. I have a bunch of punkin patch pictures I wil get up in the coming days.

First day of school

Here we are at another milestone. Today Freda goes to 'school' for the first time. We have gone by a couple times with her in the last week or so to get her comfortable...not needed. As soon as we walk through the door she is gone like a flash to play with the other kids. Especially her best buddy, Simon. Climbing the tower for the slide, playing music on the drums and xylophone, throwing the ball, riding the tractor...she is going to prosper and develop at school in ways neither Mandy or I can give her. We are so proud and excited. Luckily, we have had flexible enough schedules for the first 18 months of her life to be there for all of it. The time has definately come for her to be immersed in a broader social atmosphere.

She's a busy kid. She's a smart kid. She's an independant kid. She has an opinion. She makes choices. She decides. The other day someone asked me "You got her riding a skateboard yet?" It's not up to me. If she wants to, she will. She has a skateboard, but she has not ridden it yet. Honestly, part of me hopes she wants nothing to do with skateboarding. At this point in her life, she rides a bike, she plays music, she loves keys and slides. She loves the dogs. She loves being outside. She loves to run. Somersaults. Digging in the garden. Collecting dead leaves. Chasing bubbles. Looking at books.

I can guide her, I can supply her, I can enable her. but I will never make her. It's her life, not mine.

Pinky

Pigtails

Slide

Freda loves slides. Loves. Slides. So I thought we would go buy one for home. Freda and I went to 9 different stores and no slides! While we were at Costco, we ran in to Dr. Shapiro, Frefre's doctor. She and her daughters gave us thier smaller one, since they had upgraded recently. They saved the day. And her husband does not have to haul it away any more. Everybody won.

All growed up at 1.5

I never would have believed it.

The drums

Or maybe be a drummer?

The Guitar

With her smoky little voice, she is destined for stardom.

'chankoo'

stuff

The last of the teeth are coming in, 4 at a time. Has made for quite the crabby little girl. She stays cute though. I love my Freda.

She says lots of things now, "that one" and "that one there" are the most popular.

Feets

Her feets took her on adventures today.

Sick Day

The last 2 mornings Freda has woken up with a high temp. This mornings came with a barf. So I stayed home today with her. She went to the doctor yesterday and got checked out, everything fine. We got her temp down, so we are just watching it for now. Bummer too, cause Freda had big plans to hang out with the grandparents Schumacher and dinner with grandma Leslie and family.

Soap Lake '08

We went back to Soap Lake, WA for the 4th of July this year. It was hot, but not too bad. We stayed at Notara's Lodge again, in the Bunkhouse and Old Mexico rooms. Drove up to Dry Falls, the largest dry waterfall in the world. We met up with Joel and Celeste for food and fireworks.

Enjoying her own beverage.


Always digging.


Mama and mini in a coulee.

Freda and I at Dry Falls


Crab floaty.

Hats today!

Under the shoulder handbag hat.


She loves her bike helmet.

Fathers day weekend 2008

Our great friends, Doug Mitchell and Blanche and Dawn came all the way from Cleveland, Montana to visit. It was so great to see them and share this beautiful corner of the country with them. So much food and drink and fun and friends. Freda was quite the hit. She had so much fun she only had one 45 minute nap and stayed strong from 9 a.m. till 11 p.m. Not sure what was fueling her [cake and an audience], but we all had a great time.


Having obvious trouble trying to decide what hat to wear.

On Sunday we went to breakfast at The Little Cheeful Cafe. Then we went to the the Deming Log Show with the Olsen's and played on the swings and slide.

I can't believe how much I love Freda. She is destined for fame. She is a force bigger than both Mandy and I combined. Freda, you have no limits. Please include everyone. Listen to your heart. Do not judge. Celebrate the differences. Especially family.

"You met up with your body at the right time and place." - Steeb Russell