OCTOBER 2010

CJ's first painting. This is how he kept himself busy during Conference...among other things :) 

And Mattie kept herself busy too. Don't you love how she colors on her belly?!

Mattie's been hearing about the potty for months, but it's all been directed towards CJ. So when she started saying she was poopy, but didn't have any poop in her diaper until a few minutes later, we thought now was the time to test it out. In the pic, she had said "poopy" but had no poop in her diaper. So Mommy put her on the toilet, and sure enough, she went a tiny little poop! Yea! Her first time going potty! However, it was also her last, so we haven't started potty-training her yet...she still needs a little more time.

CJ playing dress-up in his too-small hat, his sunglasses that he picked out himself and bought with his own birthday money, and Papa's old watch

MILESTONE PICTURES

Mattie Gayle - 19 months old

Curtis Jason - 3 years old (38 1/2 months)

We don't love this pose - very unnatural - but we liked his smile

P.S. Mattie is not her normal smiling self in these pics because she was kinda freaked out by the whole process, so we're happy with what we got considering she had been crying just moments before

We met Bryce for lunch one sunny afternoon and enjoyed playing at Confluence Park, which is right by his office

CJ likes to help get the mail. On this particular day, when Mommy picked him up to see inside the mailbox, his eyes zeroed in on this Toys R Us catalog. It was the only piece of mail he grabbed, and then he ran back inside and plopped himself down to check it out. He probably sat there for at least 15 minutes perusing each page! 

Mattie had fun opening some mail too

On October 18th, after months of waiting (almost 3 months), we finally found out that

Bryce PASSED the WA Bar!!!

BRYCE'S SWEARING IN

Bryce was sworn into the Washington State Bar Association on October 29, 2010.

Each applicant must be presented to the court by an attorney, so it was really special that Bryce's dad, Greg, came over from Bellevue to introduce and present his son

Bryce taking his oath in front of the judge. Not pictured are two other attorneys to Bryce's left, one of which is Kyle, who also works at JDSA, and other is Kyle's fiance, Kate.

Congrats after the swearing in

Ring pops: this is how we kept quiet the only two children present

Bryce Mackay: official attorney

Yes, Mattie and CJ have donuts smeared on their faces. That's ok...it kinda covers the ring pops that were smeared there first :)

Like father, like son

(and I promise, Bryce's mom was there too, but for some reason I didn't get a pic of them together on my camera)

Bryce's professional business card, which he received the day before he was sworn in

This is the article that was printed in the Nov 7th issue of the Wenatchee World

Playing in the rain

HALLOWEEN

Oct 28th - These are the fruit snacks that Paige made for CJ's Preschool Halloween party. Bryce helped by doing most of the jack-o-lantern carving

CJ's Preschool class (L-R): Elizabeth, Kayden, Vivian, Reagan, and CJ

Mommy didn't want CJ getting his costume dirty before he got to wear it for Halloween - she spent way too many hours working on it - so he was dressed up as a pretty casual sheriff :)

 Oct 30th - CJ went as Woody and Mattie went as Jessie (both from the movie Toy Story) to our church's trunk-or-treat

Kermit and Miss Piggy

The Mackay Clan

Resting in the trunk and testing out the goods after making the rounds

Kermit giving Miss Piggy some suga'

Happy Halloween!

SEPTEMBER 2010

Aunt Kels and Uncle Cam came to visit before heading down to BYUI for school

We went bowling over Labor Day weekend. Mattie looked so cute in her shoes that we had to take a picture...even if it was with our not-so-hot cell phone camera

CJ's second time ever bowling. Can you tell he likes it just a little?

Paige made this car seat canopy for a friend's baby shower. Hopefully she'll remember how to make it for baby #3 (whenever that may be :)

CJ and Mattie and Mommy made a countdown chain for Disneyland. So excited!!

After Bryce took the Bar, we moved our stuff back to Wenatchee and tried to settle in for a few days before heading down to Idaho for a family reunion and then to Utah for a visit with family. We were gone for 10 days, and unfortunately during those 10 days our washing machine leaked, causing damage to our floor. We had to call in a contractor to rip up the floor in the laundry room and hallway, and the carpet pad in CJ's room. Then we had to order new flooring, and have the contractor put it all back together again. Here are the before and after pictures. Home ownership lesson #1 learned a little quicker than we had anticipated - we hadn't even lived in the place for more than a few days - but everything is clean and safe now...and now Bryce turns the water to the washing machine off whenever we leave the house, even if it's just for one night :)

BEFORE the repairs were completed

AFTER everything was made right again

CHELAN COUNTY FAIR

Playing with all the animals

Daddy made good on his promise and won them each a toy snake (which they both still have and love!)

These kiddos love popsicles

Miss Independent: Mattie pushing a chair over to the sink to play in the water with a cup

September 14th - Yes, that's children and towels and clothes and diapers and running water, all in the tub (Paige was a little distracted with the news about her dad and so the kids had some extra fun :)

 September 20th - Paige's dad's funeral

All the Forsgren kids (L-R): Courtney, Mom, Chris, Melanie, Brent, Paige, Nathan

All the Forsgren grandkids (L-R): Abram, Josh, Mattie, Cathy, Connor, Nicholas, Jonathan, Grandma, Peter, Anders, Alex, Kenya, CJ, Layton, Samantha, Ellen

September 23rd - CJ's first day of Preschool

It was only the second or third class when CJ's teacher, Miss Sarah, pulled me aside and asked if CJ responds to his name because she has had difficulty getting his attention. It caught me off guard at first, and I instantly thought he might have a hearing problem. Then I realized that he hears just fine, but he tends to ignore you when he's preoccupied. So I asked if it was when he was playing, and she said yes, it usually happens when the class is transitioning from one activity to another. Just as I thought. I explained to her that he does tend to tune you out if he's really into what he's doing. She said that was what she suspected and that she would work with him on it, and I told her we would work on it at home too. She explained that he didn't get to play with the play dough that day with the rest of the class because he was not listening to her, and that she tries really hard to establish firm boundaries at the beginning of the school year, so she was going to be a little tough with him at first. I told her I thought that was great. She uses the term, "Let me see your eyes," so we started using that at home as well, and since then, he's really improved. Miss Sarah said he's very good at taking direction now and giving her his attention when she asks for it. Guess he won't be losing his play dough privileges anytime soon :)

We often find CJ in his room "playing" with his toys, aka, lining them all up. Here, he did it with the wii games, and whatever else he found in the great room. 

Walking on her tippy-toes

This kid loves playing in the water! So much so he'll run through the sprinklers on a Fall morning while he's still in his jammies!

MATTIE: 18 MONTHS OLD - SEPT 9, 2010

Height: 33 3/8" (91%)

Weight: 26 lbs (74%)

Head: 19 5/8" (97%)

Favorite food: hot dogs (turkey franks), grapes, yogurt, oatmeal
Favorite treat(s): M&Ms, marshmallows, ice cream
Favorite TV show: The Wiggles; Sesame Street ("Sunny Day" as she sometimes calls it)
Favorite movie: Toy Story (1 and 2)
Favorite book(s): Belly Button Book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Five Little Monkeys
Favorite toy(s): CJ's bucket of balls; doll and stroller; grocery cart
Loves to: sing, DANCE, pet dogs/animals, play peek-a-boo/hide, see her "mamas" (grandmas), be tickled, laugh, play in water, blow bubbles, play with CJ, run, play in the cupboards, go to the park, swing, draw/color, play with shoes
Quirks: walks on her toes (not all the time)
            is very attached to her JJ and her dolly
            easily frustrated/impatient
            enjoys taking her medicine
            insists on doing some things herself (ex: brushing her teeth)
            obsessed with the toilet and putting toilet paper (and other things) in
                 there
            squats when asked to "shake her booty"
            loves to plug and unplug the fan in her room, over and over again
            wakes up every morning starving, and is super ornery until she is fed and
                 feels satisfied
            hides in the curtains in her room so we can't find her
            says goodbye to places and things (ex: "bye bear" or "bye car")
Quotes: "Twinkle star" (stars)
             "I do" (I want some)
             "Yo-yoles" (noodles)
             "Okay"
             "Yesth" (yes)
             "Where CJ go?"
             "Toy soey" (Toy Story)
             "Mannie" (Mattie)
             "Wanket" (blanket)
Special qualities: Can count to 2 and 8-9-10
                           Knows colors green and blue
                           Can name most animals and make associated noises
                           Speaks in full 3+ word sentences
                           Can say a full prayer (assisted)
                           Is a total Grandma's-girl
                           Almost always uses utensils to eat (and feeds herself)
                           Loves CJ and always wants to be doing what he's doing