Christmas Cutie

Winter Fun

Tori has been enjoying the snow over the last week. She and I went for a walk, her in the stroller, to the mail box one afternoon. No snow was falling, but it was all over the streets and sidewalks. She spent the entire ride giggling at the snow crunching under her tires, and so excited to be outside in the snow. When we got back to the house she was ready to go out again. So the next day Ej took her out to play in the yard. Lacking appropriate winter attire, we dug out her old, too small, snow bibs so she wouldn't get completely soaked. She and Daddy walked all across the back yard, then the front yard, attempted to throw a couple snowballs at me, and then walked around the block. Her nose and cheeks were bright red when they came back into the house, but again, she was so excited and giddy to have been outside in the snow. Enjoy some pictures of Tori's most recent snow experience.

Getting all bundled up (note the short pants)In the backyard

Snowball for Mommy

BRRRR

Warming up with some cocoa

Continued Traditions

Once again 'tis the season for traditions to be carried on. Among our favorites is the annual Mattos/Ratliff hunt for a Christmas tree. The girls had a ball climbing all over the hillsides chasing after each other. They didn't want to be too far out of sight of the other.

Last years trek

This years trek

Tori was a little braver this year and ventured toward the towering inflatable Snowman and Santa this year. She wanted nothing to do with it last year. She wasn't too sure of the chainsaw trimming the trees, however, and nearly froze in place as soon as the noise started. Once assured that the machine wasn't going to get her, and Santa doesn't say BOO, she was ready for the adventure.

The Alphabet Song

A few letters missing, but generally she will sing the entire song...

November Highlights

Tori and I got to spend a week at Grammy and Grandpa's house while Ej was working out of town at the beginning of the month. Tori was thrilled to be going to visit them, and couldn't get out of the car fast enough when we pulled in. Our time there was filled with lots of stories, lots of giggles, and lots of leaves.

storytime with Grandpa

reading with Grammy

GIGGLES AND

BELLY LAUGHS

LEAVES!!!!!

The rest of the month was filled with lots of fun play time with friends,

and a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with the Mattos Family which included boxing on the Wii.

Lastly, here are a couple more cute pics of Tori from the month.

Our Little Fairy Princess

We took Tori to the harves party at the church halloween night. She was a little skeptical of all the costumes at first, but warmed up when she saw her 'big big classroom' with the slide. She and Jilly were much more interested in playing on the slide than doing anything else.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Meet Baby Ratliff

It's not the clearest picture, but at least it's something of our newest addition. The tech wouldn't say for sure, but based on the pictures we had of Tori in utero, and the fact that the tech didn't find any 'boy parts', I'm pretty sure IT'S A GIRL. Let the planning begin!

The Great Pumpkin Hunt

Last weekend we went on our annual pumpkin hunt with 'the gang'...Mattos', Lees, Ratliffs, and Wells'. We started out the day at Kenny and Tracy's new house enjoying a delicious potluck breakfast, and then headed out to North Plains for an adventure at Lake View Farms. None of us had been there before, but thought it would be a fun place for the little girls since there was a boat ride and a train ride out to the pumpkin patch, and the opportunity to have faces painted. It was a beautiful day and loads of fun celebrating friendships and traditions of the last 4+ years.

Random

I realized once again that it has been a while since I posted any new pictures. We haven't had any adventures lately, but there have been a few kodak moments at the Ratliff household over the last couple weeks.

Tori has developed a fascination with shoes. If ever there are shoes, not matter whose they are, in her line of sight, she runs to them and puts them on. Tennis shoes are one thing, but when she came walking down the hallway in my boots I had to laugh. There's a picture somewhere of me about this age in my dad's cowboy boots too. I'll try and find it for comparison sake :)

The piano is still a huge fascination with all the girls (Tori and the girls I watch) and we generally have some music time every day after nap time. Here's Macy, Tori and Jilly all wanting in on the action at the same time. I love the picture from behind. I'm not sure what they're looking at, but it captured all their attention.

And speaking of nap time, Tori managed to get herself all bundled up in her blankets the other day, and this is how I found her.

We do have some exciting things coming up over the next week. First on the agenda is our annual Pumpkin Hunting trip this weekend. Watch for pics of that adventure. Also I have an ultrasound scheduled for next week. Keep your fingers crossed that Baby Rat is cooperative and we will find out whether we'll add a brother or a sister to our family. Perhaps I'll even get brave and post some pictures of my ever-growing belly (no promises though)

Annual Traditions

The last couple weekends have been filled with some of our favorite summertime family traditions. The first being our annual Mickelson Family Reunion, which has successfully been occuring for 11 years now. This year we spent the weekend in a beach house in Lincoln City and had great fun. Tori had lots of fun playing with her 'cousins' Sam and Manuel, as well as running on the beach, eating a ton of food that Papa Jerry fixed, soaking in the hot tub, and running around on the deck. She also spent a good deal of time coloring with her Great Grandma Lois. Here's a slide show of parts of our fun weekend.

The second tradition that occured was the annual Mattos/Ratliff (aka Mat/Rat) trip to Seattle. We have been going for 4 years now, heading up north, staying with Mandy's dad and getting spoiled, attending a Mariners game, and generally having a fantastic weekend with our best friends. This is the girls' 3rd game, and they still do suprisingly well sitting through the whole game with little fussing. Tori was really interested during the first few innings, cheering on the Mariners, especially Ichiro (which sometimes comes out as Go Cheerio!), and getting into the applause when a play was made. Then she would turn to me and excitedly give me the play...Mariners hit the ball!

Phantom, Family, and Friends

It seems the Ratliff family has been a little busy over the last couple of weeks. For all our excitement and activity, I unfortunately don't have many pictures to share. But here's a recap of our end of summer fun.

Labor Day Weekend started our recent adventures. We were blessed by some dear friends who afforded us the opportunity to see The Phantom of the Opera while it was playing at Keller Auditorium. We purchased tickets to the Friday night show; Friday afternoon (after my first pre-natal appointment, and the chance to see the new baby) I drove Tori down to stay with Grammy and Grandpa for the weekend. She couldn't get out of the car fast enough, or run to Grandpa's waiting arms fast enough once we arrived. She is most definitely a Grandpa's girl and was thrilled to be able to spend time with them. After driving back home, I picked Ej up from work and we got ready to head downtown.

We had about an hour and half to spare before the performance started so we found a 'French Bistro' (Carafe -- not overly impressed) across the street to eat dinner at and then we walked around the area before heading into the Auditorium. It was an amazing performance, with great special effects and fabulous actors. The whole evening was such a treat for us; we had a great time.

Saturday night we headed back down to my folks place to spend the remainder of the weekend. Aunt Roxie and Unky Don were there. We had a lot of fun.

The girls spent the days canning peaches

Tori played (with toys, and with the camera), and had fun keeping track of Grandpa and Unky Don

And the boys built a new lawn game -- Ladder Golf -- for us all to enjoy

Over the next couple weeks we also got to watch the nephew, Andy, play 2 baseball games, which was a lot of fun. Tori enjoyed that as well. She was a real cheerleader on the sidelines; picking up phrases from the other fans (good hit, go Andy, nice catch); mimicking the catchers stance until the pitch was thrown and then standing up and clapping; running as fast as she could to greet Andy when he wasn't out on the field.

We also spent one glorious afternoon at the beach, enjoying the beautiful weather. At 90+ degrees in the valley we decided it was a perfect day to spend in Seaside. Tori, of course, had a great time playing and running. She thought the sand in her toes was great fun, and LOVED running in the waves again. I think she made it about waist deep this time, and spent a good hour running between Daddy, who was standing further out in the water, and Mommy as I stood in the edge of the waves.

A Message from Tori

In case you need a toddler translation for that, Tori is saying....I be big sister, I'm a cutie pie, and mama baby tummy.

I'm not quite sure where the cutie pie phrase and motions have come from, but more importantly, yes Tori is going to be a big sister. I am pregnant! About 12 weeks along (due March 20) and doing great. As much as she can understand, Tori seems to like the idea of being a big sister, and thinks she will have a baby brother. She also thinks that my visits to the doctor include a check of my belly button :)

A Blustery Day...

Perfect for going to the beach. Tori has been asking to go to the beach for a few days now, so we decided to drive to Tillamook this morning, trying to beat the rain. We drove into Barview Jetty, and got out of the car amid a light sprinkling of rain and headed to the beach. Tori was thrilled and had fun chasing Daddy in the sand.

She was fascinated by the waves coming in, and had great fun playing in the water with Daddy. She started out chasing the water as the tide went out,

then got a little more daring and walked through the small waves.

Pretty soon she and Daddy were knee deep in the water having a blast.

Unfortunately it was a pretty short play-time on the beach since the rain and wind picked up. I believe we have a beach-bum in the making.