Just Because

Brooke loves Auntie Caitlin's house. The main attraction is Caitlin's dog Maisy who makes her laugh so much! With my mom staying there for a while, she really likes to go and visit. One of her favorite places is the front yard with the path and fence.

She runs down the path and sits at the end with her back to the fence. She sings her songs, reads books, and who knows what else!


Grandpa Wally is wondering where all her overalls are but I gotta say... she looks so cute in dresses!

8 Mile Lake Hike

Mom, Kent, Brooke, Oliver and I set out on a great hike today! We drove out the Icicle Road and hiked the 8 Mile Lake Trail. It's a nice climb and eight total miles. What made it more challenging is that they had not cleared all the logs yet! Kent climbed over most of them since he had Brooke on his back and we did our best climbing under!

I tried Oliver in the Ergo front pack with his legs tucked up inside and it worked great. I added two small blankets inside and he slept the whole way.

This trail seems like the I-5 of hiking in this area. We passed LOTS of people and played tag with a nice group of hikers. It's hard to see by the photo above, but we met three really nice Japanese guys (too bad Caitlin was not along!). They had minimal English but were so friendly and nice to chat briefly with. They had the funkiest Northface gear on! BRIGHT colors! They said, "You like? Wild!" The guy in front had very colorful pants and the guy in the rear had a bright hat on and shoes that matched. Who knew Northface made that kind of stuff! Mom especially thought it was great. She said they are very fashionable, I would have to disagree! :)

Brooke loves to go on hikes. She was sitting in the hiking backpack in anticipation this morning as we were getting it ready. When she got a little tired/whiny we would sing songs and rounds that kept her entertained. After the lunch break she got to try hiking out on her own. As you can see, she LOVED it. A few small falls, but we let it happen because it was a safe place. It's an important thing to learn!

This was the view of the lake! In a few weeks I'm sure all that ice will be gone. What a beautiful place!

Oliver: One Month Old

Here we go again with the monthly updates! Once Brooke hits two I think we'll plan on just keeping his going! Oliver is a wonderful little guy. He's growing so much every day that I don't feel I'll need a gym membership for a long time. He's still pretty content and easy going. No swaddling, pacifier and white noise that we needed with his older sister. Sleeps pretty well at night although sometimes he decides that he's not falling asleep until 11:30pm... but that's okay. I guess the most significant changes in him over this month is the weight gain (he's 9 pounds 5 ounces), hair loss (yes, male pattern baldness), better head control and the ability to track objects with his eyes. He LOVES the Mr. Whoozit toy held over his head and our light fixture in the living room. I'm enjoying every minute of having a baby again. There is so much to having a baby that I absolutely love. I feel that adding one more has it's HUGE challenges (especially with a toddler under two years old) but it's totally worth it!

Doctor Visit

I just can't get enough of his small hands and feet. They only stay small for such a short amount of time.

Oliver met Dr. Eisert today. Oliver weighed in at 9 pounds 5 ounces! I figured out that he has gained two ounces every day since his nine day check up! He's a good little eater, that's for sure. Brooke weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces at her two month check up. They are two different little kids in size and personality. I wanted Dr. Eisert to take a look at his eyes. They are still yellow from his slight case of jaundice. He recommended us getting his blood taken and the levels checked. Thankfully we got a call that his levels are very normal. Sometimes breastfed babies have the jaundice for longer than bottle fed babies.

Tom and Kerry sent a few outfits for Oliver. I love this fun rocker onesie! Brooke looked at it and said, "violins!"

Matching

I couldn't resist some photos of our two little snugly kids this morning!

Anyone else notice the HUGE difference of complexions here!?!

Book

Brooke's favorite book is this Spanish Word Book of Kent's! She loves the pictures, especially the animal pages. Every time we read it there is something new to learn.

ABC Song

I have been trying to capture Brooke's singing on tape, but it's getting harder as she gets older. Finally, I realized how to get her to perform... give her some music to read! Enjoy Brooke's ABC Song!

Alaska Grandparents Visit

My parents made a huge drive up from southern California to see this little guy... and us too, I'm sure. They followed the GPS directions and made it safely to Cashmere. It has been great timing because Kent is back to school and has an extremely busy two weeks with lots of night concerts and events. I am not overwhelmed because I know I have people here to help me. It's not easy to nurse a baby every two hours, change a "gazillion" diapers, entertain a toddler, tidy up a house, make snacks, cook dinner, do dishes... all on a few hours of sleep!

Brooke has had a couple of great days. There are a few new struggles, but overall she is a joy to be with. Nap time and night time are more challenging, especially when she knows there is company at our house. We are also working on the "limp body" thing she does when she doesn't want to do something. If any mothers out there have any ideas on how to improve this behavior, I'd appreciate it!

Oliver is still a pretty easy going baby!

I love his little smiles!

Grandpa John loves his grandchildren!

Kent's Spring Ski Adventure

This morning Kent and our friend Kyle headed up to our local ski hill Mission Ridge for some spring skiing. It took them an hour and a half to climb up the hill and much less time to ski down. With temperatures in the 60's it sounds like it was a great time!

21 Months Old

Okay, so I missed it by five days. Woops. Brooke is growing, changing, and learning so much these days. She loves singing, being goofy, going to the playground, playing with stickers, coloring and the color pink. She is able to recognize her capital letters (except for about 4 of them) and has an ever expanding vocabulary. She's combining words like, "Grandpa hat too!" which she said on our hike the other day. She gives lots of hugs now, loves to be tickled ("more tickles!"), and plays well with other kids her age and older. So that's our 21 month old in a nutshell!

Pretty Hair

Brooke has hair. It's very blonde and fine, but it's there. Today I decided to attempt to do something with it seeing that there is much more hair on her head than in the past. But as soon as you try and grab it, it seems to be much less!

I still think it has potential, but I don't think Brooke was impressed!

Kettle Falls Grandparents Visit

We got to spend a few great days with Brooke's grandparents. We enjoyed holding Oliver, playing with Brooke, going on a picnic and my first hike post-pregnancy!

Brooke got to spend some special time with her grandparents. They are so special to her!

Brooke's long distance pen-pal and friend Etta sent down some Dora clothes for Brooke to wear. This Dora outfit became complete with her Dora backpack. Kent called this "Dora overload." Brooke has always loved characters. At a year old she loved Mickey Mouse. Since then she discovered Dora (and all the others in that show), Barney, and her new favorite Winnie the Pooh. I have to hide the Dora dress because she will want to wear it all the time! Thanks Etta for sending these "cherished" items!

Newborn Photo Shoot

Here are some super cute photos taken by Jacqueline Stonas. There will be more to come in a gallery (I'll share the address when we receive it). I just LOVE these!

Friday

Oliver is 9 days old today. So far he's the most calm and happy baby ever. We just love him to pieces and can hardly put him down! He sleeps in 3 1/2 hour segments at night, which I am very happy about. We had a midwife check up today and he weighed in at 7 lbs. This means he is back to his birth weight which is a very promising sign. He's a healthy little boy!

Brooke has good and bad days with this big sister thing. She loves her brother, but struggles with not being the only one. Brooke runs in the bedroom for diapers, puts a blanket on her brother and helps rock him in the bouncy chair. We try and get out to do fun things that she loves... like going to the playground!

She can go down the slide, all by herself!

After a tough nap time and a very grumpy awake time, we had a little snuggle on the couch while watching a "Thomas and Friends" video. She asks for "trains, trains!"

Grandparents!

Aren't grandparents the best!

Big Sister Brooke

Brooke is doing a great job as a big sister. Every day she is more excited about "baby ah-bee". She also has to see what it's like to be a baby again!

On Sunday we went to church! Pastor Dave announced the birth of Oliver and was pretty impressed that he was in church on his very first Sunday!

Brooke got to hold Oliver for the very first time. She's gentle with him and loves to give him butterfly kisses.

Oliver

Day 4

He looks so small in that car seat!

Thanks to Grandpa Bing, Grandma Britta, Grandma Carol and Auntie Caitlin! We have had such great help from our family these last four days. The most amazing part has been the gift of time with our newborn son. I have cherished every moment of these first few days of his life. I'm really excited to start establishing a new routine with our family of four. What a truly exciting time for us!

Brooke is learning about her new role in our family. She is being nice and gentle with her baby brother. It's not always easy, but I see a really bright future!