Bouncy Boy!

Brooke was an early walker and was already balancing pretty well at six months.  This little guy is the complete opposite.  He loves tummy time and bouncing!  I have a feeling he'll be a very good crawler!

My Very LOUD Boy

"AUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Okay, usually I adore every little stage my children go through.  The only exceptions are the "no!" phase and now the yelling phase!  Oliver is normally such a happy baby.  For the last few days he has been yelling "AUGH!" almost all the time.  It's very close to driving me crazy.  Seriously.

I'm trying to figure this little guy out and his very LOUD noises.  I'm guessing his yelling is a combination of the following factors:

1. Teething (He's close to six months which is the point that Brooke got her first tooth)
2. Not feeling well (he has a runny nose along with his big sister)
3. He loves the sound of his voice.
4. He is singing (it seemed to get louder during the singing in church on Sunday.)
5. It is his only way of expressing frustration, excitement, and boredom.
   
   OH!  And thanks to Emily... this could most likely be a BOY thing!  I'm just not used to it!  Duh!

Bubbles!

Out and About

I glanced at the calendar and couldn't believe it.  Three weeks until I fly down to California!  I realized I am going to wear a swimsuit soon and this baby weight is not coming off as quick as I had imagined it would.  So load up the kids and get out!  (Really, only Oliver is sleeping here... and in about 2 minutes after this photo he was awake with Brooke saying, "Oliver wake up!")

It was a very crisp morning.  This was Oliver's second walk for the day.  I have been so tired in the morning that Kent has taken Oliver on his morning dog walk (5:30am).  But, I'm starting to feel a little guilty about how cold it is getting so soon I'll be getting up VERY early too. :(

I have fallen in love with my walks through the orchards.  It's so pleasant and in a way reminds me of Alaska because there are lots of similarities between harvest apples and harvesting fish (one smells much better though).  This is my third day jogging and I think I'll take a break tomorrow.  I have only been taking short little jogs during the kids baths at night.  It feels great and makes me feel healthier, eat better and be a better mom.  I need to keep it up!

The light was bright and shining through the trees.  Glorious day!

We stopped by the playground on the way home and let Brooke get some energy out.

She didn't want to wear a coat, but it was rather chilly in the shadows so I convinced her to put on one for a while.

On the way home she insisted, "Los-a-sue!  Los-a-sue!"  I had my hands full with Oliver in the front pack, the double stroller and Brooke walking and couldn't figure out what she was saying.  Finally (about 4 minutes later) I looked down and noticed she had NO shoe on!  "LOST A SHOE!"  Awe!  So we hopped back to the swings where her pink shoe was waiting.  I felt pretty bad and wonder what all those drivers were thinking when they saw me dragging her along with a dirty wet sock!

Skiing

Brooke recently started "skiing" down the slide.  Kent says he had no influence on this, but I'm not sure if I believe him!  Enjoy this video of Brooke's wild side... and silly side too!  Also, not on video...  Brooke's favorite song to sing right now?  "Daisy, Daisy"  She sings it out loud and strong!  Where does she get this stuff from?  Probably her parents...

Our Busy Weekend

Brooke was super excited for her Kettle Falls Grandparents to arrive.  She met them at the gate and gave them big hugs!  We had fun the last couple days with them.  They got to babysit both kids Friday night so I could have a chance to watch the symphony practice.  They got to see the symphony concert on Sunday night too.

One cute Brooke moment this weekend... She was stacking her banana slices and told her Grandma, "Look! Banana stairs!"

Auntie Caitlin has this way of making my kids laugh!

Riley had her second birthday party on Saturday.  The theme was Mickey Mouse as you can see by the great looking cake!

Riley opened her presents and even let Brooke "help"!

I made a designed a Minnie Mouse hat for Riley.  It turned out pretty cute... I may have to make one for Brooke too!  Although Caitlin wants one for Halloween too, so by then I think I'll be pretty tired of that black yarn!

Brooke's Phrases

Caitlin and Brooke on their way for some ice cream at the grocery store...
Caitlin: "Brooke what should we buy at the store?"
Brooke: "WAFFLES!"

As we were reading those old (and sometimes very odd) nursery rhymes out of a library book...
Annie: "Where do they come up with this stuff?"
Brooke: "The library."

October Camping

Our last camping trip of the year!  We headed away from the 100% chance of rain at Lake Wenatchee to the only 60% chance of Lake Chelan.  We have such bad luck when it comes to camping and weather.  Next year we plan on camping in the SUN!!!  

We had muffins for breakfast on morning number one.  Brooke lined up Pooh and Piglet ("Pigot") to watch her as she ate.

Oliver sat on the table watching everything and practiced sticking out his tongue (his new trick).

Every once in a while we'd here a BANG!  There were many walnut trees surrounding the campground.  Luckily there were no walnut related fatalities.  The squirrels were so much fun to watch.  They would run into the street, smell the nuts, choose the best one and run it to their stash.  There were also a group of quail who ventured into the street and a group of robins too.  Lots of entertainment from our camper windows.

On Saturday, our friends loaded up WAY to early in the morning and headed over to meet us at the park.  For a few years I have been keeping up with their growing family via facebook and was so excited to meet three of them for the first time.  Dawn was a music major with Kent and I at U of Idaho.  We are both adventuresome, outdoorsy and have kids the same age!

The weather was a bit soggy but the kids didn't seem to mind wet feet.  They became good friends very quickly!

Can you get any cuter than Kai?!

Little stick, big stick!  Kai and Brooke were born within a week of each other!

Dawn and I were non-stop photo taking on this trip!

 Here we are with our little ones!  Niko is 3 months and Oliver is now 5 months.  Oliver was very "needy" on this trip.  I think he would have liked dry grass to roll around in... but instead we held him constantly and he was pretty whiny.  He also didn't sleep during the day.  Too much going on, I guess.  As soon as we got home Kent and Oliver slept for 2 1/2 hours!

Saturday night it was pouring down rain so we built a fire in the covered area.  It was so much fun!  The kids ran around in the pitch black and we found them by flashing our flashlights.  

Here was our camping spot!  It was so much fun, but next time I think we deserve a RAIN FREE camping experience!

Fall in Cashmere

My camera batteries ran out, so I didn't get the best photos.  On Sunday all the Sunday school kids helped bring pumpkins from the garden to the church.  They planted the seeds for them in the Spring.

Here is just PART of our church garden.

Again, happy Oliver!

The leaves are so beautiful in Cashmere right now!

Brooke is an excellent walker.  We walk every day.  If we don't... she doesn't fall asleep at nap time!  She walks at least one mile!  It's a special time that we share.





I wish I was this photogenic!

Heather Lake Hike

On our way up to the trail head we saw two dogsled teams!

All smiles from Oliver!

Here we go!

This hike was more of a west-side hike... more wet stuff.  Mushrooms, moss, etc.

 Kent at the trail head with all the fall colors!

Brooke tried on her daddy's hat!

Reflections in the water.



I got to carry all of Oliver's 18-19 pounds up the trail!  A really good exercise!  As we hiked up the trail Kent and I used a "Dora sequence" (an educational tool that we got from the Dora the Explorer shows) to get Brooke through a slightly grumpy time.  We repeated, "Stream, hill, Heather Lake!" so she understood the sequence of events and knew what to look forward to.  Brooke said right back, "Daddy's car, Mommy's house, WATCH DORA!"  What a funny little girl!

We had a yummy lunch on the warm rocks by the lake.

Brooke thought it would be fun to try the outdoor potty... so she pulled her pants down!  Nothing happened, as usual!

Brooke said this was a "tiny" mushroom.  We'll have to work on that!  Brooke had the best time playing in the woods at the lake.  There were so many nice flat areas to run around and explore.

Kent and Brooke checked out the log jam.

Oliver and Kent taking a short break before heading back on the trail.

Our family!