So far behind...

Not even sure at this point how far to go back, I am so behind in blogging!

I was in Seattle in early August spending some time with Dad...this is what Cole wore while I was gone. WTH?

Miss K turned 11 months on August 8th...I think this is her funniest monthly photo yet. She is cracking up and if you look closely you can see her 2 little bottom teeth!

On August 9th we packed up the family and headed to Sunriver, OR for a week long vacation with my sisters family and our friend Catherine's family. The 3 of us spent our childhood vacationing together in Sunriver so it was so wonderful to come full circle and take our families together. We rented a house and had 6 adults and 7 kids...ages 6 months - 4 years old. Holy cow! It went a lot better than we thought it would. We committed to going again in 2011 while we were still there in 2010. Such a great trip!

Here is Sis trying on her new Abby helmet before we left. Don't mind the giant pacifier.

We rode bikes, went to the park, the bounce house, the pool and just had a great fun week. We also made 2 special trips to Goody's for ice cream. You can just tell how much Cole hated it.

One night we went to go see Michael John perform his great live music. We grew up going to see him on vacation in Sunriver, so seeing him brought back so many fun memories for my sister and I. Speaking of sisters...here we are. Sorry Kris, didn't crop out the ice cream. :)

Here are Ryan and Catherine and one of their three little ones. Miss Addie, so cute! Addison is 3 months younger than Cole.

Somehow I cannot figure out how to get videos from my cell phone onto my computer and post them on my blog (techies out there, please assist). Because I don't have the video as proof...you will just have to believe me that Miss K is walking! She started right when we got back from vacation and she is mastering it fast! She beat her deadline of walking by 1 year...but only by about 3 weeks. Good job Sis!

Look at this sweet baby!
Okay, I think that is it for August. Onto September...

Goodbye my friend...

I am out of date on this post, but wanted to share the very sad news that our friend Fletcher is now in heaven. He left us on Friday, August 6th. His kidney's were failing and he just wasn't getting better. Shawn was with him the whole time to hold his paw and say goodbye. He was one loved kitty, even his pet sitter Melinda made a trip to the vet to say her goodbye's. Fletcher has always been the profile picture on her Facebook account for her business.

What a cat! The stories go on forever as does our love for the little guy. We always said he had 19 not 9 lives. He lived them all to the fullest. From when Shawn found him in his backyard in November 2002 until the day he left us those 2 were the best of friends. Shawn saved Fletch, but I really think it went both ways. We aren't sure what to do with ourselves at 6am and 6pm (normal blood sugar/insulin time). If you ever end up with a diabetic animal...give us a call. We are experts after 7 years with one.

Here are some pictures with Fletch on August 6th.

We just returned from a week in Sunriver, OR (the reason this posting is late) and Shawn, the kids and I were on a bike ride one morning. We were riding for quite awhile when out of no where an all black cat, same size/frame as Fletcher ran across the bike path in front of us. We were both silent for a moment and then both said out loud that we just knew that was Fletch, letting us know he is okay and at peace.

Will post pictures (what few we took!) from our vacation this week.

Not just another Saturday!

A Saturday in July that has cloud cover is reason to get out of the house and enjoy the weather here in Arizona. It was cloudy this morning, muggy, but only 78 degrees at 7am! This might sound odd if you don't live here, but it was 98 degrees when I was driving to work on Thursday. Seriously?

Anyways...we decided to take advantage of the more comfortable weather and take the kids to the park bright and early. We hit up Starbucks for a wake up bevvie and actually went to a new park that is by our house. Not "new" just new to us. We barreled in with our crazy crew only to realize we were disrupting an intense Boot Camp class. Deciding chasing our 2 kids was workout enough for us, we just blazed on through and headed to the play equipment.

For the first time Miss K got to go in the swings. She was too little before and then it got so hot that we haven't been going to the park as much. She loved it and laughed the whole time.
Cole still loves to swing as well. We were having such a good time and didn't want to leave, so I went home quickly and got Sis her breakfast and came back to feed her in her stroller. She certainly didn't seem to mind!

Although the next 2 pics aren't from this morning's adventures, I wanted to post.

Seriously, are these 2 related or what? Sis without her smile, WHAT? A rare occurance I am almost glad we captured on film. :)

Shawn taught Cole how to play Xbox. Well, he taught him green button means go and red button means stop. He has Toy Story and Lightning McQueen trial games that he sits and "plays." Starting him a little young aren't you Shawn? Although I am hopeful this will be helpful in my quest for us to get a Wii. We pretty much are the last one's on earth to not have one!
Enjoy the weekend...only 3 more weeks until our vacation. Sunriver here we come!!

Where's Woody?

Cole and I had a first this past weekend. I decided, after talking it up for weeks, that I would take Cole to his first movie. He wanted to see Toy Story 3. He wanted to "sit in the dark and eat popcorn" and see Buzz & Woody. Let's be honest, he's never even watched all of the first Toy Story in his own house. So...I had no illusions that he would sit through a 2 hour movie in the theater. But...in the spirit of making memories, off we went to a matinee on Monday. Here he is, sitting in his seat, eating popcorn!

The previews took forever and after each one he'd say, "Mommy, where's Woody?" After going in and out of the theater 3 times, I decided it was time to call it a day. He did really well at first and lasted almost an hour in the theater. At the end he was walking up the aisle saying loudly, "Mommy, I want gummy bears." This was code for we are done here. It was fun and I look forward to the day when he can sit through an entire movie...at home or in the theater. So far we are 0 for 2.

We also went to the Phoenix Children's Museum with Cole's friend Haley and her mom Rachel. Here are the kids playing in the Grocery Store, weighing peas! This is what we call Cole's "pirate smile."

I thought this photo was cute...somehow the kids ended up in Shawn's laundry basket. I think they are both mesmerized by Elmo on the tv...

Livin' on Lake Union!

I arrived today in Seattle...the grey skies greeted me. My sister and I are here spending some time with Dad before his July 7th transplant date.

He has moved to the city and is living across the street from Lake Union, just a few mintues from the hospital where he is receiving his treatment. Here is the view from his room at the Residence Inn. It's great to sit out on the balcony and watch the boats and people going by.

Kind of making me miss this place!

9 months old and other outdated news...

I missed my 9 month post so bear with me as I catch up. Miss K turned 9 months old on June 8th. Baby girl is getting so big and so independent. I posted the picture of her "walking" last week. She is also getting very interested in the stairs and climbed all the way to the top on Wednesday (Grammy was behind her the whole way). I guess it's time to get those baby gates back out again. Darn it! Miss Independent also doesn't really want to be fed anymore. She is becoming quite the self feeder. It makes mommy and daddy happy that they can stop buying over priced organic jar food. Woo hoo! She is still saying Ma Ma and Da Da. She is a tough little gal. Takes a lickin' from her big brother and just keeps on going. Sometimes she is startled by the unnecessary roughness, stops for a minute, let's out a small squeel and then just carries on. I love my girl!

I've been doing monthly photos of her in the same place since she was born. They get harder and harder to take as she just wants to take off, not sit still for her picture. SO...after 1 week of trying, this is the best we could do! The official 9 month photo:

Here are the 9 month stats:

Height: 28 1/4" (75 percentile)
Weight: 21lb 15oz (90 percentile)
Head: 17 1/4" (75 percentile)

She doesn't seem to be slowing down in size. Still my big girl. What, you mean every 9 month old is sporting 18-24 month clothes?

Since this blog is out of date and out of order, I'll just stick with it. We celebrated Father's Day last Sunday with breakfast with the family. Papa had a great idea to go to the restaurant at the Chandler airport. It was great, although we weren't the only one's who thought our toddler would enjoy watching the planes as they ate breakfast. Either way, great idea Papa! Here is Cole sitting in a plane that was for sale. I think it was $112,000. We asked Cole not to touch anything.

If you read our blog, you know I like to post pictures of the crazy outfits Cole wears and the crazy things that Cole does. Saturday morning was no exception. Seriously...so many things wrong with this. #1 - Where are your pants? #2 - Why are your underwear on backwards? #3 - We have sprinklers to do that job! I keep on in my quest to take a decent picture of my kids together. The latest attempt proves I'm no closer than I was the last time I tried. Boo. I love that Sis' head looks twice the size of Cole's here. Geesh...I think Cole needs to eat his Wheaties!

Bad Blogging

I have fallen behind in blogging lately. I keep forgetting to take pictures and am feeling guilty that Sis will look back on her first year of life and wonder where her photos and memories are. Poor second child, I can totally relate!

I have been in SoCal all week, heading home tonight. It's amazing the days I am at home and think, what I wouldn't give for just a little peace and quiet. Well, I've had 5 days of it and now I want my crazy family back. Life is just more fun with them around.

I've been meaning to post this picture because I just think it's too cute. Cole's teacher, Miss Emily (who we adore!!), is a big Cole fan. Something about our crazy Cole has stolen her heart. She knows how much he loves Elmo (seriously, STILL!) and she really, really, really has worked with Cole on his potty training. He had 1/2 of it down, if you know what I mean. So...she promised him when he got the 2nd 1/2 down she would buy him the biggest Elmo cookie she could find. Well, wouldn't you know...he finally did and looky what she got for him! Sis hit a big milestone this week, of course while I was away. Shawn sent me this picture on my cell phone on Tuesday -- she's cruising! Hopefully I will be in town when she takes her real first steps. Please excuse the messy living room! Today is a big day for my dad, too. He is moving up to Seattle to officially start the prep for his stem cell transplant. The actual transplant date is set for July 7th. Keep the prayers coming please!!