montana moores

Forgot one

2012-01-30T16:48:00.003-07:00

Seems I forgot a big event in my last post. We had our 1st broken bone. According to the 4 year old witnesses, Joel was jumping off the couch at a friend's house. All I heard from the kitchen was, "Emergency! Emergency!" After examination of the bent arm by the rational husband of the house we were visiting, we headed to the doctor. This tough little guy stopped crying by the time we left the neighborhood. He was a champ.

He wore a soft splint for about a week.

The sling lasted about 20 minutes. And the broken bone didn't slow him down at all. He ran down the hall leaving the doctor.

He was thrilled to get an orange cast and proceeded to tell EVERYONE he had an owie. In fact, 4 weeks after he got it off, he still tells people about it.

Catch up

2012-01-23T21:49:00.002-07:00

So, if I wait to do individual posts about everything we've done the last 4-5 months, I'll never get this thing updated again. So, here is a mass update. Then I'll update more. At least in theory. :)

Kale turned 4 in September. And the Transformer craze kicked into high gear at our house.
Kale went to his 1st MSU football game. He is a big bobcat fan and apparently Joel is a grizzly fan. At least he counters all our bobcat cheers with a grizzly cheer. Stinker.
We took a trip to San Francisco/Oakland. I went early for a Convention for my business and then my awesome husband followed with the kiddos a couple days later. We visited Pete's family in Oakland and enjoyed the California weather. We packed about 4 activities into every day. There is just so much to do there! Oakland Zoo, 3D movie, apples from the backyard, walks, parks, the beach, San Francisco Giants game, ice cream at Fentons (the kids didn't understand why we kept referring to the movie UP) , a joint birthday party and lots of fun in between.
Joel turned 2 in October and thoroughly enjoyed having toys all his own. Kale wasn't a big fan of that.
Peter shot 2 deer. Joel now asks if everything he is eating is deer.
We went to Hingham for Thanksgiving. My brother joined us and the house was filled with requests for "Uncle Jonny Muscles" to play monster downstairs. All.the.time. He definitely got his fill of nephew time.
We hosted Christmas. My parents and sister joined us, as well as Peter's brothers, John and Alex. We had lots of fun and played lots of Settler's of Catan.
We moved a week after New Year's. Yes, again. We finally found a place that really works for our family and we appreciate it so much more since we had a 6 month stay in a 2 bedroom basement apartment. Every day I feel like I appreciate something new.

So that's what has been happening! I probably forgot something important but if I don't publish this now, it might now happen for another 2 weeks. Here's to more updates in 2012!

Alaska

2011-10-02T15:29:00.003-06:00

Apparently, blogging is not my specialty. Instead of trying to catch you up completely, I'll just hit the highlights. And only one highlight at this time.
We were blessed to spend almost 3 weeks in Alaska this August. I am so thankful to be married into a family where we can be around each other that long and still like one another. Well, mostly. :) Here is a slide show of a handful of our nearly 400 pictures. Enjoy! *Now with comments! :)

June

2011-07-18T22:02:00.004-06:00

Here is a re-cap of the last month in a few pictures. We tried to spend as much time as possible outside while we packed up our house to move across town. More on that soon!

Curls!

2011-06-18T17:16:00.000-06:00

Catch up

2011-06-15T16:13:00.009-06:00

I feel like I am constantly doing that in this space. Catching up. I just downloaded pictures to our computer and we had some all the way back from April. So prepare for some picture madness.Peter's mom blessed us by staying a few days after we returned from Hawaii and celebrating Easter with us. We tried to get a family picture...

This was the best one we got.

Then we had our very own personal Easter egg hunt. Joel made Kale do all the work then enjoyed the harvest.

After Easter, we zoomed up to Hingham for a weekend. Kale loves looking for the water tower on our way there. Even starts asking where it is before we hit Belgrade...

The rest of our time lately has just been spent living life.

For Memorial Day, we got a wild hair and booked a cheap hotel in Great Falls for 2 nights. My parents met us there and we lived in the pool. Except when we stopped to eat.

By the end of our time, Kale wanted nothing to do with the water wings and Joel was "swimming" around by himself.

Strawberry season is here and we go through a Costco size package within 3 days. We enjoy every second we can outside because the weather has not caught on that it is almost summer so we soak up the sun when it peeks through. We're moving (I know, again!), the beginning of July and Kale has soccer and swimming lessons starting tomorrow. We get to spend a large amount of time in Alaska in August and more family is visiting the end of July after Peter spends a week in Atlanta. Phew! Summer better show up because it's going to be gone before we know it!

Kauai 2.0

2011-05-14T21:31:00.006-06:00

Coffee on our beach.

Tunnels Beach. We went snorkeling here and saw lots of sea turtles and got lots of sun.

Pete was more into the snorkeling than me. I loved it but wasn't as patient as he was.

This is a Farmer's Market where we saw a man from Bozeman who works at the Museum of the Rockies.

One of very few photos of us together. Beginning of Waimea Canyon.

We tried to stay out of the sun our 2nd day due to some burn from our first. We explored the West shore and this was Peter's favorite tree.

We drove down a 5 mile pot hole filled road to the end of the road and the beginning of the Napali Coast. As you can see, the beach stretches for miles and is quite desserted.

Beginning of Napali Coast

I think this was our favorite beach but our sun burns made it not as enjoyable as it could have been. Next time!

Kauai 1.0

2011-05-04T15:52:00.006-06:00

Sorry for the flood of photos but we had such a great time on our trip I want to share it all with you! So enjoy!The main reason we were able to go on this trip was because a family friend gifted us with Delta buddy passes. We flew for much cheaper but on standby. Well, on the flight from L.A. to Kauai, we were put in first class! It was such a blessing and a special way to kick off our vacation. Mai Tais greeted us as well as just an awesome overall experience. This is a picture of the 1st of Peter's 6 drinks. :)

Can you find the lizard in the above picture?

Swim suits and sundresses 24/7!

Peter readying himself to jump off Kipu Falls

I'm pretty sure I held my breath until he surfaced.

Then decided it was my turn!

After I pulled my swimming suit down from around my neck.

The roots of the trees were amazing and just followed the rocks down to the water.

An amazing gift basket awaited us in our condo from dear friends James and Deea. It meant so much to us that they made the extra effort to have this waiting for us!

View from our Lanai.

Out to sushi for dinner.

Octopus

Eating said octopus.

This was just our first day! We had a spectacular time and I'll do my best to post more pics soon. Like before we go back to Hawaii. :)

Sick Day

2011-04-03T16:24:00.003-06:00

A hacking cough invaded our house this week so we stayed extra close to home. Meaning we didn't leave the house for 3 days. Maybe that's why Kale was acting out so much at the end of the week? Anyway, it was a long 3 days. Lots of books were read, lots of tv was watched, toys were strewn about the house and lots of snacks were eaten. We've turned the corner sick wise although Kale did put himself down for a nap at 11:30 this morning... Here's to a new week and lots of outings!

Playing catch up

2011-03-26T19:57:00.006-06:00

Yes, it has been well over a month since my last post. I have a good excuse though! I just started my own business and my time that I usually use to update all my loyal readers is now being used to help people get great skin! For more info, check out my website. I also promise to update more often. :)

Okay, onto the cuteness. Joel has been walking for a good month now and using it to his every advantage. Counters we once thought were safe can now be reached by little fingers. It is amazing what he can reach even though he is still so little! He and Kale play more together and Joel copies his every move. I have even seen Joel sucking his fingers the same way Kale sucks his. More words are coming daily and I can tell this little guy is going to be a handful. How can I tell? Because he already is. It is like he has a radar for mischief.

Kale is playing more independently and there seems to be a constant dialogue going between any 2 toys he has in his hands. He is learning the skill of negotiation and loves his friends to no end. We recently spent an extended amount of time with the family of one of his closest buddies and I felt like I didn't see Kale for a whole day! He's more into what dad's up to and if any animal is brought up in conversation he asks if someone shot it.The main reason Kale wants to help bake anything is for this final sweet moment.

I don't blame him, this cake is good!

This is from later in February and Kale was swimming.

Joel's snow boots are about 2 sizes too big for him this year and since he just started walking, I didn't bother to buy him any new ones. So mom got a good workout while shoveling and Joel didn't just sit on the ground and cry.

Joel sees Kale pushing chairs over to help in the kitchen and uses the same technique to try to escape this prison we keep him in. The one where we only serve food every 3 hours instead of non-stop as he would prefer.

Seriously, this kid will eat anything.

Oh the cheeks!

He loves hats just like his big bro.

Smoothies are making a repeat appearance at our house lately. Berries, yogurt, and milk are our recent favorite.

I hope this is the last snowman of the season! However, the snow makes Peter and I even more excited for our Hawaii trip in April!

The hugging was short lived. The next day Kale demolished the poor guy with his golf club.

Loving/Learning

2011-02-16T14:13:00.007-07:00

::Loving::

:: The hungarian partridge family that has taken up residence in the neighborhood. They scurry from yard to yard and leave great footprints in the freshly fallen snow.

:: Sunny afternoon coffee in the playroom. By myself of course.

:: Taking advantage of a sunny morning outside in February.

:: This salad for lunch. I eat it at least once a week, usually more. I only use 1 can of beans and tuna and no red onion, of course. Also, cilantro instead of parsley. I eat it with celery and/or saltines and usually all of it in one sitting.

::Learning::

:: Responsibility.

:: Ingenious ways to get what he wants.

:: How to win graciously. This is Kale after he kicked my butt in Memory last week. 4 days after I bought the game. (For 75 cents from a thrift store I might add.) He got every single match during this game and I was trying.

:: New forms of Mobility

What are you loving/learning these days?

Happy unimaginative consumerist-oriented and entirely arbitrary, manipulative & shallow interpretation of romance day

2011-02-14T15:20:00.003-07:00

While my wife can bear witness to the fact I can't stand "Valentines Day" and since I don't have a FaceBook or Tweeter account - I still wanted her and (everyone who reads this blog) to know that I think she's the most amazing, godly, wonderful, imaginative, caring, bold, and sexy wife a "shlum" like me could ever deserve.

Hallmarks got nothing on her!

What?

That's right, down with the empire!!

Where all the answers are "yes"

2011-01-28T15:02:00.006-07:00

Peter: "You're going to want to see this. You're going to be pissed but you're going to want to see it."

Is that Kale's toothbrush Joel is playing with in the toilet?
Is that wet toilet paper seemingly thrown at the wall?
Was there pee in the toilet before they started playing?
Was that towel holder Joel has on his head previously in the toilet as well?
Did I speak in an extremely stern voice to my children?
By extremely stern do I mean yell?
Did I laugh through it all?
Did we pay a large price for 20 minutes of silence after dinner?
Was it worth it?

2011-01-21T21:04:00.006-07:00

This play-dough recipe has been a life saver this winter. Kale likes to help make it and LOVES playing with it. He pretends it is dirt and drives his trucks in it. Seriously, the other day he played with it for almost 2 hours. Quietly. It was awesome.

Joel joins the fun in his own special way.

Kale got some cooking things for Christmas and has put them to good use.

Meet our snowman Bernie. He watched our every move until his head melted off last week. I can't say I miss him all that much.

Little Jobey has become quite the little ham. Lately he has been into wearing Kale's cowboy hat and backpack around the house.

He thinks he is pretty cute and I might have to agree.

This is Kale's spiderman outfit. Socks on his hands and his hat pulled over his eyes.

Joel of course has to wear a green hat as well.

He's very into hats these days.

Dashing through the snow

2011-01-07T14:45:00.005-07:00

The day after Christmas found us trying out the boys' new sled.

Pete and Kale on the first run. Kale loved it and was fearless!

Joel wasn't as impressed and only took a couple runs.

K getting Uncle Jonny with a snowball.

A sled and a shield from snowballs.

Papa Ray, Joel, and Kale.

Oops, lost him.

Kale on Uncle Jon's back going backwards.

Peter talked me into going down once. It wasn't as scary as long as I kept my eyes closed.

Papa Ray and Kale

Clearly he did not get the memo that sledding is scary! However, the next time we went he tried going like this and flipped over. It was a short trip.

happy christmas

2010-12-30T15:29:00.004-07:00

We celebrated Christmas in Bozeman this year and were joined by my immediate family and Peter's brother and his roommate. Christmas Eve and Christmas were the only 2 days everyone was completely healthy but the silver lining is we probably all ate quite a bit less than we would have normally. :)Christmas Eve getting ready for Frogmore Stew, hence the newspaper lined table. Kale had a bagel sandwich since we didn't end up actually eating dinner until closer to 9:00.

Sister love

Mayor of Hingham right here folks

Right before we devoured this delicious meal. Peter outdid himself, it was the best Frogmore I have ever had.

The loot under what I refer to as our "perfect tree".

Trying to eat a sucker through the wrapper on Christmas morning.

Magnifying glass from Oma Becky

The start of many fights and emotional breakdowns this day.

He entered the living room that morning asking where Jesus was. Unfortunately, he quickly forgot to keep looking.

Jobie checking out Uncle John's new headphones.

He was more interested in everyone else's presents, including this bottle of wine we received from my sister.

Kale remembered it was Jesus' birthday later that day when it was time to sing Happy Birthday and bring out His birthday cake.

Since we are snowed in today, the boys and I celebrated with Jesus' birthday cake again today. Oh my. I think it was even better than the actual day. The cake is here and I used this frosting. Heavenly.

2010-12-01T14:26:00.002-07:00

Remember this? We re-created it over Thanksgiving with Joel. Since Joel is a little over a year older than Kale was, it was harder to get a picture of him sitting still. I think the one we captured is pretty cute myself.

Snuggling with Auntie Ness

My worker guy, shoveling.

Joel is so happy to be outside!

Little does he know it will be next to impossible for him to move in this getup...

Trying it out

Fail

Doesn't mean I won't try again!

Catch up

2010-11-20T21:38:00.005-07:00

A kind of catch all from the last month-ish

My monkey and dinosaur/dragon on Halloween. K's costume was Peter's when he was a little boy. He loved dressing up and was shocked when all he had to do was knock on someone's door and receive candy.

We rationed the Halloween candy and he received one treat a day. It was great to get him to eat his meals but probably not so great for his teeth. Is it really better to have them splurge right away and get it over with? He was in a sugar coma after this huge candy bar.

Joel climbs on EVERYTHING. Did you notice how he pushed the cart over to use as a step stool?

Reminds me of this guy.

Our first snow was promptly christened.

Ready for snowman building!

Pete's dad, Patrick, came up for an impromptu visit the beginning of November. We took a trip out to the Gallatin to capture the Moore boys.

Papa helped K build his first snow man. The boys thoroughly enjoyed his time here. They played, read, laughed, and went on some adventures. Kale has wanted to build a snowman every day since.

When Papa was visiting, we put the boys together in Joel's room to sleep. It went so well that we have continued to keep them together. We have since turned Kale's old room into a play room/guest room/someday a sewing room. :)

Kale has nicknamed Joel "Jobie". It has caught on with the rest of the family as well and seems to fit our little spaghetti loving guy.

When Mom's away, the children will play

2010-11-09T21:05:00.007-07:00

My husband blessed me by letting me take a long weekend away with some girlfriends a few weeks ago. We trekked down to Salt Lake City and had a glorious time without our children. They were in wonderful hands and our husbands now better appreciate what we do every day. My boys gave Peter all they had and he did a fantastic job. When I got home, the kids were eating, the house was clean, laundry was done AND put away, and dinner was made. It was the perfect end to a great time with my dear friends.Joel takes full advantage of any time we are not watching him. I received this picture in an email while in SLC. He is crying because Peter took the butt paste away from him.

Pete put Joel in his crib with some toys while he finished something in the garage. He asked Kale to stay in the room to keep an eye on him. This is what he came back to.

Let me tell you, we never build forts when just Mom is home.

Painting me a welcome home sign.

This is another of the pictures Peter emailed me. Apparently he turned his back for just a minute and Joel had climbed up on the table to steal Kale's pancakes. After he had eaten 3 of his own.

Sweet victory.

My boys welcomed me with hugs and kisses and no space of my own. :)

New camera=lots of pictures

2010-11-01T21:56:00.007-06:00

Our little monkey played the part of birthday boy to a T. The fact that he had 2 birthday parties didn't hurt.The morning of his birthday, he wasn't sure what to think.

Good thing Big Brother was around to show him the ropes. He quickly got the hang of ripping open the gifts and was delighted at what he found.

So proud of himself!

That afternoon we had some friends over for cake. Joel gave them all the evil eye to make sure they knew this was his cupcake. His first of 2 cupcakes. :)

Nothing bashful about this guy with his cupcakes.

Literally sucked it down.

"It's my party..."

My parents came down the following weekend so we celebrated our 1 year old again. Very excited about his pop up toy. He loves opening and closing things, (including the toilet lid), so this is a perfect substitution.

Papa Ray wants some too!

Sorry, all mine.

So excited!

Again, literally sucked it down.

Taking a little break before...

...Dad smeared him with frosting.

Scraping every last bit.

Time for bath and a nap!

Love you little boy!

Birthday Potty

2010-10-18T14:02:00.004-06:00

After finally running out of excuses to postpone potty training Kale, I embarked on the task the week of his birthday. Genius, I know but I knew it would always be something if we didn't just tackle it! I used this book and you can read more about the method here. (I called Reese multiple times before and during the training.) We started on a Monday morning and after practicing, drinking, coloring, and talking for over 2 hours, he finally got up from the table and told me he had to go pee. I was thrilled! He promptly peed and pooped and I thought we were golden. Then he had accidents the rest of the day. Awesome. I decided to bag the training for a couple weeks while we worked on listening and obeying right away and getting out of bed on his own. (Until this time he would still wait in bed for us to get him.) Two days later, he told me he didn't want to wear a diaper or underwear. Anywhere closer to no diapers works for me so I let him try it. He stayed dry the entire time and peed before his nap that day. I was encouraged so we tried it again the next day. He surprised me and had no accidents. We were on our way! Two days later we took away diapers at night and 4 days after that, dry all day and night. A complete success and I highly recommend this method. It is hard and frustrating but so worth the results. I am still amazed when I am in the kitchen and hear the toilet flush. I honestly thought it was going to be a long drawn out process after the first day but God gave us much grace and the method really does work! We're still working on moving away from everyone while peeing in the grass.

~

Kale had been talking about a cowboy birthday party consistently for a couple months so it was a cowboy themed day.

Every cowboy needs a good breakfast of waffles, strawberries, and whipped cream to start their day.

I made these cupcakes hoping they would look more like this. Peter kindly asked if we were hosting a birthday party or a bachelor party.

We finished the day at Mackenzie River for dinner. Of course Woody joined us.

Joel just comes along for the food. :)

Long overdue

2010-10-02T13:14:00.003-06:00

So, I have been waiting for Peter to post his grizzly pictures from Alaska before I posted anything new. I guess that isn't going to happen any time soon so here is what we have been up to lately.

Summer decided to come in September this year so we have been playing outside as much as possible. There is such a difference in how my kids sleep when they get an abundance of fresh air. Our yard is such a blessing and we have enjoyed the pleasures as well as the work of having it.Peter dressed Joel this day and later realized he was all in blue. He told Kale we should call Joel "Blueberry Joel". Seems appropriate since blueberries are one of Joel's favorite foods.

Having a fire pit is very fun and K loves a good smore, as anyone should. When Peter went to London in July, they didn't even know what a smore was!

Gooey goodness.

Oh the ways a bowl of water can entertain. Joel loves splashing. So much so that when they are in the bath together, Kale often is the one telling Joel to stop all the splashing.

I love getting to know this boy!

My 3 favorites.

Buzz Lightyear

This buddy is into everything, especially anything to do with food.

Soon to come-Kale turns 3 and no more diapers!

I do cool stuff too

2010-09-03T21:52:00.004-06:00

At the beginning of 2010, many of my friends made goals for the year. And many of them involved doing something active, like running a marathon, competing in a triathlon, etc. Not my idea of fun. I finally came up with the idea of sewing my first quilt. Shortly after I decided, I promptly put it off in classic Naomi style. However, with the encouragement of Oma Becky, we decided to tackle the project while we were in Alaska. After many cups of tea, a couple glasses of wine, and a little bit of swearing, I completed the quilt top while we were up there. I did all the sewing but Becky helped immensely with the ironing and most importantly, the measuring and math. We took the idea from this book and modeled this quilt from it. We made it bigger and I will post another picture once I finish it completely and it is hanging on my living room wall.

While Johnny and Emily were in Alaska last year, they won a ticket to Alaska Canopy, one of the zip line companies in Juneau. They didn't get around to using it so they left it for John Roth when they left in May. He didn't get around to using it so he left it for Peter and I. I was chosen as the lucky one to use it and we weren't about to cough up $179 for Peter to come with me since that is a lot of money and he is afraid of heights.
I had a great adventure and met some fun people. It was nice to do something on my own and especially nice to have something to talk about other than my kids once I got home.

One day Becky volunteered to keep track of our monkeys at home and let Peter and I spend the day on the boat with Greg. It was wonderful. I read, drank tea, and caught this huge Silver Salmon. It was the only fish we caught all day but it was awesome. I set the line in the water and reeled it in. I love that I did it all. Let me tell you, reeling a 15 pound (it is 17 pounds when Peter tells the story), salmon in is not easy. I actually used labor pain techniques while fighting him in. I just tried not to think about the pain!

This dinner was my favorite all week. (And we had some good ones!) Blackened silver salmon, garlic green beans, homemade rosemary bread, and white wine. Not to mention the beautiful sunset we had off the porch. I told Peter I wanted to come back up there for my birthday dinner.

This is the last minute or so of the fight with the fish. I showed him who was boss.

Blueberries and The Beach

2010-08-29T19:15:00.006-06:00

The first few days we were in Juneau were gorgeous. The temperature never got above 80 but everyone there was convinced it was a heat wave. Since it rained the rest of the week we were there, I can see why they were so excited.

The jury is still out on who exactly had the most fun playing in the sand...

The temp this day was borderline coat weather for me. The wind was blowing at the beach and I was a little chilly. However, as you can see in the background above, that doesn't stop the kids in Juneau. They were swimming in the ocean. Underwater. In swimming suits. I couldn't believe it but Peter said that's just what kids do when the sun comes out. I guess I shouldn't complain about our 90 degree days anymore.

Our little cheerio boy.

I tried to stop Joel from eating the sand but it was a battle not worth fighting.

There are quite a few blueberry bushes around the house. K and Peter went hunting and came back rather quickly when they heard some crashing a few yards away. There are also a few bears near the house!

These are not like the blueberries I buy in the store. They are more sour and stain everything blue. I should know, I change a lot of diapers.

Oma Becky and K making blueberry muffins with the fresh blueberries.

Enjoyed by all!

We'll ease you in

2010-08-26T20:57:00.006-06:00

We squeezed a lot into our recent trip to Alaska. One of the many highlights was taking Papa Greg's boat out to catch some crab. The weather was gorgeous and we had a bountiful harvest. :)

The ride back to town. I love how the mountains come right out of the water.

Eating licorice and pulling crab pots. Doesn't get much better.

This was just 1 of the 4 pots!

"Helping" mom drive the boat. The wake behind the boat when K drove was quite interesting.

Such a warm day!

One of the larger of our bounty.

Yes, this is how you clean it. Kill it by smashing the head on a corner and cleaning out the guts. I didn't participate in this part but I did participate in the partaking later that night!

Our little JP

2010-08-02T15:07:00.004-06:00

Just the 2 bottom teeth so far.

Avocado and watermelon are not the cleanest things to feed yourself.

The first and only picture we got of him not moving.

He's into yoga.

At 9 1/2 months, I find Joel to be just the perfect size. He is rollie and just the right amount of pollie. He weighs 17 pounds and 5 ounces and is 27 inches long. He is in the 10th percentile for both. I often ask Kale where Joel is and end up finding him in his room, with the door shut, playing. If any door in the house is open, Joel is there to shut it. He just started pulling himself up on things, claps now, and this morning, I think he did the sign for "more". He says "ma-ma" and follows Kale everywhere. If he wants to get something, there is nothing stopping him to get it. Especially food. This kid loves to eat but checks your hand if you're feeding him to make sure he is okay with what it is. He usually is. :)

He will not appreciate me posting this some day...

2010-07-15T14:29:00.002-06:00

For Auntie Em

2010-07-04T11:38:00.008-06:00

And every other person who thinks our kids are cute, here are about a million pictures.Very into baseball since Dad brought him back a Cubs hat from Chicago.

K is also particular about how you play baseball. The pitcher must wear this hat.

Joel just likes to watch and eat grass.

Chillin' by the firepit.

Yummy chocolate cake for Doug's birthday.

K loves fireworks, just like he loves lawnmowers, tractors, and anything else loud. From a distance. We didn't last long outside before K wanted to go inside to watch.

At Hyalite Creek on Father's day. Sadly, this is the best picture we caught of me with the 2 kiddos. You should see the others!

About to hike upstream to catch some fish!

Admiring his daddy.

According to him, he caught around 20.

What else do you need?

Pete with his 2 boys on Father's Day.

Figured out how to get a drink by himself.

We went up to Hingham for my all school reunion and other festivities last weekend. We visited some friends of ours who have a tractor. Notice this tractor is not on. As soon as it started up, K wanted nothing to do with it.

Beforehand though, he had a blast!

Rudyard, the town I went to school in, celebrated its 100 year birthday. There was a parade, street dance, and fireworks among other things. It was really fun and we all needed naps by the end of it.

When you're in Hingham you can ride in the front seat.

What?

Yummy smores in Oma Joanie and Papa Ray's backyard.

A perfect end to a perfect weekend.

Loving right now

2010-06-19T20:51:00.005-06:00

1. K's joy over having a tent set up in his room
Peter set this tent up Friday night and K cannot get enough. He slept in it all night and his nap today. I never would have liked this as a kid, being too scared of getting trapped or something similar. Not only does Kale have no fear, he wants the door zippered shut. Such a boy!

2. 8 months
Joel wears this age well. He sleeps 13 hours a night plus 2 naps during the day. He only cries if he is tired or hungry and keeps this mama busy! All around a happy baby who will be beating up on his brother before we know it!
3. Finding my boy here, watching the rain.
4. Chubby cheeks
5. Sunshine! Since it has been MIA for most of June, we soak it up every chance we get!

6. Kale and Joel interacting more.
Even though they don't "play" together necessarily, they play near one another and the giggles are becoming more frequent.

7. Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Every recipe we have tried from this website has been delicious. We fight over the leftovers from this salad and I ate 3 of these cookies tonight. Also highly recommend these biscuits. (I didn't make them but finished off about 4!)

What are you loving right now?

All things bikes

2010-06-08T21:02:00.003-06:00

Seems bikes have taken over our home lately. Peter has started riding for exercise and the rest of us tag along every once in awhile. He slows down for us and goes about 1/4 of the distance. We borrowed a bike trailer from some friends and the boys love it. Kale for sure. Joel usually can't see but he doesn't complain so I think he likes it. I love going because Peter hauls the boys and I ride on my own. I get to be with them but can't hear them. Really the best scenario. :)

Pete and Kale taking advantage of our large parking lot. K doesn't know how to pedal yet but scoots along just fine.

Adding a few gadgets to the bike.

Our 2nd ride as a family. Joel is of course eyeballing the snacks and Kale finally gets to use his helmet for its created purpose.

My favorite boys.

Before our long trek. I left him here for about 1 minute and came back to find he had crawled off the curb face first. However, he wasn't fazed in the least. He just kept striving towards his goal of whatever had fallen down there.

Little of this, little of that

2010-06-02T14:06:00.005-06:00

I haven't been very good about taking pictures lately so this is just a mix from the last few weeks. Enjoy!
About a month ago, when it was actually warm, Peter and Kale hiked the "M". Well, Peter hiked while Kale cheered him on from the backpack. Kale loved it and apparently exclaimed, "We made it!" when they got back to the car. Must have been touch and go there for awhile. :)

Oh this buddy. For awhile when he first started scooting he would stick to our square of carpet in the living room. No longer. In the last few days I have found him in the playroom, laundry room, and under his exersaucer. He is a silent sleuth and I followed a trail of spit up to find him in the playroom yesterday.
I forgot to take an official 7 month picture so this will have to do. He sits up quite well now and has moved from his bumbo seat for meals into a real booster seat type highchair. He eats 3 solid meals a day and we have nicknamed him Joel Bird since he constantly has his mouth open for a bite of food. He has a bottom tooth poking through and loves to "godzilla" through his brother's train set.
Last week Peter's mom Becky came down to stay with the boys and Peter and I went on a wonderful getaway to Salt Lake City. I know, super romantic, but it was a place we could drive and it was south where it is supposed to be warmer. It wasn't. We woke up to snow the first day. However, I didn't care because I spent most of the day in my new favorite store, IKEA. We even went back the next day to do a little more shopping.
The store is set up with an upstairs showcasing many of their items and then the main floor is where you buy everything. This was my favorite kitchen set up.
We had an excellent time. We did whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. We didn't have to get home for naps and were even out and about after 7pm! We live a wild life I tell ya!
We walked by the stadium that the Utah Jazz play in and of course had to take a picture. Did Peter ever tell you he went to high school with Carlos Boozer?
On Memorial Day we went to the Schuylers for a delicious BBQ and smores. It was pouring rain though so we roasted marshmallows in the fireplace inside. They were still super yummy.

He made this thing last!

Our first day of semi-warm weather in weeks! Joel and Sawyer enjoyed a little swinging at the park today.

Now I have to pay attention...

2010-05-19T09:15:00.003-06:00

no excuse

2010-05-01T14:23:00.005-06:00

I really don't have a good reason for not posting lately. Nothing too exciting has been going on so I kept waiting for a good reason to post. After being prompted by Emily to post anything just so she could see the boys, I pulled a little something together. :)Joel is 6 months here. He weighed in at 14 pounds 10 ounces and is in the 15th percentile. He's rolling around all over and enjoying his 2 solid meals a day. We're working on getting him to sleep all the way through the night so Oma Becky can come stay with the boys while Peter and I take a little getaway the end of May. He truly is a happy baby.

He prefers his brother's toys to his own and uses his head to scoot over to something he wants.

Peter and Kale went fishing a few weekends ago. Apparently Kale wasn't a huge fan but I think he just wanted to get out of the backpack to try it for himself. Since then he has been talking about fishing and bugs. I think he'll like the outdoors quite a bit, much to his dad's delight. Just the other day Kale told me, "I like shoot deer." I don't know how he knows he likes this but Peter is thrilled.

Sweet potato face.

We are making the most of our postage stamp yard when the weather permits. Even when the weather doesn't, Kale asks to eat "dunch" (lunch) outside for every meal.

Last Sunday we headed up Hyalite to try some fishing and throw rocks. The road to the reservoir was still closed for the season so we stopped at the creek. We lasted about 15 minutes before it started snowing. That seems to be the theme this April.

The next day, Mason came over to enjoy the sun for a bit. The boys got water on their shirts so of course they had to come off. I asked them to put their arms around each other for this picture but apparently they took that to mean put them in the air.

Kale is sometimes overly friendly with his friends...

I "heart" this boy!

Giggles, counting, mealtime, and dancing.

As of late

2010-04-11T20:16:00.005-06:00

The helmet is still making an appearance now and then but definitely not as often. He only wears it now if he sees it whereas before he wore it non-stop, including a trip to library. We drove there.

A rare sunny and warm day so far this April.

Wearing their matching hats from Oma Becky.

A blizzard last week kept us inside all day.
Kale played play-doh.

We had a picnic in the living room.

The car tube made an appearance.

And we finished the day with some Thomas the Train. If I let him, he would watch this non-stop.

Last weekend Kale got a big boy bed. It was a surprisingly easy transition and only required a couple times of discipline. Above is a picture of how he goes down at night or nap time.

This is how he ends up.

Ah, brotherly love. They have started to interact more together and Joel thinks Kale is just the bee's knees. He must because he sure puts up with a lot of "lovin" from K!

Such a sweetie in a hand knit sweater from Oma Becky.

easter

2010-04-06T15:09:00.006-06:00

We enjoyed a lovely Easter with family last weekend. My parents got a lot of time with the boys and it is still fun to see how much Kale loves them. We squeezed as much as we could into the hours between naps. Shopping, eating out, egg hunts, hot cross buns at a friend's, church, and basketball games. Whew! There was much munching on this little guy.

Papa Ray helped get him spiffed up for church on Sunday.

Unlike the day of our egg hunt, Sunday was beautiful. Kale got outlined on the sidewalk by Peter. The hat is to keep the sun out of his eyes.

Looks just like him.

Just enough snow to spray blue.

Itching to join his big bro.
Surprisingly, this went very smoothly and was not as messy as I was expecting.

Kale loves picking out what color of egg he is going to eat in the morning. He doesn't like the yoke but it is hard to make him eat it since I remember not liking it when I was little either.
Sometimes holding this buddy is like trying to hold a fish.

Our Easter Egg hunt got moved to our friend Sara's classroom since we woke up to a blizzard Saturday morning. I love this pic because both Kale and Mason have their fingers up their noses.
Funny faces!

Kale got something new this weekend...

2010-03-21T18:13:00.003-06:00

Can you guess what it is?

seen and heard

2010-03-17T13:54:00.004-06:00

biscuits in boots

We have been enjoying the sun lately by eating our lunch outside on the deck. Peter snapped this of us a few days ago.

A rare moment of calm with these 4. Watching "The Lion Movie" (Madagascar). Mason, Kale, Jack, Smith.

Reading to his little bro inside their fort.

Last week we found this little guy on his tummy, still swaddled. I don't know how he did it but now we have said goodbye to the swaddle. He sleeps much better on his belly and we're getting closer to all night! Right now he eats around 6:30 at night and goes down around 7:00. Eats again anytime between 3 and 5, then goes back down until around 8:00. Not too shabby I suppose, I just need to go to bed at a decent hour to appreciate it!

5 months

Joel had his 4 month check up about 2 weeks ago. He weighed in at 13 pounds 10 ounces and 24 inches. 25th percentile overall. He is such a mover, while the nurse was weighing him, I had to put his suckie in and sing to him so he wouldn't squirm so much and let her read the weight. He keeps us on our toes and already I have heard Kale say, "Don't gab (grab) me baby Dole!"

finally caved

2010-03-11T14:07:00.004-07:00

This is the conversation that has occurred EVERY DAY since October, no matter where we were going to go.

Me: "Are you ready to go bye-bye?"
K: "Winga?" (Swinging?)

He got his wish.

I wasn't expecting there to so much snow since it has been so nice lately. Never the less-I trudged through the snow to our destination and I think it was appreciated.

In like a lamb

2010-03-01T20:33:00.004-07:00

We've started getting the newspaper at our house and surprisingly, Kale loves it. Especially the lawn mower section. :)

Mr. Bright Eyes enjoying some sunshine.

Kale's friend Jack spent Saturday with us and he brought over some scooters. He graciously left his sister's here for the week and Kale asks for it every morning.

Today was BEAUTIFUL and we enjoyed some outside time with Reese and her boys. The snow and some parts of the boys were a rainbow of colors after they went to town with their water bottles full of dyed water.

Joely Scrumptious soaked up the rays as well.

picnics, helmets, and gummies

2010-02-25T20:38:00.003-07:00

I've been trying to waste less food around our house so Thursday night has unofficially become leftover night. Last week, to make it a little more fun, we had a picnic in the living room.

A random shot from our Saturday morning.

Kale has been into being a baby lately, wanting to be wrapped in his "ki-ki's" and have a "duckie" to put in his mouth. Until he asks to nurse, we will indulge him. :)

This kid, what to say. Just a wiggly fish! Last night he amazingly slept from 7:30pm to 4:30 am straight! The crying has worked! When I went in at 4:30, he had turned a complete 180, broken out of his double bundle, and was on his side hugging the crib bumper. I'm kind of thinking I might have my hands pretty full with this one!

Yummy cream cheese frosting.

Making himself known

2010-02-15T14:26:00.006-07:00

It is so fun to see the different personalities of our boys. Joel's is coming out more every day. He LOVES to be where the action is and is a mover! As you can see from the movie below, the Bumbo seat is not a safe place for our little squirmer. He turns in circles on the floor and can't get enough of his big brother. It is like he is taking in everything Kale does so he can make his move as soon as possible. Of course Kale loves his little brother and asks where "BabyDole" is several times a day.

He has been sleeping better since we finally borrowed a velcro swaddler. What a difference it has made! The first night we used it, I didn't have to re-wrap him once! Of course he has figured out how to get a hand or 2 out now but it happens so rarely that we don't care! He is sleeping longer at night and only eating once. Kale started sucking his fingers at this age and then slept through the night. Joel's hands are always in his mouth but there is more chewing than sucking going on. Hopefully 4 months is the magic age for Joel as well but who knows. My goal is to have him sleeping through the night by the end of the Olympics. Peter said he would give me a gold medal if I did. :)Smiley Chubs

I hope his blue eyes stick around.

Caught a little dribble on camera.

As promised

2010-02-09T20:43:00.008-07:00

As I mentioned, we were a little busy in January. And by we, I mean Peter. Of the 31 days in January, Peter was gone for 15 of them, 16 if you count our time in Alaska. He visited Chicago, San Francisco, and Switzerland. We was with the Swiss for 8 days, all of which the boys and I took over my parents' house. I'm sure I would have survived the time if I had stayed in Bozeman but I doubt it would have been as much fun for anyone. However, even with all the help, it's just not the same without Dad around and we are glad he doesn't have anymore trips planned for awhile

K and I walking to visit Papa in Hingham. I'm not sure if it ever got above 20 degrees while we were there.

Why not wear your underwear on your head?

Love that owl lamp!

no caption needed

Cuties

After I spent so much time as a single parent :) my husband let me have a break. I spent last weekend with 3 of my closest friends in Billings for an all girls + babies weekend. Reese and Addie's parents graciously allowed us to stay at their lovely home while they were living it up in Costa Rica. Even though our babes were with us, it was wonderful not to have any 5 year olds, 4 year olds, or 2 year olds around. When we put the babies down, that's where they stayed! It truly was glorious. Kale and Peter had a great time without me. Maybe we can start making this a regular thing! There were no pictures taken of any of the ladies there but there were a few of the kiddos and you can see them here.

In other news...

The tenant who was renting our condo never found a roommate so she will be moving out this weekend. Not exactly what we were hoping for. First of all, finding a new tenant in February is not cool. No one moves in winter! Second of all, we now have to lower our rent price. Granted, she was paying way too much for a 2 bedroom, but she agreed so we didn't argue. If you or anyone you know needs a place to live in Bozeman, check it out! Also, if anyone needs a great investment property, we will give you a screamin' deal. :)

When all of this is happening, it helps when you can get a good night's sleep so things aren't as daunting during the day. Ha! I wish that was happening for me. Joel and his sleeping is a conundrum. He won't sleep unless he is swaddled but breaks out of it all the time. During the night, he is waking up almost every 2 hours to be rewrapped and have his suckie put back in. Sunday night was my breaking point. Now, after his last feeding before bed, I set my alarm for 6 hours later and shut my door and turn on the fan. It might sound harsh but I need sleep! He wasn't eating so I knew he wasn't hungry. The hardest part is that I know he can go a long stretch at night because he has done it before. If only he could find his thumb or fingers, everyone would drink much less around here.

Curious little fella

He's lucky he's cute!

Still here!

2010-02-05T09:44:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the long absence. Thank you to everyone who "de-lurked". January has been busy and next week I promise to fill you all in about it all!

De-Lurk

2010-01-18T20:08:00.002-07:00

So, Friday was the official de-lurk day of the blogging world. I am a little late in posting but I hope you lurkers out there will still post a comment! I know I lurk on many blogs so I would like to see how many people actually take a peek at our little lives. To help you along, here is a question. Do you think it would be weird if I put a girlie background on our blog? Since the blog is mostly about our kids, I feel it should match them. However, I am the one who writes it so...opinions please!

Here is a little picture to help you decide. It is Kale and his friend Smith with their "babies".

Quarter of a Year

2010-01-17T15:39:00.004-07:00

RPJ (Rolly Polly Joely) turned 3 months on the 12th. I remeber Kale being a very happy baby but this little guy is so smiley! It is like he can't help but smile. The other night he was tired and fussy as I was changing his diaper but when he looked at me, he just couldn't help but smile. It sure warmed this mama's heart. He loves watching his brother and really enjoys being around people.

He's working on finding his thumb or fingers and I will be glad when that happens. He is in a weird phase where he wants to break out of his swaddle but being swaddled still calms him down. We are working on some sleep training. After 2 nights of him waking up every 2 hours to have his pacifier put back in, last night we let him cry. He had 2 seperate 45 minute crying periods in the night that he didn't fall asleep after but today for his 2 naps he has fallen asleep within 10 minutes of crying and slept longer. Probably because he is exhausted from last night but still, I'll take progress where I can get it! I'm not necessarily after him sleeping through the night at this point, (although am not opposed), I do want him to be able to self soothe in the night without his suckie. I know he only needs to eat once in the night, if any. Praise God for a supporting husband and friends who have already been through this and can advise us. We'll see how tonight goes! Love this boy!
Kale helping Joel with his toe jam.

Kale decided this baby food grinder was a good helmet for Joel.

Since Christmas

2010-01-12T14:35:00.002-07:00

Surprisingly, the transition back to Montana has been better than I could have imagined. I expected there to be lots of crying as Joel got used to sleeping without being held but he has adjusted very well. Last night he slept from 8:00 to 4:00 and then after he ate he slept until about 8:45. Here's praying for a repeat tonight! Peter is in Chicago this week and will travel some the next 2 weeks as well. Not too fun but he gets to go to Switzerland the last week in January so that is exciting. We are keeping busy at home with "bends" (friends) and my sister is staying with us some. I don't know how I could do it without her! Single moms everywhere, I salute you. He thinks he is pretty cool in Dad's hat.
Chillin' next to Auntie Ness.
Modeling his new Mater underpants and his new bus and "tarn" (fire truck). Last week we saw a Tow Truck driving and Kale called out "Mater!" Maybe we've watched Cars too many times?

Our little bear cub.

It's a start!

And yes, he is picking toe jam out of his toes.

420 pictures later...

2010-01-03T20:57:00.002-07:00

I have widdled down our 2 weeks celebrating Christmas in Alaska to this slideshow. I don't think we could have asked for a better time. It was really everything we hoped for. We are sad to be home and miss our Alaska family like crazy already. Kale enjoyed Christmas, especially the presents. He watched lots of movies, ate lots of candy, and had uncles to play with all day. He was truly in heaven. Joel soaked up being held and snuggled by Auntie Em and Oma Becky and there was talk of them buying a doll when we left. :) I am so blessed to have married such an amazing man and then have his family be so great on top of it!

The boys traveled great and we are almost all the way settled back in. What are we going to look forward to now?

month 2

2009-12-12T09:20:00.002-07:00

I will do my best to dedicate this post solely to Joel. Sometimes a certain 2 year old steals the spotlight. :)

Joel turns 2 months today and it feels like he has always been here. Mostly because I don't remember what it is like to get a full night's sleep! He is working on waking up only once a night and last week I fed him at 9 and he slept until 5. He hasn't done it since but at least I know he can! We'll get there eventually. He has started smiling and cooing a lot more, something we have all enjoyed. He is extremely loved by his big brother and he puts up with the snuggles and near smothering very well. Look familiar?
Joel rolled from his stomach to his back at 6 weeks! I didn't believe Peter when he told me but sure enough, when we put him on his tummy and propped him up on his elbows, he flipped right over! Now he does it all the time and doesn't need to be propped on his elbows. I have a feeling this guy is going to be moving sooner than we will be ready for!

At his 2 month appointment Joel weighed 10 pounds and 9 ounces and measured 22 inches. 25th percentil across the board. It has been fun to see the little rolls develop on his legs.

Some smiles and coos for the family far away. Joel gets to go on his first plane ride next Saturday. Please pray for our sanity!

brothers

2009-12-11T09:45:00.002-07:00

2009-12-07T20:09:00.003-07:00

Sub-zero temperatures have kept us very close to home the last few days. In fact, this morning while I was driving, I realized I hadn't been outside in the daylight since Sunday. Kind of sad if you ask me. Getting anywhere with 2 kids is a production any day, let alone when it is -20 degrees outside! However, we are Montanans so if we stayed inside every time this weather came, we would never leave the house! We hope you are all staying warm and enjoying the Christmas season. It has been fun to talk to Kale about it but we don't have a tree this year so I'm not sure how much he grasps. I let him play with one of our Nativity scenes and his favorite part is the camel. I'm sure he'll catch right on when he starts getting presents. :)

Joel has inherited his big brother's Elmer Fudd hat. Joel fits the role perfectly too since he has no hair on the top of his head.

Sometimes I find myself not taking many pictures of Joel because I think I already have the picture of Kale!

Before the icy cold hit, Peter and Kale went sledding Saturday morning. Apparently, he liked being pulled around better than going down the hill. When I asked him about sledding when he got home, he just told me he got snow in his face.

I was happy to stay home in the warm house with Joel.

My favorite part of sledding, the cocoa afterward. I think it is Kale's favorite too.

Warming up watching football with Dad.

Peter is on his way to New York right now for a couple days. He borrowed his brother's Ipod Touch for the trip and he and Kale were playing some of the games. Kale listened to the music while Peter played. I tried to get a video of him dancing to the music but it was too dark. Too bad for you because it was hilarious!

Never a lack of energy around here.

Weekend Captured

2009-11-29T13:42:00.005-07:00

Snuggles from Grammie
The beer cooler
The spread, mostly prepared by my amazing husband
Took a picture before I decided this isn't safe

Digesting dinner while battling the "enemy"

My perfect pumpkin cheesecake!

Reading the directions for his new potty from Grammie

More snuggles

Digesting some mashed potatoes :)

We had a blessed weekend, full of delicious food, laughs, naps, some good deals and lots of family. My thankful speech at dinner went something like this: Today I am thankful for a husband who loves cooking, taking a shower without a 2 year old in the bathroom and not having to listen for a baby, Joel eating right before dinner, not during, little footsteps through the house and healthy full term babies.

One Month...ish

2009-11-21T16:36:00.004-07:00

We are all back home together after spending almost a week apart. We all thoroughly enjoyed our time in Hingham with Grammie and Papa and I am so thankful for the extra help while Peter was gone. He is now realizing just how quiet his week away was! We are gearing up for Thanksgiving and my parents get to come down to spend that time with us. Kale is amazing us daily with new words and his strong will and Joel is filling out nicely! Kale is still getting the hang of drawing ON the paper.
He had lines on his head that made him look like he had seperated his brain into sections.

Papa and Kale playing their Gee-Tars

Wearing Papa's reading glasses.

Kale really loves his "Baby Dole". So much so, we can't leave them alone in the same room!

Joel was a month old on the 12th and he has already changed since then! He lost all his hair on the top of his head so he resembles an old man. He is starting to smile and loves be where everyone is. He doesn't like to burp and is getting up about once a night, if I am willing to stay up when he wakes up at 6. :)

I am definitely overwhelmed at times but every day is a new day! I know this won't last forever and soon both kids will go to bed in the evening and sleep all night.

Yes, I do nibble him regularly

Day by Day

2009-11-11T13:26:00.002-07:00

With a month under our belts, we are still hanging in there! Every day is different, some good, some not so much. There have been tears and lots of fits thrown, some by Kale :), but also lots of good times and laughs. Peter and I are learning what it means to parent 2 children and trying to figure out the balance. We are gearing up for some time apart as Peter is going to be traveling next week and then possibly the first two weeks of December. I am going to Hingham for next week so that will be a ton of help but who knows how I will survive in December. Maybe I will buy stock in a wine company before then! :) Always keeping us on our toes and making us laugh.
Little bean is making himself comfortable in our family.

Every morning when I get Kale from his bed, he asks where "Baby Dole" is.

After a particularly long night.

Tweat!

2009-11-03T20:52:00.003-07:00

Kale had his first Trick or Treating experience this weekend and I wish I would have video taped it! He was so cute and so proud of himself. We didn't tell him there was going to be candy so when he got his first piece he was pleasantly surprised. He said "Tweat" instead of Trick or Treat and was very polite with his "Nay-you" (thank you). We hit up about 5 houses and our little deviled egg was a hit!

Peter hooked the camera up to the tv tonight and Kale liked seeing himself on the big screen.

Oh right, our second child! Joel is doing great. He is 3 weeks old and fitting right into our family. Hard to believe it has already been 3 weeks but also hard to believe he has only been here 3 weeks!

Before I forget how much it hurt

2009-10-29T13:49:00.005-06:00

Joel's Birth Story

I woke up Monday morning around 4 having some contractions but nothing too exciting or consistent. Considering this had happened a few nights before, I was trying not to get my hopes up. However, with the previous times, the contractions stopped by the time I got up and these were sticking around. They were about 7 minutes apart so I went about the morning. Since they weren't going away, I called my more experienced friend and she advised me to call my doctor just to see what she thought. Dr. Wheeler said to come in to Labor and Delivery and get checked and we would do our best to have a birthday party that day. It was so relieving to have someone make the decision for me, even though I knew I wanted as little medical intervention as possible.

We got to the hospital around noon and I had not progressed any further. Contractions were still coming and getting a little stronger. It was a nice change to have Peter drive me to the hospital and be there for the whole process, unlike when Kale was born. We set about walking the halls and stairs to help things get going. The nurse and doctor both thought Joel was face up since I was laboring in my back. After some walking, we did some different things to try to get him to turn. I got in the bath around 2:30 and around 3:00 I could tell things were different. It was definitely more painful and the bath wasn't helping relax me. Contractions were now about 3-4 minutes apart and lasting longer. I got checked again and was now at a 7. In my mind I had 3 or 4 hours left, going at a centimeter an hour. Things were getting intense and the exercise ball was the only thing that gave a slight bit of relief. I was trying to breath and relax through the contractions but that is hard to do when it hurts so bad! I had them check me again around 4:30 and I was an 8. Things were moving along, but not fast enough for me. It really hurt! I was having a couple contractions in a row and trying to focus but that pain kept distracting me!

At 5:00, I asked for the drugs. To quote the movie Baby Mama, it literally felt like I was sh**ting a knife. I wanted to go as natural as possible but if drugs became necessary, I wanted to try an intrathecal instead of an epidural. With Kale, I couldn't feel anything when it came time to push and that was very difficult. An intrathecal is similar to an epidural but only lasts a couple hours. Anyway, I asked and begged for drugs as Peter tried to get me to wait, as I had instructed him in the weeks previous. I was not hearing it! The doctor told me that by the time the anesthesiologist got there, the baby could already be delivered so I did not get the relief, much to my disappointment at the time. I was back in the bed now and really feeling the urge to push. My water still hadn't broken! God must have really healed me back at 23 weeks :). The doctor checked me and I was complete. She told me I could go ahead and push if I felt like it and she was going to get ready to break my water. The pain at this point is what I would describe as unbearable. I remember crying out to Jesus at one point, oh it hurt! As I started pushing, He brought some relief as my water came gushing out. Not only was the bag made of Teflon, but there was a ton of water! Yes, God does have a sense of humor!

I started pushing at 5:32 and oh.my.word. Joel had still not turned face down, the position that is most conducive for babies to come out. Babies that are face up don't fit through the pelvis as nicely and it makes the labor and delivery a lot harder. It took a few pushes for me to find what worked but I could feel him come down the birth canal. They were having a hard time finding his heartbeat externally so a couple of contractions they asked me not to push so they could check on him. This was the hardest part. Resisting that urge.

They ended up putting an internal heart monitor on Joel's head but it wasn't that necessary because he was born about 2 minutes later, at 5:47. Unlike with Kale, I was able to watch my little boy being born. It was all extremely fast and extremely intense. Joel was put on my chest and I admired my second son while sucking down oxygen. He was completely perfect, weighing in at the exact weight his older brother did when he was born. Every day we fall more in love with both our boys and thank the Lord for his abundant blessings.

Now there are 2...

2009-10-19T13:22:00.003-06:00

Here are some pics from the last couple days Leaving the hospital
K playing the flute and Grammie playing the gee-tar

Papa meets his 2nd grandson

K's first Bobcat game! "G0 Ga-cats!"

Eating tomatoes on the porch with Papa

Waking up is so hard!

Little peanut

jp

2009-10-13T20:06:00.003-06:00

Joel Patrick Moore meet the Internet. Internet, meet our new son, Joel Patrick Moore.

7 lbs 2 ozs 20 inches long

Joel makes 4

" If you think I'm sexy..and you love my body...." I'm sorry, but every time I look at this picture, that's the song that comes to mind.

This was one of the few captured moments of this "first," where Kale asked and held his new baby brother. Approx. 5 seconds later, Joel started to fuss, and Kale just about dropped Joel and said, "All Done!"

Internet...you look good!

Ups and Downs

2009-10-08T15:10:00.002-06:00

My emotions have been all over the place the last couple days.

Tuesday was my birthday and I didn't have much planned and I wasn't expecting much. I was most looking forward to getting a pumpkin spice latte on my way to Bible study that morning and having a doctor's appointment that afternoon. You would think I would know my husband better by now but he swept me off my feet, once again.

He got up early and got me a caramel roll from Wheat Montana. So good. He also took complete care of Kale while I got ready for Bible study and then told me he was going to work from home that morning so I could just go to Bible study by myself. A treat in itself!
Once I got to Bible study, Becca handed me a gift card to Sage Spa for a pedicure and said that Peter had made me an appointment for 11:15 that morning. What?!?! What woman wouldn't want a pedicure, especially when pregnant. I was thoroughly surprised.

When I got to my apppointment, I was handed a card from Peter that said that my friends were going to meet me for lunch at 12:30 at Mackenzie River, sans kids! This day just keeps getting better and better! My pedicure was amazing and now my toes are ready for labor.

At lunch, my friends gave me cards that Peter had asked them to write in. He asked them to write one way I have blessed them in the last year and their prayer for me in the coming year. I felt so loved and special. I then received another card saying I should go home and nap before my doctor's appointment and that if Kale needed anything, Peter's brother John would be there to take care of him. So many wonderful surprises that just meant so much to me!

The next "present" I received wasn't from my husband, but from the doctor. I am dilated to 5 cm! Halfway there! I could not believe it and was glad to hear of some change, let alone 2 centimeters in a week with no pain! Thank you Lord!

After my appointment we went home and went for a walk with Kale. Then we went out to Ale Works for dinner while my sister watched Kale. I was riding a high all day. It was great. I was sure labor was coming soon and was glad that baby had decided to stay in that long so I could enjoy a perfect day.

Then nothing happened. It has been a let down for me, for sure. Of course, it has only been 2 days but I am still pregnant. That's all I'm going to say about that. Almost 39 weeks. I feel like I have a bowling ball between my legs.

We asked Kale this question last night and he responded in a way we could not have planned! Of course, trying to get him to re-enact it wasn't the same but still, you get the point.

Bouncing Airplanes

2009-10-04T13:38:00.002-06:00

Playing airplane
"Mo-Mo?" "I-you?"
(More airplane?)

The weather is turning here so we spent a morning in the bounce house last week with some friends.

Mama did a little bouncing too but passed on the pictures :)

Giving the baby a kiss at 38 weeks.

Miracle

2009-09-29T14:16:00.002-06:00

It seems God is wanting to remind us that He is still in the business of miracles. Read here and here to see how He blessed the socks off some of our friends! Watch the news story here. I love when things are clearly done by Him and nothing else can explain it!

Grandpa would call it "Priceless"

2009-09-26T20:09:00.008-06:00

My Grandpa Jack and Aunt Carol graced us with their presence this weekend. It was such a treat to see them. Kalen was shy at first, but he quickly warmed up (as you can see).

Chilling at the park, swapping stories and life together.

Naomi and I decided to take a nice walk up to Palisade Falls this evening. We both hoped that the "walk" would progress things along for Naomi and the baby...but we'll see. At the least, it was a fantastic evening to get out and go throw some rocks.

I'll probably look back on this picture and think, "this was one of the last few moments we had together before Moore#4 came along.

An endless supply of rocks beneath our seat made for a perfect "rock throwing" show-down. Kale: 215, rocks: 1,002,132,459 (approximately)

Boy vs. Wild

Just a little somethin'

2009-09-25T13:09:00.003-06:00

Today I am as far along in this pregnancy as I was when I went into labor with Kale. What a journey this has been! Yesterday I felt sure I could go another 3 weeks, no problem. Today is a different story. Very uncomfortable and I feel like I can't do normal tasks. How am I supposed to put a two-year-old's shoes on him when I have a basketball jutting out from my body? Not easy. I know that the baby will come soon and I'll realize how good I have it now but at least then I will be able to move like a normal person! I am progressing still which is encouraging but it could still be another 3 weeks. I can do it, I just don't want to! :)

We are soaking up the last days of warm weather as much as we can. Yesterday, Mason and Smith both wanted to hold Kale's hands as we left the park and Kale gladly obliged.

We have started walking more and always find ourselves at a little park about a block away. It is so nice to be in a neighborhood and to have a place so close by!

Peter likes it too. :)

I took some pictures of our new place to show you all but they really don't do the space any justice so you'll just have to come visit to see for yourselves!

Birthday Pics and Baby Shtuff

2009-09-15T19:56:00.004-06:00

Lighting the candles
Jack and Kale enjoying the cupcakes. It has been so fun to see these two little guys become buddies.

Playing

No birthday is complete without a ride in a red mustang!

What an awesome day!

I am about 35 1/2 weeks along and everything is great! I am 2 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced so things are progressing. 36 weeks is our main goal but ideally we would love to make it to 37. Kale was born at 37 weeks so who knows when it will be. The doctor thinks it will be sooner than later and I hope so! Other than being pretty tired, I am doing well. As long as I don't eat too much at one time, I am semi-comfortable. Peter was scheduled to go to Rhode Island next week but has decided that is a risk he would rather not take. I'm sure the baby will wait until 41 weeks now that he made that decision but as usual, better safe than sorry!

2!

2009-09-04T13:09:00.004-06:00

Dear Kale-
It seems you are taking this 2 year old thing pretty seriously. Since your birthday two days ago, you have started using more words and started trying to put sentences together. Although it is still hard to understand most of what you say, it is fun to hear you try new words. Maybe you could stop the fits you've started throwing? :)

I love how you ask for your new tractors, guitar, drum, and balloon immediately after you wake up in the morning or after a nap.
I love that you danced at your birthday party when everyone was singing to you. And that you cheered when it was over.
I love how you ask for fruit snacks and nod your head yes to try to get me to agree with you.
I love all your crazy words: goof=juice, yar-yar=book, ca-ca=slide, winga=swing, too-too=tomato, train, toast, or our friend Tofer, ay-you=airplane, pee-ca=pizza, and those are only the ones I can remember at the moment!
I love getting kisses and hugs from you, randomly without asking.
I love how you try to jump but one foot always stays on the ground.
I love the sound of your feet running through the house, and the occasional crash that interupts that sound.
I love how you say hi to anyone, even dogs and cats.
I love your adventuresome spirit, even though I am constantly asking, "Where's Kale?"
I love that you ask to pray every time we sit down at the table and fold your hands and bow your head.

Kale, I love everything about you and am so proud to be your mama. Happy birthday Bug!

How many things can we squeeze in before baby?

2009-08-26T14:46:00.004-06:00

Life has been full around here and we are so blessed! We just moved last weekend to a bigger place that we really love. We have been talking about leaving our old condo for quite some time and have finally taken the big step. It was a step of faith but one that God honored. We decided it was in our finance's best interest to rent out our condo and rent another place, for about the same price. Our little condo wasn't going to sell for what we owe and trying to buy something else on top of that was just going to push us too far. It was difficult because it is a good time to buy but we are all pleased with our decision. Every day I find something new to thank God for in our almost twice the size home! I will post pictures some day but in the meantime, these will have to tide you over. At the Sweet Pea parade the beginning of August.

Everyone around us was amused by Kale's impression of a fire truck. I am not too amused when I am driving and suddenly a siren goes off in the back seat :)

A "tra-dra"

The best part of a parade, of course, the candy.

Later that night, more sugar. We try not to give him sugar close to bed because he literally bounces off the walls. I had given him some fruit snacks at Sweet Pea and the rest of my sucker and I thought Peter was going to be upset that he had so much sugar. Much to my surprise, Peter came back from the food stands with cotton candy and a snow cone.

First taste of cotton candy.

Guitars, Cotton Candy, and Papa. What more could a guy ask for?

I think I am 31 weeks in this picture. I am now 32 1/2 and this is the same time I started contracting with Kale. Nothing noticeable to me yet but the doctor checked me yesterday and I am 1 cm dilated. Apparently something is happening. She isn't too worried but if there is a change next week when they check me, we will talk about taking it easy and such. Otherwise, baby is doing great! We are even more excited to see what we are having as we just welcomed 2 baby boys in the last 2 weeks. Any guesses on what this little peanut is?

His first postcard! Aunt Ellie and Uncle Larry sent him a note from London and when I tried to take it away from him so he could eat, he promptly told me, "Mine"

A lover of lemons.

Up North

2009-08-10T21:19:00.003-06:00

We all thoroughly enjoyed Kale's first visit to Alaska. He probably won't remember any of the toy cars Oma set up for him, his first boat ride, airplanes and helicopters flying overhead all day, throwing rocks in the ocean, and every other activity we squeezed in, but we will remind him with the pictures.

(To view the pictures larger, click on one and it will take you a bigger album.)

outside

2009-07-28T13:32:00.005-06:00

Last week we were able to house sit for some friends. It was much more enjoyable for me than the last time we house sat this summer because this house is in town, has a fenced yard without a creek running through it, and is mostly kid proof. We took full advantage of the backyard every chance we could. Breakfast one day

Playing in the pool

Riding commando at a friend's house.

Loving on some dogs

Ring Around the Rosie
We all fall down!

Their fort

Peter reading a story to Mason, Kale, and Smith. (We spent a lot of time with the Schuyler's last week.) :)

Too funny

2009-07-26T21:20:00.000-06:00

Peter and I both cracked up when we read this today.

Sublime "Summertime"

2009-07-17T15:57:00.008-06:00

Summertime...and the livings easy...

Taking turns squirting/watching the water cannon at Belgrade's water park.

We tried finding a dark place for Kale to sleep when we were house sitting the other week. We finally gave up and just duct-taped a blanket around Kale's head.

Kale loves loves loves our porch. We caught him just chil-axing on the threshold, eating his snacks the other day.

We have Oma to thank for this one. That's Peter's old racoon hat from when he was a kid. We've seen it only treated with the utmost affection from Kale. Anybody else see Uncle Jonny (Naomi's brother) in this photo?

God is good. Baby Moore #2 is healthy, and Momma's looking good at 26 weeks. (comment from Peter)

That's Kale wearing his old "Elmer Fudd" hat. He's serious about something over there. I'm not sure if it's his trucks or his britches. Too funny.

Living life...without a care in the world. That's our boy.

Buh-Bye June

2009-07-02T14:38:00.007-06:00

Kale is more willing to say goodbye to inanimate objects than he is to people. He will say it to tractors, trains, trucks, books, lawnmowers, and our house but ask him to say bye to Dad? Forget it! He will do it sometimes but definitely not as frequently as the horses near our house hear it. In the middle of June, Peter went to California for some business so Kale and I traveled up to Hingham for the week to visit my parents. Trucks, a backyard, hoses, lawnmowers, papa and grammie, bubbles, bikes, and trains filled our week. And by that I mean Kale's week. I got to sleep in and enjoy lots of help with my boy.

A little scared at first...

...but quickly got down to business.

His favorite spot to view every single train that went by. At least 25 a day.

Many treats were had by all.

He was equally afraid and thrilled with the bubbles. He didn't like them coming near him but kept asking us to blow them for him.

Kale is in love with babies. We are house sitting and he found a baby doll there that he is constantly kissing and hugging. He is also constantly kissing and hugging our friend Sara's new baby girl, Amelia. Many kisses, snuggles, and hugs. I think he is ready for this big brother thing.

He fell asleep on the way home from church after eating a chocolate chip cookie.

As I mentioned, we are house sitting so Peter got the "privilege" of mowing their lawn.

"You can't ride this thing? Well, let's go throw rocks then."

This creek runs through the property where we are staying, a good place to throw rocks and sticks.

My mom came to stay with us while I was taking it easy last week. I am so thankful she could! I could not have done it without her. I think she had a good time too and we already miss her.

Braving the slide at the pool

I think it helped that it was a pretty slow slide.

On another note, I had an ultrasound today to check my amniotic fluid and it has increased! Praise the Lord! Baby is happily swimming away. We are so blessed.

Ebenezer

2009-06-25T14:07:00.012-06:00

"Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us." 1 Samuel 7:12

Indeed, thus far He has.

Last week, I had some leaking of fluid that the doctors at the hospital suspected was amniotic fluid. Not a good thing at 23 weeks pregnant. I spent the night in the hospital and we were all prepared to go to Great Falls the next day so I could spend the remainder of the pregnancy on bedrest at the hospital there. That morning, a different doctor did an assessment and found no amniotic fluid present! It was no mistake on the previous doctor's part, it was simply...a beautiful and amazing miricale. The doctor said I could stay in Bozeman, taking it easy for the next couple weeks. A complete 180 from what we were expecting! In my mind, the best case scenario was that we would be in Great Falls for the next 11 weeks because that meant baby moore #2 would still be inside. I was working on mourning my summer, but God gave it back to me! Such a miraculous thing!

Now that I have been home taking it easy for a week, I cannot imagine being in Great Falls for that long. Even in that situation, God was showing how He would take care of us. My parents live near GF and would be able to take Kale for quite awhile. Kale and I had just visited their house so he was familiar with them and everything there. Also, another huge blessing was that Peter was going to be able to work remotely from GF and he has amazing insurance. I am so thankful none of these things had to take place and also I've been able to acknowledge the Lord's hand in it all.

I have not had any leaking since last Monday and saw my doctor today. She did another test for reassurance. No sign of amniotic fluid! I can now go back to being pretty normal, just avoiding things where I could get confused about whether I am leaking or not. For example, not getting too sweaty and staying out of pools. I had an ultrasound last week where my fluid was still at an excellent level and I have another one on Thursday just to check. If things stay the way they are going for the next couple weeks, we can all go back to normal and stop monitoring as closely as we currently have/are.

I cannot express my gratitude to Jesus and to everyone who prayed for us. He heard you!! We continue to lean on him for the safety of our little one and trust Him throughout this whole process. Of course, always easier said than done but He is patient with us as well. And even though we have had a couple extra ultrasounds, we are still going to be surprised in October!

Saturday Morning Coffee

2009-06-13T15:55:00.005-06:00

Today's Bozeman Chronicle read: 2 hip mamas selling excess of hip stuff. No tchotchkes.

While the 2 hip mommas sold their "stuff," Kale and Dad decided to go for a bike ride.

Getting strapped in...ready for launch

T-minus 5....4....snack trap? check....3...sippy cup? check...2....shovel? check...1...good to launch!

One day not too long ago....do we really need to say anything about this?

halfway

2009-06-01T19:47:00.002-06:00

Friday we had our 20 week ultrasound and baby is simply perfect. Everything measured correctly and my due date is still October 17th. Unlike last time, we decided not to find out what we are having. I wish we would have waited to find out with Kale so I hung on that thought as we went through the appointment. I was shocked to discover that I wasn't even tempted to find out! Very unlike me, who hates waiting for surprises. I'm glad we are waiting and really have no inkling as to what we are having. I started feeling the baby move around 18 weeks and we're working on getting Peter to be able to feel it.

harvey time

2009-06-01T19:31:00.002-06:00

Aunt Emily and Uncle Johnny came to visit us Memorial Day weekend from Bellingham. We had a ton of fun and the weather cooperated perfectly. Kale experienced his first bike ride and instantly fell in love with his aunt and uncle. Emily took more pictures than I did and you can see them here. Reading stories before bed.
Trying watermelon by the slice

He really got into it.

We thought it was pretty funny and apparently he agreed.

sick of cali pictures yet?

2009-05-26T14:36:00.004-06:00

Well, we did a lot! Saturday we went on a wine tour that was really fun, even though I am pregnant. I did get to have some tastes and really enjoyed the whole experience. Our tour guide made the day. He made us feel very comfortable about wine and not intimidated at all. The grapes are just babies this time of year.
"Um, those don't look like the grapes I usually see"

Another beautiful day

It was a huge winery. We brought back 2 bottles of wine that we are saving for October, post-baby.

Kale enjoyed his milk at Sonic on the way home. It was our first time visiting a Sonic and I have declared it my new favorite fast food restaurant.

Mother's Day we went to lunch at a Kosher Deli that was delicious. After Kale's nap we went down to the Berkely Marina.

There is a crazy junkyard/playground down there that you have to be 10 and over to play in by yourself. You can build things, paint things and just play everywhere. It was pretty cool.

What's a trip to the playground without the ice cream cart going by?

Peter and Ari

Kale helping fly the kite.

We finished the day with a picnic in a park and said our goodbyes at the Berkely Rose garden. We had a great time!

cali day 3

2009-05-18T14:24:00.005-06:00

We went downtown San Francisco on Friday with Peter's stepmom Joyce. The weather was perfect again and we fit in as much touristy stuff as our little munchkin would allow before his nap. The trolley cars were not exactly what I was expecting. Does anyone else think they should be taller and red? Did I just watch too much Full House growing up?
A pirate ship in the harbor

We had some yummy cupcakes near a fountain. Kale didn't understand that you throw coins in the fountain, he wanted to go swimming in it.

As you can tell, he thought the trolley was pretty cool.

We made a guy run behind the trolley to take this picture.

The view back towards the wharf

Peter and I sat up front while Joyce and Kale sat near the back. Joyce said Kale thought the driver was pretty cool and tried to imitate him moving the levers.

You can't tell, but I am leaning out the side of the trolley.

We left our trusty GPS in the car. We could have used her a couple times

Such a trooper

Chinatown

I really wanted to find some of these houses in real life, like the ones in Full House of course. I had to settle for a post card in Chinatown. I think I really liked that show.

Kale really loved playing with Hunter the dog.

What would a visit to Chinatown be without an outfit from Nana Joyce?

He wasn't a big fan of the hat

Grandpa taught Kale how to play the guitar

cali day 1 and 2

2009-05-14T15:00:00.004-06:00

We are home and adjusting back to normal life after a great trip to Berkeley to visit Peter's family. Kale did great, despite a couple bumps in the road including a possible night terror the first night and teething the last couple days. He really is a trooper and enjoyed seeing all the family. We drove to Salt Lake to fly to Oakland to save some $ and saw some buffalo in Yellowstone.
I couldn't believe how close they got!

In the future, I might not recommend driving this far to fly cheaper. Yes, we saved about half on airfare but may have aged a couple years in the process. Kale did great the way there but was ready to be out of the carseat on the way home. We did it though!

I had never seen palm trees until this trip!

Our first full day we joined Patrick's class on a field trip in the morning.

We left the field trip around lunch and drove the scenic way home while Kale napped in the car. We believe that our rental car agent was so charmed with our son that she upgraded us with GPS for free. We are so thankful! It was awesome to get around the area with.

He spent a lot of time sleeping in the car.

That night we went to a Farmer's Market in Berkeley where they have actually produce! (In Bozeman, the majority is crafts. Short growing season.)

Trying some of the merchandise

Raw oysters, Peter's favorite.

The Cheeseboard is a cool bakery/pizza place/cheese store that I had heard about from some friends. I am glad they told me about it! You can read more about it here. Peter and I shared a piece of pizza from there and it was the best food I had on the whole trip.

Everyone gets their pizza there and then proceeds to eat it on the median of the street.

More about the rest of the trip to come soon!

16 & 20

2009-05-04T19:56:00.004-06:00

This last Saturday marked my 16th week of pregnancy and Kale's 20th month of life. My tummy is definitely sticking out, especially at the end of the day. Between 15 and 16 weeks is apparently when I start to feel better in pregnancy. Turned the corner this week. However, I have now caught a cold that I am trying to kick before we head to San Francisco on Wednesday to visit Peter's family. I really enjoyed the few days last week that I did feel good!

I let Kale drink a green smoothie out of a cup without a lid today. Here's what happened...

The green stash grows...

Now a beard

Ooooo, that's good.

He finally spilled it and had lots of fun painting with the green yumminess. (It is just a smoothie with spinach in it. Tastes just like a regular smoothie.)

Very fascinated with the whole shaving process

The duck/rat tail I just couldn't stand anymore so Kale got a haircut Saturday.

There is a robin's nest on top of our porch light.

The bright blue eggs!

2009-04-26T14:13:00.002-06:00

Last weekend Peter and I got away for a couple nights in Missoula. Peter's mom Becky came down from Alaska for an extended weekend and stayed with Kale while Mom and Dad got a little break. The weather was beautiful, (it has since snowed at least 11 inches), we didn't worry about the clock or naptimes or dinnertimes. It was wonderful. Missoula was a fun town and below is the only picture we got because our camera battery died right away. There was a rec center that let people use bikes for free! We wanted to rent some bikes but didn't want to dish out the cash. We called our friend Micah who lives in Missoula and he told us about the rec center. Definitely a highlight of the trip. Finishing our afternoon outside
Oma and Kale has a wonderful time together when we were gone. No meltdowns and lots of time outside. We miss her lots and lots.

Kale and Jack having a snack outside last week. Oma had to see all the kiddos while she was here.

These two boys are always up for a snack.

Uncle John got a haircut on the porch while Kale and Peter enjoyed the sunshine.

We went to the park later and Kale showed off his skills on the slide for Oma.

One last story the night before Oma left.

We miss you Oma, come back soon!

Hopefully Kale got his fill of sunshine because it is supposed to be cloudy and snowy for the next week! Peter has escaped to Phoenix until Wednesday and oh how we wish we could have gone too!

I just had to include this funny video of Kale "loving" his bears.

get ready, lots of pictures

2009-04-15T14:15:00.007-06:00

Kale listening to some music with Dad.
When Kale wants a snack, he goes to the fridge and whines. I am working on stopping this. We now have designated snack times and he sits in his chair while I get the snack instead of picking what he wants out of the fridge. This kid would live on fruit and yogurt if I let him.

Who needs a backyard? Kale was occupied last week by our diaper champ on the porch.
Ok, backyards are a good thing I suppose! We went to the Schuyler's last Tuesday and soaked up the sun. Good thing too since there is at least 6 inches of snow on the ground today!

When we do get a yard someday, Kale will definitely need a bike. And longer legs.

My brother and parents all came to visit us this weekend. We went to the park Friday and Kale wore Uncle Jon's sunglasses the whole way with this look on his face.

Trying out the mini-slide

Jon and I

Watching everyone

He would climb up to the slide, turn around and zoom down on his tummy, all by himself! As you can tell, he loved it.

There was a huge Easter Egg hunt on Saturday that we braved. Kale liked looking at the fire truck more than he liked actually being in it.

Journey Church puts the hunt on every year and this year they had 40,000 eggs! Kale left with one.

Our good friend Addie got married on Saturday to a great man. It was a wonderful testament to God's faithfulness and the work He has done in both Addie and Rob's lives. I am so happy for them!

These 3 girls danced the night away!

My mom and dad

Rob and Addie sharing their first dance while Addie's son Blake rocks it with a lady friend of his own!

A new pastime of Kale's

guess it has been awhile!

2009-04-06T14:53:00.003-06:00

i kept getting mad that no one is updating their blog and then i realized i was in the same boat! since my last post, we have had much more snow and are just getting some much needed sunshine today. since kale is walking all the time now, it is much more fun to go outside. who wants to crawl on concrete?
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the last weekend in march we trekked over to yakima, wa for a funeral. peter's 91 year old grandma passed away after living a very full life. i didn't know much about her before this trip but learned a lot and i am very impressed with all she did! it was a sad occasion but nice to see family, even though it was quick. kale did amazingly well during the 9+ hour trip over, no melt downs at all! the way home was a different story and i was somewhat relieved when we were forced to stay in missoula sunday night due to weather. i think we were all ready to get out of the car at that point! staying in a hotel room with a baby is a little difficult especially when the baby goes to bed so early. we ended up putting his pack-n-play in the bathroom for him to fall asleep and then would move him out when we were going to bed. the bathroom in our missoula motel was quite small and we realized that kale could reach the doorknob when we went to move him out and the door was locked! praise the Lord that we could use a credit card to get in and didn't have to break the door down. one of many adventures on our long trip.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
remember last time i was pregnant and took pictures all the time of my belly? well, not so much this time. i would take a picture but there isn't anything to show yet. at least no baby, just a little pudge. i hope the 2nd trimester next week gives some relief as my symptoms have kicked in full force in the last week. headaches, nausea, lots of peeing, and exhaustion are all raring their ugly heads and just yesterday peter asked for his wife back. i replied that i want her back too!

getting ready to go swimming with dad in yakima at the hotel.
maybe this is why he did so well on the way to yakima, licorice

homemade superman cape

such a helper he is!

kale is walking all the time now and here is the proof!