a few summer stragglers

I took some photos on my parents camera this summer when I was in Lynden and was finally able to get them off when we were there for Thanksgiving so here are a few remnants of our summer memories...

A gorgeous day out at Lummi Island. Does it get any better than that?

Taking advantage of the Whatcom County bounty.

Checking out the horses with Memmie up at Silver Lake.

Getting driving lessons from Memmie at the fair.

DUCK! GOOSE!

Riding around in Memmie & Papa's house.

A tender good-bye.

Our lil' "punkin"

Is there any better place to take fall pictures than the pumpkin patch? Well, it doesn't hurt to have a sunny day and Smith Rock in the background either...

Jeff surprised me for my birthday with breakfast out with some friends after which we all piled into the Kelloggs' truck and headed to Terrebonne. It was such a glorious day and we spent a couple hours picking out pumpkins, riding the train and of course, taking photos of our lil' "punkin." Here's a few of our favs (from the 80+ "keepers")...

His Father's Son

Ok, this is too cute not to share...

As many of you know, Jeff is neat. I don't mean in the way that you're grandma might say "He's such a NEAT, young man.", though he's that too. I mean in the way that he is tidy. He likes things to have a place and they should be put back there. And well... I'm not.

I'm happy to report that it appears that Kieren received the tidy gene. He just brought me my Uggs that I had kicked off in the living room last night and said, "Mama, boots in the cubby?" A little guiltily I replied, "Yep, you're right honey, Mama's boots should get put away in the cubby." After which he promptly brought them to the shoe cubby and tried to find a spot for them. It was full and my boots are too big to fit in anyway so he set them nicely off to the side... his father's son. :)

a "few" summer photos

An anxious bather showed us he could get into the tub unassisted... a first.

Camping at Maryhill in June with the Stremler Family...

The center of attention... literally.

One cool dude... with a great physique if I might add. :)

Fourth of July in Lincoln City with the whole Labhart gang.

Wallowa Lake trip with the extended Elder Family.

Transitions

As we move into Fall and the trees start to turn, the air gets crisp and I start baking with gusto, I'm reminded how much I LOVE this time of year. So imagine my happiness when my sweet boy exclaims from the lunch table, "MAMA! Yellow! Up high in the tree! And orange too!"
He was truly excited and I was reminded how lucky we are as parents to get to experience things again for the first time through our children.

Repeats

My advice for the day: Do not do something once with a toddler unless you are prepared to do it 50 more times that hour. Do not throw them up in the air and then complain about your back going out. Do not play "ride the horse" once and then try to explain that it's time to go mow the yard. And DO NOT play this video unless you are prepared to play it 10 times a day for the next 6 months. At any given point during the day and most times I even glance at the computer Kieren will ask "Hey Mambo?" and I oblige. Mostly because it makes him smile and well, it's not Barney or something inclined to make you completely lose your mind. So.. welcome to our world. Enjoy!

catch up

"There's no 'catch up' in motherhood"... Ok, so the phrase is "there's no crying in baseball" but work with me. The thought of "catching up" our blog from February is daunting and honestly, just NOT going to happen. Even if I was an uber-organized mom (I'm not) and could recall ALL the cute and memorable moments (I can't), it would take more time than I'm willing to give at this point. Selfish??? Yep. And I will readily admit that I'm currently more interested in perfecting my pumpkin scones and reading about dump trucks with Kieren. So here's the compromise... I'll do my best going forward (& try to post a few photos from our summer) and you kindly forget that I've chronicled nothing of my first born son's life for 6 months... deal? :)

On the look out

The last month has consumed Jeff & I with a kitchen "face lift." It's almost done and we are finally seeing the light at the end. When I sat down the other afternoon to upload some photos I realized that I had taken NO photos of Kieren since Christmas. YIKES! So that afternoon, after taking Kieren to get his haircut I snapped a few photos of our little man.

Kieren is attempting new words every day. He's quite a jabberbox and is obsessed with pointing out hats whenever he sees someone wearing one and is constantly on the look out for deer & ducks. We have an abundance of both around our house so one of his favorite spots is by the back slider where he has the best vantage point. His other latest obsession is balls: footballs, tennis balls, stacking balls... it's usually the first thing he asks for in the morning and his last request at night. If he can't find one he'll go from couch to chair to ottoman looking underneath each. Our favorite "Kierenism" is when he truly can't find a ball or it's out of his reach, he'll put is hands out and ask "Ball?" I've made several attempts to capture it on camera but you'll have to take my word for it (for now.) It is the CUTEST!
He's cautiously trying out his walking legs but for the time being prefers the efficiency of crawling. I'm OK with this and cautiously making peace with the fact that my baby is becoming a boy.