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Spencer at 18 months

Can hardly believe it, but Spencer is 18 months now. He is such a fun, crazy, busy, sweet, happy boy. He makes me insane and melts my heart on a daily basis. He is never still for a minute, constantly exploring and getting in mischief. We lovingly call he "menace". He puts everything in his mouth and thanks to a strong gag reflex I've had to do the Heimlich on several occasions. When he isn't happy he'll let you know with an ear piercing scream. Anyone have any ideas what to do with a screamer???? He loves being outside, playing peek-a-boo, giving kisses and being allowed to destroy whatever he wants. He is a total snuggle-bug and will nuzzle his head into your shoulder. He has the biggest brown eyes and he totally knows how to give those flirty innocent looks. Although there is never a relaxing moment with this little guy around, we love our little Spencie and he pretty much has this whole family wrapped around his tiny fingers.

Spencer's 18 month stats:

Weight 21 lbs - almost on the charts people!

Height 32 inches - 50% percentile

Head 19 3/4 inches - massive

Words - daddy, sadie (day-dee), kate (date), bottle, tickie tickie (tickle), cheep cheep

Favorite song - If you're happy and you know it (he immediately starts clapping when we sing this song).

Favorite book - Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Favorite time of day - when daddy comes home

Favorite food - any gerber baby food that melts in your mouth - can a child survive off this crap?

The answer is no, which is why he still eats baby cereal, jarred foods and formula instead of milk. We're working on sippy cups. Yes, the whole feeding thing is a topic for another post, but let's just say that Spencer has come a very long way and we are just grateful that most meals don't involve him throwing up anymore.

Latest skills: walking, clapping, banging toys together, stacking toys, putting things in containers. Although I never would have noticed some of these developmental milestones with my other kids, for Mr. Spence it is a big deal and we are so happy every time he learns something new.

Every night as I rock this boy to sleep my heart is so full thinking of how blessed we are to have him here with us. His smile lights up my life and his antics are teaching me patience. Wow, I love that little man.

Memorial Day Weekend

We were so lucky to be invited to go to a cabin on Lake Wenatchee over Memorial Day weekend and we had such a great time. It was just gorgeous there. The guys had fun doing manly things like using a chainsaw, getting in freezing cold water to help fix the dock and building campfires. The girls had fun relaxing from the warmth of the house and hot tub :) Kate got to go out on the wave runner a couple times and had so much fun. These pictures are from the last half of our trip. My camera battery died when we got there (of course) but I'll post more when I get the pictures from Brandi's camera. Thanks Knights for an amazing weekend!

Suiting up to go wave-running. The water was freeeeeezing.

Isn't my nephew the cutest?

Do you think she's excited about smores???

Spencer

Spencer finally figured out this walking toy - he loves it. I can't get enough of that huge smile on his face. Sorry for my high-pitched baby talk - do I seriously sound like that? Geez.

Finally, pictures

Here's the house!

please excuse the boxes ....

view from family room into formal rooms and front door

Lovin' the park

So I finally took some pictures of the new place. Please excuse the boxes, lack of decor, etc. We're still unpacking and figuring out furniture arrangements, you know how it goes. I kept hoping to get some pictures when the house is clean, but finally realized that day may never come, ha ha. We LOVE our new house and neighborhood. It is a smaller neighborhood, which means the streets are quiet enough for us to hang out riding bikes and scooters, etc. The park is just around the corner, close enough to come home for a potty break and not mind going back afterwards. This is important because we basically have no yard, so the park is getting used on a regular basis. I'm still missing the Texas weather and big fenced yard we had. It was just so nice to send the kids outside to get their wiggles out. We could do that in our yard here, but the grass is a swamp since it's in the shade. I just try not to think about it or I might get crazy sad! Things are great here and it is nice be in our own place with our own little family.

our new house

We are in and getting settled. I went to post a picture and realized I don't have one! You'll have to wait, maybe I'll take one tomorrow... I will just say that we are incredibly happy here and loving both our house and neighborhood.

Easter in Pictures

what a smart Easter Bunny - tooth brushes!

enjoying the presents and the view

yes that is spit up

you should know that the best way we've found to get our kids to smile for pictures is potty talk

Kate was trying a new form of patching by putting tape on her lens - hence the blurry lens on her right eye. Should've thought to take that off for pictures. Dang.

Happy Easter.

New Glasses

Kate has needed new glasses for a loooooonnnnng time but we were waiting for her to be eligible for both new frames and lenses with our insurance. Well we finally went to pick some out and she immediately went for this blue pair. I loved them but was a little hesistant, because she's always been my pink girl. Well now she loves blue everything.

The first day Kate wore her new glasses to school was a pretty big deal for her. She picked her outfit very carefully so everything would coordinate with her glasses and wanted her hair curled. Wow - she is all girl. Of course we had to take her picture. Then Sadie wanted her picture taken - I was shocked and luckily caught something cute because she changed her mind a second later.

Sadie turned 4

For Sadie's birthday we had a family get-together. It was really fun because my cousin Marshall happened to be in town that weekend so we were thrilled to see him. Also in attendance - Amelia & Michael, Darren, Brandi and Cade, Grandma, Grandpa and Bailey. Sure is different then the quiet birthday parties we used to have in TX! We're so glad for those who came, and missed those who were far away.

The birthday girl as we are prepping the cake. She requested pink and purple - surprised??
The kids love Aunt Amelia.

Don't these two look like they are going to be trouble together??

Sadie at 4:

-She has grown up before our eyes - why does that always seem to happen with the middle child?

-She can be timid and shy around new people

-She is either sweet or sassy - catch her in a mood, and she might not like you very much at that moment and she'll let you know. Most of the time she is very easy going, happy to play with others or by herself, and other times she has an opinion and will let you know loud and clear. She can be so hilarious!

-She loves baby dolls, is obsessed with stuffed animals and enjoys being a little mother to all of them.

-She loves to look at books and be read to.

-As she is maturing, she is having fewer accidents requiring stitches. But man, when they happen they have been pretty bad. She is quick to tell everyone that she has "fragile skin" and says matter of factly - "when I die and go live with Heavenly Father I won't have fragile skin anymore." I hope that truth can bring her strength as she grows and comes to fully understand how much this disorder has impacted her life. Besides the constant nagging to "stop running!" or "be careful!", we are all learning to manage for the most part and hoping we can figure out how to safely let her have as normal of a childhood as possible.

-Sadie loves to sing, dance, laugh and have tickle time and wrestle time with dad.

-She is very particular about her clothes

-She loves our little "preschool" time together

-She would be happy to stay in her pajamas all day - and sometimes does

-She loves being a sister

-And this is how she usually feels about having her picture taken.

We love Sadie so much and are so grateful she is in our family.

Sidenote - this is what Spencer looks like when Dad feeds him, which is what happened while Sadie was opening her presents.

March Highlights

We enjoyed a couple of warmer days in March here and there, so we had to take full advantage by going to the park. We're trying not to complain, but apparently we picked a pretty bad year to move to Seattle - it's been one of the coldest since the 50s. So there is hope that next year won't be so bad, right? I keep asking Brent to stop checking the weather in TX - it's been hot and sunny - I just can't even think about it ....

Definitely enjoyed ourselves some March Madness, that was until all of our brackets went down the drain. I don't think we even watched the championship - unheard of in this family.

Let's Play Catch Up

So I kinda took a break from the blogging thing (not that I was ever that good about updating anyway) - but I figured it was time to catch up. So here is goes. Here are some pictures from February. Sadly, as I was looking through the pictures I took this month I realized that about 90% of them were of houses we had gone through - not of my family. House hunting pretty much took over our lives from Jan - Apr. But happily we finally found something and are moving next week!

Spencer is as adventurous as ever. This cupboard was one of his favorite places to climb for a while there.
We have enjoyed quite a bit of snow this winter. FYI - when it snows in Seattle the world shuts down because there are so many hills and no plows. That is fun for us because it means no work and no school. We had quite the time sledding as a family (sans Spencer - thanks Grandma!)

Sadie enjoyed eating the snow as much as playing in it.

Love the snow angels on the deck. Plus Sadie has a thing for making funny faces at the camera.
Someone lost her front tooth :) She had been working that thing for weeks, begging and crying for us to pull it out. We are were quite thrilled when it finally came out and the drama could stop, at least the tooth drama that is.