8 Months!

On the 18th Kyan turned 8 months old. As always, this last month truly did fly by. I feel like I am busier now than ever and that is adding to the quick passage of time. With work and school added to my plate, there seems to be little time for anything else. That unfortunately also seems to put life into warp speed. Kyan is changing so much each day. His little personality shines through more and more, and we are just loving getting to know him. He is sweet as could be, a lover of things funny (almost anything to him), and big on his family. Life with just Kinley, Kev, and me was amazing, but life with Kyan is even better. He brings so much happiness to our lives--I honestly feel like such a lucky mama!

Things Ky is up to at 8 months!

*You army crawl!! You get better and better at this each day too! Not sure if you will turn it into a standard crawl or not, but you definitely get around!
*You still love your food! The number of things you have eaten is amazing too! You haven't really turned your nose up at much either--you could probably do without anything green, but you still take it.
*You have started to enjoy books. Yay! You will sit through a short story, just up until you can't stand the desire to eat the book any longer and you must lunge for it! :)
*You have the best laugh! You also laugh all the time! Pretty much anything Mckinley does near you, you find hysterical!
*Mckinley is easily the best thing in your life! If she shows you any sort of attention, you are beaming! She loves you too (even if she doesn't always show it :) ). She tries to take care of you all the time. She knows your schedule in and out, and tells us when you are awake, when you need baby food, when you should have a bottle. She also tells you goodnight (with hugs and kisses) each night  + a "love you".
*You have two teeth now--both bottom front. I think you are working on a top tooth too.
*Still awesome at sleeping. About 11.5 to 12 hours at night and still three naps!
*You celebrated your first Halloween this month. Honestly, you weren't a big fan! We'll see how next year goes. :)
*Unfortunately, your acid reflux is still an issue. It is much better than when you were only a few months old, but it is still a pain. Hopefully it gets better soon.
*You have an unprecedented love for the TV--something I am not a huge fan of. It is almost impossible to get you to not look at it. At times, I think you would injure yourself before being stopped from watching WordWorld!
*You are still a big boy--you weigh roughly 23.4 lbs and are 29 1/4 inches long.
*You love people! You are definitely not anti-social, as smiles are still received by everyone!
*You are babbling away, but still no mamas or dadas. Keeping my fingers crossed to hear one of these soon!

You are about the best baby ever (sorry Mckinley you had a pretty rough first 6 weeks!)! We just love that you are a part of our family and feel so lucky to share each day with you! Hopefully you know just how much each of us love you! xoxo

Complaints and A Trip to Portland

One of the negatives of me being back at work is that my blog suffers. I know this does not seem like that big of a deal, or anything to really complain about, but I will complain anyways. I love having this blog and getting to document all the big and small moments of our family. Lately it is a struggle to find time to do the basic things of life (like grocery shop!), let alone find any time to blog. Every now and then I find a moment (right now Kyan is napping and Mckinley and Kev just went to grab some Subway) to squeeze in a quick blog post. I have to jump on these opportunities when they come around, otherwise we may only see posts every couple months.

So...on to this post. A few weekends ago we met up with Grandma B and Grandpa D in Portland for a quick getaway. It was completely typical of my life right now, aka--squeeze in some fun while I have the chance, but it was SO wonderful. We spent time watching football, going to the Portland Saturday Market, taking a walk on the river, and going to the Children's Museum. We always have such a great time when we are with Kev's parents, and this trip was nothing different. Mckinley adores Grandma and Grandpa, and Kyan is changing so quickly right now that it is fun for them to see how different he is since they last saw him.

It was a quick trip and it was really more about relaxing and visiting than anything, but I did of course get some pics!

Playing at the Children's Museum...it was a Halloween themed day and kids wore costumes.

Hopefully, as my Master's program winds down I will have more time to fit in posting here. Kyan really is changing so fast and I want to document it as much as I can. Mckinley and him are playing more and more together--it is definitely something I want to remember!

Peoples Give Kinley Candy

So a little late, I know, but still a needed post. This year was Mckinley's third Halloween. Doesn't that just seem impossible? I mean really her first year doesn't count all that much as she didn't actually go anywhere, but she was still the cutest bee around! This year also marked Ky's first Halloween. Again, not sure it really counts. He actually went trick-or-treating, but only because Mckinley dragged him along--he did not even make it to any doors (the poor kid was actually freezing in his stroller as he insisted on pulling his hand out from under his blanket to suck his thumb!).

This year we headed down to my brother's neighborhood again for the prime trick-or-treating. Unfortunately, since Halloween was on a Monday this year we didn't get to stop at my Dad's like last year (sorry Papa Randy!). As it was, we were racing to beat the bedtime clock. So straight from work I raced home to dress an Indian Princess and her Horse. We had been practicing with Mckinley the routine of trick-or-treating before the big day. On the car ride down we were again going through the logistics and at the end of the script I said, "and then what happens?"...Mckinley replied, "Peoples give Kinley candy!!". She at least had that part figured out!

So as I learned last year, getting pics of your kids at Halloween is nearly impossible. First of all, they are in no mood to stand still and smile, and second, you are always looking at their back-sides! Additionally, Mckinley refuses to smile for almost any picture, even if she is looking at the camera. 

Here are the "keepers" (and I use that term loosely)...

And, just as I did last year, here are a couple reminders of Halloweens past:


2010: My sweet little elephant...

2009: Our little bumble bee...

Hope everyone also had a fun Halloween and subsequent days enjoying your kid's candy!