Spring Gardening with Dad

We have the blessing (curse???) of having a wonderful big yard. And luckily...gradually...we've been trying to make it less maintenance by pruning, removing and transplanting. So as soon as the weather turned spring-y in Portland, we were out moving the 5 rose bushes from the front of the house to their new home behind the beloved raspberry patch.

The roses already love it in their new home. We didn't lose a single bush. And as you can see, Daddy and Kaleb were a great team of transplanters!

Kaleb stayed on this blanket for about 10 seconds and then was OFF to explore. We've since learned that gardening with mommy and daddy involves using a pack-n-play to keep that critter contained!

Tigard Snow Day

Okay, I lied. In my last post, I stated that I wouldn't do anymore catch up blogging. But I COULDN'T RESIST THIS FACE!!! I was editing some files and came across these shots. We Portlanders only got one snow day this year - an evening in January with 2 inches of the white stuff - so we went out and let Kaleb experience the cold wint-ry goodness on our back deck(the deck being last summer's DIY project that almost killed us!).
He seemed to like the snow - or at least not be upset by it. Hopefully he's a winter sport enthusiast in the making!

Christmas with the Farkel's

Okay. This has to be the last catch-up post! There are SO MANY new fun things that Kaleb is doing...we must keep up!!!

But...this Christmas WAS his first...so here are a few of the highlights.

My side of the family jokingly calls ourselves the Farkels...(think Griswalds). We're kinda quirky and have our issues, but we LOVE each other and have such fun. This year was a particularly 'Farkle-ish' year which is perfect for Kaleb's first Christmas! He better get used to being a Farkel! It included:

*Renting a sad, old, dark house that had faulty cable TV, broken plumbing, dirty carpet,dirty bathrooms and the heater running out of fuel on ... Christmas Morning!! HA! What a ride. And...my dear dad was nursing a bad broken leg.

But Kaleb spent his first Chrismas in Seattle with ALL of his favorite people - the grandparents and Aunts and Uncles which was a blessing. We had GREAT weather, generous gifts, a beautiful FREE christmas tree, fun food and nice walks with everyone. It will probably end up being one of our favorites!

Thanks everyone for making it such a fun holiday and LAUGHING through the craziest parts.

First Snow Day

Winter here in the Northwest is sure coming to a quick close. The daffodils in my yard are up with their bright faces pointing toward the sun. The thick tulip leaves are all 5 inches above the ground and the forsythia is getting brighter every day! As much as I LOVE the spring, I do wish we had one or two more snowflakes to watch this year.

Kaleb had his first day in the snow over Thanksgiving weekend. These pics are from our Annual Christmas tree hunt we do with friends outside of Seattle. Kaleb did great in his snow suit and reminded us of that poor little kid from the Christmas Story - a classic!

We also had the privelage of having a few inches of the white stuff at our house in January and Kaleb enjoyed learning more about this strange, cold, wet ground cover.

I know that only a few folks read this blog, but those that do, take a minute and pray for my dear friend Jennie - a good friend from my Westminster days. She just delivered the most beautiful daughter Jaden. Jaden has had a rough start to life and the Fletemeyer's would love all the prayer support you can deliver. Read their story at http://www.teamfletemeyer.blogspot.com/

I love you, Flete's.

Momma's Boy

I just love this little guy!!! It is so fun to see the joy and wonder in his eyes as he discovers the world around him. Kaleb, you're my favorite little boy!

Ducky Time

Kaleb had his 9 Month check up today. Just as we suspected, he's getting tall and skinny! Well, not exactly 'skinny' if you took a look at those cute thighs. Official Stats today were:

Height: 31 inches - off the chart! >97%

Weight: 22 lb 5 oz - 75%

Head: ?? - 75%

Lately, Kaleb has been changing so much. Not only does he grow like a weed, but we're in that stage where he's doing something new all the time, which is both so fun and so scary all at once! Where did my sweet little newborn baby boy go? What he's up to these days....

* 'Inchworm' crawling - VERY fast.

* Finding all shoes with laces, electrical cords and straws that he can find to chew on

* Eating ALL KINDS of food, he loves it and isn't too picky. 3 meals a day already!

* Pulling to stand up in the crib, on chairs and against the dishwasher (which is NOT successful so far)

* Crying himself to sleep for naps ... seemingly because he wants to be part of the action and he can now stand and wail at us very loudly.

* Loves to 'read' books - can turn the pages all by himself.

* Loves to walk around the house with help. Lately he's been grabbing both my index fingers with his hands which is the signal for 'let's go for a walk! Help me!'

* lots of babbling, saying 'dada'(daddy) and 'baba' (bottle), clapping, initiating peek-a-boo (SOO Cute)

* Learning what NO means and laughing out loud whenever his momma says it sternly. Great.

* Thinking that whenever the phone rings, that it's daddy and he gets very excited and thrashes around and says dada. And if it's not dada, he basically tells me to call him in his own way, so they can chat.

For some reason, Kaleb has always LOVED bathes, but HATED the actual bathtub. There are very few things that he doesn't like in life. We're not sure why, but he cries and shakes and is so frightened! So we've been trying to help him like the tub because, let's face it, the kitchen sink is just not going to cut it when he's 14.

We got him a ducky and let him play in it in the living room. It even quacks when you squeeze it's bill. It was a hit. But....when we put him in it in the bathtub....only sobs.

Oh well!

The Many Faces of Kaleb

Hi Everybody!!!

We're so sorry to have been gone for so long. As all you parents out there know...life is BUSY with a little guy around!! But. No excuses....okay ... a few....the holidays, job hunting, sickness, laziness, travel, travel, travel. Another cold. Did I mention the holidays?? Are you kidding me?

Today I pulled on my new running pants (thanks Aunt Lacey!) and jogged in the sunshine and resolved to get back on track (with several things) and figured out a new system for staying up on blog posts. So here goes.

Kaleb is so funny with his expressions (mostly involving his tongue) and I thought this series captured him well. We'll be back shortly with the latest news from Kaleb, holiday favorites, current activities, milestones and whatnot.

See you soon! And Happy 9 Month Birthday Baby Ka-Bub!!