First Ultrasound

We were able to see our little bean last Thursday. I had to have an ultrasound done on a hernia I have developed, so we added on a little fun and saw the baby. We also needed to get a specific due date as well. As of last Thursday I was 12 weeks 5 days along. Little Bean, as Kailyn as named the baby, is due June 19th. That works great with the school year. My last day of school is the 16th. We'll have to see if this little one will keep cooking until the summer time.


Kailyn was not able to be at this ultrasound and she was incredibly disappointed! She cried a lot and was not very happy with me. We have made sure that she has been included from the beginning. She actually knew before Mark did because he was away hunting for the weekend. :)

I keep one special picture aside just for her. You can really see the leg bones in this picture so I told her it was just for her because it looks like the baby is a dancer. She is thrilled. I let her take the pictures for show and tell. I tried to warn her that other 5 year olds may not find the pictures very exciting but she was not going to be deterred.


We are counting our blessings this Christmas season! I pray that you find a reason to celebrate the gifts of the season as well!

Merry Christmas!

The start of a new adventure!

You have to listen very closely to hear it.

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Fall Wedding

Yesterday we were able to attend a gorgeous outdoor wedding.
The little girls were just adorable.
Couldn't help but post a few pictures of their cuteness!

I had to capture Emmy's face after our drive home. It struck me that this is a face that my mom makes sometimes as well! Gotta love the family resemblance!

Kindergarten Round 2

Another school year, Another Kindergarten!

First Day of Public School Kindergarten ~ 2010


Just to be nostalgic....First day of Private School Kindergarten from 2009

Giving Mrs. Feetham an apple.

Hard at work already.

Self Portrait before I had to leave.
(apparently I had a lazy eye today!)

She started getting a little clingy and did not want me to leave. There was another little girl that was already crying because her mom had left. I told Kailyn that maybe she could be a good friend to the little girl and help her feel better. My little sweetie went right over and stood by her. Didn't say anything, but was there in spirit. Very sweet to watch.

She had a great day. When asked about her favorite part...snack of course! :)

I can not mention a new school year without including the new adventure that Kailyn takes part in every morning (she is in a pm Kindergarten class). She spends the morning with my AMAZING friend Sarah and her 3 little ones. She is homeschooling her oldest two (5 1/2, and 3). She graciously invited Kailyn to be a part of her morning. Kailyn is actually doing homeschool stuff in the mornings, work that actually challenges her. (Don't get me wrong. I teach in public school. I mostly like public school, but it will by no means challenge Kailyn, at least not this year. 28 Kindergartners in one class is chaos waiting to happen.) Anyways, I have been totally impressed with what Kailyn has already learned in a couple weeks with Sarah and the Homeschool Co-op Group. I am very excited to see what she is able to do with Sarah this year. It was a complete blessing for our family, after a very rough transition to a childcare situation that did not work out.

Thank you Sarah!

Thank you Mrs. Feetham!

Another school year off and running!

A day at the Fair!

Just a warning. This post will probably be picture overload,

but how else can you capture the memories. This was our second time visiting the
Oregon State Fair as a family.

Starting the day off with a craft. She got to decorate her own name tag made out of wood.
"Sure, I'll touch the snake but you better take the picture fast. I won't touch it for long.

Kailyn was in the "Let's Pretend Circus" again this year. She is the Lion. She could not see most of the time but it was SO cute.

We visited the petting zoo at least 3 or 4 times.

She was a little leery of the Llama but decided to bravely pet its back.

We needed a break!

The best thing you can buy for $0.25. A jiggling foot massage.

We enjoyed watching the dogs jump during the Dogs and Logs event.

Mark caught a funny moment when a dog handler actually fell in the water himself.
The above picture shows him getting the crowd energized.

Here he is half in the water and still throwing the dog toy.

Complete splash down!

It was a fun and exhausting day. Can't wait until next year!

When the garden gives you tomatoes....

You make Salsa of course!

Kailyn was thrilled that I let her use the knife to cut all the tomatoes and onions.

She happily helped me through the whole process.

We made three different batches so we could share with the neighbors.

We love what we get from the garden and that we can bless the neighbors as well.

Some where in the process my helper became a
princess ballerina dancer,
complete with a flower bouquet.

An end to the summer

In other parts of the US school has already started. We are fortunate to still be enjoying the last days of the summer. We went to an amazing pool on Friday. It was the last time until next summer. Kailyn has always approached pools cautiously, for which I am grateful. But this also means she will not even try out the littlest slide, or jump off the side of the pool into 2 feet of water. After reminding her it was our last time out this summer she did this

(jump in a 4 foot section on her own)

and this....

(Finally went down the slide!!)

and looked like this....

the whole afternoon!

What a way to say goodbye to the summer!

Just a day in the life....

"MOMMY!! MOMMY!!! AHHHH!!

This is what I heard being screamed from the front walk as Kailyn hurled herself towards the front door. I literally thought she was being chased by someone. Her scream was scared/excited/spastic. Not a sound I hear very often.

We met at the front door. My heart racing while looking for the perpetrator that must certainly be chasing her!

Next I heard...

"The icecream man is on OUR STREET! HURRY!"

"Sorry Honey, you have to ask Daddy for dollars. You know I never have any."

She immediately burst into tears.

I supposed I should mention that we live in a culdesac. All summer long we can hear the ice cream trucks come and go in the neighborhood somewhere but never come down our street. She has saved her change many a time, only to wait and wait for the illusive icecream truck. So the event of one actually driving down the street was the cause for such hysteria!

Back to the tears...she was crying so hard as she walked down the hallway that Mark could not even understand her. She finally got her point across and he took her outside to visit the icecream man.

By this time he had rounded the culdesac and was on his way out. They raced across the street and Kailyn got her coveted treat.

Ahh...the little things in life to remember, right?

Visit to Mukilteo Washington

One of our last summer adventures was to see Grammy and Papa (my in-laws) in Washington. Grammy is a wonderful seamstress. She made a patch for Kailyn's new school bag. The process was very interesting. Not sure I could have pulled it off.

Before

After

Close Up

We did lots of other fun things too! They were having a Blitz event at their church where the neighborhood could get school supplies and have lots of fun.

Thanks Grammy and Papa!

Trying Something New

I have been something of a blog stalker this summer. Have you ever clicked on a blog, then clicked on a blog from their page, and then repeated that over and over. My husband will often ask who I am reading about and how do I know them. Well....I don't know them, and often times I can not even remember how I stumbled across their page.

One of my new favorite blogs is Ni Hao Y'all. She does something called Sunday Snapshots. The idea behind it is find something memorable and make a quick note of it.

Here is my snap shot for this week.

There are a lot of things that I LOVE about this picture. It is August and my darling is dressing up like this. She HATES socks but has chosen knee socks. Like a true Oregonian, she has the boots and umbrella handy. What struck me the most is that her coat from last year once needed the sleeves rolled. Not so any more.

Do I have to admit that she is growing up now?

Maybe I will just unroll the sleeves and pretend she is still the same. :)

But when I look back, I wonder......


( Camping 2007 -- Helping vacuum - Early 2007)

When did this toddler

(water fountain - summer 2010)

(camping 2010)
become this big girl?

Sometime I threaten to put a brick on her head but she just tells me, "Bodies still grow Mommy! My hair would just cover it up!

I sure love this girl!

Pretty Princess

Kailyn had a fantasy photo day in the park a few weeks back. Tara Newman from Sela Photography has a wonderful gift! She captured my girl with such creativity. Kailyn had a great time and talks about her "modeling" with Ms. Tara in the park. The best part was playing dress up according to her. How can you resist such cuteness?

Can you see the mischevious side of Kailyn?
(Rocking the tree fairy from Halloween when she was 3)

All girl! She loved this little brown chair. We asked her to cross her legs and she fell so naturally into this position! (Leotard and her favorite pink flouncy skirt from Aunt Heather)

Princess in waiting? (Cinderella outfit from Aunt Heather and Uncle Ronnie)

Joy! That is what I think of when I see this nose crinkling laugh.

I think this could be her life motto right now. She loves to dance!
Right now she is doing tap and ballet. (Belle costume)

Sweet baby girl. Hard to admit she is so grown up. Rocking a head band that she hates just to please me. Tara captured the baby blues and cheeky smile. (Tap costume)


What's not to love?