Tulip Festival

Yesterday we spent an amazing day at the Tulip Festival in Skagit County. It was sunny, slightly warm and generally beautiful. (Here are the pictures)

Kai went with us and helped keep Little One entertained. Little One is either sick or cutting another tooth. It's hard to tell since the symptoms are so similar. Either way it makes for an unhappy baby.

All in all though, it was an enjoyable day.

Cloudy Mt. Rainier

We walked around the neighborhood last night, taking pictures and playing with my new camera. Mt. Rainier was beautiful in the sunset. The top half is covered by clouds - pretty amazing, isn't it?

Back to the Routine

Kendra and I arrived back in Seattle Tuesday night. Wednesday was spent recovering from our whirlwind trip. As usual, there wasn't enough time to see everyone, but we had a wonderful time.

Ann, Cass and Cass's kids came down. They rented a hotel room, and we had a ball. The hotel had a pool and a hot tub, so we took the kids swimming every night. Kendra LOVED the water. She kicked and splashed and explored the different textures of the tiles.

We spent one of the absolutely gorgeous days at the Zoo. Kendra wasn't all that impressed with the animals, but she loved splashing in the fountains and feeling the textures of the wooden fences. Her Auntie Annie bought her a pink stuffed penguin that she chewed on the rest of the weekend. :)

Kendra made some amazing leaps forward in her development. She has started "conversational" babbling - making noises that are more in line with actual conversation ebb and flow. She also started getting up on all fours and rocking - the prelude to crawling. She mastered the army crawl, though, and goes wherever she wants - which is everywhere. She can pull herself up on furniture, and transfer herself from one piece of furniture to another. She's also started toddling around while hanging onto your fingers.

My baby is growing up so fast.

St. Louis Trip

Kendra and I arrived in St. Louis late, late Tuesday night. Our flight from Seattle to Denver was extremely rough, and I felt awful. It was not an easy flight. Once in Denver our flight to St. Louis was delayed a few hours, making it a very long day. Kendra slept the entire flight into St. Louis, though, so that was nice.

We spent Wednesday having lunch with some of my co-workers, then at my grandma's. Jean and grandma seemed to have a wonderful time playing with Kendra. She charmed them, and even learned a new skill. She can now move from a laying down to sitting up all by herself! My baby is growing up so quickly.

Cass, Ann and Cass's kids arrived in town today. Tonight will be spent swimming at the hotel and relaxing. Tomorrow - the Zoo!!

Cutest Bunny Ever

Here are a few pictures I took in the park across the street from our house. I love that you can see Mt. Rainier in the background!

This week Kendra and I attended a Parent/Child class at the Community College. It is one quarter long, and meets every Wednesday. I liked it, and am really looking forward to going to more. It's a very casual, open format. Lots of talking among the moms as the wee ones amuse themselves with lots of toys and chewing on each other.

The afternoons here have been gorgeous, so I've spent some time outside. Our garden is planted, and Dan rigged some plastic tarp thingy over it to protect the plants from cold, and to intensify the heat for the tomatoes. I'm excited to see how it all works out this year! I planted about 15 packets of various seeds around our tulips in the hopes that they will grow and fill in as the tulips die off for the season. I also planted 3 rose bushes. I've never grown roses before, so wish me luck!

Happy Easter and a blessed Passover!

Weekend Warriors

It's been a busy weekend in our household!

Friday - Kendra had her 9 month well baby check up. She weighs 15 lbs, 13oz - exactly 12 pounds more than the day she was born! She is 26 1/2 inches long. Those stats put her squarely in the 5-10% range on the growth chart. Her head, however, is still 75-90%. :)

No shots this time, although she did have to have blood drawn for an iron test. It's completely routine, and we don't expect any problems since she still drinks formula a few times a day. It was interesting to see that Kendra has clued in to the fact that people in white coats don't bode well for her. As soon as the lab tech walked in, Kendra started screaming. Real tears and everything - she was really upset. When we left, a different lab tech walked up to say hi to her. Same reaction. He walked away, took off his coat and came back. She was all smiles then. Smart little girl we have :)

Saturday - The weather here is gorgeous, so after Gymboree class we worked in the yard. Kendra hung out in the sun tent I bought her off craigslist. Dan worked on building my garden, and I finished ripping the boards off our fence. (The framework is still standing - that's another weekend). We're both a little sore today, but it's another beautiful day here so we'll be back at it after church.

Hopefully Dan will finish walling off the garden and I can plant my seedlings. I started them a month ago in the house, and they are going to town. We'd also like to take some time today for fun - a bike ride around the area with Kendra in her new bike trailer (I love craigslist).

All the tulips we planted are also blooming!!

No Autographs Please

The Easter Photo Fiasco

Kendra loves having her picture taken. Every time she sees a camera she's all smiles and charm - posing and hamming it up. Unless it's in a portrait studio.

We went for Easter pictures at Sears yesterday. She looked adorable in her frilly dress, surrounded by my bunny brigade. Until the flash went off and she started screaming. And wouldn't stop.

Every picture has a very apprehensive, scared or downright unhappy baby in it. We did find a couple of cute ones, but not as cute as if she'd actually been smiling. And we got one of a very unhappy girl to use as a future blackmail photo :)