Another year...

HAPPY 4TH ANNIVERSARY TO US!

Its amazing to think that another year has passed. On one hand it feels as though we just celebrated our third anniversary, and on the other, after going through our first pregnancy and having a baby over the last year, it seems like we've been married a lot longer than just four years.

A lot has happened since November 12, 2005: our first Christmas together in Alaska, bringing home our first furbaby, Justin graduating from college and getting a job with Regence, our move to the LC Valley, purchasing our first home, taking up backpacking, summer vacations in Alaska, home improvement projects (and maybe a little buyer's remorse), fertility struggles, the success of our first IVF cycle, the loss of our first furbaby, the birth of our miracle baby, parenthood... Joys and heartache, laughter and tears - through it all we remember just how much God has blessed us.

Pearly White

Kendry had his six month check up today. Mommy's little beanpole is now 28.5 inches long (97th percentile) and 16lbs 15oz (39th percentile). It still puzzles me how he could be 10lbs 5oz at birth, and then have his weight gain taper off so much while he keeps getting longer and longer. But he really has put on a belly and thigh rolls over the last few weeks, so maybe its just a matter of time. Of course, the 6 month check up also meant shots. Not to mention that the appt was during Kendry's morning naptime. Needless to say, he didn't have the best day at daycare and was tired quite early on this evening. However, I managed to entertain our very tired little boy for a few minutes while Justin captured some photos at just the right angle. Can you see his very first pearly white poking through? Look very closely and you'll see it on the bottom right.

I think Kendry is confused as to why we aren't letting him playfully chew on our fingers anymore.

Birthday and Half-Birthday

Over the last week we celebrated Justin's 29th birthday and Kendry's half-birthday. Justin never cares to make much of a fuss for his birthday, but I still try to put my creative skills to work to make it special and memorable. We always go out for dinner with Nana and Grandpa, but when I asked Justin what he wanted to go for dinner he joked that a Costco hot dog and slice of pizza would treat him just fine. Well, we ruled that out for obvious reasons - somehow it doesn't seem all that grand to dine on your birthday dinner while surrounded by shopping carts filled with economy size laundry detergent and toilet paper (these are the first Costco supplies that came to mind because both are currently on our shopping list). We ended up going out for an Italian dinner, which was delicious. But I still found a fun way to give Justin a hot dog for his birthday.
Yes, that is a birthday cake in the shape of a hot dog and fries. It was incredibly easy to make; the only hard part was making three different color frostings. Once we got home from dinner with Nana and Grandpa we celebrated with cake, ice cream and, of course, presents.
Four days later, we found ourselves in Quincy for Kendry's half-birthday. I still cannot believe he is six months old already. But Kendry was determined to show us just how quickly he is growing up and marked the occasion by cutting his first tooth. He also did a wonderful job of sitting up all by himself for the photo shoot we did with Andrea on Saturday. Could he be any cuter?Of course, now I have to come up with an even better cake idea than the hot dog for Kendry's first birthday. The first 6 months went by so quickly, you can bet the next 6 will go even faster. Should I start planning the party now?

Halloween

Kendry's very first Halloween, albeit probably the easiest Halloween for the next ten years of his life since we didn't trick or treat, was quite a success. Crafty person that I am, I just couldn't bring myself to get a store bought costume for Kendry, let alone spend the crazy money I've heard some mothers shell out each year for a costume that will never be used again. No, I was going to be Supermom and make the costume myself. I wanted to make something basic that he could wear like regular clothes and not be uncomfortable in, not to mention easy to clean up since he would no doubt spit up all over it. (Kendry is still a major spitter-upper) Granted, my costume idea wasn't all that original given the popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean over the last few years, but I'm still quite proud of myself. The best part? I found some parrot fabric and made a little stuffed parrot that velcroes to the shoulder of the costume. Kendry's favorite part? His sword - obviously because he can stick it in his mouth.

We also carved our family pumpkin a few nights before Halloween. Unfortunately, mommy forgot to leave Kendry's binky with him at daycare that day, so he refused to take his morning nap. Thus, we had a very fussy baby who did not have much patience for pumpkin carving, photos, or mommy and daddy getting their kicks by sticking the pumpkin stem on his cute little head.

Fall

I love fall - the colors, the smells, the cooler air... And I think I truly appreciate it more than most because I grew up in Alaska where the fall season barely even exists. Seriously, the summers in Alaska are great, but it starts getting rainy in August and by October its snowing. And once the snow sticks, well...you know the rest of the story. Here we have a REAL fall season that lasts all the way through...well, Thanksgiving anyway, at which point all my fall decor is put away, regardless of the weather, so I can make the most of the Christmas season.

One thing I never had growing up in Alaska was a pumpkin patch to visit in the fall, so naturally I am determined to make that a part of Kendry's childhood memories. Okay, I know Kendry is not even six months old yet and probably won't actually recall the fall of 2009, but that is beside the point. So when our friends Josey and Jen visited with their kiddos two weeks ago I had already located a harvest festival, complete with pumpkin patch, for us to visit. What I had not planned on was the weather getting incredibly cold that week - cold as in waking up to 25 degree temperatures. Maybe I can't call myself an Alaskan anymore for complaining about 25 degrees, but since just two weeks before that it was still in the 90s here, you can imagine our struggle to get acclimated. However, we were undeterred by the cold temperatures and drove the thirty minutes up the Lewiston Grade to visit the harvest festival, where we promptly FROZE OUR LITTLE TUSHIES OFF!

Of course, we stuck it out long enough to pay the $12 to get each of our families into the festival, then another $8 or so for a tiny concession-style lunch. But we didn't buy anything from the vendors, and you can bet we weren't going to trek the 1/4 mile out to the pumpkin patch to select (and pay more money for) a pumpkin, let alone hang around and take pictures of Kendry freezing amongst the pumpkins. In about an hour we were back in the warm car and headed back home. Mission unaccomplished.

Now, as most wives know, after lugging your husband to a dud of a harvest festival once, chances are he won't be too great a sport about finding another one to attend, especially if it costs more money. Of course, little did I know that the real pumpkin patch to go to in this area is only ten minutes from our front door. So, rather than putting us all through another bad patch experience, I caved and resorted to Wal-Mart because, let's face it, you can't beat two beautiful giant pumpkins at just $2 each. This last weekend we brought home our commercial pumpkins and did Kendry's very first "pumpkin patch" photo shoot. I think it looks authentic, don't you?