8 months

Colt is now a little over 8 months. The months seem to fly by. His 2nd tooth is starting to poke through and he continues to LOVE watching his brother. He wants to follow him but is still working on the crawling/walking/moving to get there. It won't be too long before I'm making sure he stays out of trouble.




A messy face from Colt's favorite biter biscuit.

First Date Anniversary

Every year on April 19th (since we first met) we have had dinner at Duke's restaurant at Green Lake. It's our first date anniversary and has become more of an anniversary to us then our wedding day. (We even went 3 weeks after Brody was born and left Brody in the care of Fafa and Grammy.) The best part about this date is that we always talk about our first date...our first impressions, what we said, the things we thought and where we are today. We wish we could have recorded that conversation.

This year we were able to eat outside (although it started to get chilly when we ate our Butterfinger Ice Cream dessert).



This is a picture from last year. I am very bad at remembering to bring my camera so this is the only other picture we have from our 7 dates at Duke's. Hopefully I will remember to bring the camera every year from now on.

Finally....a first tooth!

We have had a rough couple of days with Colt's slobbering, runny nose, and fussiness. We knew it was teething because we could see the little line in his gums starting to form. Tonight as we were putting him to bed Brad felt his gums and could feel the tooth. He's been working on biter biscuits to ease his discomfort. We know tooth #2 will be coming soon.

Go Blue!

As a proud graduate of University of Michigan, Brad has been a strong supporter of anything related to Michigan. Since Brody was born we have seen more of this Go Blue pride enter our home. From t-shirts, coats, and overalls to board books Brody & Colt will grow up knowing about Michigan.


Here's a perfect example. This is Brody at 7 months with Brad. They are cheering for a Michigan football game.



Brody also reads his Michigan book. In the back of the book is the fight song. If you are unfamiliar with the lyrics here is the chorus...

Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan
The leaders and best!
Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan,
The champions of the West!

The other day I watched as Brody was reading his Michigan book. He turned to the back page and started singing. I had to listen a little closer and then I heard what he was saying.

"Hail to the concrete mixer."

I guess we will still need to work on getting those lyrics down. In the meantime I hope he continues to enjoy reading his books. GO BLUE!

Spring Break at Moclips

We took a family spring break trip to Moclips, Washington. We went there in August just a few weeks before Colt was born. It was once again a wonderful time to be away. We were prepared for cold and rainy weather and hoping to get maybe one day with some sun. We had incredible weather all week except for Saturday morning when we were packing up to leave...but that did not bother us. What did we do?

We played at the beach. Built sandcastles (or a variation of one). Threw rocks and sand dollars and shells.





Went for walks along the beach.



We read books.



We relaxed.



A couple of mornings we went to a coffee shop in a nearby town to have lattes and cinnamon rolls.



It was a wonderful trip with our family. We can't wait until we have a chance to go again.

Here are a few more pictures.

Chief of Cousins

Our nephew Sean came to spend the night at our house. Not only does Sean have a special place in our heart but he has a special role as the Chief of Cousins. He is the oldest of the 7 grandsons that my parents have. I would think a boy of his age would grow tired of playing with cousins a lot younger but Sean does a tremendous job playing and watching out for all of them.

Sean went with us to Bellevue Square and helped push the stroller around (since I still don't have a double stroller) and then played with Brody on the indoor playground. We also made a stop at the Lego store where Sean spent some of his hard earned money on a new lego set.

The best part of our time with Sean was when he took the time to read The Cat in the Hat to Brody. It's a lengthy story to read aloud and Sean read it with a lot of patience.

Both Brody & Colt LOVE Sean and we are looking forward to the next time he can visit us.

Birthday Fun!

We celebrated Brody's 2nd birthday with a fun family party. Brody had a great time and loved all of his new gifts. We are so thankful for such wonderful family and friends. Here are a few pictures from the party.