SIX months old

We took Bradan to the doctor on Friday for his SIX month checkup.

He weighs 18 pounds 7 ounces. Dr. Cogley wrote that he was a normal healthy six month old.

Though we couldn't imagine life without him, it is hard to believe time has gone so fast.

As a six month old, Bradan is:

Sitting up by himself

Eating food in his highchair

Sitting in the big tub

Laughing and giggling

Playing with his toes

And still letting his mommy give his kisses. For now. B is also playing with toys and putting anything he can get his hands on in his mouth. He still thinks his sister is the greatest thing on earth and Shelby is enjoying her little brother growing up. Stu says he is also blowing raspberries but I haven't seen one yet. His favorite toy is his stationary jumper and he is starting to get anxiety whenever he can't see mom, dad or sister. Any day now I expected a tooth to pop through and hopefully I am not jinxing it by adding that he has been sleeping through the night for the last week.

A Witch and a Dinosaur

This was the first Halloween that Shelby has started to understand what this holiday is all about and she loved it. We had been asking her for months what she wanted to be for Halloween and it was always something different from a princess to a penguin. About a month ago she started saying a witch every time we asked that question, so that is what we decided to stick with. She got to dress up like a witch two times this year. On the Wednesday before Halloween, she went to Melanie Uhrich's birthday party at the Admiral Theatre in Bremerton for their Monster Bash and then she dress up to go trick or treating downtown Port Orchard. On Friday, at school they did a pajama party with the kids. Bradan also got to dress up twice in his dinosaur costume. Once a daycare and then to go Trick or Treating with Shelby. He didn't mind wearing the costume or walking around being carried by Stu while Shelby got all the candy. As you can see by one of the pictures, he was pretty done by the end of the night though.

Here are some pictures from our Halloween fun!

Pumpkin Patch

This past Sunday we went to Hunter Farm's pumpkin patch with some friends. It had rained all day Saturday so the fields were a mess. Stu and Shelby wore their boots so they were able to search for those perfect pumpkins while B and I stood where there wasn't a mud puddle. You might notice in the pictures that Bradan has started sitting by himself.

Jump Around

Our little boy turned 5 months last week. He has started to eat cereal which I will post pictures of later, grab at toys and other things including big sister's hair and has even started to giggle. B loves to squeal/talk and is almost rolling over. Last weekend, Shelby, Bradan and I headed to Kansas to surprise Grandpa Robert for his 50th birthday. Both kids did great on the airplane and were spoiled by grandparents, aunts and uncles.
We put Bradan in over the door jumper tonight for the very first time. He loved it and spent about 20 minutes in it. Here are some pictures from Bradan hanging out in the swing. Doesn't he look like his dad?

Only at the Puyallup Fair can you .......

meet Dora,

float down a river,

ride a motorcycle,

pet a goat,

churn butter and

tame a tiger

while your baby brother is hanging out

and sleeping in the stroller.

Back to school

My time as "just being mom" is quickly coming to an end. School starts next week so I am getting ready to take on my new position as Instructional Specialist at Cedar Heights. I have truly enjoyed my four months off with my kids but I know for my sake that I need to go back to work. Shelby and Bradan both started daycare this week. Shelby was very excited to go back but you could tell she really missed her baby brother that first day. She asked yesterday if she could go see where Bradan went to school and meet Bradan's friends so I dropped him off before her. Bradan did okay the first day, horrible the second and awesome the third day. So we will see how his fourth day goes. Here are just some pictures I have taken of the kids over the last few weeks.

Driving his car.

She loves to hold him. B is not so sure about it.

Sleeping in

Our little B

Happy 60th Birthday Uncle Steve!

Last Friday, my Mom and Grandma Sally came for a visit. Grandma had never been up to this area before so we enjoyed showing her the sights of Port Orchard. On Saturday, we all headed over to the TriCities to celebrate my Uncle Steve's 60th birthday party with the Koehler side of the family. It was great time. All of my aunts and uncles that live nearby were able to make it and almost all of the cousins with their kids were there. Stu's sister Rachel and her fiance Chaz live in Richland so they were able to make it to the park to see us and then Stu and Shelby spent the night at their house. Sunday afternoon we headed back to Port Orchard while Grandma Sally stayed with family. Mom spent the rest of the time helping me by watching my kids while I did some school things. She headed back to Kansas today with Shelby. Shelby will be staying in Kansas until next Wednesday when her Grandparents Avery bring her back.

This was Shelby's lunch.

So tired

Stuart and Rachel

Bradan and Grandma

3 months old

Bradan turned 3 months old on Thursday. It is amazing how much he has grown. His eyes are turning from blue to brown but his skin color and hair are staying dark. He is starting to look like Stu but every once in awhile he reminds me of my brother Craig. At 3 months, he is really starting to talk, smile and react to the world around him. You can really get him spun up by just talking to him. Shelby is still loving on him and he is still tolerating it for the most part. Sometimes B will just stare at her and have that look in his eyes like she is the best thing in the world. We will see how long that last. He doesn't have a doctor's appointment until 4 months so I am not sure how much he weighs.
Here are some cute pictures taken the other day when he was in a good mood in his seat.

Heat spell

We broke heat records this past week with it getting over 100 degrees for a couple of days. We are lucky enough to have air conditioning unlike the majority of houses around here. Stores had people lining up for their next shipment of fans. I let the kids run around in just their panties/diaper for those days and we stayed inside as much as we could. We also got lots of use out of the swimming pool and otter pops. Here is just a cute picture of Bradan while he was trying to stay cool.

Road Trip to Kansas

We just got back from a fun filled vacation to Kansas. Many thought we were crazy for driving the 1800+ miles but overall it went rather well. Thank God for DVD players and cheap "prizes" from the dollar store. We decided the trip is about 6 hours to long though because that is when we are driving on that nasty road in Nebraska and both kids were tired of their car seats. The trip started in Wakefield and ended in Bern.

Here are some of the highlights and pictures:
*Shelby went swimming in the big pool with Emma(a family friend) and Mommy.
*Shelby played in her playhouse at Grandparents Avery's house.
*Grandma and Grandpa Avery had get together where we got to see lots of people and eat really good smoked brisket, ribs and chicken.
*Stu and Quinn got to go to Manhattan by ourselves and eat at Carlos O' Kellys and buy some KSU gear at Varney's.
*We went to the Clay Center zoo and played in the park.
*Shelby, Bradan and Quinn traveled to Waverly, Kansas to see Katie and Dustin's new house.
*Shelby got to stand in a field of corn and ride the four wheeler with Grandpa Robert.
*We got to meet Craig and Jessica's new dog Bo
*We surprised Grandpa Robert by taking a family portrait with everyone dressed in John Deere shirts.
*Haverkamp Brothers hosted their annual summer picnic while we were in Bern.
*Stu went golfing with the boys and Quinn and the kids went to Schilling Bridge winery with the girls.

Bradan in his stroller

Shelby had told me awhile back that she wanted to ride a skateboard. We found an old one of the boys while we were back - She thought she was so cool!Aunt Katie holding Bradan for the first timePlaying at the Clay Center ParkAt the zooEating the bread she was suppose to be feeding to the ducksBradan was very interested in Great Grandma Gean. He would just stare at her.