Dinner with the fam

Craig and I went out to dinner last night with the kiddos. This is a rare event and we had a great time. We tried a brewery that we had not been to before. It is called Hopworks Urban Brewery (HUB) and the brew master is the guy who use to work at the Laurelwood which some of you have been too. It reminded us of Laurelwood in that the restaurant was super kid friendly. We were seated right next to a toy corner which was perfect. Katya got to play while waiting for her food. The beer was delicious; I had a yummy rich stout and Craig had a VERY hoppy, unique ale. The food was good too and they even had Earth's Best (a high quality, organic baby food) jarred baby food on the kids menu! I had forgotten Reagan's food so it could have been perfect but they only had a turkey, vegetable medley and Reagan has not had turkey yet so we passed. Katya had a great time and kept saying, "Go back! Go to dinner!," on the car ride home. Here are a few more pictures.

Reagan did quite well in the highchair, with a parent very close by (since she is not totally stable sitting up by herself yet).

Cheers!

Katya playing with the train set next to our table.

Pictures, pictures, pictures

I have been really bad about making Kodak albums lately so I have been putting more pictures under posts. Enjoy!


Katya is doing AMAZING in her big girl bed! We are only on day two but so far so good.

Cute picture of Katya and her umbrella

Reagan sitting up on her own

Big girl in her high chair.

This one shows the green in Miss Reagan's eyes pretty well I think. Click on the picture for a better view. There is still a little red-eye that the photo editor did not remove which is a bit distracting.

Happy girl playing with her friend Sterling (this one is good of Rea's pretty eyes too).

Reagan 7 months old!!

My baby is getting big so fast! Here is what she is up to these days:

Rolling belly to back and back to belly.
Pivoting and inching but not getting around much yet.
Enjoying 2 meals and nursing 5x's a day.
Sleeping ALL the way through the night!! Bed time 6:30 up 7-7:30am, 3 naps a day.
She is up for about 2hrs at a time, give or take.
Has been seen sucking her thumb over the last few days! So cute.
Loves "talking" and making noise with her tongue out.
Taking a bottle!

More about some of that stuff:
Eating: After about 2.5 weeks of offering her one meal a day (which would often be only 1 or 2 bites!) she is now interested more in the food than the spoon. She likes everything she has tried so far; sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, banana and 'super baby porridge (brown rice, millet and oat). We finish her meals with a ounce or two of water and she really loves that. I just use a plastic cup without a lid and help her with it.

She has been sleeping through the night for about 2 weeks now and my milk supply seemed to adjust after a few low days (and painful mornings), although it is low again right now. It is frustrating to decide if I should fight to get it back or throw in the towel..especially since I am getting over another mastitis infection. I have given Reagan a bottle of pumped milk a few times when I was worried about her not getting enough...and she took it no problem! I did not expect that at all since girlfriend acted like I was trying to fed her poison in a bottle in the past:0) It is a slippery slope though...if I am supplementing that will not help my body adjust and make more milk. I try to only give a bottle on the days that I have pumped (and I haven't been needing to lately; pump that is).

Moving:
I am excited for Reagan to get more mobile because I think she will be happier but I am enjoying her lack of mobility too. The more and more proficient Sterling gets at getting around, the more I remember how nice it is that she is NOT mobile yet! He does help motivate me to keep the floors clean, which I am a little fanatical about anyways. I really need to sweep and mop everyday to keep him clean while he explores. It is also a good time for me to do the small object sweep of the house. It is pretty easy because we keep a tidy house but you can never be too careful with these little ones. Reagan is just starting to roll, which was Katya's preferred method of movement from about month 7-9. It will be interesting to see if Reagan takes to the 'rolling to get places' or starts crawling like Sterling has (he mainly army crawls right now but does get up on his hands and knees at times).

Reagan continues to be quite the mama's girl but she does like daddy now too (thank goodness!!). I feel bad for grandparents and great-grandparents when she screams bloody murder at being held (and sometimes even just LOOKED at). I am hoping to employee some brave souls to help her get use to others holding her...Melanie does a good job and Eryn was able to get her calmed down one time that she was really upset. But let me tell you, it is not easy or always within ones control. This kid knows what she wants and how to get it:0) I am hoping that she will get use to my mom being here next week, though it will only be for a few days and then a few more up in Olympia. Part of it is her age, I remember Katya going through some stranger anxiety about this time, just not nearly to this extent.

Of course we are completely head over heel for our little Reagan and think she is the most beautiful baby ever (although Katya was too). I love how much she favors her dad and I love her unique eye color. I think they have too much green in them to be called brown, though that is what most people would say by default (or if they don't take the time to really notice). Being around her all the time and in different lighting, I am really able to see and appriciate all the colors of brown and green. She still has a streak of dark brown in her right eye. I have been expecting the rest of her eye to dark to match the streak, which would make them a true brown like Craig's, but they have not. Only time will tell I guess. Love to all, Brenda

Katya and penguin

It is funny how some toys get overlook and then Katya decides that she really likes it. This penguin hasn't gotten much love until recently. Now Katya and Reagan really like it! Katya likes to line up her chairs in a funny way and sit penguin next to her. She also like putting penguin in time outs. "No penguin! Corner!"




We are enjoying a weekend together. Craig worked Friday night and got his Sat shift covered. We spent yesterday laying around the house. Today we are going to OMSI and I might do a little grocery shopping. Love to all, Brenda

Halloween Pictures

Our pumpkins

The cutest Tinker Bell ever!

Tinker Bell is on a snickers high

Reagan fit into the Aunt Candace original spider costume!

So cute!

Spider legs


We had a lovely Halloween. The highlight was surprise trick-or-treating at the Grand Faulkner's in Vancouver. They were surprised and delighted to see us and the girls in their costumes. We visited for about 45 minutes and then rushed the kids home since it was already past their bed times. Craig planned on taking Katya to a few our neighbor's houses but she got very scared by the kids that came to our door. She made it to one house and then home in tears. Not surprising...masks are pretty scary to a 2 year old. I am so glad we went to Vancouver. Katya actually spurred me to think of it when she asked to see her Grandma and Grandpa earlier in the day. Craig told her, "yes we are going to see them in few weeks." And she said, "No. Great Grandma. Great Grandpa!"

Happy Birthday Aunt Candace!!

Happy Halloween everyone...and happy birthday to my wonderful sister!

Here is Kayta drinking out of her pumpkin cup from Grandma and Baba Thompson. She loves it!

Silly 'smile for the camera' face...it makes us laugh every time!

Carving pumpkins last night..Craig is talking to Reagan who is off camera in her bouncy seat.

Here is a cute shot of our beautiful Reagan. She is such a happy girl.


After the kids went to bed last night Craig and I dressed up and headed to Melanie's infamous Halloween party. She has a 'white' theme and it was really well done, as always. Our neighbor Ben graciously watched over the kids as they slept...he had to man both our house and his since Jen was working. Luckily the girls didn't fuss much and stayed down. Craig and I had fun at the party...I had a little too much fun and did not want to leave! We are looking forward to trick-or-treating tonight when Craig gets home. I will post pictures soon. Love and prayers.

Katya at the park

We all know how our little Katya loves the park! She spends less time on the swing these days and more time climbing and on slides. About a month ago she walked all the way home from Columbia park! For those who don't know, that is about a mile. It is a great way to get her to leave the park without a fuss ("Would you like to ride in your stroller or walk?") Love that parenting strategy of giving the toddler a choice...yet either way, it is what I wanted. If she throws a fit or drags her feet then "Okay, mommy will choose for you. (mommy always chooses the stroller of course:0))." It works like a charm.


Here she is walking UP the tunnel slide at the little park by our house. She is getting so much braver and more independent. But luckily for me, she is not too brave:0)

She loves swinging at the top.


Yesterday Katya said: "Rea-rea have brown eyes. Uh-huh. Katya have blue eyes! Mama have blue eyes. Daddy have brown eyes." She is such the little sponge for learning that kids are at this age. I love it! She is getting really good at her colors and we like to practice counting and saying the alphabet. A few days ago when Craig was spelling out her name, slowly as he wrote it in play dough, he said "K. A." And she said, "T. Y." I clap the spelling of names a lot, making my own version of the BINGO song. ("There is a baby really cute and Reagan is her name-o. R.E.A.G.A.N." "There is a daddy really great and daddy is his name-o. ect.)

Here she is watching a movie in front of the fire with a smelly Bentley pillow.

There is that 'smile for the camera' face we love (don't forget you can click on the picture to make it bigger and easier to see).


And speaking of parks...the girls are both up from their naps so off we go!