Brook and Kyle and Genevieve

Fun in the Sun

2010-06-28T23:26:00.000-07:00

It has been so hot lately that we had to bring out the kiddy pool for Genevieve to play in. She had so much fun!

Our little model posing for the camera.

This video shows just how much fun she had.

A Day at the Park

2010-06-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

The weather is so nice this time of year that we love to be outside and go for walks. Today we went to the UI Arboretum (a tree nature garden/park near our house). Here are some pictures from the beautiful day.

Chasing the geese.

Seattle

2010-06-20T23:01:00.000-07:00

Kyle and I went on vacation to Seattle to watch Cirque du Soliel. We dropped Genevieve off with Grandma Barer for the weekend and had a fun weekend with time to ourselves (we did miss Genevieve but knew we would see her soon so we didn't let it get us down too much).

She had a lot of fun at Grandma's house.

She got to play a lot.

And eat sweet things like whipped cream.

Here is Kyle and me outside of the circus tents.

We watched the show Kooza. It was probably the most exciting Cirque du Soleil we have seen yet. (It was our third show)

Cloudy Seattle and the space needle.

We went to the Aquarium. The touch tanks are fun.

We got to become scuba divers. Well not for real, but for the pictures.

We drove by Safeco field and could hear the game going on inside. The Mariners lost...again. :(

8 Months

2010-06-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

Our camera broke before I was able to take nice pictures of Genvieve at 8 months, but here are what ones we got before it broke. They are kind of random, but oh well, ENJOY!

In the stroller before our walk that broke the camera.

Me and my baby

Genevieve and her favorite Dada.

One of my favorite pictures. She is such a happy girl!

Whoopsie Daisy

7 Months

2010-05-11T22:11:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of Genevieve at 7 months.
She sure was happy to get to go outside finally after winter.

Our Rainbow Brite baby and her Rainbow Brite puppy

Petting the puppy

Balloon Stampede

2010-05-09T22:28:00.000-07:00

Genevieve and I went to Walla Walla for the Balloon Stampede while Kyle stayed home to study for finals. Here are pictures from our trip.

Genevieve ready to ride with Grandma.

Calvin (5 months) and Genevieve (7 months). He almost look bigger than her already.

Our little bulldog.

Night Glow

Genevieve had a lot of fun at the balloon stampede.

Bowling with Grandma and Grandpa

2010-04-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

My Dad and Sara came and spent the day with us. We had so much fun! Here are pictures of us bowling.

Genevieve and Grandma Sara

Genevieve and Grandpa

Genevieve liked the big fire truck.

Here is our 15 pound baby with a 15 pound bowling ball. I can't believe how big my little girl already is.

Easter

2010-04-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here are Genevieve's Easter pictures. She had a very fun day, she did an Easter Egg hunt with her Daddy, played in a bed of Easter grass, and ate her first chocolate Easter Bunny.

Our Easter traditional Green Eggs and Ham Breakfast.

Genevieve's Easter Pictures

Genevieve's first taste of Easter Chocolate

"This tastes pretty good"

"No, this tastes REALLY good."

"YUM!"

"RAWWR! You stay away from my chocolate! It is all MINE!!!"

Here is the happy, messy girl at the end (no she did not eat the whole bunny)

Straight into the tub and still happy from her chocolate.

"Happy Easter!"

Genevieve's 1/2 Birthday

2010-04-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to believe that Genevieve is already 6 months old. A half of a year has passed since we brought this beautiful baby into the world. She has grown up and changed so much already, I want things to slow down a little bit. She has changed from being a newborn that Kyle and I affectionately referred to as her "blob stage" to being able to roll over, smile, laugh, babble, play, sit up, eat solid foods, make us laugh and smile and play. She can make a day so much brighter and happier with just a simple coo and grin. It is unbelievable how much a baby changes things, and believe me the changes she made are WONDERFUL. I would not wish to go back to a time without Genevieve for anything in the whole world. I love my baby and understand how my mom felt when she used to tell me I was growing up to fast. Babies really do grow up to fast.

Here are pictures of Genevieve's 1/2 Birthday party.

1/2 Birthday Cake for the 1/2 Birthday

Genevieve's serving of her Birthday cake.

YUM!!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Barer

2010-03-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

My mom and Steve came to visit and play with the baby. Genevieve had so much fun...well we all had a lot of fun. We watched a Lacrosse game and a movie and ate lunch and played with the doggies and the baby. Genevieve was so happy to get to spend time with her Grandparents. Here are pictures of our fun filled day.

Genevieve wasn't quite sure what to think about the dogs at first, but by the end of the day she liked them.

Mmmmm

So relaxed with Grandpa.

So playful with Grandma.

Hungry Baby

2010-03-25T11:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some various pictures of our hungry baby and her foods.

She likes to get messy when she eats, it must taste better after it is smeared on her face and in her nose because that is her favorite way to eat her food.

This picture shows what Genevieve looks like AFTER eating. SOOOOO full.

She recognizes her bottle and focuses on it very intensely until we put it in her mouth.

She has started to want to feed herself, so we let her play with the spoon sometimes.

Genevieve's Cuteness at 5 Months

2010-03-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

Here are some random pictures of Genevieve.

Our little Sweet Pea in a Pod.

Play time

She likes to make this silly face, I think it makes her look like a dinosaur.

She is such a HAPPY baby!

Here is our little Jedivieve. She has mastered the force and uses it on Kyle and me all of the time to get us to do whatever she wants. Beware of her light-saber.

Genevieve is practicing her typing skills so she can help Daddy with his homework.

Videos Available on You Tube

2010-03-01T14:35:00.000-08:00

Since our blog only plays our videos sometimes and wont let them work other times, we started uploading videos to You Tube. Here is the web address to our You Tube page.

http://www.youtube.com/user/kalteth?feature=mhw5

You can subscribe to out You Tube page and you will receive email updates whenever we add videos.

I will update the blog with pictures and stories soon, it has just been so busy with work and Kyle's school that I haven't had a chance. I hope you enjoy the videos. Some are old and have been posted on here as well, but some are newer.

Pretty Baby 4 1/2 Months Old

2010-02-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

We had Genevieve's 4 month check up with the doctor today (she is 4 1/2 months). He said that everything is going well and that she is very cute and fun (we already knew that).

Here are her growth percentiles in case you wondered:

Weight: 13 lbs 12oz. = 42 percentile

Length: 24 in = 29 percentile (at 2 months she was in the 85th percentile I guess she got my height after all - or lack of height)

Cuteness: 112 = 207th percentile

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T09:37:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice Valentine's Day this year. Kyle surprised me with the most beautiful orchid. I made us a homemade Chinese food dinner consisting of egg rolls, pork fried rice, and sweet and sour chicken. I was surprised how easy the dinner was and how tasty it was too. We also watched a funny movie and spent time playing with Miss Genevieve. Below are pictures of our fun day.

Here is the orchid Kyle gave me. It is so tall with so many flowers. It is absolutely perfect!

Chinese Food Dinner

Pork Fried Rice - Recipe http://www.recipezaar.com/best-of-the-best-fried-rice-413443

Sweet and Sour Chicken - Recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-413483

Egg Rolls - Recipe: http://www.recipezaar.com/baked-not-fried-egg-rolls-413707

Playing with Genevieve on her Valentine's Caterpillar

The caterpillar is longer than she is.

Genevieve Can Stand...Sort Of

2010-02-08T08:13:00.000-08:00

Genevieve has started standing up pretty good if we help her get pulled up in front of the turtle. Bowser is interesting enough to her that she will hold herself up for a while.

Genevieve is 4 Months Old Already

2010-02-03T02:58:00.000-08:00

Genevieve is already 4 months old now. Wow. I know that all new parents say this, but it is so true. She is growing up so fast. It feels like only yesterday Kyle and I were holding her for the first time and asking ourselves how we would ever be able to take care of her. Well four months have gone by and she is still here with us so we must be doing something right. She has been sleeping through the night for about a couple of weeks now. Well she sleeps through the night every other night (she is very consistent about this, I don't know why but she only will do it every other night). That is why I am up writing this a 3:00 AM. Even though she won't sleep through the night every night, I much prefer this over the sleepless nights we had during the first month. She smiles A LOT and laughs and coos. She plays with her toys and with me and daddy. She rolled over several times one day right when she turned 3 months, but hasn't done it since (must have been a fluke). She can sit up pretty good if she has something to lean against and can even do it for a couple of seconds with nothing. Her hair has lightened up a lot and her face is looking more and more like Kyle everyday (she still has my nose though, luckily). She likes to help Daddy do his homework. By help I mean grab his papers and eat them, and grab the computer mouse and try to control the computer. She likes to blow bubbles and give raspberries. She eats baby foods already and can hold her own bottle if we put it in her mouth for her. It is wonderful to wonder everyday what new thing she will do today.

Some things haven't changed though. She still wears diapers, and if we don't put it on right, when she pees it still leaks out the side of the diaper onto your lap and makes you change your jammies at 3:00 AM when you just want to finish writing the blog so you can go to bed. I will be back in a minute to wrap up my story.

Okay, new jammies for mom and Genevieve and we are back. I just can't believe how much she has changed in only 4 months. At times I think I can't wait for her to be able to run and talk because she will be even more fun. But then I realize how fast things have gone already and I start to wish she could stay little like this forever so I could always cuddle with her and hold her without her being able to get away from me. I now understand why parents say that kids grow up too fast and to cherish this time. I do cherish it and am so grateful that we were blessed with such a precious baby girl. I love her very much and when I look in her big blue eyes she smiles at me and seems to say "I love you too."

Here are her 4 month old pictures. I still can't believe how cute she is.

Ice Skating Adventure

2010-01-30T21:40:00.000-08:00

Our church had an ice skating party that was so much fun. We took Genevieve out and skated around with her. She loved it. She looked around at all of the people zooming by and liked the feel of the cool wind in her hair as we raced around the rink. We weren't allowed to take our stroller out so we held her while we skated. We were very safe with her, although we did have one little fall, but my butt cushioned the fall, Genevieve got no where near hitting the ice and all in all everyone was okay. Here are a few pictures from our exciting night.

Little Miss Genevieve is all bundled up in her snowsuit and ready for a night on the ice.

Skating with Mommy

Skating with Daddy

"Hi Grandma!"

Genevieve ice skating

Baby Food

2010-01-30T21:23:00.000-08:00

So after Genevieve enjoyed her brownie so much, we decided that maybe it would be better to feed her baby food rather than sweets like brownies. We gave her a few bite of banana baby food to start with (I know most people start with rice cereal, but we wanted to start with bananas, which is also an acceptable first food for baby). She doesn't seem to know what to think about it. I definitely doesn't taste like the brownie she had earlier this week. Enjoy this video and these pics.

The first bite. Everything seems okay so far...

"I'm not so sure what to think about this"

*bitter beer face*

"Please Mommy, don't make me eat it again!"

This one pretty much speaks for itself.

This video shows just how much she liked it. By the way, she did keep opening her mouth and leaning forward like she wanted more. I was not forcing her to eat it, she wanted to.

Yummmmm

2010-01-25T21:18:00.000-08:00

Kyle and I have decided that Genevieve is ready for solid foods since everytime we eat she grabs food off of our plates and tries to put it in her mouth. She has flipped over a cereal bowl, had a handful of spaghetti, and grabbed several forks. Her first solid food was a brownie and she LOVED it! This is a video of her first taste of a brownie. It is hard to tell in the video, but I was not putting it in her mouth, she was pulling my hand and making me put it in her mouth. I hope you enjoy this video as much as she enjoyed the treat.

Baby Steps

2009-12-29T19:07:00.000-08:00

Lately Genevieve had been able to stand pretty good with a little help from us, so we decided to start teaching her to walk. Here is a video of her first steps (with help).

Note: Kyle says that the reason why babies don't walk when they are Genevieve's age is because they are too short and nobody would see them so they would get stepped on.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T11:04:00.000-08:00

Genevieve had a wonderful first Christmas. She got to meet all of her cousins and got lots of toys to play with. Santa was very good to her because she has been such a good girl. She loved spending time with her grandparents and great grandparents. Here are our pictures of Christmas in Walla Walla with Genevieve.

Genevieve was by far the best gift that Kyle and I received this year.

Opening her first present with daddy.

Genevieve with Tas and Tyler. They are 4 years old already, I can hardly believe how grown up these boys are getting.

Tas and Ty opening there Christmas presents.

Our sweet little stocking stuffer.

Genevieve cuddling with Grandpa.

Genevieve playing with her toys with Grandma Barer.

Opening presents with Aunt Mandy and Ivan.

The Brown Family at Christmas

Great Grandma Brown and two of her favorite grand kids, Genevieve and Ivan.

Here is Genevieve playing with her Great Grandma Hermann

Genevieve got to meet her cousin Calvin for the first time.

This is me and Genevieve (2.5 months old) and Leslie with Calvin (2 weeks old).

Great Grandpa Medonich holding Genevieve

Ivan and Genevieve. Despite what this picture looks like, NO Genevieve did not just punch her cousin in the face.

Grandpa Medonich and all of his favorite boys.

Here is a picture of Kerri with her mom.

This was a wonderful Christmas and it was even better because it was Genevieve's first!

Here is a video of Genevieve opening her first Christmas present.

Genevieve's First Day of Snow

2009-12-15T17:21:00.000-08:00

We took Genevieve out to play in the snow for the first time. Here are some pictures.

Here she is making a snow angel.

This is her finished snow angel. I think it looks pretty good.

Air Guitar

2009-12-09T15:29:00.000-08:00

From he first day she was born, Genevieve has enjoyed listening to music. She even tries to sing a long sometimes and has started to play air guitar too.

Jumping Genevieve!

2009-12-07T15:26:00.000-08:00

We put Genevieve in her jumper for the first time. She had a lot of fun even though she is still a little small for it. She hasn't learned to jump yet but really likes standing on her tip toes and twirling around. Here is a video of her playing and talking about how much fun it is.

The First Thanksgiving (for Genevieve)

2009-11-26T23:45:00.000-08:00

Genevieve ejoyed her first Thanksgiving. It was so much fun to get to go home and visit our family and eat so much good food. We were able to be in town for a week which was really nice.
Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Genevieve and Uncle Robert

Grandma Barer holding Genevieve

Genevieve and my cousin Leslie

Aunt Pam and baby Genevieve cuddling before dinner

My brother, the new uncle, Dan and my cousin Erika's kids Chase and Shylah

Sara and Shylah getting dolled up for dinner

Time to feast! Pam, Erika, and Michelle did a wonderful job cooking dinner. It was delicious. Genevieve feasted tooAnd finally...dessert

Ride Baby Ride

2009-11-25T00:07:00.000-08:00

Genevieve told us she wanted a pony for Christmas but we thought she was too little for a big tall pony so we gave her a Dylan to ride instead. Enjoy the video and picture.

Splish Splash Genieve was Taking a Bath

2009-11-24T00:20:00.000-08:00

Genevieve likes her baths much more now. In fact she thinks they are very fun and likes to swim in the bathtub. Here is a video of her practicing her swimming so she is ready for the lake and pool next summer.

She splashed water EVERYWHERE. Way to go Dad for teaching her to do this.

Genevieve Playing

2009-11-18T20:25:00.000-08:00

Sunday night Genevieve discovered that the toys on her bouncer chair are in fact toys and that they make noise if she plays with them. She was sitting in her bouncer chair and was kicking her legs when one of her feet hit the block that has a bell in it. She paused for a minute and stared at the block as if to say "Did I make it make that sound?" She then proceeded to very carefully move one foot up and hit the block again. Sure enough that was the cause of the sound. This was then followed by several more kicks to the block and one happy baby watching in amazement as her foot made the block make noise. This was the first time Genevieve played with her toys but it surely will not be the last.

Later the same night I was playing with Genevieve by showing her a stuffed toy with a mirror as his belly. She stared at her reflection for a few moments and then smiled very big and laughed for the first time. She then paused again and laughed again. Her laugh was soft and sweet. I loved hearing her laugh and can't wait to hear it again.

Here is a short video of Genevieve playing with the block on her bounce toy.

Genevieve's Baby Blessing

2009-11-15T20:13:00.000-08:00

Sunday we gave Genevieve her baby blessing. It was such a wonderful experience. Kyle gave her the most thoughtful and special blessing during church. All of our parents were able to come to town for the special occasion which helped to make the day even more special. I was able to feel the spirit very strongly and it was wonderful to hear the blessing for Genevieve and know that our Heavenly Father will protect her throughout her life and that He has many great things in store for her. I am so grateful for the priesthood and all of the blessing that come from it.

Here are pictures of Genevieve's special day.

Genevieve with all of her wonderful grandmas and mom.

Genevieve with her Dad and Grandpas

Kisses from her favorite man.

Our little angel.

Genevieve Talks

2009-11-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

Genevieve likes to talk. Of course I cant understand what her coo's mean but they sure are sweet. Here is a video of her talking to me.

Tickling Genevieve

2009-11-10T10:15:00.000-08:00

Genevieve is very ticklish and we decided to get a video showing how much she likes it.

Happy Halloween!!!

2009-11-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

Genevieve was a fluffy little ladybug for her first Halloween. It was surprising how much she liked being in her costume and how much fun she had that night. Here are some pictures from the night.

Here is our little lady...bug

Genevieve the Ladybug and Dr. Daddy at our ward Halloween Party

Genevieve and mommy had to relax a little bit after all of the Halloween excitement.

Genevieve was so happy that this holiday meant she got candy...and lots of it. She was the keeper of our candy bowl.

Here she is lying in all of the nights loot.

Genevieve got a little serious when she noticed that Daddy had eaten all of the candy in her bowl.

One more picture of our cute little ladybug.

Visit to Grandparents

2009-10-25T01:57:00.000-07:00

We went back to Walla Walla when Genevieve turned 3 weeks old so that she could visit her grandparents and great-grandparents. Here are some photos of the family.

Where do babies come from?

2009-10-23T01:43:00.000-07:00

Everyone always says that the delivery of a baby is gross but we didn't think it was as bad as everyone says so here is a photo of Genevieve's delivery.

Some babies come from the repair man or milk man, ours came from the mailman.

Bath Time

2009-10-22T01:30:00.000-07:00

Bath time for baby Genevieve when she was 2 1/2 weeks old.
You can tell just how much she loves her baths.

Baby Belly

2009-09-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

38 weeks pregnant!!!
We are now able to count down the days until baby arrives. I really wanted to get a henna tattoo on my belly before I deliver. Henna tattoos during pregnancy are said to bring safety in childbirth and a happy baby. But, there aren't any local henna artists so I did the next best thing and hired a local crayola artist instead.
Here are our most recent belly pictures and belly art pictures.

Here is the wonderful artist hard at work.

His masterpiece

A nice side view of my belly at 38 weeks.

Nursery

2009-09-14T09:28:00.001-07:00

I think that our baby nursery is finally complete, or at least as complete as it will be until baby arrives and makes us realize everything we forgot to do.
Here are the pictures of the nursery.

A couple of ladybugs made it up onto the ceiling.

This is her ladybug nightlight.

Here is her doll collection.

Baby Shower

2009-08-17T20:16:00.001-07:00

Here is a little update on our baby and my belly and all of the fun we are having. Our little girl is very active and likes to play soccer inside my tummy. We are now at week 34 (8 and a 1/2 months and only 6 weeks left until the big day). These pictures are from a couple weeks ago when my mom and Kyle's mom threw me a baby shower. It was tons of fun and I got so many wonderful things that I can't wait to show my little girl. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

My belly at 32 weeks (the very beginning of month 8)

The baby shower!

Here is me and my cousin Leslie with our babies. She is due on Christmas Eve so she has a little longer to go.

One of the games was that everybody had to smell diapers and guess what kind of candy made them dirty. Here is my Grandma and my Granny both really getting into the game.

Our Vacation Day Three

2009-06-16T19:14:00.000-07:00

Today we went on a chartered ocean fishing trip. It was a very peaceful day on the ocean, the water was so flat that it felt and looked like we were fishing on a lake. The boat left at 6:00am and we returned to shore after everyone on board had caught their limit of fish at a little after noon. Kyle caught 6 fish and I caught 5, but we were able to each take home 8 fish (if you would like some good fish let us know because our freezer is overflowing). Kyle and I only caught rock fish, although some of the people on board were able to catch a Chinese cod, some ling cod, and a mother-in-law fish (it gets its name because it is mean, puts up a heck of a fight, and because it is so ugly). One person on board even caught a duck. The ducks in the ocean dive over a 180 feet to catch fish and one duck caught the man next to me's hook instead of a fish. We saw hundreds of jelly fish swimming in the water and even saw a few dolphins.

Here are the pictures of our fishing trip.

"Fish on!"

Even our little baby caught a little baby fish.

The guy next to me had to reel his duck in over 200 feet.

The bird was very mad when it got on board and bit the captain when he tried to remove the hook from its wing. The bird was okay and flew very far away from the boat (very fast) when we set it free.

Our trophy size fish

All 16 of the fish we got to take home with us.

After fishing we went to a nearby town called Coos Bay where we went to a botanical garden and saw sea lions on rocks in the ocean. The botanical garden was huge and very beautiful. The garden was donated to the state by a very wealthy couple who built it themselves. We didn't take as many pictures as we wanted to because our battery was starting to get low.

Us under a giant rhododendron bush.

This is a Monkey Puzzle Tree

This rose was larger than a large grapefruit.

We found some rock that had hundreds of seals and sea lions on them. They were all barking very loudly.

Our Vacation Day Two

2009-06-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

Our second day of vacation was a pretty relaxing, laid back day. We started by going out tide pooling at 9:00. It was nice having low tide so late in the morning because we were able to sleep in a little it longer than usual. There was so much neat and new stuff to see that we stayed out at the ocean until lunch time. After lunch we went and walked around all of the shops in Bandon. Bandon is a very small town so it did not take very long to see all of the shops they have. Then we decided since it was too late in the afternoon to go to any of the nearby towns and do stuff there that we would go back to the beach, where we walked a very long distance and both got a little sunburned. Here are some of my favorite pictures and videos from tide pooling and exploring the beach.

Of course there were birds on the beach.

You can't have pictures of the sea without a picture of seagulls.Vultures

When you've gotta go, you've gotta go.

A very close encounter with Sea Lion.

We barely had enough time to take this picture of me before the rock filled up with water.

Here are several crabs we came across
There is a crab hiding in this rock.

These were really pretty although we don't know for sure what they are. Their skin felt leathery with marble-like shells.

A snail

We could hear the barnacles talking.

Starfish kisses for the baby.

A sunstar.

We both got stuck in quicksand a couple of times.

Our Vacation Day One

2009-06-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

Our first day of vacation began at 3:30am when we woke up and left town to head to Bandon, OR. Bandon is 11 hours away from Moscow and because I am still very pregnant and get uncomfortable easy we had to stop frequently at rest stops to walk around so it took a little longer than we thought it would.

After we got situated in our room we went down to walk on the beach which is just across the street and down a big set of stairs.
We chased what we thought were baby turtles for a while in the water. They swam like turtles and even seemed to have flippers, but they always buried in the sand before we could catch one. Finally we caught one and decided that it wasn't really a turtle but more of a turtle-crab. It swims like a turtle but is more of a crustacian than a reptile.

We played with some starfish.This one we call Stubs.

We saw A LOT of jellyfish. The brown ones like this are the poisonous kind and have long frilly tentacles.These purple jellyfish were HUGE.And some of the jellyfish were small and clear.

There were some seals on some rocks.

Here is a big rock that I thought it would be fun to climb on. You can call me Queen of the Mountain.
We had so much fun today that we decided to buy this very cozy beach house.

Baby Update

2009-04-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

So I am now 4 months pregnant (16 weeks) and the morning sickness has mostly subsided. That is part of the reason I can finally update the blog, it was hard to do when I constantly felt sick and carried around a barf bucket because I never knew when I might need it.

Anyways, our baby is healthy and growing lots. We were able to hear the heart beat at the last doctor appointment, which was fun. Even though I hear other people's baby's heart beat at work a lot it was wonderful to hear the heart beat and know that it came from my baby. We also got to have first ultrasound, it is still too early to tell if our baby is a boy or girl but it is big enough to tell that it is a baby and not a little blob or alien(well most of the time it didn't look like an alien). I still can't feel the baby move, but during the ultrasound it was fun to watch the baby move around. He or she was kicking me tons and kept doing somersaults and back flips which made it hard to get really good pictures, but we did get some pretty cute ones.
Here are the pictures we got to take home from the ultrasound.

I like this first one because you can see the side of the baby's face and can even see it's little button nose. It is also cool that he or she is holding it's hand above it's head and you can see all of the little fingers.

This second picture shows the side view of the baby from head to bottom. It is hard to tell but the legs are crossed like the baby is sitting crisscross-applesauce. He or she is also holding a hand up by it's mouth and it looks like maybe he or she is sucking a thumb.

The last one Kyle likes to talk about the most because he thinks it makes our precious little baby look like a monster. He says that it's face looks like the skull from The Punisher and that the two fingers it is moving toward it face looks like a velociraptor claw. I have to agree that this picture does make our baby look a little bit more like an alien than a cute little baby, but I am pretty sure that I am not pregnant with a dinosaur so I am not too worried.

We have another ultrasound scheduled in about another 5 weeks and we should be able to tell if we are having a baby boy or a baby girl. We will get more pictures then and we will also get a video. I won't be able to put the video on here but I will put the pictures.

maybe I should get out more.....

2009-01-29T23:03:00.000-08:00

So lately I've kept track of where I spend my time and here are the results. I usually get a good nights sleep, usually 50-60 hours a week. I spend 14.5 hours a week in class....well that's not so bad. walking back and forth to classes takes approximately 3.75 hours per week. Good quality fresh air time. Now here is were it gets a little disturbing: in a normal week I spend a minimum of 33 hours sitting at this desk doing homework. That's 1/5 of my life here. And this isn't even considering the 8-15 hours a week I spend at this desk just surfing the internet. So if the purpose of this blog is to share our lives with you then this is it. Pretty exciting huh? And no its not usually this clean. It got so bad I couldn't see through the scratch paper to my homework so I just finished cleaning it and thought I would share my life with you. Most everything an engineering student could ever need is within reach of this desk. Got some light reading material, various calculating and measuring devises, 3 CAD programs, degrees that cost more than a new car, calender to remind you what day it actually is in case you forgot to sleep last night, internet for wasting time, window to remind me that the world hasn't ended yet so I have to keep working, cell phone to confirm there are other people out there, lamp for when the sun gets tired but work never dies. Up until a few hours ago there was various dishes that used to be full of food, there is even a bathroom within 20 feet for when you absolutely cant work any more. The list goes on and on. This desk has everything you'd ever need for school except for an easy button. Well its almost midnight and I don't think I should keep writing just to avoid the inevitable homework so in the words of Jacob: adieu. By the way, has anyone else noticed that floating piece of used chewing gum at the top of this blog? What is that thing? Is it a blob or something I found under this desk? Whatever you do don't tickle it. Definitely not what I expected out of used gum. Seriously, am I missing something?

Prego...It's not just Spaghetti Sauce Anymore

2009-01-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

Last week Kyle and I received some wonderful news...I took a home pregnancy test only to find out that we are going to have a baby! I am currently 5 weeks pregnant, feeling great (no morning sickness yet), and looking forward to meeting our little bundle of joy this September. My official due date is September 29th. Kyle and I are so excited! We bought or fist baby outfit this weekend and have been busy starting to think of possible names. My first appointment will be March 16th. I will try to keep the blog updated with any other details.

Water Kitten

2009-01-28T09:46:00.000-08:00

Here is Kabob enjoying the bathroom sink again. Every time you go in the bathroom to wash you hand or brush your teeth or just about anything else he tries to push you out of the way of the sink so that he can play in it. Here are also a couple of videos of him playing in the water.

I had to stop taping him but he continued to drink the water like that for about 5 min.

Kabob really like to drink the water out of your hand. He isn't the smartest cat though and seems not to notice when the water is on his head.

How I Met the Chief of Police

2009-01-13T06:50:00.000-08:00

So crazy came to visit yesterday morning....along with the entire police force. At approximately 3 in the morning someone started banging on the door. living on campus this is not too uncommon so I just tried to sleep through it. after a while the just wouldn't go away. So I got up and looked out the window and saw some guy that looked pretty freaked out. When I opened the door he ran past me and tried to run up stairs but tripped and fell and just stayed there. He started to sware up a storm and tell me all about how someone put a gun to his head. He reeked of alcohol and I asked him how much he had that night and he said too much. Then I saw headlights shining in our window so I looked outside and saw a cop car turning around. Meanwhile, mister crazy pasted out on the futon. I told Brook to go upstairs and call the cops. Sure enough, the police knew exactly who we were talking about. Within seconds the cop came running through the front door and tackled him on the floor. He tried telling the cops this was his house and my name was Jake. I said otherwise. By now the chief of police and four cop cars worth of police were at my house. They told me that this was the second house that night he had done this to. In the end it was decided that because the police did not see him enter our house and I didn't make him leave that either they had to let him go on our front lawn or we had to put him under citizens arrest and let him spend the night in jail. He got to spend a night in jail. Later that morning I was again woken by the sound of knocking on the door. Luckily this time it was my buddy Nathan that I was supposed to help move in that day. Sorry, no pictures of mister crazy. Ill try to remember to take the camera downstairs with me next time.

Living in Idaho

2009-01-05T22:00:00.000-08:00

So here is what we woke up to this morning. It snowed over a foot overnight and we had some digging to do. Here is a picture of me throwing an ice cicle at the snow. I was trying to get revenge because there was already another inch of snow on the ground by the time I was done shoveling the walkway.

We also had to dig the car out. We had to pile all of the snow behind the Jeep because the four wheel drive in the Jeep went out in it a few weeks ago so it wasn't going anywhere.

All together I spent between 4 and 5 hours that day shoveling snow. depending on where you measured there was anywhere from 23 to 35 inches of snow on the ground.

Happy New Years

2009-01-01T20:25:00.000-08:00

So a lot has happened in the last year and I wanted to take a few moments to remember all of the wonderful things that have happened and reflect on all that Kyle and I have been blessed with.

This time last year we were living in my dad's basement studying hard for school. Speaking of school, I graduated in June. Kyle graduated as well and then enrolled in University of Idaho.

For Valentines day I made a romantic candlelit dinner and Kyle decorated the basement by covering the walls with dozens of handmade hearts that each had a special note written on them.

On our two year anniversary, Kyle and I went to Portland. We went to the zoo and a Korn laser light show at Omsi. We also watched a performance by Cirque Du Soliel called Corteo. We sat in the second row and were able to interact quite a bit with the preformers. We even got to throw a midget in the air. She was tied to a hot air balloon and the clown threw her in the audience where we took turns passing her back and forth.

Over the next couple months I continued to study, write papers and do clinicals. I graduated on June 8th. Kyle moved to Moscow, Id on June 14th while I was studying for my nursing boards in Vancouver, Wa. Kyle Started working with the forest service in Potlatch, Id the Monday after he got to town. I stayed in Walla Walla for a coupe more weeks where I worked on cleaning, packing the last of our stuff and studying.

I was a nurse at Camp Wooten during the last week of June where I enjoyed spending time outside and playing with all of the kids. I moved to Moscow immediately following my week of no sleep at camp.

I took my nursing boards, and passed them on July 9th. Then I started working at the hospital in Lewiston the following week in the pediatric department.

During this entire time Kyle was working 10 hour days packing a chainsaw between 5-10 miles every day. While working he got to see some moose, porcupines, and heard a lot of wolves. His job was dangerous sometimes. He once had to jump off a cliff to keep from having a tree fall on him.

Tyrel and Mandy came to visit us for a week which was a lot of fun. We spent a day in Couer d'Alene and Spokane. We went bowling, played the Wii and spent time with Mike and Keri.

Kyle started school in August. His classes were pretty challanging and kept him very stressed out and busy, but he made it through with all A's and B's.

Wicket was hit by a car in July and was never fully able to recover so unfortunately we had to put him to sleep. When Wicket left our family, we had 2 new cats added to our family, Shish and Kabob.

The weekend before thanksgiving Kyle went with his parents to Rexburg, Id to visit Tyrel, Mandy, and Ivan. He had a blast down there. Then we went to Walla Walla where we visited with family and Kyle made a robot for his classes.

We got our first snow of the year in December and when we went home for Christmas we got to see a lot more snow. We had a wonderful Christmas together.

And that all brings us to New Years. Kyle and I spent new years eve watching movies and playing our Wii that we got for Christmas. We played Mario party and made a bet that the loser had to run outside barefoot in the snow and ice to check th mail. Kyle lost so I got to stand at the door and laugh as he ran to the mailbox and then when he got there realized that we had recieved a package and that he had to open another mailbox to get our mail.

I am so greatful for how much fun we have been able to have and how blessed we have been to be healthy, safe and to do so well in all that we have worked toward. I hope that 2009 will be as great as 2008 was.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T19:50:00.000-08:00

So this year Kyle and I had our first Christmas alone together. It was fun making the Christmas dinner and getting to open our presents together. We did miss our families though, but at least we were able to go home and see them for a few days before Christmas. I was supposed to work on Christmas Day so we came home Christmas Eve and had our Christmas dinner then.

This is a picture of our wonderful Christmas Eve dinner. It wasn't much, but it sure was tasty. Everything turned out wonderful, which was a relief since I had never cooked Christmas dinner by myself before.

Kyle was a huge help with Christmas dinner, even though I noticed that he didn't wait until desert to try our pumpkin pie.

Kyle carving the Christmas Ham.

This was our small Christmas tree. The cat's were pretty good about leaving it alone although they did knock it over once while we were in Walla Walla and they do like to eat our bird decorations. They just love the tail feathers.

So Christmas morning finally arrived, well actually we got up and opened presents at 5:00am when the hospital called and woke us up to say that I could be on-call and could spend Christmas at home. So we got up and opened our presents, and the cats opened theirs.

This toy is called a Cat Teaser and it works great for teasing them. We did end up having to take it away though because Kabob likes to carry it in his mouth and hide and growl to keep anyone from taking it away from him. Maybe we teased him too much and now he is afraid that we will take it away...which we did.

The cats really enjoyed all of the catnip in the toys too. This is Kabob after he has had a little too much catnip.

Here he is passed out after a lot too much catnip. Notice that he is passed out on a catnip toy pillow.

So then Kyle and I open all of our presents. Kyle liked his boat and really wanted to go play in the snow with it but I was a little too cold and a little too tired at 5am so he just played with it in the house.

Merry Christmas!

ceramics update

2008-12-11T12:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a preview of my final capstone project for ceramics. I'm going to make a vase out of different colors of clay in a process called neriage. Here is a chili pepper I made from a mold using the two clays.

When throwing with this clay it leaves a cool pattern on the wheel when you cut it off of the wheel.

I had to make the vase in two parts because I suck and can't throw tall things. the bottom is in the close one and the top is in the background. It should be about 11.5 in. tall when its done.

here is the vase before it has been bisqued. the swirly design is some more neriage. its made by rolling strips of clay into a log to form the pattern you want and then cutting it really thin. So what you see is the cross-section of the log I made. When it has been bisqued I will put a clear glaze on it and then fire it for the final time.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T01:04:00.000-07:00

When I went to the hospital's employee Halloween Party a couple of my coworkers and I went as the pink ladies. I was Sandy. I still can't believe how big I got my hair, I guess with a lot of hairspray anything is possible. I'm just glad I don't smoke or I may have combusted that night. I have to admit I totally rocked the tight black polyester pants and sexy shoes.

This is the back of my Pink Ladies jacket. I love puffy paints.

This is Shish in her Halloween costume. Since she is definitely the larger of the two kittens, it was only fitting that she got to be the piggy this year. As you can tell she still doesn't know if she likes Halloween.

Another picture of our happy pig.

Shish finally warmed up to the idea of Halloween when she learned what trick or treating is.

Cat + Water = ???

2008-10-25T01:01:00.000-07:00

Well, most cats are afraid of water right? Not our cats. This first pic is of Shish, she is more timid that Kabob but is still fascinated by the water. She likes to sit on the edge of the tub and watch the water fill up the tub and watch the shower too. She occasionally will stick a paw in the water but that is as close as she willingly gets.

Kabob on the other hand has no fear, or just doesn't know better. He jumps right in the tub with you. Kabob not only likes the bathtub, he also likes the shower and the water in the sink when you brush your teeth.

One problem we have found with a cat that is not afraid of water...Once when Kyle was peeing in the toilet Kabob must have thought it resembled a shower because he decided to stick his paw in the stream of "water" and splash around. At least he also enjoyed the bath he earned afterwards.

New Friends

2008-10-20T00:38:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, Kyle and I have to new roommates, Shish and Kabob. These are our new kittens who were orphaned at 2 weeks of age. Their mother was scared away by a dog who killed their other sibling they were rescued and taken to a shelter where they were raised until we recently adopted them. Now they are stuck with us. Shish is the larger of the two cats, weighing over 2 pounds more than Kabob when we got them. She is the cat in the front in this picture.

This is Kabob. He was trying to find the best bed in his new house. He tried out a few others before choosing the bathroom sink. His other favorites were an empty cardboard box, a kitchen towel, or Kyle's textbooks(only when he was using them of course).

This is Shish. She is no doubt a princess who thinks she deserves what ever she wants, including sleeping in the masters bed, and occasionally on their heads. An example of how she gets what she wants: On one of the first nights they were in the new house we closed the bedroom door when we went to bed. Shortly after we heard Shish scratching at the door. We thought nothing of it and assumed she would stop soon. She did stop scratching, but she started making a different sound, a sort of pounding sound. When I opened the bedroom door to see what she was doing, I found that she had decided that she would find her own way in and had torn the wood molding of our door frame off of the wall. Kyle's comment "You had to get a cat with opposable thumbs."

Well, of course we had to adopt kittens that are different than other peoples kittens. Our kittens have at least six toes on each paw. Can you see Shish's thumb? Their thumbs seem to come in handy for such tasks as stealing the food bowl from the other cat, grabbing toys and even occasionally breaking off a door frame.

one with the clay.....or something....

2008-10-16T16:06:00.001-07:00

So I (Kyle) thought it would be fun to take a ceramics class. turns out I really suck. Anyway, here are some of my creations. I've never blogged before so hopefully all 30 something pictures are going to show up haha. If it works out like I think there will even be captions. Anyway, if you know any really ecsentric person that wants to buy these for like $50 a piece let me know.....otherwise there are going to be someones crappy Christmas presents. Sucks for you guys!!! So let me know what you think and maybe you'll end up with something to decorate the bottom of your trashcan....or don't say anything and you'll get nothing muahahahaha!!!

here is the famous headless bird

leaves or something....

looks like an egg with a plant on it....eggplant?

its like a little basket for tiny things!

these are all future mugs

another famous piece - the headless snowman. on of my favorites. what do you think of my nice painting?

I call it "cup a la bird crap"

Ha! its twisted, take that teacher!

my goblet of doom

this one is super sweet

super comfy and ergonoic....ergomomic...ergoooo...whatever its cool

these were made only with coils of clay. some i smoothed out afterwards.

vases that are supposed to be 8 inches tall...I thought 3 and six inches sounded better.

some tall 6 inch vases

more vases

check out the size of that handle

kiwano fruit turned into a bookstop...well it will be if they dont fall apart before they get fired. lol

headless bird got some color!

these things smell like an old firepit

A Day in the Life of Wicket

2008-10-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

After a long night's rest, Wicket awakes ready to start another exciting day.

He always begins his day with a good hearty breakfast of kibbles and bits.

After which he goes out for a morning stroll.

He doesn't stay out too long before he heads back to his nice warm house.

Once inside, it is nap time for the kitty.

After his nap he is very ready for lunch.
(below is a video of Wicket enjoying his lunch)

After lunch it is time for a little lovin'

Then it is play time.

All of the playing tired him out so it is nap time again.

The end of another nap means the start of some more lovin'

Next it is time to play more.

Now that Wicket has finished his day, it is back to bed.

Let's Talk About the Weather

2008-08-27T15:36:00.000-07:00

I feel all grown up now since I am excited to write to you all about the weather over here. Well, I am either all grown up or just so bored that talking about the weather sounds fun. This summer has been really nice. There were only about 4 days when the temp got above 90, it was usually in the 80's or upper 70's. As nice as that has been, I really wanted to talk about my drives home from Lewiston when it is raining. When it rains in Lewiston, the clouds are so low that they sit on top of the Lewiston hill. As I drive up the road on the hill, I can see the clouds sitting on the road in front of me. Then, I am driving inside of the cloud. It is quite a feeling to see the cloud that you are going to drive through. On cloud I drove through was such a dark and heavy cloud that when I was in it, the fog was so thick I could only see one dashed line in front of my car and I could only see the dash when it was very close to my car. It is fun driving through clouds because once you are through the cloud, it is always clear on the other side, well or there is another cloud sitting on the road a ways in front of you and you get to drive through another cloud. The sight of the clouds sitting on the wheat fields is so cool. If I think about it, I will take a camera with me next time the weather is going to be like that.

Work Work Work...

2008-08-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I would update you all on how work has been going.

As you know, I work 12 hr days. This has been really nice because it means that I get long weekends sometimes. For example two weeks ago I had a 5 day weekend and next week I have a 6 day weekend. It is nice to have so many days off to relax, do chores, and have fun.

As you also know, I am supposed to be working in pediatrics. However, kids just are not sick right now. I have worked a total of 3 days in pediatrics since I have started work. I have spent a lot of time working in the nursery though and also in OB. This has been nice. I hope though that I get to spend more time in peds soon. The time that I have spent in peds I have loved. The last day I worked there, I got to start an IV on a 1 year old. I did it on the first try with no problems. That is pretty hard to do since kids veins are a lot smaller than adults, and kids dont like to hold still when you come toward them with a needle.

Overall, I am very pleased with my job and am glad that I have a job that I am excited to go to work , even when I wake up at 5:00 am to get ready.

Back to School

2008-08-25T15:11:00.000-07:00

School started up again today. I am so glad that I didn't have to go back to school. Kyle on the other hand now has classes all day and homework all night. He had to put away his video games and open up his text books instead. He says that the classes here are more difficult than those at WWCC. This semester, Kyle has 5 classes and they are all very time consuming. He goes to class all day and then comes home and locks himself in the office to study until dinner. He then comes out, eats, and goes back to study more. He keeps saying that he can hardly wait to be done with school (2.5-3 more years) so that he can wake up, go to work, come home, and have his evenings to have fun instead of doing homework. I have to admit that I can hardly wait for him to be done too so that I can see my husband again.

Welcome Home Wicket

2008-07-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

Wicket is finally home. He stayed with my dad and Sara while Kyle and I moved over here and got settled down. Then the week that we were going to come get him, he wobbled right in front of a car and got ran over. He fractured his pelvis and had to stay in the kitty hospital for a couple of weeks. But now he is out of the hospital and is at his new home. He can't walk yet, but is still getting around the house about as good as before the accident. He still shakes and whines and sleeps a lot. I think over all, he has adjusted well to his new home and will be as good as new soon (well as good as a wobbly Wicket could ever be).

Sorry I don't have any pictures of our new place yet but I lost the cord to download pics off of my camera.

I'm a real nurse now!

2008-07-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

After 2 years of hard classwork, tests and stress I graduated from nursing school; but that didn't mean that I was done studying or being stressed. I continued studying everyday until I took my boards last Wednesday. I also continued to stress and everyday that my test got closer I got more stressed. So I just took my test on Wednesday that says if my past 2 years of hard work was worth it and that I get to be a nurse. I then had to wait two days before my results posted online. That meant two more days being stressed wondering if I put the right answer on enough questions to pass. Thoughts kept running through my head about well, maybe I should have given that medication instead or maybe I should have done this first rather than what I said I would do first. AAAAH I wanted to scream. Then finally Friday came and I could check on the internet and see if I am good enough to be a nurse. I waited patiently as the page loaded and....I DID IT!!! I passed the test and am now officially a Registered Nurse. :) That is very good since I start work Monday as an RN in pediatrics. I guess all of my hard work did pay off, and maybe now I can relax a little bit.

2008-06-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

Kyle has been working very hard with the forest service. He works ten hour days and hikes between 10-12 miles every day while carrying a 40 lbs chain saw. His only relief comes on Thursdays when his crew spends the day mowing lawns at camp grounds. Here are a couple pictures of him hard at work.

I love how color coordinated he is when he works. His friend said that he looks a little like Bob the Builder, and I think I have to agree.

This tree is 3000 years old. It is a good thing he didn't really cut it down.

Our new adventure

2008-06-15T22:30:00.000-07:00

Now that I am done with school, Kyle and I have to move on to our next adventure. Kyle moved to Moscow, ID on Saturday; Wicket and I will be moving there in a couple of weeks. Kyle and I both have new jobs and Kyle starts school at University of Idaho in August. He will be working on earning a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

I will begin working at the hospital in Lewiston this July. I will be working as an RN in the pediatrics department. After I have oriented and worked on the floor for a while I will be crossed trained to also work in the neonatal intensive care unit sometimes. I am so excited about this and can't wait to start.

Kyle also has a new job. He now works for the forest service out of Potlatch, ID (this is the closest forest service department to Moscow). He is excited to get to spend his summer in the forest again.

As for Wicket, I am still not sure if he understand that we will be moving soon. I have tried to explain it to him but every time I tell him that are going to leave he just looks at me, wobbles a little bit and begs for food. I guess that he will find out soon enough.

I will try and keep the blog updated more often so that all of our fans can stay informed on all of the wonderful and exciting things happening in our life.

Graduation

2008-06-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

I finally Graduated from Nursing School. After 2 years of prerequisits and 2 years in the nursing program I finally finished. It felt like this day would never come, but I am so glad it did. It seems strange not having lectures to go to and no more tests to study for. I still have to take my boards before I can officially be called a RN but the hard stuff is already done. Here are a few pictures from the pinning ceremony.

Preparing to light my Florence Nightingale Lamp for the candle ceremony.

Listening to one of my classmate's father sing a song for our class.

Getting a hug from one of my favorite instructors after getting pinned.

I'M DONE!!!

Wicket

2008-04-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

So here is a little information about our wonderful cat Wicket. He is named after the leader of the Ewoks from Star Wars. When he was a baby, he looked very much like an Ewok so we named him after one. As he grew up, we realized that he was not like other cats. Wicket shakes when he is excited and waddles when he walks. He has issues with depth perception and hits things with his nose to figure out how far away they are. Because of his continuous shaking, he uses a lot more energy doing nothing and is hungry all of the time. Any time someone is in the kitchen, he cries and cries because he wants more food. He would spend all day in the kitchen eating if we would let him.
He also does not like it when Kyle hums at him, watch this video to see just how much he doesn't like humming.

Our Family

2008-04-29T21:06:00.000-07:00

Our family has three members:

Brook and Kyle

and our special baby Wicket

This is Wicket with his brother Simon (My dad and Sara's cat)

A special surprise

2008-04-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

Today when I got out of class, I had quite a wonderful surprise inside my car. I opened the door and found that some wonderful man had put a bouquet of flowers on the driver seat. They are the most beautiful carnations I have seen in a very long time. When I picked Kyle up tonight I thanked him for the flowers, but he said they weren't for me. Then he decided that since I had already put them in a vase that he guessed they were mine now. He is such a sweet guy, but is also a little bit of a liar...I know that the flowers were really for me, or at least they better have been!