7 Months

Kinley turned 7 months in February and was quite busy. She learned better balance while sitting up, got her two lower teeth, and started rolling with a purpose. We're enjoying the fact that she's still contained to one area. Pretty soon she'll be getting into Gavin's toys and I'll be breaking up fights. :)

Here's some "Kinnie-bean" cuteness...

A nice day at the park (she LOVES the swings)

Kinley's pal, Bennett. They're 9 days apart.

Kinley also adores Gavin. All he has to do is walk into the room and she lights up and laughs. He's so cute with her, too. He lets her grab and pull his hair and nibble on his ears. It's really too cute to watch. :)

Portland Auto Show!

Anyone who knows Gavin knows that he is passionate about cars. In fact, his knowledge of makes and models is legendary in our neighborhood. So, during the last weekend in January, when I found out that the Portland Auto Show was going on that very day, Paul immediately got Gavin ready to go (we knew this sort of thing would rock his world). Paul said it was hard to take good pictures of Gavin since he was so overwhelmed. I guess he sat in 30 or more cars that afternoon (which may also explain why he came down with a cold and double ear infection the next day). Here are a few shots that show his excitement.

This is Gavin saying "Mazda" :)

This Fiat was probably Gavin's favorite since it is just like Luigi from the Cars movie.

Pushing all the buttons...

6 Months Old

And here is our happy little 6-month-old. She's getting a lot more fun and interactive, but is also not the sleepy newborn she used to be. We're trying to figure out how to get her to sleep better at night and nap better during the day now, which isn't easy with baby eczema and teething (she got her bottom two this month). Here are some shots of our little "lumpkin".

She loves to make faces with Paul in the mirror, and really enjoys the variety of jumpers we have throughout the house.

Here she is learning how to sit up, and also learning why she shouldn't scratch her itchy face so much (poor baby).

Helping me shop around at Target. She really enjoys sitting up in the cart now, but in this shot, she needed to recline to enjoy her bottle.

Sometimes Kinley wakes us up a little earlier in the morning than we'd like so we bring her into our room for some snuggles.

Kinley is finally big enough to sit in the stroller instead of her infant car seat, and Gavin actually prefers to be "cozy" in the stroller with his sister. So this is how we ride in our 'hood.

For a few months, Gavin went through a phase where he would throw a tantrum every night at bedtime. As a last ditch effort, we decided to move the play house into his room and see if he'd go to sleep easier in there. It kind of worked for a little while. Here he is passed out, after fighting nap time with me one afternoon.


And here's a cute moment between brother & sister

Christmas videos

Gavin waking up on Christmas morning...

The kids...

The holidays!

Since this blog is hopelessly backed up, I'm combining Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years into one post. We had a great time celebrating the holidays this year, and we had lots to be thankful for!

...including healthy happy kids,

...awesome Grandmas,

...and technology :)

Mommy & Aunt Krissy took the kids to the mall to see Santa, and it went surprisingly well! Gavin was excited to tell Santa that he wanted a cement truck and a Sally Porsche (from the Cars movie). Santa did not disappoint. :)

Our neighbor came over and took some pictures of the kids for our holiday card. Here are 2 that didn't make the cut. (My children are often startled by the camera flash.)

Daddy & Uncle Ryan took Gavin to see the zoo lights. It's hard to see, but here are Paul & Gavin before getting on the train ride.

My mom kept Gavin for a weekend, and on the way to drop him off with her, Gavin and I stopped in Woodburn to see the enormous Christmas tree. It had really cool lights that flashed in sync with blaring Manheim Steamroller music. Quite a sight!

We had Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at our house, then headed down to my mom's for Christmas dinner and more presents. It was a smaller affair this year since Derek & Meg had just moved back to California. They were missed, but at least we had Skype. It's hard to believe that next year, Kinley will be running around and saying "tree".

For New Year's, we had a "Progressive Cocktail Hour" between our house and 3 other houses on our street. It was a great way for us folks with small kids to celebrate the evening and be back home in our PJ's by 8:30pm. :) I can definitely see this becoming tradition.

The kids celebrated with snacks and juice, and Gavin tried pinball for the first time. Kinley quietly observed everything from her chair. :)