Fun With Grandma (or Granny)

We had a great time while Shawn's mom was here over the weekend. We went on a new hike at a park on the island we have never been too. It turned out to be a great little hike!

We took a different way back to the car and stopped off at the beach for a bit. I just can't seem to get enough of the sun shining over the Olympics and that blue water.

The next day we set out for Port Townsend. It turned out to be a beautiful day. We were able to go through their farmers market, which was really nice. And it was their city's annual film festival. Let's just say there were alot of characters in town that day:o)

It was really cool to see the fog roll in back on the Coupeville side while we were there too.

It was just too nice to go home after getting off the ferry, so we went to look at Fort Casey (and the beach, as usual).

We even got to see a cruise liner going through - I'm sure on it's way to Alaska. Look how close it is to the beach. Man, I hope we get to do that next summer!

Before we headed home, we spelled out SEBCA on the beach.

Thanks for coming out, Grandma! We can't wait until you and Papaw come back for Thanksgiving.

9 Months Old

Today I Am 9 Months Old!!! I am a really happy baby!

I am starting to eat alot more food and I love whatever is on other peoples' plates.

I love to be outside and play in the bath.

I get overly excited whenever Caleb comes into the room.

I still rock on my knees, but can't figure out how to make my hands and legs move.

I am going to school two times a week and am getting used to playing with other kids and adults.

I have one tooth all the way out and another one pushing it's way through.

I will not keep socks or shoes on my feet.

I say momma, dadda, Wrigley (we think), the African clicking sound and I scream at the top of my lungs, just because I'm excited.

I clap because it's fun and because it means "more" when I'm eating.

I go to the doctor tomorrow to see how big I'm getting.

Grandma's Here!

Grandma got in late Wednesday night and Caleb was excited to see her the next morning when he woke up. Yesterday we met Shawn for lunch, then went for a little hike on base that took us to the beach. (We, of course, threw rocks into the water). Then we went to Fort Ebey for a quick look at the mountains and bunker. After a little meltdown from Caleb...we came home and played on the swingset.

Grandma and Great Aunt Patti finished Amelia's blanket and she got to play on it this morning. I think it's pretty cute and I'm sure she'll love it as much as Caleb loves the one they made him.

Bathtime

Grandma will be here tonight, so we have to get a bath to make sure we smell of that sweet baby scent.

If you look really closely, you can actually see her tooth shining down there on the bottom.

That bath really wore her out.

Just kidding! Now she's finding the lint in the carpet and is trying to get it so she can see how it tastes.

Is this the pose you're looking for mom?

Blackberry Pickin' & Trying to Crawl

Today it feels like fall outside, so I decided to dress the part.

We also decided that we needed to get out and pick some blackberries before they were all gone. So, we got all bundled up, grabbed some bowls and headed out to a sweet little place Shawn saw on base the other day. I don't think anyone else knew about this spot, because there were big, fat, juicy blackberries everywhere.

It may not look like we have a lot of berries (and I do want to go back and get more:o), but we got enough to make 8 jars of jelly, some blackberry ice cream and a pie. We're gonna turn into a blackberry after eating all of that!

We then came home and let the boys play outside as us girls got warm. Amelia is getting so close to crawling and since she's growing up right before our very eyes, I thought she needed to learn how to stand too:o)

Here's a little video of Amelia thinking so hard about crawling....it's just so tiring.

Snack, Play & Sleep

Amelia loves any of the "puff" baby snacks...star puffs, wagon wheels, lil'munchies (what she's eating below). She used to just suck on these until they were pasted to the inside of her hand. Now she just stuffs the whole thing into her mouth and chews and chews and chews until they're gone.

Oh man, it's popping out....

She can't seem find it:o)

Now for a drink to wash it all down:o)

Playing in the floor for a bit before bed.

This is a pretty good indicator that it's time for bed. Goodnight sweet girl!

Just-a-swingin'

Now that we have a baby swing, Amelia is loving it just as much as Caleb!

All Ready For School

Today was our first day of Mother's Day Out - or "school" as we like to call it! It's for four hours on Mondays and Thursdays and Caleb and Amelia are both attending. Amelia's class is called the Baby Bears and Caleb is in the Fabulous Frogs class.

We've been telling Caleb that he gets to go to school with other litttle kids and take his lunch in a lunch box and he's been getting pretty excited. Last night as he was talking about it he was running through everything and even mentioned he was going to "get on the bus". I'm not sure where that one came from, because I never said anything about the bus. Nevertheless, we got up this morning, had our breakfast, packed his lunch and were ready to get on our way. We pulled up to church (where MDO takes place) and he was anxious to get inside. Once inside, we saw my friend Janelle, who runs and writes the curriculum for the program, and boy is her enthusiasm for MDO contagious! She was so excited to get this year started and she kinda reminded me of Tigger bouncing down the hallway:o) Oh and yes, you read that right, I said curriculum. Caleb will be learning while he's there:o) This month their theme is Apples. The color they're learning is Red. The shape they're learning is a Circle. And he will be learning the letter A and numbers 1 and 2. Amelia did great in her baby room today and I'm pretty sure Caleb had a great time too!

The Building of A Swing Set

We had the perfect weekend for building a swing set. Shawn drew up his own plan, bought the lumber and supplies and got started first thing Saturday morning. He had good help too:o)

Amelia sat out most of the day and watched the boys work.

She had just gotten a bath and Caleb came up with that filthy face and kissed all over her.

Her new trick is rocking back and forth on her knees. I think it'll be soon that she'll start crawling.

She decided to pick up a hammer to finish the project today.

The Capps Family in their finished swingset. I think we'll have many great times out here!

Last night before we went in, Caleb told Shawn (with no prompting by me) "Thank you for building me a swing set and slide, daddy." How sweet is that!