It's already July?! Dang!

I can't believe how fast the summer is flying by! I know time flies by when you have kids, but I think God pushes the extra-super-fast foward button in the summertime.
Kellen is now 7 months old. He's getting cuter everyday, in my humble opinion. He has been giving psuedo kisses. It's very sweet. And wet. ha ha He's now using a combo of "real" crawling up on his hands and knees and his patented army-crawl-wiggle-worm move to get around. And he is still pulling up on everything and getting better at sitting himself down on his butt instead of falling on his head. That's always good.
We're planning Brady's 3rd birthday party. It's craziness! So, I was talking to Brady about his birthday party and trying to get his input on what kind of party he wanted to have. After a lot of "happy birthday" answers, he replied with "brown birthday party". I still haven't figured out what that means exactly, but it was pretty amusing. He also got to experience his first fireworks this year. Previous years, there has been NO way we were keeping him up that late. He loved them! I'm pretty sure he thinks we should have fireworks every day of the year.

Fun weekend

This last weekend was a very nice treat. My mom and step-dad came down for a visit and stayed the whole weekend. It was great to be able to visit for more than just a couple of hours. They came down in their fancy new motorhome. It's really quite impressive. Brady had a blast playing in the "motor bus" and having Grandma and Grandpa's attention. Kellen thought it was great to have some new people to spit up on. hee hee Then to top that off, they watched the kiddos on Saturday night so that Alex and I could go out for date night with the Websters. It was a blast! We went to Bargain World (a thrift store) and shopped for outfits for each other. We each had a budget of $10 and found some pretty spiffy stuff. And then, when we went to the register to get rung up, we found out everything was half off that day! Nice little perk, if I do say so myself. We donned our awesome attire and then went around Tacoma taking pictures. It was super sweet. The pictures turned out AMAZING thanks to Lindsay's skills. We posted some of the pictures on facebook and one of my favorite comments was from a friend saying she'd pictured us having a lovely dinner and civilized conversation. Ha ha! This is MUCH more my style!

Baseball adventure

The following is a blog entry by the one and only Alex Macheras. Enjoy.

Last week, my friend Nick asked if we wanted to go to the Tacoma Rainiers game at Cheney Stadium. Brady and I took him up on the offer. Since it was a Thursday night, Kathy was out (she hosts So You Think You Can Dance parties at our house that night). Brady was super excited for the days leading up to the game and I was also very excited about taking Brady to his first baseball game, although a bit skeptical about how Brady would do in that environment. Brady is a very active boy, and likes to be mobile, not to mention the game started just a little bit before his normal bedtime. I told Nick beforehand I had no idea if we would last two innings or the whole game. We met Nick and his friend and headed over to the will call to pick up the tickets he was given for the game. At this point, he mentions he got these tickets from the parents of a kid he tutors, who, oh by the way, happen to have the last name Cheney and are the same family that the stadium is named after! Not only did they give him tickets to the game, they gave him their box seats for the game, which were like the best seats in the house! It couldn’t have worked out any better for Brady's first game. Brady and I had like six seats in the first row (right on the field next to the Rainiers’ dugout) for him to be able to run around in and almost not be in others’ way. There were a few ladies in the box seats next to us that were very gracious with Brady as he continued to invade their space. These seats were super awesome for me as well, because it was fun being so close to the players. A couple times I was able to hear players come back from their at bat and talk to other players about how the pitcher was throwing certain pitches, etc. We also had a few memorable moments from the game. Brady’s favorite part of the experience was seeing the mascots. Between one inning the mascots were running around throwing frisbee’s into the stands. The nice lady next to us spoke up as the mascot was throwing them to have them throw Brady a Frisbee. The mascot ended up throwing it to her, who in turn gave it to Brady. Brady was excited to get a Frisbee.

Jamie Burke (catcher for the Rainiers/Mariners) wasn’t playing in the game but he was sitting on the dugout steps which happened to be directly in front of us. Brady was taking a drink from our water bottle when the bottle slipped out of his hands and splashed as it hit the ground at his feet. Not a big deal EXCEPT it also happened to splash Jamie Burke! He turned around and looked trying to figure out what exactly happened. I said sorry to him and he went back to watching the game. (side note: Jamie Burke was called up the Mariners a few days later and in that game he hit a two run home run to lead the M’s to a win that night. So, if any other Rainiers are reading and want my son to spill water on them, let me know! ) One of Brady’s favorite spots was standing up on the footrest at the fence to the field so he would put his head over and look at who knows what (field? Into the dugout?). I had a number of players tell me they were worried he would get hit with a foul ball. Little did they know I think my son’s head is made of whatever that stuff Wolverine is made out of! In case CPS is reading this blog, I had my baseball glove on and was ready to catch any foul ball coming our way. Brady doesn’t have his own glove yet, but I brought Kathy’s glove for him to wear, which he did for short periods. The other memorable moment I didn’t even really see. It was between innings and Brady was in his favorite spot looking over the barrier while I was looking back talking to Nick. Next thing I know, Brady turns around and has a baseball in his mitt! I have no idea who in the dugout gave him the ball, but thanks to whoever it was! Brady was super excited to get the ball. A little too excited as I had to chase him around a bit and get the ball before he threw it on the field or at someone who wasn’t ready for it.

All in all, we lasted 5 ½ innings, not too shabby for his first game if I say so myself. At that point, he said he was ready to go home. So, he came away with a Frisbee and a baseball, had the best seats in the house, interacted with players, and had room to run around and play near our seats. I don’t think Nick thought I was having much fun (or just felt bad because I wasn’t able to watch the game much) since I spent most of my time redirecting and watching Brady, but Nick, if you are reading this, I had so much fun! Really! I also had to convince my friend Leif later on when recounting this story, that despite me not being able to pay attention much to the baseball game as I would have liked, that I did have fun as well.

Anyway, thanks to the Rainiers and Nick for making the experience a special one!

This and that

So, I figured it's about time for an update of sorts. Kellen is now six months old. Six months! He had his six month check up on Friday and he's doing well. He weighs 15 lbs. now and is 2'1.4" long. He's in the 10th percentile for weight, 15th for length and 66th for head circumference. That's my big-headed little man! Why do my children have such large noggins? I have two theories. One, they are extremely intelligent and need lots of room for their gigantic brains. Two, God saw fit to give me more reasons to quote So I Married an Axe Murderer. "I'm not kidding, it's like an orange on a toothpick." Also in regards to the doctor's appt.- I have to continue to just ride this whole wonderful spitting up thing out. And Kellen is now on drops for his eye because the culture came back with some sort of bacteria, so hopefully that will help it clear up in the next few days. In other Kellen news- he tried squash for the first time yesterday and seems to have his brother's affinity for food. I hate to be comparing them constantly, but they are so similar sometimes!
Brady has been doing really well lately. He's getting so vocal, speaking in full sentences and we have really been enjoying getting a little bit more of a glimpse of what goes on inside that head of his. I really need to do better at writing down the funny things he says or capturing them on video. It's just so hard to recreate his cuteness! He has been using the potty more and more and has even been running up to me on his own, exclaiming "Pee pee in potty!" and then actually goes when he gets to the toilet. I never knew I could be so excited about anything relating to a toilet. He has also been doing a much better job at staying in his bed at nap/bed time and he no longer needs the gates up to keep him in his room! Woo hoo! I've included some recent pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Kellen can sit up now!

They look nothing alike, I know.

Brady being his normal silly self.

Freakin' insane

So. Kellen is in the first stages of crawling. Yep. He's 5 1/2 months old. Oh my. Here's a video to prove I'm not exaggerating.

A little somethin' somethin'

There hasn't been much in the way of excitement happening around here, but I figured I should write a little to keep y'all informed. :) Kellen is getting so big! He's a very busy little boy. He loves being on the floor to roll around and explore. I'd give him a lot more free range if he didn't spit up so much!! So, for now, I try to keep him confined to a blanket. He also can now sit up in his exersaucer by himself (w/ no blanket for support) and he digs his jumpy seat. He's not so good at the whole sitting up business, but I think a big part of that is he won't sit still long enough!!
Brady continues to be hugely entertaining, incredibly sweet and an incredibly huge test to my patience, usually in the same day, sometimes in the same hour. I really need to do better at writing down more of the things he says/does. His latest obsession is his friend Alli. She is nudging Noah over to share the top "obsession" spot. If we're going anywhere, it's "Alli house?". He talks about wanting Alli to feel better (she was sick, like, three weeks ago) every few days. And when you are talking to him, he'll randomly throw her name into the conversation if you ask him a question. Even just this morning, Krista asked him what he wanted to play and his response was "Alli. Alli toys." It's pretty funny. I love that he is starting to show concern for other people- his friends when they get sick and when I bump something and make noise or say "ow", he quickly asks "Mommy okay?". What a sweet boy.
I'll leave you with an amusing story. I went in awhile back to check on Brady before turning in for the night and while I was picking something up, he shifted in his sleep. Right off of his bed. Into the position you see in the picture below. I couldn't believe he didn't wake up. I'm just glad I thought to grab the camera.

Crazy sleeping boy

Enjoying some brother bonding time

Jam session

Here is a little video gem for your enjoyment. Don't ask me what the turning around and banging on the fridge thing is all about. Musical genius? Maybe. Now if I could have just gotten a video of Kellen playing the piano with his head....