pumpkins

On Sunday, October 11th, we went to Thistledown Farm & picked out some pumpkins to decorate our house. It was a warm, sunny day & I was wishing that we had planned to take the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch...we only had time for a quick trip this time. But, I wasn't about to miss the chance to get some cute photos of my boys.

Finn was very interested in the goats!

Making sure I'm still there...

Yep! Still there, hanging out with Cedar. :)

Finn is getting better at holding Cedar...

...but it's still a little scary...

...& Finn nearly dropped Cedar, after losing interest.
Luckily, I was close & ready! Scary, though! :\

september randomness

Kenton put his birthday gift from my parents to use - a "hazmat" suit for crawling under the house.

Looks spooky down there! Finn was so sad that he couldn't go with Dad. :(

Good thing he duct taped his socks - no spiders were getting in there! Everything looked good under the house. It was a success! :P

Just another light saber battle in the living room. This time, with Jon & Ethan!

Finn thought Jon's hood was so cool that he asked me for his little hoodie. Finn tends to like the bad guys the most in movies. Not too sure how I feel about that. :)

My poor, beat up kiddo. Scrape on his chin from a bush, bruise on his cheek & gash on his eyebrow from falling face first into a chair.

Life can be rough when you're a busy almost-3-year-old! But those owies are getting better. Almost gone already. Boy, that eyebrow gash was a scary one for me - the closest we've been to stitches so far. Thankfully, my mom & Becca were there to help me decide that a bandaid would be fine. :)


Mama & Cedar (+ a little Finn in the background).
Cedar's wearing my old sweatshirt from my Aunt Robin. It was a chilly day - perfect weather for a cozy, hooded, sweatshirt.


Such a sweet, cuddly guy!
He sucked on those sleeves all day long. I'm glad I tried it out on him. It's a little big still, which means he'll get some use out of it.

4.5 months

Sorry for the absence of blogging lately. I haven't been taking a lot of photos since being back to work. I'm sure it'll pick up now that the leaves are starting to change colors & the weather is cooling down. :)

I was trying to get a good photo of my handsome boys, all dressed & ready for church.

None of the photos turned out perfectly, but together they're not so bad. :)

Big boys!

Cedar was sitting still a bit better than Finn. Go figure! :)

Bed head!

Cedar's hair is growing...just enough that it can get messy now. :)

This morning, our house was so chilly after leaving the windows cracked a bit. We broke out this warm, cozy suit that Cohen handed down to Finn. Finn was never quite the right size for this suit.

It was a little disorienting for Cedar to be bundled up so thickly, but once he warmed up a bit he went right to sleep in Kenton's arms. Just what he needed on this cool, fall morning. :)

Happy Grandparents Day Mummi, Pappa, Memaw, Papa, Nana Lee, Papa Lew, Oma, Grandpa Stoerman & Grandma Janet! We love you all! :)

*Photos by Jesse

4 months old

Yesterday, Cedar had his 4 month checkup with his doctor. He weighs 15 lb 12 oz (60th %-ile) & is 26 1/2" long (90th %-ile)! His percentile in weight actually went down from 77th at 2 months, so Dr. Miller encouraged me to feed him as much as he wants. :) He also said it would be a great time to start rice cereal & so we have!


Cedar seems to enjoy his new food & is eating a little more each time we feed it to him. It's great for the grandparents who watch him while I work + big brothers like to help too! :) I love to see Cedar's reaction to solid food & am looking forward to this new phase.

He is getting so long that he has graduated out of his cradle & into his big crib. I need to take photos of Cedar in his crib because he still looks so small & it won't be long until he's filling it out more. My baby's getting bigger but he still feels small to me. It helps to have a big -almost- three year old running around. I'm trying to be better about letting Cedar have time on the floor (despite the busy Finley) & he's getting close to rolling over on his own. He'll be mobile in no time! :) Eeek!

first fire

Kenton's parents gave us a bunch of firewood from some trees they cut down. So on Sunday, we used our fireplace for the first time.

It was a rainy & cool day - just perfect for a cozy fire.

Finn was so excited to help!

Success!
Kenton built a beautiful fire & we were warm & cozy through the whole evening.

I had propped Cedar up to watch & turned back to find he had slipped down. Such a good sport - he didn't seem to mind. :)

mckenzie & tiffany's wedding

A 1920's themed wedding in a beautiful theater in downtown Portland. McKenzie played the music in his own wedding. Lovely!

His brother, Courtney, holding the balloon that his son, Henry (the ring bearer) carried down the aisle (& reading something special). I loved it!

The kiss!

It was a semi-formal wedding, so we enjoyed the chance to get dressed up. Plus, we let Finn spend the night with Mummi & Pappa, so we only had to keep Cedar entertained. :)

As a special treat, we got to hang out with Sandy & Nicole, who came down from Walla Walla, Washington, as well as the rest of our Bible Study group.

Cedar, Kenton, Katrina, Sandy, Nicole, Jon, Amy, Colin & Stephanie

What a fun date!

For Amy to steal for her blog. ;)

The Getaway!

What a great wedding! So beautiful & so much love. :)

california, part 8: saying goodbye

On our last day, we spent most of the morning/early afternoon in the pool. After packing up, we went out to dinner with the Hickmans & Barretts at Round Table Pizza. It was a good last meal before hitting the long road home!

With the Hickmans:
Aunt Carol, Natasha, Katrina, Finn, Kenton, Cedar, Wyatt & Uncle Keith

After dinner, we made one last visit to the Barrett house to have some dessert (cookies & ice cream) & say goodbye.


Katrina (28), Cedar (4 months), Lincoln (7 months), & Melissa (26 1/2) :)

Cedar likes looking at Lincoln. Such a sweet smile!

Emily & Cedar getting in some last minute cuddle time.

Cedar & Melissa

What an amazing trip, full of wonderful time with family. I am so glad we were able to come down for my uncle's Memorial service & to have the chance to meet sweet Lincoln. We will miss Uncle Tom & remember him always! Thank you to our California family for welcoming us to your homes & making time for such a great visit. We love you guys!

We drove overnight & made it back to Eugene in 14 1/2 hours. The kids did really well & slept through most of the driving. It felt so great to get home. We drove straight to Kenton's parents house & dropped of the kids so we could go home & nap. :) Sleep never felt so good!