June

Yep, it's been a while since I've updated the blog. My excuse? I packed the camera cord, and we all know what happens when I post without pictures: Toki and my parents complain. We can't have that happen, now can we? ;) We packed for most of June and July, and we're finally getting ready to close next Tuesday! More about the move on another post.

Gretchen's hair is finally long enough to put into a pony tail.
Isn't she the cutest?? I'm just a tad biased, I know....
"I'm smarter than the president." as modeled by Gretchen:
"I'm smarter than the president." as modeled by Quin (May 2006):
What a silly boy!!
Forrest was extremely kind and sent Quin some of his PlayMobile; Quin loves playing with it! Thanks again, Forrest!
Quin managed to convince himself that the mosquitoes would leave him alone if he covered his ears. I have since managed to convince him that wearing his light jacket and his hat will give him better mosquito protection. Leila insisted on wearing her swimsuit, even though it was about 50 degrees out.
Who's a silly girl?!
We have bookworms!
Look, Mama, Ethan has a belly button too!

My baby is walking!!

She is officially walking now! We went to Quin's last day of school picnic today, and Gretchen kept walking away from me....

Spring update

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated (as friends and family keep reminding me...). My only excuse is that it's been busy around here: E's been traveling a lot recently and we're getting ready to move to a larger house here in town. The pictures are in chronological order.

Our favorite dive shop is Diva Alaska; I'm hoping to get dry suit certified this summer and do a refresher course so that I can join the rest of the group for diving! I think E and I will swap who has the kids when, so that we each can start taking "diving breaks." Jolene was very kind to offer to take the kids for a weekend so that we can both go diving at least once together.
She really does slurp it up!!
All dressed up and nowhere to go. Well, not quite; we were ready to walk out the door, when "Mama, I have to go potty!" rang out from Quin.

I want to go outside too! (I keep telling her that as soon as she's walking, we can start doing more stuff outside - without the play pen!)
A little bedroom surprise one night - Quin wanted to make sure the elephant was tucked in for bed.
Dada's home!! E came home from Deadhorse when I was watching Leila and Ethan; all the kids were thrilled that he was home and I was beside myself with joy!!
25 April, 2008. We got almost two feet of snow.
Bunny watching. We have two adult gray bunnies, one juvenille black bunny, and three gray baby bunnies in our yard. I don't think the babies have left our back yard yet, but I know the older ones are out and about from talking with neighbors. (Carey - are you coming by to "rescue" these creatures soon??)
Gretchen is almost walking now. She can take about 5 steps before falling down. She's cruising everywhere, and enjoys the challenge of walking between things. This shot was taken before she was cruising a lot, but she was enjoying the vertical aspect of life!

Today we took a bike ride - the first "real" bike ride for two years. When E asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day, I asked for a bike ride. However, due to scheduling conflicts, I didn't get my bike ride last weekend (E was diving - at my insistence), so we went this weekend. We biked down to Zorba's for a gyro lunch (chicken gyros were VERY popular with the kids - next time we'll need two!), then stopped at a park to let some energy loose.

Getting ready to go - the excitement is mounting!
A quick snack while the gyros were cooling.
At the park.
Gretchen fell asleep on Quin's shoulder on the way home, and he was very disturbed by this. The kids had a quick snack before heading off for a good nap.

Gretchen's first birthday

I can't believe my baby is 1! Time moves so much faster than it did just a few years ago. Sigh. She had a great time, although the older kids enjoyed unwrapping her presents more than she did. Next year she'll know all about ripping into wrapped gifts!
I think I want a nap.
A classic Quin pose: waiting to see if something will be loud.
Gretchen wasn't able to "beat" her brother's record of 4 (or was it 5?) cupcakes on her first birthday, but she made a go of it! She managed to eat 3 cupcakes before filling up. Heck, it's her birthday! She managed to fit another cupcake in after dinner. Imagine that.

Skiing!

One of Quin's presents from E and myself was a pair of skis. They're designed to fit over a child's snow boots, and they're quite cute. Today I was finally able to get Quin to go skiing with me in the back yard! Of course, the snow was absolute crap to ski on (a layer of ice on top of the snow, combined with footprints from previous outdoor play), but we had a lot of fun! He did really well, and hopefully we'll get our normal March snow soon so that I can take him out on a tracked trail.

I'm supposed to do what with these things on my feet?
Hey! This is kinda fun!
Look at me go!
Oops - how do I get up again? Oh, yeah, you come and pick me up! (His split lip is from playing at the gym yesterday and falling off the mats, not from skiing. He's fine, although it's still a bit tender.)

We watched this video about 5 times while eating our post-ski snack.

It's been a while....

Quin's three month stats:
Height: 38.5 inches
Weight: 34 lbs

Gretchen's 9 month stats:
Height: 28 inches (70th percentile)
Weight: 17 lbs, 4.3 oz (20th percentile)
Head Circumference: 43.5 cm (35th percentile)
(Yes, I know she's now 11 months old. If you're lucky, I'll post pictures in a month along with her 1 year stats.)

Quin loves feeding Gretchen; it's a very messy affair, so it doesn't happen often. Don't ask me why I agreed to let him feed her oatmeal....

Quin being silly.

Building block towers with Gretchen.

Now don't you wish you were bigger like me??
Quin, Leila, and I built a snowman the other day. We had a great time playing in the snow while Jessica (Leila and Ethan's mom) watched the younger two.

Chubby Little Snowman
A chubby little snowman - had a carrot nose.
Along came a bunny - and what do you suppose?
That funny little bunny - looking for some lunch,
Ate that little snowman's nose - nibble, nibble, crunch.
Nibble - nibble - nibble - nibble - nibble - nibble -CRUNCH!

A pseudo-self portrait; I was taking a picture of Gretchen, and was zoomed out further than expected.
Gretchen being silly.
Presents from Nana and Papa.
Grandma and Grandpa Boa gave Gretchen a tunnel for the holidays, and it's the biggest hit. It was hard for Quin to wait until Gretchen had gone through it once, by herself, before he was allowed in.
Ethan, who is a week younger than Gretchen, has a pacifier. Gretchen doesn't. Gretchen has satisfied her desire for a pacifier by stealing Ethan's whenever they're together. When he isn't around (or when the pacifier is up on the table, out of reach), she uses her sock.
Gretchen loves to pull books from the shelves and look through them. We're trying to break her of the habit of chewing on the books, especially as she usually pulls down the paper books, not the board books.
She's standing! Gretchen has even managed to stand without support, but tends to topple as soon as she realizes that she isn't holding on to anything. Ethan is a "bad" role model because he's walking - I keep telling Gretchen to cover her eyes whenever Ethan is showing off his new skill!
We're all in this together!