Blakely's New Tricks

This week, Blakely has really wanted to hold his bottle himslef... so I finally let him the other night. He is so sweet lying on the floor drinking his bottle.


Today, he woke up from his nap and I heard him rattling the crib a bit... went in and was surprised to see him standing up. We will be lowering the mattress before he goes back in there!

Snowmen

The snow has been so much fun... Colden is going to be SO sad when it melts away. For now, we are enjoying it despite the frigid temperatures!

On Monday evening, Colden got to help build his first snowman. We made it in our neighbor's yard with his friend, Max.

On Tuesday, we bundled up for a little sledding in our neighborhood park. It was 20* out there... so we didn't really last that long. The sun was shining and it was gorgeous though. Even Blakely had fun on the sled!

Later, Daddy and Colden headed back outside to make a snowman in our backyard.

Our first snow of the season

The weather forecast for Seattle is calling for a cold and unusually snowy winter! I'm excited because I know that Colden will love it and although snow has its inconveniences, it is a lot better than rain when it comes to playing outdoors!

Here is our cutie!

Here is picture of our house this morning... there is way more snow now! Notice that we even have a few Christmas decorations up! Colden LOVED helping us and is enjoying the lights and the kissy fish on our Christmas tree.

Snow Update- 3pm

On the Move

Blakely started sitting up (from a laying position) about 2 weeks ago. We were sure he would be crawling at any moment, but he would get on his hands and knees and next thing you know, he was sitting up playing happily. That was great for about a week or so... until this weekend, when he realized that the toys that he really wanted (balls) kept rolling away from wherever he would scoot to and sit. So, now he is full-on army crawling. It must be a genetic defect that runs in the Martin bloodline ;)

Josh, Mac--check this out! I bet he would like to army crawl around with you just like Colden did!

The Wonderful Thing about Blakers...

he's bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!


Thanks Paige... he LOVES it!

Blakers

That's Blakely's nickname... and I love when Colden calls him Blakers. It is my favorite when Colden says "Blakers, Blakers, goodness-sakers" :)

Blakers sat in the high chair and thoroughly enjoyed his first teething biscuit yesterday! He doesn't have any teeth yet, but it tastes just as good without them!

Kinected

Jeremy picked up our XBox Kinect a week ago and we've been having a lot of fun with it. After one weekend of use, Colden has been asking to play with it daily. I actually turned it on today for the first time to listen to a little music. I love the Chris Tomlin station on Last FM.

Here is a video of Colden bowling while we ate dinner last night. Its hard to believe that our 2 year old is playing video games already. I swear, we will not give him his own mobile phone before Kintergarden!

That was 2 strikes in a row!

What What?

That's right... I'm back and I'm blogging. Okay, I'm going to try my best to catch up and stay up to date! I won't even go into the list of excuses that I have for the past 2 months (there are a lot)!

For now, scroll down...

Blakely - 6 Months Old

Our precious little Blakely is 6 months old! So far he has not taken to solids the way his big brother did. Nor does he have comparable chunkers ;)

He and Colden are getting along so well... he loves to ride in the car and get entertained by his big brother. He laughs and laughs when Colden dances or runs around to show off for him. He is also in training for the wrestling team, but not by his choice!

At 6 months he is finally sitting on his own, though I still like to keep him surrounded by pillows. He is also pushing up on his hands and knees, but nothing more at this point. I'm happy with some sitting and playing for a while!

He remains a big boy on doctor's charts, but not in the heavy-weight category (like Colden). He is 17.1 pounds and 27.75 inches long.

This adorable picture of Blakely is compliments of Lynda Kim of Likiki Photography. She does such wonderful work and we are so blessed to have such beautiful memories to keep!

Colorado Family Trip

This has been a very busy month for us! Besides moving to our new home, we also spent a week on vacation in Breckenridge with Amy's side of the family.

The best part of the trip was being with all of our brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews and of course, time with Nana and Paca. Yes, Colorado was beautiful, but we are kinda spoiled living in the Northwest and actually think its prettier here than in CO. We also have the luxury of sleep when residing at home... not so when we are just about anywhere other than home! I'm not really sure why that is, but even my pediatrician said that's just how it goes with little ones {sigh}. I guess it will a few more years before we have a 'real' vacation with our kids!

Highlights from our trip:

White Water Rafting! Amy's first time... not Jeremy's. It was super fun! Our guide, Randy Eddie, as we called him, was quite knowledgeable and entertained our thrill seeking ideas such as rafting backwards through some of the rapids and some other dangerous stunts. He also let Paco (aka Jeremy) ride on the front end of the raft through that last rapid. Despite the dreary start to the day that you see here in this picture, once we got down to the river, it was GORGEOUS and warm through the entire 3 hours that we were on the river.

One of Colden's favorite activites was riding the Gondola up the mountain. When it made stops, he did not want to get off! At the top, Jeremy and I each took a turn taking him up the ski lift to the top where we rode the alpine slide with him. He went a lot faster with daddy than with mommy. They made a lot of money off of the family at $15 per ride!

Second to the gondola and alpine slides was playing with the pool balls at the vacation home! Rolling the balls into the baskets and pulling them out never got old.

For Mom's birthday, we took her to a ranch to ride... this wasn't a trail ride. We were supposed to ride in formation, however, that wasn't super successful! It was a lot of fun... we took of cantering and galloping through the woods where it was safe for the horses to run.

A great trip with many memories... good to be back to a normal sleep schedule in our new home!

Blakely - 4 Months Old

Even thought I've come to expect that time with our little guy will fly by and he is still growing up too fast. I wish I could freeze him right now as he is at such a sweet age! He has started grabbing his feet--which is one of my favorite stages-- cannot keep his hands out of his mouth and is just so happy. He also sleeps a lot, which gives me a break and time for just Colden and I.

I captured this video of our happy little 'Blakers' last week...

4 month stats (really taken at 4 1/2 months)

26.5 inches tall - 95th percentile

16 pounds

Our long and lean guy is on track to be the tallest in the family (so far)!

Goodbye Alley

We are saying goodbye to our second home...

We are excited to be moving into a new home about a quarter mile away from our current home. We were blessed to be able to sell our home very quickly (3 weeks) which was a relief for me wanting to have the house perfect while keeping busy with my two boys. Our new house is spacious, has a nice big yard and sits on the greenbelt! The only thing it's missing is a pool and some sisters to live next door!

Today, garbage day, I am reminded of how thankful I am to be moving to a house that is NOT on an alley! We have 3 big WM trucks that have to go down the alley each way--that's 6 very loud and long disruptions that inevitably occur every Friday during nap time!

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of our new house yet... I'll be sending out our new contact information within a few weeks and will have a picture or two to share at that time.

My Big Boys

Colden got to do one of his favorite things this morning... get his hair cut. This time was different though... he didn't just get the trim around the edges... he got a real hair cut. It makes him look a lot older. He told me "Cole handsome" all morning. Yes, Colden, you are SO handsome!

Even little Blakely is getting big--too fast. He started playing in his walker this week. I fully expected to put him in and let him enjoy the lights and sounds... didn't even think he would move himself. I was wrong! He can already move around!

Better than the lights and sounds is his brother who thinks he is showing Blakely how to do it, but really Blakely just loves watching Colden!

Making Jam

One of my favorite hobbies in the summer is picking berries and making jam. My friends and neighbors all like it too :)

My hobby started three years ago with wild blackberries when my mom came to visit. Last year I picked blueberries and made 6 small jars of blueberry jam. It was so precious, I only gave away 3 jars and that was tough to do since it was our favorite of the jams. So, this year, despite everything we have going on right now, I managed to can 18 jars of blueberry jam. It doesn't seem like that much with as many PB + J sandwiches that Colden and I eat. I have to admit that these are the first berries that I've canned that were not hand picked... but I couldn't miss the opportunity and it wasn't realistic to pick, can jam, move to a new house and leave for vacation all in 1 weeks time!

More Lake Chelan Pics

I had to post a few more pictures from our trip... it sure was beautiful there! Thanks to our friends for the great resort, restaurant and winery recommendations.

We spent our mornings down a the beach playing in the sand. Daddy is a master sandcastle builder. Colden and I waded in the water... Jeremy went for a swim one morning...not totally by choice though--a few of our toys and his sandals were washed out. Blakely was a good sport hanging out under the big shade tree.

Lake Chelan

Daddy took some time off after his work trip to DC, so we headed east to Lake Chelan for a long weekend vacation. It was a beautiful drive to the crystal clear lake with Cascades all around. The boys took time to relax from their hectic schedules at the beach and the pool.
While at the beach, Cole took on J in some tether ball. Daddy had the height advantage, but Cole was exhibiting amazing form! Since Cole has been getting all the active pics on this post...here's a typical shot of Blakely in the stroller showing off for the ladies.

Wrestling Crocs

We took Cole and Blake to the zoo yesterday. We have been telling Cole how rough and tough his cousins are and that we will be seeing them next month in Colorado. Not to be outdone, Cole took the opportunity to demonstrate his Croc wrestling skills. Doesn't like grass or bugs on him, but when it comes to 3 ton crocs...it's on! Not only did he wrestle the croc down, he was taunting him the entire time.

Auntie's Visit Continued...

Stephanie referred to herself primarily as 'Auntie' while she was here. Colden caught onto that and every time he woke up, he asked for Auntie. Even for a few days after she left.

We enjoyed some hot weather while she was here... it was a treat for us and all but one or two days were not hot for Stephanie, which was a treat for her! On one of the hot afternoons, we took the kids to the University Villiage shopping center and stopped for a little fun in the fountain.Steph, thanks for helping me out while J was traveling... I loved our visit!

Our 3 Month Old Blakely

Our precious little Blakely is three months old today. He has been such a sweet baby! Now that he has settled into a schedule over the last month and is sleeping really well at night, it is getting easier.

Colden is a sweet big brother... he shows Blakley some of his tricks and loves to hold his little brother. I am such a blessed mommy to have these two precious boys and to be able to spend every day with them!

Aunt Stephanie

Aunt Steph came to visit while Jeremy is traveling for business this week. She arrived early enough in the week to see Jeremy and to watch the kiddo's so that we could go out on a date (thanks sis). I'm so thankful to have her here to keep me company, but I know the real reason that she came is to play with Colden and Blakely ;)

After our morning walk (Steph pushed the stroller for our entire walk up and down the hills, aka: mountains) we packed up and went to the zoo. We spent just the right amount of time there and headed home before it got too hot.

Since she brought a little wave of Texas heat with her, we spent a little time in the pool this afternoon. So long as we keep the grass, dirt and bugs out, Colden is quite happy playing in the water.

Found!

I would love to blame this on 'mommy brain' but its more realistically the result of my genetic make-up ;) I found my camera neatly in its case in my desk drawer!

At least I found it!

Our Weekend

Independence day shouldn't come and go without a BBQ! We celebrated on Saturday with our 'Kirkland Friends'. AmyCan made ribs (her first time) and they were fabulous. I was in charge of desserts... what says 4th of July better than a sparkling strawberry pie? I also made a peanut butter pie which has lots of cool whip on top (cool whip = summer). It was a super nice evening outside with great friends and kids that all went to sleep so that the adults could have some time too! Sorry that we had to leave before the Rockband party got hot... I still have to wake up and feed the little guy once during the night :)

Check out Lynda's pictures from the BBQ!

On the 4th, we stayed in most of the day--wishing that the weather was as nice as it was in February this year. We've had a lousy spring, but summer is coming this week--just in time for Aunt Steph's visit!

Today we took the boys to Pike Place Market. Colden had fun riding on dad's shoulders and checking everything out. He liked the infamous piano player as well as a the guy playing the guitar and singing in Italian? We also saw some fish get thrown--pretty impressive! We spent a little bit of time at one of our favorite spots selecting cheese, dry cured meats and bread for tonight (yum!). Colden even tasted the cheeses with us. Halibut from our favorite fish monger, some fresh veggies and of course some vino... what a nice way to end the long weekend!

p.s. still haven't found my camera (Lynda snapped some shots from the BBQ though--so check back!)

Highlands Day

Our neighborhood has an annual celebration just before the 4th of July called Highlands Day... This was our first year attending since Colden was finally old enough to appreciate it. Here are a couple of pictures.

He LOVED 'driving' the firetruck... we often see this truck out by the coffee shop and he always remembers the number 73 on it.

He also enjoyed his first pony ride!

Stacking

One of Colden's favorite things to do with his chunky puzzle pieces is to stack them. Daddy started this game and Colden is getting very good at it. Check this out... he did this all by himself!

Boys Will be Boys...

This blog title will probably be repeated many times... all appropriately, I'm sure. This boy behavior was not taught (that I know of... maybe I shouldn't leave the kids with Jeremy--ha!).

Yesterday, Colden got out of the shower, towel on and passed a little gas....

Colden: {innocent pause... fart sound} "stinky gas"
Mommy: "excuse you"
Colden: {giggle} "Colden more stinky gas" {pause, concentrating... fart sound...very proud giggle}
Mommy: "are you done?"
Colden: {ornery look} "more stinky gas" {giggles, grunts and tenses his body... fart sound}
Mommy: "that's enough, lets get dressed"
Colden: {refuses to move, more grunts and eventually another fart sound}

Seriously? Genetics are amazing.

Blakely - 2 Months Old

Well... I've misplaced my camera and am totally lost in blog world without it. I've tried using Jeremy's fancy-schmancy camera, but am not very good with it. I'm always getting shadows from the flash. I'm going to try and catch up a little anyway and hope to find my point and shoot camera soon!

Here is Blakely at 2 months old... he is catching up to his brother in size for sure. I'm not one for giving nicknames, but Colden and I often refer to Blakely as 'little dude'... Colden is 'big dude'. Blakely is a pretty happy guy (if we don't count the 2 days after his 2 month shots!). He is a little more persistent about when he wants to eat... if I don't respond pretty quickly to the initial 'I'm hungry' cry, then he lets me know! Poor guy has to wait on his big brother quite often.

Blakely's 2 Month Stats:

13 pounds

25 inches

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Just a quick post to report that Blakelys 7 week old roll-over was not a fluke. He has continued rolling over... well, I've stopped him a few times or tucked a blanket on his side so that he couldn't roll.

Today, I just left him to play on his tummy and within a few minutes he was on his back, then I flipped him back and within 1 minute he rolled to his back! Then I decide to take a video of it, but he was getting a little cranky. oh well.

7 Week Old Rolls Over

There doesn't seem to be a published world record for how early a baby can roll over, but we are pretty sure that Blakely just set it!

Sorry, no pictures to prove it, but Jeremy was the eye witness and while I didn't see the roll itself, I could see that Jeremy was several feet away in his chair and with his computer in hand, therefore, not interfering.

We are not encouraging him to do this again for a little while ;)

Sic'em Bears

For our Baylor Alum friends and family...

Blakely at 6 Weeks...

Now that Blakely is almost 7 weeks old, I'm finally getting around to posting the picture that I took of him at 6 weeks! He looks especially cute in this precious big-boy outfit that the Erkers sent us!

Sandals

Colden is really into mommy and daddy's sandals... so, this weekend I brought out his sandals that are just like daddy's. He loved them, but walked real slow in them. I don't think he liked the fact that the grass touched his toes, but he eventually got used to it.

He sure is handsome sporting his big brother outfit from Aunt Nee and Uncle Dan. He refers this as his 'diamond' shirt and 'cool' shorts! I admit, I told him his shorts were cool the first time.

Lactation Advice

For my expecting friends... Colden is offering free lactation advice. He is an expert consultant for those who need help using their breast pumps. Not my best photography, but I had to catch this quickly!