I wanted to post a few videos for the grandparents in WA to be able to watch:

1st family vacation!

We had our first family vacation to WA!!! It was so fun, and Braden is a great little flier. We got to spend time with my parents and Kustin's whole family. I got to see my sweet little niece, Kylee for the first time (she is such a cute little snuggler!) and we got some cute pictures of all three little cousins in the Peterson family. Addi was so sweet and loved to give Braden kisses. We also got some video of Braden talking and smiling, he's doing a lot of that these days and we are loving it!

Justin thinks this hat makes him look like a girl (only when the brim is flipped up like that), but I think it is so cute! It's going to be his sailing hat for our this summer. We are excited to get out on the water again!

Cute Kylee!

A beautiful view of Mt. Rainier from Tacoma

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Braden's first trip to the Zoo

Play time and sleepy time with Grandpa

Fun and cute little cousins!

Braden's helping Grandma decide what groceries to buy

Who's on First...

I have a great and very hilarious family. Brian (my brother) has always been amazingly talented and comfortable in front of a crowd, with a great knack for making people laugh. Anyway, he did this parody of Who's on First (by Abbott and Costello). He's the one in the suit. Just thought we'd share the laughs. I would love to post the video right here, but I have no clue how to get it on here (help Linds!). Come to think of it, I'm not even sure how to set this up as a link so you can just click on it instead of having to cut and paste. (help?) So, until I figure that out, here is the website for anyone wanting to watch...enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoffuMKEoDE

Play for Good!

Okay, so I work for a program called Up to 3 Early Intervention. (Most people aren't very familiar with Early Intervention programs, so if you want to know more about that you cand read the last paragraph of this post.) We are part of the Center for People with Disabilities, and they have this really cool thing set up on their website where you can play a game and raise money for the programs that are run by our Center. It's hard sometimes, especially with the economy, to raise money. So they found a way that people can do something that requires no money and still be giving. It's a pretty good idea, I think. What happens is every time someone plays, advertisers and the people that make the games give our program money for hosting them on our website. It's totally legitimate - I promise they are not selling information or anything like that, in fact you don't even need to give any of your information if you don't want, you can just get on there and play. They have these science questions that I find so interesting! Like the fact that a kangaroo is only 1 inch long when it is born?! Who knew? Anyway, they have other games on there too. I'm just kind of a nerd and like to learn interesting little facts like that. (Also interesting to note that a kangaroo doesn't drink. Crazy.) So get on and play to help people with disabilities recieve some great services!

http://cpdplayforgood.org/

Wow, I took a long time to say all of that, sorry. For anyone interested: Early Intervention programs serve kids from birth until 3 with developmental delays or disabilities (everything from severe diagnosed disabilities to minor speech or motor delays). They are federally mandated, so they have them all throughout the country and usually they operate under the State Health Department. They work with families to help get their kids age appropriate skills, or as close to it as possible, so they can set them up to succeed when they get to school and in life in general. Research has also shown that kids can make so much more progress, much faster, when they are younger, than if they wait until they are school-age. So that's what I do. I work with families in their home, with teams of therapists (e.g. physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, behavior specailists, dietician, nurse...you name it) to teach parents how to teach their children and work with their kids everyday to provide them with the skills they need. I help coordinate families' services, provide families with the supports and resources they need, as well as do assesments and family training in their homes with them. It's a great job. I have been really blessed to love my work and the people I work with, both families and co-workers. Just for anyone who wanted to know, that's what I do.

Random things...

Here are a few random things in our lives...

Just a beautiful sunset from our window.




Some long lost friends came to visit Braden and I, and we had a great time playing Farkle! I love these guys!



Braden is starting to giggle and has gone 7 hours between feedings at night two or three times this week! He is so much fun and has very random positions that he sleeps in. I walked in to check on him and found him with one arm draped across his neck and the other flopped out to the side of him. He always seems to sleep with his arms flopped out in random positions. He also likes to squirm around and I will find that he has squirmed around and moved his body and the little wedge thing that fits around him turned 90 degrees.
We had his two months appointment this last week and Braden survived his shots. He is 12 lbs now. 23 in. long, and in the 75th%ile for his weight, th 60th%ile for his height, and the 40th%ile for his head size. We apparently have a chubbly little guy, except that he doesn't have very many rolls. He is starting to get a bigger belly though. I call it his little doughnut.

- Our washer exploded!



Okay, our washer didn't reaaly explode. In fact, I wish I could say the mess you see is because of that, but it is really just the fact that I haven't done laundry in way too long. It feels good to look at that picture now and think that all those clothes are put away in closets! Whew!