On Sept 19th was Jarret's 1st Birthday. It was also the day that we got a couple visitors! Merrill's sister Kelly and her daughter Reagan came to visit! We had lots of fun. Darci loved having a visit from "cousin Reagan"!
On Thursday we rented a van (I can't fit 3 car seats in my car) and drove to the beach. First we headed to Lincoln city were we had some lunch, which wasn't the best idea with the kids. They for sure made a huge mess and could not hold still.

He also got some salt water taffy, of course, from the only place in Lincoln city that makes their own. It was Yummy!

Then we visited the beach. It was pretty cold and windy so we stayed back from the water to sit and play for a bit, then walked to the water for a quick view, until the water went over Reagan's feet and of course it was freezing and she sat down and got all wet and sandy.

 Then we visited the Tillamook cheese factory, pretty much the best part of the trip, although they were cleaning the machines, so we didn't get to see any cheese being packaged and such. :(
We did get to sample some cheese, which is one of the big highlights of the Cheese Factory. We also bought some cheese while we were there. Can't go to a cheese factory without getting some cheese curds, aka squeaky cheese! :)
And the other big highlight was the ice cream! They have some delicious ice cream and some amazing waffle cones, it's like eating a cookie with my ice cream! YUM!

 

On Saturday, we started the morning by taking Jarret and Reagan with us to a 5K race. We all had so much fun. The kids loved riding in the stroller, we walked and ran, and finished in about 42 min.

Jarret's new "cheese" smile!

Dancing in the park after the race.

Next that day was Jarret's Party, here is a little bit from the party, more to come in a later post.

These to were mistaken as twins a few times in our outings over the weekend.

Ready for the prayer. 

On Sunday after church we drove to a park about 30 min away, along a river. I didn't get any pictures of the river, Jarret and Reagan were pretty much fighting us to get in, so we weren't there long. But we got to play at the park for a little while.

Our attempt at a family picture, Darci did not want to cooperate.

While they were here, Kelly and Reagan slept in Jarret's room, so Jarret got to sleep in Darci's room. She was pretty excited about it. After Jarret fell asleep she pulled his bed right next to hers and sat there for a few minutes watching him sleep.

Cousins, so cute.

Darci loved cousin Reagan coming to visit. Thanks for a fun weekend. Come back soon! :)

September

I have been horrible at updating this blog. I would like to keep it more updated, but it's not working out that way. Here is what we've been up to this month!

September 2nd was my moms Birthday, I made some DELICIOUS cup cakes... 

They were almond joy cupcakes, I highly recommend.

Also on that day, Jarret started walking for reals! (he started walking around the beginning of August, but then wouldn't ever do it except random times at home). Then on Mom's Birthday, I put him down at church, and he walked around all day!

Grandma and Grandpa with their grandkids.

 One day I came home from work to this in my living room.

I have been practicing how to make cake balls, because I am teaching a class for enrichment on how to make them in a couple weeks. Darci sure had fun helping me.

Stirring the cake batter

After licking the beater from the red velvet cake mix.

The finished cake pops

 He sure loves bottles, even if they are for Darci's baby dolls

Jarret's first Birthday card. He loved playing with it. (more on his birthday in a later post)

 

Now that Jarret is walking, he climbs on EVERYTHING! I can't do the dishes with him around, without him climbing on the dishwasher.

Darci's attempt to hide from us.

Jarret Walking!

He took some steps last week, and then yesterday he just took off!

This was the only video that would upload.

Just cause

Here are some pictures from recently:

 

 

 

Jarret at 9 months

 Jarret turned 9 months on June 19th (yes, I'm a bit behind on this post). He had his check up, and the Doctor said (as he does every check up) that Jarret is perfect!
His stats:
weight: 18 lbs 12 oz - 30 %
Height 28 1/2 inches - 60 %
head 18 in- 60%

And to compare:
Darci's stats at 9 months:
weight : 20 lbs 15 oz
height: 27 7/8 in
head: 17 1/2

Skills: Crawls everywhere, he can take steps while holding on (he prefers to crawl, he can go faster), loves to make noises; growling, says da , ga, ba over and over, and all sorts of other gibberish, he is constantly making noises, and more growling, even his giggle has a growl to it. Smiles at everyone, cuddles, he is definitely a momma's boy, LOVES his toys. Loves to try to feed himself, especially strawberries.
Here are some pictures:

Cuddling with Grandpa

Pickin strawberries

 He enjoyed playing in the dirt and eating strawberries, he got more on him than actually went in his mouth.

 Watching the dogs at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

These little cups are Jarret's favorite thing to play with, he had a blast crawling around with both of them.

Darci's Birthday was on a Saturday this year. I asked her what she wanted to do, she said she wanted to have a party at Grandma and Grandpa's and eat hotdogs and cake (apparently she really had a good Birthday last year, that's exactly what we did then too!). Here are some pictures, in no particular order.

Jarret LOVES Strawberries (you will see more on that in the next post)!

Darci got to pick out her cake this year! She was SOO excited about her choice, she told the lady at the checkout at Safeway (as she bounced up and down) that she got a PRINCESS cake!

For whatever reason, Randy thinks it's funny to give Darci his frosting, he is not a fan of frosting, especially a lot, so I gave him the corner piece with the most frosting, I should've known he would give it to Darci....

...she wasn't super excited about it. ;)

 

The kids, ready for prayer

 "I this many" or "I three!"

Blowing out her candles

Happy 3rd Birthday Darci

Today Darci turns 3! This morning our conversation went something like this:

Me: ...yay Darci, now you are 3!
Darci: no, I not 3, I 2.
Me: Darci today is your Birthday, now you are 3!
Darci: NO, I not 3 yet, I almost 3! I still 2!
me: ok... when will you be 3? 
Darci: after I eat my Dinner!

She cracks me up! I can't believe my little girl is 3! The time sure does fly. Here are some questions I asked her for her Birthday! (I got this idea from my sister-in-law. It's a cute, fun thing to do every year on their Birthday and see how things change):

1. What is your favorite color? purple

2. What is your favorite toy? My jeep

3. What is your favorite fruit? bananas

4. What is your favorite T.V. show? Mickey Mouse

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Macaroni and Cheese

6. What is your favorite outfit? My new suits (not sure what she is talking about)

7. What is your favorite game? Princess game (the matching game)

8. What is your favorite snack? Fruit snacks

9. What is your favorite animal? rabbits

10. What is your favorite song? Popcorn popping

11. What is your favorite book? Bears in the night

12. Who is your best friend? Wyatt and Easton

13. What is your favorite cereal? Cereals (?)

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? sing

15. What is your favorite drink? Water, at night

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas and Easter

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? All my animal friends

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? oatmeal

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Hot dogs

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A mommy

I was surprised at how well she answered these questions, I was expecting it to be difficult for her to cooperate, but she sat next to me and we went through all of them and she answerd quickly and new exactly what I was talking about, except the last one, she didn't quite get it, so I said "what do you want to be when you get big like Mommy?" So of course her answer was "a mommy!"
We are so excited to celebrate her Birthday today, we started yesterday by taking her to Toys r us (after her dentist appointment) to pick out a toy with some of her Birthday money, she picked out a new puzzle and a mini magna-doodle. And then we went to McDonald's and got to eat inside, her choice and she chose which McDonald's we went to. Silly girl. I pulled into the McDonald's by toys r us, and she said, "No, not this one, the one by Wyatt's house!" (is it sad that she knows just where McDonald's is? I really don't go there THAT much ;)

This picture was taken last week, we went to a children's rodeo in St Paul (she picked out her outfit) and then we stopped at the Woodburn outlet Mall to exchange some clothes. They had this tree made from a ton of flowers, she LOVED it.