More Hawaii pictures too...

Surfs Up

B's off to make friends as he crawls down the beach.

And we're walking.....

Lunch time at Kimo's, where my first ever meal was ordered. Yummy hotdog, fries and pickles.

Sightseeing in Lahaina

More Hawaii pictures....

Gorgeous sunset view from our condo

Steve and I paddle boarding. Loved it.

Watching the Grey Cup from a bar in Kihei

Boogie boarding is hard work

Catching a wave...go B!!

Thanksgiving...

Okay, so I am WAY behind on my blogging. Let's see, we will start with Thanksgiving. It was a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving for us this year. We took Brecken to Maui with our friends Sam and Kent, Nick, Lindsay and Noah. We left WA. on a very chilly morning (15 degrees) and landed in Maui to a nice 85 degrees. Let me tell you, Palm Trees can really make a person smile!!! We spent 10 fun filled days in Kihei.

This was Breckens first airplane ride and he was a trooper. He loved just looking out the window and smiling at everyone on the plane. Steve and I were more antsy than he was during the flight.

Here is a list of the highlights (cheater way to do this since I am so far behind on my blogging):
1. Boogie Boarding - Brecken loved laying on the boogie board and catching the waves with us.
2. Paddle Boarding - Brecken was a water baby, this kid loves all water sports.
3. Surfing - Steve and I did this fun and difficult activity, but B watched from the beach. We are too big of amateurs for B to do this with us.
4. Snorkeling - gotta love the tropical fish.
5. Sand crawling - Brecken crawled at least a mile everyday in the sand. He would even take a 20 second power rest by laying on his belly, putting his thumb in his mouth, catching his breath and then off he would go again.
6. BBQing every night at the condo.
7. Good Friends
8. Swimming - with our water baby, it made the beach and pool so much fun.
9. Eating - who doesn't love Hawaiian shave ice....B certainly does!!!
10. Sightseeing

Brecken has always been a pretty easy kid but he really proved on vacation how "go with the flow" he really is. He barely ever got a regular nap, when he got too tired, he would just pass out on us at the beach or pool. He never went to bed on time but wasn't cranky about it and he tried everything when it came to food. We are so lucky and blessed to have this little guy. He really makes everything more fun.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Playing in the pool

Lovin the kiddie pool with sand

First plane ride.....

Fun Sunday Outing

We took Brecken to Snoqualmie Falls last Sunday to do a little hike, until we got there and found out the trail is closed until 2013. It was still fun to peer through the fog to look at the falls and walk around. Brecken loves riding in the backpack.

Halloween and other fun stuff.....

Geez, whose hair does Brecken's take after....so curly just like his mommies. This is what it looks like when it is all wet or we put product in it. It is hilarious, he has barely any hair on top but then a total party full of hair in the back. Complete old man hairline.....with curls!!!!
B loves to eat. He definitely lets you know when he is hungry and is pretty good about eating anything. He has really enjoyed spaghetti, as you can see on his face.
We also discovered that Turkey meatballs make him very happy. This is his big smile after trying them out for the first time. He went from eating one meatball to eating two in one sitting within a day. YUMMY!!!
B was a Silly Little Seal for Halloween. He loved his costume and loved himself in his costume. He would just crack up when people were looking at him and talking to him and just loved that the ball came off his head and you could throw it back on to the velcro. Steve was in the Netherlands for work on Halloween so our friends Nick and Lindsay and their little boy Noah came over to trick or treat in our neighborhood. (not sure where those pictures of the kids are) We had a great time going around the neighborhood watching Noah gather up all his candy. B was in his stroller, and we didn't have him collect candy since he is too little to eat it and I didn't need to have it in the house for myself!!!

Cake Shot and Birthday Dinner....

We took B to Red Robin on his birthday. He loved his fries and cantaloupe but what he was super excited about was his balloon that they brought him. They sang to him, which he just stared at them the whole time, no emotion, and about 30 seconds after they were done and had walked away he clapped....we are pretty sure for himself!!!! He tried some ice cream but didn't seem too interested. Is this kid really mine, where is his sweet tooth?!?!
We got to turn his car seat around. This is a big deal, he has never been the biggest fan of his car seat but now is thrilled to see where we are going instead of where we just were.


A few cute little cake shots of him at his birthday party.

Don't Count Me in Months, I am 1 Now!!!!

October 17th was a bittersweet day. This last year has been so amazing for Steve and I and we can't even imagine our lives without Brecken, but it has gone by so quickly. I just think, wow, we only have 17 more years until he is out of the house and that just doesn't seem long enough. I am sure once he hits his teenage years it won't come fast enough but for now, we just love our little "nugget" and cherish all of the time we get to spend with him. His smiles and cuddles just light up our family.

Brecken turned the big O-N-E on the 17th. He had a great weekend full of celebrations. On Saturday the 16th we had a fun little party for him at our house. He had a great time playing with all the kids and trying out his cake. He wasn't a big cake eater but had fun playing with the frosting.
After I smashed the cake in his face and had him sit on it, we rinsed him off in the sink so he could get back down on the floor and play with his friends.
He had lots of little helpers to get his wonderful presents unwrapped. He is now loving all of his new toys and constantly is giggling with excitement to play with them. Thank you to everyone for helping to make Brecken's first birthday so special.
B has a love affair going with the vacuum. Great for me, so I can vacuum when he is up, but he chases it around like crazy. He always is hugging the canister and standing by it when I leave it out for him to play with. I keep telling him that when he is old enough, he will regret it because vacuuming will become his chore. It is so cute how he gets so excited about it that I takeit out just for fun sometimes!
Finger painting is so much fun. He loves to squish the paints around the paper, and himself. We frame his artwork and hang it in his room. Our own little Picasso...

1 year down and many more happy moments to go. Thank you for you, Brecken. We love you.

Standing and Stair climbing...What?!

Brecken is 11 months old, we can't believe it!!! As his mom, I am a bit bummed that he is almost a year old, but also so excited for all of the changes he has gone through in the last few weeks. He is not only climbing up on everything, he is pulling up all the way to a stand. He is also climbing our stairs. These changes came up so fast. One day he was barely pulling himself up, the next he was on his feet in front of all of the furniture.

We took a road trip to Montana to Steve's cousins wedding. Here is Brecken at a park in Ritzville, where we stopped for him to get a little play time. He loves parks!

Here we are at the wedding. Brecken was a champ staying up late and even crawling around the dance floor getting his groove on.

Climbing on everything....

Brecken is absolutely obsessed with climbing up on everything. The fridge, the dishwasher and Jagers doggie basket are his favorites. He has tons of things around the house to climb up on but of course, the tv stand always draws his attention. We have to distract him with something else at least 100 times a day to get him to stop going over to the tv stand.

Brecken has now started pulling himself up in his crib so the moving part of his mobile had to be taken down. It is funny, he still looks for it but it was too big of a hazard to leave up. Luckily for his parents, this hasn't disrupted his sleep.

Lots of firsts...

Brecken is 10 months old and I can't believe it. He is too close to being one. I am just not ready for that yet. He has been army crawling and pulling up on everything he can around the house. He is so loud when crawling around because he is always so excited. His smile is the best and we are so lucky that he shows us his smile all of the time. His teeth are coming in. He has his two bottom middle teeth, and on the top, he has his two fang teeth. His smile is just a crack up. The older he gets, the more fun he becomes. We love being with Brecken and because he is so easy going, we are able to take him everywhere. Life really is great.


We went to the Seahawks PreSeason game against the Packers with Courtney, Troy and their daughter Chanelle. We had Brecken wear his noise reduction ear muffs so that it wasn't too loud and he thought he was the cutest little guy ever in these things. He kept them on the whole time. Thanks Hertz family for taking us to the game. Your seats are awesome. As you can see, we are right at the field. The seats were in the first row and amazing. Brecken was definitely into watching the glittery cheerleaders.

This picture is just too funny. His shirt says "My Dad is Rad" and he was cracking himself up while I was trying to take a picture to send to Steve at work. He loves his daddy.


Brecken and I spent a day up in Sudden Valley with Courtney, Chanelle and Denman playing at the beach. Here is an attempt at a picture of them all paying attention but there was just too much going on. Brecken loves these kids and has so much fun with them. The beach was great and we had a wonderful time.

It is exhausting to relax on a boat!!!!

Our friend Lee has a boat and invited us out for Brecken's first boating experience. It was a gorgeous Seattle evening and even though Brecken has to wear his ridiculous life vest, he loved the whole experience. He wasn't afraid of the boat and even got to see some wakeboarders. We would hold him up into the wind and he would just smile and giggle. Thanks Lee for such a fun night.

1st Mariners Game...

Brecken went to his first Mariner's game. In surprising fashion, the M's lost, but the game was still a ton of fun. I don't think he paid much attention to the actual field but he had a blast looking at everything around him.

That is Brecken sticking his tongue out at the M's. He says, "Come on guys, do something at least"!!!

We ate dinner at the Hit it Here cafe. It was Steve and I's first time in there and it is a great place to go for the games.