Artwork

Ryan has been bringing home the most amazing art projects since starting Co-op 3 years ago.  He also brings the coolest projects home from daycare.  And now Kendall is bringing home her own artwork, too.

I decided it would be fun to share some of the latest:

Ryan's Valentine holder

Snowman by Ryan

Painting by Kendall

Jet coloring by Ryan

Eight Months

Natalie has hit the 8th month mark, and she's crawling!  She started figuring it out last week, and has just taken off.  This week she figured out that she has no boundaries. She can get to whatever she wants, whenever she wants.  Unless of course there is a Mom or Dad roadblock in the way.  She also starting pulling herself up to standing.  We're really in trouble.  I can't believe how fast it happened.  One day she was crawling and now she's standing.  Oh, brother!

She is so content to play on the floor with her toys.  We all love watching her explore!  We're all working really hard to keep paper out of her reach.  It's the first thing she goes for and it's in her mouth in an instant.  And then she coughs and chokes and throws up.  Not so fun.  Paperback books are her favorite.  It only took her ruining one of Ryan's favorites for him to get the picture.

Ryan and Kendall adore her more and more each day.  They love making her laugh and trying to get her to follow them.  Just imagine how you get a puppy to come to you, that's exactly how they treat her, "Come, Natalie, Come".  I love, love, love watching them interact.  Ryan has started calling her "Natal" which cracks me up.  Not like in pre-Natal, but "Natal" like in Natalie without the "eee" on the end.

She's starting to wave, we think.  She lifts her arm in the air when David comes home as if she's waving.  She doesn't move her hand but we definitely think she's waving.  After her little wave, she crawls right over to David and pulls on his leg as if to say, "Up, Daddy, Up".  It is so sweet to watch.

She started eating solids with ease.  It was such a challenge before, she would constantly push the food out with her tongue and fuss and whine.  It was such a struggle.  Now, she loves to eat her veggies and cereal.  She gobbles it right up and is so happy.

She is one happy little girl, and what a joy Miss Natalie is.  Her bright eyes and her smile just light up our hearts.

Santa's In the Tub

Natalie did a face plant in the bubbles and came up looking like Santa!  Ryan, Kendall and I thought it was pretty funny! Ho, Ho, Ho!

All You Need Is Love

We hope your day is filled with Love!
Happy Valentine's Day!

Natalie's Busy Day

Rolling

Rocking

Pulling herself up!

Natalie has been so active these last couple weeks.  She rolls to get whatever she wants.  She's OH SO CLOSE to crawling, and she's even pulling herself onto her knees.  We are going to be in big trouble pretty darn soon!  Let the child-proofing begin...

The McNamee Visit

My sister Jen and her family came to visit us at the end of January.  The kids had SO much fun playing with each other, and having 10 people under our very small roof for 5 nights went remarkably well!  It was so fun to watch the cousins play and interact.

Kendall keeping Auntie Jen busy.

Leapster time!

The girls coloring.

Happy Birthday Jen!  We celebrated at WildFin!!

Luke loving up Natalie.

On Sunday, Jen, Chuck and David took the older kids to Mariner Fan Fest and the Boat Show.
They had a blast!

In the dugout.

Running the bases.

Bumper boats!

David and I took the kids to the aquarium on Saturday.  We walked in to Hawaiian music, leis and hula dancers!  What a treat! It just happened to be Hawaiian Day!  So much fun.

Jack checking out the sea stars.

Watching the puffins being fed.

Look Close!  We got to see the new baby otter.  She was only 2 weeks old.  We watched her ride around on her mom's belly, then her mom dropped her off and we could really see how fuzzy and cute she was.

Sunshine in Seattle

What beautiful weather we've been having in Seattle.  On Saturday it was sunny and 60+ degrees.  Gorgeous!  The kids and I decided to take advantage of the sunny skies and head to the beach.  Ryan and Kendall had a blast throwing rocks in the water, walking on the logs and watching a train go by.  What an awesome afternoon!

Kitchen Helpers

The nights I'm flying solo get a bit crazy around dinner time.  I try my best to plan ahead and prepare as much as possible, but something usually goes wrong and all 3 kids are screaming!

By allowing Ryan and Kendall to help me prepare dinner has calmed the chaos a bit.  This is what the kitchen looks like when we're in the thick of things.  It's a bit hard to maneuver around, but it's much better than listening to screaming kids.

Just in case the stove catches fire I have 3 personal firemen to lend a hand!

Snow Tally

**NOTE** I realized I forgot to post this when I meant to!

We ended up with about 9 inches of snow last week.  There was no school for Ryan all week, I missed a day of work and David's restaurant was closed for 3 days because they had no power.

We loved having snow.  Walking to the store was much more adventurous for sure!

Kendall even jumped in to help shovel the sidewalk.

Too bad it melted in 2 days.

Natty

Roly Poly

Natalie is definitely on the go.  Even though she's not crawling, she gets what she wants by rolling.  She gets where she wants to quite quickly.  It's fun to watch her explore her knew found freedom.

She's already quite good at getting herself into some tight spaces.