DO THE PUYALLUP!!!

One of the great things about living back on the west side of the state is getting to go to the Puyallup fair!  I grew up going - we would even get half a day off of school to go for FREE!  I LOVE THE FAIR!  I love the rides, the games, and most of all the FOOD!  

Fisher fair scones are seriously one of my favorite foods of ALL TIME and every year my family buys at least 2 dozen!  This year, I'm proud to say that in 1 week my family (including extended family) managed to finish off 5 DOZEN!!!  Funny story...my parents came home from the fair with 3 dozen last Friday before our extended fam was going to come over to watch the PLU game on Saturday and my dad was actually worried I would eat ALL 3 DOZEN in 1 night!  Don't worry, I may have 3 in one day, but not 3 DOZEN!  GEEEEEZ!!!

This year we were excited to take Hadley with us to the fair.  I took her to the Spring Fair with my parents, but it is not the same as the big fall "real" fair!  My mom watched Corban so Chris and I could take Hadley to experience her first real fair (we didn't think Corban would appreciate it this year). ;)  

We had a great time!  Our main goal was for Hadley to see the animals that she loves so much in books...well, we saw them but I can't say she loved them as much in person - turns out they are kind of scary!  :)  Her favorite animals were the dogs, pigeons (SICK, I know!), and the sheep - but the sheep managed to scare her when up close and personal as well.  When we walked through the horses she just kept waving and saying "Bye, bye, bye..." in a real uneasy tone because she wanted to get out of there!

Next year will be even more fun with Hadley!

1st Stop - SCONES!!!

Not quite tall enough for rides yet :(

She loves her hat & shades & pointing things out to us ;)

With Daddy

Hadley liked the babies!  Not momma though...

Glad I only have 2 - I will leave it at that

We broke down and got a leash for our busy girl in the big crowds

But it's a fun monkey!  She loves it!

Cruisin' with her monkey

THIS WAS SO FUNNY!  Dude pretending to be riding a magic carpet totally fell right in front of us (he didn't get hurt, don't worry!)!

In petting farm...meet Oatmeal the sheep
"BAA" as Hadley calls them

She actually touched him!
But then the fear set in...

Sheep are scary in person!!! ;)

Her pump is a little more high tech than mine...
I feel for the nursing mommas, can you tell?! :)

ICE CREAM!!!

Pooped from her 1st real fair outing!

Running & Rolling

As if life wasn't moving fast enough with 2 kids under 15 months old...Hadley and Corban decided to pick things up a notch this week!  

This past Sunday after church, Hadley started running and hasn't really stopped yet (although it's not a full out sprint quite yet), and yesterday, Corban rolled over for the first time!  He is not even 7 weeks old yet!  It was a legit roll too because he was on a flat surface without any assistance and he did it 6 times in the course of the day.  Yesterday he was only rolling from his tummy over his right side, but today he decided he wanted to roll towards the left side too. :)  From what I've read most kids don't do this until they are at least 2-3 months old!  

For some reason it really doesn't surprise me though...  

Here's a video of his 2nd official roll over!  The coolest thing was he did it his 6th time for Chris when he got home from work so he got to see him do it in person too!

Fall = Football, Family, & FUN!

My babies in their matching PLU shirts!
Ready for the 2010 football season!

I come from a football family, so fall is a special time for us.  My grandpa, Frosty Westering, coached football for 39 years with 32 of them at Pacific Lutheran University.  He is somewhat of a local legend for football fans as he is the 9th winningest college football coach of all time and an amazing motivator (he has also written 2 awesome books).  My uncle, Scott, is now the head coach at PLU, both my brothers played college and some professional football, my uncle Gary played for the Kansas City Chiefs, I married a football player who played Division 1 at Cal Berkley and then transferred to PLU where he was a 2 time captain (on my Grandpa & Uncle's teams), and now my cousin Kellen is a senior standout receiver for Rogers High School in Puyallup...I even worked for the Seahawks for a couple of years (one of which they went to the Super Bowl!)!!!  

Needless to say, football is the center of most family gatherings and most of our fall activities. :)  Saturday, PLU kicked off their season playing in Minnesota, so my family members who couldn't make it to the game watched the stream of the game over the internet at my parents' house.  It was a great game and the Lutes won!  Everyone hung out the whole day after the PLU game to watch all the other college games on...it was so fun!

Corban's 1st picture with Great Grandpa Frosty
& Great Grandma Donna

After the PLU game, we played in my
parent's backyard!  Hadley was 
collecting pine cones...

In the "Johnny Time Treehouse"
my dad built - she LOVES it!

Baller

Eating breakfast with Great Grandma Donna!

A few weekends ago we made it out to my cousin Kellen's scrimmage for Rogers High School (my alma mater).  It was a great kick-off to football season!  WE LOVE FOOTBALL FALL!!!

Hadley LOVES Kellen!

Corban's 1st Football Game

Daddy telling stories of blowin guys
up on this field in college ;)

Running a 40 yard dash -
she tied with her tiger ;)

Hadley loves football!

6 Week Old Monster

6 Weeks Old

First of all - thank you to those who commented on my last post!  So good to know we still have family and friends checking in on us here and that I'm not just talking to myself! :)  I love to follow all of your blogs too (those of you who have one) - and those who don't, you should start one!  It's funny, but blogging is kind of my outlet in this phase of my life - it's my "happy place" away from dirty diapers, laundry, messes and everything that comes with being a SAHM.  ;)  When I get a blog post up, I somehow feel like I accomplished something in my day when I may not have accomplished anything else but keeping the kids, the dog, and myself alive, fed, and clean (or at least heading in the direction of clean). :)  I see this as a place to record my thoughts, our kids' milestones, and post some of the MILLIONS of pictures that I take and everything in between that I get a chance to share...and even if no one else read our blog, I would still want to do it for us!  BUT it's so much more fun to know I'm not alone in this!!!

Ok, so ANYWAY - Corban had his 1 month check-up at 6 weeks old this past week and confirmed for us that he is a very healthy and GROWING boy!  Nice to know all of his eating at "Dairy Queen" is paying off.  HA!  My parents, Chris, and I were making bets before I took him of how much he would weigh because he is visibly growing so fast (for the record - I think I won the bet)!

He weighed 10 lbs 15 oz (just 1 oz shy of 11 lbs) and was 23.5 inches long.  It is amazing that in 6 short weeks of life he gained over 4 lbs and 3.5 inches in length (he was 6 lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long when he was born).  He is in the 90th percentile for height and 75th for weight...compared to being in the 50th percentiles at birth.  Our doc said he has grown "exponentially"!!! 

It is crazy to think that Hadley was quite a bit larger than Corban at birth and yet at this age, he is bigger than she was at this age.  I think we are going to have a big boy on our hands! :)  At 5 weeks Hadley weighed 10 lbs 1 oz and wasn't 23.5" until she was 2 months old.

Corban is such a great baby.  He really never fusses unless he needs something.  He is very easy going - is a great eater and sleeper.  He hasn't been as great of a night sleeper as Hadley - but he is getting better.  He wants to eat every 2.5-3 hours usually, but he has had some stretches at night of 5, 6 and last night 7 hours between feedings!  YEAH!!!  

My only complaint with him is diaper changes...SO much harder than changing Hadley's diapers and he has peed and pooped on us more times than I can count (we do everything to "shield" ourselves, believe me!).  I can never be mad at that sweet little face though.

Here are some recent pics of our little man...                                     

1 Month Old
(His cheeks have filled out a bit since then, huh?)

Our 6 Week Old Big Boy :)

Tummy Time - strong neck already!

CHECK OUT HOW MUCH HE HAS GROWN!!!

The Big Push

Today is September 8.  Do you know what that means?  It means we are officially 1 MONTH away from moving into our NEW HOUSE!!!!!  Our builder told us October 8th is our "completion" date and the day we can move in - so we are in the final BIG PUSH!  I know what you're thinking...building always takes longer than you think.  But he told us October 8th and I take people at their word, so October 8th it is!!!  I'm secretly hoping they finish before that date - but now that I put it on my blog, I guess the secret is out.  

Speaking of pushing...did you see the above picture?  Yes, that is my 14 month old daughter pushing our COSTCO cart full of things through the store today...including a 40 pound bag of dog food.  She is all over the place these days and could not be contained in the cart.  If she wasn't PUSHING the cart she was flailing and throwing a fit.  So...she pushed the cart.  Chris and I decided she is gonna be a crazy athlete (NOT that we will push her into athletics and will support her in whatever she wants to do)...but she COULD probably be an athlete is she wants to. ;)  She loves balls and throws them as soon as she gets her hands on one, has AMAZING body/spacial awareness, and has old man strength.  I knew Chris married me for my athletic genes...but I digress.

Anyway, check out some pics of our house progress!  SOO EXCITING!    

Ready to be painted!
(the color you see is the color of the raw siding, etc. - NOT our paint color!)

Our kitchen cabinets (there will be an island in the middle)
LOVE IT!!!

Tub & vanity in master bath -
One of the rooms I am MOST excited for!

As a side note - Costco has Jack & Lily winter boots!  For those who don't know - Jack & Lily is a GREAT brand of kid shoes and Costco sells them for about half the price of what you can get them other places.  I had to get Hadley a pair!  I decided to get her the cream color ones instead of pink or brown because I figured they would go with everything.  Believe me, I had the brown ones in our cart for a long time too, but Chris MADE me pick one.  Meany. ;)  Not sure why they put it in the blue box because they don't look very boyish to me!!!  Anywho, just thought I would share - I LOVE COSTCO!!!

PUSH ON!!!!!!!! :)

P.S.  If you are reading this and feel inclined I would LOVE for you to comment!  It's good to know who I'm talking to...if anyone....but I'm used to talking to myself, so no biggie!! :)  HAHA!

Corban's Newborn Pics

When Corban was 4 days old, my brother, Jason, and I did a newborn shoot for him and I have been DYING to share some of the pics we captured!  It has taken me a month just to look through all of the images, pick out my favorites, and edit them, so I am very happy to finally share some of my favorites with you!  :)  Newborns will sleep anywhere as long as they have a full tummy of milk and are warm, so we had fun (and sweated a LOT) trying to pose him. Since then, I have done a couple of mini shoots myself...so these pics are a combination of shots taken/edited by J and me! Let me just say that taking pictures of newborns is VERY challenging in and of itself, but taking them of your OWN child 4 days after labor was an entirely different can of worms! ;)

Anyway, my bro and I are both pursuing photography as more than just a hobby (me in the not as immediate future as I am a little tied up at the moment...HELLO 2 KIDS!) - so it is fun to practice on such a cute little model. ;)  Check out my brother's website and book a wedding with us next summer & tell your friends!!!  http://jasonjohnsonphotography.com
More on that later...

P.S. Corban is a LOT bigger now...so, I will post more recent pics soon- but I had to start with these!!!

He was the same size as the football!