Mother's Day Hike

Fun Mother's Day with Dan and the kiddos at Arastradaro Perserve 

Happy Birthday Graham!

Graham, we can't believe you're 1! What a crazy, joyous, exhausting, plentiful, adjusting, year we've had with you! You are such a funny little baby. You like to eat a million berries, throw balls, crawl at lighting speed, take things apart, wrestle in you brother's bunkbed, knock down castles, rip magazines, pull down all the DVD's, take knobs off of dressers, your Johnny Giraffe, snuggle your Mommy, say "Ut-hmm," charge up and down staircases, pour sand, splash water, crawl through grass, take nature walks, only drink out of a specific kind of bottle, the song "Yay-Boo", clapping your hands.

You are very very active. Every time we drop you off in a nursery program they tell me that you are "so busy for your age." You are constantly climbing and moving. You figure out how to do things quickly and do them a million times. You are not afraid of any physical feat and you think you can do anything.

You are so adventurous, You scrapped all of the skin off your chin throwing yourself down slides head first and going up and down tall play structure steps. You don't mind getting hurt. You cry hard and feel better fast.

You can be very thoughtful and pensive. You have a depth and sweetness about you that make me surprised that you are so tough and rowdy. You are contented and happy most of the time. 

You love a game - putting on hats and glasses and pulling them off, rolling balls, peek-a-boo, silly songs, anything interactive. You love your favorite people in your family and are nervous of being left with strangers. 

You are so playful and love to giggle your deep laugh.

As adventurous as you are, you need Mommy close by, You are always crawling over to Mommy and begging to be held and carried around. You would be held all day if Mommy could do it. You point at where you want Mommy to take you and your sounds are very communicative about what you want and how you feel. 

We couldn't love you more if we tried little Graham Barrett. We are so glad you are 1 today. We want to keep you forever.

First Lost Tooth

Jackson had a special event in his life today - he lost his first tooth! It was super wiggly for a few weeks and Dan offered to pull it out during dinner. I insisted on finishing our food before the whole family got absorbed in the exciting moment. We took a few before and after pics of Jackson's beautiful smile. I can't believe how much my boy in changing all the time. He's getting tiny freckles, is getting great at t-ball (he decided he wants to be a pro baseball player when he grows up), is nearly reading, and is almost 6! What an amazing transition for us into this next stage of development for Jackson. It makes me so glad I still have Graham's baby cheeks to snuggle as Jackson grows into a young man. He kept on saying "I can't believe I lost my tooth!" all evening.

 Excited face!

Sweet Jackson Timothy. Just so handsome to me!

Here we go, Daddy's pulling

Somewhat alarmed by the blood. We didn't really mention details like that ahead of time.

Feeling a little upset

Little front tooth

These two, hugging and hamming it up!

Victory! Now he's giddy with excitement

Loves his new smile. Going to take some getting used to for his mommy 

Tahoe Spring

The "shoulder months" are an interesting time to visit Tahoe. The summer hub-bub has not yet started and skiing has quited down, so it's a mellow place to be for spring break. We took a little trip with Vineyard small group friends the Chans and Morrisons.

We woke up the first morning to a huge inflatable motorized shark that "Mr. Brice" brought. We were surprised and the kids were delighted to launch him off the stairs

Graham's not sure what to think

Hike time

Noah wasn't feeling very energetic, or maybe he doesn't like his picture taken.

This hike was the picture-taking opportunity of the year

Assembling pigs in a blanket

 At Lake Tahoe. Graham increasingly doesn't enjoy the kids holding him for pictures. He's so cute, I don't mind if he protests a little. 

Baby likes his Mommy

First geocashing experience! Hunting and looking for clues

Geocashing experience #2. Kids thought it was so cool

Sweet baby with a great Daddy.