Holiday fun

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Halloween and other silliness

Our little guy was a "rock star" for Halloween this year. This was an easy costume to create, but I didn't realize the tattoos would stay on forever. He has been rockin' an eagle tattoo on the back of his neck for quite some time now.

Are you there Haley? It's me, blog.

We'll, we've had a ton going on lately and I've been horrible about posting, but there are plenty of pictures to come.

Here is an oldy, but goodie. The view from our house while I was packing up the last of the apartment. My little helper...

Professional pics

We recently had some professional pictures taken by the fabulous Kelly Dunning with Punky Pie Photography. We had so much fun at our shoot at Edgefield, and got some great shots!

1.5

I am officially 1.5 years old!

- I talk all the time. My favorite words are daddy, doggie, mommy, uh-oh and of course, ball. I just started asking mommy "what's that?" all day long.
- I am not only walking, I am running. I can go up and down stairs and kick a soccer ball. I am a very, very busy little boy.

- I am getting into the fall football season by saying and motioning, touchdown!
- I am very independent, I like to try to do things myself.
- I am open to trying more new foods and discovering that vegetables are yummy.
- I still love to sleep and usually go down pretty easy.
- I have grown four inches since my 1st birthday.
- I have just had my fifth haircut.

Happy half birthday Cole!

Mt. Rainer

We spend a weekend at a cabin on Mt. Rainer with our dear friends the DeHaans. It was a one-of-a-kind setting and Cole soaked up lots of play time with his buddy Kaleb.

Random cuteness

Every girl's crazy about a sharped dressed baby

picnic

fun in the sun with cousins

STP

This weekend Jeff and his friend Martin completed the STP (Seattle to Portland) bike ride. After 16 hours of riding and 202 miles they arrived in Portland, amazingly with smiles on their faces and still friends. They left the University of Washington campus at 6am and rolled into Portland around 10pm the same day. Amazing!

16 months old

So much happens in a year!

Beach weekend

Jeff surprised us with a weekend away at the beach for the 4th of July and to celebrate my birthday! It was Cole's first time at the beach, and he HATED the sand. We tried several times to get him to warm up to the idea but he just wasn't having it. The pictures say it all. We were joined by our friends Tammy and Tim for a night and had a wonderful time relaxing in our cozy cabin.

Weekend in NYC

View from Top of the Rock

Fountain in Central Park

The Lake in Central Park

Famous Magnolia cupcakes in Greenwich

In front of the Seinfeld restaurant

Staten Island Ferry

View from top of East Houston Hotel

We took a long weekend trip to New York City to celebrate our birthdays (30 - yikes!) and get away for a bit. We had a wonderful time running around the city and checking out all of the different neighborhoods and well known sites. In four days we packed in: a morning jog over the Brooklyn Bridge, a visit to Rockefeller Center, hours spent roaming around Central Park, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, Chinatown, the Financial District and Union Square, a trip on the Staten Island ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, a Mets vs. Yankees game at Citi Field and much more. We stayed in a darling little hotel in Soho and Jeff was a master at navigating our way on the subway. We missed Cole a ton but it was great to get away together.

Bruiser

We are sad to share that our beloved dog Bruiser passed away last week. While we were in New York, my parents found him and he had stopped breathing. We do not know what took his life, it was sudden, and we hope he didn't suffer. He was only three years old. He has been with us since we first married and provided joy, comfort and many laughs while he was with us. He was a good buddy to Cole and always protected him. Bruiser has been a special and much loved part of our family, and we already miss him so much.

three friends + water table = hours of fun

We were in Seattle last weekend and got to catch up with some good buddies. It's amazing that our once mini babies are now cruising around getting into all kinds of trouble. They played long and hard, and Cole slept most the drive back to Portland!

Water table fun

Barrett & Cole

15 months old today

I like to read books by the hour

I love playing with any kind of ball

I give kisses and hugs all the time

I love music and dancing

I actually like bedtime

I have an adorable underbite

I am learning new words everyday

I will walk when I am ready

I have my mom's sweet tooth

Stinkin' cute