Fun from the week

95% of Rooke's wardrobe comes from either a grandparent or a hand-me-down. Rooke was super excited about these new frog boots that came from our buddy, Elijah. So excited, in fact, he insisted he wear them first thing in the morning!

I love morning cuddles with our son. He still loves reading books with us and, most mornings, will ask to read after we finish breakfast. It's not uncommon for our snuggle-reading to last thirty minutes!

Friday morning, Rooke and I piled into Sarah's van with her kids and we drove thirty minutes for some serious farm fun! Here are the kids, showing off their boots (and enthusiasm), ready to go!

Our group digging up potatoes. It's very rewarding to pull your dinner from the ground with your own hands.

Rooke found a potato that was almost too heavy for him to carry to the bucket!

Rooke knows that farmers need a good nutritious snack after digging up so many vegetables.

The Boy Can Eat!

Rooke loves to eat. That's all there is to it! Tonight we had turkey meatloaf for dinner. He had finished what was on his plate and said, "More meatloafer, please!" Crack me up!

This first video is from Texas: enjoying watermelon and Nana's patio - a perfect combination!

And this video is a special shout-out to Big Daddy. My dad makes killer enchiladas. I've never known anyone who didn't love them! We documented Rooke's first time experiencing this family-famous-food.

And finally, having nothing to do with my son's ability to chow down, I wanted to share some pictures from a recent baby shower! My friend, Sarah, (who is now my neighbor!) and I are both having girls about two months apart. Another friend in our community group hosted a shower/tea for the ladies in the group to honor both of us. Her efforts were an incredible display of creativity, thoughtfulness, and fun. Thank you, Lauren!
This was at the front door as you walked in . . .

Have you ever seen a table for tea set so beautifully?!

Most of the girls from our group . . . I had a fantastic time spending the afternoon with them!

Last of Texas

Visiting the fire station was on Nana's "things to do with Rooke" list and after several visits, on the last day, the station was open!

Rooke loved sitting in the driver's seat and kept asking us to close the door so he could "push the buttons". Um, no.

We met my dear friend, Alora, and her three boys at a park.

Rooke liked having some other kids to play with.

We loved Nana's back patio! Most mornings, Rooke was ready to play after breakfast before I could get him out of his pajamas!

Mmmmm . . . watermelon! Yes, it was just the three of us who produced that large plate of rinds!

One last trip to the park . . .

Thank you, sweet Nana, for a wonderful trip! The time spent with you couldn't have been better.

Texas: Take 2

When we flew in, my dear friend, Tricia, picked us up from the airport and we stayed with the Dealy's before heading to Nana's. We got to meet Baby Myla, only five weeks old!

Thankfully, so far Rooke doesn't seem to mind if I hold or show affection to a baby. I'm hoping this quality stays after Baby Girl is born! But he wasn't too happy about Nana holding Myla and wanted her to sit with him! She didn't mind.

Andrew was Super Dad, taking care of Rooke and Myla (in the sling) at the park while Tricia and I talked. Rooke still says, "I love you, Andrew".


Grammy Deb and G-Daddy drove down for a visit!

G-daddy and Rooke playing the "drum" at the park

Thanks, Grammy Deb, for the hat!

This new bubble machine was a hit! We've been playing with it all week.

A Terrific Trip to Texas

Earlier last week, Rooke and I boarded a plane and flew to Texas! It's my last trip before our baby girl comes, and Rooke's last trip for free! We've been having a wonderful time, hanging out with friends, a special visit from G-Daddy and Grammy Deb, and spending lots of time with Nana. I couldn't get the pictures to upload in the order I wanted them in, and am too tired to figure it out now, so here are some random shots from the first few days of our trip. More to come later.

We spent the morning at the zoo with Nana and this was probably Rooke's favorite part: riding the 5-minute train from one end of the zoo to the other!

Checking out the flamingos in honor of our Bradford friends!

How long until he realizes that if you put money in these things, they are way more fun?!

We took a trip to the local library to stock up on books for our stay. Nana never moved from her chair and, as you can see from the table, Rooke was busy bringing books for her to read!

We took advantage of Coldstone's free icecream night! Rooke got his own bowl, and my name was drawn in the raffle for a free t-shirt prize!

I love this picture. Rooke thought it was funny to kick his feet like Nana. Precious.

Motor Mouth

I thought I'd share some of the more recent conversations we've had with Rooke. . .

While driving:
Me: "Rooke, look at the ambulance!"
Rooke: "That's firetruck!"
Me: "Well, it has sirens like a firetruck, but it's an ambulance."
Rooke: "That's firetruck!"
Me: "Nope. It's an ambulance."
Rooke: (hesitating after a slight pause) "Mmm . . . kinda firetruck"

This morning, while Ryan was pouring his coffee:
Rooke: "Coffee, please"
Ryan: "You want some coffee?"
Rooke: "Like Daddy, drink coffee!"
Ryan: "Ok, have a drink"
Rooke: "No, no, no, no, Daddy drink."


If he likes someone/something, he'll say, "Hi, Daddy!"
If his feelings are stronger, he'll follow that with, "Good morning, Daddy!" (any time of day)
And if he's really wanting to show affection, he ends with, "I love you".
While taking a walk the other day, he pointed to a leaf and said, "Pretty leaf. Hi, leaf! Good morning, leaf! I love you!"

His first real sentence, while "helping" me fold clothes . . . . I held up one of Ryan's t-shirts and asked Rooke what it was. He replied, "That's my daddy's t-shirt." What?!

The beginning of the week

Our week started with a walk downtown (yes, we now live close enough to downtown Seattle to walk around!) to a new toy store. Three moms with five kids in tow heading to a fantastic toy store! I was about to pay for a little bus that Rooke found (wishing he had found something else because we have SO MANY WHEELS in our toy box) when one of my friends pointed out a little basketball hoop. Memories of our buddy, Corbett, playing with the same toy a few years ago flashed in my head and I was sold. After Rooke's nap that afternoon, we busted out the new toy and had so much fun! Big Daddy will be proud of his dunking skills!

Then Rooke decided I needed to lay down on all the pillows he could find.
"Lay down, Mommy, lay down. One more pillow. Lay down!"

Rooke and I headed to a park to give Ryan a chance to study without 3-foot-red-head interruptions. It was a beautiful day for burning some energy.

Catching his breath after all the running. Can I just say that I think my son is adorable? I do. Even with his dorky-looking blue socks and shorts combo (he's outgrown his summer sandals!).

And yesterday we spent the afternoon with James and Averie (and their moms!). I've always said that Rooke is not very aggressive, but I have to qualify that statement. When food is involved (his love language), he's like a bully linebacker. Any time I turned away during "snack time", he was gobbling up the other kid's crackers.

Sweet friends: Jessie (with brand new Saisha Jane) and Jaime. We put the kids down for naps and munched on cookies while watching a movie - so fun!

New Table

I have done a horrible job of taking pictures this entire week. I either forgot my camera or just didn't think to capture the moments. We went to the zoo with some friends, walked to our "new" park with Daddy, spent a morning at the library (Seattle's Central branch is one of the coolest libraries I have ever seen!), hung out with the Porters, and today . . . I finally took a picture of our deal-of-the-week: a table for Rooke! He thought it was pretty cool that he got to eat his post-nap snack at his own table!