Well with the chaos of life with 2 littles, we kinda forgot about the blog. Now we are preparing for baby #3 and it is time to get caught up! Nothing like a new baby to remind you of all the things you have not done yet...such as Wes's baby book :)
In January, we took a family trip down to Bend and rented a house in Sun River with two of our friends. While the moms went to an emergency medicine conference, the kids enjoyed the pool and hikes of Sun River as well as the high Desert Museum in Bend - while the Dad's went skiing at Mt. Bachelor. We blocked off a day for Jessica to have a ski lesson, as it was one of her goals of the year. While Mac, Elliot and Wes watched - Jessica got quite good at skiing and made it up and down the beginner hill with ease. This was capped off with a Mom and Dad snowshoe through the woods outside of Sisters, while Jessica, Elliot and Wes adventured at the High Desert Museum.
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| They LOVE sledding! |
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| Wes's doll AJ |
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| Mom and dad got to cross country ski! |
In the beginning of February - we met Andrea! She arrived from Mexico and got right down to the business of getting use to the chaos that is our family. We kicked it all off with a trip to an Indoor sky diving park for a hello / goodbye present to Andrea and Jessica. Elliot even took a turn flying in the tunnel and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!!! About this time, Wes decided that he would like to start potty training himself and so we started on a 2-3 month process of getting him used to the potty and with some ups / downs. We also, about this time, were able to go public with the fact that CRYSTAL IS PREGNANT WITH OUR THIRD! We are so excited to have a new baby on the way and become a family of five. We took several trips to the mountain with Elliot's new ski gear and she really started to get the hang of it. We skied a little bit at Timberline and mostly at Ski Bowl - which has a smaller learning hill and a magic carpet. Elliot is getting to the point where she can navigate the hill all by herself - although she skill likes to have someone hanging onto her "safety straps." At the end of February -our friends the Shelmerdines came into town for the weekend. Their older son, Tristan, and Elliot are great friends and it was fun to see our friends down from Washington. We visited the zoo and enjoyed the beautiful weather!
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| Andrea has arrived! |
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| Who needs pants? |
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| Elliot is sky diving! |
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| Bye Jessica! We will miss you! |
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| Mad scientists |
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| Uncle Eric is in town! |
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| Tristan came to visit |
In March, Weston started at Brown Bear and enjoyed going to school, learning new thing and interacting with the other kids. Unfortunately shortly after he started we found out that Brown Bear was closing as the owner was moving to New Zealand. Kate, Ryan and Ben came to visit at the end of March and the cousins all got along VERY well. Ben was enamored with Elliot and Wes and it was great to see them play together at the zoo, children's museum and background. We also had a great day of skiing up on Mt. Hood while the kids played in the snow! The end of March was marked by at trip with the kids out to Maine, where they spent a week with the Cooks, while our Kitchen remodel got underway. They ripped out the old kitchen in just a matter of days and got to work building the addition on the back and bringing the bathroom up to the main level. We got to visit the tulip festival with Andrea and enjoyed poking around the beautiful spring flowers.
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| Who gets the next donut! Look at Wes' first haircut! |
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| X-country skiing. |
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| They made a next! |
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| Cousins bath. |
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| Cousins! |
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| Snuggles with grandpa. |
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| Maine is LOTS of fun! |
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| Cupcakes with Aunt Meg! |
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| But grandpa...why??? |
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| Being a mom is exhausting! |
Around Easter - we all went to Wisconsin, visiting the Ruppels in Madison and then staying with Grandma Weis in Waterford. It was a blast to see the cousins and watching Elliot play with Paige / Jordan and Wes / Clay get along was heartwarming. We got to catch up with Mandy at the Milwaukee zoo and visited Patrick on the farm. We took tour of the land on a gator and got to visit some baby calfs, that the kids LOVED to see! Crystal then went home and Mac went to Chicago for a conference - and the kids spent half a week with Grandma Weis in Wisconsin - LOVING EVERY MINUTE! When Mac went back to Wisconsin to pick them up - there was a sudden spring snowstorm and the kids and Mac enjoyed running around in the snow while watching snowflakes. On the airplane home, Elliot and Wes got to sit in the cockpit - a really special treat. The kitchen remodel was moving along well and the kids got to paint the inside of several pieces of drywall before it was hung - a secret memory just for our family.
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| Baby Cook # 3 Due August 16th |
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| Easter Egg coloring in front yard. |
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| Zoo train in Milwaukee with Kendall, Mandy's Daughter. |
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| Swinging at the farm, Crystal used to spend hours on those swings. |
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| Silly faces with Uncle Pat, looking at the calves. |
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| The cow tunnel on the Weis Farm. |
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| The Gator ride put Wes fast asleep |
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| That lion water fountain has lasted generations |
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| Pool with G-ma. |
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| Grandma's Birthday Party |
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| WHAT!!!! |
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| Preparing some dry wall to be hung. Our contractor proposed we paint the back of the dry wall, future remodels are up for a surprise. |
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| Hiking with the kiddos |
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| Hugging it out. |
May brought in our baby girl turning 4! Crystal was able to make some ice cream cone cupcakes for Elliots school on the toaster oven since we were in the middle of a kitchen remodel. We did a low key celebration picnic in the backyard. The next day we were off to Hawaii! We found great last minute discounts on flights to Oahu so off we went, Andrea in tow. We spent a few days on Waikiki were Mac found a free hula show on the ocean which the kids LOVED, we spent mothers day relaxing at the beach and hiked to Diamond Head Point. Then off to one night at Aulana the disney resort. Man, they know what they are doing with the characters walking around, a movie at night on the lawn (Little Mermaid), amazing pools, a great bay to swim in. Then off to the North Shore for fish tacos, beach time, Waimea falls and all around good family relaxing time. Did I mention that we ate ALOT of shave ice...I mean ALOT! Finally, Aunt Betsy and Uncle Jesse were able to come visit! Wes was an absolute fan of Jesse and kept running around the house looking for him.
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| Think she is excited? |
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| All I could manage in a toaster oven. Of course Elli wanted pink! |
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| Beach side Hula Show |
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| Top of Diamond Head |
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| Mothers day. Life is hard in Hawaii drinking smoothies. |
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| Resort life |
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| When you got to go, you got to go! |
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| Waimea falls. Too cold for Wes. |
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| Trying out our Moana poses. |
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| That man can sleep anywhere! So the kids burried him in sand for 15 minutes and I got to read my book ;) Worked well for everyone. |
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| Our mermaid. |
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| Blue Shave Ice |
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| Aunt Besty came! |
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| What are Aunts and Uncles for? |
June brought in berries, Wes's birthday and an unexpected delay in the Kitchen remodel. It is the remodel that keeps on going, things definitely are taking longer than expected and we are getting by without a kitchen. Wes ate more berries than his weight, we gave them extra money for all the berries that were eaten! Wes had a picnic birthday and a laid back Birthday Bubble Brunch with some friends at the park. We headed to Sunriver, Oregon when the Weis Crew came out to visit. We had originally planned to go for a few days, but with the kitchen and house still a construction zone we extended our trip. Elli learned to ride her pedal bike in Sunriver by watching cousin Paige and is now a pro! There was hiking, swimming, biking and all around family time. Elliot and Jordyn are inseparable and so cute together. They kept calling each other sisters!
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| Making sure to stop and smell the flowers. |
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| A birthday picnic. |
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| Our scooter maniac! |
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| Watching the "crew" work on the kitchen. |
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| What a great big sister readying Wes a book on the potty. |
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| OMG there hands are holding! |
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| Hot tub time in Sunriver with the clan. |
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| Lava Caves |
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| Those 2! |
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| Those 2 girls! |
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| Lets see how many kids we can get on Mac's Back! |
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| Smith rock! |
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| I think we wore them out! |
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| Pit stop on the way back to Portland in Hood River |
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| 4th of July Parade! |
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| Get those teeth clean! |
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| Mom needed ice cream so Wes got some too. Shhhhh don't tell Elli! |
Well that is the first half of 2019 round up! Still working on the kitchen remodel. Preparing for Cook Baby # 3 due August 16th. Wes and Elliot actually get along so well and play so well together, we are blessed. The house is load, full of laughter, hammers banging, dust, kids yelling, fighting over toys then hugging it out. ALL THE WONDERFUL CHAOS WE COULD ASK FOR!
New Family Things
New Elliot Things
-Riding a pedal bike!
- Coloring, dancing and learning to read at school
- Elliot now LOVES Disney princesses and can't get enough of Moana, Rapunzel, Ariel, Belle and, Dad's favorite, Leia.
- Elliot can ski all by herself, although she gets scared and wants you to hold her "safety straps"
New Wes things
- Language explosion: now saying 3 word sentences in English and Spanish!
- Potty triained himself starting at about 18 months! Still occasional accidents but way better than changing diapers!
- Progressive independence and REALLY physical - running, jumping, climbing exploring - he loves it all!
-He is a maniac on the scooter!
Baby Cook #3 Due August 16!
- growing, heart beating
- wiggling around
- Really low in mom's belly!
Elliot likes:
- snuggling
- reading books
- PINK!
- DRESSES
- PRINCESSES
Wes likes:
- Cheese and Raisins
- Any thing very physical and rough housing! Running, jumping, being thrown in the air!
- SWIMMING!
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