Bathtime is never boring at the Buchanan house!!

There's that face she's been making recently. She's super happy!!

Almost walking!!!

Rattlesnake Lake

Trying to be out in the sun every chance we get this summer! My mom told me about Rattlesnake Lake on Friday and I love how close to the city it is. It's just Exit 32 off I-90, about 40 minutes from Seattle. It was gorgeous!!! And the beach we were on was super kids friendly as the water was very shallow pretty far in so I didn't have to worry so much about Oliver. We want to come back without the kids, (and when they're older) and hike up to Rattlesnake Ridge. Anyway here are some pictures from the day:



Oliver kept saying, "I want to climb the mountain! It's too high so no climbing!"





He really attemped to doggie paddle, though we was just basically crawling. :)





So excited about this family picture!




Scarlett has been making this cheese face lately!




Cutest kid ever!!!!



I'm sure Oliver will want to kill me for writing down this story but I never want to forget it!! There were Honey Buckets at the lake (so nice) but Oliver was having a hard time going there. So all day he peed either in the lake or in the bushes. Yeah, he was THAT kid. But I'm very proud of him nonetheless because he keeps up with his potty training no matter where he is. So what that my kid drops his swim trunks in the lake and pees? Hahaha.

Anyway...he finally reached a point that he had to poop. He took turns with everyone going to the Honey Bucket, hiding in the bushes, etc. I just don't think he felt comfortable and I don't blame him. I thought he might be able to hold it until we got home in the afternoon as he refuses to poop his pants (we are blessed). He finally couldn't hold it anymore so he ran to me holding his butt (I was in the shallow end of the lake and by that time the place was full of families and kids). I told him to just take his trunks down and poop in the lake. Poor kid really couldn't hold it so he did just that! Yup, around all the swimmers.

I yelled to my sister to get the wipes, so I cleaned him up, fished out the poop (thankfully it stayed whole) and everything was fine! Haha, that was a total Super Mom moment. And no one seemed to notice.

My PSA: Kids, understand that this is parenting before you decide you want to have kids!!!

My OTHER Sleeping Baby

I'm so proud of my little girl's sleeping habits. She has always been a phenomenal sleeper, as her brother has been. She still sleeps in a bassinet rather than her crib because the two kids share a room and Oliver likes to read books and "play" before falling asleep. No use putting the two together to just become distracted and not sleep... and they should be getting their own rooms if we ever hear back about our house!

Scarlett is at a point where I just have to leave her in the bassinet and she falls right asleep. She self soothes in the middle of the night too, so mom and dad haven't had to get up at night for a very long time!

Alki

I'm gonna miss this time in their lives. Oliver and Scarlett are so much fun. But I can say that I can't wait for her to start walking! 

Point Definace Zoo & Aquarium

I've been bad with updates this month. For some reason work has been completely wiping me out (more than usual!).

Last weekend, with the prediction of sunny weather (What?! Sun? In the summer? I know you think this concept is just as crazy as I do...Thanks Seattle!) we decided to be outdoors as much as possible! Here are some pictures from our time at PDZA. Super awesome place and I'm getting close to recommending this over Woodland Park. They redid most of the zoo and there is a huge children's section with copious amounts of toys intertwined with animal exhibits! What a great idea! So Oliver played on a giant spiderweb, went down a huge slide, climbed a rope all while seeing meerkats, frogs, wallabies, etc.

Though it was definitely a tantrum kind of day as we were there through nap time...No naps = cranky Ollie!

My Crazy Boy

This kids never stops going. :)

Swinging His Sissy

9 Months!

The 15th marked 9 whole months old for Miss Scarlett Magnolia. I know I say this every month, but I truly am in disbelief that she is so big already.

She is 19 lbs 5 ozs = 50th percentile.
She is also 27.5 inches = 50th percentile.

I was surprised that she weighed so much; that's 3 lbs up from her 6 month check up. Though the last 2
weeks she's been devouring any and all food she sees. I guess it really was time for a growth spurt!




9 Things About Our Darling to Commemorate 9 Months on This Earth:

1. She can stand unassisted for several seconds. Still lacking the confidence to do too much as she always tries to cling to George or I.

2. She prefers table foods now and wants to eat anything she sees any one else eating. Even if it's totally inappropriate for her!

3. She's pulling off anything I try to put on her head; hats and bows. Sad day for Mommy.

4. She still manages to wear 6 month clothes and her feet are so tiny that 3-6 is a perfect fit. We are just now going to be getting her into size 3 diapers. Seems heavy, but she really is petite.

5. She LOVES peek-a-boo.

6. She's really feisty and when she doesn't get what she wants she turns beet red and whines.

7. She LOVES Oliver and she loves doing whatever he is doing no matter how much he doesn't want  her  to!

    8. She is mastering a ton of new facial expressions and cracks us up with new faces she tries out!

    9. She absolutely adores animals. She welcomes licks to the face from dogs and enjoys petting kitties!

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This Makes Me Laugh

This picture is hilarious. It is such a representation of our family's every day life. No undies on Ollie? Sure. Books everywhere? Of course. Neither kid looking at the camera? Ding ding!! 

Oh, and don't forget mess. :)

Though I did love catching the two of them looking at books together. I had been in the bathroom and came to find them like this. Of course once they saw the camera the moment was over, but I caught the tail end. :) Oliver was showing Scarlett pictures in various books and she was clapping and laughing. It was really cool to secretly watch such a wonderful bonding experience.

Bicycles

Here is Scarlett taking a hand at "riding" a bike. Oliver was right behind her on his dump truck. He hasn't really played with that since he started walking. He used that to walk behind when he was just starting to take steps. Aw, the nostalgic memories...

Cousins!

 My cousin Aga moved to Tri-Cities a while back and we stopped by on our way home from Idaho. I don't know why I don't come visit more often! It's only 3 hours away and her girls (Maja and Isla) are so darn cute!!!

I just keep imagining what this picture will look like when her baby girl is born in November and my future child comes to fruition. That'll be quite the herd of little ones!!!

This series of pictures crack me up because it truly illustrates what getting 4 kids under 3 together looks like!

This picture is Oliver telling Scarlett, "We gon get nem en nems, we gon get nem in nems (M&M's)!!" Like Scarlett has any idea what that means!! But the conviction with which Oliver was telling her was so stinkin' cute!!!

Vacation: IF & Yellowstone

I have taken a little hiatus from updating this blog...After vacation I've been swamped with work and the thought of sifting through hundreds of photos to post was nauseating! Haha. That's why I post so much otherwise, because I know if I wait too long, I'll never do it!!

Now if we're FB friends I've got a ton of pictures posted there of both Idaho Falls and Yellowstone. This uploader is making me really angry right now so you'll just have to make due with those photos.

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The kids had a really good time, as did Mom and Dad. The 13 hour car ride there and back was actually a breeze. (Just the last hour there was torturous for both as we had driven all night long so they woke up with sore butts! The way back we got out enough times that everything was great).

Fourth of July was definitely what it was cracked up to be. I know I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed the small town vibe of everything like the parade and fireworks.

We also got to enjoy Yellowstone. The kids were NOT at their best. :( But I had an amazing time as it was my first time going. Though we had to put up with a few too many tantrums, I was still excited about the thought of going when the kids are older and we can actually camp, hike, fish, not get mauled by bears, etc. :)

I did get to see a lot of good friends and spend enough time with family that overall the visit was a success. I'm not waiting another 3 years to go back...we'll be back sooner.