My Littlest Man

How cute is this kid? Just in the last week Alex has started reaching for toys, laughing, and trying to talk. I love making baby sounds at him and listening to him respond. Adam and Tyler adore him and haven't pulled him into their brother wars yet.

We love our snuggly little guy!

Adam Starts Kindergarten!

Look at how grown up Adam looks! I cannot believe that he is in Kindergarten now. After weeks of stress we were finally able to transfer him into Abraham Lincoln Elementary. It is across town and I have to drive him, but it is a really great public school.

He starts at 11:40am and gets out at 2:20pm, so it is a pretty short day, which is perfect for a 5 year old. This is his class lined up outside ready to go in. He is by far the shortest, but at least he doesn't realize it yet!


This is Adam's spot at his desk. Everyday they have to come in and practice writing their name. He has been doing this for about a year, but I think it will help his penmanship.

This is their circle time area. It is a really cute classroom with play areas, reading areas, puzzles, etc.

This poster is on the wall and looks just like Jasper. I told him that he will always have a family member there at school with him watching!

This is Mrs. Dempsey his teacher. She is really young and exciting about everything. She is super cute and seems great with the kids. Adam already likes her.

Look how big his backpack is! I bought him new school clothes and he is so into picking out just the right outfit and making sure that everything matches. He says he has to look good for school. In fact, on Saturday he woke me up at 6am totally dressed and ready for school. He was bummed when I told him there was no school that day.

After I dropped him off I thought I might cry or be sad, but maybe sending him to Preschool last year made it easier. At the school he was supposed to go to it is an all day program and he would be taking the bus. So a half day with me driving him feels like preschool still. I am signed up to help once a week and will be getting involved with the booster club. I'm sure he will have a fantastic year as a Lincoln Lion!

At Long Last....Crater Lake

Last Wednesday Mario had the day off of work and we wanted OUT OF TOWN. Medford is like an island with no cities close by. Sometimes you just have to leave for a few hours. Considering that we have lived in Medford for nearly four years and Mario works right on Crater Lake Highway, yet we had never been there, now was our chance to go. We had been a couple years ago but it was in the winter so the roads were closed and we couldn't even see the lake due to fog. This time the view was impaired with fog and the temperature was in the 40's but the roads were open and we were able to see the beauty of Crater Lake.

It really is an amazing place. You can drive around the lake along the rim of the mountain. There are sheer cliffs on either side and the fog makes it hard to see. I was so nervous! But every once in a while there would be a break in the fog and the view was stunning. It was a perfect day trip!


This plaque talks about a guy who was out with a mule hiking, looking for gold, and stumbled at the edge of a cliff. He looked down and saw Crater Lake. It made me wonder if other people had discovered it first but couldn't stop at the edge and fell right in. Hmmm? hahaha There are these nasty little chipmunks EVERYWHERE. I was walking into a visitor's center and one of the nasty little rodents ran over my foot. I screamed so loud that all the rangers inside laughed at me. So embarrassing!

(Quiz for Dad: What kind of bird is in the background?)



Alex slept most of the way in the car and did great.



Mario was so nervous that the boys were going to fall down all the cliffs! We were so glad that Ginita also has Wednesdays off and was able to come.

There are some great visitor's centers to check out as well.

So, are we now considered true Oregonians?

Emmigrant Lake

Last Sunday we decided to go for a little drive and wound up at Emmigrant Lake. We only stayed for a few minutes to let the boys run around, but it was beautiful. God sure made this earth lovely!

Check-up

This week we went to Dr. Mills for Adam and Tyler's yearly check-up. Here is an update on each of the boys (with pictures from the Kid Time end of summer BBQ):



Alex didn't have an appointment, but he's just too cute to skip! Alex is now smiling all the time and starting to have the sweetest personality. He looks at me with so much love in his eyes that it just turns my heart to goo. He is also sleeping more at night which is fabulous. I don't know how much he weighs but he will be 3 months this week and is in 3 month clothes.



Adam is 5 now and acting like such a big boy. However he is measuring a little small. We went for his 2nd bone age x-ray a few weeks ago and Dr. Mills told us that he is still measuring as a 3 year old. He is also 39 lbs which puts him in the 30th percentile for weight and 40.3 inches which puts him in th 3rd percentile for height. They are concerned that his growth is so slow and want him to go to an endocrinologist for some tests. Other than that he is perfectly healthy and right on track. I'm not going to worry too much until we know the test results.


Tyler is 2 now and a ball of fire. I can barely keep up with the kid. I love him to pieces but he can really push my buttons and test my patience. He is also on the small side at 23 lbs (below the charts) and 33 inches (4th percentile). But the biggest concern with Tyler is that his feet or really turned in. We may be headed up to a Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon in Portland. We'll have to see what Dr. Mills decides. I hope his legs fix themselves because the surgery sounds awful! Other than that he is as healthy as can be.

I feel so blessed to have 3 beautiful boys who are so healthy and strong.

Tyler's First Swimming Lesson

After 2 years of watching Adam swim twice a week, Tyler finally got to get in the pool with a teacher and no mommy! He did great and I was so proud of him. He is in a class with his little buddy Benjamin Lewis, who will be in our Co-op Preschool.

I can't believe my little guy is getting so big.

The Farm

Last weekend my friend Tamara and I found ourselves husband less and decided to go take the kids to have some fun. We went to The Farm. It is an adorable little farm where the kids can feed and pet all the animals. Tamara has two little boys the same ages as Tyler and Adam so we do a lot with them. They are awesome!

Tyler trying to drive a tractor.


Adam and Cohen were able to chase down the wallaby. It was so cute hopping around!


I had to keep Alex in his car seat and try to protect him from the crazy goats. They go nuts if they think you have food.


They have goats, deer, llamas, ducks, sheep, pigs, a wallaby, and all sorts of fun things.

Tyler liked the deer because they are a little more gentle than the goats.

Adam gets to go back in a couple weeks for his Kindergarten Field Trip. Fun stuff!

Life is Just Peachy

I know....I'm a nerd. But I just couldn't resist with the peachy title.

A couple weeks ago Janice and I took the kiddos and headed out to Sugar Plum Acres for peach picking. This place is absolutely gorgeous. It is just row after row of peach trees. They are so easy to pick and only 50 cents a pound.

Adam was all over it!


Janice and London picking, while Kylan slept in the car. You park just right next to the trees.


Me and my field hands.

A couple days later Janice and I canned almost 150 lbs of peaches. Yum! I also made some delicious peach dishes like peach glazed chicken and a peach meat loaf. Of course we had plenty of peach cobbler as well. Tyler is addicted to peaches. He would eat about 10 a day and I finally had to hide them. This is one of the things I love about living in Southern Oregon!

Keep'n it Weird

We had plenty of time to take pictures while waiting in line for VooDoo Doughnuts....for an HOUR! I had heard they were awesome but wasn't too impressed. The toppings are unique but nothing to write home about. Maybe we ordered wrong. It was fun people watching because Portland IS weird! It's a good weird though. Although the teenage beggars on the side walk had a whole sob story written on a box about not having money to get back home. Then they pull out their iphones and roll a joint while trying to hide all the money sticking out of their pockets. Oh Portland!

The best part.....

.....is that Alex slept during breakfast at I hop so I got to eat and relax! We don't have I hop in Medford so we had to eat it for breakfast in Portland.


Adam was pretending to be grumpy in pictures because I told him to smile. Yeah, he is nuts.

No pics of the food because I was too busy eating! Yum!

Portland with My Parents

When we went to the airport in Portland we were only there for about 24 hours, but of course my parents were only 2 hours away and we had to see them. Thankfully my dad, mom, and little sister Laura drove down Sunday night and we were able to have dinner with them and swim at the hotel pool.

Alex adores his Nana and Papa!

Tyler always remembers them immediately no matter how long it has been since we have seen them.

I didn't get any pictures of Adam and Laura because they were busy swimming. Adam swims awesome now and followed Laura all over the pool.

I wish we could have spent more time with them, but it was a great couple hours.

Laura!

Meet Laura Corcoran. How cute is she? Laura was one of my bff's in High School. We had some amazing times together! Dance team, sleepovers, trips and more punk rock shows than you could count. I love this girl. She is tons of fun and now.....drum roll.....a mom! She lives in Portland so I got to visit her and her adorable daughter when we went to drop Mario's grandparents at the airport.

It was a whole new level of crazy seeing our KIDS play together.


(If I was really good I would add a picture of us from high school....but I'm too lazy to get out the scanner.)

Papito Pancho y Mamita Alicia

For two weeks in August we were so blessed to have Mario's grandparents come visit. It was so fun for them to spend time with the boys. Both are just adorable. They don't speak English and I don't speak Spanish so it was interesting at times. We had fun together though.



They love to cook so we had the best Ecuadorian food everyday. So good!


They were also great with the boys. How cute is this picture!?

Thanks for coming to visit Mamita Alicia y Papito Pancho!