Spring 2015

Let's do some major catch up, shall we?? haha. We'll start right where I last left off - spring of this year. I say this every time - and mean it each time I say it - life just keeps getting more and more fun. As Kellan keeps growing and learning it just keeps getting better. So without further ado, here we go!

The kitchen cupboards have long time been a favorite thing for Kellan to get into - whether they are at our house or else where. This is at a friends house where he successfully found the onion glasses.

One of my fondest and craziest memories of this time of life is the flour incident. It will forever live in infamy. haha. It was a Saturday and I had been working. I got home, walked in the door, and everything was silent - which was very out of the ordinary. Usually both the men in my life are ready for me to be home after working all day. haha. I asked Hunter, who was in the living room, where Kellan was and he said that he was in the pantry - which is not at all abnormal. He plays around in there for extended periods of time ALL THE TIME. So, I look in the pantry, and this is what I found:

He was literally grabbing handfuls of flour and throwing it like it was THE COOLEST thing he had every done. Kenobi was right there in the action, as you can tell from his cool gray coloring here. I just started laughing. There was nothing else to do - and lets be honest, it is pretty hilarious. Hunter quickly came over to see what was happening and we just both sat there laughing for so long. Eventually we pulled ourselves together and started the clean up process - me the baby and dog, Hunter the floor - but not before thoroughly documenting the incident. 

Lesson learned: the flour now stays out of reach at all time. Though messy, it was a fun way to learn that lesson. Just look at his face! He loved every second of it. 

Around that same time, I decided we really needed to cut the mullet again. This was the second haircut and I was more committed to making it even all over so....

...this is what happened. 

There is something about being outside that is engrained right into our DNA I think that is easy to forget as adults. Kellan is never happier than he is outside - even if that means he is cold and wet. Please notice that he's knee deep in this puddle.

Kellan also learned the joy of swinging around this time and still requests been pushed in the swing whenever one is in sight. 

With mobility comes falls and scrapes and bruises. In the words of our pediatrician "It's good to see kids with bumps, cuts, and bruises because that means they are playing and active". Well, fear not, Kellan regularly has "owies". Here is documentation of one of the more dramatic ones:

Much time was spent with his BFF Cora. It has been such a delight watching them grow up together - especially now that they can play and interact so much more. 

Since we knew this was likely our last spring in CT, we did our best to explore everything we could. One of the first stops we made was the Mystic Aquarium and it did not disappoint! Of course we had to get ice cream afterwards, which also didn't disappoint.

I die when he interacts so adorable with his stuffed animals. It melts my heart.

We also made a trip to Bethany Beach in Delaware! Unfortunately, it was freezing cold the entire time we were there, but we did our best to make the most of it.

And more Cora. Love these little cuties.

One of the biggest things that we wanted to do every since we learned we were going to be in CT for PA school was run the Cape Cod Ragnar. We were able to make this a reality! I was easily more prepared for this Ragnar than any other I have run which made it so much fun! Marci and Brian, my mom, several PA students, and ward members joined us to make it an awesome experience.

True to form, Hunter chose the hardest leg which involved a 12.8 mile leg (longest BY FAR in the entire relay) that earned its own individual medal. Ragnar #3 down!

Once it really started to warm up we literally spent every moment we could outside. A lot of walks, flower smelling, and puddle jumping happened.

Grocery shopping has become an adventure. More often than not Kellan will choose a produce item to eat as we shop - which is fine as long as he doesn't fixate on something that is pay by the pound (i.e. cherries). It usually ends up being something like a pepper or cherry tomatoes - of which he'll eat almost the entire pint if I'm not quick.

His obsession with all things that moves continues to grow. He still insists on taking a turn "driving" the car fairly regularly.

May brought with it pseudo-graduation. This is the big commencement ceremony the school puts on, but the PA school doesn't actually finish until December and which point they once again hold graduation. It was fun to be able to participate in this though and gave hope that we weren't really that far off anymore. haha. Kellan did great and even got to meet the Bulldog!

Somehow, I can't find a picture of the three of us at this momentous occasion. I know one was taken, but for some reason it doesn't seem to exist anymore. Whoops. At least it was only pseudo-graduation.

Our lives were turned a little bit upside down in May because we learned we would have to be moving from our house by August 1st because the owners sold it rather quickly (ahem, 1 day after listing it). The original plan had been to fly to Utah to visit Brit, Andre, and their soon to be baby in July and spend a good chunk of time out there. Buuuut if we were to be moving in July that wasn't going to happen. So Kellan and I ended up taking an impromptu trip to visit before Landon was born. Kellan looooves watching and riding on an airplane. 

Also all the things at Grandpa's work - dump trucks, loaders, excavators. It's pretty much little boy heaven.

I'm not sure why I have so many pictures of Kellan eating sweets - I promise he eats healthy too! Pictures of broccoli just aren't as adorable. 

More flower smelling.

Ragnar spurred on more running goals. Top of the list: Tough Mudder! Hunter and Brian participated in the one in Vermont on fairly short notice and both crushed it. Marci and I pushed strollers with toddlers in them all over a mountainous ski resort which should have earned us our own little medal. haha. 

Kellan loved running around all day and playing in the mud. He made his own "mini-mudder" out of the day.

...and then passed out after Hunter and Brian finished because he had been too busy all day to take a nap and he couldn't hang anymore.

This was quite an accomplishment! One that I'm sure will be repeated in the future at a new location.

More driving. 

Little Landon was born on June 17th! I'm so excited to see these two boys grow up together. I have so many fond memories of my cousins and playing with them all the time growing up and hope that is true for our boys (and maybe girls one day!). 

Pick your own is my favorite time of year in CT! First up: Strawberries! Kellan loved it too, obviously. 

What this picture doesn't show is that he was slowly working his way up to a 104 degree fever despite acting completely happy at this point. By the time we were home he was BURNING up. Tylenol helped to bring the fever down every 8 hours, but it was a rough 4 after it wore off and before we could redose. Poor guy suffered from this fever for 3 days before he finally kicked it. 

But, because it took him until Sunday night to kick it, he couldn't go to daycare Monday morning which meant sick day for Mom! It turned into just a day off because Kell was completely fine and we made a beach day out of it. This boy loooooves the water. 

This picture shows our last hoorah with the Bothwell's in CT. We mourned their leaving us, but are ultimately excited for what lies ahead in their future and know that our paths will cross again many times. 

One more thing to note (for my future self): I often equate these months (~14-18) to the newborn phase. IT WAS ROUGH. I think the combination of being mobile and learning so much and not being able to communicate effectively is stressful. Or something. I will say though that one day Kell just woke up and snapped out of it. My happy, independent toddler found his way back and it's been much better since then.