8 months

The months are flying by, and after such a wet winter we are getting excited as the weather warms.  In April, we made a special trip up to Skappoose, Oregon to see the Kessi family.  Clay was in cousin heaven, and attached himself to Kate's hip for the weekend.  We had a blast seeing their new home, exploring their hometown and then venturing into Portland for an adults only outing.  

On Ryan news, he still isn't crawling at 8 months, but he is definitely scooting around.  As mobility opens up his world, he is becoming more and more curious.  Ryan will sit and entertain himself for long periods of time, which allows me to do things like make dinner, or hang out with Clay.  All that Ryan needs is a wooden spoon and a metal whisk and he can amaze himself with the clank and banging of the utensils.  It's so cute!

On the food front, he's eating everything.  He loves bananas, sweet potatoes and waffles.  

I'm still nursing him, but less and less.  Ryan seems to prefer bottles, which is understandable since it's easier to drink out of a bottle.  As his mother though, I feel guilty that I'm away from him so much that he doesn't prefer to nurse.  For about a week, he completely refused to nurse.  I continued to pump at least three times a day.  After his nursing strike, he resumed to nursing in the morning and sometimes in the evening as well.  I keep telling myself that I should be happy that he's at least getting some milk!

Clay is hilarious, and he continues to bring Luke and I joy every day.  He says he wants to be a baseball player when he grows up.  But, he also says his favorite color is pink, and so I'm not too worried that he's feeling masculine pressure here in the country. :)

We left at 4:30 am, and arrived sometime around 2:00 pm.  Clay got to watch 9 hours of movies, and so he was thrilled with the car ride.  Ryan was less enthused, but I had lots of snacks so he was a good sport.  As soon as we arrived, we took a walk around the neighborhood to get our Skappoose orientation.

The Kessi backyard is fantastic!  The green grass yard backs up to a creek.  The kids played until the sun went down and came inside muddy and dirty, as they should.

Annie is getting ready to be a big sister herself!

Clay really loved being one of the kids for the weekend.  

We went into Portland one day for a kids outing and ended up here, at this amazing play structure.

Of course Uncle Luke had to play catch with Will, who is really competitive, just like Luke. 

These three quietly played for a really long time outside making a river on the side of Mary's house.

We were able to leave the kids with Pat's parents for an afternoon to sneak into Portland for lunch.  We also got to see Pat's Lake Oswego project, which was extremely impressive! I can't wait to see the end product.

Look at Pat's project in the background! I asked Pat if he would save a luxury condo for Steidlmayer family visits.  I think he said no. 

I think Ryan is wondering where all of the kids are.

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