A visit from the Johnsons

Future Best Friends

William and Harold.  A second generation of best friends.

Can't Wait to Meet Her

Liam's newest friend, Sawyer, was born a week ago.  He came to the hospital to welcome her, but had to stay at a distance because of his cold.

And...one week later, the cold is still here and he still hasn't met her.  GET BETTER LIAM!!!

Goodbye Hugs!

San Diego

His first trip to San Diego (one of our favorite cities).

Liam was a star on the flight.

Sea World was fun.  Spent the day with his new friends and full of his favorite animals.

Hotel was beautiful.

Spent time with great old friends and their beautiful children.

Did I mention I had to work too?  It barely felt like it.  It was a fun, relaxing, enjoyable time.

Perfect trip.

Playdate

Liam had one of his first "play dates" last week.  Our good friends Kristen and John brought their adorable son, Brayden over for lunch, bubbles, kiddie pool and of course--throwing rocks...'cause that's what boys do on playdates!

Isn't Brayden adorable?

It was fun to see the differences between the two (Brayden is four months older) and imagine that in a couple months Liam may be doing some of the same things--walking confidently, parroting every word mama says and even testing boundaries.

Thanks for a fun afternoon, Kristen, John and Brayden!

Yesterday we visited my good friend, Kelsey, and her sweet family.  She has two darling kids--Lucca, who is two and Jackson, just five weeks old.   Holding Jackson made me remember how it felt to hold a itty-bitty (but wonderfully chubby baby) in my arms.   It might just be time for another!   It was a house full of kids and fun and laughter as cousins Lincoln and Lila were also there.  What a fun hour spending time with my oldest friend (we met in Kindergarten) and our little families.  Special thanks to Mrs. Krug (my Kindergarten teacher and Kelsey's mom) for letting us crash your house.

Love you all!

Three Day Weekend Recap

Eight years ago, I met this little girl:


This adorable munchkin and her two sisters stole my heart and kept me very busy for a couple years. Being their nanny never felt like a job, it was pure love.   And it was great training for my current role as mommy.

Fast forward to now--I am a mommy and Brooke is almost a teenager.  She came to visit the Kratz home last weekend and here's a glimpse at the fun that we had.  A trip to the snow, six hours of baking Alaska (yum!), and lots of card games.  We loved her, William loved her and we loved having her here.  We can't wait to have her visit again!

Hiking with Baby

How many people does it take to put on an Ergo Baby Carrier?  Apparently....5.

We broke the Ergo carrier out for our first hike with William and did not realize it would be such a project.  I had googled a YouTube tutorial on how to put it on and still was at a loss when put to the test.  

After almost losing my babe out the bottom of the carrier and suffocating him against my chest, we finally figured it out.  It took five people, including an engineer by trade, to put it on correctly.   But once on, it was quite a pleasant afternoon.  And I NEVER thought I would do this, but I nursed Liam and hiked at the same time.  For those of you who think that is gross--I understand.  Like I said: I NEVER thought I would be the mom that does that sort of thing.  But a kid's got to eat!  And the sun shade cover helped make the process very discreet.

William hiked the first two miles with mama and the final two with dad.  

Don't you love the manly pattern?  

Here is the hiking clan.  

You can't see William or me (I am under the sun hood checking on him)...

Best Friends, Beautiful Wedding and Babes

Our Easter weekend 2010 was a bit unorthodox. We were away from home, our family and our church. In fact, I believe that it was the first Easter that I haven't been in a church. I really missed being there--the Easter celebration is a time where it just feels "right" to worship, with others, the risen Christ and the life of hope that he gives. Instead of a traditional Easter celebration, we were in Los Angeles celebrating a new "life" in marriage, and new "life" in my belly.


Saturday

My dear friend Rachel's wedding was on Saturday and we had a great time getting together with our APU college crew. Weddings seem to be the only thing that brings us all together at one time. It's unbelievable that we met over 10 years ago, and graduated almost 7 years ago. Time really does fly. The seven of us single college girls are now married with 5.66 babies. Baby K is .66 since he's 2/3 of the way here. Joy and Matt brought Addison and Lindsay and Nate brought Sawyer. Sienna, Daniel and Lucca were missed.

The wedding was absolutely charming. I wish I would have taken more pictures of the all the details. I loved the table arrangement's integration of tree stumps, the lemon theme carried out down the aisle and the vintage dessert plates.

Rachel did a great job planning and making the wedding so personal to their taste and style. Brent and Rachel were stunning and you could see the joy of love and the Lord emanating from them. It's always such a comforting feeling knowing that one of your friends has met the love of their life.

Sunday

We spent Sunday in Huntington Beach with my great friend and photographer Christy Bauer (the one posing with Baby Sawyer above). She was so gracious to take "Belly Pics" with me and Matt. I can't wait to see how they turn out! I will be sure to post them as soon as we get them. My sis Nicole came down from L.A. to have lunch with us and assist with the shoot. At least I had one member of the Pelton family with me on Easter!

The big news was the earthquake. We were standing outside of a building, having just taken some pictures in front of it and talking with another couple that was pregnant. I started feeling really dizzy, almost as if I was going to faint. I closed my eyes for a couple seconds trying to ground myself and then said to the group: "Wow, I am really feeling dizzy." At the same time, they all said "Me too!" It turns out that everyone felt it, but thought that they were the only ones. So there's another first for Baby K--Baby's First Earthquake:)

It was a short weekend, but worth the trip to celebrate "life" in a new way.