My first sweater!

I finished my first sweater!





It's too big, because I knit it to be 24 month size, and Katie's currently wearing between 12 and 18 month size. But I wanted to give myself plenty of time to finish it before she got too big to wear it! And I still need to add buttons to the neckline on the right side, which is why it is gaping.





The above picture was taken under a fluorescent light, which kind of washed out the color, but I wanted a picture of the sweater flat.

Our lil' punkin

Happy Halloween! Katie got all dressed up as the cutest little pumpkin last night!





We went to visit Grandpa, who was hiding from trick or treaters as usual, and then to visit Nana.





Jared decided to be silly, too!





And even Tiny got in on the act.





While we were taking pictures in the front yard, the neighbor's grandsons came to trick or treat. As they were getting loaded into their car seats, I could hear them yelling, "Baby pumpkin! Baby pumpkin, mama!" Then finally their mom turned around and said, "Oh, there's the baby pumpkin! I couldn't figure out what they were talking about!"

I didn't fall off the face of the earth!

Promise! But it seems like I only ever remember to update from school, where I don't have my pics! And I HAVE to post pictures, because so much is happening.

First things first...

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday, dear Jared,





A very Happy Birthday to you!

It's a 2007 Suzuki V Strom, and he is so pleased with it, and having so much fun!

Then there's Katie.





She's getting so big and so beautiful! She's 10 and a half months old, and crawling and climbing everywhere. She babbles all the time, and always likes to be the center of attention. She's a terrible flirt, but it seems to work for her.





And clapping! She loves music, clapping, bouncing with the music. I think she'd watch the Wiggles all day long. She also loves going for long walks with her daddy, either in the backpack carrier or in the stroller. She's so much fun!

I've been working a lot. I, for whatever reason, decided to take on an extra class this year, so I have 6 classes with no prep period. It's hard. I feel like I'm not a very good teacher this year, because I'm spending so much of my day trying to stay ahead of the game. It doesn't help that I currently have 31 overload a day, on top of all that. Plus, I got elected to site council (yay, me) and am on the CAC committee with Keith. Oh, and am still junior TRIBE facilitator. What is wrong with me?

The good thing is that my classes are awesome. I LOVE the Anatomy class, and my sophomores aren't bad either. I have a lot of really nice kids. And the knitting club is giving me the energy to get through the day. It's so fun to see these kids come in, so excited to show me what they worked on the night before. There are good kids, there are good kids... Now if I could just get some sleep!

Katie poops stars!

Seriously. She does. Yesterday, Katie found some forgotten star stickers in my Bible. So she had a little adventure:





We didn't know she had eaten any. Until today.

It's been a while...

So much is happening. School has started, Dad is home, Katie is driving... Kidding.

Let's start with school: I am so excited to be teaching the Anatomy and Physiology classes. I'm really having fun with it, and I think the kids are too. It's a subject that really interests me. Yay!

Dad is home! Yippee! After the tree trunk cast on his leg




he was wearing a black aluminum splint. After x-rays showed the bone graft was healing just fine, he graduated to a walker and an Air Jordan walking boot. Well, maybe it isn't made by Nike, but it has inflatable bladders for maximum support. It's mostly to support his ankle joint while the tendons and ligaments get used to moving again, and he only has to wear it when he's walking. It's so great to have him home! And remember, chicks dig scars.

It has been a summer of adventure with Katie. It seems like every week she was doing something new. We went from rolling, to sitting, to army crawling, to climbing, to real crawling, to getting down off the couch, to seeking out Tiny to pull his ears.





Today she pulled herself up on Dad's walker and pushed it while walking.





Oh, and her first runny nose. But she's so darned cute!





I think we'll keep her!

Cousins

On Saturday, Jared's brother Richard was in town with his boys. They had just hiked the Wonderland Trail (93 miles!) on Mt. Rainier. On their way back to Utah, we got together at Brennan's to have a BBQ. Here's a picture of Katie with the men in her life:



L-R: Jason, Brendon, Dallin, Austin, Steven, Devin, Cameron.

The best part was that after this picture, Jared rushes in from stage right, plows into Devin, and knocks them all over like dominoes. Only Cameron and Katie emerged unscathed.

A little monkey-girl

I blame this on Jared.

Katie pulled herself to standing today! The first time she did it, we were in Othello visiting Dad. She was sitting on his wheelchair, with the transfer board on end, leaning up against the back of the wheelchair. (She was sitting in front of it.) Katie grabbed onto the top handle and the edge of the board and pulled herself up! She was facing the back of the wheelchair, holding on to the transfer board. Then, my little monkey put her foot on the lower handle and climbed it like a ladder! She grabbed on to the IV pole attached to the back of the wheelchair and pulled herself up on that! Then she grabbed a handful of curtain and was going to haul herself up even further, when I rescued her.

I'm not ready for this.