Brody turns 9 months

Brody turned 9 months on December 9th. We just went to the doctor for his check up. He weighs 20 lbs. exactly. He is in the 50th pecentile and is doing great. He has two little teeth on the bottom and is working on his top two. He gets around very efficiently by doing the one arm-one leg military crawl. He is such a sweetie.

And such a boy!

December in Monterey

Drew, Heather and Brody. Seaside State Beach. Brrrhh....

Thanksgiving

Drew, Brody and I went to Palm Desert for Thanksgiving. My mom, dad and brother picked us up in the RV and we all drove south together. Brody saw his great grandparents Tom and Jemima Davis and his great grandpa Jim Kempthorne.

My mom made a huge turkey dinner and we all gathered at the house in Palm Desert. The grandparents, my Uncle Mark and my cousins Kris and Melissa were all there. Kris's daughter Kylee is 5 and she and Brody had a wonderful time. They went swimming, played in the RV and Kylee introduced Brody to fairies and barbie dolls. Brody just wanted to eat the wings and the heads of the barbies. Brody loves older kids. It is so much fun to listen to him squeel.

Jeff and Melissa left early for LA and we stayed and hung around Palm Desert for the weekend. I love southern California. Monterey is so cold!!

Baby's First Halloween

Brody was a labradoodle puppy for Halloween. We had a pot luck with all of our neighbors in the front of our house. We had a grill, a fire pit and lots of candy. Kids came from all over the Monterey area to Ft. Ord. It was incredible to see so many kids in costumes. Brody did great and was ready for bed as soon as he had dinner.

His dad,on the other hand, stayed up till 2am talking with the boys. They had a great time too!

Brody's First Camping Trip

This weekend we took Brody and the dogs to Big Basin Red Wood State Park. It is about 30 miles east of Santa Cruz. It was beautiful. The weather forcast predicted high 70's and low 80's. What I didn't factor in was lots of shade, breeze and cold nights! We had a tent cabin that was half wood half canvas. It had a wood burning stove which helped but camping with an infant is a lot of work. Especially in the fall!

We had a great time and I think Brody enjoyed it too. He loved his kelty backpack and I also think he loved sleeping between his mom and dad. Well, at least for the first night. The second and third night I kicked Drew to the other bed because I was afraid Brody would get stuck between our sleeping bags.

California is also not very dog friendly. There was only one trail we could take the dogs on and they had to stay on leash. But it was still beautiful. We made breakfast ever morning and cooked up stakes and brauts at night. Brody ate some beef and macaroni concaucsion and all was good.

Brody is a trooper but by Monday morning he wanted nothing more to do with the tent cabin or the sleeping bag. I don't think he understood why his parents would chose to be cold and stay in the same room for 3 days. But he will learn!

Needless to say I think the neighbors camping next to us were glad when we pulled away at 9am.

Oh, and the first night we were there Drew almost blew us up. He bought a lighter at the ranger station. After we started the fire in the wood burning stove he couldn't find the lighter. After a loud explosion and small fire we found the lighter. It was on the stove. Thats my little army ranger!

Nephew of the Bride

This will be the first of many pictures I am sure. Last weekend was Jen's (Drew's sister) wedding at Wood River Winery. It was an amazing ceremony performed by none other than my husband, Drew. He did a fantastic job. Brody watched from the sidelines as his mom walked in the wedding party and his dad married Jen and Geoff. It was a beautiful wedding. Of course, I left my camera at the party and have yet to find it. Hopefully I will have more pictures to share....but for now here is one from the photo booth.

Boise was beautiful (as always) and we can't wait to get back home!

Doctor Visit

Well, today was Brody's 4/5 month check up. He is supposed to go at 2 months/4 months/6 months and so on. We are a little late with the 4 month appointment because tomorrow he is 5 months old! We went to the Pediatric clinic on post. The nurses were wonderful and I really liked the doctor. He did not have any major opinions and was very laid back. He was also great with Brody. Brody even showed off for him. He showed the doctor that he could roll over, scoot and giggle. The doctor was impressed. He said Brody is doing fantastic and is a very healthy boy. He also said he was growing perfectly and eating well.

Weight-16 lbs/50th percentile
Height-26 inches/50th percentile
Head circumfrance-didn't catch the # but he was 48th percentile

Perfect!

Gilroy Garlic Festival

Last weekend we went to Gilroy for their 30th annual Garlic Festival. Gilroy is about 30 miles north of us. It was amazing how many people were there. Traffic was backed up for 10 miles. Apparently hundreds of thousands of people go to the Garlic Festival. And our little angel is no exception. He wasn't as thrilled as his father and I were. It was hot! But Drew and I ate well and had a great time. There was garlic ice cream, garlic french fries, garlic bread, garlic chicken stir fry, garlic scampi, garlic calamari...you get the picture.

Gilroy is very pretty and the drive there reminded me a lot of Idaho. Next weekend is the Strawberry Festival in Watsonville. Should be fun too.

Aunt Karla and Aunt Colleen

Brody's God mothers and my aunts (Karla and Colleen) came to visit us in Monterey. We had a wonderful time. We went to the Aquarium, the farmers market and to Cannery Row. We cooked dinner a lot and they introduced me to Peet's Coffee. Oh my gosh. I never knew coffee could be so good or so strong! I love it.

Brody had a lot of fun while they were here and it was nice for me to have so much help. We also went to Trader Joe's which is a must when in California.

4th of July

Brody and I just returned home from Washington DC. We were there for 12 days. We had a wonderful time. Diane, Dave and Annie came out on the 2nd with Brody and I. Drew came out on the 3rd and Jen and Geoff came out on the morning of the 4th. We all met my parents and brother Jeff who were already there. We spent the 4th of July on top of the Department of Interior watching the fireworks over the nations capitol. The DOI served hot dogs, ice cream, pop corn and apple pie. Brody loved the fireworks. He watched the whole thing. My Uncle Mike and Aunt Sue from NY were there as were my cousins Ava, Evan and Jayna.

While in DC, we stayed on the boat with my mom and dad and brother. My brother was there for a whole week and was able to spend some quality time with Brody. My dad took us to lunch at the White House and some of us went on a tour of all of the monuments. One of the biggest events however was Brody swimming for the first time! We got him a baby pool and set it up on the bow of the boat. He loved the water! He is my little pisces for sure!

Drew went home on Sunday and Brody and I stayed another week with my parents. Brody did very well and I think was glad to have some quiet time. We swam in the baby pool and relaxed on the boat. We flew back to CA on the 12th. Brody slept for 3 of the 4 hours from Chicago to San Jose. He is such a good baby.

While in DC we hung out with family. All of the Kempthorne's and Myklegard's were there. We went out to dinner and talked all night long. It was so much fun to be with family and friends. Ari and Andrew from San Diego were there and so were Ken and Suzanne from Centreville, VA. I miss being around friends and family. Drew's buddy Richard and his wife Becky came and so did his good friend Sarah from NY. We all had a great time.