Battle of the Biscuit

Eli recently went head to head with a teether biscuit. The following pictures capture the trying encounter that ensued.

Our little man sizes up his opponent, expecting an effortless snack.

Much to his surprise, the biscuit proves to be a wily opponent. (These things get slippery, ya know!)

Eli finds the biscuit is putting up quite the opposition.

Momentarily he gives up, thinking the biscuit is gone for good. Eli then discovers his sneaky snack trying to make a break for the seat of the highchair (where other lucky biscuits have previously gone into hiding)

He takes a moment to re-assess his opponent.

With a new grip, Eli hopes to overcome this slippery snack.

His plan is working! He takes aim....

Success! Victory never tasted so sweet!

Big Decision

The happy little bubble I’ve been living in, where everything works out just as I had hoped and planned, has popped.

Last week, I made the decision to return to work. We’re talking career/job work here…not the son-up to son-down work that is currently filling my days. I met with my principal on Monday and have accepted a position teaching morning kindergarten five days a week next year. It’s hard to explain all of the contemplating, concerns, and choices that Shane and I have had just to get to a simple, “Yes, I’ll take the job.” But then again, no decision is simple when it involves your child.

My original plan was to stay home with Eli (and siblings-hopefully) until they were school age. Then my plan was to go back part time, if it still fit our lifestyle and my career goals. However, when I left last year, I had a huge monkey on my back that I’ve been trying to avoid. That monkey is a little matter of my unfinished certification. It’s a long story, but basically I have to do one more year of teaching along with a college program to earn my Professional Certification. If I don’t complete it next year, my current certificate will expire and I wouldn't be able to take any teaching position other than substituting. Neither Shane nor I wanted to see all my hard work (and money for college!) go down the tube. So, in a nutshell, that's drove us to deciding it was worth it for me to head back to work.

Now that I’ve made the decision, I’m doing my darnedest to stay positive and look forward. Like Shane keeps reminding me, “You can do anything for 9 months.” The instant that I start thinking about how much I will be missing, or how I won’t be there for Eli, it becomes a miserable heartache. Luckily, I don’t have to worry about him while I’m away. Our good friend,Amy A., is going to be taking care of Eli part of the week. I’m still making plans for the other part of the week, but I feel good knowing I still have four months to find someone who I trust to take care of my baby. Another big plus is that it’s a part time position, so I should only be gone until noon every day.

So, that’s my huge news. Any support you have to offer would be greatly appreciated! I’ll keep you posted as the school year approaches and as I get going with ProCert. Wish me luck!

Eli's First Tooth!

Yesterday afternoon, while Eli was chewing on my hand, I thought it felt like there was something in his mouth. Upon further examination, I discovered there was indeed something in his mouth-his first tooth has appeared. It is just barely poking through the gum, but it is definitely a tooth! It's in the front, on the bottom. Shane had just walked in the door when I found, so we were able to celebrate together. Wow, another big first!

Our Trip to Kauai

Vacation is a strange thing...it's mostly a dream. Leading up to it, you scheme and plan how wonderful it's going to be. While you're there, it's as if you're walking around in some kind of fantasy. And then BAM! you're home, and you try to decipher if you really did go to Hawaii, or just woke up from the warmest, loveliest dream ...can you tell I'm a little bummed that our vacation is already over?

This year we were able to travel with almost the entire Kitchen family. (We missed you, Ryan and Mandy!) We had quite a group: Shane's Mom and Dad, older brother Dan and his wife Jeanne, her mom, Barb, Shane's little sister Melissa and, of course our old vacation pals, Jeff, Rebekah, and Chloe. We had two condo's, but were just across the courtyard from each other.

We spent a lot of time poolside, since it was the easiest route with Chloe and Eli. We went out for a few dinners, headed to the beach a bit, enjoyed fellowship with our Friends on Kauai, and basically just lounged around in the sun.



Kauai 2008

Eli hanging out at the hotel in SeaTac, the night before we flew out. Note that our little guy is sitting up independently these days...

Make that almost independently....

Arriving in Kauai after a completely uneventful flight (whew!)

Hanging out poolside


Dan, Jeff, and Shane all took a scuba class at the pool, then went on a scuba trip a few days later. They all reported having fun, but were a little disappointed that their guide was more interested in identifying the marine life than letting them shoot it. (They were told they would have great opportunities for spear fishing.)



Nothing like a nap in the shade of a banana tree (Ok,ok-it was just a poolside umbrella!)

Splish-splashing with Auntie Rebekah (Eli loved the water!)

Hanging out in the pool...

My favorite guys

Chloe, Rebekah, and Jeff

Dan and Jeanne

These are my two new favorite pictures of Eli...


Does it get any better than this?

Just a day at the beach...

(No, the blonde isn't me...that would be my cute little sister in law, Melissa!)

Getting all the sand and sunscreen out of all the strange places it ended up!

Cuddling with cousin Chloe. She adored Eli. Every morning, we would hear her little feet pitter-patter around the condo wanting to know, "Were (where) baby Eli go?" Any time he lost his binkie, she would helpfully pop it back in while telling him, "Her (here) baby Eli."

Every morning, Chloe would pick someone to be the "dentist." This was Shane's turn.

Out and about...

This picture was taken on our anniversary. Know any better place to celebrate your 7th anniversary? G&G and Uncle Dan & Aunt Jeanne babysat Eli for a few hours so we could enjoy a dinner out just the two of us.

Melissa, Rebekah, me, Jeanne, and Barb (Jeanne's mom)


My future's so bright, I gotta wear shades.

This is an avacado some of the Friends gave us. Can you believe they grew this huge avacado in their backyard?! They also had grapefruit, banana, liche, and orange trees. Yum!


Unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture of Mom and Dad...maybe that was because they were so busy conquering the island! (They hiked, took a day trip to Pearl Harbor, saw Waimea Canyon and the North Shore, kayaked to the Hidden Falls, zip-lined, AND got lots of Grandpa and Grandma time in! I hope that's what I'm doing when I'm a grandma!) However, the real reason I didn't get a shot of them may have had more to do with the fact that I kept forgetting to take my camera with me!

Birthdays, Weddings, and Illnesses

Let's see if I can I squish the past month into one post. Here's the nutshell version of the past month...

7 Birthdays
*Our niece, Bella, turned 1. Eli and Bella are finally at the age where they notice each other.

Here's Eli at the party with Uncle Ryan.


*Shane's little sis, Melissa, turned the big 21! (We celebrated after Bella's party.)
We had a joint celebration on April 6th at my Mom and Dad's for the April b-days in my family...
*My Dad celebrated his 53rd birthday.
*Our nephew, Kailer, turned 2.
*My cousin Amy turned 26.
*Yours truly turned 27. (Shane took me out to Thai food and ice cream on my actual birthday. He also surprised me with a new camera. Now I just have to figure out all the finer points of operating it...)
*And of course we can't forget Eli! He shared my birthday-he turned 7 months old on April 21!

2 Ear Infections
It wasn't a very healthy month in our household! After recuperating from his first cold, Eli came down with a double ear infection. Luckily we caught it before we left for Hawaii, but I was paranoid that the flight would hurt his little ears. His fever finally came down the night before we flew out and he actually slept almost the entire flight to Honolulu. THEN on the way home, Shane started getting sick. Turns out he also had a double ear infection and a sinus infection. He's finally starting to feel better now. My poor guys!

One Wedding
My little, baby brother is all grown up! Dan and Brynn were married on April 5th in Centrailia. Brynn compliments Dan in so many ways and I know they're so happy to have found each other! Welcome to the family Brynn!

I got to exercise my rusty florist skills! Making the corsages, boutonnieres and bride's bouquet was a fun and crafty break from dishes and laundry. (The flowers were all silk, so I was able to do them all ahead of time.) The wedding decor turned out pretty cool-it was rustic/woodsy themed and their colors were camouflage (yep-you read that right!), and browns and greens.

My Mom did it again! She both designed and made their beautiful wedding cake. Someday I'm going to take lessons! (The "P" is for my family's last name-not sure that it matters if I post it or not, but everyone always says to use first name only on your blog...)

Dan and Brynn's first dance. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I got of the two of them together!!

It was so touching to watch Dan and my Mom throughout the day. I guess I just kept thinking, "Someday, that could be me watching my little Eli get married."

Eli has lots of adoring fans! This is our sweet little niece, Madision.

Eli and Auntie Sara

Could it really be almost 7 years ago that it was us getting married?!

Eli met his Great Grandma Dee for the first time!

Too cute for words!

Bath time with cousin Maddy.