lucy and the kettles

lucy, two weeks old partying with the kettles at uncle david and aunt kathy's 50th anniversary party! she had so much fun snuggling with her grandma and grandpa, aunts and cousins. =)

lucy with grandma and grandpa k

the guest family was in town from denver! yay!

of course, these three hooligans were living it up. what IS the face max is making?! you've got to be kidding me.

with aunt leslie! this little lady is going to have to be a tough chica so she can hang with her brother, cody and tyty up in lyman. these boys don't mess around when they're together! =)

oh man! here we are, a family of four. crazy, right?

greater love hath no boy than this...

that he share his grasshoppers with his sister.

no, seriously.

that's love.

it all started when two of our neighbors came over to play and they each brought pet hoppers, and oh, was he jealous! he kept asking to borrow them! you could tell he was just dying to have his own.

max, with grasshopper envy. i happen to think it's the most adorable thing ever.

early the next morning, max woke up and just had to have a grasshopper of his very own. so he and danny went for a little bike ride to a field near our house and caught TWO grasshoppers! oh, you should have seen the pride. he came running in my room, woke me up and put the jar of hoppers about six inches from my face. he could barely contain himself! he then promptly turned to lucy's moses basket and showed them to her. then set them in her moses basket with her so she could marvel at them appropriately. we about died!

later that afternoon, max took a trip up to idaho to spend the long weekend with grandma kettle while we were at the lake house for labor day. don't you worry, his pets came along. he held them the whole way there, and only shook them sometimes.

he came home with an empty jar. we were informed,

"my dasshoppers are at dwama's tabin. betuz dey are dead."

nice.

no worries, we have a new one, rescued from a life of boredom on the back porch. his name is GEORGE.

GEORGE JUMPY.

the end.

schooled.

can you even believe it? my boy is a PRESCHOOLER! we were BOTH so excited for his first big day, maybe i was a leeeetle more excited. =) i can't even explain how rediculously proud i was seeing him in his classroom, watching him interact with the other students and the teacher... oh, it melted me. he was just SO. CUTE.

the first day i picked him up, lucy and i went in to get him and max was super excited to show his baby sister to the teacher! he went up and got her attention and then just BEAMED while he smiled and pointed his little finger at his sister.

"can you tell your teacher your baby sister's name?"

turns out she had already been informed.

"lucy right? he has been drawing pictures of her and talking about her ALL DAY!"

baaaah! totally one of those well up with pride/love/adoration for your kids mommy moments.

here's our big boy, ready to hit the road on the first day. growing up, we always had pictures on the front porch on the first day of school. did you?

"lucy, max and mommy!" by jon maxwell kettle. looks just like us, no?

sweet lucille

while we were in sandpoint, i finally had a couple minutes to take some real newborn shots of lucy. i tell ya, im just no pro at newborn shots! it's hard. i wish i would have just hired someone. but i am happy with how these turned out!

Lucy, 12 days old

Lucy, 14 days old

Lucy, 15 days old

i made kenzie be my assistant and i caught this while she helped calm lucy down.

how sweet are they?

the big brother

i love this series because it's just so sweet how enamored he is with her. he loves her little toes and fingers, he loves holding her, he LOVES to be a part of what we're doing. the way he interacts with her is absolutely adorable, it honestly just melts me. he would have sat in this chair forever if we let him, he just did not want to give her up, even when she was cranky.

max, 3 and a half. lucy, 14 days.

my boy. i'm so proud of him. he made me a mother, and there is just something so special about your first baby. i still can't believe he isn't THE baby anymore, but he will always be MY baby. =) Im just as in awe of him as I was when he was an infant; his sweet face, every little eyelash, dirty fingernails and feet, his perfect little lips. oh max, i love you. don't forget that, even though we are busy with baby sister. ok? the night before lucy was born, i came in while you were sleeping and snuggled up in bed with you and cried, and cried and cried. i was so excited to meet her, but i couldn't believe that days of just you and me were coming to an end. i dreamed my whole life of you, and you're our whole world. you're my little dude. i wanted to soak up every second of being just YOUR MOM. i can't exactly express what that time meant to me, but it was so special, almost sacred to me. as much as i'm absolutely loving this next phase of life, i will always savor our one on one time together and be so proud of my little man. i can't wait to continue to watch you grow into the big brother and amazing man you're already becoming.

Lucy, 13 days old

enter max: joining in on the fun!

he is sooo pleased with himself. obviously. haha!

sandpoint.

after one week of being at home with baby lucy, we decided to go on a little vacay. =) i had a reeeeally hard time deciding if i should go or not- on one hand i thought it would be crazy to fly with my ONE WEEK OLD BABY, but on the other hand, i thought it might actually be easier to go spend a week at the lake house with my whole family than stay at home alone with my two kids! i was right. the whole week was a complete breeze and so fun and relaxing! i had a houseful of entertainers for max and everyone looooved holding miss lucy. my siblings and parents were all there, plus my grandparents and some really great family friends that are more like my aunts and uncles. max and lucy were the only kids, so it was great! sometimes the house would get a little too busy with people in town visiting as well as my family that lives in town coming over, so i would just leave max playing with my cousin maddy and go sit in my room with lucy. i sat in my room a lot with mackenzie, feeding, changing and burping miss L while we watched shows on the computer or just talked. it was soooo fun and we had some great laughs! plus the lake house is just so peaceful. it was just what i needed.

here's my lucille, (10 DAYS OLD!!) waiting at the terminal for our airplane.

my auntie gretchen came to pick me up and i spent sunday at her house. it was sooooo fun! i never get to spend time with her it seems like. and we were so glad aunt debbie came over to visit too, she has the touch with newborns, i tell ya. i love my mom's sisters!

max had the best time playing in the lake with nana and bapa and "driving the boat." he thought he was sooooo cool!

max giving uncle tyler a ride!

the best was max swimming in the hot tub. he would put his goggles on and paddle around in there! he can totally swim under water short distances. it's amazing.

i was so happy lucy got to meet her great grandma marilyn. they spent lots of time together! max loves my grandparents too and calls them "deat dama and deat dampa" because he can't say his "G" sounds. =)

a RARE moment- lucy with her eyes open! i might be biased, but man is she beautiful. she literally would only be awake to eat and for maybe 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the evening. she slept constantly and was soooo easy. nobody could believe how content she always was! she really NEVER even cried. and i love this little shirt my mom got her, i had to make the headband just to match this. =)

me and kenz and luce at dinner

mackenzie elizabeth and lucille mackenzie! it's true love. i'm so glad we named her after her favorite auntie!

me, dad, and lucy.

i was so glad i got to come and spend time with my brother jordan, who is back from his mission in madrid! he served a truly amazing mission and we are so proud of the amazing person he has become. he has grown up so much... but you wouldn't know from this picture! haha! we had a fun little outing together hitting some thrift stores (our favorite!) and he couldn't resist trying on the jacket. =)

lucy and nana!!!! i am so so so so so lucky to have such an amazing mom. she stayed with me for a whole week when lucy was born and then took care of me for a whole other week at the lake house. she has absolutely done everything from making me food to blankets for lucy and helping me decorate. she is seriously the kindest, sweetest, funniest nicest girl and she is such a good example to me..... ugh. she. is. amazing. I LOVE YOU MOM!!!

do you just die over these pictures? lucy loves her BAPA!!!!

dear summertime,

is it really time to say goodbye? i feel like you slipped right through my fingers this year. you know, given the bed rest and the new baby and such. i know two toddlers who will especially miss the sun.

thank heaven for favorite aunties, who think of good games and turn beach towels into capes and silly things like that. max and heather ran around the backyard for probably an hour like this while she chased them! it was the perfect thing for a busy body boy who's mommy was on bed rest at the time. we love you kenzie!