8 Months

Eight months. There have been many exciting highlights this month, mainly crawling and pulling herself up onto things. Her newly discovered crawling skill is both exciting and somewhat terrifying. We can no longer leave her in one room and know exactly where she is and what she's doing; she requires constant supervision now! And our house is slowly being re-decorated as we move all of our things out of Kenley's reach...

We took our inaugural summer 2011 trip to Bench Lake this past weekend, June 11-12--Kenley's first trip (besides while she was in my belly last summer @ 27 weeks pregnant). The braided rug in this photo has been in the family for many moons, so it seemed to be the perfect background for her 8-month photo.

The cabin is a special place for our family. My parents purchased some remote property in 2003 and they have been busy over the past eight years building a cabin in the wilds of Alaska. It's a true escape that's only accessible by airplane or snowmachine. We generally drive to Long Lake, about an hour-and-a-half north of Anchorage, and my dad shuttles us in his Piper Super Cub from Long Lake to Bench Lake, about a 15 minute flight one way. It's always such a treat to visit the cabin!

Have Binky, Will Fly

We had a great time at Bench Lake, and Kenley seemed to enjoy the trip very much. We're looking forward to many more trips to the cabin!

8376PAPA on Bench Lake

Kenley & Mommy at the cabin

The Hamlin Family walking around the meadow at Bench Lake

Kenley & Pappy on the dock

The Dobson Cabin

Here's another highlight from this month... We've been dog-sitting for our friends, so Doc (the pug in the video) and Maggie have been visiting our house for a couple of weeks. Kenley LOVES Doc because he's the only one that's not afraid to play with her. Our Aussies, Skagit and Remy, are very timid and are kind of afraid of her, especially now that she's mobile! This video is classic--one we're sure to giggle at for many years to come. 

Kenley is a joy and we feel blessed every day to have such a healthy, happy baby girl. 

K is 7 months old

Little Kenley Ella is 7 months old! She's starting to babble more, and has the dadada and bababa sounds down pretty well. We even heard a "ma" this morning, so the long-awaited "mama" word is on its way... She is on the verge of crawling. She has all the pieces figured out; now she just needs to figure out how to put them all together.

Kenley has been eating solids for the past couple of months now, and she seems to like most everything we've given her--with the exception of spinach. She especially likes peaches and sweet potatoes. Pretty soon I'll start experimenting with making her food with my new "Magic Bullet"! :) We tried giving her pear juice in a sippy cup today and she wasn't the least bit interested... Better luck next time! 

I had a great first Mother's Day weekend with my family. We went to the Alaska Zoo and the Anchorage Museum. We are new members of the museum, so we'll enjoy several more trips throughout the year. The Imaginarium now lives in the museum, so Kenley will really love exploring there as she grows. I used to go to the Imaginarium when I was a little girl and I have a lot of fun memories of the place. 

It's finally springtime in Anchorage! Mark and I recently spent some time cleaning up our yard and busting out the patio furniture. It's nice to be able to spend some more time outside again. We got Kenley a walker so she can hang with us out on the back deck. I also got a Baby Jogger for my birthday from my parents, so we've taken that out a few times now. The dogs were especially excited to go on a jaunt to the dog park! 

More to come soon... 

K's half-birthday

Miss Kenley is 6 months old today! Happy half-birthday to our little lady. Highlights this month:

Kenley took her first airplane ride from Anchorage to Seattle to meet the family. She got to spend some quality time with her Grandma and Grandpa Hamlin, Aunt Amy and Uncle Chris, and little cousin Cameron Michael. She met all sorts of great aunts and uncles, and second cousins on her Dad's side of the family, too. It was a whirlwind weekend getaway, but boy was it fun!

Proud Grandma and Grandpa Hamlin with their grandbabies, Kenley Ella and Cameron Michael.

Rice cereal! Yum, yum, yum. Next we embark on an adventure in solids! 

Kenley has started "scooching" around on the floor, dragging herself around with her arms. This means Mom and Dad must start baby-proofing the abode in the very near future. She no longer stays in one place when we lay her down on the floor. Pretty soon she'll be crawling and lifting herself up on things, and getting into all sorts of fun and exciting things, I'm sure.

Nannie came home from Grand Junction for a little over a week to get a "grandbaby fix." She was able to watch Kenley for a couple of days while Mom and Dad went to work, and Jess and Kenley got to spend a whole weekend at "home" in Eagle River. 

Six months is a great age. Kenley is really starting to turn into a little person. Her giggles are the best, and we can now see the lightbulb turn on as she figures out the amazing things that her little hands can actually do! It sure is fun being parents and we're looking forward to what the next six month (and beyond!) brings our way. 

Alaska Grown

Last weekend our little family took an afternoon drive to Hatcher Pass, about an hour north of Anchorage. It was a blue-bird day, not a cloud in the sky. After an entire winter of being cooped up in the garage, our snowshoes finally got some fresh air.

Beautiful Hatcher Pass

Kenley's first snowshoeing adventure

Skagit the wonder dog

The pups got a good workout trudging through the deep snow. All they wanted to do was run, run, run, but they weren't able to go as fast as they would have liked.

Alaska girl

We're having a great time showing Kenley Alaska, and we're excited for all of the adventures that lie ahead.

Five Months

Kenley is five months old! Unbelievable how time flies. At five months, Kenley weighs in at 13 lbs. 2.5 oz. We like to call her "tumbleweed," because she's rolling around all over the place. We'll put her down in one spot and before we know it, she's on the other side of the room. It won't be long now until she's crawling! Her favorite thing right now is her feet, and all she wants to do is put them in her mouth. Yum!

Late February/Early March is Fur Rondy and Iditarod season in Alaska. We were able to get out and enjoy some of the festivities this year. Mark and his buddies participated in the first-ever Yukigassen snowball fight in the U.S.--they had a blast! "Bert the Conquerer," the host of a Travel Channel show, came and played on the Northern Trailblazers team with Mark and his friends. They'll all be featured on an upcoming episode of the show sometime in April. How cool is that? We also enjoyed the Native Arts Market, which features dozens of Alaska Native vendors from across Alaska--mukluks, parkas, ulus, baleen, furs and ivory carvings galore. Many of these folks come to Anchorage from far away rural villages just to show off their beautiful ware.

The Northern Trailblazers Yukigassen Team

Luke, Rob and Mark ready for battle

We took Kenley to her first Iditarod on March 5, 2011. Each year, there's a ceremonial start to the Iditarod race held in downtown Anchorage; the actual race begins the next day in Willow, about two hours north of town. We met up with Steve, Stephanie and Katelin Walker at a great spot that allowed us to be within hand-slapping distance from the dog teams and mushers. It's such a cool experience and it never gets old.

Here's Kenley and I with four-time Iditarod champ Lance Mackey in the background. Can you imagine what these guys (and gals) go through on the 1,000-mile race from Anchorage to Nome? 

Lance Mackey's dog team. Like the pink booties?

The Hamlin Family, Iditarod 2011

We also went downtown to peruse the Fur Rondy snow sculptures. Most of them were pretty melted by the time we made our visit, but they were still neat to see. 

Kenley the snow queen (and her Dad).

Quatro

Four months. Kenley continues to astound us with her cuteness and fun personality. It sounds so cliche, but she's the center of our universe, and we're loving every minute.

She's starting to roll over now, and has a hard time sitting still when we're trying to change her britches. We think she's in the early stages of teething, too, because she's constantly drooling over everything and she puts everything, especially her hands, in her mouth. And the smiles? Ohhh, the smiles. They get us every time.

I returned to work full-time on Jan. 31 after a nice, long, blissful maternity leave, which was very, very, very, very (did I mention very?) hard. I'm still not completely adjusted, and I'm not sure I ever will be. BUT, during the week we take Kenley to a great woman named Betsy who runs a small at-home daycare. So even though I'm not with Kenley every minute of every day, I know that she's in good hands while I'm on the clock. And once we establish a routine, things will get easier and easier... Right?!?

Kenley caught her first cold last week, which led to her first ear infection. Talk about an inconsolable crying fit! She took a "sick day" and went to see Dr. McArthur, who prescribed her some Amoxicillin to help rid the infection. It's hard to see your baby in pain, not knowing what's wrong, and especially not being able to comfort her.

Kenley's Nannie and Pappy Dobson (Jess's parents) left Alaska on Jan. 21 to travel down the Alcan Highway to their "snowbird" destination, Grand Junction, CO. With a dog and a cat in tow (yes, a cat), they made it safely to the red rocks in record time -- only five days.

SO. Here's to four months, and continuing to enjoy watching Kenley grow into a lovely young lady. Cheers!

Grandma & Grandpa Hamlin come to Alaska

Kenley's Grandma and Grandpa Hamlin came to Alaska last weekend, Jan. 21-24, for a quick visit. We had a great time with them, and they got to spend some quality time with their new granddaughter. She definitely charmed them! Here are a few pictures from their visit.