4th of July

This was Beniah's first 4th of July and he loved it! It was a lot of fun to watch him see his 1st fireworks show.

Pool Time!



Sitting tall.


"Who put the P in my name?"


"Aargh! Weed roots!"


Sitting by the fire with Grandpa.


Beniah watching his 1st fireworks...


...and his reaction.

He actually clapped for them when they were over. He was more imitating me than cheering for the fireworks.

Cuddling with Mama.


Fighting off sleep while cuddling with Daddy.


Aaron and Danny with a sparkler.

Look What I Got For Free!

My parents and I toured around Fort Vancouver yesterday and saw a blacksmith make a wall hook. He then proceeded to hand me a smaller hook that he had made earlier and told me that I could keep it. Apparently, this hook is imperfect because of how short it is. I think it is perfect for a hand towel hook.

Baby Got Back!

I have taken a break from cloth diapering this past week because the diapers just weren't holding the liquid as well as they were in the past. Needless to say, I became tired of having to change the bedding and Beniah in the middle of the night. I was going to double up our liners until my wonderful sister suggested using the cheap-o Gerber cloth diapers as the doublers. This solution is still in the testing process. Whether or not this works, I got some cute big butt pictures of Beniah.



If you click on the picture, you can see his 2 bottom teeth.

Happy Birthday Donny!

This evening we went over to the Shire residence to celebrate Donny's 2nd birthday.



The cousins had fun playing with Donny's new ball popper. Beniah was mostly excited about putting the toy and balls in his mouth.

Beniah in Donny's new ball pit/ swimming pool.

All Aboard!

Today, we set off on a great adventure to see the Disney Christmas Carol movie train. This train is making its way across the country and stopped for one day at the Union Station in Portland. There were 7 of us piled into the grandparents' van as we drove to Portland, so Grandma Whittaker had to sit in the middle of the van on a padded stool.

Aaron enjoyed wearing Grandma's sunglasses.


We had a 45 minute wait in line and were entertained by some carolers.

Mama and Beniah.


Since we weren't allowed to take strollers on board, we had to take turns holding Beniah.


Beniah's favorite part of the day was playing with the greenery...


... and patting the picture Scrooge's (Jim Carrey) face.


Although walking down one of the cars was fun too!


Beniah looking at a figurine of the ghost of Marley.

Three Years Ago Today...

7 Months Old

It is hard to imagine, but my baby boy is now 7 months old! He has had many accomplishments this month. His top left tooth has burst forth (3 total teeth now) and he has learned how to creep. I keep thinking that my place is baby proof, but Beniah keeps proving me wrong. I will post a video of his feats once I can figure out how to download the footage to my laptop.

Getting ready to crawl.


Teething on Dwight Shrute.


Beniah loves our cat, Mongkut.


Beniah- 7 months old.

Whittaker Family Beach Trip 2009

Tim's brother, Danny, along with his wife, Betsy, and son, Aaron are here visiting from the great city country of Singapore. To celebrate, the Whittakers got together and rented 2 beach houses for 3 days and 2 nights full of sun, sand, surf, and six children under the age of 4. It was very fun and just slightly a bit chaotic. This was Beniah's 1st time at the beach. Keeping with his Norse heritage, he didn't mind the cold Pacific water. His only complaint was that his mean mama wouldn't let him eat the sand. Horrible!

Beniah's 1st look at the ocean.


Getting his feet wet. (Grandma Whittaker, Aaron, and Uncle Danny are running in the background)


"Hey Mama!"


Beniah trying to eat sand.


Tim was given his Jack/ Donny wake up call Thursday morning.


All 6 of the grandchildren.


On the way home, we had an extra passenger, Donny Shire. He chattered almost the entire way home. Every once in awhile, I would hear "Hi Nana!" (Beniah in Donny language).

Donny was all tuckered out.

Like Father Like Son.

6 Months Old

This is a bit late, but here is Beniah's 6 month pictures. At his last doctor's appointment, he weighed in at 21.6 lbs and is 28" long.



Beniah with Great Grandma Kjossness.


Beniah wasn't to sure about the Twist's oh so gentle dog, Bailey.


In the end, he decided that Bailey wasn't that scary and that grass was a lot of fun to play with.


"I am so cute!"


Beniah - 6 months old.

Happy Memorial Day!

It's Feeding Time!

Ever since we noticed Beniah looking at us and chewing with us whenever we ate in front of him, we have been thinking of starting him on solids. It has now come to pass that Beniah is eating solids. He had his 1st rice cereal meal a few weeks ago when he was 5 1/2 months old. He wasn't thrilled with the taste.



A couple weeks later we tried Sweet Potatoes.


We have also tried carrots and grean beans, all to no avail. My son just isn't thrilled with the taste of this new food. We'll get there eventually.