Swimming cousins

John and Rachel got a pool for their backyard so we went over yesterday to try it out. It took Kate a minute to get used to the temperature of the water but after that she was loving splashing and kicking around. Jake preferred to spend his time on the floating turtle outfitted with his life vest, goggles, and a snorkel for safety. Jamie was trying to talk him into playing with her in the water some but he was not persuaded. AJ and Jamie are such good swimmers that I hope Jake will see how much fun they are having and be motivated to venture out a bit more. We still have plenty of summer left for that to happen.

Happy 4th

We had a fun, but pretty hot day on the 4th. We went to the parade in Central Point with John, Rachel, AJ, Jamie, Caitlin, and my parents in the morning. I forgot the camera so we don't have any proof that we went except for the bowl full of candy, stickers, and necklaces that Jake brought home. Everyone enjoyed themselves in spite of the heat. When we got home the kids crashed for most of the afternoon then we headed up to my parents house for a BBQ. Yum!!!! Then we went out to Eagle Point for the fireworks. Kate smiled and kicked her legs for most of the show. Jake said he loved them, clapped for them, but was mostly just excited to be sitting next to AJ who was getting a little sleepy.

Bag head Jake

Jake thought it would be funny to put this bag on his head the other day. Then the fun continued by putting his arms through the straps. He decided that I should take a picture of him, which he looked at and laughed. All the good times came to an abrupt halt when he needed to go to the bathroom and could not get his arms down. What a nut.

They both have blue eyes

Jake hasn't worn his goggles in the tub for quite some time, but he decided he wanted them this morning. Kate kept trying to pull them off his face and Jake kept saying," I can't believe I'm a scuba diver!" Pretty funny kids.

L is for the way you look at me...

I know this picture is a little bit blurry, but I think you can still tell that Kate sure loves her dad. Bryan is pretty fond of Kate as well.

Corvallis

Last week the kids, Caitlin, and I went with Bryan up to Corvallis for his last few days of Banker training. We got to go up to Hillsboro for a few hours to see my friend Natalie. It is always fun to see her. Her little girl Grace and Jake got along great and played like they have been friends forever. Caitlin and I also got to take the kids for a swim. Kate loved the water and kicked the whole time like she was swimming. Jake was mostly scared but relaxed enough to enjoy himself for a while.

Our Kate

Here are two of our most recent pictures of Kate. She had her six month check up last Monday. She weighs in at a whopping 14 lbs 13 oz. That puts her at about the 25th percentile. She is about 27 inches long putting her at the 75th percentile for height. It is fun to watch her learn new things every day. She is getting better at sitting up and has definitely mastered eating baby food. The only problem is if we don't shovel it in fast enough. She is such a smiley girl and we sure love having her in our family.

Memorial Day Weekend

The Saturday of Memorial day weekend we headed out to the coast for the day. It ended up being a bit on the chilly side, but we had a great time any way. Our first stop was in Crescent City at Ocean World. It is like a mini aquarium with a sea lion show and baby sharks and star fish that you can touch. Jake had a great time, but was too scared to touch the shark. He did it last year but that did not persuade him at all. Then we headed up the road a bit to find somewhere to have our lunch and play in the sand. We found a nice quiet beach and Bryan and Jake spent time playing in the tide pools while Kate and I tried to stay warm. It was a fun relaxing day. Maybe next time we will luck out and go when it is sunny and warm.

Kate, is that you?

Is she hiding? No. Is her face cold? No. This is the way Kate sleeps most of the time. Don't worry she does not start out that way. We cover the rest of her up and as soon as we walk away she sticks her feet up in the air, grabs the blanket off them and pulls it over her face. We uncover her after she falls asleep, but I guess we won't have problems with her being claustrophobic.

Mohawk

Jake's hair stands up in the back a little on its own so we decided to give him a mohawk for church a couple Sundays ago. Isn't he cool?!

Touch-a-Truck

Last month Caitlin and I, Jessica, took Jake to an event at the fairgrounds called touch-a-truck. They had tractors, a boat, semi tucks, firetrucks, tow trucks, police cars and just about every other vehicle a kid would like to explore. The kids got to climb around inside them and play with all the buttons, steering wheels, and levers they wanted. It took Jake a little while to go from being "scared of everysing" to enjoying it. Once he got excited, there was no stopping him. He also had what was supposed to be a spider painted on his face and Caitlin helped him make a pasta necklace. All in all, he had a great time.

Say cheese!

This is our most updated family picture. Don't worry, it is not professionally done. We'll be getting one of those soon also. You may notice the light over my (Bryan's) head and as far as we can figure out, that is in similitude of my angelic ways, not the lights from the kitchen.

Is that Picaso?

Jake enjoys drawing in his spare time. Here is one of his more recent masterpiece's. Seeing as how he likes to draw on his "magnet doodle", we have to take pictures of his work if we ever want to see it again. For those of you who aren't artistically inclined, this is a drawing of a whale.

The big numero tres

We know we are a month late, but we wanted to show a few pictures from Jake's 3rd birthday. We celebrated it the day before, on Saturday, April 28, by spending the morning at the park and the evening having a little party. He got to choose the kind of cake he wanted, and he decided on one with "woims"(worms) on it. He got plenty of fun stuff and had a good time. We can hardly believe that he is already 3 years old. Time sure flies. He started out so small and now, as you can see, he is 30 pounds of solid muscle. Jake is so much fun and we love him so much!

Kate Wendy McLaughlin

Kate is getting bigger and stronger so she has been spending time in the 'Johnny jump-up' and the bath seat. She really likes the 'Johnny jump-up' so hopefully that will help her develop a vertical jump that is out of this world. Kate likes being able to sit up in the bath too. Like most kids, she likes splashing the water.

Good morning kiddos

We have noticed that everytime Jake holds Kate for a picture that the pose is about the same each time. We like them though, so I suppose it's okay. Here are the two of them right after waking up. Jake almost always wakes up puffy-eyed while Kate is ready to go.

Quiz time

This picture is designed as a quiz to all who would like to take it. For 1 point tell us whether this picture was taken before Jessica and Bryan started having kids or sometime since we have started popping them out. For 2 points tell us where this picture was taken, and be sure to be specific. For 3 points state the year this picture was taken. For 4 points name two other people who were with us at the time this picture was taken. You have until the morning of Sunday, May 6, 2007 to send us your answers. We will tally the points and state who the winner is at that time. Whoever wins gets the option of having Jessica and Bryan come to their home and personlly paint a mural of this very portrait on a wall of your choosing. Good luck!

Breakfast if fun, but lunch can be tiring

Here are some of the many faces of Jake Robert McLaughlin. He likes to have lots of fun when he is eating, but sometimes by lunch he can be pretty worn out. Obviously he still likes his naps.

Giddy-up horses

The Wells Fargo Stagecoach was in the Medford Pear Blossom Parade and thanks to the fact that Jake's dad, Bryan Tait McLaughlin, works for Wells Fargo, Jake got to ride in the stagecoach. He had a fun time waving to people and looking out the windows at the horses. After the parade his dad helped him go pet the horses, which he also liked a lot.

Almost forgotten

We almost forgot to post this beauty of a picture. For those of you who don't know, the older gentleman in the picture is Bryan McLaughlin and he is a father of three children, two of whom are in this picture with him. Now for those of you who do know the older gentleman in the picture, don't you think that is crazy? Three kids?!

Easter breakfast

On Saturday we went to the Country Club in Medford that Jessica's parents are members of for an Easter egg hunt and then for breakfast. Jake tore it up and got a ton of Easter eggs. We thought we had it on video, but somehow we messed up and it didn't work. Bummer. Hope everyone had a good Easter holiday.

Bryan and Jessica as babies

It's totally crazy, but it turns out that Jessica and I (Bryan) actually knew of each other as kids. Jessica's mom found these pictures the other day and so we thought we would put them on the blog. Just kidding everybody. Pictured here are two shots of Jake holding his sister, Kate.

Don't ask

This is how we found Jake sleeping before we went to bed one night. From the looks of it we think Jake and his elephant must have gotten in some fisticuffs and after putting the elephant in a submission hold Jake fell asleep on him.

Not-so-Superman

For those of you who don't know, Jake is scared of all kinds of things. The picture above is Jake watching T.V. from his mom and dad's bedroom because he is scared of a dragon on one of his movies. Jake thinks dragons are real and that they will get him someday. In fact, he has seen them flying around his room a time or two and he doesn't like that. As you can see, Jake has a Superman cape and he loves wearing it. His "Blu Grandma" (Bluth) got him that, but it doesn't seem to help him to be any more brave. The other side of the cape is Batman, but no luck with that side either. What can you say?