Play time

Lately, Kyson's crawling has turned into very fast crawling and getting into everything... so Ken and I have been getting our workout at home. He loves playing with his toys, the cat, and just about anything else he can get his little hands on. I just uploaded these photos tonight and was comparing pictures from about a month ago- and cannot believe how much he really does change in such a short period of time. Here are some of my most recent favorites...

"Okay mom, are you done taking my picture, I wanna play now!"

Volcano time and my new favorite sandwich

It's been almost 2 months now that we have been warned Mt. Redoubt could blow. Mt. Redoubt is situated about 120 miles from Anchorage on the Kenai Penninsula. There was one weekend in particular (probably 6 weeks ago now) that they were worried could be it- so everyone turned off all electronics, placed bags over them, and had plenty of face masks and car air filters ready. Nothing happened. So the status was dropped down to a lower concern level (maybe yellow instead of red) and the masks went back into the closet and we went on our way. Last night at 10:30 Mt. Redoubt decided to blow. Luckily Ken's sister sent him a text and alerted us to turn on the news, so we did. Apparently there had been about 30-40 small earthquakes leading up to explosion. It has so far spurted 4 times and there were ash fumes as high as 50,000 feet! So airplanes are not flying today around Alaska. Anchorage has been lucky to not see much (or any for that matter) ash yet as the wind in being nice to carry it another direction! We didn't have to break out the masks afterall (yet, atleast). It also means we didn't get to sleep in with the excuse not to go to work today. Bummer!

In other news... my new favorite sandwich is so delectably simple that I thought I would share it with you. You take 2 pieces of bread- put any kind of cheese you like (I use Havarti) on one side and toast the bread lightly. You then put some sliced avocado, then some light garlic salt, then some sliced tomato, put it all together and mmmmm mmmm mmm is it tasty! I have had about 4 in the last week and am still not sick of them. It doesn't taste as good if you do that in a different order- I know that sounds funny- but the garlic salt has to be in between the avocado and the tomato!

I will post some new pics of Kyson soon.

Monster Cookies...for the Cookie Monster in all of us!

So today I called my sister Renee and she brought up Monster cookies by saying, "remember how we always used to LOVE monster cookies?" Of course I do! I had forgotten about these yummy cookies though as it has been a few years since I have had one. As a youth we had girls camp every summer from ages 14-18 through church and at night, of course after I had already brushed my teeth they would bring us a giant cookie of our choice. They offered giant rice krispie treats, and monster cookies the size of your hand! I sometimes wondered if they brought them to us right before bed, and after we brushed our teeth as a "temptation challenge" of some sort, but I didn't care! If someone offers me (or any Jaten for that matter) a cookie we are going to gladly accept! Anyways I googled "monster cookie" recipe and was surprised that none of them included the use of flour. They turned out pretty good. I really LOVE slightly frozen cookies- so as soon as these were done, I bagged them up and put them in the freezer (where they will stay until I pull them out to enjoy one, or two, or three at a time!)

Monster Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup peanut butter
1 stick butter-softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
--cream these ingredients together and add
3 eggs
---one at a time mix thoroughly after each, then add-
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla
--mix to combine and add
3/4 c chocolate chips
3/4 c m&m's
4 1/2 cup instant oatmeal (don't add too much or they will be dry)

Directions:
Scoop onto sheet pan and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10-12 minutes. Can bake longer for a crisper cookie but they are better chewy in my opinion. Hope you enjoy them! Makes 6 dozen... so no need to double the recipe.... believe me!

Kyson's first official day of Crawling!!!

I was taking ACLS (Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support) today and I thought I would call home at lunch to see how the baby was doing and Ken tells me that "he's good, he started crawling today." He had accidently turned over his toy train that has a ball circulate through a loop inside and out pops the ball. As the ball is rolling on the carpet, Ken sees it roll past the kitchen and shortly afterward sees Kyson crawling right behind it. Ken said he did a double take to make sure he was seeing correctly. With all of Ken's excitement, as soon as I walk in the door he says, "you have to see him crawl." So I got the camera out and here is what I saw. Sure enough... he's officially crawling! Our little boy is growing up so fast!!!

Winter fun!

In celebration of Alaska's Iditarod (a 1000 mile dog driven race), they have a two to three week festival called "Fur Rondy" otherwise known as Fur Rendevous. In Anchorage they had the ceremonial start of the Iditarod as well as a carnival, pony rides, helicopter rides, music, food, ice bowling, and snow/ice sculptures. Ken and I were both working during the ceremonial start- so we didn't get to see the mushers with their sled dog teams, but we were able to go see the snow/ice sculptures... so here are a few of those. Every year I am so amazed at people's talented abilities with carving! I think these pictures will also help my mom cool off in her Arizona heat (not that it's super hot right now)... but still.

This one's for you Aimes...

Ice Age...

This one was my favorite by far!

Growing baby boy!

Growth: Kyson's 6 month check up told us he was 16 lbs, 10 ounces and 27 inches (or as I like to call is 2' 3") tall. His weight is slowing down some but his height is up there for his age. Food: He has slowly started enjoying rice cereal- but still doesn't eat a ton of it. Each week we are adding a new food- so this week's menu for Kyson will be rice cereal, green beans, and milk. Pretty exciting huh?! He makes the funniest faces with these new tastes and textures!

Teeth: He has two that emerged this past week... he was very cooperative to get a good shot!

"Open Wide"... he can't wait to see the dentist!

Mobility: He is not officially crawling yet- but he will scoot and pull himself about one knee's length. He can roll over from tummy to back and back to tummy, and maneuver/scoot 90 degrees (side to side) when he's on his belly. He seems to be fairly entertained to play with his toys and manuever around, so we are now at the "scramble to baby-proof" stage of parenthood.

Sitting all by himself

Fun: He loves to be tickled and is quite ticklish (his feet, legs, tummy, and under his arms)... it is so much fun hearing him laugh. Just the other night when I was just about to fall asleep I was thinking about his laugh and I could picture the sound of it- which totally made me smile. They say you can hear your baby's cry and recognize it after only hearing it once. Which I would say is true, especially if Ken takes him out of a meeting during church and is walking around with him. However, his laugh has taken a few dozen times to hear it before I began to recognize it... but it's just one of those neat motherhood things, you don't think about beforehand, that has been very fun to discover!