Here in Michigan

Liam at the Children's Museum

We are still having fun. It's a little hectic this week as Ryan is back to school and work. I am working five hours a week from home. Well, I'm supposed to be working five hours a week from home. But it seems to be closer to ten at the moment. My replacement starts next Monday so I'm sure we'll get there! And we are thankful for the income. :)

Here are some photos. CLICK HERE. To check out.

Liam is learning so fast now. He can read early reader books with some help (For example, The Cat in the Hat, Are you My Mother?)  Shelley also found some old books on tape and a cassette player for Liam, which he adores. Today we went to the library and I was excited to see that they have books with companion tapes. We checked out two (the limit) and brought them home. He's been enjoying a book called Mud Pies this evening while going to sleep. Liam is also quite the cook. While Jude naps in the mornings, Liam and I prep all the food for lunch and dinner. He is so focused and such a joy while cooking with me. It's also great for his math skills!

Jude is about ready to take his first steps. He's let go of support a few times recently and tried taking a step this week. He seems undeterred by falling--no fear. A few weeks ago he climbed our flight of stairs (with me behind him) by himself. He is also starting to really understand language. Yesterday Ryan told him to put a block into a wooden box, and he followed directions. Today, I asked him to point to the baby in his book, and he did. He just loves Liam and follows him everywhere, often trying to copy him. He's started eating regular table food if it's soft. Tonight he had some falafel and loved it! I've also started giving him a cup with lid to drink water. His eyes are also still changing color. They were gray-blue, then blue, and now they are starting to look more green. I wonder what color they will settle on! Hard to believe he's almost a year old already.

That's about it for now. Be sure to check out the new photos!

Some more pictures

Of your favorite subjects and mine...the Kilgore boys.  Click Here. 

Things are going well here. Today was my last official day working in the office. I'm sure I'll be popping in from time-to-time and I'll be training a new person when he or she starts. But for now I'm just working five hours per week from home.

Ryan will start his new position on Monday as a Graduate Assistant for the PhD director, Tom Shepherd. He will work about 10 hours a week and I'll stay home with our boys.

And of course in a not too long we will be moving back to the Northwest. Just one more semester for Ryan! He starts classes a week from Tuesday.

I'm doing some preschool-like themes with the boys at home. If you're curious about the kinds of things we've been up to, check out my activity blog. Last week we did a theme on rainbows and rainbow colors and the week before we centered our activities around hats. You'll see these in the photos.