Ducks!

Brent decided he needed to kill something this year and if he wasn't going to kill an elk, then it had to be ducks! If you cried during the movie Bambi, I would suggest stopping reading now. :)

Brent left the house at two in the morning to drive two and a half hours away to Ellensburg and hunt along the Columbia River.

Brent said it was beautiful, but cold. 14 degrees when they set up the duck blinds only to reach 34 at noon. Even the duck retriever, Lab/Golden mix named Maverick, was wearing a vest to stay warm.

Brent did well, as the last time he hunted ducks was nineteen years ago - he shot four ducks. 

Unfortunately when he returned home, he still had the tiring duty to defeather and clean them! Diesel was so excited, he wanted to help too!

Brock was excited to hear about Brent's adventure today because I'm sure one day he'll be out there with his daddy!

Quick East Coast Visit

Brent went to Costa Rica last week for work, so Brock and I decided to leave too. Although we didn't have this view....

View from Amazon Costa Rica

...we were still ready for our trip!

We had so much fun playing with family and friends!

Yay Uncle Brian is fun!

Andrew & Will Eberle and Brock

And we played HARD!

New toys at Grandma's house

New drawers at Grandma's

Swinging

But of course we had time to relax.

But we missed Diesel and Oscar, so it was time to go home.

Off on another American Airlines flight

We came home on Friday afternoon, picked up the dogs and had a day to settle in before Brent came home the next day. On Saturday night, I had volunteered to help out for the MOPS Mom's night out. We had a fun time - Brock came too. He loves playing with the "big kids" (those walkers!).... aka watching what they do!

The best part was Brock even had time to make a little Thanksgiving picture! The kids got to do a little craft - a nice placemat for Thanksgiving dinner! I love it!!

Back to Zulily with Daddy!

While Brent was home on vacation last week (elk hunting did not go exactly as planned), we received a last minute email from Zulily - they needed our help! An outfit could only be worn by the cutest Zulily baby boy model... and so they had to have Brock! :) Brent knows where Brock got half of his good looks from.... so the moment the stylist saw Brent, they knew they had to include him in the shoot!!

Brent was immediately sent to makeup and wardrobe so he could be in the photo shoot with Brock! I think he enjoyed his time there - seemed like such a natural.

Unfortunately the website has to focus on Brock's clothing, so Brent's face is slightly cut from the shot, but it still makes such a cute photo! You can totally tell who it is!

They'll send us extra photos in a few weeks and it will make for such wonderful shots of Daddy and son! :)

Brock also modeled another outfit - the "Nannette" collection that debuted last Friday. He's such a good model - showing the sleeve patch!

Nine Months!

Baby Brock is nine months old now! He's so big and oh so mobile! He has perfected his crawling and is starting to lift himself up on his knees.... pulling up is right around the corner, so for precaution, the crib is lowered all the way! Three top teeth all broke through this past weekend and he just managed to fall while crawling last night and have his very first bloody lip due to his new dental work.

His new-found skill is starting to get him into some trouble. He has forgotten all about his own toys now and only wants to play with either the dog's toys in their basket, the dog's food in their bowls, the cable box, the books on the bookshelf, or the cord for the lamp. I guess it's time to truly baby-proof the house. 

Brock's nine month well-check appointment went great! Very healthy boy - and big! He's weighing 23 pounds (75th percentile) and measures 30 inches (95th percentile). Next well-check visit is for his 12 months! Wow!

Happy Halloween!

Cookie Monster says "Give me more cookies!!".... err....... "Trick or Treat!" We all had a wonderful first Halloween with Brock this year!

First we celebrated with our MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers group I belong to) last Wednesday. Brock and I both came dressed up! Since we were told to come dressed up somewhat last minute (and only a quarter of the moms did), I chose a costume I've owned for awhile. I wore my Queen of Hearts costume, made for me many years ago which includes a dress donated by my Aunt Beverly. Unfortunately you can't quite see it in this picture, but that's okay because it needs a little TLC - the hearts are starting to peel off (I'm waiting patiently for my mother to come sew it because I didn't listen to her and never learned to do it). :)

After our MOPS class, all the kids went "trick or treating" in the gym. Brock had a good time taking all his loot out of his pumpkin bucket.

On Halloween Day, Brent was able to leave work a little early so could take Brock and Diesel trick or treating. I think Diesel was more excited than Brock! Diesel wore his new pumpkin costume!

The group managed to hit 3 houses this year before Brock had enough. I think that's pretty good - there's a lot of candy in his bucket for only 3 houses! :) It's a good start - we'll shoot for a few more next year. :) 

Happy Halloween everyone!!!