Rock Star

Ben loves this guitar! It's cute to watch him "play". We might have to get him a different one though, Lauren is finally over the Wiggles and I'm not so sure we really want to bring them back into the house...

6 month stats

This is on the way out the door to his 6 month appt. He must not have known about the shots:) He was so happy and laughing! Ben is healthy and happy and doing all the stuff he's supposed to. The doctor even commented on how strong he is... a natural athlete I'm sure:)

Here are his stats:

Length: 27 3/4 inches (89%)

Weight: 18 lbs (60%)

Head: 171/4 inches (50%)

I'm so glad they don't post my stats at each milestone!

Such a Helper

Lauren loves feeding Ben.
She's actually pretty good at it too.

Ben loves when Lauren feeds him. He adores her, it's so cute!

Children's Museum

Saturday we joined Ryan, Megan, & Hads at the Children's Museum (it's nice to know someone who gets us in for free! Thanks guys!)
Lauren expressing herself through art...until another kid had the paint she wanted, then she expressed herself by screaming on the floor:)

Hadley is the next Monet!

This was a fav, the new market. They were ringing Benny up, sorry girls, there is not enough money in the world to buy him!

Ben loved this chair in the Seattle Center. He kept picking it up and trying to eat it. And I wonder why he keeps getting sick? Hmm...

Just Playing

Lauren had me laughing yet again while playing. She put on this dress for about 2 seconds and told me she was getting married! (When I asked her who she was marrying she looked at me like I was so dumb and said, "Benny"!)
Then suddenly she had this dress on and told me she was going to college. Not sure how she even knows about college or getting married for that matter...the last wedding she was at was in early May! The kid has a memory!

Then she wanted Ben to join in the fun. This was also another wedding outfit:)

She let Ben play with "Baby Frank Opa" (not to be confused with the original Baby Frank).

Then she became a doctor (the college really paid off!) and checked Ben out, luckily he's alright. This all happened in about 5 minutes. She's never boring!

She also has a new imaginary friend, I just don't have any photos:) He's a polar bear and sometimes she's scared of him, other times he's her buddy. He rides with us in the car and always gets buckled in so he can be safe too:) The other day she wanted him to have her carseat and she would use the one in daddy's car. He even enjoyed a trip to Costco with us last week! I absolutely love her imagination!

He Amazes Me

I am still amazed at the fact that Ben can just fall asleep in my arms. I really don't think Lauren ever did this. I love having such a cuddly little boy!

Lady Love

Ben spent New Years Eve with his new pal Sydney and he was very into her!
Way to go Ben, you gotta just go for it!

Such an agressive boy. They were pretty cute together. Of course I'm not sure if Morgan and Heather will find this cute in 15 years!

Just Hangin'

Lauren has an interesting stance while watching tv.

We were laughing at her teenage boy stance.

Kevin had to imitate her, she had no idea.

Shopping

Lauren was making us laugh so hard when she was taking her Care Bear shopping. She said to it, "Okay, I will carry you but you are not going to get a cookie now." Hmm... I wonder where she heard that??

Catch the Spider

Lauren loves Oma's fake spider and web that she has hung high up in her ceiling. She wanted Kevin to help her catch it. Gotta grow a few more inches Lauren.

Yum!

Lauren was enjoying a yummy chocolate covered candy cane cookie on the car ride home from Bellingham.
It was that good.

Happy Boy!

Must have been pretty excited to get into that bath tub!
Playing with his new tools from Christmas.

Hanging out with Daddy!

The Nap Saga

Lauren hasn't taken a real nap (lots of car sleeping though) in a few weeks so we assumed naps were coming to an end. This afternoon we were playing and she went to her room to get something. After a few minutes she didn't come back so I went to check on her and this is what I found! Apparently she does still need naps, just wants to take them on her own terms...which really isn't all the surprising given her independent little personality!

My First Video!

This is my first video, I know it's not perfect but I'm learning:)

I swear everytime I video Lauren she starts talking like a baby and is so hard to understand. Oh well. Here she was telling Ben that she "likes him for always" which is from a book!

**by the way, she insisted on having this ponytail today

Christmas in the 'ham!

We arrived safe and sound, even though this crazy snow won't stop! We were all happy to be here and get to relax and enjoy a couple days with Oma & Opa. Lauren was very happy to help Ben open all of his gifts. He was obsessed with the paper, as all babies are. By the way, Lauren is wearing some jammies, her 14th outfit of the day. She literally stripped down every time she opened a new article of clothing and put it on. She'll be popular when she's older if she keeps it up!

Ben hanging out with Oma and enjoying the crinkle of the paper.

Now it's time for Christmas dinner! Mmm.

What a great day, we got to hang with lots of our favorite people and were very spoiled. We feel so lucky and thankful. Merry Christmas to all our favorite people that we couldn't be with, we love you to pieces and miss you so much!

xoxoxo

The Koks!

Brunch with Ryan, Megan, & Hadley

Little Miss Hadley getting ready for brunch in her super cool jams from her dada.
I mostly like this picture because it's like a paparazzi pic, Kevin & I are both taking her picture at the same time. Her and Britteny should swap stories of how hard life in the spotlight is.

Both girls were oh so helpful opening Ben's gifts. Then they got in a big fight over who got to pull the little wagon around. Hads lost...she ended up taking a nap. Christmas takes a lot of energy when you are a toddler.

Megan & Ryan are making sure Benny is the coolest baby around. He got this super cute See Kai Runs and "Sophie" the trendiest baby chew toy around!

Christmas # 2 was fabulous as well... it's only noon! Off to Bellingham we go!

Santa Came!

Santa came last night and left Lauren & Ben a work bench and tools, plus the pink Hello Kitty rain boots Lauren has been asking for every time we go to Target! When Lauren came down the stairs this morning she looked over it and then yelled, "The pink Hello Kitty boots" and put them on right away. We had to point out to her that there was also a workbench & tools (which she had asked for as well!). I think her 2nd favorite thing was the stuffed rocket in her stocking that is referred to as "Baby Rocket". He has been swaddled and put to bed many times already today:)
Santa left them a nice note... he's so thoughtful:)
Here are the coolest boots in town!

work it.

And the cutest little boy in town (with Nana & Pa) sportin' a new snowcap from cousin Jacob!

What a great start to our day and it was only 7:15! So much fun to come!

Gingerbread House

Lauren & Kevin built a gingerbread house together on Christmas Eve Day.
From looking at it you can probably tell Kevin did most of the work. Lauren did do a great job of eating the candy though:)

I thought it was pretty cute. Kits are the way to go!

get ready for some fancy shots!

Kevin (me too!) has been wanting a DSLR camera for awhile now and on Saturday he got it!
I'm excited to see all the fun shots that he'll take and I'm anxious to learn how to use the thing! Jocelyn- do you teach classes?:)

Heart Breaker

I was just playing around with my new camera (Canon power shot) and trying to figure out all the settings. This boy is fun to take pictures of!
I loved this one, he has the best happy face!
I think this boy is going to melt a lot of hearts, he melts mine daily:)

I just love his eyes!