From Thansgiving Until Now

We spent Thanksgiving this year in Vermont. It was so nice to have a break from school. We traveled in perfect weather, too. Although we had to leave Vermont a day early to avoid snow on the way back. We were willing to do that because driving in the snow would have made our trip a few hours longer for sure. Not to mention that it would have been a lot scarier and more worrisome for Kelton's sake. Kelton is actually very good at riding in the car. He usually doesn't fuss much at all, but we weren't going to take our chances. We just have to stop for his feedings and change him when he needs it. Also, driving in the mornings is perfect because his feeding times are every 4 hours, whereas his evening snack and dinner are only 1.5 hours apart. For Thanksgiving we had yummy food that my mom prepared for us all, but I made a pumpkin pie that was very good! I used a Paula Dean recipe and of course it was good because of abundance of cream cheese that went into it. Here are some pictures.

We went on a walk, like we love to do. Walks are so wonderful because it gives Kelton a great entertainment while Cameron and I can talk and bond.

While we were in Vermont, Kelton turned 6 months. That's half a year! His first half birthday! He has grown way too fast. Sometimes it is hard to imagine him as a newborn baby, who cried through the night and took an hour to nurse. He is sitting up and drinking from a sippy cup. He travels across the room by rolling over and rotating himself around while on his belly. He is so easy to get to smile. Sometimes just one look from me makes him giggle his little chubby cheeks off. He eats a lot and likes everything that we give him. This makes me very pleased. I like very much the fact that he is not a picky eater. Just another reason why he is perfect! The biggest growth indicator for me is the fact that he sees when he looks. I don't really know how else to put it, but he just understands so much more now and I can see it in the way that he looks at things. I also love the fact that he is so talkative. It is one of my favorites when he talks in between spoonfuls when I feed him. He makes so many different noises and syllables. We had his 6 months appointment and he is in the 78th percentile for weight and 31st percentile for height. Just under 20 pounds and 26.5 inches long. The doctor commented on how Kelton is so good natured. He brings so much joy and happiness into our lives.

Here is my plumptious 6 month old who loves to stick his tongue out.

The past few months we have been thinking a lot about going to the temple. It is so much harder to do that here than it is in Utah. The closest temple to us is the Boston Temple which is just about 2 hours away. But we were able to go this month with help from the Hermansens. It is the first temple that I went to when I was a new member of the church, so it was nice to go back and now be able to go to different parts of the temple besides the baptismal font. It worked out perfect because Spencer and Julia were able to watch Kelton while we went through a session. We are so grateful to them for being so willing to help us out.
We also loved the suburb Boston area. It is so New Englandy there. Even more so than here in Portland. It probably just seems so because it's bigger so there is more of New England that was put there. But the drivers are a lot more aggressive there too. There was a point where we were just trapped by cars on both sides and couldn't turn right like we were supposed to. The cars just started going around us and wouldn't let us in. It was a little crazy. But pretty nonetheless.  

Christmas is coming! We are so excited for it this year. Something about being a parent that just makes it so much more exciting. I am excited for Kelton mostly. We have been doing a lot of shopping. Cameron has been very good at keeping my presents a secret. I am usually pretty good at guessing what he got me, but not this year. Or maybe I am. We will have to wait and see. This year we sent out our Christmas Cards early so that we wouldn't have to worry about them. And now I can say that we are all done with the preparations. Just a few more gifts to wrap and we will be all set.
This year we will be in New York City for Christmas with my sister's family. That is if the weather won't make it too dangerous for us to drive down there. 
And here is a little Christmas spirit from Portland:

 There was a gathering of Santas downtown Portland. We don't know what they were all doing, but it was fun to see such excitement about Christmas. And of course we took a picture.

Last week was Cameron's last week of school. I am proud to announce that he passed all of his classes with excellent scores. The first semester is behind us! To celebrate, we went out to eat at the Homestyle Buffet here in South Portland. We loved the steak and ate well that evening.

Some more Christmas spirit from the mall.

Kelton loved that straw.

Waterfront, Halloween, and Northeaster.

Portland gets more and more beautiful with all of the weather changes. First we had the leaves, then we had some cold days and some warm days, and then we had a snow storm. It is just so diverse here with the weather patterns, well maybe I shouldn't call them patterns because the weather is so unpredictable there is hardly a pattern at all. And that's just how we love it! It is amazing how one day it will be freezing cold and the next we are not even wearing our coats. It keeps life exciting! Plus the tourists are still stopping off during their cruises to see the beautiful Portland. When we went to the Waterfront there were so many vendors selling their hand-made crafts to the tourists that it made me grateful that it is still the tourist season. There is nothing more interesting to me than to see what other people are creating with their own two hands. The talents range from knitting to painting to duct tape wallet making. And they make those wallets look so cool! It was especially fun for them to think that we were tourists and try to sell us their stuff.

This looks just like Odessa! It made me feel like I was home. 

Look at those boats. And there are people living in those buildings right on the ocean.  Oh and check out the cutest baby ever! (Well he is the cutest ever to me and Cameron at least) 

It's well past Halloween now, but I will write about it anyway because it was Kelton's first. Kelton was a dragon and Cameron and I were dragon trainers. We had fake scars on ourselves because it is a tough and dangerous job to train a dragon. We went to a trunk or treat for our ward the Saturday before Halloween and then on the actual holiday we went to a Halloween party at Steineckert's house. It was all very fun. I was glad that Kelton had no interest in candy at all, but I am a little nervous for next year when he will know what candy is and will want it. I am still debating whether to let him have any next year or not. We will see.

The most recent event was the first Northeaster storm that brought us our first snow. It got very cold. And it felt even colder. The weather news always has two temperatures, one is what the temperature is and another is what it actually feels like with the humidity and the wind. But it was Kelton's first snow so we went on a walk and I took some pictures to capture his first experience with it. 

In this picture, Kelton is sucking on his bottom lip which he does very often. I have a feeling that his bottom lip will be chapped through out this winter. 

Just a few more happenings with Kelton. He can now roll over from his back to his belly. He does it all the time. It gets especially tricky when we change his diaper. 

He is eating like a champ. He eats solid foods now and he loves it! It is very fun to see him get excited about food. He recognizes food now when he sees it. 

Lately Cameron and I have been noticing how much he has changed and grown from when he was born. He is becoming a little person with his own thoughts, ideas and feelings. He is just more aware of the world around him than ever before. It gets to the point of where Cameron and I have to hide his toys from him so that he will go to sleep on time or hide his food so that he will nurse properly. Our baby is so smart. It amazes me that he already knows what things are and what they are used for. We are so excited to see what the future holds in store for us and Kelton's development. Everything around him is so fascinating to him. It makes me appreciate the little things in life that I often take for granted.  

October Stuff

Life keeps moving on here at the McCombs residence. We have been having a great fall this year. The leaves have been ever so amazing and we had a few warm days among the rainy and foggy days. And, of course, there is nothing better to do during the glorious fall days than taking family pictures! Plus I got to wear my boots. Oh how I love fall for it's fashions: boots, scarfs, sweaters. And for the feeling of fresh, crisp air without the bitter coldness that bites you to the bone, which is so true here in New England, but we will have to see if it's the same by the Ocean. We will find out just a little too soon. Back to the photo shoot. In Portland, right across from UNE there is a park that is called The Mayor Baxter Woods. It is a woody area with paths on it. when you step in it, it is as if you are not in the middle of Portland anymore. The sounds of cars and people just disappear and we find ourselves totally immersed into the woods. It is so peaceful there, only the occasional dog walkers or runners snap you back to the reality. It was a perfect time to take pictures, right after Kelton's feeding. He is always the happiest when his tummy is newly full. We don't have the greatest camera, but I think that we do have an eye for good composition, especially Cameron.

Kelton alert: He turned 5 months on the 23rd! He is such a big boy (or so it seems to me). But his one pound weight gain in the last month alone shows how much he is growing. We have actually started feeding him rice cereal last week. I had tried giving it to him a few weeks prior to that and he absolutely hated it. But last week he loved it. He loved it so much that every time I took the spoon out of his mouth to scoop more cereal off the bowl he would get a frown on his face until the spoon was back in his mouth. Sometimes he even cries in betweens spoonfulls. I joke with Cameron about needing a bigger baby spoon.
Kelton started reaching to hold his bottle this past month as well and we let him hold it on his own whenever there is an opportunity. And he has gotten very good at it. The skill isn't perfect yet, but he can hold it in his mouth if we help him put it in. Sometimes he even puts it in himself as he reaches for it with his head. Very soon he will need no assistance.
Kelton has always been fun, but it seems with each month he gets more and more fun. It makes us feel so loved when he smiles, giggles and reaches for us. One instance comes to mind when after his going to bed routine instead of being the usual hyper, he got all cuddly and let Cameron hold him with his head on Cameron's chest. At that moment I hugged my boys, of course, and we all just enjoyed a few minutes of tender loving as both Cameron and I kissed Kelton's cheeks. I love my family!
Every month Kelton also amazes me with his smarts. He has such a good memory. Often, when he is playing with one of his favorite toys, if it rolls of to a side, he remembers exactly which way it went. Even if he can't see the toy anymore he still reaches for it until I either help him roll to it or pick it up and let him reach for it. He is so alert and I can just see him think and make choices. He gets so excited when we read him a book. Sometimes he talks as if he is trying to read with us too. He is developing likes and dislikes. If there is a toy that he likes more than one that is already playing with, then he will reach for the one that he wants. His other likes include being naked all the time. No joke. My baby thinks that it is summer time on the Bahamas. But how can we not let him be naked when he is such a munchkin. He is especially cute when he does his version of Tarzan chest thump. I think that we laugh so much every time he does that he has learned that if he does it then he will get attention. So he does it pretty often and waits for a reaction.
I especially love his sounds. He is so talkative. It seems like he knows that we are talking to him and he responds back.
Kelton makes me laugh so much. He is a sunshine in our home! We love it when we wake him up in the morning for the day and he just has this full body excitement with his legs and arms dancing in the air. And his giggles and smiles when he sees us for the first time for the day.

Us on a walk.

He loves his thumb!

I went apple picking with my friend Kendra Hutto on October 23, which was also Kelton's 5 month mark. We had so much fun there. It was the first time I went apple picking and I will definately go again. It was such a perfect day for it too, chilly with sunshine. The place that we went to is in Cumberland and it is called Orchard Hill Farm. I love fresh picked apples, they are the tastiest. I m planning on making pies and apple butter out of the ones that we don't eat up.  

Kelton with Joel in a cart that the orchard had us pull them in.

Kelton with the apples.

I love this one. Kendra is very good at taking close ups.

Round and About

Last weekend we went to Vermont again. Cameron had a three day weekend for Columbus Day and it just happened to be the General Conference weekend as well. The drive to Vermont was especially beautiful with the changing leaves. It made us talk about how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful part of the world. My favorite was when we were driving through New Hampshire where the elevation seemed higher and we could overlook nearby rolling hills. The image of all the different colors filled our view and it was stunning! The deep purples paired up with lush yellow and orange with a few greens in the midst. The unfortunate part was that we didn't have our camera with us and the pictures that our minds took will be the only ones for now.
We had a lot of fun in Vermont. We always enjoy our time there. It is nice to visit my mom and talk to her. We had fun going through some boxes with my old things and deciding what needs to be thrown out and what must be saved as a treasure. I am so grateful for the fact that my mom has saved my stuff over the years. It will be fun to show it to my kids when they are old enough to care about sentimental objects.

My goal the past few weeks has been to capture Kelton in videos. He is just growing so fast I don't want to miss any moment with him.  Taking videos is fun and it gives us a chance to also see just how much he is changing and developing. I want to share a couple of the favorite videos now:

 

I like the above video because it makes me laugh every time I watch it.

And the one below is special because Kelton smiles every time I play it for him.

Life in Portland is so fun. We really like it here. Over the weekend we went to a very cool restaurant it's called "Duckfat" Their specialty is ... are you ready for it ... nothing other then duckfat! They are most known for their fries that they fry in duckfat. And they were good. Very  original and even tasted good cold too. I also had one of their delishious milkshakes. It was made with caramel that they used duckfat instead of the traditional butter to make with. It was probably the best milkshake I have ever had. Cameron and our friends, the Hermansens, each had a sandwich which they each liked a lot. 

Just looking at this picture makes my mouth water for some of that milkshake. And, yes those are mason jars on the table. Duckfat is so cool! And, yes that is Kelton in the stroller to our left. He just slept the whole time we were there. I couldn't have asked for a better baby. 

Kelton had his four month appointment and he is doing well! He is in the 50th percentile for his weight, height, and head circumference. Here are a few pictures of my buddy:

His eyes are still blue for the most part, but there are specks of brown. We are anxiously waiting to see what the final color will be. My bet is light brown, like his Dad's.

Look at my boys!

Trip to Vermont and Tanya's Birthday

We took a trip to Vermont to visit my mom, Tanya, Jenya, and Danya. Tanya's birthday was on September 15th so we were there to celebrate it. The trip was short, only the weekend, and we were sad to leave so soon. But we had so much fun there! It is nice to live so close to them.

We went to a Thai Restaurant in St. J. It was yummy! 

Kelton was just fine on the trip as always. We are so lucky to have a baby who loves long drives. He is talking more than ever and is giggling too. He turned 4 months last Sunday! Here are some pictures we took on that day.

Oh Ya! Those fingers taste sooo good!

  While in Vermont my mom gave me some of her yarn that she wasn't going to use, so I made Ketlon a super duper hat. It is the best baby hat ever! I got the pattern for free on ravelry, so all I had to do is to knit it. Here it is:

Here are also some pictures that I got off of my mom's camera from when we first came to Vermont last month.

This was when my mom met Kelton for the first time. 

My mom was able to get a good smile. Good job, mom!

Labor Day

For the Labor Day (September 3rd) we went to see the Portland Headlight, which is a lighthouse in Cape Elisabeth. Portland is surrounded by islands so it has been hard to see much of the Ocean out on the roads and bridges that we have driven. But when we went to see the lighthouse we were able to see out as far as the eye can see and it was absolutely amazing. Growing up I went to the Black Sea every summer on a vacation and I always loved to look out in the Sea until the water line seems to blend with the sky and becomes one. I was so glad to be able to experience that same effect here in Maine. It always made me think about how big the Earth is and wonder what lies beneath the water. We went on a little hike that took us to the lighthouse and it was such a beautiful sight with the water below the cliffs and the rough stones on the shore.

I just love how cute Kelton looks when he cries.

All better. I love my boys!

Kelton Alert: He can roll over now! He did it for the first time this Sunday at the age of 3 months and 17 days. I was so glad that it was Sunday and Cameron was home to see it happen. With his classes I always worry that he will miss Kelton's milestones. It was super exciting to see him roll. I almost didn't believe that he really did it. So as a proof, mostly to myself, we took a video of it and here it is: 

Trip Downtown

We have taken a few trips Downtown Portland now and we love it! It is such a cool place. There are old European style buildings on every corner. And yes, it is an older city so it is dirty in places and yes, there are lots of people smoking, unlike good old Utah. But it is still absolutely beautiful here with all the green trees and the ocean. I have always loved diversity and Portland Maine is where diversity is at it's peak. It is so interesting to see all the different cultures blend together in Maine. Here are a few pictures:

This is in front of an art market. There were so many cool paintings that we saw. But all were extremely overpriced in my opinion. 

Kelton was sleeping. He is the cutest! 

Kelton Alert: My little sweet baby has started to grab onto toys and entertain himself with them. He likes to put them in his mouth and everything else that is within his reach for that matter. We just place a bunch of toys by his sides and he finds them with his hands and then slowly and a little awkwardly brings them in front of him until they end up in this mouth. Such an adorable action to see! He also has started to suck on his bottom lip and it makes a clicking, almost chewing sound. It's another way that he entertains himself. Kelton also loves reading books. Or rather when Cameron or I read them to him. And we know that he loves it because he will either pay very close attention to the pages of the books, or will talk as we are reading, or will just wiggle his limbs in excitement.

Here, he is in action of putting the toy in his mouth. 

We also do lots of belly-time. Kelton has gotten so good at holding his head up. He could always hold it up, but now he can do it for a much longer time period.

And there is always that fist that tastes oh sooooo good!