Huckleberry picking.

     The middle of August we made our way up to McCall for the day to pick huckleberries with my grandma. Even though we got caught in a huge rainstorm that drenched us all, it was worth it and a lot of fun. And we still got plenty of huckleberries!

     
     After getting soaked picking berries, we headed over to Gold Fork hot springs and hung out there for a few hours. It was the perfect way to end a cold, wet day but we didn't get any pictures of that part!

9 months!

3 quarters of a year! How did that happen?!

Porter loves him, sometimes a little too much :)

     This boy just keeps growing and growing! He is very mobile and getting into everything. He really wants to walk and pulls himself up on everything and then walks holding on to it for as far as he can. He LOVES to eat and NEEDS a bite of anything you have. We discovered (though a little early) he is not allergic to peanuts which makes life easier. He is babbling up a storm! Usually yelling at me for one reason or another. But he sure likes to hear himself "talk", he must get that from his mom...

     Spencer is still loving the water! He doesn't care how cold or hot it is he will splash as long as we let him. He doesn't even mind when I dunk his feet in the cold river on our walks. Last week he had his first experience at a hot springs and he really thought that was cool. He especially liked playing in the sand at the bottom and dumping it on his dad.

he prefers to swim in the buff.

     Teething this time around has been miserable. He has 3 teeth swollen just under the surface of his gums and they must be painful because he has been a grump for weeks! This in turn has made for a regression in his sleeping habits. It's been a long few weeks...

Hiking the foothills.

   At the end of July we bought a hiking backpack for Spencer. We've only used it a few times but we have high hopes!

this adorable boy loved the wind blowing!

taking my turn.

we even saw a snake.

putting the pack to good use!

5k

     I ran my first ever 5k on July 26. It was called the Push 5k, push referring to pushing a stroller. I hadn't ran since before Spencer was born and signed up with about 3 weeks to prepare which ended up being just enough time. My goal was to not die and I succeeded! But really my goal was to just run the whole thing, and I did so I was happy with that. The course started at the east edge of Ann Morrison park and ran down the greenbelt to friendship bridge, across the river, down the south side of the greenbelt back toward Ann Morrison, then back across the river winding through Ann Morrison park to the finish. Spence enjoyed his time in the stroller like always and even fell asleep the last half mile. Nate was great support and even better paparazzi!

Spencer showing his support for mom.

at the starting line.

crossing the 2nd bridge.

the finish line!

we did it!

and a big thanks to this big guy for encouraging me and running laps with, I mean around me!

Bikes and rodeos and ducks, oh my!

        I wanted to start riding my bike more now that we're close to the greenbelt so I started looking for a bike trailer to tow Spence around in. We found a decent one on craigslist and have used it quite a bit to just go for a ride, or to ride over to lunch and literacy in the park. Spencer even seems to enjoy it and I have fun pulling him all around.

     Then a short time after that we headed downtown for the Boise Twilight Criterium bike race. 

          Shortly after that, Nate and I dropped Spencer off with my sister and her boys so we could go on a date to the Snake River Stampede since Nate had NEVER BEEN to a rodeo! Unfortunately these were the only pics we took that night...

     And finally, meet Harold.

     2 weeks ago me and Nate and Spence were out looking for a jogging stroller for me and Spencer's upcoming 5k (more about that later). We were in a parking lot off a busy road and about to exit when a teeny tiny baby duck ran toward the car. We were so confused what a duck would be doing in this parking lot, there's no water nearby just tons and tons of concrete. We got out and looked around for a mother duck or even other babies but it was pretty clear this duckling was abandoned. So naturally Nate caught him and we took him home with us. We filled an old horse trough with hay and put him out in the garage. He was pretty unsteady on his feet so we're assuming he just hatched that morning and all the other eggs must have hatched the day before and the mom already took off with them. We read online that if you try to add a lone duckling to another mother ducks flock that they will just drowned the stray so we are keeping him (or her) and Nate has named him Harold. He is a big hit around here!

8 months.

     Spencer turned 8 months old this month! Seriously, when did this happen? He is not a little baby anymore! He is on the move and into everything! We have to watch him constantly and he LOVES all the attention he gets! He is more and more fun every day!

     He has mastered the art of crawling and though it has made his life easier, it is not good enough and he wants to walk BADLY! He pulls himself up and walks holding onto anything he can! He is going to be toddling before we know it.

     Along with all this trying to walk business has come the always-a-bump-on-my-noggin stage. He faceplants or falls over quite often but it only seems to bother him about half the time. He's had a few good goose eggs already and I'm sure many more are to come.

     Spence has also started babbling waaaay more. His favorite sounds are ba-ba-ba or to put his hand over his mouth and make some Indian-esque call. Moaning while nursing has also become a new trend, especially while he's falling asleep. It's endearing but a little dramatic.

     This boy LOVES to eat! He wants a bite of anything you have and will grab at it himself if you're not fast enough. Or he'll grab your hand and shove it to his mouth. He tolerates baby food but would prefer to just eat what all the grown ups or big kids are eating, but he only has 2 teeth so that makes it hard to eat everything!

     Speaking of big kids, he loves to watch kids play. Specifically his cousins, he loves when they play with him (read, steal his toys) and he could watch them for hours. He thinks his dad is the funniest person in the world and will giggle and giggle for him and then is pretty serious to everyone else. He still likes his mom the best (she has the good stuff!).

    We have reached a good spot as far as sleeping goes. Spence nurses to sleep about 9pm and will sleep in his own bed until about 4am. When he wakes up I put him in bed with me and nurse him some more and then we both sleep till about 8am. It has worked for us for the last few weeks and I don't feel like a zombie so I am content with where we're at. He's even taking 2 good naps during the day so I am not going to be changing our routine anytime soon!

     He still loves the water even if its the freezing cold river or lake. He loves his Oma and Opa, loves to pick on their dog, still wants to eat grass any time he's sitting in it, loves to go on walks or runs, is starting to like the bike trailer more and more, and especially loves his new found freedom that crawling offers.
     We love our "baby fence" as Porter would say!

he hates to be in his car seat, but he loves to play on it and climb in it all by himself

Flying Pie.

     Flying Pie Pizza does this thing where everyday they pick a name or a category of people and if its your name or you fall in that category you get to make a free pizza. Well the beginning of July the category was if you were born in July. So I made Nate and Spence go with me to make my free pizza. They make you wear a goofy hat, so I naturally picked Robin Hood.

     I made a hawaiian pizza and it was tasty! Nate tried to take some pictures of the pizza making process but Spencer was not about to let that happen, so no good ones.

these guys didn't think I was funny...tough crowd.

we did however capture this adorable gem!