Spring Recap and Baby #2 Debut!

Hi family and friends,

We are back! Apologies for being off-line for sometime. Since March, a lot has happened :) Here is a recap:

April

Jocelyn turned 3! She celebrated with a cake themed to the movie Frozen (her ultimate favorite), and thank you again to everyone for the wonderful gifts and birthday wishes. It was really nice to see everyone. Happy birthday to Benny too who turned 1! Here's a pretty good shot of them looking at that the camera. It's a bit tricky to get the right moment, but they look adorable here.

Here is the handsome bday boy! He ate his first doughnut like a champ!

Molly's awesome cake that J loved. Purple of course :) Big 3 :)

May

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms! We had a relaxing day. J and Ryan took me out for a very nice breakfast. We went there twice this month I think. Here are two shots. We like to eat :)

June

Welcome to the family baby #2! This month we got to meet our baby twice on the ultrasound. It is doing really well and is due anytime between December 23-25. Here is a clip of it's heart beat :) 

And here is the first scan.It's the little peanut shape inside the black blob. For some reason, it won't rotate, but in a few months we'll get a new scan so more to come :)

Happy Father's Day to all the dads. Hope you guys have an awesome week. When in doubt, have some muffins. Jocelyn highly recommends them :)

Love,

Jocelyn +Baby #2 + Alisha + Ryan

Frozen! January to February was fun :) And full of too much snow

Hello family and friends,


Here is a whirlwind update on our lives! We borrowed from Colleen's 52 week project idea :) We have tried to capture most of the weeks... more coming soon :) By the way, Jocelyn has now begun to sing full songs, loves the movie Frozen, and likes to greet us in the morning. In fact, Butters and her like to dive into the blankets. It's becoming a fun McKeown tradition to burrow under the covers!

January 

Week 1: “This week, I would like you to photograph your child in their bedroom. 

Week 2: “Photograph an element of your child that will remind you of them at this age. This is going to be different for everyone – when photographing a baby it might be their little baby feet or hands, with an older girl it might be their hair in pigtails, for a boy it might be their messy bed head hair.  Whatever you think you will miss when they get that bit older - remember there are no right or wrong photos!"

Week 3: “This week, let’s photograph your child’s current favorite book. You could photograph them reading it, or photograph the book on the shelf, or even them dressing up as one of the characters from it - there are a lot of possibilities with this theme depending on how far you want to take it...." 

This was hard to get, since we have been an unnaturally crazy life. Jocelyn loves her storybooks (namely princess ones), but has really begun to love all books. 

Week 4:
“Take a photograph of your child when they are on their own, and they are not aware that you are in observing them. 

This castle has been a favorite since her first xmas.

February

Week 5: “Take a photograph of your child with your partner/husband, or other relative (for example a sibling or grandparent) Try to capture the connection between the two of them, or doing their usual daily activities.  You can take a photograph that shows the whole scene, or you can zoom in close and just focus on a detail, for example just them holding hands…..”

So didn't have the fancy camera on hand, so these aren't the highest of quality but they are candid!

Week 6: “This week, we are simply going to photograph a normal daily activity such as getting dressed, brushing teeth or having dinner.   You can try to get a bit more creative with this shot perhaps by choosing an unusual viewpoint,  or using great light.” 

"Hey ma I need some apple sauce!"

Week 7: "This week, lie down on the ground and photograph your childs feet, and whatever happens to be around them at that time. Nothing else.  You want this to be a real moment, so don't try to set this up: just photograph what was really there! If you like, choose a day and time now, and take the shot when it comes around - that way you know you won't be tempted to manufacture it!"

This one is sorta at her feet... well not really but it was a cool moment. Jocelyn at the Baltimore aquarium.

Week 8: "This week, let's photograph our child doing a messy activity, preferably one that they have never done before! You can choose what you to focus on - a wide shot showing the whole scene  a detail shot of what they are working on, or a picture of their face as they concentrate on what they are doing...."

(This was taken in Valentines Day. We had cheese and chocolate fondue as a family tradition!)

Week 9: "This week, let's ask our child what they would like for us to photograph! This could be them involved in an activity, or wearing something, or they might ask you to photograph their favourite toy or even a person! If your child is not old enough to talk, you can simply photograph whatever you think their answer might be"  

J's newest tutu!

And then some random fun ones!


J doing yoga :)

And some fashion moments:

And J doing art. Her absolute favorite!

Santa came to Washington State :) Christmas 2013

Well, hello again! 

Aren't you all proud? Two posts in one day. I know, amazing. So, the adventures in Washington were amazing. I wish I could draw a map showing all the routes and locations we got to see, but alas I will have to describe it in words. We had hoped to see everyone, but couldn't. We hope to see everyone next time! Apologies for any slightly out of focus pictures, since I lost my good camera for a portion of the trip. My dear husband retrieved it for me :)

We began in Bellevue, WA with Abuelo. We decorated his house for Christmas, sang songs and ate approximately 1,428 clementine oranges. Jocelyn is now a pro at signing Jingle Bells, Rudolph, Santa Claus is coming to town, and the reindeer pokey. The reindeer pokey is a lovely modification of the old time favorite, but now you put your red nose, antlers, and tail in the circle. Jocelyn missed her Christmas pageant, but that was the song she would have sang for it.

We saw Grandma Gina and Great-grandma Cathy, aka GiGi, and the extended family as well. Jocelyn perfected her present opening skills :) I think she now believes Christmas is the whole month of December! Now, it's not only her birthday everyday (she loves to pretend to serve cupcakes with candles and celebrate her birthday, and sometimes the other person's birthday too) but Christmas every day. We have a festive child :)

 We managed to pull off the self portrait as well! Jocelyn smiled. It was a miracle. 

Next, we visited the upper peninsula of Washington. We crossed through Port Angeles and arrived at our final destination, La Push, WA. It is a gorgeous shore area that I had never seen growing up. This is also the region where Twilight was filmed, though we did not run into any sparkly vampires along our way. This is also the land of the legendary Bigfoot. I also didn't have the pleasure of his company, though we managed to find a wonderful burger joint in the midst of all the woods that Bigfoot himself would have loved. 

We then traveled back to the mainland area north of Seattle via ferry to see Great-grandma Violet, Abuelo's mom. Jocelyn received her first Barbie, an astronaut Barbie! It was really great to see her get a chance to see more grandparents and great grandparents. 

We then traveled a bit more north to the wedding stomping grounds of Camano Island, WA. We got a chance to see our cousin Emmett, Uncle Carlos and Aunt Ali (below). He is a handsome little fellow who loves Dumbo, trains and just having fun. He unfortunately got sick (in the picture below), but we did get a chance to have fun with him later on. They bonded over Barney, and are fun bunch together. :) 

And, if you are wondering if we dress Jocelyn, we have to put out a disclaimer that her outfits are 100% J Rose McKeown, crown and all. She received more wonderful gifts, including dresses, tutu's, dolls, doctor sets, coloring books, and many more things. We are very grateful for all the love from family and friends. 

Thanks!!!  

We took J to the Seattle aquarium, a place I visited for the first time when I was around J's age. Jocelyn was in love with the touching pool, and did not mind the freezing water. Here are some highlights! There was a scuba diver in the back, but she fluttered off. 

 On the roof of the aquarium with the pier in the background.

The ocean on a sunny day! 

The touching pool :)  

We then traveled to almost the bottom of the state to Olympia and passed through it to arrive at the bottom of the peninsula to see Tio Eric and Tia Didi. We rode atv's in the mountains, and got up to approx 10,000 feet. It was the most incredible view that is hardly captured in the pictures. We had a great time exploring the woods and making fun memories together with them.

Ryan was ecstatic Jocelyn was learning strategy from her Tia Didi. She liked to double jump the pieces :)

Christmas tree! 

Jocelyn showing off her Butters shirt :)

Here is Chunkie (left) and Little Foot (right) with their parents. There are more furry kids, though not pictured. Roscoe is the big boy pup, Winnie is the new addition white Bichon and Odie is the cat. 

Ryan and I with J on the atv. Ryan was such a natural, which I think is because he is secretly a mountain man. Didi showed me how to ride, and was an awesome teacher. I think I need to work on my technique a little, but I had a blast. 

Into the river we go!

 Into the woods we go!

We then built a fire!

Ryan, J and I then traveled to the upper peninsula to see an incredible maritime town of Port Townsend. I have decided that one day we will have a little cottage there, and Ryan can brew beer and I can open a yarn shop and be a happy old lady with yarn by the sea. 

After Port Townsend, we visited Princess Rowyn in Tacoma, WA :) We have been able to see our good friends Kristi and Tristan for the past three years around this time. I have known Kristi since middle school, so it is really neat to see our girls play together. Jocelyn perfected her squealing skills and had a blast with Rowyn. 

We then went full circle and returned to Abuelo's and Grandma Gina's backyard area. We took another ferry, and ventured into the islands one last time. We took a similar photo like this right after our wedding day, and I believe it was just as cold as this day, though I had a jacket! Behind is the Seattle skyline. 

Puget Sound :) 

And here ends the adventures of the McKeowns in the Evergreen State for Christmas 2013. We wish you all a very happy new years!! Happy 2014! Perhaps, I should say a resolution will be to post weekly/monthly...let's make it an intention :) 

Love to all, 

Jocelyn, Ryan, Alisha and Butters