Spring Break in Oregon

We spent our spring break in Oregon with Grandma Nina and Grandpa Ron. It was a very productive visit. Sean, Ron and Trevor spent they're time building a greenhouse for Nina. The project was nearly finished when it was time to head back home. I am sure Sean will get another opportunity do some of the finishing touches. We had a great family visit and always look forward to the next one.

Can we build a greenhouse? "Yes, We Can!

What's better than a morning nap with grandma?

Cameron and I had a good time playing outside while daddy was working hard building.

Time Flies With a Baby

Wow, it's been a long time since we posted (we, really means Sean). Cameron is 8 months old now and is growing up too fast.

Crawling backwards isn't all that bad... Let's see what's under the couch.

Better Than Work

As a combination of paternity leave and vacation time, I'm taking Fridays in the month of August off from work. This has been a nice segue for all of us, providing Makayla with some assistance and child-rearing breaks and me with some more family time. I find that the more time I spend with Cameron, the closer I feel to him (hmmm...that makes perfect sense, no?). Anyhow, doesn't this look better than work?

Happy Anniversary

Today marks our seven year wedding anniversary so I thought I'd devote a post to my wife.

It's an interesting thing, having a child with someone and I'll tell ya, my thoughts of Makayla sure have changed in the past few months. Watching her become a mother, quite literally, was an amazing experience. As I mentioned in a previous post, Makayla went through labor without any pain medicine. In fact, she was very careful throughout the entire pregnancy, watching what she ate and what medicines were avoided (most). And now, limiting her diet so that Cameron is happy, what devotion!

On top of all that, seeing the patience and love Makayla has for Cameron is wonderful. I find myself in awe of her abilities and sometimes just sit back and watch her.

She's certainly a tough woman and I know I'd be lost trying to raise a child without her (heck, I sometimes feel lost even with her around). She's truly my best friend and I don't want it any other way.

Makayla, I love you more today than the day we married and am grateful and happy that you are a significant part of my life.

Fun at the Mall

We went to the mall today as Makayla had some items to return. Said items were in the lingerie department and while Mom was looking around, exchanging stuff, and doing whatever other nonsense girls do at the mall, the boys got bored. So, we found a way to entertain ourselves (or at least one of us was entertained).

Think we'll get into trouble once Cameron is older?

First Day at the Beach

Today was Cameron's first trip to the beach. We went to a local beach near our house and as you can see, it was very sunny. In fact, today turned out to be the hottest day ever in Seattle as the temp recorded at SeaTac (the airport) was 102 F. Fortunately, we were at the beach early in the day and our house has a basement so we hung out there in the relative cool.

Some family is in town and we went to the beach with sister in-law Corrin and nephew Tanner who is a big goofball. We dug a hole, had Tanner stand in it, and then buried him up to his waist. He was tickled.







And just 'cause I think this pic is super cute:

Pics o' Plenty

I've previously heard people talk about how their children change every day and most of the time I just spaced out while those proud parents spoke, thinking the parents were clearly insane. Well, now I'm one of 'em...Cameron changes every day, with the most noticeable change being that he's awake and alert for longer periods of time each day.

For those who want some pics of Cameron, here we go...



Sleeping with Daddy on day 2







Sleeping at home.

Funny dance (asleep again).










Cameron has some chubby cheeks. (Although much smaller than his Aunt Chelsea's were)

Cameron's First Post

Cameron Todd Kliger was born at 5:06am on Monday, July 13th, 2009!

Makayla did an amazing job during labor and was able to birth Cameron without the use of any pain medication. Entire labor lasted 5 1/2 hours and the whole thing went very smoothly (from one who didn't give birth).

We decided to wait until delivery to find out the gender and once we saw (and heard from him) that we was healthy, were joyed to find out he's a boy. He's definitely got some lungs on him and screamed for the first couple hours of his worldy entrance.

Big boy, too. Was 19 1/2" long and 8 lbs, 11oz with a 14 1/2" head diameter (way to go, Mom!).

We're settling into a routine and often find ourselves amazed that we're parents and this little bundle of joy grew inside of Makayla.

Big Year

Well, it's been over a year since the last post so we figured it's about time for an update. Here are some of the things that have happened in our lives since the last post, in chronological order:

-May/June/July. Remodeled kitchen with a short vacation in the middle. We fully gutted the kitchen and put in new cabinets, counters, stove, and found hardwood floors under the laminate flooring so had the floors refinished while we were at it.










Lucy and Emily lent some assistance...






-June/July. Went to Europe for three weeks with our good friends Steve and Jenny. We visited Italy, Paris, a couple of towns on the NW coast of Spain, and Barcelona. Hard to put the trip into words but needless to say, it was phenomenal.

-August-October. Agreed to buy a new construction house in Issaquah and then backed out once we realized it was not the right house for us.


-November. Found out Makayla was pregnant!







-April. Bought a house in Richmond Beach (NW Shoreline). Yup, stereotypical white picket fence and all.





-April. Sold our old house. We were very fortunate that the house sold in just a few days.


-May 22nd. Makayla threw out the first pitch at a Mariners game. It was UW Medicine night and as she was a patient at UWMC and now works there, the CEO asked Makayla if she wanted to participate in the ceremonial first pitch.






-July 13th, 2009. Welcomed Cameron Todd Kliger into the world! He gets his own post, though.

Thanks for reading through and catching up on the past year with us. Hope your life has been as full of fun, joy, and gratitude as has ours.

Formal pictures

Emily was spayed on Monday the 14th and while there, Kris took some formal pictures of the little one. She looks like a dog in these, rather than a little puppy. We also weighed her...36 lbs then so I bet she's 37 or 38 lbs now and eating 3 1/2 cups of food a day. Yikes!

I'm extremely biased of course but I think she's absolutely beautiful.

Puppy Size

'Danielle keeps repeating it over and over again.
We've been back to this animal shelter at least five times.
It has been weeks now since we started all of this,' the mother told the volunteer.

'What is it she keeps asking for?' the volunteer asked.
'Puppy size!' replied the mother.


'Well, we have plenty of puppies, if that's what she's looking for.'
'I know... We have seen most of them,' the mom said in frustration...
Just then Danielle came walking into the office
'Well, did you find one?' asked her mom.
'No, not this time,'Danielle said with sadness in her voice.
'Can we come back on the Weekend?'


The two women looked at each other, shook their heads and laughed .
'You never know when we will get more dogs.
Unfortunately, there's always a supply,' the volunteer said.
Danielle took her mother by the hand and headed to the door.
'Don't worry, I'll find one this weekend,' she said.
Over the next few days, both Mom and Dad had long conversations with her.
They both felt she was being too particular.
'It's this weekend or we're not looking any more,' Dad finally said in frustration.


'We don't want to hear anything more about puppy size, either,' Mom added.
Sure enough, they were the first ones in the shelter on Saturday morning.
By now Danielle knew her way around, so she ran right for the section that housed the smaller dogs.
Tired of the routine, Mom sat in the small waiting room at the end of the first row of cages.
There was an observation window so you could see the animals during times when visitors weren't permitted.


Danielle walked slowly from cage to cage, kneeling periodically to take a closer look.
One by one the dogs were brought out and she held each one.
One by one she said, 'Sorry, but you're not the one.'
It was the last cage on this last day in search of the perfect pup.
The volunteer opened the cage door and the child carefully picked up
The dog and held it closely. This time she took a little longer.


'Mom, that's it! I found the right puppy! He's the one! I know it!'
She screamed with joy. 'It's the puppy size!'


'But it's the same size as all the other puppies you held over the last few weeks,' Mom said.
'No not size.. The sighs. When I held him in my arms, he sighed,' she said.
'Don't you remember?
When I asked you one day what love is, you told me love depends on the sighs of your heart.
The more you love, the bigger the sigh!'
The two women looked at each other for a moment.
Mom didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
As she stooped down to hug the child, she did a little of both.
'Mom, every time you hold me, I sigh.
When you and Daddy come home from work and hug each other, you both sigh.
I knew I would find the right puppy if it sighed when I held it in my arms,' she said.
Then, holding the puppy up close to her face, she said, 'Mom, he loves me.
I heard the sighs of his heart!'

Growing Up

It's amazing to me how quickly Emily grows. She weighed 32 pounds a week and a half ago so I'm guessing she's between 33 and 34 pounds now. The changes in her size are noticeable from week to week and right now, her back legs are longer than the front so I call her 'Hot Rod'. In fact, she's starting to outgrow the size medium dog crate we have so we purchased an extra-large, the size recommended for labs, which is a huge crate.

Recent adventures

We've been having loads of fun lately, especially hanging out with the Brookses. Magnusson Park has a 9-acre off-leash area and we've gone a few times. Emily is warming up to the water:



while Lucy already loves to swim:

The two dogs get along great (as do the people).

Here's the dogs on the way back from Magnusson:

And they clearly wear each other out...

Jenny and Steve (aka 'The Brookses') are remodeling their kitchen and I've been helping out. Of course, one needs to take a break now and then, too.

A tooth!

Emily and I were hanging out at home last night. At some point, I looked down at an odd looking object on the floor and upon closer inspection, it was a tooth! And not just any tooth, it's an upper canine. So tiny looking now, hard to believe it fit in her mouth properly. Pretty dull too, at least compared to a month or two ago when those things were like little razors.

Why so exciting? Until ~6 months ago I was unaware that dogs lost their puppy teeth just like humans. And, it's another sign that Emily's growing up.

Many of her front teeth are coming in and the new canine is too.

Sleepy girls

Makayla went to her folks a couple of weeks ago and we took Emily to the breeder's (Kris) to be boarded for a few days as I was working during the day. Kris has three adult dogs and also Zoom, one of Emily's littermates. The two kiddies had loads of fun playing and sure tuckered each other out.

Zoom's on the left, Emily on the right.

About time

Been a while so I figured an update is in order. We've been enjoying our time with Emily, going for daily walks, attending puppy kindergarten, and generally hanging out. She's mostly potty trained and now we're starting to teach her to ring some bells when she has to go out. Just started that today so no real news.

Puppy class has been a huge help for us. We've learned about how to limit biting (put her in timeout), show dominance with some holds, and general interaction tips.

Emily has grown so much since we got her. I can see a difference in her size from week to week. Here's a pic from four 1/2 weeks ago next to a pic from today.









There have been a few play dates with dogs and it's fun to watch Emily's confidence grow. The first play date was traumatic for her...she got flipped over a couple of times and then hid out. After about an hour, though, she started warming up to Nika, a yellow lab mix.




And we've had two interactions with Lucy now (see link to "The Brookses" and also picture at right) for more about Lucy and her minions, Steve and Jenny. In fact, the picture above show Emily sleeping as she's exhausted from hanging today with Lucy. Here are more pics of the dogs playing together.





As you can see, the dogs like to chase each other and also eat plants together.





Some of the pictures look vicious...










But really, the dogs are just playing and we hope they become good friends with lots of interactions.

Family Picture

My Mom's birthday was last Saturday and Phil took some pictures, most of which are adorable but one in particular stands out. I'm dubbing it Family Picture.

Emily is home

Went to pick up Emily on the 22nd of December...




Here's her first meal at our home.




Tired puppy.





Christmas Eve with the remote.