The Woodland Park Zoo

Seattle has a fantastic zoo and we made the first of what we hope to be many trips. It was a short trip as we had to fit it in on one of Rich's study breaks but we took in some neat sites.

Here we see a wondering Peacock.

Here Rich and Mitch check out a family of gorillas.

While taking video of the Penguins I noticed that you could also watch Mitch in the reflection observing their play.

And before we left Rich took Mitch on his first Merry Go Round ride. Who looks more excited here?

Just three more days before Rich takes his written Emergency Medicine Board exam. He's been reviewing all week and we are looking forward to a celebratory dinner when he is done.

Much love.

Just wanted to share

Today marks Mitchell's 10 month birthday. When he was only 10 days old we had professional pictures taken of the family. Our photographer was great and snapped off tons of pictures, one right after the other. During the photo shoot she caught a special movement, a bowel movement. We would like to share with you two pictures taken in a row of our new family. The first is us enjoying the moment. The second is Mitch enjoying his movement. Initially, only mommy and Mitchell were aware of warm, fuzzy feeling dripping in mommy's hand.



You'll have to look very closely to see the yellow, dripping deposit made by the boy.
Enjoy.

Almost 10 months old

Hello loved ones. First things first; let's get you some new photos to enjoy.

Mitch was visited by Grandpa Skip and Nana in August. They played with him, took him out for a spaghetti dinner and then did a little bit of spoiling. Thank you Grandpa Skip and Nans for his car. You can see here how much he loves it.


The weather in Seattle was very kind to us during August and September. We were still able to spend a lot of time outside, one of Mitch's favorite places to be. Here we take in one of our favorite parks in Bellevue.



When he can't be outside Mitch likes to imagine that he is outside.


Or he plays at his tables.


One of his favorite past times is looking at pictures of himself.


Mitch is a pretty happy guy most of the time and it's pretty easy to make him laugh.


The weather began to get cooler in September and so we had to do some layering. We still try to get outside as often as we can. While Grammy visited from New Mexico in September we took a walk at our favorite park. During our walks Mitch alternates between staring at people and staring at the wheels on his stroller.


The falls colors started to show during this time as well.


Mitch has taken several steps but usually when he wants to get somewhere fast he drops down and crawls there. Here is a short video where we just happen to catch him practicing his stroll.


In October we left the Pacific Northwest and headed to Palm Springs for Aunt Kristin and Uncle Matt's wedding. We spent time playing in the water...



...hanging out with family...


...doing boy stuff...


...and showing off new skills.


Then it was time for the big event. Mitch donned his bow-tie and vest and made his rounds at the event. Here's Mitch with Daddy and the Grandfathers.


Here's a four generation picture with Mitch, Daddy, Grandmama, and Great-Grandma Nin


Here Mitch poses with the dapper dudes Daddy and Uncle Steve.


Here daddy gets in a little me time with the boy.


Here are the two lovelies we went to see. Matt is now officially Mitch's Uncle...hooray!


And here is Mitch's Grand Uncle Conrad taking in a beautiful Palm Spring's evening with Nin.


It was a great trip. Mitch was a great traveler and here he is taking in some reading on the plane.


We returned home to Bellevue and found we needed our layers once again. Here Mitch shows his new cap that he inherited from Daddy. (Thanks Aunt Kristin!)


Mitch is getting ready for his first Halloween. Here he is trying on his costume. What a little monkey!


We are almost four month's into fellowship with eight months to go. Rich is studying for his Emergency Medicine Board Exam in a couple of week. Here is a picture of Rich doing what we call "Coffee Shop Time". He studies and I do online shopping (or in this case updating the blog site).


You may have notice that the photos are not as clear as in the past. I recently discovered I could save a lot of down load time by compressing pictures before uploading them. The hope is that by decreasing the time it takes to do a post that I can get posts done more often. (We'll see) Make sure to email me at nikibennett1@gmail.com if you want copies of any of the pictures.

Much love.

Seven months old

It's so hard to believe how many things can change within seven months...
Mitchell at about 10 days old pondering the new world.

Mitchell at about 28 weeks old doing the rockstar one-arm pump...ready go.


All this growing leaves him quite hungry. Here Mitchell sits like a gentleman in his high chair while grandma swoops in with a spoonful of cereal.

He's still a messy eater (much like his mom) and has graduated from the infant tub to the sink for bath time.



Mommy and Daddy celebrated their one year anniversary in downtown Seattle.

While there we found a hilariously ironic sign.


Mitchell is a very lucky boy and loves to spend a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa.



Sometimes he makes time for mommy and daddy too.

And then there are the times he needs his "me time"


Mitchell is becoming quite proficient at crawling and I am often uttering the phrase, "I just turned around for one second and then..."

Rich's second month of fellowship ended with an informal luncheon put together by the nursing staff on the service he was rotating through and now he is moving into the third month. The weather has been very kind to us so far and on clear days we can see Mt. Rainier from Steve and Celeste's neighborhood which is quite breathtaking.

Much love.

The Kings of King County Washington

Hello all. Thank you for your patience while the King family relocated. Before we get started on the update I want to thank all of the family and friends that helped us get ready to move, to move and then to settle into our new home. Wow, you all are so awesome and Rich and I have discussed at length how loved we feel. Thank you so much!

In short: We are mostly settled in to our new digs in Bellevue, WA; with only a few boxes left to unpack. Rich has finished his first week of fellowship and has already learned some new stuff. I will be starting a job as a Walgreen’s pharmacist soon. Since the last blog Mitchell has sprouted a tooth, is beginning to pull himself upright on objects, is rolling over and over and is about ready to crawl.

Last we left you, Mitch had just returned from a visit to Vegas. He took in some sites, mostly the pool, and visited with the Giordanos. He did very well on the flight out there and back much to the delight of our fellow passengers.

Upon returning to Albuquerque we continued to pack up and say, “Good-bye for now,” to friends and family.

Mitch visited his first zoo in Albuquerque. He didn’t seem too impressed by anything until we stopped at the Seal and Sea Lion exhibit. Here Auntie Rosie and Mitch stare in awe of the playful animals.

I gathered with some girlfriends for a brunch to help raise money for Auntie Rosie’s breast cancer 3-day walk, while the boys hung out at home having some quality time. Click here to make a donation

Here we are at Mitch’s first baseball game hanging with Miss Staci and Miss Ilnaz. He didn’t seem to like the crowd much and he quickly became “the crying baby”. You know your life has changed when a baby starts crying and the person holding the baby begins handing him to you. It’s official, we’re parents.

Mitchell met the last set of Grandparents at the beginning of June when Grandpa John and Grandmother Gloria stopped by on their Summer Tour 2009.

Grandpa John explained to Mitch the finer points of pizza eating, beer drinking and pool playing. The grandparents helped pack up some items and break down some furniture as the moving date to the Pacific Northwest was quickly approaching.

Moving day arrived and Grammy (Grandma Jane) and Uncle Marshall (Niki’s brother) arrived to help finish packing the truck. On June 13^th My mom, brother and I waved goodbye as we began the 2.5 day drive to Washington.

Mitch stayed behind with Rich and flew up to Grandpa Skip and Nana’s the following day. Unfortunately for the other passengers on that flight Mitch had lost the binky before getting on the plane and so descent was not pretty. Mom and Dad have since acquired more binkies.

Mitch and Rich played with Grandpa Skip and Nana and met some more Aunts, Uncles and cousins while Mom, Marsh and I trekked through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and finally Washington. Here we found Rich and Mitch happily playing on the beautiful property at Skip and Nita’s.

We enjoyed a delicious meal and a good night’s rest before hitting the road for our final 3 hour trek to our new home.

We (Rich, Mom, Marsh, Mitch and I) arrived to Grandmamma and Grandpa Steve’s on the morning of June 15^th. Mitch hung out with the grandmothers and practiced holding his bottle. Grandpa Steve put together a musical mobile that Mitch instantly loved. Rich and I spent the next few days putting furniture together and unpacking boxes while Mitch hung out with the grandparents and enjoyed all the new sights and sounds.

Rich still had a week left of residency and so had to fly back to Albuquerque. During his absence Grammy, Grandmamma, Grandpa Steve and Mommy tried to fill in as best they could. Mitch seemed to miss his daddy a lot as he was up during the night almost every hour and not eating well during the day. Of course this could have been due to all the new changes or possibly to an incoming tooth (more on that soon) as well.

Mitch met some more of the family from Grandpa Skip’s side (Niki’s step dad) and enjoyed his first balloon.

Mitch hung out in downtown Seattle with Mommy and Grammy.

Rich and Skip left for their own road trip from Albuquerque to Washington though we don’t have any pictures of that. (Probably because they are incriminating.)

Finally our family was in one place again. Now it was time to get back to business and a new food was introduced: squash. He loved it so much that he wanted to wear some.

We are still doing some of the old stuff too. Here Mitch and Mommy enjoy “Where the Wild Things Are”.

And here is Mitchell working on his crawling fundamentals.

For the 4^th of July, and Mitchell’s half birthday, the family packed up and drove down to Amboy, WA to visit the other King family and the Creigans. Mommy was busy packing herself for the trip and so asked Daddy, “Will you please pack up Mitchell?” meaning "please get Mitchell's stuff packed". Next time she will be more specific.

Once we arrived Mitch was lovingly cuddled by nearly everyone with reach.

And he enjoyed petting his first dog.

We awoke on the morning of the 5^th to see that during the night Mitch had sprouted a tooth.

There will be more to follow soon. Much love all!