And Then There Were 4

Team Photo

2009-05-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

Well, another session of Lil' Kickers is winding down, so it was time for team pictures. We missed out on the last ones, so I made sure we were there this time. So which child decides to throw a hissy fist and cry through the whole thing? Yes, that would be Taylor. So I stood next to him to calm him, hoping I could make a break for it when the photographer got going. But when I tried to sneak away, the photographer said "Stay there mom!" in a stern voice. Ok, great. The week I wear grubby clothes, don't put on make up, and throw a hat over my matted hair, I'm stuck in the team photo? Wonderful. Don't worry, I edited myself out of this one. :)

Night at the Ballpark

2009-05-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

Last night we joined a bunch of my co-workers at Safeco Field for a night of baseball. They'd bought a handful of tickets so we could cheer on our nursing colleague Makayla, who was throwing out the first pitch for UW Medical Center night. Not only does she work there, but she also used to be a patient in our NICU. So we all came to give her some encouragement and to enjoy an evening of America's favorite past time.

It was also Taylor's first baseball game, so that was fun. He was all geared up in his baseball hat and full of hot dog (we bought $1.50 dogs from Costco on the way there, of which he ate almost a whole one by himself!). We were in the nosebleed section, but he still had a great time looking at all the excitement going on around him. He kept pointing to the Safeco Field sign directly across from us and saying "D!". (It is his favorite letter and can find it anywhere.) We got in on the wave together, which he thought was funny. He gave such sad puppy dog eyes to the guy behind us that he shared his kettle corn with Taylor. I swear, this kid begs for food like no other. Toward the end, Taylor took a turn holding one of the signs people had made to get us on the big screen. The local channel that plays all the Mariner games is FSN, so they had signs that said "Foxy, Sexy, Nurses at UWMC NICU", or on a more sober note "Fighting to Save Newborns at UWMC NICU". Taylor looked pretty convincing holding that sign, making a cute little face. Half way through the 6th inning we called it quits because Taylor was starting to get antsy, and it was already passed bedtime. The game ended up going 12 innings, so it was probably good we left when we did.

Mother's Day '09

2009-05-09T22:48:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful moms out there! I hope you felt loved and appreciated today. We had a great morning celebrating with my parents. First we all went to church together. Taylor had a nice card, a flower, and a kiss for me when we picked him up from Sunday School. Then it was off to brunch at the BluWater Bistro on Carillon Point, where we enjoyed a great brunch and the beautiful scenery of Lake Washington and the Olympic mountains. It was a gorgeous sunny day, so it was nice to walk out on the dock afterward and watch the boats coming in and out. Taylor was not in a picture taking mood, so I just captured what I could. When it was time to leave, my parents gave me a Mother's Day gift from Taylor. It was a heart shaped piece of cement with Taylor's name and hand prints on it. So creative my mom is! When we got home I put it out by the front door. Taylor promptly put his hands in his print and said "hans". I love that little guy.

Taylor and Nana looking at the boats

Checking out the water

Taking a walk

The Olympic Mountains & Lake Washington

Our family

"Hans"

Sunset Dinner

2009-05-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

Since it was a nice warm evening, we decided to grab some dinner to go and take it to the park for a picnic. There is a nice grassy area by the Sammamish City Hall that looks out to downtown Seattle and the Olympic mountains. We enjoyed some KFC, then played a little Frisbee and soccer. Taylor quickly figured out how to throw the Frisbee, and had lots of fun with that. Then it was on to soccer. Jason and Taylor have become a bit more competitive in the "one-on-one" play, to the point that Taylor will now fake a foul when Jason "body checks" him. (I'm not sure if I'm correct in my soccer terminology, but I think that is right.) So now, when Taylor goes to soccer class, he can't run more than a few feet without falling to the ground and saying "oh" as if someone has just fouled him. Nice Jason, way to teach him the important stuff. It is kind of cute though. After a nice sunset, it was time to head home. I just love nights out with my boys.

Saying "hi" to the camera

Frisbee toss

"Watch out, Dad, I'm comin' for the ball!"

Trick moves

"Foul!"

Fake falling, and thinking it's funny

Blossoms

2009-05-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

For those who are unaware, Seattle is gorgeous in the spring! Here is why.

Spring Day at the Park

2009-04-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

Since it was such a nice day, we rode our bikes over to the park to play and enjoy the sunshine. Welcome back sun! We missed you!

Locked In

2009-04-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

Boy, do I have a funny story for you. Definitely one I want to remember so I can tell Taylor some day and tease him about it. So yesterday we were up at the Oak Harbor dirt bike track with our neighbors and were getting ready to go. Jason was working on getting his bike in the truck, and I was making sure all our stuff was in the car. Taylor had crawled into the front seat and was hanging out there. I had the heat on pretty high because it was so cold. Well, in my hurrying, I closed the last door that was open to the car. Normally I always leave one open, just in case Taylor hits the lock button. So as I'm closing the door what does he do? He locks the doors! At first I couldn't believe what I had just done. Then I calmly started to try to figure out how to get Taylor out of the running car.

The trunk was open and the could seats fold down, but only when they are unlocked. The side with his car seat was unlocked, but we couldn't open it more than an inch. So while Jason was holding that open, our neighbor's 13 year old son tried to reach his arm up and over to the other lock release. He eventually got his arm up in there enough to get his fingers on it, but couldn't pull up and push the seat down at the same time. So then we had another guy in there to push the seat once he unlocked it.

In the meantime I was trying to get Taylor to push the unlock button. He had plans of his own though. First, he picked up Jason's cell phone and started "talking" on it. Who was he calling? AAA? Then he decided to pretend to drive the car, steering the wheel and turning on the windshield wipers/flashers/turning signal. I was tapping on the window and calling him, trying to point to the button he needed to push to unlock the door. So he came over to the window, looked at me, smiled, and tapped on the window too. He finally headed in the right direction and started pushing the button, but instead of the unlock button, he kept pushing lock...lock...lock. Finally, he picked the phone up again, turned the camera setting on, and held it up to the window, smiling at the screen and mouthing "cheese!". I had to laugh at that point because he was just so oblivious to the situation he was in. I wasn't too panicked, but I was getting nervous because the heat was on pretty high in the totally close up car.

Finally the guys got the seat in the back down and we got the doors unlocked. Taylor acted like nothing happened, and we all had to laugh. On the drive home Jason called his grandma to tell her the story, because he did the same thing to them when he was little. She had a good laugh and told him it was payback. From now on I will make sure to never close all the doors when he is in the car, but I will also make sure that the spare set is not in the glove box, totally useless. I'm bummed I didn't have my camera, too, because it would have helped paint the picture of the situation a little better. But I'm sure you can imagine how it all went down.

Dirt biking

2009-04-25T04:27:00.000-07:00

Around October, Jason and I talked again about his wish to have a dirt bike. He had been wanting one since we moved up to Seattle because he couldn't surf anymore and he rode a lot when he was younger. I was hesitant at first, partly because his back issues started when he was riding, partly because it is somewhat expensive, and partly because I'm afraid he will break himself if he falls wrong on a jump. But I finally gave in because I knew he needed something that he enjoyed and would help relieve stress. He'd already been looking for a bike on Craigslist for about 2 years, so when he got the ok, it didn't take long before he'd found one. It was a great deal on a relatively new bike plus some gear.

Since then, Jason has been able to do a lot of riding, and is excited that he is improving each time. He is even talking about doing some races this summer. Yikes! He found a favorite spot to ride up at Oak Harbor. Twice Taylor and I have gone along to watch and take picts. It is a bit of a drive, but fun to watch Jason making jumps and taking turns on his bike. He has now become so close with the owner, that he is going to help set up a website for the track, which will allow him to ride there free whenever he wants. Sweet!

It is fun to see him so enthusiastic about it, and now Taylor is getting into it too. He likes to sit on Jason's dirt bike and "drive", and every time we pull into the garage, he makes his dirt bike sound (sounds more like a mad bear to me). I bought him a little toy dirt bike and rider for his Easter basket, which he quickly attached to and drives it all over the furniture, making it do jumps and flips. So cute. I know it won't be cute when he is actually riding one, which I think is inevitable at this point. When that time comes I'm going to have him so padded up that he'll look like the kid in A Christmas Story.

It has been nice that Jason has met some other riders at the track as well, so now he has friends to go with. He keeps trying to get me to want to ride, but I'm not sure that day will ever come. So I'll just continue to stay on the side lines, taking pictures and cheering him on.

Goin' For a Ride

2009-04-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

Jason had the great idea of buying a bike seat for Taylor so we can all go for bikes rides this summer. We recently found an awesome deal on Craigslist for one, and I promptly got it secured to the bike and ready to go. We decided against the one that you pull behind the bike because we thought Taylor would much rather be up high and seeing everything, and we could talk to him easier while we're riding.

I took Taylor to REI to get his first helmet, and he was so excited about it that he ran around the store with it on. He still loves to wear it, thankfully, so the excitement hasn't worn off just yet.

Lovin' his helmet

As of now we've gone out on three rides, and we've been having so much fun. The first ride was short, but a good start. We went from downtown Redmond along the Sammamish River Trail back to Marymoor Park, where we took a playground break so Taylor wasn't sitting in the seat for too long the first time out. He talked a lot, pointing to the things he was seeing on the way, and beckoning me to keep up with him and fast daddy. The second time was more adventurous. We started from the same spot and went on the same trail, but went the other way. We found a playground once we hit Woodinville, then when we got hungry (and it was threatening to rain) we went to the Woodinville Cafe for some brunch (best strawberry crepes!!). On the ride back we passed a bunch of baby geese (so cute), and we almost lost a shoe (thankfully Jason noticed Taylor's bare foot before we had gotten too far from it). Our total mileage was 14 miles. Good start! A fun way to exercise, that's for sure! The third ride was today, and though cool, it was nice and sunny. We rode from the Sammamish State Park and meandered through Issaquah, up toward the highlands, back down by the Village Theater, and down Gilman Blvd back to the car. After a picnic lunch and some trips down the playground slide, we headed home for a nap.

Chilly day for a bike ride

Ready to go!

Baby geese

Watching the river

Helmet hair

"Hurry up mom!"

All in all, we are having a great time getting out as a family, getting exercise, and enjoying the more frequent sunny days. Maybe you'll see us out and about someday. We're the one with the Copilot on the back.

Jump Planet

2009-04-17T13:42:00.000-07:00

Taylor and I recently went with some friends from work and their kids to Jump Planet. It is this big warehouse that is full of inflatable jump toys. During the week they are open in the morning for two different sessions, and on the weekends you can have birthday parties. This place has become a favorite for rainy days.

The first time there Taylor was very weary about the whole thing. I tried to "encourage" him to go into the bouncy house tall by himself, but he was not having it. Until, of course, I went in with him. Once I realized it was ok for me to join him on everything, he had a blast! We climbed the big inflatable slide, we ran through inflatable obstacle courses, and we jumped around in the bounce house. Taylor had a great time with his buddies Will and Luke (Taylor calls him "Gook"), and us moms got a work out with all the climbing and jumping around. The second time we went he was much more brave and was climbing and jumping all by himself! I've never heard him laugh so much! Thanks Katie for suggesting such a great activity.

House guests!

2009-04-11T03:46:00.000-07:00

This week we were blessed with a visit from our San Diego friend Beau. He drove up with his good friend Juan and girlfriend Susan. We were able to host them in our downstairs for a few nights as they ventured around this wonderful city of ours. Taylor, though very shy, was glad to have visitors. I think it was just a nice change of pace for him. By the time they left he was saying "Bo" and "Susa", and was sad the first morning he went downstairs and they weren't there. But we were glad for the time we did have with them.

On Tuesday, we took them up to one of our new favorite spots: Deception Pass. We first took the short ferry ride over to Whidbey Island. It was a beautiful sunny day, so you could see all the mountains. So gorgeous! Then we drove up the island, seeing all the wonderful scenery on the way. After a quick spot for sub sandwiches, we arrived at Deception Pass. We started out by walking over the bridge, which I don't think I've ever done. the rail is a bit low, and the bridge is very high over the water. Jason clung super tight to Taylor as we walked across, and Beau got too nervous to stop for picts. It is pretty scary, but an amazing view. We sat on the other side and ate lunch, then returned to the other side to take a hike down to the beach.

Down on the beach under the bridge, we relaxed in the sun, and figured out some fun activities to keep us busy. I prompted a driftwood boat making contest, which we did growing up. However it turned into "who can sink the boat first by dive bombing it with rocks". Juan really took on the challenge, creating The Titanic out of a big piece of wood and two masts. Then we did some rock skipping and stick ball playing (hitting stone into the water with a stick from the beach). After the sun started to go down, we hiked back up to the car and headed to La Conner.

*Side note: Taylor had finally fallen asleep the second we got the Deception Pass. Though we tried to pull him out of the car without waking him, we woke up and was a bit grumpy, thus the binky.

We headed to La Conner hoping to see some tulip fields in bloom, but because it has been cold so late this year, only the daffodils were blooming. We drove around for a bit, got ourselves lost among the fields, resorted to asking Beau's GPS how to get us out of there, then headed for the freeway. Meanwhile, Taylor had fallen fast asleep.

Right before we reached the freeway, I saw the Snow Goose Produce stand. A friend the day before had just told me how great this place was for their enormous ice cream cones. My stomach got the better of me, and we stopped to get some. However the line for the ice cream was so long, that Taylor woke up as I was waiting in the car with him. Woke up very not happy. So the rest of the car ride home he was a fussy nightmare, and I wasn't sure the ice cream had really been worth it. We ended the day with some take out Thai and great conversation.

Thanks Beau, Susan, and Juan for visiting. We love when people come to see us. You welcome back whenever you'd like! Hotel Jenkins is always open!

Lil' Kickers

2009-04-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

Taylor has been having a blast in his soccer class. We started him in the bunnies class at the beginning of December, so he was about 17 months at that point. The first few weeks he was pretty shy and didn't want to do a whole lot. But slowly he started warming up to it, and now he knows the routine and is excited to go.

In the class they usually start with footwork, so they do toe touches on the ball, jump over the ball, then run around the ball. Next is running drills. The kids run from one side to the other forwards, backwards, and sideways. They usually do some red light/green light/pink light (which means you hop), and then Taylor's favorite part is kicking the bouncy balls around. Building cone towers and knocking them over is also a favorite. He usually finds some spare ones that people aren't using to make his even bigger. He is always so good about clean up, bringing his big stack of cones to the coach. Finally they bring out the big parachute, which we spin around and then sit under. The class ends with a hand stamp and team cheer.

Taylor is actually really good with dribbling, taking it from one side of the field to the other, then shooting a goal. He puts both arms int he air when he does, like he just made a touchdown or something. We actually moved him up to the next class 4 months early, partly because they do the exact same things as the younger class, but mostly because all his buddies moved up.

He is always excited to see Luke (whom he calls "Gook"), Will, and Samuel! As we are pulling into the parking lot, he starts saying "Gook, Gook!". So cute. They all give each other high fives, and run around together. Will and Luke's moms work night shift with me, so when we haven't worked the night before, we'll go and chat on the side lines, cheering for the boys. It is fun to see the dads out there, trying to keep all the kids involved in the activity or drill. We are having so much fun with it, and Taylor loves it. I'm sure this is just the beginning of many years of being a soccer mom. So cute to see him in his little uniform. I think I might have to frame it and put it on his wall. :)

More Celebrating

2009-03-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

So my birthday celebrations continued the next evening at my parent's house. They made a wonderful Risotto dinner, then afterward Taylor helped me blow the candles out on my lemon tart (and proceeded to eat the blueberries off the top). My mom had even helped Taylor make a birthday card for me! So sweet!

Birthday Surprise

2009-03-29T13:52:00.000-07:00

I will just start out by saying that my husband is the greatest. I love that he is always surprising me. He puts lots of thought into plans, and thinks hard about what I will like best. All that to say, I had an awesome birthday.

I had worked the night before, and Jason told me the next day he would have me sleep at my parent's house. I found out two days before that it was because he was getting the carpets cleaned (not because he was planning a surprise party, phew!). I slept some that morning of my birthday, then played with Taylor till Jason got there to pick me up.

My first surprise was a hot stone massage at a place on the Sammamish Plateau. They had nice robes to change into, then I had a foot soak. After that I was brought to the massage room. The table was super soft and had a heating pad under it, which I love because I hate being cold during a massage. Then the covers were thick and heavy. I could have just fallen asleep on the table without a massage! The hot stone massage was fabulous. The lady put the flat stones in the palm of her hand and would use those to massage. At first I couldn't even tell she was holding the stones, but I thought her hands were abnormally warm! The best part was that it was 90 minutes instead of the standard 55. When I walked out of the place, Jason laughed at me because my hair was sticking up and I looked half asleep. I called it relaxed. It was heaven!

Then Jason asked me if I could just do my makeup in the car because we were going to be late for our dinner reservations. When I said ok, he said that he wanted to swing by the house to get the camera first. I suggested I put my makeup on there because it would be easier, but he really wanted me to do it before then. So what did we do? Sit in the parking lot of the Starbucks drinking coffee while I put on my makeup. I was praying at this point that he really hadn't planned a surprise party at the house, because I knew something was going on at there.

When we arrived, I didn't see a bunch of cars, but I still knew there was something inside. As we came up the stairs, I heard banging in the kitchen. What I saw when I got to the second floor made me so happy. A chef cooking for us dinner in our kitchen! The dining room table was all set with flowers and wine. There was romantic music playing and the fireplace was on. Perfect! I couldn't have asked for a better dinner setting: the comfort of my home minus Taylor.

Chef Jay of Canape served us a fabulous dinner, four courses, and at the pace we wanted to eat. I hate it at restaurants when they rush your food so much that your entree gets piled on top of your salad and appetizer, and you feel pressured to eat fast. This was totally opposite. When he would present the next course, he would explain the dish and ingredients. He is so creative, that he had one ingredient that would carry over to the following dish, all through the four courses. He worked well with the suggestions that Jason had given him as well, putting his own spin on things. He was so friendly and personable as well, making it totally comfortable having him in our home. I would totally recommend him to anyone! Well done Jason, well done!

After dinner, we headed over to our friend's who have a movie theater in their home. We sat in the big comfy chairs and watched Australia, all in our own personal theater. No sticky floors there, though popcorn was included. It was a great end to an already fabulous evening. So relaxing, and so intimate. Nice not having to share your birthday with an entire restaurant full of people, or get coke spilled on you in a movie theater. Thank you Jason! You truly are the best.

Sunny March Day

2009-03-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Going for the shot

Goal!

Happy the sun is out

"High 5!"

Telling me all about it

Laurie's Wedding

2009-03-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had the joy of attending my college friend Laurie's wedding in Kansas City. She had met a wonderful guy named Nick through physical therapy mission work while in graduate school. After they graduated, he moved to Kansas City, and after a few months they got engaged. Both are deeply involved in the Catholic Worker House close to where Laurie lives, and they got jobs at the same hospital doing PT work. So now they are married, and I'm so happy that she found such a perfect match for her.

I left early on Friday morning and had two flights and a long layover. The second flight was on a tiny plane, and with the turbulence we hit, I was sure the plane was going down. But alas, I made it! I stayed at Laurie's house, but didn't see her till late that evening since they had all the rehearsal stuff. So in the mean time I went out with her old Pasadena friends who were in town for the big day. We did an airport run, then went to eat at a Kansas BBQ restaurant that came highly recommended (even though it was actually at a gas station). Later we met up with the wedding party and all Laurie's roommates and hung out for a while. Then it was off to bed.

The next day was busy! I went to the reception site to help decorate, so we were wrapping napkins, making center pieces, hanging lights, etc. We returned to the house to eat lunch, sneak a peak at the bride before she headed off for pictures, then I got myself ready. Off to the ceremony we went! It was at an old church that had nice pews and stained glass windows. Laurie looked beautiful and happy. The sun was shinning. It was a great day. In the ceremony, the couple planted a tree, as both their families had done when they were born (what a coincidence), and the tree was going to be planted at the Catholic Worker House. We sang hymns, the pastor spoke, the vows were vowed, and then the kiss!

At the reception we enjoyed a fabulous Brazilian dinner prepared by Laurie's aunts (her dad and aunts grew up in Brazil as missionary children). Then her roommates band played some great music and I mingled. There were a few familiar faces, including Point Loma alums and old roommates Kelly and Leigh. For dessert they had a different item on every table that was made by a friend/family member of Laurie or Nicks. When it came time, we were supposed to wander and find what we wanted, and as we did meet some new people as we went. I had the apple pie made by Leigh. Delicious! Later there was the first dance, then some salsa dancing. Fun to watch, but didn't get the guts to participate. No fun when your dance partner isn't there. Then it was time to bid the couple farewell. I was sad that I didn't get to see Laurie more, but I know that's how it goes. I can look forward to the next time we meet up; maybe in Seattle? :) After some clean up, it was back to Laurie's house, where all the girls ate popcorn and watched When Harry Met Sally.

I was glad to return home to my family after a long day of travel the next day. Though the time in KC brought back great memories of my college days: living in a house full of girls, seeing familiar faces. It also reminded me of my time at Mid-City Church of the Nazarene, located in a very low income part of San Diego. I was brought back to the days of being involved in a true church community, where people from all walks, races, and incomes were welcome. Where people were so involved in each other's lives that you never felt alone. Where people were there for you in the happy times and times of grief. Where everyone was involved in serving the community. And there was no judgement. I wish all churches could embrace this type of community.

So, all in all, it was a wonderful weekend with lot of new memories and resurfaced ones as well. Congrats to the new couple. I know that together God is going to do wonderful things through you and your ministry together. Miss you already!

Valentines

2009-02-15T10:56:00.000-08:00

This year I took the initiative to plan our Valentines date. I wanted to do something different, so I started searching the web. Since the weather was going to be nice, I thought something with a ferry ride would be fun. The islands are always so beautiful on a sunny day. I looked into Vashon Island and found that a winery was having a wine tasting that night, complete with appetizers and music. How fun!

We got a bit of a late start, so the sun was starting to go down as we were riding across. We headed toward the winery address, but it brought us to a personal residence. Huh? From what we could tell, it was going on in this garage like structure in front of the house. We kept driving, trying to decide what to do. We drove pretty much across the whole island, just taking in the sights and the beautiful scenery. Finally we decided to just head back to the winery and just see what was going down.

Inside the "garage" it was actually pretty nice. They had a bunch of barrels of wine along one wall, then around the room there were lights hung and little tables full of appetizers. In the corner a band was playing, but we knew instantly that we were probably going to be the youngest ones there, as the band of 50+ year olds were playing folk music. There was a list of about 3 white and 7 red wines. We slowly went through all of them, munching appetizers as well and listening to the music. To be honest, by the end I was a bit buzzed. I think that was the second time in my life that I felt dizzy from drinking wine. Jason thought it was funny. So did I, but I was relatively happy overall. We left after a couple hours to head back to the ferry, then enjoyed a nice evening ride back over to West Seattle. Overall it was kind of a funny (not quite what we expected) evening, but it was fun to be together and try something new. Thanks Mom and Dad for babysitting!

SD/Palm Springs 2009

2009-02-09T17:47:00.000-08:00

We were so happy to be able to get away from Seattle this winter, especially with all the snow we have been getting, and also with everything we've been going through. We timed it so we would be there between the holidays and mid-winter school breaks. It made the flight cheaper and Palm Springs much quieter.

We flew out Friday morning. There were extra seats, so we got to bring on Taylor's car seat to put him in. Unfortunately that made his feet rest on the seat in front of him, which he wanted to kick the whole time. Thank goodness the guy in front of him was understanding! We got there, got the rental car, then drove till Taylor fell asleep (didn't take long!). First stop? In & Out Burger! We drove to the beach and enjoyed our double doubles with fries as we watched the waves.

That weekend we stayed with our friends Matt and Vanessa. It was great to see how much their son Evan had grown since we saw him last, and we got to meet the new member of their family, Liam. We also saw our friends Lenny, Amy (who is expecting number 2), and Abby at pizza one night and then for a little dirt bike riding in east county then next afternoon. Sunday we spent the morning with Jason's grandparents having breakfast and hanging out at the park. The weekend went fast and was full of lots of fun and activities, ending with watching the Superbowl!

We left for Palm Springs after the game, and by the time we made it out there, it was nearly 10:30pm. We checked in, and I headed up to our studio timeshare to set up Taylor's bed (he was asleep in the car). When I got to the room, I couldn't believe how small it was! Almost smaller than a normal hotel room. The kitchen was a counter with a toaster oven and coffee maker. And all it had was a mini fridge! I knew that wasn't going to work for a week, so Jason had to go back to the office and get us a bigger room, at an added cost of course. But the size difference was crazy. This place was huge! Big full kitchen, dining table, living room, bath room, and full sized bedroom. Of course by the time we got everything in the room and were about to die of exhaustion, Taylor woke up and didn't want to go back to sleep. In to bed with us he came, which he never wants to do at home by the way.

The next couple days were super sunny and warm, and we spent our days by the pool. We rotated pool time when Taylor was napping since we couldn't leave him in the room alone. The pool area was great, complete with two sized water slides, a kiddie pool area, two hot tubs, and lots of chairs to sunbathe on. Taylor wasn't really into the water that much, and really just wanted to play in the flower beds instead. We did end up finding a park close by the hotel that he loved because it had 10 different slides all shapes and sizes. In the evening after we had dinner, we went into town, wandered around, and got dessert. Usually we went to bed right after Taylor because we were recovering from the late nights and early mornings in San Diego.

Mid-way through the week, Matt and Vanessa came out to visit with the kids. The guys went golfing and we stayed and played at the pool. Taylor refused to go in the pool that day, and much preferred to hit the ping pong ball around in the shade all afternoon. That night, though, he was just burning up. I didn't have a thermometer, but I'm guessing it was about 103. He hadn't been in the sun, so I knew it wasn't sunburn, and it hadn't been hot, so it wasn't heat stroke. He was still trying to get over a cold and dealing with some teeth coming in, so I assumed that's what it was. Of course I gave him Tylenol every 4 hours through the night because that was how often he woke up. Long night! And they hadn't been that great to start with.

The next day my sister Sarah came out to visit since she wasn't able to make it down to SD to see us. It was nice to just relax by the pool and talk. After dinner we tracked down some ice cream, then it was already time to say good-bye. Not enough time! It went too fast.

Friday we took our time packing up, and spent a lot of time at the empty pool which was actually super warm! The weather by that point had cooled to the 60's and rain clouds were threatening, but the water was so warm. After getting all packed up, we headed back to San Diego to spend the next weekend with sister Mary and her husband Rob.

The second weekend was really relaxed, which was nice. There was no agenda, so we just went with the flow. Saturday we enjoyed fabulous lattes made by Rob, then headed to Wind & Sea beach a block from their house. Taylor enjoyed running around and finding little pools of water to splash in. It was so pretty because there were huge storm clouds rolling in to the north and south of us, creating tons of gorgeous rainbows. After Taylor's nap we returned to the beach with aunt Mary, where we watched the beginning of a great sunset. That night we had some much craved carne asada burritos. I forgot how good they were! We tried to watch a movie when we got home, but Jason and I couldn't keep our eyes open, so it was off to bed early.

Sunday we got packed up, then headed over to Coronado Island where Taylor played at the park and on the beach for a bit. We couldn't leave without getting some Moo Time Ice cream for old times sake. It was nice to just sit in the sun and watch the people stroll by on a Sunday morning. Then after Taylor's nap, it was time to head to the airport. But not before we picked up one last double double. Back on the plane, Taylor had to sit on our laps because it was full. Thankfully the DVD player with his Baby Einstein videos kept him happy till we arrived home. Back to cold and rainy Seattle. It was nice to be home and get back to our normal schedule, but we already miss our friends, family, and the wonderful sunshine of So Cal. Wait for us, we'll be back soon!

Letter to the Snow

2008-12-24T15:29:00.000-08:00

Dear Snow,

Wow, you came early this year. Usually we don't see you for a few more weeks. It is nice that you came to town for Christmas, as it makes it feel so Christmasy. However, I have some issues right now that we need to discuss.

First of all, could you take at least one day off to let the sun come out and melt what you left the day before? You are making it really hard to get around, especially since we still haven't bought chains for our cars. Now they are sold out and we keep spinning out and getting stuck. I will thank you for letting me prove to Jason that I can drive better than him in the snow, however, as I was the one who got us out of the alley and into the garage finally. But really, too much of you around. We live on a hill, remember? You and hills just don't mix.

Second, we should have been enjoying Christmas with Jason's family in Iowa right now. However because of all the ruckus you've caused, we'll be stuck here with no tree and already opened presents. Though it will still be a good Christmas since we will be together as a family, you really threw a wrench in things. Do you know how long ago we bought those plane tickets? And how much we were looking forward to seeing the Iowa family? And how long I spent packing last night for no good reason. Yes, I'll say it: I really hate you right now.

There is so much of you that you're not even fun to play with. Taylor doesn't like you anymore because you are so deep that he can't walk and gets frustrated. Jason doesn't like that you are only around when it is freezing outside. And I'm so sick I'd much rather be in bed than out playing with you.

All this to say, we like you for a day, maybe even two, but more than that and you begin to outstay your welcome. Why don't you go back to the mountains where you belong. We'll visit you there when we feel like it.

Sincerely,

Rachel (bitter about her busted Christmas plans) Jenkins

P.S. Don't even think about coming back in the spring time like last year. Then you'll really be in trouble!

Thanksgiving: The Condensed Version

2008-12-01T16:11:00.000-08:00

Since I'm actually writing this much after Thanksgiving, I'm going to keep it short and sweet, mostly because I can't quite remember everything. Here we go!

Wednesday: Took Taylor to JCPenney for second time ever to get early Christmas picts. Taylor-nap+annoying new girl that looked at me making faces and not at Taylor to take picts+freaked out Taylor crying hysterically=5 semi ok shots to choose from and 1 frustrated me.

Thursday: Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Luellen, Uncle Doug, & cousin Cassie's house. Taylor liked stuffing. Mary and Rob showed up around dessert from San Diego. Played Wii bowling. Taylor imitated us playing Wii bowling. Went home with nice full belly.

Friday: Worked that night, so stuck around house during day and took a nap.

Saturday: Slept in the AM, then met up with family (now also Sarah and Mark in from OC) at real bowling alley. Rocked the first round, scoring 156 and beating everyone. Chased Taylor around the arcade. Went back to mom & dad's for dinner. Had to leave before the party was over to put Taylor to bed.

Sunday: Church, nap, then made dinner for everyone at my parents house (our house can't hold many people at one time). BBQ's a fabulous pork loin. Enjoyed time with my sisters. Then went home to life as normal.

Baby Loves Disco

2008-10-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we tried out a new activity as a family. It is called Baby Loves Disco. They have them in lots of cities all over the US. What they do is open a dance club once a month from 1-4pm. It is open to children from 0-7 and their parents. They have 70's and 80's music playing, a DJ mixing the tunes, lights, balloons, bubble blowers, and a side play room where you can go and cool off after you've been dancing the afternoon away. Our friends Jacqui and Phil were taking their son Hayden for the Halloween themed one, so we thought we'd try it out also.

Taylor is a shark for Halloween this year, and I really wanted to get in the spirit and dress up as a family. I thought it'd be funny to have Jason as a surfer with a shark bite out of his board and I could be a lifeguard. However Jason wasn't quite in the spirit, so I took over as the surfer and constructed a smaller version surf board so it would be easier to carry around. Unfortunately, not many parents dressed up, so i felt a bit funny. Oh well, at least I stayed cool in my board shorts and t-shirt because the place was hot! It was so packed when we first got there that Taylor would not be put down for a second. I can't blame him because on the ground all he would be able to see was knees. So we held him and took turns dancing around and popping bubbles. There were some great other costumes. One baby was a pizza, one family came as the Royal Tenanbalms, and then there were a bunch of little girl lady bugs. We stopped for snacks and watched the action from higher ground, where Taylor and Hayden would actually get down and run around. Then he ventured back out toward the dance floor as the crowds thinned. It was fun and we got some great pictures, but it probably would have been a little better if they had the middle of the floor open for kids and the parents could be around the perimeter, just so it wasn't so overwhelming for the little ones.

After that we kept the party going by heading to the Issaquah Highlands Fall Festival. They had a hay bale maze, pony rides, inflatable, and I think a haunted house. We let Taylor just roam for a bit, which he enjoyed. Then he took a ride on a pony (hesitant at first, then was smiling and laughing), had a couple small bites of popcorn, petted some bunnies and visited with friends. Then it was to Jacqui and Phil's for a spaghetti dinner. It is so fun to watch the boys play together and remember when they were babies and would just lay next to each other. My how they are growing up.

Well, with all the celebrating we already did, it feels like it all should be over, but there is still 5 more days till the actually thing. If Taylor gets a good nap and Jason gets home from work on time on the 31st, we'll probably go to Overlake Christian Church (where I grew up) and enjoy the festivities there. Nana will be helping out with the puppets, so we'll check her out in action.

Fall leaves

2008-10-25T13:31:00.000-07:00

After summer is over I start the dread the impending cold/wind/rain/snow. But I always look forward to the beautiful fall leaves. Especially on a nice sunny day, nothing beats it. Boston in the fall?! Forget it! Seattle is the place to be.

Casting Call

2008-10-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again for the Gap baby/children casting call. I hadn't gotten a chance to take any recent pictures but last weekend got a few good ones. Wednesday was the last day to post picts, so I got home from working all night and spent till 11am getting the pictures off my camera and brightened/color enhances/cropped. When I finally went to post them I realized they were all too big! The photo could only be 2mb and all mine were 4-6mb. Grr. So I found two that I took with my other camera and sent them off. Here they are! Lets see what the judges think.

Pumpkins and Dirt Bikes

2008-10-19T23:34:00.000-07:00

Today we stayed home from church since Taylor was still recovering from the stomach bug. We had picked up some pumpkins the day before, so after he woke up from his nap we went out on the front lawn to carve them since it was a beautiful sunny day. I took over the carving duty while Jason played photographer. Taylor was interested at the beginning, but when I tried to get him to stick his hand in the pumpkin he took off the other direction running. He did try to do a little scooping of innards with the ice cream scoop, but then realized it was more fun to bang it on the cement and hear the neat sound. So I did my best to carve the pumpkin on my own (which I hadn't done since sophomore year of college). Got some cute picts, and we got one of the three pumpkins ready for the big day. Mission accomplished.

The first cut

Discovering whats on the inside

Helping collect the seeds

Scooping all by himself

A little help from mom

Break for a kiss!

Distracted

Ready to get messy

Doesn't taste as good as it looks

Letting mom do the carving

Then it was Jason's turn to be photographed. He had just bought a dirt bike the day before off craigslist for a sweet deal and couldn't wait to get it all shined up. Taylor was a little timid watching Jason ride it up and down the street, partly because it was so loud. But when it had stopped and he got to sit on it, he was in heaven. He even helped Jason wash it, dunking the brush in the soapy water and scrubbing the big tires. He loves his dad and follows him all around. I'm sure he'll follow Jason's passion for riding and be out there on his own some day. I'm starting therapy now for when that day comes. Do you know they make little kid dirt bikes with training wheels?! Lord help me.

Taylor & Jason cleaning the bike together

Fascinated by the big wheel

"Dad, you missed a spot!"

The boys hard at work

Taking it for a test drive

That evening we went to Nana and Grandpa's house for dinner. Taylor always loves playing in the back yard. This time he discovered the bird bath and how throwing rocks into it is so cool. After some bubble blowing to distract him from the bird bath, we went inside and he played the piano. My mom remembers back to when we were little and sat at the same piano at my grandparents house and played. After some yummy pot roast (definitely a cool fall day meal), we headed home to get our recovering sicky to bed. What a fun day full of lots of great memories, and some great pictures too!

Checking out the rocks

"Throwing rocks in water is so fun!"

Mesmerized by bubbles

Working on his Mozart piece

"Nana & Grandpa's is always a blast!"

Sick baby

2008-10-18T23:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night Jason called me at work to tell me Taylor had woken up and thrown up everywhere. He has done this twice before a while ago, but only after we had given him egg (which he has not had since). We thought maybe it was something he ate and did bland stuff the next day. By the afternoon he was running around like himself. Wednesday night, however, same thing. I was home so I tried to deal with it as much as possible and let Jason sleep. I was downstairs trying to rock him to sleep for 4 hours. Long night. Next night, same thing. By this point I've figured it probably wasn't something he ate but maybe a virus. He would still eat during the day (Banana Rice Applesauce Toast Yogurt), and drink a ton of water (doesn't like juice). I started mixing Pedialyte into his milk so he would get some electrolyte replacement. The puzzling thing was that he would only throw up in the middle of the night, and right about the same time. He had milk in the morning and before nap, but no throwing up then. I finally took him to the doctor Saturday because I wanted a second opinion and to make sure they didn't think he was getting dehydrated. Also he had developed a rash on him tummy. After the family practitioner sat there and thought about it for a good 5 minutes, he said he thought it was just a virus. Duh! I really spent $10 for someone to tell me what I already knew! He then suggested to cut milk out and see if that helped. I wasn't sure how that would go over because Taylor LOVES his milk and will not drink watered down juice. So that afternoon for his nap I did part water, part apple juice, part Pedialyte. Miracle upon miracles he drank it warmed up and in a bottle while rocking to sleep. That night, no throwing up! I was so thrilled to not have to scrub sheets and pj's and do laundry in the middle of the night, and Jason was so happy to not be thrown up on for a 5th night in a row. We all slept great. Poor Taylor had a few rough nights and slept a ton during the day, but in the afternoon he was always happy to get out and do something fun. What a trooper. Now I think we have a new molar working its way in. Long nights, here we come!

Day At the Zoo With Nana & Grandpa

2008-09-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

In Memory of Dusty

2008-09-15T15:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend I said goodbye to my first baby, my bunny Dusty. Dusty came into my life during a time that I was very lonely, a few months out of college, working at a new job, single and living with three engaged girls. I was stuck in San Diego for Christmas, my first year away, and I decided that I wanted a pet. We couldn't have a dog, and I'm not a big fan of cats. Growing up we had a few rabbits, so I set out to the pet store to see what they had. There was a new bunch of baby dwarf lop ear rabbits and I fell in love with the runt of the group. I got everything I needed and headed home with him in a little box. He was so sweet and little that he could fit in the palm of my hand. He would just snuggle up in my lap like I was his mommy, and I loved having him around to care for. He turned out to be quite the sun bunny, always sprawling out in the sunshine by the back door. As he got bigger, I bought a leash for him and would take him to the park and the beach where he loved to hop in the grass and tear around in the sand. We always got lots of surprised looks, then big smiles as they came over to pet the beach bunny.

To keep him smelling fresh I would give him baths, which would make him shrink in size as his fur got all wet. Then afterward he would go running around flicking his feet and shaking his ears to get all the water off him. He loved to be brushed and pet, and when I wouldn't give him attention would come prancing over my laptop and jump on my back if I was lying on the floor. He always had me laughing when he did his rodeo bunny stunt, jumping high in the air and spinning around. As a baby his ears stood straight up, but as he got older they started to droop down. One ear lopped over before the other, which I referred to as his teenage years.

I moved a couple time over the next two years, but he always acclimated well. When Jason and I got married we moved into a bottom floor condo, so the patio led right out to the grass. A few times Dusty would chance it and hop out there, he was surprised by a dog coming around the corner and would bee line it into the house, running in place as his feet hit the tile. After an hour or so he would have the guts to come out from under the bed.

When we moved up to Seattle we spent our first month at my parent's house which has a nice lush backyard. Dusty was in heaven! He would run from end to end, jumping in the air and spinning around. He munched on everything he could find. He even made a place for himself under the side table next to the sliding back door. Our townhouse would not have been fun for him, so he stayed with my parents where he was loved and spoiled like a grandchild.

He was pretty much potty trained and would scratch at the back door to go out to the bathroom. He starting following my dad around the downstairs, and always loved it when he would sit down and pet him. My mom spoiled him with carrots and lettuce, which he loved. Every time I would go over to visit, he would run over like he still knew who I was even when it had been a long time.

As Taylor got older he became more interested in Dusty, wanting to go check out his house in the garage and pet his head. I wish they had had more time to get to know each other.

He had been on antibiotics for a little cold (so the vet called it) when he stopped eating. My dad tried to nurse him back to health, but he was just too sick and on Saturday night I got the call that he had died. I was more emotional about it than I expected myself to be. Maybe it was all the memories I had with him. Maybe it was that he had so much personality that I felt like I had lost a person. Maybe it was a bit of guilt that I hadn't done more for him. I miss my Dust Bunny, and I cherish all the great memories I had with him. Dusty, you will never be forgotten.

My Baby

Dusty in his teenage years

Bath time!

Beach bunny

Sleeping in the sun

My sunny bunny

The boys

Helping himself

People watching

My babies hanging out

Hanging in the backyard

Photo shoot

2008-08-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

Taylor discovered the little rocking chair my grandparents gave me when I was little which was over at my parents house, so I ended up bringing it home with us. He looks so cute when he crawls in it and starts rocking. When I was 7 years old, my grandparents helped me paint my name on the back, and it reminds me of them when I see it. So when he was rocking the other day, I thought what a great time to takes some pictures. I'm still learning how to capture good light and all that. These are some of the better ones.

Hot weekend

2008-08-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! It actually was summer weather this weekend! Seriously, this has been the coldest, rainiest summer ever. So when it gets into the mid-90's we don't complain.

Thursday we met up with Katie (friend from work) and her son Luke at Grass Lawn Park, where they have a spray area for the kids to play. It was so hot I couldn't walk barefoot on the cement. Taylor was totally not interested in the water, so he kept wandering off and wanting to sit and play on the hot cement. We eventually just moved to the shady grass area where he and Luke played with trucks and kicked the soccer ball around. Then we went over to Allen & Sandy's for pizza Thursday. It became a tradition this summer as their grand kids were in town helping with the business. Taylor and I joined the fun a few times. We ended up going for a boat ride, which was nice to get out on the water. Taylor of course fell asleep, but woke up right as we pulled up to the dock. We tried to stay and watch a bit of the Olympics, but Taylor was ready for bed.

Friday after Taylor's nap and Jason's MRI (for back issues), we headed back to the Sanders for a day in the sun with other church friends. Taylor played on the beach in the sand, and also in the kiddie pool that was out. Then we all hoped on the jet ski and cruised around. Taylor loves to sit in the front and check out all the action. Unfortunately I had to work that night, so I took off early as Jason and Taylor enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Saturday, again after mid-day nap, we headed to the cool relief of the mall and did a little shopping for ourselves. Taylor had fun wandering around, but had a tendency to want to wander in the opposite direction that we were headed. After some dinner at the Cheesecake factory and a bit more wandering, we headed home to get Taylor to bed on time.

Sunday was church, naps, then we headed out to Maple Valley where a co-worker of Jason's lived. Him and his wife have a huge piece of property on which they built their own beautiful house. It was decorated just as I like to: lots of pictures of the family. Their two daughters weren't home, but we had fun BBQ-ing and getting to know them better. Their cat just had kittens 2 days prior, so Taylor got to see them. He was more interested in the older sibling of the kittens. She was very friendly and kept coming over to Taylor to let him pet her. He got so excited, and kept following her all over the yard. They offered to let us have one of the new kittens. We'll see. They also had a 4 wheeler that they like to drive on the trail around their property, so the three of us hopped on and took a ride. It was a lot of fun. Home again it was to prepare for the next week ahead.

13 Month Update

2008-08-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I promised an update at 1 year, but I was a bit busy with all the festivities and then my vacation ending, so I'm doing it now. 12 months already seems like a long time ago. Now it is on to 13! Still changing a lot every day. So, here we go.

Dr. appointment: I ended up taking him in pretty soon after his birthday because right around that time his eczema got really bad. It had just been on his hands (since 6 months!), and a little on his arms, but after all the excitement and lack of sleep around his birthday, it was all up and down his arms as well as on his back. The doctor gave us a prescription steroid cream that cleared it up, and now his hands are rash free for the first time in 6 months! Other than that the appointment was very uneventful. He was just a few ounces shy of 20 lbs, which stinks because that means we can't turn his car seat forward yet. And I can't remember how tall, but it was somewhere around the 60th percentile. Tall and lean. That is how I would describe him right now. Although people that see him think he looks really big for his age and are surprised when I tell them he's only in the 10th percentile for weight. I think it is that he had big cheeks but the rest of him is small. Takes after his parents.

I held off on getting his shots. First of all because I had to work that night and I wanted to be there when he got all grouchy and needed mommy time. Second because I needed to check to make sure that when he gets the Chickenpox vaccine, he won't be contagious because it is a live vaccine and Jason has never had the Pox. Third, because it is the MMR vaccine that all the autism hype is about and I guess I'm just a bit nervous. They say any time between 12-15 months, so maybe I'll make more toward the later end.

Eating: he is FINALLY eating more solid foods. For a while there I thought he would be eating pureed food till he was 5, but alas, he figured how to use the 8 teeth he has in the front to chew. Actually what he does is fill his mouth like a little chipmunk, then take a few swigs of water and swallows it all mostly whole. I'm still trying new foods, more meats/fish/poultry now. I've come to learn that though he may like things the first time, he might despise it the next, so give it a few days in between and never assume he'll eat the same thing twice. I've gotten tricky with some veggies that he used to love and now he loathes: I puree them and spread them on bread or cook them into a quesadilla. As long as it is on a carb, he'll eat it. His favorite foods include the following:

-Yo Baby yogurt

-Hummus on bread (well, anything spread on bread really)

-Watermelon

-Chicken (but only if grilled on the BBQ)

-Veggie Booty

He likes other things, but that is the stuff that he is guaranteed to eat, and will light up when he sees them. He'll get angry at the toaster if it doesn't toast his bread fast enough. Sad but true. Oh, and he'll eat anything as long as it is off my plate. Salmon, broccoli, meatloaf, etc. He's a bit of a scavenger. After eating a full meal he'll come back in the kitchen before I can clean up and eat a stray cheerio or piece of bread off the floor. Then again, he'll put anything at his mouth. I'm constantly telling him, "Not in your mouth!" to things like wood chips at the playground, my makeup brushes, my phone, the grocery list. Oh, speaking of the grocery store, I let him hold an avocado so he could see what it felt like, then turned to grab another one. In the 10 seconds it took me to find a second, he had taken a huge bite out of the one he was holding, peel and all! I'm telling you, if not in his highchair the kid will eat anything.

He still gets a bottle/cup of milk first thing in the morning, before his nap, and before bedtime. I've pretty much stopped breast feeding him, but maybe once a day or every other day he'll get super cranky and the only thing that will calm him is to breastfeed. He loves water at every other time of the day. I've tried half juice, but he didn't like it so I didn't push the matter. No reason to encourage more sugar if he doesn't want it.

Walking: so I thought he wouldn't be walking for a while because right before his birthday he would only take one step very hesitantly, then fall. But around his birthday he started taking more like 2-3. A week later it was 4-5, then across the living room between Jason and I. About 3 weeks after his birthday he was predominantly walking, but still falling a lot. And now about a month later I rarely see him crawl, if ever. He loves walking so much that he starts squealing with delight. Still falls down some, but seems much more balanced and sure of himself. Enough so that when he gets going he is practically running! I have to tell him, "Go slow" because I fear the day he face plants and scratches up his whole front side. He never even wants to hold my hand now, where as before he would throw a tantrum if I wouldn't (probably because that was the only way he could walk). When we're out, he'll go wandering away, then 10 seconds later turn around to make sure I'm still close by. The other day he was walking all around the farmers market with his blanket in his mouth. Everyone thought it was so cute.

Tantrums: When Taylor was younger I thought for sure he was going to take after his sweet, mild tempered father. But somewhere around 10 months he realized he had an opinion and wanted to express it. Now he is seeming a bit more like me in my younger years: stubborn & independent. I think that was the reason he would get so mad before when I wouldn't walk with him. He wanted to be free and walk, and would get mad when I wouldn't have the time to help him. I'm talking throwing his head back, crying, kicking. Sometimes he would be in the kitchen on the tile and start a tantrum and I would have to catch his head and lower him to the ground so he wouldn't smack it, which would indeed lead to more crying. Now, whenever I need to "assist' his head to the ground, I like to say, "Filled with the spirit!" because that's what it reminds me of. Jason and I are in agreement that when he throws his tantrums, we just let him do his thing and ignore it. I'll walk into the kitchen but stay in sight so he doesn't feel abandoned (from what I've read). Usually after a minute of not getting attention with his tantrum he stops. I try to verbalize for him what he is feeling, because a lot of it too is not being able to communicate what he wants or how he feels. "You were angry that you couldn't have my cell phone". I don't know, I hope it works. Boy, we're not even to the terrible 2's yet.

Fun stuff: he is not quite the terror child I just portrayed. It is more when he is tired, but for the most part he is a great, happy kid. It is fun to go out and do stuff together. As it is summer (enjoy it while it lasts in Seattle!), we've been going to different beaches because Taylor LOVES the water. He will walk in and out of the water over and over and get such a kick out of it. Then we collect rocks in his bucket, or scoop with his shovel. We found one beach that is a dog beach on Lake Sammamish, which Taylor loved because of all the dogs running around. I've also taken him to a local pool where we actually do a little more swimming because the water is warmer than the lake. He has a great time kicking around and watching all the other kids. It is great because they put balls and swimming noodles in the shallow end, so he has fun pushing those around. And on the occasion that we get out on our friends boat, he has the greatest time. Usually he falls asleep somewhere during the ride, but also likes to watch Jason on the wake board. Our newest water activity has been the spray park by our house. They have an area that sprays water from the ground at different times. Just when you think you are safe to walk across, it starts up and you get wet. When there aren't a million kids there, Taylor likes to walk around and touch the water.

He is also an avid reader. It is funny how he rotates through a favorite book. Right now it is Moo, Baa, Laa Laa Laa. And with Jason he loves to read Green Eggs and Ham. Counting Kisses is his fave bedtime book, especially when I read the "7 squishy kisses on chubby, yummy knees" and squeeze his little knees. He always laughs. Today we made a fort out of the dining room table, then filled it with a bunch of pillows and his books. It was fun to sit in our secret little place and read together.

Lately his favorite toys have been anything out of the kitchen cupboards. I keep meaning to put the locks on that I bought. "His drawer" is the one with all the Tupperware tops, which usually end up all over the floor. He has also started getting into the pots and pans. He grabs the pot top, then walks around clapping it against his empty hand like a cymbal player in a marching band. Very cute. Sometimes I'll give him a pot and the whisk or a mixing spoon so he can bang around and investigate all the sounds they make.

He and Jason are still enjoying Little Gym together. Taylor is getting more confident and venturing out on his own. He likes to hang from the rings and work on his somersaults. We were considering continuing in the fall, but it is just a bit too expensive, so I'm looking into Kindermusic again. Just a different location because I didn't really like the teacher we had last time.

Sleeping: I think we are still recovering from the poor sleeping related to teeth coming in and a few colds mixed in there are well. There definitely seem to be more good nights than bad. Usually he goes down around 7:30 -8 pm. Somewhere around 10 - 11:30ish he'll wake up and sometimes need the pacifier replaced. Other times he'll settle on his own. On a good night we won't hear from him again till about 6:30 - 7:30 am when he is ready for his bottle. If that first waking is between 5-6:30, he will usually go back to sleep till 7:30 - 8:30 am. On bad nights there are 1-2 other wakings through the night that require the pacifier to be replaced or to be held for a couple minutes. The last few nights have been rough, but I think it is because it has been hot and his room stays really warm. Hopefully soon we'll have 100% 8pm to 7 or 8 am sleeping. :)

At least he naps well, though it is usually only one a day. He will go down 3-4 hours after he wakes up in the morning and sleeps for about 3 hours. If he wakes up early, he'll sometimes go down for a late afternoon nap, but usually only if we're driving around in the car. As long as I can nap when he does for at least 2 hours on the days I work, I'm good for the night. Crazy how one adjusts to sleep deprivation. On the days that I don't work I get SO much done when he is sleeping. It is great!

Well, I think that about sums him up. Though we have are struggles here and there, Taylor is such a joy and I wouldn't trade it for anything. The hugs he gives, and the kisses. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. He blows kisses! So cute! He also still gives his "I want to make out with you" wide mouth kisses. Still working on closed lip ones. But so precious when out of no where he is laying a big wet one on you. Anyway, life is great and he is precious. Makes us laugh a lot Can't wait for another great year!

Trip to the zoo

2008-07-29T00:46:00.000-07:00

Since Taylor is a year now, we thought he would be ready for a trip to the zoo. I had high hopes that it would be a great experience. Unfortunately it didn't turn out quite as great as I hoped.

We originally planned to go Friday since we were both off work. But after a week of hard labor, Jason was exhausted and wanted to put it off till Saturday. So Saturday Taylor and Jason went to Little Gym while I went for a bike ride. Taylor had gotten up earlier than normal that day so he fell asleep on the drive to pick me up. We decided to just let him sleep in the car so Jason could stop by the chiropractor. Of course, he only slept for 1 1/2 hrs. By the time we got him home and fed, and me showered and ready, it was 2pm. We arrived at the zoo at 3pm and it was very busy. At first we tried to just keep him in the stroller, but there were just too many people that he couldn't see the animals through the crowd. So we took him out, and Jason held him up so he could see the hippos out of the water and eating. Perfect picture moment. Except, I FORGOT TO PUT THE BATTERY IN THE CAMERA!! I was so mad! I told myself so many times not to forget it on the charger, and I did exactly that. By this point my stomach was started to churn. (I'm lactose intolerant, and I presumed that my coffee from that morning had been made with milk instead of soy). We tried to make the most of it, but it was just a rough time, with me feeling sick and Taylor fighting every time we tried to stick him back in the stroller. A lot of the animals were sleeping, as well, so even if he could have spotted them off in the distance, when they are not moving it is hard to stay interested. At one point we just let him walk around picking up pine cones as that was the only thing that would make him happy. Lessons learned: go to the zoo in the morning, only go on a weekday, double check that the camera has the battery before leaving home, and ALWAYS make sure that my coffee was actually made with soy milk.

The day wasn't a total bust, however. We drove around a bit trying to get Taylor to fall asleep, but of course he didn't. So we grabbed some burritos and headed to Kerry Park. For those not from the Seattle area, it is a park that overlooks the Puget Sound and downtown Seattle. The Space needle is so close it feels like you can reach out and touch it. Taylor behaved as we ate dinner and enjoyed the nice view . We found another park down the road that overlooked all of Puget Sound, so we got Taylor out and let him walk around and watch the ferries coming in and out. If we could have stay another hour, we probably would have seen an amazing sunset, but it was time to get Taylor home.

On the drive home, we passed the back end of the Seafair Torchlight parade. People were hanging out on the floats waiting to hit the parade route. In all my years growing up in Seattle, that was the closest I've ever gotten to going to the parade. It was kind of fun to drive by all the floats and marching bands. We went home and watched it on TV instead. It brought back memories from the day I got my appendix removed. Everyone was sitting in my hospital room watching the parade as I drifted in and out of consciousness, catching a glimpse here and there.

So, that was our afternoon at the zoo. Hopefully next time will be better, and I will remember the battery to the camera so I have some picts to share.

Birthday Weekend in Review

2008-07-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

What a whirlwind of a weekend, but we had a great time celebrating Taylor's birthday. This might require a day by day rundown.

Thursday, July 10th (his birthday!): started the day with his favorite breakfast. Blueberry pancakes! I put a candle in it, but didn't even get a chance to light it before he had taken it out and started eating his pancake. I had to dig out the middle because the candle had melted into the pancake. oops! Took an early nap, which unfortunately was only an hour and a half instead of his normal 3 hour. Had lunch, then headed to Aubrey and Will's house for a play date. The kids were all playing in the pool and sprinkler mat. Taylor does this sucking in air loudly thing when he is excited, and did it every time we walked over to the pool. He loves water! He and Will played a round of golf, with the kiddie set of course. Then it was back home to meet up with the rest of the family. Thankfully he got a bit of a nap in before the festivities started. My parents and my younger sister Mary and her husband Rob (in town from San Diego), came over and we BBQ'd, helped Taylor open lots of presents, and watched him eat cake for the first time. He was so excited about it that he started licking the frosting off before the candle was even blown out. At one point he had picked up the whole cake and was trying to get it in his mouth. We all got pictures with the birthday boy, then it was time for bed. We sang Happy Birthday to my Dad later in the evening, and he was kind enough to share his cake with us, unlike Mr. Taylor.

Birthday Breakfast

Devouring of the blueberry pancake

Mr. Blueberry lips

Showing Auntie Mary his new toy

Opening his big present

Not what he wanted, I guess

Playing basketball with daddy and Uncle Rob

Eating frosting with the candle still lit

Sharing a bite with mommy

Easier than with a fork

Birthday boy with Nana and Grandpa...

...and with Uncle Rob and Aunt Mary

"Don't even think about touching my cupcake!"

Friday, July 11th: woke up a little earlier than normal to go for a boat ride on our friend Allen's boat. Rob was the first to jump in and initiate the wakeboarding, but he hadn't even been up for 30 seconds when the back of the boat started smoking. 10 minutes later and some elbow grease on Allen and Jason, the broken belt was replaced, and we were all thankful that a spare was kept in the boat so we didn't have to jump in and push the boat back to the house. Jason took his turn, then Mary jumped in and showed the boys how it is done. :) It was a beautiful morning, especially since we were the only boat on a perfectly glassy lake. Afterward we headed to a great breakfast place that Jason and I discovered in Bellevue. It is a little family owned pancake house that has been there for 50 years, and despite their huge popularity have never expanded. Thankfully we came on a day that the wait was only 15 minutes. Then it was home to take naps and clean up after the previous evening's festivities. Later we enjoyed some Thai food and Crockett at my parent's house.

Saturday, July 12th (the big party day): thankfully we had already brought a bunch of stuff to Allen and Sandy's for the big party, because our car was still packed to the roof. I had a check off list with all the things we had to remember: Pack N' Play for Tay's nap, baby monitor, sleep sack, CD player with bedtime CD, scissors, tape, decorations, sand castle stuff, food for Taylor, his cake, etc. Yes, the list was much longer. We headed out early and I dropped Taylor and Jason off at The Little Gym for their class. In the mean time I made quick stops at Target, the grocery store, and the party store to pick up balloons. My intention was to get it done fast enough so I could drop it all off at the Sander's first, but I was running late, so Taylor was nearly suffocated by all the balloons in the back seat of the car, and I snuggled with the huge volleyball set in the front seat. I'm sure we were getting crazy stares from other drivers but I wasn't able to turn my head enough to look. Once to the Sanders, I got Taylor down for his nap, then it was decorate and prep food like mad people. My parents, Mary, and Rob came early to help with the last minute stuff which was a huge help! Taylor of course decided to sleep only 1 1/2 hours, so he had some lunch before everyone got there.

Then it was time for the party! I think there was about 40 people there: church friends, family, friends from high school. The BBQ was going, and people just enjoyed the nice sunny day on the lake. Unfortunately I had a dyslexic moment when I was making the invitations and mixed up two numbers in the address. Two people found it by following the balloons, but my poor aunt and uncle were driving around for a while. My mom finally checked her phone and saw they had called quite a few times. They arrived just in time to get some food, then watch Taylor eat his cake. Well, let me back up. I had tried to tone down the frosting (he got a bad stomach ache from the cupcake) by adding half whipping cream. Well, when I tried to frost it (30 minutes before the party), it just ran down the sides of the cake and looked like a mess. Thinking quickly, I scraped it all off, then used the cream cheese/whipped cream/marshmallow dip I had for strawberries instead. Much thicker and worked like a charm. So when we presented him the cake, first of all there were 40 people staring at him. Second, the frosting tasted much different than the first time because of the cream cheese. Third it was cold because I had put it in the fridge so I wouldn't have the melting problem again. To sum it up, he could have cared less about this huge cake sitting in front of him. He got a bite of the frosting and his whole body shuttered. He ate a bit more when we gave him a spoon to use, but pretty much it went untouched. Ah well, what can you expect from at 1 year old.

Confused by the candle

Finally eating his cake (with a utensil of course)

Mommy with the birthday boy

San Diego friends Eli and Holly with baby Ethan

Katie with smiley baby Greyson

Grandpa and Taylor playing Foosball

Taking a sip of Aunt Luellen's water

The boat crew

Lucy and Andrew in their "boats"

Taking a nap in Miss Sandy's arms

Rousing game of volleyball

Tay's favorite thing: walking in & out of the water

Discovering sand, on hands & in mouth

Taylor's Sports Illustrated pose

The rest of the party was full of sand castle making, volleyball, pool, boat rides, and just hanging out and talking. It was great to have Taylor surrounded by family and friends on his big day. He even took a nap in Sandy's arms as she sat on the porch swing. We decided since he had gotten a bit on the crabby side that we would skip the big present opening and just take them home. I'm sure there were some disappointed people who wanted to see the big show, but it made for a much happier Taylor. By the time we cleaned up, got home, and got Taylor settled in bed, it was almost 9pm, way passed his bedtime. Big day for a big boy.

Sunday, July 13th: Taylor was dedicated at church along with his little buddy Andrew. We missed the last dedication by a few weeks, so we asked our pastor if we could do it that weekend while my sister was in town. It was such a special moment, as our pastor challenged us and the congregation as well to be teachers and examples of Jesus to Taylor. He reminded us that this did not mean that his salvation was secured by doing this, because that is something he has to choose for himself when he is older. But it is more like we are presenting him to the Lord and making a promise to raise him to know of Jesus and His unconditional love. Taylor did start to get a bit antsy as pastor Barry was praying, but for the most part it went well. It would have been much easier when he was just a baby, though.

After church we hurried home to get tired Taylor to bed, then as my parent's babysat, Mary, Rob, Jason and I went out together. We hit up the bowling alley which was completely empty (probably because everyone else was enjoying the beautiful day outside). It was great just to talk and hangout without the distraction of Taylor. I'm proud to say I won the first game, but then Rob stepped up his game the second round and blew us all out of the water, bringing the Honer team to victory. There was a Dairy Queen next door, so after we grabbed some ice cream (medium cookie dough blizzard with extra cookie dough for me!) and enjoyed the nice warm afternoon. Then it was back to the house to say our goodbyes as we would not be seeing them again before they returned to San Diego. It didn't hit me till a bit after they left that it would be another few months before we would see them again, then I got sad. I wish we were all still close together like we used to be, and we could hang out whenever, and Taylor would actually know who they are. Hopefully some day we will all be back together again. Whether that will be in Seattle or San Diego remains to be seen.

So that was the weekend. We just barely survived all the activities, but had so much fun being with family and friends and celebrating Taylor's first year. It really has gone so fast. I still consider him a baby, but really he is a little boy now. More on all his tricks later with the 1 year Dr appointment review. I'll add weekend pictures when I get a chance as well.

Happy Birthday Tay Tay!

2008-07-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Our little guy is 1 today! Taylor, you are the greatest blessing in your dad's and my life. It has been a great year, and we are excited about the many more to come.

Happy Birthday Dad & Grandpa!

2008-07-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Dad! This time last year we were picnicing at Lake Sammamish for his birthday. I was five days post-due with Taylor, and causing a scene at the park as I jumped around after a frisbee. Everyone kept throwing it out of my reach. I think I did about 100 squats that night picking up the frisbee off the ground. Well, it worked! Taylor was born the next day! Sorry you have to share your birthday every year now, dad.

Little Gym

2008-07-08T10:42:00.000-07:00

We thought we'd give Kindermusic a rest for a little bit and try a different class with Taylor. Jason thought a gym class would be fun, so we signed him and Taylor up for a Little Gym class on Saturday mornings. It will be great because I usually work Friday nights, so it will give them something to do together in the morning when I'm sleeping.

The first week Taylor had a great time, rolling on the mats, catching bubbles, and hanging from the bars. What he enjoyed the most was shooting balls into the little hoop, laughing when Jason would dunk them in. He loved it so much we decided to get him one for his birthday. (shhh, it's a secret). This last weekend I got to go since I'm on vacation (and lovin' every minute of it), so I took some pictures of the two of them.

Hanging out with the boys

Bouncing a ball with daddy

Mr. Mohawk

Laughing at daddy's shooting

Slam dunk for Taylor

Our little monkey

Mesmerized by bubbles

Mighty Duke of York

Stamp "tattoo" at the end of class

One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

2008-05-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

For my mom's mother's day gift, Taylor and I treated her to a day at the Seattle Aquarium, just the three of us. It was Taylor's first time, and I couldn't recall a time after elementary school that I had been there. A lot has changed since then. We had fun touching the sea stars in the tide pool exhibit, watching the jelly fish swim round and round is a circular tank, and seeing all the colorful tropical fish. Taylor had a blast, stopping to clap often when he thought something was really great. He especially enjoyed all the walking around we did. He loves to walk, with two hands helping him of course. We ended the journey with the seal, sea lions, and otters. By that time Taylor was getting tired and not very thrilled about posing for pictures on the big carved otter. After one last look and the Window on Washington Waters, we headed down along the waterfront to get some dinner. By the time we had pulled up to a table, Taylor was asleep in the stroller. It was a fun first visit for him, and a great hangout with Nana.

Heat wave #2

2008-05-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well, we keep getting teased with summer weather up here. This time it lasted 3 days! Friday was in the high 90's, Saturday the high 80's, and Sunday the low 80's. We had all these great plans going into the weekend because we both had Friday through Sunday off, so we were going to play at the lake, soak up the sun, and go to the Padres vs Mariners baseball game on Sunday. I got off work Friday morning and was just exhausted, and my dear husband wanted me to sleep in a nice cool room, so he pulled out the window air conditioner. I helped bring it in from the garage, but then he carried it up the 2 flights of stairs by himself, and this thing is super heavy! I went to sleep, then two hours later Jason woke me up and told me he had thrown his back out and that I had to take Taylor. Fabulous. So our fun filled weekend consisted of icing Jason's back, watching a lot of TV in our sweltering house (because all he could do was lay flat on his back), and snacking on a lot of bad food. Taylor was hot and going stir crazy, so I dragged his baby bath tub out and put it on the front lawn. He enjoyed splashing around in the water, and letting the water run from the hose onto his feet. I was excited to try on his little swim trunks that he got last year when he was born (they were 12 month size). He looked so cute in them! Some how we survived the weekend. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy the next nice weekend, whenever it may come.

*Note how many times something is in his mouth. Yes, pretty much all the time. Toys, his hands, and he even tried some of the beauty bark. Yum!

Cheaters never prosper...

2008-05-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

...but they do create the illusion that they religiously keep up with their blog. Some of you who check our site here and there are probably wondering why all of a sudden all these old entries are just popping up. Well, I have a confession. I pre-dated them. Yes, I know, how could I. But life gets so crazy sometimes and I just don't have time to update as things happen. Then I don't want to do a massive entry on the last month and a half. So, I invite you to look back as far as early March to make sure you haven't missed any adorable pictures of your growing little man and hear about everything he's been up to. And for those who ask me over and over to post new pictures, enjoy! (It might be a while before I get to it again)

Heat Wave!

2008-04-14T15:13:00.000-07:00

Just when we thought spring was never going to come, summer showed up instead. At least for a day. Instead of our usual high of 50 degrees with scattered showers, it was 80+ degrees and sunny! We took advantage of the beautiful day, putting on our shorts and flip flops and heading to the park. Taylor had a blast crawling around in the grass and playing in the rocks at the park. For those who don't believe it could ever be that warm in April in Seattle, here's pictures as proof. Oh, and just a side note, the next day was cloudy with highs in the low 50's. So long summer. See you again July 5th.

Playing in the rocks, and trying really hard to eat them

Collecting some to take home

"Act innocent, then when her back is turned, put in my mouth"

50% Mommy + 50% Daddy = 100% Cute

"This stuff feels kind of funny!"

Working on his crawling

Jason & Taylor going down the slide

Practicing walking

Rosy cheeks

9 months!

2008-04-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

Taylor is 9 months old today! To celebrate, we went to the doctor. :) Thankfully no shots this time, just the measuring, listening, and looking in the eyes and ears and stuff. He is now 2ft 3.8in and weights 17 lb 15.6 oz (so close to 18 lbs!). He's about 12th percentile for weight and 30-ish percentile for height. He dropped in his weight percentile, but the doctor said that was fine since he's becoming more active and just burning more calories. I asked about his hands, which are still really red and sore because he sucks/chews on them all the time. She said just Aquaphor (which we've been doing religiously) and hydrocortisone (which I'm scared to put on if it is going to end up in his mouth). She also suggested putting gloves on his hands at night to keep the moisture in, but when I've tried that before the night didn't go so well because he couldn't grab his pacifier when he woke up. Other than that is was a pretty uneventful visit.

Hanging out looking cute

"So, what is he up to these days?" you ask. Well, after figuring out getting up on all fours at 8 months, he had perfected crawling...backwards. He would occasionally try to go forward, but would face plant. We were sure he could do it, but he just stopped trying. He figured out how to crawl backward or do what I called "cartwheels" (would roll from sitting to up on his hands and feet in the downward dog yoga pose to sitting again) to where he wanted to go. Then a little over a week ago I put some of his favorite "treats", Gerber sweet potato puff finger foods, across the room on the floor. Low and behold, Taylor started to crawl. It was like he didn't even know what was happening. He was just trying to get to his puffs! The rest is history. He figured out he can do it, and now he's crawling everywhere. Time to baby proof! He's also working on pulling himself up on things. He gets so excited when he gets up and can look around at the view from way up there.

Climbing up

So proud of himself

Risky business

Getting around

Gearing up to knock down the tower

Taylor is still a big fan of eating. Along with all his pureed stuff, he is liking his crunchy "treats", which help him practice his pincer grasp (thumb and pointer finger), and he is starting to try some proteins. He seems to like his tofu so far, and next up is hard boiled egg yolk and yogurt. And speaking of eating, I think Taylor is working on his top middle teeth. The last week he has been waking up multiple times in the middle of the night, which is odd for him because he's been sleeping through the night for many months now. I think it is going to be a sleepless month coming up.

My favorite thing that Taylor does now is give kisses. I'll say, "Taylor, can mommy have a kiss?", and he will come at me with his mouth wide open. :) He always smiles and laughs after he gives a kiss, which is cute. The other day when Jason came home, Taylor grabbed him by the cheeks and pulled him in for a big wet one! I wished I'd had a camera to catch the moment because it was so cute! Eventually we'll have to teach him to use just his lips to kiss. :)

Taylor attacking Jason with a kiss

He is really getting in to reading now as well. He likes to turn the pages, which forces me to speed read because he wants to turn them so fast! I've given up on reading exactly what is on the page but just point things out like a dog or the tree, whatever I can get in before he gets to the next page. Jason has started reading to him in the bathtub, which Taylor likes because he can listen while he's swimming around.

Checking out his library

"Which one should we read first, mom?"

Another cute close up

So that's the 9 month update! I'm sure in another month he'll have a bunch of new tricks up his sleeve.

Taylor saying hello to the baby goat

The goat trying to eat Taylor's finger for lunch

Taylor's favorite past time

"Whee!"

Picinic at the Lake

2008-04-03T16:51:00.000-07:00

After Kindermusic today, Taylor and I headed to the lake near our house to have a picnic. Though a nice sunny day, it was kind of cold but still lots of fun. We ate our lunch, then had some bread to feed to the ducks. I got a bit concerned at one point because we were surrounded by about 25 ducks, all quacking very aggressively. I thought I was going to have to grab Taylor and make a run for it! Alas, when the bread was gone, they all gave one last agitated quack, then waddled away. Taylor thought it was so funny, sitting right next to this real duck making these quacking noises that I imitate so poorly at home.

Golden Birthday!

2008-04-01T17:22:00.000-07:00

I turned 27 on March 27th! For those of you who don't know, when you turn the age that your birth date is, it is your Golden Birthday. It is supposed to be a super fabulous, tons of fun, big celebration birthday. Originally, Jason and I talked about going to Palm Springs to get away from the cold, grey weather. I was going to get golden tan on my Golden Birthday. Well, because tickets were just so expensive and Jason started a new job, we weren't able to go. So instead I had planned out 4 days of birthday fun. Thursday night, the 27th, we were going to celebrate at home just the three of us and I was going to make a cake. Friday Jason and I were going to go out to Salty's on Alki Beach for dinner and my parents were going to babysit. Saturday we were going to go mini golfing with my parents, then come back to our house for dinner and dessert. Sunday we were going to go to church together, then go bowling with friends that afternoon. That was the plan anyway. Here's how it went down.

Thursday, March 27th: Jason, the previous day at work, had gotten a small piece of metal in his eye. He thought it would just come out, but early that morning he was in excruciating pain. Since Urgent Care didn't open till 8am and the consulting nurse didn't think they would see him in the ER, he went to work, not wanting to miss a day just a week into the job. That day Taylor and I had Kindermusic, then we went to see Horton Hears a Who. After the movie, we met Jason at the Urgent Care, where they tried and failed to remove the piece of metal. We were sent home with eye ointment and a bottle of Percocet, then told to come back the next day. We grabbed dinner on the way home, then let Taylor sleep in the car while we ate. Jason took two Percocet and was out for the night. Happy Birthday to me.

Friday, March 28th: Jason went to work, then when he got home we headed to the Urgent Care again. The Opthamologist they said would be there was not. Instead the ER Dr tried again to get it out, using a huge needle. I couldn't watch. By the time we got out of there, it was late and Jason was in a lot of pain from them jabbing around in his eye and still not getting all the metal out. We canceled the date night. Jason took two more Percocet, and was once again gone for the night.

Saturday, March 29th: The weather was cold and rainy, so we canceled the mini golfing and decided to just have a game night at our house. Jason, from all the Percocet, was so out of it that he slept a lot of the day. Taylor and I just hung out around the house. That night my parents came over and we enjoyed some Thai food and strawberry cheesecake for dessert. Taylor made it long enough to be in a few of the pictures, then he went to bed before dessert was served. As I was coming downstairs from Taylor's room, I noticed it was SNOWING! Yes, at the end of March. For those not from Seattle, this is not normal. We watched the snow come down for a bit, then toyed with the idea of playing a game but Jason was super tired, so we called it a night.

Sunday, March 30th: Jason's eye was still hurting and bothering him, so he stayed home from church. And last minute a friend invited me to go shopping for some clothes for me (much needed!), so I missed as well. I had a great time picking out a top and some pants; it felt nice to be pampered a bit. Afterward, we met our husbands and Taylor at the bowling alley and bowled a few rounds. I tied the first game, won the second, then fell off to third in the last game. I bowled one of my best games ever, with a score of 145! Taylor enjoyed getting passed around between everyone. After some dessert at their house, we headed home and crashed early.

So that was my fun filled Golden Birthday. I'm thankful, though none of the plans worked out, that I was able to celebrate with the people I love because you can't ask for more than that. And Jason is always finding ways to surprise me, so it's like it is my birthday all year long.

My BOB Miracle

2008-03-26T14:18:00.000-07:00

As the days have finally started getting a little nicer, Taylor and I have been able to get out on more walks. Really needing to get back in shape, I've been trying to start running again. It is difficult to find the time, though, in between work, sleep, cleaning, and being home with Taylor. So I'd started looking at jogger strollers. I'd done a bit of research and found out that BOB strollers are one of the best out there. However, you have to put back about $400 to purchase one of those. Other brands I looked at just seemed kind of cheap. I looked on Craigslist to see what I could find, and if there was a BOB it would be gone is a matter or minutes and usually still for over $250. We wandered into REI for something for Jason and I thought I'd just check them out for kicks and giggles. They are really nice strollers, and I found myself justifying spending $370 for a stroller. I figured that my birthday was coming up, so I could use birthday money toward it. Then I came to my senses, knowing that was just way too much money. Ooh, I wanted it so bad!

A few days later, I was in there again to pick something up and found myself wandering over to the stroller section yet again. I thought I'd just talk with one of the store employees about the different strollers. The man was very helpful, answering my questions and explaining about the 2 types they had (he raved about the BOB and said he had one for his kids when the BOBs first came out and loved it). He asked what I was going to be using it for, since the new models have a front wheel that swivels so it is easier to take to the mall and stuff or will lock as well if you are going to run with it. I said mainly running, to which he thought the Ironman model would be best because the front wheel is stationary and larger to absorb more bounce. He was going to go check out what they had in stock after I hesitantly said ok because I already knew I couldn't afford to get one. On his way to the back he passed a box out of the floor. "Oh, what is this? Here's an Ironman. Hmm, this is an '06 model. Let me go see how much they are selling this for. Someone must have had it sitting in there garage for a couple years and just returned it". Want to take a guess. After his eyes popped as he looked at the price and asked me to guess, I said "$100?". Nope. $50. $50!!!!! This jogger was still in the box and had never been removed. It still had all the plastic and styrofoam on it. In 2006, it went for about $350, and now 2 year old but exactly the same as the 2008 Ironmans and never been touched, it was $50!!! I couldn't believe it. I bought that thing so fast, I didn't even have to think about it. What a miracle! Happy Birthday to me!

Now Taylor joins me on my attempts to get back into shape, as we jog around Sammamish, him comfortably bouncing along in his seat. Every time I use it, I'm reminded of that miracle. How God took my desire for something I thought was frivolous and made it happen in a way only He could do. It's times like these where I hear Him say, "Yes, I care about all your wants and needs, even the little stuff".

Taylor Guitars

2008-03-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

A good friend from college, Steven Potter, works for Taylor Guitars, and when Taylor was born he sent one of the company's onesies for him. Well, Taylor can now fit in it, and it is one of my favorite onesies. First because it has his name on it, and second because it is made by a company that creates music and I have a strong feeling that Taylor is going to be very musical some day. I keep trying to decide which instrument he'll want to play. He loves to bang different things together and listen to the sounds they make. I also help him drum out songs sometimes, so maybe he'll be a drummer. He also loves to pound on my parent's piano. He gets really into it, standing on the bench and using his whole body weight to press down on the keys. He has a little one at home, too, that he enjoys plunking away on. And then, of course, he just may decide on a Taylor guitar someday. :) The shirt came in handy the other day at our music class because the teacher always forgets his name (and no one else!), so now she can always think "Taylor like the guitar". Thanks again, Steve! We love it!

Happy Birthday Nana!

2008-03-08T20:23:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was my mom (Taylor's Nana's) birthday. To celebrate, we all met up at the bowling alley and bowled a few games. My dad and Jason tied the first, then I snuck in and won the second. Taylor was really into all the lights and action, and didn't mind constantly getting passed between everyone.

After bowling, we went back to my parent's house, where we had Frankie's Pizza (yum), opened presents, and had a tasty strawberry and creme dessert. Taylor got his Nana baby daffodils and a baby Happy Birthday balloon. I had discovered a glass blowing place in Redmond, so we got her a blown glass bowl that had a lot of the colors from their living room. Overall it was a great day celebrating my moms....birthday (I won't disclose the number, but she said she can now order from the senior menu). Don't worry mom, you don't look a day over 35. :)

So big!

2008-02-28T21:15:00.000-08:00

Well, Taylor is inching up on 8 months already, and it seems like he is changing every day. He is doing all sorts of new things, and some old stuff which I just never got around to blogging about. So here is an 8 month update.

*He has two teeth on the bottom! The first one popped up around 6 months and didn't seem to bother him at all. The second was quick to follow and did cause a few rough nights. He still enjoys chewing on any and everything and drools a lot, causing a little bit of a rash on his chin. He also chews on his thumb and pointer finger constantly, and they have gotten so terribly raw. I try to offer the pacifier instead, and put ointment on them at night so he doesn't just suck it off, but they are still pretty bad.

Cute boy with the ouchy fingers

Two teeth

*He is rolling around very well, and has recently discovered how to get up on his knees. (I had a few days off, so we worked on it a lot, and he got it!) He either gets on all fours and rocks back and forth, or he then straightens out and moves backward. He gets frustrated when he can't get himself to move forward toward his toys, and that's when he whines or lets out mad growl. Sometimes he is just happy to be moving in any direction, though. And the other day he felt like he had mastered the getting on all fours enough to move on to trying to climb up a step. I believe we have a future daredevil on our hands.

Working on getting to his knees

Happy on his tummy!

*He is sitting all by himself now. Occasionally he will try to reach too far for something and topple over (I try to keep him out of range of anything hard or with a sharp corner), but for the most part he is very sturdy. It is his favorite, other than standing of course, because he can grab onto toys, hold and suck them. Not as easy on the tummy. He loves to bang toys together and hear the different sounds they make. He rocks sometimes like he is trying to scoot forward on his tush, so we'll see if he eventually masters that. And he really enjoys sitting in high chairs at restaurants and the shopping cart at the store, and he has a little seat in the bath so he can't slip around. He tends to draw a lot of attention with those big blue eyes, and once someone stops to talk to him, he give a big flirtatious smile. Watch out girls!

Blowing bubbles in the front yard

Sitting & chewing: his two favorite things

Our Captain Adorable

Bath time!

Silly faces

*He is eating solid foods. So far on the menu he gets rice cereal, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, avocado, squash, bananas, pears, applesauce, plums, and mango. Up and coming things to try are green beans and asparagus. So far no allergic reactions. And he loves everything. You could give him bananas, then peas, and he wouldn't even bat an eye. He loves food so much, he is already on a breakfast, lunch, and dinner schedule. I'm trying to give him milk first so he doesn't fill up on just the solids, and trying to limit the food a little bit since he would eat himself uncomfortable if we let him. What can I say. He is like him mom: we love good food. It is pretty cute when he says "mmm" after every bite. So far I've made everything, cooking and pureeing some, or just fork mashing others. It helps to make it in large batches and freeze it in ice cube trays, which is a perfect serving size (Well, 3-4 ice cubes for Taylor. The kid can eat!) I aim to buy organic, but I'm not 100% with it. A few times during a meal I will put some on the spoon and let him practice getting it in his mouth. He usually gets most of it, even turning the spoon over so he can get every last drop. He is also learning to master the cup. He has one with two handles on the side, so it is easier to hold. He just started actually drinking the water. At first he didn't like the taste, or lack there of. Most of the time he just wants to chew on it. :)

Mmm, peas

"All done!"

*He has started to make some new letter sounds. He has always been good with the "H" and "G" sounds, but he has started making "B" and "V" sounds. Once I could have sworn he said "boo" because we are always playing peek-a-boo. The "V" sounds usually turn into something more like a raspberry, with spit flying everywhere. He will do it on our cheeks sometimes which is cute. I'm working on the "mama", but he just laughs when I say it.

*He loves the swing at the park. More so now that I don't have to bundle him so much that he can't put his arms down. (Three words: A Christmas Story). He loves to watch the other kids at the playground too, more so than interact with me. And his recent discovery is the slide. Jason stuck him at the top, and Taylor just started scooting himself to the edge and went down almost unassisted. Now he gets all excited when we head to our neighborhood playground because he knows he gets to go down the slide.

35 degree day at the park

"Watch me!"

Daddy waiting to catch

Regrouping after the slide down

Cool kid on the block

Playing on the playground

I think those are all the big things. I'm sure it won't be long before he has a whole new series of tricks to share. They just change so fast!

Good-bye Old Friend

2008-02-02T15:21:00.000-08:00

Today was a very sad day: we sold our boat. As many of you know, it had suffered a cracked engine last winter due to the severe cold. Coming from San Diego, we didn't know you are supposed to winterize your boat. Of course, the insurance company wasn't sympathetic and practically laughed in our face when we made the claim. We were hoping to eventually get it fixed, but after a year we just weren't sure we wanted to take the chance of getting the engine rebuilt and spending tons of money to have it still have problems. Because it had spent a lot of time in the salt water, there was also rust damage on the wires, and the battery and connections were shot. So after having it posted on craislist for literally 10 mintues before Jason's phone was ringing off the hook with people who wanted to buy it, we contacted a guy who said he would give cash and had an engine to put in it. He picked it up today, and as he drove away with our boat attached to his truck, I began to cry. I mean, this boat practically defined mine and Jason's relationship the first two years together.

My first time out with him was four days after our first date. We went out on San Diego Harbor with friends Matt and Vanessa. From that point on, we spent many warm weekend days waking boarding or just relaxing in the sun, nights watching concerts from the harbor or enjoying a picnic dinner, and invinting friends along to share the fun. Jason loved to take people out for the first time, and help people learn to wake board or let the little kids drive the boat. Jason took it fishing a couple times with the guys, which was such a great memory for them. We went to great lengths to keep it nice and clean, dragging it back to east San Diego where Jason worked so we could power wash it, flush the engine, and scrub down the inside. We were so excited to some day have our kids out on the boat, teaching them the rules of the water and how to waterski/wakeboard. And when we moved up here, we bought a place close to a huge lake that we thought we'd be spending many summer days on. Now those days seem a long way off. Hopefully some day we will be able to get another one, but we'll see. For now we are still mourning the loss of our boat that provided so many wonderful expereinces. Thanks to all who joined us for a day on the lake or bay and helped make such great memories. Here are a few picts from over the years.

Kindermusic

2008-01-31T15:32:00.000-08:00

Taylor and I had our first Kindermusic class today! The theme for the first 8 weeks is "Cock-a-doodle-Moo", so it is lots of songs about farm animals. The second half will have a different theme. There were about 12 moms/nannys and babies, most about 10 months to 13 months. Taylor is one of the youngest. He loved to look at all the other kids, especially the ones walking and crawling around. Once the music started, he got really excited. We began with a hello song, which is good because we go around and sing all the babies names, so it is a good way to learn them. Then we did a little baby massage, played peek-a-boo with scarves, danced around the room (the teacher demonstrated types of dancing you can do with your baby, and when she twirled with him he looked like he was going to throw up!), banged on some music instruments, and rocked with mommy to a slow song. He was so pumped by the end of the class, he looked sad that it was over. When we got home, he was all smiles for a few hours after, jumping non-stop in his exersaucer and banging all his toys. I'm excited to have this to do with him every week. It is fun to meet other moms, let him interact with other babies, and have some fun time away from home. Can't wait for next week!

Ahoy!

2008-01-25T11:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Taylor, Jason and I headed downtown for the Seattle Boat Show. Since we are boat owners (though our boat is currently out of service) and boating lovers, we thought we'd go see the latest and greatest in boating styles. We got there about 1pm and wandered in and out of many boats till about 7:30pm. Time flies when you're having fun! Some of the yachts were amazing, though we were too late to go down to Lake Union to see the GIANT yachts. They had boats in all sizes, even one just right for Taylor. As you'll see in the picture below, he just instinctively grabbed the steering wheel and started driving the boat. I think it is in his genes. As we wandered around the big boats, he oohed and aahed as if he were so excited. We were hoping his cute little face would get us a great deal on a new boat, but no such luck. We are banking on some luck to win a free boat, though. Jason kicked a field goal from the 8 yard line (the show was held at Qwest Field), and so we now have a chance of winning a free boat. We'll see! Overall, it was a great day together as a family.

SUN!!!!!

2008-01-13T17:21:00.000-08:00

The sun came out today, finally! It has been rainy and gray for so long, I can't even remember the last time I saw the sun. We were all excited to go out and enjoy the day, but after church Taylor decided to sleep from 12-3pm. Once he was up, though, we were out of the house ASAP. We went to a local park and lake to enjoy the last hours of sun. Taylor went on the swings for the first time and, once in and being pushed, thought it was pretty fun. We also walked down to the lake in hopes of feeding the ducks, but there were no ducks to be seen. Jason then took Taylor up to the baseball field and ran the bases with him. So cute! Let's hope Taylor likes baseball when he is older, or Jason might be a little crushed. Anyway, we had a great time enjoying the sunshine. Now it just needs to warm up from the 30's to the 70's, then it will feel like we are back in San Diego.

6 Months Old!!

2008-01-10T22:41:00.000-08:00

Taylor turned 6 months today! Our little boy is getting so big. He had his doctor appointment today as well. Here are the numbers:

Weight: 15 lb 3 oz (12th percentile)

Height: 26.5 inches (56th percentile)

Head Circumference: 16.7 inches (16th percentile)

If you'll notice, his height percentile dropped. Actually, he measured less than he did at 3 months. So, their measuring method is a bit inaccurate. I guess Taylor is not going to be the 6 foot kid that we thought he was going to be. Just average, like his parents. His weight percentile dropped as well, but the doctor said that is normal as he is more active as he gets older. Overall, the appointment went well. The doctor said he definitely looked like a 6 month old.

The only down side to the appointment was 6 month shots. I got him the flu shot as well, so it was a big group of shots. While trying to get Taylor organized in the injection room, the lady got the shots ready. Its seemed like a lot, so I asked how many there were. She said 5, and proceeded to ramble them off, which I half heard since Taylor was wiggling around and getting antsy. He got 5 shots, 3 in one leg, 2 in the other. The lady was there by herself, so there was no one else to help and get them done faster. So each one was painfully long. Poor Taylor just cried harder with each shot and clung tighter to his blanket. When it was all over, I gave him a big hug, then fed him. All was well after that.

When I got home, though, I still wasn't feeling right about him getting so many shots. So I looked over the orders and the information sheets again to see which were individual and which were in the combination vaccine. It was then that I discovered he only should have gotten 4 shots, not 5. I tried to call the Dr office, but the nurse was busy. Racking my brain to remember, I could have sworn the injection nurse said Polio separate, which should have been included in the combination one. So I'm thinking he got two doses of the polio vaccine. Nervous as to what could happen to Taylor, I called the CDC. They confirmed that there would just be increased tenderness at the site, but no other affects to him. That made me feel a little better, but I was still mad that he got an unnecessary shot. I called the DR office again and eventually got transferred to the injection room. I spoke with the person who gave the shots, but she couldn't recall anything. We went over them again and again till she realized that, yes, there should have only been 4. "Maybe there was just an extra band-aid", she said, but there were also 5 marks on his legs. Plus as a mother, I distinctly remember all 5 going in because they were each painful to watch. She finally apologized, called the CDC herself to make double sure that it would be ok, and told me she would file an incident report as I had requested. It's not that I wanted her to get in trouble, but if there is a glitch in the system that allows for errors like that, then there needs to be a change made in the practice somewhere. I was a little happier after she acknowledged my concern as valid, and stopped treating me like a psycho mom. Let's just say it will never happen again, at least to Taylor anyway.

Happy 2008!

2008-01-10T06:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! 2008 has arrived, and still no flying cars to be seen. I was lucky enough to get New Years Eve off work, and Jason worked that morning, so we decided to make the most of it and go celebrate. We were invited by our friends Allen and Sandy to go out on Allen's sister's boat on Lake Union, in the shadow of the Space Needle. We had a great time cruising around the lakes as we waited for midnight, and Jason was in seventh heaven, taking pictures of every inch of the boat. Taylor had a great time, fascinated by all the new people. He did get tired around 10pm, so I just held and rock him till the boat came back to port. Once docked, I laid him on the bed downstairs, and he slept till 1:30am. I can't believe he slept through ringing in the new year, since all the boats surrounding us started honking their horns once the new year stuck. We all stood on the front of the boat and watched the fireworks shoot off the Space Needle. Unfortunately, there was a glitch in the system, and the show stopped two times, with about 5 minutes in between each part. Quite the disappointing show. Thank goodness it wasn't 2000! Everyone would have thought it was Y2K, and there would have been chaos in the streets! Thankfully there was only a little chaos.

So here's to 2008! May in be full of fun, great memories, good health, and lots of love. God bless!

December In Review

2008-01-09T01:28:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it has been over a month since I blogged. My excuse? I'm a mom of a 5 month old and I work full time: enough said. So, December. Wow it went fast. Since Thanksgiving was earlier than normal this year, I totally thought I had time to do all the celebrating/decorating/baking/picture taking that I wanted to do. But alas, I blinked and it was Christmas. So these are the festivities we did fit in.

I started baking a little early to get ahead of the game. Since I want quality time with Taylor while I'm home from work, but I also need to get stuff done, I learned to multi task and involve him in the process. I put him in the Baby Bjorn facing out and baked cookies. He had a fabulous time helping me dump all the ingredients in and watch them swirl together as the beaters buzzed. He was waving his arms all over the place like it was the most exciting thing he had ever seen. I told him someday when he is older I would let him have a taste of the cookie dough. He also had a great time rolling out the dough and cutting out different shapes. It was such a fun mommy/Taylor time, though my back was killing me by the end. Just a side note, we were going to take the cookies to the neighbors to spread Christmas cheer, but Jason and I got to them before they were delivered. Merry Christmas to us!

Taylor helping with cookie cutting

Ready for the oven!

Also early in the Christmas season, I received my Christmas present. It was supposed to be a big surprise that I was to open on Christmas morning, and Jason was all excited about watching the expression on my face as I freaked out. But I spoiled the fun on accident. So what was my big present? A sweet camera: Sony Alpha with all the accessories! I listened to a message on his cell phone, not realizing it would reveal the big secret. He was super disappointed that he couldn't surprise me, but in a way it was nice because I had time to mess with it before Christmas and kind of know what I was doing. We've both been having fun playing with the different settings and taking pictures of Taylor. Because it has a fast shutter speed, we can actually catch Taylor's great expressions and smiles. We are still dealing with some blurriness, but it is hard to get any good light in Seattle in the dead of winter.

Playing with my new camera

Since Jason and I work opposite a lot of the time so one of us can be home with Taylor, days off together are pretty rare. So finding a day to get a Christmas tree was hard. We finally got around to it a week and a half before Christmas. We went to a tree farm with my parents on what turned out to be a very cold and rainy day. The trees were picked over at that point, so it took lot of searching, but we finally found one. Jason did the honors of cutting it down, and by the end of the wrestling match he was all covered with mud. My hero! We got home and despite it being super wet, promptly put it up in the house so we could enjoy our time with it before Christmas was over. I did wait to put the lights on it, though. :)

Jason battling the tree

Warming up from the cold

In fact, finding time to decorate it was also another difficulty. We finally got around to it on the 22nd. Taylor was very helpful, finding spots for all the ornaments. Actually he just wanted to put them all in his mouth. But it was a fun family tradition to start, decorating the tree together. When I was younger, my dad was always the one to put the lights on the tree, but in our family I seem to have become the one who is stuck with the job. I have learned a great trick to make it go much faster: instead of circling the tree 100 times, I just zig zag it up and down the tree. So much easier.

Taylor helping decorate the tree

More fun with the camera

We were excited about plans to go up to the mountains a few days before Christmas to have some time just the three of us since I had to work Christmas. But unfortunately the mountain passes were hit with multiple snow storms, and we don't have chains or 4 wheel drive from our cars. So instead we attended Jason's work Christmas party. It was great because they had a Santa, so Taylor got his first Santa picture. We weren't planning on getting one, but it was free, so we thought, "Why not?". We backed Taylor into the Santa, seeing as how he gets a little frightened being held by just the average person he doesn't know. I don't think he realized he was even being held by anyone, because he just looked ahead blankly. We even had time to get in two shots! The Santa held him like he had never held a baby before, though. Obviously not a professional. After the party, Jason had gotten us a room at the Embassy Suites near by since the cabin thing didn't work out. It was nice to just be away from the night. The room had a king sized bed, so Taylor slept in between us, which he enjoyed. Sure made it easier when he woke up and wanted his pacifier in the middle of the night because I didn't even have to get out of bed. We enjoyed a nice breakfast in the morning, went swimming, then took off to hit up the mall and do some shopping. Later we returned home to do Christmasy stuff together.

That night we decided to introduce Taylor to solid foods. He was about 5 1/2 months at that point, and they recommend around 6 months of age that you start. I might have waited a little longer, but he was getting extra hungry in the evenings, and I didn't have enough milk for him. He also stares us down when we eat, and tries to grab it out of our hands, so we thought he seemed ready. I made rice cereal, a nice starting point because it can be mixed with breast milk, and it is not usually a food that people are allergic to. We got him all settled into his high chair, then got the camera and video camera all ready for the big event. First bite, he slurped it up, got big eyes, then reached out to the bowl for more. He really wanted to help guide the spoon into his mouth, then would smile really big after he got a bite. He likes it! Taylor likes it! He has been hooked since, enjoying his evening meal around 5 or 5:30 pm. We'll wait till after his 6 month appointment before we start vegetables and fruit. And I'm excited to try and make his food myself. Sorry Gerber. We'll see how it goes.

Reaction to first bite

Wanting to try all by himself

He likes it!

My sisters and their new husbands were in town this year for Christmas, so we went to my parents Saturday to all hang out. Taylor had changed a lot since they had seen him last, so he was showing off all his new tricks, and enjoying getting passed between all the aunts and uncles. We enjoyed a nice dinner, had a sharing time, then we headed home to keep Taylor on his bedtime schedule.

Family dinner

Having fun with the jingle bells

Sunday we all went to church together, though we left early because Jason had to work. Then that afternoon we headed to my aunt Luellen and Uncle Doug's house for the big family Christmas. Taylor was in a much better mood than Thanksgiving, so he willingly visited with people, and did some more showing off of his rolling over. We had a fabulous dinner, which I actually got to enjoy warm, and Taylor was patient as he sat in his bouncy chair. We used to all fit in the dining room, but now with so many additions to the family, there were two tables to fit us all. My aunt had us draw numbers to determine who would sit at which table. After dinner was present time. Taylor got to open the first one, so everyone watched him take the tissue paper from the bag, and promptly put it in his mouth. Once he realized there was a toy inside, he was very mesmerized by it, and entertained till the next present came along. It was so fun to watch him open presents. I'm sure next year he'll be able to do it all by himself, but it was nice helping him this year. I had many more presents to open! Overall, it was a nice evening with family, and Taylor behaved like an angel.

Four Generations

Taylor opening his gift

Taylor hanging out with Auntie Mary & Uncle Rob

All the grand kids with Granddad

Taylor & Peggy

The immediate family celebration was Christmas Eve morning. Gone are the days when we would get up early, drag my parents out of bed, and rush down in our PJ's to open presents. Now we sleep in, get ourselves all dressed up, and then about 11am we open presents. Jason and I, of course, had to drive over to my parent's as well. Funny how things change so quickly. We had the video camera going and the cameras were flashing as we all opened presents, and watched Taylor try to get into his again. Jason got hooked up with a new Padres hat, an autobiography by Tony Dungee, a year subscription to Surfer Magazine, some cologne, and a Hurley zip up sweatshirt. Taylor got some fun new toys, a cloth book that has animal sounds, Robeez, some clothes, and some CD's. I got some lotion, a CD, and a gift card to In Spa. I was most excited about the gift I got for my parents, though. I had gone to My Publisher and made a photobook with pictures of Taylor over his first 5 months. I had captions next to some, and others were blown up to the size of a whole page. It is bound just like a real book, and all the pictures turned out really well. Now they have a brag book. :) My aunt Mary and uncle Michael came over later for some brunch. They hadn't met Jason or Taylor, so it was nice to make all those introductions. For Christmas they gave Taylor some hand crafted toys from an art fair they went to. Taylor loves them, though we have to be careful he is playing with them while on his tummy or sitting, because while on his back he dropped one on his face, and it is made of wood, so that didn't go over too well. Kind of nice to have some toys that don't flash, make noise, or require batteries. After a little more visiting, it was time to head home so I could get rest before work.

Taylor & Grandpa

Playing with his new drum

Tay with Auntie Sarah & Uncle Mark

Capturing all the memories

Taylor, the present opening pro

I wore an elf hat all night at work. Yes, an elf hat. And that was Christmas Eve at work in a nutshell.

The next morning was very sad because Jason got hit with a terrible cold, and I was super tired from work. So poor Taylor on his first Christmas morning had two out-of-it parents. There were a few things from us for him, and also from friends and Jason's dad and wife. His big present from us and also my parents was a Kindermusic class. It meets once a week, and we sing songs, play with instruments, dance, and learn some baby sign language. I'm so excited to have a fun activity to do with him, and also meet some other moms and babies. Anyway, I slept most of the rest of the day, and Jason just laid low and tried not to infect Taylor.

And then it was all over. I still can't believe how fast it all went. I didn't get to everything I wanted to, and my Christmas cards didn't even get sent out till January 3rd, but it was still fun to be with family, experience Christmas through a child's eyes again, and celebrate the birth of Jesus with our own baby boy. We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas season as well.

Merry Christmas!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

2007-12-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

It snowed! Last Saturday we got our first taste of winter with a beautiful snowfall, a first for Taylor. We didn't actually get to get him out in it and roll him around, but he had fun looking out the window. By Sunday afternoon it was gone as the temperatures spiked. Hopefully next time we will have some pictures of our little snow bunny making an angel or a snowman.

Christmas Countdown

2007-12-02T02:29:00.001-08:00

Did you say Christmas is almost here?!

Woohoo!!!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

2007-11-26T01:07:00.000-08:00

He did it! After many weeks of hard work and frustration, Taylor was able to roll from his back to his belly. He had rolled from back to belly about a month before and does that occasionally, but he'd been working on this latest trick for a while. Leading up to it, he would have himself almost turned over, but get stuck on the arm that was underneath him. He would grunt and scream in frustration. Now when he does it, he smiles because he is so proud of himself. We are very proud as well. It all happened as I was getting ready for work, so in the midst of getting the milestone on video and cheering him on, I was a smidge late for work. Oh well. He did it! Now when he is rested and happy, he will get himself on a mission and roll from belly to back to belly to back, as if he is trying to get somewhere. Time to start baby-proofing!

First Trip to Disneyland

2007-11-24T13:32:00.000-08:00

While we were down in Anaheim for the wedding, we were able to meet up with our good friends at Disneyland! We had planned on meeting Lenny, Amy, Abbey, Matt, Vanessa, and Evan at Disneyland on Sunday morning and spending the day together. Since we didn't get home till late and had to pack up all our stuff first, we didn't get there till 1pm.

Disneyland is not cheap, especially after we'd spent a lot on wedding expenses. We were hoping we could get in free with Rob's uncle, who works at Disneyland, but he didn't have his free passes yet. Then there was a chance for us to get in free with Matt and Vanessa (who's cousin is Jasmine at Disneyland), but we had to be there by 10am. So we were a bit frustrated that we were going to have to spend so much money just for a few hours. We contemplated having them just meet us at Downtown Disney, but we had made the plans long before and didn't want to go back on our word. So we got in line and tried not to stress. We were next up in line when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to find a couple standing there. They asked if we wanted to go into Disneyland with them for free! The husband worked for Disney, and since he can take three people in with him, they always stop and try to find people that want free tickets. What a miracle! Jason and I were so speechless! We asked if we could buy them lunch, but they said no and to just enjoy our day. Is God awesome or what! It was like he was telling us, "See, I will take care of all your needs".

We had an awesome day with everyone, and loved the 90 degree weather. We did all the rides that you can do with the little ones like the River Ride and the Tiki Room. Then we headed over to California Adventure to enjoy some ice cream and a few rides. Jason and I dared to go on California Screamin' and it was so much fun. After dinner we headed back to Disneyland and went on the new Finding Nemo Submarine ride, then watched the evening fireworks show. We had such a perfect day that we didn't want it to end, but we were flying out early the next morning, s we had to say our good-byes. There were lots of hugs, and some tears. It is hard parting ways when there is no planned time that we'll be seeing them again. but I'm sure Jason and I will come up with a good reason to need to go back to San Diego. We love you guys and miss you a lot!

Jason and Taylor in front of California Adventure

Taylor with Auntie Vanessa and Abbey

Taylor with Auntie Amy

Lenny, Abbey, Matt & Evan

The Whole Crew

Having a blast!
On California Screamin' roller coaster

Me, Vanessa, & the Boys

Me and Taylor

Family Shot

Taylor got his wings on the flight home

Wedding #2 Recap

2007-11-23T10:11:00.001-08:00

Sorry, it has taken a few weeks to get pictures together and to find the time to blog, but here is a recap of my older sister Sarah's wedding.

Thursday, October 25, 2007: We had a wonderfully relaxed flight from Seattle to Long Beach. However, while waiting for our luggage, Taylor decided to have a huge explosion in his diaper, thus his cute outfit that I picked for the day was gone, along with about 20 wipes that it took to clean up the mess. Got picked up from the airport by my good high school friend Kristy! Spent a brief 2 hours with her and her husband Joe, enjoying some delicious tamales and introducing Taylor to them. Then took off to Santa Ana to brother-in-law Rob's grandma's house. Tried to hurry and unload the car, get changed, and get Jason and Taylor organized for the evening, as I would be going out. Taylor on the other hand decided to be super crabby and started crying uncontrollably. I was trying to rush because Mary (younger sister) and I were late at that point for the Bachelorette party, but I tried to stop and feed Taylor to calm him. Finally had to tear myself away, leaving Jason with a very unhappy Taylor. Sped to Downtown Disney with Mary, and thankfully we still had our reserved table at the Rainforest Cafe. Had a fun evening with the bride, bridesmaids, and a high school friend of the bride in town for the wedding.

Friday, October 26, 2007: Up early to try and get us out the door on time for breakfast with family and friends at Ruby's on the Newport Beach Pier. Caravaned behind Mary and Rob, trying to keep up amid LA morning traffic. Got the the restaurant late, but only two minutes behind the bride, so all was well. We all sat up on the second floor, and since we had a stroller, got to take the secret elevator the size of a port-o-potty upstairs. Had a wonderful breakfast overlooking the ocean, which Jason and I have missed terribly. It was such a beautiful day, I just wanted to lay at the beach and soak up the sun which has disappeared in the Seattle area.

Breakfast at Ruby's

After breakfast Jason and Rob returned to the grandma's house to hang out, while Mary and I met Sarah at her place to pick up stuff for the reception site. Made the drop off at The Catch of Aneheim, where the reception would be held, then hurried to the mall for mani's and pedi's. Biggest pet peeve, when you go to those places, and the ladies start talking about you in their language. And you can tell they are talking about you because they look right at you, then look to their friend and say something. Occasionally they will point at you, and at one point two of them were gawking at my small pinkie toe nail. Then they speak to you in English, but you have to have them repeat themselves about 6 times before you understand what they are saying. I was a bit scared on the cleanliness of the place as well. Overall, it was fun just being together as sisters.

Mary and Sarah getting Mani's and Pedi's

After that we were off again, this time to hurry and get ready for the rehearsal. We made it on time, thankfully. A few run throughs of the walking and all that and we were good to go. Well, actually, I sat out the last walk through because I had to feed Taylor before he made a scene. The church wedding coordinator looked a bit annoyed, but what are you going to do. This being my fourth bridesmaid appearance, I was sure I had the whole walk slowly/ smile/ fluff the train thing down.

The Bridesmaids

Sarah and Mark

Then it was off to the rehearsal dinner at this great steak and seafood place. There was a private room all set up for us, which was great. Because it was so close to Halloween, all the waiters/waitresses were dressed up. Kind of funny at a rehearsal dinner. We enjoyed great steaks, delicious strawberry lemonade, and lots of laughs. The waiter made Sarah and Mark a ball and chain out of aluminum foil, and also a great balloon hat for them to sport. Lots of fun. The restaurant also had a nightclub, so the music was really bummin' each time I walked by to the restroom. Supposedly we could have gotten in for free since we ate dinner at the restaurant. Sweet! Maybe next time. :)

The crazy couple

Saturday, October 27, 2007: The big day arrived! I slipped out early in the morning while Jason and Taylor were still sleeping. Mary and I hurried to the salon where we would all be getting our hair done. When we arrived, Sarah was already getting curled and pampered, and my mom was getting shampooed. We spent the next few hours there as each of us went through our beauty transformation. Sarah's hair and makeup turned out very pretty. What a glowing bride! (Note the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf cup in the background. Yes, it was my idea to go get some since I love it and they are not in Seattle).

The Glowing Bride

Next it was off to the Nixon Library, where we helped Sarah into her gown and freshened up for her photo shoot. Once she was prepped and off with the photographer, the rest of us kicked it into high gear and got our makeup done and dresses on. Mary helped us all with our eye makeup since she is a pro.

Mary helping Tara with eye makeup

Then it was to the gardens to meet Sarah and family for pictures. There was a threat of rain showers, but I think it barely sprinkled for 10 seconds. Great for pictures because we weren't all squinting. The gardens were beautiful. The perfect place for pictures. Rob, Jason, and Taylor showed up a bit later for family picts. All was well till Taylor decided to spit up all over Jason's pants. Photographer not too thrilled. Good thing for Shout Wipes!

Posing for pictures

"Everyone bunch up close!"

Family shot

Jason and Rob getting Taylor ready

And finally it was off to the church for the big event. When we got there the parking lot was full. Early guests? No, just the congregation having a gathering. Nice and peaceful you may think, but this was a Danish church with lots of Europeans, so there was lots of drinking and yelling over a soccer game. Thankfully they kicked everyone out just in time for the ceremony, though some of the lingering people gave the bridal party a loud round of applause as we walked through the auditorium to the sanctuary. The music was beautiful, none of the bridesmaids tripped, the pastor did a fabulous job, and I didn't fall out of my way-too-big-on-top bridesmaid dress as I fluffed Sarah's train. There were vows, an exchange of rings, communion, lighting of the unity candle, and then finally the kiss! Hurray! Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Mark and Sarah Fitzpatrick!

The Kiss!

Off to the reception to party! But first, I had to finish my speech. Once again, I procrastinated and was working on it on the way to the restaurant. I was struck with a very creative idea while we were taking pictures at the Nixon Library, so I'd been working on it frantically since. Once at the restaurant, I sneaked in to the banquet room and asked the DJ to help me out with some background music. A few minutes after they let all the guests in to sit, we were all introduced, and then it was my time. "Alright everyone, it is time for tonight's Top 10 Countdown!" (Like Letterman, get it?) I counted down the top 10 reasons why Sarah was the best older sister in the world with memories like her welcoming me home from the hospital by nearly biting my hand off, and when she would get frustrated with me, only digging her nails into my arm deep enough to make a mark, not break the skin. I ended it with some loving words and tears. Mission accomplished: I made them laugh, I made them cry, and hopefully it was memorable. I was glad when it was over.

After dinner was the slew of traditions, like cutting the cake, the bouquet and garter toss, first dance, and father/daughter dance. Taylor was getting his boogie on the dance floor a bit before the rest of us. But then we all danced the night away. Unfortunately as I was feeding Taylor in the bridal room, we missed out on a pretty fabulous conga line. When I returned many guests had left, so the sisters and all the husbands had a little boogie session on the dance floor. So fun. Taylor took a brief little nap in Nana's arms, but he held on strong till 11:30 pm when we finally said our good-byes. Hard to leave, since we wouldn't be seeing Sarah and Mark again till Christmas.

Overall it was a wonderful wedding with no mishaps to speak of and lots of great memories. Welcome to the family, Mark! So long to the days of the Evans Sisters. You can call us Honer,Fitzpatrick, & Jenkins (just don't mistake us for a law firm).

The girls at the head table

Uncle Doug, Aunt Luellen, Sarah, cousins Cassie and Trevor

Father / Daughter Dance

Father / Son Dance

Cutting the cake

Rob and Mom doing the Conga

The Newlyweds Mary and Rob!

Nana & Grandpa with Taylor

One big happy family

Honeymoon time!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T21:36:00.000-08:00

We just wanted to wish all our family and friends a very Happy Thanksgiving. We are so thankful for each one of you, and are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.

Our Thanksgiving was a bit tiring, but good as well. In the morning, Jason had to work from 6:30 am to 3 pm. Thankfully it was busy with a wedding, so he wasn't completely bored. Taylor and I spent the morning playing and baking pumpkin pies. He took a very short nap in the morning, when he usually will sleep about 2 hours. We went for a walk a bit later to enjoy the warm sunshine and crunch through the remaining fall leaves. He had barely drifted off to sleep when we got back to the house, so i thought I'd just put him in his bed. Usually he has no problem falling asleep on his own, but today was a battle. Of course when I tried to make the transfer, he woke up. I thought he would put himself to sleep, but he wouldn't have it. I tried to let him cry it out, but he just got hysterical. So I resorted to feeding him early. The rest of the day he was a crab, and I couldn't even put him down to change him without him going haywire. We're thinking he's working on some teeth since he is drooling a lot and wanting to chew on something at all times. Well, with the craziness of the day, I was totally late getting ready for our family get together.

Dinner was to be at 5pm and my aunt and uncle's house, and we arrived around 5:15. Taylor had fallen asleep in the car, but it only lasted temporarily once the car stopped. I think with so many people, lots of noise, and being tired already, it was a rough night. Not the most social he has ever been. The first half of my dinner was consumed very rapidly, then I walked Taylor around to calm him down. The second half of my meal was eaten cold. I guess such is the life of a new mom. Not the most relaxed Thanksgiving meal ever.

It was good to be with family, though. Taylor got to meet his Great-Granddad for the first time. It was fun to watch my cousin go crazy over the USC vs ASU football game, as he is a freshman at USC this year. Jason got a few games of pool in with my uncle, one won and one lost. And Taylor had his few moments of calmness as he was passed around to all the open arms. Hopefully at Christmas he'll be a bit more rested and happily move from one person to another.

Once home, Taylor ate one last time, and has now crashed, hopefully for the night. I don't think he cares he missed his bath. He is just thankful for his bed right now. And I'm thankful that days like these are few and far between.

So what am I most thankful for this Thanksgiving? First, I'm thankful to the Lord for providing for us every day, even when unexpected things came up and we didn't know how we were going to get by. I'm thankful for our little Taylor, because he has brought such joy into our lives. I'm thankful for Jason, because he is the greatest dad, a wonderful husband, and my best friend. And I'm thankful for our home that, though not decorated to a tee, is so full of love and wonderful memories. We are so greatly blessed.

4 Months Old!

2007-11-10T10:39:00.000-08:00

Well, the stats are in. At Taylor's 4 month appointment, he measured as follows:

Weight: 13 lbs 1.8 oz (19th percentile)
Length: 27 inches (98th percentile!)

Head Circumference: 16.3 inches (33rd percentile)

Where he is getting his height from we are unsure. My mom's side of the family is a little taller, but I obviously didn't get that gene. Both Jason's parents are average height as well. Maybe he'll even out later in life. He definitely has Jason's body type, though: long waisted and shorter legs. He is still wearing 0-3 month pants and his 3-6 month ones are super long. But his 0-3 month onesies he outgrew a while ago, and already his 3-6 month ones are starting to get tight in length. I hear you can buy onesie extenders, so I'll have to look into that.

Well, at his 4 month appointment, all checked out well. He behaved through his whole assessment, and was smiling away at the doctor. He has a tear duct that still isn't draining well, but the Dr said we would give it a few more months before they sent Taylor to the eye specialist to get the duct opened. He also has been getting really dry skin on his head and a little rash on his stomach, so she gave us some new lotion and we are keeping soap baths to just twice a week.

Then it was time for shots. He got three again, and even though they get them done very fast, it is still no fun. He was all ready for them, with his blanket tucked under one arm, and his thumb in his mouth. The second the first needle hit, his little face crumbled and he started to wail. When it was all over, I scooped him and up and gave him a big hug. That seemed to be all he needed to feel better. I also got a flu shot while we were there, because if I don't get it, there is a better chance that he won't get it.

By 4 o'clock that afternoon, Taylor had a full on cold! His second in his short little life thus far. This one seems worst than the first. Plus he wasn't feeling good from his shots as well, so it was a rough first day. We bought a humidifier, and I raised the head of his bed so he could breathe easier. I've had to suction out his nose a lot as well, which he has learned to arch away from and make very difficult for me.

Other than his cold, he is doing so well. He is trying very hard to roll from his back to his belly. He always gets stuck on his arm and can't quite make it without a little help. He gets so frustrated that he starts to scream. Kind of funny. Hopefully not an indication of how he will face future obstacles or frustrations. :) At least he is persistent with it. He loves to sit in his Bumbo chair or Excersaucer and just look around, and even more so he loves to jump! He is definitely chewing and drooling on things now, so we'll see if that means there are some teeth in his near future. I love when he tries to talk as well. He has his G and H sounds down very well. It almost sounds like he is saying "Hi" sometimes. We have been blessed with a great sleeper, so about 90% of the time he will sleep through the night. Usually 9pm to 6:30 or 7:30 am. He also takes about 3 good naps during the day, about 1-2 hours. He likes his eat, awake, asleep cycle, and it helps us know what he needs when he starts to fuss. So he is a very happy baby.

Here are a few more pictures of Taylor playing in the fall leaves (and eating them as well).

Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-21T13:03:00.000-07:00

We took Taylor to his (and Jason's) first real pumpkin patch experience. And what I mean by real is that it was not set up in a parking lot by the mall like in San Diego. It was at a real farm out in the country, and there was lots of mud, and rain, and fall leaves. We had a blast taking the hay ride out to the fields, picking a pumpkin off the vine, and carting it back to the farm where we washed it and weighed it. They had a pumpkin launcher, which was fun to watch them send a pumpkin flying through the air way out into a field. Then on the top floor of the barn, there was a hay bale maze. I think it was meant for kids because the maze was not very high, so Jason and I cheated our way through. It was a wonderful day as a family full of memories and muddy shoes.

Like Father Like Son

2007-10-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Jason's mom photo-shopped this picture of Taylor to include a picture of Jason when he was a baby up in the corner. See the similarities?

Gap Baby

2007-10-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

Baby Gap was having a casting call for some new models, so I decided to send in a few pictures of Taylor. The last day to enter is October 24th, then judges select 5 from each category: 0-4 yr old boys, 0-4 yr old girls, 5-12 yr old boys, and 5-12 yr old girls. If you are selected, you fly to San Francisco for a photo shoot, and from those pictures the public gets to choose a winner from each category. I'm sure it is a long shot, but we think Taylor is pretty cute, and we get comments everywhere we go how handsome he is. So, if he makes it to the top 5, we'll let you all know. Vote for Taylor! Here are the entered pictures.

Duck Hunt

2007-10-17T12:32:00.000-07:00

Taylor absolutely loves his bath time! The second he gets in the water, his mission is to find the fireman rubber ducky and kick him. It is funny how focused he gets on catching it in his feet, of pinning it against the side of the tub. He also loves to splash and investigate his hands. But his favorite is when we get in the bath with him so he can swim around more. Here's Taylor and daddy. (Don't worry, daddy has his trunks on). :)

Fall Day With Nana & Grandpa

2007-10-14T18:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we spent the afternoon enjoying a beautiful fall day! The sun was out, the air was cool, and the leaves on the trees were glowing reds, yellows, and oranges. We went to a park called Kelsey Creek, where I spent a lot of my childhood since it is right by my Nana and Granddad's house. They have huge barns full of horses, fenced in pastures for goats, sheep, cows, and pigs, and cages full of bunnies and chickens. They were having a big family festival, so they had music, a pumpkin patch, Kettle Corn, and arts and craft centers. We just wandered and enjoyed the day. Though Taylor couldn't participate in all the activities, it was still fun to go and see all the excitement in the other kids' faces. Someday he'll be running around and wanting to do everything.

"Ah-Choo!"

2007-10-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

Well, after Jason's fabulous weekend at Nascar, he tired him self out so much that he got a cold, and a bad one. Of course, what goes around comes around, so Taylor got his first cold. I think it could have been worse, but he was kind of stuffy and did not enjoy me sucking out his nose. He also wasn't feeling all that great the first few days, so we resorted to giving him a little Tylenol to help him sleep better. I also got this infamous cold, but it stopped at a mild sore throat and slightly stuffy nose. We are hoping this all passes quickly because it is not so fun right now. Bring on the vitamin C!

Talledega Nights

2007-10-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Jason got the opportunity of a lifetime: he was invited to the Talledega Nascar race. It was our friend Allen's birthday, so his wife Sandy had planned a big surprise trip to the race since Allen is a huge Nascar fan. She didn't want to go, so she invited Jason along. I'm not sure if he knew what he was getting himself into.

So the two flew first class to Atlanta, where they were staying at a nice Hilton. The first night they just tried to adjust to the time change and calm their excitement. Jason called me at 1am their time and couldn't sleep. Allen was headed for the gift shop to find some NyQuil to help him fall asleep. The next day they were picked up by a motor coach and taken 200 miles to the race track, where they got to tour the pits and walk around on the speedway (I think that is the right terminology). The weather was sunny and humid, of which I was jealous. They had a great time exploring around seeing all the action up close.

The next day was the big race, so they set out again for the 200 mile drive in on the motor coach. I never realized how big these races were, but I guess over 200,000 people attend, so you can only imagine the traffic in and out on the small Alabama roads leading to it. Well, to solve that problem, their motor coach had a police escort, so people pulled over for them and let them through! Talk about the royal treatment! It was a great race day: nice and warm, seats right in the middle of everything, and an endless sea of rednecks for Jason to gawk at and joke about. I mean, these are true rednecks. Jeff Gordon won that day, and all was well. As they drove back out to the hotel, they passed miles and miles of people camping just right off the road for this big event. Monday morning they flew home, and though very exhausted, Jason had the time of his life

While he was gone, Taylor and I had the weekend to our self. I had been working a lot up to that weekend, so I was very excited to spend some time with him. Saturday we went with Sandy to Salmon Days in Issaquah, an annual celebration of the salmon migration upstream to spawn. (For those who didn't grow up in the northwest, this means they swim miles up stream back to where they were hatched, lay and fertilize their eggs, and then die). We had a fabulous time wandering the booths, watching the salmon try and jump up the latter to the spawning area, and eating a foot long corn dog (which I regretted later). We also grooved to the tunes of a fun 4 man singing group. They had everyone up and dancing, and as they sang, "Sing a song, and you will make it rain", it began to rain!Then that night Taylor and I went to our new parent playgroup, where we had a great time singing songs, playing on the floor, and enjoying a great potluck.

It was a great weekend for all of us, but we were very excited to be reunited on Monday.

Playtime Picts

2007-10-06T23:23:00.001-07:00

Do The Puyallup

2007-10-06T22:13:00.000-07:00

Fair, that is. For those who are not from Seattle, this fair is one of the biggest events of the summer. You've got to get there very early in the morning to avoid the 2 hour traffic jam trying to get in later in the day. For 3 weeks in September, the fair grounds are busting with food booths (Fisher Scones are seriously to die for), barns full of animals, rides, and a pavilion with people selling stuff from blenders, to massagers, to toy helicopters. When I was in high school they used to take the whole school to the fair every year, so I hadn't been since then and was very excited to go back and introduce Jason and Taylor to the Puyallup. My first line of business: find a Fisher Scone. I love these warm buttery pieces of heaven so much that a friend from college, who was also from the Seattle area and loved the fair as I do, brought me back a dozen when he went home to do the Puyallup a few years back. Oh, it was so good, even better than I remembered. We then went wardering through the barns full of horses, cows, pigs, and bunnies. Taylor had fun looking at all the big animals, at least when he was awake. He was such a good boy and took a few naps on the stroller. We watched the Clydsdale horse show, which was very cool. They also had a Dock Dogs competition, where owners try to get their dogs to jump the furthest off a dock into a big pool. Some jumped in very willingly, others where not about to get in. And a fair favorite: Muttin' Bustin'. This event entails little kids getting placed on the back of a sheep, which is then released from the pin and the kids have to hold on for as long as possible. Some are lucky to make it 2 seconds, while others crash and burn right at the beginning of the ride. Taylor get ready. Next year it is all you. Other than that we just wandered and ate lots of bad food. Oh, small world, I ran into the friend from college who had brought me the scones (who still lives in San Diego, but was up with a bunch of friends who came to go to the fair). So good to see you John Paul and Sammer! Ok, now Taylor wants to tell you about it in his own words.

"Mommy, I'm trying to eat here and you're getting scone crumbs in my ear!"

"Hey, if its so good, can I have a bite?"

"Just call me T-Dawg"

"Daddy, why do those horsies have bows and braids in their manes?"

2 Month Photoshoot

2007-09-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

For Taylor's 2 month pictures, I decided to take him to JC Penney. I heard they were pretty good for the price, and I want to capture each age as he grow (because he is changing so fast!). They said come a little early, have him well rested and fed, and ready to go. My appointment was at 10:40 (they opened at 10), so I got there early, fed him, and changed him. Well, they didn't call us in until 11:10, so by that point Taylor was asleep! So I had to jiggle him awake and try to get him perky looking for his pictures. The photographer had me sit to the side of him and hold him from behind so he wouldn't fall over. Then to make him smile, she started making these possessed tropical bird noises and sneezing loudly in his face. He just looked at her like she was from another planet, as she kept clicking pictures. I was getting frustrated because those weren't the kind of pictures I wanted. I wanted ones of his precious smile! So I tried to lean in and get him to smile. But then the lady said, "Back up, you're blocking the light!". Ooh, I was mad, but non confrontational me did nothing. I also wanted to incorporate his little lovey blanket, but she just ignored me when I told her. She finally got some smiles out of him, but I was not a happy camper. She also made me get in some pictures (which I was not planning on), so I had no makeup and a big puffy sweatshirt on. When it was over I was ready to go home because I had to work that night, but they told me I had to stay around and view them that day. Oh, and that they wouldn't be ready for 30 minutes. When it came time to view them, it was this high pressure, try to sell me on everything event. I just wanted to push the guy away from the computer and tell home to let me look at them on my own. Along with non confrontational, I'm also indecisive, so it took me a long time to figure out which ones I wanted. All the while the guy kept looking at his watch and trying to rush me. When it was all over and we were ready to check out, the price was not what I was thinking it would be. "Oh," he said, "The ones we enhanced in black and white or sepia are $15 a sheet, not $4". So you wait till we are checking out to tell me this!!!!! Grrrr! Thankfully some of the pictures turned out, but I will not be gracing my presence at JC Penney Portraits again.

Get Away Weekend

2007-09-18T22:21:00.000-07:00

For our anniversary, Jason surprised me with a weekend away. Friday morning we headed south, and ended up in Portland, Oregon. When I realized where we were going, I suggested that we stop by to see my old college friends Katie and Bobby so they could meet Taylor. He said, "We'll play it by ear". We checked in to the hotel, got changed, and headed to a restaurant next door. When I walked through the door, there stood Katie and Bobby! What a surprise! Jason is such a great husband. He thinks of everything. So we had a wonderful dinner catching up and passing Taylor around. Then after we went back to the hotel, the boys playing a game of pool while Katie and I chatted. We parted with plans to see them again Sunday for a BBQ at their house.

Saturday was a day of relaxation. We slept in, then went and had a delicious breakfast at a local specialty bakery and bistro. Taylor was a little angel and slept through the whole thing. Then we took a little trip to the hotel's pool, where Taylor went swimming for the first time. Well, not really swimming,but slowly introduced to the water. He had gotten some cute little swim trunks, so we had to use them before he outgrew them. The water was a bit cool, and the pool was half indoors and half outdoors, so we just stuck his lower half, feet, and hands in. He didn't cry, but he didn't look super happy either. It was a good start. Hopefully next time the water will be warmer, because he is loves his bath so I'm sure he is going to loves the water just like his dad does.

Saturday night we had a fabulous dinner at The Chart House. It is up on the hillside above Portland, and has an amazing view of downtown and the river. We arrived early, so we got very nice window seats. Taylor fell asleep on the way there and slept the whole way through dinner. It was nice to have a little time just the two of us to talk, remember our wedding day, and make goals for the next year.

Then on Sunday we got to see Katie and Bobby again, and their new house for the first time! Bobby whipped up some awesome burgers, and we had a great time playing with Taylor and chatting.

It was so much fun that it was hard to leave. But alas, we had to return home for another busy week. It was a terrific weekend, and I have a wonderful husband who loves to surprise me to thank for it.

It was just 2 years ago that....

2007-09-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

we got married! Yup! Yesterday, we celebrated 2 years of marital bliss. Man, it feels like just the other day that I was walking down the isle toward the man of my dreams. Our wedding was at the Point Loma Submarine Base, located right on the harbor in San Diego. We could hear the sound of the waves and feel the cool ocean breeze through the whole ceremony. The place was decorated with sunset colored flowers and candles. It was the most perfect day.

Then after that we took off to Bora Bora for the honeymoon of our dreams. Our resort was on a little island off the main island of Bora Bora. It always felt like we had the place to ourselves because there were only 80 people at the resort. We spent the days lying on the beach, swimming in the pool, and doing fun excursions like swimming with sharks and stingrays, taking a 4x4 trip to the highest lookout points, and jet skiing. In the evening we would sit in the open air restaurant and eat delicious food with the warm trade winds blowing around us. I think we could have stayed forever.

Since then, we've been very busy: moved to Seattle, bought a house, had a baby. We are just loving being married, and loving life. Here's to many more wonderful years together!

Last Days of Summer

2007-09-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

The summer is nearly over, so we've been soaking up the last few rays of sun. Here, let me have Taylor tell you about it.

"Breastfeeding + sun bathing = heaven"

"I'm not sure I like sand between my toes"

"Hello, my name is Taylor. I like baseball, good music, and long walks on the beach."

"You're right dad! The lake is warm....and glassy!"

"I LOVE SUMMER!!!!!!!"

2 Months Old!

2007-09-10T02:52:00.000-07:00

Taylor is 2 months old today! If only I could freeze time so I could enjoy this age for a little longer. He is just so much fun right now, with his big smiles and the beginnings of a laugh. It usually comes in the form of a high pitched sucking in of air. And he loves to just look around and take in the world around him. Plus, he is sleeping well at night, which I hear from other moms goes away at about 4 months.

He went to see the pediatrician last Friday for his check up and shots. He is now a whopping 11 pounds, 4 ounces! 45 percentile. Nice and average. :) He made sure to impress the nurse with his impression of a fountain as he was getting weighed, and then had to show off to the doctor how great of a pooper he is by having a massive blowout when she was examining him (thankfully the diaper was back on at that point). She gave him the all clear, saying he looked fabulous and healthy. Then it was on to the shots. I fed him a little before and gave him Tylenol to make him feel better. Once in the room, Jason held his arms, and I gave him kisses. The lady went really fast, but Taylor was not a happy camper. He got this shocked look on his face, then turned bright red. It took a few seconds for sound to come out, but eventually the screaming cry reached our ears. I have given many shots in my days as a nurse, but this was so much harder to watch. It broke my heart to see him hurt so much. After it was over I scooped him up quickly and gave him a big hug and lots of kisses. He stopped crying pretty quickly, then just clung to me and fell asleep. 5 hours later he woke up from his nap screaming, and nothing helped, not even eating which is usually the cure all. After some walking and bouncing, and another dose of Tylenol, he calmed down. The rest of the weekend he just needed extra cuddling around sleep time, but other than that was back to his normal smiley self.

Taylor and I went to check out the Issaquah Farmer's Market on Saturday while Jason was at work. It was fun to wander between all the booths and see the beautiful flowers and produce. I kicked myself for not bringing cash, because they had huge bouquets of flowers for only $5! Next time I will be smarter. But then we went for a little walk and Taylor slept. It was a beautiful day, so it was nice to just soak up the sun and walk through the trees. I can't believe summer is almost over. I feel like we need to enjoy every last sunny day to the fullest before they disappear into dark winter days. But lets not think about that yet. :)

Busy Bee

2007-09-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

Well the weeks have just flown by since I updated last, and so much has been going on. Since going back to work, it is hard to keep up with everything. So with Taylor sleeping and Jason at work, I've got a few minutes finally! :)

A week and a half ago, Taylor's Grandma Fair (Jason's mom) was in town visiting. Taylor had lots of fun getting to know her, and on Saturday morning got to go to breakfast with both his Grandma and Nana (my mom). He is one lucky little boy!

Taylor has also been doing lots of boating recently. He loves being out on the water, just like his mom and dad. He usually just falls asleep to the rocking and the sound of the engine, but occasionally he will stay awake and just be full of smiles. Jason loves having him out there, and can't wait till he can teach Taylor to wake board. Speaking of Jason, I'd like to give a shout out to him for landing a 180 from one side of the wake to the other. All the practice this summer has made perfect! Taylor and I are very proud.

Taylor and I had a fun day last Thursday when we went to the Mom and Me day at the movies. The Lincoln Square movie theater has movie times for moms to bring their babies, so you don't have to worry if they cry. The seats were so nice (leather, and they rocked too), and they take your order and deliver your popcorn and soda right to your seat. We went with your friend Jacqui and her little guy Hayden (our first play date!). Hairspray was playing, which was fun because it was lots of music. Taylor ate, then fell asleep the rest of the movie. We plan to bring daddy next time to share in the fun.

Yesterday, Taylor got to go to his first birthday party for our new little friend Andrew from church. He was turning 1 and had a fabulous party at Red Robin. Taylor slept through part of it, but woke up in time to socialize a bit.

Jason and I are excited to be starting in a new home group with friends from church. It is going to be a new parents group, so it will be fun to share the joys and struggles of parenthood with people who may be going through the same things. It will also be nice to spend time praying for each other and doing a bible study.

Taylor is just a week shy of 2 months old, and he just gets more alert and smiley every day. Each day is just so fun with him, whether we're out on a walk, hanging out with friends, giving him a bath, or having family snuggle time in our bed in the morning. Now that I'm working, I just treasure every second I have with him, even the 2 am feeding. I love that he recognizes Jason and I, and after being held by someone else just needs his mommy or daddy. Every day I'm wondering what new thing he is going to do, and grab the camera to try and capture the moment when it happens. Parenthood is so wonderful. I would highly recommend it to anyone. :) Here's just a few more pictures of our little man, who is looking more and more like his dad every day.

Say Cheese!

2007-08-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

We are now convinced that Taylor's smiles are for real, not just a bit of indigestion. :) Especially right after he eats, he is just Mr. Smiley. It is so fun to watch his whole face light up! He has these little dimples under his eyes when he smiles really big, and usually he has a big open mouth as well. The lights and music from his bouncy chair seem to have brought out the most smiles recently. But he also likes it when I kiss his cheeks. Our little guy is growing up! 6 weeks today in fact. I can't believe it. Time is just flying. Before we know it he'll be rolling over, and we'll wonder where the time went. Anyway, here is Mr. Smiley himself.

I Will Survive

2007-08-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

The dreaded day has arrived. I have returned to work. Monday was my first night back, and it came with many tears. My little baby had not even turned 5 weeks, and I had to leave him! I got many hugs and words of encouragement from my co-workers, which was nice. My mom (Taylor's Nana) was with him from when I left till midnight, then Jason came home from work and did the rest of the evening feedings. Thankfully work was busy, so it kept me distracted. But I did call home a few times to check in and just hear his breathing. Dad did a great job on his first night doing all the feedings. I came home and found Taylor asleep on Jason's chest and Jason crashed out. So I crawled into bed and joined the party. I was glad to only be scheduled for Monday night, and didn't have to be back till Thursday and Friday night, so Taylor and I had a few days to catch up on our cuddling. It was hard to leave him again tonight, but a little easier than the first time. Hopefully each time will get easier. And I'm glad that Jason and Taylor can have their bonding time together. I think I will survive my return to work.

1 Month Old!

2007-08-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Taylor is 1 month old! The time has just flown. Every morning Jason and I look at him and are convinced he grew overnight. I measured him today and he is 22 inches long, 3 more than when he was born. He is so much more alert, and will give us an occasional smile (which is probably just a gas bubble, but we like to think its because of something we did). He loves baths, and likes reading books. We are just having a blast with him, and are enjoying every single moment of parenthood.

Well, we just got back from a week in San Diego, and what a crazy week it was. The first few days were filled with activities for my younger sister Mary's wedding. First off, the line for airport security was longer than we planned, and we nearly missed the plane. We made a run for it, and just barely made it to the gate in time. Thankfully, Taylor was an angel the whole flight. I joined in for a little bit of the bachelorette party Thursday night while Taylor hung out with Jason. Then Friday it was brunch with the bridesmaids, rehearsal, and the rehearsal dinner. The running around was getting to Taylor, and he threw a bit of a fit at the dinner. We ended up having to leave early, and of course he crashed on the way home. Because we'd been late to every wedding activity, I made sure to get a head start on Saturday. Up at 7:30, I started packing the bags and laying out everything we'd need. Miraculously, we made it on time! The wedding was great, and almost everything went smoothly. Other than the bride tearing her train on the way down the isle, communion left in the paper bag and juice can, and the bells not tolling as the bride and groom walked down the isle, all was perfect. Taylor slept through the whole thing in the front row with Jason. At the reception, he crashed after a bottle and didn't wake up till the night was almost over. We got a dance in as a three some, ate some cake, toasted the bride and groom, and sent them on their way to Bora Bora. All in all, it was a wonderful wedding, and Mary couldn't have looked more beautiful.

Sunday through Wednesday we made the rounds all over San Diego visiting family and friends. Taylor did well, as long as he was fed on time. :) But he had a great time getting to know his "cousins" Evan and Abbey, playing at Mission Bay, meeting great-grandma and grandpa, going to dessert, and playing at the pool. By Wednesday we were wiped out, but very sad to be leaving everyone in San Diego. We did miss our flight on the way home, so we spent a few hours in the airport. Boy is it hard to be on time when you have a baby! Anyway, we are home now and trying to get adjusted back to life in Seattle. Most of our time has been spent in bed trying to catch up on sleep, but we've been able to get a little unpacking done. So, here's a few pictures of our time in San Diego.

The boys

Taylor and Uncle Rob

Crashed out at the wedding

Taylor with Aunt Mary

Chillin' at the pool

Jason with Evan and Matt

Me and Taylor relaxing in the shade

Taylor with Great-Grandma and Grandpa Riley

The whole gang at Extraordinary Desserts

The boys in their matching hats

Lounging in the tub

Splish Splash, Taylor's Taking A Bath!

2007-08-02T08:42:00.001-07:00

Here's a few bath picts of our little man. We are headed out to San Diego this morning for a week, so these picts will have to tide everyone over till then. But I'm sure we'll have lots of great photos to share when we get back. And to everyone in San Diego, here we come!!!

Go Rebels!

2007-07-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Taylor got to cheer on his dad's baseball team for the first time. The Rebels have had a rough season, but they put on quite a show this weekend with some good defense, great hits, and even a home run! Jason got his first hit into the outfield, so it was a big day. Taylor slept through most of it, but cheered in his sleep. Someday soon I'm sure I'll be sitting on the sidelines with Jason watching our little Taylor at his T-ball game.