Safety First

Jack is all about being safe and wearing his bike helmet. And hey, you never know when you might take a tumble off the potty and land on your head..

Happy Thanksgiving

Yes, these are old now, I know, but I figured I needed to take care of the Thanksgiving post before Christmas comes along. We had a really nice Thanksgiving dinner at our house with Brent's family and my family. Jack made a great show of pretending to eat  his dinner. Once dessert was served, he wasn't messing around anymore.  He scarfed down two pieces of pie and asked for more. He gets this sweet tooth from me.

(not pictured: me, the photographer and Brent's grandma, hiding)
We had to make one last trip to the apple orchards to satisfy my pregnancy craving for crisp apples. This time at least it wasn't raining. 

An Empty Spot in the Corner

We finally made the painful decision to put our dog, Cheeko, to sleep this week. Even though I had known for a few months that he had heart failure and was going to die, this has still been unbelievably hard. All of a sudden there are no toenails tapping their way down the hallway, no wet nose to meet me at the door, and empty spots all around the house where the beds and food dishes once were. I'm struggling to understand why the loss of a yappy little ankle biter is hitting me so hard, especially in a world where people endure far greater hardships. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones?

I have some really cute pictures of Jack playing in the snow that I'll upload soon. I'm just not feeling it today...

Computer Nerd

Who showed this kid how to use YouTube anyway? He's constantly asking for the "puter" so he can watch that C is for Cookie song over and over again. What's weird is that he can actually maneuver the mouse better than some middle schoolers I know. He must have inherited this from his father.

Apple Picking!

We took Jack apple picking during a torrential downpour a few weekends ago. I guess that's fall outdoor activities in Oregon for you. He didn't seem to mind the rain, especially since he had his new rain boots on. We picked two buckets full (bucketfuls?) of apples and have been enjoying them ever since. Oh, and Jack calls them "bopples". Too cute

Woof!

Cutest trick-or-treater ever! Well, there were some other cute ones, too. Lily and William came along as we made our rounds down the street. And no, he did not get to eat any of his candy. We took him around the block and then we ate it all when he went to bed. Parenting has its perks.

The Pumpkin Patch

All tuckered out on our way to the pumpkin patch...

Feeding those creepy goats...

Enjoying the hay ride with Lily and Jeremy...

Searching for that perfect pumpkin...

Here it is...

Posing with Lily for the second annual obligatory pumpkin patch photo...

Getting ready to ride the cow train with Dad...

Whee!

Best Buddies

Here are some recent shots of Jack playing with his lifelong pal Will. I have a laundry list of excuses for not posting, but the big one is that my laptop died and now I'm waiting for the resurrected version/replacement to arrive (hoping for the latter). My district gave me a loaner to use (they called it "the loner" which just cracked me up, come on!) with the caveat that I am not to upload/download anything at all. Makes it hard to manage digital pictures...

Since you have all been so patiently waiting for me to post something, you'll now be rewarded with the knowledge that baby number two is a... drumroll please.... BOY. Yep, that's right. Another boy. Let's hope he can learn to love Anne of Green Gables as much as a daughter would have...

In sad news, it looks like Cheeko won't be around for too much longer. He has congestive heart failure and we'll probably have to put him to sleep soon. Super lame. As much as I complain about him, I really do love that damn dog.

Trip to Kentucky

Last weekend I made my first trip sans Jack to Louisville, Kentucky (of all places) to attend the wedding of my friend Amy. If you ever have the pleasure, say "Luuvulle" not "Louey-ville", trust me. Oh, and they will all say "Oregone" and there's no point in trying to correct them. Anyway, I was accompanied by my friend and long time travelling partner, Amberlee. We had a great time and whenever I was tempted to miss Jack, I just had to look around and realize all of the things he would be getting into, and then I was just fine.

We began our trip with tomato juice, pumpkin seeds, and Phase 10. Cause that's just how we roll...



Since I could not drink on the trip, Amberlee was kind enough to drink for both of us!



While waiting for our manicure appointments (yes, a manicure! aren't I so fancy!), we went looking for water. The only thing nearby was a Sonic restaurant, but when we got to the door and asked if they sold water, they said they were closed for repairs. Before we could walk away, a kind southerner called out after us, "But y'all didn't let me finish! I'monna give y'all some bottled water." He insisted that we take four bottles, free of charge. Now that's southern hospitality for you. I made a comment about people from Kentucky being really friendly to which he said, "Oh no, ma'am! Ahm from Tennessee!" Apparently there's a big difference.



If you are ever in the south and come across "benedictine" on the menu, think twice. Although a puree of cream cheese and cucumber might sound good, the color is god awful.



Naturally we city slickers wanted to pose in front of the cute baby horses. It was great until they started chomping at our sweaters. We named them Nippy and Snappy.

The wedding was beautiful. The ceremony was short and very sweet and then we headed off to the country club for dinner and dancing.

A great time was had, but it was really nice to come home again to my boys. It sounds like maybe they missed me, too.

Bread Maker

Jack likes to "help" in the kitchen and he recently assisted me in making some whole wheat loaves. These pictures are kind of dark, but I like how you can see his dimpled cheek in the first one and his look of intense concentration in the second.

Praying Mantis

Praying Mantis
Originally uploaded by burtbanner

Jack found this guy outside this past weekend.

Warm Fuzzies

These are old pictures, but this is all you get for now...

First off, Baby Caroline is doing just fine and recovering well from her heart surgery. Thanks to all who inquired about her and sent your good vibes her way. She's going to be one tough little girl, that's for sure.

Our other friends, Jason and Laura, had their baby boy, Auto, this morning after a mere two hours of labor. These stories make me nervous about working up to the week before my due date. Yikes!

Jack is going through this Daddy-only stage right now, which is really starting to get old for me. He wants Brent for everything and so I am missing out on my favorite part of the day: reading, snuggling and singing before bedtime. I guess it's good that they are getting some bonding time, but still... Mama needs some love, too.

He's also going through this super-hyper-right-before-bedtime phase. Jack has always been so mellow that it's actually kind of fun to see him all spazzed out. But NOT right before bedtime. That doesn't work so well.

That's the haps around here. Ta ta for now. New pictures coming soon!

Sweet Caroline

Okay people, I need you all to think some good thoughts or say some prayers or whatever it is that you do...

Our friends Peter and Tara (William's parents) are taking their three week old daughter, Caroline, to Portland for heart surgery tomorrow. The prognosis is good, but this is still super scary and the recovery plan includes a week in pediatric intensive care.

So please do whatever you do to send your good vibrations their way this week. Thanks.

Welcome Baby Audrey!

This is my cousin Lauren's beautiful new baby girl. We can't wait to meet her!

Weekend with the Fam

Where do I start? It's been a busy week or so... Last weekend my aunt Bobbi (hi Bobbi!) and uncle Jeff and cousin Lauren visited. Jeff is Jack's new best friend. He wanted to do everything that Jeff did and thought he was the funniest person ever (I'll admit, he is pretty funny). We had a fun dinner get together and sleep over and then went to the Saturday Market the next morning. We caravaned up to Canby and stayed over with my aunt Jacie (hi Jacie!), who served us a lovely breakfast including hand cut melon (inside joke).

I went back to work last week and Jack started at his new daycare, so it's been a bit of an adjustment period around here. He seems to like his new school (and so far, we do too) and so that makes the whole thing a lot easier. Luckily for all of us, I don't do the morning drop off, that's Brent's job (and he does it much better than I would!).

In other news, (I think most of you know this already) Jack will be getting a sibling in March. I've been struggling with the morning sickness (aka all day long sickness) and extreme fatigue for the past few weeks. I think it's starting to ease up, though, because today was the first time in I don't know how long that I could actually plan, prepare, and eat dinner. Woohoo.

Wow. I sure can use up the parentheses, can't I? Well, there you have it- that's the news around here.

Blueberries

You pick blueberries are only $1.25 per pound. And they don't even charge for the pounds eaten by toddlers while picking. What a deal!

Vacation in Montana!

Here are a few of the many pictures from our trip to Montana. We drove to Lake Oswego first to visit with Jack's Uncle Frank and Aunt Tracie and then to Spokane, where we stayed with our friends Beth and Kelly and their son Landon. The boys played so well together and had so much fun that it was hard to leave the next day.

The next leg of the journey took us through Idaho and into Montana. Our destination was Flathead Lake, and we arrived late that afternoon. The cabin belongs to Mary's mother and the family has owned it since 1962. They built the whole thing themselves and it still has that '60s feel to it (especially in the bathroom!). The lake was beautiful and we had a small boat to explore the area with.

The best part of the cabin was watching the sun come up over the lake each morning. The sunsets weren't bad, either.

The water was a tad bit too cold for Jack, although Brent and I swam each afternoon while Jack took his nap. He did enjoy going out on the inner tube with his dad.

We spent a day in Missoula and stayed with Mary's mom, Lois. While Brent went fly fishing, Lois and I took Jack down to the carousel on the waterfront. It was his first time riding one and he loved it. We stopped in again for a few more rides on our way out of town.

The drive home was pretty brutal (isn't that always the way?). It was hotter than ever and Jack was (understandably) sick and tired of being in the car. We stopped in Spokane for a break and took Jack to the waterfront park. He got to ride another carousel (!!) and got soaking wet in the fountains. We drove to the Tri Cities area and planned to spend the night there. All the hotels were booked and we learned that there was a Jehovah's Witness conference in town for the weekend. What are the odds? Finally Brent sweet talked the receptionist in a fancy hotel into giving us a great deal on a super nice room. We played in the pool and Jack got to stay up until 11:30 (his own personal record). We all three slept in the king sized bed and that night seemed like a mini vacation of its own.

Now that we're back I'm just trying to savor the last few weeks of summer. Why does it always go by so fast?

PS: I just want you all to know that the spacing on the post is driving my crazy and I've already tried three times to fix it and I'm feeling very frustrated! So we're just going to have to live with it, okay? And if anyone knows how to fix it, let me know so that I can sleep a little easier at night.

Cinco and George!

We played at the park with Jack's buddies, Cinco and George. These guys really know how to have fun on a playground. This is George (I think) feeding a snack to Jack.

We just returned from a week in Montana. Photos coming soon!