Story time

Can anything be more precious than daddy/son story time? I captured the cutest moments between Brian and Tristan the other night - how sweet!

Put a sock in it

It's fun to see your child's personality start to come out with their own likes and dislikes. It can give you a glimpse into what they may be like over the next several years. With that in mind, Brian and I are trying to make sense of Tristan's recent sock obsession. Yes, I said that right - our 8 month old son has a sock obsession! He's not partial to a color, a design or a brand, but as long as it can go on his foot, it goes in his mouth! Just take a look...


The first time we noticed his sock obsession. He kept it just like this the whole way home, acting like it was a totally normal thing to do.

Another day, another sock.



He started pulling his socks off awhile ago, but never did much with them. Then one day, we looked over and he had one hanging out of his mouth! I'm not sure if he's trying to emulate Brody or Bella, but it sure appears that he thinks of himself as one of them instead of one of us. He likes to crawl, walk, ride in the car - all with a sock in his mouth!


These are supposed to be just one video but they downloaded as part 1 & 2.

The funny thing is, my brother Trav had a similar obsession with the Pound Puppies when he was 3/4. He insisted he was "Cooter" (really Cooler) from the cartoon and needed to eat and drink from the ground. Not sure who is taking it further... Like uncle, like nephew, I guess :)

1st Zoo Trip!

Today we threw aside all the to-do lists (let me tell ya, that was hard to do!) and took an impromptu trip to the zoo! Since it was the first sunny day all winter long, I'm pretty sure all of Portland had the same idea as we did. Brian said he had never seen so many strollers in one place! It was also Little Man's first trip to the zoo and of course I forgot my camera and had a low battery on my phone :( I tried to take as many pics as I could before the battery died, but didn't end up with many quality ones. Oh well, I'm sure there will be many more opportunities this summer!


1st sunny day in 2011 required shades :)

On the shuttle bus on our way to the zoo!

Bella's long lost cousin

Hanging out with the fishies!

Happy 8 month, Little Man!

Each month I'm blown away by how big he's getting - both in size and by what he can do now. Here are some milestones that he has accomplished between 7 & 8 months:
* He not only pulls himself up on the furniture, but cruises around between all of them effortlessly. In fact, we've now had to "rope" off a Tristan-designated area (also known as the dog-free zone) so that he can cruise as he wishes.
* He loves to give hugs and snuggles :)
* He can (somewhat) give kisses, although they are more open-mouthed and kind of sloppy :)
*He now has six teeth poking through!
* He also "talks" by saying "dada", "mama" & "baba" although he doesn't really know what they mean. He just rattles off those syllables at any time. Sometimes it also sounds like he says "Bella".
* Now that he has had a taste for "real" food and not just jars of baby food or a bottle, he constantly wants whatever we are eating. His favorites lately have been bread and bananas. Any time we're eating one of these foods, he insists that he needs to have some, too. I don't think it's going to be long before he refuses his bottle and insists on a much more gourmet menu!


Here are some pictures of our growing boy!

Stylin' in his oxford sweater



Cheese!!

Purple Haze

We went back to my alma mater last night for the UP vs. LMU basketball game. A friend from '01 hosted a UP young alum pre-party complete with dinner and drinks. Of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity to go back on campus and sit in the student section! Oh, how easy it was to become apart of the "Purple Haze" crowd once more...too bad none of the current students understand this term. Just one more reason why UP circa 97-01 was primetime for a college student! (Interesting side note - this school year, there were 12,000 applicants for 800 freshmen openings. Requirements included a 3.8 minimum. Some of our friends joked that had it been that way 14 years ago, some of us would never have met!!)


Back on campus 10 years (yikes!) after we graduated.

So happy that Little Man was able to be apart of the action, too.


Kevin proudly sporting the original Purple Haze T & Little T.


Go Pilots!

Future Duck Linebacker

This is what we hear on almost a daily basis. We either get questions on what we're feeding him, or comments about how we are prepping him for a Ducks scholarship. Considering their football team made it to the national championship this year, I don't mind these comments so much. However, looking at his happy face and knowing his sweet-natured personality, it's hard to ever imagine him in that position! But I'm sure that's what every mom thinks about their sweet boy :)

Speaking of the Ducks - they did it! They made it to the National Championship Title game!! It was such a nail-biting game up until the very end. Even though it was a heartbreaking loss, it was still so exciting to celebrate the Ducks making it to the top of the BCS. Looking forward to seeing what's in store for next year!



He is infatuated with this Duck patch. It was glued to his hand the entire day of the championship. And yes, that is a Natty shirt. For some reason, my Dad got him a 3T shirt for Christmas (maybe it was intended for Lincoln instead?) We decided to let him wear it anyway, and it ended up almost fitting him! It also played right into those football comments...it made it look like he was wearing shoulder pads!

Love this video! You'd think Brian was the only one watching the game - even though we had a few other people over, his voice far exceeds anyone else's in the room! And love how Little Man is cheering them on in his own way :)

Birthday parties

Talk about a difference in birthday parties this weekend! On Friday night, we went to good friend, Sarah's, 30th birthday party at Andina restaurant in the Pearl. We were back and forth on whether we were going to go since it was so soon after Little Man's surgery, but in the end we felt it important to be there. Since he was in such a fragile state, we didn't feel it right to leave him at home, so he got to join in on the festivities.


The birthday girls - Sarah & Darin

Group shot - Andina was smart enough to give us our own private room!

Stare-off between Tristan & Jason

He couldn't get enough of this bread!

Sooo sleepy...

...out for the count.

Then on Sunday, we went to Aubrey's 1st birthday party. It's so hard to believe that just a little over a year ago we were four mommies-to-be and are now celebrating one of the little one's first birthdays!

Mama Ali & her birthday girl

Even Tristan got to wear a party hat - little did he know he was also a "birthday girl" :)

Happy birthday, Aubrey :)

Hypospadias

I debated writing about this on here being that it is pretty personal, but since it is apart of his life, I thought I probably should.

Tristan was born with a very mild case of Hypospadias. This basically means that his urinary hole needed to be moved and reconstructed. Although we had never heard of it, we were surprised to find out that it is relatively common among boys - 1 out of 300 are born with it. His was so mild that it was hardly noticeable, but we knew it was something that we needed to have corrected just in case it impacted him in any way - whether now as a baby, or when he is older.

We scheduled the surgery for last Thursday, 1/6 and fretted for days before it happened. I have never felt so anxious or been so stressed in my entire life!! But, as soon as we met our anesthesiologist, I immediately felt more at ease. I won't go into many specifics on here about the procedure, but since it was an out-patient surgery, he was already feeling great by the time we went home six hours later! And I'm happy to report that he's back to his happy and active little self! We're so glad that it's behind us now!



Poor little man had no idea what was about to happen! He was bouncing around and smiling before the surgery - even though he hadn't eaten since 10 the night before!

I loved his little hospital gown, but hope we never have to see him in one again!

Poor little guy - still feeling the effects of the anesthesia after the surgery.

Resting before we were released to go home.

I took the challenge!

Thank you Candice (The Organized Momma) for inspiring me to also start my own list of goals for the new year! As a fellow to-doer, this was something I could not pass up! Each year I struggle with finding just the right resolution (that I know I will forget by the time MLK day comes around :), so this is the perfect way to incorporate my love of lists with coming up with goals for a happy and healthy new year. A goal for each week of the year -- although one doesn't need to be accomplished each week. Here goes:

1. Stick to Little Man's bedtime routine most nights
2. Organize hall & front closets once and for all!
3. Organize garage - yikes, that's a big task to take on!
4. Update/finish at least two items in house - i.e. T's bathroom, new carpet, etc.
5. Make or have matching stockings made for all three of us
6. Read 12 books this year (if 1/month is doable, go for 2/month!)
7. Do not turn TV on until 8pm
8. Workout 4/week
9. Starting in spring, go for run at least once a week, weather permitting
10. Be bikini ready by Dresel's bach weekend (Memorial Day)
11. Stick to cleaning schedule
12. Take Tristan to swim classes
13. Sign him up for at least two other fun classes
14. Take dogs for walk at least 3/week
15. Go on a road trip with girlfriends
16. Try new recipe 1/month
17. Have 6pm dinner time 5/week
18. Both stay awake for at least one movie night with hubby (hard to do!)
19. Fix up/maintain backyard & deck
20. Have house/deck ready for Tristan's 1st bday BBQ!
21. After house updates, save for new car by end of year
22. Schedule mommy/baby playdates/walks for T & I 1/month during school year, 1/week during summer
23. Write in my spare time
24. Join a wine club
25. Spruce up dining/living rooms - new pillows, window coverings, table settings, etc.
26. Go on family hikes this summer
27. Go camping at least once this summer
28. Take out The Pickle at least 5 times
29. Go to summer concerts in the park
30. Go to a Mariner's game
31. Get the Book Club idea going again
32. Download all my pics onto a photo website for back-up
33. Organize the office (goes hand-in-hand with the garage!)
34. Put music onto my iPhone
35. Go to a UP sporting event
36. Sign up for two magazines
37. Send Christmas cards (make sure family pic is taken well in advance this time :)
38. Go on an overnight trip with Brian, Tristan and the dogs (preferably the beach, hopefully our anniversary??)
39. Take Tristan down to parents' place in Palm Springs (April or October, maybe?)
40. Visit Farmers' Markets for produce at least 3/summer
41. Go on family bike rides 2/month, weather permitting
42. Go berry picking at least once this summer
43. Bake pie with those berries - from scratch
44. Carve pumpkins into Jack-o-lanterns (obviously around Halloween :)
45. Go on neighborhood walks 3/week (in summer)
46. Set up and use printer we've had for over a year
47. Put finishing touches on family room
48. Floss more regularly
49. Participate in the 5K Shamrock Run (does being rained out count??)
50. Have a Eugene weekend - go to Ducks game, go wine tasting, etc.
51. When visiting family in Bend, hike Pilot Butte
52. Donate $5 for every goal on this list I did not accomplish

*Update - every time a goal is completed, I will bold it as a way to keep track :) *

Happy 2011!

Since Brian's parents were in town visiting over New Year's, we got to go out with friends for the night. We began the night at Pata Negra - Spanish tapas and home of the best Sangria ever! We then rang in the new year at a nearby bar (which I'm embarrassed to mention here since I'm pretty sure we had at least 10 years on the majority of the crowd).

For some reason, every time we're all out to dinner on New Year's together, we seem to think it's a brilliant idea to split the table up and compete to see who can accumulate the highest bill. Really?? I'm happy to say that we were the winners (or losers, really :) with the highest amount - but only beat the other half by a $1. These were the competing teams:




Cheers!


Girls shot - somehow Carrie is missing. But for some reason, this doesn't surprise me in the least :)