Night & Day

What a difference a night/day makes! This past weekend, my girlfriends and I decided to have a girls' night out. It's definitely not the same as it was when we were in our 20's and without little ones who lovingly wake you the next day at 7am! But we did manage to have a little bit of fun :)


The A Team! Notice our coats are buttoned all the way up to our chins - it was a chilly 22 degrees in the outdoor tent. Not too sure why we thought hanging outside was better than the heated bar just feet away, but we managed to stay out there for a few hours!

Then the next day we all got together with our little ones for an Oscar party at Ali's. Definitely a change in scenery to go from a girls' late night to an evening with 10 adults and seven kids under the age 3! I think that was my first experience watching an award show with the subtitles on - not because it was in a different language but because each time we turned up the volume on the TV, the group of kiddos thought it was a challenge for them to turn their volume up even louder! I think I was able to catch best actress in between chasing after my active little man and trying to scarf down some lasagna :) But it was pretty fun to see all the little ones playing together and discovering their new friendships.


Not sure how we managed to get them all seated at the same time. Notice how there's a spot open between Aubrey and Nick. Poor Logan almost did a nose-dive off the couch and had to sit out this photo opp. And poor Amelia is getting upstaged by Tristan who is about ready to make his escape off the couch :)
Tristan (9 1/2 mo), Amelia (7 mo), Leah (22 mo), Aubrey (14 mo), Nick (3 1/2 yr), Lincoln (2 1/2 yr) - not picutred, Logan (10 1/2 mo)

Last chance snow day!

Just as spring was starting to show itself with new blossoms and bulbs, mother nature decided we all needed just one more snow day. And believe me, that is fine by me!! Every news station had been talking about this "storm" for almost a week, so as a teacher who religiously watches the Doppler Radar for any glimpses of snow, I was really hoping it wouldn't disappoint. And disappoint it didn't. Well, no, we didn't get the epic snow drifts and blizzards that everyone else in this country has been getting all winter, but as long as it is a day off, I'm happy!
Here are some pictures I took to show the last bit of snow before it turns to all rain for a few more months :(







(Sorry, I went a little overboard with the pictures :)

Happy Presidents' Day!

I know this is a little late, but I just had to share this poster made by the PreKers. If only the president's job were that simple - ah, the mind of a 4/5 year old! Although I love being back in 1st grade, sometimes I really miss hearing the conversations I had with the little ones :)

It's a family affair!

This weekend was a family affair as both my Mom & Doug and my Dad came into town for a visit.

Seriously my new favorite pic!

We started the weekend by going to brunch with my Dad at a new restaurant in Sellwood. It was good to catch up on politics, the economy and the state of our country, of course! What says a nice, relaxing weekend brunch like having heated discussions about these personal issues?? (Only kidding Dad, we always love a good debate!)
We then went to Trav & Bridg's for dinner to see my Mom & Doug. They had had Lincoln for a week-long getaway at Grama & Papa's house and so were returning him after his exciting stay. It was good to catch up with them about their recent trip to Haiti and to also celebrate my Mom's birthday.


And then today, we had my Dad, Trav, Bridg and Lincoln over for brunch before the end of my Dad's trip. Politics weren't topic of conversation this time, but I do believe Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and award shows were discussed. Don't ask me how we went from serious conversations one day to celebrity life the next - I guess we have a variety of interests :)

Here's my effort to capture some moments from our family weekend. As you can imagine, it's a challenge to get a 2 1/2 year old and a 9 month old to both look in the same direction at the same time!


Love these boys :)

Uncle T getting in on the playroom fun, too!

Happy 9 month!!

It's hard to believe that our Little Man is 9 months today! He is officially 3/4 of a year old! Time really does go so fast...

Here are some 9 month milestones:

* Loves to "wave" hello, good-bye and pretty much to anyone/anything for any reason! (He even waved to the eliptical machine the other day :) He also says what sounds like "hi" when he does it, in a long drawn out way - "hiiiiiiii". Pretty cute if you ask me :)

* Still says" baba", "mama" "dada", although his "word" of choice now is "baba". I'm pretty sure he associates "baba" with bottle, since he usually says this if I ask him if he wants a bottle.

* We're trying new foods, although I think it may be harder for him to swallow bigger objects. He's choked on some pretty small foods recently (VERY scary!!), so I've kind of been wary about trying all the things he should be able to eat now. We're still relying on bottles as our main source of nutrition.

* He is such a cruiser! He "walks" all around his play area (holding onto the couches, of course). He's getting more sturdy just holding on with one hand - could be any time before he lets go of both hands. Watch out world!!

* He is such a cuddler. He loves to snuggle and gives hugs. It's one of my most favorite things!!


Love our happy Little Man!

Happy Heart Day!!

A sweet valentine message from one of my first graders :)

Valentine's Day was a family affair this year! Brian and Tristan surprised me by taking me to a special Valentine's lunch. We went to Clark Lewis, a great restaurant near the waterfront on the eastside. It was scrumptious. This place also has special meaning to Brian and I as this was a place we went for dinner, early on in our dating. I still remember that night because we stayed a long time enjoying ourselves and our food. This time was definitely different!


Photo opps with our valentine



Our drinks of choice :)




After lunch, Tristan and I went back to my school to celebrate VDay with my class. He was definitely a hit at the party! We even got to meet the sweet PreKers (now Kinders) who knew him a little differently last year. We had such a great time!


Making new friends at the party

My valentine loot

We then ended our family Valentine's Day by having a romantic dinner at home. And when I say romantic, I mean scarfing our food down as fast as we could while also taking turns holding Little Man. Gone are the days of the candles, hours-long prepared meal and date night for two. But we wouldn't change it for the world!

Our little Kewpie doll

I've always thought our Little Man looked like some kind of doll or character with his big eyes and round, chubby cheeks, but could never place the exact character. Gerber baby? Michelin Man? But after getting a message back from my mom regarding a text picture I sent - "he looks like the cutest kewpie doll!!" - she finally placed it for me. Tristan is a Kewpie Doll. I have to admit, I had to google Kewpie dolls after I first read her text. But when I saw their images, I instantly remembered them from my childhood. See what you think...

Meet our pet giraffe, Sophie

Auntie Dresel got Sophie as a welcome present for Tristan the weekend of her surprise visit last May. Although I hadn't heard much of this giraffe then, I have since learned what a phenomenon she is now! Any time we bring her out, we get comments about how she's a reality TV star (made famous by the Kardashians), how their sister/friend/coworker has the same one, or just how cute his little giraffe is.
Now that he's at the age that he really loves playing, Sophie has become a fixture playmate while we're in the kitchen. (We have certain toys set up around the house for different things we're doing - living room, bedroom and kitchen toys - aahh, how life changes!)
Some days he likes to throw her around, especially if it means making mom bend down to pick her up 30 times while she's cooking. Sometimes he likes to see how much he can stuff her in his mouth (poor Sophie). But most times, he likes to just look at her and "pet" her gently. Here are some cute moments I captured the other day while he was helping mommy clean.

Guitar Lessons

As I was (trying to) organize the office today, Little Man was getting his first guitar lessons from Dad. Good thing Tristan's only 8 months old, otherwise he would have figured out pretty quickly that Dad was faking his way through the whole thing! It was still a pretty sweet moment though - aaaahh...how I love these two :)