A very special lady

The world lost a very special lady today and I lost my beloved Grami. My Grandma (or Grami, as we always called her) was special for so many reasons.

My brother and I got to grow up with her just 15 minutes away from us for most of our young lives. She was always there to watch a school musical or support us in any other way. One of my first memories of her was when she and my aunt took me on my first shopping spree. I still remember the Guess jean skirt they helped me pick out. I remember it fondly because it was a rare treat to be able to buy something so extravagant (in my parents' opinion). Although my Grami was a nurse by trade, having grown up in North Dakota, but also lived in Seattle, Eugene and Phoenix, she would have much rather have lived in New York as a Broadway singer. She loved to sing and especially loved to watch others perform.

A very special memory I have of her was when she came out to Portland for Christmas 2010. Her health had been back and forth for quite a few years and a long trip such as that was always hard thing for her to do. We were so lucky that she was able to travel from ND (where she had lived since helping to take care of her mother and then stayed after her death in '04). She came out for about a week and got to meet her great-grandsons for the first time. That is when she got her second nickname - GG - for great-grandma. We had such a great time going to the Grotto to see the Festival of Lights, baking sugar cookies together (a tradition I do each year that actually comes from her own mother's recipe), having Christmas brunch, etc. She also got to travel to Las Vegas after Portland and see Celine Dion perform - one of her dreams in life!

I have so many memories of this special lady that it's hard to contain them all in one blog post. I feel very happy to know that she and I both share the same middle name which will be carried down to my own daughter very soon. She was a loving and caring grandma who loved all of four of her grandkids and two great-grandchildren dearly. It's sad to think she was my last living grandparent and Tristan's last living great-grandparent. You will be missed, Grami XOXO



Very special four generations picture

Baby showers!

We were lucky enough to have two baby showers for our little girl. I wasn't expecting anything as this is our second, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that my class wanted to host a shower and our friends wanted to have a celebration at our favorite restaurant for Erin and I. Here are some pics that show their generosity and thoughtfulness!!

The parents beautifully transformed our classroom into a shower for a baby girl - it was amazing!

Even Tristan and my mom got to come and celebrate! And no surprise, the girls in the class LOVED T and would follow him around like a swarm of bees :)

Again, not the best quality pictures, but they capture the moment :) Also, I've forgotten to mention an interesting fact about this school year that relates to my first pregnancy with Tristan. This class of first graders has six of the ten students that I taught two years ago when they were Pre-Kers and I was pregnant with T!! These six often refer to themselves as "baby fairies" since they think that every time I am their teacher, I end up having a baby! I cracked up when I heard this term and now will always lovingly refer to this group of students as my "baby fairies" :) They've also tried to convince me to teach them again in second grade, third grade, etc. Ummm, we'll see how this goes. Not so sure I'm ready for the baby fairies to do their magic again so soon :) It's also pretty neat that Tristan got to come to this shower with the same students who threw a shower for me (and him) the first time. So many similarities and coincidences - we've come full circle!

The beautiful spread at Meriwether's restaurant

Amelia & Tristan with hands on "the belly"

Love these two!

All the girls outside the restaurant. I knew I should have worn sunglasses - I have the worst sunshine-in-the-face look - yikes!

Spring Break or Winter Break??

Well, it's official - I am on my spring break/maternity!! There were a few times a few weeks ago that I thought I would never make it to this point, but here we are!! I still have a few school items to finish up on, but am pretty much ready for my maternity time! The first day of our break brought close to four inches of snow - what is going on with this winter weather?? We've had so many snow days up here, the most out of any other year. So glad we are on break so that we could enjoy watching it fall, but I'm hoping for sunny and 60 degree weather soon!!

22 months!

Our T Man has really been acting like a big boy these days. We are amazed each day at his vocabulary and the things he understands.

Things he really likes to say are: "Mom, mom, mom" (in a man voice until I come right away - for some reason this is the only word he says that is a few octaves lower than all of his other words :); "B" which stands for bird and Lincoln (for some strange reason); "poop" in a sideways-mouth kind of way - he especially likes to point out the poop in the backyard or if he has some of his own and then makes a "eewwwww!!!" sound right after that; "pirate" in a very pirate way whenever he wants me to find a YouTube clip for him; "cheeeeese" whenever there is a camera around; "pease" & "dank dou" please & thank you; "Mom, all done" any time he wants me to take something away from him, whether at the table, in the car, playing in the playroom, etc.; "truck! bus! train!" any time we're driving and he sees one of these on the freeway; "bye, bye boon" whenever we drive by a certain car lot on the way home that always has balloons floating around; "ball" & "bat" a few of his favorite things; "keekees" (kitties) which he is in love with right now; among many other words/phrases.

Things he really likes to do:
Navigate YouTube on the iPad to find clips of Jake and Never Land Pirate Band, Choo Choo Soul as well as kitties.
Playing with trucks, buses and trains.
Playing with his big cousin Lincoln who he so admires.
Playing with the saxophone or other musical instrument he has.
Riding Bella.
Reading stories, especially about dogs, kitties, or trucks.
Giving high fives and knuckles.
Brushing his teeth!

T with buds Nick & Leah Zervis watching a kids band at Mississippi Pizza

True story

Trying to convince that he's ready for a big boy bike for his birthday :)

Love these videos, but please excuse the cut-off shirt and very messy playroom. Super embarrassed by the outfit and mess, but had to share the videos because they are super cute :)

Classroom visits

T has had a great time visiting my classroom this year. Every once in awhile, Brian will bring him in as I am still wrapping some last minute school work. Here are some pictures and videos of the fun times he's had after-hours in 1A!!

Fun times in Mom's classroom!

Birthdays

We went to celebrate Ali's birthday at a fantastic, family-friendly bowling alley. To say that it's a bowling alley doesn't quite explain it well enough. It's basically an adult and child friendly entertainment extravaganza! There's an arcade, a few bars, a restaurant, along with the actual bowling alley that are laid out in a huge, two-story building. Upon pulling up to the ginormous building, Brian questioned whether we were at the right place, or had just stumbled upon a casino in Beaverton. I've never seen anything like it!


Dad & T practicing their bowling skills


Seriously love this cheesy smile!

Then the next day, we all got the very surprising news that Erin had her baby a month early!! It's a pretty crazy story, as she was scheduled to have her on April 3rd with a repeat C-section, but Quinn decided she wanted to enter the world a little earlier than expected and without surgery! We were all quite surprised, especially since we were all bowling together the night before and talking about people going into labor early and not having a C-section as originally planned. Maybe Quinn overheard our conversations and decided that is the way she wanted to come instead!
Congrats to the Conaways and their new little Quinn!!

One month to go...

It's official! We only have one more month until we meet our sweet little girl. My due date has changed a few times, but now the doctors are set on it being April 16th. So, that means that our repeat C-section will be about one week before - on April 10th! We've met with the doctor who performed the surgery before, along with the help from our family care doctor, and now have the date set! Now let's see if the both of us will make it that long... :) My maternity/spring break begins in two and half weeks, so let's hope we hold out until then! And then it's time to start the nursery (or rather the office/junk room right now). But since this is a crazy time with an unbelievable amount of school work to finish before maternity starts, the nursery will have have to wait until my mind isn't preoccupied with work 9-10 hours a day!

Wow, I am a brave woman for posting this pic of me in my final weeks...this may be my last side shot - yikes!

Grandpa Danner's visit

Grandpa Danner came in for a quick visit this week and we were excited to hang out with him for a few days. Here are a few pics of us at one of his favorite BBQ places - sooo yummy!

So much fun to visit with Grandpa Danner! He knew exactly how to spoil the boys and brought them little toys each day we saw him, plus a soccer ball for Lincoln and T's first baseball glove and ball! Thanks G'pa Danner!!

First haircut!

Today we (finally!!!) went to get Tristan's hair cut for the first time! I tried for months to get Brian to agree to this, so when he finally realized that T's Donald Trump mullet was as bad as I had been saying, he agreed to set up an appointment. I can't believe the difference and how old it makes my big boy look!

Before pics - these do it no justice!

Getting closer!

SO much better!

Cheeeeeeese!!!

Super cool with the sunglasses and new 'do.

Later that night, we went out to the Grand Lodge to see Lincoln's favorite kids' band, Uncle B, Aunt E & J-Dog. T got to show off his new cut there, too!