HAIRCUT!

Well, Levi got his first haircut this evening. We're having professional pictures taken on Friday afternoon, so we though it might be time to loose the messy look. It was getting pretty long in front and around the ears.
Here's the before shot.
Levi was really not sure about those buzzing clippers at first. Or maybe it was in his dad's ability to cut his hair. Anyway, he got use to it and actually didn't cry a bit!
And here's the after shot. Not bad for the first cut. On a baby who won't sit still.
A kitchen update for anyone who's still interested in our progress (after almost 2 months!). Gabe painted this weekend, so things are looking really good. He also drilled holes in the cabinets for the handles and I put them all on this week. So all we're really waiting for are the counter tops and sink. Those are scheduled to go in at the end of next week. Oh, and a little bit of trim Gabe will need to put on the floor under the cabinets. That reminds me...I better double check with Gabe that he got it ordered. We'll be able to show of the finished product in a few "short" weeks. FINALLY!

The Cove

Gabe and I finally watched this movie last night. If you haven't seen it yet...it's a must watch. And you must also encourage everyone you know to watch it too.
Watch the public service announcement. Watch the movie. And here are some other things you can do to help end the slaughter of these amazing creatures.

Afternoon at the zoo

Peggy and Z have been here visiting from Maryland for the last week or so, and we've been lucky to spend some time with them. Last week we went to the pool. No pictures to show off since both Peggy and I had to be in the water with our boys.
Yesterday we went to the zoo. It was a warm afternoon and lots of the animals were being lazy. I did get this good shot of the elephant playing in the water.
He really was that close to us. It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, I didn't get very many good shots of the boys.
But here are our wild "animals" all caged up after their time at the zoo. Can you tell they're anxious for dinner to be served?
Boy I wish these guys didn't live so far away. I think a spring break trip to the capital might be on our agenda this year.

Where did my baby go?

This can't possibly be my baby!
He's really starting to look like a big kid....

In Better News

Gabe worked hard this week and got lights in the kitchen. He spent several sweaty evening up in the attic and even got up one morning at 5am to work. He hit a few bumps along the way but we have wonderful new lighting in our kitchen. As a reminder, here's what the lighting was like in our kitchen before. The previous owner installed this lovely fixture to cover the florescent lighting.
Here's the new and improved version! (and notice all the appliances are in)We also have a date for counter installation. I should have a working kitchen the evening of August 20th! I'm a little disappointed it won't be done in time for Levi's first birthday celebration, which we are having here at our house. But at this point I can't complain. Hopefully the weather for Levi's party will be perfect, not too hot and not too cold, so we can just have everything outside.
I also have better news on my grandma. The doctors removed her breathing tube and my mom called this afternoon to say she was eating a Popsicle.
Gabe just got home.
Things are looking up.
Plus, I got a lot of work done around here this weekend that we've been neglecting because of the kitchen. Car is washed. Lawn is mowed. Most of the weeds are pulled.
Like I said, things are looking up.

Trying not to be overwhelmed

depressed, sad, lonely or any other adjective you can substitute for melancholy.

Sunday night my mom and dad flew out to South Dakota to help my grandma pack up her apartment and move her to Minnesota. My mom's youngest brother and his family live there so it would be nice for her to be near family. They got there and found my grandma hasn't been taking very good care of herself. Actually ended up in the hospital on Tuesday and discovered grandma had several heart attacks. The routine testing of her heart did not go well, she was unresponsive after it was over. Once they got her stabilized and responsive they flew her to Sioux Falls, where they've been the rest of the week. The doctors need to put balloons into several of her arteries but can't because grandma doesn't respond well to even the most basic procedure. She's scared and her mind and body are not handling this well. Things have been up and down all week.
I'm scared too. I don't want to loose her. I'm sad. I haven't been able to see her since our wedding almost 6 years ago. We couldn't go out for her big 80th birthday party last summer since Levi was due to arrive the next week. We were going to visit this summer for vacation but since she was going to be moving, we figured we'd wait. We were hoping maybe my mom could convince her to come and visit us this fall. I wish I could be there for my mom. My dad is coming home this week, but she'll be staying another week. Many of her siblings are there but I just want to hug her. I haven't been sleeping well.
To top it all off, Gabe's going to be gone all weekend for a guys weekend at the coast. So I'm the single parent. A job I don't do very well. He's the patient one.
So, I'm trying to stay positive. I will have a functioning kitchen again some day. Levi and I will have a fun mommy and baby weekend. My grandma will conquer the fear, get the medical help she needs, and recover.

Busy Summer Weekend

So this will probably be my last post of the week. I've managed to put off the billion things on my to-do list for several days already. I've got a tone I need to get done this week and blogging isn't one of them.
But I wanted to share the fun we had this weekend. Friday evening we went down to the Oregon Brewer's Festival. It's always the third weekend in July, but we are often on vacation at that time so it's been a few years since we've gone. Levi went with us so we didn't stay very long but Gabe did get a few good beers sampled.
Saturday we went out to McIver Park for my dad's family reunion. Everyone was camping out there but given the camping we did just a short time ago, we decided a day trip would be more manageable at this point. Levi took a 'dip' in the Clackamas. The water was a bit colder than he was willing to play in. Dad had to stand with him the whole time. Here he is splashing with his great Aunt Teresa.
We enjoyed seeing family and playing some games. Here's Levi helping his grandpa play pinochle. Not sure he was much help.
And I have to share this one of Levi and his great grandma. It's so sweet! Plus it shows off Levi's favorite thing to do now. I think he just started it last week. He points at everything!!! And I mean everything. I'm sure what will come next is the "What's that?" to go along with the pointing.
Not sure what he's pointing at here. Could be all the dogs...or his grandpa...who knows?

Yesterday Gabe did finally get some work done in the kitchen. We were disappointed to see that the remodel elves didn't find their way in while we were gone and finish things up. We should finally have the counter tops ordered this week. Not sure how long they'll take from there. All the appliances are in but we won't have a sink until the counter tops are in, and a kitchen without a sink is pretty useless.

San Juan Island

After not really getting a chance to relax for the first part of our vacation, the week on San Juan really made up for it. We rented a great little log house outside Friday Harbor where the deer visited each morning and evening (little fawns too). Plus a little quail family lived in one of the bushes. We were able to take it easy and Levi get lots of play time and nap times in.

Of course we walked around Friday Harbor and the marina. Shopped at the farmer's market. Payed a visit to Popeye, the harbor seal who hangs out next to the fresh seafood shop on the marina. We visited both American camp and British camp. Learned way more history about the fight between the British and US over the San Juan Islands than I ever thought I needed to know. Watched the alpacas eat their breakfast. Had lunch in Roche Harbor. Wandered around the Westcott Bay sculpture park for a little while. Celebrated the lavender festival at Pelindaba Lavender Farm.Here's Levi enjoying the music and tasting ice cream for the first time. Just happened to be lavender vanilla and he loved it...of course!Tried to spot whales from Lime Kiln State park on several occasions, but with no success.

The highlight for me was definitely our whale watching trip. It was during Levi's afternoon nap and was 4 hours long. We were a little worried we'd just be dealing with a really crabby baby. But Levi did really great. The ocean air must have given him a second wind. And we saw lots of Orcas. It was my first time seeing them and I was thrilled. I filled one whole memory card with pictures of whales, but this is the closest one we got since we don't have a zoom lens of any kind. Guess that will be on our wish list for Christmas this year!

Olympic National Park

Gabe and I are now fully aware that five days of camping with a baby does not make for a relaxing vacation. While planning our vacation it seemed like a great idea. In hindsight, not so brilliant. Since Levi isn't walking independently, he just wants to crawl around, pull up on things, and hold on to things while he walks. That's fine at home, but doesn't work so great at a campsite when everything also goes directly in his mouth. So it was a challenge to keep him entertained and not eating the gravel and dirt of the campsite.
The first night Levi was a champ. He slept great even though he was up early with the birds and the sunrise. But our second day he wouldn't nap in the tent (too many distractions I think). So we decided maybe a drive would settle him down. Problem is...this kid will only sleep when the car is actually moving. Our second night was terrible. Levi ended up hogging our sleeping bag and air mattress instead of sleeping in his pack and play. We were able to see a lot of the park, it was just done in the car trying to get Levi enough napping time in.
Plus, we are so spoiled by nice Oregon state parks with their wonderful facilities...like showers. For just a weekend of camping I've never really felt like I had to have a shower but when you're going on day 4...enough said. I forgot that most national park camp grounds don't have showers. Before we camp in a national park again we'll have to get one of these!
Those things combined with kids riding their bikes around screaming until 10pm (when Levi goes to bed about 7:30) and a hole in our air mattress...we packed up a day early and headed to spend the night Tacoma. We'd had enough camping and figured it would make the trip up to Anacortes to catch the ferry to San Juan island a lot less stressful. You never know how terrible traffic though Seattle will be and cutting the length of that trip could only be a good thing. It was a great decision. We all got our respective showers or bath, and had a good night sleep.

Here are the highlights of our time in Olympic National Park:
We hiked around the Hoh Rain forest in the sunshine. Not much of a rain forest at this time of year.
Played a lot at Kalaloch beach.
Drove up to, and hiked around Hurricane Ridge.
Explored the tide pools at Beach 4.
Enjoyed beers, books, and s'mores by the campfire. Once Levi was in bed for the night, of course.

It's going to take me a little while to get things updated around here. We got back on Thursday but it's been a busy weekend too. I still have to put away all our camping stuff. And our tent needs to be cleaned out badly! So be patient with me this week as we recover from vacation.

Heat Wave!

You are definately not going to hear me complaining about the heat. I'm just so thankful summer is finally here!
Levi's already figured out how to stay cool.
First, take a dip in the pool.

Then eat a refreshing and cool popsicle.He wasn't too sure about the cold popsicle at first. Too cold. But once he figured out how yummy it tasted, he had no problem getting it all over himself.
Staying cool in this heat...that's how it's done!

Making some progress...

with a few minor setbacks.
I'll share the progress first.
All our kitchen cabinets are in!The new bamboo flooring is laid down! Here's Levi giving it a try when it wasn't finished.The stove is now in the kitchen and will hopefully be hooked up this evening. Our new dishwasher and microwave are also in the dinning room awaiting installation.

Now for the setbacks. After working carefully all day on the floor, Gabe put some major gashes in it when he moved the fridge into place. He was really upset. He mentioned pulling up that section of the floor to replace the scratched boards. Not sure what he'll want to do. But given that the guy is all about quality and can't stand anything he does not being his best...I think he'll be pulling up part of the floor to fix it.
The other setback. The one that has me more worried is the counter tops. We knew we couldn't get counter tops until all the cabinets were in so it wasn't really in the forefront of our minds until Gabe had them finished yesterday morning. We know what kind of counter tops we want and the color. We just need someone to come in, measure and then install them once they've been cut. We figure that's no problem. They can measure this week and then cut them while we're gone on vacation. Install them when we get back and we'll be good to go! Wrong. We didn't figure on one more step, plus the guy at Home Depot said they won't be able to get here to measure until late this week...at the earliest! So if they come and measure this week great, but they'll also need to come back with a template to see if everything is correct, and then they'll cut it and finally install it! So, now it looks like the counter tops will be a few more weeks than I figured. Which totally sucks! A kitchen isn't really use able if you don't have counters.

So, that's where we're at this week. Gabe's thinking he can get appliances in this week...not sure much else will happen until we return from vacation.

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July!
It has been one busy...but fun weekend. Full of BBQs, enjoying time with friends/family, and don't forget work on the kitchen!
You can tell the weekend has Levi completely wiped out. Gabe and I equally so. I think we might call it good, and head to bed as soon as I finish writing this. The only problem is that I feel pretty certain the fireworks will wake us up in about an hour...hopefully they won't do the same for the little guy.

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday as much as Levi did!

It has begun...

the great kitchen remodel is under way!

These are the things we dislike about this kitchen and why we're completely redoing it...
*The fake wood finish on the fake wood cabinets
*The layout (we're moving the fridge and dishwasher)
*This could probably go along with layout too...but I hate having the cook top and oven across the room from each other. We've got a range waiting in the garage already! :)
*Electric cook top...we're converting to a gas range but the oven will still be electric
*Press on linoleum tiles that are coming up off the floor
*The kitchen is dark, dark, dark. I know a lot of people love black granite but we don't. It's hard to keep looking clean and it makes the whole kitchen too dark
*The florescent lighting and the "shade" the previous owners put up when they "remodeled" the space
* The fake aluminum back splash
*Lack of pantry space
(Gabe-did I miss anything?)

Here are some before pictures so that you know what we're starting with.
Gabe had several co-workers, and a couple of friends, come over Saturday morning to help with the demolition. They worked hard and had everything out of the kitchen before I came back with the pizza for lunch. In fact, they were taking a "break" and playing video games when I arrived. Here's evidence of the hard work they put in before noon! And here's what the kitchen looked like when I came back with lunch:Crazy huh?
Saturday afternoon and night, I pulled up the rest of the tiles while Gabe dealt with a plumbing issues. It only took him 3 trips down to Home Depot to fix things up! Sunday morning I started unpacking our new cabinets while Gabe laid down wood on the floor to bring the cabinets up to the same height the new floor will be. Then my dad came over to help Gabe put in the upper cabinets. So here's the state of our kitchen currently.
Not sure how much more we'll get done this week, but with the three day weekend and the flooring due to arrive from Seattle this week, I hope the next update shows some huge progress!

Public Service Announcement

I don't really use this blog as a platform to communicate much about my personal ideas or beliefs. It's mostly a way to keep family and friends, both near and far, updated on what we're up to. But I chose a book for our girls night book club that I absolutely feel everyone should read. So, please pick up Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. It's about the oppression of women and girls in developing countries around the world. They share many stories about the lives and experiences of young girls and women. From the brothels of India and the young girls who are trafficked for sex throughout Asia. To the women of Africa who are dying by the thousands during childbirth. Or some women who struggle through days of labor only to loose their baby and in the process of this labor with no medical interventions, they get a fistula. These women are ostracized from their community and basically left to die. The authors share these horrific stories of how women are treated in the developing world. But their intention isn't just to share these stories. I love that they also share stories of how people (most often women) are working to change what is happening. There is no reason why, in 2010, girls in many countries of the world are not be allowed to attend school, but their brothers are. It's ridiculous! It blows my mind and makes me so sad. This book inspires you to want to take action because these issues are things we should all be working to change. And the authors offer hope by sharing what people are doing and the great things they are accomplishing. These are things that can be changed if only we all make the choice to do something...anything!

I decided I couldn't just read this book and do nothing. One area the authors stress greatly is how education is really the key to ending the oppression of women around the world. So, I decided I wanted to do something to support this effort. After doing quite a bit of research, I'll be donating to CAMFED, to support educating young women in Africa. If you're interested in learning more about the book and taking action (before you start reading), check out this website!

So, I have a copy I'm willing to loan out if anyone would like to read this powerful book. Or go get it from the library! I hope it reminds you of how fortunate we are, and how with that...we all have a responsibility to do something about how women around the world are being treated.

Our little Angelfish

Levi and I are finished with our first week of "swimming" lessons. Although, for Levi it should really be called floating and splashing lessons! He's really good at both of those things but not very interested in kicking! He is pretty brave about putting his face in the water. The only thing is his mouth is always open so he can drink the pool water. Yuck! He's suppose to blow bubbles. He won't do it himself but sure thinks it's funny when Mommy does it.

I signed us up for two more weeks so maybe at the end of those I can brag about his "swimming". No matter what, it's been fun!

Getting into Trouble

How much trouble can one baby boy get into before 11am?

This much:
First taking almost every Kleenex out of the box.
Then trying to read...oh, I mean eat...Mommy's magazine. Things on the couch are now accessible to this mischievous little guy.
Last, but definitely most exciting...climbing the stairs. The pictures aren't very good because I made sure I was close enough to break a fall if necessary. Especially when he got up to the third step. At that point, I had to put a stop to Levi's fun!
All of this, combined with a 45 minute nap this morning and refusing to eat lunch, is making for a long day already! Good thing the sun is coming out. We're getting out and going for a walk before swimming lessons this evening. Packing up the kitchen will have to wait.

Morning at the Zoo

We've been wanting to take a trip to the zoo for quite some time. But since summer has yet to arrive, it's been way too wet to go. We decided to brave it yesterday morning even though the forecast didn't look great. Turns out, other than it being cold, the rain pretty much stayed away. We did get a little coastal drizzle from time to time, but it was nothing! The weather also kept the big crowds away, which is always nice at the zoo! I hate fighting the crowds to see the animals. Especially with Levi in the stroller, he needs to be right up front to see anything.

Not surprising, Levi's favorite was the elephants (just like Daddy). Here are the elephants playing and Levi trying to talk to them!
We were able to see almost everything before Levi started to get fussy. He needed a nap and some lunch, so we came home. But now that we have a membership, we'll hang out there more this summer and fall. The zoo is maybe 10 minutes from our house so it will be a great place to hang out if the summer weather ever arrives!
This picture of the zebras proves what a wet spring we've had. I can't believe how green everything is. I don't think I've ever seen it like that!

Here's one more shot of daddy and son spending Father's day at the zoo.

First Father's Day

What a great first Father's Day. Got woken up by Heidi and Levi and was presented with a card they had made together. Levi had done the decoration on the card by placing a big hand print on it, with a little help from mom, of course. We had breakfast and headed for the zoo. I haven't been to the zoo in quite a few years, so it was good to see a bunch of new stuff. I think Heidi will be blogging about that trip more tomorrow. Since we went before Levi's morning nap, he skipped it as we roamed around the zoo, there was plenty to keep him occupied. After the zoo, Levi got a short nap and then it was time to play. His new playroom (the dining room) is now off limits as it's crammed with new cabinets waiting to be installed in the kitchen remodel starting next weekend. Playing in the living room is a little more exciting since there's more to explore and get into trouble with, especially since he's pulling up on everything now. We had a good time though. The evening wound down with me getting to choose the pizza from Papa John's tonight (a big deal around this house), and then Levi watching some Baby Signing Time. All in all, a fun day, despite the rather poor weather.

No pictures of my Father's Day present, mainly because I've had it for a few weeks already, and it was raining for most of the day today. It was a nice new electric lawnmower. Our old gas mower didn't make it though the winter, so it was time for a new one. Since our yard is so small, we figured an electric one would do the trick, plus they're quiet, and I think Heidi might even use it!

-Gabe

Closing the book...

on this school year brings me an immeasurable amount of joy. This has definitely been the toughest year of my six year teaching career. My friends/co-workers who have come back to teaching after maternity leave, warned me about how difficult it is. They were right. I wouldn't wish returning from maternity leave to finish out 5 1/2 months with 150 8th graders on anyone. Even my worst enemy (if I had one).
To make things more challenging, there was the fact that I taught 2 different content classes, because of the layoffs last year my class sizes were the biggest they've ever been (a room of 32 fourteen year-olds is at times unmanageable), and more big budget cuts looming over our heads all spring (we have three teachers not returning to our building next year and four retired, those positions will not be filled. Plus, two office/support staff were laid off.) As of writing this, I'm pretty sure I still have a job next year but we're taking a pay freeze again, plus cutting at least 10 days off the school year which is almost half a months pay. Times are tough.

I've let myself get too bogged down with the negative stuff. That's silly since I'm in the mood to celebrate! So, in honor of the start to my summer "vacation" here are all the things I'm looking forward to in the next 2 & 1/2 months! (Starting with taking my mom to see the Lion King tomorrow of course...) In no particular order:

*Lots of snuggle time with my baby
*Swimming lessons-sign up is tomorrow morning!
*Walks and swinging at the park
*SUNSHINE
*Going to the zoo
*Starting a new painting (I bought some canvas almost a month ago)
*Reading-finishing this, then reading this and this
*A new kitchen-remodel starts next weekend!
*Story time at the library
*Planning and throwing a 1st birthday party
*Our vacation to the Olympic National Park and San Juan Islands
*The annual camping trip-this year we're going to Trillium Lake
*Starting, and maybe finishing, Levi's baby book (crossing my fingers on this one)

What a BEAUTIFUL day!

It's finally starting to feel like summer and it sure does lift the spirit.
We took full advantage of our first warm, and dry day of the summer, by heading over to this part of town. We wanted to check out this event, but ended up heading over there a little too early. The parade didn't start until 3 and the actual race didn't start until 5. We walked around, played at the park and had a late lunch here. Most of Portland was recovering from their early morning at the Rose Parade (which we'll have to attend at some point in a few years...after all, it is a Portland family tradition), so this event wasn't as busy as I was afraid it might be. As I get older, I enjoy crowds less and less. Well, at lunch Levi was starting to get pretty fussy and we made the decision to bag it and head home to get the little guy his afternoon nap. Problem being...once we got home, he wouldn't take one. So we could have stayed and "enjoyed" the rest of the afternoon with a crabby baby. Although after our numerous failed attempts at an afternoon nap, we did wash the cars...so that was productive.
It's hard to be disappointed on a day like today. I think we'll definitely go back again next year. Only we'll dress up our bikes and ride in the family ride.
Gabe and I are ending our evening with BBQ steak, wine and a dip in the hot tub. I really wish summer was truly here already.

Here's a picture of Levi enjoying the swing at the park...for the grandparents!

Long Weekend at Black Butte Ranch

Levi stayed up late on Friday night celebrating at Enzo and Finn's first birthday party, so we didn't get a very early start on our trip to Black Butte. That was fine because it was a pretty low key weekend. Lots of walks. Here's Levi and Gabe with what we're pretty sure is Mt. Washington in the back ground. It was really cloudy the whole weekend and it's pretty tough to identify the Cascade Mountains without seeing their distinctive tops.Here's the view of two of the Three Sisters (Faith and Hope). I believe the one with very little snow is Black Crater.We also did a lot of napping, eating and enjoying drinks by the fire. Well, at least Gabe and I enjoyed that last one when Levi was in bed for the night. We also spent some time at the pool. Levi hasn't been in a swimming pool since he was just a few weeks old and he pretty much slept through that experience. So, I wasn't really sure what he would think of the pool now. He enjoys splashing in the tub but a swimming pool is a lot bigger.
Here he is ready to swim!I know...so serious! This kid takes everything seriously.
Levi loved the pool.
It was a great weekend. A perfect time spent just relaxing and getting away from the huge list of things we're always trying to get accomplished at home. Fun family time for sure. And a great way to start the "summer".