Gateway Arch

Probably the most famous, and certainly the most visible landmark of the St. Louis area is Gateway Arch. Any trip to the area wouldn't be complete without a visit. This being the case, we made it our first stop on our trip. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't really willing to cooperate. As you can tell from the picture, the sky was gray, and we were bundled up. From a distance you could barely see the top of the arch. Further dampening the day was the fact that the tram to the top was sold out for the day. We were already planning a second visit as we walked back to the car. Our second trip, later in the week was much better.


The weather was great, and we bought tickets to the top ahead of time. The "pod" that takes you to the top only seats 5 people, and was a bit claustrophobic. Even the viewing area at the top was a bit tight for comfort. I will say the view was amazing, there's nothing like a view from 630' in the air. The view of downtown with Busch Stadium and the Historic Old Courthouse was fantastic.

We're Back!

We got into Portland around 5:30pm yesterday. Won't make that mistake again. Gabe and I could have used a day to recover from our vacation before heading back to work. Guess that's the way our vacations will be now that we've got the little guy.

Flying did not go so well this time around. On the trip to St. Louis, Levi refused to nurse on the airplane. So, he pretty much went from 7am to 7pm without drinking anything! We brought along a few cans of food, which he ate, but I was pretty worried about him not having enough. On the descent into Kansas City he refused to nurse, refused his pacifier (Which he really doesn't take anyway. He mostly likes to chew on it.) and refused to suck his fingers. Therefore, he screamed for quite awhile. After that, I did not want to get back on an airplane for the short flight from Kansas City to St. Louis.

Coming home we were more prepared. For the return trip, I had a bottle ready for him and we also got some apple juice. Things went much better. But he hardly slept so he was pretty cranky. Definitely wasn't the same as flying with a 2 month old who slept the entire time. I think we'll hold off on flying again for a while! It's too exhausting!

Anyway, it was great to see family and explore the St. Louis area. As I type this, Gabe is downloading pictures off the camera so I'll have to work this week at getting pictures edited and uploaded. So...I'll be back soon.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you enjoy the luck of the Irish today!
Gabe is enjoying a Guinness now. I'll be enjoying mine after this little guy is down for the night. That's as "Irish" as we're going to get tonight!

What's the world coming to?

Two posts in one weekend. I think it's my attempt to avoid the pile of work I brought home with me this weekend. It's the end of the grading period and spring break is in sight. I just can't seem to get myself motivated to do any work. After I'm done here I'll probably find something else to distract me...like filling in my bracket.

We actually had the camera out quite a bit yesterday and this was one of my favorite shots. I just had to share it!Levi loves it when you blow in his face. Seriously loves it. Like busting up...full on...hysterically laughing...loves it. He's also really into grabbing faces. So, that's what he and his dad are up to here. And the explanation for Gabe's funny face.

Our schedule is a little off today with the time change, and spending what was suppose to be Levi's afternoon nap at his friend Taya's 1st birthday party. Hopefully the little guy will be ready for bed at his usual time and Gabe and I can get back to playing this. Super fun. When Bryan ever wants his copy back, we might have to go get it.

I probably won't make it back on here before we take off to see the my sister and her family in St. Louis for spring break. So be thinking of us on Saturday morning as we try the whole flying with baby thing again. Levi is so much older now. I'm not sure what to expect. I'm going to assume the sleeping through the whole fight thing won't happen this time around. Plus it's not a quick two hour flight this time either. Although, at this point I'm not sure I'll make it through 5 more days with 150 8th graders the week before spring break. It's always a wild ride. After surviving that, what's a 5 hour plane ride with my 7 month old teething baby?

Double Trouble

Levi has TWO teeth!
Yes, you read that right...one broke through last weekend and the other one early this week. I think I first felt it on Tuesday morning. They don't look like much (look carefully at those little white things on his bottom gum or you might miss them) but we're pretty excited. We've all been sleeping better the last few nights and we are starting to see our old happy baby again!

Happy Birthday Gabe!

It's Gabe's birthday weekend. And it is a celebration literally lasting all weekend. Yesterday evening his dad and Joanne came up. We had a nice dinner, cake (sour cream orange...one of Gabe's favorites), and presents. He was thrilled to finally have this in his hands. I'm a terrible wife. He picked out, and purchased, his own birthday present. He even had it delivered to himself at work. I never know what to get him. I think it makes things a little better that I wrapped it up and made him wait until his actual birthday to use it. I'm sure he disagrees. He was like a little kid, asking me every day if he could please just get it out early.

Today, Gabe and his dad took off to spectate at the Doo Wop Rally. The weather is perfect for it. I think every year I've gone up there it's been pouring rain or REALLY cold. Levi, Joanne and I are holding down the fort here. We took a trip to the park and enjoyed the sunshine. I need to get out and work in the yard, but our baby has been on a sleeping strike.

This week was definitely the worst sleeping week we've ever had. Even worse than when he was a newborn. Almost every night this week Levi has woken up screaming several times. A few nights he literally screamed for hours. (Usually between the hours of 1 and 3am). The only time he'd stop was when Gabe held him upright and rocked him. We thought maybe he had an ear infection, so Gabe took him into the doctor, only to be told he's probably teething and suffering from separation anxiety. Great! Neither of those things will be easy to fix. Needless to say Gabe and I were both on edge most of the week.

But I'm glad this week from hell is ending by celebrating the birth of the man I love. Tomorrow my family will come over for dinner and the final party. It's my sister, Tricia's, birthday today. Good times!

Our Beautiful Rose City and Other Weekend Happenings

Oh my goodness the weather has been beautiful this week! I love Portland, but it's even better here when the sun is shinning. Saturday morning I had an appointment to get my hair cut so Gabe decided to drop me off and then take Levi up to Mt. Tabor park. Since our move this summer, we've missed living over on the east side.
Here's Levi once he and Gabe got to the top. Not sure who the statue is...but that baby is sure cute!











It was a great morning to be out, so we also did a loop of the waterfront. Spring sunshine is so rare. And it seemed everyone was out enjoying it!










We spent the late afternoon and evening over at the Freitas house. Lots of wonderful food and time to talk and play. Levi wasn't too interested in playing with his friends. He was more interested in playing with all the new toys. Here's a picture of everyone (minus Gabe of course...since he's behind the camera). I just love Finn's toothy grin!


Today Gabe's been helping out a friend, so Levi and I have been getting laundry done and hanging out together. Aunt Becky came over so we went to the library and sat at the park for awhile. It's been a nice and relaxing weekend. Wish it wasn't over so soon! All weekends should be three day weekends.

6 Months!

Can you believe it? I can barely believe it myself. Saturday morning we celebrated Levi's 6 month milestone before taking off for the beach. We're just posting now because this morning was Levi's checkup at the doctor's office and we'd have all his 6 month stats. He weighed in at 19lbs 10oz and measured 28.5" long. That length puts him pretty much at the top of the growth charts. We definitely had noticed him slimming down a bit, he was apparently putting that energy into gaining some length these last couple months.

First Family "Camping" Trip

I don't think you can technically consider staying in a yurt...camping. At least in this family it isn't. Being protected from the torrential coastal downpours and having electricity and heat isn't camping. So that's why we're referring to our weekend at Ft. Stevens State Park as Levi's first "camping" trip. I decided this weekend would give us an idea of what we might be in for when we take him camping this summer.
I was a little nervous we wouldn't be able to fit all our gear in the car. Even without the tent, it was a tight squeeze. I told Gabe we need to get a car carrier now. Not sure he's really ready for that. Our goal was to leave "early" Saturday morning. We ended up getting on the road just before 10am. Not bad since I didn't really have much ready to go before hand. Plus that timing worked great because the little guy was ready for a nap and slept pretty much the whole way there.
We decided to grab some lunch in Astoria before starting our weekend in the yurt. Gabe wanted to try out the Ft. George Brewery. The food was really good but I was disappointed in my beer. I really wanted a good strong IPA and the server said she couldn't give me the one I asked for. They "might be out." But then later she came by and asked me how my beer was, I decided to be honest about it and tell her it was ok. She responded by telling me she's bring me the beer I'd originally asked for next time. Too bad I'm at a one beer limit these days. Why didn't you just bring me that one when I asked for it? Anyway...rant over!
After lunch we headed to Ft. Stevens, got settled in our yurt and took off to explore the park. I can't remember ever going there as a kid so it was all new to me. We tried to hang out at the beach where the Peter Iredale wreck is but it was so windy! All we did was get out and take this picture. We had sand in our eyes and mouth from just being there a minute. So, we ended up spending most of the afternoon playing in the yurt since the rain and wind was beating us hard. Before dinner, things let up and we walked down to Coffenbury Lake. Not much was going on, the lake was nice and still. Peaceful. Wish we would have thought to bring some fishing gear.
On Sunday morning, we decided to try the beach again only to discover it raining once we got down there. The wind had stopped but the three of us were pretty wet after walking for just a few minutes. So we decided to head inland just a bit and check out the historic fort. Like I said, I'd never been there. And I'll probably never need to go back. I might be a historian, but nothing about military history interests me, and very few of the original structures are still standing! Not much to see in my opinion. While we were there, the rain found us and we headed back to our yurt to get dried out and wait out the rain. Since we needed more indoor activities to keep us occupied, and out of the rain, we decided to head back to Astoria and check out the Columbia River Maritime Museum. Surprisingly, neither Gabe or I had ever been there. It was pretty cool and the sun even decided to make an appearance.Our last stop of the day was to try the beach again since the sun finally decided to come out. We really wanted Levi to be able to put his toes in the sand. He doesn't seem too impressed but I got him giggling about it on video. He dug his hands in too. Thought the sandy hands would go directly into his mouth like everything else but surprisingly they didn't!With all that activity, our little guy decided the only naps he needed were in the car about 5 minutes before we reached our destinations. So he probably only slept an hour and a half...all day. That's about half of what he usually sleeps. Needless to say, he was ready for an early bed time. After he was asleep, Gabe and I enjoyed some Valentine's day chocolates and beer. When Levi was up at dawn on Monday morning (after not sleeping and ending up in our sleeping bag) Gabe and I were ready to head home. We packed up camp pretty quickly and were on the road before 10am!
We spent the rest of our holiday cleaning up the messes we brought back. Not much of a relaxing three day weekend but we had some fun times! It's just nice to get away every once in a while. I am glad we won't be trying the whole "camping" thing again for awhile. What a lot of work!

Getting ready...

for some March madness around here! Gabe went out with the guys on Saturday morning to shop a beer store going out of business, so Levi and I used the time to watch some college basketball. We watched most of the Duke vs. Georgetown game. Here's Levi enjoying the game.














And here he is cheering when Georgetown scored! I'm teaching him early to dislike Duke!
Looks like Levi might enjoy watching basketball as much as his mother does.

Mars Vs Venus?

I made an observation a while back about just how different Gabe and I are, and I wondered if it was true for most men and women.
Here's my nightstand:And here's Gabe's:Notice the difference in reading material?
I tease Gabe a lot about not being able to read anything other than magazines. Seriously, I've really only seen him read 3 books in the 6+ years I've known him. Looking at our night stands got me wondering...
Is this just a fundamental difference between the sexes?

Help my research. What reading material do you have next to your bed? Books? Or magazines?

Levi Keeping Himself Entertained

As you all know, I got Heidi a video camera for Christmas. We've been using it quite a bit, but haven't really shown anyone any video yet. This was from last week when Levi was hanging out in his new play area thing that my dad and Joanne got him for Christmas. I'm not really sure what it's called, it's officially a "stationary entertainer" but I think that's a stupid name. Anyway, Levi likes to spin around and chew on all the different toys he has available. It's not clear what he's laughing at here, but I thought it was pretty funny.

"Real" Food!

Ok...so I've been trying to blog all day. But our internet hasn't been working. I restarted every piece of it, at least a dozen times, in an attempt to get things working. With no success. Only to have Gabe walk through the door, go down stairs, and call up to me that it's working about 10 seconds later. Totally frustrating!

Anyway....
Levi's been eating rice cereal this weekend!And he seems to like it! He's been eating it really well. Expect for the fact that he'd be just as happy chewing on the spoon. He likes to grab the spoon out of your hand, as you can see he's about to do in this photo. After we gave him cereal on Friday and Saturday he was more spitty than usual. So we think his stomach may not be quite ready for it. I gave him a little bit more this afternoon and so far so good. If it seems like it agrees with him today, we'll continue cereal for the rest of the week and maybe try some avocado over the weekend. Exciting!

Along with this milestone, I think we've also reached the teething one. There have been times I think he's been teething but now I'm sure of it! Last night Levi was up about every 2 hours and then wouldn't go back to sleep at 4am. The only thing I can figure is that his teeth are bothering him so bad he can't sleep. He seems fine otherwise (minus biting and chewing on everything...like the spoon coming into his mouth). We have some homeopathic teething tablets, so I'll be popping those in him before bed tonight. I don't think any of us want a repeat of last night.

I'd really like to get on here more often but work is keeping me pretty busy. Yuck!

I'm Alive...

barely!
We've survived my first week back to work.
I was sad about leaving Levi but that wasn't what had me most worried. It was dealing with 150 angst ridden 8th graders I was really scared of. I knew a lot of them would be unhappy to have me back. They've been able to get away with a lot from my sub that would never fly with me. But I also did hear a lot of "Mrs. West...I'm really glad you're back."

Well, Monday was really tough and there were many moments that day I started writing my letter of resignation in my head. This job just takes a lot out of me emotionally. I have about 8 girls in my 6th period class who I call the "mean girls". They got really pissed at me this week because I've been asking them to stop socializing the entire class period and do some academic work. It didn't seem like that ridiculous of a request, but I guess when you have to discuss who's breaking up with who and who's fighting who because she looked at your new boyfriend, there's no time to learn anything about America's westward expansion. Oh...I miss them as sweet innocent 7th graders. So much happens to middle school students between 7th and 8th grade! I guess that's when the hormones really kick it into high gear. Anyway, all this to say it's been a tough adjustment for them and for me. But things did get better each day, and I haven't put any of those resignation ideas actually down on paper....yet.

I'm very thankful that with the stress of my job, I haven't had to worry about Levi at all. It's great knowing he's with someone who really loves him. Maybe even almost as much as I do. My mom's been great this week! She puts in 9 1/2 hours a day and I can't get her to leave! (Mom, I'm just teasing.) She does dishes, she's done laundry and she even graded some papers for me! How did I get lucky enough to get a nanny, house keeper and assistant?

I do miss Levi a ton. I told myself I wasn't going to cry when I left him on Monday morning because I knew I'd then be sobbing all day. Unfortunately, I did tear up a little bit as I drove away from the house but I just reminded myself that he'd have a great day with Grandma and I could look forward to seeing him when I got home. Which I did. The smile that broke across his face when he saw me melted my heart! He even got the excited arm flap going too. Boy, I love that little guy!

So, here we are on Saturday morning. The first week down, and only 5 1/2 more months to go. On the agenda for the weekend is lots of snuggle time with Levi, going to the wedding of one of Gabe's co-workers, and some grocery shopping. Oh, and of course that work I had to bring home with me. Work sucks!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe 2009 is over already! It was a really great year for us. Lots of changes and many moments of stress. But overall, one of the best!

We were invited to ring in the new year with Alexis and Eric. My babysitter (AKA: Mom or Grandma) made plans of her own, so Alexis said we could bring the big guy with us. I wasn't sure how he was going to behave since his bed time is usually between 7 and 8. Well, he did great until we tried to lay him down and get him to sleep so we could play games. He just wouldn't settle down and sleep. So we ended up heading home about 10. Here's Levi with his "Auntie" Alexis before he refused to fall asleep. Celebrating his first new year!Gabe and tossed around the idea of just going to bed ourselves when we got home. But we decided to wait it out a few more hours. Here we are enjoying a Bellini right before midnight.Definitely not a great picture. But it's WAY past our bed time!
Here's to an amazing 2010!

The "Perfect" Storm

We didn't have a white Christmas but we did get some snow this week. About 2:30pm on Tuesday, my mom and I were playing with my new Wii game when all of a sudden my mom declares: "It's snowing!" We'd gone to my school and done some work that morning and were just relaxing while Levi took his nap. The flakes were big and wet, and neither of us thought it would stick. Along with everyone else in the Metro region, we thought it would stop soon and be gone in a matter of minutes. Well, that didn't happen.

It snowed the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. We got about 3 inches of snow. I know...it doesn't seem like much but the city isn't really equipped for dealing with this wet slippery snow and neither are most drivers. Gabe left work a little early because he knew the traffic home would be crazy. Little did he know how crazy it truly was. It took him 5 1/2 hours to get home. He walked in the door at 9:30. His commute is usually 30 minutes. 45 on a high traffic day. Plus his stereo was stolen out of his car a few weeks ago, so he had no way to listen to traffic reports or take his mind of the fact that he was stopped on I-5 south for hours at a time. I felt really bad for him.

So, while Gabe was in traffic hell. Levi, my mom and I did enjoy the snow. This picture is at the beginning of the snow fall. We didn't take Levi out again because it got dark and it's not like he really can play in it yet! It does seem he was interested in what that wet white stuff was. The snow is gone now, but we might have to take Levi up to the mountain to play in some more before winter is over.

Over the river and through the woods...

to grandmother's house we went.
We got to Oakridge in the early afternoon on Christmas. Levi got to visit with his "great" relatives (great uncle, great aunts, great cousin) and his grandma. We had dinner up at Gabe's aunt and uncle's house. Of course, Levi was ready for his last meal of the evening, and bed time, right when we sat down to our meal. I just realized I didn't take any pictures the whole time we were in Oakridge. I took some video but Gabe needs to show me how to get it off my new video camera.

On Saturday we visited a little longer and then drove to Gabe's dad and Joanne's house. Levi got quite the gift from his grandparents. Here's grandpa Tom helping Gabe put it together.And here's Levi playing once it was all put together. He's still a little short since he has to touch the base with his tippy toes, but he really likes "playing" with all the different things. Really I should say he likes putting them in his mouth.Once again, Tom made us quite an amazing feast for dinner. The most delicious rack of lamb I've ever tasted! And once again, guess who was ready for his dinner and bed time at the same time? I had a really hard time tearing myself away from Tom's good cooking. Gabe's aunt Jaki and her husband, as well as Gabe's cousin Nikki, came over to say hello too. So Levi got to meet even more "great" relatives.
We said good-bye around noon on Sunday and headed home. The drive was fine until we hit Albany where traffic hit a stand still. Apparently a dog decided he had enough of the drive and decided to run down I-5 North. There were several cars stopped to catch him and traffic was all sorts of messed up. We still got home pretty early and were able to get unpacked and relax a little before Gabe had to head back to work this morning. I really wish he could have taken this week off since it's my last week at home too. Oh well. I'm already planning us a little family getaway on President's day weekend.


We enjoyed seeing so many members of our family this holiday. And even though the pictures may not show it, I know Levi enjoyed it too. I just wish he'd smile his adorable smile for the camera!

First Christmas

Our 4 day Christmas celebration started on Thursday (Christmas Eve). We drove over to my mom and dad's to spend the day. Becky was there, she flew in late Wednesday night from Las Vegas. Tricia and her fiance, Travis, were there. We ate a lot of snacks, opened a ton of presents, had a big turkey dinner and then came home to put Levi in bed. Gabe and I were going to stay up and watch our traditional Christmas movie, but we decided not to wait up for Santa.
Here's Levi opening his very first Christmas present.And this is what he did once it was opened. In fact, this is what he did with all the presents he opened. He was much more interested in the wrapping paper. But not to play with...it went directly into his mouth. He does that with EVERYTHING these days.
Christmas morning my family came over to our house. We opened more presents, including those from family far away. Levi got a really cool book made by his cousins (ABC's for Levi). It was both written and illustrated by Savannah and Sawyer. I was totally surprised to open up this for Christmas. Now I don't know what to do...should I take pictures or video? You should have seen me debate it for the rest of the weekend. I think we've decided that Gabe will have to take one and I'll take the other! Here are us girls showing off the new matching PJ's my mom got us. Poor Levi got stuck being in this shot too!Gabe made our traditional Christmas breakfast of biscuits and gravy. And after Levi had a nap, and some lunch, we took off to see Gabe's family. I wasn't sure how Levi would be. It's about 2 and 1/2 hours to Gabe's mom's house. The longest car ride Levi's taken yet. But he did great! He talked a little, sang us some songs and slept. It was pretty uneventful.

Note for Santa

Holiday Festivities

We had our 7th annual Holiday Cocktail Party on Saturday night. It hardly seems possible that Gabe and I have been hosting this holiday celebration for seven years. We've now held it in three different residences, celebrated during a snow storm and we always manage to make too much food. I even cut back this year because I no longer have the time and energy.
We had a great time. It was wonderful to see friends we don't see nearly enough, share a lot of laughs and enjoy great food and drink. Love it!
I think I managed to get a photo of everyone who came...just not in one shot. I don't have the time to post them all, so this gives you a little sample of the festivities.

On Sunday morning, Gabe and I slept in a little and then finished our Christmas shopping before we picked up Levi from Grandma and Grandpa G's house. It was nice to be able to do some running around without hauling that nearly 20lb guy every where! So, I'm glad I won't have to brave the crowds any more. But I think we will head over to my school tomorrow and see what shape my classroom is in. It will probably need some straightening up. My sub didn't have the obsession with organization that I do. I think I'll do a little more baking this week before the holiday arrives. I really want to make Mindy's molasses cookies!
I'm hoping to be back on here before Christmas is completely over. It will be necessary to make sure Levi's first Christmas is well documented! Although, we do have to celebrate Christmas with 3 different families...which always makes things crazy!

1/3 of one year old

That's how Gabe likes to describe Levi's age now. What a nerd! :)

Well, our big guy is 4 months old. At his 4 month check up today he weighed in at 17lbs 10 oz! No wonder my arms are dying when I bounce him to sleep at nap time. He's 26.5 inches long! The nurse actually measured him twice because she was so surprised he was that big and she was afraid she'd measured wrong. And his head circumference is 17 inches. So he's in the upper 90% percentile on the growth charts in all categories except his head.
He's growing fast!
In the last few weeks he's also started to laugh and chuckle when I put his shirt on. He's totally ticklish...just like his dad. You can get him on the toes too. The laughs make me forget the fact that he's still up once or twice a night. I guess a big guys gotta eat right?

Trimming the Tree

We finally have a finished Christmas tree. And it was only a 4 day process to get it complete!
Here's Gabe and Levi putting the star on Sunday morning. Levi doesn't seem too interested or impressed does he?He's definitely most interested in chewing on his fingers at this point.

And here's the finished tree last night. Gabe and I put on the last of the ornaments while Levi sat and supervised. He seemed pretty interested in what we were doing and next year he'll be able to help us out!I'm excited to be starting my holiday baking with the girls tonight. I'm trying to focus on the holidays instead of my fear of returning to work. I went in last Monday, and yesterday, and it's really hard to believe I'll be back there for good in a few weeks. Everyone was asking me what they could do to help me out and transition back to work, but I couldn't think of anything. I'm pretty sure I'm still in denial about what returning will really be like.

Hunting for a Christmas Tree

Why is it that the weekend we put aside to get our Christmas tree is always rainy and miserable? I don't think in all the years Gabe and I have been together, we've had one tree hunting experience where we didn't end up caked in mud and soaked to the bone.
I was afraid when we went to bed Friday night that we'd wake up in the morning with snow on the ground, no snow tires on our car yet, and no way to get our tree. But there was no need to fear. Since the forecasted "Arctic Storm" didn't hit overnight we figured we'd be OK. But we were still a little nervous since every TV weather person swore it was still going to hit. Good thing we didn't wait around. I would have been really annoyed if we'd stayed home just to wait for a storm that never arrived.
We struck out on the weather front with the cold temperatures and spitting rainy. We also struck out picking a tree farm. We have yet to find a farm we'll return to year after year. We didn't want to venture too far from home, just in case arctic weather did make an appearance. So, we went south to Tualatin to Lee Farms. It's a full service operation. All you have to do is pick out the tree. They come on a tractor, cut down the tree for you, throw it on the back of the tractor and drop it off. They then shake it, bale it and even load it on your car. So, Gabe didn't have to do a thing. I think he was a little disappointed. The trees weren't great, but we found one that will do the job. Levi enjoyed helping pick out his first Christmas tree, except for the loud chain saw. When the guy started up the chain saw to cut down our tree, Levi belted out the loudest scream I've hear yet. Guess he's not use to those sorts of loud noises...yet. I'm sure his dad will have him use to the sound of roaring engines soon enough.
Well, here's a picture of me and Levi all bundled up searching for our "perfect" tree. No pictures of the finished tree yet. Hopefully Gabe and I will get around to the decorating once the little guy is in bed tonight.

Gift for baby Levi

I just have to share this because I giggled when I saw it. Ryan, Heather and the kids left some Christmas gifts here when they were visiting last month so that they wouldn't have to send them. Well, here's Levi's gift from his cousins. Gotta love that little swaddled baby with the spiky hair. Looks just like the little guy. I might have to keep this precious little picture to put in his baby book. So cute! I love it!

Bead For Life

My mom and I were inspired by my sister, and decided to have a Bead for Life party this weekend. We actually invited people over both yesterday, and today, in hopes of having lots of people to support this wonderful cause. We were thinking people would find it a great opportunity to do some holiday shopping, while at the same time supporting women in Uganda break free of poverty. It really is a wonderful program (check out their website to learn more). Plus, the beads are amazingly beautiful. I love that almost 80% of the money you give for purchasing the beads goes back to the community. And as a host of the party...we gain nothing. Except enjoying the beads. Which I could literally look through for hours because each one is special and unique.

Well, turn out wasn't as good as we'd hoped. It's getting close to the holidays, and it seems everyone was using the nice dry weather to get their Christmas tree this weekend. But we are sending back over $800, so I feel really good about that.

Again....a very special thank you to everyone who came by, looked at and bought beads. It was nice to see everyone and chat. Enjoy the beads and spread the word!

Update: My mom's had the beads at her house for the last week and a few more people stopped by to look at them and make purchases. So the grand total we'll be sending back to Bead for Life is over $1100! Wow! Totally cool!

December already?

How is it possible that December is here already?
As much as I love the holiday season, and having a new little one to celebrate it with, I'm really not looking forward to it. The holidays signal my return to work. I head back right after the new year and there's a big part of me that doesn't want it to come. It's been really hard staying home with Levi for the last 3 months. And there were times when I wished I was at work because I feel confident in my abilities there...everything about being a mother, and caring for this little guy, is new and I continually feel like I'm lacking. But this week I've started to think about how I won't get to watch him explore and discover new things each day. He's changing and growing so fast. And it makes me sad to know I'll be missing some of it.
Being a mom is tough, and my paying job is hard and exhausting too. And I'm afraid that I won't be able to do both of my jobs, being a great mom and teacher, very well. They both take so much out of you! Unfortunately, I can't just walk out the school door and leave my work behind me. And I don't want to spend my evenings and weekends working on school stuff because that's my time with Levi, but in reality there's no other way to do my job well.
So, after thinking about this all week, here are my final thoughts. It may seem simple and clear to you, but being the planner I am, it will be a challenge for me. I figure what I have to do now is enjoy every moment I have with my little guy. Forget the piles of laundry, the sink full of dirty dishes and the list of other projects I want to get done around here. I have to enjoy this time while I have it. The rest will fall into place...right?

Thanksgiving Pictures

We've been laying pretty low today. Had a late night playing games with Heather and Ryan, and a baby that was especially hungry in the wee hours of the morning, to recover from. Oh, and that day filled with cooking and eating! We did brave the crowds and hit up the Fred Meyer sock sale extravaganza. Won't make that mistake again for awhile. Or at least until my drawer is full of threadbare socks again.
I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from yesterday.
Here's one of us all sitting down at the table ready to feast. It makes me so happy to see everyone together...oh, minus me and Levi. Somehow, by luck, Levi's evening nap happened to fall right at dinner time. It was nice to enjoy the meal but I still noticed Gabe and I were the first ones done eating. Guess we've become masters at speed eating in three months.
So, here's one of me and Levi. (The only one with him sort of looking at the camera)And one of the after dinner games.

Giving Thanks

Figure I should get this on here before things get too crazy today. We're having a late thanksgiving dinner this year but I still have a ton to do today.

I have so much to be thankful for this year.

• A healthy and (mostly) happy baby boy. Who just happens to be the cutest baby in existence!
• An amazing husband who is a wonderful cook, does dishes, works hard, and does all the home projects I ask him without complaining. Who makes up silly songs to sing to Levi and is skilled in putting our stubborn baby back to sleep.
  
• A pregnancy that was free of complications and was so "good" I'd do it again if the end result wasn't another little one.
• Our new house! (Enough said...go back to July if you don't know why I'm so thankful.)
• Employment. Even though the thought of going back to work on January 4th brings tears to my eyes. I am thankful I have a job to go back to. And I'm thankful Gabe has employment. I'm thankful the economy hasn't hit his company hard and that he'll actually be getting a big bonus this year.
• My mom. She gets a special mention here because I don't think I would have made it through the first month post-partum without her help. She provided me with many hours of much needed sleep. Those hours then translated to sanity.
• Last of all, I'm thankful for Thanksgiving! I love Thanksgiving and I can't wait to have the Morrison's here with us. It's been a long time!
  

Home for the Holiday

My sister (Heather) and nephew (Sawyer) have been in town this week visiting from St. Louis. The rest of the family, Ryan and Savannah, come in today.
It's been a really long time since we've seen them. Over 2 years! Gabe and I had to miss the big family reunion in South Dakota this summer since it happened the week before Levi was born. So, it's been great to have them here. I was excited for Levi to meet his Aunt Heather and one of his only two cousins. Unfortunately, I don't think the boys felt the same way. We had quite a struggle trying to get Sawyer to pose for a picture. And of course Levi wouldn't look at the camera, so this is the best shot I have of the two boy cousins. Hopefully I can get some better ones of all three of the kids.I really liked this one of Levi and his Aunt Heather. I'm so glad he finally got to meet her and it sure looks like he loves her! I was really sad she couldn't be here when he was born and it makes me happy to see them together now.I'm getting ready for the huge feast tomorrow. Unfortunately, I pulled the turkey out to defrost a little late and just got the herb rub on it this morning. (It's suppose to be on for 3 days!) Oh, well. I think it will still taste delicious. And instead of working out during Levi's nap times today, I think I'll choose to make pies. A little ironic...but 'tis the season right?

Sleeping like a baby

Don't let this adorable kid fool you!
If only he would spend his nights this way.