Enjoying the yard...

We are getting ready to go on vacation for eight days in Central Oregon with my family tomorrow. Packing is quite the feet, so now and then we need a break from it all. Aaden especially likes to head outside to explore the yard, see what is growing in our garden and listen to the airplanes, bugs, kids etc...

Here are my kids enjoying the day...

Note my teeth are really showing now. My top left tooth cut last night...causing a sleepless few hours of crying!

A little of this & a little of that

This past weekend Grandma Renee' and Grandpa Terry spent the night. It was fun to have them over. We woke up Saturday, had a nice breakfast and got haircuts. It is so nice to have your hairdresser come to you! After naps, the boys (grandpa, daddy and Aaden) headed out for coffee and lunch in Grandpa's big truck. I am told that Aaden loved it, he was able to have the wind rustle his hair and sit up so high! Meanwhile, Grandma Renee' and I went off to get a bathing suite for me. It was fun and productive! I felt kind of naked without Aaden on my hip though, but was relieved to learn upon our arrival home that all was well. The boys pressure washed the front and back and even put Aaden down for a nap. We had an early dinner before they headed home. All-in-all, I think a pretty productive and fun time!

This evening we harvested our first crop of potatoes, pretty exciting. I think I'll make some mashed potatoes or sate' them in butter with dill for dinner tomorrow. Exciting!

A day in the life...

I am truly enjoying every second of being home with Aaden this month. We usually have breakfast as a family (never happens when I'm working, in fact I don't even see my boys awake), play, take great morning naps and try new foods for lunch. In the afternoon we usually take a nice long walk, exploring our neighborhood, meeting other strolling babies and moms and finding parks with swings. Aaden loves being outside, having the wind in his hair and playing in the grass. I see him daily learn more about his world and explore a little further.

His latest enjoyment: when mom tips over his toy box and he gets to choose which toys he'd like to play with!

In this case he had ALL of his toys in and around his lap. Great fun!

Aaden and Mom's Vacation

Aaden and I went to Portland for nearly 10 days to visit my parents, hence the hiatus from blogging. Before we left we drove down to Puyallup and spent the night at Kristofer's folks. It was one HOT day, after 3 hours of trying to get Aaden down he finally crashed around 11pm. He woke early to hang out with his Uncle Kelley and Uncle Jonner (who accompanied us on the first leg of our trip because he missed the boy so).

We then left for Portland and that evening enjoyed a spectacular neighborhood fireworks show. The weekend was spent helping my folks get their yard in gear, shoveling dirt and gravel, pulling weeds and planting. This was all done in 95 degree weather! Uncle Jonner showed up on his bike (from Seattle via train, bus and bike) to help out too...just in time! We enjoyed our 4th of July celebration with a lovely dinner outside and a few sparklers after dark.

Sunday Kristofer headed home to work for the week and Aaden and I stayed on. We had lots of visitors. To start, Aunt Ellen and Peter Jones came from Bend to meet Aaden on Monday. Pete especially was a hit, even feeding Aaden his lunch! Bonus - a cool tie-dye shirt from Aunt E! Tuesday, friend Louise Knoll dropped by and my Mom and I went out in search for a new comforter and paint for my old room. Our goal was to 'clean up' the high school room and bring it into the present day, a huge job! On Wednesday we spent all day painting and cleaning - I think it turned out pretty nicely! My friend from College, Denee' Kroeger came for dinner. It was great to hang out with her and catch up as she had just returned from Uganda! Thursday Aunt Kathryn Lysaght came for lunch and got some much needing cheek kissing in. We then headed to Salem to visit my grandmother Virginia. Aaden and she read books and chatted. Friday we were reunited with Daddy and more yardwork and clean up was done. By Saturday morning though Daddy was flat on his back after shoveling one dirt load, he didn't right himself until almost 10pm! Aunt Ann Bartsch stopped by Saturday as well. We returned home on Sunday late due to the injury.

Over the course of the week Aaden did many cool new things - he got his second tooth, began feeding himself almost completely, said "Baba" and "Mama", continued to get better at crawling, stood up and played with his tabletop toy and slept great. It was wonderful to spend so much time with my parents in their home and relax. We were so thankful for the time and look forward to vacation at the end of the month with them at Black Butte!

Here are some pictures from our time:

My cool uncles!

Grandpa feeding Aaden!

Our 4th of July Celebration

Our cute red, white and blue boy!

Peter and Aunt Ellen Jones meeting Aaden

This is Sophie, Denee'!

Reading with great grandma the librarian

One cool dude!

10 hours like this, not sure why he is smiling.

Watching Daddy pack, a great week with my grandparents!!