October 2012

Jake loves his Pappy Bobby!

Mommy's Little Monster at the pumpkin patch.

Of all of the pumpkins, this one was Lucy's choice! 

Look who's eating solids!

Lucy Kat

Lucy and Jake were having so much fun!

Look at this boy!

My special girl.

Carving pumpkins

Auntie and Jakey

Jack-O-Lanterns 2012

I love my family

Lucy wanted to be Baby Jaguar, from the Diego shows.

Auntie and Pumpkin

It's a pumpkin and a baby jaguar! Oh my!

We had fun!

Evan and Lucy after trick-or-treating.

Sean and Jake are getting bigger!

Baby Bubba

October was a nice month. Lucy and I did several different art and cooking projects to celebrate fall and Halloween.  It was fun! She decided that she wanted to dress up as Baby Jaguar, a character from her favorite cartoon, Diego. I enjoyed making her costume and seeing her excitement to go Trick-or-Treating.  Katie and I got a pumpkin costume for Jake, and we had Rose, Robin and the boys over for dinner and Halloween fun.  It was great watching Lucy and Evan going door to door. At first Evan was totally unsure of trick or treating, but at about the 4th house something clicked and then he was racing from house to house. He was so cute! Lucy was pretty cute herself, and everyone loved Baby Sean and Baby Jake. We all dressed up, and had a great time. Marc and Bob passed out candy, and the night was dry and fairly warm, which was awesome as it had been very rainy for several days beforehand. We were blessed to be out west, away from Hurricane Sandy....

The Endless Summer (has come to an end...)

Pappy Bobby just moved in!

Jake's first "Dead" show

Little Lucy

Elena, Erik and Kerry's daughter

Daddy and Lucy!

Day 2, waiting in line with Judy

Robin said, "Take my picture!" :) It is always fun to have Robin at shows.

Katie Lee and Tiffany

Yeah! He's sleeping!

Marc and Kurt

Darren and Issac

Ben and Tiff

The Harvest Moon.

What fun a Furthur show is!

Lucy nursing her baby, complete with nursing pillow.

Little Brother, so sweet!

Auntie Katie moved in!

Jake is so happy!

Grammy Pam and Jake

Here in Portland, we have had the longest stretch of dry weather ever recorded. It has been like a dream, and it is ending today...but that is ok! To welcome the return of the rain, in true Oregonian style, we headed to the zoo with Rose and her kids, rain jackets and umbrella's in tow.  It was a little tricky, but it was fun.  Better to seize the day, accept the change and continue to get out and about, then to sit inside lamenting the wet weather.

The warmth has truly been wonderful, and we have tried to bask in the glow of it as much as possible.  We were able to go to two outdoor Furthur shows (think Grateful Dead) at the Edgefield in late September. It was great getting together with so many friends from near and far, dancing and celebrating to the music. Jake came both nights and was a breeze, and Lucy only came the first night. It was fun having her, and fun to have a bit more freedom the second night. She stayed home with Pappy Bobby, as he had just moved in! He will be with us another week before he moves into his own place, and my sister Katie is living here too! It has been really nice having them here, and so good for the kids to have their Grandfather and Auntie around. I have enjoyed the extra help!  It was also nice having my Mom in town for a bit as Katie moved in.

Lucy is very excited about Halloween, and we have been doing lots of activities around that theme.  She is beginning to be able to go rest in her room and look at books by herself for a bit in the afternoon, which is really nice for me as she rarely naps anymore. Playing the harmonica is something she enjoys.  She loves to get together with friends, and is doing fantastically in her swim class. Her teacher has already told me she is ready for the next level! That is great.  She loves having her GrandPappy and Auntie here.

Jake is a joy to be around...he is such a happy baby.  He really wants to be able to sit up on his own...but he still hasn't rolled over.  He loves looking around at everything, and babbling...it is so much fun to make noise!  He is 4 months old today, but 9 month clothing fits him perfectly! He is huge!  The last several weeks have seen many changes, in both his development and our lives. I am happy! Sometimes I feel like I have several pots that I am struggling to keep from boiling over, but it all comes together and everything keeps working out. Life can be hectic and hard and messy, but fantastic and great all at the same time. It really helps to keep making an effort to have fun, to enjoy each other's company, and know that this is it...this is life and we better enjoy it and love it while we have it and each other.

Sunny September 2012

Cool Lucy

Lucy at the Salmon Street Fountain

Aunt Dianne and Jake

LucyKat!

Windy Day

Rose and Sean

Lucy and Marc flying a kite

Jakey-Boy's first beach trip!

He liked getting his toes in the sand

Sean and Jake

Little Guy

For Tasha!

Just some of the bounty

Lucy 

Watch out!

This has been a very nice, warm, sunny September. Usually I feel like there is more back-and-forth action with the weather is September, but this year it has only been gorgeous.  I have a feeling Fall is going to come in with a bang soon. We have enjoyed things like going downtown to meet Marc at lunch and play in the Salmon Street Fountain, and taking a long afternoon walk at the zoo.  We got to head out to Garibaldi on the Oregon Coast for a weekend with friends which was so much fun. Jake visited the ocean for the first time and it was so special for me. I dipped his little toes in the water in honor of my GrandPaddy, who died in 2001.  I would have loved to have had her dip his little toes in the water for the first time! He loved it and he also liked putting them in the sand. Lucy got to fly a kite for the first time which was exciting. The guys went crabbing and we feasted! Mmmm, crab...

Jake is becoming so much more interactive, grabbing at things and sticking things on his mouth. He is working on rolling over but is not quite there yet.  He is laughing, which is oh, so sweet. He loves to watch Lucy and is starting to look around for her. Lucy started Preschool a couple of weeks ago and she is really enjoying it. Today she didn't even want me to hug her goodbye in front of the other kids! Already! I was glad though, when I picked her up and she shouted "Mommy!" and ran over and hugged me. I love spending time with her and getting to know her. She is becoming more and more sophisticated in her tastes, both with food and other things, and will tell me she likes things "sort of" or "not really" or "this is my favorite!" The other day she said that something was a "butt in the pain." (She got that one from her Dad!) She always is asking me to have friends come over, she just loves to play with other kids. It will be so nice for her as Jake grows and they can play together!

I went back to work earlier this month, and though my schedule is very light it was sad to say goodbye to maternity leave. It has been such a special time hanging out, taking care of Jake and Lucy, and enjoying summer. Even with all of the hard work it can be caring for young kids, I really have loved it.  I hope to continue to enjoy my family in the moment, cultivating love, happiness, and positive energy.

Labor Day Weekend at the Farm

Jake was excited to be in the tent!

The Twigg Sisters! Joby and Polly.

Tiffany

Marc and Jake, Rick in the background.

Gracie is tuckered out!

Sean is so cute! He is a happy boy!

Evan with a crawdad. He is just like his Dad Robin.

Lucy, exploring at the river.

Wow, Lucy Bel is strong!

Rose!

The Clackamas River

Sean and Jake

Aram with the snake he caught!

Little Buddy Jake

Lucy and Jake having a tea party!

We were blessed with nice weather over Labor Day Weekend, and we able to enjoy the outdoors at Rose and Robin's house. Camping, BBQ, and friends and family. It was so much fun getting to hang out and enjoy the sunshine, the campfire, the river and the company. I feel so grateful to be surrounded by so many wonderful people. Lucy has so much fun playing with her friends, laughing and learning.  I love seeing all of our friends children growing up.  It really is special.  Now Jake and Sean are here and it is going to be fun watching them alongside each other.

The kids had fun down at the river the day after the BBQ, exploring all around, and finding all kinds of interesting things. It is so nice to go down to the river spot at the farm, seeing it year after year and noticing the way it has changed and the way it has stayed the same. It feels good being there.