November 2012

Future Humboldt Grad! 

Mushroom hunting with Evan

GrandPappy, Jake and Marc

Look at those eyebrows!

Happy boy!

Lucy and her menagerie

Lucy likes to wear footie pajamas like her baby brother.

Siblings!

Getting ready for her first sleepover!

Auntie and Jakey, all bundled up!

Jake has finally really noticed Sean

Snuggling with Daddy

Jake and Gracie

Fall color in our yard

Dress up!

Marc, cooking on Thanksgiving Day

Katie, beautiful Katie

Lucy and GrandPappy Bobby

Lucy and her special friend Stella

Marc and Tiffany

Katie and I

Fun on the swing

Our Thanksgiving Family

Look at this boy!!!

The month of November was filled with good times! We went out mushroom hunting with Robin and Rose, enjoying a day in the woods of the Mt. Hood National Forest. This was not a very good season for wild mushrooms, perhaps because we had a long, dry summer. I suppose it was a good trade-off! Katie and Bob and all of us still had an adventure. Lucy loves tromping in the forest.  Lucy had her first sleepover, at her friend Stella's house. She had a great time! When Casey called to ask if Lucy wanted to spend the night, he wasn't sure if she would be ready. Lucy, however, immediately went to her room and began packing (she only packed toys!).  Lucy did great and I was so proud of her, but it is hard to believe that she is growing up so quickly!

We hosted a Thanksgiving dinner and I really enjoyed it. I loved planning the food and cooking. I learned a lot, and I love to learn more about cooking good food. It has been so nice having family in town, Katie and Bob are such a nice addition to our "Portland" family. Tiffany and Ben joined us, as well as Casey, Aesoon and Stella. The food was great, and the company even better. Lucy really had fun!

Lucy is coming more and more into her own everyday. She is taking swim lessons, and I love watching her in the pool, dunking under and floating. She is getting the hang of it! Her vocabulary is growing, and of course she says the funniest things. "Mom, I'm LEARNING" accompanied by an eye roll has popped out of her mouth at a couple of funny times, when I am getting frustrated. She is reminding me herself that she is just a kid, and to be patient! I got home after a particularly sad day at work and she greeted me by running up to me, smiling and saying, "Mommy, I just had a hangaburger." It was great! I am so lucky to have her! In her speech she uses the word "from" instead of "because". She loves to make up lyrics to songs. Here is one that she composed about Gracie: "Gracie is my favorite dog, and I love her in time beneath my heart, and really really happy and if I don't like the pie any more then I give it to Gracie, my doggy, doggy dog!" :)I showed her how to make snapdragons "talk" by pinching them, and now whenever we go out front she will pick a snapdragon and make it talk. She still loves doing artwork, and it is so much fun for me to watch her as she progresses! She is our special, special girl.

Jake is also growing like crazy. He is not quite six months and he fits perfect in 12 month clothing. It's crazy! He is really beginning to move...he rolls and rolls, and can fan out in any direction, or push himself backwards.  He can get everywhere! He is starting to use his legs to push himself sort of forward. Soon he will be up on his knees! He talks all the time, squealing and making loud sounds at times. He will start to loudly hum if he is tired. Sometimes he falls asleep on his own! Jake is getting more balanced with sitting, but is still pretty wobbly. He loves singing, bath time (!), books and his toys. He grabs at everything, and has pretty good hand-eye coordination already. He has loves to reach out and grab the "ringer" on the wind chimes in his room and make them chime. He gets very excited doing that. He is teething, but no teeth yet! He does like to eat his oatmeal, or rice cereal. Yesterday, however, I mashed in some banana and he did NOT like it. He spit out every little bit! I kept trying to no avail! He loves his big sister, and she loves him. They love each other! Sometimes we all play "Super Jake! Coming to the Rescue!" It is a fun make believe scenario. Lucy adores playing make believe!!!  Jake is a happy little boy, very easy going and calm. We sure love our Baby Bubba.

We are all doing well and loving life. Sometimes the pace of life can seem overwhelming, Marc and I both have many responsibilities outside of the home, and relationships that we cherish. It is a balancing act trying to keep it all together sometimes, and keep the house clean and us all fed! I would not trade any of it though, and spending time writing down these thoughts about my family reminds me of what it is all about...love.

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.