Finally!

Alexis is finally sitting in her high chair and feeding herself!

The bowl didn't get thrown to the floor or the contents smeared all over the tray. She didn't dump her breakfast on the seat next to her or put it into her hair like gel. The dog didn't get even one little morsel from her bowl, though he sat like a sentinel under her highchair.

She is actually using her spoon and quite carefully putting her yogurt into her mouth! HURRAH!!

I was starting to think this day would never come.

Poor Baby

Poor little Logan woke up in the wee hours on Saturday morning with a fever. We battled his fever all day long but after his infant Motrin would wear off, that darn fever would come back.

Sunday morning his fever peaked at 102 so I called the nurse and she had me take him into the office. It turns out my little guy has a monster ear infection in his left ear! Remember how I have said that his cry just was pitiful? Well, the doctor and nurse both said that his cry was enough to break their heart.

So... he is on antibiotics and he has eardrops. It was another long, long night - but he should be getting better in another 24 hours or so. I just hope that he is on his way to recovery before we head down to San Diego on Wednesday night.

Elk Lake

Yesterday the chitlin's, Ginger, Danae and I joined my neighbor, Maya at Elk Lake for the afternoon.

I know that I live in a beautiful place. I have the most amazing views right out my windows. But on our way to the lake, I was awe struck by just HOW beautiful the area is about 30 minutes from my house. I couldn't believe it! The last time I saw nature as pretty as that was when I went to Banff in Canada when I was 26 years old.

Elk Lake has a beach side to it that is really, really shallow. There were lots of other mothers there with small children and the kids were all having the best time walking around the water and playing in the sand. Alexis had the best time! She played and played all day and just wore herself out. We are going back on Sunday with Bob to hang for the day.

Evidently we have a ton of lakes and I have now decided that it is my new goal to visit every area of every lake before winter sets in. Even if it means that we just do a bunch of hiking and don't actually go in the water at all.

Multi-Purpose Bed

Dog bed by night and kid bed by day.

Yup, we do things a bit different in my house I’m guessing. We have our pets and wouldn’t get rid of them for anything, but their “stuff” becomes kid toys when the chitlin’s are around.

I can’t blame Alexis for wanting to hang out on the dog bed. After all, it is nice and cushy. When you throw a pillow on it you can recline and watch Sesame Street in utter relaxation. So… it became inevitable that the dog bed would become kid furniture since it is in the living room. Our solution is to put a blanket or old comforter on it during the day (which gets washed frequently) and we try to remember to put it up every evening so that the dogs (and cats) can lay on it at night.

It has also become Logan’s favorite nap spot in the whole house. When he won’t sleep anywhere else, I can put him there and he will drift off and stay asleep longer than anywhere else in the house. I sure hope that he likes a crib mattress. It would look rather strange to put a dog bed in the crib. (just kidding)

Big Girl Bed

It’s ready….but she is not. At least not quite yet.

Well, Katya (being 5’ 7”) outgrew her bed, so she got the queen we were using as a guest bed and her twin went to Alexis. I bought that twin bed for Katya when she was five years old. Katya and I had shared a queen sized bed for a while before she moved to a twin, so she never had to worry about side rails. She had more than enough space and she had a wall on one side and me on the other. After we had moved into the townhome I sucked it up and went to buy us some furniture. Nice stuff that matched and had no assembly required. Katya had her Ikea bed and I had a mattress that was on the floor next to my Target lamp.

I fell in love with a craftsman bed and two night stands and a Stickley armoire that they had marked way down to move off the floor (it is beautiful). When I went to the kids section Katya fell in love with a white canopy bed and really girly dresser and desk. I KNEW that furniture would not stand the test of time, so I bought the rather plain maple furniture instead. Boy was she mad at me! For her mattress I bought her a 17 inch thick, double pillow top, marshmallow bed. It is divine! The only problem with it was that for a couple of years until Katya grew enough, she had to take a running leap to get onto her bed. Her bed has a trundle under it for a nice roll away sleepover place for friends and a more reasonable sized mattress.

Alexis is now 18 months old and Logan is now 6 months old. Logan is starting to outgrow his bassinet and the logical place to put him is in the crib. Only the crib is currently occupied by Alexis. It was time to start prepping the twin bed for Alexis. I ordered a really nice and super large side rail, a step stool (from Target) as well as a twin sized “accident” pad. After Bob put the side rail in place we realized that the mattress was WAY too big. So we put the super huge mattress in a mattress cover thingie and put it in the art room/storage room for a later date. We then moved the trundle mattress to the top and it fit perfectly! I washed the sheets, made the bed and let Alexis give it a shot. She loves that bed. She loves climbing up and down off of that bed. She just isn’t quite ready to sleep in that bed. When we come back from our vacation in August we will work on transitioning her out of the crib and into the twin. At the same time we will move Logan from our room into the crib.

Anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

Blanket Head

Sometimes people have the strangest habits.

Bob likes to pull the covers over his head when he sleeps. I can't stand it, so we always have a little battle of blankets at night. As soon as I get out of bed, the blankets go over his head. I thought it was just him.

Then Alexis started doing it when she was about 6 months old. Although she mostly sleeps on her face with her little butt in the air, she likes to bury her face into a blanket. It freaks me out! I am always afraid that she will suffocate herself.

Now Logan is doing it! I had laid him in the pack and play for a nap and put a blanket over him. I cleaned the kitchen and then went back to check on him and what did I see? His blanket pulled up over his face.

That is one strong genetic trait.

Visiting Aunties

Debbie K. decided to surprise Jane by flying two of her sisters, Lyn and Sharon, out here for a visit from North Carolina. Let me just say, they are two of the lovelies ladies you could ever hope to make the acquaintance of.

I had written to Lyn before and sent her baby announcements as well as our family newsletter and Christmas card. She even told me that she reads my blog! Hi Lyn!! She, having never met me before in my life, sent both of my babies shower gifts. She sent Alexis two super warm sleepers and she sent Logan some scrapbooking stuff (I just now have to actually START his baby book). How sweet was that? I didn't have Sharon's address, so I hadn't sent her anything. I have it now so I can fill up her mailbox with correspondance.

We had dinner with Lyn and Sharon a couple of nights and I went with them to the High Desert Museum one day. I had just the nicest time visiting with the both of them. I feel as though I have known them for much longer than the one week that they were here. Lyn is all Southern sweetness and sugar. In fact, Logan just couldn't get enough of her. (I think he has a thing for redheads.) Sharon is a bit more tenacious, but exceedingly sweet and thoughtful. Both of them are a most wonderful addition to my life. I thank them both for all the love and cuddles that they gave to Logan and Alexis while they were here.

I hope that we get to go to Asheville again some day (Bob and I went years ago) and pay them a visit. Bob, Patti and Debbie have two amazingly wonderful Aunties!

Seattle Trip: Part 3

The last night at Michelle’s was a restful one. Poor Godiva was forced to sleep in the kitchen so I could catch a few winks of sleep. But I slept great! Michelle has the best mattress and pillows… so comfy.

After we got up, showered and packed the car (the smaller they are the more stuff they have) Michelle took us out for breakfast. I don’t remember the name of the place, but I would like to go back there to try some more of their amazing creations. I am a breakfast fiend and really love and appreciate a big breakfast. After loading up on tons of yummy food I bid goodbye to Michelle (it broke my heart to do so) and we headed back towards Bend.

We brought the portable DVD player and Bob had bought a couple of movies for Alexis when he was out and about the week prior. We had “Muppets from Space” (a classic for any home movie collection) and “Elmo in Grouchland”. Those movies made the LONG drive home much more tolerable for us all. Alexis was glued to the DVD screen and didn’t really fuss at all! After several hours of driving we stopped at a rest stop along the I-5 so she could run around and play for a bit. Washington is such a beautiful state. And a well caffeinated one. Did you know that most rest stops in Washington offer free coffee? No falling asleep at the wheel in that state.

On our way back we saw some signs for Mt. St. Helens. I remember watching the footage of the eruption when I was a little girl and I have always wanted to go and see her in person. We didn’t have the time to go to the closest viewing area, but we did manage to go to one just five miles off of the freeway. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day and the mountain was hiding from us. Katya will go and visit her next year as a science field trip and get to be as close as they allow. Lucky chick! Of course, being me, I took pictures anyway.

On our way home, we stopped at an Olive Garden (how I missed those breadsticks) for dinner and stretched our legs before heading on the last three hour leg of our journey. When we finally rolled back into Bend it was late and we were all dog tired. Why does it have to be that coming home always takes longer than it took to get to your vacation destination?

Seattle Trip: Part 2

Saturday morning rolled around after another long night. Again, Bob slept with Alexis. Only this time I tried sleeping with Michelle. And her cat, Smokey. And her dog, Godiva. Let’s just say that Godiva is a bed hog. She is only a little King Charles Spaniel, but that dog can spread out! Now, I love and adore Godiva. In fact, I gave Godiva to Michelle so she is like my little god-dog (like a godchild). However, I have no desire to sleep with her again. If she couldn’t sleep on me, then she wanted to sleep between Michelle and I. And slowly work her way sideways and push me off of the bed like a toddler does. What a stinker!

Anyhoo…. We all got up and visited some more and got ready to head out for our day. Bob went back to the Arlington Fly-In to try and hit some of their workshops and talks as well as drool over some more airplanes. Michelle, myself and the chitlins (as Michelle calls them) piled into my trusty Durango and, with Michelle at the wheel, we headed to downtown Seattle. We plopped the kids into my uber cool Phil and Ted’s stroller that Michelle had sent me as a shower gift for Logan and walked down to Pike’s Place Market. I love that place! Granted, with it being summer there were tons of tourists crowding the sidewalks. Not that it slowed us down. First, we went to a French pastry shop and bought a few pastries that were OH SO GOOD! I love and adore baked goods, much to the detriment of my desire to lose more baby weight. Then we went down to a fruit stand and bought some apples, grapes, Rainer cherries and some nectarines. Next was some iced coffee and then we sat at a park across the street to munch on our goodies, admire the gorgeous view and visit. And swelter – it was another hot and humid day. After our brunch we stopped by Beecher’s Cheese shop and I loaded up on some of my favorite cheese as well as their mac & cheese (soooooooooo amazing). I had my little refrigerated cooler in my truck so nothing would spoil.

From Pike’s Place we headed over to Michelle’s Aunt’s house. Her name is Barbara and her husband’s name is, John. They are just amazingly lovely people and they live in one of the most beautiful Victorian houses I have ever seen on Mt. Baker. Michelle, Rese, Katya and I stayed with them in March of 2005 when we went to Seattle for a vacation. We had so much fun and Michelle’s aunt and uncle did their best to make sure we had a great time. It was so nice to see them again! Barbara, Michelle, the chitlins and I loaded onto a city bus and headed back downtown to attend an International Festival in Seattle’s Asian District. There was lots and lots of great smelling food, vendors galore, free Starbucks samples and a stage that had some great drumming demonstrations. It would have been more fun if it hadn’t been so darn HOT! And, as I found out, Seattle doesn’t really have air conditioning anywhere because it rarely is ever that hot. So no matter where we went, there was no escaping the heat. It is disconcerting to stand up from sitting for a while and feel like you wet your pants. Yulky. We eventually loaded back onto a bus (Alexis loves buses) and headed back to Barbara’s house and met up with Bob there. We hung out with them for hours and they were so nice as to buy pizza and salad for us all.

All in all, it was a great day. Great food, amazing company, gorgeous location and very relaxing. Man, I miss seeing Michelle every day!

Ok...I'm a little obsessive

I finished the book. The UPS gal brought my copy of The Deathly Hallows around 11am and pretty much I was a book reading vegetable until 1am when I finished the last page of this almost 800 page book.

So sad in some parts... so suspenseful throughout...so good.

How did this lady think up this stuff!!!

Harry Potter Fever

I must admit, I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I still remember umpteen years ago walking into Borders on a Friday night and spying the book on the new releases shelf. I picked it up and went to have some Chinese food across the parking lot and couldn't pry my nose out of the book until the wee hours of that next morning. I was hooked!

The whole Harry Potter series has been a literary phenomenon that I don't know will be repeated in my lifetime. Imagine, having SEVEN bestseller books that have inspired young and old alike to sit and read cover to cover. Before Katya was competent enough of a reader to read the books by herself, we had bought the books on tape. I truely believe that listening to all the books (repeatedly) has really helped her public speaking. She learned when to have inflection, when to pause, and when to possibly use another tone of voice. For years, I could see the influence in her choice of vocabulary for her stories for school.

I believe that this woman, J.K. Rowling, is a masterful storyteller. I have had many discussions at the end of each new book release with my Mom, aunts, cousins, friends and Katya as to why each character did what they did and what could possibly be the outcome of the next book. It is so nice to have literary banter with your kid.

Last night (or this morning technically speaking) at midnight was the official release of the last book. Michelle called me from Seattle as she was on her way to hang out at her local Borders until midnight to procure her copy. I talked to Beth and her and Doug and Pam were going to do the same thing at their Barnes and Noble. I was so sad that I couldn't be there with Michelle sipping caramel macchiatos, hanging around my most favorite bookstore ever, buying one of the first copies of this book and staying up ALL NIGHT reading it with her in coffee shops. Instead, I sit here anxiously awaiting the UPS guy to show up with my pre-ordered copy of The Deathly Hallows. I pre-ordered it months and months ago and I was hoping it would be here by 8am like the last book was when I was in Poway. But it isn't. And I'm bummin'!

Katya is currently on her river rafting trip. She will be so jealous when she sees it! She said she wanted to wait for me to finish my copy, but I believe that we will probably be making a trip to COSTCO tomorrow to procure her own copy.

Seattle Trip: Part 1

Bob, myself and the kids all packed into my trusty Durango (with the new Thule roof cargo thingie) last Thursday night and headed off towards Seattle. Bob had decided at the last minute that he wanted to go to the Arlington Fly-In (an airplane event) and it worked out that my most bestest best friend, Michelle, lives in Everett just a mere 15 minutes from the airport. So we left home around 8pm and arrived in Everett around 3am. Brutal!

We said a few hellos, got our junk out of the car, got the kids into their sleeping locations (Alexis with Bob and Logan in a pack and play), and then crashed. I slept on the floor – I don’t recommend it as it is not comfy. Michelle had to go to work on Friday so she woke me up on her way out the door and I took her bed. We didn’t make it to the fly in until around 1pm because we got up late and then went for breakfast at IHOP.

The fly in was pretty cool. I was expecting something along the lines of the Miramar Air Show, so it was a bit smaller than my expectations. However, it was pretty neat nonetheless. Bob really liked walking along the long rows of planes and dreaming about the day when we own a six seater Bonanza and fly in to the airshow and camp out among all the other planes. They had some amazing flying demos there with old bombers, some bi-planes and other things that flew and were cool but I didn’t know what they were. Alexis watched the air show for a long time, but it was HOT (in the low 90’s) and ungodly HUMID so we were all hot, sticky, sweaty and kind of miserable. Again – I hate hot weather.

We stayed until 5pm and then headed back to Michelle’s pad to meet up for dinner. We all went down to Mukilteo and ate seafood at Ivar’s restaurant. Way yummy. I had King Crab Legs and they were delicious!!! But, I won’t ever order food again that requires me to mess up both hands when I have Alexis sitting next to me. It is just way too hard to eat and keep a toddler from tossing everything off the table. Michelle did her best to wrangle the wild beast so I could eat, but after that we avoided restaurants. The downtown area of Mukilteo is right on the water and you can catch a ferry there to a small island (I totally forgot the name) –it is BEAUTIFUL. What an amazing place. When I go and visit Michelle next February sans kids we might go over there to do some exploring.

Alexis' New Kitchen

The time had come to get Alexis a kitchen of her own. She spends way too much time pulling out all my pots and pans, so I figured she could do that with her own stuff.

I had been looking at kitchens for her, but Bend is so small that the pickings are few. Anything I bought would have to be shipped from Little Tykes, Toys R Us or Amazon.com. The salon where Alexis got her hair cut also sells Kid Kraft toys and they had a toy kitchen in the waiting room that I couldn't pry Alexis off of. It was more than I wanted to spend on a kitchen, but it is solid wood and should last for the next umpteen years or so if we take care of it and store it well. After that it will live in Ginger's shed for when Diana has a baby of her own (many, many years from now).

I bought her a small pots and pans set from the local toy store and she had some pretend food that we bought her in Eugene from Toys R Us so she was good to go! She loves that thing and it will be so easy (and inexpensive) for us to pick up new packages of food and kitchen utensils for her to add to her small kitchen pantry.

Just think... Alexis or Logan could be the future stars of the Food Network!

New Window

I have said before about just how much remodeling we have done to this house. It really is turning out to be a nice and comfy place to live. With the addition of Bob's former office downstairs as useable space, this house now has enough room. If only we had one more bedroom so that Alexis and Logan woudln't have to share. Oh well, you can't have everything.

Anyway.... there were only three windows in the house that didn't get replaced and those were in Katya's room. Her bedroom was finished before any other room in the house, so when the full extent of window replacement became known she was already in her bedroom. Two of her windows don't open, they are merely for letting light in. The other one sits over her bed (and as I found out this winter) lets a nice chilly breeze flow over her head when she sleeps.

Well, she now has a new double-paned, low E, laminated, argon gas filled, super high energy efficient window over her bed. It is amazing to me the difference that a new window can make to the comfort of a room. (Doesn't she have a nice view?) I replaced three windows in my townhome in Poway and it made the biggest difference with our comfort in that place.

They managed to save the old trim around the window (otherwise I would have had to change the trim for all three windows and her closet) but it needs some spackle and paint to clean it up before Katya gets here next week for a visit. Some day I will update the trim in her bedroom, but that will be when I figure out how to replace the two other windows in her bedroom. They are oddly shaped and I don't really like them. However, replacing them with something else will be difficult since they are specially framed on the outside of the house. Some day I hope to have an epiphany about them that won't cost a fortune. Or I win the lottery. I hope to have everything painted, her wall paint touched up, bedding washed (from all the dust and whatnot) and room ready for her one week mid-summer visit.

I have WAY too many projects!!

Montessori Class

Today was the first of six Montessori classes for Alexis. We have two each week for the next three weeks.

Today's class was about the sun. Alexis was pitching a huge fit about having to sit in a circle until the teacher started singing. Then she was all ears. Good to know! She didn't want to do any of the hand gestures, but she sat still during all the songs. That was about it though.

We tried to do an art project where she glues little pieces of tissue paper onto wax paper to make a sun. She couldn't have cared less about that project. But it was interesting to watch the other kids that were only six months older and how intent they were in doing it. (Alexis was the youngest one in the class)

They had some really cool activities in that play room. The puzzles are what kept her attention most followed by a close second to a wood dollhouse with wood furniture in it.

Then there was snack time. They all filed downstairs to sit at little picnic tables and they had a small bowl with goldfish and a plastic cup with water. Of course, Alexis loved the goldfish. The water she drank some of and then promptly turned the cup over and watched it dump all over her dress and shoes. Uuuuugh. I can't wait until she is over this stage of dumping her drinks.

The goodbye circle took the last of her patience and she screamed through any non-singing time we had there. I am hoping that Thursday will be a bit better since she will know what to expect. There was only one other girl that was within five months of Alexis' age and she was really mellow and just observed Alexis running everywhere.

I didn't realize just how tall she is. She is the same height as all the 2 1/2 year olds in the class. I gave our phone number to a couple of other parents in there of the two youngest kids to see if they wanted to come over for a playdate sometime. It will be good for Alexis to have some more friends to play with.

The Cascades at Sunset

Saturday night Bob's sister, Debbie had offered to watch the kids for a little while so Bob and I could spend some time alone. (Thank you!)

Well, Bob didn't tell me what we were doing and I assumed that we would go and grab a steak dinner somewhere. Imagine my surprise when we got burgers from Hardy's and started driving towards Sisters. He drove me to the top of Cline Butte where he rides his dirtbikes a lot so we could watch the sunset together. Isn't that sweet?

I just so happened to have my camera in my purse so I snapped a few pictures.

Mt. Jefferson

Mt. Washington

Broken Top

Three Sisters
Three Fingered Jack and Black Butte

Nailed By His Sister

Poor Logan! He is just too little to defend himself against his rowdy, energetic, slightly older sister.

Alexis tripped and landed on Logan while she was holding a plastic fork and the side of his face got scraped up really good. Poor thing - he cried and cried. But being a baby, he is almost all healed today.

This is just one of the first in what I am sure will be a long series of sister related injuries. But, as Bob says, "Bones heal and chicks dig scars".

Alexis' First Haircut

Alexis finally had enough hair that it was time for a trim.

There is a kid hair salon by our house called, Sprout. They are very cool and set up for their kid clientele. Alexis sat on a dinosaur for the majority of her haircut (that woman was a wizard at working with a wiggly toddler) and then when she had enough, we moved her to a racecar. The finishing touch was putting her hair up in a little rubber band and then sprinkling her head with a touch of hairspray and glitter. I never thought of putting a little glitter on her hair. It was so pretty!

She did really well with this too. No tears and no tantrums. We even walked away with a certificate of her first haircut complete with a photo of her and a lock of her hair for her scrapbook.

Who knows when Logan will have enough hair for a trim. I have a feeling it might be sometime next year, if we are lucky.

That Darn Shoulder

It's baaaaaaaaaaaaack!

The muscle spasms, numb and tingly fingers, aching in my wrist, elbow and shoulder... uuuuuuuuugh!

Luckily it is just sitting on my right side for now and the left is dealing. This stinks. I am having to sit down and think of what I can do to lessen my picking up of things (kids included), carrying of things (infant seat and strollers), and bending of my arm in general.

It is a very good thing that Bob has already planned on doing the driving for us to get to California, Utah and then back. I think my shoulder would not be able to handle it and I don't want to start popping ibuprofin like it is candy again. Taking my Celebrex is not even an option since I am nursing Logan still.

I have been lucky that my pain level has been so manageable since I've lived up here. I have been able to do things that I couldn't do for years and years. But man! I get frustrated when I have to slow down because of my arms. This means I have to postpone some of my projects until the pain diminishes. Those of you with cronic pain - I understand your frustration. This stinks!

Beating the Heat

It has been HOT here!

I mean record breaking hot (at least for Bend). Three days this week it has been 100 degrees or slightly over. Luckily, we dropped ten degrees to a mere 92 yesterday and it looks to be a nice cooling trend for the next week.

Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike hot weather? Living in Poway was like living in an oven most days. At least here our summer really is only a few months and it ALWAYS cools off at night to at least somewhere in the 50's.

To beat the heat we have been taking advantage of our front porch / courtyard with our little water table and kiddie pool. It gets only morning sun so all afternoon it is shaded by the trees and the house. It is amazing how refreshed you can be just sitting under a nice big umbrella with a book and your feet in a kiddie pool when it is hot outside. I uploaded some water fun videos so check them out! (Click the Bryson Family Videos link to your left)