Ga-ma and Papa

Jake and I went over to my parent's for a visit today. Jake was soooo entertaining. He is really growing up and talking and interacting more. He showed Grandma and Grandpa that he can now jump (a hop, really). He also wanted to look at the Galapagos book for the 18th visit in a row. He calls Grandma "Ga-ma" and Grandpa "Papa".

Thursday Thirteen #9

Thirteen Things Jake Would Find in Mama's Purse.
So sometimes if I leave my purse with the zipper open, Jake will dig through it and scatter my things.

1. Lipstick and chapstick. If I don't have one or both of these, I feel out of sorts. The chapstick is mainly for when Mike needs it, but I use it sometimes, too.

2. A little mirror. Comes in handy, especially with a partner with braces.

3. A hairbrush.

4. My wallet. Jake loves to take this out and pull out the cards, especially the ones with my picture on it. Once he took out my credit card and I couldn't find it for 3 days. I finally found it in the kitchen drawer that had all the baking supplies!

5. Peppermint extract. We use this to freshen our breath. It is strong and works well and I like it because I don't have to hurry to suck on a mint or have a piece of gum in my mouth that I later need to find a place to spit out.

6. Avalon Organics lavendar hand lotion.

7. Pens.

8. A cute little pad of paper.

9. A laminated card describing the Oregon breastfeeding laws that allow motherbabies to nurse in public places. I'm so thankful I've never needed to pull it out, but it makes me feel better having it on me.

10. My multi-tool leatherman. It comes in handy occassionally.

11. A few little cars for Jake to play with when we're at restaurants and such.

12. A pack of batteries for my cochlear implant. Sometimes Mike needs the batteries, too!

13. My camera. You know, so I can take pictures of Jake to put on this blog and such! :)

There may be other things in my purse, but that's 13, and a girl has to have some secrets in her purse, you know!

Normal Day

Today was a fairly normal day around here. Jake is feeling pretty much all better (with help from his chiropracticer). We had breakfast (oatmeal, of course). Mama worked on the computer. We did laundry.
Jake spent 20 minutes moving his clean clothes between the two laundry baskets. So entertaining!
He hid his face when I asked him for a smile for the camera. Ha.
Later that day, Jake practiced looking cool.
Even later he insisted on wearing Daddy's slippers. Too cute.

Happy Easter!

Easter at my parent's house... Jake was still feeling a bit under the weather. Incidentally, it was pouring rain for this Easter Sunday.
We had a yummy brunch, including mimosas!

There were eggs (and Jake is 'hiding' one!)
And reading of his new book.
Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of my husband. But he was there and was wearing a lavender button-down shirt in celebration :)

No More Mullet

Since Jake's last 2 haircuts have been very unpleasant for him, this time I decided to try doing it myself. After all, I've had some practice on Mike's hair! He still didn't like it, but it was a better experience than it has been in the past. I think it helps that he was sitting in front of the computer.
Feeling his newly cut hair.
I think he likes it!

21 Months

Jake is 21 months old today. Really?

I'm sorry to say today hasn't been the most fun 21st month birthday. Jake has had a low-grade fever, runny nose, and cough for a few days so we've been staying home and resting. The good news is that he seems to finally really be coming out of it now. That's good because Mama is feeling just a touch of cabin fever. And he needs to be healthy when Aunt Amy is home this weekend.

Here is Jake a year ago!


In other news Mike and I recently watched the documentary produced by Ricki Lake, The Business of Being Born. (Rented it from Netflix.) We were both fascinated by it. Reminded me in a way of Morgan Spurlock's documentaries 30 Days. This movie takes a look at the (sad) state of maternity care in the USA. Although I wasn't pleased with 100% of the movie, I highly recommend watching it.

To Aunt Melissa

Jake loved meeting Aunt Melissa. He only wishes he could see her more often!



Happy Birthday, Aunt Melissa!!

Shoe Thief

Jake has been interested in other people's shoes, lately, namely *bigger* shoes!
Mama's shoes are pretty funny to walk in...
Daddy's shoes are bigger!

We said goodbye to our friends as they headed home to Alaska. We hope there will be more of these pictures in the future.

Aiken and Jake

Lots of cute pictures from the past few days...
We all went to OMSI to have fun. At first Aiken and Jake played in different parts of the Science Playground lab.






Then they ended up at the water play together.

Before we left, we took a look at the dinosaur exhibit.
Later that day... (Jake had a change of clothes due to the water fun.)

Jake watching and learning how to take off a snowboard binding.
Cute!
Future snowboarder?
Ooh what's this?
Future computer science experts?
Hey, why not combine both?!

Thursday Thirteen #8

Thirteen Things Lee Finds Annoying...
(note, this list is meant to be sarcastic and humorous more than anything, please don't take anything personally!)

#1 Please say "I am well" when asked how you are, not "I am good". When you say "I am good" you are actually saying "I am the opposite of evil" which is really what is NOT what you mean to say.

#2 The toilet paper roll is supposed to go OVER the top, not under. It's much harder to control the amount that you want when it goes under.

#3 Plastic wraps over lids that do NOT have scored marks should be banned. I do not like struggling to open a container of snacks that my kid really wants when I have no scissors around.

#4 Spam faxes. You do not need to keep telling me that you have a special deal package to Cancun that I absolutely must be interested in. I am not.

#5 Spam email. Actually it is amusing for me. Spammers assume I am male, thus I am constantly getting spam email advising me of ways I can better enhance myself for a woman's pleasure. No thanks.

#6 Needing to put little itty bitty bottles of lotions and potions in ziploc plastic bags so that we can make our nation more secure when I go through airport security.

#7 Those little paper cards that flutter out of magazines.

#8 Service/repair people who show up at your house while your child is in the middle of a nap, thus ensuring said child wakes up from the nap earlier than they would have (causing the parent to lose valuable child-free time).

#9 Driving your car on a warm day and taking awhile to realize that the seat warmer is on and that's why your butt feels so warm...

#10 Cars that have alarms but do not have lights that flash when the alarm is sounding... bad deal for deaf people. Your car alarm could be going at full blast and you have no idea until someone tells you. Rather embarrassing. They now install siren and flashing light smoke detectors in buildings, they need to always do the same for cars.

#11 Telephone menus and automated phone systems. Although it is a bit easier now with the use and availability of video phones.

#12 Clothing sizes. We need a clothing standard metric system. Why are some of my shirts medium and others large? I have a wrap-around dress that is XL. Bizarre.

#13 Daylight savings time. Grrrr! We have one clock that is the right time only 7 months of the year. We could do what Arizona does and not have to change it at all!

A3 in Portland

A3 from Alaska came to visit us here in Portland.

We went to Peanut Butter and Ellie's for dinner. The boys were happy to hop down from the table and go play once they were finished eating while the parents sat and ate and talked.
Then Jake and Aiken had a bath before bedtime.

(Yes, I did Jake's hair like that on purpose... they were giggling at each other's hair :) )
Then they got into their pajamas and played some more. Too cute.

This one is for Aunt Amy

Happy Birthday Aunt Amy!