Oh the hilarity

The Perfect Pumpkin

We visited Baggenstos Farm in Sherwood to find the "one."

Fun at the Beach

We spent a relaxing three days in Seaside with our friends Ben and Sara and their adorable tot, Flynn. Since weather at the Oregon coast is pretty fickle we were lucky to get sunshine and enough warmth to walk barefoot on the sand and wade in the ocean. Collin and Flynn were sweet together and loved playing chase, building sandcastles and of course getting as wet and as dirty as possible. Boys.

I also got to experiment with my digital SLR camera. I took a photography class and am excited to say I can now use the manual setting! And I have a better understanding of aperture, shutter speed and lighting. Of course I still have a lot to learn. Photography is not as intuitive as I thought. I have a definite respect for photographers who do this as a profession.

And then there's Photoshop which brings a whole other complexity. I'm playing around with Photoshop Elements but to get into the more detailed stuff think I'm going to need to take a class. It could take hours wading through all their tutorials...

Here are some of my favorite shots:

Sleepy babe after a hike


Riding the waves (no that's not any of us)


Nothing beats running on the sand with a stick


Ooh yucky


Love the foot prints


In Collin words, "I touch the sky!"


Flynn loves his spaghetti


Gorgeous beach sunset


Lots and lots of seagulls to chase


This looked fun


Let's catch the waves!


Haystack Rock


Up close at Haystack Rock


Can he get any cuter, seriously?


I really like the colors, contrast and composition oh yeah


Cute boys, I wish the background wasn't a tarp though. Maybe I can photoshop this one day to a beach scene.

It's been fun but it's time to move on

Well I'm officially out of the 20's.

My early 20's were full of awkward angst ridden, quasi-child, kind of moments. Feeling lost. Trying new things. Trying to hide who I was. Way too many days of being hungover. Travels. College and graduation. Living on my own for the first time. Trying to find a job I didn't hate.

Then I met THE guy. I found a job I didn't not just hate. I get to wake up every morning and feel good about what I'm doing.

And along came the baby carriage. And of course that was a total game-changer.

I grew up a lot this past decade. I figured out what love means. How friendship evolves. What it feels like to breathe in a newborn's sweet smell and know he's yours. To take risks.

To know I'm a talented writer. To understand that change isn't easy but it's necessary. I learned not to be so quiet. And to stand up. But to also value myself and know it's okay that I'm shy and not miss type A personality.

To the 30's I say bring it on sista. I'm ready for you. I look forward to learning more and trying to make sense of this crazy world.

Rub-a-dub-dub

Collin has gone through many different phases with baths. Our first experience with a sponge bath went like this:


For a while we took him in the shower with us, he actually seemed to find that soothing. But that phase quickly passed and we were back to the baby bath. And then a fun inflatable ducky that went into the bath tub.







Then he graduated to being in the big bath tub all by himself. He was loving that until a few months ago when he would scream and try and claw his way out of the bathtub.

And now he's back to a happy water tot. Mostly because of these annoying water crayons that bleed all over, cost $6 and last about a week.






He stays until his skin is puckered and wrinkly.


How dare you take me away from the tub!

Some mid-august thoughts

I can't believe it's already halfway through August.

It feels like a faster paced summer, more exhausting. I attribute this to several factors:

1. Summer was literally shorter than other years with our June/early July "winter."

2. Collin's energy level. Half the time it's like living with someone whose manic depressive and off their meds. Ups and downs, screams and cuteness. And he's the Energizer Bunny at the same time.

3. Both Mike and I have been working a lot, the house is a never-ending project, and we've done a fair amount of traveling.

We haven't gotten in touch with nature as much as I would've liked but I have to remind myself Collin is at an age where he's just as happy throwing bark chips at the park than he would be at a picturesque mountain that's a two hour car ride and involves lots of planning. And as mentioned previously Collin does not do the best on hikes. I am looking forward to the days we can do more exploring but two year olds are just exhausting little people. For now, we've had lots of fun going to local playgrounds, swimming and visits to the zoo, the Children's Museum and OMSI. He's also at an age where he actually plays with his friends instead of just co-existing. But sharing is a hard concept...

Collin's also officially moved up to preschool! His teachers felt he was ready to transition even though he's not quite two and a half. We were told Collin is bright (pat on the back for good genes) and very much a visual learner. He knows his numbers, letters and shapes and is extremely focused. Apparently Collin asks to be excused, cleans up his messes and is an all around angel. Now if we could just get him to bring the same level of politeness to home that would be awesome. His teacher Jen also told us two and a half year olds usually enter the "Pesky Pete" phase where dumping toys and other items out is fun and boundaries are constantly meant to be tested (and it gets worse as vocabulary progresses).

Now that he's in a slightly more structured environment, we are also trying to pay closer attention to his unilateral hearing loss. Circle time, talking with his friends, taking direction from teachers, all of those involve more careful listening and with a busy environment with lots of noise and conversation, sometimes kids with auditory neuropothy get frustrated and shut down. Still it's pretty hard to tell Collin has any kind of hearing issue. His audiologist and early intervention specialist both say he's doing great. The only times we've noticed something is off is when he seems unsure of where sound is coming from and he covers up his left ear when we put headphones on him. Chances are when he doesn't respond to us, it's not because he doesn't hear us, he's just being a preschooler.

And now some pictures that demonstrate why we don't eat our young:

An Empty House

Mike and Collin went to Maui to visit Mike's grandpa. Now normally I'd be jealous, but they were just going for a few days and I sort of relished the thought of having some time to myself for FOUR DAYS. ahem. Lucky for Mike his parents were on the same flight and he'd have plenty of family in Maui to hang out with Collin. Of course he did have to share a room with him and sometimes squirmy two year olds don't make the best roommates. But they were in beautiful Maui just steps from the beach so I didn't feel too sorry for him.

One of the first things I did was clean the house. Yep. And the best part was it stayed that way for FOUR WHOLE DAYS. This is a record when you live with two mess makers, one who often has grimy hands and likes to smear things on walls, the floor, you name it. Seriously one day I dream that Mike will learn to wash his hands, ha. The floors sparked, the counters gleamed, oh yes it was glorious.

Then I got a massage. The massage therapist was awesome and actually applied pressure! None of that wimpy crap for this tough mama. I had knots that needed to be undone! There were some points I was breathing through pain but it was so worth it. I was high when I left. She said she could've worked on me for another hour. If only.

I also worked, fixed myself dinners that Mike and Collin won't eat and stayed up way past my bedtime watching Mad Men, True Blood and Project Runway. May seem mundane but it was a little bit sweet not to wake up to anyone or fix anyone's dinner, clean anyone's messes. This was clearly why I could stay up past midnight and not feel like a zombie.

But...the house did feel empty. And whenever I talked to Collin on the phone with his excited, shrieky little voice my throat tightened. I did miss my guys, but a few days of freedom. Well it's something every momma should be granted!