New Year's Resolution: Update this blog more

2011 wow it sounds so futuristic. It's been a busy year. Collin has grown into a rambunctious, talkative, gregarious boy. Not baby. A hybrid toddler, a near preschooler. Three in just a few months!



He has been in big boy underpants for nearly a month without any accidents for a while. Actually telling us when he has to pee was a huge milestone. Poop is another story. We try to bribe him with chocolate kisses but who wouldn't want to just let it all go in a pull-up when your parents can wipe your ass? Still it's pretty nice not to have to buy economy sized packages of diapers anymore. He's getting better about using big toilets in public places but it's not like he can just take down his pants without any help. I'm looking forward to those days...

He loves to hear stories about monsters and pirates and I wonder if we could have anymore of a BOY. Trucks, building things, the movie Cars, his tool set, Blue and his other stuffed animal friends are some of his favorite things. I love watching him enter a new world when he uses his imagination. He cooks soup, drinks coffee, fights pirates and goes on adventures with Blue. He is dramatic as ever and considering one of his favorite things to do at the Children's Museum is bounce around the stage I think he might do well in theater classes when he's a little older. He's in swimming lessons with his buddy Stellan and moms and dads will be out of the pool this next session.

New Year's Eve was quiet but nice. I watched Toy Story 3 with Collin and then Mike and I made ourselves a gourmet dinner complete with chocolate ecstasy from a local dessert shop. We barely made it to midnight. A little pathetic but the days of clubbing and staying out until 3 am complete with a hangover the next day are pretty much over. Not to mention I'm an easy drunk these days. Give me a couple glasses of wine and I'm good. Not that I'm never guilty of overindulgence...

Mike and I pledged to a ban of alcohol, junk food and sweets for January to start the year off right. Except dark chocolate. Because antioxidants don't count.

We also started a kitchen remodel on January 1st! Through a connection from Mike's work we got an awesome deal for an installation of new cabinets (including a pantry woohoo) and counter tops. Goodbye ugly laminate cabinets, goodbye outdated ceramic tile counter top and we bid adieu to you cheap looking white track lights. It won't make our pint sized kitchen any larger but it will add cabinets and counter tops which are essential when you like to cook as much as we do. Not to mention maple and granite will help the space aesthetically. In the meantime any prep work for cooking is done in our living room and the only place we can wash dishes is our pedestal bathroom sink. Meaning we'll be eating a lot of take-out in the next week. But it's a quick project and since our appliances were already pretty new and updated we don't have to worry about that part at least.

Next up will be refinishing the fir floors including ripping out the hideous carpet in the dining room. The house has been an ongoing project since we bought it five years ago and I will say it again (never buying another fixer!) But seeing the changes and getting to enjoy them for a little bit, whether it's months or another year before we sell, are definitely worthwhile. And it adds value.

I'm looking forward to posting the before and after shots of the kitchen when it's complete!

Christmas

Christmas with Collin was a little more exciting this year as he could kind of understand the whole Santa concept (Santa = candy). He also didn't once try to tear down the tree or pull off all the ornaments. He even left the wrapped gifts under the tree alone. The lights were probably his favorite part.

"Dada made the lights," he repeated over and over at the impressive light display Mike put up.

He also had fun decorating and of course turning on the Christmas tree lights.



I took Collin to the mall for his first Santa shot. After a 20 minute wait in line he sat perfectly stoic on Santa's lap while the photographer tried to entice him to smile by waving and making faces. Nothing. But at least he didn't scream. Though truthfully I find the pictures where the kid is shrieking more memorable than a smile. He got his lollipop and for a ripoff $22 I got three 5x7's.

Collin met Santa again on the holiday express train ride we went on by Oaks Park with Nona and Papa. The trains were decked out in lights and it was pretty cute, though not the most impressive view. This time Santa gave Collin a candy cane. And I have to say this Santa looks a little freaky so I couldn't blame him for not smiling.



We hosted a pre Christmas appetizer party for family on the 23rd and poor Mike painted our whole living room the day before, finishing late at night (must say the new gray blue color makes the room seem bigger and lighter).

Christmas morning Collin eagerly ripped open all his presents and tried to open ours. The biggest hit of the day was the helicopter Mike got from his parents. When the helicopter takes off Collin erupts in squeals and laughter. And I must admit it is very cool.







All the presents and craziness of the morning proved to be a little much for Collin


We took the helicopter later on to my parents house for Christmas dinner and it was met with a consensus of awesomeness. (Both my mom and brother ordered one so let the helicopter wars commence!). It was nice to spend time with my aunt Sherry and cousin Olivia and Collin got to open up even more gifts.

Thanksgiving with the Mouse

We had a quick trip to take in some southern California sunshine this Thanksgiving. Mike, Collin and I hopped on a plane to see the Uncles (and Auntie Virginia), Papa and Nona in Culver City. We were lucky enough to stay right next door to Chris and Todd in their friend's house. They were out of town and had a three year old so the house already came kid proofed and full of toys for Collin to explore. It was comfortable and perfect for our short stay.

Like any Hanada meal, Thanksgiving was full of deliciousness and copious amounts of food. We stuffed ourselves silly then got ready for our next day adventure to Disneyland. Mike and I unfortunately suffered the petri dish of our child so we were both trying to get over a nasty cold. Thanks to cold medicine I was determined to survive Disneyland (and Mike well he buckled through).



It has been at least ten years since I had walked inside Disneyland and it hit me with happy giddiness like being a kid. It's complete sensory overload with lights, crowds of people, many, many opportunities to arm yourselves with Disney merchandise, and of course rides. I don't think Collin was quite sure what to think.

At first he saw Chip or Dale (the giant chipmunk) and wanted a "big hug!" But alas there was a line for a big hug so we steered him another direction. A little bit of nostalgia from my childhood...the Disney characters used to walk around and spend more time greeting you and giving hugs, and now you have to stand in line to get a picture or go to a certain corner of the park. This I found a little lame, but I digress.

I spotted the Dumbo ride and we had to do that. Collin loves the swings so naturally he'd love the flying elephant. Thanks to Papa who kept him entertained while most of us stood in line for 45 minutes, we made it to the end and Collin got to fly up and down while dad snapped some pictures.

They also have a fast pass that lets you avoid most of the wait on a bunch of the rides. Thankfully we were traveling with Disney experts who knew about this...and the advantage of a large group meant that we could be waiting for one ride while someone else raced to get us fast passes for another ride. I hate standing in line and pretty much have little patience for anything over 30 minutes so this fast pass thing is pretty clever. Thanks Disney!

The park was also decked out with Christmas lights, trees and decorations so that made it even more fun and festive to take in. The weather was cool but not like the 20 degrees when we left Portland! We made it to the Jungle Cruise where Collin stared in awe at all the wild "animals."

The classic Pirates of the Caribbean ride now of course has Jack Sparrow and I still love this one. But, in retrospect it was a little scary for Collin. As the boat went into complete darkness, Collin let out a large whimper. And then when a "monster" over the waterfall screen showed up he screamed out and I started feeling really bad. Did we traumatize him, give him nightmares? Luckily he seems to not have any permanent damage. A few minutes after the ride he asked, "Again?"

He also helped drive a race car, played around in Toon Town (and could run through the houses over and over). I had to get him the souvenir Mickey hat with his name stitched on it which he promptly threw off. The Pooh Ride was also lots of fun for him (and clearly the designers were on acid). And, we had a loud dinner complete with live music which was entrancing.

Thanks to Papa, we also went on big people rides like Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Haunted Mansion (Christmas style). I was a little bummed to miss Space Mountain but was not interested in standing in a 2 hour line and the Matterhorn was closed down for maintenance.



Collin made it without any huge meltdowns and was wide eyed the whole time. We made it to past 6pm when he finally conked out and we headed home. Next time I'm sure Collin will be a lot more excited about the magic of Disney, but I'm glad we were able to take him. And THANKFUL we had supportive family with us. If it had been just me and Mike, surviving the whole day there would've been impossible and we would've missed out on any rides past 35 inches.



It really is magical knowing that he thought all this was real. And now that I've been re-engaged, we'll have to be back soon because we missed out on a Small World, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and more! And apparently California Adventure is opening a "Car's Land" next year. I foresee a fourth birthday adventure in our future.

Trick-or-Treat!

Halloween is one crazy ass holiday. It's an excuse to dress up, bond with strangers, purposely get scared and gain a massive sugar high. As a kid (up until an age that is a little embarrassing), my friends and I stalked the neighborhood with pillowcases to collect handfuls of candy. Ironically I don't even like American (cheapo) candy that much. Hit me up with the sugary chocolate they sell in Britain or Canada and I'm all over it. Still, there's something rewarding about dumping out a pile of candy at the end of the night and sorting it by chocolate, non-chocolate, and the "lame" pile. I'm not sure if the sorting thing is normal, I may have been a slightly OCD kid.

For Collin's first "real" Halloween, he dressed up as a sheriff with mom and dad as his prisoners. Side note: finding a women's prison outfit that was not skanked out proved to be an impossible feat but luckily I found a boy's costume that fit me. Trick-or-treating with my kid is not the time to look like I just walked out of Frederick's of Hollywood.








We ventured out to the 'burbs for a more family friendly neighborhood to go trick-or-treating with Collin's friend Hailey, who was dressed up as an adorable puppy. He also met Owen, aka Spiderman. The three toddlers were definitely some of the cutest trick-or-treaters out and were met with lots of "awwws."







The neighbors were in the Halloween spirit with fog, spooky music, screams and decorations from dancing pirates to hanging skeletons. Collin didn't seem too perturbed by the scary houses, so long as he got to collect his candy. Ringing the doorbell was probably his favorite part, and he pretty much froze whenever anyone opened the door. (Hailey spoke for the group with her cute little girl chant of "twick-or-tweat"). There were a few meltdowns when we tried to convince Collin to refrain from eating the candy as soon as he collected it. We caved in a couple times especially after he got a treasured lollipop.





Trick-or-treating lasted more than half hour and Collin collected a fair amount of candy. Well, it couldn't compare to my pillowcase days, not to brag...



I'm looking forward to many more Halloweens to come as a chaperone with Collin until that fateful day he insists on going by himself.

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.