Play Date in March

Here are some pictures from when we met up with a bunch of friends @ Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver (March 19th)  I had more pictures of our other little friends, but I'm apparently a lousy photographer.  :(  I'll work on that.  It doesn't help that more than half of my photos are taken on my iphone.  hehe

This is Emery, my friend Mel's adorable daughter.  She just turned one last month.  

David & she had fun with these musical tubes.

This was the first time I got David to go down the slide on his own.  The spiral slide is fast, but he loved it!

 He kept asking to go on the swing & then once he was on & I pushed him gently, he would want off.  Then a minute later, he'd ask to go back on the swings again.  Maybe it's just a motion that takes time to get used to?  He loved his infant swing, so I dunno. 

Anyway, we had a bunch of fun & are looking forward to the next time we can meet up for a park play date!

Easter

Here are some photos from Easter Weekend.  [how stinkin' cute is he in that tie?!  He asks to wear a tie.. just like "Daddy's ties"]
Our friends, the Fishers, invited David & I (since Jamin had to work) for a little Easter brunch with their family & a couple other friends.  Natalie made a yummy french toast casserole (have I told you how much I LOVE french toast?  ask my husband... before David was born, we'd make lots of late night trips to Shari's just for french toast).  She also prepared a special Easter lesson for the kids before they did a little hunt for eggs.  The hunt was amusing as was the kids' discovery of not only raisins & cheerios, but some candy inside the eggs.  David caught on to that one really quickly.

We dyed eggs the next day, in-between conference sessions.  I really enjoyed having conference over Easter weekend.  This holiday really is about the Savior & what he did for us & being immersed in talks from our General Authorities really helped to keep the Spirit throughout the weekend. :)

Fun in the Park

Last Friday, David & I were invited to go to the zoo with Ashley & Tyson.  It was the first sunny day in a long run of grey, rainy days.  Apparently every other person in the greater Portland Metro area had the exact same idea.  The parking lot was a zoo in & of itself!  There were absolutely no available spots with long trains of vehicles trailing around the pavement.  We decided to change plans & took the boys to Washington Park to play.  It was pretty busy there as well, but since there's a huge play area we had a lot of fun.  This is a snapshot of David perched atop a cement elephant that's in the sandbox.  We didn't last very long in the sandbox before it was flying in the air.  So we decided to end our sunny outing by walking around the Portland Rose Garden.  It's a beautiful area & I'm sure it will be amazing once those tight buds show off their beautiful blooms.  They're probably blooming now with our recent sunshine, so maybe we'll plan another trip soon.

Digging in the Dirt

David & I have been spending the better part of these recent unseasonably warm, sunny days digging in the dirt... it has been so much fun!
Our friends, Natalie, her husband, Cy & daughter, Tatym (who is a day younger than David) are living in an old farm house (built in 1908, on 5 acres) while the owners, an older couple, are gone for a year on a mission for our church. They have 4 ducks & the sweetest St. Bernard. Neighbors on 2 sides of the property have cows, with more down the country road & a few horses along the way as well. Because Natalie is expecting a baby boy in late June, she has recruited me to co-garden a vegetable garden. We'll put in the work together & reap the rewards together. I'm really looking forward to yummy sun-kissed veggies!First of all, we have no clue what we're doing & we're probably in way over our heads. But we're just marching forward with plans & advice from a few people - eager for advice from everyone else who's successfully grown veggies in our area. We started with seeds in the greenhouse & feel like new parents all over again seeing our seeds sprout up through the soil! We have life in our greenhouse!! We've been weeding & working the dirt, getting ready to move stuff from the greenhouse out to our little field or raised beds. The couple who own the home have previously grown veggies & there are a few berries that have been around a while. There's rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries & blueberries.
Here are the veggies we're growing or plan to grow:
tomatoes, tomatillos, onions (yellow & green), jalapenos, bell peppers (red & green), sweet peas, sugar peas, string beans, variety of green leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, celery, cucumber, carrots, zucchini, potatoes, pumpkin (Cinderella variety), corn, sunflowers (because they're pretty), cilantro, basil, thyme, parsley & chives.
Yes, we are crazy... but this is so much fun!
While Natalie & I are digging in the dirt, Tatym & David take advantage of all of the room to run & play. They wander through the orchard, chase the ducks, play in puddles, stop & point at airplanes passing by, climb dirt mountains & moo at the cows on the other side of the fence. I love it!

I've been taking advantage of all the sunny days by working outside... but I promise to get a picture of my January quilts up here soon.. we're expecting sun on Sunday! (perfect, huh) :D

A Special Treat

David's friend, Eli, was given box seat tickets to Disney on Ice for his second birthday & we were invited to join Eli & a bunch of other friends for the show. (This picture is Joy & Eli) Let me just say that suites at the Rose Garden are awesome!! This is totally the way to go when you've got wiggly little ones! There's a private bathroom for the suite & then a bar with sodas & popcorn. Did I mention the huge screen TV? It wasn't on for the Disney on Ice show (well there was some random football game, but it was silenced), but Jamin was imagining being up there for a Blazers game. Then, facing the court/stage, there's a long bar w/ stools where you can sit & munch & there's also 2 rows of seats with a short wall in front. The seats were stepped so that sitting behind my tall friends Matt & Joy, I was able to completely see everything still.I have a happy place in my heart for Disney on Ice. I went with my dad when I was around 8 years old & then he surprised me for my 19th birthday & took me to see it again. Very fun! As much as David loves music (he dances whenever he hears a beat & he's always singing! - love that!) , I knew he would really enjoy the show. We were right! He danced & pointed & wiggled & waved his hands around & talked all about the neat things he was seeing & the fun music he was hearing. When he was tired of sitting in our lap in the back row, he moved down a row to stand at the front of the balcony (it was a short concrete wall that went up to his chin) It was great! The show was called Worlds of Fantasy & featured musical scenes from Cars, Lion King, Little Mermaid & Tinkerbell. We had a lot of fun & are so thankful to Matt, Joy & Eli for inviting us to share the experience!!

A Festive Birthday Party

The Saturday before Halloween, we joined up with a bunch of friends to celebrate the 2nd birthdays of two of David's friends, Eli & Rennick. They had a costume themed carnival for their birthday & it was a hit with the kids! David dressed as a lion this year.. it was stinkin' cute! (but he wasn't too interested in keeping the hood on) The outfit was pretty toasty, so he basically wore just a diaper underneath & we changed him out as soon as he let us know he was done with it. I didn't get any good pictures of the church gym, where the party was held, but it was all decked out & super cute! David mostly wandered around watching the other kids. He was very interested in the spider rings that came on our cupcakes too. :)

October was a busy month!

So I was really hoping to keep on top of the blogging in October, but that didn't really happen. So I'll be taking a few posts to share the last half of our month... it was BUSY! But we had a lot of fun!On October 20th, our church play group got together at someone's home to have fun outside & pick out lil pumpkins. There were a lot of little ones! There were a few mom's faces I recognized from church & it gave me the chance to try to get to know some people better. I'm bad with names, so it will take me a while. But I enjoyed the opportunity to enjoy the fall weather & let David run around with others his age. We invited Ashley & Tyson to come along & they seemed to enjoy it too.

Happy Birthday to you... you live in a Zoo

Last Friday, was David's buddy, Tyson's 2nd birthday. Ashley invited David & I along for a trip to the zoo. We were very happy when the boys were very patient & well-behaved for the fun, albeit long day. We were sad that Jamin had to work while David took his first trip to the zoo.. but I think we'll be going back soon! David & Tyson had the treat of watching the elephants get their morning bath. We saw all the elephants, including the little 1 yr old baby, who weighed in at over 1300 lbs that morning. We loved seeing the new cat exhibit, where there was only a pane of glass between us & the cheetahs. It was really neat to be so up close. The only sad part is that David & Tyson were both quite camera shy. Why don't they understand my scrapbooking duty? :) The fun day was ended with a trip on the zoo train & then a nice long nap for two busy little boys.

Independence Day

We had a fantastic, fun-filled 3 day weekend celebrating the 4th of July! It all started off Thursday with a bonfire @ Tammy & Latu's, including a dip in the hot tub. We let David have some fun with lots of splashing, of course. He didn't have a s'more, but David did stuff his mouth full with a giant marshmallow.. it was pretty funny! Friday we took some time to get things done @ home & prepare for Saturday's BBQ with friends. We started off the fourth by heading to downtown Ridgefield, where there was a parade & a whole day full of festivities. Not only was it Independence day, but Ridgefield is celebrating it's 100th year in 2009. It was a great parade with lots of tractors, classic cars & the local high school band (yes, there was a marching horn.. I checked). I loved the opportunity to experience the small town charm of the city we live in. It's small, but not too small. Ridgefield has big plans to grow with more housing developments coming in down the road & rumors of a grocery store & cinema in the near future! This is such a funny thing to me since I grew up in the Sacramento area & there were no less than 3 grocery stores within walking distance of our home. Now, I'm driving about 6 miles to get to the grocery store (or anywhere, for that matter) But I've gotten off track...
David spent much of the parade on his Daddy's shoulders, conducting music & pointing to new & different things. It was a lot of fun with no sunburns! YAY! We then joined up with friends for a nice relaxing afternoon & evening. There was BBQ, a kiddie pool, David's splash/sprinkler toy, bubbles, games with friends, a little nap & of course, fireworks. This is a cute quote that a friend posted on the 4th of July:

Erma Bombeck..."You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is PATRIOTISM."

Mall Playland

I've been a slacker in getting these cute pictures up on the blog. These are from the beginning of June.

A few months back Ashley & I walked the mall in the morning. We took advantage of the light traffic of shoppers & let the boys play in the mall Playland. They had a lot of fun playing on the cars, going down the slide & hanging out together. Kids being kids.

Visit with the Coates

We had such fun a couple weeks ago when Jamin's best friend, BJ & his wife, Lindsay stayed with us for a few days. We explored Portland & showed them the temple, made pizza & watched movies, relaxed for Father's Day & explored Seattle for a day. It was a busy & fun extended weekend! Thanks so much guys for making the trip! We can't wait to visit you again!

Birthday Party Fun!

We had a full house this Saturday & it was a lot of fun! It was our first real party since moving into our new home a couple months ago. There were streamers everywhere & more than enough cupcakes to go around! Jamin grilled hot dogs & we had fun hanging out with our local family & friends (there were nearly 20 of us & finally plenty of room to accommodate!) David got the hang of unwrapping presents pretty quickly & has just had a blast this week playing with all his new toys! Enjoy the pictures!

Kiddie Pool

Yesterday, David had fun with his buddy, Tyson, in a kiddie pool for the first time. The water was cool & I thought David might be timid about hanging out in the cool water. Boy was I wrong! He LOVES bath time, especially splashing around. He got right to work emptying the pool, splash by splash. Tyson started in too & the boys had a lot of fun!

Buddies

David's buddy, Tyson, was over late last week & he gets a kick out of hanging out with David in David's crib. David got a kick out of it too! They were both squealing & laughing. Now that David's on the move, I think Tyson gets that he's a little person that he can play with. We just have to remind him that David is still little, and one day will get back at Tyson for knocking him on the head occasionally. They were kissing one another on the forehead & passing toys back & forth. The boys really seem to enjoy each other alot & that is great since their Moms like to hang out with each other a lot too! ;)

Busy Happy Weekend

This has been a pretty busy weekend! It started Friday night with a girl's wrapping party. A few gals weren't able to make it & they were missed, but we had fun hanging out & getting all of our Christmas wrapping done. I am hoping to plan another gift wrapping get-together next year. I LOVE wrapping presents! In fact, I've already had a request by a friend to wrap his presents.. so anyone else needing help, I'll be happy to lend a hand! :D Then on Saturday, my fabulous mother in law, Jeri came over to hang out with David & I & help me on a project. I LOVE her! She is so wonderful! I feel so fortunate to have great in-laws. (& I'm not just saying that because I know she reads my blog.. LOL! It's true!) I reluctantly left my project on Saturday to go to our ward Christmas party.. I'm glad I did. We enjoyed a nice dinner with our church family & an inspiring program. As is typical, there was a guest that arrived at the end of the program to greet the children. Jamin & I don't plan to make a big deal about Santa - no standing in line at the mall to meet him or anything. But since he came to our ward party, we figured, "What the heck.. David can have a picture with Santa for the blog" (I know, we are the mayors of Nerdville) So last night, David met Santa! It was a really funny experience. The three children in front of us, including our friend Tyson Paice, all cried as soon as they were put on Santa's lap. David just gave him quite the puzzled look as if to say, "umm do you know how ridiculous you look in that outfit?" LOL! He even had one eyebrow perked up when he looked over at me. It was hillarious. I should be receiving an email with David's photo, so I'll post it when I see it.
Local weather forecasts predict snow on Sunday (today) & temps in the 20s through the middle of next week (evenings in the teens! brrr!) In fact, there's a Winter Storm Warning indicating expectations of 2-6 inches of accumulation on the valley floor. So I am secrectly hoping the IRS shuts down for a few days so I can steal some time with my husband. Well, I guess after posting it on my blog, it's not so secret anymore, is it?
We'll keep you posted on anything exciting... or just more pictures of our cute son! Happy weekend to everyone!

Utah Pictures!

Sorry I'm lame. It's been pretty crazy since we've been back. Jamin's fighting a cough/cold & now I'm feeling some kind of crud creeping in. Add in a nearly 5-month-old who's quite possibly teething & we're just having a grand ol' time. David's actually doing pretty well, all things considering. The toughest part is that his sleeping is totally out of whack. So we're hanging in there. We know it won't last forever!
Enjoy the pics - you'll see them over a few posts.

My Favorite lil Pumpkin!

Yesterday, we joined our friends, the Paices, Kimballs & Fonokalafis in the fun tradition of carving pumpkins! I couldn't resist the opportunity to put David in his cute Pumpkin outfit, since we weren't sure if we'd have the chance to see our friends on Halloween. Yes, I'm a dorky mom, but you know you can't resist a baby in a pumpkin outfit! Plus, my mom got it on sale last year when she found out she was going to be a grandma! hehe

Jamin did the majority of cleaning out the goopy pumpkin guts & I carved a simple pattern of bats. We have another pumpkin that we may carve into later this week, we haven't decided yet. Ashley's huge pumpkin is a big scary tree & Tammy took on the challenge of a great spider web! Lots of fun!

In other, equally exciting news, David turned four months on Friday! He had his well-baby check up today, including another round of immunizations. He now weighs 16 lbs., 1 oz. & is 26" long! Big boy! But he's proportionate & growing at a normal rate, so we're happy. The Dr. even commented on what an easy-going guy he is. He was just all smiles for her! -he usually is, for anyone checking him out in just his diaper! lol! It's funny, but any time I change his diaper (or anyone, for that matter), he just gets all chatty & smiley. Little flirt!

David hasn't quite gotten to rolling over yet (it's a lot of baby to move!), but he sure enjoys trying to sit up. He sits fine by himself for a short while, then his head gets heavy & he tips over. So Mom or Dad are always right there. He also has discovered his feet in the past month & loves trying to put them in his mouth & tug on his toes.