150/365: My Skin Crawled

Inspired by some fellow 365'ers, I decided to see what I could get for an insect shot today. This is my "someday I want a macro lens" shot :) While I was standing there waiting for a bee to land in my frame they were flying all around my head. I don't generally like bees, so it took some concentration not to run from the buzzing!

149/365: I don't want to take a picture!

Too bad kiddo :)

148/365: Shopping

Today we did a little bit of clothes shopping to get ready for California weather. I'm still working on getting my pre-baby body back (I can't remember how long it took the first time???) and needed a couple pieces to get me through. In the evening we had dinner at Chipotle (yum) and shopped for refrigerators. We were surprised to know that most homes sales in California don't include the fridge. What happens when a Californian moves to Washington where most homes do include the fridge? :) Sears didn't have the model we wanted on the floor... so it's off to Best Buy tomorrow!

Lastly, I'm now a Mac! We had my MacBook Pro shipped to my parents and yesterday I was finally able to get it out of the box. I downloaded the trial version of CS5 and am trying to figure out my way around it. It's definitely a bit different than Elements! I think I'm going to take the Jessica Sprague "Good to Great Workflow" class to get me started, but any other suggestions on how to learn PS would be great.

147/365: On the Road Again

And we're outta here! One step closer to our new home.

The boys were extremely unimpressed with another long car ride. Add to that down-pouring rain and an abundance of semi's on I-90 and you have a fun trip! We made it to Oregon though and we're now enjoying some family time.

146/365: Fini Flight

Today B flew his last flight here in Spokane. It's tradition to douse the pilots thoroughly as they step off the plane. Unfortunately, it's a cold and rainy day, but the tradition was upheld anyway! The boys and I rode out on a bus, along with a couple guys from the squadron, to meet the plane on the flightline. First, the crew B was flying with dumped a cooler of ice water on him as he stepped down the ladder. As soon as he touched down he was sprayed with champagne and water from pressurized fire extinguishers. After the big boys had had their fun, one of the guys offered Isaac the opportunity to take a turn with the fire extinguisher. He had no hesitation :) As soon as we got back on the bus Isaac was asking to get off and "spray Dada again!"

145/365: Errands

Just a picture of the changeable weather we've been experiencing this spring in the Pacific Northwest.

Today we ran a bunch of errands. Picked up my records from the midwives office, picked up one prescription for the dog at a compounding pharmacy, then off to Costco to pick up another prescription for the dog (he's epileptic) as well as some vitamins and snack food for our trip and then finished up in the drive-thru at Delish- our favorite local burger place.
The boys and I drove by "our" house one last time. Nothing looked different. I asked Isaac where we were as we drove past and he replied "at the green steps!" I wonder if that is how he will always remember our house :)

144/365: Zero Cavities!

I've never had a cavity. Amazingly, I also hadn't been to the dentist for 6 years until I went 6 months ago. Today was my 2nd appointment for the year and I got the whole mouth full of xrays (about 2o I think!) because I was pregnant the last time I went in. I didn't take my camera with me, but I should have thought of that!

Oh my little man. He loves those boots.

143/365: Driving.... Again

Headed back to Spokane today. Grayden has had enough!! of the car. Thankfully the drive was very pretty and the "it seems to take less time to drive back than it did to drive there" effect was in full force :)

142/365: Glacier National Park

Today was spent in Glacier. Unfortunately, we could only drive about 16 miles of the Going to the Sun Road (the rest has yet to open for the summer) but what we did see was beautiful. We decided to brave a 5 mile round trip hike to see Avalanche Lake. Isaac did amazingly well, hiking on his own a total of about 1/2 way up. B was wearing Grayden in the Beco on the way up and carried Isaac for the 1/2 that he didn't walk. Needless to say he was a little tired by the time we got to the lake. Isaac was enthralled with throwing rocks into the lake and kept getting a little too close to the edge in his non-waterproof shoes. Grayden wouldn't calm even after I fed him, so our stay at our spectacular destination was quite short. I wore Grayden on the way back down and B carried Isaac. It had taken an hour and a half to hike up; we made it down in 45 minutes.
We're glad we did it though!

141/365: Driving

We drove to Whitefish, Montana today. The drive went pretty well, about 5 and 1/2 hrs with all the stops the boys required. Northwestern Montana is so gorgeous! B thinks he wants to retire here. I've told him there are a couple areas in Northern California that he needs to see before he makes that call!

140/365: Maternity Shoot

I took some maternity pics for a friend of mine today. We had her 15 month old and my 2.5yr old and 2 month old, all awake, all with us, while we were trying to shoot. It was a little loud, and a little comical. I'd finally get her set, my settings right, and then one of the boys would be trying to steal things out of the master closet, or sit on the baby, or smash each others fingers in a door.... needless to say, next time I agree to take pics for a friend, we'll both need to find child care!
I'm not able to do any editing for another week or so, but the pics look good on the LCD. Hopefully it isn't deceiving me :)

139/365: Ginger and a Haircut

Tonight I had my last haircut with the awesome Zoe. I love that salon. When you walk in Jessica always makes you feel so welcome and does an amazing wash and neck and scalp massage. Then Zoe is an artist with hair. I don't think I've seen a cut or color that she's done that wasn't awesome. And today... she said "You have such pretty skin, I've always thought that every time you come in". I'm insecure about my skin as I have a tendency towards blemishes, so it was so sweet of her to make that comment. I will miss them!
Afterwords we met two of our neighbors for a farewell dinner at a great sushi place in town, Ginger. We'd been meaning to get together with them for the past 3 years. It's too bad that we waited so long, as they are a wonderful couple and lots of fun to spend time with. The food was yummy and as we were leaving one of the waitresses commented "your baby was so good!".
It was one of those days... in the best way!

138/365: Deceptive Beauty

We spent some time out in the backyard today. The grass is really green and lush and there are beautiful lilac bushes and a weeping tree of some sort. However... the grass is hiding a secret. Ticks. Yuck, yuck, yuck. We found the first one in the dogs bedding. After that B headed to the store to pick up some tick medicine, while it was my job to check the dogs for any additional bugs. Unfortunately, I found several on each of them. They weren't that hard to remove with tweezers and then easily rinsed down the drain in the sink, but getting such an up close look made my skin crawl. Now, any time I see a dark spot on a surface, or feel a bump in my sock or elsewhere in my clothes, I immediately think that it's a tick. Thankfully, since we treated the dogs (several days ago) I have seen no more ticks. Time to move on to our own home and yard, I think!

137/365: Last Pediatrician Appointment

Grayden had his 2 month well-baby today. He's doing great, up to 13lb 10oz, following his 90th percentile growth curve just like he should be. The congestion and cough that the kiddo has been dealing with is most likely a mild virus (no fever though), but they did a nasal swab for RSV just to be sure.
While I am relatively satisfied with the pediatrician that we now see on base, I'm excited to move because at our new location I get to choose the ped that the kids will see. The inability to choose health care providers has definitely shown me that the freedom to do so is something I appreciate! Now, just to find someone with the slight lean towards "crunchy" care that I'm hoping for :)

136/365: Nothing to do!

For the first time in a very long time we had absolutely nothing to do. Grayden had a fabulous night and slept from 11pm until 4:30am, ate, and then slept until 9am! It was SO nice to sleep for those two long stretches. B made us all pancakes and bacon and then we spent the day lounging. I'm not usually a lounger, but every once in awhile it's not bad!

135/365: Saying Goodbye

We cleaned up and left the house for the final time today. I wasn't too sad as we cleaned (and the house got baking hot because the oven was self-cleaning and there is no AC!) but when I was walking through the house for the final time, seeing all the projects we completed with so much time and effort, looking at the place in the house where Isaac took his first steps, the place in the kitchen where B was thoroughly doused by the faulty faucet while preparing our first Thanksgiving, the dining room where we shared many fun meals with family and friends, the office where I pretty successfully ran a business sewing and selling cloth diapers, the front door that Isaac and I waved from as B left for work or deployments, the place where Grayden was born... tears were shed.
One of the last things we did was leave a mark on the house. It is an unspoken tradition, that began with the family who lived in the house from 1993-1998, that before you leave you carve your name and dates of occupation into a certain post in the basement. I don't know how long the tradition will last, but I like sentiment of it quite a bit.

134/365:

Spent the day at the TLF with the boys. We ran a couple errands... and Isaac was having a very 2.5 year old day. Some days I think he needs a hearing check; some days he's telling me that there's an airplane coming before we can even see it in the sky.
We've had 6 different packers now, in 2 days. Kind of frustrating. I have a bunch of plastic bins organized with stuff that I only use a couple times a year. One set of packers said they had to repack them all. It turns out that they were simply taking everything out and putting it back into different plastic bins. I understand that it might help avoid things being broken... but still, there goes my organization! At least if they had boxed the stuff like they do everything else it would have kept most of the similar things together. To top it off, the next set of packers simply taped up the remaining totes and declared them good to go. I'm glad we (hopefully!) won't have to move again for 3 or 4 years!

133/365: Bubbles

(Imagine the cute bubble picture, that is still on my camera, here!)

Today the boys and I visited our house to take breakfast to B (he spent the day watching the packers) and pick up a few items we had forgotten. Then we headed off to Babies 'R Us. I couldn't find the backseat mirror I'd used when Isaac was rear-facing and wanted to be able to see Grayden. While we were there I decided to get a bottle of bubbles for Isaac. All of the sudden he wants to spend his entire day "outside!" in the backyard and I figured he'd have fun with bubbles. He doesn't quite understand how to blow them out himself, but definitely enjoys popping them!

131/365: Moving Out

Today the packers came for their first day of packing. We were expecting them between 8 and 8:30 so when they hadn't shown up by 9 we called the moving company. It turns out there was some mis-communication and we were on one schedule, but not another, so no one was going to show up to pack. Good thing we called! In the end our sales rep and his branch manager each went home and changed into packing clothes and spent half their day with us reliving their earlier careers as packers. We also moved into a TLF (temporary living facility... basically a 2 bedroom house) on base for a couple weeks. Isaac had a great time exploring the backyard. We're parallel to the runway on the edge of base so we can see all the planes as they take off. Pretty thrilling for a 2 and 1/2 year old!

130/365: You're Fascinating!

Well, at least your hair is.
Ugh... I'm finding absolutely no time or motivation to take quality pictures. I guess this portion of my 365 book will be very representative of how little free time and energy I had!

129/365: P90X

The kid likes to "work out." He's also a ham for attention. When the rep from the moving company came to estimate the poundage and need for packing materials Isaac followed him around like a puppy dog. Just as the guy was leaving Isaac grabbed the push-up stands that his Dada uses and started doing his version of push-ups. He's too funny.

128/365: 2 Months

Tomorrow he will be 2 months old! I actually had forgotten that I needed to do his 2 month pics, and was just drawn into an impromptu shoot by the light that was on the bed as I was getting ready to re-swaddle him. A very happy coincidence, as the next couple days are going to be crazy as we move out of the house!

127/365: Green

5 days until I leave my pretty green yard behind.

126/365: Taped

I still feel a little strange that I have to do this, but hey, it works and he naps!
Isaac had stopped taking naps and was having issues with getting completely naked at nap time and then forgetting that big boys always use the potty. Hmm... it wasn't pretty.
I tried everything: consequences, bribery, cloth diaper, disposable, underwear... nothing worked. Finally I had to accept that the only solution was to tape him in a diaper. Ahh, duct tape. How would modern society survive without you?
Now when it's nap time I ask Isaac what we're going to do and he happily exclaims "get taped!" Our next challenge will be the transition to a big boy bed and the resulting freedom to use the restroom whenever he needs. For now, I'm enjoying having my afternoon quiet time back!

125/365: Just an Edit

I'm finally getting to editing the pictures from our trip.
He wasn't so thrilled with pictures that day. The wedding photographer (who was a bit slow) had just finished up doing pictures of the guys before I arrived and was able to get my shots. Oh well. He's still cute!

124/365: I want to SEE him!

When Isaac woke up from his nap, Grayden accompanied me upstairs to get him up. Isaac gave me his classic line; "I want to see Grayden", which means "I want to get really close to him and probably kiss him" so I laid Grayden down in the crib with him. Isaac is such a sweet and affectionate big brother. We are still working on Isaac's awareness of his body in relation to where the baby is, but overall I love watching them interact.
It looks like Grayden is thinking "help!" in the picture, but he'd actually just been smiling at and "talking" to his big brother.

123/365: Creme Brulee French Toast

It may not look like much right now, but the taste tomorrow morning will be a thing of beauty. I'll have to apologize to the bible study girls for the insane calories... but I think it's worth it. Check out the recipe at Epicurious if you're craving french toast!

122/365: Bloomsday

A lilac bloom in honor of today's Bloomsday run (12k "cross-country run" that attracted 54,000 participants this year). I am not a runner... so I have not participated during any of the four years we have been here. I do enjoy the signature flower though!

121/365: Are they in there?

I tried a new tactic. I asked him if he'd like to take pictures for Kate (his friend) and Noni (his grandma) and then asked him if he could see them in my lens. He happily searched for them... but I'm pretty sure he has already figured my game out. I asked him if he could see Dada in the camera and he looked the opposite direction while answering "no". Too quick for my tricks :)

120/365: Stormy Weather

Those wires prove that I really do need CS5 and its new smart fill tool!