180/365: Hour Long Lunch

Isaac must be going through a "non-growth" spurt, as he has an extremely hard time sitting still long enough to eat a meal. Usually he chows down an impressive amount of food willingly, but for the past week or so I have to sit with him and encourage every single bite. I suppose I could let him figure out that not eating makes him hungry, but the unfortunate consequence of that approach is a cranky little boy. (His Dada isn't affected by low blood sugar in the same way. Nope. Not even a little :-P)

179/365: Thank you Noni!

We said goodbye to my Mom today. While she was here she sewed window coverings for 8 windows and valances for 6! Not to mention all the shopping for fabric and accessories that the projects required, plus all of her help with the boys. We will miss her!

178/365: Struggling

High temps over a hundred cause a newly planted veggie garden to struggle a bit. Some plants are doing fantastic, others not so much. I'll wait until we cool back down in a couple days before I decide what has to be replanted.

177/365: Cooperation

Another cooperative, friendly bee. When I came inside from taking pics I did find a small ant crawling around on my camera. I had been in the bushes trying to find the best angle for bokeh :)

176/365: Monster Trucks

Isaac and Dada went to the county fair to watch the monster trucks with friends. They had a great time, although Isaac would have liked to spend much of the time climbing up and down the stairs... stairs have some sort of magnetic pull for him.
When they were getting ready to go I tried to find a hat for Isaac. Turns out he doesn't have one that fits right now, so he got to wear one of Dada's.
Stylin'.

175/365: Snuggles

Still getting those reminders from Grady to take breaks.

174/365: Fountain

It is "durn" hot here. Maybe I should have jumped right on into this fountain :)

173/365: Brain Freeze Yogurt

On my dad and brother's last day in town (my mom is staying a little longer) we headed over to a local fro-yo shop. None of us had ever had the self-serve experience and it was a hit all around. Isaac especially enjoyed the chance to help choose what to put in his little cup of cake batter goodness. Yum!

172/365: Yay! A Garden!

First step in my vegetable garden. 2 truckloads of dirt didn't quite fill the 3 4'x8' planters, so tomorrow morning we have to pick up a final half load and then head off to the nursery to buy the plants. It's been great having the guidance of my dad, who has been growing a successful home garden for several years.

171/365: Papa Love

My parents and brother flew in yesterday to help whip this house into shape. We bought it with the every intention to only fix/upgrade the bare minimum... but even at that we have some work to do.

Grayden is pretty good at reminding us we should all take breaks. Demanding little boy :)

170/365: Brothers

I found Isaac hanging out with Grayden on the playmat. Of course, he was up and on to something new by the time I grabbed my camera, so this is a recreation of the original moment!

169/365: 3 Months

So, Grayden has decided that he wants to get up for the day before 7 am.... every. morning. Today we made good use of the 6am morning light and time uninterrupted by anyone else's needs to get his 3 month shoot done. Sucking his bottom lip is a favorite pastime right now :)

168/365: Farmers Market

This evening we met friends at the local farmers market. It was pretty small, but it was also only the second market of the season. There was live music and it was a fun time. Isaac loved this foot operated water fountain.

167/365: Exploring the Yard

I've been having fun figuring out what is growing in the yard. This butterfly bush is very happy and has been attracting quite a few butterflies. My parents are coming down to visit this weekend and plans are in the works to plant a small vegetable garden. We're getting a very late start and there are several projects that have precedence over the garden, but I really hope we get to it because there's nothing better than fresh vegetables that grew in your own yard!

166/365: Haircut

Today Isaac had his first professional haircut. Up until now B has cut his hair, but right now Dada's hands aren't working their best and we figured that someone else could probably get the job done more quickly! At first Isaac was quite unsure and would have rather not been sitting in the chair. By the end though, he had stopped whimpering and was having fun "scaring" us by saying "rawr!!" The experience finished up with a cotton-candy flavored Dum-dum (his choice) so overall I think the haircut was a success.

I Heart Faces: All About Babies

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "All About Babies". I can't think of anything much sweeter than a sleepy, smiling newborn. After looking through my pictures I can't believe how much Grayden has changed in 3 months! I was also reminded that I haven't taken his 3 month pics yet. Oops :)

165/365: Burn Center Graduate

The kids and I picked B up from UC Davis today. He's really looking so much better and everyone at the hospital took great care of him.

I love Isaac's expression. I imagine he's thinking something like "who are these girls, and why do I have to stand here with them??"

164/36: The Light, the Light!

I'm in love with this house! It is so bright. My ISO is staying firmly planted at 200 and I'm ecstatic about that :) The family room/ kitchen area has an East facing wall that is about 70% windows. Isaac was eating his first breakfast at "the big table." Poor kid is used to the cloudiness of the Pacific NW and has trouble with all this light being too bright for his eyes. I told him we'd get him some sunglasses :)

163/365: Unpacking

Today I got the master bedroom completely unpacked and the kitchen is about 3/4 done. I put together the kitchen table all by myself (even locating a pair of pliers to help with tightening the bolts) and the Dish guy came to hook up the TV. Things are starting to look more normal... well, except for the dining room.

162/365: Craziness

So... B went to base to get checked out and establish a plan of care. 5 minutes before he left the movers showed up with our household goods. B introduced himself and explained the situation and then left with his dad (who had driven down with us) leaving me to direct the movers and deal with the kiddos. It was a little tough trying to balance paying attention as the 3 movers called numbers at me to check off the inventory with keeping the boys happy. But we were making it. Then I called B for an update. He told me that he was going to be admitted to the burn center at UC Davis for the weekend. An ambulance would come pick him up at the house as I had to take his dad to the airport. Amazingly the timing worked out just right. The ambulance showed up while the movers were doing the final assembly of the master bed and the crib and I was able to get B's dad to the airport a comfortable amount of time before his flight. Poor Grayden cried the whole way home and Isaac whimpered "I want Grandpa back. I want Dada to come back to our new house"; so I just cried along with them. After bathing my sweaty baby and dinner and a bath for the toddler I was able to have my first shower in 3 days. Things are going to get better from here on out!

161/365: California Dreamin'

We made it.

The drive was actually relatively pleasant. We left the Portland area at about 5:45am and made it down to the house at about 4:15pm. It was exciting to finally see the house in person! Overall it has exceeded our expectations. Now we just need some window coverings. I've discovered that if I don't shower while it is bright outside several of our neighbors across the way could see me through the large window that is over the tub right next to the shower.... not so good!

160/365: Groundhog Day

We're leaving for California tomorrow and I keep feeling like something is going to happen and we won't get to leave. I know that is highly unlikely, but I can't wait to get going! I'm dreading it at the same time though. We stocked up on healthy snack foods and drink boxes and have several new DVDs to keep Isaac entertained. There isn't much I can do to prepare Grayden though... hopefully he's just really sleepy tomorrow!

159/365: I don't even know!

I'm trying to play catch up on posting, and I can't even remember what we did this day. All of the days blurred together for awhile. I do know that I sat through the entire bandage changing appointment on this day. And that the small room wasn't quite as hot as the day before, but still not comfortable. We couldn't quite figure out the practicality of carpet in an exam room, either???

158/365: Recovery

Spent the day caring for all the "kids." The appointments for changing of B's dressings average out at 2 hours and once you add in all the routine things it takes to keep small children reasonably happy the day has passed by.

157/365: Playtime

Babies get to be so much more fun around 3 to 4 months!

On another note... it would appear that I have very few outfits for the poor child. I'm going to argue that we're living out of suitcases and I bought/brought mostly summer clothes as I figured we'd need them in early June. This constant rain isn't very conducive to the wearing of shorts!

156/365: Sigh...

2nd degree burns on both arms and 1st/2nd on about half of his face; a burn pile gone wrong. We were supposed to leave Oregon to head to California on Sunday, but now the Urgent Care doc says we'll be hanging around for several more days. Which means we have to reschedule the movers and utility appointments, again.

I'm so thankful that his injuries aren't any worse than they are, that he is being such a good patient and that we are here at my parents so that I have help with all 3 of my "kids." But, it's been almost a month now and I am ready to be "home" again.

155/365: Big Trucks!

Today we went to visit Isaac's Grandpa at work. He is a safety manager at Waste Management and thus has access to the most awesome trucks in the world; garbage trucks :) Isaac was thrilled with the opportunity to sit in the drivers seat and press buttons. We picked up Pine Street Biscuits (uh, yum!) on the way and had brunch together.

154/365: Horse Girl

In my former life I was a horse girl. At one point we had 9 horses. I showed Arabians and spent my afternoons and weekends cleaning stalls, grooming and working horses. All through middle school, high school and college I was too busy to get into any trouble!

My parents still have two mares as "pasture ornaments." The older one, Missy, was my first horse. Her daughter, Shaianne, has lived the life of luxury, never having been off of our property or having had to do any work.

This afternoon I went out and clipped them up and played photo shoot. I don't think they were very impressed with any of my attention, except the stiff brushing on their itchy spots :) Horse photography definitely requires knowledge of good angles and equipment (I'm thinking a hefty zoom lens...probably not cheap!) that I don't have. It might be a fun to pick up someday though.

153/365: Tummy Time

I realize that we're behind the power curve, but Grayden just started tummy time this past week. Thankfully, he likes it. Maybe that's due to the late start, or maybe he would have liked it a month ago as well. We'll never know :)

152/365: Little Hand

He's figuring them out.

In the past few days he's been grabbing on to things and experimenting with putting his hands in his mouth.

151/365: Under Foot

It was dinner cooking time, so where else could he stand but directly underfoot?