4th of July

We had a great 4th of July this year with the kids. I was a little nervous not knowing how well they would do staying up so late, but because we went to a co-workers condo for a party we were able to put Isaiah in a room and he slept almost the whole time we were there. We decided to be in the annual Fox Hills parade his year with the kids. The parade started in my parents neighborhood about 20 years ago and I guess I was in it when we first moved there in 1990. So, in the morning we got the stroller all decorated in red, white and blue. My mom had made a tu-tu out of red, white and blue tool for Ashley and her baby so we made sure to pack that. The parade started at 4:00. I couldn't believe how many kids were in it and they even had cars and a fire truck at the end... a lot different than when it first started and about 10 kids participated. After the parade we BBQ'd with my parents at their house and then headed to Brian's co-worker's condo on the Columbia and watched the Vancouver fireworks from there. It was a great night and so much fun to have the kids with us.

Isaiah just barely fit into Ashley's baby stroller.



You can't see it very well, but Grammy made a matching tu-tu for Ashley's baby.

One tired little kiddo. She did great though and had fun playing with another little girl her age at the party.

Dinner Cruise

We went out on my parents boat for a dinner cruise on the river the other night and had a lot of fun. The kids did great. We were out for a few hours so I was impressed that we didn't get too many complaints out of either one of the kids. Isaiah got a little fussy around 5:00, but that's usually when he takes a little nap, so I put him in his car seat up front and he fell asleep for about 1/2 hour. He was a little crammed in there with his life jacket, but safety first and eventually he gave up to sleep.











His first lesson in boat driving.


Grandpa really let her drive the boat. I thought they were pretending until one quick turn to the left and we all shifted. Grandpa took over from there, but just a little more practice and Ashley will be pulling us all skiing!

Two and a half

So, Ashley is a little over two and a half, but who's counting and I certainly don't want to believe that my baby girl is growing up so fast! She is a kick in the pants. She makes me laugh every day. She calls us sweetie and honey and tells us to be quiet while she's talking on the phone. Then when she's done she tells us that we can talk now, but we have to say excuse me first! She puts her baby in a time out and says no talking. She uses her manners very well and is persistent even arguing her case to me when I tell her no. In fact I started to remind her to say no thank you instead of no (it just sounds better even if it doesn't make sense in every scenario), so when I tell her no she says "honey, say no thank you, that's not nice"! She always wants to see what we're doing in the kitchen and will either pull her steps up to the counter or want to sit on the counter. She's always asking "please can I see it" or "please can I touch it". She makes sure we say prayers before every meal no exception! She doesn't like loud noises and covers her ears when something is too loud for her. When I vacuum, she's up on the couch. She's taking one nap a day for about 1 1/2 hours and just recently potty trained at nap, so we're only down to one diaper a day for night time. She counts to 10 in Spanish and blows out the light at bed time. She is so caring, loving and busy with her babies. She makes sure they're fed, diapered, burped and entertained. She always makes sure they're involved in whatever we're doing even if it's sitting in the high chair "watching". She stuffs her purse with her cell phone, I-POD (an old one that we had around the house), and whatever else she decides is necessary for our trips out. She tells me that she's going to Albertson's to go grocery shopping and then to Target and she'll push her baby in the stroller around the house until they arrive at their destination. She's been a lot more social lately, saying "hi" to kids and asking them their names and how old they are. She remembers and pays attention to everything we say. The other day she told me that Grandpa was coming over to give her some attention. I had been telling Brian the night before that I thought maybe she needed some attention because she had been so whiney, but I didn't think she heard. Then today I was trying to sneak a granola bar in the car because I didn't want to share. She heard the crunching and asked "mommy, what do you have" "Just a mommy snack, you already had yours" "But mommy, what is it" "Nothing sweetie, just a mommy snack" "Probably carrots?" "Yeah, maybe carrots" Then she sniffs and says "I smell crackers!" I couldn't believe it, I can't even eat a granola bar without her noticing. Then when we got back from the library she saw the wrapper in my hand and said "mommy, that's not carrots!" What a riot, I had to remember that one. She asks me what time it is often through out the day and when we ask her what time it is she says "20 o'clock". Not sure where that came from. She uses the words probably, which one, and I think so numerous times throughout the day. Oh, and she wants to be right by your side at ALL times. In fact on weekends she will accidentally call Papa, Mama or Mapa because she calls after me so much when we're home wondering where I am or what I'm doing. She's my little buddy and I love her so much!

Ashley and Papa have a lot of fun together. This is the result of some creativity after getting ready for bed one night. I remember I used to do this with my shirts and pretend that I had really long hair.

Having a funny conversation with herself.

Must have those boots to water the garden!

Thanks Aunt Becki, I love my new dress!

Cheap Entertainment

I bought Ashley a spray bottle at the store thinking she would have fun spraying the fence or something. Well we gave it to her the other day and this is what she did with it. It was a riot seeing her chase Brody around.

5 Months!

Our healthy, happy little boy is 5 months. He is very social, smiles at everyone and loves to get attention. He's rolling over the second we put him on his tummy and doing this scooting thing I have on the video. I guess all babies develop their own way of getting around, but this one makes me laugh. We've been practicing sitting up, but this guy has no balance what so ever and falls over the second we let him go. One of his biggest issues is EVERYTHING has been going into his mouth. In the case of sitting, it's his toes, socks or shoes (whatever we have him in that day). So, he bends in half trying to get at them and ends up falling over. Silly guy! We've also noticed that his hair is coming in lighter, so I'm interested to see what color it is in a few months. He had such black hair when he was born. He's still taking about an hour nap in the morning and about 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon, then a quick nap power nap at 5:00 for about 1/2 hour. He'll get fussy after about 2 hours of being awake, but is easily distracted, so we can sometimes push him a little if we're out somewhere.

Father's Day with Papa

Brian was on call Father's Day weekend and got called in for a case that lasted all day on Sunday, so we celebrated on Monday when he had the day off. After breakfast we went to an "Underwater Adventure" puppet show at the library. It was really cute and took place in a fish tank they had all set up with underwater puppet fish and everything. Papa doesn't usually get to join us for these fun outings because of work so it was a special day to have him with us! Then because it was such a nice day Brian and Ashley planted a garden with tomatoes, carrots, pumpkin and pink flowers (Ashley's request) while I went to the store to get stuff for dinner. Ashley has loved to watch the hummingbirds at my parents house and wanted to get a hummingbird feeder for Brian for Father's Day. Now they can fill it together and watch the hummingbirds come to our house. Then dinner was prepared by.... ME! I am never in the kitchen making a nice dinner. My specialty is lasagna, but other than that when I'm in charge of dinner, it's usually very simple and easy. I've made (I should say tried) to make nice dinners before, but Brian is a much better cook so he's usually the one making dinner for all of us. I made Dijon chicken with asparagus and sweet potatoes. I had to make a reduction sauce and everything! I do have to say that it turned out pretty yummy and I think he would agree. Then for dessert we had berry crisp. Luckily Brian was home and able to entertain the kids while I worked on my creation because it took all my focus and I had no room for distractions. Only perfection for the most wonderful father these two kids could ever have!



Our new hummingbird feeder





You don't see this very often.

Father's Day with Grandpa

Grammy took us all out for lunch at Manzana in Lake Oswego to celebrate Father's Day with Grandpa. The brunch was delicious and even though we didn't get to walk around after because of the rain we had a great time. Uncle Dan even got to join us and didn't have to work! That was a treat. We did miss Papa though.

Rose Festival Parade

We had such a fun weekend and it helped tremendously that the weather was so nice! Saturday morning we headed out to the Rose Festival Parade. We got tickets for the bleacher section from one the Dr's that Brian works with, but after finding free parking and front row seating in the shade we decided that we didn't need to walk further, we had it pretty good where we were. The tickets did give us the idea to head down there though. We stayed for a few hours to watch the parade and then headed to Joe's Crab Shack on the Columbia River. Since it was so nice we decided to sit out on the deck and enjoy more sun since we haven't had it in so long. The kids were great and Ashley was boppin' to the music and entertaining us. After lunch we headed back for naps and that night Grammy came over to watch the kids while Brian and I went to a birthday party for one of his co-workers. She has a condo right on the Columbia (actually right across from where we had lunch) and the view is stunning. She looks right at Mt. St Helens. After the party we weren't ready to head home, so we took a long walk along the river and soaked up a perfect evening just the two of us. Sunday we went on a trail that goes around the Nike campus. We heard about it from some friends, but hadn't checked it out. It was a really nice walk and another good excuse to get out and enjoy the summer day.

Chilly morning, but got up to 85 later in the day.

This was our favorite float.



I think she waved the entire time we were watching the parade.

Having Fun

Roll Over, Roll Over

He actually started rolling over awhile ago, but we never could catch it on video until recently and now he won't stay on his tummy and can almost roll back to front. As you can hear in the video Ashley is very proud of her brother for accomplishing this milestone!