too much

I have WAY too much to catch up on with the summer and now September already gone! I will get to that next. For now, I have to update you on the latest and greatest.

Thatcher started school at the beginning of the month at the Jewish Academy. He loves it and it's a really amazing program. I feel lucky that he was able to get in this fall. They have art class and music class every week along with a ton of other great things, like puppet shows and an incredible outdoor area that he loves to play in.

We are still diligent with the potty training and he's getting pretty good about going in the morning and at night. I haven't taken the plunge into doing briefs during the day yet. I'm getting there!

We went to our first UO Duck game yesterday and took little guy. He LOVED it, but after 1/2 time it was pretty much a no-go for us to be out in the direct sun with him on our lap amongst almost 60 thousand people. Right. Noted for future excursions.

We had a relaxing and wonderful Sunday. I made Brandon a german (puff) pancake and we did chores then took Thatcher to the zoo and met my brother there. It was a beautiful and warm day so we were determined to be outside since the rain is going to come this week and not leave us again until late next Spring. Sigh.

I can't wait for Halloween already. I have my decorations up and I'm contemplating when to go buy pumpkins. Brandon told me to calm down. As usual.

Hope all is well and I promise to get on the stick and be a little more present now with summer behind us. As I say with every new season "this is my favorite"....but really I think Fall is my favorite season of all. It's dry, leaves are falling and I can sneak in a cup of hot chocolate without thinking twice. Now, if only egg nog could roll around things would be just about perfect!

Lazy Summer Days

at jamison park with the family


playing in the fountain at "mammie's" house

daily yogurt breakie al fresco

successful trip to the garden at green valley

I love summer. I guess pretty much everyone feels the same way, but I really do love it. We are nearing the end of July already. It's been a whirl wind month of trips and parties (Thatcher turned two, 4th of July at the beach, trips to Green Valley Ranch and one visit back to the Lewis-Clark valley).

Thatcher's Auntie Gooz (meghan) and cousins are here visiting from Alaska this week. He is having a great time playing and racing around. His new favorite thing is Ring Around the Rosie. Again and again.

We are heading out to Montana with some great friends next weekend (can't wait) and following that we're going on our first trip without Thatcher to Sonoma to meet some other great friends. It will be so fantastic! I can hardly wait!

4th of July memories...

I cannot believe it is approaching July already. Mostly because my son, Thatcher, will be turning two years old on the 1st. I still remember bringing him home from the hospital like it was yesterday. It was the 4th of July and blazing hot outside in comparison to the freezing hospital room I'd been staying in for four days. We squinted our eyes as we walked outside into the waft of July air with our new baby boy tucked safely in his carseat for the very first time. As we drove home I must have turned around to look at him a dozen times. I don't think he made a peep...although that's the "mommy memory" people talk about when details get fuzzy.

Growing up, the 4th of July was a big family affair. Relatives would come into town from far and wide and we'd spend a few days catching up on one another. We'd play horseshoes and the kids would put on plays in my grandparents backyard. One year I won the watermelon spitting contest. I was so incredibly proud! As the day wore on, my Uncle and Dad would take the young boys to the back of the property and build homemade fireworks (aka bombs, pretty sure it's super illegal). They'd blow them off and get a bang out of all the girls shreiking at the loud boom. At night we'd all go to my parents house on 6th Street and sit out in the front yard, just blocks away from the big High School fireworks show. As a kid I can still remember my big sister watching from her bedroom upstairs because she hated the sound so much. As we grew older, we'd invite friends to join us and we'd sit down on the lawn with a nice cold beer in hand to watch the show with "I'm Proud to be an American" blarring from the FM radio broadcast that coordinated with the fireworks show. If I close my eyes I can still smell and hear those hot summer 4th of July nights.

It felt right to bring him home on the 4th of July...holds a special place in my heart. That year we sat on our back patio, holding a sleeping newborn through the bangs and booms of fireworks in the air. It was perfect.

My grandparents moved from their home into a smaller and newer place a couple summers ago. The 4th isn't quite the same without their big backyard, tree house and garden to run around in. Last year we went back "home" for the holiday and it was in a word, different. Not in a bad way, but just made me start to see things through the eyes of our son. What special memories will he treasure in his heart? What will he look back on that was a happy place? Will it be running through the sprinkler at his grandparent's house? Will it be playing with his cousins and Uncle Steven in the backyard and doing sparklers? Whatever it is, I hope that he can always look at this family and be thankful. I know I am.

Summer Fever

So funny how we wait all year for summer...then summer comes and we cram our schedules so full that it passes us by in a flurry! We have been super busy on the weekends going to the beach with friends or having visitors come to stay with us. We've managed to get a little time in the yard with some really nice weather and Thatcher has discovered his love for the sprinkler and hose. He laughs hysterically when you spray and then says "again, again!".

I feel like a lightbulb has gone off in his head the past month. He says new words every day and continues to amaze me with his memory and speaking ability. He's really able to communicate with us now and it truly is more and more fun every single day.

Yesterday was a little tough. He was playing on the back porch and next thing you know he's screaming primal after having fallen down the 4 concrete steps. He banged his face up pretty bad and scraped his nose and head. I was so scared to look into his mouth, fearing he had knocked teeth out. I am SUCH a weenie! I had better toughen up because I'm sure I have many scrapes and bruises to contend with in his future.

"beefs" and "quirls"

thatcher doing a happy dance in his underoos (he refers to as "beefs" trying to pronounce briefs) after doing his business in the toilet for the first time. no m&ms required! yes!

We are on yet another trip, this time to visit "momo and papa" in Clarkston, WA. We arrived on Friday night after a long day of flying (there is not a direct from PDX-sigh). The plane however is old hat to mister man and he did really fantastic on the flight...aside from the pdx-boise portion when he spilled an entire plastic tumbler of complimentary red wine on mama's lap and boots. Oops. The flight attendant was kind enough to bring me a new cup which I slammed in fear of a repeat spillage then spent the next 45 minutes having to pee.

We're having a great time here and enjoying some killer weather. I've taken Thatch to great gramma and grandpa's every day and he is really having fun with their cat. In fact, when we drop momo off at work every morning (so I can use her car) the only way to get him to stop crying and calling for my mother is to bribe him with a cat visit to my gramma's house. This is rather interesting to me considering I'm scared to death of cats. Which leads me to the squirrels. He is completely fascinated. Mom taught him the word on his first day here so now he peers out the window in a trance saying "quirls, tree". Those dang squirrels are gross and scare me too, but he seems to think they're pretty great. For some reason I just envision them pouncing out of the tree or scurrying on the ground and latching onto my legs with their nasty little claws and teeth. I'm a paranoid freak, I know (and a complete weenie in addition to that).

I've been able to go running most of our mornings here and I just love that. It's nice and warm and I like to run the bridges loop along the river on the bike path. It's peaceful and has a couple good hills and feels fantastic to get it done first thing in the day without driving in the car somewhere, parking, getting the stroller or taking Thatch to the gym and being on a machine for an hour. Fresh air does a body good.

My friend had her new baby girl this week so I've been able to go over and hold her a couple times. She is such a sweet little baby and I adore her already. I love holding babies. It's just the most wonderful thing to me...awake, asleep, even if they are crying or poopy, I'll take it all and love every second. I have babies on the brain in a major way and am SO hopeful that Brandon and I are blessed again with another child.

Thatcher will be two years old in just over a month from now. This year has passed me by more quickly than any year of my life. He is such a big kid now and can say more words every day. Today he did two things that were really exciting for old mama. He doodied on the toilet for the first time and finally said "I love you"...not weirdly simultaneously like saying he loved his doodie though so don't worry. We called daddy (who is coming over here to meet up with us in a couple days) and left him a message with Thatch saying i love you. SO DANG CUTE.

I'm off to eat lunch. I've been hungry since 10:30 so it's time!

xoxo

tisk tisk

mother's day at sesame street show
big deal to an almost 2 year old. high five from grover himself

the fam at sesame street show

hiking in palm springs - hot hot hot (the weather, not so me)

me and little at the pool in psp NOT getting a burn. woo hoo!

I'm such a rebel. It's now Tuesday and a full week since my last entry. Woops. Our trip to PSP was great and I am proud to say I didn't even fry myself like I usually do. I guess all that SPF business really works. I'm usally so mentally skewed about my ridiculous Portland-eque level of PALE (and unwilling to admit my glowing white skin) that I slather on a thin layer of spf8 and call it a day-and no, I don't reapply irregardless of the thousand submergons in the pool. Thus the typical vacation burn. Maybe I'm growing wiser in my old age! Yes!

We got home on Saturday night and Sunday enjoyed an action-packed Mother's Day. Funny, one of the first things I thought of when I woke up that day was 'what in the hell did I do last year?' and couldn't remember for ages. Then moved onto, 'Dang I have a lot of junk to unpack'. And finished up with 'Because it's mother's day, I am going to eat all the yummy crap I normally resist...so lets head out nice and early to Tin Shed and beat the breakfast rush'. Best decision I made for myself in quite some time. Breakfast (aka my favorite meal of the day hands down) was incredible. Sat outside under heat lamps with a good view of all the other famililes waiting for a coveted table. The 'how latin' egg white scramble with fresh salsa, chorizo, black beans, avocado and cojito did not disappoint, nor did the potato cakes (crispy and delcious) and half of biscuit with homemade rasberry jam. Oh man! I can still salivate just thinking about it. So dang full after that, but damn it was good.

Sesame Street Live came to town so naturally we needed to take Thatcher to see the crew up close and personal. I got a picture of him (ok, so maybe I took like 30 pictures, but it was epic for him so don't judge me)...his expression when Bert and Ernie first came on stage was priceless. The afternoon show ended with a bang-Thatcher discovered his appreciation (and love) for the Count and got a high-five from several of the gang. What a day.

As if I didn't consume enough calories to last an entire week at Breakfast, we wrapped the night up with a couple mojitos then took it down to Sally's condo for some AMAZING PASTA from the authentic Italian joint near her place in the Pearl. I don't call myself much of a pasta lover, but this stuff was pretty gosh darn fantastic. In fact, I was so inspired by my two incredible meals it moved me to actually cook for once last night. We grilled chicken and asparagus with salad and homemade giant yummy croutons.

It's rainy here and not so much warm. I'm over it. Leaving again on Friday for a week to Clarkston to visit the folks. Should be nice weather and a fun time. By the time I get back I'm praying for sun here at home!

Got to get monkey to bed and gear up for the little obscure show called American Idol. I watch it like a twelve year old and love every second (not sure who I'm rooting for now that Matt and Allison are gone though. Boo).

Happy Tuesday, MamaO

Palm Springs Voyage-Day One

Thatcher and I took it solo yesterday with a trip down to visit his Grammie (or as he calls her, Mammie). I spent the whole day prior loading down the diaper bag with every possible in flight distraction, and about an hour into it I was so dang happy with myself for being prepared I practically said so out loud.

First of all, I was awarded the coveted open seat next to me. When you are flying alone with a large almost 2 year old, it feels like a blessing from the divine one himself. The little dvd player I brought was acting up and took about 15 long minutes to load. Meanwhile Thatcher was chanting "George" and "Show" over and over until the movie came on. That distraction was a solid hour of bliss....followed by him ripping the headphones off and shouting "TREAT" and "up please!!!!!!". Oh no, one more hour to go.

Two coloring books, five minature sesame street books and about eight pounds of raisins, fruit leather, dried apples and teddy grahams later was the brief melt down on descent. It was about 10 minutes prior to landing that mister boss man decided he no longer wanted to sit in my lap (the only time he was required to by the way) and also vigorously refused to wear the seatbelt if sitting in his own chair. A little crying and throwing his body was successfully bribed into being an angel with yet more snacks. Magic.

Once we got here-you can imagine, thatcher in the ergo on my back and me with all the bags, junk falling off all around me-we made it and it is warm and windy but awesome. I put him down for a nappy, got my bikini on and immediately headed outside for a 75 page read-a-thon of Tori Spellings book (I know it sounds brainless, but the book is very entertaining!) then got too hot and had to take it over to the pool. In heaven. Dinner was fun at the club. We sat outside, had a couple glasses of wine and Thatcher entertained all mammie's friends endlessly.

I'm sure Day Two will not disappoint. I'm heading out for a run soon then presumably hitting up the pool. Aaaaaaaaaaaah.