I'm So Thankful - Pt. 1, 2 & 3

Several friends of mine are creating a List of Thanksgiving. It's just one item a day from Nov 1st to Nov 22nd (Thanksgiving Day) to help give a little perspective as we move into the holy-day season. It sounded like a good idea so I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Here's mine, thus far:

Jack & Grandma Brenda

Nov 1st

I'm grateful for a small moment this evening. While running through Target, Jack was caught off kilter and almost ran into another couple. Without any parental instigation (because I've actually never told him to say this), Jack said, "'scuze me!" 

I'm thankful for two reasons. First, it was another example of how freakin' adorable my kid is. I know I'm slightly biased but pretty sure he is the best little man ever. Also, it made me feel like I'm doing alright with the whole parent-thing when my smart little guy sees & mimics polite behavior.

Nov 2nd

I'm thankful that my son gets excited to eat homemade applesauce. I'm thankful because it's a fairly healthy treat, especially compared to the garbage we were doling out two days ago.

Also, I've never been much of a homemaker, but since Jack I've found myself doing more homemaker-like projects. Gardening. Baking bread. Making dried fruit from apples & pears that I picked. I'm even planning a birthday party with some homemade decor (coming soon to a blog near you!). All that to say, I'm thankful for the ways I've grown being a mom.

I promise not all of these are going to be about Jack.

The Seahawks' Russel Wilson & Brian
Brian looks po'd about the last loss.

Nov 3rd

I'm thankful for my husband's job. For those of you who don't know me well, I'm not an army lover (unless it's the end of the month, as Brian likes to say). Brian works ridiculously long hours. He leaves home long before any sane person would be rousting (5:30AM), and he's lucky to be home by 6:30PM. As a commander, Brian must respond to calls and texts at all hours of the day & night. Sometimes this means late-night, last-minute treks to the base (usually because idiot soldier was arrested).

But I need to remind myself to be thankful. Brian is supposed to be deploying with his brigade this month. But last minute, the colonel asked Brian to be the rear commander, which means he is in charge of the soldiers who are unable to deploy. And like in the Bible, the ones left behind tend to be the screw ups. (Okay, so that's not how Jesus would have put it. Nor are all the soldiers trouble, but give a girl some creative license).

Anyway... back to being thankful for Brian's well-paying, pain-in-the-neck job. He may have to work a bit over the holidays, but at least he's not in a foreign country with kevlar strapped to his body. Brian will have quite a few late nights over the next month, but at least he'll be around for Jack's birthday.

Jack is Twenty-Three Months!

Daddy & Jack play hide and seek.
Thanks for the great photos, SuLee!

Our life is currently all about trains. When Jack wakes up in the morning, the first thing he says is, "choo choo train?" Needless to say the adults in the house can often be found humming Thomas the Train's theme song.

We also like to watch Sesame & Super Why, which the adults in the house like a little better since it helps with learning the alphabet and letter recognition. Another thing Jack loves (that maybe our neighbors did not) was when Mama wrote the ABC's in big letters across our front sidewalk. We'd never have guessed that it wasn't going to rain for 81 days, but that gave us lots of time to practice finding our letters.

Jack's Sidewalk Alphabet

It's amazing to see how quickly Jack is learning. He says 2-3 word sentences - my favorite being his sweet, "please, mama?"

Below is a video from when cousin, Lucy, came to spend the night.

Grandparents: Jack needs warm footie pajamas in 24M or 2T, educational toys (leapfrog?), or play kitchen supplies.

Leaving Las Vegas!

In July, Kylie flew to Vegas for orientation at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. After her first week, she already had a job at UNLV's bookstore and was excited to meet her roommate. So far, I think she's liking college life.

Brian drove Kylie's car down to Vegas and swung by Montana to grab Therin on his way. Then, Mama and Jack flew down on a plane. Jack loves planes, and he loves getting to see "Brother" and "Sister" in one spot.

Therin, Jack & Kylie

When people hear we're going to Vegas, I know that they immediately picture The Strip. We actually go to visit family and play in Grandma Mary's pool. However, this time Brian treated me to a night at the Luxor (so now I can say that I've slept in a pyramid). We caught an early show, and like the party animals we are, were in bed by 11:30pm.

We stayed at Brian's brother's house so we could play with cousins as much as possible. It was fun to meet our newest little cousin. Heath is sweet & smiley. And, really limber. The kid is always chewing on his toes! I'm positive that I've never been that flexible...

Our new cousin, Heath.

Hayden is a sweetie and a wild man.

Jack & Hayden at the water park that Uncle Dave built.
Well, maybe he just helped find funding for the project.

Jack with his namesake, Uncle David

It was great to see the fam and nice to get some warmer weather, but we fly home this afternoon. Although, we're sad to say goodbye, it will be nice to climb into our own beds tonight.

Happy Father's Day, Brian!

I'm sorry that you can't be with your kiddos today, but we're sending our love in the meanwhile.

Jack is Eighteen Months!

After months of trying, Jack is finally willing to sit and read books. Tonight we read the same book for about 20 minutes, until it randomly disappeared.

Kim & Jack

Jack is perpetually teething. Suddenly, Jack has a mouthful of ten teeth, which he very dutifully brushes each night. He also loves to put lotion on.

Jack is quite the big helper. He helps mom empty the dishwasher and put away dishes. He helps to dig dirt out in the garden. And, he especially loves helping to unfold clothes.

Daddy & Jack on their way to Sesame Street Show

Mom daringly removed the gate above the stairs this month. So far, Jack doesn't care about the stairs unless someone goes down them. Then, he wants to follow, but luckily he also wants your hand getting down the stairs. Daddy worried that Mom was moving too quickly for our fearless climber and suggested we wait to remove the gate until Jack was 10 years old. However, I envision Jack climbing over the gate and tumbling headfirst so we're trying it my way.

But either way, I see bumps and bruises ahead. This rough and tumble guy sure loves to be on the move!

Who would believe a sweet looking boy could be so damn strong-willed?!

Good Job, Pinterest!

My previous experiences with Pinterest was less than successful and more than messy. So many crafty people showing off their DIY goodies, and I sooo wanted to be in the club. Everyone makes it look so easy. I was determined to try again.

Quite awhile ago (pre-Jack), Brian & I discussed taking a woodworking class. We both thought it would be extremely cool to have family dinners at a table that he & I had made together. Well, those plans never came to fruition, and now I'm sure that we need more practice before that can happen.

I found great toy box instructions and was determined that "I can do that." After a way longer than necessary trip to Home Depot, I had all the wood. It took me quite awhile before I finally admitted to myself that I was going to need help with this project.

With Brian's direction, it only took a couple hours in the garage to whip up our toy box. I think it took me more than twice as long to finish the painting, but I'm very happy with this Pinterest Project. I think Jack is, too.

Playing in the toy box.

I had to bribe him with treats to get even this picture.

"Leave me alone. I'm busy, Mom."

Click here for the toy box plans.

Jack is Four Months!

Baby Gym Pro

My Sweet Son,

You are four months old today and each day with you just gets better! In the past couple days you've definitely become more vocal. I think that sometimes you just talk & yell because you love the sound of your own voice, but that's fine with me for now because I love your little voice, too.

You've totally perfected your baby gym such that you do not let one song finish before you're pulling the ladybug for the next song. Unfortunately, you're not nearly as impressed with the baby gym anymore, which makes me a little sad because it means that you always want to be held you are getting bigger and I still want you to be my little baby boy.

Photo Credit: Lindsy Read

One of my favorite parts of the day is rocking you to sleep at night. We turn on a little music and discuss all the fun we had over the day and plan adventures for the following day. You're a very sweet listener and let me do all the talking. I'm so thankful that you still love to snuggle your mama and I love the sweet, contented sounds you make when you sleep. And as much as I LOVE sleeping with you I have to force myself to limit our snuggling naps. Partially because you sleep like your daddy (very loudly and wiggly), which doesn't allow for very good rest for mama, but also because it would be way too easy to fall into a pattern.

Our friend, Lindsy Read of LMR Photography, came to take pictures of you today, which I planned to do months ago. She did a wonderful job and I'm excited to get them printed up. I cannot wait to get pics with you, your brother & sister. I can tell you love them already. It's been awhile since you've seen Therin so I'm glad he's coming soon, and nobody gets you giggling like your Kylie. Oftentimes, you're content to just stare at her. It's kinda creepy sweet.

Happy (Four Month) Birthday, Jack!

The Fixer-Upper

I have a confession that I probably should have told my husband prior to marriage. Instead, it was sorta like he got sucker-punched. Twice. You see... I love fixing up houses. You may have thought the title of this post was in reference to the house, but it's actually about me. You see, growing up, my step-dad worked in construction. Our home in Seattle was under perma-remodel. My poor mother spent a whole summer with a kitchen under remodel, doing dishes in the bathtub. When we moved to Sequim, Lane began work on our home there. Perhaps, I can blame the constant construction on my house-fixing expectations.

At any rate, we have lived in our current house since September 2008 and thus far we have removed popcorn ceilings, painted 6 rooms, ripped out carpet & replaced it with hand-carved (fake) wood floors, installed shelves & cabinets, swapped out 5 light fixtures, installed a woodstove, new carpet in 3 rooms, (almost finished) crown molding, and some new trim. Not to mention the necessary improvements - new roof, stove, and fridge. I wish I had before and after pictures for all the rooms because they would be amazing.

Here's an update on the downstairs. Without the "Before" picture, just imagine nasty, outdated carpet. Oddly placed, cinder-block fireplace with random space on either side. And, now we have this...

My handy husband tiled the floor & fireplace. Then, our new friend, Bryan Jacobson of Tacoma Woodworks, built the awesome cabinetry and mantle to help provide storage (cus you can never have enough of that) and to add clean lines to the room, rather than weird, spider-inviting nooks. The odd string that you may faintly see at the top is to draw cable cords through to the cabinets. Eventually, there will be a TV mounted above the mantle.

Next, I just need to decide on a paint swatch. So far I've ruled out the three colors below, but we're getting there!

Woodlawn Blue, Sea Glass, & Embellished Blue

Our downstairs ceiling is currently very classy, school ceiling tiles and I'm hoping for an upgrade. Please vote via comments. Should the ceiling be remodeled with wainscoting or drywall? Help us decide!