.blaisdell.

our baby is probably a...

2012-01-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

BOY!

However, we are not totally certain. But, it is more than likely a boy. Here is our story:

Dan accompanied me to the ultrasound appointment. We sat there watching the screen as the technician did all of the different measurements of the various body parts. Finally, the technician asked if we wanted to know the sex and we said yes, of course. She looked and she told told us she thought it was a girl. I asked her about how sure she was and she said that she was about 90% sure. She had some more measurements to get, the baby is really low and in a weird position and it was hard for her to get some of the measurements and so it took a little while. Then she had to do the oh-so-fun pelvic ultrasound to look closer at my placenta & cervix and the doctor came in to check things out. Turns out that I have partial placenta previa (where the placenta partially covers the top of the cervix), but it is no big deal and will probably resolve itself.

When the doctor came in, she asked us if we found out the gender and we told her about the 90% girl thing. Then she said "well, we will try and make you even more sure". Even though the technician had sounded fairly certain about her girl answer, I never really felt like she was, but she wasn't that personable. They did some more measurements and then they tried to double check the kid's genitals. Well, this little one was not wanting to cooperate. The legs were pretty close together. They tried bouncing the baby around and everything, but there was no budging. After looking at a few different angles, they were pretty sure that they were seeing a penis & scrotum. They said things like:
"yeah, that is looking pretty dude-ish"
"it would be weird if this was a girl"
"i would say we are 90% sure it is a boy"

So, we are going with the boy verdict & are sooooo excited about it (of course I would be excited either way)! Here is the best photo we got of the junk:

I have a follow up appointment about my placenta's situation at 29 weeks (mid april) and they said they should be able to confirm the sex then, that the baby will not be too big at that point to tell. So, in about 10.5 weeks we will hopefully know for certain! I met with my midiwife after the ultrasound and she was like "yeah, they can usually say they are 99% sure, I wouldn't buy any clothes or anything!" But, I am fine with that. Plan on boy (i.e. don't buy anything) and if for some completely odd reason the baby does turn out to be a girl (which, I highly doubt) we will just have to put the baby in some semi boy-ish clothes for a few weeks :)

I just have to say how much I cannot wait to meet the little guy, I cannot even tell you with words how excited I am. I am insanely baby hungry, June cannot come soon enough! It is inane how much I can feel him move around already. When I was pregnant with Arlo, I could not feel him at all at this point and I feel this guy pretty much constantly already. During the ultrasound, they were having a hard time getting measurements because he was so squirmy. And let me just tell you that these ultrasound photos do not do any justice at how completely adorable he is. So perfect and gorgeous. Like I said, can't wait to meet him!

inspired... again

2012-01-16T10:04:00.000-08:00

if you are a photographer, videographer, any sort of creative person... or ANY person in general. this video will inspire you. not to mention that Bon Iver is completely amazing in the first place.
blown away.
watch the whole thing.
in full screen.

more film

2012-01-04T10:36:00.000-08:00

the downside of film, not seeing the closed eyes until development. still a cute photo though.

this is one of arlo's favorite games to play, which he has somehow named "chee-ya!"
when he bursts through the blanket he yells that and laughs and laughs and laughs

the next photos from the beach are special to me because it was the day that we found out we were expecting baby #2!

pentax k1000

50mm lens

so in love with these two

2012-01-03T16:43:00.001-08:00

shot on the pentax K1000

50mm

Christmas Eve

2012-01-02T09:52:00.000-08:00

We decided to open our family presents on Christmas Eve because Christmas was going to be super full of fun things with family that arlo wouldn't be able to play with his new presents (Thanks for the idea, Michelle!). We had a really nice day. After Arlo's nap we went caroling with Dan's family and watched The Help (my 3rd time seeing it, it was just as good). I made a little video of Christmas Eve morning, it might be a little boring for some, but it is a good memory for our family. Enjoy if you so choose!

decorate

2011-12-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

our decorations are very limited this year, as i have not been feeling my greatest. however, we are doing what we can and arlo is enjoying it! it is so adorable how excited he is for Christmas this year. he loves the music, the lights, and he adores Santa (another post coming soon) and has seen him 3 times this year. he is very insistent on wanting a train for Christmas, until this morning it has turned into wanting a car... and when i bring up trains, he says "no, i want a car for christmas"... sorry buddy, presents have already been bought!

Arlo sings

2011-12-13T17:37:00.001-08:00

Arlo loves singing. He also loves Thomas and anything train related. Right now his favorite songs to sings are The ABC's and The Thomas Song. Here he is, singing his current #1 favorite before bed:

Thanksgiving

2011-11-29T15:17:00.001-08:00

so, i was bad at taking pictures while we were out on the coast for thanksgiving weekend. i got no photos of the food prep or our delicious feast. but, i will have to forgive myself because i was pretty nauseous. however, we had a really, really great time! usually, we rush around to 2-3 places on thanksgiving because we have so much family in town. it can get sort of hectic and feel like you don't really get awesome quality time with everyone. this year, we did something different and i just loved it. my mom's side of the family rented a nice big beach house to have thanksgiving in. we stayed for 3 nights and got to have a nice, relaxing time at the coast. the weather was pretty horrible on thanksgiving (which was fine since we were inside cooking and eating all day anyway). however, the following two day brought great weather. it was gorgeous.

friday we ventured out with justin & karin to do some engagement photos. i also snapped some of dan, arlo, & lucy, who decided to tag along.

this one is blurry, but i just love it anyway.

a quick (and blurry) group shot. i set up my camera with a timer & set it on a chair, on a bowl... it wasn't ideal and I am pretty sure i bumped the camera, which is why it is all blurry. oh well. here is the thanksgiving crew!

saturday, we had to check out at 11am. once we left, we headed to devil's punchbowl to check out the sites, after that we drove to newport to have lunch at the original mo's and check out the sea lions.

i think this going to the coast for the holidays should be a tradition or something, at least every few years. it was so nice to spend time with family and relax for those few days. maybe some christmas we will have to do this. i would really love it!

some recent news

2011-11-23T09:09:00.001-08:00

Halloween

2011-11-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

this year we did a few fun things for halloween. this was the first year that arlo really understood the concept of trick or treating and it was pretty cute. on friday night we went to the trunk or treat with dan's parent's family & all of their younger kids. arlo had a really fun time at that, even though he was exhausted from his fun day with grandma val at the pumpkin patch and no nap.

mmmmmm... his first taste of halloween candy. it's so good. look how tired he was. haha.

his favorite thing at the trunk or treat activity was this fishing game. he could not get enough of it and it was the only thing that he wanted to do.

the following night was our ward's trunk or treat. dan was at the jeff beck concert with his dad... so arlo and i went on our own. arlo was still as excited about the trick or treating and candy.

here he is with his little buddy, lilly (or cinderella). they were so cute together :)

arlo and his other little friend, grae (the shark)

"let's go trick or treat! yeah!"

then on actual halloween, we went to the member's only party at the children's museum.

kim & her kids joined us.

the kids played with legos

watched a puppet show about a ghost who stole candy

rode on a dragon

and played in the dig pit

they also played with the trains (not pictured)

since we did so much before actual halloween night, we didn't go trick or treating on halloween night.

we stayed in, had a nice dinner, had special halloween cookies, let arlo have more of his candy and pass out candy to the kids who came by. and he seemed very content with that.

hope you all had a wonderful halloween!

our beautiful family photos

2011-10-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

when we took our trip to new hampshire earlier this month, we got our family photos taken. i thought it would be fun to do while we were over there and i heard it was just beautiful there in the fall (and it was, even though our family photos don't capture all of the color, i still LOVE LOVE LOVE them). i am so very grateful that i found the amazing photographer that i did (well, she sort of found me). anyway, heidi, of White Loft Studio is amazing (just go check out her portfolio... so lovely). as many of you know (and from the previous post), i have been experimenting with film myself because pretty much all of my favorite photographers shoot with film. heidi is a photographer that shoots only film and is amazing at it! we met at an adorable apple farm in massachusetts. arlo, who has lately been such a snuggle bug and sort of poses for pictures was not very cooperative... would not sit still for a picture to save his life. but, he did well and we got some cute ones of him! here are some of my favorites:

on film

2011-10-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

awhile ago, like maybe a year ago. my brother had my dad's film old film camera. and then he lent it to me to use. and i think i might be hooked. most of my favorite photographers shoot in film. and we just had our pictures taken by a film photographer in Massachusetts last week (I can't wait to see the photos).

Here are some photos from the first roll of film I ever shot on the camera, straight scans from Costco. I have done NO editing to these photos:

the great outdoors

2011-09-07T16:31:00.000-07:00

last weekend our friends, the evertons, invited us to join them on an outdoor excursion.

it was going to be a beautiful day and we were excited.

we walked from our house to the MAX and rode it to Washington Park

we really wanted to bring lucy, and you are only supposed to bring dogs in carriers, so we wrapped her in a blanket and held her on our laps. we were going to put her in the ergo (hahahaha, it did work! i can only imagine the looks i would have gotten), but arlo was not having it, HE wanted to go in it, even though he hadn't been in it for a LONG time

Arlo & Lucas having a blast riding the train. They are so cute together... even if they do fight over toys constantly :)

and this girl is just always adorable. look at her! SO CUTE!

Super mom, Ksenia. Arlo will never hold my hand, but he held hers for quite awhile!

hydrating. and advertising for klean kanteen. i think between our two families we had 4 klean kanteen water bottles with us.

yep, arlo in the ergo. i thought he was done with this and would not use it anymore.
he was tired though, and it was nap time, so he went in. so cute!
he does still have at least 10 pounds until he is "too big", even though the ergo is tested up to 90 lbs ;)

Anya and Arlo about to drift off to sleep... soooo tired.
it was a beautiful hike!

Arlo finally crashed. That hood really didn't fit over his head, as you can see... but, it kept it from bobbing everywhere.

crazy awesome tree roots.

Lucas was loving being able to walk Lucy. He did a good job too! Zach, Ksenia... I think you need a dog ;)

happy hikers

uhh.... so how do we get back???
we had so much fun just talking and walking, we realized we didn't know how to get back...

YES! ALL DESTINATIONS were this way.

tired kids, ready to head home.

lucas & mom on the way home

everton family photo. hahaha, lucas' face! everyone else is smiling though :)

We really enjoyed the walk/hike. We definitely didn't get to enough of this during the summer because it was so busy! Hopefully we have some more sunny weekends before all of the rain and cold comes!

fancy sance

2011-09-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

dan plays with a band that plays lots of covers... or all covers. they play weddings & other events. this last wednesday they played for the intel fun run. arlo had fun dancing to the music & playing on the playground that was nearby. we also were able to ride our bike to the show!

watching the ducks

2011-09-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

look how grown up my little guy looks.

he is talking way more.

he is sleeping in a "big boy bed"

he is going pee and poo on the potty (for the most part)

but, he still loves to "cuddle mommy"

and i will cherish that as long as i can

i love my little man

Great Oregon Steam Up!

2011-08-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

a few weekends ago, we took arlo to the Great Oregon Steam Up! It was a hot day, but we enjoyed ourselves. I found myself much more fascinated with everything than I thought that I would be. I hope to go back again next year! Also, my grandpa came with us, which was awesome.

Arlo loved all of the construction vehicles, but was a little wary of getting too close to them. It took some coaxing to get this picture of him standing on it.

we got to ride little mini trains!

see lots of awesome and crazy machines like this one, the BLAISDELL engine compressor!

LOTS of cool old trains and machines to see.

Okay, this was the weirdest thing. There was this woman walking around with this HUGE snake around her shoulders. Anyway, she was in line for food in front of us and Arlo was obsessed with the snake. He seriously was not afraid at all. The woman said she was surprised with how into it Arlo was, she said usually kids just see it, look at it, and are done. But, the whole 10+ minutes that we were in line, Arlo wanted to touch it. I don't know how I feel about it... still...

Later that evening, we got together with some friends for an amazing BBQ. All of the food was great! And the company was perfect. Can't wait to do it again!

This picture is blurry, but I love it! Anya is the cutest.

The kids had fun playing riding bikes.

And Arlo played with cars, trains, or trucks most of the time. He didn't get a nap this day and was very tired. However, that is not why he is laying down. He loves to play with his vehicles this way, to get right down on their level. It must feel more real/seem cooler to him. I love it though, it is the cutest thing and I am glad that I got a picture of it finally.

melissa is getting married!!!

2011-08-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

my best friend from high school (my bopsy twin) is getting married NEXT MONTH! i am completely honored & excited to be her matron of honor. i had a really fun time hosting & planning her bridal shower, with lots of help from the other bridesmaids.

it's hard to tell from this picture, but we had Melissa's name hanging from the tree. it was actually my favorite decoration

the big group shot!

the bridal party. we are leaving for Vegas on Thursday!

we spent many, many hours making 100's of these flowers. they were so pretty.

food. yummm.

yummy cake jars! mmmmm.

there were 2 "hunky kyle" pictures hidden. those who found them won a prize.

we played a trivia game, with video answers from mr. kyle himself.

look how cute melissa is. seriously, it's not fair.

during the trivia game, the guests and to guess whether or not they thought mel's answer would match kyle's. these lovely ladies had no faith.

prizes, beautifully placed & wrapped by miss alli.

opening gifts

she got THREE of the same frame. hahaha.

the bouquet.

or hat.

melissa & myself. can't wait for the wedding!!!

arlo's first lie.

2011-07-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

i wish i had a picture to post with this, but i don't. there really wasn't a ton of poop involved. yes, this story involves poop.

arlo is getting more familiar with his bodily functions. he has successfully peed on the potty 4 times now. he gets really excited about it, but we aren't pushing it. when we change his diaper, we'll ask him if he wants to sit on the potty. if he says yes, we let him, if he says no, we just say "okay" and tell him "if you need to go pee pee or poo poo, you can tell us and you can go on the potty". that has yet to happen yet. but, we will continue this process for awhile. he has also watched "Elmo's potty time" and we've read a couple of children's potty themed books.

anyway, i am rambling. so, today he was "taking a nap" and all of the sudden over the monitor i hear, "mommy!!! WASH YOUR HANDS!" (which means he wants to wash his hands). i immediately thought poop or boogers. there is no way that it could be anything else.

so, i went into his room and it smelled like poop. luckily it was just on his one hand.

me: "wow, what is that?"

arlo: "sandbox!"

me: "no, that is poop, sand does not smell like that, did you touch your poop?"

arlo: "ummm, no"

then i took him to the bathroom to wash his hands. then we went to change his diaper. i asked him again if he touched his poop and he told me no.

this kid did NOT want to admit that he touched his poop! what does he think is going to happen?

a free day

2011-07-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

yesterday was the first day in a month or so that we didn't have anything on the schedule and nothing planned that had to get done that day. arlo loves the MAX and so we decided to take a ride to the children's museum. we loved the train ride and even played with his trains while riding. every time the train would stop at one of the other stops he'd say "ride train!!!" because he didn't want to get off. it was super cute.

once we got to the children's museum, he was a little overwhelmed at first. there was a fair amount of kids there running around and lots to see. after looking around for awhile i convinced him to go play in the water works and boy did he love it.

he ended up soaking his shoes and bottom of his pants. but, he could care less. he would hardly even look up or respond to me if i asked him a question he was so into it. eventually i started getting hungry, but he could care less about food because the water was so fun. finally we went and had some lunch. then i convinced him to leave to go ride the train. on the way back to the max, we passed by this very cool, old train that arlo played on for awhile.

he was so cute about it and kept saying "all aboard" and "wooo woooo!". i wish i had my real camera instead of just my cell phone, but these still work! it was a very fun day for arlo. we look forward to more frequent trips to the children's museum (my mom got us a membership there for Christmas & just now activated it) and even signed Arlo up for a class called "Science Tots", which looks like a lot of fun!

4th of july

2011-07-12T17:14:00.000-07:00

i am becoming horrible at taking pictures. it is really a shame, because i do love it so much. this year on Independence Day, i didn't get many photos at all. for one, i was marching in the Hillsboro 4th of July parade myself.

which dan did snap a quick shot of. thanks, honey. i am holding the banner on the left.

it was a fun parade to march in, especially since it was in hillsboro... i saw lots of familiar faces, which made it pretty awesome.

after i marched in the parade, i joined my family & watched the rest (since we were the first thing in the parade, i got to see a good chunk of the rest of the parade). arlo loved the parade and very surprisingly sat on my lap the entire time (very unusual for him). probably because i had been gone for the entire week before doing army stuff in bend, klamath falls, and medford.

once the parade was over, we walked over to dan's parent's house..... and we ALL took a nap, it was super nice. we got up, ate some yummy BBQ food, then took the max home and relaxed for awhile. i had just gotten back the previous night from being away and it was sooo nice to be together again as a family. this was the longest that i had been away from dan & arlo. it was really, really hard on me (and them as well). we went out to red robin for dinner (it ended up being free due to a gift card & arlo's free birthday dinner, SCORE!) then we went back over to dan's parent's house for some fireworks.

sparklers

again, not taking many pictures at all because arlo was in my lap the entire time. he wasn't quite sure what to think about the fire works. he wasn't scared, but he didn't like the noise. for one of the loud, screechy ones (who likes those anyway?) i covered his ears. for the rest of the night anytime a firework would get lit he would say "mom! cover ears!!!". so, i sat & covered his ears most of the night. arlo did get to hold his own sparkler though, he really liked that. and i didn't get a picture because i was the one helping him do it and he kept almost touching the sparkler to his face or body.

after a good amount of fireworking, we called it a night and went home and crashed.

Arlo has turned 2

2011-07-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

On Arlo's actual birthday this year... I was out of town for the military. It was probably harder on me than it was on Arlo. Let's face it, he doesn't really know what a birthday is yet (although now I think that he does a little bit). So, we had a small little shin dig on my one day off with my family (in two weeks). It was a little stressful for me to pull together so quickly, but it was very worth it to see Arlo so happy. He was so happy when we sang him "Happy Birthday", even though my lighter wasn't working to actually light the candles, and it was super windy anyway. He was very excited about his melon cake, he couldn't keep his hands off of it, and kept asking to eat it the entire time. And if you notice, there are 3 candles on the cake... Arlo did that. The fruit "cake" went over pretty well, although I think some of the older kids were confused by it. They expected actual cake. Oh well, they were happy! (I got the idea for the cake HERE)

Later that night, when we put Arlo to bed (after much crying about having to stop playing with his new trains), he requested that we sing "Happy Birthday" to him instead of the usual bed time songs. It was pretty cute. He is so grown up!

Table Rock

2011-07-05T14:28:00.000-07:00

The last week (and a bit more), I have been on my Army National Guard Active Training. Basically for our band that means traveling the state and performing concerts. However, I think the very best thing we did all week was PT at Table Rock. It ended up being about 5 1/2 miles in all. There was a pretty steep hike up to the top... SGT Sigman & I power hiked the entire way. It was certainly a huge workout.

Once we got to the top, it was completely flat up until the viewpoint so we ran/jogged the mile to the end of the rock to the beautiful view:

after we enjoyed the view for a little bit, we ran back (most of the way) to the steep trail to go back down. It was a killer on the shins & knees, but so worth it. i honestly loved it, it is amazing how enjoyable working out can be when you have great scenery! i need to go back here sometime.

inspiration

2011-06-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

i am constantly amazed by the wonderful people that there are out there. so many people inspire me to be better, to see things different ways, to love better. one of the most recent things that has inspired me is this movie:

the parents of this amazing young boy are great. they are patient, they are loving, and they are devoted. even though they did something that most people might think is crazy, i admire them for it and i see them as very clear thinkers. i hope that someday i can be that sort of parent for arlo.

this movie is on netflix instant play if you have it. i suggest you watch it when you get the chance.

father's day

2011-06-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

wow, i am sick of looking at that picture of the satellite dish, how about you? we ended up taking it to an electronic recycling place in portland.

anyway, today was dan's 2nd official father's day and i think it was pretty fun. he has been wanting to get new music and so arlo & i got him a gift card for amazon to download some music. he has been having fun working on that all afternoon. he is pretty happy about that.

we got to spend some time today with my family and dan's family. it was a good day. i feel so blessed to have such wonderful family in my life. it's the truth, they are pretty cool. especially dan. i could not ask for a better father for our kid (someday kids). i love him and i love how much he loves arlo.

happy father's day danny!

death to the satellite dish

2011-05-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

the previous owners of our house had a satellite dish and it lived happily on the roof, even though we didn't use it. then our house was re-roofed and the workers dismounted it and left it sadly in our back"yard".

we are starting the process of fixing up our backyard so that arlo can play in it (we got a sandbox & slide for him). so, today i am trying to get rid of the junk back there. namely, this dish.

i call dish network to see if they can come uninstall it & recycle it or use the parts in any way. oh, and did i mention that there is a big fatty cord attached to it that is connected to our house?

they told me to do whatever with it, cut the cord and throw it away. THROW IT AWAY? they don't recycle or re-use them any longer. this is appalling to me. appalling. horrible. this thing is huge. i try to have less than a tall kitchen bag full of garbage a week (and i even feel like that is a lot, i am soon going to be composting).

so, now what to i do with it? i am going to be writing dish network a letter. and i already politely explained to the kind man on the phone how horrible it was that i was just supposed to put it into our landfills.

if anyone knows of alternative (serious and useful) answers, please let me know. google has already told me that i can use it as a bird bath or wok. no thanks.

num num num

2011-05-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

apparently you need a fork and spoon to eat applesauce.

trains

2011-05-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

easter... a little late

2011-05-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

arlo had his first easter egg hunt this year. he had so much fun!

the next day we pulled up to church to attend our meeting and he kept shouting, "eggs! eggs!!!"

he continued to say "eggs!" the next several times we went to the church building. i guess it had a huge impact on him!

he was a pro!

too many pictures, so little time

2011-05-03T17:01:00.000-07:00

confession: i miss arlo's longer hair. also, i have a million photos that i would love to share, but just haven't yet. they get pushed back, and further back, and even further back until they have been "forgotten". the past week or so i have had to spend way too much time on the computer for my little photography business and a huge project i am working on for my unit (the 234th Army Band). while images scan, i am trying to organize and catch up. so, here is a gem i found today (and ordered a print of). hopefully soon i will post some older photos that i love.

p.s. i think i have a pretty cute family, if i do say so myself.

more hints of spring

2011-04-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

it is sunny outside, but it sure is cold still! last night we joined our good friends for dinner (thank you to the janeways!) and then went outside to where they are going to get to plant a garden soon. the kids had fun running around and looking at bugs. and i had fun taking pictures of them. they are pretty cute!

the window

2011-04-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

these two are becoming good buddies (mostly it's that arlo is always talking about grae), but arlo sure loves having a buddy around to play with and share his interests with.

what could these two be sooooo intent on watching out the window?

it could be birds flying...

could be cars driving by...

people walking, biking, or skating...

or it could be this

boys.

good eats

2011-04-10T00:23:00.000-07:00

thanks to z+k everton, we got to try out this place which i had never heard of before. so good!

go eat there.

we went to Utah

2011-04-07T14:54:00.000-07:00

Arlo played with lots and lots of trains. He even talked in his sleep about "Fercy" (Percy) and slept with a train in his hand.

we had the worlds largest "mini" shakes at Iceberg.

We went to the children's museum

and we even got to play in the snow after conference!

we got shot with lots of nerf darts.

Arlo ate lots of treats

and we had dance parties.

oh, and Arlo did very well on the drive there and back.

we did some other things while we were there, but i didn't take pictures. it was so good to spend time with family (andrea & family, justin, and abby). we had lots of good food (eating out and in). it definitely wasn't a long enough trip!

The Diva Cup

2011-04-06T15:12:00.000-07:00

I am going to assume that most of my readers are female. If you are not a female, I suggest you stop reading now. If you are an awesome woman, please please please keep reading, you will probably thank me later. And no, I am not being paid to tell you this (I am not that cool).

Let's talk about our periods. There is something out there that is better than a tampon, and a million times more comfortable than a bulky pad. It is the Diva Cup. I just want to start out by telling you that I honestly, honestly wish I would have found out about these things sooner. Now, you might be thinking to yourself, "wow, that is sooo gross, I could never do that". Let me tell you how not gross it is. When tampons were first introduced it took quite a while before the concept caught on and people thought the same thing. Once you take the time to learn about The Diva Cup, and actually try it for yourself, you will be pleasantly surprised about how clean and not messy it really is. I will be the first to admit that it took me a good 2-3 months/cycles to get used to it... but I did get used to it and now, there is no turning back. I LOVE IT!

The first reason that I decided to try the Diva Cup was environmental. Wow, think of all those pads and tampons that are sitting in landfills, now that is gross. However, after using it and growing to love it... that might be one of the smallest reasons why I love the cup.

The first reason I love the cup: comfort and cleanliness! With the Diva Cup, odor is not created because the flow is not exposed to air; making me feel super clean and fresh, I didn't know I could feel so clean during my period. Again, I will admit, when i first saw it in person, I was shocked at how big it was, but it is really so comfortable, you cannot even feel it.

The second reason I love it: you can wear it for longer (up to 12 hours) and not have to worry about it, which is soooo nice. When I first started using it, I was more "paranoid" and took it out more to clean it and such, but I learned that I didn't need to as often.

The third reason I love it: it doesn't dry you out. You can wear it on your lightest of light days, and you can even put it in before you start your period (say you know you are going to start sometime during the day, but you'll be out and about, stick that sucker in and don't worry about it!). Other reasons I love it: it saves me money and is better for the environment.

Now you might be thinking, how hard is it to use? I will tell you this: if you can insert a tampon, you can insert a Diva Cup :) It did take some getting used to, but so does a tampon the first time you try it (at least it did for me!). It is also easy to clean, just use hot water and soap (I do use the Diva Wash, but you don't have to). I also boil it after every cycle just to be sure that it is extra clean.

Here is a video of how to use it (it is NOT graphic):

So, that is my little plug for the Diva Cup. If you have more questions, you can go HERE to get them answered!

Nothing New update

2011-03-14T11:28:00.000-07:00

So, as the year progresses and we try not to buy anything new, I have come to some "road blocks" and am having to make some compromises. Let me explain....

As you all probably know (maybe more than you want to) if you read this blog, I am a huge fan of trying to reduce our waste and to be kind to our earth. Which is why I am doing this "nothing new" thing. However, I also have goals that I want to achieve to make our home less wasteful, and some of those could require me to buy "new" things. Here are some examples:

1. I want to stop using saran wrap (and BUYING it), so I think it is worth it to invest in some new things like these so I don't use more plastic.

2. I use a swiffer to clean my floors. I bought the disposable wet covers at costco awhile back and still have them. But, I hate myself for buying them. Every time I use them, I wish they were gone. I am thinking about getting something like this swiffer cover.

3. I want to start composting this year. Hopefully in the next few months. I may need to buy a receptacle to keep my compost in. I have been researching how to compost when you don't really have a yard, and I am finding some good resources. Are you interested? Maybe I will write a blog about it.

4. Produce bags. I already do fairly well at this, but I still use plastic bags for some things: bulk spinach or lettuce. MOST everything else I either don't use a bag, or I use a paper bag (which can be recycled, but I would still rather reuse than recycle. Here are some that I like:

found here

Maybe you guys have some ideas for other things I could use that are not NEW instead of buying these. But I feel like the principle of "reusable" things is more important sometimes. So, I find myself in a dilemma. What do you think?

More info on our nothing new adventure:

Other things we have bought new (besides food):

a printer (business expense)

paper for the printer (mostly a business expense, but we will use it for personal use too)

crayons for arlo (i didn't look at goodwill, but it doesn't seem like something you can buy used? am i wrong)

So, I feel pretty decent about what we have done so far. Definitely not perfect, but definitely an improvement and we have learned a lot (and saved a lot).

short hair!

2011-03-12T17:41:00.000-08:00

we decided to see how arlo would look with short hair.

i almost cried after we cut it off, but it is growing on me.

and i think he looks pretty handsome.

we gave him a bath afterwards to get all the hair off (hence the outfit).

a sneak peek of spring

2011-03-12T13:49:00.000-08:00

the weather is starting to get a little warmer

it is starting to stay light a little later

we are not there yet

but we are getting closer

closer to warm days full of fun

lots of fruit

swimming

farmers markets

camping

walks

we enjoyed a sunny (and slightly chilly) afternoon at the park.

arlo can't wait for the nice weather either

he told me so himself

zero waste home

2011-03-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

first of all, i have to give all the credit of this post to ksenia, because she posted about this earlier today, but i figured that while we have many similar readers, we also have many unique readers. in the past i have posted about becoming more "green". and i still have that goal. however, i have become distracted by other things and have not accomplished as many of my goals as i would have hoped, but by the end of the year, i hope to have met more of my goals.

this video is amazing and i hope that some day in the somewhat near future, i can be more like this inspiring family:

we still have a long way to go. right now, each week we usually produce about 1 large trash bag full of garbage. and every 2 weeks our recycling bin is about 1/2 way full. that is a lot (in my eyes). when we were in california, we stayed with a family who didn't have a trash can. they kept a very small bag to put their trash in (like a target plastic bag) that seemed to last awhile. in the two days we were there, the small trash bag didn't have much in it. the rest was either composted or recycled. i thought this was a great idea and hope to implement something similar.

do you have any creative ideas to reduce waste?

that "snow day" we had

2011-03-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

arlo was very, very excited about the snow and kept looking out the window, signing "snow".

i was sick this day and really not feeling well. i finally got up the energy to go outside, at least for a little bit. he was not happy when it was time to go back in. and i might have let him bring in his snowball.

as you can see. the snow was pretty sparse by the time we got out. when we first got up in the morning there was more. it did melt very quickly though. arlo had a blast though, and he thought it was soooo cool that we could make A BALL out of snow!

serious artist

2011-03-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

i know i have already posted about arlo's drawing, but he is really into it. really, really, really into it. drawing is one of the only things that can hold his attention around the house for very long. after dinner tonight, he saw the crayons and asked to draw. he just sat at the table completely focused on his "fish", "apples", and "o's". i just had to take some photos and videos (side note: i have been doing really, really bad the last two weeks at my photo a day challenge, oooops).

What is a CSA farm?

2011-03-09T14:25:00.000-08:00

I recently found an article talking about sourcing your summer produce on one of my favorite blogs (simplebites.net). I loved the idea of CSA's and started looking into them, talked to Dan about it, and we decided to do it.

A CSA is a Community Supported Agriculture farm. What happens is a farm provides a certain number of shares for people to buy. With each share you get a box of farm fresh vegetables, fruit, and herbs (varying by the season and particular farm) each week.

I am really big into food. Yes, I love eating it, but I also love learning about it (what is healthy & what isn't, how to buy locally and seasonally, etc). I feel that eating good, whole foods is one of the most important things you can do for your health (although I am not claiming to be perfect at it). One thing I have been trying to do more of this past year or so is eating more locally and seasonally. (Greatly inspired by the book, Plenty.) There are many, many reasons to eat locally: health, the environment, and the local economy, etc.

Now that Arlo is getting older and eating more & more food, I want him to have a healthy relationship with food. I want him to know where his food comes from, to see it grow, to know that it doesn't come from the grocery store in nice packages, it comes from the earth and from real animals. I want him to visit the farms where his food is grown and even get his own hands dirty.

I, too, want to know where my food comes from. I want to know the farmer that grows it and support them in what I feel is a very important and honorable job. I want to know the practices used in farming and growing my food (what chemicals, if any, are used? do they use GMO seeds? etc). I am also looking forward to the opportunity to try new produce (many farmers provide recipes and help with how to prepare unknown veggies) and to eat healthier!

Find a CSA in your area: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/

Check out these videos:

Have you ever joined a CSA? How was it?

bye, bye!

2011-03-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

we got a new printer (mostly for my photography business, therefore it does not count towards our nothing new goal) and it came with a special toy for arlo to play with.

we would put him in and close the top and say "bye bye"

when dan and i were done playing, but arlo still wanted to play, he would get in the box and cry saying "bye bye! a bye bye!"

cutest sad thing ever.

schools kill creativity???

2011-02-28T20:49:00.001-08:00

bed head

2011-02-28T10:06:00.000-08:00

the night before... after arlo went to bed. i picked up a box of 14 puzzles (from a craigslist ad). arlo woke up to all sorts of fun.

mini da vinci

2011-02-22T09:22:00.000-08:00

my 19 month old son just drew a fish. i am pretty impressed.

arlo's is the one on the top, the bottom one is drawn by a parent :)

lucy took arlo on a walk

2011-02-17T20:30:00.000-08:00

crazy weather.

2011-02-16T15:29:00.000-08:00

today we had snow (huge snow), rain, hail, and even some sun. we went out and chased lucy around in the slush this morning.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T13:49:00.000-08:00

this picture was made possible by my awesome friend, ksenia.

maybe she will post her cute picture(s) too.

the reason i actually made this was to put a little love in dan's email inbox

while he worked today.

this was the one he got.

and a shot of our very, very healthy breakfast we had this morning.

a nothing new valentine's day!

2011-02-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

My brain has been spinning with ideas and inspiration on what in the world I can do for Dan this Valentine's day without buying anything new. Some ideas require you to have things on hand, but I wanted to share some of what I have come up with.

Obviously most of us won't be proposing this Valentine's Day (but I love these cute pictures), but going on a photobooth date would be fun and memorable (even though the photos would technically be "new", I think this passes):

found HERE

Coupons! Who doesn't love to get some fun coupons from their kids, their husband, or wife!?

these print yourself, cute coupons can be found HERE

Make some origami hearts with some fun photos, how-to found HERE

photo from PHOTOJOJO

Create a mix CD for your love, for your friend, for anyone!

instructions, download, and fun found HERE

These are more for the photographer in your life, but I loved them. Free printable valentines, found HERE

Make fun valentine's day food or even a whole meal:

found HERE

Another photographer gift, but I feel can be applied to other people/things :) Cute candy "packages".

found HERE
these are not FREE, you have to purchase the PDF to download the instructions + template.

Make and "decorate" a list to give to your husband of the reasons you love him.

this one isn't the cutest, but it was what I could find, HERE

Have post-its lying around??? Leave little love post-its all around for him to find!

found HERE

What other "nothing new" ideas do you have?

san fran {part three}

2011-01-24T13:57:00.000-08:00

this weekend, dan got to take a little bit of time off of work to spend with us.

saturday we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (pictures to come later) and then we went to a beach in Carmel. It felt like summer, I couldn't believe that it was January and we were on a pretty warm sunny beach.

that night we stayed at Dan's client's amazing home in Carmel Valley, located on a HUGE hill... check out this view. (out on the deck with no makeup)

this picture does NOT to this view any justice. there is also an equally amazing view on the other side of the house.

we also had lunch at this cute and tasty place, the Wild Goose Cafe. We ate outside and I was hot! It honestly felt like Oregon summer. While the food was delicious, the guy working there was not very friendly.

it was a nice weekend, and it was especially nice to get a different view outside where we have spent the last week. now, we have the rest of this week ahead.... starting it out exhausted since Arlo slept horribly the last two nights. But, we are thankful for the gorgeous weather and the chance to see all of these beautiful places.

san fran {part two}

2011-01-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

playing at aquatic park today.
and by "play", i mean... arlo booking it for the water constantly while i chase after him.
saying the phrase "you have to hold mommy's hand" about 100 times, only to be followed by him running away shaking his head "no"
san francisco is fun. but, it would be more fun if i wasn't doing everything alone with arlo.
tomorrow we are going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (I hope).
WITH DAN! Woooo for Saturdays. Unless Arthur decides that Dan has to work.

san fran {part one}

2011-01-19T09:07:00.000-08:00

close to the end of last week, dan was asked to go to san francisco to work with one of this clients and we decided to all go. we got here on sunday and will be here for 2 weeks. it is definitely neat to be here... but dan is working a lot too, so arlo and i are on our own almost the entire day. dan catches the train at 8:15am and doesn't get back until about 7pm.

our hotel is just a short walk away from pier 39, so we have spent some time there. arlo loves running around, climbing on the benches, and looking at the water, boats, birds, and sea lions.

today we are hopefully going to go to the aquarium of the bay, although arlo didn't get much sleep last night and is pretty cranky. we'll see what happens.

yesterday we spent half of the day on buses to go buy a stroller. we tried coming without one, and that was a mistake. by the end of the first day my arms were sore. while this kid loves to walk and run, it's not always the best idea. also, arlo has become somewhat attached to his monkey backpack. he has to put it on anytime we leave the hotel room (which is tiny, but pretty nice).

funny boy

2011-01-12T11:01:00.001-08:00

this was on facebook, but in case you missed it:

combined

2011-01-11T15:48:00.000-08:00

i really need to start combining days on these pages otherwise my book will be too big. it's hard to pick just one photo a day on most days when you have many cute shots of your kid. but, i need to do it. i also want to start taking pictures of things other than arlo (which could be hard since he is my life and is doing whatever i am doing).

this weekend we spent lots of time working on arlo's room, which he is now sleeping in. the bookshelf in the picture is going to be painted white sometime in the next several weeks to match his other furniture and his room. we mostly worked on the room at night when arlo was sleeping, so i didn't really take pictures... and was busy. so, we have pictures of arlo experiencing his new room!

doctors visit (photo a day)

2011-01-06T20:52:00.000-08:00

these pictures were taken on my phone... my crappy one... because i forgot my camera.

i like them though.

Nothing New in 2011

2011-01-05T09:47:00.000-08:00

Since we decided to take on the Nothing New Challenge this year, I have been thinking of what will be a "problem", or rather... things that will require a little more creativity than just running to the store and spending loads of money. I think that craigslist and thrift stores will be my new favorite places to shop.

things we "need":

a printer. we don't have one and it's super frustrating a lot of the time. i know there are many that are sold or given away on craigslist. however, i need a particular printer. i need to be able to print on CDs for my photography business. however, on the list of exceptions, they did say business expenses were on there. so, i might be able to get a new one.
i have no snow gear and we are planning on spending more time in the snow this year than just if there happens to be a "storm" here. i have been searching craigslist with no luck so far. i will keep looking daily :)
i am making file folder activities for arlo for church. i think i will be able to come up with most of the supplies from things that i have on hand. except for either magnets or velcro... hmmmm.

I am sure more things will pop up! It is only the 5th of the month :)

However, I am really excited for this challenge! I know that I will learn and grow a lot. I feel like so many people, especially younger than me, have lost their ingenuity. We fill our life with clutter and gadgets that we don't really need. We might think that we need them, but we can get by with out them. And what does that mean for us if we learn to live without the junk? Less clutter, more money, better for the environment, and a little more creativity.

Another thing I am planning on doing in the next few weeks, is this:

http://organizedhome.com/cut-clutter/store-create-household-storage-plan

This will help get rid of any unnecessary junk around my house and help me have a place for everything... and everything in it's place. Our house is a small one, with little storage space. Sometimes it can be a challenge to figure out where to put everything... but I have come to realize that we can do it and we don't need that much stuff. I know that I never want to live in a really big house, or even a big house... because I don't want all that space to fill with things that I don't really need.

I hope to document progress as I get my house to where I want it to be, and that I will be patient with myself as I learn. Any tips are encouraged :)

an entire can

2011-01-03T19:38:00.000-08:00

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

2011-01-03T15:21:00.000-08:00

I still keep in touch (mostly on FB) with an awesome person from my hypnobirthing class. She is pretty cool... and her and one of her friends just started an awesome new blog:

NOTHING NEW

It's about their journey they are taking THIS YEAR, to buy nothing new in 2011. Dan and I discussed it, and we are going to do it. I am a little nervous, but with a little effort, Goodwill, and creativity, I know I can do it.

Check out there About section for more info!

photo a day project

2011-01-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

some favorites of 2010

2010-12-31T14:02:00.000-08:00

i chopped off my hair

2010-12-30T22:47:00.001-08:00

before and after

christmas 2010

2010-12-29T16:51:00.000-08:00

i was a bad mom and hardly took any pictures this christmas. seriously, what i have on this blog post is pretty much it. i know, sad, right?

we had a very, very busy christmas! but it was also really fun. all of dan's 10 siblings were in town, including all of their spouses and children (who have them) and Dan's maternal grandmother and her husband. in all, there were 27 people there for christmas in dan's family! my brother, justin was also in town!

christmas eve started with a visit to see santa. i wasn't sure if arlo would be scared of santa or not. turns out that he wasn't!

when santa walked in, arlo got really excited and started waving at him. when it was our turn to see him, we let arlo try and walk up on his own. he only went so far on his own (as seen in the blurry picture), but he let us put him on his lap. he was a little nervous, but didn't cry or seem too scared.

after santa, we went to dan's house for family photos and to hang out for a little while. arlo took a little nap, and then we went to my dad's house to celebrate christmas with him. after that, we all headed over to my aunt's house to celebrate with my dad's extended family, which included 25 people (almost as many as dan's, but definitely less little kids). we were there pretty late for arlo, but he had fun!

christmas morning we opened family presents and stockings at our house with the 3 of us, it was really nice.

at around 9:30am we went to Dan's parents house for more Christmas morning festivities.

We stayed until about 2pm, when we headed to see my mom and her side of the family. After that, around 6pm, we went back to Dan's parents house since some of his siblings were leaving in the morning back across the country and again... stayed out late chatting with family.

it was very, very busy... and tiring. but good to see so much family. we are truly blessed to live so close to home and have both my family and dan's just 10-15 minutes away. this year was also fun to see arlo get excited about christmas. he really did have fun, even though it was very exhausting for him and he was definitely pretty cranky much of the time.

we hope everyone had a very merry christmas!

the mundane

2010-12-20T19:55:00.000-08:00

i am going to start a challenge at the beginning of the new year. starting right on january 1st. for myself. for my family. i am going to take a photo everyday. at least one. a personal photo. i may not post it every single day (that requires too much work). but, i want to post the photo at least 3 days a week. i am going to document even those days that i just clean, or do laundry, or am sick. i am going to take a picture, no matter what.

reasons:

1. to take more pictures. pictures are great.

2. to "journal" and remember the little things. to document life.

3. imagine being able to look back at any day of your year and recall what you did, who you met, what you learned…
4. to become a better photographer. a photo everyday will encourage my creativity and also help me practice.

who knows what little things i will forget. i am horrible at keeping a journal, at least i am now. i used to be great at it. marriage and kids happened, leaving not much alone time. a few weeks ago in my sunday school class, we spoke of the importance of keeping records. there was a story about how one particular mother wrote down lots of things about her kids and they would read the journal together... and how fun it was. i want that for my kids. and while, i am not writing it by hand (at least, not yet... someday). i have this blog :)

and i am going to make a book at the end of 2011 of my photo-a-day journey.

inspiration found here:

photojojo

i have been practicing getting into the habit. here are my photo(s) of today:

arlo playing with the reindeer antlers in front of the half decorated christmas tree.

our mini getaway

2010-12-18T22:29:00.000-08:00

last night, dan and i got to take a miniature vacation. it was the first night that we were both away from arlo. we both really missed him, but it was a much needed 24 hours of relaxation and fun.

we started out the evening by going to a place called, cacao.

we both got this cinnamon infused liquid chocolate... it was amazing. better than any solid chocolate i have ever had. it was like the best chocolate you've ever had, melted into a cup that you can taste in your entire mouth. mmmmm... delicious.

then we went to our hotel... the hotel vintage plaza.

the next morning we had breakfast delivered to our room, mmmmmmm. and relaxed until about 10am when we headed out to go walk around pioneer square and pioneer place mall to finish our christmas shopping. we also ran into some star wars characters while out walking.

we got a picture with a few of the characters... there were many more than this.

it was neat because our hotel was right next to the hotel we had our wedding reception at and stayed at the night of our wedding (the marriot on broadway) and we also walked around that same area on our wedding day to take pictures and such. oh, and while listening to pandora while getting ready in the morning, the song we danced to at our wedding came on. it was a perfect getaway in every way. and it was made possible my my mom, who watched arlo.

awesome posters

2010-12-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

wow. john mayer has some pretty awesome tour posters for sale and i am so tempted to buy one. dan and i are going to each have our own little desk/work areas in our room. perfect place to put something like this. now i need to find some cool weezer ones for dan.

they are 20% off today

with the code: HRTBRK

(just in case you were interested)

i can't decide which one i like the best.

which is your favorite?

Happy 3 Years!

2010-12-15T12:28:00.000-08:00

photo by ksenia everton

today marks three years since dan and i were wed. it was a really wonderful day, i can honestly say that i highly enjoyed my wedding day. i felt happy, relaxed, beautiful and loved. marrying dan was one of the best decisions i have ever made. he is the most loving, patient, helpful, accepting person i know. i never grow tired of spending time with him.

photo by ksenia everton

this year we are celebrating by taking our very first night away from arlo ever (a huge thank you to my mom for watching arlo)... and it is probably only our 3rd "date" alone without anyone else since arlo was born. i am soooo giddy thinking about it. yay!

happy anniversary, my love!

daddy's glasses

2010-12-10T15:29:00.001-08:00

arlo loves to steal dad's glasses.

happy december

2010-12-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

arlo wants to watch this over and over.

thankful

2010-11-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

this holiday season, i have been more excited than i have in a long, long, long time. maybe it's because we will actually be in our house with (hopefully) no water damage. maybe it's because arlo is getting older and i am excited for him. maybe there really is no real reason, but either way, i am very excited.

i am also feeling very grateful for everything that i have in my life. and i wanted to make a small list of just some of the things that i am most grateful for.

1. my family. this includes my extended family as well. a constant in the midst of a crazy, changing world. people come and go, but family is always there and i am so thankful for that. i am so unbelievably grateful for their help and support, it is amazing how much they have done for me. i cannot begin to express the love i feel from them. and i hope that they all know that i love them too. especially dan and arlo. these two guys are the best things in my life.

2. my friends. of course, there are many also, that are not pictured. these are a couple of my favorite ladies though. my friends are amazing people. they too, give so much. in primary, the chorister asked the children to think about all of the people that serve them. as i thought about this, my list was endless. my friends are among those that serve me, even when they don't think that they are. they are amazing. i am so thankful for my friends.

3. i am thankful for the means i have to live, and all of the conveniences in this world. this includes everything from my house (while on some days i act ungrateful, with all of the construction, i am truly grateful for it) to my toothpaste and my vacuum. i have so many things that i take for granted that others do not have. i should be thankful for them more.

i could list many, many, many, many more things.... but, arlo needs my attention. and he deserves it.

happy thanksgiving everyone!

welcome winter + i have the cutest kid ever

2010-11-23T21:10:00.000-08:00

here in oregon. we got a very small amount of snow last night. every day, arlo and i take lucy on a walk around the block. i snapped some shots of him today all bundled up. even though there isn't much snow, it's pretty cold. the high today was around 29.

arlo has been doing some really cute stuff lately and i have been doing a horrible job at documenting it. whether it be through pictures, journaling, or videos. i feel so bad.

he is getting great at sign language. i think he knows more signs than i do because he watches signing time every so often without me sitting there. a few nights ago while in the bath, he started signing "strawberry" and pointing over at the counter. at first i was really confused as to why he was signing "strawberry". then i realized that there was his tube of toothpaste sitting on the counter with pictures of strawberries on it. i was so impressed. also, one morning i was getting him dressed in a red shirt, and he totally signed "red". he can also sign "blue" and "green", although i am not sure he could recognize those colors yet. some of the other signs he knows now are:

water

milk

eat/food

sleep

all done

dog

bird

fish

please

thank you

hurt

grandma

baby

ice cream

cheese

apple

peach

carrot

frog

orange

banana

train

book

airplane

ball

cold

hot

(and probably more that i can't think of)

he is also really into "Cat in the Hat". i read the book so much, that he can fill in some of the words while i read. (i also have it memorized up to page 14) and because of the book, if you ask him what a fish says, he says "no, no!" it is adorable.

he loves to be wrapped in his blanket and either walk around or sit on the couch. he is getting really cuddly and snuggly. and he is getting much better at going to sleep. he doesn't act like you are torturing him when you put him to bed.

he wants to talk so bad. he is actually getting quite good at trying to repeat words. cutest thing ever.

when he falls down (which is a lot, this kid is crazy active). he tells us that he is falling down. "a dow"

see video below

chugga chugga chugga chugga

2010-11-23T09:15:00.000-08:00

choooo choooo

music love

2010-11-17T21:06:00.000-08:00

i could listen to this song over and over and over and over and over and over and over...

you have to listen to it loud and dance.

and over and over

morning blocks

2010-11-17T07:45:00.001-08:00

lately arlo has been, shall we say, OBSESSED with "Shamu", or as he says, "muuuuu". he wakes up and asks for it (it's a youtube video of Sea World's "Believe" show from this year). so, i have been trying to distract him.

mmmm.... cereal

2010-11-15T13:42:00.000-08:00

arlo always insists on feeding himself now. even when it's not even his food to begin with.

i love these boys.

our temporary pet

2010-11-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

i hate rats and mice. as my mom can attest to, i freak out at the site of them. i have some stories. i will spare you because the one that started my fear of rats is pretty... disgusting.

so, as many of your know, our condos have been under construction. dan went to take lucy out in the morning and came back in with a special treat. apparently the construction workers had found a domesticated rat and suspected that it was our neighbor's rat (since she owns some rats) and got it into a box. dan said that they were going to just leave it on our neighbor's door step in the cold where it would either die or eat it's way out of the box...so he "saved" it... and was going to go to work and leave me at home with a rat in a cardboard box... who could scratch and eat it's way out!!! NO WAY. i couldn't do it, i didn't want it in my house. i decided to knock on some of my neighbor's doors... who i at least knew a little, to see if someone could at least a little bit while i figured out what to do. luckily, i found someone who could take it for an hour. they took it and also went to our other neighbor's place of work (the one who we thought the rat belonged to). it wasn't hers. in the mean time, i acquired a cage from Joanne to borrow (THANK YOU SO MUCH). and we put the rat in it. i was okay with it being in the cage, trapped. arlo was fascinated with it... constantly wanted to watch it.

we thought the rat might belong to another neighbor who owns rats. once they got home later that night, they confirmed that it was not theirs either. but, that the rat was a girl and she was sick... she had a respiratory disease. by this time, i was less nervous about the rat and even found the rat to be a little cute (at least when i couldn't see the tail) at times. this neighbor gave us a lot of good information on rats and said she would try and find it a home and if she couldn't, we'd take it to the humane society. in the end, we had the rat for about 4 days and it SORT of grew on me. i even held it once. dan opened me up to it... and provided moral support. i don't miss it, but arlo sure does. it ended up finding a home and is hopefully as happy as can be. and i have overcome my fear.... a little, little bit.

pumpkin patch

2010-10-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

i think this was technically arlo's first trip to the pumpkin patch. we went to roloff farms this year. i sort of wanted to go to lakeview since i often went there as a kid. however, dan has made "friends" with some of the roloffs because dan's company made their website, so we decided to go there and support them! it was a lot of fun, especially since my dad and sister got to come along! to start the day off, we went to cinnabon for a super hearty breakfast (we had some fruit too). once we got to the pumpkin patch, arlo got his face painted like a tiger, we went on the wagon tour and saw the little western town, got to see some animals (including a baby lion and tiger), and of course, picked out our pumpkins. afterwards, we grabbed lunch at helvetia tavern. arlo loved the cheeseburgers and onion rings there. it was a great outing! you can tell from the pictures though, that arlo was tired almost the entire time. he was a great sport though, even with boots that were too big! a big plus, the weather wasn't as wet or cold as i thought it would be! the rain waited to come until later on that day. arlo loves his pumpkin, and keeps calling it a ball :)

once we got home i made some pumpkin bread and we relaxed... and played with our temporary pet (more on that later).

texas [part two]

2010-10-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

it's about time, right? i mean, we did go to texas back in the beginning of august!

here are more pictures from a disposable camera. this time it was a waterproof one, since we were going to a waterpark. apparently schlitterbahn has some pretty awesome rides, unfortunately we didn't get to go on them. however, we did get to play with arlo on all of the kids stuff. this was way more than i thought because he had so much fun and kept signing "more" and "please" because he wanted to go on the slides over and over and over and over.... it was adorable and exciting for everyone.

dan and i did go on a couple of rides, but not the "coolest" ones, and even still had to spend a lot of time in the lines. unlike seaworld, one of us would have to wait in line alone while the other had arlo, alone. then when the first person finished the ride, the second would have to wait in line all over again. so, a line with a 1 hour wait took over 2 hours for the both of us to ride. forget the "cool" water rides that had 2 hour lines each. however, it was still a very fun day.

the beach with the blaisdells

2010-10-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

these pictures are extra super fun because i used a disposable camera. i love how they look. i forgot how fun it can be to drop off the film, pick it up, and open your pictures, flipping through them one by one... seeing them for the first time. i think i might have to buy disposables more often. this beach trip was pretty fun, arlo loved it... he was so soooo adorable and cute this day, i am so glad i have these pictures to remember it (oh, and this was awhile ago).

15 months

2010-09-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

my big boy is 15 months old today. he is getting to be so big. really big. it amazes me how much of a little boy he is becoming. things arlo loves are: music (still), running around, playing at the park (especially watching the bigger kids), airplanes (anytime he hears one in the sky he gets really excited and immediately spots it, watches it until it goes out of view, and then whines for it to come back). he is also becoming quite the little snuggle bug and i love it. he loves to give hugs and kisses, to sit on my lap while we read, sing, or just rock in the rocking chair. his sleeping habits are definitely improving, which is much easier for me. he is not afraid of strangers (should i be worried?), he loves to wave at people, jabber at them, put on a show for them. he will also happily be held by new-ish people. he does love mom though.... i think "mama" is his favorite word. he says it a lot... and i love it.

here are some pictures of him learning to draw and color. one of the times i could get some pictures because he was trapped in his booster seat.

and this post is, "all done" (or "ah da" as arlo is signing and saying here)

our favorite breakfast

2010-09-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

I probably make this easy & delicious breakfast about 2 times a week. It is that good... and that easy.

Banana Yogurt Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup plain or vanilla whole milk yogurt (we love Brown Cow), anything not light
2/3 cup milk (we also use whole)
3/4 cup self-rising flour
1/4 tsp sea salt (optional) or 2 tbsp pure maple syrup for a sweeter version (optional)
1/2-1 semi mashed banana
vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

mix together the beaten egg and the yogurt, then stir in the milk, four, and the optional salt or maple syrup. mix until you have smooth batter.
heat a little oil in a skillet until sizzling hot. drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the pan, leaving plenty of space around each one, and flatten slightly with a spatula. cook for 1-2 minutes until lightly browned, then turn and cook further for another 1-2 minutes, until set in the center.
drizzle with pure maple syrup and/or serve scattered with fruit (we like peaches and blueberries).

can i get a picture, please?

2010-09-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

it is sooooo hard to get a good picture of this kid these days. he moves so fast... or wants to play with or look at the pictures on the camera. i attempted to get some last night before bed. we were playing with lucy and he was being so cute. this is the best i got.

really? most of them look like this:

ksenia's havin' a baby!

2010-09-15T23:20:00.001-07:00

we threw a baby shower for my friend, ksenia a little bit ago. she is due on oct. 7th with a little girl. we had a bookworm themed baby shower and had lots of fun chatting and looking at super cute little girl clothes. lucas & zach even came in for a visit!

kim's wondeful cupcakes

so excited to meet your little girl, ksenia!

giving birth on 10.10.10

2010-09-13T10:32:00.000-07:00

remember a long time ago when i posted about this amazing project?

One Day on Earth Participant Trailer from One Day On Earth on Vimeo.

well, ryan from pacing the panic room, is back at it! check out his post here.

he is looking for mothers due on or around 10.10.10 to have their birth filmed for the One Day on Earth project. i want to help because, you all know that i love birth and think it is the most amazing thing, ever. if any of you can help... let me know. here are some ways you can help:

if you know someone due around this time
if you know a midwife (or are one)
if you know a doula (0r are one)
if you know a OB/GYN (or are one)

I need to find as many expectant mothers with the due date of 10.10.10. or any time close to that date, that would be interested in having their birth captured for this film project. The challenge here is tremendous, the timing of it all is never a guarantee, plus the decision to share something so very intimate with the world is not something to take lightly. These are some of the most raw and gorgeous seconds of life to witness, and it would be hard to tell the human story without this element.

So if you know of anyone with this due date, if you have this due date, if you are a member to a birth community like The Bump, know midwives, doulas, OB-GYNs, if you are a Midwife, a Doula, an OB-GYN, and can reach out to expectant mothers with this due date (or close), please reach out to me. I need to find these Mama-to-bes. Where are they? Where are you? It does not matter what part of the world you are reading this from. If you are interested, we will find someone to film this event.

Ryan, of Pacing the Panic Room

oregon symphony

2010-09-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

concert on the waterfront. through pictures.

texas [part one]

2010-08-26T23:03:00.000-07:00

This definitely wasn't the first thing that we did while in Texas (did I mention that I was in Texas for the first two weeks of August for National Guard Annual Training?). However, it was what I felt like posting about first. More on the details of the trip later... for now, we'll focus on one of the most fun days we had there, Sea World! It was neat that we got to go because it was definitely not anywhere we would have thought to, or wanted to pay to, take Arlo... but he loved it!

The 234th army band's concert band played a short concert in front of the Shamu Theater, and it was extremely hot. I mean, wow... I was drenched in sweat after the 30 minutes of playing. I don't think that the wool pants helped much, though.

Arlo taking a break from putting on sunscreen... hair a mess with sunscreen and sweat... and then him during the concert.

After that, we got to change into our "civies" and play at the park for free, as well as get 30% off all food and merchandise. Pretty sweet deal, if I do say so myself. The first thing we did was ride a "water roller coaster", my 2nd favorite ride. Pretty fun, but I didn't get nearly as wet as I thought I would:

Dan & Arlo chose to get soaked. You got more wet off of the ride than on the ride.

Arlo loved the shows, he was comletely enthralled and had the longest attention span I have ever seen him have. It was amazing. He was getting frustrated though because he wanted to touch the "fish" (killer whales, seals, walruses, and dolphins) and get in the water with them. After they'd show off their stuff, he would immediately start signing "please", "more", "fish", or "water" and saying "eese" (meaning, please) very fervently. It was pretty adorable!

We rode a couple more roller coasters (not pictured) and had some dippin' dots (Dan's first time). It was super hot, but ultimately, a really fun time. My favorite place in all of Texas.

more hilarity

2010-07-31T23:34:00.001-07:00

or maybe it's sad. this was our attempt at a group picture.

hilarious

2010-07-30T15:07:00.000-07:00

this picture is so funny to me. arlo looks like a drunken sailor. and lucas is just making a crazy face. no matter that arlo is out of focus... i still love it. hahaha.

13 months!

2010-07-29T22:16:00.000-07:00

at his "one year" (more like 12 months and 3 weeks) appointment stats:

height: 97.5%

head: 74%

weight: 49.2%

Arlo's personality is coming out more and more. He is such a playful, happy kid (but still, not what in comes to sleeping. today he napped a total of 15 minutes, the ENTIRE day). He absolutely loves that he can walk, it's the most amazing thing in his life. He is also becoming super affectionate and cuddly (in his own, Arlo sort of way). He loves to give kisses and snuggle in, but not for very long! He is too busy to be in one place for more than about... 2-10 seconds. He loves music and guitars (which he calls "gnngg, gnngg"), he also loves balls ("daa", but a different "da" than he uses for Dad.). He loves playing with Lucy ("sseeee") and being outside. His new thing is signing "please" whenever he wants anything, and it's the cutest thing, he doesn't just sign it... he gets these super cute, big, puppy dog eyes that look right at you and says "ouss, ouss", which is very similar to the sound he makes when he wants a kiss. He says "ouss!" and leans toward you with his mouth partially open and lips ever so slightly puckered. I can't believe how big he is getting!

(swinging with great grandpa at the Lavender farm)

A Different Way to Look at Politics

2010-07-24T22:04:00.000-07:00

It's Dan again with some more thoughts on the world.

I love thinking about political issues, but just like with other issues, it's hard to realize that I'm not always right. It's humbling to be completely convinced that one side is right or wrong, and then learn a single fact that flips everything upside down. More and more over the last few years, I've started to realize that that's reality. No matter how much we think we have things figured out, there is always something we didn't consider that puts us in our place.

Ironically, I've recently come to a very strong conclusion and I think that I'm completely right: If we truly care about peace, happiness and doing what's right, we should seek education and peaceful means of sharing knowledge, rather than being emotional and attempting to identify "enemies". Too often we divide ourselves with sarcasm, villainizing, and yelling, when we could be united in a search for answers. Too often it's "us against them".

No one really knows everything that is going on and what the effects of our decisions will be. We just do our best with what we have. The controversial issues are controversial for a reason. They are complicated. There's no way that any of us can have George W Bush, Barack Obama, abortion, immigration, welfare, etc completely figured out. So why do we have depict them as angels or demons?

Why would anyone want their thoughts, speech, actions, etc to be like Glenn Beck or Jon Stewart? They both yell, they're both sarcastic, they're both emotional. I wouldn't want either of them to be in my home. I wouldn't want my kids to grow up to be like either of them. From everything I've heard and seen from both, neither of them have given me new knowledge on any issue.

I've loved the discussions on tv or radio when there is a calm discussion with two experts from opposing sides of a debate. They'll take turns giving facts and showing a different perspective. No one yells, no one makes accusations, no one is the enemy Glenn Beck speaks of who is "coming for you" to "slaughter you". I wish it was always like that.

go zach anner

2010-07-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

this is pretty awesome and this guy is pretty awesome:

you can see more of his videos on youtube.

blueberry season

2010-07-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

you know what i love even more than strawberry season? blueberry season! they are my absolute favorite, hands down! these pictures are actually from our 2nd trip. and we will definitely be making a 3rd and possibly 4th trip. mmmmmm! i would go everyday if i could. it actually was a nice day, they had just watered the fields, which is why it was all wet! but the kids loved it.

the beach

2010-07-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

this was arlo's first trip to the beach while mobile and able to "play". he loved it. he loved the sand, the water, and the freedom of the open beach. we were lucky enough to have gone with some awesome friends, ksenia, her sister, darcy and all the little boys!

yeah....

2010-07-08T10:41:00.000-07:00

it's hot out.

4th of July weekend (picture overload)

2010-07-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

technically, this was arlo's 2nd independence day. however, last year he was 5 days old and we didn't leave the house, which was tough for me because it is one of my favorite, if not my very favorite holiday. we had a fun filled weekend, that is for sure (and a tiring one). friday night we went camping with the janeways. we went to ainsworth state park, near all of the falls on historic columbia river hwy. it was fun, however... i do wish we would have stayed longer. due to a busy day of work for dan, we didn't get to the site until it was dark and we were packed up by 1pm the next day! crazy! we tried to go visit multnomah falls, but it was more crowded than i have ever seen it, so we passed it up and went to the vista house instead. enjoy the pictures:

this picture needs explaining. upon cleaning up, dan cut his finger fairly deep on an aluminum can lid while pushing the garbage down into the trash can. it was pretty bloody, and this picture was taken hours later after it had stopped. it was not fun. dan still can't use it that much. we came home totally tired and went to bed when arlo did at 7:30pm.

the next day, the actual 4th of july was a blast. after church and a nap from arlo, we headed over to my aunt & uncles house for a BBQ and fireworks. it was also my grandfather's birthday, so we had some great desserts. arlo loved being outside and playing with his grandpa, cousins, aunts and uncles. oh, and eating watermelon of course!

(i love this picture of him, he looks so handsome and grown up)

we roasted gigantic marshmellows

we left before the big fireworks show, but, arlo was in awe of the small ones.

howdy!

2010-07-01T13:29:00.000-07:00

arlo & justin's birthday party was a lot of fun! great people, great food, and great outfits! i wish i would have gotten more pictures of the decorations and the people... but, i was pretty busy the entire time. too bad i can't go back in time. oh well, we got a few cute ones! we loved our cowboys and indians theme. it was a blast!

and last, but certainly not least... the amazing cake, look at it, it was awesome. and it tasted awesome too! made my the talented, Lisa Poulson!

unfortunately, Arlo would only eat watermelon all night. no cake for the birthday boy.

p.s. that corn and the roll on his tray was not touched.

one year came and went

2010-06-23T22:02:00.001-07:00

words cannot describe the emotions that i felt as i sorted through photos and videos of arlo's first year. those days of newborn arlo seem so distant, yet so near. i remember how i felt, not only mentally and emotionally... but physically: the smells, the summer air (which has yet to come in the same way). this first year of being a mother was such a journey. full of frustration and exhausted, but full of enormous amounts of love, joy, and laughter. my baby is one. happy birthday, arlo!!!

please enjoy this video of arlo from birth until now.

strawberry season

2010-06-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

finally, the rain has taken a hiatus (but, i hear it's coming back). some of my favorite gals and i went and picked 22 lbs of strawberries to make some jam (which will happen tomorrow). we brought along our 4 boys and had a great time chatting, getting dirty, and munching.

they were very juicy, indeed.

the mud wasn't as good. it was a good thought though, if he could eat the strawberries off the ground, why not the ground itself?

all these little boys had fun, got real dirty, and had a little snack. what cuties!

fathers are wonderful

2010-06-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

athers are so special, aren't they? We are really so lucky to have them in our lives. I am so grateful for Dan, he is such a wonderful dad to Arlo. He is so loving, playful, and patient with Arlo. You can just tell how much he loves that little guy. It is the most precious thing; watching those two interact. I love it! Not only am I grateful for Dan as a father, I am unimaginably grateful to my father. He is so supportive, so giving, and loving. He has taught me so much. He has given me many wonderful opportunities. I love him dearly. I am also very grateful for a wonderful father-in-law. I am truly blessed to have amazing in-laws. Brian is such an amazing dad and example to his children and grandchildren. On this father's day, I want to thank all of the father's out there who are working so hard to provide for and love their children and wives. Thank you, dads! You mean the world to your children, grandchildren, and wives.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

my journey to becoming less wasteful (UPDATED)

2010-06-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

two things have re-motivated me to reduce the amount of plastic (and other things) that i purchase and use. i just read this disturbing (to me) article. and, of course, the horrible oil spill (don't even get me started). many people don't know that the little saying, "reduce, reuse, recycle", is in order of importance. first, we need to reduce the amount of things that we buy that are wasteful, then we should reuse what we can, and finally we should recycle what we cannot reuse. however, if you read the article above, many plastics are not actually recycled, when we think they are. i have a long way to go and feel like i still produce way too much waste for my own good. i want to blog about it so that i will be accountable for my next goal, the next thing i want to work on to reduce the amount of waste i am putting back on this earth. i want to make a commitment, by posting on here what i still need to accomplish.

it's so hard when plastic is in pretty much everything that we buy. even the glass jars i use have lids lined with plastic. even if pasta is packaged in paper bags, it has a plastic window. your razors, your chapstick, your chewing gum, pretty much anything you can purchase is made from plastic or is packaged in plastic and we don't have much say about it. i remember going to the grocery store the day after i first did some research on this and was appalled by how some of the only things i could buy with it, was fresh produce if i didn't use the bags provided, luckily New Seasons has paper bags, if i use bags for produce at all.

watch this:

Use Less Plastic from TakePart on Vimeo.

things i have done:

paperless kitchen: no paper towels, napkins, plates, cutlery etc.
cloth diapers & wipes
reusable feminine supplies: what? gross you say? that is what i thought at first! but, check out glad rags and the diva cup
re-purposing all of my glass jars: i try and buy the products that come in glass jars instead of plastic ones (mayo, peanut butter, etc) so that i can use them to store things like dried beans, oats, granola, quinoa, etc.
reusable grocery bags: i am still not perfect at this, sometimes i forget, bad me!
buying in bulk as much as possible: less packaging. i also try and re-use my bulk containers from New Seasons and bring them with me next time I buy stuff.
buying about 95% of arlo's clothes at consignment sales
reusable snack bags: when I pack Dan a lunch or Arlo a snack, everything it is packed in is reusable. I do use freezer bags for freezer meals, but I wash and reuse them.
never buy bottled water. we do still buy the occasional large bottle of superfood, though
use EVOO & Caster Oil as facewash

goals:

homemade yogurt: no plastic yogurt containers
start composting
become a 1 car family: this will happen once i sell my beetle, we also need to buy a bike since ours was stolen.
use non-toxic and/or homemade cleaners
can and preserve fruits and veggies: i want to try and avoid buying canned beans, tomatoes, etc. did you know that the cans are lined with plastic?
buy fresh bread that comes in either paper bags or no bags, or bake my own bread
make my own granola
only buying milk in returnable glass bottles. we don't really buy milk now, but soon will be for arlo.
use (new) shower caps or these cute covers instead of plastic wrap, they can be washed and reused.
switch over all cookware to NON teflon, did you know that it is toxic?
make my own shampoo or go poo-less, or buy the bar shampoo
stop using the disposable swiffer covers and get some of these
use arlo's glass baby food jars to hold bulk spices

some great resources:

Life Less Plastic

Fake Plastic Fish

Simple Mom

The Story of Bottled Water

who knew dishes could be so fun?

2010-06-18T07:27:00.000-07:00

last night during dinner, arlo decided to squish lots of food in his hands and rub it all in his hair. he was so messy that i did not want to carry him all the way upstairs, and said "why don't they put a bathtub right next to the kitchen table for messy kids". then dan gestured at the sink... half full of dishes and equipment yet to be cleaned up from dinner. so, we stuck him in there (for the first time). he was pretty big for it, but he loved it. it was hard to get him out.

the sink plug is soooo exciting!