by | May 30, 2012

Jimi is 20 Months Old

Jimi is 20 months old today. I’m still trying to figure out how this is possible. That means his birthday is only 4 months away and if the last 20 months are any indication, I know that time will just fly by.

Jimi’s sleep habits haven’t improved too much. He has really good nights and then he has really bad nights. Jimi has been fascinated with pillows lately, so I decided to get one for his bed to see if that would help him sleep a little better. I didn’t feel comfortable getting him a regular sized one so I found a travel sized one at Walmart after getting recommendations from James’ grandmother and a family friend. The first night with the pillow did not go that well. When he woke up in the middle of the night he seemed scared of it and did not want it in his bed. Since then he asks for it every time he lies down and has a nice 15min conversation with it before falling asleep every night. It’s only been a couple of days since we started using it so it is too early to tell if the pillow is making a difference.

Jimi loves to climb on, under, over, and through just about everything. This child has very little fear. Except when it comes to James’ parent’s cat or vacuums that are plugged in. Vacuums that aren’t plugged in on the other hand….. Jimi is OBSESSED with. As soon as James gets home from work he makes him take him to look at the vacuum. Every store we go to Jimi yells “VAC!” until we take him to see the vacuums, over and over again. When I try to turn on the vacuum he runs screaming and crying into the next room unless someone is holding him so he can bravely touch it while it is running.

Like sleeping, Jimi’s eating habits are hit or miss. Some days he eats great and other I swear he’s not getting much more than a handful of goldfish crackers. Jimi’s current favorite words are “Hi”, “night- night”, “truck” and “gotta go”. His speech is slowly getting better. He knows a lot of words but only says a handful of them correctly.

There are many signs that we are headed for the terrible two’s but overall Jimi is a happy, loving, adventurous little boy. He gives amazing hugs and kisses, rubs my baby bump, pets the dog sweetly and amazes us daily.

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Filed under Jimi, toddler, update

by | May 28, 2012

32 Weeks Bump Update

Please excuse the Jimi toy mess.

*How far along?: 32 Weeks 3 Days

*Total weight gain?: I’m going to guess 23lbs… I have a doctor’s appointment later this week.

*How big is baby?: Around the size of a Squash, 15.2- 16.7 inches, 2.5-3.8 lb.

*Sleep?: Is getting harder and harder to come by. If it isn’t Jimi waking me up, it is Cecilia.

*Best moment this week?: Random hugs and kisses to my baby bump from Jimi.

*Movement?: A lot. This little girl still likes to move around quite a bit.

*Food cravings?: Not too many anymore.

*Labor Signs?: None, just the occasional braxton hicks contraction.

*Belly button in or out?: 99% out

*What I miss?: Having any even shaped belly. Cecilia is ALWAYS laying completely on my right side so my baby bump is starting to look more and more lopsided the bigger she gets.

*What I am looking forward to?: Once again, hearing Cecilia’s heartbeat at my doctor’s appointment.

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by | May 21, 2012

Portland Babymoon

This last weekend James and I headed down to Portland, OR to attend my best friend of 15 years, Melissa, graduation from physical therapy school and to have a little “babymoon” before Cecilia arrived. James’ dad and step-mom, Karen, were ever so kind to watch Jimi for a long weekend while we went down there. James’ mom and step-dad, Jamie, were nice enough to watch Penny for us. Thank you all for your help!

We headed down to Portland around 11am on Friday and did not return until Monday afternoon. When we got to our hotel room we were greeted by a nice welcome basket(s) full of breakfast food, junk food (James’ breath probably still smells like chili cheese fritos), and an itinerary of the weekend put in our room by Melissa.

We got cleaned up from the long drive and then headed over to Melissa’s apartment for appetizers before boarding the Portland Spirit dinner cruise. The cruise was a part of a celebration with the rest of her graduating classmates from the physical therapy department and their family and friends. The cruise was along the Willamette river and was really beautiful. The houses along the river were amazing and huge and pretty outrageous.

James and I with Melissa and her boyfriend Jeff.

Melissa won an award from her department

Saturday, James and I slept in (for those that call sleeping until 8am sleeping in) and relaxed at the hotel until it was time to head to Melissa’s graduation, about 30 minutes away. We got there early so we had lunch at a little pizza place called Pizza Schmizza. The weather all morning long was a little chilly and overcast. As soon as the three hours long ceremony started, the sun came out in full force. It was a hot and long ceremony but totally worth it to see my best friend graduate, with a special bonus of working on my tan. After the ceremony we had a very nice celebration dinner with Melissa’s family. Congratulations Melissa!

Melissa getting “hooded”

The happy graduate

I had to help her hold up her huge diploma

On Sunday we met my dad (who happened to be in Portland to run the Rock n’ Roll half marathon) for brunch. We then went to the Portland Saturday Market, which is conveniently open on Sunday’s as well. The Saturday market is a lot like Pike Place and a farmer’s market combined. It was raining out so I kind of rushed through the booths but Portland never ceases to amaze me with weird people. Next we headed up to Pittock Mansion, which is a beautiful old home that used to belong to the owner of The Oregonian newspaper. The views from the house were amazing and overlooked all of Portland. We then hit up the oldest restaurant in Portland, Hubers Cafe, for some appetizers, beer (for him) and coffee (for me). We tried to watch the eclipse after we were finished at Hubers but it was too cloudy out. We then headed up to Powell’s bookstore to find Jimi a book about being a big brother. After that (now I understand why I am so tired today), we met up with Melissa and a few of her friends to go to Portland City Grill, which is located on the 30th floor and has amazing views of the city, for dinner. James and I finally called it quits after that and went back to our hotel room (after stopping for some milk to go with our Oreo’s Melissa got us, of course).

James in the music room (I told him to look musical)

Unfortunately it was pretty hazy out so we didn’t have the best views

When we woke up on Monday the rain was coming down pretty hard so we decided to skip Voodoo donuts (a pretty amazing donut place that always has a long line outside) and got a bagel and some coffee instead and then made our way back to Washington. It was a great trip and it was nice to have some kid free time before we have two munchkins running around but it is nice to be home and even better to see Jimi.

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Filed under baby, babymoon, friends, grown-up, James, Portland, weekend

by | May 13, 2012

Mariner’s Game and a Trip to the Zoo

A while back James’ dad and step-mom asked if we would be interested in going to a Mariner’s game with them on May 9th. Of course we immediately said yes for numerous reasons. The only downside to the game was the start time. It started at 7:10pm…. a mere 20 minutes before Jimi’s usual bed time, so we didn’t have much hope for making it until the end of the game.

We decided to pay for parking (I think it our first time ever) so we could make a quicker exit when we needed to leave and because I did a pretty good number on my back and leg after our Wallace Falls hike and couldn’t walk without pain.

This was Jimi’s (and our) first Mariner’s game this season. We were pretty sure he wouldn’t have any working memory of baseball games from last year. Thankfully it wasn’t a very crowded game so Jimi was able to have his own seat which he insisted on climbing up and down every two minutes, without any assistance. When we did try to help him, he got frustrated and would start over. Jimi was much more interested in taking trash down to the trash cans than watching the game so I don’t think any of us got to pay much attention to the game but it was still a lot of fun. And it was pretty cute to watch Jimi excitedly cheer along with the crowd. Jimi lasted much longer than we thought he would and we got to stay until part way through the 6th inning. Thank for taking us to the game Jay and Karen!

Yesterday (Saturday), James, Jimi and I headed down to the zoo for a Mother’s Day celebration. It was an absolutely beautiful day! I hope this weather continues through the Summer. … On the way we stopped at Dick’s burgers, which is one of my favorite places, for lunch. Jimi enjoyed his first experience there and even held his hamburger like a big kid.

Once we got to the zoo we headed straight for the elephant den because it was their feeding time. For an hour during the day you can pay $5 (a little pricey if you ask me) to “feed” a branch full of leaves to an elephant or a giraffe. Jimi has been in love with elephants for a while now (thanks to James’ impressive elephant noises), so we decided he would have a good time doing that. We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes but it was totally worth it once we got up there. Jimi was so proud of himself and kept saying “wooowwww” when we were close to the elephant. The zoo handler even let me do it twice because I was “feeding for two”.

Waiting patiently to feed the elephants

 

Getting a little help from dad

Super awkward family shot

Jimi behaved so well on this trip to the zoo! I don’t think there were any meltdowns and we all a great time. Aside from feeding the elephants, Jimi got to pet some goats, hear the monkeys talking to each other, watch some jaguars mate, and a gorilla clean his…. uh… special parts… it was an educational day at the zoo. To end it all, he got his diaper changed on someone’s lawn by our car. Thanks friendly Greenwood neighbor!

He chose the best spots to pet the goats.

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Filed under baseball, family, Jimi, Mother's Day, Zoo

by | May 8, 2012

Our Son the Cat

We had dinner with our good friends Dan and Zita who have a very cute red-headed little boy named Miles. They also have a big black cat, and Jimi loves cats, even though he is terrified of them. This is the fault of our ancient and cranky cat Rascal, who we got when I was in sixth grade, so….17 years ago? She’s old and hisses and swats at everybody. Jimi took a while to realize that Dan and Zita’s cat wouldn’t hurt him, but once he did he had fun. Then he found the cat’s jungle gym!

 

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by | May 7, 2012

Wallace Falls Hike

Yesterday was a beautiful Spring day here, so we decided to get out of the house to enjoy the outdoors. We decided we would go do the Wallace Falls hike since neither of us had done it before and it was a short 5.5 mile hike, although the trail guide said there was a 1200 ft. elevation gain.

We got a late start because I kept being wishy-washy about whether or not I wanted to go and because Jimi slept in until 7am (thank goodness) which meant that his nap time was a little later than usual. After he woke up from his nap, we got our bags packed and headed down to Walmart to buy the start parks Discover pass. We went with the annual pass, since we plan on doing some more hiking this summer. Well… James plans to, we’ll see how I feel the more pregnant I get.

After that we were on the road. And then about 10 minutes later we were almost home. Jimi lost it in the car ride. We think he was too hot in the car (James is getting his air conditioning repaired on Tuesday) and the noise of the wind from the windows being down was bothering him. Nothing was calming this kid down. We almost turned around several times but decided to keep on going. About 10 minutes from the hike Jimi finally fell asleep in defeat. He was still asleep we when parked our car (about 1/2 mile from the trailhead because it was so packed) so we enjoyed our pb and j sandwiches in the car while we waited for him to wake up.

We ended up having to wake Jimi up, who was in a good mood, but refused to get in the hiking carrier. Instead James carried him and Jimi walk part of the way to the trailhead. Including walking up a steep hill that was about 1/4 of a mile long that James and I got winded from. It’s hard to show the depth and length of the hill in a picture but here’s it is.

Once we got going on the hike, Jimi absolutely loved it and was pretty giddy. We quickly realized that the guide was not kidding about the elevation gain. I consider myself a pretty athletic person but being 29 weeks pregnant and out of shape, this hike kicked my butt. We decided to turn around at the lower waterfall because it was getting late, Jimi wanted out of the carrier, and we were both beat. It was a beautiful hike so I was disappointed I didn’t do the whole thing but I’m glad I listened to my body and turned around. I am in pain and pretty sore today. We’ll have to go back when we’re both in better shape. I stand corrected, James is in good shape, we’ll try it again when I’m in better shape.

This cool thing was on the way up to the trailhead. We’re still not sure what it is.

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Filed under hiking, Jimi, toddler, weekend

by | May 6, 2012

29 Weeks Update

29 Weeks.. the shadow makes the bump look a little bigger than it is.

*How far along?: 29 Weeks 2 Days

*Total weight gain?: 18lbs

*How big is baby?: About the size of an acorn squash: 15.2-16.7 inches, 2.5-3.8 lb

*Sleep?: About the same as last week…. not too much of it going on.

*Best moment this week?: Hearing Cecilia’s heartbeat at my doctor’s appointment.

*Movement?: A LOT. Other people now notice my bump moving around when she kicks or jabs me.

*Food cravings?: Still just sweet stuff although I’ve been able to resist the urge a little more this last week.

*Labor Signs?: None.

*Belly button in or out?: Almost all of the way out. I think it will be completely out by next week.

*What I miss?: Sleeping in on weekends… it’s been almost two years.

*What I am looking forward to?: Our trip to Portland in two weeks for my best friend (and Jimi’s Godmother) Melissa’s graduation from physical therapy school.

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