Friends

On Saturday, we went down to Oregon City with our good friends, the Belnaps.  We had fun touring an old historic house, riding the last municipal elevator in North America (and the only vertical street:  Elevator St.), checking out the waterfalls and the paper mills, and just hanging out.

We went to a little park to play in and eat some clementines.  While the dads were playing catch, we moms took the opportunity to have a little photo shoot:

Aren't they CUTE??  James and Claire are good buddies. :)

Also, I have to share this photo I managed to capture of James earlier that day:

It's just so refreshing to get a picture of him with a real smile every now and then!

Thanks for a great Saturday, Belnaps! :)  Next time, let's eat a little less food, ok?

Adventures in Photographing a Two Year Old

Yesterday, in honor of my newly emptied SD card on my camera, I decided to try and get a cute picture or two of James. I haven't been taking as many pictures of him lately, so I thought it was a good idea.

My first step in taking pictures of James is always to feel him out and see if he's in a cooperative mood. "Can I take some pictures of you, James?" I ask. If he protests, I wait for another time. Experience has taught me that if I persist when he has said no there will be nothing but pain and frustration involved. ;) If he says "OK!" (like he did last night), I know that he will at least stay in one spot while I point the camera at him. :)

Here's how last night unfolded:

Me: "OK, smile!!"

Me: "No no no, really smile! Say cheese!!"

Me: "Oh dear. That's not it. Give me a real smile! Be happy!"

Me: *sigh* "Alright, it's time to enlist Daddy's help."

Me: "That's closer! Ok, keep trying the tickle approach! Smile, James, smile!"

Me: "Oops, I can't get the timing right with the flash...keep trying!"

And that's as good as it's gonna get! :)

32 Weeks and Counting!

Here is me as of last night:

And it's only going to get bigger from here! Seven and a half more weeks! (Who me? Counting down? Never! ;) )

Two Year Olds don't need Fancy Toys

Case in point:

James spends about as much time playing with his toys every day as he does playing with things that aren't even technically toys. Yesterday he ran around with a flashlight for a good hour and a half. :)

Incidentally, he buckled himself into his car seat like that on his own. And just after I took the video, he put the shoes on and brought his jacket to me and told me he was going on a trip. I told him to be safe. Ah, the life of a toddler!

A Bushel and a Peck

We're alive!

James has another song to share with you all:

As you can tell, James is a bit wired in this video. He can't even stand still. This is my cue that it's nap time because he's so tired that he's afraid to stop moving. Ha ha.

We're doing well. James tries our patience sometimes as he discovers what it means to be a two year old. He still keeps us laughing, though, and constantly amazes us with how fast he learns things. My pregnancy is going smoothly. Nine weeks to go! I keep meaning to have Paul take a picture of me when I'm actually showered and dressed (a rare occurrence these days ;) ) to show how big I've gotten in the last 11 weeks since I posted a belly picture. Paul is enjoying his job, especially right now as he's running a fantasy baseball league with some of his coworkers. :)

I'll try not to let another month go by without posting more frequently!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've always loved Valentine's Day. I love flowers. I love chocolate. My favorite color is red. Oh, and I love any excuse to have a special night with my husband. :) It's my kind of holiday.

This year we had a low-key night in on Friday night (we had things going on both Saturday and Sunday nights). We put James to bed and had a quiet dinner for two.

This was my gift to Paul:

The menu included appetizers (stuffed mushrooms, hot artichoke dip, and fresh fruit and dip), pan-seared salmon, broccoli with roasted garlic and lemon, cheddar biscuits, rice pilaf, chocolate chip cookie dough truffles, and apple cider pudding cake a la mode. :) I went a little bit overboard.

This was Paul's gift to me:

I don't know if the picture adequately shows how large this bouquet is. When Paul walked in, I thought he was holding a rose bush! It's pretty safe to say that this is the biggest flower arrangement I have ever received. Thank you, Paul! :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Mini Makeover

Paul went out of town a couple weeks ago. I tend to do crazy things when he goes out of town. This time, I decided to chop off my hair!

This is probably the shortest I've had my hair since I was a toddler!