Portland, OR

Last night Hannah and I returned from our trip to Portland, OR to visit our dear friends, the Manns. Today has been filled with laundry and survival mode with a serious lack of sleep to start the day.

But, before it gets too far from the actual trip, I thought I should post about it. Hannah did very well on the planes. Thank the Lord! Between reading books, opening "new" toys, coloring, listening to music, and playing with the ipad, as well as pretending to go to sleep, the trip went fairly quickly....ahem. We were both VERY THANKFUL to get off the airplane and stand up! Prior to going on the trip, I drew up some simple airplanes and wrote numbers on them. Each day, for 11 days, she took one down every morning. Gotta love the little teaching opportunities you can create for them! We reviewed numbers every day! The night before we left, she was too excited to sleep. Paul was at an engineers' banquet that night, and I attempted to put her down a whole 30 minutes early. Let's just say it didn't work. We woke her up at 4:45am on the day of departure and hit the road, hard boiled eggs and snacks in hand.

Yada yada yada, we arrived in Portland at 11:30am, Pacific Time. That is certainly nap time around here, especially considering someone woke up 3 hours early to get on a plane. Oh and did I mention, she was excited? The Manns live about 35 minutes from the airport. I'd say Hannah lasted about 20 minutes before falling asleep. And well, that was her nap for the day.

Our first full day, we went to the coast. Did you know Portland is 2 hours from the coast? Crazy. I would never have guessed it was that far, but sure indeed, it is! On the way is a cheese factory that has an observation deck, which allows you to watch them package the cheese. The kiddos loved it. Afterward, we went downstairs to their little shop and got free samples (I bought some of their black pepper white cheddar cheese). Then, to complete the cheese factory experience, we got ice cream. Go figure. Whenever Paul isn't around, Hannah and I get ice cream. Seems appropriate.

Next, we were off to the coast! We weren't actually at the coast very long, but the drive there was spectacular! This was my favorite day, by far. The kiddos amazingly held up pretty well, even though we were in the car for 4-5 hours total.

On Friday, we went to the zoo and then Laura dropped me off at the Keen store so I could try on some shoes... I know, fun. I've been on a search for shoes that are comfortable enough to fit my ginormously wide feet in...any suggestions are welcome :) After we got the kiddos down for naps, Laura let me get out and explore on my own. I went to a nearby shopping area, purused a kitchen store, talked on the phone with Paul, went to Peet's Coffee Shop, and wandered into Anthropologie (per recommendation of Tara Ferrell). Then, I proceeded to get rained on as I tried to find my way back to the car :) Fridays are pizza night at their house, so I brought gluten free dough ingredients and made taco pizza, while they made pepperoni & pineapple/ham pizza. What a fun tradition! We got lots of good time to fellowship that evening!

They just bought a house and Dave went to work over there on Saturday. Laura and I ran to a few places around town. We went and checked out this huge fabric store, and then she dropped me off in another part of town to do a little shopping. She was so gracious and kept the kids entertained in the car while I had a few minutes to myself. That afternoon, I let Laura go run some errands of her own. :)

On Sunday, I got to go check out their church. I liked it! It is a ton smaller than Cornerstone, but I like that. Everyone knows each other! It was encouraging to worship God with believers in a different church, in a city I have never been to before.

The last day was spent just hanging out talking to the Manns about lots of good things. They are so easy to fellowship with and have significant conversations with! I just wish my hubby had been there to enjoy the conversations too! Dave & Laura went out on a date for dinner that night and then Laura & I went out for chocolate afterwards. Yummm chocolate :)

Monday came and Hannah and I jumped back on a plane :( Back to reality, but also back to a wonderful husband and daddy! We are glad to be home, although I would say it was a bit difficult to get out of bed this morning, and a bit difficult to get Hannah to nap this afternoon. Hopefully we'll be back on schedule soon!

On another note, the kids had a blast playing together. Eadie Cate is 4, Levi is 2 1/2, and June is 10 months. Mostly, Hannah played with the oldest two. I think Eadie Cate and Hannah both enjoyed having another girl around, and well, they are all just so silly. I loved watching Hannah have constant playmates. She also seemed to go forward leaps and bounds in a few areas of independence while we were there because the other big kids were doing certain things (like eating a sandwich not cut up or getting up on her chair all by herself). Ohhhhhh boy. I'm trying to encourage her to be humble enough to accept help from me at times. :)

The Past Month :)

It has been quite the busy month around here. It seems like we have been in and out of town since Thanksgiving, visiting family, or going to Nashville for Paul's work. Our babysitter, Rachael, got married, which involved 16 six inch round cakes, along with the groom's cake (golf scene of course). I just had my first cake tasting event, in which 7 couples (potential customers) came over for a relaxing evening of eating cake! What a delight it was to spend time with all of them, and listen to them tell me how delicious the cake was that I can't eat. I asked for feedback, to which Paul's co-worker wrote a paragraph about each of the 5 different cakes. I was thankful for the feedback!

Last weekend, Hannah moved into her 'big girl bed,' which means, we took off the railing to her crib and it is now more like a 'daybed.' She was doing great for the first few days and then had two rough sleeping sessions, both of which she ended up on the floor. Ahhem. After a couple days of putting blankets up in the space that was open, I just took them back down. Before she fell asleep for the nap she is currently taking, she fell out of the crib. Ahhem. What to do? I'll take suggestions if you have them! I figure she'll learn eventually, right? We thought she was old enough to learn that whole self control thing and not get out of the bed when she is supposed to be sleeping. She's got that down, but I didn't realize rolling out of the bed would be such an issue.

We are hoping to potty train soon, and thought the transition to a big girl bed would allow for her to get up in the middle of the night without waking us up...novel idea, huh?

Yesterday I bought a ticket to Portland! We have a close family that just moved up there in August and it is basically my last chance to go without having to buy 2 plane tickets! I'm leaving in a couple weeks and it'll be just the little one and myself. We are excited! Hannah can't wait to get on the airplane! She understands that Daddy is going to have to stay here and frequently recites, "Momma, Hannah, Bob airplane. Dadda stay here." She is excited. I am thinking about getting some sort of count down chart going so she can continue in the excitement!

Treats for Neighbors

I saw this idea on some blog a couple months ago and tucked it away for Christmas this year. We are attempting to create a community within our little block of neighbors and have found that it's surprisingly not difficult to do. Everyone we interact with is super friendly and excited to talk to us when we visit, it's just that we have to actually make an effort to visit our neighbors and interact with them. It doesn't just happen. I am amazed that some of our neighbors have been here for 12+ years and never talked to our other neighbors that have been here since the 1960s. This past summer we had a cookout and invited all the neighbors that live close to us. This created an opportunity for us to get to know our neighbors, and for them to get to know one another. Our goal would be to have all of our neighbors over individually at least once throughout the year...still working on that!

For an excuse to visit our neighbors, I made these festive little red-velvet-cakes-with-cream-cheese-icing in a jar goodies :) We gave these little scrumptious delights to them and gave them an invitation to our Christmas eve/morning service at church. Of the six neighbors' houses we went to, four of them invited us in to talk for a while. Isn't that amazing? One of the ladies, whose husband recently passed away, came to our house on Christmas eve morning for our 2nd annual Christmas eve brunch! We were delighted to have her and hope to have her again soon! Another neighbor came over last night with her grandchildren to give Hannah a Christmas present! I am seriously shocked at how easy it is to create a community among people that are total strangers to one another. It just takes a bit of effort, consistency, and of course, prayer :) I'd encourage you to do it!

 

 

 

 

Christmas!

A few of these photos are actually before Christmas, but capture how much Hannah loved the tree :) She also has taken quite well to my hat....she's such a hat girl! My mom got to come down for a few days, which was quite delightful. I'm thankful the weather held out and she was able to travel down here! What a treat! I think Hannah is going to go into withdrawal from all this attention she is getting around the holidays. There seems to be someone to play with her all the time...

Hannah has become quite my little helper in the kitchen, and since she is getting more into pretend playing, we decided to get her a little kitchen set for Christmas. She LOVED it! We were so glad :) She hasn't stopped playing with the fork and plate in particular. They even went on a walk with Paul this afternoon...thankfully he saw the fork when it fell out of the stroller!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas at Thanksgiving

I think we are finally starting to get into a groove with celebrating Christmas at Thanksgiving. This year, instead of exchanging gifts with the kiddos, Kim and I decided to do crafts with them to encourage creating a memory together instead of just exchanging obligatory gifts. I loved it and think it will continue for years to come. We are planning on always doing Christmas cookies (who could resist), and then I will think up some other artsy craft to do with them. This year wasn't the most successful, since the girls could have really cared less, but Caden gave me hope that they'll love it, even next year. This year we made Turkey Cups and put sparkling apple cider in them...Caden was not a fan of the cider, to say the least. I actually don't even remember if I gave Hannah any. We had lots of fun decorating cookies and eating icing. Hannah particularly loves saying, "snowman," usually without the "s."

My dad has quite the collection of stuffed animals, one of which being a lift size white bear, affectionately known as "Monster Bear." On more than one occasion, we were bribed into taking Monster Bear home with us. Thankfully, those bribes were unsuccessful and we are still Monster Bear-less in our home. Don't get any crazy ideas....

Hannah has also been obsessed with Christmas trees. Something about the beauty and wonder of lights and ornaments just draws her into a trance. It's pretty cute.

I think I will have to post more photos :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween

Hannah got to dress up as an owl for Halloween! Yes, I made her outfit :) I'm sure there will be many more to follow. In my opinion, it's way more fun to make than to buy!

"Wwwwhhhoooo are you, Hannah?"

"What's an owl say?"

On Halloween, we actually had one of Paul's friends from college over that is in town this week. After dinner, we walked around to a few houses and then came back to hand out candy. Thankfully, it's almost all gone from the house!

 

 

 

Wilson Wedding Cake

Please see this POST for the full story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Piggy Back Ridin' for the first time!

I snagged this winter hat a a garage sale a few weeks ago...why is girl stuff so cute? Hannah still loves hats, in case any one was wondering. Lately, it's been this hat and the pink one Aunt Janice got her for her birthday that have been the "hats!" requested.

Last night we taught Hannah how to ride on our piggy backs. She was loving it. I think she's finally big enough that she can stay on for more than a second. Most the time she was actually somewhat hanging on by herself. Okay, that's lame. She needs lots of help learning how to balance still :)