Trick or Treat

"Come on JadenMan, lets go get MORE candy!"

2.5

That's what Gabey Monster is.

2 and a half-years-old.

And boy does he ever let us know it.

I've heard people say two-year-olds are either adorable or horrible. For the first half of his life as a two-year-old he was the former: adorable. I can't get enough of the smiles, the snuggles, those soft, squishy hugs.

But now he's reverting to the latter...the "horrible" part is kicking in in full force. Yep, that MONSTER part of being two is coming out quite nicely.


He says "Mine" with toys whether they are his or not.

I was talking to him in the car and he does this thing with his eyes that I swear to you he's rolling his eyes at me.

He won't go to his class at church. He wines, cry's and his whole body goes limp.

He swats away at people who are trying to be nice to him with an angry look.

When you want him to do something, he takes his sweet ol time.

He says "Stop it, Don't, I hit you, I kick you"

When he doesn't get his way he crosses his arms, shakes his head and sighs.

If we try to help him he says "NO I DO IT!"

Throws his toys when he's mad

We'll still keep him...I mean, look at him...how could we not? Monster or not, we adore this child with all our hearts.

We'll keep him because miraculously those three to five minutes of brightness out of the day make up for all the monster stuff the rest of the day....at least in my book.

The Patch

We went to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday and it was so much fun. I think it's by far one of our favorite family traditions. The patch, cooler fall weather, leaves on the ground, corn mazes, John Deere tractors, kettle corn, kid rides and the animals of course. The Ahls crashed the party which made it even more fun.

FINALLY...Sunriver Vacation 2009

Last year my family all went to Sunriver for the week and Bryan, Gabe and I weren't able to tag along because of work. This year, however, Gabe and I got to go! Due to Bryan's work he wasn't able to go though and that was a bummer, but I'm excited for next year when we ALL can go as a family.

We left around noon on Sunday September 27th. I headed over to my parents around 9:30 that morning and we started packing up the van and truck. Bryan came over to help after going to first service. It was a wonderful surprise and nice going away gift to both Gabe and I. We said our goodbye's and left. It was all bittersweet. I didn't like leaving Bryan behind, but I was excited to go on a little vacation too.
Gabe slept almost the whole way there and surprisingly the drive there went fast. We got there around 4ish and check in isn't until 4:30 but the house was ready for us so we got the keys early. We got to the house, picked rooms, unpacked, relaxed looking at the Sunday ads and watched the boys play with the fun new toys the house provided.

Gabe didn't eat most of his lunch before falling asleep in the car so he was hungry before any of the rest of us were. He insisted on wearing his helmet on while eating...funny boy!

We all went for a walk to the village. Nathan and Jaden rode their bikes and Gabe had a hard time making up his mind what he wanted to do. Ride his bike or walk pushing the lawn mower. Gabe and I went back to the house a couple times and I was getting frustrated with him, but when we went back for the last time he saw a deer and was SO excited. SO we ended up having a special moment just him and I, well AND the deer. lol

Oh and Gabe kept riding the bike into the pushes and falling off. He then would say "Help Mommy", but I had to get a picture first. :o)

That night we had a pizza from Blondie's in the village with salad and after bath time the boys got a small gift from Grandma and made cookies together.

When I came to bed the first night this is what I found...

...Although I LOVED getting to snuggle with my little man every night and morning, it was not fun sleeping with him. He moved ALL over the bed, hitting and kicking me. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep.

He also fell off of the bed one time, but my mom and I had piled some pillows and this huge down comforter on his side of the bed so when he did fall the sound was more like a POOF rather than a THUD and he stayed asleep. lol

Day #2
We didn't do a whole lot which is actually nice. The boys played in the morning. It was Julie's cooking day so she made us all breakfast, lunch and dinner. We went on a bike ride/walk...put the boys in the trailer that was only meant for one...Gabe wasn't happy about that. Got a YUMMY iced white chocolate mocha from the cute coffee shop in the village, Bellatazza. When Gabe took a nap I stayed in the living area downstairs and read for a while and then we went on a drive...we looked for deer, saw where the fam stayed last year and also looked for the house my friend stayed in just a few weeks before. Gabe was up when we got back. I guess he took a really good nap too because he had a hard time going to bed that evening and was up till about midnight.

Before trying to put Gabe down for the night though we went out on the deck to say goodnight to Gma and Gpa who were in the hot tub and Gabe wanted to go in so I stripped him down to his onsie and he was excited! But when Audrey came out and put her feet in he was pretty concerned. Don't know what he was saying to her, but his face is priceless!

Day #3
My day for meals. These were my choices:
Breakfast - Breakfast Burritos
Lunch - Tuna fish in pita pockets with grapes and chips
Dinner - Bobbie's Chicken with rice/couscous and broccoli

Side note - I think I gained like 20 pounds that week. We ate SO much food. I am not used to eating 3 HUGE meals a day. I normally eat very small breakfasts and lunches if that. Not going to do that next year!

We let breakfast settle and then headed to Maverick's to go swimming. We had the place to ourselves. They turned on the fun Kids Splash Pool with Slide and Splash buckets. That little area is so cool. The boys had a blast! Gabe went down the slide, they played with the balls, swam like little fishies, Gabe took one of the foam noodles and pretended to be an elephant. It was great fun!
Mom, Gabe and I went for a bike ride and we saw this little thing all by itself eating. It let us get really close to it. SO cool. We saw about 8 all together, but when we rode by we scared them so they all ran away. Love the way they run. We were like did you see that Gabe, but NOPE he was passed out in the bike trailer. lol
The boys got crazy running on the couch, jumping off and tackling each other.

Day #4
We woke up to a dusting of snow this morning and it was SO cold. Apparently, Sunriver got a ton of snow a couple days after we left. We just missed it.

We relaxed and hung around the house most of the day, played cards, the boys danced, we tried to get a picture of the cousins together and laughed.
In the afternoon, Dad, Nathan, Julie, Jaden, Gabe and I went to Maverick's for swim fun #2 and we polished off the evening with YUMMY Potato soup, salad and rolls. We all tried to stay up and watch a movie, but about 30 mins into it everyone was starting to doze off so we called it a night.

Last Day
Yummy powered sugar doughnut holes for breakfast.

Time to pack up, clean up and go! We stopped at the coffee shop for the last time and went to a few of the shops and then left. Before going home we stopped at this neat outlet mall in bend. We shopped, had lunch, walked around, got gas and headed for home. We were SO excited to get home to Bryan.

8 years

Yesterday was our 8th anniversary! Can't believe that it's been 8 years...time sure does fly.
My mom watched Gabe for us and we went out to dinner at Beaches. We had never been there before. It was a beautiful evening and the sun was setting along the river and we got a window seat. It was perfect.
The service there is AMAZING. Our waitress has been there for 14 years and she was probably the best waitress I have ever had. She addressed us by name and gave us a glass and little souvenir to take home. It was great reminiscing with Bryan on so many wonderful moments we've had. It was a great evening with my hubby! Happy Anniversary bug, I love you!

Us on our honeymoon at Disneyland October 2001

Things I never want to forget: #1-4

I got this idea from a friend of a friend. There are so many things that happen during the day that I never want to forget. The little things, big things...days fly by so quickly and Gabe is doing so many funny, big boy things that I want to ALWAYS remember.

1. Every morning Gabe will ask me "All done with shower mommy?" when I'm in our bathroom getting ready.

2. If we tell Gabe no or do something he doesn't like he'll sometimes cross his arms and SIGH a huge sigh. It's hilarious!

3. We went to the mall and were walking through Macy's home store. Gabe looked at one of the beds that had a breakfast tray on it with a teapot, cup and saucer. He looked at me and said "look mommy a tea party" Don't have any clue how he knows about tea parties. lol

4. Every time I open the truck door to get Gabe out he is waiting and pretending to be asleep/ snoring with this little grin on his face. I absolutely LOVE it!

The many faces of Gabe

The Blessing of Storms

About two and a half years ago, Bryan lost his job at Nike. Four days before I gave birth to Gabe. It was definitely a scary time for us. I looked back at the blog post I wrote Storm and am SO reminded that "God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble." Psalm 46: 1

Storms are for our good. When a storm hits, I usually look for the nearest exit, hoping to escape the high winds. I am more than willing to give up my seat in a rocking boat in exchange for tranquil waters and blue skies. I don't like pain. I dread uncertain times. When life spirals out of control, I often withdraw from friends and family in an attempt to hide. Stress can paralyze me and make it difficult for me to function normally. Small tasks become huge mountains as the clouds gather and the winds pick up speed. To think that storms are for my good is a stretch to say the least.

We have repeatedly heard and even been taught the truth that we are strengthened by our storms. Honestly, there have been times when I felt as if I would explode if one more person told me to praise God for my storm. Looking back, however, there is absolutely no doubt that my greatest growth has come during my most fierce life storms. Each storm has become a spiritual marker, a testament to the sufficiency and faithfulness of God. It is from those markers that a powerful life is shaped and molded.

Storms will come. Storms are a reality of life. We will either become storm survivors or storm statistics. The choice really is ours to make. We can stop telling God how big our storm is and start telling the storm just how big our God is. The key to enduring storms is to embrace each one that comes, knowing it contains and can yield a seed of victory.

I have read the following promises of God and rest in their truth when storms hit:

· Proverbs 10:25 (NIV) "When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone but the righteous stand firm forever."

· Isaiah 25:4 (NASB) "For You have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat…"

· Psalm 57:1 (NRSV) "Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in You my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, until the destroying storms pass by."

It's been an amazing journey, the last 2.5 years:

• Bryan lost his job
• We were blessed with the birth of our healthy 4 pound baby 7 weeks early
• Bryan was right along side me the whole 5 months I had off for maternity leave
• I started back at work
• Bryan got a part time job at Multnomah
  
• Because of Bryan's part time job he was able to watch Gabe 2 days out of the week while the other days were covered by my mom and sisters
• We made the decision for Bryan to quit his job at Multnomah and he got a full time contract position at Nike
• My friend Teresa then watched Gabe for the 2 days that Bryan couldn't anymore
• Bryan graduated from The Art Institute of Portland
  
• Then Nanny Jenny took over Tues-Thurs watching Gabe starting Fall of 2008
• Bryan's contract was extended I think about 4 times
• I lost my job and became a stay at home mommy

SO many ups and downs, scary, uncertain times and most of all BLESSINGS! God is Good!

All this to say, I am SO happy to announce that God has provided Bryan with another permanent job at Nike! YAHOOOO

Now I pray that we continue to trust God with our finances and that we are good stewards of the money he gives us to keep me home with Gabe.

HELP!

I need help and opinions! We are going to be doing some changes in the basement and it needs some serious color. It's just plain 'ol white...BORING!
I have 2 plain walls and this crazy ledge thing on the other 2 walls...I'm not sure how to paint?????
Options:

1) Paint the 2 walls and above the ledge the same color and the ledge a different color?

2) Paint the 2 walls one color and the ledge and above it the same color?

I don't know???

We have a tan couch as you can see in the pics. I'm thinking about tans, browns and an orangey color? Or????

Panic

We had a garage sale this past weekend and I am STILL recovering from it. I can't seem to get caught up on sleep. We had my stuff, my moms and sisters. We had a ton of crap!

Thursday mom and Julie come over and we priced things and got things organized. We didn't finish until 11pm-ish and were up by 6 the next morning to get everything out and ready. It went really well and we sold A LOT!
Anyway, sometime on Friday Gabe wandered out and grabbed my moms HUGE sharpie pen. A while later he was back in the house and the pen was nowhere to be found. I started to panic. I could just see me coming into the house and having permanent marker all over everything. I looked everywhere. Took me some time before I finally found it, but here is where my funny Gabe put the pen before going back into the house. We had a good laugh and all was good.

Together

So, Bryan has been super busy lately. With working full time at Nike, freelance, Filter7, Youth Group, MMA...and the list goes on. We still see him quite a bit, but it's not GOOD quality time you know. We have set aside an evening to spend Together, just the three of us. It was Thursday evening, but with MMA switching to Thursday's we had to switch our night to Tuesday's. It's been AWESOME!

We went to Edgefield for dinner and there was a concert playing so parking was crazy, but the restaurant was bare. It was fun walking from the car to the building, because we could hear the music. Gabe said "HA MUSIC" and started dancing. It is SO beautiful there, tons of pretty flowers and trees.
After dinner we went to Rocky Butte. Haven't been there in forever! It's actually really pretty up there. Not like I remember. We stopped at the Plaid Pantry that I used to walk to when we lived over there and got Ice cream. Can't believe I was allowed to walk there at age 6ish. Boy do times change because there is NO WAY I will allow Gabe to walk to the store at that age. It was such a great time for us as a family.

I absolutely LOVE the picture of Bryan and Gabe looking at each other. Love them SO MUCH!

We love Hockey

So excited the USA Hockey's Nike 2010 Olympic jerseys are finally being revealed. Bryan designed the USA letter forms on the front of the jerseys (minus the old ones on the left).
AH YAH

I want a newborn

I just can't help it. I just got to hold the sweetest little week old baby Sam and I'm getting so darn baby hungry.

My arms are itching to snuggle one close to me.

My ear is twitching to hear one breathing softly in my ear while curled up in a little ball on my shoulder.

I want to feel that velvety soft wrinkly skin with that hint of softer than soft downy fuzz covering it.

I want to drink in that perfect smell they have.

I want to look into those newborn eyes and wonder at what they're remembering.

I want to watch those little newborn stretches.

And yes, I even want to hear that sweetest ever newborn cry.I love how they fling their arms wide open when they hear a loud sound.

I love the sounds they make when they're eating.

I love the satisfied, limp, drunken state they get in when they're done.

I love those teeny feet.

I love nighttime feedings...alone with them bathed in the dim light coming from the cracked open closet, snuggling them close.

I LOVE holding someone else's baby, and yes, every newborn is amazing. Holding other newborns helps.

But the problem is that it's not the same with someone else's baby.

It's just different when it's MY baby...part of me. It gives me that feeling that I can almost feel my own heart beating in that tiny chest because I'm so in love.

Family Camp 09

We went on our annual camping trip at Fort Steven's with our church this last weekend.
I LOVE camping! We need to camp more next year for sure!

I learned a few things this time and here they are:

1) Don't put up your tent to air out and clean on days that it is supposed to rain. That was a complete mess. Thankfully my lovely husband did a good job of not getting too mad as he was pulling the tent apart in the pouring down rain and it did dry in time to pack it up to go.

2) Don't pack your week SO full that you're going shopping the day you leave. Gabe was a trooper that morning let me tell you!

We ended up leaving later then I was wanting to and we got there around 5:30-6. Bryan had put a tarp over everything in the truck except the wood and I said that I thought we should pull over and cover the wood too and thank goodness we did that cause right after we pulled back into traffic it started pouring.
This year our site was over to the left side passed the yurts when normally we stay on the right side. It was a little weird, but I ended up liking it A LOT!
When we got to our site Dan and Randy came to help Bryan set up the canopy and tent and we set up everything else while saying hi to a ton of people already there.
We had to work with Gabe a little the first night as to how far he could go and then have to turn around and come back, but it caught on fast.
We roasted hot dogs for dinner and roasted marshmallows too. It was fun just relaxing as a fam.

Gabe isn't fitting comfortably in the pack n play anymore, so this was his first time sleeping on a pad in his very own sleeping bag. I was a little nervous as we haven't switched him to a big boy bed yet, but he did fabulous! We had zero problems.

This is him sleeping at nap time on Friday.

He had to hold my hand going to sleep. It was too cute!

Friday morning we woke up and I showered while Bryan made us breakfast. After breakfast we took our coffee's and went on a walk. Gabe pushed his stroller. We had to turn around and go back earlier then expected because Gabe had a full diaper. So we chatted with passer byers and Randy (Gabe's BFF ) played frisbee with Gabe. It was quite funny how Gabe threw it too. Randy hid from Gabe in the truck, Gabe rode his bike with Kaleb and we had lunch.

Bryan and Gabe took a long nap on Friday and I just read my book and relaxed. We went to Warrenton to get more ice because it had already melted and then we had dinner just before going over to the Stone's for the ice cream social. We ended up being there a long time. It started at 7 and we didn't start heading back until 9:30 I think. It was fun getting to talk to so many people. Our friends Kevin and Ginger were there with their kids. Gabe and their youngest Carly get along so well.

Of course Gabe had his stroller and pushed that around. Him and Carly chased Randy around and they found an owie on a tree (part of the bark came off) and wanted to put a band aid on it.

hubba hubba...now that is a good looking man!
(Gabe was wanting Bryan to throw him up in the air)

Saturday was probably the best day there! We woke up and all took showers, had pancakes and bacon for breakfast and then Bryan left to go into town with Dan and Gabe and I walked all the way to the opposite side of the campground to see Betty, Dottie and Katie. We stayed there for a while and walked back with Katie. It was a good walk. Then we hopped in the truck and took off to the beach with Dan, Debs, Madison, Ethan, Avery, Randy, Kylie, Delaney and Macie. We drove onto the beach, got out and walked along the water. The kids minus Gabe and Avery were playing in the water and Randy was trying to get their kite up when all of the sudden a big wave came and Kylie backed up not knowing that Macie was right behind her and they both fell and got completely drenched with sand everywhere. Randy took them back to camp and we kept walking for a while.
It was a little overcast, but it was nice on the beach. After a while we went back to clean up because we were meeting Dave Pittman at Camp Rilea where he was training new recruits to go repelling off a 60ft wall. Seriously, this was SO much fun yet SO scary at the same time!

The kids all found branches on the ground that looked like guns.We started out on the incline wall. Even Madison, Ethan, Kylie and Delaney did it!
This is me...I was almost hyper-ventilating at the top and I went down slow, but I did it and SO glad I did!

After all the adults repelled the 60ft wall we packed up and drove into Seaside for dinner. We had pizza. Dave met us there after he cleaned up everything at the Camp and then he took us into Gearhart and we drove back to Fort Steven's on the beach at Sunset. It was AWESOME!

One minute Gabe was talking and laughing with Madison and Kylie and the next he was passed out. When we got back to camp Bryan left to do the night game and I put Gabe down for the night. Sunday morning we showered again, had breakfast and went to the baptism service at the lake. We stood around and talked for a while and then we headed back to pack up. I always hate that part. Next year we are definitely going to plan to stay the whole week. lol

Breakfast on the last morning. SAD

As we were leaving Fort Steven's we all ate sandwiches in the truck and Gabe only got through half before falling asleep. He slept pretty much the whole way home. Waking up on 84 as we were coming up on the 181st exit. He asked for gummies aka fruit snacks and I told him to finish the rest of the sandwhich first. He ate some of it and I turned around to look and it seemed he had finished, so I gave him the gummies. After he ate them he pulled part of the sandwhich out from under his blanket. I could not believe it. I asked him if he hid the sandwich to get the gummies and he said yes. Bryan was laughing quietly as I was telling Gabe that that was not OK, so he wasn't any help at all.
I don't know why, but I'm shocked that a 2 year old knows how to sneak something to get something he wants.

We cleaned up and started on laundry and finished off the evening having dinner with my family. What a great weekend!

VERY Busy week!

It has been a busy week and I have to say I actually LIKE it that way. I like having lots to do and getting out of the house first thing. It helps the day flow better and we watch less TV that way. I've always been somebody who likes to be busy. HM what to do in the mornings now that swimming lessons are done? lol

Swimming Lessons
I decided to put Gabe in swimming lessons and so I signed him for 2 weeks starting June 29th at the East Portland Community Center. Then I was reminded that they had one week of free lessons so I got up early on Saturday June 20th and signed up for those and then I canceled the 2 week one and got refunded the $53. I am SO glad I did this. It's been SO MUCH fun and it didn't cost anything. ((thumbs up))

Day 1
Gabe got right in the water with me. Grandma came with us and took pictures. He did everything that we worked on. Gabe isn't scared of water at all...never has cried during bath time even when he was a baby. He floated on his back and put his head back in the water. Floated on his tummy and blew bubbles in the water. He kicked and did great. He did however whine a lot.

Day 2
Gabe did really well. He whined less and had a good time. We sang songs and we did some bobbing up and down getting the face a little wet. When we got in a circle and had them on their backs to kick the ball as it came around, he refused to do that. I'm thankful that the class time is short because Gabe's attention span is short.

Day 3
The class went fast today. Gabe didn't whine at all and was all smiles. He kicked the ball today when we got in the circle and we even learned how to move our arms to help us swim.

Day 4
Whined A LOT today. Wanted out almost immediately. Refused to kick the ball again. He did however laugh when I had him hold onto the side and slide himself along it. I just held his bottom as he scooted along. He thought that was hilarious.


Day 5
Bryan had today off and so he got to do Gabe's last day of lessons with him. He went in with Bryan, but wanted me. He did have a good time though and showed daddy everything he learned. Today was fun day. After they went down the slide they got their certificates from their instructors.

Gabe LOVED going down the slide with daddy. They did it 3 times.

After swimming lessons on Tuesday we went to Fairview and played in their park with my sisters. It was a lot of fun. I'm SO glad the sun has been out!
The boy's played really well and by themselves too. Of course I had to take a turn down the twirly slide and Janell played with the boys too. It's fun being a kid every once in a while. ;o)

After swimming lessons on Wednesday we met at Dave and Kate's and we all piled into their van and went out to Boring to pick some strawberries. It was an adventure for sure. Gabe did pretty good at first. He picked a few berries and then wanted to wander off. Eloise brought him back a couple times and one time he ran off and wouldn't stop or come back like I asked him to, so I had to chase him down and he was in a heap of trouble. OH and at one point he took the bowl I had full of berries and dumped them all out and cried/screamed the whole way back to the car. All he wanted was for me to pick him up , but boy was he a cranky little dude. The kiddos ate lunch on the way home and that seemed to put Gabe in a better mood and he went down for a nap right when we got home. It was fun despite all the craziness and we have more yummy strawberries to eat or make smoothies with. YEA

After swimming lessons Thursday we surprised T and Kambrie at her swimming lessons. Course Gabe was melting down the whole time which wasn't fun, but I did manage to see some of the lessons. Kam turned around a couple times to give me a huge smile and wave at us. Loved that. Was going to meet them at the park but Gabe was completely melting down and ended up falling asleep in the car so I went to the DMV for the truck and got our new stickers and took Gabe home and put him down.

After lessons today we got treats at Starbucks and headed over to Travis and Marcia's. Their neighbors were moving and they had to be out by 5pm today and they weren't taking their swing set, so we took it apart and will hopefully set it up here. I'm excited to have a swing set for Gabe to play on.

It has been a crazy busy week, but SO much fun. I'm sad that swim lessons are over, but we plan on going to some pools this summer for sure.