Lunch Discussion

Mike: What are you going to be when you grow up?

Noah: I'm going to be a different kind of doctor like you.

Mike: Oh. What are you going to do as a doctor?

Noah: Teach students.

Mike: What are you going to teach them?

Noah: How to be fast.

Mud Run

Okay, one more post for the day, then I'm going to bed. Mike and I joined a team this year to raise money for MS by participating in the first annual Portland MS Mud Run. It was a 6.2 mile military-style obstacle course though mud. To add

to the excitement, it rained that day, making the non-muddy parts muddy. So, we sloshed through mud. End of story. :) It was fun and I could definitely see us doing it again.

Here is our clean team.

Here is Mike and me pre-run and looking fierce.

That's me laying in the mud. Believe it or not, this obstacle was "nothing" compared to the enormous wall we climbed up and over, the muddy river we waded through, the muddy hills we had to climb on all fours, and (my favorite) the big mud hill we climbed up to slide down the other side.

Here is our team post-run and ready for a shower.

Celebration

It's been a while since I posted much, so I wanted to get caught up with some big events as of late. In April, I graduated with my Master's Degree. YAY! I'm not finished yet. Three more years until I graduate with my doctorate, but this was certainly a milestone to enjoy. Since then, I've made significant progress on my dissertation, including passing my prelim and ethics committee so I am ready to start the program in the fall at the start of school. I also took two summer classes, which finished yesterday. Yay for summer break!

Happy Birthday Titus

Yes, that's right, Titus turned one last Wednesday. We celebrated with chicken on the grill and corn-on-the-cob...as well as chocolate cake, which he loved. He was especially excited by the candle, though, and was upset that I wouldn't let him touch it.

Working Man

I'm on a role! 2 days in a row...

Some of you have seen this already, but for those of you who didn't...

DS (2 1/2) helped out at the garage yesterday afternoon while our car was getting some routine maintenance. Specifically, the guy let him help grind some break pads for another vehicle that was in for repair. They paid him $2.00, which he wanted to spend on ice cream. So, we went out last evening for ice cream. On the way, he informed us that he was paying for his ice cream and we would be paying for our own. His ice cream was $1.55 and he proudly handed over the $2.00. He got the $.45 in change back to take home and put in his piggy bank. He was very pleased with himself.

Where is Jesus' house?

This afternoon, DS (2 1/2 years old now) asked me the same question that he has asked several times in the past few weeks, "Does Jesus have a bed?"

My response was, "Well, I don't think Jesus has a bed because he doesn't need to sleep."

Today, he pressed further, "Does Jesus have a bedroom?"

Me: "No, I don't think Jesus has a bedroom."

DS: "Does Jesus have a living room?"

Me: "You know what? Jesus has a really big, awesome house!"

DS: "Jesus has a really big, awesome house? Where is his house? Is it up in the sky?"

Me: "It is in Heaven, honey."

DS: "Where is Heaven?"

Me: "Man, these questions are getting harder..."

DS also loves to help out. This morning, he and I got a lot done together, folding laundry, pulling out clothes from the attic for baby brother, more laundry, pulling out all of my maternity clothes from my closet that I don't need anymore!, etc. Here is a picture from our trip back east of him helping Daddy and Grandpa trim the tree. Yesterday, he was helping me by entertaining baby brother, who was sitting in his little bouncy seat. DS was talking to him in "motherese" (p.s. That is an official term, I didn't make it up!) and baby brother was cooing and smiling back.

Currently, DS is with DH. They took the car to the shop for routine maintenance. Boy, was he excited to go. DH was pulling out some money to take along to pay for the work. DS disappeared down the hall and came back with a little pudgy handful of coins from his piggy bank. He was ready to pay for the work, too! Unfortunately, I don't think his $.73 would be enough. We convinced him that Daddy would give him the money to pay the worker man and that he could keep his "moneys" for another day. :)

Swimming

Here is a great sequence captured by DH. It was from a few weeks ago...

Breakfast Conversation and Baby Brother

This morning at breakfast, DS said to me, "God made me, Mommy. God made me special."

I replied, "Yes, honey, God made you special. You're my special boy."

He said, "Then he poked me."

I said, "Oh. Why did he poke you?"

He said, "He didn't poke me. He's nice."

Made me smile.

It's been 10 days since DS #2 was born. June 22, 2010, 8 lbs., 3 oz., 21 1/2 inches. Everything went very smoothly, which I am thankful for.

My parents came to visit on the due date, which was June 18. Unfortunately, he decided to take an extra few days and my water broke about 3 hours after my dad left to head home. Go figure. My mom was still here for another couple days. It was so nice to know that DS #1 was in good hands when we rushed out the door in the middle of the night for the 45 minute drive to the hospital. My mom and big brother came to the hospital a few hours after baby brother's birth. Big brother was very excited to meet his baby brother and has already taken on a protective role. When the nurse came in to check on everything, Big Brother scolded her, "That's my baby brother. You don't hurt him!" She seemed a little startled. When it was time for them to go, he had a hard time understanding that we would be coming home the next day. "I want to come back!"

We explained to him that we were going to come home and baby brother was going to come with us..." Remember, we got a bed for baby brother to sleep in? He will come with us and sleep in his bed at home." Then he willingly went home with grandma in anticipation of our arrival the next day.

Now, aside from the normal amount of sleep deprivation, I am feeling great and ready for our next adventure. In about a week and a half, we board a plane to head east for a visit.

Kids and Bread

On Saturday, we babysat. I really should say DS babysat. He loved having a little buddy and teaching him how to play ball and how, "we don't eat balls" (DS's words). He is looking forward to being a big brother.

Today DS asked me if he could sit on Beau's lap. Yes, Beau, as in, one of our 22 lb. Boston Terriers. Not only does Beau not have a lap, but DS also has a good 15 lbs. on him. As amusing as it could have been...

Today I made bread, which I do often.

This time, however, the dough looked awfully gooey and I forgot to set the timer to let it rise. An hour later, I remembered to put it in the oven to bake. This is how it came out:

Milk

This morning we were having breakfast and I took a drink of milk. DS looked at me curiously and asked, "Are you putting milk on the baby's head?"

Spring Break

So, it's been a while again...
This week is spring break and we had some nice weather to go with it. So nice, in fact, that I decided it was time to show DS the sand box. We had opened it once or twice two summers ago, but he was too young to enjoy it and would just eat the sand. He was so excited when I opened the cover and he spend several hours digging in the sand!

Freud

I was particularly amused by this statement by Dr. Sigmund Freud, 1941, in Psychology of Everyday Life, pg. 184...I just had to share:

"I am not particularly dexterous, but by virtue of the anatomic integrity of my nervous and muscular apparatus there are apparently no grounds in me for such awkward movements with undesirable results."

Is it Christmas already?!?

DS has had quite a bit of exposure to babies lately. First of all, congratulations to DH's sister and family for their newest addition to their family, born 12/18/09! Also, almost 2 months ago, we told DS that, "Mommy's having a baby." We then called our parents and allowed him to tell them the news. I wasn't sure how much he understood, but about a month later, he said, seemingly out of the blue, "Mommy's having a baby," and he seemed a little confused, so I explained to him,"Yes, mommy's having a baby. The baby is hiding in mommy's belly and the baby has to grow first." He seemed satisfied as he went on with is activities. About two weeks after that, he said, "Mommy's having a baby. Baby's hiding in mommy's belly. Baby has to grow first." I was impressed! I didn't think he would remember all of that. Last week, DS was talking about the baby again. Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Baby! Come out!!" I think he's excited to be a big brother. So the other morning he said to me, "I'm having a baby." I thought I'd test the water and see where it would go and I explained to him, "Well, only mommies have babies." Then he clarified for me, "I'm just having a little baby." Ohhhh...well, in that case... :)

It's been a while since I've written anything. We've had a busy couple months here. I have been enjoying my first semester of full time grad school. Last Friday was my last class for the semester and I am glad for a break and few weeks of rest and Christmas cheer before getting back into the grind.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the last few months for you to enjoy. :)

After my last post in May, we headed back east to spend a week with family. We spent a few days with my family in Ocean City, NJ, while my sister and her family were home to the US from their Africa home for a few months. We had a nice time catching up and DS enjoyed getting to know his cousins and spending time with his aunts and uncles and grandparents.

What better place to do that than the beach?!?

And, of course, Grandpa was itching to give his two grandsons a motorcycle ride, so in the few minutes available, he whisked them away for a magical more-than-just-a-few-minutes moment.

We made a quick stop to visit Great-Grandma...

then spent a few days with DH's family. Again, the cousins had a great time getting to know each other better. Our adventures together included the Hands-on-House

and Lake Tobias Wildlife Reserve.

We did some camping this summer. During the hottest week of the summer we found ourselves tenting in the Mount Hood wilderness.

It was a beautiful spot complete with a lake perfect for cooling off.

DH and I took two days, left DS with a friend and headed with a group to Mount Saint Helens. It was the first time we had left DS with someone overnight, which always causes a mother some nervousness, but he did just fine most of the time... DH and I had a great hike. It took us about 4 1/2 hours to get to the top where we spent about an hour or so resting and enjoying the views.

I had never looked down inside of a volcano before and I was determined to cherish the moment. On the way down, though, DH turned his ankle on a boulder. The rest of the way down was slow-going and it took us an extra 3 hours to reach the bottom, but with some help from our friends, we made it safely.

At 2 years old, DS has quite a bit of spunk...

and he has begun to learn to use the potty... (p.s. in case you are wondering, the black marks on his legs in this picture were from his permanent marker artwork from a few days before that resulted in some re-painting of some of our walls.)

and finally, here is a beautiful sunset from the Mount Hood Wilderness! Have I mentioned how beautiful Oregon is?!?

Washington Wondering

DH finished up his second year of teaching. It was another challenging year, but better than the first. I imagine each year will get a little easier as he continues to settle in.

We welcomed the beginning of summer break by taking off to explore the great Northwest. We headed for a week up to Manson, WA, which is located on the shore of a beautiful lake called Lake Chellan. We had beautiful weather and a nice relaxing time. DS particularly enjoyed the pool. Everyday, he would ask, "Simming?? Simming??"

Here is a video of our fun pool time. If you are recieving this as an email, you will need to go to the actual blog post at http://notesfromthenorthwest.blogspot.com/ to play the video.

We also took a short hike. DS enjoyed seeing the birds and the snake and the flowers and the rocks. He even brought back a few rocks for souvenirs.

At the end of the week, we traveled to Port Townsend, north of Seattle, to visit DH's Aunt Jane. We spent a few days visiting and exploring the town. We even went out to run in a 5 3/4 mile race on a beautiful nearby island. This was the first time I ran in an official race. I came in 27th overall, which was pretty good

considering I was pushing DS in a little bumpy umbrella stroller for half the run...the half that happened to bemostly uphill. I am still quite sore, to say the least, but it was a great workout!

And they had food and visiting time after the race is over. I will have to check out races around the Portland area.

I'm sure they have them periodically and it would be added incentive for my training. DS enjoyed sitting in the fire truck and hummer and playing with the officials who were there accompanying the race. And the horses were quite a hit.

Sunday morning, we went for a walk on the beach during low tide. What a great time it was to see all of the beautiful sea creatures that God has made. Most of the stuff we saw were things I had never seen before. If they taught biology class out in the ocean in that particular setting,

I think maybe I would have done better in that class in school. Who wants to learn about these things by reading boring text books,anyway?!?

This is the bald eagle we saw on our walk. The picture is compliments of DH. Talk about a graceful bird...especially compared to the annoying whiny sea gulls that kept trying to chase him away for fear he would take all of their food.



Family photo of feet in the Pacific Ocean. In a few days, we will get one of all of our feet in the Atlantic Ocean. The traveling in between will not be quite as much fun.

We were reluctant to realize that our vacation was coming to a close yesterday morning as we packed up and headed home. All good things must come to an end. Besides, we have another trip to look forward to. We will be traveling again soon. More details to follow... :)

PS. These are only a few of the pictures from our trip. If you would like to see the rest of them, we have posted them on a web album. Click here to see the album.