2010 Recap

Hello faithful friends & family members!  I must admit, blogging is quite low on the priority list, so I apologize for not updating as often as maybe I should.  I wanted to pop in here to say hello & let you know that we're all still alive & doing well!  Here is a recap of how we spent 2010.

January

* We enjoyed a little snowstorm that stuck around for a couple days (I am secretly hoping for a huge snowfall again this January) ... what was I thinking, believing that the coat from this picture would fit this year?  My son has my husband's long arms & it's barely long enough for him... maybe he'll keep the gloves on this year :)
* Celebrated my 4th wedding anniversary with my wonderful hubby.
* We switched to cloth diapers for David.  Because we started out later (he was 19 months), we probably broke even with the cost it would have been to continue in Huggies.  But I am thrilled with the change.  The clean-up & laundry really is no big deal (I love my diaper sprayer!) & we now have diapers for any future children.

February

* David & I spent a great deal of time with our new friends, Natalie, Cy & Tatym, setting up a veggie garden.  We were most definitely over our heads & the bugs knew it.  We did enjoy some of the veggies we planted & much of the fruit that was already planted.
 *Poor David was finishing cutting teeth while battling pink eye & a minor ear infection... many days were spent cuddling.
* I turned 28!


 
March

* Jamin was home sick for a week, with David & I sick as well ... we watched every single episode of Star Wars. David is fully converted now.  Daddy taught him all the characters.  Everything is a light saber too. :)
* David & I had a playdate with some friends at Esther Short park in downtown Vancouver (sooo need to do that some more!)  David couldn't decide whether or not he liked the swings.  He kept asking to go on them, then after one push wanted down.  Then a few minutes later he'd ask to go on the swings again. :)  He most definitely enjoys them now.
* Jamin & I enjoyed a fun night out at the John Mayer concert.  My MIL won tickets from a local radio station, gave them to us AND had David overnight! :)

 
April

* David & I had a fun Easter Egg hunt at the Fisher's house.  When we asked David to say "Happy Easter," he would say, "Happy Birthday Easter!"
* David took his TENTH airplane flight when he & I came home from visiting Debbie & Jim, my Dad & my brother in California. (the picture shows David pigging out on one of the many watermelon slices he enjoyed in Grandma Debbie's back yard)
* Debbie & I took David to the California State Railroad Museum... a trip he STILL talks about today! :)
* my Mom won tickets to Cirque du Soleil, which was AWESOME!
* I discovered David trying to climb out of his crib, so we took off the rail & turned it into a big boy bed!

May

* We enjoyed many Saturday mornings at the local farmer's markets with the sunny weather
* David is having fun on our occasional sunny days by doodling with chalk on the patio.
* Jamin started school again.  He's currently in an accounting program to earn his second bachelor's degree.  It's all online & he continues to work full-time while participating in online classes part-time.
* Because Jamin went back to school, we purchased a laptop.  I'm lucky sometimes & Jamin leaves it home for me to use. :)



June

* My neighbor helped me put in a flower bed in front.  I failed to mulch however & the weeds have been coming back.  I am looking forward to freeing the plants again & getting it pretty for spring.
* I became in charge of the activities committee for my women's group at church (Relief Society) & Jamin was called to be our ward clerk at church - these keep us quite busy!

* David started asking to go potty.  We've had a little potty in our bathroom since December & he's played around with it & even gone pee in it sometimes.  But, he's really showed interest in the big potty.
* I picked raspberries & made some homemade raspberry jam.  That started a whole BUNCH of preserving for me.  I made raspberry jam, blueberry jam & strawberry jam this summer
* For a Mother's Day gift, my MIL paid for us to both go to a quilting class - my first!  We made a Storm at Sea quilt to hang on the wall.  I still need to finish up the quilt (it's near the top of my "to do" list, I promise!)
* My boys had a birthday!  David turned two!  We celebrated by joining Jamin at work for a picnic lunch.  That was a lot of fun... we should definitely do that more often!
* We had a family birthday dinner & were pleasantly surprised by my Aunt Ardith who came for a visit! :)
* We found out on Father's Day that I was pregnant.  I miscarried a week later at 7 weeks.  We're still working on getting another positive test. :)

July

* We enjoyed another 4th of July with the City of Ridgefield - a parade, street fair & lots of stuff blown up! :)
* Was blessed to be there for my friend, Natalie, as she gave birth to her son, Kade.  It was definitely a wonderful birthday party! :)
* Our car died on a late night "quick trip" to Winco... A thousand dollars later, we have a new starter & repaired power steering.
* We enjoyed time on the lake with my in-laws on their boat.  David LOVES the water & we're having fun making memories.
* Apples started ripening quite early, so I filled up my trunk (literally!) & got busy preserving about 5 dozen bottles or so:  apple jelly, apple sauce, apple butter & apple pie filling!  Of course, because I'm Leah, I badly burned 3 of my fingers on the very last batch!

August

*  We took a road trip out to Utah to visit our friends BJ & Lindsay & their new daughter, Payslie.  We also had the opportunity to catch up with our good friend, Cameron & check out Jamin's (lame) 10 year high school reunion.  David was really awesome!  We took lots of potty stops & ran around.  This trip halted his interest potty training because we think he was afraid of the rest stop bathrooms (who isn't?!!) 
* We saw the Christus statue at the visitor's center on temple square in Salt Lake City & David said, "I want to hold Jesus" ... my heart is still melting at just how precious he is.
* We enjoyed a fun day at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City.
* We visited the grave site of Jamin's paternal grandparents in Sandy, Utah
*  At the end of the month, Debbie's parents stopped by for a short visit while they were out traveling in their RV.

September

* Because I'm nuts & apparently didn't bottle enough apples, I bottled a TON of pears.  We're talking 39 quarts of pears (they were probably cut into 6 slices each), in addition to a few pints of pear sauce & several pear raspberry pies.  I did this with my friend, Sheena ... she also took home 39 quarts & other bottled goodies!
* Later in the month, I fell down the stairs & badly hurt my tailbone & my shoulder went out of place.  God bless Chiropractors!
* David was an excellent patient at the dentist's office while getting his teeth cleaned for the first time!
* This is a photo of David napping in my sewing room.  I was very busy this year with quilting & sewing other goodies.  I plan to make a post about my creative endeavors & achievements.
* David & I started participating in a toddler music class with several moms from church.  This is a much-anticipated weekly event that is just perfect for our musical boy.

October

* My dad & his girlfriend, Lisa, drove up for a quick visit.  They stayed overnight at our house (this was their first time at our new house) & then we surprised my grandpa (who lives near Tacoma, WA) for his 70th birthday.
* My dad brought up with him the twin bed that I slept on in my youth.  David now has a proper big boy bed!
* A tomato farmer near me allowed several of us from church to come pick as many tomatoes as we would like before he ripped out all his plants.  I brought home SEVERAL boxes of tomatoes & bottled them up (seriously, this was a major preserving year for me!  Especially considering last year, I made a couple dozen bottles of jam & then I bottled about 8 quarts of peaches).  I stored spaghetti sauce, salsa & stewed tomatoes
* Jamin surprise David & I with a family trip to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum.  We saw the Spruce Goose, among many other planes & helicopters in the Aviation Museum.  Then we enjoyed a memorable Imax 3D movie about the Hubble telescope.  David still talks about the time he "wore glasses just like you, Mom".  Jamin & I giggled as he kept reaching out toward the screen to touch the images that were popping out.  After the movie, we went to the second building where there was a huge rocket ship & several displays about space travel, including a replica of the lunar module.  David still talks about going to see the airplanes & we look forward to another trip in the future.
*We had a fun family day at BiZi farms.  David lost his shoes in the pumpkin patch & we brought home four pumpkins.
* David started potty training in big boy underwear full-time.  After several weeks, he also wore underwear at night full-time with very few accidents.  Currently, he is doing great & enjoys feeling like a big boy.  Don't ask me my secrets, cuz I don't even know how it happened before he was 2 1/2!  Really, it was all David wanting to go potty & we encouraged him.  He's such an amazing kid!
* My in-laws gave David his Halloween costume, Spiderman!  Boy was that kid thrilled!  By the way, he still shoots spiderwebs at us when he's not happy. lol!
* David started saying "umm yeah, that sounds like a good plan."  ... this is now a much-repeated phrase in our home... by all family members.
* David is also very interested in saying the prayers at meal times.  It's so precious to hear him praying to Heavenly Father!

November

* My friend, Ashley & I, took our friend, Tammy & her friend, Amber, who was visiting, on a little Twilight tour.  It was a very fun girls day out & about being dorks!
* We hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the first time.  Jamin selected a 26lb bird! :) (ummm... we like leftovers)
* The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we headed out & cut down our first fresh Christmas tree!  It was heaven having the wonderful evergreen scent in our home for the holidays.  I haven't had a Christmas tree since I was probably in elementary school!
December

* We enjoyed a family tradition of attending the Festival of Nativities.  This always gets us in the Christmas spirit & helps us to keep the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts
* We finished most of our Christmas shopping early (& online! my new favorite!) & I was kept busy sewing up several quilts for Christmas gifts.
* David was totally engrossed in Christmas movies & has enjoyed watching the same DVDs over & over & over again.
* Jamin took up some new managerial responsibilities at work & has been busy each Sunday with tithing settlement (with him coming home in the late evenings most Sundays)
* David enjoyed making a gingerbread house at his toddler music class at church, as well as decorating a gingerbread train with grandma & papa at hour house.
* David kept quite busy rearranging the ornaments on the bottom of the tree.  When we purchased his ornament of the year (a plane, commemorating his trip to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum), we put it near the top to keep him from moving it around.  He just got a kitchen stool so he could reach it.. little stinker.
* The crowning moment of 2010: On Christmas morning, when David came downstairs & saw all the gifts under the tree, he exclaimed, "It's a surprise from Jesus!".  The night before, we were talking about the Nativity story & how Heavenly Father gave us a gift on Christmas & that was his son, Jesus Christ.  I guess the concept stuck! :)

We are so grateful for each & every one of you.  We love you all so much & are very blessed to have you in our lives.  We've been blessed with a wonderful year in 2010 & are looking forward to all that 2011 has to offer.  We wish you every happiness & a year full of new adventures & many blessings in 2011!

My Little Guy

David discovered these latex gloves in a drawer one day & loves to play with them.  He usually slips them on his hands & then comes to me to fix the fingers.  Sometimes he'll pretend to be a monster & growl while showing me his clawed, gloved hands. :)
David continues to be quite entertaining with his very fun personality.  His daddy has already made the Star Wars impression on him; so although he really doesn't understand the characters, he talks about & pretends to be Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker & Yoda.  He also builds light sabers out of his legos.  Legos... he LOVES those things!  David received a huge tub of Duplo blocks (the big legos) for his first birthday.  They are played with every. single. day.  Often times, as soon as Daddy comes home, he is beckoned to the play area to build a rocket ship, or Spiderman (another favorite character), or any numerous things from my toddler's active imagination.  David plays very well on his own & I often hear him talking or singing about all sorts of things.  If he doesn't know a song, he'll just make one up (or expect us to).  Talking.. he does a lot of it.  "What's that?" or "What's this?" are definitely the precursor to all of the "Why?" questions I expect to be hearing in the next couple of years.  David is quite curious & very observant.  I am often surprised, as are many others, at just how well he articulates in his speech.  Just the other day, I was headed downstairs with the laptop in my hand & David at my heels.  He piped up behind me, "Be careful with the computer, Mom!"
I don't know where he figured out a sentence like that.. but I'm so grateful that we're able to understand just about everything he says! :)
Next week, we're starting a toddler music class with several friends from church.  I'm really looking forward to it as I know David is going to have so much fun!  We'll be meeting up once a week during the school year, with mom's taking turn being in charge for a month at a time.  Once a month, we're going on a field trip or doing a different fun activity!
Coming up soon: Our first family road trip & my latest sewing adventures

Summer Portraits

Look! I'm finally blogging again!  I'll be honest, it's tough to keep up with this blog when there are so many things to take up my time!  It doesn't help that the photo snapping has been just about absent around here.  It's sad when my iphone takes better photos than my digital camera - and they still aren't that great.  Oh well!  So here we are!  I am working on a few posts to update you all on our summer adventures! 

Let's start with introducing you to my very favorite two-year-old!  I took David in to get some photos & he had a lot of fun hamming it up.  I scanned these photos from prints, & am just now realizing that there must be some gunk on the scanner... sorry!  But you get the the idea... Mr. Personality is alive & well at our house!

I think he's in the middle of talking or singing... I just love that eyebrow!  It reminds me of this picture from when he was almost 3 months old:

And lastly, my favorite photo of all.  This has been gracing our front entry way, but will make it's home in David's room eventually.  He had a lot of fun playing with that flag. :)  God Bless America!

Happy Birthday Boys!

Happiest Birthday wishes to my two most favorite people, Jamin & David!

I love you guys so much!  We've got a simple day planned of meeting Daddy for lunch & perhaps playing with some bubbles outside (they've been requested by the littlest Birthday Boy)


(This is from June of last year... wow, David sure has sprouted up!)

How to Entertain a Toddler on the Cheap

Shredded paper... lots of it.. everywhere.
This was from when we were in California, visiting Debbie.  She was catching up on shredding a bunch of documents & David decided he would be a big help.  Considering it was one of the few things he could get into without hurting himself, we decided to let him have at it.  And he did.  It was everywhere!  He was throwing it up in the air, swimming in it & putting it all over the dog.  This kid had a huge blast!

And did you know that when you put a bucket on your head, it instantly becomes a pirate hat?  Neither did I till a couple weeks ago.  David got this buck from Papa (Jorgensen) just a couple weeks ago & I swear, the entire next day, that bucket was on his head.  David imagined he was many things, but he especially seemed to enjoy being a pirate.  Complete with "look, Mommy... pirate hat.. 'argh!'"

Also, notice the no-pants thing again.  Yeah.. we just go with it.  Except, a couple Sundays ago, I went to go pick him up from his nursery class & he had no pants on!  He kept slipping them off! (being in-between sizes has it's challenges!)
So, right next to "please stop rubbing your toast on the floor," I'm adding, "We keep our pants on at church," to the list of things I never expected to be saying.  LOL :)

Baby Quilt for Kade

I'm participating in the Spring 2010 Blogger's Quilt Festival & I have a quilt to share!  This quilt is for my friend Natalie's little boy, Kade, who is due to arrive next month.

This is a pretty small quilt (23"x31.5") But it's perfect for right when he's born or maybe for tucking in his car seat without dragging or even for a cute changing pad.  I've named it Love U Boy, after the fabric I used, Love U by Deb Strain for Moda. Aren't those owls just adorable?  I love the snail/turtle print too! :)

This little creation was born from my love of pinwheels.  Since I'm a new quilter & pinwheels have lots of corners that have to come together sharply, I thought I'd practice first with half square triangles.  They came together very quickly since all the fabric was pre-cut into 5" squares - very convenient! 
I purchased 2 charm packs & a panel to make an ABC book - this quilt & it's matching girl quilt were made from the leftovers.  I quilted this little guy with pebbles & I absolutely love how it looks!

Well Traveled Toddler

*WARNING:  Super long, verbose post, with lots of toddler photos*
I'm trying to get all caught up (so we can go through another blog post drought... lol.. just kidding)

I can't keep pants on this kid! LOL!  He loves wearing hats.  But pants?  Forget it...lol! 

Maybe he just likes showing off those cute cloth diapers ;)

Also, let me just say, God bless snaps!  He can't take his diaper off!  (& he's tried!)

In April, David & I took the opportunity to visit my family & friends in California.  It was right in the heat of tax season, so Jamin had the opportunity to work overtime AND get some uninterrupted sleep. ;)  He's such a hard-working man & I can't say enough just how grateful I am to be his wife.  He's so dedicated & loving & just wonderful.  I just want the world to know how awesome he is & how much I appreciate him.  xoxoxo

But this post isn't all about Jamin ;)  It's all about David... as usual!  LOL!

 David, on the way to the airport.. he was excited about going in an airplane (or maybe just seeing them)

 

David & I flew down on a Thursday & stayed with Debbie for 10 days.  Her parents came up from Southern California to visit for most of the time we were there, which was a lot of fun!  
There was a lot of visiting & enjoying the nice weather (mixed with the rain I brought from WA), cooking & laughing at David being his cute little self.

 David is 'roaring' with his tiger mask from the Elephant Bar restaurant (with Dad & Aaron)

I met up with my dad & brother a couple times & that was nice to visit & catch up.  Dad & Lisa gave David another stuffed animal & book.  It's the orange guy from Dr. Seuss' Foot Book.  I called Jamin that night & asked what we should call it... Marvin is now one of David's favorite stuffed animals.  ;)  All of David's stuffed animals (except one that my friend Ashley gave us when they visited us in the hospital when David was born) are either from my Dad or Jamin's Dad.  It's cute.  He likes to cuddle with them when he sleeps

David, another goober pic of myself & my brother, Aaron

I was fortunate to be able to visit many friends (love you guys!), but there never is enough time to do all the visiting I'd like, so I'll have to plan to visit more friends next time I go down ;) 

 We took 3 pictures & one of us has a goofy face in each one!

The last Friday we were there, Debbie & I ventured into Old Sacramento (can I just say I LOVE GPS?!  umm yeah) to visit the California State Railroad Museum.  What a HUGE hit!  When you walk in, there's a lot of displays with plaques talking about the timelessness of trains, etc. (we were there for a 2 year old.. we didn't read the plaques in detail)  The first display case we came across, David ran right up to it & exclaimed with great delight, "Trains! Trains!" 

Clearly, David was not there for the photo op

 

The main floor has several steam engines as well as other rail cars that you can walk through.  Every time you turn around there's another train... and David continuing to exclaim, "train! train!"  Upstairs, there were displays of miniature toy & collectible trains & a Thomas the Tank Engine play area.  We certainly had a lot of fun & I look forward to visiting the RR Museum on our next visit.  We didn't leave without first stopping at the gift shop & picking up a new Thomas book for David to enjoy on the ride home.  After we stopped for corn dogs, of course. ;)

 
That night, Debbie & Jim had a BBQ with a bunch of friends & neighbors.  We made fresh lemonade & enjoyed some yummy food.  David had a lot of fun with any guys he was around.  David especially loved playing with Elaine's (Debbie's longtime best friend) two boys (tween & teen). 

 He seriously ate at least 3 pieces of watermelon.. where is he putting it all?

 

Another fun thing about our trip is that I got Debbie & Jim set up with a web cam & a microphone so we can Skype!  We Skyped with Jamin just about every night.  And every time we Skyped with Jamin, David requested that Daddy read a book.. most of the time it was "Stinky Face, please" ... one of our favorite books is "I Love You, Stinky Face" ... if you haven't heard of it, you have to check it out... super cute & perfect for boys! ;)  We have yet to get on Skype again, just with busy schedules & all; but I really look forward to video chatting.  We enjoy phone calls, but it's so much better for Grandma & Grandpa to actually see David & he can see them as we talk.  Isn't technology wonderful?!  If you have Skype, let us know!  We'd love to do video chats with you!

The flight home was David's TENTH airplane ride!  Can you believe it!  I didn't take my first flight til I was almost a teenager!  He's a great traveler.  It's most likely the last time he flies for free, since airlines want you to pay for tickets as soon as little ones turn two.  We were fortunate & had pretty empty flights, so David had his car seat on the first flight.  However, after lugging his huge carseat, my purse, his diaper bag & David through the airport, I decided to nix the car seat on the plane & he sat on my lap (which is where he wanted to be anyway).  I expected him to nap on the flight home, but he was enthralled with looking out the window & telling me, "I fly on a airplane," as he saw the wing out our window.  He was happy to see Daddy & promptly fell asleep as soon as we were in the car... clutching Marvin, of course ;)

Play Date in March

Here are some pictures from when we met up with a bunch of friends @ Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver (March 19th)  I had more pictures of our other little friends, but I'm apparently a lousy photographer.  :(  I'll work on that.  It doesn't help that more than half of my photos are taken on my iphone.  hehe

This is Emery, my friend Mel's adorable daughter.  She just turned one last month.  

David & she had fun with these musical tubes.

This was the first time I got David to go down the slide on his own.  The spiral slide is fast, but he loved it!

 He kept asking to go on the swing & then once he was on & I pushed him gently, he would want off.  Then a minute later, he'd ask to go back on the swings again.  Maybe it's just a motion that takes time to get used to?  He loved his infant swing, so I dunno. 

Anyway, we had a bunch of fun & are looking forward to the next time we can meet up for a park play date!

Easter

Here are some photos from Easter Weekend.  [how stinkin' cute is he in that tie?!  He asks to wear a tie.. just like "Daddy's ties"]
Our friends, the Fishers, invited David & I (since Jamin had to work) for a little Easter brunch with their family & a couple other friends.  Natalie made a yummy french toast casserole (have I told you how much I LOVE french toast?  ask my husband... before David was born, we'd make lots of late night trips to Shari's just for french toast).  She also prepared a special Easter lesson for the kids before they did a little hunt for eggs.  The hunt was amusing as was the kids' discovery of not only raisins & cheerios, but some candy inside the eggs.  David caught on to that one really quickly.

We dyed eggs the next day, in-between conference sessions.  I really enjoyed having conference over Easter weekend.  This holiday really is about the Savior & what he did for us & being immersed in talks from our General Authorities really helped to keep the Spirit throughout the weekend. :)

Eww Yucky Gross, Mom

While David was napping, I started mixing up dough for sugar cookies for Easter.  This was a day or so after switching his bed up to a toddler bed, so when he woke up he heard me & scampered down the stairs.  Assuming his usual position as Assistant Baker, he was sitting on top of the counter.  Right when I set him there, he plunged his hand into the dry mixture bowl that contained flour, salt & baking soda (or powder, can't remember) & stuck it in his mouth.  He realized pretty quickly that this mixture didn't taste anything like the yummy baked goods he's helped me make in the past.  After he spat out the cloud of flour mixture, he exclaimed, "Eww yucky gross, Mom!" ... Yeah, dude!  I guess you won't be trying that one again anytime soon! lol!