:20 months:

wesley jack is 20 months today! my parents are in town this weekend and we have been having lots of fun playing with this little boy!




not sure who is having more fun at the park... :)



at 20 months old, wesley loves: airplanes, choo-choo's, giving knucks and high-fives, reading books, making forts, sweeping, learning people's names, singing nursery rhymes, babies, zebras, the moon, and saying NO!

we love you wes!

partly sunny

we have been enjoying some non-rainy days lately! what that means in portland is you must get outside every chance you get b/c you know the rain will be back. we met up with our friend elissa at one of our fave dog parks for a little fresh air. her dog, argus, is one of ruben's dearest dog-friends and they wasted no time getting muddy, sandy and wet. wes, of course, loved watching the dogs run like crazy!

ruben turns FIVE in a couple weeks, and in dog years that means he's now older than me. would it kill him to finally act his age and help out around the house? or pay some bills?!

elissa and i agreed that there are few things better than watching your dog run so happy and free, and this visit to sellwood was no exception!




...but watching wes explore was pretty cute too :)





we are hoping for good weather for ruby's bday so we can do a puppy playdate at the park, but in case the rain is back for his special day, this park visit will have to suffice as his early birthday party :)

happy birthday to the best (and quirkiest) dog around!

busy bees

(love the messy nap-hair... looks like he has a bowl-cut!)

my blog has been feeling neglected lately as we have been busy little bees these past few weeks. not sure why, but our calendars have been full, full, full and we have been playing hard and sleeping hard!

since last fall, i have been involved in a wonderful bible study at my church on tuesday mornings and wes gets to go to "church school", as we call it. it's really just play time for the kids while we do our study but it has been such a GREAT thing for both of us! i have also been taking a photography class through pcc and am really enjoying it. i have "homework" every week for both photography and bible study, so that is how i'm spending my free-time these days. both have been very rewarding so far.

wes got to spend the morning with our good friends britt and olivia the other day. britt took some pics of them playing in olivia's bed... these two are quite the pair and we are certain they have a mutual crush on eachother ;)


we have also enjoyed a few sunny days lately.... (GASP!) we all know i love rain and don't mind cloudy days, but oh how i love those sunny afternoons! we head to the park anytime the rain goes away. meeting friends for slides and swings is just the best way to spend an afternoon!


wes continues to talk talk talk. he is saying so many more words these days and repeating EVERYTHING. it's pretty amazing how he is fully pronouncing words that he couldn't say just a couple weeks ago. we are working on 'please' and 'thank you' and he says both very well. he is learning colors, numbers and more letters. i think my favorite part about being a mom so far is watching him learn. the look on his face when he learns something new is just adorable. what a smart little man he is!

fish coat

i have been looking for a bathrobe for wes so he can bomb around after a bath, all the while staying toasty and warm. he is not one for standing still... therefore he usually rips his towel off and runs around naked and dripping wet with goosebumps all over. my sister found this robe at costco and it was an immediate hit. first thing wes said when he saw it was "FISH." when i put the robe on him we both said "COAT."

and there you have it. a fish coat.



ps- he now calls "fish" fish instead of his first interpretation being "bosch". is it wierd that i'm sad when he discontinues one of his wes-isms and begins using the correct word?? furthermore, is it WRONG if i correct him by encouraging his initial version of the word? i mean, what's it gonna hurt if he is told his whole childhood that fish are "bosch". it's the CUTEST THING EVER.

the other most recent correction he's made on his own is the word "hold", which he can now say. it used to be "oh-wie, oh-wie". last week he said "hold" for the first time and i just paused, reminded myself that he does need to learn real words and said "that's right. hold." but what i wanted to say was "what? don't you mean 'oh-wie'"?

back in the saddle

happy 2010! what a fun new years we had... celebrating with good friends and enjoying really yummy food. we had a nice sloooow week with andy home more than half of the week (yay!). it was so nice to sleep in, read in bed with wes in the mornings, take walks with ruben and talk about what we want to accomplish in the new year.

i always love this time of year because i am a goal-setter and list-maker. i love to write myself a letter sometime in the first week of the year... all about the past year. the highs and lows. what i learned and what i want to do better in the coming year. it is so fun to read the letter on january 1 of the next year and see how the year has unfolded. reflection is good for the soul! :)

as of this week, we are really back in the saddle of "normal" life. andy is back at work and wes and i are busy with our day-to-day playdates, outings, errands and the like. we have some fun little trips to look forward to this winter and are staying busy while the rain falls outside for days upon days!

i was playing around with my camera the other day and shot some cute pics of wes. he got a "real" haircut this week... it is amazing how it transforms him into a real big boy. i love it but will be happy when his locks grow out a bit!








happy new year to all!

happy (belated) christmas from the o's

i have been meaning to post a merry christmas blog since last week and i'm just now getting to it! we were in spokane for 8 days and had a wonderful time. christmas with both families and then we threw ingrid a festive baby shower the day after christmas so the week was a non-stop party!

attempting all 8 eyes on the camera is not easy when half your family is either an animal or under the age of 2 :)


lots of walks up on the hill my parents live on... love this pic!


we all took turns taking wes out to the garage to sit on the tractor as he would not stop saying "tractor. TRACTOR. TRACTOR." alllll day!


rolling out sugar cookie dough with nana


cheers!



grady girls



we heart wes!


auntie ky-ky always there for a snuggle


yummy christmas app spread by my mother-in-law



we always look forward to the every-other-year-visit from aunt linda!!!



baby shower!
(homemade cookies to match the invites, courtesy of my mom-in-law!)






baby shower after-party



mmmmmm lemons...


lastly, in lieu of a christmas card this year, we elfed ourselves for your viewing pleasure... enjoy our impeccable choreography :)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

hope you all had a wonderful christmas with those you love!

love,
the o's

northbound

we took a road trip up north last weekend to visit the dentons and had such a great time. andy and i went to college in bellingham and we just LOVE that little town. we packed the weekend eating at all our fave places and hanging out. the weather was beautiful but soooo cold that we couldn't do much outside. here's a little photo documentary of our weekend...

first things first: must head to mallards for my favorite ice cream in the world. their mint oreo is seriously life-changing.



just like his mama, he has a healthy appetite for ice cream.


we spent some time in fairhaven getting coffee and looking at books at a cute little book shop.





watching our kids play together was SO fun. this is the first time we've hung out with riley that wes could keep up with her (for the most part!)... i loved watching them play and laugh... eat meals together, etc.


riley was so sweet to wes... it's no wonder why wes has been yelling out "RI-YEEEE" over and over since we came home :) then he resorts to asking to see pics of riley... that is when i show him this pic, and he starts laughing and imitating riley's pose and then saying "ri-yeee" some more... adorable!


lots of affection... does this girl need a baby sibling or what?!? ;)



with the freezing temps, we opted for the jumpy place (can't remember the name... but you know, one of those germ-infested bouncy castle places that you vow to never enter... until you have a toddler, and then you take it back and love it!!)


wes loved this slide... he went down alone and with me and would then say "MO! MO!"


home for a coed bath...



we braved the wind on sunday morning before driving home... wes was so cozy he slept for most of our walk :)


on our drive home, we got to briefly see our friends, the alfords and their twin boys van and pk. it was a very quick 45-minute visit, but still so fun to see them! we snapped a quick couple pics... one of me holding the twins (remember them from this pic back when they were 4 weeks old?! my how they have grown!), and one of the 3 boys sitting up together. won't be long till VPK are running around with the wez!


sorry for the picture overload... there was just too much cuteness going on so i had to post lots more than usual ;) hope you are all enjoying the holidays so far!

love, eo