tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-113691012024-03-14T02:18:02.299-07:00The Road Less TraveledThe Journey In Summary:
Countries Visited: 16; Modes of Transport: plane, bus, motorcycle, train, boat (big and small, motorized and not), bicycle, minibus (dala dala, matola), becak, tuk-tuk, cyclo, feet, zip line, Land Rover, mokoro, Explorer;
Currencies Used: dollar, rupiah, ringet, baht, dong, riel, kip, shilling, kwacha, metacais, rand, pula, peso;
Breakdowns/repairs: 8: Pairs of Shoes Stolen: 4!
And now...a boring diatribe of our daily lives.E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-56738679892055825862012-06-04T23:20:00.002-07:002012-06-07T11:04:53.087-07:00Unintended Vacation<br />
Almost halfway through 2012 and I have spent most of it off work. I just started back a couple weeks ago and while some of the folks who I don't see on a daily basis, said with genuine concern, "Where have you been?", others seemed to have not noticed or after asking how long I was gone, and I responded with "three months" they promptly look down at my stomach. No, I didn't have another baby - did I really look 9 months pregnant last time you saw me???<br />
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Towards the end of last year, I developed some butt pain. Quite literally. Thought it was a muscle, it didn't respond to any of the stretching, yoga etc that I tried and just got worse until one day it felt like a jolt of electricity running down my leg. Hello sciatica. Off to physical therapy. 2 months of that and after some slight improvement, things got much worse. Way more intense nerve pain (which can only be described as hell - you can't sit, you can't lay down, you can't sleep) and then my foot and leg suddenly started going numb and my reflex was gone and my muscles in my leg felt like I had run a marathon, when all I had done was get out of bed. Off to MRI. Herniated disc. Off work because I can't fulfill my job description of being able to lift 35 pounds. Off to surgery.<br />
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The anticipation of surgery was way worse than the actual day, and immediate recovery is actually pretty quick. You are up walking and home the same day. It was a great success as my nerve pain was pretty much gone over night. Surgical pain is nothing - I was happy to have that kind of pain. Because backs are touchy and discs are slow to heal, I took my maximum time allowed for FMLA to minimize risk of reherniation. And here I am feeling pretty good and back at the grind. There is plenty of soreness and weird daily aches and pains and I have to be very diligent with PT and careful with how I do everything, but it is so much better than before.<br />
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So that has been all consuming. My mom has practically lived here since the surgery helping with Cam (no lifting allowed in the beginning and definitely not a 40 pound child) and generally taking care of the house, the chickens and the garden. She has been a lifesaver.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom getting a garden going for us.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and my boy</td></tr>
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One week before my surgery, we thought it would be a good idea to get a new influx of chicks as the current flock is slowing getting picked off and they are an aged 2 and will quickly lose productivity. So Jenn and I came home with a mere 33 chicks. So tiny and and they hardly take up any space at that age! Maybe not the best timing with my back, but with Jenn doing nearly everything and after only losing 3 early on, they are thriving and taking up way more space. Challenges this time around included keeping them alive when we had the freak snowstorm and extended power outage (chicks need heat!), keeping them separate from the big chickens, fencing in an outdoor area for them while still keeping them segregated, and keeping their side of the coop clean.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teaching them to how to drink. See? 30 doesn't look like that many!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Month old chicks...getting crowded!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Checking out the great outdoors. About 5 weeks here.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About 8 weeks old. In their expanded outdoor area.</td></tr>
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As of two days ago, we finally integrated them with the six mature birds. It was pretty seemless as they have had lots of time to check each other out through the green fencing. A bit of posse-like behavior from the older ones - they stick together and exert their age and might over the young ones, quite literally establishing the pecking order. It has been really interesting to see the big ones do their normal wandering throughout the day to all their usual places (aka EVERYWHERE), while all 30 of the young ones stay quite close to the coop and are not venturing all that far. I thought for sure they would follow the old ones right to my back deck. My fingers are crossed. See that largish white one alongside the coop? Yep. Confirmed. Rooster.<br />
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Other summary in photos....<br />
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We hosted my work holiday party this year. A great excuse to clean
the house - who knew it could look that clean? Also, isn't it weird
how the unpainted texture shows up in photos? We will paint in
here....someday. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christmastime!</td></tr>
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Christmas eve we went to Florence for a little canoe-crabbing. After a slow start, we ended up with a quite successful day, hauling in 9.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watching waves. Look how Melody is doing all the work!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keith and Dwayne out on the water.</td></tr>
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New Years was spent on the coast with our lovely friends. The light in this photo is not particularly good, but I love the conspiring look on their faces.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"3,2,1 Drop!" Yelled over and over and over....</td></tr>
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Later in January, the Bauer family met up in St George, UT for a late holiday gathering. Two days of bad weather, then it was glorious. Cam loved all the hiking.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some serious Diego watching. The beer helps.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of several trips to Snow Canyon. How do we get him out?</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovely day hike north of town.</td></tr>
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Camden update....He is doing great at daycare and developing friends that he spends most of his time with. He has stopped napping (as of January) for us at home, but will still nap at daycare. He needs one about every third day and if it's not a daycare day, he sometimes will end up falling asleep at the end of a meltdown at 4:00 PM. He has officially started to read. Small words, but does all the sounding out and loves figuring out new words. Everywhere we go, he asks, "what does that say?' 'What are those big words?" I love it. His keen sense of observation and caution has not abated. We've had two attempts at going to the dentist and while he talks a good game about sitting in the chair and opening his mouth, this action has yet to materialize. And his two favorite activities remain playing with cars and riding his bike.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pondering puddles.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdx0isLCxwy4_CjoAUAnUG_0tIPhw-bn55wjgc859oYUonKxY1gwjnKfywPW_sn9KSNdAl_WW3Xv3w2J8jVkAwlcmxRAdzRk1mPq8tK82_nAUGCog9lb0t_DftllnbGLgVb62/s1600/IMG_0004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitdx0isLCxwy4_CjoAUAnUG_0tIPhw-bn55wjgc859oYUonKxY1gwjnKfywPW_sn9KSNdAl_WW3Xv3w2J8jVkAwlcmxRAdzRk1mPq8tK82_nAUGCog9lb0t_DftllnbGLgVb62/s400/IMG_0004.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Easter! He loved the search this year.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNc_9eXZxZfX3EtciIo2bIwrkA4gt-H8K60hoWnfWbKUQZlF2K34cNJfuXUMiQJutdezjfcrcLSqSwOxUMG7TgGGgz-EchHSWaPoIOHufwP2hO9Hrmpu2h5HxL1Y6Vjc6802T/s1600/IMG_0069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNc_9eXZxZfX3EtciIo2bIwrkA4gt-H8K60hoWnfWbKUQZlF2K34cNJfuXUMiQJutdezjfcrcLSqSwOxUMG7TgGGgz-EchHSWaPoIOHufwP2hO9Hrmpu2h5HxL1Y6Vjc6802T/s400/IMG_0069.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At a train show. He LOVES railroad crossings.</td></tr>
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In early May, before I had to head back to work, Cam and I stayed in Gig Harbor for a few days to hang out. I had a wonderful night out with my old elementary school cronies, a fun visit to the zoo with Amy and family and a ferry ride for Cam, of which the most exciting part was watching the cars drive on and off. Go figure.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi91BWsVvFgXoLjOt5bQHRr9PTSgQk4EYsdHpQpjfIvw_oDi78GwFK0Nfj1MRdE0qDI8k4b6RX1mI-yHIn2fseM73trTKPCnGb8jEPxh9m2Jqlw4j1GWkXVIPRaLCxm9yZQ-IzG/s1600/IMG_0120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi91BWsVvFgXoLjOt5bQHRr9PTSgQk4EYsdHpQpjfIvw_oDi78GwFK0Nfj1MRdE0qDI8k4b6RX1mI-yHIn2fseM73trTKPCnGb8jEPxh9m2Jqlw4j1GWkXVIPRaLCxm9yZQ-IzG/s400/IMG_0120.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At a Pt Defiance beach after the zoo.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJpxpTIkaWLL9WEO6zIxgfCX5LyIIgtF7aOtqWmlzivLkCF5vx_mOREA9Lt7VT4e2uz63uHoX3EeifXRvD9e5jRfbiy3tn1VwCY1CFKHv7d9eAsdaZdH8OFgIRpISmiq5V-KS/s1600/IMG_0146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJpxpTIkaWLL9WEO6zIxgfCX5LyIIgtF7aOtqWmlzivLkCF5vx_mOREA9Lt7VT4e2uz63uHoX3EeifXRvD9e5jRfbiy3tn1VwCY1CFKHv7d9eAsdaZdH8OFgIRpISmiq5V-KS/s400/IMG_0146.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Come on Grandpa! We're almost to the easy part!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVf4zNylBYehYO6s7w6YUCfO58ms6nnBXvnl_l3dkUzgayH66w8GZDordppXzNRFIDcCF28jML7iMbQG8-zlVn_Sm3rSzNU0j4Q_899ANqBaLrYVA3ZgWPo5PYkL0QV1XAEiC1/s1600/IMG_0163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVf4zNylBYehYO6s7w6YUCfO58ms6nnBXvnl_l3dkUzgayH66w8GZDordppXzNRFIDcCF28jML7iMbQG8-zlVn_Sm3rSzNU0j4Q_899ANqBaLrYVA3ZgWPo5PYkL0QV1XAEiC1/s400/IMG_0163.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another great train ride. </td></tr>
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We've been chipping away at progress on our house. We have a garden up and running. We'll see what actually comes up, but we've got a lot planted. We have been using an independent contractor who comes in and does a bit of work a couple days a week. The "platform room" is making some nice headway with new flooring and new paint. And the laundry room is getting a toilet framed in and some new flooring as well (thanks Dad!).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd2ah4D5kHi4bzrJKDFsgWZMnFyFY0nMnOc0eEGNIAjg6y8zRHbAE8OVjdGtnpko4StA1izZ-k0Ue29tDvGh9SndAbcdouyjgwwxLl4Vf1J45l3iVGo0O80aj8-Ih_HxCtx80y/s1600/IMG_0164.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd2ah4D5kHi4bzrJKDFsgWZMnFyFY0nMnOc0eEGNIAjg6y8zRHbAE8OVjdGtnpko4StA1izZ-k0Ue29tDvGh9SndAbcdouyjgwwxLl4Vf1J45l3iVGo0O80aj8-Ih_HxCtx80y/s400/IMG_0164.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New colors!</td></tr>
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We didn't quite get the ring of fire for the solar eclipse, but we got a nice show regardless.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1uHTnOV0qd61e_YZumfbHxvFGXFB5rLFOstUt2BrTrZ39icDbmSYqcQ2wU1ORUgik70Bpk2B-tMWr9ncvmeZNygD9nRpxhRC6gS0kSfYV0OivAbKtkGUpEXO0CQZHXFLek_n/s1600/IMG_0179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1uHTnOV0qd61e_YZumfbHxvFGXFB5rLFOstUt2BrTrZ39icDbmSYqcQ2wU1ORUgik70Bpk2B-tMWr9ncvmeZNygD9nRpxhRC6gS0kSfYV0OivAbKtkGUpEXO0CQZHXFLek_n/s400/IMG_0179.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cloud came at just the right time.</td></tr>
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And finally, we leave you with a video. Cam is not the most aggressive boy when it comes to physical activity. When he hit three, he learned to fear things, so he approaches any new physical activity with caution. I am OK with this, and you can imagine my surprise, when I witnessed what he's been doing at Grandma's....<br />
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<br />E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-54085275610070120172011-10-15T14:44:00.000-07:002011-12-06T23:33:28.822-08:00Year in ReviewI always threaten to abandon this blog as I can't seem to do it on a regular basis, then someone tells me, "I keep checking your blog....". Oh, all right........<br />
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I see we left you off with the sleep woes of our child. I would love to say they have all resolved. But alas, no. Shortly after that blog, we did embark in some serious sleep training that involved slowly moving further away from the bed each night until the one putting him to bed was eventually sitting out in the hall while he fell asleep. It was painful, but it worked. There were some long sessions sitting on that floor, but he eventually got the idea and we had to forbid anyone from falling asleep with him ever again, lest he fall back into that habit. So that part was fixed, but the middle of the night wake-ups crying for mama or just showing up at the side of my bed, sadly have not gone away like one book promised me, ("once you get the putting self to sleep issue solved, the midnight wake-ups will stop". Ha!). We had some nice stretches, and there are days he will sleep straight on through to 7, but I would say about 2/3 of the time I am either crashed in his bed or he is in ours by 5:00AM. And sometimes I sleep just fine and others, not so much. Such is life. I don't have the energy to be very strict about it, and would rather just sleep no matter where it is or who it is with. And besides, I do love cuddling with him!<br />
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Keith is almost a year into his new job. He does like it and it is a nice fit for him, but the hours for him are relentless. 11 hour days minimum, 5 days a week. Poor thing is tired all the time and has little energy for much else. So needless to say, not much progress is being made on our house. Although we have made some headway. The crawlspace is now insulated and we had some ductless heat pumps installed, so we are hoping for a warmer winter (or at least one where we burn a bit less wood). Lately, we've made a push outside. Keith got a hold of some (a whole bunch) of old telephone poles and created this fence
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6206217077/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="New Fence by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="New Fence" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6013/6206217077_e3d856c459.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
and used some as corner posts for a garden fence. We rented a backhoe and did some leveling of ground and moving of stuff. We planted some grass seed in the front and are starting to work some of the dirt in hopes of having a garden come spring. Most of this is done via a rented piece of equipment or lots of wheelbarrow loads. As Keith says, "We need a tractor".<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6206777432/" title="Grass next year, we hope by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Grass next year, we hope" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6176/6206777432_df3076e7ae.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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Not too bad so far... <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6374786905/" title="Grass is growing! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Grass is growing!" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6114/6374786905_f61b2043b2.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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And now.....a summary of the rest of the year (remember, no one is forcing you to read this!).<br />
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<u><b>March:</b></u> Spent a lot of time and effort getting Cam a haircut. At this point it would only be his second. The first one was easy - he let me do it while watching TV, and it came out all right. When I attempted the second, he went into hysterics and would not sit still - no level of bribery would work, and with me wielding sharp scissors, I didn't risk it. I think I got two cuts in and he wouldn't have any more. So we had a couple visits to my hairdresser that were fruitless, one visit that was followed by a trip to a park where someone mistook him for a girl! Talk about rubbing it in! We ended up going to a barber with his friend Max (who sat so quietly and politely by himself in the barber chair), where Cam sat still on my lap but was not happy about it. The sucker afterwards almost made up for it.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5594010021/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="During Haircut by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="During Haircut" height="500" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5178/5594010021_d6edf1fb5a.jpg" width="375" /></a></div>
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Since then, we had one more forced session where he cried in Gramma's arms the whole time and then miraculously, last week he let me do it all by myself in our living room, not crying once. You just never know what you're going to get with these kids.<br />
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<u><b>April:</b></u> Cam and I took a trip up to Washington to visit Gramma and Grandpa. We took the train both ways which proved to be a great way to travel with a toddler. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5722368437/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="We made it! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="We made it!" height="500" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5082/5722368437_f0ae27db0a.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arriving in Tacoma</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5722368447/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Milk on Train by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Milk on Train" height="375" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5207/5722368447_cdd75f715c.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Milk on the train.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5722413431/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Silly boys by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Silly boys" height="480" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5044/5722413431_55a5ebeff1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fun with friends in GH</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5722368485/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Nice Follow thru! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Nice Follow thru!" height="375" src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5269/5722368485_d793ced063.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Throwing rocks in Puget Sound</td></tr>
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Keith met us in Portland on the way back and we took Cam to the zoo for the first time. He liked it indeed, but didn't go as crazy for the animals as we thought he would. Cam has been doing little soccer classes (if you can really call it soccer) that he enjoys for the most part. There are days he participates like a champ and days he wants no part of it. When he realizes anyone is watching him is usually when he will stop participating and just want to watch. He continues to be shy and really doesn't talk to anyone except for those most familiar to him. And any new situation, he will want to be carried or demand a hug, "I need a hug mama.". Cute at times, frustrating at times.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6106386519/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Soccer Team Photo by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Soccer Team Photo" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6069/6106386519_4bace07fa5.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look how happy he is to be in a team photo!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6374709477/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Nice Kick! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Nice Kick!" height="500" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6095/6374709477_aa67223805.jpg" width="333" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes he has actual soccer skills...</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6106256179/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Stretching? by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Stretching?" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6062/6106256179_8e7ac73f2e.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sometimes he has other skills....pilates during soccer? Sure, why not?</td></tr>
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Somewhere in here I agreed like a fool to run a half marathon with my old college friends, so I lamely began training. My training never consisted of more than a long run on Sunday and a short run (no more than 3 miles) on a weekday if I had someone here to watch Cam.<br />
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<u><b>May:</b></u> Not much notable this month, except this cute little guy, Giacomo Giustina, Bea's brother was born!!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXroF9sQvGQFKfyHfnqMFwqEzQHjUIQe59BEeAgdTLCJs_ryoxCEUumD-4E1Y_5i3MEUAMKhSH9q73I0BpMHR9AY02OudlEQI-XOBTlJ9_jA8LXtDWE9FUsv3pRg9X_MCK_wub/s1600/IMG_0641.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXroF9sQvGQFKfyHfnqMFwqEzQHjUIQe59BEeAgdTLCJs_ryoxCEUumD-4E1Y_5i3MEUAMKhSH9q73I0BpMHR9AY02OudlEQI-XOBTlJ9_jA8LXtDWE9FUsv3pRg9X_MCK_wub/s320/IMG_0641.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Borrowed photo - he's about 2 months in this pic.</td></tr>
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<u><b>June:</b></u> Somewhat successfully ran the Seattle Rock n Roll half marathon. I had been having nice long training runs with the longest being 10 miles. Not running fast, but not stopping, which equates to success for me. So I felt moderately prepared. The night before we had a lovely time reuniting with all our friends, but unfortunately that night I was hit with one of my worst episodes of insomnia since nursing school. I'm not sure if I actually got any real sleep. Regardless, I felt reasonably good and we were off to a successful start. Our group of 8 quickly dispersed, with all of us running at our own pace and within the first mile I was running on my own. Things were great until about mile 3, I started to have some knee pain. I had been having trouble with my knee, but it never really hurt until after my runs, so my plan was to ignore it all and rest it up after all this nonsense was done. So now of course it starts to hurt while running on the day you least want it to happen! I forged ahead, trying to ignore it, and frequently adjusting my knee straps in vain. By mile 8 or 9, I was having shooting pains all the way up my leg and into my hip and even felt a little unstable on the leg (like my leg might buckle), and with a great frustrated sigh, started to walk. I was most pissed off because my lungs felt great and I just hated walking, knowing I could have easily ran the whole thing. So I alternated running and walking, until I hit downtown Seattle where I just couldn't stand to walk in front of all those people. So I just ran as fast as I could for the last mile and after crossing the finish line, could barely bear weight on that leg at all. But I did it, and would even be willing to do it again, if I could find a solution to the knee thing. My time was officially 2:27:14. It took several weeks and a new knee brace, but I can say now that my leg is back to baseline.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6gUjwtBKJ-mtiSvvQ-FbzUEvOzov35lm5AqCaxCX5_UwCHI_RsrigxXSbzms7_LzD7qXNvZIs7DZ9wioEXscCLdgtrf3QhNcJrfCvEQfrSQF_SxG7wcfku3jfub58sDmUvE-Y/s1600/261840_10150221560682102_607797101_7586531_7924183_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6gUjwtBKJ-mtiSvvQ-FbzUEvOzov35lm5AqCaxCX5_UwCHI_RsrigxXSbzms7_LzD7qXNvZIs7DZ9wioEXscCLdgtrf3QhNcJrfCvEQfrSQF_SxG7wcfku3jfub58sDmUvE-Y/s320/261840_10150221560682102_607797101_7586531_7924183_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The gang at the end. We all did it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<u><b>July:</b></u> Summer ticking along. I think this is the month the sun finally came out. It was a long, wet, and cool spring that about drove us all to the brink. Still no trips for us, a pretty homebound summer with limited vacation for Keith.<br />
<br />
We did get our usual 4th of July camping trip at Smith River. The weather cooperated and Cam truly enjoyed hanging around the campfire, sleeping in a tent and running around with his cousins.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6010448219/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Spacey by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Spacey" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6150/6010448219_78a65f22ae.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the end of the day, sitting around the fire.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6010450293/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="A big furry friend by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="A big furry friend" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6130/6010450293_997766e838.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camden and the Newfie - he did this all on his own - not a forced shot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6010999814/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Cousin Ashley by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Cousin Ashley" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6147/6010999814_1a05ea7388.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We love Ashley!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Decided to try a crash course in potty training on a random weekend in late July. Mom came down to help. Up to this point we have had a potty out for him and we were constantly reading potty books which he was very interested in and he always would wake up dry in the morning. So I figured he was ready, but there was one small obstacle: he would not actually sit on the potty - with or without clothes. So we tried a weekend where we just kept him naked or in underwear, hoping he would then want to sit down and go instead of get all wet. I can't say it was a success. The only way to get any pee in the potty was if we caught him starting to pee and raced over with the potty and put it under him. He would be kind of excited, but would never initiate it and bring himself to it. And he would hold it forever. One morning he woke up dry and didn't pee until 11:00 AM! One time, I gave up waiting and we headed outside. As he stood at the door waiting to go out, he says to me, "but it's OK to pee in the water". I said, yes that's fine, but I'd rather you do it in the grass. He marches out ahead of me, steps into his pool and pees. So clearly he can control it, but for whatever reason will not do it on his potty. When it came time that he obviously had to poo, he became very upset and distressed, so we called it all quits and put the diapers back on.<br />
<br />
A couple weeks later at daycare, they asked me how potty training was going and how they'd like to see some progress so he can move up to the preschool class He laid there quietly and surely listened to me explain my woes. That day he sat for them on the toilet. And that day at home he sat on his own potty. So, I got out the M and M's and bribed away. He would get an M and M just for sitting on the darn thing. One time, he said to me, "I want an M and....I want to sit on my potty". These kids know way too much!<br />
<br />
So we carried on with potty time, but no real results. Then one day, early in September, after having potty time in the morning, I left him naked and left the room. Next thing I know, he comes around the corner, and says in a quiet voice, "I did it mama. I peed in my potty." And sure enough he did. Just like that. And it went very quickly from there and we haven't really used a diaper since. He was rewarded with 3 M and M's for pee and 5 for poo initially, until I realized he was getting a shitload of M and M's each day. I was able to talk him down to 2 and 3 without any trouble. And when they were gone, they were gone, and he was OK with that too.<br />
<br />
The funny thing about Cam and his potty is that he is very private. He has always instructed me to leave the room while he is going (but I have to come back and look at it), so pottying at daycare has been a slower process. They have to go in groups there, so we are still struggling with accidents while there, but he seems to take in all in stride as well and does not get upset by it. The next challenge will be to get him to go in a public restroom - he is deathly afraid of those things.<br />
<br />
<u><b>August:</b></u><b> </b> A busy month. I went on my annual girls' hike early in the month. It was another lovely hike. This year we stayed up north and did a hike to Marmot Pass on the Olympic Peninsula. As usual, fantastic views and even better company. And some sore calves for the next three days!!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6374673963/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Camp in the morning by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Camp in the morning" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6214/6374673963_de54f5ee0f.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breaking camp in the morning</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6374668777/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Cloudy night. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Cloudy night." height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6112/6374668777_45b9e4ea1f.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marmot Pass in the fog</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6374667133/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Scramble up the nearby peak. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Scramble up the nearby peak." height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6107/6374667133_f9aa4b1c4c.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morning scramble</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6374665019/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="The Olympics by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="The Olympics" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6044/6374665019_201a163a11.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Olympics from the very top</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6374658955/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Flower by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Flower" height="500" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6034/6374658955_8ac01c8062.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of pretty wildflowers</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Keith, Cam and I got away for one weekend at the coast,<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6110090198/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Whee! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Whee!" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6191/6110090198_89857640df.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing with sand</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6109549991/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Us by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Us" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6207/6109549991_f1b6a829c4.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All pics are of Cam, so here is one of us!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6110107180/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Look! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Look!" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6070/6110107180_2a4f5ed6b0.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking at the sea stars</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6110117322/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Name by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Name" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6188/6110117322_cf57a3561b.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Writing in the sand</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6110122570/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="More walking by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="More walking" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6190/6110122570_81d411691d.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach walk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
....and a week of camping with my family in Eastern Oregon at Magone Lake
in the Strawberry Mountains. It as a nice, relaxed week of good weather
and good company. We had a lovely campsite overlooking the water,
which was a perfect swimming lake. We got away for an overnight hike
without the kid and walked up to the top of Strawberry Mountain. The
only snafu we had was what was the first of many breakdowns/problems in
my "new" Subaru. The clutch went out at the trailhead for our hike.
Between Keith, my dad and my brothers we were able to limp it back to
the campsite. There the problem was pretty confidently diagnosed, but
no parts or mechanics to be found, so the day we left, we bombed home
for 6 hours - only stopped once and Keith probably only used the clutch 5
or 6 times. I had no idea you could drive/shift a car that well
without pushing in the clutch. We made it home and Keith finished the
repairs.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6206592736/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Cars by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Cars" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6125/6206592736_a95d5caab0.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our campsite on the way over. Where would we be without the hot wheels?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6206080609/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Coffee and eggs over the fire by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Coffee and eggs over the fire" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6159/6206080609_8b0eefdf92.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast at camp - not a bad site, and a great swimming lake.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6206601154/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Cards by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Cards" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6161/6206601154_ceec1285be.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Card tricks with Uncle Carl</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6206096241/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Goofy by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Goofy" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6156/6206096241_5691d7ffe8.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Goofy family photo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6206613414/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Morning in the camper by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Morning in the camper" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6162/6206613414_4fd0af77f5.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sleepover in Gramma and Papa's camper</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6206144437/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Hiking by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Hiking" height="500" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6162/6206144437_ea2b3d4ac9.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6206671210/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="The clan at the top by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="The clan at the top" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6030/6206671210_13028a1c40.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top of Strawberry Mountain - 9,038 ft</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6206676420/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Pretty valley by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Pretty valley" height="500" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6141/6206676420_da4093456c.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty valley along the trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The other problems with my car? Too many and too complicated to list. It was one thing after another after the check engine light came on and about $2,000 and a lot of cursing later I think I'm finally done with repairs for a while (knock on wood).<br />
<br />
Oh, and we got a cat. Well, she found us. We had been thinking about getting a cat and one day, here is this gorgeous Siamese on my back deck. I gave her some food and she kept showing up and made her way further and further into our house and lives. Eventually, I put an email out to the neighborhood to see if anyone had lost her, and sure enough, she belonged to a neighbor down the road. She tried to take her back home, but Bobbie (as named by Camden), came right back. So, by mutual agreement, she is ours now, but free to go back anytime she chooses. Cam loves having her, but isn't always that nice to her. And Bobbie isn't that young, so she only puts up with so much - just a couple surface scratches so far and lots of hissing.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="New Cat" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6165/6206776320_85ebc4f523.jpg" width="500" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I have a cat mama!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<u><b>September:</b></u> Nothing notable here - this was the month the potty stuff really started to happen, so I think we laid low and it was also when we did most of our outdoor work as we needed to get it all done before the major rains started. As I remember, September was actually a lovely and hot month - well deserved after our spring (or lack thereof).<br />
<br />
<u><b>October:</b></u> We talked about Halloween a lot and Cam was initially very excited to be a Rainbow fish, then a ladybug, then a tree. We settled on a tree and I even sewed him a little shirt with leaves all over it. When I showed it to him, he said, "Wow Mama!". But he wanted nothing doing with putting it on. I wasn't completely surprised, just hopeful. Not even the promise of strangers dumping candy in a bag for him was enough to get a costume on my boy. So instead of trick or treating, we went swimming. We had the pool to ourselves and he had the best time ever.<br />
<br />
<u><b>November:</b></u> Camden turns 3! He was in denial and wanting to push it off ("No....I'm still 2! I thought I was still two! For 5 more minutes!"). As most of you know, Cam is a quiet type. Not one to strike up conversations with other kids at the playground, not one to even say hi to someone really for the first 5 minutes you are with him, and if Happy Birthday is about to be sung or is being sung, it is hide-behind-mama-cover-your-ears time. So when I asked Cam if he wanted to have a birthday party, he got a very worried look on his face and said "Noooooo!" I thought about tricking him into one and having it at a gymnastics place or pizza place because what kid doesn't want a party? But then I thought, my kid doesn't want a party. And that is OK. Why in the world should I force it on him, when it is HIS birthday? So we didn't have a real party. Just dinner and cake with family and a few presents scattered throughout the day. And the Happy Birthday song was forbidden. He loved it and now proudly says, "I'm three now mama!".<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6423209987/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Fire truck cake by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Fire truck cake" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6423209987_f29e02bb95.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fire truck cake was a hit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6423205015/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Cousin Brandon by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Cousin Brandon" height="443" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7149/6423205015_450a2a282f.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cousin Brandon - he really takes to the older cousins.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As I always say, he continues to fill us with wonder. His strong points are still his vocabulary and his letters/numbers. We are pretty sure he can read a couple words. For sure he can read his name, also stop, boo and moo. I caught him once sounding out the word dad on his pajamas. He also loves to say what sounds the letters make. He will randomly tell me, "W says wuh like for watermelon". It blows me away every time. He likes to make words that rhyme. A lot of times he just makes up words, but he picks a lot of real words too. He says complicated things like, "I changed my mind. I will do that later. I didn't mean to do that. First we will....then we will....., OK??". Every sentence out of his mouth is long and filled with so many descriptive words. And the memory on that child is frightening. If I miss a word in a book, he calls me out on it, or if I miss a small part of the story I am telling him (we repeat a lot of the same stories), he freaks out until I correct myself. And then we laugh at how silly I was for getting it wrong. And on and on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6374763381/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Cam by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Cam" height="333" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6108/6374763381_dbe765814b.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy boy</td></tr>
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<br />
He remains timid on bikes, and anything physical that is new to him. Like jumping into the foam pit at gymnastics. He won't jump off the big boat yet, and I asked him about it today and he said, "I will jump off the boat when I am 16." Well. OK then. Socially, with other kids he is getting better. There is nothing cuter than watching him converse with his playmates. The conversations are short, but man they are cute.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6374784171/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Fingerpaint with Max by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Fingerpaint with Max" height="330" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6219/6374784171_c2bd301156.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Max, one of his best buddies</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6374792645/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Artwork with Bea by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Artwork with Bea" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6102/6374792645_e9b905dcc3.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And Bea, his other best buddy.</td></tr>
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<br />
Hot wheels remain the toy of choice. After a long day away at daycare, he will immediately walk in the door and sit down with his pile of cars and park them for about 30 minutes easy. It is his way of recharging and calming down. Unfortunately, a lot of the day I hear, "Mama, come play cars with me. Play cars with me! I thought you would play cars with me!!". I can't tell you how many times I have parked a Hot Wheel. He is recently becoming interested in playing games and doing puzzles, which is still very parent-intensive, but a nice change from the cars. <br />
<br />
I shipped him off to Gig Harbor on the train with his Gramma Neena earlier this month. We met her in Portland and the two of them rode the rest of the way north together on the train. He was gone for four full days - the longest he has been away from us yet. He did great and had a blast and barely even asked for us. The quiet here was surreal, but a well needed break for us too.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6374796273/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Grandma! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Grandma!" height="375" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6113/6374796273_da1f0a5f72.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Killing time in Portland.</td></tr>
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<br />
And finally, as I write this, I can say that we have successfully hosted our first Thanksgiving. We normally descend on Keith's parents house in Coos Bay, but this year, it was decided to do it here. That means no beach walks, cliff walks or dune walks, which I did miss, but it was less stress on Keith's parents and less driving for the cousins. Our house did well to fit everyone, and all seemed to enjoy themselves. Lots of eating, game playing and lounging as usual. It was a real challenge for Camden as he had to share his space and toys for four solid days with three other kids. Not an easy task for him and he had his moments, but overall, I am very proud of him and I think he really bonded with his cousins.<br />
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We got almost everyone out on at least one outing up the Butte. We had glorious weather and the kids made it all the way to the top on their own accord. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6429322431/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Hiking up the Butte by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Hiking up the Butte" height="500" src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6223/6429322431_7807e26472.jpg" width="375" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cousins hiking - Cam insisted on taking this backpack.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6429310453/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Snacks at the top by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Snacks at the top" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7158/6429310453_71ef5ce92a.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camden and Ashley "my favorite cousin" on top of the Butte</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6429305677/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Us by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Us" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7009/6429305677_5c6a1c1f97.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our little family</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6429324913/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="View from Spencer Butte by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="View from Spencer Butte" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7027/6429324913_4e29e12397.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This Sisters from the top of Spencer Butte</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/6429318919/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Pausing for a picture by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img alt="Pausing for a picture" height="375" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7171/6429318919_0db1066e40.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So proud of everyone for making it up - lots of fake hips in this crowd!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Happy holidays everyone. Hope you have a great one!E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-49219930569018943172011-02-27T15:06:00.000-08:002011-02-28T16:48:04.691-08:00Holidays, Sleep and a New YearThe holidays whizzed by and here we are rushing in towards spring already (never mind the four inches of snow we just had).<br /><br />Thanksgiving was the usual motley crew down in Coos Bay. Lots of cousins and kids and dogs. The weather did it's usual windy and rainy thing, but also gave us plenty of breaks for all the usual outings. No crabbing in a one-oared dingy in driving rains or scrambling for muscles down cliffs at low tide in the dark, but we had some nice beach walks, cliff walks, dune walks and took Cam to the Christmas light display which he loved.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5240463132/" title="Little Kid, Big Dog by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5162/5240463132_48ea7311c9.jpg" alt="Little Kid, Big Dog" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5240447280/" title="Cold but happy by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5086/5240447280_cb64572726.jpg" alt="Cold but happy" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5239826641/" title="Stump by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5125/5239826641_4cd8669647.jpg" alt="Stump" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5240463120/" title="Dune Walking by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5240463120_0fb33c9290.jpg" alt="Dune Walking" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Christmas was spent up in Gig Harbor. We spent a good, long week there, and Cam got some nice bonding time with both uncles on the Bauer side. The time up there was relaxing, with a little bit of everything. Eating, biking, walking, movie watching and Keith and I got away for a whole day and did an amazing snow shoe walk up on Mt Rainier.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5382048948/" title="Playing with cat by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5007/5382048948_3bc7fcbb6e.jpg" alt="Playing with cat" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5382048924/" title="Walking with uncles by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5004/5382048924_b1cd09b72d.jpg" alt="Walking with uncles" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5381927742/" title="Hauling wood by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5381927742_c0b63dce26.jpg" alt="Hauling wood" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5382069756/" title="Planning by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/5382069756_cbf09c86e1.jpg" alt="Planning" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Like Uncles, Like Nephew<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5382048936/" title="Electronics by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5244/5382048936_58dae8bf4c.jpg" alt="Electronics" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5382979814/" title="Us by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5208/5382979814_455cef4332.jpg" alt="Us" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5382419717/" title="Panorama Point by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5207/5382419717_919d13e55e.jpg" alt="Panorama Point" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5382419735/" title="Heading back by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5170/5382419735_0b1fff5679.jpg" alt="Heading back" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />During that visit up north, our son seems to have lost his ability to sleep. He used to be the easiest kid in the world to put to bed. Toss in crib, cover with blankets, kiss, turn off light, and in 5 minutes he would be sound asleep. The combination of the ever-lovin' "stuffy nose!", sleeping on the floor and being in a new and exciting place, putting him to bed at my parents' house turned into a nightly 2 hour marathon of screaming, horsing around, and reminding us that he had a stuffy nose and "I want a tissue, no I don't, I need a tissue!!! no, no no!".<br /><br />We had some good laughs in all that time spent trying to put him to sleep as his little brain would get so wound up and confused, you just couldn't help chuckling. The best one went something like this:<br />After about an hour of on again, off again crying. Getting a tissue, not getting a tissue. Trying to reason, and ignoring, we finally both said to him, "Mama and Daddy are asleep now and we can't talk to you anymore". Camden promptly stood up, walked out of the room and announced to my brothers while standing at the top of the stairs, "Mama and Dada asleep." We were in hysterics. We finally came out and saw my brother Carl's distressed face as he really thought we were asleep and was trying to figure out what to do with this two year old at 10:00 at night. Ah well, I guess you had to be there.<br /><br />When we got home, we had one night of normal sleep, then the fight started again, ending with Cam climbing/falling out of the crib. Since then, he has graduated to a big boy bed, but we also have entered a whole new phase of sleep struggles. In a nutshell, he can no longer fall asleep without someone there by his side (or at least within sight) at night and for naps, because if you don't sit there, he just climbs on out. If you play the 'put him back in bed a million times game' he just laughs harder each time you do it, which then makes me laugh, which gets us nowhere. On top of that, he has now been waking up in the middle of the night usually just once, but sometimes twice and immediately climbs out of bed and is at the side of my bed asking to "sleep with me". Usually I am so out of it or so lacking for sleep that I give in and either climb in bed with him or yard him in bed with me. We usually sleep OK for the rest of the night, but man have we set a bad precedence and created some bad habits.<br /><br />On the one hand I fear we are setting him up for a lifetime of dysfunctional sleeping, on the other hand I love the snuggle time and know it won't last forever. This too shall pass. I hope.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5464291386/" title="Say Cheese! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5464291386_908d54bbbe.jpg" alt="Say Cheese!" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Meanwhile the new year has brought many changes for us. Keith has accepted a new job as an operations manager with a local manufacturing company. It is really great news in that we were just getting by on my salary and his small construction jobs - we were able to maintain, but not improve this house at all. Now we will have the money to do more work on this house, but Keith now has no time to do it. Life is funny that way, isn't it? Time and money - very few of us can have both at our disposal. I suppose we can at least start hiring some work out. Keith is enjoying his job so far, but is working long hours which has been an adjustment for all of us. He is up at 5:30 and thus in bed about the time Cam goes to bed which is before I get home from work. So when I have a busy week, days will go by before I see Keith in the daylight and have a real conversation with him.<br /><br />I suppose I shouldn't just complain about Camden. He continues to bring us joy on a daily basis. He is thoroughly enjoying his tumbling class - balance beams and jumping off of anything are his favorites. He memorizes books faster and faster. His latest favorites are 'One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish' (he can practically recite the whole thing) and anything by Eric Carle. Recently, we had our first major snow here at this house and Cam "helped" build his first snowman.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5483849236/" title=""Snowy" by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5132/5483849236_415e32e962.jpg" alt=""Snowy"" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5483849258/" title="Branch by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5131/5483849258_fb780f2c90.jpg" alt="Branch" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Also, he has developed this weird tic in his right leg. For one short section of Mumford and Son's 'The Cave', he does this:<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=3c32cf05d3&photo_id=5487386268"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=3c32cf05d3&photo_id=5487386268" width="400" height="300"></embed></object>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-21879648773066949872010-11-14T19:55:00.000-08:002010-11-23T21:59:43.417-08:00Two Years Old<span style="font-style: italic;">This entry is about a week late, as I was hoping to get a video montage up. It's obviously not happening very quickly, but I will get to it soon. In the meantime....</span><br /><br />Well, Doppie (or dabbie - we're not sure how to spell it), you are officially two years old. It is hard to believe two years have gone by. The days remain long, and the years go by fast. You are not our baby anymore, and we can hardly call you a toddler, as you don't toddle. You run and look more and more like a regular old boy every day. You hardly even call yourself 'Baby' anymore. It used to be if we said, "say Camden". You would say, "Baby". Now you say, "doppie". When we say, "Say Cam", you say, "Cam". When we say, "Say den", you say, "den". When we say, "Say Camden", you say, "doppie". What is that and where did that come from?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5177234301/" title="Boy at beach by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5177234301_2e73c0ed71.jpg" alt="Boy at beach" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />You are turning into your own unique little person and are developing some very distinct likes and dislikes and have ways about you that are strictly, 'Camden'. You entered the 'two's' a couple months ago and have given me some whopper tantrums. They are usually short-lived, but you've had a couple where you worked yourself into such a frenzy, you couldn't stop. I think they stem from your new desire and ability to make decisions - usually you do quite well, and it is productive for us all to let you make the decision, but sometimes the wires are frayed and you don't know what to do with yourself. "I want Bingo, no Jack Johnson, no Bingo, no Jack Johnson, ahhhhhhh!!!!" And then it progresses to upstairs, downstairs, outside, inside, nothing can make you happy. Even though I have times where I am not convinced the tempter tantrum will end, they always do and you eventually collapse in my arms and we carry on with our day.<br /><br />But like I said, those are not the norm. You have mini-fits every day, but they are largely manageable and easily redirected. In some ways you are becoming more independent and will play on your own for up to 30 minutes if you are in the right mood and have found the right toy. You have an impressive collection of toys thanks to granmom and her garage sale shopping. Your favorites at the moment are your massive collection of hot wheels, your box of mini animals and your train track. You will always come back to the cars because they work well with any new toy you get. A new dump truck? "Put cars in there!". A book resting on a pillow? "Car goes down!".<br /><br />The real life cars and trucks are pretty top notch as well. You have a play structure at daycare that faces 18th street (a busy street), and you spend a large chunk of your outdoor time standing on the top of it and watching the "cars and trucks and buses" go by. Every outing in "Mama's gray car" or Daddy's "big truck", is sure to be exciting because there are "so many cars and trucks". This is not something we have pushed on you because you are a boy, it has always been something that has fascinated you. One of your first words was "guck".<br /><br />As you can see from all my quotation marks, you are talking a LOT. We are amazed every day by what you say. Every single day, we say to each other, "I cannot believe his language". You know the whole alphabet (while you won't recite it on command, we've caught you doing it on the monitor as you are putting yourself to sleep, or in the morning as you are still groggy) and have been able to recognize all the letters for some time now, you can almost count to 20 (you skip 14 and 15), and you form complete sentences and use verbs (present participles - I had to look that up - to be precise) appropriately. "I am running." "I want to go read a book." "Play with daddy for a while". You still struggle with pronouns. When you want to be carried, you say to me, "Mama carry you?". Because I say to you, "Do you want me to carry you?". That is a particularly confusing thing to teach because even I end up all mixed up. You'll just have to figure that one out over time and on your own.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5179615225/" title="Ice Cream! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4107/5179615225_1f6b019e20.jpg" alt="Ice Cream!" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />About a month ago, you started the make believe thing. You talk a lot to your animals, "Good night pig. Goodnight bear. Are you OK pig?". And you tuck all your animals into bed or make a new bed for them where they can be "warm and cozy" on the couch, yarding them one by one out of your crib. We caught you once reading your truck book to Pig - picking him up and making him look at every page, and asking him, "What's that pig?". And you have started talking to other kids a little bit. Mostly Bea of course. You bring her a piece of food from her plastic fridge, and ask her, "Bea, what's this?" And she tells you, and you say, "That's right!" with your little sideways nod. Way too cute.<br /><br />You still love books. And you have an incredible memory (or else you are reading). We can read a new book to you, not even five times, and you are practically reciting the whole thing back to us as we turn the pages. There is one book in particular called, "I'm Sorry", in which you 'read' every page perfectly. Of course you are not looking at the words, which clearly means it is just memorization, but it shocks us everytime nonetheless. Quite a little brain you have in there my boy. Now I am slightly biased, and you may get a more subdued opinion from a neutral party, but still, I think you are a genius.<br /><br />You are still eating well. I'm still waiting for the phase to hit where you become disinterested in food, but given your genes, I don't think that is too likely. 'Orange cheese' may have surpassed crackers as your favorite. You discovered ketchup and how wonderful it is to dip things in it - especially meat. Pasta, cottage cheese, waffles, yogurt and cereal all remain at the top of your list, with broccoli and avocados being the most nutritious things you eat. We haven't gone to your two year appointment yet, but I will not be surprised if you come close to 35 pounds. Luckily we are able to provide you with wholesome and healthy foods - whole wheats and most of your fruit and veggies are organic. So you may eat a lot, but it is usually good stuff. You have discovered cookies and ice cream, and while we haven't made a habit of it, we give in once in a while.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5203624886/" title="Eating Pizza by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4151/5203624886_399ba28456.jpg" alt="Eating Pizza" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />We've also given in to the TV. You're not watching a lot, but your first DVD that you fell in love with was "Goodnight Moon". You watched it just about every night until we had to return it to the library. Then Granmom bought you a series of Classical Baby DVD's. The only one you will watch is Baby Art, and you watch it now just about every night after bath. It is harmless and has some lovely music and pictures to it, so it sucks us all in. You also still have a love for watching our own home pictures and videos on the computer. It is often my saving grace for getting meals prepared when you are being needy.<br /><br />You know how to load and unload CD's and DVD's from the DVD player. You can turn it on, open it, load your choice and turn on the TV if necessary. You don't abuse this, you just do it when you want to listen to your music. For a while you would only listen to the 'Bingo' CD which we thought might send us to the nut house, but we have since talked you into some Jack Johnson and last week you reintroduced "Patty Whack" (I'm pretty sure that is not the right spelling). Often you will start your music, then start pulling books out and sit quietly for a while reading and listening. Enough to warm a mother's heart.<br /><br />You remain a timid boy when with anyone else. You have your mama's shyness with new activities or places and always take a while to warm up and are leery of new people. I suppose this is good (as you are unlikely to go quietly with a stranger), but it is hard on my back, "I want mama, I want mama, I want mama!" (escalating in pitch and volume). Thank goodness you have eased off on the hitting and pushing of other children. Only if they really get in your face, and you're not in the mood, do you give a little shove.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5155193021/" title="Pockets. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/5155193021_5f87204566.jpg" alt="Pockets." width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Your physical abilities are expanding as well. You have not been the most aggressive climber, but you're getting more daring. You love to jump and are really enjoying the tumbling class we are doing. You can jump off surprisingly high things and often will not let me help you. We have a bed set up in the back bedroom for jumping, and that has been a hit with you and all the friends that come over. You can do a real, full blown somersault. And you and Daddy spend at least one night a week at the pool, and you LOVE it. You jump in over and over and submerge your head willingly.<br /><br />Sleeping is going fine. You often still wake up between 4:00 AM and 6:00 AM. We had a stretch where you were waking up at 1:00 AM and would not put yourself back to sleep and were even having trouble putting yourself to sleep at the initial bedtime (this has always been the easiest - we put you in your crib, say goodnight, and you are out). So we started sleeping on a pad in your room until you put yourself back to sleep. This became a crutch that we had to break, and now we are just back to early morning wake ups where you invariably end up snuggling with me and hopefully we all get back to sleep for a while.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5203043349/" title="Smiles by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5201/5203043349_298a904fdc.jpg" alt="Smiles" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Potty training? Not so much. You will occasionally sit on your potty chair with all your clothes on and make a straining noise, but that's about it. You sort of tell us when you are pooping, but don't really want us to know because that means we have to go change your diaper. Although you will NOT ride in the car with poopy pants. That is when you do tell us. And today you were trying to nap, and we thought you were asleep, when you called out, "Mama! You downstairs? What doing? Change my diaper!". And sure enough, you had poop in your pants. So, some small signs that you might be potty trained someday, but I fear we are a ways off.<br /><br />Man, what else? You are just an amazing little boy and we are constantly in awe of all that you do and are. You are a world of dichotomies. You are fiercely independent, but you can't let mama leave your side. You laugh at the drop of the hat, but can fall apart in a matter of seconds. You are physical and 'all boy', but will never turn me down for a snuggle or a hug. You want to go this way. No, No NO, you want to go that way. You are TWO. And I have to remind myself of that every day when my nerves and patience are rattled. Because you are a perfect two, my boy, in every way, and I wouldn't give you up for the world. Happy Birthday my little man!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5203043347/" title="Teeth! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5169/5203043347_9495636560.jpg" alt="Teeth!" width="500" height="375" /></a>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-34130097618641064992010-10-16T20:32:00.000-07:002010-10-16T21:32:32.605-07:00What's Been Goin On?I just created another blog about our chickens (one less thing to talk about on this blog), but then began to wonder, what the heck am I doing creating another <a href="http://nestinthewoods.blogspot.com/">blog</a>, if I can't even keep this one up? So why not a quick update?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4988971423/" title="Family on the way up the Butte by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/4988971423_0cd39d4fe4.jpg" alt="Family on the way up the Butte" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />We got back from Hawaii and made every effort to get some things done around here. Problem was, Keith was busy with work. I work four days a week. And we work opposite schedules, so even if one of us is home, we have a very demanding little guy keeping us busy. So it has been slow going around here. Not to mention the sale of our other house has been slow coming. We finally signed a contract last week and we can only hope this one will make it all the way to closing.<br /><br />The summer flew by. We really didn't do anything too exciting. Weekends we had free we either were tending to chicken stuff or trying to accomplish something on this house. In fact summer was so late in coming (such a wet, cold spring we had!) it almost feels we didn't have one at all. We didn't go anywhere at all, but we had some lovely visits from friends, and a nice visit by my entire family back in the end of July that involved a chicken hunt, a pig roast (clearly we are not vegetarians), a neighborhood party and a lovely camping trip to the Illinois River.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4965186404/" title="Splashing with Grandpa by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/4965186404_14f5e6c0d3.jpg" alt="Splashing with Grandpa" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4964724457/" title="Hi little piggy! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/4964724457_2cf3047d9a.jpg" alt="Hi little piggy!" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4950039117/" title="Eating by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4126/4950039117_b2434db200.jpg" alt="Eating" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />We had a time of profound sadness, in that Keith lost his <a href="http://ronaldping.blogspot.com/">uncle</a> to esophageal cancer. He was diagnosed in May and after a hard battle, succumbed to the disease on September 7. He lived a full life of love and adventure and will be missed dearly.<br /><br />What have we done to this house? Nothing that most would notice from the outside. We (Keith) did some gutter repair, chopped a LOT of firewood, did some backhoe work to fix some major drainage issues, and we installed a new wood stove. That's about it, and until we sell our other house, that's where we will sit for now. The stove is doing a great job keeping us warm so far, but we do hope to supplement with something else here soon.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5022385490/" title="Backhoe Work by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/5022385490_3c76db11c8.jpg" alt="Backhoe Work" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5022385466/" title="Firewood by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/5022385466_4c40f1e068.jpg" alt="Firewood " width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Camden is thriving and continues to surprise and amaze and frustrate us. He will be two in one more month and while he remains a good kid, he is definitely having some very "two" moments. I had the honor of bearing witness to a twenty minute temper tantrum yesterday, where everything I did to try and help only made things worse. Yes, no. Inside, outside. Upstairs, no downstairs. And on and on, shrouded in tears. We made it through, and today he is the polar opposite. Sweet as can be, playing quietly by himself and talking up a storm (although he did skip his nap). The other day he started saying "No mas!" to us. I guess the bilingual stuff at his daycare is working. So very cool. I would rattle off all the cute things he says and does, but you all have kids and know what it's like (besides, I would never leave this chair!).<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4989571020/" title="Swinging by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4098/4989571020_e3e84a4a1c.jpg" alt="Swinging" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/5087901932/" title="Goof by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/5087901932_2c31749142.jpg" alt="Goof" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />My favorite, I have to say, is how he has started talking to other kids, "Bea, what's this? That's right! Want some apple?" and to his stuffed animals. SO cute.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="225"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=8f657beb6f&photo_id=5088551300"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=8f657beb6f&photo_id=5088551300" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><br /><br />Please visit my Flickr page for more pics from the summer if you are interested!E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-45258931641261966232010-06-11T21:20:00.000-07:002010-06-17T22:31:56.463-07:00More Than a Dog<span style="font-style: italic;">Warning: This is a very long entry about a DOG, so if you are not really a dog person, you might think I've gone a little looney....but I did love her so.</span><br /><br />You may remember that over a year and a half ago, Gracie was diagnosed with cancer. At the time, I thought I would lose her within three months, six at the most as we had decided not to treat it. With a few minor moments where we thought, "this is surely the beginning of her decline", she would bounce back within the week and be fine. Well, she is an impressive dog, but not invincible. The cancer caught up with her very quickly and very suddenly, and we had to have her put down yesterday (June 10th).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4707813457/" title="Grace by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4059/4707813457_23e6a2503a.jpg" alt="Grace" width="334" height="500" /></a><br /><br />She had a type of lymphoma that had metastasized to the skin, and the vet had told us it was usually a very aggressive type of cancer. She did show signs in that she had chronic sores on her skin. Mostly small, scabby ones, but she had a doozy on her leg that kept opening up. It was that sore that gave me my biggest fear - would I have to euthanize my dog because a sore got too big and was getting too inconvenient for my daily life? I just couldn't fathom putting her down when she obviously felt fine physically. But we also weren't willing to fork out $600 for every sore that needed to be removed, because there were plenty more brewing. This is where the amazing healing comes in - that sore would be open and yucky, and then I would convince myself it was getting smaller, and then one day, sure enough, she would have intact skin again. I think that happened two or three times. That's my girl.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4707864005/" title="Mountain Dog by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/4707864005_9c17411fe7.jpg" alt="Mountain Dog" width="342" height="500" /></a><br /><br />So I feel lucky that it was so obvious in the end. Four days ago I came home from a shopping trip after leaving her in her normal state of health, and she was suddenly extremely lethargic, would not move, and would not eat. I eventually got her to take a pain pill and prepared for the worst, but by morning she was back to normal, chasing her ball, and running out to the mailbox with me - so I wrote it off to a stomach bug. But then the next day she showed all of those ominous signs again. When she would try to walk, bless her heart, she would barely put weight on her back legs, and would give me the saddest look, like "What is going on, mom?" I started making calls about in-home euthanasia, as I couldn't stand the thought of taking her to the "back room" at the vet. As I was walking into work, I talked to Keith on the phone about what the vet said (about needing to have an exam first, not sure if they can come out, etc.). And he said, "we just need to do it, Em. Don't schedule an exam, we just need to schedule THE appointment". And even though I have been preparing for this moment for almost two years, and had myself convinced I was ready, the moment he said that, I broke down. He was so right and it was so real.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4708428092/" title="1 Year old by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1273/4708428092_e021b5cb36.jpg" alt="1 Year old" width="500" height="342" /></a><br /><br />The vet called me back later in the day and said they could come to our house and no, we would not need to have an exam first. They couldn't come until 3:30 in the afternoon, so I called in sick, got Cam off to daycare and spent the time watching and waiting. Gracie was clearly uncomfortable, but she remained oh, so tolerant and stoic. Bless her heart, she made it down our three deck stairs (barely) went out for a poop and pee and even walked down the hill to go lay down in her favorite puddle. Every time she would walk out into the grass I would fear she was walking off to die and I wouldn't get to be with her for those last moments. But she always came back.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4708428094/" title="Snow! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4045/4708428094_de626b7500.jpg" alt="Snow!" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Finally they came. Very compassionate and appropriate professionals. Keith and I sat at her head, me sobbing into her ear, both of us stroking her the whole time, while the injection was given (an overdose of a barbituate which is the same med used for their anesthesia - so she assured me they just fall asleep - no paralyzing sensations or pain), and 20 seconds later she was gone. She moved her head for the needle poke, then she let out a big sigh and relaxed. The vet said it best, "You can rest now, Gracie". Their eyes don't close, so it was really hard to believe she was dead for a long time. She just looked like she was resting on her blanket as always. I laid with her for a while, stroking her beautiful, soft golden hair for the last time, then we wrapped her up and buried her in the middle of an oak tree patch, next to some big rocks. The deer bed down in this area most nights, so I like to think of her frolicking and chasing them all into eternity. Weirdly, actually placing her in the hole and throwing the dirt over her body was the hardest thing. It felt so final, and I spent the rest of the evening gazing out there thinking of her sweet body under all that dirt, when she should be behind me on her blanket.<br /><br />Ah well, dogs just don't live as long as humans, and I had way more time with her than I ever expected after that diagnosis. She has been the best dog. More than a dog at times, a true companion and friend that brought us frustration at times for sure, but so many laughs and times of joy and times of pride. And I don't care what anyone says about Goldens, she was faithful to us.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4708428084/" title="What a pal by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4708428084_5900aa122c.jpg" alt="What a pal" width="500" height="337" /></a><br /><br />I have many favorite things about her, but one of the best was the way she could read emotion. If I was visibly sad or crying, she would march right up to me and nose her way in, until I would pet her and assure her I was going to be OK. If I was mad at something and yelling and carrying on (like the first time our car was stolen), she would walk to the nearest desk, table or chair and hunker down and wait out the storm. If Keith and I would play fight, she would bark and jump and generally attack Keith until he stopped. And if we were happy and excited and dancing around or doing something silly, she would join in with her front paw prance and bark in joy.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4707845835/" title="Pup by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4707845835_8612d69482.jpg" alt="Pup" width="500" height="342" /></a><br /><br />Rocks. What started as a cute thing she would do in streams once in a while at about age 2, turned into a pathological obsession, bordering on psychosis. She got good at diving for rocks over the years, being able to completely submerge herself and stay under for impressive lengths of time to retrieve that one special rock. And she couldn't pass a stream or river without nosing around and getting one out. And while on hikes, especially familiar ones like Spencer Butte, once at the top, she would pick out a rock and carry it ALL THE WAY back to the car, only to deposit it on the ground by the door before jumping in.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4707764677/" title="For the love of rocks by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4020/4707764677_c00974b438.jpg" alt="For the love of rocks" width="337" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=50c5bd7169&photo_id=2494422436"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=50c5bd7169&photo_id=2494422436" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />She knew when we were leaving for anywhere, and didn't like being left behind. But she could especially tell the long trips as she would watch us pack up the car and thus park herself right by the car, not to move until she got to go in too.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4708428090/" title="Pooped by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1283/4708428090_761fb2c7ca.jpg" alt="Pooped" width="500" height="337" /></a><br /><br />She had a great memory. There are a few places we go every year if not more than once a year, and those places generally have water. As soon as we are out of the car at the destination, she starts to the water, knowing exactly which way, even if it involves a lengthy trail or a trot down a stretch of road. Usually she would turn and look at us and wait, but if we took too long (especially on hot days), she would take off without us, returning shortly....with a rock in her mouth. One of her funniest stories: For a while we rented a house on a regular city block in Eugene. We were about three blocks from a very 'Eugene' corner market that we would frequent regularly for milk, coffee, etc. Most times when we would go, we would emerge with a biscuit for Gracie. And most days there was an old man that hung out on the benches outside that had a bottomless bag of dog treats (the BIG ones), that he would feed like a chain smoker to our dog while we were inside. This house had a back yard that we shared and one day the gate must have been left open, because I received a phone call from the corner market informing us that our dog was there! It doesn't sound that funny as I write it, but we just chuckle at the image of her trotting down the street, knowing exactly where she is going and the rewards that lay at the end. I just wonder what triggered her brain to head on down to the store for a biscuit rather than vegging at the back door as usual.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4707799445/" title="Please? by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4030/4707799445_5e9462c31c.jpg" alt="Please?" width="375" height="500" /></a><br />This is the return trip....she remembered this watering hole, and wanted back in.<br /><br />She was not much of a barker, so when she did bark at night, we usually paid attention. The second time our car was stolen, she let us know someone was out there that shouldn't be and although we brushed her off, she was right. And had we listened to her, we might have saved ourselves some time recovering our car and the bad guys might have been caught.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4708495944/" title="Camper by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/4708495944_c2a4d89a3e.jpg" alt="Camper" width="500" height="342" /></a><br /><br />She hated and loved fireworks. In her younger days she would bark and try to bite them. In her older days, she would just bark. She also became a nervous wreck with thunder and lightening. She had to be close to us while the storm carried on.<br /><br />Her best quality was her tolerance. Whether it was Keith's wrastling, Wiley's (the pug's) attempted fornication, or Camden's poking, prodding and hair pulling, she generally just sat back and tolerated it all. She very rarely showed any annoyance, and never showed any aggression.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4707813455/" title="Poker by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4707813455_a843c66f92.jpg" alt="Poker" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4708495942/" title="Tolerance to the tenth by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1303/4708495942_7822fd9603.jpg" alt="Tolerance to the tenth" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4707813449/" title="Tolerance by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1292/4707813449_1296b5bdd0.jpg" alt="Tolerance" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />She was a trooper, but was of course rewarded with many, many fun outings and a truly great life.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4707799431/" title="Hiker Dog by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4707799431_95279474f2.jpg" alt="Hiker Dog" width="500" height="342" /></a><br /><br />I could go on and on. She was a great dog. Loved to snuggle. I will admit she spent many a year sleeping with us in our bed, and many a year with her territory on the couch. This bad habit was broken when we left her for a year to travel and left her with people who didn't necessarily appreciate big hairy dogs on couches. She was easy to train and listened to us for the most part. We didn't do a lot of training, but she would heel, would go to her blanket when we told her, and could learn boundaries very quickly (when we moved to our new house she was no longer allowed upstairs on the new carpet, and it took her less than a day to figure that out).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4708495946/" title="Sun by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4708495946_a68ed36ba5.jpg" alt="Sun" width="337" height="500" /></a><br /><br />She never failed to give me an ecstatic greeting when I got home, always with something in her mouth. She could not greet a person without first finding something to bring you, preferably a sock. She would talk when really excited, and shake that butt and whip that tail like nothing else.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=b84704795f&photo_id=4711195824"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=b84704795f&photo_id=4711195824" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />Above all else, that is what I will miss the most - her unconditional love. There is nothing quite like it and it is what dogs are best at. I regret all the times I yelled at her and was annoyed at her for being underfoot (especially after Camden's arrival, bless her heart she got knocked way down the totem pole!). And I am so grateful that she was able to forgive me each and every time. Rest in peace my sweet girl. You will be missed, but never forgotten.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="225"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=4539945f14&photo_id=4710471757&hd_default=false"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=4539945f14&photo_id=4710471757&hd_default=false" width="400" height="225"></embed></object>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-33561302429376213282010-05-27T21:18:00.000-07:002010-05-30T23:00:37.852-07:0018 MonthsCamden turned 18 months old on May 12. Needless to say I cannot believe he is that old already. Since I am a hopeless case on making timely blog entries and my journal and baby book are about as current, I thought I should at least document some of his milestones. So I apologize in advance for inundating you with boring baby details, but I must document somewhere!!<br /><br />He is officially a little boy/toddler now and is no longer a baby although he calls himself (and every other kid) 'baby'. He is a towhead who has not had one stitch of his hair cut yet. It is definitely time. He has an impressive set of curls that he got from his dad that can appear quite unruly at times (a bit of a mad scientist look about him). His eyes are still blue and he still has the dimples. He runs everywhere and just recently was able to get both feet off the ground while jumping. Still slow to climb up on things, but now makes his way easily on and off couches, chairs and coffee tables (if we let him). He can go down our stairs at our new house without help (they are wide and not as high) – I'm sure we'll regret letting him do it himself the first time he falls, but you have to let go sometime right? The novelty of the stairs is running out, but when we first moved in, he would spend 20 minutes just walking up and down.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4644152678/" title="Likes to climb on tables now by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4644152678_71ac8b5667.jpg" alt="Likes to climb on tables now" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />He still loves reading his books, and often will prefer to flip through the big adult books with lots of thin pages (like Keith's How to Fix Anything book). He just loves flipping the pages. I once caught him licking his finger to turn a page when he couldn't get it the first time. It is so funny what kids pick up from us.His other favorite toys are his fish puzzle (he is learning his colors – can say blue, purple and pink and correctly identifies them), his toy with the balls that run down the track, his coasters (as always), and just recently the magnetic letters on the fridge. He blew us away the other day when he started identifying letters. It's been a week since he started doing this, and now can identify A, B, E, T, S, O, N, M, P, D, Y and X. For some of them he says the letter (Y, X), for some he makes the sound (S), and for some he says the word we associate with it (truck, papa, nana, dada, mama, etc.).<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=e8fc5c2422&photo_id=4654786303"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=e8fc5c2422&photo_id=4654786303" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />He had a bout of RSV early in the year, followed by a nasty ear infection and pink eye in March. Since then his nose runs just about all the time. I think we can thank daycare (and the rain) for a lot of that. Daycare is going really well. He goes for half days 2-3 days a week. It is nap time when I drop him off and he now just grabs his blanket and lays down immediately. He used to still cry when I left, but the last three times, he has been silent and just goes right to sleep. When we pick him up, he looks at us, smiles and keeps on playing. So we know he is well taken care of and has fun.<br /><br />He is a huge momma's boy. I try not to complain, because I know I would not prefer the alternative, but man, give a gal a break. In the morning when he makes his way into our bed (9 out of 10 mornings lately he is up too early for us, so we let him in), and he will scream bloody murder unless he is in my arms. There is to be no snuggling with dad. And most of the time when we're both home, unless Keith removes him from the room we are in, he will want to cling to me, or be picked up by me, and no alternative is acceptable. Of course this is not always the case, more so if he hasn't seen me in a while. He has lots of time during his day where he contentedly plays by himself interacting with us minimally while he draws, reads, or plays with blocks or balls.<br /><br />Sleep is generally fine. We were on a real nice stretch until we went to Hawaii (in early May). At that point he was sleeping completely on his own from 8:00 PM until 7:00AM. He did good in Hawaii, but since we've been back, we've moved to our new place. So not only was he adjusting back to our time zone, but also to a new house (and there always seems to be a new tooth coming in). So we're back to early morning wake ups with no self soothing capabilities. The line for us is about 4:00 AM. If we wakes before that, we make him try and fall back asleep in his crib. Anything after that, I generally bring him in bed with me and hope he falls back asleep. Usually he does, but we had a run of days where he was up at 5:00 and didn't go back to sleep for anything. Ouch.<br /><br />Food. Ah, my man can eat. Favorites continue to be carbs, cottage cheese and applesauce. Broccoli is probably his favorite vegetable if you can believe it. I had to hold my nose to finish my broccoli until I was about 10. And his liking for fruit depends on the day. Some days he'll wolf stuff down, other days he'll pass. We were worried that maybe he eats too much, but he continues to grow proportionately. At his 18 month check up he weighed in at 30 pounds and 34 inches tall. 85th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height. We're OK with that.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4644152048/" title="Yay by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4008/4644152048_3af837ba83.jpg" alt="Yay" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">His comforts are his blanket and his Raggedy Andy doll, and when snuggling (he LOVES to snuggle), his habit is to reach for my hair and play with it. Unfortunately, when he's excited, he also grabs my hair and yanks with all his might. The more I yell in pain or admonish him, the funnier he thinks it is. He's getting better around other kids. He still pushes Bea a lot, but usually follows it up with a hug. We've started time outs, and they seem to work for a while. I was surprised how quickly he understood that he had to sit there and couldn't get up until I say so. Today when he felt he was done with his time out, he looked at me and blew me a kiss.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">And I guess that's about it. He is a fun kid. His vocabulary grows daily, and it blows me away every time he remembers or says a new word. He has the best smile and the best laugh that melt my heart every time, even at the end of a long and frazzled day.<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=835fe659fe&photo_id=4488330051"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=835fe659fe&photo_id=4488330051" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />In other news, we have purchased a new home out in the country, took a trip to Hawaii and placed our old house on the market. Oh yeah, and we purchased 22 chickens. (However, we are down to 21 already thanks to Gracie....and my carelessness). Needless to say we have been busy.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4643548933/" title="No, I do NOT like this! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/4643548933_6e2bf6a132.jpg" alt="No, I do NOT like this!" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />The house we bought is a foreclosure property that sits on 6 acres and neighbors a 4 acre parcel we bought several years ago as an investment. We put in a low-ball offer and here we are. It is a dream come true in that the land is gorgeous and the house has more space than we'll ever need (we went from 1200 sq ft to 3700 sq ft! Yikes!). The reason we were able to afford it is because we have amazing parents and the house needs a bit of work. To say it needs a lot of work is almost an understatement. It needs pretty much everything. It has a fun/interesting layout, and lots of potential, and someday will be a beautiful place. It will take time, however, and I must practice patience.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4654621897/" title="The Compound by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4654621897_3ca55a4000.jpg" alt="The Compound" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />View into the back yard from the living room.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4654672501/" title="Dinner by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/4654672501_eda1e80809.jpg" alt="Dinner" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />We got to decompress and relax in Kauai with Jenn, John and Bea which was amazing. My only regret is not making it a longer stay. The weather was gorgeous, the fruity rum drinks delicious and the water was warm. Cam did pretty good on the plane. We did not pay for a seat for him, but got lucky both ways is getting an open seat, so we sat three across for the long haul. Our luck did run out on the way home when we missed our connecting flight in SFO and had to stay the night....but if that's the worst thing that happened, I have nothing to complain about.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4646823778/" title="Swimming with the turtles by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3399/4646823778_bfc7a8ac3b.jpg" alt="Swimming with the turtles" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4646191697/" title="Sand bums by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4646191697_f89a8b36a0.jpg" alt="Sand bums" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4646213687/" title="Girls' Hike by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4646213687_afa933320b.jpg" alt="Girls' Hike" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /></p>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-8764198341430412942010-01-25T18:19:00.000-08:002010-01-31T16:05:34.208-08:00Movin AlongMan time is flying by.....probably time to update life in the blogosphere. I left you with a tribute to Cam's one year birthday, but I never did post pictures of his actual day. It was pretty low key. We elected to bypass the formal birthday party, as it seemed like more work than I was willing to do for someone who doesn't know what's going on, and there will be PLENTY of birthdays where he will be fully aware of the situation and will require a party. I'm taking it easy while I can. Needless to say we (or, I should say the grandparents) gave him some presents and we let him eat chocolate cake. He was slightly interested by the presents and VERY interested in the cake.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4141671937/" title="Birthday Boy by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2690/4141671937_253529259d.jpg" alt="Birthday Boy" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4141671963/" title="Mmm chocolate cake by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2569/4141671963_76e646048e.jpg" alt="Mmm chocolate cake" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />He got some really cool shoes fresh from Italy. He loves them and wears them all the time now.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4161819720/" title="Mouse shoes from Italy by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/4161819720_f54a949a1a.jpg" alt="Mouse shoes from Italy" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />The celebration was done the week after his birthday, so these two pics were taken on the actual day.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4160177827/" title="I love my monkey! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2750/4160177827_26787d1b17.jpg" alt="I love my monkey!" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4160177843/" title="One Year by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2547/4160177843_2401baeddc.jpg" alt="One Year" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />The weekend after his birthday, we took a trip up to Washington and visited a bunch of friends. The main deal was a girls' night out with all my old high school cronies. What a lovely group of ladies and what a fun night. I miss them all and had a wonderful time catching up.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4141684019/" title="GH Girls by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/4141684019_5f04daae6b.jpg" alt="GH Girls" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />My brother and his girlfriend Heidi were in WA that weekend as well, so we all gathered for a day at the folks' house.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4204760895/" title="Family Portrait by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2521/4204760895_0363c4856e.jpg" alt="Family Portrait" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />So, then it was off to Coos Bay for Thanksgiving. A pretty low key weekend, which was strong on eating and socializing, but pretty weak on the adventure front - no midnight mussel gathering or crabbing in the torrential rain and winds. In fact no crabbing at all, if you can believe it. It started out a very rainy weekend, but we ended it with some very sunny days. We were able to do the normal cliff walk with some moderately impressive wave crashing and a great day out at the dunes. Fun in the backyard. This kid is going to be an adrenaline junkie. We'll take him bungee jumping next year.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4203494873/" title="More high flying shenanigans by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/4203494873_663ca453a6.jpg" alt="More high flying shenanigans" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4204253592/" title="Mittens! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2753/4204253592_2c9ae7030f.jpg" alt="Mittens!" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4204254200/" title="Tree Frame by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2791/4204254200_74cb279e6c.jpg" alt="Tree Frame" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Gracie can't get enough of the dunes. She reverts to puppydom while there.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4203497425/" title="Gracie by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2758/4203497425_93acd271a9.jpg" alt="Gracie" width="500" height="372" /></a><br /><br />Cam couldn't get enough of them either. He cried so hard when we had to leave.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4203498521/" title="Dune Boy 1 by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2664/4203498521_c08a51ac20.jpg" alt="Dune Boy 1" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />At the bay down the road. What a gorgeous day.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4204278500/" title="Wading by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/4204278500_8773c54fd1.jpg" alt="Wading" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />The week after Thanksgiving, we took off again, this time to Colorado. Carl's family-in-law had a week at a condo in Steamboat Springs (aka fancy ski resort) that they could not use and was going to expire, so he and Tory generously invited the Bauer clan to use it with them. So we ventured once again to the skies with a young one. This time a walking, much more active kid. We were leery about the trip (the getting there and home part), but excited for some potential Colorado powder and time with the fam.<br /><br />We had a ridiculously early flight out of Portland, so we stayed the night with a friend who lives close to the airport. Everything went smoothly. We were hoping with the early flight, Cam would crash once on the plane, but not so. He was awake and way too alert for way too long. Thank God for food and books as distractions. He only had a few grouchy moments and only got a couple annoyed looks from surrounding passengers, but eventually did sleep a bit.<br /><br />On the way to the baggage claim in Denver, he had his first moving walkway experience:<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=5b9c0630a8&photo_id=4205699572"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=5b9c0630a8&photo_id=4205699572" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />We met up with my brother, sister-in-law, and mom on route to Colorado Springs (about 3 hours away from Boulder and Denver), and caravaned the rest of the way. Paul and Heidi showed up later that night driving all the way from Utah. The condo was great. Spacious and cozy at the same time and literally in the back yard of the slopes. The bummer part was the weather. It hadn't snowed in a while, and the hills were void of practically anything but man-made snow. Of the 30 or so lifts only 4 were open and of the 300 or so runs only 30 were open (I have no idea the real numbers, but it was pathetically barren). Needless to say we did not ski - just couldn't fork out that kind of money for ice packed slopes. Also, this was the week the entire Western half of the country was in a wicked cold snap. So while it was in the 20's back home, it was in the 0's and 10's here in Colorado. Crazy cold.<br /><br />Outside the condo:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4214176447/" title="View from the condo by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2576/4214176447_3a9e96ba64.jpg" alt="View from the condo" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />We made the most of it, and while we missed out on some of the grander adventures that my brothers and their girls went on, we still got out. It was a challenge with Cam and the cold. Babies don't exactly like mittens nor can they tell you if they are cold, so you spend a lot of time bundling to go out, and most of your time out fretting if baby is cold or not, then a lot of time consoling when the baby breaks down at the end of the outing.<br /><br />He got better with each outing, but never loved the snow like we thought he might. At first he wouldn't even stand up out in it. He just crumpled, losing all muscle tone as his feet hit the snow. This was a nice, but brief moment of happiness.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4214945524/" title="Mittens by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2781/4214945524_ec78067e02.jpg" alt="Mittens" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Kids are a great source of entertainment.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4214171223/" title="Hmmmm by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4033/4214171223_26d49fa98a.jpg" alt="Hmmmm" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Eating is always nice.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4214171645/" title="Breakfast by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2658/4214171645_e55c47d81b.jpg" alt="Breakfast" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />In video, a recap of the weekend at the condo:<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="267"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=5c1afa3e10&photo_id=4214333563"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=5c1afa3e10&photo_id=4214333563" width="400" height="267"></embed></object><br /><br />The day before we were scheduled to leave and drive straight to the airport, we were checking the weather and saw many dire warnings about a massive storm about to hit and potentially close all roads out of the area for a day or so. So, we packed up and headed out a day early and crashed at Carl and Tory's place in Boulder. We left the babe with grandma for a while and took a nice day hike in the snowy hills on the edge of Boulder known as the Flatirons (same place we went in the summer). Another bone chillingly cold day, but a beautiful hike.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4214942970/" title="COLD by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2702/4214942970_88348f1089.jpg" alt="COLD" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4214174019/" title="Scary by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2794/4214174019_1708f02a3b.jpg" alt="Scary" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />The rest of December, we laid low around home. Had a quiet Christmas at home with a couple potluck meals - one at Merv and Carolyn's and another at Melody and Dwayne's Eugene home. We were pretty skimpy on the whole Christmas Day celebration for Cam - again, he doesn't know any better. We gave him two simple gifts - the more expensive one he could care less about. Of course.<br /><br />Our Christmas Card photo:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4279948160/" title="Christmas Card Take 2 by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2777/4279948160_d0a18ae8b4.jpg" alt="Christmas Card Take 2" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Would have been a great photo if it wasn't quite so bright.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4279204613/" title="Christmas Card Take 3 by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4279204613_ecca3bfc5c.jpg" alt="Christmas Card Take 3" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Loves his books and blocks.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4204759441/" title="Trucks by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2606/4204759441_77b47b17aa.jpg" alt="Trucks" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4279223455/" title="Blocks by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4012/4279223455_4ca9cbe96d.jpg" alt="Blocks" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />And his bus. A great find from Grandma.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4279966360/" title="Stunned in the bus by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2700/4279966360_2f7c4ce9f1.jpg" alt="Stunned in the bus" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Corrine and the kids have moved to the East side of the mountains so we hardly ever get to see them anymore. They did pay us a nice visit just before Christmas. I know I say this every time, but I can't believe how big her kids are getting!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4279222037/" title="Kiel and Cam by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4279222037_519c4cbb62.jpg" alt="Kiel and Cam" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4279968918/" title="Trin and Cam by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4019/4279968918_1e99ba2202.jpg" alt="Trin and Cam" width="338" height="500" /></a><br /><br />For New Years we went out to the John and Jenn's place on the coast again. We've done this for the past three years. John was down in Pasadena this year though watching and photographing the Ducks in the Rosebowl, so they did not join us. We were ready for a weekend away, so we we went ahead without them. There were record high tides this particular weekend, as was evident by the roads as we approached Florence along the Siuslaw River.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4320054390/" title="High Water by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4320054390_1ee607a424.jpg" alt="High Water" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />It was mostly rainy, but we had some nice breaks from it and a few nice outings. Cam as usual, loved the times down at the beach and in the dunes.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4320054796/" title="Walking by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2678/4320054796_a786e41a8a.jpg" alt="Walking" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />The rain and tides left some crazy foam. And a broken ladder.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4319321713/" title="What foam? by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4319321713_daf84ee1e3.jpg" alt="What foam?" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4320057940/" title="Happy Kid by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/4320057940_c74945f2b8.jpg" alt="Happy Kid" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />And since then, we've been carrying on with life. Work for me has been mostly good with only the occasional crisis. I've been able to get off early quite a bit lately which, as always, is good for tucking Cam in at night but bad on the paycheck. Keith and Pat have stayed busy with a couple substantial projects. Busy enough to warrant putting Cam back in daycare twice a week. We had to change daycare centers as our old one is no longer willing to work with flexible schedules. With Melody and Dwayne up here each week watching him on Tues and Wed, we only need two half days a week at daycare for now. We like our new place - the building is more spacious with better play areas for the kids, but man, dropping him off is the pits. Everyone assures me he does fine all day and Keith says he is perfectly happy when he picks him up, and get this - he naps longer there than he does at home! But man he cries when I let go of him and hand him over. It's that frantic, horrible I-can't-breathe cry that just breaks my heart each time. Granted, sometimes he stops crying before I can even get to the door. But still. I want to be the one that picks him up! Do kids ever get used to that and not cry when you leave?<br /><br />Meanwhile, I've been able to get this blog posted and my house clean and my laundry done and a full night's of uninterrupted sleep because my sweet husband took my sweet boy to the coast with John and Bea for the weekend. I have had two days of quiet. I haven't changed a diaper in 24 hours. And I spent last evening sharing a bottle of wine with Jenn while we cooked, chatted and watched a movie. And I miss my boys and am ready for them to be home. Life's funny, isn't it?<br /><br />A couple random pics from January. Until next time!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4320084322/" title="Busy Walking by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4026/4320084322_67a3d6f732.jpg" alt="Busy Walking" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />What a sweet face.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4320076940/" title="Sweet Girl by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4320076940_3f7c539c52.jpg" alt="Sweet Girl" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Oh the puddles!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4320089622/" title="New Boots... by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4031/4320089622_aa1a47a849.jpg" alt="New Boots..." width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Gracie is at her happiest when Camden is eating.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4319356509/" title="Best Friends.... by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4319356509_f0e04fa69d.jpg" alt="Best Friends...." width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />He is very proud of himself when he makes his way up onto the chair. Luckily he hasn't been tempted to climb up on anything else yet, and can get himself safely down.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4320090862/" title="Chillin by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2712/4320090862_c838ac4fae.jpg" alt="Chillin" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Reading in his chair. He is such a talker now. He will try to imitate almost any word you say. His latest words are apple, mama (finally!), and boots.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4320091306/" title="Reading by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4057/4320091306_f93d914fa1.jpg" alt="Reading" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Who couldn't love this face?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4320110980/" title="Sweet by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2695/4320110980_6d26e8a17e.jpg" alt="Sweet" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4319378231/" title="Oh how he melts my heart... by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2787/4319378231_f930708657.jpg" alt="Oh how he melts my heart..." width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />And a couple of videos for your viewing pleasure.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=d851437845&photo_id=4320151050"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=d851437845&photo_id=4320151050" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=5102525317&photo_id=4319446551"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=5102525317&photo_id=4319446551" width="400" height="300"></embed></object>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-55996027089826173452009-11-26T18:32:00.000-08:002009-11-28T17:22:10.025-08:00One Year<div><span style="font-style: italic;">A letter to my son on his first birthday. I've seen others do this on their blogs and thought it was such a good idea, I had to copy it.</span><br /><br />My Dear, Sweet Camden,<br /><br />It is so hard to believe that one year ago you had just arrived in our lives. After nine months of a relatively uncomplicated pregnancy, you made a rough and rather explosive arrival into this world. I knew our lives would change, but I had no idea they would change this much or that I would be able to love a human being as much as I love you. My friends all told me, but there is no way to describe it. It has been a roller coaster ride this past year with moments of utter frustration and moments of complete wonder.<br /><a title="Cam.Nov08-96 by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3121008721/"><img alt="Cam.Nov08-96" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3113/3121008721_66e7af2993.jpg" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />You have grown into such a big, beautiful and smart boy. It is amazing to see how much growing you have done in just one year. No wonder you're always so hungry!<br /><br />You now let me sleep until about 5:00 AM before needing some more milk (yes I'm still breast feeding you, but we're tapering down....you'll have to learn to like that cow's milk here soon buddy!). It's hard to believe there was a time I was up with you every 2-3 hours to feed you. What a blur those first two months were. You were a pretty good baby overall - only crying to eat or if you were tired. I just never knew I would be so tired. You made good improvements in your sleep ability, but we can't say you officially "slept through the night" until you were about 10 1/2 months old. As much as we hated it, we had to just let you cry because you didn't know that you could put yourself to sleep without some milk or cuddling. As with everything else, you were a fast learner.<br /><a title="Zonked by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3081887086/"><img alt="Zonked" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/3081887086_b11c69dfbc.jpg" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />You came out bald, and now you still have a peculiar hair line, but at least you have hair. It's not thick, but it is blond as can be and smooth as silk with a funny little curl forming at the bottom. You've been in cloth diapers all you life so you look like you have a big butt, but really you've been growing along at a fast clip and in a very propotional manner - holding steady in the 75th percentile. At your one year visit you were 25 pounds and 30 inches tall.<br /><br />You eat with fervor. I honestly don't know if you would stop eating as you never appear full. Sometimes you start playing with your food and throw some on the floor, so I take that as a cue that you might be done. I do not know where you pack all that food away. I'm happy that you have not been a picky eater so far - I'm sure that will change, but for now, you eat broccoli, lentil beans, avocado and anything else I put in front of you. But you do have some favorites - you are very partial to cottage cheese and bread products. If you see either of these on the plate, you will throw a fit until they are all gone, refusing everything else.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3426042570/" title="A good eater, just like his parents by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3415/3426042570_b8ae7f4671.jpg" alt="A good eater, just like his parents" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Over the last couple months you have learned so many things and are able to show us that you know these things. We have been pretty lazy with the baby signing, but in the last few weeks you have really picked up on some. You recently starting signing 'more' while eating and thank God for that as before it was a bunch of screaming in between bites, as we couldn't shovel the food in fast enough. Now, it's just a cute banging of one fist on the other open palm - you're own unique version of the sign, but we'll take it. You can sign 'sleep', 'round and round' when you see a fan or wheel) and 'fish'. But more impressively, your verbal skills continue to amaze us. You say truck, clock and sock (they all sound the same: "guck"), but you clearly know the difference. Your first word was doggee, and now it comes out as dogggg..........geee. You make your own unique sounds for duck, bear, cat, monkey, dog, and bird. When we say, "A cat goes....", you respond with the appropriate sound. When we tell you to sit down or stand up, you do so. When we tell you to go get your monkey or bear, you toddle off and go find it and bring it back. And the list goes on. It just continues to amaze us how much you comprehend and how many new things you learn each day.<br /><br />You love your books. We leave a bunch out on a shelf within your reach and you pull them down one by one and sit in a messy pile of books, reading through each one of them. You've been turning pages for months now, and often times prefer to flip through big people books with the thin pages. When you really want a specific book, you pick it up and reach it out to us and start giggling deliriously until we start reading it to you.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3925350928/" title="I like books. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2607/3925350928_4da69d279a.jpg" alt="I like books." height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />You have the sweetest laugh, and it comes easily. A little game of peek-a-boo, the mention or sight of food, a game of tug-o-war, or the proposition of a book being read to you all gets you laughing. It has always been one of our greatest joys to hear you laugh - even though you seem to be amused at the strangest and simplest of things. I hope you always stay this lighthearted.<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="300" width="400"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=6c29535794&photo_id=3644264477"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=6c29535794&photo_id=3644264477" height="300" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="300" width="400"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=d2bba53281&photo_id=3924615945"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=d2bba53281&photo_id=3924615945" height="300" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />You started walking when you were ten months old, and haven't slowed down since. You zoom on down the sidewalk, trail or around and around the house. You rarely look up while you're walking and sometimes swing your left arm is strong determination. The only thing that slows you down is a big ol truck with big ol wheels. You love your doggie and wander on down the hallway each morning looking for her first before all things. Gracie has been very tolerant of you and really only disliked the stage where you would grab her hair in your tight little palms and pull. Now she is still more interested in food than anything else, but doesn't mind as you pet her gently and climb over the top of her.<br /><br />You consume our lives. There are times I can't wait to put you down for a nap so that I can have some quiet time, and then 30 minutes after you've been asleep, I become restless and wonder when you are going to wake up. I love the first moments after you wake up. You are so cuddly, and wrap your arms around my neck and nestle your head onto my shoulder. I can never get to work in time because I fret for every last second as I try to get out the door either saying good bye to you over and over or making sure whoever is taking care of you knows exactly when you napped and what you've eaten and what you should eat for lunch (because of course no one else could figure any of that out). As my work day ends, I am so anxious to get home especially if I know you're still awake and I might get one last hug before bed. As you sleep soundly in your crib, your father and I often stand together and stare at you and marvel at how incredibly cute you are and how lucky we are to have you in our lives. I often cringe when I first hear your cry at 5:00 AM, but once I have you in my arms and you start drinking, I forgive you all over again.<br /><br />I try to check myself when I start to get frustrated, or exhausted or get feelings of wondering when I may have more than 30 minutes to myself that I can spend on something other than dishes, laundry or bills and remind myself how fast this time is going by and it will all be a blur someday. As I rock you to sleep at night I find myself hugging you tighter and not wanting to put you down, cherishing this time in our lives together. There will come a day when you will become independent and may treat me with indifference, whereas now, you have an unconditional love for me and your father. You lunge for us when you're upset, you give me the widest grin when I walk in the door from work, and you feel safe in our arms when you're feeling tired, sad or scared.<br /><br />You are a precious little boy and have brought such joy into our lives. You have no idea how much you mean to us and how lucky we feel to have such a perfect little guy. We can't imagine our lives without you in it and I can't wait to see the boy and man you are going to become. We love you Ahgee!<br /><br /><a title="11 Days Old by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054483831/"><img alt="11 Days Old" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/3054483831_696c213676.jpg" height="375" width="500" /></a></div><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3237700992/" title="Sweet by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3101/3237700992_d918dc6029.jpg" alt="Sweet" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4028835472/" title="10 1/2 months by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2507/4028835472_cb0c42328f_b.jpg" alt="10 1/2 months" height="768" width="1024" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4141684021/" title="Big Boy by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2600/4141684021_236d4181de.jpg" alt="Big Boy" height="500" width="375" /></a>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-31240292605359332302009-10-31T23:30:00.000-07:002009-11-01T00:19:46.026-07:00My Trip to Colorado.....and a bunch of other stuffLike my mother, I am a little late on the blog entry, but given it is my first, and I am only 8 months old, I thought you might be forgiving this time around.<br />Back in late June, I took my first major trip and got to go visit my aunt and uncle in Boulder, Colorado. It was a very eventful trip from the eyes of an infant, and a little more mellow for my mom and dad, but I think they had a great time as well. It all started on a Wednesday night. My mom got off work early, so we headed up to Portland well before dark and settled into my Auntie Jenn and Uncle John's loft that they were kind enough to let us use. There were lots of cool new toys there that I got to play with!<br /><br />Being as there was not a crib there, I got to sleep in the bed with mom and dad. Which is always great, but then they woke me up at 3:40 in the morning! They are always complaining about me not sleeping enough at night, so why in the world did they wake me up? Whatever. They kept me up, mom gave me some milk, then they packed me into the big overnight backpack and we went walking down the city streets for about a mile. Mom was carrying me and my carseat (which was weird) and dad had this huge suitcase and another backpack that he looked like he was struggling with a bit. At any rate, then we loaded onto this thing that was kind of a cross between a bus and a train. I was pretty tired, but this was all so new, I just couldn't fall asleep. This thing (I heard my parents call it a MAX) took us to a HUGE building with so many people and lights where everyone was carrying suitcases like my daddy.<br /><br />We waited on a long line, then another long line, then I got to play on the floor for a while, then we got on another line and into another strange machine where lots of adults were sitting in chairs all facing the same direction. By this point, I was so exhausted, I just curled up on mommy's chest and fell asleep. After I woke up, I was still in the same place and just got to play on my mom and dad's laps for the next two hours. They kept making all this fuss about what a good kid I was being. We got off the first machine (a lot of people used the word airplane) and onto another one just like it where I got to play on their laps and giggle at kids behind me for another hour or so. When we got off that one, we walked out to where a bunch of cars were and this guy who looked strangely familiar to me picked us up and we drove in the car for a while - I think I slept some of the way.<br /><br />Finally we got to a house, but it wasn't my house. It was smaller, and really hot. Mom set me on the floor (did I mention I hadn't had a proper nap since 3:00 AM and I've become really attached to mom and dad and I was in all kinds of strange places in one day). I mean she just plopped me on the floor with no warning and all of a sudden these two strange (yet also familiar) faces swooped in on me and gave me big goofy grins. I didn't know what to do, so I cried. Hard. Mom had the sense to pick me back up and get my used to the place first before doing that again.<br /><br />Later in the day we took a walk to a park which was really fun. I got to swing, play in the grass and daddy even let me play on the big kid toys that are made of metal and rock back and forth. Well, I got so excited, I moved quicker and stronger than dad was expecting and fell flat on my face onto that metal. Man that hurt. I sure got a lot of attention from mom and dad though. There was lots of talk about blood and scars though. So I cried some more. Hey - I'm just a baby.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3732881997/" title="My first boo boo by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2519/3732881997_307d847bd8.jpg" alt="My first boo boo" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />The next day, I felt a little more like myself finally getting a full night's sleep in a crib. After being given asparagus for breakfast (yuck, what was that all about?) We headed out late in the morning and went for a long dayhike, up in these rally cool mountains called the Flatirons. They are just right outside of Boulder and apparently a very popular area as there were lots of other people and lots of other babies in backpacks like mine. It was a fine hike and I got to spend most of the time on Uncle Carl's back. It's hot there in Colorado. I'm glad I get to ride everywhere I go - those adults sure were sweating a lot. I took a nap towards the top. I know, I can sleep anywhere!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3774835907/" title="Crashed in the pack by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2467/3774835907_e84e42af67.jpg" alt="Crashed in the pack" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />On the way up:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3774834783/" title="Resting by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3563/3774834783_841cbb5d2d.jpg" alt="Resting" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />I guess this is why this area got the name Flatirons, although Daddy likes to call them FlatTrons.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3774835601/" title="Flatirons in the background by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3422/3774835601_d2083d197e.jpg" alt="Flatirons in the background" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />After having lunch, we decided we'd better hurry down. Boulder is notorious for it's afternoon thunderstorms, and the skies were getting dark. Daddy carried me this time, and he made good time, but we weren't quite fast enough. Just as we got out of the trees the rain started. And it came down hard. And then it turned to hail. I know I have a nice pack and all, and it has a cover on it, but it doesn't have covers on the sides and the hail was coming in sideways at me. And it hurt and it was cold, and I didn't like it. So I cried. A lot. All I had on were shorts and a short sleeve top! But they got me in the car fast and I felt better pretty soon after that.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3774835311/" title="Afternoon thunderstorms on the way... by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3595/3774835311_219867e02e.jpg" alt="Afternoon thunderstorms on the way..." width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>Camden "wrote" this about two months ago, and that is where things have stayed. I had some time today to see if I couldn't get things caught up before Cam's first birthday. That's right, I said FIRST birthday. Our little munchkin is almost one year old already if you can believe it. So I'm going to blow through things here and just hit the highlights of the last four months.</div><div><br /></div><div>The rest of our Boulder trip was great. Paul joined us for the weekend and we all did an amazing overnight hike in an area called Peaceful Valley which is just over an hour outside of Boulder and at the edge of the Rockies. Camden did great (aside from a little trouble in the middle of the night) and the scenery was absolutely stunning. </div><div><br />The Rockies and approaching the meadow where we would set up camp.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3733682956/" title="First glimpse at the Rockies by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2532/3733682956_1e2ab97635.jpg" alt="First glimpse at the Rockies" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />My brothers and I in a pretty amazing valley.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3734336188/" title="Siblings by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2565/3734336188_5ee40478a7.jpg" alt="Siblings" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Chillin around camp:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3732884129/" title="Camp by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/3732884129_3e9fcbbdc8.jpg" alt="Camp" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>We were pretty relaxed for the rest of the trip, just hanging at Carl's. We spent an afternoon at the local river and Carl and Keith took a short inner tube ride down some rapids that were raging a lot higher than average for this time of year. It was an uneventful ride home. Cam did great again and on the MAX back in Portland he was an absolute freak and screamed in joy the whole way home. The other people on the train thought it was amusing at first, then I'm sure it got old. By the time we walked in our door at midnight, Gracie was waiting for us and did her usual "talking". Camden was so tired and disoriented he looked at her and started crying uncontrollably grabbing onto me for dear life. By the morning all was back to normal.<br /><br />Fourth of July was a nice weekend. We had great weather, lots of the cousins showed up and I felt like I actually had some down time for a change. No crazy adventures or stories to tell. Lots of eating, swimming and playing with the baby.<br /><br />Camden's first swim in the Smith River.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3875649223/" title="Splashy splashy! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2482/3875649223_368b66b329.jpg" alt="Splashy splashy!" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Are we singing off key?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3875651419/" title="Camden not a fan of the music? by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3437/3875651419_573dbe9878.jpg" alt="Camden not a fan of the music?" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Breakfast.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3875651513/" title="Breakfast fresh out of the stream. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2468/3875651513_dd75b252f9.jpg" alt="Breakfast fresh out of the stream." width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />July was pretty uneventful. After maternity leave wiped out my PTO, any little vacation I take has to be followed by some solid work to build up a little more time off. Reading through my journal, I noted that this was about the time we decided we had to let Camden cry it out. Up until this point (he is about 8 months old at this time), he was still waking at 12:00, 2:00 and then 5:00 or 6:00. We would coddle him back to sleep for two of those wakings, and I would feed him on the other one. We thought 8 months was enough of that, and decided the only solution was to let him cry. Keith was nice enough to take that on as I give in way too easily. So he sat up with him and after about two or three nights of crying for about 20 minutes, he was sleeping from 8:00 PM until about 5:00 or 6:00AM. I'd feed him at that point, and usually take him back into bed with me for another little snooze.<br /></div><div><br />It was heaven, but it only lasted a couple weeks, then he got sick, then we went up to Gig Harbor, then he got sick again, then we got lazy, and then he got sick again - this time leading to an ear infection (he had a string of colds with a mild case of roseola thrown in there somewhere) and we were pretty much right back where we started. So about two weeks ago, we put the proverbial foot down again, let him work it out on his own, and now he's back to sleeping straight on through until about 6:00 or so. The nice thing about this kid (since I can't seem to get myself to bed before midnight) is that he'll go back to sleep after that early morning feeding allowing me a couple more hours of shut eye at what is always my groggiest time.<br /><br />So that's the story on sleep. For a while there I was wondering if I'd ever get 6 hours of sleep in a row again let alone 8. There is a light way off there at the end of that tunnel.<br /><br />Misc summer pics:<br />About 8 months old. Backyard bath.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3924548543/" title="Outdoor bath by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2424/3924548543_fe49e47da7.jpg" alt="Outdoor bath" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Just over 9 months and checking out the garden.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3948126447/" title="Garden Boy by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2624/3948126447_0c4251c727.jpg" alt="Garden Boy" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />What is so funny?<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=d2bba53281&photo_id=3924615945"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=d2bba53281&photo_id=3924615945" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />Reading. Yes, that is one of the favorites and we have it memorized.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3925350928/" title="I like books. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2607/3925350928_4da69d279a.jpg" alt="I like books." width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Just before Bea left for Italy. Mid-August.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3925335492/" title="Buddies by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3438/3925335492_3dc75ca83b.jpg" alt="Buddies" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />In late July I journeyed up to the Seattle area and made it to our annual girls' hike. It was a tradition started about 10 years ago back in Bellingham, WA as a bachelorette 'party' where just the girls went out on an overnight backpack trip. We try to make it happen every year whether we are celebrating an upcoming wedding or not. With babies and busy lives, the group is always a different one, but always a fun one. I hemmed and hawed about going as it was a long drive for me and I was still breastfeeding and everything seems so much harder with a wee one. With Keith's support (my manny), I was able to make it happen. I debated on taking Cam with me on the hike, but decided I had enough milk stored up and packed up my obnoxiously heavy (yet efficient), battery operated breast pump and left the baby with Dad and had some great girl time on the trail.<br /><br />Camden got to chill with this big kid while the mommies were away. What a doll.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3948211123/" title="Cam and Jacob by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2543/3948211123_3f5b3f4384.jpg" alt="Cam and Jacob" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />I'm glad I didn't bring Camden as the hike was kind of steep, there were a horrendous amount of mosquitoes and we spent part of our evening in the midst of an impressive thunder and lightening storm. Despite that, it was a gorgeous hike, we had plenty of DEET and the rains didn't hit until right after dinner. It is always great to see those girls and so hard to believe a whole year goes by before I can see most of them again.<br /><br />The girls. Who are very adept, I must say, at shielding rangers from pumping moms!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3948993576/" title="Most of the crew by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3458/3948993576_d856d2586f.jpg" alt="Most of the crew" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />The dog.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3948994096/" title="Gracie! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3508/3948994096_891ab4fc57.jpg" alt="Gracie!" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />The view. Cathedral Peak.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3948995794/" title="Cathedral Peak in sight. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2595/3948995794_cce89b918c.jpg" alt="Cathedral Peak in sight." width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Camden did a two week stint of "swim lessons". Should be called "getting your baby used to the water" lessons. He did great, and we lucked out with the weather as it was at an outdoor pool. He wasn't too fond of the water slide though.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3925349474/" title="Splashy by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2661/3925349474_928b1a5100.jpg" alt="Splashy" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />In early August (Cam is now almost 9 months) we drove back up to Washington again and gathered at my parents' place with my brothers and their ladies. The weather did not cooperate, but we still had a fine time. We forced ourselves out to the lake for a swim even though the sun didn't come out, played games, and of course stared at and played with the baby. On this trip he started to let go of furniture and hands and would stand temporarily on his own. His other skills at this stage are unpacking things (especially laundry baskets), spinning things, banging things together or on the floor, and playing peek-a-boo. And he LOVES being chased...especially after bath time.<br /><br />Family at the lake.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3875718373/" title="Carney Lake outing by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2671/3875718373_7bc42ce5a5.jpg" alt="Carney Lake outing" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Brothers.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3876509280/" title="Brothers by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2552/3876509280_97c650867a.jpg" alt="Brothers" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Camden exploring mom and dad's back yard.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3876511990/" title="Crawling through a field of dandelions by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2462/3876511990_08d2fa3073.jpg" alt="Crawling through a field of dandelions" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Cool little canoe trip on the way home.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3875716169/" title="Canoeing by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2647/3875716169_99a4e1c3bb.jpg" alt="Canoeing" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Somewhere around this time we also started him in daycare. We held off as long as we could, but Keith picked up a couple big projects and it became a necessity and financially made sense to do so. He did surprisingly well - the staff says he is an easy baby and mostly sits around and plays all day. I attribute his increase in illness to being there of course and the only other downfall is he really doesn't nap well there. But overall, we are happy with the place and think it is good for him to have that exposure.<br /><br />Mid August, John, Jenn and Bea left for Italy for 2 months and my mom came down to house and dog sit for them. Great to have my mom down, sad to have our dear friends gone for so long. It was really nice for my mom to get to spend so much time with Camden - she feels a little badly being so far away, so this was a great chance for her to really bond with him. Keith continued to work full time, so she was the daycare lady most days. About this time, Camden's language skills really started to pick up. His first sign was "round and round". John and Jenn have big ceiling fans that he loves to stare at and he started moving his hand around in a circle every time we would say round and round. He has been saying "dodgee" (dog) for a while but around this time started blowing out his nose and making a grunt every time he saw a dog (his version of a woof or bark).<br /><br />On September 1 (Cam is 9 1/2 months old), he took his first unaided steps! And we were lucky enough to get it on video.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=c788964761&photo_id=3881161459"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=c788964761&photo_id=3881161459" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /></div><br />A couple weeks went by where he didn't do much else besides walk while pushing a walker, or creep along furniture but then by the time he was a little over 10 months old, he was walking with purpose, that being his preferred mode of travel. Now, he is not even a year old yet, and sometimes we have a hard time keeping up with him, and it is scary how fast and how quietly they can move. You can't let your guard down for a second.<br /><br />September 5-6, Mom, Cam, Keith and I went to bits and pieces of the Eugene Celebration. A weekend of music, arts and food. We heard some good music and got some nice photo ops for Cam.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3924597039/" title="Is that really me? by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/3924597039_4ff216d12f.jpg" alt="Is that really me?" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />The Ken Kesey bus!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3925384340/" title="Colorful bus by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2604/3925384340_3974d83ce0.jpg" alt="Colorful bus" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3924598163/" title="Baby in Hubcap by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2560/3924598163_9c32a47dfd.jpg" alt="Baby in Hubcap" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3924597643/" title="Checkin out the live music scene by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3503/3924597643_52d92f988e.jpg" alt="Checkin out the live music scene" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />September 9-15 my Aunt Irene (my one and only aunt) came for a visit from New York. She had a grand ol time hanging out with Camden and probably was the instigator of his now almost obsession with books. Just before she got here, he was really starting to get interested in books and was quickly developing a couple favorites. His behavior was borderline OCD (we tease) because you could never stop reading them to him (or god forbid he would cry) or if you grabbed the wrong book, he'd throw a fit. Aunt Irene mailed him a whole box of beautiful books (some of which are now his favorites) and had no problem reading to him all day long. The two of them got along great and it is a shame she lives so far away.<br /><br />Breakfast.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4062782343/" title="Breaskfast with Aunt Irene by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2432/4062782343_56cc394198.jpg" alt="Breaskfast with Aunt Irene" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />While she was here, we spent a weekend out at the coast at John and Jenn's beach house. It was a lovely weekend (despite the fact that my back had just gone out) and the weather was gorgeous. Camden absolutely loved the beach. He was able to play in the sand this time and didn't feel the need to eat it.<br /><br />I love this one because it looks like mom is about to fall over, and Camden is rock solid.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4007008405/" title="Who is unsteady on their feet? by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2467/4007008405_ceaa9df59a.jpg" alt="Who is unsteady on their feet?" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4007778302/" title="Walking on sand by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2476/4007778302_1b78ea40b9.jpg" alt="Walking on sand" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4007008833/" title="Starfish by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2496/4007008833_5470c4bbb6.jpg" alt="Starfish" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />The last weekend in September, we left Camden with both grandpas for a night while Keith and I and Melody and my mom and Merv went and saw Lewis Black at the Hult Center. Despite a heckler who barely five minutes into the show yelled out, "You suck Black!" which was then followed by everyone in the audience yelling back and forth and Lewis Black standing on the stage with his head in his hands shaking his head at the idiocy of it all, it was a great show. A clever comedian with hilarious delivery.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4028071101/" title="Night out. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2794/4028071101_e66b405305.jpg" alt="Night out." width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Which brings us to October, of which today is the last day of.....Happy Halloween!<br />The rains have come, the leaves are all falling off the trees, and it gets dark pretty damn early. Not much happened in October, and I am really quite stunned that tomorrow is November. We went on a nice fall hike with my parents to Blue Hole. Keith and I did this hike while I was pregnant and we missed the blue hole effect as there was too much water, so we had been wanting to go back. A very nice, easy, perfect length hike to take an 11 month old on. He still tolerates the big pack, but would much rather be on the ground walking or up high on someone's shoulders.<br /><br />Tamolitch Falls/Blue Hole a year ago:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2618106405/" title="Tamolitch Falls and happy dog by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3155/2618106405_f08a1df195.jpg" alt="Tamolitch Falls and happy dog" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />The view this time:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4039861395/" title="The Blue Hole by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2633/4039861395_599810d118.jpg" alt="The Blue Hole" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />A nice ride.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4040611962/" title="Hitchin a ride on Grandpa by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2765/4040611962_0586f7ba71.jpg" alt="Hitchin a ride on Grandpa" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />He flies!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4039860897/" title="Flying by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2789/4039860897_b9c6521db6.jpg" alt="Flying" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />He hikes.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=40cd4980ec&photo_id=4040620944"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=40cd4980ec&photo_id=4040620944" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />Mom and Dad finished up their housesitting duties as of Oct 24 and on Monday I got to see that big girl Bea and her mom again! What a cutie. It's hard to believe these kids keep on getting cuter (even with those ginormous front teeth!). My dad had left earlier and drove to Utah and took a three day canoe trip down a river in a canoe made out of plywood (of my dad's creation) with my brothers. The take-out on this stretch of river was at a point where you had to walk out about five miles and they didn't want to pack a canoe that far, so they traveled on the river in something they could burn at the end. Yep, that's my family for you. No normal vacations thank you very much.<br /><br />Grandpa also had some good bonding time with both these yahoos.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4040593192/" title="Grandpa is silly by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2789/4040593192_84be7eeebd.jpg" alt="Grandpa is silly" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Mom left last weekend and we (yes, you too Keith) will miss her dearly. She has been wonderful for him. She gets credit for him saying 'meow meow', for grabbing his ear when you ask him where his ear is and for his love of giraffes. And many other amazing skills I'm sure.<br /><br />Mom and Cam on Spencer Butte.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4041432830/" title="Gramma and boy on Spencer Butte by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2614/4041432830_104ac0580d.jpg" alt="Gramma and boy on Spencer Butte" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />In the meantime Melody and Dwayne have been back and forth to Eugene several times and have also been instrumental in watching Cam while we both work to minimize daycare needs. He is becoming quite attached to them and always welcomes Melody with open arms and is finally warming up to Dwayne more after a couple days where Dwayne was the sole care provider for a couple hours. Not sure if he's changed a diaper yet, though. Not sure why I don't have more pictures with them in it!<br /><br />Camden continues to amaze us every day. Everything he does is pretty normal for his age I am sure, but I am still blown away when he says or recognizes a new word, or does some deliberate new action. I could make a list and brag about all the things he does, but god, that would be boring. Oh, all right.....I'll just mention a few that I think are cute or particularly brilliant.<br /><ul><li>He recognizes hot things (the fire, something cooking on the stove, a hot cup of tea or coffee) and says "Hot". </li><li>You tell him to bring you his shoes and he starts to giggle, looks around, finds both shoes, picks them up, brings them to you, and falls into your lap so you can put them on. Then as you're putting them on he grunts a little, because I used to make grunting sounds with some of the first shoes that were particularly hard to put on. Then he gets up and walks circles around the house until we go outside for our walk.<br /></li><li>He looks at the clock and says "clock" (Ok, so it sounds like cok...). He also says "truck" when he sees a truck (and this also sounds like cok or cuk).</li><li>He does and recognizes a few signs but only when asked to do them - he hasn't learned to initiate the communication with them yet - some of them are (changing your diaper, bird, round and round). </li><li>He giggles and laughs and then cries when you say "milk" or "eat", because yes, he wants that and he wants it NOW. Yes, he is still a fabulous eater. I think cottage cheese and crackers are his two most favorite things. He will stuff about 10 goldfish in his mouth without hesitation. </li><li>Giggles when he sees his blanket.</li><li>He spit out the binkie months ago and never wanted it again! Yay!</li><li>Says "Ahgee, ahgee" all the time. We have no idea what it means, but we love it.</li><li>In the morning, we all snuggle in our bed together, and he always reaches up to the headboard and grabs my chapstick and pulls the lid off and plays with it for about 20 minutes. He never fails to do this and he never gets tired of it. Very weird.</li></ul>OK. That's enough. Clearly you can see that he is a prodigy and will be starting college next year.<br /><br />Although I suppose I should mention that he has some not so flattering traits starting to rear their ugly head, so maybe we'll hold off on the higher education for now. He is starting to fake cry the nanosecond that something doesn't go his way. He throws temper tantrums by flopping his head down onto the floor and crying. He's been out of daycare now for two months with mom being down here, and he is clearly lacking for baby interaction social skills. Now when we go to social situations with other kids and a kid takes a toy away from him, he looks the kid in the eye and does this loud, horrendous, embarrassing-to-be-his-parent scream. Lovely. And tonight, petite, dainty little girl Bea was over (yes, Camden is now taller and bigger than her) and when Camden wants to get by her, he literally pushes her out of the way, sometimes knocking her over. She takes it like a trooper and just looks more stunned than anything. Geesh. How do you teach a one year old some manners? It is very interesting as these two kids grow up to see the boy/girl differences start to show.<br /><br />I think I'll leave it there and call myself caught up. Clearly he is still the focus of our lives, and we wouldn't have it any other way.<br /><br />Finally, more pictures.....as always you can see all of them at our Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/ (The link is now also off to the right on this main page).<br /><br />Ear protection.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4028070369/" title="Ears by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2690/4028070369_e5572c7abc.jpg" alt="Ears" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Almost 11 months old here.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4028071541/" title="Cute by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2426/4028071541_f92dc642b3.jpg" alt="Cute" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Drum!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4040691319/" title="Drum by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2516/4040691319_05fbabbbe1.jpg" alt="Drum" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Tiny Tots Halloween Party.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4040700205/" title="Costume by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2791/4040700205_f600bb3f12.jpg" alt="Costume" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />I really get to eat this?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4041445916/" title="Cookie decorating... by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/4041445916_f9d7efea10.jpg" alt="Cookie decorating..." width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />One of our all time favorite pics. The innocence.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4040700861/" title="My first cookie by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/4040700861_09b9a2a382.jpg" alt="My first cookie" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Visit to the pumpkin patch.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4044054385/" title="Fall scene by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2790/4044054385_47f12a6dda.jpg" alt="Fall scene" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4044801028/" title="I can't lift it! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2446/4044801028_3ac12cb378.jpg" alt="I can't lift it!" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Sweet.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4044803576/" title="Dad and son on hayride by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3551/4044803576_b885912b70.jpg" alt="Dad and son on hayride" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Family.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/4040685741/" title="Family on a Butte by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2604/4040685741_ae653561b6.jpg" alt="Family on a Butte" width="500" height="375" /></a>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-81585095651387486032009-06-06T17:36:00.001-07:002009-06-29T22:06:48.906-07:00FirstsI hate starting every blog with a statement of how I can't believe how fast time is going by and how long it has been since my last post. But geez. Is it really almost July already? I'm not sure how to even start catching up on every little detail. Wait, maybe that is a good thing - you probably don't want to hear every little detail, so I'll try for the highlights.<br /><br />The only reason I am able to finally sit down and update this blog is that we are finally on a vacation. I am sitting in my brother and Tory's cozy (albeit slightly warm....although I can't complain, I have the swamp cooler pointed straight at me) apartment in Boulder, CO. I've been trying to get out here for years to visit these guys and we finally just picked a weekend and made the trip.<br /><br />Camden, 7 1/2 months old now if you can believe it, did very, very well on the trip today. The rest of the day after getting here was more challenging, but he was a champ through all the transport. From the moment we roused him from bed at 3:40 AM to when we walked into their apartment he was mostly smiles, interrupted with a few catnaps and a few grumpy whimpers. Then he was placed on the floor and surrounded by his aunt and uncle and started screaming. No offense guys - his routine has been severely interrupted and he hadn't had a decent nap all day and then was placed in another new and strange place in front of your goofy faces? Who could blame him. Seriously, though, he became comfortable with the place quickly and started playing and gave them some good smiles. The rest of the afternoon was on and off grumpy and a lot of protest for a nap and his first war wound at the park (picture to follow) and finally he is down for the night (we hope). Meanwhile Carl and Tory are fixing us dinner and we are vegging on the couch enjoying some down time.<br /><br />So last time I wrote, Camden was only 4 months old, and I think our major milestone was that he had rolled over. Well, he is now crawling with focus, he has 1 1/2 teeth, says ma-ma, ba-ba, ptthththththt, aaaahhhhh! pulls himself to standing on short objects (like the dog), feeds himself cheerios, raises his arms over his head when he wants to be picked up, claps his hands (and any other two objects together) and unfortunately has really learned who mom and dad are and will cry sometimes when separated. It all seems to have happened so fast - he spent about a month rocking back and forth on all fours, then suddenly one evening (about three weeks ago) right before bedtime he did this:<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="300" width="400"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=97e90995e3&photo_id=3644392177"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=97e90995e3&photo_id=3644392177" height="300" width="400"></embed></object><br />Shortly afterwards the first tooth came and things have been snowballing from there. Currently he seems to want to abandon the crawl, and move on to a mixture of bear crawl and regular crawl as he seems to think he wants to walk soon or something. Gracie is his absolute favorite target - his fastest crawl is when he spots her and decides he wants her, then he climbs all over her, grabbing fistfuls of her hair. Bless her heart, she is so tolerant, but the strength of his little fists can really hurt (trust me, I know as he also likes to play with my hair), and I can see her patience waning at times and spend the better part of my day trying to keep the two separated.<br /><br />His other recent fascination is making noise - he loves to bang things together, slap his hand repeatedly on skin, the floor, a table, and pick up hard objects and throw them down on the tile floor to hear the noise....and repeat. He is eating well - his repertoire is increasing rapidly. He loves mango now, but the first couple goes of it he wasn't so sure:<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="300" width="400"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=4da94399d1&photo_id=3644383355"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=4da94399d1&photo_id=3644383355" height="300" width="400"></embed></object>The thing that isn't going so well, is his sleeping schedule. Naps are erratic in length - he will go from napping for 20 minutes twice a day one day to three 90 minute naps the next. And nights....well, we have regressed slightly on our success with sleeping through the night. He has not learned how to put himself back to sleep as he comes in and out of his sleep cycles and now that he is so mobile, as soon as he wakes up he sits up in his crib, hangs his head, flaps his arms and lets out a pitiful, mournful cry until rescued and rocked, cooed, and patted back to sleep. On a good night, this only happens at 2:00 AM, and again at 5:00 AM which is when he is ready for food. On a bad night this happens at 12:00, 2:00, 4:00 and again at 6:00 - with one feeding somewhere in there. We are starting to get exhausted and exasperated with the situation especially when I hear about other 7 month olds sleeping 12 hours straight. When we get back from CO, we might have to give the cry-it-out a try. I tried one night to let him cry - my goal was 10 minutes, but I only made it to 7 after hearing his head bang against the crib one too many times.<br /><br />So, major events since the last time I posted......first up, back in March I made a trip up to Gig Harbor to help out my mom after her surgery. To liven things up, my brothers made a surprise visit out to lend some support and for an impromptu family gathering. It was hilarious to see my parent's expression when they walked in the door. It was a pretty low key visit, so not much to write about, but my brothers hadn't seen Camden since November, so they had a good time getting to play with a slightly more interactive baby.<br /><br />Teaching him the finer points of physics or programming.....that's about how I look when the conversation turns that direction when they are all together:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3425196159/" title="Chillin with the Uncles by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3299/3425196159_5ac6c3af05.jpg" alt="Chillin with the Uncles" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />One of the many ways they entertained themselves with the baby:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3425194217/" title="What uncles do to their nephew by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3589/3425194217_4d4eb60ddf.jpg" alt="What uncles do to their nephew" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />A look at how exciting things got around the living room:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3425195613/" title="Nice Family Portrait by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3343/3425195613_0f0ebee052.jpg" alt="Nice Family Portrait" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Shortly after, we took Camden on his first camping trip. We headed out to a place called Fall Creek which is nice because it is so close. Before going, we upgraded to a larger, car-camping size tent. We didn't think we'd be the type to get such a tent, but we wanted extra room to put all the baby stuff - the size tent we actually came away with is borderline obnoxious. The other part that was obnoxious was how ridiculously full our Explorer was. Why for one night of camping does the entire car plus a roof rack have to be full? Does having a baby change things that much? We'll try to do better next time.<br /><br />We were a little early on the camping, as all the campgrounds were still closed for winter. We weren't deterred though, and found a nice rustic "campsite" off the road that suited us just fine. It had a nice clearing for the tent, an established fire pit and was right on a creek. We didn't do much except lounge around camp, but it was a good first outing for the year. Camden did great. And although it got quite cold at night, he seemed to enjoy himself aplenty.<br /><br />Happy Campers:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3426026580/" title="Happy by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3590/3426026580_e3907edb51.jpg" alt="Happy" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Not a bad napping spot:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3426026346/" title="Napping by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3632/3426026346_09bd9ddaf2.jpg" alt="Napping" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Corrine and the kids joined us - Trinity celebrated her 9th birthday on this weekend!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3425216901/" title="Smily with the goofy girls by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3425216901_7bb8ded35f.jpg" alt="Smily with the goofy girls" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />A cold night.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3426026720/" title="A slightly chilly night. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3552/3426026720_42c730fd65.jpg" alt="A slightly chilly night." height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />He loves gazing at the river.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3426027304/" title="Gazing by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3390/3426027304_c093d42d04.jpg" alt="Gazing" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />The next outing was a one night stay at Belknap hotsprings, where Keith's parents were kind enough to rent a cabin for the night. It was a lovely stay, and although Camden is too young to go in the hot springs we got lots of rejuvenating soak time.<br /><br />Lots of babies! Merv and Carolyn and their foster girls joined us as well.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3562173180/" title="Babies and carriers by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2447/3562173180_b10a742205.jpg" alt="Babies and carriers" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Camden at this stage liked grabbing for tree branches and checking out all the different species.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3561355905/" title="Ahhhh, cedar trees. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2343/3561355905_9eee8026eb.jpg" alt="Ahhhh, cedar trees." height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Back at home, Keith, always on the prowl for projects around the house so he can "get something done" while I'm at work, spied a tree in the neighbors yard that just had to come down or our garden would perish. He received immediate permission from the neighbor to take it down. Now this is not a small tree. It is a very tall Evergreen that can't just be chopped down - someone's house would surely take a hit. In order to get it down, it needed to be topped first. So he started right off taking down limbs until he couldn't get any higher. Then in casual conversation with his friend, Pat, who has ten of everything, he was discussing the tree, and Keith was musing how he was thinking about buying some climbing spurs so he could top it, but man they are a little expensive. Good ol Pat just happens to have a pair. Great. Now my husband, father of my child, is set on climbing a 100 foot tree with spikes and then handle a chain saw while suspended by a leather belt. I tried to get him to hire it out, but he would have none of it.<br /><br />As usual he pulled it off. My folks were in town while this was going on, so with my dad's help, they got it down safely and everyone's roofs in the near vicinity came away unscathed.<br /><br />A little practice before hand. Mind you, my dad has a little more sense then Keith and this is about as far up as he got.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3562174064/" title="Practice by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2455/3562174064_993ff5dfbb.jpg" alt="Practice" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Keith on the other hand.....<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3561356175/" title="My lumberjack of a husband. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3305/3561356175_b43675bd3b.jpg" alt="My lumberjack of a husband." height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Next up.....are you still with me? This is long I know, but I'm almost done. I think. At least halfway. Feel free to log off and come back later.<br /><br />I had the opportunity to join Jenn and a bunch of lovely ladies at Jenn's beach house to celebrate another baby on the way and just some time with women (and babies). We try to all get together for brunch at least once a month, and this time we gathered out at the coast for a couple of days of as much R & R as you can get with all the kiddos. It was a lovely time as usual. Everyone's time there was staggered, but the weather was great and we had a nice walk in the woods and lots of nice walks on the beach as well as great conversation, company and food of course!<br /><br />Jenn entertaining the kids.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3644818999/" title="Kids by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3354/3644818999_ded4178a8e.jpg" alt="Kids" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Cadie's baby is on the way! Little Ian should be showing up in September sometime.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3644819383/" title="Another Baby on the way! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3360/3644819383_b8f38c4149.jpg" alt="Another Baby on the way!" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Beautiful ladies on a beautiful beach.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3644819411/" title="Beach walk by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3609/3644819411_8572f65d56.jpg" alt="Beach walk" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Camden's first opportunity to play with sand. Of course it goes straight to his mouth. Yummy.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3644820641/" title="Snacks by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3358/3644820641_386a48f7e3.jpg" alt="Snacks" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />I love this picture. Two little people - one interested in her food the other wondering how in the world that big girl can get that food into her mouth all by herself.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3645625122/" title="Please pass the sippy cup by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3409/3645625122_c2cb18c105.jpg" alt="Please pass the sippy cup" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We've been saying since before we had a kid that we wouldn't stop hiking and backpacking just because we have a baby. We want to get him on as many outdoor adventures as possible. So, holding true to our word we set out earlier this month on our first backpacking trip with the little guy. As we do every year, we went a little too high up a little too early in the season and after getting loaded up with our heavy, heavy packs we only got a quarter of a mile in and hit snow and completely lost the trail. So, back to the car, and back down the road but we decided to drive back a different way. Big mistake. There was some snow on this part of the road and even though it was what appeared to be a small patch, it packed a powerful blow.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3644852777/" title="First attempt... by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3351/3644852777_07878f62e8.jpg" alt="First attempt..." height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />An hour later after lots of digging on Keith's part we were back on our way to lower elevations. Not to be denied a hiking trip, we found a trail along Hills Creek Reservoir that followed a creek and we hit the trail by 3:00, baby on my back with his and my clothes, Keith with everything else on his back and Wiley The Pug and Gracie in tow. About a mile in we passed a lovely campsite, but surely there would be more and as there would be plenty of daylight and it felt like we had only just begun walking we decided to push on. 5:00 arrived and there was not a campsite to be seen, my shoulders where screaming (by the way, when we got home, we weighed our packs and they each weighed just over 40 pounds), I was tired, the dogs were tired, Camden had had enough of being strapped in, so I said enough, let's just go back to the first campsite. Keith said, fine, you stay here, I'll just run up the trail a little ways to make sure there isn't a site around the next corner - keep the dogs, let Camden out and I'll be back in 10 minutes. Fine. It made the dogs very nervous to be left behind from the guy in front, and I turned my head once away from Wiley and poof, he was gone. As tired as that little guy was, he was not going to be left behind and chased on after Keith.<br /><br />No luck on finding a site, so we trucked it on back to the original site and I fed the hungry baby while Keith set up camp. Things went fine, and we enjoyed some time around the fire. Both dogs were happy to be done walking, but Wiley, being a mostly indoor dog wanted nothing more than to curl up on his couch at home, and was very reluctant to let himself fall asleep lest he miss the bus home.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="300" width="400"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=eb595ecff0&photo_id=3644854481"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=eb595ecff0&photo_id=3644854481" height="300" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />Trouble started again as we all went to bed. Camden was put to bed earlier on a pad made up of our clothes. Keith insisted on sleeping outside as he was sure there wouldn't be room in the tent for two adults a baby and a pug. So he curled up on the rainfly and I was left to tend to the "children". Wiley is a good camper....eventually. His first night in a tent is usually a stressful one and this was no exception. He won't let himself relax. He sits up and stairs at you. Walks to the corner and stares outside. Circles nervously. I finally got him snuggled up by me and we all were asleep. For about 20 minutes, after which Camden started screaming bloody murder for a good half hour, not to be consoled by anything. After milk, teething drops, and some Tylenol, he finally went back down. Then Wiley started acting strange and before I knew it he was puking. On my pants. The only pair I brought. Meanwhile as I am hinting that an extra set of hands in here would sure be nice, Keith is outside thinking he is giving the ultimate sacrifice by sleeping outside (even though earlier it was phrased something like, "I'll sleep outside. I like to sleep outside. As a kid we always used to sleep outside with no tent."<br /><br />Heading out on the second attempt.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3644852861/" title="Setting off.... by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3644852861_f8d8a1ae98.jpg" alt="Setting off...." height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Baby and trees.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3645659782/" title="Baby and Trees by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2461/3645659782_e7700d5a63.jpg" alt="Baby and Trees" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Breakfast at camp. Note the absence of Wiley. He did not get out of the tent (or my sleeping bag) until it was time to break the tent down.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3645659980/" title="Breakfast by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3389/3645659980_6ca8cb9c85.jpg" alt="Breakfast" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />All told it was a good trip. A good first run anyway. We didn't dally in the morning as we were all pretty tired and were ready to be back home, so we packed up and were ready to set off, but someone needed to have a nap first...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3645660308/" title="Napping by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2429/3645660308_c2a81da2b9.jpg" alt="Napping" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Our last outing before this Colorado trip was a car-camping trip with Jenn and John to Olallie Campground one of our favorite campgrounds on the McKenzie River. It was a perfect weekend. The weather was mild and sunny, the camp empty (as it was a Sunday night) and the food and company superb (notice how I always comment on the food...). We spent our time visiting, playing with babies and did one nice walk along the McKenzie River to Koosah and Sahalie Falls. Besides some broken sleep the kids did great and besides some more lack of sleep the parents did OK as well.<br /><br />Lots of time together in the pak n play.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3645441825/" title="Caged by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2464/3645441825_485a2f84f3.jpg" alt="Caged" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Blue water.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3645443227/" title="Blue water by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3375/3645443227_8d04c3f44e.jpg" alt="Blue water" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />The camp dining table for the kids. Notice how Wiley has learned to strategically place himself below the high chairs.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3646248618/" title="Dinner table courtesy of the Air Sream by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/3646248618_dec03694e6.jpg" alt="Dinner table courtesy of the Air Sream" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Finger puppets are a hit.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3645442057/" title="Finger puppets are a hit by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3645442057_c639e6dff5.jpg" alt="Finger puppets are a hit" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Happy campers. It looks like Bea and Camden are looking at each other...communicating in their baby way.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3645444027/" title="Koosah Falls by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3395/3645444027_6fe67766dc.jpg" alt="Koosah Falls" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Our little man trying to figure out what to do with his feet.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3645443879/" title="Little Man by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3549/3645443879_2204f97dc5.jpg" alt="Little Man" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Finally, what else, but some more baby pictures....<br /><br />First bites (at about 4 1/2 months).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3426042570/" title="A good eater, just like his parents by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3415/3426042570_b8ae7f4671.jpg" alt="A good eater, just like his parents" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Crinkly face.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3425269943/" title="Smile? by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3333/3425269943_b89163216d.jpg" alt="Smile?" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Five Months old.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3522123363/" title="Oh, it's hard being this cute. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3605/3522123363_75aecc024e.jpg" alt="Oh, it's hard being this cute." height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />One cool dude.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3522124847/" title="One Cool Little Dude by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3572/3522124847_06ab2bbb9e.jpg" alt="One Cool Little Dude" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Avocado is delicious.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3562190470/" title="Mmmmm....avocado by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3659/3562190470_131f3319e1.jpg" alt="Mmmmm....avocado" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Loved his first swing ride.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3562191500/" title="First swing ride by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2483/3562191500_aa9c156e36.jpg" alt="First swing ride" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Grandpa on dog duty.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3562191740/" title="Dog sitting by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3353/3562191740_58ef984926.jpg" alt="Dog sitting" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />A strangely funny ball.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="300" width="400"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=6c29535794&photo_id=3644264477"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=6c29535794&photo_id=3644264477" height="300" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />Six months old.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3561374229/" title="Six months by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3198/3561374229_2970222035.jpg" alt="Six months" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Must get the lawn mowed.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3644786857/" title="How Stay-At-Home-Dads get their chores done by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/3644786857_5fb1999bec.jpg" alt="How Stay-At-Home-Dads get their chores done" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Seven Months Old.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3644787079/" title="Seven Months Old by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3326/3644787079_6dbc984981.jpg" alt="Seven Months Old" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Chasing balloons.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="300" width="400"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=d6e37044a1&photo_id=3644792275"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=71377" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=d6e37044a1&photo_id=3644792275" height="300" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />He loves the Cheerios and can scoop them up now with amazing speed and skill despite the fact he hasn't learned the pincer grasp yet.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3644787481/" title="Cheerios by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2432/3644787481_e8da547054.jpg" alt="Cheerios" height="375" width="500" /></a>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-12937496245414837042009-03-16T14:01:00.000-07:002009-03-16T20:49:30.127-07:00Four MonthsHard to believe our little one is four months old already. What a difference a month makes. A month ago, he was giggling here and there, and giving some smiles, but still was riddled with plenty of cranky moments, erratic sleep patterns and still all too frequent feedings. Now, we have a little man on our hands. He sleeps on his own in his crib. He puts himself to sleep (with a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">binky</span>/plug) and wakes up happy. He kind of sleeps though the night - sleeping long stretches without waking or with needing just a little encouragement to go back to sleep. He doesn't need to be swaddled. He really only eats every 4-6 hours. Aside for some unexplainable grumpy times, he really doesn't cry much, and when he does it is for good reason - he is either hungry or tired, and those are pretty easy things to deal with. He <span style="font-style: italic;">laughs out loud</span> and man, if that isn't the sweetest sound. And he smiles all the time. As soon as he makes eye contact with either myself or Keith, his face lights up in the widest grin - melting our hearts every time. I could go on and on. I think we love this guy a little more every day. I had no idea I would enjoy being a mother so much.<br /><br />So I went back to work on Feb 10. Over a month ago now, which doesn't seem right. Time is moving way too fast. It has been going fine. Largely because Keith has been staying home with Camden. He's not working right now, so we've been able to delay the dreaded daycare a little bit longer. The two of them have fun together, and believe it or not, they manage just fine without me home. I have even enjoyed being at work a little bit. It is nice to go do an adult thing and use my brain in a different way again. Again, I think my attitude would be totally different if I were having to rush off to daycare every day. Things will stay this way until Keith lands another project, then we'll need to start a new routine. The good thing about this crap economy is that there are plenty of infant openings at <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">daycare</span> so I don't have to worry too much about finding a spot a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">gillion</span> years ahead of time. The other nice thing about my job, is that there are many nights that we don't have too many patients and I end up going home early - while that is not so nice on the paycheck, it is great for my morale.<br /><br />I looked at my last post and saw that it was Jan 6, the last time I wrote here. So I suppose there are a lot of milestones to report, but I would say the biggest accomplishment we have made is that he sleeps by himself in his own bed and in his own room. We made the move in late January after some motivation of watching two other friends do it and knowing the trouble we would be in, if we didn't make the move soon. (That and he was getting too long for his co-sleeper.) So one night we just did it. We were still using the swaddle, so we just swaddled him, plunked him in his crib and went to bed in our own room. And he slept. And he was still alive in the morning. I will admit I didn't sleep much, but he didn't seem to know the difference. It is amazing how easily we both woke at every little cry. (Now I am surprised that sometimes Keith will hear him crying before I will). We did <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">forgo</span> the monitor as we figured that would be the same as him sleeping next to us, and would keep us up just as much. He is close enough that we have no problem hearing his cries, but far enough away we don't hear every grunt and groan.<br /><br />And so it went - for quite a few weeks he did wake up every 3 hours or so either needing food or a reposition. But as of late, we have had some very nice long stretches. Last night, for example, he went down for good at about 11:00 and didn't wake up until 6:00. Hooray! Again, I always wake up still somewhere in between and have to check on him wondering why the heck he hasn't woken up yet, so <span style="font-style: italic;">I'm</span> not sleeping through the night, but we're getting there. The other nice thing is that we have not used the spare bed since Camden started in the crib. Somewhere in there I stopped swaddling him as well, and now he lays in his bed like a big boy with no "baby bumpers", no swaddles and with nothing more than a blanket. And a plug. The only way we have had success at all this is that we have employed the pacifier (or plug as we like to call it) whole heartedly as it really does help him put himself to sleep. I used to rock him until he fell asleep, but now, if I see he is getting tired, I can lay him in his crib, cover him with a blanket and stick a plug in him. Sometimes he'll lay there and goof off for as long as 30 minutes, but he does it happily and eventually (with lots of re-inserts by me) will nod off to sleep.<br /><br />The only "bad" thing I am still doing, is a little early morning snuggle in our bed. His pattern is pretty consistent in that he wakes sometime early in the morning between 5:00 and 7:00. Usually because it is time to eat, but sometimes, just because. Now one of us could just get up and start our day at this point, but are you kidding? These are the hours of some of my best sleep! So we (mostly I) bring the cute little guy back into our bed, wrap my arms around him, and we both sleep pretty hard until about 9:00 or 9:30. Am I creating a bad habit for him? Probably. But I love it so, and watching him shake his little head and nestle into the crook of my arm as he fades off, is just too much. I find myself looking forward to those couple of hours. I figure as long as he spends the majority of his night and all his naps in the crib, we'll be OK. I might be eating my words later.<br /><br />You're welcome for that very long foray into how my child sleeps. Since I can't get real focused for this entry, I think I'll just make a random list of things he does/did/tries to do and some of my favorite and not-so-favorite moments of the last couple months and of being a mother in general. For a reference, he turned four months old on March 12th.<br /><br /><ul><li>Today, he rolled over for the first time from back to belly. He had rolled from belly to back in early February, but no further action until today.</li><li>I love how he now wraps his arms around my neck when I pick him up.<br /></li><li>He does this funny thing with his hands - opening and closing them ferociously - scratching whatever surface he is feeling. It's cute, but a lot of times the surface is his head and I'll pick him up from a nap and see all these new little scratches on his head.</li><li>He still doesn't have any hair.</li><li>If you blow on his belly or neck and make ridiculous "nom, nom, nom" noises, he will laugh out loud.<br /></li><li>He has the sweetest smile and there is nothing better than coming home from work, having him turn his head toward my voice, and break out into a huge, silly, open-mouthed grin.</li><li>While nursing when he is super hungry and super tired, he kicks his legs, wriggles his body, half closes his eyes, and makes sweet little satisfied gulping noises.</li><li>He can read already:</li></ul><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3358178463/" title="I read books already! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3629/3358178463_7e9384a09e.jpg" alt="I read books already!" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><ul><li>Or maybe he's just at that stage where <span style="font-style: italic;">everything</span> goes in his mouth:</li></ul><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3358996924/" title="No, I just eat them. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3430/3358996924_925419a13a.jpg" alt="No, I just eat them." width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><ul><li>He is finding his voice and does so with loud, shrill shrieks and squeaks.</li></ul><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=68975" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=612e8f8998&photo_id=3318633242"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=68975"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=68975" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=612e8f8998&photo_id=3318633242" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br /><ul><li>In the middle of nursing, sometimes he will let go, and lay back on the boppy pillow, smile and gaze at me for minutes at a time with those beautiful blue eyes.</li><li>In the middle of nursing, sometimes he will scream for no reason. Repeatedly. (Well, I'm sure there is a reason, but I can't ever figure it out).</li><li>He has the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen (I am just slightly biased).</li><li>He often wakes up from naps like this:</li></ul><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3358998512/" title="Waking up Happy by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3454/3358998512_944c866cc3.jpg" alt="Waking up Happy" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><ul><li>He wakes up at least once in the middle of the night, and while I may curse him under my breath as I rouse from my deep sleep, as soon as he is in my arms, I forgive him.</li><li>He tolerates his baths, but he doesn't really <span style="font-style: italic;">like</span> them yet. I am hard pressed to get a smile during the process.</li><li>I am overcome with how precious he is whenever I watch him sleep.<br /></li><li>Rocking him to sleep used to be a nightly ritual that I enjoyed. Now that he kind of puts himself to sleep, the occasions that he does fall asleep in my arms I cherish. The crankiness and restlessness as the tiredness sets in, then the head flits back and forth ferociously as he rubs his eyes on my collar bone, then his eyes grow heavy as he fights off sleep, and finally the surrender as his head relaxes on my chest, tips back a little and the mouth opens in a deep slumber.</li><li>He is very impatient and intolerant of tummy time.</li><li>He spits up a <span style="font-style: italic;">lot</span>. Especially when he has his cutest outfits on. </li><li>He is starting to take a very keen interest in other babies:</li></ul><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3317765905/" title="Already working the girls by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3384/3317765905_d29ae586d5.jpg" alt="Already working the girls" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><ul><li>He grabs for things (and rockets them straight into his mouth) and if you hold out your hand, he ever so gently touches your fingertips.....then grabs hold and shoves your finger in his mouth.</li><li>He slobbers on everything.</li><li>We are bad, and when we want him to sleep a long time, we put him on his belly. Sometimes when we go in to check on him we find him rotated 180 degrees or clear on the other end of the crib. He is becoming stealthily mobile.</li><li>When he's tired at night, he'll just lean his head on my chest and stare off into space.</li><li>I am continually amazed at how many nonsensical noises, songs and words I can create on a daily basis....and in public too!<br /></li><li>He follows people with his eyes around the room.</li><li>When in new places, he'll look around quietly and stare intently at his new surroundings.</li><li>I love, love, love how much Keith loves him and how he can't get enough of being around him.<br /></li><li>In general and as Uncle Carl says, he's the "best baby in the world".<br /></li></ul><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3358998262/" title="Little man by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3458/3358998262_13a9b719d2.jpg" alt="Little man" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Not much other news. I turned 35 a while ago. And while that is starting to sound a little too old, I did have a very nice birthday weekend in Sunriver with Jenn and our dear friend, Kelly, who flew up from San Diego to see us and meet our kiddos. We had a very nice babies and ladies weekend only and did manage one very tame (yet challenging all at the same time given two infants were involved), walk in the snow.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3318604428/" title="We made it out of the house! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3566/3318604428_fd14a32c94.jpg" alt="We made it out of the house!" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3318592598/" title="Birthday dinner with the girls by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3622/3318592598_97b28d2b92.jpg" alt="Birthday dinner with the girls" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Please note the adult sized gloves on Bea's feet.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3318604554/" title="Snow shoeing in Sunriver by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3576/3318604554_15e3ba488f.jpg" alt="Snow shoeing in Sunriver" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />A couple more pics and videos to leave you with.<br /><br />Family portrait.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3241974437/" title="Family by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3408/3241974437_6b7dcc7601.jpg" alt="Family" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Playdate with Bea.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=68975" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=90bc4b1473&photo_id=3318577904"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=68975"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=68975" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=90bc4b1473&photo_id=3318577904" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />Those eyes:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3317764853/" title="Again with the sweet face by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3324/3317764853_f252b79b34.jpg" alt="Again with the sweet face" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Keith babysitting.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3358996214/" title="Keith babysits by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3433/3358996214_0125ae46b2.jpg" alt="Keith babysits" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Baby dance class:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3358179503/" title="Baby Dance by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3642/3358179503_8220cf7926.jpg" alt="Baby Dance" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><br />Coffee Talk<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=68975" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=a58d0fa6c1&photo_id=3242795092"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=68975"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=68975" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=a58d0fa6c1&photo_id=3242795092" width="400" height="300"></embed></object>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-89223676737923239592009-01-05T15:34:00.000-08:002009-01-08T12:08:46.786-08:00Catch UpWhere has the time gone....it is already 2009! Yikes. Well, I'll try to summarize the last month or so. Didn't I promise to start doing shorter, more frequent updates? Whatever.<br />The babe is actually taking a proper nap. In his bed. Rather than on someone's chest, or face down on the couch (yes, I know what every single parenting book says) or in his bouncy chair. And now that I've got the carpets vacuumed and the dishes put away and the laundry started, I thought I'd do a little blog. I'm sure I've got a total of 5 minutes before he starts waking up. It is now Jan 5 about 3:00 in the afternoon. We'll see what day I actually get this posted. So here it goes.<br /><br />Thanksgiving was great and a challenge all at the same time. Way back when, I was sure it would be a great idea to have all the holidays off with a newborn and to have all of everybody's family together for Thanksgiving. And it was. It was truly great to see everyone. The weather was great and everyone had a smashing time down in Coos Bay. All the usual activities took place without freezing anyone's patooties off or getting drenched to the bone. The downfall was that I had a two week old baby and I was exhausted. Two weeks is about the time when life with a newborn starts to feel really <span style="font-style: italic;">hard</span>. And I surely felt it by the end of that week down in Coos Bay. Sleep was hard to come by, and Camden was starting to really show his true colors and just what those lungs can do. I wanted and tried really hard to do all the usual activities with everyone and for the most part did - at least I was present physically if not mentally. But by the end of the week I was fried and stressed from all the comings and goings not to mention wondering if I was doing an ok job of raising a son. Regardless, it was a great time even if it is bit of a blur for me. I loved that both my brothers and their girls made the long trek out, but I felt so bad that I was such a dazed spaz while they were here - I'm glad there were plenty of other people to play host to them.<br /><br />For a recap of the adventures, I am going to cheat and refer you to Carl's blog: <a href="http://www.onesweet.blogspot.com/">http://www.onesweet.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />I will add a few of our own shots.<br /><br />Gracie at her happiest:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3121460066/" title="Our other baby by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/3121460066_5f773e160a.jpg" alt="Our other baby" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Camden's first trip to the dunes. Yes those are maternity jeans. What? They are super comfy!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3120633075/" title="Sand Dunes with Baby by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3214/3120633075_30a5963c35.jpg" alt="Sand Dunes with Baby" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Our annual walk along the cliffs of Shore Acres. It wasn't even a stormy day, but there was great wave action on the rocks. I love how it looks like this wave is going to swamp Keri, Chris and the dogs.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3120651295/" title="Watch out Keri! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3261/3120651295_1830bbc3f5.jpg" alt="Watch out Keri!" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />The Bauer clan reunites.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3121173010/" title="Bauers in Coos Bay by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3206/3121173010_41a23f874f.jpg" alt="Bauers in Coos Bay" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />As usual, you can catch more lively photos on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/sets/72157611354511967/">Flickr</a>.<br /><br />I'm not really sure what happened between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is somewhat of a blur. My folks were both here in town doing the housesitting thing - so there were lots of dinners at each others' houses and lots and lots of help from my mom with the daily grind. Keith landed a project, so he was off working most days. We fell into somewhat of a routine, still splitting midnight shifts...and beds. Keith takes the 5AM or so feeding letting me sleep in a bit. Then I take over at 8 or 9 and send him off to work. The rest of my day is spent feeding, changing diapers, consoling, playing, cleaning, laundry, walking, and trying to figure out where and how to get the boy to nap - nothing consistent so far in terms of a routine, but we are now having way more good days than bad.<br /><br />The most frustrating thing about this kid (besides the high rate of growth - heavy to carry and growing out of everything already!) is his split personality. He is either the most smiley, happy, content little fella, or else he is screaming bloody murder. When he decides he needs something, there is no beating around the bush. No cute little whimpers. It is full blown screaming. Sometimes we can console him, but most of the time it is fortunately close to "feeding time" (which just means it has been about 3 hours) so I can declare him hungry and soothe him with some milk. All the books, and so many people say that over time, you learn the different cries of your baby. Well, I call hogwash on that one. Or else my ears are bad. This kid has one cry and it seems to be set at loud. I may be exaggerating a little bit, but not much. Luckily most of the time he is quite content (or sleeping) so I have managed to keep my sanity so far.<br /><br />But, boy do we love this little guy even though he does cry. It is so amazing to see the almost daily changes in him. He smiles so readily now and becomes so intent and focused in on so many different things. You can almost see all those neurons forming. I think we even got a giggle out of him the other day. Heart melting. How could you not love a face like this (almost 8 weeks old in this photo):<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3173854459/" title="What a ham by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1157/3173854459_e59632954f.jpg" alt="What a ham" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />So I mentioned he was growing fast. At our three week check-up he weighed in at 10 lbs 11 oz. That's up from the birth weight of 8 lbs 10 oz. The doctor was a little shocked, but said she only worries about babies that don't gain weight. She calls him a tank. Then I went into the hospital to visit my co-workers and used the scale there to weigh him (this was Dec 22 or so), and he weighed in at 13 lb 7 oz! Granted this was with a very wet cloth diaper and fully clothed. But still. He's almost caught up with Bea who is 2 months older! We have the two month appointment next week so we will be very curious to see what he tips the scale at then.<br /><br />Christmas was a quiet affair. We stayed in Eugene and had a simple Christmas Eve here at our house with my mom. Dad had gone back to Gig Harbor right as the first snow storm hit Portland then came back on Christmas day as the second wave was settling in. Ask him how much fun he had on those drives. Christmas day we spent with a lazy afternoon at Keith's brother's house with his parents. Merv and Carolyn are foster parents to two very sweet little girls. I have no idea how they do it, but about the same time Camden was born they were handed not one, but two babies to care for. Abigail is 4 days older than Camden and Kaya is about 4 months old. My hat is off to you guys - I'm struggling to stay sane with one! Then, mom hosted us at her house for a nice turkey dinner the day after Christmas. Good times, and nice and low key, just as we wanted.<br /><br />Christmas outfit #1:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3174675180/" title="Cam's first Christmas by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3089/3174675180_2169c450f2.jpg" alt="Cam's first Christmas" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Christmas outfit #2:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3174675996/" title="Christmas Boy by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1033/3174675996_3226b56154.jpg" alt="Christmas Boy" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Camden and Abigail. Hard to believe they are the same age. What a chunk we have. I can't use the excuse I use with Gracie either that he looks skinnier when wet (the cloth diapers <span style="font-style: italic;">do</span> add some bulk however).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3173839233/" title="Cousins by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1095/3173839233_20db55d606.jpg" alt="Cousins" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Grandma Melody multi-tasking with the girls. Melody and Dwayne have been a huge help lately to Merv and Carolyn giving them some time to themselves and taking some of the midnight feedings.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3174675742/" title="Multi-tasking by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1028/3174675742_7a064eaf62.jpg" alt="Multi-tasking" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Some more of my favorite photos from the past month.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3124345982/" title="Dreaming by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3260/3124345982_5576316091.jpg" alt="Dreaming" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Strategically placed fish.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3124346330/" title="Strategically placed fish by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/3124346330_d8f87c0a69.jpg" alt="Strategically placed fish" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Exactly one month old for this photo:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3123519401/" title="Stretched by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3225/3123519401_7a6f54acf7.jpg" alt="Stretched" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />The little bit of the December snow storm that hit Eugene. Nothing compared to Portland and points north.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3125738965/" title="Out for a walk by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3228/3125738965_72a6bf0515.jpg" alt="Out for a walk" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Sweetness:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3126730134/" title="Babe in Arms by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3207/3126730134_613d563d24.jpg" alt="Babe in Arms" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Grandma C:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3125901369/" title="Grandma C by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3115/3125901369_c9a205665a.jpg" alt="Grandma C" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />We're not getting many family portraits taken, this is the best we've got so far.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3173854693/" title="Family by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3115/3173854693_77f13178da.jpg" alt="Family" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Another video. Keith and Camden with some typical early morning conversation.<br /> <object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="300" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=66126" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=29c06cb0f8&photo_id=3174710122"></param> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=66126"></param> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"></param> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=66126" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=29c06cb0f8&photo_id=3174710122" height="300" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><br />New Years may be the beginning of a tradition for us. Does two years of doing the same thing qualify it as a tradition? Regardless, we had the opportunity to join Jenn and John at their cabin on the coast again. We spent a lovely three days there relaxing, eating and surprise, surprise, taking care of babies. The second day there we were hit with a huge storm. For 24 hours straight the rain pelted the windows and the wind howled. It was crazy. It kept us house bound for most of the time. Jenn and I at one point had to get out for a walk even though it was still coming down in torrents so we had some fun frolicking in the rain. Then on the way back up the very steep stairs that take you up a very steep bank, the earth gave way. Luckily not from under our feet, but the bank about two feet to the right of the stairs gave way in a mini landslide. We weren't carrying babies at the time, but we were trying to corral two dogs up the stairs and keep them off the dirt. It was a small moment of panic, but we came away unscathed, and the stairs are still there.<br /><br />The next day the weather was beautiful and Jenn and I snuck away for a longer walk in the woods sans babies. A great time and rejuvenating to have some down time in a different environment.<br /><br />Walking on the beach the day before the storm.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3174726936/" title="Beach time by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3106/3174726936_cecd7569dd.jpg" alt="Beach time" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Double duty with the babes.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3173891447/" title="Lounging at the Beach by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3118/3173891447_903c7df968.jpg" alt="Lounging at the Beach" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />The storm produced ungodly amounts of sea foam. But this did not deter Gracie from searching for and retrieving her rocks.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3174727684/" title="Caught by the foam by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1174/3174727684_8e2dfdd452.jpg" alt="Caught by the foam" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Fun with kelp - it doesn't look like it, but the rain is coming down <span style="font-style: italic;">hard</span> in this photo.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3174727962/" title="Playing in the storm by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1142/3174727962_6c5e049db3.jpg" alt="Playing in the storm" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />More video. This time of the other child.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=66035" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=cd26fcc550&photo_id=3174736710"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=66035"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=66035" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=cd26fcc550&photo_id=3174736710" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />She's not allowed to walk up the bank to help prevent erosion. Good thing she is talented.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=66035" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=f44e89d9a5&photo_id=3173906631"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=66035"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=66035" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=f44e89d9a5&photo_id=3173906631" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />There are many more photos posted on our <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/">Flickr</a> page. To put them all in this blog would be cruel to you and me (forcing my family photos on you and the time for me). I am however, putting pics up on Flickr much more regularly now for the sake of relatives afar, so if you are itching to see what we're up to and this page hasn't changed in a couple months or so, you can check there.<br /><br />I do have to end with one more piece of very unfortunate news. Gracie has had a sore on her leg that has been trying to heal for months now. After her frolicking in the waters of Coos Bay for 5 days straight, it opened up again. We finally bit the bullet and had it removed for an ungodly amount of money. And I had them biopsy the thing. And it came back positive. Our poor baby has cancer. Not uncommon with this breed, and I can't say I was completely surprised, but still. Damn. The good news is that she doesn't know it and is the happiest and healthiest she's ever been. We will not be doing chemo or treat it aggressively at all. It's not feasible on a number of fronts. We will just spoil her rotten and love her to death, giving her the best life we can with what we have left. Who knows on the timeline. The vet says untreated, after diagnosis the average time is 4-6 months. Seems very short.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3126567662/" title="Pretty by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/3126567662_58df8e92c0.jpg" alt="Pretty" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Sorry to end on such a grim note. I'm dealing with it fine now as I pretty much just push it to the way far reaches of my head. (Easy to do unfortunately with a screaming child taking up all the space at the front!).<br /><br />Whew. There. Done. Caught up. It is Jan 6 at 10:00 PM and I should have gone to bed two hours ago as I am very tired. Oh well. Priorities. Sometimes sleep has to be sacrificed for some alone time in front of the computer - it just won't happen any other way that I have figured out yet. We have a friend in Seattle who has two small children, a job, a multitude of freelance writing that she does on the side and she maintains a very cool blog updating it on a virtually daily basis. She did this all through the time when her kids were newborns as well. Oh, and she works out on a very regular basis and keeps an immaculate house. Not quite sure how you do it Linda. I can't even seem to get a bill paid on time these days!<br /><br />Until next time. I hope everyone (I'm acting like there are a lot of people that read this) had a wonderful holiday!E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-86683915748649501652008-11-21T12:56:00.000-08:002008-12-05T08:39:19.244-08:00Camden EverettIn the waning days of my pregnancy, I was given lots of advice on how to usher in labor. Walk, walk up and down on curbs, eat spicy foods, drink castor oil (really? do people really do that?), have sex, eat a whole pineapple, the list goes on. I tried some of those, but it turns out for me, I just need to have my car stolen. After our drama with the car in the wee hours of the morning of Nov 11th (Camden's due date by the way), by that evening it was seeming inevitable that before the night was through, we'd be checking into the hospital. What follows will be a recounting of Camden's birth - it may be more information than some are comfortable reading, but it is something I want to document - so why not throw it out there into cyberspace? Here goes.<br /><br />I spent a large portion of my day on that Tuesday, Nov 11th dealing with the fallout of having the car stolen (long phone conversations with the insurance company), but in addition I spent a large part of the day being increasingly uncomfortable. Lots of aching in the back, legs and abdomen. It was similar to what I had experienced intermittently in the past except this time it was not going away. Keith was gone most of the day on a few jobs, and by the time he got home, I was pretty sure that labor was underway. I had him do a few last minute errands, take care of the dog, etc, then we sat down and started to really time the contractions, as at this point I was sure that's what they were as they were very rhythmic and not abating with any activity. Sure enough, after timing for about 2 hours, they were consistently occurring at 4-6 minute intervals. They still weren't super painful - I could talk through them, and we even baked a batch of cookies while all this was going on! The doctor had said to call when contractions were regular and 5 minutes apart, so we went ahead and called, and lucky for me it was my doctor who was on call. He said to come in at our leisure to the hospital to get checked out.<br /><br />So we casually finished packing, called the parents to let them know what was going on, put a very concerned dog outside to wait in her doghouse and headed out. The check-in was smooth, and we were escorted to the "triage" room of the labor and delivery unit. After lots of formalities, paperwork and vital signs, we finally got the answer to the burning question....how far dilated am I? Drum roll please.....1-2 cm. Arggh! I was hoping for 3 or 4....I was 1.5 cm weeks ago! But she said I was fully effaced and the baby is low. She called the doctor, gave him the update, and he said we should go ahead and be admitted. It was a bit of a surreal moment, knowing that I actually wouldn't be pregnant that much longer.<br /><br />So we settled into this room at the brand new hospital. The birthing rooms are huge - ample room for lots of people, room to roam, and a big bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. And of course a couch for the spouse to get some rest. At this point I'm guessing it is about 9 or 10 PM. But remember, we are both going off of very little sleep thanks to the car incident - so Keith is here trying to catch a nap before things get too intense.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3080007209/" title="Birthing Room by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/3080007209_2f240ac88e.jpg" alt="Birthing Room" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />At this point, the grandparents are all on their way - Keith's parents to check into our house and babysit the dog, my parents to come to the hospital so my mom can be part of the whole process. In addition, Jenn left her mid-week getaway at the coast to come be another labor coach for me. She showed up to the room at about 11:00 with a whole arsenal of stuff to help me get through the next however many hours we had. She has a new baby of her own to take care of so I tried to encourage her to go home and get some rest while I was still managing, but she had none of it and stayed put through the whole marathon.<br /><br />Here's a really unflattering picture of me in the early stages of labor...and the only labor photo I'll be posting on the web...that's just getting too personal...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3080920359/" title="Labor by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3139/3080920359_c1c38a82e7.jpg" alt="Labor" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Over the next few hours (from here on out, I'm going to be pretty shady on time frames...looking back it is all a bit of a blur, until the end where my memory is still unfortunately clear) I worked through the contractions, which were definitely picking up in intensity, by walking around, standing leaning into Keith, using the jacuzzi and shower, and just lying in the bed. For me, the side lying really brought me the most comfort. But I was definitely getting tired, and starting to get very curious as to how far dilated I was now....because after all this work, things must be flying right along. So we had the nurse check me....and that was about the most uncomfortable thing yet. Apparently my cervix was way posterior and the nurses have small hands, so they had to really dig around (for lack of better verbage) to get to the cervix. So after that excruciating experience I was thrilled to find out that I was now 2-3 cm dilated. What? Are you serious? After complaining, the nurse reprimanded me for "focusing too much on the numbers". She tried to make me feel better by telling me things will go fast from here, she thought I was already in the transition phase (because of my frequent violent shaking that would overtake my body). I took a little heart in what she was saying, but asked for an IV anyway, just in case I might want that epidural in a hurry. I decided to wait on the epidural for now and see how the next little bit went. She said the doctor was coming in soon so he could check me again when he got there and see how I've progressed.<br /><br />So on we went. I think some more shower time, lots of back rubs, drinks of water and little bits of food. Keith and Jenn were a constant presence and my mom came and went as she wanted. Helping a bit, and then checking in on my dad who came in once in a while but otherwise vigilantly waited on the uncomfortable couches in the various waiting rooms when not raiding the fridges - always a sucker for free food. Somewhere in there my phone rang and it was the police informing us that they had found our car and could we come pick it up within the next 20 minutes. Ummm....a little busy right now. Luckily it was the same officer from the night before and he completely understood why we wouldn't be able to make it that night. He was OK with my parents picking it up, so they went off to rescue the vehicle. Apparently it was dumped about 4 blocks from our house and nothing was taken or damaged except for about 20 CD's. I guess the sight of Keith in his boxers was enough to give them a good scare.<br /><br />Sometime in the early hours of the morning of Nov 12, Dr Green rolled in to see how things were coming along. He checked me - a thing of note, Dr Green is a very tall man and therefore has big hands, so him checking me was so much less painful than those petite little nurses (more info than needed I am guessing) - and gave me the news that I am now about 3 cm dilated. You've got to be kidding me. We've been at this for almost 12 hours now, and that's all I have to show for it!? I still had that night shift nurse who I wasn't too thrilled with who again told me not to focus on the numbers, and the pace should really pick up now. Dr Green on the other hand told me that he thought it might be quite a while still. That was all I needed to hear. I was exhausted, had virtually no sleep for 24 hours and apparently had a long way to go. Epidural please. I had hopes of a natural childbirth, but I was also realistic. I had watched Jenn struggle for probably too long without pain relief and I know from nursing that sometimes your body needs a break in order to finish it's job.<br /><br />Of course, with an epidural comes a whole host of other things. The IV was already in, so next comes the liter of fluid as epidurals make your blood pressure drop, the fetal heart monitor now is a permanent fixture as is the blood pressure cuff. And once I was good and numb, in went the urinary catheter. The anesthesiologist was surprisingly fast in showing up despite the high number of labors currently underway (the unit was crowded that night). The first try at the placement didn't take, so we had to do two needle sticks in my back. The second seemed to be placed right although my right side was becoming much more numb than my left - he assured me it had to do with the testing of the first placement and not to worry it would resolve soon (after placing the epidural, they give you a test bolus to make sure it is in right). After getting all secured down with all my new wires and tubes, I did feel relief. I laid back down in bed and actually dozed in and out of sleep while Keith took a nap and Jenn even got to go home for a while with strict instructions for Keith to call her when it was time for me to push.<br /><br />And then, all of a sudden I could feel my contractions again. And they hurt. And I had this weird constant pain in my right side. And my left leg was still numb. And nothing else appeared to be numb anymore. And nobody was in the room. And nobody was answering my call light. It took about 5 minutes before Keith came back and at least another 20 until my nurse showed up. She had been at lunch and had instructed her colleague to check in on me, but that never happened. She called the anesthesiologist who came in and said there wasn't anything they could do about the placement and sometimes epidurals don't work evenly for all people (what? that seemed like a bogus answer if you ask me). He gave me a bolus of medication which made my left leg really, really numb, and took the edge off everything else for a while. Meanwhile, the nurse checked me and lo and behold I was darn near fully dilated except for a small lip of the cervix. She told me to wait about a half hour and we'd start pushing. She notified Dr Green of the status and Keith gave Jenn a call. By this time Keith's parents had come to the hospital as well, so Melody and my mom were in and out both helping with back rubs and I was actually starting to have hope that we'd be done soon.<br /><br />When it came time to push, I had to be instructed on what to do as I didn't have great sensation down there and there was definitely no urge to push. I had also been informed a while back that Camden was posterior facing - which means the back of his head is against my back and usually means a harder time with the pushing stage of labor. So we tried me in various positions to get him to turn while I started pushing. He would cooperate and turn, but then would flip right back to where he was. So on things went. I never looked at the clock which is a good thing, and diligently did the pushing with lots of encouragement from everybody. I now had a nurse that I liked who said and did all the right things. Somewhere in there I think they had me rest and stop for a while, then we resumed, and I think now is when the contractions were getting mightily painful and my morale was sinking because this baby was not born yet, and it feels like we've been at this forever! My contractions were regular but farther apart than anyone wanted, so we got to introduce another bag of tricks which was the Pitocin to speed the contractions up. I was terrified of this because I was sure it would mean even more pain, but they assured me it was necessary and would speed things up considerably. In addition, they had to put an internal monitor on Camden as they kept losing his heart rate reading...add wire/intervention #48562.<br /><br />I suppose the Pitocin helped - did my pain get worse? Sure. But I think it would have gotten worse regardless. The contractions definitely picked up pace. The nurse continued to be encouraged, promising me that we were making progress and Camden was moving on down. Eventually she said, "Are you ready to have this baby? I'm calling in Dr Green". That definitely gave me a mental boost, but it seemed like a long time before he showed up. When he did, it was all business. The first thing he did was completely change my pushing position, instructing everyone around me (at this point the labor support team was Keith, Jenn, my mom and Keith's mom all taking turns mostly holding my legs for the contractions). And he warned me that he would be drawing labs in preparation for a c-section if it ended up being necessary. From here to the end was awful. I had virtually no pain relief. The contractions hurt, and in between pushing, I still had immense pain. I am a pretty quiet person, and can work through pain without making a lot of noise, but somewhere in all this, that changed. I was one of those screaming ladies you see in the movies.<br /><br />Everyone still promised me I was making progress, and there were shouts about being able to see the head which helped, but when another half hour passed and they are still saying the same thing, I started to get discouraged. Then all of a sudden I got an oxygen mask slapped on my face - apparently Camden's heart rate was high and staying high even in between contractions, so they wanted him to get a little more oxygen. On and on it went. It felt like an eternity and it got so unbearable I kept telling Dr Green that I was done. That's it. Not another push in me. I wanted to scream, "Just do a c-section, get the forceps, get the vacuum extractor, I don't care, just get him out!" But I didn't, and another contraction would come and I would somehow get through it. At some point, Jenn told me to touch Camden's head, which again gave me a small boost because at least then I knew for myself that he was close. Somewhere in there as well, Dr Green warned me that he had called in "the team" to standby and to not be surprised if Camden is sent straight to them when he is born. He was referring to a neonatal intensive care team as he was clearly worried Camden might have been under too much stress for too long from all the pushing.<br /><br />Finally Dr Green told me he thought maybe 3 or 4 more contractions and we'd be done. And he was right. I took him at his word and gave everything I had and I think at the 4th contraction, with all my might, I finally felt sudden relief and he was out. And wow. What a feeling. I think my first reaction was, "Thank god. It's over". Then there was this screaming (and very blue), beautiful baby on my chest and people crying and shouting with delight all around me. I was too exhausted to cry right away, but when I finally turned and looked at Keith who was sobbing (Wait...am I supposed to tell people that? Because men don't cry, right?), I lost it too.<br /><br />Our brand new baby. All blue and confused about being in this world. The blueness is normal, but I was still surprised by it and by how long it took his fingers to pinken up.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054398313/" title="Minutes Old by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3045/3054398313_a9a464e2d7.jpg" alt="Minutes Old" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Everything was so easy after that. I did tear pretty badly, so some suturing was in order, but I sure didn't care at that point. Camden checked out just fine. He weighed in at 8 lbs 10 oz, and 20 cm, born Nov 12 at11:30 AM. Total labor time was something like 18 hours (not sure when you start counting), with a pushing time of 4 hours or so (that's ridiculous!). The main problem was that Camden decided to not bother coming out in that backwards position or even the normal way, but to give sideways a try - so his poor little head kept getting banged up on my pelvis which is why it was so hard to push him out. He came out with a very pointy (and bruised) head.<br /><br />My labor coach and dear friend.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054400625/" title="My labor coach by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/3054400625_0abed42f2e.jpg" alt="My labor coach" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />The whole gang celebrates.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054396161/" title="The whole fam by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3160/3054396161_f9d6c0365c_o.jpg" alt="The whole fam" width="240" height="320" /></a><br /><br />The next half hour or so, was congrats all around as the grandpas were let back in. Pictures were taken, and then we were left alone for a while. I was able to successfully breastfeed - with little Camden latching on no problem. And I got to drink. Since the moment the epidural went in I was forbidden to have water or food, so by this point I was so thirsty, I think over the next few hours I drank 2 liters of water. Eventually, the remnants of the faulty epidural wore off and I was able to stagger to the bathroom for a shower, and then we were escorted to our new room on the Mother/Baby side of the unit. We settled in there and the exhaustion overwhelmed us completely. After eating like a horse, I think I was able to finally sleep.<br /><br />Proud grandparents.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054402607/" title="Grandma and Grandpa Bauer by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/3054402607_7e20701b81.jpg" alt="Grandma and Grandpa Bauer" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Proud parents.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3055241098/" title="One day old by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3159/3055241098_178383dcea.jpg" alt="One day old" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />And now we are full fledged parents. The 1 1/2 days we stayed in the hospital were non-eventful. We didn't sleep too much as there was this new creature next to us making all kinds of foreign noises. But we were happy. We couldn't get enough of looking at and holding our new little guy. And we were happy to go home after all the prodding, midnight interruptions and hospital food. Camden wasn't so sure about his carseat at first...<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054438527/" title="First impressions of the carseat by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3212/3054438527_c44394f1fc.jpg" alt="First impressions of the carseat" width="375" height="500" /></a><br />but once we hit the freeway, he was fine.<br /><br />And then we had to reunite ourselves with Gracie and introduce her to The One That Will Take All of Her Parents' Attention Away From Her.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=63881" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=8a0d6eb67e&photo_id=3055188370"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=63881"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=63881" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=8a0d6eb67e&photo_id=3055188370" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />That first week home was all honeymoon. Both of us wanting to hold Camden all the time, and being so nice to each other - trying to get the other as much sleep as possible. So proud and excited to be parents and so very enamored with our new son. Not to say that now we are mean to each other and not enamored with him, but reality has sunk in a bit more and the hours of sleep deprivation began to catch up with us around Week 2 bringing out some more raw and variable emotions - and I'm speaking mostly for myself.<br /><br />In all, we are managing fairly well. I have to give Keith a ton of credit - it is actually nice that he is not working too much right now, because having two around the house is so very nice. I don't know how people manage by themselves. We can't keep this house clean to save our life with two of us hear nearly full time! He has been so great about helping with everything, including holding off a hungry baby for an extra 30 minutes at 2:00 AM. Our sleeping situation is reasonable - we each get about 4-6 hours of sleep a night (however not consecutively), but it means we don't sleep in the same room. We quickly learned that sleeping in the same room as the baby means not a lot of sleep for the adults as it has taken us a while to adjust to tuning out his grunts, groans, squeaks and bleats that go on while he is sleeping. So we started taking turns. In between each feeding, we trade off - one gets the "sleeping room" and the other gets to sleep with Camden. It has worked pretty well, and Keith is so great about giving me a few extra "shifts" in the sleeping room. One of these days we'll be back in the same bed together...right?<br /><br />And I have to give a lot of credit to the friends and family that have been so giving. I think I have cooked two meals since we've been home, and my mom and Jenn (and Melody while in Coos Bay) have been great about giving my arms a break once in a while so I can do "normal" stuff. And some credit goes to Camden, because he really only cries when he needs something. He'll have about one hour a day of cranky time where we can't figure out what he wants, but otherwise, he is pretty mellow in between meals. His rope is short though. He'll go from happy and content in his bouncy chair (which is such a life saver by the way) to screaming bloody murder because, "Hey mom and dad, I am hungry, and I am hungry NOW!". There is a very small window between that first suckle on the fist to an all out wail while I scramble to get settled and ready to feed.<br /><br />Well, I won't go on about how we are taking care of our newborn. Most of you have been there more than once already and know all this already. And really there's not much to say - my life is now changing diapers, breastfeeding, consoling and trying to sleep. It is amazing how much of your day that can take. As I write this he is now 3 weeks and 1 day old and has changed so very much since we brought him home. He is already gaining a lot of strength in his neck and is making some crazy eye contact with us. And he's gaining weight like a champ - at our appointment this week he weighed in at 10 lb 12 oz! He's gained two pounds already! Our pediatrician calls him a "tank" and says I'm making cream instead of milk. Yikes. Hope that trend slows down a little - he's already growing out of some of the newborn clothes.<br /><br />OK. I'll get another blog up soon to include Thanksgiving shenanigans and more updated pictures of The Baby. I'm hoping to get to a point, where I can post more entries, but keep them short. Good luck with that.<br /><br />And now, a plethora of baby photos - all between birth to 11 days old.<br />Camden's first walk and a trial run in the bear suit.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054441331/" title="Camden's first walk by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3214/3054441331_96bb0988b7.jpg" alt="Camden's first walk" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Meeting Bea for the first time.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054409627/" title="Bea meets Camden by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/3054409627_a86bb2f5de.jpg" alt="Bea meets Camden" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />One week old. Looking at this today, Camden's three week birthday, I can't believe how big he has gotten already.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054472535/" title="IBig Hands, Little Hands by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/3054472535_ea95f5bf2d.jpg" alt="IBig Hands, Little Hands" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Chillin with Bea.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054454293/" title="Friends by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/3054454293_942170ecee.jpg" alt="Friends" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />I love my Moby. Camden does too - he crashes whenever in it.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3055304284/" title="All wrapped up by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/3055304284_31e40d5f05.jpg" alt="All wrapped up" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Gramma B is in town for the next month or so on a housesitting gig, so she will get lots of baby time.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054474597/" title="Grandma's in town by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/3054474597_a78651022c.jpg" alt="Grandma's in town" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />I can't believe how big and cute and sweet these girls are.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3055312488/" title="Berry Girls all grown up by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/3055312488_c0468d23af.jpg" alt="Berry Girls all grown up" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Milk coma.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3081887086/" title="Zonked by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3008/3081887086_b11c69dfbc.jpg" alt="Zonked" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Is Gracie happy, scared, worried, sad?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3081047885/" title="Happy dog? by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3056/3081047885_5e2f58e935.jpg" alt="Happy dog?" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />John was nice enough to come over and take some higher quality photos of Camden while he is still tiny. They turned out very nice. I will post some to Flickr and here with the next entry.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054482113/" title="Photo Shoot by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/3054482113_b57702a2dc.jpg" alt="Photo Shoot" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />Then he showed us that it's not necessarily the camera, but the cameraman that can make the difference in a good photo. He took this with our silly little point and shoot.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054483831/" title="11 Days Old by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/3054483831_696c213676.jpg" alt="11 Days Old" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />And some thrilling home video.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=63881" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=04f29a2eaf&photo_id=3055406682"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=63881"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=63881" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=04f29a2eaf&photo_id=3055406682" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />And the final pregnancy photo. I'm not real happy with how it turned out....oh well.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3054622021/" title="And....baby by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3238/3054622021_ff5d86193b.jpg" alt="And....baby" width="471" height="500" /></a>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-80636289225978919142008-11-11T12:47:00.000-08:002008-11-11T13:43:44.051-08:00Take TwoWe love our Honda. Much to our repeated disbelief and amazement, it consistently gets 40+ miles per gallon. It runs well. It has never given us any problems. It is a 1995 Civic. However, I guess it does have one major <a href="http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?section=top&story=hotWheels&subject=most_stolen">downfall</a>. Number 1! Not just the Honda Civic, but the <span style="font-weight: bold;">1995</span> Civic. Well, we are helping those stats to hold true, as this morning at about 2:45 AM, our beloved little car was taken from us yet <a href="http://theonelesstraveled.blogspot.com/2007/05/cars-and-dogs.html#links">again</a>. This time we actually watched it drive/skid/fishtail out of our driveway. Here's how it went down:<br /><br />Recently we restarted a subscription to the daily newspaper (trust me, this is relevant). We don't have a newspaper box, so the newspaper lady (I don't know why I assume it's a woman) has to walk it up to our front stoop which not only triggers the motion light, but also puts Gracie on alert and she has to let us know every morning when the paper arrives. Another important piece of information for you to know is that our bedroom (much to our chagrin) faces right out to the road and driveway (can be loud when the school buses roll in) and we generally sleep with the window open. This newspaper is delivered disturbingly early - at about 3:30AM each morning. So each morning about that time, Gracie barks, we tell her to stop and roll over and go back to sleep.<br /><br />So this morning, Gracie barked, and we woke up with the automatic words coming out of our mouths, "Gracie - No. That's enough". However, this time, Keith had a feeling something was off, so he sat up, pulled the curtain back and surveyed the street. I, in the meantime, looked at the clock, saw that it was 2:30 and said, "What are you doing? It's probably just the newspaper lady here early". But he continued to watch as he saw a car driving very slowly and suspiciously past our house after already making the turnaround in the cul-de-sac. He had spent yesterday cleaning gutters for some folks and had two pretty expensive ladders still strapped on the Explorer. He noticed a bright glare of lights coming from beyond our house (as if the car stopped and applied its brakes) about where the Explorer sat. So he got up, went to the garage, and checked on the Explorer and his ladders. He didn't see anything, so came back to bed.<br /><br />Not 10 seconds after he got back in bed, I heard the distinct sound of our car starting up. The next two minutes were very surreal. I clumsily spit out the words, "That's our car! They're stealing our car!", as I am clambering over Keith to get to the window. Keith quickly clued in and was up with me. My instinct for some strange reason was to scream incoherent words in the most visceral way I've ever done while banging incessently on the window (what exactly did I hope to accomplish? Was the guy going to see and hear me, stop what he was doing, get out and say, "Sorry, I've been caught, I won't really steal your car."). In the meantime, Keith is also yelling, but at the same time, <span style="font-style: italic;">leaping</span> out of the window and chasing after the car. As Keith is leaving the house, the guy has just started to back out, so Keith is able to catch up with him by the time he hits the road. Keith bangs on the window as the guy is shifting into first gear, but does not slow down and is able to peel out and tear off down the street, just brushing the side of Keith's leg. As Keith said later, "I could have pulled a Hollywood and jumped on the windsheild, but he wasn't going to stop".<br /><br />While Keith is doing that, I finally clue in and call 911, in the off chance a police car is close. But by the time they get all of the information, the car is long gone. Keith went out in the Explorer in hopes they got so freaked out (because what car thief really expects the homeowner to leap out of the window?) that they dumped the car immediately. So he drove around a little bit, but didn't find anything. In the meantime, Gracie is pacing nervously and staying as close to me as possible. Have I ever said how much I love dogs? (No, she didn't exactly chase down and catch the robbers - or even follow Keith out the window, but she joined in our yelling and is the one that alerted us in the first place - she gets some credit for that). And that was that. As the police officer said that came by later to take the report, with Hondas like these, it's not "Gone in 60 seconds" it's "Gone in 6 seconds" because the thiefs find a key that works and just let themselves into the car, start her up and take off.<br /><br />You might wonder if we learned any lessons from having this happen to us once before. We considered buying a Club after last time, but we know ourselves too well, and knew we would not be consistent using it. The only thing we did do is add comprehensive insurance to our policy. So at least now, if they don't find our car, we'll get a little bit of money. We did lose our car seat, some CD's and the new, albeit crappy, stereo and speakers that we bought after the last theft. I suspect if we get the car back, those will require replacing....again.<br /><br />Quite the night, and in retrospect I still laugh. Mostly at me helplessly banging on the window and Keith jumping out of the window in his boxers. We think back and wonder a few things. How did the guy not trip the motion light (or did he, and we just assumed it was the newspaper delivery?), how did we not hear any doors opening, and how did we not see him when Keith was looking out the window? I guess these guys have done this more than once, and even though they might be high as a kite, they are still good at what they do. Looking back, I am glad I/we didn't notice anyone sitting in the car when we looked out the window, because I know Keith and he would have jumped out of the window and as he said, "beat the shit out of him". While I don't doubt Keith's strength and ability, that guy could have easily had a gun, and things could have turned out a lot worse. A car is just a car, and while it is not in our budget to get a replacement, I'd much rather deal with insurance companies than hospitals.<br /><br />In lighter news, how about that election? Finally, this country got something right. Having not a lot going on around this house, we had our own little election party and played a "fill in the electoral map" game with each other. Prior to results coming in, we each filled out our own map, trying to predict the results. The winner was the one with the most states correct, which was Keith, by one state.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3023193908/" title="Election night games by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/3023193908_6e2d7ea9d7.jpg" alt="Election night games" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Meanwhile, we finally finished up our kitchen. It needed a few more cracks repaired, some texturing done and a last coat of paint. I've become so restless, I had to help out a little. Don't worry, it's good quality, low odor paint, and I really didn't do that much work.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3023197654/" title="Finishing the Kitchen by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/3023197654_33a10a7f44.jpg" alt="Finishing the Kitchen" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />And we've been taking lots of walks, and have found that Gracie likes to play in leaf piles. There are lots of piles around as people load the leaves into the street and wait for the city to come scoop them up for them. That provides us with lots of entertainment as we encourage our dog to do silly things.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3023187504/" title="Can you find the golden retriever? by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3157/3023187504_fa82713dbf.jpg" alt="Can you find the golden retriever?" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3023189956/" title="Fun with dogs and leaves by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3183/3023189956_10ace2941b.jpg" alt="Fun with dogs and leaves" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="400" height="300"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=b1542e2bc6&photo_id=3023217268"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=61761" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=b1542e2bc6&photo_id=3023217268" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><br />Pregnancy news? Not much. Although all the excitement last night might have kick started something. I am quite sore, achy and crampy today. Who knows, maybe tomorrow will bring even more exciting news?E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-69595396102247458542008-11-03T15:32:00.000-08:002008-11-03T16:28:08.740-08:00WaitingI have to admit that my pregnancy has been pretty seamless. I never did have morning sickness, no medical complications, not even a lot of discomfort until late in the game. I've been sleeping well, eating well (probably too well), and able to do just about all the activity that I have wanted to. However, I can officially say that I am done. Now I am huge, uncomfortable, not sleeping very well, and generally just done. I want my body back and I would very much like to meet this little guy and start this next stage of our lives. I know we need to be enjoying these last days of "freedom" without being tied down by a child. But I would hardly call what I feel these days "freedom". I can't hop on my bike and go for a ride in this beautiful fall weather we've been having, I can't go run up the Butte with the dog, and even the thought of sitting for 2+ hours in a movie theater doesn't sound fun. So I say, "Come on out Bubba! We're ready!".<br /><br />I actually thought I would have a baby in my arms by today. On Friday, I was feeling unusually uncomfortable with strange cramping, etc. but went to work anyway. After an hour and a half there, and being completely unable to get comfortable let alone focus on taking care of patients, I had to excuse myself and go home. I stopped by the doctor on my way home (since he is right there by work) and had him do a quick exam. Things had changed a little. He told me I was slightly dilated, but made it clear that it didn't really mean anything. He said I could very well "putter" along like this for a while. I, on the other hand, was sure the baby would be born this weekend. I mean how do you go from having no symptoms for 9+ months (never a Braxton Hicks contraction) to significant different 'stuff' going on and not have it be labor? So I called my Mom, told her to be ready, Keith quickly packed his bag and took the dog on a long walk in case she had to be abandoned later in the night. And then we sat around and waited for the action. And waited. And are still waiting. I guess I'm puttering.<br /><br />Friday and Saturday were pretty uncomfortable for me with on and off cramping, then yesterday, nothing - back to normal (whatever that is). Today the cramping is trying to come back, but not to a very large degree. So I try to keep busy by going for short walks, cleaning and reading a novel (which has been nice - I am so sick of pregnancy and labor books!). In addition, Keith is home a lot now as he tries to land another contracting job, and work at the property has ceased with the change in the weather and the completion of the shed. Quick aside here from my all encompassing pregnancy - Keith is now a full fledged, independent, licensed and bonded contractor. He finished up the paperwork, testing and licensure last week and has spent the last few days starting to advertise in earnest and land a job. It might be hard to get a start with this, but if we can make it work, it will be a dream come true to be an owner of his own business and to have the degree of flexibility that comes with that.<br /><br />At any rate, it means he does a lot of stuff at home now, and I won't go back to work at this point, so sometimes it feels like we are just sitting around staring at each other waiting for the big event. It's not really like that, but as the days go by and now that it is raining like crazy, and gets dark so darn early, there are definitely many times of the day where we both feel stuck in a bit of a rut. Him waiting for a job to come up, and me waiting for my body to get on with the program already!<br /><br />Enough griping. Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks.<br />Like I've been saying, October was a beautiful month. We have had some of the most amazing fall colors I've seen in years and it has been sunny and warm without hardly a day of rain the whole month. November is starting out drastically different however - it's been raining for two days straight, and the leaves have been falling about as fast as the rain.<br /><br />We spent one very nice afternoon strolling through one of the riverside parks here in Eugene and letting Gracie do her thing in the water.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3001074172/" title="Gorgeous Fall Day at the Park by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/3001074172_ec769e4142.jpg" alt="Gorgeous Fall Day at the Park" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3000234983/" title="Willamette River in Fall by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/3000234983_5a6086e9d6.jpg" alt="Willamette River in Fall" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3000251681/" title="Day at the Park by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3249/3000251681_3cc2f91a77.jpg" alt="Day at the Park" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />I thought these parallel jet lines looked so cool with the fall colors, but of course I have no photographing ability, so the picture didn't really come out like I had hoped.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3000222335/" title="Jet lines by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/3000222335_f8158b4b19.jpg" alt="Jet lines" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />For Halloween, I thought it would be fun to paint my belly like a pumpkin. For our Halloween night, we were a bit preoccupied with the inevitable trip to the hospital and my general discomfort, so it didn't get done in time for the holiday. However, Corrine and the kids came over today and held me to my word of getting it done. It turned out pretty cute!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3000993716/" title="Kiel contributes by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/3000993716_21a95eb6a6.jpg" alt="Kiel contributes" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />I love this double chin I have obtained!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3000994386/" title="Trin & the finished product by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3234/3000994386_a44bda1830.jpg" alt="Trin & the finished product" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3000995164/" title="Pumpkin Belly by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3202/3000995164_4a818b93bd.jpg" alt="Pumpkin Belly" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />It looks like I've been crying, but it's really just poison oak that I somehow got around my eye. Cute, huh?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3000996102/" title="The Artist by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3166/3000996102_3c1898576f.jpg" alt="The Artist" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3000991982/" title="Untitled by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3166/3000991982_b3e7c10b32.jpg" alt="" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />I've had the chance to spend more time with Bea and Jenn lately as well. Bea is growing so fast. It is hard to believe she is 10 weeks old already. She is already holding her head up and really using her legs to 'stand'. Very active, cute, and animated baby!<br />We got a nice walk in among those lovely fall colors.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3000256253/" title="Bea with mom by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/3000256253_881ea006b1.jpg" alt="Bea with mom" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3001234998/" title="Fall Walk by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/3001234998_2423d9650b.jpg" alt="Fall Walk" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3001235074/" title="Bea 10 Weeks by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/3001235074_571c4d12fb.jpg" alt="Bea 10 Weeks" width="500" height="375" /></a><br /><br />One last pregnancy photo (are you sick of these yet?). And the latest on the bump watch.<br />This is from Saturday night (38+ weeks). We do actually turn lights on in our house....we just happened to be on our way out the door at this moment.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/3000263867/" title="Still Pregnant by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3218/3000263867_9ae02498f8.jpg" alt="Still Pregnant" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />Week 38<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2989925812/" title="Week 38 by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3224/2989925812_29cf132b38.jpg" alt="Week 38" width="375" height="500" /></a><br /><br />And finally, my new favorite song. Especially if you are in need of a pick-me-up.<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/eoaTl7IcFs8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eoaTl7IcFs8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-60507357528284958532008-10-12T18:05:00.000-07:002008-10-14T09:23:01.200-07:00NamingEvery time I start a blog, I realize that the hardest part is coming up with a title. I for some reason always want it to be creative, clever and someway encapsulate all that I write within. Of course it never ends up being that way and instead ends up being something lame that references the weather or season.<br /><br />We have had a busy last couple of months with a couple baby showers, lots of hours put in by Keith at his various projects and a trip up north. One of Keith's projects has been helping with some major work at our friends' cabin at the coast. He'll spend a couple days at a time out there as it doesn't make sense to drive back and forth. He's been pretty lucky with the weather and for one of the good stretches, I joined him out there for part of a weekend. The weather was gorgeous and I spent a lot of my time getting away from all the construction noise (there is a whole crew working out there) by lazing around on the beach with my rockhound. I know we've talked about her neurosis with rocks, but it is amazing how over the years this neurosis increases, bordering on panic. This is her latest, digging fervently around the rock - is she trying to bury it, dig it up, what? When we leave the beach it is littered with craters like these. I think she would do this until total collapse if we let her.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2916729304/" title="Gracie at the beach. by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3073/2916729304_2ee441c7ce.jpg" alt="Gracie at the beach." height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />She does take some breaks, but notice how she isn't completely resting - just waiting to go find the next rock.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2915887359/" title="Keeping watch for seals, birds....or rocks? by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3038/2915887359_1a32634325.jpg" alt="Keeping watch for seals, birds....or rocks?" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />OK, that's all I can talk about that isn't baby related. Because, frankly, a lot of our time now is spent thinking about the upcoming arrival, which is now frighteningly close. Maybe closer than we think, there are predictions coming from our doctor that "Bubba" Caldera might come a bit earlier than expected based on his current positioning. So this last week has been spent working our way through a long checklist (this would be Keith mostly - he has been a champ).<br /><br />I think I have mentioned that I now work at an outpatient portion of the hospital. So everyday I have new patients. There are definitely pros and cons to this. Recently, as it has become impossible to hide my pregnancy behind baggy scrubs, I have discovered a new con to this scenario. It's that every day I have to have the following conversation with at least two of my patients:<br />After spending about five minutes in the room, you see an awareness come over either a family member's or the patient's face as they take in my girth and then....<br />Patient: "When are you due?"<br />Me: "November 11th"<br />Patient: "Oh not long! Do you know what you're having?"<br />Me: "Yes, it's a boy"<br />Patient: "Ohhhhh, how sweet. Is this your first?"<br />Me: "Yep." (And then some comments about yes, how fun it will be and how our lives will change)<br />Patient: "Have you picked out a name yet?"<br />Me: "No, we're still working on that."<br />Patient: "Oh, you're waiting to see his face!" or "You'll know when you see him!"<br />Me: Smile and nod, but thinking to myself, "no, we're too practical for that, we're really just struggling on a name, and don't all newborns look all squishy and weird anyway, and why would I want that to be the basis for my son's name".<br /><br />At least they don't all reach out and grab for my belly.<br /><br />As of today, I am beginning my 36th week, and definitely looking the part. Any delivery at this point would be considered full term, but my official due date is a month from yesterday. I had two lovely showers thrown for me. One here in Eugene and the other up in the Seattle area. I can't believe how generous people are and how well dressed this little guy is going to be. We've done well gathering stuff, and the nursery is nearly complete, again thanks to the generosity of so many people. We even have a car seat installed in the car! So weird.<br /><br />Corrine hosted the Eugene shower and made this darling cake which was a hit:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2916635890/" title="What a cute cake! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3127/2916635890_d4a579ba57.jpg" alt="What a cute cake!" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Corrine's wonderful daughter, Trinity. I cannot believe how fast she is growing up.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2915787807/" title="Baby Shower by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3051/2915787807_334611dd39.jpg" alt="Baby Shower" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />The aftermath of the first shower.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2916627300/" title="Baby Shower Loot by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3203/2916627300_beb483635f.jpg" alt="Baby Shower Loot" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />In the meantime we picked up our nursery furniture from our dear friends who flat out gave us theirs. If it can hold a 90 pound dog, I think it will be OK for the babe.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2916630134/" title="Is this how to prepare your dog for the baby? by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2305/2916630134_eeea1c8a5e.jpg" alt="Is this how to prepare your dog for the baby?" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Then we headed up north for the other shower. Keith and his parents came along as well and along with his aunts we all congregated at my parents' house for a lovely weekend of visiting. My longtime friend, Amy, hosted this one, and it was again so touching how many people showed up and their generosity. I didn't take any pictures while there, but had this one emailed to me of all my old cronies from elementary school. I will be the very last one of this group to have a baby (I think I was the last one to get married as well...)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2915880905/" title="The girls I grew up with by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3071/2915880905_46f9c1c7e5.jpg" alt="The girls I grew up with" height="333" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Here is the lovely quilt my mom made for her grandson. I just love the colors.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2939140994/" title="Bubba's Quilt by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/2939140994_5947b19035.jpg" alt="Bubba's Quilt" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />The rest of the weekend was spent at my folks' house, where we mostly just hung out, played games, and went for walks. Although a lot of the time was spent making apple cider as well. Our freezer is now jam-packed with this yummy stuff.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2916735090/" title="Making Cider by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3252/2916735090_f4845a1b41.jpg" alt="Making Cider" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Since then, Keith has wrapped up his various work projects and is now working to become an independent contractor, while also quickly getting through his 'honey-do' list. When we first started talking about "getting ready for the baby", one of the first words out of his mouth was, "I need to build a shed".....and later....."I need to make beer". (I was thinking more along the lines of getting the nursery ready, finishing stuff inside our house, buying a car seat, etc.) I have endlessly teased him about this, as his rationale was because we'd have all this "extra" stuff in the garage, and that we needed a shed out at our property to make room for it. I was wondering besides a stroller, what 'stuff', but he couldn't quite come up with anything. We'll chalk it up to male nesting. Regardless, he is constructing a nice shed, and it will be nice to get some of the extra furniture that got the boot when the crib came in out of the garage and out of the way.<br /><br />He's also made great improvements inside with his quick handiwork including shelving, making some bed frames and this little co-sleeper for Bubba.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2939145440/" title="Making a co-sleeper by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3246/2939145440_054eb109fb.jpg" alt="Making a co-sleeper" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />In addition, my mom has spent the last week here keeping our house clean, keeping us fed, and forcing me to stay off my feet especially on days I work. It has been great having her here and we look forward to her return when the little one is here and we need the help all over again.<br /><br />In closing, the bump watch continues....<br />Week 33:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2916587546/" title="Week 33 by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/2916587546_0e06b6a440.jpg" alt="Week 33" height="500" width="456" /></a><br /><br />And just taken this morning. The beginning of Week 36:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2939119026/" title="Week 36 by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3182/2939119026_7bd40a60e6.jpg" alt="Week 36" height="500" width="407" /></a><br /><br />Finally, an updated picture of Bubba's playmate in waiting. Bea is now 6 weeks and growing like a weed. 10+ pounds and such a sweetheart (although I think she has an alter ego personality in the middle of the night). Is his name really going to be Bubba? No, of course not. We do however have a name picked out, but since it has taken this long to come up with it, we figure we'll just make you all wait until the birth to be enlightened.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoSGo7_JW_rYneViAomK-_L94d_Z6uXLjrzmrpjJbutUbXmwWH5lEkB6z-93HsIBpX9AtRE2gMvfd-2DdfvjC5hVjMh871-4bew8FboKtP410NDAYqX1oSlXAKHJ4BQ_YYorC/s1600-h/Bea+6+Weeks.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkoSGo7_JW_rYneViAomK-_L94d_Z6uXLjrzmrpjJbutUbXmwWH5lEkB6z-93HsIBpX9AtRE2gMvfd-2DdfvjC5hVjMh871-4bew8FboKtP410NDAYqX1oSlXAKHJ4BQ_YYorC/s320/Bea+6+Weeks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256822917709106178" border="0" /></a>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-26371654016500248272008-09-01T16:35:00.000-07:002008-09-06T15:42:18.445-07:00Last Days of SummerSummer is almost over, and this baby will be with us in 2 and a half months or so, and I realized we have basically no new pictures to share. We have been severely delinquent in our picture taking. Mostly laziness, but also the fact that there hasn't been much to take photos of. So I guess I have to fill this space up with words.<br /><br />About a month ago I switched jobs at the hospital. I am still doing mostly cardiac nursing, but I am now on an outpatient floor where I take care of patients before and after their procedures in the 'cath lab'. If anyone is really interested in what that means, I would be happy to explain, but I'm guessing that sentence is enough for most. What it means for me, is a slightly lower stress, slower paced job and slightly better hours including all weekends and holidays off. Instead of working 3:00 - 11:00 PM, I now work 1:00 - 9:30 PM. Good news is that now I can see and hang out with Keith for an hour or so after I get home and before we go to bed. Bad news is that there will be no more poems like this waiting for me on the counter:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bread</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">by Keith Caldera</span><br />I am smart in the head<br />'cus I made bread.<br />Now, I am in bed,<br />But I am full of dread<br />That you'll eat my bread.<br />"Right said Fred"<br />So, don't eat my bread.<br />It is full of lead<br />And you'll be dead!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">A Working Man's Poem</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">by Keith Caldera</span><br />Soooo, I was working in the mire,<br />And my pants are something dire.<br />They are muddy<br />I am no liar.<br />I work hard<br />I never tire.<br />Sooo, check my work pants in the dryer,<br />If they're not dry<br />Hang by the fire.<br /><br />Romantic in their own way, and sure to put a smile on my face after a long night. I've been hanging onto those scrap pieces of paper for a long time, and found them as we've been cleaning and rearranging furniture. Finally they are archived in the eternity of the web, never to be lost.<br /><br />Keith has been job searching without a lot of luck, but in the meantime has stayed plenty busy with random projects around our house and mostly working with the contractor of a friend of ours doing some remodel work and misc house/renovation projects.<br /><br />In our spare time we try to figure out a name for this child that is arriving all too soon and work on finding room in our small house for him to live. We had to dramatically downsize our office, saying good-bye to Keith's homemade (and huge) desk and my Dell monitor from 1998 that took up half the desk. We moved the 'office' out to the living room, setting up a much smaller desk and dispersed the rest of the office stuff to the attic, spare bedroom and garbage/recycle clearing out our office entirely so now it is "Bubba's" room. We had coincidentally painted it blue in anticipation of hanging a certain painting in there, but now we'll just leave it, as blue is a fine color for a baby boy's room.<br /><br />Here are some really interesting photos of how our living room and baby's room look now.<br />Our living/dining room/office - we are actually quite pleased with the setup and enjoy having the computer in one of the main rooms.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2833632691/" title="Crowded, but comfortable by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/2833632691_0939b9bb4f.jpg" alt="Crowded, but comfortable" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Baby's room in waiting.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2833637057/" title="Baby's Room To Be by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3135/2833637057_2cf144c00c.jpg" alt="Baby's Room To Be" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Back in July we went up to Washington and spent some time relaxing at my parents' house after being thoroughly entertained by <a href="http://www.eddieizzard.com/home.izz">Eddie Izzard</a> in Seattle - a comedian we can't recommend enough. Hilarious. The visit with the folks was nice and relaxing with a couple of very pleasant days spent at their lake cabin.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2730492527/" title="Summer Cookin by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3148/2730492527_658042a5d4.jpg" alt="Summer Cookin" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2731326312/" title="Summer Swim by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3281/2731326312_5102bdfa8d.jpg" alt="Summer Swim" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />And then there are the updates of my growing stomach. As of today, I am in my 30th week. It is crazy how fast this is going. I feel like in the last couple weeks in particular, my appearance has changed dramatically. I feel like I am carrying him quite high, as is noticed by my moments of breathlessness after walking down the hall and some new fun rib pain. I have a feeling it is going to get so much more interesting from here on out. At least I can still put on my own shoes. For the most part I still feel great. I am moving around fine and work is still plenty manageable. I've been walking a lot (thanks to Gracie and my job) and doing mostly swimming as my main form of exercise. The pool feels so great and it's kind of fun to float around with those old ladies at water aerobics! Actually, it is a pretty good mix of ages at those classes and is a surprisingly good workout (coming from someone with an exercise tolerance bordering on zero).<br /><br />So here's a catch up of the belly photos if you haven't been over to our Flickr page:<br /><br />Week 25:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2730481797/" title="Week 25 by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3288/2730481797_27b7d3c253.jpg" alt="Week 25" height="500" width="411" /></a><br /><br />And Week 29. It's hard to get a good picture so I always have to make Keith take several. I couldn't believe the difference a change in posture and pant line could make in how big it makes me look. These next two were taken immediately after one another. My brother, Carl, apparently has a problem with the pants I chose to wear for these pictures, thinking they were too tight around the waist and artificially squeezing in my belly. Maybe he's right....although I think it's mostly my posture.<br />Week 29 Take 1:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2818817033/" title="Week 29 by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3213/2818817033_7599d00098.jpg" alt="Week 29" height="497" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Week 29, Take 2:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2818820253/" title="Also Week 29! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3284/2818820253_a0d2c4b8a7.jpg" alt="Also Week 29!" height="487" width="500" /></a><br /><br />And since we're not taking any photos, I made Keith pose with me while we had normal clothes on so I can have at least one or two photos of me pregnant not in purple pants and a too tight white shirt. This was taken about two weeks ago.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2819702026/" title="Summertime by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3053/2819702026_23437cec9e.jpg" alt="Summertime" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />I almost forgot the most exciting news. Jenn and John had their baby!! Jenn and I have been enjoying this pregnancy experience together, but now she is onto the next phase, and can now tell me all the things I have to look forward to in being a mom of a newborn as she has been doing with the pregnancy (she's been great about telling me what to expect and letting me know what I should be doing to get ready....I tend to be somewhat of a procrastinator). She delivered three weeks early on August 23, but the baby, Bealena, was ready. She came out a beautiful 7 lbs 2 oz and with a full head of hair!<br />What a beauty (Bea, not me - I'm on 24 hours of no sleep in this picture!).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSbk1J7kITyiHHEVM78miFV0NAM0beA0xTjl-BnmZN_G15eIGvqCz_v0flckXjE2GNCvttvpoSVdeaNregGeo2Ddo3jULJ9Jm47Qd3_NGqi-RxLZnovvWjpISNXWGLqyCEtEJr/s1600-h/Bea+%26+Em.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSbk1J7kITyiHHEVM78miFV0NAM0beA0xTjl-BnmZN_G15eIGvqCz_v0flckXjE2GNCvttvpoSVdeaNregGeo2Ddo3jULJ9Jm47Qd3_NGqi-RxLZnovvWjpISNXWGLqyCEtEJr/s320/Bea+%26+Em.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243041063075506514" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP2X6DaFEUDAqahipW050ov2m8Y5CQztuGdahtWv5o4GobO2shJUyQibHTY61rm4x-zdIocXj5q4wKq-sS8xABNW1fmnXsRMAoMYalPD1_RgoRJDlVcxP7Dv6CN3jSt9MwyApn/s1600-h/Bea+1+day+old.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP2X6DaFEUDAqahipW050ov2m8Y5CQztuGdahtWv5o4GobO2shJUyQibHTY61rm4x-zdIocXj5q4wKq-sS8xABNW1fmnXsRMAoMYalPD1_RgoRJDlVcxP7Dv6CN3jSt9MwyApn/s320/Bea+1+day+old.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243041290325663330" border="0" /></a>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-65555569693571890352008-07-21T22:13:00.000-07:002008-07-21T23:24:43.030-07:00Friends and CousinsAs Emily posted in out last entry, my cousin Lee, age 34, died of a heart attack several weeks ago. For his upcoming remembrance friends and family have been gathering photos and I did the same. Going through the photos certainly brought back some memories and make his passing a bit more real. It is hard to imagine that there will be no more photos to take.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2688291230/" title="Lee and Keith by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/2688291230_c6e85f41b6.jpg" alt="Lee and Keith" height="339" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Lee is a 2nd cousin by blood, which means my mother and his father were cousins....my grandma and his grandma were sisters. We really did not get to know each other until 6th grade when we both landed at Sunset Middle School. From then until the end of college, we were buddies. Time, work and distance all separate us it seems and I hadn't see much of Lee since having him in my wedding in September of 2004.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2687476897/" title="Lee in Old and Ugly by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3238/2687476897_40a349117b.jpg" alt="Lee in Old and Ugly" height="352" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Lee would come home with me after school and we would spend hours playing elimination on the driveway basketball hoop or ride our bikes everywhere. During the summers we'd meet halfway between my house in Empire and his house at the end of Crown Point Rd. Quite a ride for those that know the area. We'd carry on on our bikes taking us to other friends houses, or even over the North Bend bridge to my dad's work for a pop and a candy bar from the lunchroom vending machines.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2687501015/" title="Mud Football by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3215/2687501015_2b0aebf375.jpg" alt="Mud Football" height="354" width="500" /></a><br /><br />During our high school years we'd sort of lose track of each other during the school year as he went to North Bend and I went to Marshfield. We were rivals each spring on the baseball diamond. When school was out and the summer started we were back to it. Bikes and baseball. Lee and I, with my dad's help, set up a full-on batting cage, complete with lights for nighttime practice, in our backyard. We'd spend hours out there. Or on the tennis court listening to Milli Vanilli on the boombox. We worked together in the hay fields and discovered the game of golf on a lunch break.<br /><br />When college came, we rushed our fraternity together; roomed together; lifted weights together; drank and shot pool together. We both moved out of our fraternity at the same time and rented a house with 3 other good friends for several more years. Lee had the basement room that occasionally flooded, but he took it in stride.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2687498615/" title="Heading to College by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2687498615_b7292a8755.jpg" alt="Heading to College" height="351" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2688398808/" title="Lee and basement room by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3209/2688398808_da43a1f72f.jpg" alt="Lee and basement room" height="500" width="354" /></a><br /><br />I don't think I have ever seen Lee sad....I've see him mad, sometimes at me, but not sad. He was the center of the party, always ready to go out for a drink and a game of pool. His friends were his family and there were a lot of friends.<br /><br />Lee got a hold of me several weeks before he died...to ask me to be in his wedding. He had met his girl. We caught up a little, as much as you can on a 45 minute phone call and regretted that we hadn't kept up with each other. But he wasn't lacking for friends. He had his life in Portland and Vancouver and it was rich.<br /><br />I feel lucky to have at least talked with him before he died. It makes it easier I guess to know he was happy. Happy to be getting married; happy to have his circle of friends join him for rafting on the Deshutes, just happy.<br /><br />I can't imagine the pain of losing the one you were going to marry, before you had the chance. I have visited Lee's and Andrea's Myspace pages often since he died. It is hard to read the messages of support on Lee's page...written to him as if he might respond. Andrea's page is filled with message of love and support, of memories of Lee, of friends in mourning. I join them.<br /><br />It is not fair for Andrea or for Lee's mother Joyce. It is not fair to his friends that he is gone. There is no explanation, no reason that he is gone. I am not sure it is real....but it is.<br /><br />I love you Lee. Friends and Cousins.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2688289440/" title="Yearbook Photo by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/2688289440_557ea24b84.jpg" alt="Yearbook Photo" height="500" width="356" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2623257046/" title="Lee by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/2623257046_384c2d1b5b.jpg" alt="Lee" height="500" width="337" /></a>E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-71169436472695001452008-06-28T00:21:00.001-07:002008-06-30T13:12:34.926-07:00BittersweetIt's been a busy, roller coaster of a week, and not just because I worked seven days in a row. (Is that what I should be doing while pregnant?). Oh well, the money is nice. We've had some really great news and some really, really bad news. Good news is that baby is doing smashingly. We had our 20 week ultrasound on Wednesday, and everything looks fine. He is moving around like a champ in there. For those astute readers, you may have noticed that two letter word I slipped in there....he. Yep, the ultrasound tech is 99% sure it is a boy (they can never say 100%), but I was able to also pick out some pretty convincing evidence on the pictures. One mystery solved. Next up is the name. No ideas there yet, and not sure if we'll share before the birth or not. Hard to believe we are half way there and that those weird little pokes I'm feeling are a human being in the making!<br /><br />Here I am at week 20. This picture seems misleading to me, because when I look in the mirror, I feel like I look a lot bigger than this...you can always check out our <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/sets/72157605246158950/">Flickr</a> site for new belly pics. I might post there more frequently than here.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2623162754/" title="Week 20 by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3266/2623162754_b689ded9a4.jpg" alt="Week 20" height="500" width="425" /></a><br /><br />The oh-so sad news we got was that Keith's cousin, who just asked him to be in his wedding, passed away earlier this week. He's our age (which I like to think is still young) and died instantly from cardiac arrest. At 34. So unfair, shocking and sad. So hard to process. He was in our wedding, and although I never got to know him very well, he and Keith were very close in college - causing trouble together in their frat all four years. He was supposed to get married in just a couple weeks. Damn. You will be missed, Lee.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2623257046/" title="Lee by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/2623257046_384c2d1b5b.jpg" alt="Lee" height="500" width="337" /></a><br /><br />In other, more happy news, summer is here and we have managed to get ourselves out on a few outings.<br /><br />Back in May we took a day hike up on the McKenzie River to <a href="http://naturalhighs.net/waterfalls/falls04/McKenzie.htm">Tamolitch Falls</a>. Which isn't supposed to be a falls at all. It is more aptly known as the Blue Hole. It is a stretch of the river that has been diverted underground through lava tubes, and then suddenly reemerges at this blue hole. We went there hoping to see the famed Blue Hole, but it was late spring and we had such a heavy snow year, that the reservoir upstream couldn't handle all the water, so much of the river was going back over it's natural path and therefore, there was indeed a rather large waterfall at Tamolitch Falls. Now we have to go back and hike it again to see the Blue Hole in all it's glory. The hike was nice. We tried to go beyond to get up to the reservoir, but we hit too much snow and after a tumble on my part (which unfortunately led to a week laid out on my back - thanks loose pregnancy ligaments) we had to turn back early.<br /><br />The falls in the background:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2618106405/" title="Tamolitch Falls and happy dog by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3155/2618106405_f08a1df195.jpg" alt="Tamolitch Falls and happy dog" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Scenery along the McKenzie trail:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2618935586/" title="McKenzie River Trail by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/2618935586_759d1e1c4e.jpg" alt="McKenzie River Trail" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />The McKenzie at high flow:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2618939804/" title="Raging McKenzie River by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3141/2618939804_17e6829dee.jpg" alt="Raging McKenzie River" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Keith gazing at the blue hole that isn't so blue with all that water rushing into it:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2618119465/" title="Tamolitch Falls/The Blue Hole by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/2618119465_2703eeca90.jpg" alt="Tamolitch Falls/The Blue Hole" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Next up was a short outing to Jenn and John's beach house to visit with our friends from South Africa who were such good hosts while we were there. You may remember <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/189931094/in/set-72157594343861504/">this thing</a> that we had the privilege to drive around southern Africa. Well John and Ester are the "caretakers" for this automobile and were so kind to us while we were there - giving us the most amazing braii (BBQ) we've ever had, and stocking that Land Rover so well with every piece of camping gear and extras anyone would need. So they finally got a trip to the States to spend time mostly with John and Jenn but we were able to sneak a few days in with them as well. After a quick visit to the local lighthouse (which none of us locals has ever bothered to stop at), John and Jenn had to head back to Eugene early. We stayed behind with John and Ester to give them more time at the coast and gave them an Oregon style BBQ on the beach. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we got really lucky with the weather.<br /><br />Heceta Head lighthouse:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2618991298/" title="Heceta Head Lighthouse by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2618991298_916a3dd4bc.jpg" alt="Heceta Head Lighthouse" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />The Oregon coast:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2618164311/" title="View of the Oregon Coast from the lighthouse by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/2618164311_16ce21569a.jpg" alt="View of the Oregon Coast from the lighthouse" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Setting up for a BBQ on the beach:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2618993792/" title="Setting up the BBQ by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3010/2618993792_2103d9e808.jpg" alt="Setting up the BBQ" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Drinks included:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2618174985/" title="Cheers by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3291/2618174985_290a03f816.jpg" alt="Cheers" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />And local seafood. Very local. From the rocks behind us. Well these are actually oysters that we bought at a store, but the mussels we ate later came from the rocks behind us.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2618177553/" title="Mussels on the half shell by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3095/2618177553_2b72dbfd9b.jpg" alt="Mussels on the half shell" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />And last week, I had a week off, so we went out and finally did some camping. The weather was perfect and it was mid-week, so we had campgrounds basically to ourselves. We ventured up the McKenzie River again and set up our first night camp at Olallie Campground. A very cool campground if you can get the prime spot. A corner site with a branch of the river practically running through your camp. We spent the day lounging and did another short section of the McKenzie River trail (this trail runs for about 25 miles along the McKenzie River).<br /><br />Our campsite at Olallie:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2619603685/" title="Olallie Camp by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3003/2619603685_0323a630e1.jpg" alt="Olallie Camp" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />From there, we headed over the pass and camped a night on the Metolius River, which is another river that starts from the depths of the lava tubes. We found a great little walk-in campground which was virtually empty and had probably our most relaxing day there napping, strolling along the river, and playing Bocce Ball, Scrabble, and Backgammon (does that make us sound old or what?).<br /><br />Our campsite at the Metolius. Notice how stressed out Keith is.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2620417010/" title="Metolius River camp by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/2620417010_780349079b.jpg" alt="Metolius River camp" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />The Metolius River.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2619588437/" title="Metolius River by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3083/2619588437_635fb9751d.jpg" alt="Metolius River" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Our main reason for heading over the pass was to check out Smith Rock. Smith Rock is the climbers' mecca of Oregon and we have heard it is a gorgeous place for even non-climbers to visit. It's a place we've both always wanted to see, so we took a day trip out there to do a little hiking. It is truly a beautiful place - not very big, but stunning. In the middle of the high desert plains sits all these massive, unique rock formations. It's like a little tiny piece of Utah sitting in the middle of Oregon. We did the standard 4 mile hike that takes you up to the top (ask me how fast I walked up that hill....the baby is not sharing the oxygen equally) and around the back side and finally along the Crooked River back to the start. A very nice hike with some amazing views of all the big volcanoes of the Cascades.<br /><br />Me catching my breath among some very nice views.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2623126348/" title="Resting at Smith Rock by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/2623126348_d5863c08f2.jpg" alt="Resting at Smith Rock" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2620408088/" title="Hiking around Smith Rock by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3172/2620408088_bac776c5ac.jpg" alt="Hiking around Smith Rock" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />At the top you get right next to the famous Monkey Face (you'll see later) where we can perch precariously over ledges looking for the crazy climbers who actually climb up this thing.<br />I am posting this picture mostly for my brother who has a bit of an issue with heights....even looking at others sitting on edges....he is also a kick ass rock climber....go figure.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2619569539/" title="Perched by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3012/2619569539_ec08cf0d40.jpg" alt="Perched" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />There is the Monkey Face. You can see the little ledge where I was sitting just to the right of the monkey's mouth.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2620391760/" title="Looking back at Monkey Face by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2620391760_59b0d03899.jpg" alt="Looking back at Monkey Face" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />For our third night of camp, we headed back to the McKenzie River and checked out another campground (Ice Cap) which was right next to some waterfalls. Again, with all the snow melt, these falls are in fine form right now. Another pleasant, relaxing evening and a walk along the river that connected Koosah Falls with Sahalie Falls. Here is Keith in front of Sahalie Falls, apparently very excited by either the view or his coffee.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2620381472/" title="Keith, coffee, waterfall by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3062/2620381472_2469900fbf.jpg" alt="Keith, coffee, waterfall" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Some wild irises that I thought were quite pretty.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2620388376/" title="Wild Iris by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2620388376_4e68f6c1fc.jpg" alt="Wild Iris" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />It wouldn't be a complete blog entry without an update on our house projects. I think I mentioned before that we were getting ready to paint the house. After all the destruction from leveling it, it was time to clean things up and make it look nice again. Once the rains stopped, Ketih's parents came up and helped get the thing painted. With the help of the sprayer, the three of them were able to get the main part done in a day (yay for small houses!).<br /><br />Here is what it looked like before with the piecemeal siding work.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2619053188/" title="Front yard before by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3034/2619053188_94b74f478a.jpg" alt="Front yard before" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />And a look at the final product (mostly). There is some trim work that lingers, but you can't tell from this picture. What you can see is that there is a big, broken trailer in the driveway. I wanted a nice clean after picture, but my dear husband tells me that the trailer is not going anywhere anytime soon. It had a little accident on I-5 (actually quite a scary incident and very lucky one as no one was hurt), and basically requires a rebuild which we are choosing not to afford right now. And the axles are off and it is big and heavy, so there it sits.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2623136406/" title="Our new house color by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3138/2623136406_03fe9f5a70.jpg" alt="Our new house color" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We also decided to get rid of the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2060494438/in/set-72157601762495791/">wood paneling</a> in our dining area which involved a lot of drywall work on Keith's part. He did a great job.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2623134484/" title="Yellow Walls by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3036/2623134484_0324ab2f26.jpg" alt="Yellow Walls" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />And that's it for now. We are in the midst of a 90 degree humid heat wave and getting ready for our yearly 4th of July camping trip. The track and field Olympic Trials are taking place this week in Eugene, so the city is all abuzz and getting lots of national airtime. Keith was able to go to a bit of it today, and we spent some time milling around outside the stadium yesterday among the festivities. It's good for Eugene, and they seem to be doing a good job pulling the whole event off.E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-43748748786823998402008-05-03T22:53:00.000-07:002008-05-25T12:47:03.506-07:00Interesting DevelopmentsIt seems as if posting an entry has become a once every three or four month event. Oh well, you haven't missed much. After the New Year, we didn't do much of anything except work. Me at the hospital and Keith up at the Philomath house. He finally got that house as done as its going to be and we put it on the market at the end of March. Needless to say, it has been slow going on the sales front - but I doubt that comes as a surprise to anyone given the state of our economy and the housing market. We are trying to be patient and wait out the "busy" summer season and see what happens. If you are interested in some finished product photos, you can look here:<br />http://www.philomathhouseforsale.blogspot.com/<br /><br />It's been nice having Keith back around this house. I have my handyman back! And my dishwasher! He's been tackling unfinished business around here, like fixing the siding he had to tear apart to do the foundation, a mini-update of the main bathroom, and a rebuild of the garage door (ask him how fun that was). No pictures - we haven't been too inspired on the photo front lately. Next major project will be painting the outside of the house as it is all patchwork right now.<br /><br />In the meantime, w<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjaPRVu11O1bL7S0bUCqzQ5qM2wiFSRCCNEX56T3R0x1J6ZJ2gJY5DA0C2-jQ7GTzY3GzDWgZrnEonQCPGm_HyTa_bTfW9XAm6DfmTaOxeCt1ZXmHKu6THO_JNf2w0rspNyIK/s1600-h/Oh+my+god.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimjaPRVu11O1bL7S0bUCqzQ5qM2wiFSRCCNEX56T3R0x1J6ZJ2gJY5DA0C2-jQ7GTzY3GzDWgZrnEonQCPGm_HyTa_bTfW9XAm6DfmTaOxeCt1ZXmHKu6THO_JNf2w0rspNyIK/s320/Oh+my+god.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5201930311665974962" border="0" /></a>e found out this interesting piece of information:<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Yep. Pretty crazy, huh? As of now I am 15 weeks along, and most of you that even bother to check here for updates already know this information. Regardless, I will go ahead and answer the most frequently asked questions:<br />1) Yes, it was planned.<br />2) No, I haven't had any nausea or morning sickness.<br />3) Yes, we will find out the sex of the baby.<br />4) No, there aren't any smells that have been particularly strong or annoying.<br />5) No, I don't have any cravings (much to Keith's chagrin).<br /><br />Pretty boring huh? At times I had to remind myself that I was even pregnant. Then we had an ultrasound at 8 weeks (this doc likes to do the first one really early) and saw the little heart beating which made it all a little more real. The only (and most annoying) symptom I've been dealing with is the rapid pace at which my shirts have stopped fitting (and it is not from a growing belly.... ahem....). I was already plenty well endowed before, but this is getting ridiculous. All my friends with babies tell me, "Just wait until you're breastfeeding". Great. Lucky for me, I wear baggy scrubs to work, so I I've been OK there and should be for a while still. When I have to go out in public though in normal clothes, that's when the mental breakdowns occur and my entire closet ends up on the floor. I'm at that awkward stage where I don't really need maternity clothes, but nothing in my closet fits either. So I just hide out at home in my sweats and t-shirts. Kidding. I get out sometimes and have found a few shirts, but the weather is not cooperating with the shirts I have bought. Life is rough, isn't it?<br /><br />Here is a picture of my belly at 14 weeks. I didn't take one right off the bat, because really, I didn't look much different than this. I always have a poocher of a belly like this, but maybe from here on out it will start to look like something other than too much cookie dough!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2522082404/" title="14 Weeks by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3119/2522082404_a0aeb602d7.jpg" alt="14 Weeks" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />In other news, we went on a couple trips since our last post. The first was a nice long weekend getaway to San Diego with John and Jenn to attend our good friend, Kelly's, wedding. I hadn't been on a vacation since New Years' so I was very ready to get out of town for a while. This was early April, and while we were expecting sunny days on the beach, we were instead greeted with cold, cloudy skies and felt more like we were on the Oregon coast rather than a California one. We had a great time, nevertheless. We rented a nice little house one block from the beach where we could cook some good meals on our own when we weren't attending wedding festivities.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2463783566/" title="View from our house by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2251/2463783566_02347dd3ed.jpg" alt="View from our house" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We spent one full day at the San Diego zoo which was quite nice. As far as zoos go, it is top notch - really expansive grounds and nice habitats for the animals. We got there early so got a nice view of the ever popular pandas and saw all kinds of other animals like the gorillas, polar bears, black panther and lots more. We took some pictures, but unless you are a photographer, zoo photos, just don't usually turn out that good.<br /><br />The wedding itself was spectacular and picture perfect. It was held up on a cliff overlooking the ocean, the decorations were amazing and of course the happy couple looked stunning and appeared to have a great time. Kelly was my compatriot through nursing school and has since moved back home to San Diego. I miss her dearly, but love to see her so happy.<br /><br />A shot of the girls. (Notice anything different about Jenn's belly? Yep, she's having a baby too! Due it September! Yay!).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2463790324/" title="The nurses by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2023/2463790324_3e05cb2da0.jpg" alt="The nurses" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />And Keith and I dressed up, enjoying the festivities.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2463789184/" title="Dudded up for the wedding by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2149/2463789184_99ac3fe641.jpg" alt="Dudded up for the wedding" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Then at the end of April, we took a week off and went to visit my parents in St George, UT. Over Thanksgiving, my folks picked out a vacation home for them to use in the winters and closed the deal in February. They bought it knowing it needed a little bit of roof work, so had to head back out there in March to get the work started and done. As house projects tend to go, the "little roof repair" turned into a lot more than they bargained for (i.e. a replacement of the entire roof!), and they are not ones to hire very many jobs out. So they are still there. St George is not a summer vacation place because it gets well into the 100's in the summer. They had hoped to be home by now, but are fighting the heat and fighting to finish up the projects. Dad is still on the roof, although I think he is close to being done by now.<br /><br />So we went out for a week to visit, share our fun new news and to help them with a bit of the work. The days ended up being slightly routine in that we'd spend our mornings on one outing or another, getting home for a late lunch, then spending the rest of the day helping get some projects done around the house - which meant Keith and Dad up on the roof and Mom and I inside prepping walls for painting. Paul came down my last weekend there so we had one good play day with him as well which was great.<br /><br />The house they bought has BLM land as their backyard and a big 'ol butte just screaming to be climbed. So that was the first order of business, a scramble to the top of that. You can't see my parents' house in this picture, but it is right down there in that first line of houses.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2493324453/" title="Overlooking St George by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2158/2493324453_28c8d8559f.jpg" alt="Overlooking St George" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />St George is a thriving retirement community and you would not believe the amount of construction and expansion that is going on there. It's kind of a shame because there is absolutely no regard for the environment, water conservation, etc there. It's just build, build, build. My parents feel a little guilty about that part - but of course they are the ones conserving their water, recycling (if you can find a place to take it) and hanging their clothes out to dry (which takes about 2 seconds - I can't imagine running a dryer down there!).<br /><br />The next day, dad took us to this cool white slot canyon in the middle of some remote BLM land.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2493368079/" title="White slot canyon by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3148/2493368079_996e145fdb.jpg" alt="White slot canyon" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Keith and I walked back via the top of the canyon and coming back down the hill, we recrossed this old cattle corral we had seen before. On the way in, we had lifted Gracie in this tank of water to give her some relief from the dry heat. Well, she remembered it, and as soon as she spotted the water from the top of the hill she ran down way ahead of us and did this until we caught up to her to let her back in for a swim.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2494189948/" title="Gracie remembers the water by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3088/2494189948_ebc653ec35.jpg" alt="Gracie remembers the water" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />A couple shots of the house. How the boys spent their afternoons.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2493372567/" title="The Roof by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2048/2493372567_3dd303fd9d.jpg" alt="The Roof" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Nice backyard, huh?<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2493451511/" title="House from the front by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3241/2493451511_8109635756.jpg" alt="House from the front" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Day 3's activity took us to the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, which is a large piece of land set aside to protect a very rare turtle. It is also riddled with lots of beautiful red rock with trails that take you down to the Virgin River. Keith did a few scrambles up the rocks and Gracie of course enjoyed the river.<br />A look at the landscape:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2522192130/" title="Red Cliffs Desert Reserve by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/2522192130_d776b10ced.jpg" alt="Red Cliffs Desert Reserve" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Keith scrambling:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2493377775/" title="Scrambling by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2493377775_f1b150d492.jpg" alt="Scrambling" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />And here is a video of Gracie fetching rocks across the river. The current was quite strong in the middle and the water deep, so we all got a kick out of watching her get a little swept up in it. Here is a video of Gracie bringing back a particularly big rock.<br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=49235" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="300" width="400"> <param name="flashvars" value="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=50c5bd7169&photo_id=2494422436"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=49235"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.flickr.com/apps/video/stewart.swf?v=49235" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="intl_lang=en-us&photo_secret=50c5bd7169&photo_id=2494422436" height="300" width="400"></embed></object><br />The final day of activity we went up near Snow Canyon (a gorgeous state park nearby) and did some off trail hiking. Turned out to be a little more difficult than planned, but still had some very nice scenery.<br /><br />Trying to figure out the best route.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2494232242/" title="About how our hikes go by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/2494232242_cedb9098e7.jpg" alt="About how our hikes go" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Cool rocks.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2494240680/" title="Hiking near snow canyon by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3022/2494240680_48a5d98682.jpg" alt="Hiking near snow canyon" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />There are lots more photos from Utah on our <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/sets/72157605066991969/">Flickr</a> site if you are interested.<br /><br />I had to fly home before Keith so I could get back to work, but Keith stayed behind to give my parents some help and some solid work days up on the roof. He stayed about another week, then made the long drive home alone in the little car with Gracie.E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-22124440737395350452008-01-27T20:58:00.000-08:002008-01-28T09:52:13.042-08:00Holiday Wrapup....Well Into Winter...Did everyone enjoy their Christmas card?<br />Oh wait, I didn't send any. And we didn't put up a tree or hang any lights. Was I a scrooge? No, we just didn't feel like doing any of that this year, and it came and went so fast.<br /><br />But backing up to Thanksgiving. We had a grand ol time enjoying the sunny, dry days in Southern Utah. My parents were vacationing in St George for the month of November and house shopping for a snowbird place, so the kids decided to meet up there for Thanksgiving. Keith did not make the trip, as Thanksgiving is too big of a holiday for his family and he couldn't bear to miss it.<br /><br />Our time there was spent in a very comfortable condo to relax and recoup from our daily outings. I flew into Salt Lake where my brother, Paul, picked me up at the airport in a fully loaded Subaru (kayak and 2 bikes on top, climbing gear, skis, and every other 'just in case' piece of outdoor equipment in the back). We made the long drive, getting to St George about 10:00PM to find my parents kicked back in the condo deliberating on a house. The anguish went on for a couple days, but by the end of the weekend, they signed acceptance papers!<br /><br />The next day, Paul, Mom, Dad and I did a long hike in the Zion National Park to Observation Point. Gorgeous. Cool weather in the morning, but we were down to shorts and t-shirts and stunning views by the top.<br />Paul and I broke from my parents early and did a side hike up to Hidden Canyon which has a short stint along Zion's famous chain-trails (trails that have chains bolted into the canyon wall so that you don't fall down the vertical cliff to your left/right).<br /><br />Paul coming back from Hidden Canyon:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224031252/" title="Steep canyon by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2084/2224031252_3ff745e933.jpg" alt="Steep canyon" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Looking down towards Zion canyon - it's a relatively small park, but very dramatic. Paul climbed that steep wall on the left!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224063620/" title="Zion Canyon by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2324/2224063620_1e78922435.jpg" alt="Zion Canyon" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We didn't catch my parents until the very end of the hike where they were waiting for us with lunch and a view.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2223335779/" title="Observation Point Lookout by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2288/2223335779_a8ac757b55.jpg" alt="Observation Point Lookout" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />On the way down Paul and I meandered down a small slot canyon, while Dad looked on from above.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2223339631/" title="Slot canyon by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2171/2223339631_222f21eaa8.jpg" alt="Slot canyon" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Late, late that night Carl and Tory showed up after a grueling 10 hour drive from Denver. But that didn't slow them down. They were rearing to go do some of the much anticipated mountain biking that is plentiful in this area. So while my parents did some last minute house business we took off on a trail that conveniently starts where our condo was and ends practically in the back yard of the house they are going to buy (we think, the deal is still in progress as I type this). I did my usual weenie riding, giving the brakes of my bike (well, actually it was Heidi's bike - she couldn't make the trip, but was kind enough to let me use her very nice ride) while the other three did things like this:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2223329983/" title="Jump by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2039/2223329983_09e6071b8b.jpg" alt="Jump" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />They spent about 45 minutes playing on and around the "Three Fingers of Death". Yeah, I took the 'green' route around that part. At the end of the trail we met our folks at "the house" and got to look around it for ourselves. Very nice. Needs a little bit of repair work, but its backyard is that bike trail and it sits in a very nice neighborhood and is roomy, comfortable and will make a great vacation home. And they got it for a good price. Well done guys!<br /><br />Paul, Carl and Tory did a repeat of the ride the next day closer to dusk and were treated to some amazing colors.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2223333725/" title="Mountain biking at dusk by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2026/2223333725_712a8d71f4.jpg" alt="Mountain biking at dusk" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />The next day was Thanksgiving and we took off in the morning to do a little rock climbing. Paul is our expert climber and was kind enough to put up with us and show us the ropes. (Groan....sorry that wasn't intentional). I know how uninteresting (not to mention unflattering) climbing photos are, so I will spare you. But I will show you our expert belay techniques. You know. Belaying. Done by the one holding the rope (aka your life) so that you don't fall 20 feet and crack your head open.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2223307229/" title="Tory climbs by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2062/2223307229_f954f27fac.jpg" alt="Tory climbs" height="500" width="375" /></a><br />In my defense, I swear I either only glanced away for a second, or else she was resting!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2223301627/" title="Relaxed belay by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2224/2223301627_12c454f4f2.jpg" alt="Relaxed belay" height="500" width="375" /></a><br />In Paul's defense, "this is how the pros do it".<br /><br />One more picture to give you kind of an idea of how it feels when your climbing and why it is so much scarier when you are actually up on the rock.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2223325969/" title="Climbing top view by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2097/2223325969_5e9a5cfa46.jpg" alt="Climbing top view" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Mom, bless her heart, went back to the condo to cook the turkey, while Dad and I rode from the climbing site through some other trails working our way back to the condo, and while Paul, Carl and Tory did the hard core trail again.<br /><br />We spent our evenings relaxing at the condo - swimming, hot tubbing, playing pool, watching TV, and of course, some Boggle.<br /><br />The next day I had to leave, but had time for a nice day hike with my folks before the drive to the Las Vegas airport (much closer than Salt Lake). The 'kids' did another big mountain bike ride and the next day they all did a small canoe trip. A well-rounded vacation if I do say so myself. I have a lot more pictures <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/sets/72157603803305272/">here</a> if you are interested, including an action climbing shot of each person who climbed (woo-hoo!).<br /><br />For a recap and pictures of Keith' s Thanksgiving, I suggest you just re-read <a href="http://theonelesstraveled.blogspot.com/2006/12/storms-cars-jobs-and-more-storms.html#links">last years entry</a> (and I don't mean that in a flippant way - that's what tradition is all about!), but replace the miserable, constant rain, with bright, sunny, crisp days, add a cousin, a new boyfriend and 2 or 3 new dogs, take out the Bauers, and voila! Seriously, though, they did have a great time and a great turnout of faraway relatives.<br /><br /><br />Moving onto Christmas. A quiet one for sure. I ended up working 7 days straight (and picking up lots of overtime) including Christmas and Christmas Eve. We spent Christmas Eve morning at John and Jenn's for a lovely brunch and Christmas morning at Keith's brothers place to watch excited kids open lots of presents. And that's about it - low key and quiet, but nice.<br /><br /><br />Next would be New Years. A bit more festive here, although I don't think we made it to midnight. I had that whole week off, so we spent three lovely, lazy days with Jenn and John at their beach house. Lots of walks on the beach, good meals, a nice hike through the woods, some football for the boys while the gals went walking, and game playing and good conversation at night. A very nice time as usual.<br />Looking back at their house:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224239444/" title="Beach house by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2326/2224239444_a54a3e4bdd.jpg" alt="Beach house" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Funny dogs.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224236462/" title="Gracie digging by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2321/2224236462_8586c59052.jpg" alt="Gracie digging" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224241758/" title="Wiley on the beach by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2083/2224241758_b18afab633.jpg" alt="Wiley on the beach" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Since then, it's been back to work. Keith's grinding away at Philomath. We keep saying we'll have it on the market by the end of the week. But the weeks keep ending and there isn't a for sale sign yet. We are getting closer though and hope to see the fruits of our labors soon. Nothing new on my job front. I am happy where I am and will probably just stay put for the next year or so before venturing into a new area. I toy with moving to day shift, but I haven't had to set an alarm clock for years, and I just can't imagine getting up at 5:30 (I know, most normal people do that every single day....), and I really like the people I work with on my shift.<br /><br />We did get out for a day of recreating. I got new (sort of - long story there) snowshoes for Christmas and we had been itching to try them out, so we picked a clear, sunny Wednesday and took off for Willamette Pass. We stopped at the first Sno-Park we came to and climbed up an old forest service road to the top of Fuji Mountain where there was a shelter waiting as our destination. It was cold but clear and beautiful. Gracie did well, but was fed up with the snow balling up on her feet by the end of the hike. Next time, she'll have to wear booties.<br /><br />Beginning of the trail.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2223645297/" title="Setting out by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2121/2223645297_d3d6035465.jpg" alt="Setting out" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Halfway up and nice views of Diamond Peak.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224440252/" title="Diamond Peak view by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2163/2224440252_c52ac8a163.jpg" alt="Diamond Peak view" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Finally, the shelter.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224447884/" title="Gracie happy to see the shelter by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2268/2224447884_48eaca6061.jpg" alt="Gracie happy to see the shelter" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />There has been so much snow this year, you have to climb down to get into the shelter. These shelters are pretty cool - completely stocked with firewood and a wood stove and a sleeping platform up above. We slept in one of these a few years back. It makes for a cold night (you know, missing the fourth wall and all), but is still kinda fun.<br />That is the roof Keith is holding onto.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224450854/" title="Lots of snow this year! by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2119/2224450854_32e58182d8.jpg" alt="Lots of snow this year!" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Looking out from the shelter. Our view is majorly obstructed by the big snow drift.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2223662445/" title="Diamond Peak from the shelter by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2148/2223662445_ef171cc6fb.jpg" alt="Diamond Peak from the shelter" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We decided to break trail and take a "shortcut" down through this open forest for some adventure. We had a bet to see who would fall more. The results: Emily: 6. Keith: 0. Hmpf.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224460012/" title="Checking out the off trail route by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/2224460012_3565a0d215.jpg" alt="Checking out the off trail route" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224463106/" title="Breaking Trail by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2095/2224463106_451d56c257.jpg" alt="Breaking Trail" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Which brings us to today. Melody and Dwayne are up here visiting (aka working) again. They like to come up and help us/Keith with the Philomath house. For some reason that we can't figure out, they just really enjoy working on it with him. No matter what the job or weather. So I went up with them yesterday and Melody and I spent the day out in some very cold rain screwing in fence boards and spreading bark, while the men worked <span style="font-style: italic;">inside</span> on some electrical stuff for this separate outbuilding Keith's trying to fix up. Hmmmm. Granted we all were cold, but still. No matter, there help is much appreciated and will never be turned down.<br /><br />And today we woke to this unexpected scene:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224241927/" title="Snow in Eugene by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2256/2224241927_dddb416def.jpg" alt="Snow in Eugene" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Check out my snowball-catching dog.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224140371/" title="Dog catching big snowballs by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2329/2224140371_a0573ed8b8.jpg" alt="Dog catching big snowballs" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2224142471/" title="Dog catching snowballs by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2341/2224142471_c39cbcdc9e.jpg" alt="Dog catching snowballs" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />And us dorks. Yes, I have a big red dot on my big red, swollen nose, and yes, Keith has a red mark on his chin - we are pretty sure it is poison oak from his last wood-gathering excursion (I probably got some residual from his clothes) - aren't we cute. The tip of my nose?....come on...such bad reminders of the age of acne....<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2225036242/" title="Cheesy grins and snow by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2378/2225036242_18f8b56221.jpg" alt="Cheesy grins and snow" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />OK. We're caught up. To end I'm providing a link to an enlightening and funny <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUHLa1qSy24">video</a> that I found kind of moving.E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-29527426618148128742007-12-27T19:42:00.000-08:002007-12-27T20:35:36.561-08:00Flip This House, without the drama.Sooo......it has been along time since I have done a blog....or wanted to. But, Philomath, which is a town and the sole term used to describe my life, and Em's heartburn, over the past few months is starting to come together. We bought the house in late August, but didn't really get moving on the renovation until John and Jenn came back and kicked us out of their house, where we were quite comfortable mind you, in early November.<br /><br />Em and I, with the occasional help of my parents, who must be getting very bored at home to come up and scrub the grime off of cabinets, have spent most of November and December renovating the 1800 sq ft house. Here is the deal between Em and I: if Em works at the hospital, I go to Philomath. On her days off, I either stay in Eugene and we work on Mist, which is rare, or she gets the joy of working on philomath on her days off. Lucky her.<br /><br />Here is a quick summary of the work we completed.<br /><br />First, there was the 30 yard dumpster of stuff that had to be hauled out of the house. Being a foreclosure house, the previous owner didn't exactly steam clean the carpets for the new owners, rather he left his food in the fridge and drug razor next to the bed.<br /><br />Then I demolished some outdoor structures that look horrible and unsafe and spent some time on the yard. This was still in August.<br /><br />Then the real work got started. I fixed some ceiling and wall cracks, and then Em and I painted the entire house. Funny how it only took two sentences to describe, but two weeks to accomplish. We had carpet installed and added a gas fireplace.<br /><br />Before:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2143087794/" title="Living Room by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2002/2143087794_aa2c94e909.jpg" alt="Living Room" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />After:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2143032484/" title="Living Room by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2035/2143032484_cfd4db1c1c.jpg" alt="Living Room" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We tiled the kitchen counter and my mom scrubbed the grim from the cabinets and touched up the finish. I tiled the main bathroom (floor, tub, and countertop) and Em painted the vanity and added new hardware.<br /><br />Main Bath Before:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2142408675/" title="Main Bath by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2038/2142408675_f52e1685a2.jpg" alt="Main Bath" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Main Bath After:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2142252477/" title="Main Bath by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2364/2142252477_c2f2977224.jpg" alt="Main Bath" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />We loved the bamboo in our Mist house, so my parents, Em and I added bamboo flooring to the dining room, kitchen, and breakfast area.<br /><br />Kitchen Before:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2143101774/" title="Kitchen by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2228/2143101774_f44e990659.jpg" alt="Kitchen" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Kitchen After:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2143014932/" title="Kitchen by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/2143014932_fbce4ab017.jpg" alt="Kitchen" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />There are, of course, more rooms and pics not to be included. Your welcome.<br /><br />Ohh, my thoughts on working on houses. So far the worst day of working on house....out in the driving rain with one foot in a 3 foot deep trench full of mud was marginally better then the average day at the office. So for the most part, it is good.<br /><br />Sooo....we are not done yet. I am still working on the Master Bath, more of the same there. And then, with the help of my father, we are tacking the dirty job of trying to add a foundation to a small "mom-in-law" unit on the property....then, we'll sell the SOB....we hope.E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-22952675505880816432007-11-24T11:43:00.001-08:002007-11-24T12:27:26.474-08:00Quick UpdateI bet everyone is anxious to know how the house is coming along (ummmm, yeah), so this entry will be mostly photos. Also, we haven't done anything else to really talk about. Work and home improvements. I guess it has been quite a long time, so I should at least preface the entry with a few bits of information. J&J came home, so we no longer have our flat-nosed, black, little side kick, and we have thus, moved into our house. Timing turned out pretty good even though John came back a few days early. The carpets got in just in time and the kitchen was almost done and fully functional. As of now, we still have lots of boxes to unpack and organizing to do, but we are warm, cozy and happy with our progress so far.<br /><br />Not exactly sure where we left off, but the drain pipe eventually got done, and recently Keith installed a much needed sump pump in the back yard, which worked like a charm a week ago when we had 24 straight hours of rain. Here we are looking way too happy to be out in the weather fighting with drain pipe.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2060468554/" title="Laying drain pipe by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2336/2060468554_b143e66380.jpg" alt="Laying drain pipe" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Painting the spare bedroom a very neutral color. This is what I spent most of my time doing - getting ready to paint and painting. I'm not fast, but I'm mostly happy with how things turned out.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2059688921/" title="Painting by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2243/2059688921_f80cc42c25.jpg" alt="Painting" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Mid-stage of the shower. Keith spent lots of time in here, with a lot of time in particular spent working on the built-in shelf.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2059689493/" title="Shower by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2093/2059689493_69f6bace9a.jpg" alt="Shower" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Kitchen counters done, and replacing the yellow sink with a white one.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2060470578/" title="Kitchen counter by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2365/2060470578_33fe8962ac.jpg" alt="Kitchen counter" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />My first stint at tiling.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2060471194/" title="Kitchen floor by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2246/2060471194_720811f412.jpg" alt="Kitchen floor" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Removing the popcorn ceiling. A messy job, but a surprisingly easy one. Thank you Melody!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2059691645/" title="Removing Popcorn by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2157/2059691645_4dd8dfc0e3.jpg" alt="Removing Popcorn" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />We went with bamboo in the living room as well, after an excruciating decision-making hour spent at the discount carpet store.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2059692273/" title="Living Room Floor by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2193/2059692273_78a05bca27.jpg" alt="Living Room Floor" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Bamboo floor done. We like it!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2060488212/" title="LRoom2 by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2317/2060488212_9a9bad6a78.jpg" alt="LRoom2" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />The entryway.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2060487480/" title="Entryway by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2229/2060487480_d6c97b5765.jpg" alt="Entryway" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />The living room complete except for the couch we have yet to buy. The white area rug you see is a Merino wool carpet we got for a steal at that discount carpet store - the remnant wasn't enough to cover the whole room, so we had them turn it into an area rug. Now we can take it with us. It is so soft, but it is white, so it will be a challenge to keep it looking like this!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2059707959/" title="LRoom Done by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2135/2059707959_e43644e3a5.jpg" alt="LRoom Done" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />The living room before.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2060526606/" title="LRoom Before by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2267/2060526606_5b21014e08.jpg" alt="LRoom Before" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Master bathroom is almost done. We need to fix the window and change out that awful light, but at least we can shower in it!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2060489550/" title="Bathroom almost done by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2135/2060489550_8154073457.jpg" alt="Bathroom almost done" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Remember what it used to look <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1273319096/in/set-72157601762495791/">like<span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></a>?<br /><br />Keith installed our new wood stove in a day. We love wood heat, and it sure beats the existing ceiling heat.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2059709445/" title="First Fire by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2265/2059709445_755c25f380.jpg" alt="First Fire" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />The kitchen is mostly done. I have yet to figure out what to do with the cabinets. We don't want to spend the money on new ones (too late now anyway with the tile already in), but would like to modify these so that they look a bit more modern. We are toying around with a few ideas, but are in no hurry as everything is functional. Any ideas? Here's the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/790971556/in/set-72157601762495791/">before</a> shot.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2059712177/" title="Kitchen almost done by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2402/2059712177_f9dceb675e.jpg" alt="Kitchen almost done" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Another view including our new table.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2060493724/" title="Dining area by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2275/2060493724_000ae75520.jpg" alt="Dining area" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Looking the other direction. Don't forget the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2059746265/in/set-72157601762495791/">before</a> shot!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2060494438/" title="Kitchen-dining by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2213/2060494438_e5466fdd27.jpg" alt="Kitchen-dining" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Enough house pictures. How about some pug pictures? We'll miss this little guy! He provided hours of entertainment for us!<br />Always looking for a lap.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2059746973/" title="Lap dog by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2275/2059746973_87a37e0cac.jpg" alt="Lap dog" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />No comment.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2059747591/" title="Ewwww by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2387/2059747591_3b0f867368.jpg" alt="Ewwww" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Again, no comment.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2060529478/" title="Ummmm by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2056/2060529478_47528c6a1d.jpg" alt="Ummmm" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Cute kids and a strategically placed dog.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/2059749133/" title="Cute kids by The Road Less Traveled, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2368/2059749133_bd051f5c1c.jpg" alt="Cute kids" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. I had a fabulous week off and spent it in southern Utah recreating in the desert with my family. Keith spent it in Coos Bay for the traditional Coos Bay Thanksgiving activities. Pictures and narrative for both will be up soon.E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11369101.post-6800649371483796042007-10-02T21:07:00.000-07:002007-10-02T22:18:11.261-07:00House Rennovation UpdateThat has to be the title, since that is ALL we seem to do anymore. I'm not getting bitter, but I am getting a bit worn out. We are starting to feel the crunch, as we'll have to give J&J their house back when they get home in early November, and we will then need a place of our own to live in. So we have resigned the month of October to getting the place move-in-able. It will be a tough month, but it will be very rewarding to have it all done.<br /><br />We did start last month with at least two fun activities....<br />We went down to Coos Bay to help Melody and Dwayne celebrate their 40th anniversary. Being from about as informal of a family as my own, it was pretty low key, filled with activities such as tearing off a roof, walking on the beach, getting back rubs from Melody (wait...wasn't it <span style="font-style: italic;">her</span> anniversary?), and then a full day of fun spent south of Florence at Honeyman State Park where we had a scorcher of a day and got some good swimming and BBQ'ing in.<br /><br />Go to our <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith">Flickr website</a> to see more fun 'oldies' like this one:<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1346624577/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1184/1346624577_d714ff4e17.jpg" alt="40th044" height="398" width="500" /></a><br /><br />They haven't changed a bit!<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1473999941/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1064/1473999941_4a7dd115a1.jpg" alt="Happy Anniversary" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Then we had an anniversary of our own. Three years under our belts! It was funny getting dressed to go out to dinner, I realized it was the first time in a long time where I wasn't putting on either scrubs or my old work jeans and ratty old t-shirts. Kind of sad, but true.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1474002905/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1337/1474002905_346015e463.jpg" alt="3 years" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />So, onto the house. This will be really fascinating stuff, so hold onto your seats! There are always at least four different projects going on at once. No real new updates on the foundation. It's staying level, and Keith has got it pretty well secured. There are still jacks sticking out here and there, but that project got put on hold a bit so that we could get started on the ditch. We are digging a trench around the entire house and installing a french drain so that (hopefully) the house will not move anymore. In other words, this is how we hope to fix the fundamental problem that created all this work. And it has been a really fun project (interject sarcasm).<br /><br />And I must disclose, that this is where I play the "I am working full time" card and let Keith do all the dirty work. First step was to deface the beautiful RV pad the previous owners had installed. In order to dig a ditch you have to get the concrete out of the way, so Keith spent the better part of a day bent over in a less than favorable position for the lower back, sawing through concrete.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1474839516/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1422/1474839516_38c53ffec4.jpg" alt="Cutting concrete" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Then he spent half a day with a jackhammer breaking up all the concrete and another day lifting all that broken concrete up out of there and into the trailer. Yep. Glad I had to work that day. Next machine to rent was the Ditch Witch. This "tiny" little thing would dig us a 3 foot trench all the way around the house in "four hours max" said the guy at Beehive Rental. Nine hours later we took our weary bodies home with the job completed.<br /><br />The Ditch Witch.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1474840658/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1395/1474840658_93350712ed.jpg" alt="Ditch witch arrives" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />It worked pretty well, but things that made it hard were stumps and chunks of concrete two feet down that would get in the way, and some very rocky soil under the driveway.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1474841612/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1101/1474841612_d489bb5dd8.jpg" alt="Ditch witch" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />A look at the aftermath.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1473990577/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1097/1473990577_e5c8f198f8.jpg" alt="What a mess!" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />This was only about a week ago, and it was a gorgeous, sunny day when we did it. The very next day it rained like crazy - the first real rain of the fall, turning all these nice piles of dry dirt into mud. And if you know Eugene, you know that it is a clay-based soil. If you know clay, you can imagine how miserable it is to move around. You step on it and you are instantly an inch taller. You shovel it, and all but a teaspoon stays on your shovel. We didn't want to leave these piles around, so we (mostly Keith...remember,....I have to go to work!) set to the task of moving earth. The late fall rains turned a two hour job into a two day one. But it got done like things do when you keep at it, and we are now finally laying the drain pipe into the trench. Of course the Ditch Witch did not do a perfect job of getting all the dirt out, so we (Keith) have to spend a lot of time digging out more wet dirt/clay from the skinny trench to get to the right depth. I do help. Really I do, I just split my time between helping outside, and prepping walls inside for painting.<br /><br />Look at our beautiful back yard. This is where all the dirt is getting moved to.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1474844066/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1321/1474844066_1d3a4532de.jpg" alt="Ditch progress" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />I spent a couple hours today spreading it out. We have hopes to get some seed planted soon so that maybe we'll get some grass before winter really sets in. Gracie might just have to turn into a full-time indoor dog this year. After getting the ditch to the right depth, we place a liner, then the pipe, fill it with a little gravel, get the right slope using a transit, then stabilize it all with more gravel. We are two-thirds of the way around the house as of today.<br /><br />Moving inside....we have officially completed one room! The office is done. We laid bamboo floor without too much difficulty and painted it a fun color to match one of our paintings we bought in Indonesia. That's it. That's all we did to it, but it sure took a while to actually get it all said and done.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1473992987/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1346/1473992987_a35b8b3b24.jpg" alt="Installing bamboo" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Now we can finally move some stuff in here and clear out a little space in the dining room which is jam packed tight with boxes.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1474846094/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1209/1474846094_03463616dd.jpg" alt="Office done" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />Here's a look at the living room. If you remember from earlier photos, there used to be a fireplace here. Keith ripped that out (couldn't fix the settling problem around it) and then built this new wall.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1474847056/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1063/1474847056_e662799735.jpg" alt="Living room wall" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />And in the master bathroom, progress on the shower. After doing our shower in Lebanon Keith swore he'd never tile another shower floor again. Well, he changed his mind and has been making nice progress on getting the shower ready for tiling.<br />The hardibacker is all in now, but I figured you didn't need to see another picture of it here.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1474847962/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1320/1474847962_7329ea7a0c.jpg" alt="Master shower" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />What do the dogs do all day? Well after getting reported to Animal Control (and getting a ticket!)by our neighbor (long story there) we have to keep both (especially Gracie) on a short leash. Wiley has to stay tied up anyway as he is a Houdini and can disappear on you in a second. He is getting used to the routine though, and spent the better part of yesterday watching the neighborhood go by from his perch (he likes to be on high things).<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1473997137/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1014/1473997137_8dea1ed17a.jpg" alt="Wiley on Watch" height="375" width="500" /></a><br /><br />And Gracie literally spent eight hours yesterday doing this.<br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emkeith/1474850810/" title="Photo Sharing"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1145/1474850810_8c78ff50db.jpg" alt="Always chasing squirrels" height="500" width="375" /></a><br /><br />We decided we are going to get her a squirrel for Christmas.E&Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02085134634269855750noreply@blogger.com1