Spring Break

For 4 days of Spring Break Parker and I were in the Bay Area visiting friends and former co-workers. Only a couple had ever met Parker. I had the best time and Parker did great. While we were gone, Grant ripped up the stained carpet in the living room and hall and replaced it with wood laminate floors. They look great. He worked 12 hour days to get it done. I'll have to post a picture later. They are dark and so easy to clean.

Highlights of my trip:
1) Party at Thien's house. He really knows how to host a party. He cooked up fresh oysters, bbq chicken, and sausage. We played Rock Band. I'm in love with that game and am almost ready to run out and buy a PS3. I was the singer most of the time and scored 99% several times. I had a blast!
2) Visiting with friends. I saw Karin, Thien, Karen and Carlos, Elizabeth and Brianna, Amy and Kenton and their new baby. At Casa Azteca, I saw Terry Tanner (my old Vice Principal), Katie, Joann, Sandy and Mike, Pearl, Carrie and former student Carissa. I also visited with Sara and Don with their new baby, Cindy and Isaac, Janice, Vienna, Polly, Bekka and her 2 sons.
3) Visiting with former students Matthew, Michael, and Karen.
Matthew and Michael will always hold a special place in my heart. As a new, motivated 22 year old teacher, these brothers were some of my first students. They lived across the street from the school and had a difficult life. Their dad was very sick with liver problems, out of work, and still is looking for a transplant. I had a special relationship with these students that included bringing them to school or taking them home after they were evicted from the house near the school. It was incredible to see them again. They remembered the funniest stories and details about me. They even remembered that Julia Roberts is my favorite actress. We had a great time visiting. What I thought would be an hour visit, turned into 3 hours. I'm very proud of them for getting to where they are in their lives right now... 21 and 22 without children like their older siblings, Michael is graduating with an Associate degree in Science in June and will be a Vet Tech, and they are just good guys. They let me know that I made a big difference in their lives and it gave me hope that I may be able to touch other students' lives in a similar way.

4) San Francisco. Karin and I took Parker for the day. It was a perfect day, except for the wind. We stayed at Pier 39, had a great lunch, and watched the Sea Lions.

Parker and Brianna (Elizabeth's daughter who is 2 months younger than Parker). They were pretty cute together.

Karin swinging with the kids at Thien's house.

Parker's first nose pick. He had about 3 cameras capturing this.

Rock Band. My new favorite game. If anyone has it, make sure to invite me over!

Karin's nephew, Isaac, was the photographer for these. Not bad! He's a 4th grader and absolutely loved playing with Parker.

Former students, Michael, Matthew, and Karen.

In windy San Francisco

Coit Tower. This is where Grant proposed over 6 years ago when I was living in Milpitas.

My favorite administrator, Terry Tanner, came to visit at Casa Azteca.

My friend, Vienna, from Space Camp days, came to visit. I hadn't seen her since my wedding!

Parker playing around as I pack up.

Bekka and Polly with Walker and Garrett. It was a short visit, but I had a great time. We went to Ho Chow's (an amazing Chinese restaurant in Fremont) and just hung out. Polly got married a few months ago and moved to New Mexico. I was so glad she took a trip to California when I was there too!

I had a wonderful trip. I was definitely kept busy with so many friends to see. I miss it in a lot of ways, but am glad to be in Oregon again. I really do miss the people and those relationships and wish they could all just move up here!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We weren't going to be pinched today!

Oh, HAIL!

We have had the strangest winter and now it's March and we want a spring, but instead we get lots of hail. Parker was whining at the door wanting to go outside and play in it. So we did for a little bit. We've also had lots of wind and another section of our fence blew down. Last time a section blew down Grant was out fixing it and he knelt down in the neighbor's tall grass and knelt on a board with a nail sticking up. It burst a sac in his knee and he was in a splint from ankle to upper thigh for several days. He had to have an IV of antibiotics and a couple of x-rays. Pretty crazy. We'll hope for better results this time.

We have all been sick over and over again since December. Very few days that we are all healthy. Doesn't help that I am around many sick kids and their viruses at school. Can't wait for this to end!

Parker was sitting with Daddy watching one of the Star Wars movies, drinking away when I shot this.

What Parker Can Do

Parker is doing new things all the time. He constantly surprises us and makes us laugh. Some of the things he does now are:

• Well, he still doesn't really talk, but the other night he surprised us with "Coo kie". He says it quite often now. The funny thing is is that we don't eat cookies. Must be from day care! His other favorite words are "Uh oh" and "NO!" He loves to do the No sign also and shake his head to the point where he's almost dizzy. We think he has said once or twice: up, duck, car.
  
• He claps whenever he hears clapping or if he is proud of himself.
• He loves babies and tries touching them softly. He loves people in general. Loves attention!
  
• He climbs up on the furniture and can get down safely.
• He opens all bedroom and bathroom doors.
  
• He gives sweet, open mouthed kisses and blows kisses.
• Waves bye-bye, but it is directed at himself. High fives people.
• When we sing Itsy Bitsy Spider, Parker does the spider motion and the sun.
• When singing the ABC song, he moves his fingers around like he is signing the letters.
  
• Feeds himself with a spoon or fork (sloppy though).
• He is a good little eater. Not very picky, but lately when he is full he will start throwing food. Part of a roll almost hit someone at a restaurant this weekend.
  
• He just got 2 new teeth and they are big and pretty far back. He only has 2 other teeth on the bottom and 4 on top. 8 total now.
• He likes to get a tissue and kind of blow his nose in it (not hard enough for anything to come out). Maybe he thought since he saw Mommy blow her nose so many times this past month that he better do it too.
• He LOVES being outside.
• He can chose the right shape to fit in the hole on those shape sorter toys.
• He can count (kind of). We say ONE and he puts up one finger, and then He says TWO! and puts up two fingers.
• He now puts he face in the bath water and blows a bubble. He does this over and over. See video below. I guess those swimming lessons we took in the Fall worked. I'd like to start again this summer.
  

We love our little boy so much! I love the things he is doing now and how he shows me how much he loves me. I love our quiet times reading together and love watching Grant chase him around and have him squeal with excitement. I'm so happy to be his Mom and to have such an amazing husband.

Picture crazy

So many cute pictures... I couldn't narrow it down any more.

You almost get a little plumber crack in this one!

He loves crawling into little places. He pulled the clothes out of our closet shelf and climbed right in. His monkey accompanied him.

Mr. Buckethead
He loves doing his and seeing Mommy & Daddy have it on their head.

Parker loves quiet reading time too. He especially loves the David books. We read each one several times. He always kisses the last page.

We took a trip to the Portland zoo. It was a beautiful sunny day sandwiched between dreary days. We are thinking of getting a family pass. We had a great time.

Monkeys!

A Maylasian Sun Bear enjoying the rays.

I love these pictures. He was so fascinated by the seals.