Samantha Visits!

Our terrific niece Samantha flew in from Texas last night! We have been looking forward to seeing her and catching up after not seeing each other since February.

Matt picked her up from the airport and thanks to our fans to move the hot air we were able to get a decent night's sleep (high recorded was around 105 degrees yesterday with a low of only about 70 degrees).

We enjoyed a low-key morning followed by meeting Matt at Chipotle for lunch with a Jamba Juice treat for dessert. After lunch Samantha and I were able to fit in a quick round of Ticket to Ride (we both love playing games with this one being our favorite) before we packed her up and took her to meet up with her girlfriends for a fun sleepover tonight. (Oh the squeals of excitement when the girls were reunited - SO FUN!) Later she'll leave on the church's Jr. High Summer Safari retreat for 5 days.

We love Chipotle!

Samantha - Green
Mindy - Red

What a treat to be able to spend a bit of time with Sam. We'll have one more opportunity to be with her next week prior to her returning to Texas. Hooray!!

Beating the Heat

Nana came yesterday! Hooray! She is up to see and visit with girlfriends for a couple days, but we have been able to get a portion of her time here, too. We spent the afternoon and evening with her yesterday and we spent late morning and early afternoon together with her again today. What a treat!

To beat the very rare 100+ degree temperatures we've been experiencing, we decided to head to the nearby perfectly air-conditioned mall for lunch. (Many homes in our area don't have air conditioning since we rarely need it, but on a week like this, we all wished we had it! Over 100 degree temps with 70% humidity - we're not used to it, don't like it, didn't sign up for it, so yes, we are basically wimps about it.) Nana and I grabbed salads from the nearby Safeway and made our way to the center court and found a perfect table for three by the Orange Julius and Crabtree & Evelyn stores. Matt joined us for his lunch break from work, too. We had such a fun time!

Grandma Amy requested some videos of Jay walking in his new shoes so here are a couple I took today at the mall. As you can see, he is getting quite good at it! He loves to walk around and look at people. He especially seems to enjoy staring folks down until they notice him and when they finally look at him, he rewards them with a huge smile/grin. I think you get a taste of that tactic in this first video. What a charmer!!

Videos of Jay from our visit to Grandma's

My sister took some videos and photos while we stayed with my Mom two weekends ago. She recently sent me the video and pictures files so I thought I'd share some of them here on the blog.

I mentioned in the previous post that my sister and Mom left to attend a family wedding Sunday afternoon, July 12, while Jay and I stayed at home with Great Grandma. Below is a photo of all of my Mom's sisters. They are standing in birth order from right to left: Beth, Joan, Mary Kaye, (their brother Ray not pictured), and my Mom, Amy.

This first video my sister recorded on Monday, July 13 while she was working with Jay on his counting. One...two...three!

That same day we went through some boxes of some old "treasures" of Molly's and mine from our childhood days. Jay listened as we "oohed" and "aahed" with excitement over finding old letters and items. Here is a video of him discovering fun items we had placed in the trash. He did a great job imitating us. He totally cracked us up!

Later that evening we enjoyed a waffles and sausage dinner (a rare treat). This is the night we couldn't seem to fill his belly...he just kept eating and eating and eating. I had taken him out of his highchair thinking he was done eating, but then he continued to enjoy more food while sitting in my lap. Here he is eating a bite of watermelon.

And here is Jay enjoying some snuggle time with Grandma Amy early Tuesday morning, July 14 . I've found he is typically more "chatty" in the mornings. You hear him say Mama, Dadda, baby, and he even starts counting to three in this video clip.

Swimming, Shower, & Shoes

Jay and I took advantage of a beautiful 80+ degree day on Thursday this week and met up with our friends, Katie and Audrey, for some swimming! Here are the two cuties (Jay and Audrey) hanging out on the swim towels before our hour long dip in the cool, refreshing pool. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the pool!) It took Jay more than half an hour to finally not act like a wet cat in water and to let go of my halter strap on my swimsuit. Once he relaxed he had a great time. Audrey LOVES the water - she splashes, jumps, kicks, and smiles. She has had more pool time/experience and it shows.

Saturday morning Matt and I ran some errands around town. We stopped at Ross Dress for Less and found a cute (and good priced) pair of shoes for this guy who is on the go! Once we got home we put them on him. It was pretty hilarious watching him try to walk with them on for the first time. You could tell he had to get used to the new "heavy" shoes on his feet. It was like he had to learn to walk again. He got the feel for them on his feet pretty quick, though, and started his normal "run" around the condo. Here are a few pictures of him trying to decide if he really wanted them on his feet.

My happy guys - Jay in his new shoes & Matt in a new shirt

Saturday afternoon I enjoyed some "girl time" and stole away to Katie's house where she hosted a BABY shower for our friend, Tristan, who is due with her baby boy in September (only about 9 more weeks until she is full term). (Gotcha with the title - hope you weren't hoping for pictures of our bathroom shower!)

Matt and Jay hung out that afternoon and enjoyed a Jamba Juice treat (Jay slurped down a good 1/4 or more of the cup) and then they played in the park. Jay had fun walking in the park in his new shoes pushing the stroller (his new favorite thing to do).

Here is a photo of Tristan at the baby shower...

We enjoyed a very lazy afternoon together today after church. Here is a picture of my guys chillin' on the couch.

Jay had brought his shoes into Dad in the living room to play with them for a bit. After he was done playing with them Matt said to Jay, "Take these out and put your shoes by the door, buddy." I watched as Jay then picked up his shoes, made a small detour "swing" through the kitchen, and walked to the entryway. This is the result. It reminded us once again Jay understands way more than we think he does. What a good boy!

Entryway door is in the top right corner of the picture above

Jay impressed us with where he put his shoes!

Isn't this the cutest? He put his shoes down just like this

Fun at Grandma's House

While Dad Matt was away in Pennsylvania attending a work conference, my twin sister Molly joined Jay and I for a trip to Grandma's house. (As the saying goes, while the cat is away the mice will play!)

I dropped off Matt at the airport early Saturday morning while Molly babysat Jay here at our condo (cutting down on the amount of time Jay would have to be in the car strapped in his car seat). I came back, we loaded up the last items in the car for the trip and off we went! We arrived at Grandma's house in time for lunch. My brother Scott and his gorgeous wife Mandy came to spend the weekend knowing that Molly, Jay and I were going to be home. Wasn't that nice? LOVE THEM!! Shortly after we arrived my Mom's sister (my Aunt Beth -- Jay's Great Aunt Beth) arrived from Eastern Oregon to visit for the afternoon/early evening, too. It was so fun!

Here is a photo of Jay enjoying playing Grandma's piano when we arrived. Maybe Grandma can give Jay piano lessons in the future?!? He actually plays quite nicely. Do you think he enjoys it??

Sunday morning Mom's sister (Aunt Joan - Jay's Great Aunt Joan) came to visit.

Since all three of us kids were home for the weekend, Mom hosted a nice Sunday meal and had my Dad's Mom (Grandma G - Jay's Great Grandma G) join us, too. SO SPECIAL!!

We took the opportunity to take a four generation photo.

From Left to Right:

Great Grandma S (my Mom's Mom) - (she turned 86 in May)

Me

Jay (13 months)

My Mom Amy (a.k.a. Grandma)

Great Grandma G (my Dad's Mom) (she turns 95 this July)

Late afternoon on Sunday Aunt Joan, my Mom, and Molly all left for Spokane to attend a family wedding (meeting up with Aunt Beth and Aunt Mary Kaye, too). I stayed home to be with Grandma S and Jay (since it would have been too late of an evening for Jay). The three of us had a great time together and liked that we were safe at home when a big lightening, thunder, and rain storm rolled through the area that evening.

Monday was a quiet, lazy, vacation-like day. We got an organization project accomplished, but mostly just lazed around, napped, and visited. For dinner Grandma fixed waffles and sausage. M-m-m, was it ever good! Here are a few photos of Jay enjoying his waffles (yes, waffleS - he can really put the food down).


Tuesday morning my Aunt Julie (Jay's Great Aunt Julie) and my first cousin's wife, Cari, came out to the house to visit. John and Cari have Taylor (who is 4, I believe) and Zoe (1-1/2).

From Left to Right: Molly, Taylor, Zoe, Cari, Jay, me, and Julie

Sweet Zoe happily and unprovoked climbed up into my lap after Jay had left my lap.

Taylor came over and asked me to read to her some of Jay's books. And of course, then all the kiddos wanted to see and take part of the reading session. Very fun!!

Later that afternoon Jay "helped" Grandma water the flower pots on the deck. He took the empty watering can from Grandma when she was finished and pretend watered the pots one more time and then enjoyed playing in the farm cat's water bowls.


Tuesday late afternoon we enjoyed a somewhat impromptu visit to my cousin's home. It was fun to see Julia and Zachary again (they were also at the lake on July 4).

Here are the three munchkins playing with a Case toy tractor on the stairs leading upstairs to the bedrooms.
And here is my first cousin Jacob holding Jay after we toured their bountiful garden and their beautiful backyard and house. Jay also enjoyed petting their tame outdoor cat (I didn't catch its name), their great lab dog Tucker, and Julia's stunning, beautiful horse, Tequila Sunrise.

Molly and I came back home Wednesday morning/early afternoon. Then later that night Jay and I drove down to the airport to pick up Matt. We missed him terribly, but time spent at Grandma's house helped the time pass quicker.

Thanks for such a fun time, Mom! Your meals, as always, were yummy, and the quality time and memories made were priceless.

Time with Grandma

While Matt is away at a work conference, Jay and I along with my twin sister decided to come visit Grandma (my Mom) and Jay's two great-grandmas for a few days. We're having a great time together. I'll post a few pictures later this week, and maybe a video or two.

The latest thing this week is Jay is now counting. We say, "One, two, three" and he'll sometimes repeat us. Sometimes you can clearly make out the "one, two, three" and other times he is mimicking the intonation of the words. Either way, it is pretty cute.

Walking Mishap #125

How does 2 weeks of experience walking/toddling toward this:

And carrying this in one hand:
Equal this fat and bruised lip/cheek??

I witnessed it happen today and I still don't know how he drew blood and ended up with this mark on his face. He was just toddling along toward the dining room chair when he stumbled and fell. All it took was a little love/hug from Mom and dabs of cold water on his lip/cheek to stop him from crying. I'll need to take out a few blood stains on my t-shirt from the consoling session - other than that, we're good! I'm sure this isn't the last of the walking mishaps to happen in the years to come...

4th of July Weekend

Matt, Jay and I arrived Thursday night at Grandma Amy's (my Mom's house) for the 4th of July weekend. What a fun, relaxing weekend it was for all of us.

Friday morning Jay decided to hijack Great Grandma's walker while she ate her meal at the kitchen table. Away he walked with it...so funny!

Jay's favorite activity this weekend was crawling up, then standing up and walking down the carpeted stairs. We don't have stairs here at home and I was quite impressed with how well he navigated them on his own. As you can see from the two videos below, he hangs on to the railing and then works up the courage to place his foot on the lower step to come down the stairs. (Don't worry about his small tumble at the end of the first video - he was just fine - just surprised.)

On Saturday, the 4th of July, we headed up to my cousins lake home. We started out with a potluck lunch followed by lounging, swimming, boating, and visiting the rest of the afternoon and evening.

The below photos are taken from the dock. The first photo is my Uncle and Aunt's lake home (which used to be my uncle's uncle's lake home), then to the left of that home is my Uncle's parents lake home which I basically grew up knowing since that is the place we spent many a summer weekend playing with my cousins.

Above: View from the lake house looking out at the lake and docks.

Below: Crystal, me, sis Molly, Alisha, and Anita enjoying some "girl time" and soaking up some sunrays on the small dock. (Molly and I grew up with those terrific gals - Anita is my Mom's best friend, Alisha, Molly, and I are the same age, etc. We are lifetime, lifelong friends.)

Above: Matt - relaxing and enjoying the beautiful day at the lake

Below: Aunt Molly with little Jay (13 months old now!)

My brother Scott and his wife Mandy arrived at dinner. Afterwards they took the boat for a spin and the guys enjoyed skiing/wakeboarding, etc. (Brother Scott in the water; in the boat from L to R, Matt, Molly's boyfriend Scott, Jason (my brother's best friend and its his boat), and Mandy)

Below: Jay playing with a parachute army man and me

FIREWORKS!

One tired boy in Mommy's arms