Summer Fun

It has been a great summer and I can't believe how much we have done and how many people we have seen. Rather than yackety yack about it all, I will just show you and highlight some of the best parts in random order. Here we go.

Day Trip to Park City - Yup, we love to re-live our wedding memories by taking a sweet slide down the alpine slide.


Neighborhood Fun - The neighbors have been great at tolerating the new toddler and have allowed him to help fix sprinkler systems, pick cherries, pick weeds, and run around with no clothes on.


Hotdog Dinners w/Family - Nothing like roasting some dogs up Logan Canyon to make me feel like I am stuck in highschool, that is until my kids start yelping and I remember that I am bound tightly by the bonds of adulthood. : (


Potty Training - Okay, so it isn't going so well. In fact, I have given up and will try again later. Don't worry Grandma, I wiped the bench off afterward.


Beach Bumming - Decided at 7pm to leave at 9pm for LA on the spur of the moment for the 4th of July. Great times at the beach with cousins. First successful overnight trip!


That's enough for today. Stay tuned if you dare/care.

Critters

We were greeted in Logan by some folklore about a raccoon that was living in the attic of my parents' home. My brother and his wife were positive that there had been a raccoon running around up there before they left to come out to Portland and help us move. So, getting rid of said critter was on the top of our to do list when arriving here. One of the first mornings we were here, I was downstairs nursing the baby around 5:45 am when I heard it walking around. I knew the BK and LG were still in bed, and I was pretty sure there was no how no way my brother or his wife were out of bed at that hour. After confirming with my brother that he and his wife were both sleeping soundly we called Logan animal control only to be told that they were out of traps. Huh? Don't get the BK started on the conspiracy theory he conjured up for this one which involves a scheme by a salaried city employee to make a couple $$ on the side by referring us to his friend. Whatever.

The next day my brother was outside cleaning up the patio when he smelled an awful smell that he was sure belonged to the now dead raccoon. The raccoon died from being locked in there for a week when my brother was in Portland. At least that was the going theory.

The next morning around 3am, my brother's wife heard their bedroom door creak open and four little feet scamper to the side of the bed where she was sleeping and rustle among the pillows. I can only imagine the actual pandemonium caused by the raccoon at this point as she smacked my brother into consciousness while whisper-screaming that the raccoon had infiltrated the house. My brother jumped into action only to discover the LG sleeping soundly among the pillows on the floor. Apparently he was doing a bit of sleep walking around Gmas house. I hear that the stink face made by the LG when a somewhat unfamiliar face awakened him to take him back to bed was scary enough to qualify him as some type of critter.

Poor raccoon that never was. It turned out that the dead animal stench was from a dead squirrel that the BK had placed in a bag and left to bake in the sun until someone told him it was okay to toss it in the trash. The critter running around at 6am when I was nursing turned out to be my sister-in-law, who sneaked out to grab a glass of water without my brother knowing. Goes to show you should always go to the source.

You would think we had learned our lesson, but the next day it was pouring and the ceiling started to leak (and I thought I was done with fixer-uppers when I left Portland). We wanted to go into the attic to check out the leak without getting drenched on the roof. The BK was sure he heard the raccoon which resulted in him shrieking like a school girl (bless his heart), and required me to take matters into my own hands and crawl up to the attic armed with a hard hat and flashlight. I ended up scampering down as well at the first strange noise. An exterminator was beckoned and showed up reeking of vodka 45 minutes later (in his defense, it was a Saturday night, and he did show up pretty quickly) only to confirm what we really should have known all along - when in doubt, assume the critter is a tiny squirrel, not a carnivorous, baby eating, raccoon. You should be reassured, however, that the exterminator assured us that he was willing to "grab that coon by the neck, if I need to - I've done it before!" Thanks exterminator man, good to know.

As you can see from the pic below, the squirrels have been working on building a compound in the attic for some time. Can't wait to get started cleaning up this mess. Yup, that's a golf bag filled with walnuts. And yes, those are empty milk cartons that my dad was apparently planning on saving until the second coming.

Last Post From Portland (maybe)

I added maybe to the title because you never know what life is going to throw at you, so we could end up back here, who knows. For those of you who don't follow our lives in stalker-like fashion - we will be "vacationing" in Logan, UT for the summer while we look for stable ways to feed the fam. The BK became a fatality of the recession back in March and we have decided to head home rather than hemorrhage greenbacks here in PDX.

We are sad. We are sadder than we thought we would be. Much as Portland is weird, uninterested in sustaining a legitimate economy, has a derelict mayor (not because he is gay, mind you, that is the least of the man's problems), rains for 6 months out of the year, and hosts some of the countries finest young freeloaders, we have grown to love this place. Some of our favorites include:

1 - Mt. Tabor

2 - Friends - particularly those with kids who the LG has grown to love

3 - Views of the city from I-84

4 - Airport - LG loves to watch the planes while eating IKEA hot dogs

5 - Outdoors - there is really no place more beautiful (especially in the summer), and this broad category includes our backyard which is now a dream for us and we put so much time into.

We are still looking at this as an opportunity, and hope that it works out that way. Until then, we are excited to "vacation" in beautiful Logan for the summer or until we find our next adventure.

Lots of love to our Portland friends, and UT here we come. Adios.

Learning the Ropes

Well, I have been in post-birth hideout for a couple weeks, and have had time to reflect on some very serious topics, like the nickname for the new baby. The Tiny Princess (okay, not super original), or "TP" as she will now be known, has officially reached her "birthweight". I suppose this is a serious milestone, but it hardly seems to make much of a difference with her tiny little frog legs that are kicking about when I change her diaper. I also have to admit that I like "TP" because it makes me think of toilet paper, and for some really juvenile reason it makes me giggle. Hopefully she will forgive me someday.

So we have all been adjusting to the TP (hehe) being here. Fortunately she is still a very good baby and not too fussy. I did have to check her temperature with one of these nifty contraptions (even more nifty for checking the temp on the LG, or anyone old enough to know where the old thermometers go).


The LG, who has a not so healthy aversion to anything getting near his ear canal, took one look and ran off to his room, only to be seen 5 minutes later coming back in with this offering to help check the TP's temperature.


Ahh, siblings. Here is the little bruiser with a little tatoo (when in Rome) from the local farmer's market. Grandmas! This seems like one of those things that only Grandmas or weekend dads are up for. I can't imagine why kids look forward to being away from mom ; 0



Otherwise, things have been relatively quiet, and we are even getting a fair amount of sleep thanks to Grandma and the TP's willingness to sleep most of the night. Below are a few more pics of the TP's first days on planet earth.

Love, Love, Love

She's here. We are absolutely thrilled, and she is the most beautiful little creature on the earth. Sorry to all of you who think yours are too ; ) I'm not planning to reveal the name here on the blog, and I haven't yet decided what her online Moniker will be either, so I am taking suggestions on that.

She was born Monday, May 18th, following the season finale of 24. I really can't complain too much about the whole labor process, except for the 30 minutes preceeding the birth that were, well, a bit intense ; ) She shot right out (literally), and my Dr. wasn't even able to be there. Once I started pushing, it only required 2 more pushes and a total of 9 minutes.

I decided to go this round sans epidural, and while I am quite impressed with myself and the BK, I'm not sure I could endure it again (give me a year or two and I will probably have forgotten). However, I will say this, the aftermath has been TOTALLY worth it. Recovery has been 200% better and while I won't be out running any marathons this week, I can at least walk. The best part (and the worst) is that I remember everything, and that moment when that little creature was placed on my body was the most incredible of my life. And to think that I didn't stop loving the LG, and was suddenly just able to love her as much is truly a miracle and a tender mercy from heaven.

Final product was a 7 lb, 20 inch miracle. Email me at megappod@gmail.com if you would like her name, and please don't mention it in the comments if you already do. Thanks! And thanks for all the well wishes!

Nesting

Poor LG. As I was working before I had him, I didn't have the time or energy to do any home crafted sewing projects (I'm sure he will actually thank me later). This time round, however, I have managed to sew a few little items that turned out quite to my liking. I sewed the crib bumper and a little quilt, and even a skirt (not pictured) thanks to the inspiration of my niece-in-law (nephew's wifey) my who is much more ambitious and creative than me. Anyway, here is the finished product already hooked up to the crib.



The universe is opening, the veil is thinning and momma is getting really grumpy. In other words, I am ready to go. My mother-in-law is being picked up from the train station as I speak, and that officially relieves me of any anxiety related to where the LG would be if I went into labor. It's time. I'm taking guesses for when, how big and how long the baby will be. I will figure out the prizes later. I feel I must level the playing field however and mention that the LG was 8lbs 9oz, 21 inches long and was 2 weeks early. The official due date is May 31st and the Dr. has assured me that she won't let me go over. This baby is coming this weekend if I can mentally will her into it ; ) Best of luck to myself, and I will keep y'all posted on her arrival. Ta ta till then.

DIY Lessons

I'm sure I have mentioned more than a few times the nature of the nature in our yard. I am happy to report that, with the exception of some minor landscaping details, all our hard work is paying off (this is assuming that the sod we planted actually takes - but this is Oregon, most everything does).

The pictures below give you a good idea of what we were dealing with when we started last year:




And from the front...


The list of shrubbery, trees, foliage, cement and whatnot that we have removed reads a lot like the 12 Days of Christmas (except that you probably wouldn't want any of these items as gifts): 12 dry and crusted bushes, 11 loads of concrete, 10 drug related items, 9 posts of fencing, 8 ivy bushes, 7 railroad ties, 6 square feet of decking, 5 metal posts with concrete, 4 tall evergreens, 3 rubber tires, 2 plastic pools, and one overgrown birdhouse. We had to rent 4 of the yellow bins you see above (one of which was double the size of the one above), and we still have enough debris to warrant another. Looking at the pictures above makes me feel feel a mixture of pride and insanity. I'm just surprised that all the rock moving I have done hasn't sent me into premature labor.






A Couple of Lessons Learned:

1 - Never buy a house in the jungle.

2 - Make sure you have a good health insurance policy.

3 - Don't send an over eager husband up on a ladder to start cutting willy nilly at all the foliage on the side of your house BEFORE checking for electrical wires.

4 - A wheelbarrow is worth every penny you might spend.

5 - Plan ahead so you only do each job once, like tilling a rock garden in preparation for planting sod.

6 - Go to school, get an education, work hard, and PAY someone else to do everything we have done.