xmas '10

some pics from the tigard get-together....

uncle j & aunt m & z. z loved the hummus and the brie!

our family ugly christmas sweaters that all lighted up.

all of one side of the family...

the cousins playing the piano together

other side of the family, minus a few who are off in belize...

clutch

we recently had to replace the clutch on our subaru legacy. j said he never had to replace the clutch on his zippy red mazda mx6, so i was freaking out, worried that it was my driving that had killed the subaru clutch. we knew it needed replacing because when accelerating from 3rd to 4th to 5th gears, the engine would rev loudly, but the car was really really slow to accelerate. while we were driving to canby this morning, we were listening to car talk on the radio. a guy called in with a subaru forester, describing the exact same problem we had a few weeks ago. the car talk brothers said that subarus have AWFUL clutches that don't last long at all. hurray!!! it wasn't my fault! i drive a manual car perfectly well. it's the stupid car's fault.

xmas '10

it's been a busy weekend! yesterday we opened gifts at home (see the following pictures), then had an afternoon dinner at my parents' house in tigard. today we had a lovely turkey mole lunch at j's parents' house in canby & exchanged MORE gifts. we're all very lucky - santa was very generous! z slept until 9:20 this morning, which was another nice gift. j & i got to enjoy watching a movie while he slept. the holiday excitement just wears z out!

opening gifts...

choo choo!

it has a remote control!

z sees presents from santa for the first time.

christmas '10

some things z received for christmas....

a workbench, with things to re-invent

a marble run, which can be reconstructed

frame for a fort- just add a blanket

daddy & z work together!

christmas eve

we had uncle c over for dinner on christmas eve, after going to the intergenerational service (aka childrens service) at church at 4:30pm. yummy dinner! not pictured was the brie & crackers, broccoli, panna cotta, and the torii mor olsen 2003 pinot.

yorkshire puddings

roast beast

second hubby

j chases z around with my pregnancy pillow, aka second hubby. no, i'm not pregnant right now. we had just gotten it back from lending it to aunt c.

christmas eve

we recovered from the bad night. z was pretty much a perfect angel yesterday, and today is going well, too. we had lunch with grandma & grandpa today, & exchanged some gifts.

z is enjoying a roll with strawberry jam. he didn't want to try it at first.

he definitely likes it! thank you, g'ma & g'pa, for such a delicious lunch! now, off to church for the childrens' service, and then home for another roast beef dinner with uncle c.

fun outside

z has fun playing with odd things in the garage. one day the mop is his favorite...

and other days he likes the plunger (mommy cringes).

mortified.

simply mortified. we went out for dinner tonight at the cedar hills mcmenamins restaurant. we were just finishing up, but z was starting to act up. both j & i saw it start to happen, but we weren't quick enough to react. z picked his hummus plate up off the table and turned around and dropped it on the floor. it broke, and food went everywhere. i almost cried. it was awful. the waiter brushed it off, but we sure didn't. we put z right to bed without a bath and without STORIES. bad pumpkin. very bad pumpkin. santa might not come on saturday....

sigh.

we've started going to the oregon gymnastics academy. they have open gym play times each week, and they also have classes for kids. i started z in a class for the 2-3 year olds. we went last week & today, and today the teacher recommended we move him back to the class for 12-24 month old kids. z can't jump yet, can't do a somersault by himself, can't walk foot in front of foot on the balance beam. i'm not surprised, given that his speech therapist says he has motor planning issues that cause his speech delay, but honestly.... can't SOMETHING be easy with him? can't he learn something on his own without my having to painstakingly teach it to him?

breaky with santa '10

on saturday, we went to the portland childrens' museum to have breakfast with santa. it was pretty tacky, and the food was AWFUL, but we weren't expecting much anyway. i imagine it's basically a fundraiser for the museum. at least we all got to play in the museum without many people there for the whole morning.

zoo lights '10

last friday night, while i was busy teaching, z & j went to see the zoolights with the neighbors & other friends. it was neighbor s's birthday, and i guess it's a big tradition. they took a wagon filled with snacks & hot chocolate for the whole entourage. fun times. mommy was sad to have missed it.

z at zoo lights, with his magic nike hat.

z with neighbor g.

z on the train - he loves it!

z & daddy had lots of fun.

neighbors

the neighbors had us over for prime rib - a potluck dinner- 2 weekends ago. there were several kids, and 3 two year old boys. they all ended up taking a bath together, but z didn't like that part so much. he wasn't used to sharing his bath with strangers!

kids meal

z's very first kids meal from burgerville.

he tried our milkshake but found it yucky!

baking

this was our first successful joint cooking venture!

bike riding

riding my bike in the garage...

i finally like "riding" my bike! i'm a bit tentative, though...

the northwest look

z in a hoodie

z in a hoodie with vest...

i made an advent calendar of sorts, based on an idea i saw a friend create on facebook. there are little dollar store type trinkets in each bag. z gets excited about opening them each morning. it's helping him learn his numbers, as i make him count through from the number one each day.

santa j & santa z

decorating the treeth...

we decorated it after going to the deschutes brewery, before going to a friend's party in lake o. we saw several oregon symphony friends, and we met 2 new babies! z did very well, playing happily with other kids.

b'day

new running shoes!!! eased in slowly. started with a 1/2 mile, and last night i finally tried going farther. i'm not getting really sore anymore. thank you everyone for the shoes - they were a birthday gift. it was a long birthday this year. j & i went out to dinner with our friends j & d to fenouil (not so good this time... won't be going back). the next night some friends took me out to a fondue joint. the following weekend, we met up with family at the deschutes brewery. two friends took me out to lunch later, because they missed the fondue night. i am lucky to have such great family & friends!

:)

z loves playing with mops when in our garage, for some reason. it's one of his favorite activities.

wine tasting.

we went to pick up some futures we had purchased in may from shea vineyards. we had z with us, so this was a very quick tasting before leaving with our wine. poor gimpy husband... looks smashing with the cane, i have to say.

old chicago

z at old chicago. i received a coupon for a free pizza for my birthday, so we went out to eat on thanksgiving eve. z did really well in the restaurant! afterwards, we headed to our friends' for their annual thanksgiving eve party, where they play the movie, "planes, trains, & automobiles," starring steve martin & john candy. z did a great job there, and he wasn't in bed until 10:30!

:)

someone has new pajamas!

knee surgery

here are some pics of j's fun surgery...

shaved knee. j wasn't happy.

ready to walk to the operating room! yay!

thumbs up, in paul perrault style, post surgery. j is feeling great, albeit starving & really sleepy.

almost ready to go home - just have to get dressed. doesn't he look great, post op?

he's been very good about his physical therapy. he hardly needed crutches. he's already able to drive the manual car. has his post-op appointment with the doctor this friday. good luck, j!

funny.

so j & i are lying in bed, looking at the month's schedule on the computer. i pointed out that i have a hair appointment coming up, and asked him when he was going to schedule his hair appointment, as he had been talking about making one. he started laughing. i scanned the schedule, and couldn't see any other appointments. he kept laughing. i looked at him... .... ...

and realized he had a hair cut today.

never noticed it.

ever.

not

one

bit.

until now. nice hair cut, honey!