Snowshoeing

Tobin and Christy really wanted us to go snowshoeing and so on Saturday we all decided to trek on out and find us some snow to snowshoe through. I made no promises and said I may only make it a little ways as I was 33 1/2 weeks pregnant. I wanted to enjoy the outdoors and I knew Porter would love going for a ride in the backpack. AJ also has been dying to use our snowshoes we bought and have NEVER used! So I pulled some gear together that fit me and piled on the clothes on Porter and off we headed. We found a snow park and pulled in and geared up. Off we went. The sun was shining and the sky was blue. It was gorgeous! But I couldn't make it very far. We stopped for lunch and I decided it would be best for me to head back. So Christy took over and carried Porter back in the backpack and we headed back to the car while AJ and Tobin took a loop and got to do some more trekking. We all had fun and Porter loves the snow and the outdoors. It was fun!

Porter's attempt at holding trekking poles without thumbs.

He really didn't want to let go of them but he hasn't figured out how to keep a thumb in his gloves so all his fingers end up in one section and then he can't grab anything!

Uncle Tobin is wonderful when it comes to carrying Porter in the backpack!

33 1/2 weeks, need I say more!

True outdoorsmen

1,2,3 JUMP!

AJ and Maryanne in a winter wonderland

Lunchtime!!

PB & J is always better on the trail in a backpack while it is lightly snowing.

Yummy!

Beautiful

Could he be any happier?

Ode to Verde

Well, the time came and I always kind of dreaded the day when our pet iguana of many years would pass away and she did today. Her name was Verde and she was a 3 foot iguana that entered my life when I began dating AJ.

AJ has a love for all things animals and pets. If it is a pet, most likely he has had one in his lifetime. I could write a bunch of posts on each of the pets he has had plus all the ones we have had as a married couple. Each time we have moved it always seems like we have a zoo behind us as we forge on to our new living destination.

Verde entered AJ's life a wee tiny little iguana. Yeah, the kind you see at the pet store that look all sweet and innocent and only about 4-5 inches long. From the beginning they all thought she was a male and referred to her as a him and named her Verde. Then she began to grow and develop and look more and more like the iguanas you see in Mexico that people let you take your picture with for $5. Only she never got that big. At one point, she was shedding a lot of skin and had some discolorations on her back so AJ to her to a local vet who specializes in reptiles and found out, he was a she. Verde was not big enough or colorful enough to be a male, but she was a perfect female size.

When AJ and I started dating 9 years ago, I met Verde. She was an iguana and was impressive and I learned all about her. I held her and wasn't afraid of her as she was a vegetarian so there was no reason for her to bite me unless I was holding her food. She was fast and AJ would let her out of her cage on occasion while he cleaned the cage and she would head to the sun or warmest spot in the room. She loved being warm! Many times we would that she had escaped her cage for a houseplant that looked green and yummy or a warm spot on the water heater. Often times she was such a good hider when she got out we would use the dogs to help locate her because we couldn't find her. And then when the dogs would find her, they would bark and where ever she was hiding only her tail would be sticking out. The dogs freaked her out so I think she hid more out of survival than a game.

A few stories about Verde. When we moved back in with AJ's parents we set up her cage in the garage as there was just not enough room in our room for all our stuff plus Verde. The cage had seen better days and was truly getting to be on its last leg but AJ would always fix it just enough that it would last a bit longer. It was a homemade cage and huge. So off Verde went living in the garage and eating and climbing around her cage. One Saturday afternoon the neighbor lady from across the street came over and asked us if we had a reptile as it may have gotten out and was in her flower pot eating her flowers. Well, this was a huge surprise to us but sure enough across the street we went and it was Verde munching away on the leaves in the flowerpot. I could only imagine what it must have been like for this iguana to make its way all the way across the street and in to her flowerpot. Imagine if someone had been driving by, it would have been crazy! AJ just picked her up and carried her back to her cage and we then had to patch up a hole we didn't know about and more securely close the main door so she wouldn't escape again.

The other thing I mentioned about Verde is all the moves she has made with us. The biggest was moving from Oregon to Las Vegas and then back to Oregon 2 years later. After AJ and I got married and packed our U-haul with everything we owned, we put Verde in a dog carrier and set her in the middle of the seat between us with a heating pad plugged in to the cigarette lighter and headed out to Las Vegas. We had a good two day drive ahead of us and knew at some point we would stop for the night at a hotel that accepted pets and that would be that. We didn't make any reservations in hopes of making it as far as we could that first day. Well, due to a major rain and lightning storm, we had to stop a little sooner than planned. We called all sorts of hotels asking if they accepted pets and often times when they would ask us what we had and we replied an iguana, the answer suddenly was no. Here's the thing, Verde was so scared and cold, she didn't come out of the cage in the room. We just didn't and couldn't leave her in the moving truck all night, she would freeze!

Finally, the last place we called AJ said not to say anything about Verde and we would just sneak her in. So I made the reservation and AJ checked in and we brought Verde to our room through a side entrance and no one ever knew she was there! It was an adventure and her cage was the last thing we packed and the first thing we set up so she was happy once she was in her cage and settled again. Plus, Vegas felt like her homeland; warm, dry and sunny!

Oh, Verde, we will miss you. For all the bunches of collard, mustard, kale and turnips greens that we bought you and for all the times AJ had to clean your cage, we still loved you. We thought you might live forever after moving you so many times and at some point may have included you as a dependent in our will. I guess not now. But you will always hold a dear spot in our hearts as our iguana.

:(

Christmas Cards

I haven't done Christmas cards in quite a few years. One of the reasons is that I enjoy making my own cards and each year this gets put on the back burner and so I end up not doing them. Now that we have a kid with another on the way, it just seems more appropriate at this stage in our lives to do a Christmas card. But I don't want one that takes too much time or effort. I have been looking on line at various options and had heard of Shutterfly. They make amazing and cool photo Christmas cards and have a huge selection. Check out this link.

Another thing that looks fun that I have seen co-workers and family receive are photo mugs and calendars for presents. This is such a personalized gift and reminds the receiver of the giver each time they look at it. Check out this link for calendars and this one for photo mugs.

This is a fun card. I haven't picked out the design I am going to use but it is fun to look at all the options they have. Check them out!

My top ten for the week- Part III

1. Thankful for family and all the fun times we had together this last weekend.

2. Thankful for snowshoeing and getting to play in the snow on a beautiful sunny afternoon.

3. I am thankful for my house. I may have said this before but it is warm and cozy and at one point there was seven of us all sleeping in beds and that makes me smile. I like having people at my house!

4. Thankful that my in laws had an amazing time in Hawaii and were able to get some good rest and relaxation. We are glad to have them back as well!

5. Thankful for all the energy I have considering I am 33 weeks.

6. The pumpkin pie I made from a random recipe on allrecipe.com turned out super yummy! I love that website and would highly recommend it. I have gotten a lot of recipes off of there and haven't had one yet I didn't like.

7. I am thankful for my husband and all the hard work and help he did to get our house ready for my family to be here. He cleaned and did grocery shopping and folded more laundry than one should have to fold and didn't complain. I love that guy!

8. I am thankful for the 10 hours of sleep I got on Thanksgiving night. It was delightfully amazing.

9. Thankful for an amazing Aunt Christy who took Porter for a run every morning while she was here in the stroller. He loved it and enjoyed the fresh air and chasing birds. Thanks, Christy!

10. I am truly blessed and thankful for all we have and continue to have. Our God is good!

Christmas 2010

This is the year. We are going to do it. We have purchased the Groupon, made the commitment with AJ's sister and JJ and I am ready. WE ARE GETTING A CHRISTMAS TREE!!

In the 7 years AJ and I have been married, we have gotten a Christmas tree once and at that point in our lives we did not have kids or live in our own house. But we did use our lights and ornaments and it was a very cute tree. Well, this is the first year in OUR own house and little Porter is a year and a half old so no time like the present to start making our own traditions. We are getting a tree.

About a week ago Jana saw a Groupon for $10 off a local tree farm, so we both bought the Groupon and decided we would all go together. We will take our mini van with the kids and JJ will take the truck to bring our trees back home in. It was a win win.

So I am committed. Mega pregnant or not, we are starting our DeBacker family Christmas tree tradition. I may not get to use all my beautiful breakable ornaments as Porter may just try to climb the tree but it will be our tree.

So much fun! I will post pictures when we get it up and decorated.

"Tis the season to be jolly and be thankful for all that we have."

Happy Thanksgiving, Mom and Dad. From Porter.

What a fun day I had. I loved waking up and seeing all my relatives who had stayed the night in my house. I got to go for a jog in my stroller with Aunt Christy. It was cold, but Mommy gave me two blankets and my snow boots to snuggle with and keep warm. When we got back Mommy made me breakfast and Daddy got up and was making apple cider for everyone. We all ate breakfast and then watched a little bit of the parade on TV. My parents let me watch TV!! I was more interested in the remote but it was still fun to see a little bit. After that I took my nap. Who knows what the adults do while I am sleeping but it felt good to nap since I had woken up at 6:40am!

When I woke up it seemed to be a whirlwind of getting ready to go somewhere. Daddy got me ready while Mommy finished doing her hair. Then we headed out the door. Mommy was driving so Daddy could look at the ads for all the sales tomorrow. My mommy must be forgetful lately because we we drive out of the driveway and then come back again and then Daddy would run in the house. We did this 3 times before we finally were going somewhere different. Silly Mommy!

We got to my cousin's house and got to play with all of them and see all their fun toys. It was a bit crazy there as everyone was getting lunch ready. We had Thanksgiving dinner for lunch! It was so yummy. Sweet potatoes, green beans, mashed potatoes, rolls, pear jello salad and stuffing! Yum! And let me tell you something else. I was in pain after lunch. No, I was too full or had to unbutton my pants cause I ate too much or stubbed my toe. I was constipated. You see, I hadn't pooped for 2 days! That is a long time for me. But I had to get it out now cause it was starting to hurt and I cried. I cried and everyone wondered what was wrong with me. My Mommy and Daddy rubbed my back and got my blanket and wiped my tears. I pushed, got sweaty and clammy and eventually something came out. Man, that felt good. Mommy changed my diaper and off I went playing again.

Well, about 5 minutes later, I went again! This time Daddy got to change that diaper. I was on a roll and I was feeling so much better. We all got ready and walked over to the park and had family pictures taken. I just don't understand having to look good and pose for a picture when there is a playground and a slide close by. I just wanted to play. The stream running by looked fun too but my parents wouldn't let me get close at all. Oh well, it was pretty cold outside. We then tromped back to the house and I got to play the guitar with Grandpa. Well, guess what? Mommy discovered I had another dirty diaper. So she changed it and I was still feeling good!

No joke, 2 minutes later, I had dirtied my diaper again. Mommy told Daddy it was his turn to change me and Daddy said to let me hang out a little in case I had more business to take care of seeing how this would be diaper #4! So he finished eating his pie (which he wouldn't let me have any, why can't I eat sugar?) and changed me. Off I went playing again and then we all got ready to go home. I was so tired. It is exhausting not having a second nap and being around a lot of people but I had fun.

Off we went home and unloaded the car and Daddy started making dinner. Mommy was getting me ready for bed when she realized I had left another present in my diaper. Diaper #5. Man, I was feeling good and so glad I had worked so hard to get that first bit out that just seemed to open the floodgates. Well, I ate dinner and then Mommy cleaned up my room and put a bunch of laundry away and then Daddy read me some books before it was time to go to bed. Mommy was singing to me when I just had to let her know I had another poopy diaper by pointing at my diaper. I just couldn't bear the thought of sleeping in a messy diaper all night. Mommy called Daddy in and said it was his turn and he changed my messy diaper. Diaper #6 in a 6 hour period. Daddy said he thinks I am just trying to get them ready for when Maggie comes. All I know is I feel much better and hope I never get that constipated again. But I am thankful I was able to work it all out.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Porter

Braxton Hicks

Here I am 33 weeks and I am having a lot of Braxton Hicks. What is a Braxton Hick? Well, it is a non-contraction of sorts. Basically, the best way to describe it is your belly gets really hard and feels like it does during a contraction but with a Braxton Hick there is no opening in your cervix or getting ready for the baby to head on out. I had them some with Porter but nothing like I have been having with this one. I always know when I am having one because I get flush, all the blood in my body rushes to my belly and my belly gets rock hard! Pretty much, takes my breath away.

I can only hope this is a sign of good things to come but don't want to get my hopes up too high. It is just another one of those things that makes this pregnancy more unique to Maggie. Sweet Magnolia Raine, just pulling another fast one on her mom. Pretty much from the start she has stated in more ways than one that she is not Porter and has me on my toes. Kind of makes me wonder what she will be like after she is born. If she has feisty red hair, we may have another fiery-stubborn Scotch-Irish on our hands, like me! :) Like mother, like daughter and like father, like son.

I just was thinking...

I would like to point out something that I think is fairly obvious. I am a big Facebooker. I have the app on my iPhone and I am constantly checking it. Yes, most likely I spend too much time but I enjoy it so I am fine with it for now. But here is one thing I have noticed. If you want lots of comments or likes, do a status update or picture upload with food. One of my friends made a comment about pumpkin pie and 25+ comments later and lots of theological talk, it was pretty much decided that Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie. Then today another friend asked what people thought about green bean casserole. Another 25+ comments and it is still pretty much 50/50 either you love it or you hate it.

It just cracks me up. I try to be witty with some of my updates but most of the time right now, even in the month of thankful, I am complaining or whining about something. But on those days when I feel like I have an epiphany moment and all the stars are aligned and I write down my status update, no comments. Then off the cuff I will make a remark about Taco Bell or food and I will for sure get comments.

So I guess this all got me thinking how much food is a common ground for everyone. Weird, huh? Well, not super weird because a majority of events one goes to will have food and drink of some sort. Baby showers, church events, birthday parties, sporting events and staff meetings. The list goes one. Not a bad thing, just makes it that much harder for us as a society to become healthy. But really the change has to be within each of us to create more good for the whole.

Kind of deep but really just got me thinking. Now that Thanksgiving is here in two days I am sure I will be seeing a lot more food updates. Enjoy your Thanksgiving meal with family and friends and make sure y'all save some room for pumpkin pie!!

My other job

I am a wife, a mom and I also work part time at State Farm Insurance. I love all of these jobs and find joy and excitement in each of them. But one thing some people may not know about me is that I am a hairstylist as well. Just this weekend I did 6 haircuts. That is a lot for me at this stage in my life, but I love doing this so I have a hard time saying no.

It is really fun to see the transformation from shaggy hair to cute and put together hair. I love getting to chat with my clients and catching up on their life. I also just love playing with people's hair. One of my good friends gets grossed out by touching other people's hair. This doesn't bother me at all.

When I graduated from beauty school my hope was to make this my career and well, I tried. It just didn't work out and honestly, I didn't love the schedule of evenings and weekends. I wanted to spend time with my family and friends so when the opportunity arose to work at a Monday through Friday 9-5 kind of job, I just had to take it. I love having my weekends off with my family and I also love being home in the evening.

I like to think of myself as well rounded. During the day I talk insurance and business, at night or on the weekends I talk hair!

One of our favorite places

One of our favorite things to do is go to REI. AJ absolutely loves that store and I would much rather go to REI than go to a fish store or Home Depot, so it has become a favorite place for us to make the trek up to REI in Tualatin. In fact, we just went up there today.

Before AJ and I met, I was in a very adventuresome outdoor stage in my life and climbed mountains, skied and hiked a lot. Once I met AJ we did a lot of snowboarding and AJ taught my how to board. We then got married and moved to Vegas and started working full time jobs and didn't have a ton of time for outdoor stuff. Back to Oregon we moved, but I was now in school and worked and AJ was running a restaurant and so when we had days off, we wanted to veg. About two years ago, after we moved back to Salem and AJ finished grad school, we started to get outdoors more. We had visions of camping and hiking and started to acquire the gear needed when, boom, we found out we were pregnant. So, it went on the back burner again.

AJ has kept up with it so much more than I have as he has the capability too. I am either pregnant or nursing, so I just hasn't been in the cards for me. AJ has gone on a lot of solo hikes and then hikes with others. Sometimes his dad will go with him, sometimes he will take Porter and a few times I have been able to go.

Then this summer we decided Porter was old enough to take out camping and we decided to get all set up for that. We did and had a great time and we really look forward to more camping trips as a family. We will have to wait again till Maggie is a bit older, so Summer of 2012 we hope to do much more.

Another thing we really wanted to get in to during the winter was snowshoeing. AJ and I bought snowshoes last year and never ended up being able to use them. Who makes maternity snow pants??? So, AJ has a co-worker this year who snowshoes so hopefully they will be able to go out and get a few treks in so AJ will feel better about our never used snowshoes.

I tell you about all these things to tell you this. We spend a lot of time and resources at REI. They have a great selection of all sorts of things plus, they have the greatest return policy ever. If something gets a hole in it or comes apart, we just take it on back. No questions asked and get a refund. And with outdoor gear that is nice because sometimes you buy something thinking this is what you need and it ends up being more of a hassle than a help, so we take it back and get something else. I imagine if AJ didn't have a master's degree or a family, he might just work at REI so he could get the employee discount!

The other cool thing about REI is they have "garage" sales. It is a sale where they sell all the items that people returned because of a defect, like a hole or a broken zipper and the items that don't return to the manufacturer for whatever reason at a very discounted price. And this is how we got our steal of a deal on our double Bob stroller. We had a single Bob stroller and loved it and knew once Maggie came along, we were going to have to invest in a double Bob. Bobs are not cheap. We figured we would sell our single on Craigslist and then use our dividend check from REI and buy the double.

Well, Christy and Tobin invited AJ to join them at the garage sale for REI at the Clackamas store so off he went at 4am up to sit and wait in line. ONce the store opened at 11am, AJ headed off to check out and see if they had any used Bobs for sale. And they did, but someone had nabbed both of them to check them out to see if they wanted to buy them. AJ hung around and watched till they decided not to get either of them and so AJ grabbed one. It was in great shape and just needed a little cleaning up and TLC and it appears to be pretty much brand with a good wipe down with Clorox wipes!

The story gets better. My sister overheard a REI employee say how they get single Bobs returned all the time since people need to upgrade and most of the time nothing is even wrong with them. So she suggested we take our Bob back to REI. Well, shy person I am didn't want to do it and I made Christy do it and it was easier than getting the stroller out of the van, it was that easy!! They took it back no problem and gave us exactly what we paid for it. So in the end, we bought the double for super cheap, returned the other Bob and all in all paid $20 for a double Bob. Wow! What a deal.

We love REI. Porter's first outing a week after he was born was to REI. We love taking him there and exploring the store and finding fun deals. Where else would you want to spend a rainy Sunday?

There are a few...

Well, this is a bit of a stretch for me but someday when I read back over my posts I think it would be a good idea to have a few things I enjoy about pregnancy in a post. My sister-in-law gave me the idea and I think it is a good one. So here it goes.

For the most part, I do not enjoy being pregnant. I get sick, heartburn, uncomfortable, lethargic and feel restricted by how my body is during pregnancy. So here I am, pessimist that I am, going to be an optimist and tell you all the things I enjoy.

AJ and I had decided before we had kids and it may have even been before we got married that two was our magic number. He came from a family of two and I was one of three and I was the middle one. So no odd numbers for me and we both felt for as many as we could hold their hands at one time, two was it. And now that we are approaching meeting our second one, I am excited to be past this stage.

But things that I did enjoy during my pregnancies. One of them is eating. I usually tend to watch what I eat more closely and try not to overindulge when I am not pregnant, so when I am, I don't hold back very much. I enjoy sweets, carbs and pretty much food in general. Yes, this all shows on the scales, but who cares right, I am pregnant!! For example, last night AJ made a late night run to DQ for ice cream and I thought he should buy 2 dilly bars so I could have one another night. Nope. It didn't make it past last night. You got it, I ate TWO dilly bars and man oh man, they were good.

Another thing I do enjoy is getting to feel my child move and kick and get hiccups inside of me. This is such a unique experience but with each of them, I have (for the most part) enjoyed this bond and connection with them. Porter was much more of a stretcher and would push my belly in weird ways. Maggie is more like a kick boxer and has lots of consistent motions. Each different and unique but fun to experience.

Seeing my body change and grow and progress has been exciting as well. I am so amazed at how God created us women and how our bodies adapt to the things we need. This is not only during pregnancy but after. You go from being a pregnant woman to a full-on mom in a split second and suddenly, you are not getting sleep and responsible for a new baby. It is such a sweet time, but somehow, we survive and get through it and end up loving our kids even more than we thought we could and want to do it all over again!

I know about 8-9 months after Maggie is born I will want another newborn. But I am thankful for what God has given us and thankful for the journey we will embark on as the family of four. A few things I will be looking forward to after delivery is meeting our precious daughter and seeing her face to face and smelling her new baby smell. I am excited for Porter to have a sister and AJ to have a daughter. I am excited to be rid of my heartburn. The countdown has begun as we have 8 more weeks, which with the holidays, really isn't that long!

My top ten for the week- Part II

It's Friday and a good time to look back at the week and remember the moments that make me laugh, smile or cry. But most of all feeling blessed for all in my life.

In no particular order:

1. My job is pretty amazing. I actually look forward to going to work. It makes going to work and leaving my child for the day that much easier.

2. My husband's tests came back clear. Still praying his lightheadness goes away but feel like we have ruled out a lot of things.

3. I have had days, multiple days of no heartburn. Wow!

4. I am so thankful that even though I am 32 weeks pregnant, I am still sleeping so well at night. All to soon will this end, but I am enjoying lots of rest for now.

5. AJ made dinner one night and it was so yummy. JJ made us dinner another night and it was yummy as well. Thankful for men who are good cooks!

6. So thankful for my warm and cozy home.

7. According to Aunt Jana, Porter said his first fully coherent sentence today. Would he say it again? No. Exciting to see him putting more and more things together everyday.

8. Bought a double Bob stroller at a really good price and my sister took our single Bob back to REI for full price. Ended up really only paying $20 for our double Bob. Can't beat that!

9. Getting to meet weekly with other amazing moms and knowing our dear leader is praying and caring for all of us. Refreshing.

10. Thankful for all my friends and family and excited for Thanksgiving and time with my family.

Humbolt Redwood Forest

Going back in time a little to our family summer vacation/camping trip. I have some fun pictures and would like to share them all. So why not during November when our first really winter storm is about to hit us? There is nothing better than dreaming of the good old days of summer!

AJ found us a really cool camp ground in the heart of the Humbolt Redwood Forest. It was south of Eureka and inland a bit but way off the freeway. It felt very much in the boonies even though they had flush toilets and showers. It was real camping. They campground was full of families and lots of kids. AJ loved watching all the kids ride around on their bikes. Someday, he will be one of the kids riding a bike.

We took a day hike in to the forest and saw some pretty cool sites. Enjoy these pictures.

Off we go!

"This is the way to the Giant Tree, right?"

Horizontal stripes are never good on a pregnant woman, but man, that tree is huge!

Porter trying to carry the backpack!

Porter trying to carry Daddy in the backpack.

A butcher, a baker and a candlestick maker.

I am a baker. I love to bake cookies and pies, muffins and breads. If it is baked, I pretty much will enjoy making it. Last week we had our weekly DeBacker family dinner over at Jana's house versus AJ's mom's house. It was a good change of pace and gave Lori the day off of having to make and prepare dinner for the crowd that shows up for dinner. Jana and JJ said they would do dinner and I was going to make muffins. I had read a recipe on one of my friend's blog and was just waiting to try it. I bought all the ingredients and now I was going to get to share them with others. I love baking for other people.

Off I went, working on my muffins. They aren't that hard to make but they do take a little bit since they have cream cheese in the middle. Yum! I finished the two dozen muffins and took them over for Thursday night family dinner and they were a hit! Yummy, yum, yum.

Kudos to my friend, Jessica, over at Life Sew Good for sharing this recipe with us. If you want to try them, head on over to her blog. Here is the link.


These would be a great addition to any Thanksgiving gathering. Enjoy!


P.S. My house smells so good after I make them, as well. Added bonus!

Wishing and hoping...

Something not everyone knows about me is my love for cars. Well, I guess more specifically, a certain car. It is not just any car, it is a Jeep Wrangler. Ever since high school, I have wanted to own one. I had pictures and posters up in my room in high school and college. I collected remote control cars and Matchbox cars that were Jeeps. My email is jeep_luver. I wanted jeep_lover but it was taken so I did a spelling variation so I could have this email address. One year for my birthday, my dad made me a Jeep cake. I have an infatuation.

I still want to own someday and AJ has said we may, someday. I imagine when I am 65 and retired, we will buy our RV and tow a Jeep behind. So many times when I see Jeeps driving around I have noticed the driver is an older male or female and always wondered why so many older people drive Jeeps. Well, I guess that will be me as well someday

I have had some fun Jeep adventures even though I have never had one.

One of my most recent Jeep adventures was about 2 1/2 years ago, the entire DeBacker family went a on Caribbean cruise. Our second stop was in Cozumel, Mexico and we had decided to do a Jeep tour of Cozumel that took us to the beach for snorkeling and then a few other cool spots along the way. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done. There were 4 of us in a Jeep and one of us got to be a driver. So AJ, Al, Lori and I had one Jeep (a beautiful red one) and they let me drive. The top was down, the sun was shining and it was such a beautiful day and we drove. Off to the beach and sites to see. It was so much fun! Ahhhhhh.......a Jeep on vacation.

Another one was about 8 years ago because it was while AJ and I were dating but Jeep put on a Jeep test drive course that was a traveling type show. You would sign up on line to be a part of the traveling event and would get an invitation in the mail to be a part of this test drive. Of course I signed up one so I could get lots of fun Jeep marketing mail and even more so, so that I could test drive a Jeep!! I signed up for a time on a Saturday, invited AJ to come and off we headed to Portland International Raceway to this 4x4 course they had set up.

It was cool, amazing and fun. You have your choice of models to test drive. I, of course, picked the Wrangler and climbed on in. There is a drive instructor with you who tells you what gear to put the Jeep in and how to maneuver the course. The Jeeps were automatic transmissions which was a bummer but it was still fun driving over logs, rocks, boulders and up and down some dirt hills. Also, you could walk around and see all the Jeep merchandise and pick up some more glossy, picturesque brochures. Of course, they are just trying to sell you on the Jeep and its suspension features and the overall ruggedness of the Jeep. I was sold a long time ago, just don't have the funds.

Another great story was for my 25th birthday, two of my good friends at the time borrowed one of their friend's Jeep and I got to drive it around all day as my own. We ran errands, went to lunch, got tattoos and had fun with "my" Jeep for the day. Such a fun birthday present!

This all brings me to this last random fact about myself. Another true love of mine that goes hand and hand with Jeeps is Monster Truck Rallies. I think they are the coolest things. Now, don't think I have turned all hick and redneck on you. I do love a good beer but I do not have a bunch of non-working cars in my yard or a mullet. But I do love a good monster truck rally with lots of gas fumes and loud loud noises. I have only been to one and it was a total blast!!

This is something that AJ and I are very different on. He likes fast sporty cars and the larger the horsepower, the faster it can go, the more impressed he is. For me, it is the bigger the lift and the bigger the wheels the better. I adore Jeeps. So here I am wishing and hoping for one...someday.

Blog paralysis

As November 1st approached I thought about the challenge of blogging all month long. I thought, oh, that would be good motivation for me to blog about the various things I have always wanted to blog about. I thought it would get me out of my non-blogging funk. I thought, oh, I will be funny and witty, inspiring and uplifting to all who read my blog (all 3 of you). I had a multitude of ideas and so it just made sense to me to take on the challenge.

Well, here we are halfway through the month and I have never felt more boring in my life. My blogs seem rambling and run-on and uninspiring in every way. Each day I rack my brain to try and come up with an idea of what to write about. For some reason, of recent, my life just seems boring. I am pregnant, yea yea yea. My son is cute, yea yea yea. My husband is a gamer, yea yea yea. Who cares about that stuff over and over again.

I am in a blogging rut.

15 days in and I have hit the plateau.

I want to be funny, witty, inspiring and charming.

This is a process and a challenge, right? And sometimes you hit rough patches but you just work through them as part of the process and thus, learn and get a little better.

So here's to getting better in the next few weeks and on. I hope to continue blogging more often. Now I just need some ideas of what to blog about. Ideas?

What's currently on my mind...

My sweet sweet little boy has the worst diaper rash tonight. I gave him a bath tonight because he was crying so much from his little bum hurting so badly. Two things I think are attributing to this problem. We had gotten some wipes as a baby present for Maggie but I decided to go ahead and use them. Well, I think his bottom likes those ones better. And he for whatever reason, has been having more loose stools and thus more dirty diapers and all this attributes to a horrible rash. He was crying huge tears tonight and it just breaks my heart. It is so hard to explain to a 19 month old why it is the way it is. Oh man, rough.

I have googled home remedies and remedies in general and I have a plan of attack but I just really want it to go away for his sake. No fun! We happened to have a Well Baby check up tomorrow so we will see what the doctor has to say as well.

If anyone reads my blog and had any ideas, I am open for suggestions. What would you do?

Oh, what a day!

On Saturday, my bestie, Jennifer, invited me to join her at the Beaver's game. Her and her husband have season tickets and it was her turn to go so she invited me! I was excited as I love going to live sporting events. My husband is not really in to that as it involves being around large crowds and watching a game so I was thrilled to go with my good friend. We were going to have fun! Oh and did I mention, no kids!!!

I dropped off Porter as Grammie's house so that AJ could work the day away on our house. It was so nice of Lori to take Porter for the day especially since she already watches him 3 days a week. So off I went to pick up Jen and head down to Corvallis.

On our way down we decided to stop for lunch at Burgerville in Corvallis and got a little lost but thanks to the iPhone found it and were on our way again. Once we got closer to Corvallis we did get in some traffic, but Jen and I were just having fun chatting it up and laughing lots.

Finally, we got to the neighborhood to find parking and there was none! Either the spot was too small or it was on the wrong side of the road or the lot was full. It was getting later and closer and closer to kickoff so we were really running out of time. Jen was driving at this point and saw some cars pulling in to a grassy area and decided to pull in behind them. Thankfully, our little Subaru is all wheel drive so it was able to handle it but I was fairly convinced either my car would get stuck getting out or it was a large sinkhole and my car would be buried when we returned. Neither happened, but it made for some good laughs during the game when we thought about getting home afterwards.

We had hoped to meet up with my Bible study leader at her tailgating tent before hand but because of our exhausting search for a parking space and being miles away from the stadium, we just headed on in, found our seats, saw the marching band perform the National Anthem and it was kickoff. It started to rain a little so we put our rain pants on and enjoyed the game. It was a BIG bummer how horrible the game was but we were having fun. Really, one of the best things about going to a game is all the people watching you can do!

At halftime we got up to walk a little and use the restroom and grab some hot chocolate. It took us a while as the lines were long and the second half started before we got back to our seats. The other team even scored while we were in line. Ugh. This was going to be a long game. But we stuck it out and stayed to the bitter end. Thank goodness for our wonderful rain gear as it had started raining harder at this point. And me being almost 8 months pregnant, I was afraid nothing would fit me. Well, AJ's rain jacket and pants did fit me so I was able to enjoy the game completely dry!

After the game we decided to walk over to our friends who were tailgating and say hi and then start the trek back to our car. This was a lot of walking for my prego-ness but it was worth it, We got to see our friends and their sweet setup and then find my car just sitting there waiting for us. We peeled off our wet rain gear and climbed in to the Subaru. We were tired and glad to be in the warm car and dry but we were happy! What a day. We still have an almost two hour drive home but again, we just chatted the whole way and stopped to get consolation milkshakes on the way to bury our losing team sorrows.

Even though the Beavers played horribly and lost miserably, Jen and I had an amazing time. If I was to go to another game, I would want to go with Jen cause we had so much fun! Thank you, Jen!!

It was back to mommyhood and familyhood when I walked through my front door but I was glad to see my sweet son and wonderful husband. Ah, home again to my loves, refreshed.

My top ten for the week

In truly no particular order here they are. Some might not make sense if you don't know the whole story but I just don't have the energy to explain each one. Just know I am feeling blessed.

1. AJ's doctor's appointment on Wednesday made my day.

2. Porter giving me a kiss without me asking him.

3. A friend telling me I was looking good at this stage in my pregnancy.

4. AJ's paycheck was fixed.

5. Having a random Thursday during the middle of the week as a holiday and having AJ at home.

6. Sunshine amongst all the rain showers.

7. The beautiful colors all the fall leaves make.

8. Getting to work with great coworkers and an amazing boss.

9. Just seeing how stinkin' cute my 19 month old son is all the time!

10. Knowing God is always there for us!

Swimming lessons

Jana was going to sign up Finn for parent/tot swimming lessons and asked me if Porter would like to do them as well. I said yes as both AJ and I felt this is something important to introduce him to at an early age. So on a Saturday morning, Jana and I and the boys, got up early and went down to the Kroc Center, waited in line and registered our little boys for swimming lessons on Tuesdays and Thursday at 5pm. Since I work on Tuesdays, Lori said she would take Porter and we would pick him up and then on Thursdays, I get to take him. It actually feels really good to be in the pool as a pregnant person. But all the dressing, undressing for a 30 minutes class is hard. But we do things for our kids because we love them and know it is good for them despite how much work it may be for us.

The class goes by quickly but our teacher is great. She gives us some good ideas of how to get the kids more comfortable in the water and help them not fear floating on their back. I still haven't mastered that. One of the things AJ learned all to quickly very shortly after we were married (we were on our honeymoon in Mexico!) is that I could not swim. Over time AJ has taught me and in the event of an emergency I probably could survive and swim to save my life. Before, I would have sunk to the bottom like a rock. So I value Porter at a very young age getting comfortable and learning how to float and blow bubbles under water.

We are about halfway through and I would say Porter has gotten more comfortable in the water and the Kroc center has a great kid pool. I am sure we will continue to give him lessons through the years and hopefully he will be a swimmer just like his Daddy!

31 weeks

Here is am starting my 31st week of being pregnant and I have to say, today was not the best day to represent being 31 weeks. I woke up not feeling all that great but most of that I attribute to just being pregnant. Off I went to my morning routine of getting ready for work, juggling taking care of my 19 month old and somehow getting it all done in a reasonable amount of time. As I was brushing my teeth and putting something away so Porter wouldn't throw it down the laundry chute I started gagging. Fine, I can handle this. But it turned to puking, full on puking. Porter just stood on his potty chair with his chin on the counter and looked at my and blew raspberries as I puked. He was pretty cute, but I didn't feel cute at all. I looked at him and said, "I did the same thing when I was pregnant with you!" Like he cares right now?

I continued to get ready and then noticed my nose was bleeding. What? Really? Why is this all happening today? I just want to get to work and not have to focus on getting ready with Porter hanging on to my legs. I couldn't get ready fast enough but we were finally finished and enjoying breakfast. I feel like each day I get up and ready for work and Porter fed is my biggest accomplishment. Thus, why I still can't grasp how I will ever get out of the house with two kids!!

The other thing I am super frustrated with being pregnant is my horrible heartburn. AJ and I made the decision when I was pregnant with Porter that I would do all I can do to try to run the course of my pregnancy medication free. I managed my first pregnancy but man oh man, I forgot how horrible the heartburn was. I do take some Tums but they rarely work so I have tried all sorts of other things. I am pretty much uncomfortable all the time. But then recently I remembered that chewing gum is suppose to help ease that discomfort. Well in a week I have gone through two packs of gum but I feel so much better. It truly helps! It is a miracle.

Only 9 more weeks to go to 40 weeks but if we have learned at all from Porter, it may be more like 11 weeks! I am excited to meet our new little bundle of joy and can't wait for Porter to have a sister and enter a new phase in life called siblings!

Ba'awl

It's late but I am getting a post up today so here it goes.

My 19th month old Porter doesn't have a huge vocabulary but he does have a few words he can saw with clearness and clarity that it makes me smile. When he was younger, the way you knew he was in to something was he would point and make a noise as if to say, "Look, a balloon," or "look, a dog." He was fascinated by balloons and no matter where you went there was bound to be a balloon. Try driving by a car dealership on the weekend. Millions of balloons. The grocery store, has one tied to each check out line. Red Robin, they are all over the ceiling! You get my point, he was fascinated. Then it switched to dogs. The park, the parade, a dog walking down the street and he would see them out the car window. Home Depot. You name it, he found a dog no matter where we went.

Well, fast forward to about 2 months ago when Porter wasn't clearly saying much of anything but he could say, "Ball." And it wasn't ball like you and I say it, it is "ba'awl" like he has an accent of some sort. And he doesn't say it once, he is stuck on repeat because he loves balls and because he loves the sound of saying the word.

Take him to Target and the moment you step in the store he will ask you for "ba'awl." Go to church and he will ask you for "ba'awl." We went to my brother's house and Porter found one of his kid's soccer ball and all Porter wanted was the soccer ball. We had to leave shortly after he found it and all the way home he chanted, "ba'awl" over and over and starting crying that he didn't get the ball.

It is the cutest thing to hear him say and tonight as we were putting him to bed, he realized ba'awl time was over and he started to do a little fake cry that was his way of trying to convince us to allow him to stay up later and play with his ball. But we didn't give in as the boy needs his 12 hours of sleep, but he was a little bummed. Nothing his bed and favorite blankie couldn't truly fix.

Just another moment in time that I am trying to cherish but sometime the last thing I want to hear is the word "ba'awl" again!

Oh, by the way, Porter thinks it is stinkin' hilarious if you can spin the ball on your finger, he will belly laugh at you. So if you have that time and want to hear a good baby belly laugh, bring your skills on over to our house and keep Porter entertained while I do some housecleaning!

We will never know

If you had read the prior post you will know the story of AJ putting the cover back on our chimney. It was a strange coincidence but another part of that story is later that day the dogs went crazy barking at the woodstove in our living room. Ellie was persistent and would not stop barking. She scratched at the woodstove and wanted to get at something. But we had no idea what.

Later that afternoon, while I was in the living room playing with Porter, I heard and saw the damper on the chimney pipe out of the woodstove move. It was a bit freaky and it was also the day before Halloween. I thought maybe I was just imagining and maybe it was the wind. So the next day I was doing something and came back in to the living room and AJ confirmed what I thought. We had something alive in our chimney! He had heard the scratching and seen the damper move.

On Monday, I took a video of the damper moving and it was all a bit creepy. We didn't want to open the woodstove for fear of it running out and causing chaos in our house. We didn't want to start a fire because when we bought the house a year ago we said we would need to get the chimney cleaned before we used the woodstove. We also don't want to worry about the mess and work of getting firewood. We have a wonderful gas forced air furnace, so the woodstove was not necessary for our heat source. Thus, we have never paid to have the chimney professionally cleaned and we don't want a flu fire, so no fires.

Well, the long and short of it. We left it and just dealt with the creepiness of thinking something was in our woodstove. Since AJ had put the cover back on the chimney there was no way for it to get back out so we left it. How cruel, right? Well, the moving damper has stopped and the little scratching noises have stopped so we figure it has passed. We were afraid it would stink up our house, but it doesn't seem to be all that bad. It did smell a little funny today but it may just have been my prego crazy sense of smell and thinking it was smelling bad, but it is nothing.

And since we don't want to start a fire, it is just going to stay the way it is. I am still a little creeped out to open the woodstove so we will never know what it was. By the time spring or summer comes next year and we decide to get the chimney cleaned it may be a skeleton of bones.

So for now, we will never know, but at least the chimney is covered now and this should not happen again anytime soon!

Risky business

Our house is a home built in 1940. (I feel like I have had said that before.) Anyways, an older home and it is only one story above ground but it does have a full basement. So it is up a little higher than a normal crawlspace home and the roof is pretty steep and high.

At some point, a former owner invested in a huge metal antenna for the roof top and probably got two or 3 more channels than the next door neighbor who did not have an antenna. Our house in Cottage Grove had two of them: one our house and one on the shed and we got two channels between the two of them. This day in age, they are useless and a huge hazard in a wind storm. Can you hear the insurance professional in me?

Since the day we moved in I have wanted AJ to take it down.

So, last fall we did have a wind storm and the cover to our chimney blew off. No big deal, we would just have AJ climb up the ladder on to the roof and put it back on. Well, needless to say, when he got to the top of the ladder and realized how steep the roof was, it never got done. For an entire year!

Fast forward to the fall this year and we had redone some stuff in our basement and one of the things we did was paint the floor. This is all related, trust me. One day I was sweeping the newly painted floor and noticed water on the floor coming out of the old chimney that went down to the basement. It is now closed off but water was getting in our chimney and collecting on the floor in the basement. So I told AJ we really needed to get the topper back on the chimney. He said he would if someone was there to call 911 when he fell off the roof. So I recruited JJ and off they went setting up the ladder and JJ was going to spot.

Well, after AJ got up on the roof and had attached the chimney cover, JJ talked AJ in to taking down the antenna as well. So AJ sat up on the roof while AJ ran home to get a few tools and in a matter of 30 minutes, both the chimney cover was put on and the antenna was down. AJ never fell off the roof but had a close call.

JJ had brought over a tow strap that AJ rigged around the chimney and attached it to himself so he could grab it if he fell. Well, the antenna was down and AJ was headed back to the chimney to take off the strap, he was using it as a lead line and it fully come undone and basically would not have held AJ at all if he had fallen. Thank goodness he didn't need it.

Anytime you get AJ and JJ together, our house always looks a little different when I come home. From cutting down trees, to putting up under cabinet lighting and now removing an antenna. We love how handy and helpful our brother-in-law JJ is!

Strong dislike

So it is Saturday night and I have piles of laundry going. The dishes from dinner are put away, Porter's toys are all picked up and all the clean laundry is put away. I am sitting here on my couch blogging and my husband is watching Starcraft II. What's that? You've never heard of that. Well, good for you. Truly you should keep it that way. Basically, the best way to describe it would be BORING.

Imagine you are watching football and not only are you watching it, but there are sportscasters who are filling in the 'color' for the game. They explain the plays that are happening and are amazed when the ball is intercepted and get excited when the team nears the goal. Now imagine, it is a video game you are watching. Someone else is controlling the players in the game and there are announcers calling the game. They react when someone gets clobbered or a good game play happens. But this is all a video game!!!

Boring.

I say we put on Hulu and watch Grey's Anatomy or some other show. But Starcraft II, really?

If your husband/boyfriend/significant other plays video games, I am sorry. But you may be wise not to tell them about this show so you won't be stuck watching it on a Saturday night.

I strongly dislike video games and watching someone else play video games.

More Summer Vacation 2010 memories...

Another place we went on our summer vacation as a family was Crater Lake.

If you remember from the last post, we had a catastrophic second night camping, we decided to pack up camp and head up the coast and see where we landed. Basically, Porter fell asleep at 8 and then at 11 when we headed to bed woke up and it was too cold for him to fall back asleep. Every time we laid him down, he would start CRYING. And if you in a campground in a tent, you just don't feel right about letting your child cry it out. So, we tried to have him sleep in my sleeping bag and that didn't work. So finally, at midnight, AJ took him for a long drive in the car on a windy road with huge redwoods on both sides. I was a bit worried for AJ but being 18 weeks pregnant, I was so tired and fell asleep while he was gone. So when he got back at 1am, Porter was asleep as he was exhausted as well. So AJ picked him up out of his car seat and brought him in to the tent and put him in his bed and he immediately woke up, SCREAMING.

So, we knew he was super tired and I put him in my sleeping bag and we slept for a hour and then he would wake up screaming and wanted to nurse. So we nursed and he fell back asleep for another hour and then he would wake up crying. So he cried and nursed every hour till about 6am when we all decided to get up. It was a very long night.

We got up and ate breakfast, packed up camp and headed out with hopes of making the best of the rest of our vacation. We had already made reservations at a campground at Patrick's Point on the Northern California coast but didn't think it would be a good idea to camp on the coast for two more nights as it is even more cold there. So we made our way up through the Redwood Forest on the 101 and stopped at Patrick's Point to eat lunch and cancel our reservations.

As we looked at the map, we couldn't decide where our next destination would be but just decided to make it an adventure. We headed through Eureka and saw the beach. We stopped there and let Porter run around on the beach for a bit. We drove 7 hours that day and ended up in Medford, Oregon. We booked a hotel for two nights and chose a hotel that had rooms that were suites. That way we could put Porter to bed and AJ and I could still enjoy watching TV and stay up a little later.

It took those two nights to get Porter back on a schedule because it had been so crazy from camping. We set up his pack and play and put him to bed and AJ and I had take out Mexican. It was one of the best nights. A couch, a TV and Mexican food after a long hot shower, I was so happy. Being pregnant is not one of my favorite things and then throw camping in there and it was a bit rough for me. We had fun and Porter loved being outside and watching all the kids in the campground riding their bikes. And AJ builds a mean campfire. But I was ready a real bed.

Saturday we woke up, ate breakfast, went swimming and then took a nap and decided to head to Crater Lake. AJ had never been, so I really wanted to be able to experience it with him for the first time. I had been a few times and had cross country skied around it over 3 days so it was fun to be able to go with a newbie!

We drove up and it was a gorgeous day! The sun was shining and it was in the 70's. We decided to eat dinner up there and then drive home and hope Porter would fall asleep on the way home. We did so much driving on this road trip but Porter was an amazing trooper

Good memories!

Here are some pictures.

The many faces of Porter

We took our first family camping trip this summer and headed out to the Humboldt Redwood Forest and set up our tent and had a great time. We did have a rough second night, but all the fun memories we made and seeing Porter tromp around in his green rain boots made it all worth it. He loves being outside in the great outdoors so this was right up his alley. One thing we did learn from the catastrophe of a second night, Porter doesn't like being cold. But then again, who does?

Here are a few shots of Porter in our tent and discovering what it is like to fall on to the tent wall and slide down the screen.