Rebekah Jane Lillie

(Thank you, Bec for posting a picture so I could steal it from you.)
Happy birthday to my very first niece! Dan's sister Jane had a baby girl early this morning at 3:59am, and it's killing us that we're too far away to go kiss her! Rebekah Jane Lillie made her appearance after days of hard contractions and few hours of pushing (way to go mama). She is perfectly happy and healthy at 8lbs 15 ounces and 21 3/4 inches, and Jane is perfectly....exhausted! Dan's parents were able to fly down to CA to be there to hear her first cries.

Welcome to the world, little miss Rebekah. A lot of people have been praying for you! You are already so loved. We can't wait to see what God has in store for you! Love you Curtis and Jane, can't wait to see your sweet little family for Thanksgiving!

Now...go get some sleep.

Time certainly does fly

2 YEARS GONE BY:

Above: Jake digging at the Children's museum October 2006

Below: brothers digging in the same rubber pellets August 2008 (Ty is wearing the shoes Jake has on above)

Above: Jake 2006, cute kid
Below: Jake 2008, babe


Above: Ty 2006 drooling all over the Children's Museum toys
Below: Ty 2008 reeking havoc with the Children's Museum toys

WHAT HAPPENS IN JUST ONE YEAR:

Above: Ty rejoicing in the Blue Lake splash park, 2007
Below: Ty rejoicing in the Blue Lake splash park, 2008




Above: Ty's chubba bubba profile in 2007

Below: my little man 2008

People who make me smile

There's this list I have here over to the right. You're all familiar with it, I'm sure. These are the people I love to stalk...I mean investigate. I've just recently realized I've overlooked/just found a few people I'd like you all to meet. Marla Taviano has been a faithful blog stalker of mine for quite some time and because she doesn't blog on Blogger I've been completely ignoring her. Just kidding, I totally was clueless about the fact she had a blog on Xanga. Go check her out, she's an amazing author who met my dad a few years ago, and though we've never actually met face to face, I'm quite convinced that she and I are twins separated at birth. She rules. Her books rule. Go buy a couple hundred copies of her newest book Changing Your World One Diaper at a Time. Amazing. So funny, so encouraging for new moms, old moms, not-yet moms. Great grandpas. Well, maybe not GG's, but seriously, this book is one you've got to get your hands on if you've got the slightest interest in motherhood. She's not paying me to say this either (but Marla, I will except Starbucks gift cards).

Another new stalker/my new stalkee is my cousin Chris. She's the one who used to burn microwave popcorn for me and Karina while babysitting. I have great memories of her staying with us while my parents were gallivanting across the world without us. And I babysat for her little girl Alexis (not so little anymore, holy moley) It's seriously a crime that we live so close and don't see each other more often. Thanks for saying hi, Chris!

Another somewhat new link I have is called Choose to Bloom. If you haven't yet checked it out...CHECK IT OUT! Two of my very best friends Megan and Faith have created this blog that is full of encouragement and advice and great resources, especially for young moms. I love you girls, and I'm proud of what God is doing in you, and through you!

So there you have it. An updated list of the people who make me smile. If you're not on the list and think you should be, either a) I'm a total dork and I think I have you on there, but I really just get to your site by clicking on someone else's links or b) you may have to face the fact that you might not make me smile. (That was a joke, I love you all.)

Two dollar Tuesday

We decided to go to the zoo a few days ago for $2 Tuesday. We never got there. Here's the rundown of our insane Tuesday that cost just a tad more than $2:

• 10:28am: picked up umbrella stroller from G&G Alcorn's house, kids are practically wetting their pants in excitement
• 10:35: filled up with gas at Safeway (less than $50!! Who knew that would ever be exciting)
• 11:00: arrived at Lloyd Center to buy new shoes for Dan and drop off the car to take MAX to the zoo
• 11:10: found shoes Dan wanted (on sale, the day is lookin' good so far)
• 11:11: guy looking for 2nd shoe in the pair that Dan wanted (one was the display)
• 11:15: guy still looking for Dan's shoe, kids getting restless
• 11:20: guy still looking for Dan's shoe, kids are starting to pull the clothes off of nearby manikins
• 11:21: guy asks another clerk to help him find Dan's shoe, Ang getting restless
• 11:21 and 20 seconds: other clerk promptly found Dan's other shoe. Direct quotation from Ty, "That guy is SOOOO nice, mama." My thoughts exactly.
• 11:25: off to the food court for some lunch
• 11:35: Beef & broccoli juice comes pouring out of Ty's mouth because of his enormous attempt at a bite, and slides down his shirt, his elbows and onto his shorts
• 12:00: off to the MAX station to ride the train to the zoo, Jake is so excited he can barely contain himself
• 12:08: MAX takes us to the Steel Bridge which is being renovated for a new train line, thus is closed, thus we have to get off MAX, and thus take a Tri-Met bus filled with 194 sweaty people across the another bridge, thus getting on another MAX train that is across the river in order to make 29 stops in downtown Portland, thus finally making it the zoo, thus Dan and I are so excited we can barely contain ourselves (insert sarcasm here)
• 12:55: we finally get off MAX and ride up the elevator where it opens to reveal to us...approximately 5690 people in a line that is (not joking this time) over 1/4 mile long just to enter the zoo
• 12:55 and 10 seconds: no possible way we're getting in that line
• 12:56: we walk down to the Children's Museum and pay more than $2 a person because we don't have the heart to tell our overly excited children we have to go home


• 2:20: we leave the museum with exhausted but happy children to start the MAX, bus, MAX, car ride home
• 3:05: we get into our car to drive home, Ty has definitely had enough

• 3:06: both kids are snoring

Welcome, one and all

I've recently had a few people I rarely see/don't know very well tell me that they like looking in on this blog every once in a while...some people call these onlookers "blog stalkers," but I prefer to refer to you all as "inquiring minds who want to know" (who are quite possibly very strange, but still welcome to read my ramblings). But just an FYI, I'm not planning on publishing my social security number or my ATM pin number or, heaven forbid, my current weight. So if you're a long lost friend or relative, a friend of a friend, or a friend of a friend of a friend's nephew's daughter's neighbor...please feel free to read my stories, and comment now and again so I know you care. If you have a blog, I've probably snuck a peek. Yes, I know snuck is not a word. And if you don't have a blog, I have probably driven by your house several times to see if I can catch a glimpse of you and your family. (I'm kidding. If you're more than 100 miles away, you're probably safe.)

Stalk away, dear reader. Stalk away.

Jacob Gary turns 4

Today my firstborn turned 4. Not only do I feel old, I also feel...exhausted. Not purely because of the lack of sleep I've had the past 4 years, but also because of the party we threw today. A Hot Wheels inspired bash for the ages. I even crafted. Yes, me, the ultimate creative dud. I'll admit I stole the idea of a website, I don't recall the exact name (something like "bestcraftymomsinthehistoryoftheuniverse.com") but I glue-gunned my little heart out for the sake of my child. And my budget. Do you realize how much money you can spend on a child's birthday party? Ridiculous. So ridiculous in fact, that I made my own car decorations that doubled as party favors.
I'm not quite to the point where I'm ready to make my entire family's underwear from materials grown in my backyard, but I'm feeling pretty capable of stealing a basic creative idea and producing a decent product.

But let's get back to the reason for the blog. Jacob Gary. He has been asking us every morning for the last few weeks if that day was his birthday. This morning when he woke me up, I said, "Happy birthday, Juje" (please to to my nicknames post if you need the story behind "Juje") He said, "Today's not my birthday," quite adamantly. "Yes it is, today is August 3rd." He went walking down the hall slowly, and I heard him say quietly to himself, "Oh, today IS my birthday. I'm four now."

Anyone who knows Jake knows that cars are his reason for living, so the Hot Wheels party theme was quite appropriate. A few days ago, my mother in law told me someone asked Jake if he was going to have a pirate birthday. "No," he said, "I'm a Hot Wheels man." Indeed. I take out this cheap plastic tablecloth and he's almost wetting his pants in excitement "WHOA, mama what is THAT???" A cheap plastic tablecloth. "WHOA, so awesome!"

Weeks ago when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his party, he literally put his pointer finger on his mouth and, looking quite pensive, stated firmly, "Lemon Chocolate Strawberry Pie-Cake." Hmm, I don't even think bestcraftymomsinthehistoryoftheuniverse.com has a recipe for that. He repeated the request continually and so I decided to get creative (here I go again, you're thinking?) Well, I didn't exactly produce a lemon chocolate strawberry pie-cake, but all the parts were there. Except for the pie. I made lemon cupcakes and Fred Meyer made chocolate cake with strawberry filling. He was pleased.

And I'm pleased with the precious gift of Jake. He's definitely not perfect (if you know a 4 year old who is...please don't tell me) but he certainly is a good boy. How do I love he? Let me count the ways:

• He's passionately in love with his brother, and would fight to the death on a playground if someone tried to hurt Ty, even though 2 seconds before he may have been slugging Ty himself.
• He's instant friends with everyone he meets, including joggers that pass by and smile at him.
• He CRACKS me up. The other day dog-lover-Dan asked him "What do you think about giving Felix away?" Jake quickly responded, "Dad, if you give Fewee away, then we'll give YOU away." Amen, brother Jake.
• He's quirky. He despises the sound of a toilet flushing, so if we're in public he makes me flush it after he's left the stall, and at home he flushes with his hand over his right ear, and the other ear mashed against his left shoulder as that hand pushes the handle.
• He still sits on my lap and laughs at my jokes and hugs and kisses me without being embarrassed.

Happy birthday, Juje. Juja Maguja. Rad. Rad McFad. Faddeous. You're one of a kind, and I couldn't love you more.

Talk, talk, talk

Okay, Marla. I was hoping to stretch the anniversary blog into Jake's birthday blog (only 2 days away) but evidently I'm making people mad, so here's a quick update. Oh, and these pictures are from Seaside a few weeks ago. You know, the ones that almost cost me my sanity when I tried to post them. Anyway, the update:

Ty is calling me Ang. Seriously. Here's how the conversations go. "Hey, Ang? Can I have a granola bar?" "No, Ty, and it's 'mommy' next time, okay?" "Okay, Ang...Mommy. Can I have some string cheese, Ang?"

Ty's quite the talker. In fact, he barely says any words wrong these days, so it makes me laugh when he does. My favorites are "Ooohh, a doggie, can I pep 'im?" Yes, you can pet him. "Where's Jake, is he stownstairs?" Yes, he's downstairs. "I'm sick, because I need some meh-sin." No, you can't have any medicine, you're not sick. (I try to avoid the word "because" when I talk to Ty. See my previous post if you've forgotten how much Ty milks "because".)

Jake is also a talker. More accurately, he's a won't-ever-shut-his-mouth-er. This is bad, but I've totally begun to tune him out. I took him to Home Depot the other day when Ty was napping, and he was in the back seat jabbering on for probably 5 minutes before I realized that he was asking me questions, then answering them himself when I didn't respond. Sort of like this, "Hey Mom, when we're done at Home Depot can we go somewhere else? Like Starbucks? Maybe we'll get some hot chocolate? Mom? Okay, maybe the dollar store. We can look at Hot Wheels and maybe buy some for me? Can we? We'll buy some trucks and some vans, okay, Mom? We'll get some hot chocolate and take it to the dollar store and buy twenty Hot Wheels. WOW, a Hummer! Did you see that Hummer, Mom? Yes? It was red, huh. Yep, a red Hummer. Maybe we'll get a red Hummer at the dollar store after we get hot chocolate. That's what we'll do." In all seriousness...the kid just doesn't stop.

Dan also talks my ear off. Oh wait, never mind. After the kids go to bed it's like we go through detox. Neither one of us says one word for about half and hour unless it's vitally important. We just sit. Feet up. Cool wash cloth on our heads and a heating pad on our backs. Until we hear this, "Hey, Ang? I need some water because I'm thirsty, because I need a drink, because my mouth is sick and because I need some water and some meh-sin."

Then we put in ear plugs. And pretend all is right with the world.