Chris and Sonja - The Sweet Seattle Life

Mt. Rainier Trip 2012

2012-02-13T11:17:00.000-08:00

My Dears,

How was your weekend?! I hope it was great.

We took a quick mini-trip down to Mt. Rainier for the weekend. It started last Tuesday when I got an email from Chris.

"Let's go somewhere this weekend!"

I am married to a very meticulous, methodical man and when randomly he pops in with these crazy, spontaneous ideas...well, who am I to say no?!

Since Mt. St. Helens is closed for the winter, we settled upon Mt. Rainier. It's been ages since I've been there.

So we cast around on the web for a bit and found a tiny cabin for rent. It is located at the Copper Creek Inn, which also boasts a lovely restaurant. Score.

On a side note, I've found that I enjoy vacations much, much more if I'm not on cooking/cleaning/feeding-the-hordes duty. It's not an awful...I just would like a vacation from it, if possible. And isn't that why you go on holiday, to take a break from your day-to-day duties? :)

Anyway, back to the trip.

After Chris' class on Saturday morning we packed up the car and headed off to the mountain.

But first we stopped in Tacoma at the Museum of Glass as Chris has acquired a few tickets. By far our favorite part was the "Hot Shop", which gave live glass-blowing demonstrations. That place was hopping (and toasty warm).

Here is the Bambino casting a critical eye upon an outdoor exhibit:

Clearly it's not to his liking. Not enough color, perhaps?

After the museum, we moseyed east to our little cabin.

"Little" is the operative word here: A queen bed, a twin bunk, a small seat, a microwave, and a fridge. And enough room to set up Ben's little crib.

It was very cozy and just about perfect. The boys took a [very] quick tour of the facilities:

And then we strolled down to the restaurant for some dinner. The blackberry pie was delicious, as was the rest of the meal.

The next morning we got up at the crack of dawn, decided that was too early, and promptly went back to sleep for a while. We're on holiday, remember!

Later we did a bit of strolling through the woods around the cabin.

Baby likes the forest.

And then we packed up and headed uphill: To The Mountain!

Some dear friends loaned us some snowshoes and we took a nice little trek.

It took a bit to get used to having giant feet.

Chris was also carrying a 20+ pound weight in the form of one Benjamin Jernstrom.

I've said this before but I'll say it again: I love our national parks. Our $15 entrance fee granted us access for the week, miles and miles of trails that were itching to be explored, a free, ranger-staffed sledding area, a fabulous lodge, and the help of wonderful rangers. And we didn't even take advantage of the ranger-led snowshoe walks, or the informative lectures.

Mt. Rainier has had a rough year, Peeps, they could use your patronage.

Success! We made it!

And what a view. The headwaters of the Nisqually River. Technically I think there is a giant mountain hiding behind that fog. So not a perfect view. But hey, we're not picky.

We'll take our mountain views whenever they're available:

Afterwards, Ben had his first sledding experience:

It was popular.

Until I got into the sled with him and he remembered he was hungry.

Squirming baby + moving sled = not the best idea

What am I to you? A walking milk truck?!

Clearly.

Time to go back to the car and tank up on a late lunch.

Ben had his usual and Chris and I chowed down on what we call our "European lunch". Which basically consists of a baguette, split down the middle and piled high with cheese and salami. Add in a few apples and chocolate bars, and it's just about a perfect post-hike lunch.

The name comes from 2003 when we were freshly minted (and poor) college graduates. We took a backpacking trip around Europe for a few months, eating our "European picnic lunches" just about everyday. It was a long time before I could look a piece of salami in the face again.

Right. Back to Mt. Rainier:

Our little bambino is a trooper. I think he got a bit cold there at the end but managed to hold it together until we were back in the car. And then he took a marathon two hour nap. Which nicely coincided with our trip back home.

And that, My Dears, was our weekend. I think we're going to lay low this week as we've all seem to come down with something that involves lots of runny noses and coughs.

Now that we've got our snow play in, we're ready for some warm weather!

xxoo,

Sonja

PS: We rented our cabin through this site. Next up? I'd love to rent their train caboose located on a private beach on Puget Sound. Wouldn't that be fun, especially if you had a train-obsessed tyke?

Weekend at the Mountain

2012-02-12T16:49:00.001-08:00

Peeps,

We just back from a great weekend at Mount Rainier. We did a bit of sledding, some snowshoeing, and hung out in our tiny little log cabin. It was a blast.

Pictures to come shortly.

xxoo,

Sonja

A Creative Moose

2012-02-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

Peeps,

You have no doubt heard that this is a rough year to be a moose in Alaska. No? Well, let me fill you in.

Vast amounts of snow have fallen this year, making it difficult for moose to forage for food. You've probably tried walking through snow that is several feet high. It's exhausting. Moose are built just for this purpose: their long legs usually afford them the ability to step over drifts that would normally be too high for an animals with 'normally-sized gams'.

Except for this year. The snow fall has been relentless. My father-in-law can attest to this as he has been the one that gets to plow their long, long driveway.

When the snow is this high, the moose are confined to smaller areas. I read an article this week that said that moose normally consume small branches because nutrients in the bark are life-sustaining. When they've consumed the small stuff, they are forced to eat the larger branches, which have a higher wood to bark ratio. The wood doesn't do anything for them, nutritionally, and thus the animals can starve to death, with stomaches full of inedible/unhelpful wood.

Probably more information about moose than you wanted to know, yes?

Anyway, this particular animal discovered a way to reach those high, nutrient rich twigs.

Pay special attention to the object he's using as a step stool:

You know these guys are tall when they start using cars for a leg-up. Think it dented the vehicle much?

Photo: ADN

Wordless Wednesday - Baby in a Box

2012-02-08T21:26:00.000-08:00

Weekend Recap

2012-02-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

My Dears -

I can't believe this is Seattle. We have had weather that has been nothing short of spectacular. In February! On Saturday morning we took a very lazy stroll down to the park with my parents. We got in some good bird watching and swing time at the playground.

Frankly, Ben swung and the adults basked in the sun.

After a few projects around the house, Chris and I met up with Megan in UVillage for dinner and a UW basketball game. Ben snoozed at home with my parents.

It was a great day.

On Sunday we sprung out of bed and zipped up to Cafe Javasti, in Wedgewood. We've been trying to get out a bit more on the weekends. Last week we had breakfast at Top Pot Doughnuts and before that scones at Starbucks.

Did I ever show you the picture from Top Pot? It was Ben's birthday so he got to try out a doughnut. He was not impressed.

Anyway, back to Cafe Javasti.

They just did a nice remodel, doubling the size of the establishement. We got in before the church crowds and grabbed a nice corner location. And then we ate crepes.

Have you had their crepes? They're divine.

I recommend the strawberries and creme version. Very, very tasty.

After breakfast we headed downtown. We parked at Chris' building and moseyed west to the waterfront. A few months ago Groupon was running a Seattle Aquarium deal and we snapped up a few tickets. We needed to go make our acquaintance with the new baby sea otter.

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

They have an amazing touch-pool:

The Seattle aquarium isn't very gigantic - it's small enough that I was surprised by the $20 entrance fee - but the half-off groupon and the fact that Ben has a pretty short attention span made it a very worthwhile outing for our family.

Chris and the Bambino chilling outside.

A [slightly fuzzy] hermit crab:

The baby likes salmon. Both alive and on his dinner plate. It must be because he's half Alaskan. ;)

I joke.

The Seattle Aquarium does exactly what we used to do at the Alaska Zoo: freeze [dead] fish in big blocks of ice and then throw them into the seal exhibit. It's a tasty fish popsicle and provides the animals with a bit of entertainment.

Welcome baby sea otter!! You are one giant ball of fluff. I couldn't tell which end was up.

And that, my dears, was our visit to the aquarium.

After that we headed over to Megan's for a little superbowl watching. And eating. I wasn't too terribly impressed by the Madonna halftime show although I seem to be in the minority on that one. Too many themes, too many songs mashed together. Plus I'm not a huge Ce-lo/MIA fan. Oh well. Maybe next year will be better.

Ben has his one year doctor appointment on Monday and so we're laying low this week. The immunizations looked like they hurt and he's still sore today. He clocked in at a bit over 21 pounds and has 8+ teeth. Given that he's been practicing his nips on any object that he can get his chompers around (including fingers, noses, and other body parts that nursing mothers have), I was aware that he was well situated in the teeth department.

Hope you guys had a great weekend.

xxoo,

Sonja

The Ben Cam

2012-02-04T09:55:00.000-08:00

My Dears,

Sorry for not blogging much lately. The last few days I've been trying to get Ben's baby book finished. There is currently a great deal going on at MyPublisher and I want to get the book submitted before it ends. $35 for 100 pages, plus a free photo cover. Not too shabby.

It's not quite done yet as I have some captions and some photo fiddling left to do but the bulk of the work is completed.

I'm still waffling over the cover photo. Here is what we have currently:

Also, is this a photo you would put in a baby book? [The un-annotated version?]

I think it's hilarious. Think of what a kick his wife and kids will get out of it some day. But...I'm not sure.

Yes?

No?

In other news, our friends bought a live-feed camera that they set up in their son's room to see how his naps were going. We were over there a few months ago and were completely captivated. The nice thing about this particular version is that it's technically a security camera (not a baby monitor) so we don't have the drag around the bulky monitor. Instead we can get the feed on any phone or computer device. Chris could get it on his work computer if he wanted to.

We bought one a while back and I have found myself glued to the screen. I swear, this thing is addicting.

We've dubbed it The Ben Cam.

It's been enlightening, too. Just when I think my child is snoozing away, I peek on the camera to find that he is:

Practicing gymnastics (toe grabbing):

Catching up on a bit o' reading:

Chewing his cud (or, in this case, chewing on a toy):

And frankly, I'm not sure what is going on here:

Clearly, he's doing everything except sleeping.

What a hoot.

The Goal

2012-01-31T15:15:00.001-08:00

Bailey Doll

2012-01-31T14:09:00.000-08:00

My Dears -

I am so excited to show you this birthday present that Ben got from my friend Colleen.

It's a Bailey Doll!!!

Our sweet pup has been immortalized forever! It's totally custom: she does them based off of pictures of your pet.

She even got Bailey's grey chin hairs! He's perfect - from the tip of his nose all the way down to his otter tail. His legs are wired so he's 'pose-able'. He has sweet button eyes and a blue collar with a fancy bell.

And a surprise ear lining. Which is perfect, especially as our dog is all black. It adds a necessary bit of pep, don't you think?

Grey whiskers!

Benjamin has a new favorite toy.

He especially loves fiddling with Bailey's collar (in real life and on the doll version)

But I've left the best part for last.

Our Bailey doll came with accessories! [really, those are half the fun!]

My Dears, you know that we love to dress the Beast up for Halloween, for Christmas, and for New Year's.

Thus, longtime readers will instantly recognize the following photos (along with Bailey doll's coordinating accessories):

This was Halloween a few years ago:

This was his birthday photo from two years ago:

And you know about our obsession with Santa Hats!!!

I just about died from hysterical laughter when I opened up the box and spied the hats and collar collection. Colleen, we are in such awe of your creatively and talent.

Thank you.

These would be such amazing gifts for pet owners. Especially those that have recently lost a beloved friend. Or for people like me that are nuts for their dogs.

I can think of so many people that need a custom pet softie.

And what about cats? Or people? Colleen, you are totally onto something here.

So Peeps! Get your own [insert pet's name HERE] doll!

Colleen's website on etsy shop FreakedOut'nSmall, can be found here. Check out Bailey's listing for prices and specifics.

And Colleen also has a blog where she posts lots o' crafty things. It can be found here.

Thank you Colleen, you are amazing.

xxoo,

Sonja

Adventures with Cloth Diapers

2012-01-31T05:00:00.000-08:00

Blog Peeps -

You probably know that we gave up cloth diapers when Benjamin was six months old but my friend Megan has stuck with it and just wrote a nice little summary of her experiences and recommendations.

It can be found here.

Definitely a great resource if you're considering the cloth diaper route.

And another resource is my pal Amanda down in Oklahoma and her site Fluffy Bums for Dum Dums. She found a few brands that she loved - and that worked well for both her kiddos.

Dorrance Family Scrolls - Now Online and Available for Download

2012-01-30T21:53:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

You might remember a while back that I wrote several blog posts (here and here) about scrolls that detail the history of my father's family back to 1719 - the time when the first Dorrance arrived in (what is now) the United States.

The hard copies that we own are old and in poor condition and I'd been searching for a while for versions of the scrolls that were in a digital format.

By happy coincidence I came in contact with a Dorrance family member here in Seattle that was interested in digitizing his copies of the scrolls - no mean feat, considering that all together they're probably 50 feet in length.

My job was to set up the website and make the digital versions available to Dorrance researchers (and anyone else).

And at long last, the scrolls are online:

Here is the site link:

http://dorrancescrolls.blogspot.com/

I have so enjoyed this project: the collaboration, the research, and the sense of accomplishment that accompanies seeing a project like this come to fruition. Already several far flung Dorrance family members have downloaded the files for use in tracing their family history and we've been in contact with Dorrances in the United States, Canada, and Scotland. Versions have also been sent to ancestry databases.

What a trip.

Best,

Sonja

Birthday Party Details

2012-01-30T17:55:00.000-08:00

Peeps,

Even though we weren't having a giant shindig for Ben's birthday, I was really excited about some of the details. And why not? He wasn't going to remember it but it would be fun to have the pictures and a few of the bits and pieces for his baby book.

I can guarantee that his subsequent parties won't be anything like this, but going all out for his first one was ok in my book.

So: the details.

You already saw the invitations:

Simple and modern, but fun (in my opinion)

You can read about the invitations here (how we fancied them up, and what we wrote on the inside). The cards were designed by Just Eleanor.

The cake was a (rather lopsided) 4-tier spice cake with chocolate ganache frosting. It also had a layer of lemon cream cheese frosting but it was hard to detect. The chocolate tends to overpower other flavors. My mom made a raspberry sorbet that was divine.

I made the cake banner and the birthday hat from a piece of patterned cardstock.

Once I cut out the triangles and letters, I simply threaded them along a piece of string and wrapped the ends around two kitchen bamboo skewers. I'm going to keep them for future birthdays, I think.

I decided I was going to try my hand at making another little toy for Ben, in keeping with our Christmas attempts.

Here is the little elephant softie that I made the bambino:

I really, really like the fabric.

A while back I'd seen a tutorial (but no pattern) for making soft animals on a website called While She Naps. She made this elephant. By this point, I'd looked through a lot of sites trying to find an ideal elephant pattern. Here was a site with a beautiful elephant shape and a tutorial to boot! I just needed the pattern. Using one of her photos, I drew out the shape using a computer program and then started sewing. It didn't help that I started this project two days before his birthday. Time crunch.

I hit a few bumps in the road (eventually resorting to super glue in one particularly nasty spot) but was pretty pleased with how the whole thing turned out. Plus it fit right in with the invitations.

This picture has nothing to do with the post, I just happen to like it.

I was also pretty jazzed about Ben's special birthday shirt. We found a seller on Etsy called SayItInStitches that makes personalized shirts. I emailed her a design and she was so accomodating. We messed around with the layout, the fonts, the colors, the fabric..pretty much everything.

I really liked the finished product!

And fortunately the cake and frosting that was smeared all over it at the end of the day came out easily in the wash.

And last but not least, we had the weekly photos. I'm going to do another post of these but here is a quick summary.

We had three categories:

Monthly Photos [One from from every month of Ben's first year]. Count: 12
Weekly Photos [One from every week of Ben's first year]. Count: 52+ (sometimes I couldn't decide on just one for that week]
Holiday/Firsts Photos [A photo from all the major holidays: Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc plus several "First" photos: first food, first vacation, first time he crawled, first time he got sick, etc]. Count: 10ish.

This project was so much fun, despite being a lot of work. We're going to stick the pictures in an album. It was fun for people at the party to look at ("My god he was a chubby baby!) and I'm glad we did it.

And there you have it, Peeps, the birthday details!

xxoo,

Sonja

Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

2012-01-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

We had a little party for the baby on Sunday. The little baby is no longer quite so little. This was the big One!

Here he is sporting his official attire. I'd call it his birthday suit but that wouldn't be quite accurate. Believe me, he'd rather prance around in his real birthday suit anyday. Especially since it doesn't involve the uncomfortable birthday hat/dunce cap.

We kept lunch simple with a sandwich bar, a salad, and some chips/munchies. We also cranked some ice cream (a family tradition), opened presents (thank you family members!), and...

ate cake [of course].

The birthday baby got a cupcake.

Which was plenty. In fact, it was probably too much.

What a mess.

He loved it.

He devoured the entire thing.

And then promptly retired up to his room for a post-cupcake sugar crash/nap.

I had so much fun printing out Ben's weekly photos. I 'borrowed' [stole is such an ugly word] the clothes pin hanging method from my sister-in-law Katherine. She did it at her wedding reception last summer and I thought it looked so cool. Here is the overview. ("Birth/Week 1" is in the upper left-hand corner. "Week 52" is in the lower right hand corner)

And a close up:

I was working with a small space so they were too close together. It would have been better had they been spread out over a larger area. Oh well.

Here were a few of the party favorites:

chewing on a tooth brush, wearing his aviator hat (and nothing else):

The hat over-the-eyes one:

And of course our 'first vacation' shot:

Mostly because Chris and I are smiling and the baby is royally pissed off. What a contrast, eh?

I'll admit, the baby with the diaper on his head is one of my favorites:

And his first food is also popular in my book. Although after the birthday cupcake episode, I think I'm done with food smeared all over the place.

And that was our party.

Thank you to our lovely family members that came to celebrate with us - we sure enjoyed having you over. We thought it was so sweet that you both brought presents for Bailey, too! And made your own lunch and cranked your own ice cream! Thanks Eric, for taking pictures.

And thanks also to family peeps that couldn't make it due to distance limitations - we sure missed you but were so touched that you called/sent presents. What a lucky baby.

Too nice a day to stay inside

2012-01-27T15:49:00.001-08:00

Today was glorious. We headed down to the park for some swinging (Ben), duck chasing (Bailey), and exercise (me).

Plus we didn't see any poor coots plucked off by marauding bald eagles this time so we had that going for us.

Pool Fun

2012-01-26T07:51:00.000-08:00

We went back to the Mount Lake Terrace pool yesterday with my Mom. Surprisingly, it was packed. Crazy, considering that it was empty on Monday.

And it wasn't as warm this time around either.

No good, Peeps.

Ben was a little more reserved this time around, perhaps because we were dodging bigger kids for the majority of the time.

Is the swim diaper still on?

Good.

Yikes, that was the penultimate Weekly Photo! Only one more!

Chair on a wall

2012-01-23T18:07:00.001-08:00

Best bathroom invention ever! Well, with the exception of the toilet. And the sink. And tp.... Ok, so maybe just a darn good invention.

New Favorite Place to Take the Baby in Seattle

2012-01-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

My Dears,

We have a fabulous new rainy day Seattle hangout for the bambino. The only problem is that it's technically not in Seattle.

It's the Mountlake Terrace Pool, about 15 minutes north of Seattle.

They have an area that is exclusively for babies and toddlers: the floor of the pool is padded, not rough like most pools, and the depths range from six inches to about two feet. They have float-y things, toys, pool noodles and water features that blow bubbles and rain down water droplets.

It's a baby pool heaven.

I have never seen Ben laugh so hard. And he is a baby that laughs a lot.

The pool is also warmer than most, so the bambino didn't get cold.

There is also an area that is a 'river' with a current although we didn't make it over to that part.

Even better, it's only $2 on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3-4 pm. We went during that time today and other than our group of five moms/babies, there were one or two other parents there with their children. So not crowded at all.

We are going back for sure.

image source here.

Weekend Activities

2012-01-23T09:17:00.000-08:00

Lazy weekend?

Check.

And it was great.

After a long stressful week we were due a bit of downtime. We went to a husky basketball game on Saturday with Megan and Eric and then out to dinner with my parents. We haven't been to a restaurant with Ben in a while and despite the late hour, the bambino did pretty well. He has started a throwing phase so we spent most of dinner picking up various objects that the child had gleefully hurled to the floor.

Sunday we went out for a brief walk to the store and a coffeeshop, this time with Ben firmly ensconced in his stroller. It's nice to be out and about. The snow is pretty much gone and the streets are back to their regular soggy selves. Except that they now have giant pot holes, thanks to the freezing/thawing action.

On Sunday afternoon we zipped over to Megan and Eric's for a little football watching, some baby wrangling, and lots and lots of eating. Not too shabby for a rainy afternoon.

The Real Polar Bear Plunge

2012-01-23T09:05:00.001-08:00

Jumping into Lake Washington is like a dip in a hot tub when you consider what these crazy dudes were diving into in Seward, AK.

Now that is hard core.

Things I have learned in the last year (since having a child)

2012-01-21T10:46:00.000-08:00

[I've been working on this list for a long while but wanted to wait until we'd been at this parenting thing for at least a year before I posted it. We're a week shy of Ben's birthday so I guess we didn't quite make that deadline. But that's ok. This list has changed slightly over the last few months and I suppose it will continue to evolve over the next years as well. So consider this a list that is good for today. Tomorrow's list could be entirely different].

A few lessons, a few reflections, and one regret from our first year as parents:

I didn't know the meaning of 'sleep depreivation' until I had a newborn. There were many, many days during the first six weeks that I dreaded the night-time. And frankly, I often felt that I was living underwater for those first nine months. For a girl that loves her sleep, it was torture.

Joining a local email listserve was a fantastic way to acquire lightly used toys, strollers, and clothes. Our's is through Yahoo Groups and is an amazing resource, and not just for kid-related items/issues. They have everything from plumber recommendations to places to take children on rainy days. We also bought an umbrella stroller, a bike trailer, clothes, shoes, and toys through our listserve at great prices. This is truly a fantastic resource. Plus, Craigslist and summer garage sales are gold mines of hardly-used second hand items. That said, the kiddo ain't cheap. We've spent money hand over fist this year.

We are constantly amazed by this child. Chris and I look at each other frequently: How did we produce this perfect, wee little babe? Watching his personality start to develop has been so much fun. He's full of laughter, easy-going, and a bit on the mischievous side. Our weekends now mostly consist of us sitting around and watching Ben play. He is that entertaining. [Right. I realize that only a baby's parents would be so devoted as to spend all their waking hours watching their child play. Clearly we're a bit biased].

We went from being very hale and hardy to aways, aways sick. Chris and I have started calling the Bambino 'our sweet little petri dish'. He's a generous one too, and likes to share whatever he has with us. Yuck.

The first time the baby smiled was like the sun peeking above the horizon: simply glorious. He had us hook, line, and sinker.

Having a baby is life-changing. Duh. I knew that. But I also failed to anticipate how it complicates matters. No longer are we fancy free and footloose. Every single outing requires planning. No longer are we especially welcome at posh restaurants, on airplanes, at parties... A trip to the grocery store is no longer quite so quick. Or simple, especially if Ben is napping. And those lazy weekend naps we used to take, unless we manage to time them with the baby's, are a thing of the past.

That said, for the most part, I'm ok with the lifestyle change [with a few reservations]. I love having this baby in our life. Taking him to the zoo, celebrating Christmas, going for walks to the park: I'd forgotten the joy that kids experience (and share) with simple activities. They truly live in the moment and it is a good reminder to relax, take a few deep breaths, and enjoy life, to the best of one's ability.

It is disgusting how much plastic (in all forms) is marketed towards children. That said, there are some pretty ingenious plastic gadgets out there.

I am so grateful to have a partner to parent with. The stresses and worries are easier to deal with if you have someone that is equally committed to the cause and shares the same concerns. I have such a new-found appreciation and respect for single moms and dads. How on earth do they manage without the support of another adult? From my vantage point, it looks like it would be completely overwhelming.

Additionally, I am so grateful to have family members near and far that are involved in Ben's life. This baby has a wonderful extended family. I am grateful that they love him -and us, too- as they are willing to watch the babe whilst we take a few minutes to ourselves. For Chris and me, having time alone, without the constant pressures of child rearing, is very, very important. I miss our long rambling conversations about life, and dreams and travels. Life was slower and more relaxed without the baby. These last few months especially have been a whirlwind of activity: little sleep, a crawling child, sick family, and a husband working crazy hours. A part of me dearly misses those slow days. Having a few hours every week to relax and unwind are so gratefully appreciated. My mental health thanks you, dearest family members.

I love seeing Chris and Benjamin together. Chris walks in the door at night and Ben lights up, starts windmilling him arms, and does a frantically gleeful army crawl over to his papa. Chris was, like many guys, fairly reserved around babies and I often wondered how he'd take to our own little bambino, once he was born. Talk about a dumb worry. This little babe has his papa wrapped tight 'round his chubby little finger. Their adoration for each other, from this mother's point of view, is completely and utterly charming. I'm sure it's nauseatingly saccharine to everyone else.

I used to think that a shower was a mandatory daily activity. Now I consider it a major success if I manage to sneak one in. And working out/getting exercise? GOLD STAR DAY.

The friendships and resources from my two mom's groups have been invaluable. Early on, Benjamin and I enrolled in a PEPS group and it has been such a fun experience to track our babies' progress, swap horror stories, get tips, and above all, commiserate upon our lack of sleep. Benjamin is currently enrolled in an infant preschool co-op. It's only once a week for two hours but I think we both look forward to the interactions with both moms and babies. Every other week we divide into groups and one group watches the bambinos while the other group attends a parenting seminar. And the mom friends I have made are amazing, talented, and fabulous women. Chris and I joke that we should have had kids years ago, just to meet other great parents.

And lastly, but most importantly, I love this child more than I ever thought possible.

My Dears, is there anything you'd add to the list? There must be lots.

My regret:

I'm not sure I have the skill to properly express this sentiment but know that it comes from a good, well-intentioned place:

The only loser this year has been Bailey. In a big way. He went from being an adored, beloved pup, who was the apple of his owner's eyes...to being replaced by a screaming, tail/ear-pulling terror. He is a step lower on the totem pole.

While that may not seem like much of a change, it was a monumental and fundamental shift for our poor dog.

And given that it happened in his retirement years, when things should be calm, and steady, and peaceful, the change was especially egregious.

No longer are the seats down in Pepe the Prius, making for a giant, car-riding playground. He has been relegated to the very, very back. No longer is he allowed upstairs in the house, as he constantly woke the baby from deep slumber with a shake of his collar. Not to mention the dog hair that made its way into every nook and cranny (crib, chair, diaper!). Instead of following my every step he is always being told to "Go to your bed". Which is in the corner, out of the way. The list continues. This poor dog.

Through it all, he has been the wonderful pooch that we know and love. A few behaviors have emerged as he's sought to best the baby in the game for attention. Little does he know that he's on the losing end of that battle. For example, he has taken to placing himself between me and Ben in the hopes that, by forcefully inserting his body directly in front of me, I'll forget about the baby and will pet him instead. And he accosts anybody that comes to the door, knowing that the visitor will soon make a beeline for the baby. His biggest champion in this regard is Eric, who dotes on him excessively upon arrival.

And my parents have been so sweet: they take Bailey off to 'Dog Camp', as we call it, for a bit so that he can have time when he doesn't have to compete against the child for attention. Bailey is loathe to leave their house. Always. [What wonderful parents.]

So I guess my regret is that I wish I'd planned out our dog-owning days a bit better, to the extent that one can plan such a thing. In a perfect world, our sweet pup would have grown old and passed away, before the arrival of the baby. He would have enjoyed his retirement years being feted and adored unconditionally by us. Not replaced.

I still love him, still adore him. But I'm also unapologetic in that my focus has changed. Benjamin is, at this time, my top priority. But I regret the shift deeply.

Both Chris and I agree that we'd like to have dogs later on. When our child is older. I had a steady succession of pups growing up and I'd like to continue the tradition. But after Bailey is gone, which may not be for another few years yet, depending on the condition of his hips, I think we'll take a break. I think a new dog, coming into the family, would quickly realize its place in the family hierarchy. It's Bailey's sudden down-grade has been so difficult for us all, but especially him, that has left me so remorseful.

Live and learn, I suppose.

Done with Snow

2012-01-21T10:07:00.000-08:00

Ugh. I did not enjoy the latest Seattle snow event.

Our city is perpetually ill-prepared to deal with snow storms and this year we were too: our family was low on food stuffs, Ben and I were battling colds, Chris was working insane hours. And Pepe the Prius, our one car capable of handling snow, got a flat tire yesterday as Chris was trying to leave work.

Not surprising, given how the rest of the week went.

So we are looking forward to a better week next week. An end to this nasty cold would help things considerably.

On the plus side, we were really fortunate not to lose power. Keep your fingers crossed for us as it's a howling gale out there.

How am I supposed to eat my breakfast if my bowl is filled with snow?!

Snowy Walk

2012-01-18T18:16:00.001-08:00

So nice to get out of the house for a bit. Bailey loved it too.

Birthday Invitations

2012-01-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

We're not having much of a party for Ben's birthday; hopefully just a few close family members. But I couldn't resist buying a couple invitations and some fancy decorations. Even if it's not a huge bash, I feel like we should have a few special touches. Something for his baby book.

So here are the invitations:

They're from a shop called Just Eleanor in Philadelphia. She has an etsy shop, too.

They're blank inside and after a hugely unsuccessful attempt at running them through my printer, in which the damn machine completely munched one of my precious cards, I resorted to printing out an insert on card stock and tucking it into the card:

We also considered:

Please join us for a little food and fun,

Our sweet Ben is turning One!

Sunday January 29.

12 noon

Chez Jernstrom

I was feeling a little disgruntled about the whole thing because the card stock insert was so very plain and boring. Thinking to spice them up a bit, I cast around in my stores for some bright paper to glue to the reverse of the insert, giving it a bit more heft and a nice, unexpected pop of color. I had nothing, especially in a brown, blue or orange that would match the front.

Which is when I happened upon this enveloped sitting on the dining room table:

Perfect:

So I cut them out and glued them to the back of the insert. Unfortunately I only had two orange envelopes but I found a nice blue tissue paper that also looks pretty. So a few of the other cards got that treatment.

Here is the finished product. [With another insert turned over so you can see the color on the back]

SNOW

2012-01-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

It's snowing as I write this. Which is great. I like snow. Except I found myself looking at pictures of Tahiti on Pinterest this morning. So clearly I'm not digging the snow as much as I think I am.

Speaking of "digging snow". Yesterday our dear neighbor decided to use a plastic rake to clean his driveway of the white stuff. I thought it was pretty funny until I realized how effective it was.

Way to go neighbor, way to go.

Here are a few pics from our jaunt yesterday.

This little one LOVED it.

We really need to get him some snow pants and boots, though. Cotton just ain't gonna cut it when he's ambulatory. Fortunately he is well equipped in the hat/jacket/mittens department.

Chris - aka Mr. Alaska - teaches the bambino the proper way to eat snow:

Ben was impressed.

But not so taken with the concept that he was going to try it for himself.

This boy loves his papa.

This is the one that really loves eating snow. Crazy, given that's he's as SoCal as they come:

Whoohoo! Snowballs! Throw another one, Papa!

Rosy cheeks, rosy nose. They kind of match his hat.

Snow

2012-01-14T20:18:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow we were going to go East to find some snow for the baby to play in.

But that's not necessary anymore.

What? You don't put your baby in a basket?

It was a good way to take pictures without him moving around.

Besides he was still in his pajamas. And I didn't want them getting wet.

We're going to get geared up today for a little full-body snow play.

I think I like this last one best:

Ben - 50 Weeks

2012-01-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

Huh. The kiddo is pointing to his ear in half of these pictures. What does that tell you?

Double ear infection?

Why yes.