Roll over- roll over!

Well, I'm feeling a bit lazy tonight to add the pics just yet, but I have to write this stuff down before I forget the details. Aiden rolled over for the first time Tuesday November 7th at 9:30am!! => I was on the phone with my mom when it happened, so I told her "you were practically here!"=> He's just growing like a weeeeed! Everyone says he's big for a 4 month old, and I believe it. He has his 4 month appointment tommorrow so we'll see exactly how big, big is. => He just has the cuteset little face and the sweetest personality. He just loves to smile and belly laugh. I took him to church with me this morning and he handled the loud music really well, even trying to sing along! =>

Speaking of church, man was it a great message today. I'm just amazed at how the Lord works in our lives and brings people together. We've (well, mostly me=> ) have been attending church with my mom up in Wilsonville at this great community church called Grace Chapel. My sister was actually the first to find out about it through her boyfriend's (Jeff Pool for those of you who know him) co-worker. Well, then my mom and Mark started going and convinced me to join them (after about a year and a half of trying). And boy, they just have the most amazing music and powerful messages every week. I really like that they sort of break down the bible and present it's message in different series (ie: parenting series, marriage series, etc..) Having grown up Catholic, I felt very disconnected with the bible (boy is it raining out there!!! just an aside) So it's like a whole new world for me and my spiritual journey. Anyhow, the reason I gave this whole list of who got me to attend GC boils down to the message of todays talk which was Community. The crux of the message was that we need to interact with people and make sure we're staying connected with our friends and family that make up our community. It's so important because we never know just how we can positively impact others in our lives. Jeff and his co-worker, who are not even Christian mind you, managed to positively impact not only the lives of those they're directly in contact with, but their pastor friend (Peter, the guy giving the talk today) managed to radically impact the lives of 4 people he'd never even met just through these relationships. They ended the talk with an atypical song choice, U2's "With or Without You". It brought tears to my eyes. It was so moving. Anyhow, I just had to share.

Another exciting note, we signed on our house on Friday so it's really ours!! Yippee! We're just waiting for them to finish fixing the punch list of items we had for them. We're hoping to be in Thanksgiving weekend. The only part I'm not looking forward to is packing with kids. => But it's a small price to pay => So I really will post pictures asap. I'm sure I'll have more to say too. Take care, and for you Oregonian's, don't float away!~Time for Desperate House Wives

Jilly and Audrey

For those of you who don't know, my wonderful friend Stacey Bailey (aka Swan) has moved to West Salem recently while her husband Rob is attending Willamette University Law School. YEAH!!! While we used to get together every few months when she was in Vancouver, we get to hang out much more often. In fact, she's been wonderful enough to watch my kiddos one-two days a week when I go to work. So her lovely daughter Audery (3& 1/2 almost) and Jillian get to play together, although they do seem to fight as much as they play => it's a girl thing => We spent some time playing play-do today. Here are some pics! I also included a photo of Space talking to her poor-sick hubby on the phone, poor Rob. => mas later!

Halloweeny!!

Well, our Halloween was pretty elaborate this year. It began Monday evening with some trick or treating at Desi's office. We then celebrated Tuesday with a trip to visit Grammy in Portland. We dressed the kiddos up in their costumes and got professional photos taken by some people living in her building! It was so neat, they were offering free pictures for residents! After that we jumped in the car and headed south to Nana and Papa's in Woodburn where we broke bread with Tony, Apee, Nana, and Papa before heading out (a bit late) for some trick or treating in Desi's old neighborhood. Here are some fun photos of "Cinderella" and "The Beaver" (I thought it was a teddy bear costume until after I bought it, but he looked so cute in it!)

Aiden's Growing Up!!

Well our little man is no longer a newborn! He's just coming alive smiling all the time and talking. The other day (Oct. 17 => ) he laughed!! I don't know if I just never noticed it before, but he just cracked up! I love it!!!! He's getting really good with his hands reaching, grabbing, and spinning his little toys. The other evening I placed a little musical light-up toy on the stroller tray and he figured out how to push the buttons and move the little rubber squirrels to make it sing!! He was entertained so long I made dinner and ate it before he'd had enough. What a boy genius =>

Movin on up!!

Well, this past weekend we put an offer on our first house!! eeek! I can't believe it! We've been looking for ages and ages with no luck. Every house we could find in our price range would be snatched up so quickly. This house is even better than all the others we looked at. It's brand new in a new development in Mt. Angel (just 8 miles east of Woodburn). Mt Angel is a charming little town known for its annual Oktoberfest celebration. I'm so excited. The only bittersweet aspect is that I'm still too far away from my mom (portland) and my dad (Gladstone). Boy did we look everywhere north! Wilsonville, Tualatin, Canby, even Donald!! They are just asking toooooooo much for even a fixer upper! So unless we wanted to live in townhouse (or build, which would take to long for us in our current living situation. We've outgrown it), we had to look south. So looks like Mt. Angel's the winner. Desi will till be commuting to Lake O, but hopefully we can gain enough equity in the next two years or so we can build our own. I'll post pictures as soon as we take some! => (PS our offer was negotiated and ACCEPTED yesterday!!!)

The little slugger

Here's the 3 month old little man in his baseball jams. What a sweet little guy. And my favorite of the two babes snoozin on the couch together. =>





Well, my days on maternity leave are numbered. ~sigh~ I begin work again this Saturday. Truth be told, it will kind of be a break to have my hands free to accomplish something from start to finish once again. It' kind of tricky buisness to do so at home. For example, I was attempting to make dinner and talk on the phone at the same time. Not a wise decision, as I had Aiden posted, pleasantly, in the stroller. Jillian of course decides to climb in with him onto the fabric behind the seat, not very safe to begin with, and then proceeds to pull on the bonnet in an attempt to close it I suppose. I could just imagine her, clutz of the century next to me =>, falling backwards and taking poor Aiden out. So I snatched Aiden out of the stroller, only to discover a blackberry I had picked for Jillian on our walk this afternoon, was smashed into his onsie. So, while clutching the phone between ear and shoulder, I stripped off his onsie, wrapped him in a blanket and strapped him into the swing. So Jillian, who I also removed from the stroller, decides to bug him once again...arggg. I feel so bad because I know she's just trying to play with him, but she is a bit rough sometimes and I feel like I'm always telling her to let him be. Anyhow, I'm sill attempting a conversation on the phone, chop onion, fry beef, and keep Jilly from smashing her broth... To say the least I was a bit relieved when I was off the phone again...Well I'd better go as Grey's Anatomy is on now and I'm addicted...'Till next time =>

I created a Slide Show! Check it out!

These photos are a bit outdated => My Dad and Nance took Jillian and I to the Grotto for our Christmas celebration last year. I just couldn't resist sharing some of the special moments...

I created a Slide Show! Check it out!

All about Aiden

Jillian's Flowergirl gig

Jillian was asked to be the flowergirl at Lindsay's wedding. She did pretty well actually, she made it all the way down the aisle but got a bit overwhelmed when she didn't know where to go once she reached the end. She ran to Papa and Nana and watched from th sidelines. She was just adorable anyways!! Thanks for sharing your day with us Linds!! We love you!

Jillian the Fashonista

Jillian created her very own bathingsuit out of my underwear. Look really close and you can see her ingenuity. What a goon!

Visit to The 'Burg

We made our first overnight trip with Aiden to visit the wonderful Newey family in Roseburg Oregon. What a blast we had. We lov you Doris and Ray!!

Jillian shares her buddies...now that's LOVE

Aiden Comes Home

Jillian LOVES holding Baby Broth, especially when he first arrived home. As he grows he overwhelms her little lap, but she still insists on holding him. What a great big sis! Aiden looks so tiny in these pics. Its amazing how quickly they grow!! What a cutie!

More from Aiden's Arrival

I finally unloaded the photos from our camera onto my laptop! So now I can add all the extras from little Aiden's birth as well as updated photos! Woo-Hoo!!