Keiki Days

Allie is 1 month old!

2012-01-28T18:18:00.003-10:00

Grammy and Tom Tom enjoyed meeting Allie and posing for some pictures with their first grand daughter!

She's very alert when she's awake.

She hates to be cold and in our current winter, this means bundling in cozy PJs and blankets.

This is a good recent picture. Amazing how they change in such a short time.

Well, we've made it through 1 month of having 3 kids. It feels like it has gone by so fast. I go back to work in less than 2 weeks, which feels really fast. Allie is doing great, probably around 10 lbs now and still has a full head of dark hair. She has been great, feeding well, sleeping pretty well, and generally being very amenable to the various places I bring her in the Baby Bjorn. Today was Chuck E Cheese as well as a shared back pack ride with Sam. I'll post a picture of that one. The two kids balanced (one on my back and one on the front) so that it actually made it easier to carry both of them. This is a trick I learned in Afghanistan when I was carrying multiple packs. Sam has been improving from his initial shock at being the middle child. I think this has more to do with the fact that he has learned to communicate in the last month. He nods yes and no, he says a ton of words now including kitty, meow, mommy, daddy, jake, allie. He points at everyone when you say their name, and at parts of his body like nose, mouth, and ears. Over the last 2 weeks, he had some good one on one time thanks to Grammy Kris and Tom Tom being in town. We had quite the snow adventure, which I also must blog about at some point. Jake is continuing on, doing well in preschool, speaking in full sentences, writing his name. He is helpful when directed, but is less inclined to spontaneously help. This is Sam's department. I hope that trait continues! We're continuing to be grateful for all three kids, though I look forward to a full night's rest sometime in the future. I'm a little stressed about getting everything done in the next months and years. I am thankful for all the help of our family and Emily, our nanny, but when I am away from the kids doing work, I am constantly thinking about them and feeling guilty about not being with them. When I am with the kids, I think about work and feel guilty about what I am not accomplishing. It's quite the dilemma. I'm not sure I'll be able to figure out the answer, but I appreciate everyone's help in the process.

Snow Day

2012-01-18T11:35:00.000-10:00

We woke up this morning to around 8-10 inches of fresh powder covering everything. I don't remember anything like this growing up in Portland so we had to take advantage. Fortunately I am not on call and did not need to make the trip into the hospital. Sam enjoyed walking around in his dinosaur snow suit but did not appreciate the sledding aspect however Jake and I walked up the end of our road and found a perfect place for sledding. We took multiple spills, hit a tree, gargbage can and even a big yellow labrador retreiver but Jake and I had a blast and will hopefully go out once more before dark. Too bad the camera ran out of batteries before I could get a good video.

The Lodge

Jake was pretty brave and we must have made 10-15 runs down the hill.

Looking down suicide hill....

Allie Baby Book

2012-01-10T11:07:00.001-10:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

My little Sam

2012-01-04T19:50:00.003-10:00

Sam is 18 months today. With Allie's birth, I don't want Sam to suffer from the middle child neglect that I hear so often about. He's also just really darn cute when he's not having a tantrum. Here he is on Christmas Eve sporting an adorable sweater.

Mr. Blue Eyes. Sam is so sweet and cuddly when he wants to be. Once we get past the toddler stage, I think he is going to be a great kid to get to know. He's beginning to talk with various words and signs. Exciting times! He says alot of words that are decipherable and signs thank you, please, and more. He has definitely reached the stage where you see in his eyes his understanding of language and commands even before he can respond with words. Amazing!

Here he is after his first haircut. He looks like a little boy rather than a baby. I must admit, I shed a few tears thinking about my little Sam growing up already. He does look handsome with his new look and monkey PJs, doesn' t he?

On the playground in warm gear. Like his cool hat? Christmas gift from Grammy Kris.

Sam, we love you. You may be the middle child but our love for you will be just as great as for your brother and sister.

Our little Allie!

2012-01-03T20:14:00.002-10:00

Much to blog about right now, but this picture above pretty much sums up the current state of kids in the household. Jake in sort of overwhelmed but protective mode and Sam in all out "can't deal" mode. Allie is cool, calm, and collected. It's been a big change for all of us. Grandma Barb was here right away so we've had enough hands. I switch between all three of those modes depending largely on the time of day and amount of sleep. Scott has been awesome and Allie certainly gets her disposition from Daddy!

Jake (and I think Grandma) came up with the idea to celebrate Allie's birth with a birthday party. Of course! Complete with adorable cupcakes and we sang Happy Birthday to her. Jake really knows how to welcome his baby sister into the world! Unfortunately about half the cupcakes ended up as a Tucker treat when he snuck them off the counter.

Here is our little Allie in the delivery room. My labor was really short with her, about 8 hours in total and only about 4 sets of pushes. This seems to get easier the more you do it. Well, the contractions never get easier. Whoa, I forgot how much they hurt. She was born on 28 December at 1612. She weighed 7 lbs, 5 oz, and was 19 inches long. She did so well that I got to hold her right away AND we went home in just over 24 hours in the hospital.

We're really thankful for our little Allie. I'm continuously thankful for Scott and his partnership in all this. Grandma Barb was so much help and we were able to spend some time with Jake and Sam especially while she was here. We're looking forward to visits from the McGrail side in the next couple of weeks though we might make a trip to Portland this weekend to make some introductions (as well as maybe procure a new car...more on that later).

Merry Christmas a little late!

2011-12-27T12:06:00.003-10:00

Merry Christmas a little late! Here are Jake and Sam in front of the tree.

A family shot, though blurry, but still cute. Obviously no baby yet!

This was from before Christmas. Scott refurbished this old John Deere tractor that we inherited on our property with a cool trailer and new wheels in the front. The boys generally fight over it, but this was one time they worked out their differences.

Grandma Barb, Uncle Matt and Tucker were here for the holiday and we had a nice relaxing time. Lots of baking! Barbara made peach and blackberry pies that are now in the freezer awaiting those middle of the night cravings of a new mommy and daddy. I tried a pecan pie that turned out pretty good.

For those who saw Scott's Facebook photos, you know we had some fresh duck to eat, as well. That may be a new Christmas eve tradition. I highly recommend Duck seared in cooking sherry and blackberry jam!

No baby yet!

Jake's birthday and Thanksgiving

2011-12-13T20:06:00.000-10:00

Here is Jake, age 4. His preschool teacher took this and I think it is a great picture of him. I can almost see what he'll look like when he gets bigger.

Here are Jake, Finn, and Henry on our trip to the Olympic National Forest to get a Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. It was a really fun and pretty trip. I definitely think that will be a new tradition now that we are in the northwest!

Here are our friends, Robyn and JR. It was their idea to go get Christmas trees.

Here is our most recent good family picture. You'll see it on a Christmas card coming soon. If only I could see Sam a little better, it would be perfect!

Here's dinner on Thanksgiving. We had the Rohls and Grandma Barb and Uncle Ryan for dinner. It was really good food thanks to help from Grandma and Auntie Kate! Scott fried the turkey and it was soooo good. I think that will be a new tradition, as well. No fires or burns, either, thank goodness!

Here is Jake at his birthday party enjoying cupcakes with some buddies. Hard to believe he is 4!

In other news, Sam is now 17 months old and actually starting to really say some understandable words. We really think his first word was backpack, which he says in reference to our Kelty backpack carrier that he loves to ride in. Then mama and daddy were sort of similar timing. Doggy (when Tucker is around), ball, and bottle have been said in various ways, but definitely understandable and purposeful. He's really cute right now and definitely getting around really well. Not sure how he'll be when baby sister is born, but he's doing well right now.

My Turn

2011-11-15T18:30:00.000-10:00

Scott has been great about keeping up with the blog since we moved to Washington. I must admit that my life is full of kids, studying, work, and being pregnant so the blog is not highest on my list. I have realized, though, that this is the closest we are going to have to a baby book. Perhaps our blogs of our kids are the modern version of baby books. I have two partially completed ones; one for Jake and one for Sam, but I find the information here on the blog is more accurate and more fun to look back on. I'm grateful that Scott has continued this as much as he has.

We just enjoyed another fun weekend with Kate, James, Henry, and Finn. I was on call this holiday weekend and Scott was invited to go duck hunting so the Rohls came to be our back up in case I had to spend significant time in the hospital this weekend. Thankfully, I didn't have to go in over my time on call and I was able to spend time with them and my boys. Scott had success with getting 3 ducks. He suggested to my dad that they were a sacrifice to help Oregon win yesterday! Here are some cute pictures of the everyone this weekend. Sam is getting around really well and actually hiked much of the time yesterday, though James did help me carry him in the backpack!

A visit to Hippietown

2011-10-24T19:05:00.000-10:00

We recently had a nice visit last weekend from the Rohls and Iversons all the way from Iowa. The weather here this time of year is unpredictable, meaning it will pretty much rain every day but you never know how much, how long or how hard. One outing we made with all the boys was to take the ferry over to Vashon Island to try and go apple picking. Mandy has fond memories of going apple picking in New York and outside Chicago and we decided to try and find a similar place. I think everyone must have their own trees here becuase Vashon Island seemed to be the only place to go and pick your own apples. We had never been there before and the idea of taking a ferry seemed like a lot of fun to the boys (and was). The community on this Island is accessible only by ferry and was an interesting mix of hippies and retired folks. After stopping at one of the various coffee shops for some organic, vegetarian sandwiches and humanely harvested produce we finally arrived at the co-op where we could pick the apples. The boys had a good time selecting which ones they could pick and eat and we made sure they ran around a lot to work off all the gummi worms that they ate on the ferry. We couldn't stay too long though becuase my SUV was looking pretty out of place and I was starting to get the evil eye from the other customers.

Gummi worms on the ferry

Organic apples!!

Im pretty sure a barbecue like this is illegal on Vashon island

James is seen here increasing his carbon footprint.

Happy 15 months Sam

2011-10-04T18:35:00.000-10:00

Sam is now 15 months old and today Mandy got some good video of him using his fork at dinner. He has suddenly picked up on many new things. He is now a stair master and can go both up and down stairs as long as he has something to hold on to.

The apple usually doesn't fall far from the tree?

2011-09-30T16:17:00.000-10:00

I randomly pulled out and old photo album yesterday and found a picture my mother gave me that she took when I was 10 months old. Both our boys are blonde with blue eyes and I think that most people say they have more of Mandy's features than mine. The one think is the nose that neither one of us is sure where it came from. I'll let people be the judge and post it here. I made a collage with photoshop of the picture and several pics of Jake and Sam at 10-12 months.

Changing bulbs and Running laps

2011-09-26T16:22:00.001-10:00

Some of the lightbulbs are in difficult places and changing them sometimes needs a big ladder and a little problem solving. I had Mandy take a picture as I was putting a new LED bulb into the recessed lighting above the fireplace. Hopefully I won't have to change that one again for a while. The weather has started to change here and summer looks like it has finally left. The rain started today and the days are suddenly significantly shorter. We had Grandpa Tomtom here for a few days and he helped me do a few of the last remaining outdoor projects on my list as well as the indoor ones. It was great getting to spend some more time with him and the boys while I have been on vacation. I included another video of Jake below. Part of his punishment as well as playtime involves running "laps". I won't say what he did to get a couple laps this time but it was just normal 3-year old stuff. It helps him get rid of extra energy and who knows maybe a scholarship later on?

Breaking The Trend

2011-08-26T15:06:00.000-10:00

We have a first for the Mcgrail and Cuda sides. It appears that the string of 5 boys in a row has finally been broken. Everything from the ultrasound appears normal so far. It amazes me how much better the resolution for a standard prenatal ultrasound has become even in the past few years. Obviously nothing is for certain but it appears that we are having a healthy girl. The pictures above are side views of her folded over with legs touching her chin.

Monster Truck

2011-08-21T06:34:00.001-10:00

Most people are going to wonder why after averaging only one post a month I am putting two in one day. Well, I just decided that this was worth another short post. Our friend Pete got a a big 4 wheel drive Ford with oversized tires and lift kit. As soon as Jake saw it he fell in love with the "monster truck". Every guy wants to use his truck for whatever he can like in the comercials so when I told Pete I hated the two trees in front of the deck he offered to come try and pull out the stumps with me. I am kicking myself for not taking some pictures or video of the whole process but other than a burnt finger from touching a hot part of the chainsaw it was actually kind of fun and gratifying to rip tow treestumps out of the ground.

I still have some more cleanup work to do but the view from the deck is much better already.

Summer Berries

2011-08-21T06:26:00.000-10:00

Jake Mandy and I got this in about 30 minutes

One of the thngs about growing up in the northwest was that berries are part of the summer harvest. I grew up a short bike ride from several strawberry farms and we always had our own supply of berries in the summer that my mom would use to make jam and pies that we had year round. I actually laughed the first time I saw a pint of blackerries on sale on the east coast for about 5 dollars years ago. As James said they are pretty much a weed here in the Northwest and I spent a significant amount of time destroying them in our yard growing up. Since we have enough room I decided a few of the blackberry bushes can live as long as they don't get too close to anything else I am growing. Additionally the road is lined with bushes that just started producing. We have been picking them the past several days and what you see above is just the tip of the iceberg.

Part of the eventual plan is to grow our own strawberries and raspberries. Along the perimeter of the property we found several bushes that look like they were planted but were so overgrown it was hard to be sure. They were producing what looks like some kind of black raspberry. I have never seen them before but they are pretty good. Matt and I cleared around them and found some old irrigation tubing so I am pretty sure they are not wild. I found some posts while clearing some areas and we strung them up so they will hopefully start doing better next year.

Anyone know what kind of berry this is?

Berry vines after the posts and wire are installed.

In other news we finally have all the planned renovations in the basement here is a picture of the kichenette with all the appliances and sink installed.

Another Day, Another Project

2011-08-16T18:57:00.000-10:00

I have been off of work the past week and have been able to get a lot of things done around the house. Most everyone knows that we have more than enough projects to keep us busy all summer. Show up and you are likely to get assigned a small project.

Gretchen, Colin and their two daughters were visiting this weekend before going on their cruise. After they left this morning I decided to tackle one project that has been bugging me ever since we arrived. There is a nice play gym that came with the house however it doesn't appear that anything has been done to maintain it for many years. The paint is faded and mold moss and mildew was growing everywhere. The same goes for the picnic table right next to it. About 5 hours later I had both pressure washed, the table sanded and painted however I ran out of paint for the play gym and I didn't want to go back to Ace hardware for the 3rd time today. Mandy was encouraging though and she and Jake convinced me to try and finish it tonight. They both were a big help and we got done just before dark. I still have to bolt some of the handles back on and find some rope for the climbing wall but so far I think we all made a huge improvement and just may squeeze a few more years out of it.

This is a picture from the springtime. I wish I had taken one before I started today.

The final appearance after powerwashing and painting

Looks much better after washing, sanding and staining.

Gretchen, Colin, Hope, Phoebe and Jake at the Beach

Getting Settled

2011-07-31T10:56:00.000-10:00

Well it has been about 6 weeks since our last post here and as I type this I am wondering if anyone is still reading it. We made the long drive from Atlanta to Gig Harbor and along the way got to hang out with Mandy's parents in the RV which was a huge help. We celebrated the 4th of July and Sam's 1st birthday with more family in Newton Iowa before stopping to visit Mandy's Grandmother in Sioux City. After that we made our way through Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone which was a first time for me and the boys. I wish we had a few extra days to explore but we had a good time and got some great pictures along the way. We have been here in Gig harbor for a about 3 weeks now and are still getting settled but things are slowly getting put back in order. Being a homeowner is a shock again with all the additional projects that I are on my to do list.

Sam at the Newton Iowa 4th of July Parade

Mt Rushmore

Yes that is a snowball that Jake threw at me.

Sapphire hot springs in Yellowstone

The boys watching TV with TOMTOM in Gig Harbor.

Happy 11 months (belated) and River Madness

2011-06-12T14:09:00.000-10:00

Sam turned 11 months on the 4th of June so I figured I would post the monthly photo even if a little late. He has started to stand up without assistance from other objects and has become the speedy crawler.

I can sense that the first steps are only a matter of weeks away. The question is whether Mandy will be back in time?

Atlanta has been pretty darn hot the last few weeks with no let up in sight. Jake and I were invited to go down to the Chattahoochee river with one of our neighbors. The water was nice and cold but didnt seem to stop them from having a blast.

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The Scooter Gang

2011-05-12T06:58:00.000-10:00

Jake is a member of a notorious gang of troublemakers in the neighborhood. They are usually seen riding scooters between houses and terrorizing the local plants and earthworms. Below is the first known video of the gang in action.

Kids and Fountains

2011-05-10T16:49:00.000-10:00

It is already getting hot in Atlanta and the pool a Piedmont park doesn't open until Memorial day but fortunately there is a really nice new fountain that has not been discovered by many people. Both the boys had a blast getting soaked and cooling off. There is a nice grassy area right next to it as well and we have been having a picnic the past 2 weekends.

Better than a shower

The new camera takes great action shots

wrestling with a random kid

baby + water = happy face

A few cute pictures

2011-05-07T11:18:00.001-10:00

Jake and Sam overlooking the setup for the Dogwood Festival in Piedmont Park.

Picture in the sunshine of the house with a pretty flowering cherry tree.

Grandma Weezie and Sam. Jake claimed that Grandma was visiting from Louisiana "weezie-ana"

Sam is now able to pull himself up and nearly cruise with some assistance. Jake is so funny and articulate now. He still likes to run around and play. He has a group of boys on our street that he runs around with. We call them the "scooter gang" for obvious reasons. Jake is the youngest, but the older boys (oldest is 10) are so good with him, very kind and patient. I keep asking their dad how he helped them become so kind. He just shrugs and admits that he has always been that way. We're getting more and more excited to move as daily pictures come from our contractor with updates and progression on the house. We will miss aspects of our time in Atlanta...our neighbors, our church, friends from Scott's work.

Happy 10 months Sam!

2011-05-07T11:18:00.000-10:00

Sam is definitely crawling and cruising now that he is 10 months old. He is obviously able to pull himself to standing.

He's eating most foods now including all table foods. His favorites are avocado, bread, and pears.

He is so expressive! He claps and raises his hands when we say hooray. He babbles mama and baba.

Here is Jake with his buddy from down the street, Tyler. They are the oldest and youngest members of the "scooter gang" on our street.

Happy 1o months, Sam!

Happy 9 months Sam!!

2011-04-03T17:05:00.000-10:00

Hard to believe he is already 9 months old. This smile was prompted by the sock-ball game with Mandy. Not sure how it started but orginally I think Mandy and Jake would hit each other with pairs of socks when doing laundry. A love of being pelted with socks is something both the boys seem to have in common. We have the 9 month well baby check coming up soon but I can't remember if it involves shots.

Sam is Crawling

2011-04-01T11:09:00.000-10:00

Look out world (especially cats) Sam is officially mobile. Jake now has to officially lock up his favorite toys.

Homeowners Again

2011-03-29T15:07:00.000-10:00

We officially closed on our house today after a seemingly long process. We had a great realtor who took care of a lot of the work and made everything much easier despite the distance. To celebrate we had a picnic on the porch despite the cold Atlanta weather and Mandy and I had a glass of champagne. We are both really excited to move out there in a few months and hopefuly have plenty of family and friends come and visit.

My artistic side

2011-03-22T14:10:00.001-10:00

Mandy and I are fast approaching our 10 year anniversary. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. This year because of the new house and all the things we need to buy to go along with it we agreed to do something low key near the house as well as one weekend trip in April to check out the new place. Heather was in town ad watched the boys while we went out Saturday night. Right next to a great Italian restuarant a few blocks from our house and right next door is a place called "wired and fired". I pass the place on my runs around the neighborhood and thought it might be a cool date night at some point. Basically you sit down and paint pottery and bring your favorite beverages for consumption while doing it. A few days later you can pick up whatever you made. Long story short we both had a pretty good time painting a family sign to go in the new house and a cereal bowl for Jake over a few hours and bottle of wine. His favorite helicopter is a chinook so I put one at the bottom of his bowl. Maybe he will even eat his way through brussell sprouts to get to it?

On our next trip I have to make a bowl for Sam but at this point I'm not sure what his favorite truck/car/plane/train/helicopter is going to be so send me any suggestions. Keep in mind I am no Meg or Kate and pretty much maxed out my talent with the bowl.

Happy 8 Months, Sam!

2011-03-06T15:33:00.002-10:00

Time continues to pass by quickly...Sam is 8 months old already. I was sick last weekend and through this week and, as a result, everything seems to be behind, including this post. But, here we have some good pics of Jake and Sam together in time for his 8 month birthday. He has his single tooth, he is continuing to say "mum mum" and now has added ba ba ba. He is sleeping really well and the two boys are now able to share a room without too much issue waking each other up. He's sitting and just pushing up on to all fours and sort of shifts back and forth as if he's trying to maybe think about crawling. He's eating all sorts of fruits, veggies, and ground up meats. Bananas and avacados seem to be his faves.

Happy Birthday Mandy- Now go to Timeout

2011-02-23T16:30:00.000-10:00

When you get older birthdays start to have different meanings. When I told Jake that it was Mandy's birthday he was very excited. I thnk that he thought maybe he would get presents just like as if it was his. I made (bought) this cake for Mandy today as a surprise but Jake sabotaged my plans by quickly telling her that we were going to eat cake after dinner. I guess I underestimated how exciting birthday cake is to a 3 year-old. Mandy also had a rough day at work combined with a headache and Sam's teething did not make for a smooth transition to home. Even though I had dinner pretty much done when she got home she was in a pretty tough mood made worse with Jake demanding her immediate attention. I think the sight of the big 36 also didn't help. Jake eventually got upset and told mandy that she was in a "bad mood". Usually timeout is reserved for toddlers in our house but this time Mandy got up and put herself in the timeout chair. My only regret is that I didn't get a picture. After a few minutes Jake went and got her out so we could eat dinner.
I guess I learned that timeouts work for adults too.

We are reminded of how fast the years can fly by on our birthdays. I can't believe that I met her when I was barely 23 years old. Even more unbelievable is that our 10 year anniversary is almost here.

Sam has a tooth!

2011-02-14T16:00:00.003-10:00

Sam has his first tooth! It's one of the bottom row. He's doing great, sitting up, all things cute! He and I just spent the week together while Daddy was in El Salvador and Jake spent the week with Grammy Kris and Tom Tom and Aunt Heather. I think they were all happy to see some sunshine in Atlanta this weekend!

Happy 7 months, Sam!

2011-02-04T15:31:00.002-10:00

Sam is 7 months old, adorable, sitting, and babbling. He mostly says "mum mum mum" which is likely a demand for his current favorite snack of the same name. He's always laughing at Jake and observing closely what his big brother does. We're thankful everyday for both of them. Auntie Heather is visiting this weekend to help us celebrate!

Babies don't like the cold

2011-01-10T05:49:00.005-10:00

We are home from work today. We got 6 inches of snow here in Virginia Highlands and according to our neighbor, this constitutes "Snowmageddon" in Atlanta. It is nice to have some more time at home together. We did venture outside with the boys this morning. Jake had new snow pants and we layered him so I knew he'd be ok in the cold. I also layered clothes under the Milo hand me down "bear suit" from the Gap. I figured that if it worked in Minnesota, it would be fine here in Atlanta. We made it to Piedmont Park, though, and Sam had had enough. I guess frozen snot on cold cheeks would make anyone unhappy. He and I walked home and he cried the whole way. It took about 10 minutes for him to calm down but then he took quite a warm winter's nap. We've been enjoying a quiet day and are waiting to see what happens tomorrow. More freezing rain is in the forecast this evening.
Jake sledding in Piedmont Park.

Sam and Mommy before freezing!

Jake ready to go!

Happy New Year and Happy 6 months Sam!

2011-01-04T16:49:00.004-10:00

What is it about tools and butt cracks? This sight made me laugh on Christmas morning!

Above is Sam the Baby Gap Model.

Here is Sam for Christmas pic:

Sam 6 months old:

Jake at Christmas:

It was really cold here for a bit...Sam looking chilled after a walk outside. Brrr, Mommy!

Boys together on Christmas Day:

Christmas picture of boys together:

We had a good holiday this year. Spent Christmas just me and the boys, but then went to church and our friends, Jon, Jenn, and Maddie's house for a delicious dinner. New Years found Grammy Kris and Tom Tom visiting just in time for the ChickfilA bowl (USC vs Florida State). Dad and I got tickets and went with friends Jimmy and Jenn from North Augusta. Fun time, but sorry, Gamecock fans!

Sam got his 6 month shots yesterday and spent the night crying with a high fever. Poor little guy but he was fine today. Jake has been sick for about 3 days and has certainly learned how to milk it! He's on the mend, as well. Sam is now eating rice cereal and some green veggies. He is sitting up and rolling back to front and front to back. He sleeps 10 hours and some nights 12 hours straight beginning at about 6:30pm. Amazing how early they go to bed at this age. How tiring life is! They continue to be loved while we are at work by our nanny, Elizabeth. We are grateful for her every day!

New bowling shoes

2010-12-22T06:26:00.000-10:00

If you follow the blog you know that Jake likes to bowl and it was one of the final carrots we could dangle in fromt of him to get him potty trained. The place near our house is pretty good but half of the fees are actually shoe rentals. After a while I decided to buy some shoes to cut down on the continuing costs. His shoes arrived two days ago and last night we took him bowling again. He also likes to copy any older kid and a few weeks ago he starting trying to roll the ball like older kids (and adults) do. This actually has significantly increased his score as you can see from the pictures at the 9th and 10th frames. You can see that not only did jake get two strikes and two spares in the first 5 frames but we were tied going into the 9th frame. I am an increadibly erratic bowler and will bowl anywhere from 100's to 190. Unfortunately jake was getting so enthusiastic around the 6th frame he was almost throwing the ball into the the adjacent lane. I had to stop him and this made him start rolling the differently without much force. (good thing or he probably would have won). People started coming by and giving me a hard time about losing to Jake before the 9th frame. Fortunately for me I survived with my ego intact and won out by 1 point.

Sam is 5 months old!

2010-12-16T15:50:00.002-10:00

Well, actually Sam was 5 months old 2 weeks ago, but this picture was actually taken on December 4th. He has been interacting a lot, definitely expresses discontent when he drops his toys or you don't feed him fast enough. He's doing well with rice cereal. I haven't quite moved onto veggies yet. He is sleeping really well since we returned from San Antonio, about 10 hours most nights. He laughs at Jake and Daddy. He is cuddly and smiles with me. Happy 5 months, Sam!

Back home again.

2010-12-14T16:50:00.000-10:00

Well the trip is over. After a 16 hour marathon drive fueled by red bull and coffee we made it back today. We spent the last two weeks in San Antonio for the CCC (non-important army acronym). We had to bring the entire family with us or else do the course some other time in the future which could mean 3 months of separation instead of two weeks. Thanks to Heather and Grammie Kris the kids both had fun down there while Mandy and I were in class. It was strange putting on my uniform again for the first time in 18 months to remind me that I am in the Army still. Even better was the PT test at 0420 in the frigid temperatures....
It was great reuniting with so many of our old friends from medical school and residency as well as making some new connections. After all the stress and preparation for the trip I am glad I got to do it and no longer need to worry about it.

Jake and his new favorite helicopter the "Huey"

This was from a fe weeks ago but I just found it again and its too cute not to put it in.

Happy Birthday Jake

2010-11-21T09:05:00.000-10:00

Yesterday was the official 3rd birthday for Jake even though we had a party for him last week. It was a beautiful day outside so we took a trip to the zoo. They have a nice kid zone with a petting zoo, Carousel, and train that runs around the whole area. He got an unlimited pass and we spent 90% of the time just doing the rides. Add a cheeseburger and cotton candy for lunch and you have a 3-year-old's dream day. Sam was great the whole time and they both took a good nap once we came home. Tom-Tom expect a binky coming in the mail, Jake will miss it but it had to be done. In other news the little scooter that he got a few months ago is now one of favorite outside toys. I figured it would be a while before he would develop the coordination to ride it but he is so far doing well. I included the video to show grandma since he remembers who gave it to him. Thank you to all who sent presents, we hope to get cards out soon.

Sam is close to rolling over from back to front, I expect the event to happen soon so stay tuned for video updates.

Who is this Kid?

2010-11-10T05:03:00.004-10:00

Jake and I went for a haircut on Sunday and after I brought him home I couldn't help but noticec how different he suddenly looked. Kind of like after his first haircut when Mandy came home. I decided that I would not cut his hair while Mandy was in Afghanistan so she could be home for his first haircut. He immediately went from looking like a baby to a toddler. This one seemed almost as dramatic where he truly seems more like a little boy.

He also figured out how to take a picture with my blackberry without putting his finger over the camera lens or pointing the camera in the wrong direction. Yes the picture of me (taken by Jake) is a little blurry but blame the camera not the operator on this one.

Sam is 4 months old!

2010-11-08T16:40:00.003-10:00

Sam is 4 months old this week, which is tough to believe! He's been so cute lately and reminds me of why I love the 4-6 month age. He does this cooing/talking/smiling/laughing thing that is so cute. He also grabs and rakes toys or your finger with his hands. We'll post a video sometime soon! He also is sleeping more and on a relatively good schedule. He's very portable and doesn't try to escape from anything. We are very thankful for him! Jake is just excited that he'll have someone to wrestle with! Happy 4th month, Baby Sam!

The Halloween Post

2010-11-01T12:11:00.000-10:00

Jake and Sam had their first Halloween together and both were spooky bats. Sam stayed home to hand out candy to the trick or treaters while Jake and I and a couple other neighbor kids went out for the halloween loot.

Actual quote from Jake: "Look at me I'm a bat I'm really cute!"

Yes it definitely scored him some extra treats last night and he filled his bucket after only one street.

I couldn't decide whether to do the scary tree or bat this year so I put one of

each on either side

The tree on the back

Mommy is crabby

2010-10-24T07:54:00.002-10:00

As this blog is intended to chronicle our kids' lives. I feel the need to blog them a warning. I am crabby. I have been told this by my mother growing up and now by Scott. Example from today. The boys awoke earlier than usual, which for them means 0745 instead of 0900. Scott and I are spoiled, yes, but by them getting up early it meant that I didn't go for a run or anything and I had had multiple wakenings through the night from Jake, Sam and the cats. At this time of our life, most crabbiness gets taken out on household individuals in this order: cats, Scott, Jake, and Sam. So Scott felt the brunt of my aggravation this morning. I do recognize when I am crabby; so when I knew that the morning was only going downhill because of my mood, I loaded up Jake and Sam into the P&T's stroller and we took to the neighborhood. We live in a beautiful neighborhood and this morning was extra beautiful with quiet, lots of fall colors, and cool but not cold weather (mood elevating). We walked about a mile and then landed at the park where Jake played with a boy his age, Sam chilled quietly, and I was able to drink my coffee and socialize with some nice neighbors (more mood elevation). When we had returned Scott had a delicious breakfast prepared for us (mood back to euthymic level). As an aside, Scott impresses me with his cooking abililty. This morning he made an omlet of turkey, cheese, asparagus, and red onion. Great mix of flavors as Jake would say!

Jake and Sam, here are recommendations for how to predict my level of crabbiness or how to "keep mommy happy" as Jake says right now: sleep at least 7 hours, exercise once a day, hang outside for at least 15 minutes, socialize with adults, drink coffee, and reduce hunger level. I think that about covers it, right Scott? Interestingly, my work is not consistently the cause of my crabbiness. It contributes, but all of the above, if applied on a bad day of work, can still equal out in the end to happy mommy. Sorry, boys, I wish I wasn't so crabby. I'll work on it, I promise.

Take your toddler to work day

2010-10-14T14:19:00.000-10:00

Well today was a first for me. Our nanny showed up sick today. With Mandy already at work I had to make some quick decisions. She was well enough to take care of Sam by himself for a few hours but clearly could not take care of them both. Fortunately I had clinic today and nothing I could not reschedule for the afternoon. I decided that he should come to clinic with me today and charm the office staff while I saw patients. I know this probably makes me a bad parent but sometimes when I just need to keep him out of trouble I let him watch the ipod. Mandy actually bought it for me last Christmas but if you ask Jake he thinks it is his. We intially used it during his potty training but he recently dropped it in the toilet.....Mandy did however buy the special warranty from Best Buy and it was replaced without any questions. I put a bunch of his cartoons and Pixar movies on the ipod and he watched them for almost the whole morning and never caused any problems. In any case the ipod saved me today and I definitely will get another if this one breaks. Now if I can just figure out a way for him to scrub on the days I have surgery.........

One of the last times the previous ipod was seen alive.

It's Time for Football

2010-09-16T09:28:00.000-10:00

One of my favorite things about Fall is the start of the college football season. Being from Oregon and growing up going to many of the Ducks home games in Autzen stadium made me into a fan even though I went to school at Willamette. Now that I have two boys part of my fatherly duty is to prevent them from becoming OSU fans so I started them early by getting them each the proper attire.

Divide and Conquer

2010-09-15T15:46:00.003-10:00

Scott and I are learning that with two kids, it sometimes works the best to divide the kids between us and then accomplish things. This weekend we did just that. Scott took Jake to Portland to visit Grammy Barb and had some great adventures. Sam and I drove to Augusta to visit Jenn and Jimmy and Eloise in order to try and not be overwhelmed by my messy, unorganized house and to try and start Sam's baby book. I think we both had great times, though it was good to be back together. Jake seemed to have grown up in just the four days they were gone! Here are some pictures:

Sam blending in with the jungle themed play area. I think we have to get one of these!

Sam and Eloise (6 months old) wondering what is going on...

"Hi, Mommy, we're having a great time with Grammy. Daddy can't figure out how to match my clothes, though..."

Jake asleep with his bear sleeping bag, a gift from Grammy Barb.

Great picture of Jake, Marc, and Levi fishing.

Sam is two months old!

2010-09-04T14:59:00.004-10:00

Sam is two months old today. I can't believe it! We're having a fairly quiet weekend here at home together. The weather is beautiful and we've been to the pool, walking, running, playing football. We plan to bike tomorrow and probably another trip to the pool.

Here is Jake wearing Scott's operating loupe glasses and looking pretty goofy:

Here is a good picture of Sam today at 2 months:

Here is a picture of Jake in the same cute, fall outfit. Jake was only 6 weeks old in this picture:

More cute sayings by Jake

2010-09-03T10:11:00.002-10:00

Additional quotes by Jake:
"Pickles make me happy."
"One minute, Cat!" In reference to putting the scary cat toy that Henry left at our house in time out. When asked why the cat was in time out, he could not say.
"Hit the road squirrels!" What Jake yells out the window at the squirrels that insist on eating all the bird seed from our bird feeder.

Bowling and sleeping

2010-09-01T14:45:00.003-10:00

Last night, Sam slept for 8 hours straight! I am so thankful as I am going back to work in 5 days and getting regular sleep will really help. We have been Babywise adherents with both boys and both have been sleeping for 7-8 hours by 8-9 weeks. I know they were probably predisposed to sleep, but I feel confident that Babywise helped me get them there. I just hope it continues...sleep is so wonderful!

Jake has been progressing well through potty training. Today he was discussing bowling with Elizabeth, our Nanny, and decided he really wanted to try bowling. Scott made a deal with him. Poop in potty for bowling. Sure enough, he went, so we went bowling! We tried out a bowling alley that is in a somewhat sketchy area, surrounded by interesting clubs and "spas", but it was a great bowling alley! We'll definitely go back! Here is a video of Jake in action:

Jake says the funniest things

2010-08-31T11:21:00.002-10:00

As Jake develops his vocabulary and speech patterns, I realized I better write down some of the funny observations and spontaneous things he has said recently.

"Coffee makes Mommy happy."

Jake and Scott walk into nursery at church. Jake says, "Hi. I'm Jake. This is Scott."
Jake and Mandy walk into sunday school at church 2 days later. Jake says, "Hi. I'm Jake. This is Mandy."

"I love the sting ray." In reference to new stuffed animal from GA Aquarium.

"It's ok, Sam." Stated whenever Sam is crying.

"It's a mix of flavors." Describing eggs, cheese, and broccoli. From his recent daily exposure to Ratatouille, his current favorite movie. I'm hoping this is the beginning of a long career in the culinary arts.

I'll write some more later when I can think of more.

The summer is ending...

2010-08-30T09:32:00.003-10:00

Yes, the above is a picture of Sam, not Jake. They look a lot alike, don't they?

Jake is a great big brother. Here he is helping me with Sam's stroller.

Jake becoming cultured at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

One of my favorite pictures from our family reunion. We just finished playing in the river and are waiting for Tom-Tom and the RV.

We've enjoyed a pseudo summer vacation this year as my maternity leave has coincided with typical summer vacation dates. July 4th through Labor Day weekend. We've had many adventures, including adding Sam to our family. I go back to work in a week and I think I'm ready. Here are a couple of favorite shots from our summer adventures as well as recent pictures of Sam and Jake.

More cute pictures

2010-07-27T14:25:00.000-10:00

Caught Jake on camera holding his brother for the first time, and he didn't even drop him. not much else to report around here, Sma is eating and sleeping and we are sleeping whenever he lets us at night.

Play Ball

2010-07-21T12:37:00.000-10:00

Grandpa Tom Tom and I bought Jake a few new toys to play with after we brought Sam home. One of his favorite is the whiffle ball bat and accompanying tee. At first he seemed to get mostly the tee instead of the ball but from the video here you can see he has already improved his game. Usually when I get home in the evenings we trade off between using the tee and slow pitching the balls to him. We also got a miniature basketball hoop at the same time but haven't used it yet since he is still so excited to "play baseball"

Balance

2010-07-20T11:52:00.002-10:00

I just read Kate's entry on James' blog and have been thinking about balance while I am a brief stay at home mom. First of all, I am still in the midst of the first 4 weeks of Sam's life so I know that my current life is not about balance, but about schedule. Scheduled feeding, sleeping, playing with Jake. I am hoping for the balance between my two kids now and am not even thinking about balance at work. It does make me nervous to go back to work, but I have some more weeks to figure things out.

Yellow Babies, Wet Toddlers

2010-07-10T05:00:00.003-10:00

Well we just came back for our second bilirubin check at the doctors office this morning. Sam is still looking yellow but not having any trouble eating or gaining weight. He is now almost back to his birthweight of 6 lbs 9 oz (6 lb 8 oz today). Fortunately Sam doesn't need to go back to the hospital for phototherapy and instead a special bed was sent to the house. Jake is having a lot of fun with all the extra attention from grandparents. Yesterday they went to the Atlanta botanical gardens down the street and had some misadventures. (watch the video, soon to be viral)

Samuel Paul Cuda has Arrived

2010-07-05T07:24:00.004-10:00

He came a little earlier than expected but both Mandy and baby are doing fine. After having contractions most of Satruday during the day the starting coming stronger and more frequent that evening. We arrived at the hosptital around 0600 and starting pushing at 1250 pm. The official time of birth is 1331. He was 6 lbs 9 oz, 19 inches long and healthy. I wll try to start posting a little more frequently now that the new baby is here and it's sometimes hard to get pictures out to everyone.

He has dimples just like jake and has his nose as well. Mandy should be able to come home from the hospital today. Thank you for all the family support

Summerfest

2010-06-06T15:23:00.002-10:00

We live in a pretty awesome location here in Atlanta. We didn't realize how awesome until spring arrived and every festival that is worth attending in Atlanta seems to be within 1/2 mile of our house. We live in Virginia Highlands and they had their summer festival this weekend. It was an amazing collection of artist, vendors, and live music. Even free dinner and beer on Friday night for neighborhood residents. We live really close to Piedmont Park where concerts, movies, and other festivals are held on a nearly weekly basis. I think it is good for us because we'd probably never venture out to any of these events if we weren't able to walk to them. I know, we're just really boring right now. Here are some pictures of Jake at the Summerfest. He was supposed to dress as his favorite movie character. We quickly grabbed his lederhosen and he became Pinnochio or one of the boys from the Sound of Music. True, not his favorite movie, but costumes are tough to throw together. Well maybe for everyone except Kate...

Success on the Potty!

2010-05-15T09:24:00.002-10:00

I know Jake will be completely embarrased that we blogged about this someday, but he pooped and peed on the potty today! We're still in the timed, sit, and wait stage of potty training, nothing independent yet, but this is a great step. He received much praise, candy, and some time flying his Chinook. He also seemed genuinely pleased with himself, as well. Our goal is to have him trained by the time Baby Brother arrives. This gives me hope that it may actually happen!

8 Weeks and counting

2010-05-12T15:16:00.003-10:00

Jake is used to being the center of attention around the house. So in 8 weeks I figure he has a pretty big shock coming. He seems to understand that someone new is going to be joining us. He sometimes says "wake up baby brother" to Mandy's Belly. He even tried to share his sandwich with her belly button. I wish I could have gotten tha on video. He also is really into jumping as well so i included a quick video of him showing off for the camera.

We also have some new ultrasound pictures of "baby brother"

Vacation without the Keiki

2010-04-19T15:01:00.002-10:00

Scott and I, thanks to my mom, dad, and Heather, were able to take a vacation to Hawaii sans Jake. We missed him, obviously, but enjoyed some alone time together and time catching up with friends and neighbors. We met them at Adam's house just north of Nashville so we got to see his nice house. Then Scott and I flew to Maui from there. We spent 2 days in beautiful, secluded Hana, where we hiked Oheo Gulch (the Seven Sacred Pools), ate good food, relaxed in their spa, and just relaxed. We then flew to Oahu and stayed in our previous neighbor, Anne, sister's cottage about 200 yards from our old house in Kailua. It was also very relaxing. We caught up with our neighbors. Caren and Brad say hello to Kate and James, especially. We also visited with friends from Tripler and from church. Thanks to Addie for taking some time off work to hang out with us. We ate at Haleiwa Joe's and Zia's. The food is just as good as it ever was! Meanwhile, Jake spent the week in Indianapolis. He loved it! He returned to us well fed, well behaved, and speaking like 10 times better than when he left. Guess that's what happens when Grammie, Tom-Tom, and Auntie Heather have him as a captive audience. Here are a few pictures from our trip. I need to get some pictures from Tom-Tom of their time with Jake.

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T15:09:00.004-10:00

We took some pictures over the Easter weekend....
Here is our family pic. Not a great angle. Where is Meg when you really need her?

Jake is two and has hit the phase of regularly need redirection, training, and discipline. Some days are great...

And some days are a little tough...

No matter what day it is, we love him!

Worlds greatest toy

2010-03-10T17:44:00.002-10:00

Jakes new favorite thing lately has been helicopters. Several news and traffic helicopters can be seen in the evening and when we go out he gets excited every time we see one. He also asked me to draw him a helicopter several weeks ago. Since the helicopters I am most familiar with are military I started to draw him several models. He now can recognize Chinook, Kiowa, and Apache helicopters if you show it to him. We all went to target over the weekend to get a new wagon for Jake since someone stole it off the front porch. While there I came across a battery powered remote control helicopter. Mandy and the nanny don't fly it so Jake has to wait for me to come home to play with it and now his first words to me every night are helicopter and play. We both benefit since I still get to fly it most of the time while he chases after it. This video is actually the first time that Jake has shown any interest in flying it so maybe my days of piloting are over just when I was getting good at it.

Missing Mommy

2010-02-25T15:34:00.003-10:00

Mandy has been gone at a conference in New Orleans since Sunday. So we are down to Jake Grandma Barb and Me. Overall Jake has done well but I can tell he is missing her. He has done several cute things to let me know that he missing her. Most mornings he has been climbing in bed with me around 5 AM and then falling asleep next to me. The picture above from this morning was pretty cute. Today my mom found him lying down on the futon in the office where Mandy likes to take naps with his Binky and blue blanket. She asked him what he is doing and he said " mommy takes nap here". He even took the phone from me tonight and told Mandy that he loved her. What can I say? Mandy is a wonderful mommy and wife and she is definitely missed when gone.

More Snowy pictures

2010-02-18T13:21:00.002-10:00

I couldn't resist opsting a few more pictures of Jake in the snow from last weekend especially given how rare 3-4 inches of snow is in Atlanta. Jake woke up from his nap today with the eye gunk and cough. I hope this is just a minor cold. Grandma Barb is coming in tomorrow before Mandy leaves for New Orleans. I'll feel bad if he gets sick right before she gets here.

Flowers on Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T09:24:00.003-10:00

Compared to where I was last year for Valentine's Day, waking up to the bouquet that Scott got for me this year was pretty amazing. Adam is here and helped him pick it out. You will notice that 10 years together has really made Scott very good at picking out what I like: roses, hydrangeas, square vase with silver bow...almost perfect combination for my taste. He also hand picked chocolates for me...all that were my favorites, which considering my pregnant state are very appreciated! Thank you so much, Scott! Happy Valentine's Day!

In stark contrast to the snow of the last 48 hours, is the presence of flowers outside, as well. Atlanta is USDA Zone 8, for those of you who care, and that means flowers in February for those that don't! It's amazing. Pansies grow all winter and below you will see a picture of our first crocuses of the year. It's not Hawaii, but it's also not DC or Minneapolis!

A Southern Blizzard

2010-02-12T14:29:00.002-10:00

I have to say I have been jealous of my friends in Washington D.C. with the massive 4 feet of snow this past week. I figured being in Atlanta I would never get to have a snowball fight with Jake. Even when the weather forecasters called for 2-4 inches I still didn't beleive them. I have to say It was a lot of fun. There are a lot of nice sledding hills at the park and I was kind of bummed that I didn't have a sled for Jake. No worries though I found out a boogie board when not being used for surf can make do in a pinch. (I knew I didn't leave them all in Hawaii for reason.)

In other news we also had a new ultrasound today. Now I COULD tell everyone what we are having but instead I thought we could run this like the daily radiology unknown images we often had in medical school. Ill post the image and everyone gets to vote what they think it is. If you are reading this Frank there is a nice career in pathology waiting for you if you miss it.

Time Out

2010-01-31T15:01:00.004-10:00

Grammie Kris was here for a couple days helping out this week. She got to see how much more articulate Jake is now even sice Christmas. When we moved to Atlanta we started using times outs to discipline Jake when he misbehaves. I remember watching James use them with Finn in Hawaii. So everytime he needs correction I try and copy James by being as serious and dramatic as possible. Sometimes I have to choke back laughter but so far it has worked pretty well and he now will run over to his "seat" and stay until his time is up. I had to take a picture recently becuase his face was so cute and sad at the same time. So thank you James for showing me how timeout is done, it will make the rest of this year much easier to deal with.

Below I placed another funny picture from Christmas. Jake loves dogs and Tucker was pretty good with him. He even let Jake ride him a few times. We skyped with Grandma Cuda a few days ago and he was more interested in seeing Tucker than anyone else

Indoor days

2010-01-24T07:07:00.004-10:00

The weather is back to cold and rainy outside. I feel like I am back in Portland again with the amount of overcast, cold and rainy days we have had here. The locals say this is not usual but I am starting not to believe them. We played catch for a while today before nap time. Usually I throw the ball at him and it bounces off his head or chest and he says "Almost!!" But this time he started catching more of them so I got out the camera. Fortunately he seems to be a clutch performer and didn't get a case of nerves while the camera was rolling. Amazing how much like a little boy he has already become. When we moved to Atlanta he was still a baby.

15 Weeks and Counting

2010-01-20T16:52:00.003-10:00

Well not that much new is going on around here. We still are getting used to a real winter and right now I really miss Hawaii. Mandy is now 15 weeks pregnant and already showing. I guess I will have to start taking pictures every week again like we did with Jake. Jake seems to be getting new works every day, he is sometimes hard to understand. Usually if Mandy and I are both listening one of us will understand what he is saying at any given time. I don't have any new ultraound pictures of the baby but only about 5 weeks until we can find out if its a boy or girl. I think ill start a poll on what we are having so far our friends are all guessing another boy.

Football

2010-01-11T18:25:00.002-10:00

Jake has learned to cheer for football and it seems to be one of his favorite words right now. I let him wear my Oregon hat that sadly has to be retired until next year after the embarrassing loss to a crappy Ohio State team. I think this is how James must feel every time the Lakers come to Portland and lose.

It's cold in Atlanta

2010-01-11T17:37:00.008-10:00

It seems as if Atlanta was transported north of the Arctic circle these days. It actually snowed last week and patches of snow and ice are still covering the streets. Jake doesnt seem to mind the cold too much. He even doesn't mind putting on his jacket most of the time. I intentionally let him go outside without one and after a few seconds he changed his mind.

It has been a while since the last post and we have been several places. Back to Portland for Christmas, home again for New Years and recently to Augusta for a wedding shower. No, I did not personally attend but I had a good time relaxing and watching movies. They have a cat " Mr Bob" that makes Kili seem antisocial. Jake was actually carrying the cat around the house and never go scratched.

The approach from behind....

He then gets his death grip on the kitty...

There is no escape...

A new Keiki

2009-12-18T14:07:00.003-10:00

Most everyone knows by now that Mandy is pregnant again with our second baby. We went for the first OB visit today and got a dating ultraound and it seems she is now 11 weeks along so the due date will be in early July. It's too early to tell if we are having a boy or girl but so far we can see 2 legs 2 arms, a beating heart and a brain, all good things and it's still a pretty exciting thing to see the baby at such a early age. It definitely made the whole thing seem real.

This picture wasn't the best but it was the only one the tech handed me and everyone seemed to be in a hurry. I hope to get better ones at future visits.

Jake is feeling better now and back to his playful self. He even is taking his antibiotics without a fus tonight which is a great thing considering we nearly had to tie him down the first few times.

Some days are sick days......

2009-12-14T15:14:00.003-10:00

We officially have a nanny now and we are very happy so far. Part of the reason for the nanny is to keep Jake from getting sick so often. Out of the past several months his nose seems to continuously run and at least once a month we had to scramble to find someone to watch him at the last minute. Unfortunately Jake had one more bad cold/flu left in him. Jake has been sick in the past but no matter how bad he got he always played and laughed between the fevers and puking. He seemed to get sick enough on Friday that we started him on Augmentin and we are glad that we did that. All day Saturday Jake was had high fevers and cough that made him puke and was generally miserable. If it didn't involve watching Nemo or drinking apple juice he wasn't interested. It took some serious coaxing to get him to take the medicine because it tastes bad and Jake pretty much likes everything. One cute side to the illness is that every time he coughed and woke himself up at night he would cry out "mommmmmy.....mommmy" This was too much for mandy to handle and even though he would fall back asleep on his own she would go downstaris to give him a drink (or poke me in the side until I did). Today he is at least playing some and seems to be on the mend as you can see from the picture he was more interested in playing with the laundry basket than helping fold the socks. (I can't blame him)

Tis the Season for Napping

2009-12-05T13:55:00.003-10:00

Winter seems to have arrived here in Atlanta. Tonight we are supposed to see our first true freeze ith the possibility of snow and the days have been pretty cold (by our measure) recently. So far jake has not seen snow but if he doesn't see any by Christmas we may have to go up to Mount Hood for a day trip when we come to Portland. Jake at first would have nothing to do with gloves and hat but now wears them all the time when going out. Kili and Hobbes are taking every opportunity to get warm whenever we are around as you can see below. Even Jake couldn't resist sleeping on the couch with Mandy. We decorated the living room and tree today. So strange since this is our first Christmas on the mainland in 6 years.

Thanksgiving in Iowa

2009-11-30T15:15:00.002-10:00

Here are some pictures of Jake helping TomTom with the flag pole, Jake helping Aunt Barb and Ava clean vegetables, and Jake giving Scooter a hug under the blanket. It was pretty cold and Jake learned to love his new coat, hat, and mittens:

We had a really nice time at Aunt Barb and Uncle Marv's house for Thanksgiving. We were able to see Great Grandma Sue and Great Grandpa Gary AND Great Grandma Weezie. Grammy Kris, TomTom, and Aunt Heather were there, too. We saw Adam, Kelly, Jacob, Luke, Katie, and Ava as well as Uncle Dan and Aunt Renita. It was a great, restful weekend. Here is a video of some Wii play:

Happy Birthday Jake

2009-11-21T17:00:00.003-10:00

Jake had his birthday party today. We had a few firends and their kids over for dinner cake and presents. Thank you to all who have sent things for Jake, even the ones that make loud noises. Jake learned to open presents and blow out his candles as you can see. mandy took him for his 2 year appointment yesterday and he was 36 inches tall and 33.5 pounds (yes he has a lost weight from the week long gastroenteritis) I think this is the first time his height in inches exceeds his weight in pounds since he was a few months old.

The Nanny search is on...

2009-11-08T15:20:00.002-10:00

Scott and I are finally at the end of our daycare rope. Jake has been sort of sick for the last 5-6 days and they've rejected him twice. Well, rejected is a strong word, I know, but still he is not wanted when he is sick. Understandable, yes. We're using Sittercity.com and we've found some good candidates, but the interview process is just beginning. We have a few friends who have Nannies and they've had good experiences so we're hoping for the same and not some scary person. If anyone knows of a Nanny in Georgia or wants to move to Georgia to become a Nanny, please let us know!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T14:26:00.002-10:00

Courtesy of Grammie Cuda we had a new costume for Jake this year. Unfortunately the pumpkin was too small and Jake wasn't willing to squeeze into it. With some convincing we were able to get him to wear the superman costume. It took some more convincing to get him to go and knock on a random door and ask for candy but after he found out how simple it was to get free candy for mommy he was readlly excited. I even let him have a few pieces of chocolate.

A Visit With Christine and Frank

2009-10-19T15:07:00.004-10:00

Mandy and I went to the AAP together for CME and education this year. We brought Jake with us and stayed with Christine and Frank and Parker. It was a good time and we wish we had more time to spend with them and vistiting other old friends we have not seen in a while. It was a great time for Jake who not only has an old playmate about the same age as him but tons of new toys to play with. I think he might have at least learned what sharing is. Next step is to get him to share with other kids. Both Parker and Jake love cars but fortunately there was enough to go around most of the time. I am also pretty sure Parker influenced Jake to start using many more words. Jake is now counting to 3 with prompting and learned to say "no" among many other new words this weekend. I took some pictures and video of them together for our families and for Addie who I know would like to see them. Bobby and Bob got to meet Jake for the first time as well and we have several good pictures from dinner ar their house.

The videos are from today when Jasmine (the nanny) and I took the boys to the park and hen after lunch. I am not sure if Jake was trying to hug Parker or wrestle but it was pretty funny.

Oktoberfest....In Las Vegas

2009-10-01T05:31:00.003-10:00

Our first vacation of the year drastically changed as soon as we left for the airport. Everyone tries to maximize their vacations and we are no different. We had plans to fly to Las Vegas on Friday night to meet up with Grandpa Tom and Grandma Kris. Unfortunately Mandy was running late at the clinic. No big deal, I went to go pick up Jake from daycare had him ready to go in the seat and unfortunately the Xterra wouldn't start. Our flight was scheduled to leave in just under 2 hours and Mandy quickly rearranged my flight until Saturday morning so I could stay back and get the car towed. I was able to get her and Jake to the airport just in time to make the flight and had already talked to the dealership about dropping the car off before they closed at 2000 but so far no tow truck. USAA covers an 11 mile tow radius and the dealership was about 14, no big deal I thought. I told the dispatcher that I could pay the 10 dollar overage fee in cash. Instead of sending the tow truck she had sent another few people in a ford explorer to get the cash first. I still could have made it to the dealership on time however the people in the Ford explorer decided to give the gate guards on base a hard time and were in the process of being kicked out. It took me a while to figure out that the tow truck wouldnt come until I payed the fee upfront becuase drivers for this company were not allowed to handle cash. Long story short I can't drop the car off becuase it is now too late, and eventually get the car towed back to our house that is in fact within the 11 mile radius late at night. At this point after meeting the drivers I am just happy to have the car back at home in one piece. I didn't find this out later but Mandy did an amazing job getting herself and Jake from the airport in Vegas to the hotel with all the luggage and baby gear. Thankfully Jake was a good sport and random people were willling to help her out.

After I arrived the next morning I found out that her Grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer on Friday. This caused another change of plans. We decided to all go to Iowa instead and spend time with the family instead of driving south. With the help of Orbitz and my laptop I arranged tickets to Iowa and another return flight to Phoenix (our return flight to Atlanta is from Phoenix). Jake got to fly to Indianapolis with Tom and Kris and then drive to Iowa while Mandy and I stayed in Vegas for one more night. Before we left everyone went out to the Hofbräuhaus in Vegas. Jake has grown into his Lederhosen from Wolfgang and Ellie and was an immediate hit with the servers.

Happy 22 months, Jake!

2009-09-20T10:20:00.004-10:00

Jake is now 22 months old. Amazing. I say that every month as he adds to his experiences and skills. As we are well entrenched in our routine of work, home, and weekend activites here in Atlanta, the weeks just fly by! He has really added to his vocabulary this month. He has been caught saying phrases now: "Where is Daddy?"and "Please, more". He says random things that we've never taught or reinforced with him like: "MARTA" (the mass transit system here in Atlanta) or "Choo-Choo" in reference to trains. He says "Daddy", "Mama", "Jakie","doggy", "kitty" pretty accurately and appropriately. He's begun keeping an entourage of friends, which grows every day, but currently includes: 3 plastic bathtub frogs, 2 hot wheel Lightening McQueens, 1 beenie baby praying teddy bear, and 1 talking Junior Asparagus of Veggie Tales fame. This is all, in addition to his 2 blankies and 1 binky ("bee-bee" in his vocabulary). He keeps this entourage only for naps, bedtime, and car trips. The frogs he lines up around him in perfect order. Scott blames me for this OCD seeming trait. I just call it attention to detail! We are doing well and have enjoyed visits from Uncle Adam (x2 already) and Grammy Kris and Grandpa Tom-Tom this month. We are looking forward to a visit from Grammy Barb soon, as well. We're settled into a church, which is our only outside of home and work activity right now, but it's ok. Life is fairly simple right now. Sort of. Especially now that the last few boxes have been unpacked! I've been taking a few pictures with my new Blackberry and posting them on Facebook and Flickr. Take a look for more frequent picture updates!

Happy 21 months, Jake!

2009-08-25T15:37:00.005-10:00

Here is a picture of Jake, Finn, Henry, and Milo. It is the first time we met Milo on our trip to Indianapolis to see everyone. Scott wasn't able to go because he was on call, but it was ok. Jake is closer to 20 months here, but close enough.

Here is a picture of Jake and I that is one of my recent favorites. He's really a great kid, this picture really shows his happy side, which is almost all the time. I'm grateful we only have occasional tantrums!

Amidst the busyness of working and unpacking our house, I've neglected the blog for too long. I don't know if we have any faithful followers anymore, but even if not, this is a good way to chronicle Jake's first years.

The Amazing things Jake does

2009-07-19T15:04:00.002-10:00

Scott and I were making a list of the amazing things that Jake has learned to do in the last 3 months since I returned from Afghanistan. Some days, it feels like he is growing up right before our eyes. Here's the list we came up with:
1. He can hold a carton of milk, drink from the straw or straight from the carton. Along those lines, he drinks really well out of a cup.
2. He can say so many words. They all require great encouragement and repeating what we say, but he's adding new ones to his vocabulary every day. Today he said cucumber, which was a little garbled, but definitely understandable. He says hi, bye-bye, mommy, daddy, Jakie, kitty, doggie, please, down, up, meow, and other words that I can't think of right now.
3. He can climb anything. I mean anything. All the climbing ladders at the park are his favorite. He hasn't figured out that chairs help him climb at home. Or it might be that we only have 2 chairs in the entire house right now...
4. He spontaneously hugs and kisses Scott and I. Awesome!
5. He waves, hi and good-bye. He gives high fives and knuckles, which I figure Uncle James would appreciate.
6. He runs, jumps, walks backward, and gallops. I can't keep up with him!
7. He throws his trash away, puts his clothes in the hamper, and puts his shoes by the door. None of this happens without encouragement, but he still does it.

I know these are all things that a kid should be doing, but to watch Jake learn how to do everything for the first time is amazing!

Moving Day

2009-07-10T16:00:00.002-10:00

We are finally going to move into our new home in Atlanta! As a result, we may not have great internet service for a few days. The place is pretty empty since our furniture won't arrive until August. Thankfully it is an older home with quite a bit of character so it will be ok. We are the first renters that this owner has had. She has lived in the house for 20 years and she's very attached to the house, understandably. Kate and I have discussed that renting is difficult for "nesters" like us because you can't ever feel really good about making significant changes because you worry about what the owner might think. For example, the walls throughout the downstairs living area are all very goldenrod yellow. Not a bad color, but too much for the whole house. I REALLY want to paint at least one of the rooms. I'm going to talk with her tomorrow so we'll see how it goes. Either way, we are going to be in a house starting tomorrow! Yay...no more hotel!

It's no Hotel Hana!

2009-07-03T15:09:00.005-10:00

Daddy and Jake in a new park we discovered.

Mr. Blue Eyes playing on the bouncing bridge.

Mommy and Jake watching Cars for the 30th time in the hotel room.

It's no Hotel Hana, but our home away from home, The University Inn at Emory, has been really nice. Very homey, friendly staff, and great breakfast, coffee, and snacks. We've found and signed for a rental home in Virginia Highlands that we're pretty excited about. We don't move in until July 10th, though! We moved the cats into a kennel called Kamp Kitty. They are the only guests currently so are very happily the center of the owner's attention. At first I felt guilty about putting them there, but they are on Kitty Vacation, especially Hobbes from Jake. Scott has already started work. Long days, but off on most weekends, and no home call!!! What a huge improvement to residency life! I start this Tuesday and Jake starts in his new daycare, which is on post. This is the first time we've decided to go with the post day care option and we'll see how it goes, but they seem very nice and professional. I think it will be ok for now. We've been enjoying the nice weather in Atlanta. It was hot initially, but now much better. We're very grateful for the birth of our most recent nephew, Milo Patrick. Congrats Meg and Mike! We'll post some pictures when we have them of the new house. Our furniture won't arrive until August so we'll be in an empty house for a little while, but no worries, we can still take visitors!

Goodbye Hawaii and Aloha Atlanta!

2009-06-26T15:39:00.002-10:00

Scott, Jake, Kili, Hobbes, and I took a red-eye flight on Tuesday night to arrive here in Atlanta, our new home, early Wednesday morning. We were able to pick up the Xterra right away so that was nice. I checked into my new unit and we visited a house we are thinking of renting. Wednesday was actually pretty productive! We are staying in a very nice little Inn/B&B just outside of Emory. It is small, but they have breakfast every morning, snacks and drinks every evening, and allow the kitties to join us! It's a good deal. Thursday and Friday, we've spent running various errands, getting paperwork done for work, and just resting. Jake has been sick today, which hasn't been easy, but he's ok and we're ok, too. Things are looking good for the house we looked at on Wednesday. For those of you who know Atlanta, it is located in Virginia Highlands, steps away from Piedmont Park and lots of cute shops/restaraunts. I will be sending out address change information as soon as everything is official.

Promotion and Graduation

2009-06-21T14:47:00.003-10:00

You are seeing some pictures from our promotion and Scott's graduation. We are at the tail end of a busy week. We packed up the house, cleaned it thoroughly, have had Grammy Barb visiting, both got promoted, Scott graduated, had two big parties, and are now relaxing on Father's Day. Phew!

Visit to the Mainland

2009-06-16T15:42:00.006-10:00

Auntie Heather and Jake at Aunt Barb's. They are watching fireflies!

Grandpa Tom Tom and Jake at a farm visit with Uncle Dan, Aunt Renita, and Grandma Weezie:

Visit at Aunt Barb and Uncle Marv's with second cousins, Jacob and Ava:

I can't believe how long it's been since we blogged! The last few weeks have definitely flown by as we've traveled around the midwest to visit family, to Atlanta to look for a new home, and back to Hawaii to outprocess and move our stuff. Even as we speak, the movers are packing up our entire house. The cats and Jake are a little mystified by the whole thing. Good news is, we've found a house! It's a long story, but we decided to rent for the short time that we'll be in Atlanta. We'll be moving to the Virginia Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta. It's a good, central location to all our work places and is a cute city neighborhood with parks, trendy shops, and hopefully nice neighbors! Best news for me...it's only about a mile from the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and a Caribou Coffee! I'll write more in the next few days as we prepare to leave our beautiful home in Hawaii and start our new adventure. In the meantime, here are some pictures of our travels.

Party Days!

2009-05-18T20:44:00.007-10:00

Adam had his promotion ceremony this weekend and we celebrated with him. Scott and I were promoted to Major as of yesterday (Sunday), but we haven't officially "pinned" on so we aren't wearing the rank yet. Our ceremony will be 19 June. Here's a picture:

Thanks to Heather, Adam's mom, Nancy, Melissa, and Malia, Jake and I were able to throw a really fancy tea for our friend, Callie's, baby shower. It was a lot of fun and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves. I am going to miss living in this house with all the entertaining amenities. Jake is a great sport and enjoyed his first taste of sherbet punch, angel food cake, and brownies (at least that I know of!) He loved all of the attention. Here a couple of pictures:

Jake is saying a new word: tiger! In honor of his lunch box, which is in the shape of a tiger. Scott is traveling to Palau and we miss being there with him. We'll get a fun trip soon! We're looking forward to seeing everyone soon in order to continue the Party Days!

Happy Mothers day

2009-05-10T18:20:00.003-10:00

Heather, Mandy jake and I went to the botanical gardens in Kaneohe today for lunch to celebrate mommy day. I grabbed some takeout from Boots and Kimo in Kailua to bring along. Kate and James can appreciate the macadamia nut pancakes that we all are so fond of. It was a really nice day with plenty of ducks for jake to terrorize and feed as well as many other new things to get into. Jake decided to start jumpimg off of things recently as you will see with one of the videos. The other pictures are of us in the park.

The first video is Jake jumping off the park bench (no I didn't push him)

This video is of Jake feeding the duck the leftover macadamia nut pancakes he seems to love all animals especially birds, dogs and cats.

Jake also now has a favorite activity in the pool. Sometimes he leisurely steps out off the edge and sometimes he is able to actually jump. The good thing is he does it over and over until he gets worn out which is good for us.

The Jake Gym

2009-04-29T22:41:00.003-10:00

I don't always get much time to wor out but thankfully Jake is usually nearby willing to help with some basic exercises. James coined the term "Jake Gym" a while back and since then the exercise possibilties have expanded. He is now trained as you can see to provide extra challenge to my push ups.

He also helps with hiking occasionally. we took him with us to the lighthouse off Mokapu'u point. He didn't like the monkey on his back so much at first but eventually he got used to it.

Mom and Dad went to Disney World and all I got was this stupid hat!!

2009-04-16T20:09:00.003-10:00

It has already been a few days and we are back to work already. Mandy had her annual FP conference in Orlando this year. I was able to tag along and visit with some old friends from medical school. We got Jake a hat and a few other things. He didn't seem to mind that we were gone for a few days.

Jake vs. Kili 2: Grudge Match

2009-04-10T08:54:00.002-10:00

Jake and Kili scrap from time to time but Kili is geting older and Jake is just getting bigger. Yesterday they had a confrontation over who was boss of the window (usually only Kili and Hobbes fight over this) and decided to throw down. It wasn't too pretty, we missed the first few seconds where Kili got his sucker punch in but after that it was all Jake who is steadily improving his ground game. He even stopped a few seconds to taunt Kili in front of the camera.

Jake and Kendall's Play Date

2009-03-29T22:21:00.002-10:00

Kendall came over to visit a lot over the weekend. We had a lot of fun at the pool and beach. We ate a great "Thanksgiving" dinner tonight complete with Auntie Addie's effort at making Auntie Christine's wonderful sweet potato casserole. It was really good! Here's a cute picture of the two of us. Eat your heart out, Parker...

My New Life

2009-03-29T22:12:00.003-10:00

I've officially arrived! Not only do I have an actual Mommy and Daddy who are present in my life, I now have a big boy haircut! My before picture is above and after is below.
More pictures to come with Mommy and Daddy. We haven't been very photogenic all together since Mommy got home. Grammy Barb is still here so hopefully she can get some good shots!

Time to come home

2009-03-05T19:57:00.003-10:00

Mandy has sketchy computer access now and should be starting her trek home in the next few days. She asked me to post the information on the blog so people know what is going on.

Happy Birthday Mommy

2009-02-23T19:43:00.003-10:00

Happy Birthday to Mommy from Jake. I have been much more independent lately. I still like Grammie and Daddy to hold me but only for a few minutes. I can run really well now and even walk on my tippy toes. So much is in reach and I like to explore everyhting around the house and get into as many things as possible. I really like playing with my wood blocks as you can see even though I somethimes get frustrated when they fall down. Auntie Meg has been here for the past few days taking pictures of me so I can someday be famous.

Here I am getting rolled by a a Tsunami wave that got everybody wet at the beach today. Don't worry everyone including the camera is fine. Come home soon mommy I love you!!

All Pau

2009-02-15T15:36:00.002-10:00

Before we had Jake I used to wonder what babies did to let you know they are full. Jake sometimes defies his size and eats what I think a 300 pound Samoan should and I used to worry we were force feeding him. Eventually I learned to notice what he did when he was truly finished eating, sometimes funny but always messy. The cats have learned to steer clear of him except when he is eating becuase if we are too slow to notice when he is done the food will start flying. Sometimes he actually tries to feed the cats or me if I will let him. In any case we say "Pau" for done here in Hawaii and I think he knows what that means now as well. This morning he had peanut butter toast, much of it was spread over his face.

Happy Valentines Day

2009-02-14T20:25:00.002-10:00

Happy Valentines day Mommy from Scott and Jake. I have the weekend off but no new great pictures yet but I thought I would post a video of Jake soaring through the air. One of his favorite things to do.

Jake the Airborne Ranger

2009-02-08T17:06:00.004-10:00

It was another nice day so went spent the afternoon down at the beach again. Jake Played int he water until his lips turned blue. After that we took him up on the beach and he warmed up for a while. He always loved the Jake gym (see previous posts if you forgot) and he also likes to to go Airborne sometimes. For all those concerned no I have never dropped him or even come close and I have to Grammies as witnesses, one with a camera. I am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow but another day at work means one more day closer to Mandy coming home.

Jake the Beach Bun

2009-02-07T18:01:00.003-10:00

One thing that we have been doing almost everyday is going down the beach. It's beautiful outside and I don't always get the chance to go down because I am at work. With only 6 months remaining here I want to enjoy the scenery as much as possible. Jake has a great time and always naps well after wearing himself out. He also loves working on his tan so mommy will see him with olive skin and blond hair when she gets home. He also discovered Oreo cookies recently (it wasn't me I promise, that leaves two other perpetrators)

Jake overcomes his Lanai phobia

2009-02-02T16:51:00.002-10:00

Even though Jake has been walking for 4 months now, wrestles with Kili and takes on waves bigger than him at the beach he has had a fear of stepping off the ledge on the lanai. He recently overcame this fear and we have video proof courtesy of Grammie Kris.

In other news we went to the North Shore today for spicy garlic shrimp and pineapple ice cream. The waves at Waimea were small by Winter standards but still fun to watch. Jake tried to do his usual bodysurfing but I wouldnt let him since mommy would probably be upset.

Winter in Hawaii

2009-01-28T21:42:00.004-10:00

Its gotten downright frosty out here the last few days. Last night the temperature got down in to the low 60's. I almost considered wearing long pants to work. It's cold enough that Grandma got Jake some warm pajammas so he is comfortable at night.