Seafair

Jacob started using his toy walker last week, he LOVES this car! He plays with it all day, it does so many neat things (where were all these cool toys when I was little)? Here is a short video of him (turn up your volume).

Libby and Joe came up this weekend for a visit, so we had a little get together Saturday night. Amy, Brian and Aidan came over for dinner, Jake was so excited to see Aidan (poor Aidan got his hair pulled a few times by Jake).

Jake explaining how the gate works... "you can't get to mommy working in the kitchen when this thing is shut."

Aidan trying out Joe's new backpack from REI

Aidan bought Jacob a new toy. Thanks Aidan!

Sunday morning breakfast at the Oehling's, Aidan and Jake playing us some tunes.

Jacob had his first city bus ride. Jacob and Nate sat at the bendy part of the bus, so at every turn, Jake went for a ride. It was so cute! He couldn't understand why he suddenly got very far away from mommy.

We parked at the Space Needle and rode the bus to Lake Washington to Seafair. Seafair is month long festival including: parades, marathons, Fleet Week, airplanes, boat races, food, music and much more. Traffic is horrible for a month, but it's a fun tradition in Seattle.

Watching the Blue Angels, they were amazing! It's facinating that these pilots can fly 11 inches apart from each other and up to 700 mph! And the best part is, the transport plane for the Blue Angels is operated and flown by Marines!

Brian and Amy's niece and nephew, Neiko and Malia. They were so great with Aidan and Jacob, playing with them and keeping an eye on them. Thanks for hanging out with us!

Jacob cooling his gums with an ice cold water bottle (entertained him for an hour). His 6th tooth broke through this weekend.

The Hydroplane Races were awesome, the fastest motorboats in the world! I am not sure what I would chose if I could drive these boats or fly a Blue Angel plane... hmmm... which ever one it is, I am sure I would be puking my guts out!

There were many airshows between the boat races, these stunt planes do some crazy maneuvers. The announcer would talk to the pilots while they were in the air, it was hard to imagine they could have a lucid conversation while performing stunts.

Here is the United States Marine Corp AV-8b Harrier Jet (a favorite of Nate's of course), it hovered for a minute or longer right above us (felt like 5 minutes). The sound was so incredibly loud, my ears even hurt for an hour afterward. Jacob did great though, he allowed me to cover his ears and he stayed calm cuddled up next to me.

The boys in their carriers

The Oehling Family

I thought this picture was cute, Brian and Malia walking the boys in their strollers at Seattle Center. If you look close, Aidan and Jacob are watching each other, probably wondering why their strollers are identical.

Neiko and Malia playing up on a sculpture.

Jacob playing around with his new favorite toy - thank goodness there is a low sound button or I would go insane!

Jacob is climbing the stairs so quickly, faster than I can walk up them. The other night, Nate ran upstairs to start Jake's bath water, so I undressed Jacob and he headed upstairs. He stopped about half way and looked back at me as if he was saying "come on mom, it's bathtime!" But of course, I was busy taking some cute butt shots, so he posed for me. What a cutie!

Weekend

Last weekend, we went to the Bellevue Arts Festival. It was amazing! Artists from all over came to Bellevue to showcase their work. I was unable to take pictures of the amazing displays, but if we were on an unlimited budget, I would have bought the place out! There were oil paintings, photography, ceramics, wood work, clothing and so much more.

The Bellevue Police were showing their support and letting kids pose on a motorcycle.

We went out to PF Chang's for dinner, here is Jacob taking a drink. He LOVES drinking from straws, we don't even have to monitor him, he knows when to stop and swallow. He started this about a month ago and can't get enough of it. He is becoming addicted to iced tea (thanks grandma) and he loves Nate's Arnold Palmer (half iced tea, half lemonade - Nate's favorite drink). Jacob is becoming such a big boy!

Jacob is growing out of his favorite toy, he loves his bouncy!

We have been working on walking lately, Jake is really doing well. He is walking holding onto my hands and has taken a few first steps on his own! He is also talking A LOT, I cannot emphasize a lot enough. He talks nonstop - all day. But it's really cute (although I enjoy the quiet time during naps as well) he is saying ma-ma frequently and da-da at the top of his lungs. He is discovering putting sounds together and playing around with them. He makes me laugh!

Astoria Trip

We took a long weekend trip down to Astoria, Nate's hometown for a mini-family reunion. We had such a great time seeing family. Thank you Jeff, Anneke, Kelly, Lisa and David for making the trip over from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho! Hopefully next year, we can have our reunion out there. Here are some pictures of our trip (along with some Astoria history)...

The Astoria Column is a known symbol for the Northwest. It was built in 1926 and stands 125 feet tall, 600 feet above sea level. I have yet to walk up it (Nathan doesn't care for heights) but there is 164 steps to the top!

View of the Astoria-Megler Bridge that connects Oregon and Washington

View from the column showing the bridge and the mouth of the Columbia River

View from Nathan's dad's back porch

Youngs River Waterfall

Here is what is left of the Peter Iredale Ship! The ship was driven ashore in 1906, after waiting several weeks to tow the ship out, the ship became embedded in the sand.

This was Jacob's first trip to the beach!

Feeling sand for the first time

Okay, he's done feeling sand for the first time...

Nathan, David, and Jacob out on the jetty (yes, I was freaking out)!

Our friends Laurel and James came over to the hotel to visit us while Maggie and the girls were there! The girls are getting so big and are so cute and cuddly!

Whitney

Kennedy

Getting ready to head down to the Sunday Market

Jacob crashed in his stroller - a woman at the market said to her husband, "oh, look at that, he's so cute sleeping there!" It took me a second to realize she was talking about Jake, Nate and I had no idea Jacob had fallen asleep, he usually is too interested in his surroundings and refuses to take naps. It was adorable!

Jacob LOVES to grab people's glasses and the little guy is QUICK! Nate decided to hand them over one evening, we thought he looked so cute!

Let me out of here!

Our buddy JP came over this morning for a few hours, Jacob had a blast! They played with toys and read books and Jacob have JP lots of hugs

Guest Bathroom Remodel: Complete

The guest bathroom (aka Nathan's bathroom) is finally complete... well, we still need base molding - but according to me, it's done! Nathan picked out the bathroom colors and all the products (with my approval of course).

Here are some before pictures:

Nathan hard at work:

After:




On another note - Jacob is feeling much better, today was his first day without a fever. He slept Sunday night from 10pm-9:30am without waking up once, and followed up with sleeping all day yesterday. I think Jake was only awake for about 3 hours out of the day and with a good night sleep last night, he is back to himself.

First Fever

Well, it took 10 months before our first fever... Poor Jacob is not feeling very well the last few days. I took him into the doctor on Wednesday for a cough and he was waking himself up from sleeping gasping for air. Jacob had a minor chest cold, no fever, so we got medicine to take for 5 days (which Jake takes like a champ)!

On Friday morning, Jacob had a slight fever but seemed to be feeling okay, just coughing some, but by Friday night, he had a temperature of 101 degrees. We got him down to his diaper, gave him a sippie cup full of water and ice (which he drank almost all of it), had some Tylenol and a lukewarm bath. By bedtime, his temperature was down and had no problem going to sleep.

By 4:30am, I woke up Nate because Jacob was extremely warm, and his temperature was back up, but to 103 this time. Again, more Tylenol and he was so tired, he went back to sleep. A few hours later, off to the doctor yet again... his chest cold has gotten worse, now has an ear infection (which he is not tugging on his ears at all) and had a temperature of 101. So, we are on 2 medications, plus Tylenol and Ibuprofen every 3 hours, rotating medicines. But, all in all, Jacob is playing right now, talking up a storm, running around in his diaper and being himself. He isn't too interested in a bottle or food, but loved his popsicle! We hope you feel better soon munchkin, it's sad to see my little guy feeling yucky!