The One With The Funky Houses

I love Portland!

Not only is it beautiful, but the people there are nuts. I have never been anywhere else where you can find such crazy people, dressed in such random outfits, living in such ridiculous houses.

I'm pretty sure there are aliens in this truck . . . . . .

 

The One With All The Throw Up

This Portland trip was a little crazy, it's probably easiest to just start from the beginning.

We were taking both my brother, Bryson, and Parker up to visit Eric's Dad, Denny, to get dental work done. Parker got his teeth really early (like two months, and had the entire set by seven months old) and I guess that can cause a problem with decay, so his front top teeth were looking pretty ragged. And Bryson, well let's just say he spent a few days in the chair (32 cavities).

Anyways, so Bryson came and spent the night Wednesday so we could leave super early Thursday morning. That morning Parker comes into our room and keeps telling us his throat hurts - this is the UNIVERSAL sign of him about ready to throw up. We keep holding him over the toilet, but he just never does throw up, and by the time we are ready to leave he says he is better and we stop worrying about it.

A few miles before Ontario Parker starts making funny noises. I looked at him and say, "Are you gonna throw up?" and right then he does that weird curl of the spine where you can almost watch as the food travels from his stomach, up through his esophagus and out his mouth, where I just so happened to get his blankie in just enough time to catch the throw up.

Now I have seen some pretty nasty things. Clinicals in old folks homes, ER rooms, the works. But honestly, there is nothing worse than Parker's throw up this time. Most people throw up and it's little chunks of food mixed in with LARGE amounts of bile and stomach acid.This was like a fur ball. I mean it was solid whole fries, compacted together and glued with mucus. It was disgusting . . . . . and my truly horrible description doesn't even do it justice.

So we pull over to the side of the road, try and smack out all the french fries in the blanket on the ground, get him a change of clothes from the back, and get on our way.

Just outside of Pendleton . . .. . BLECH!!!!! All over his blankie again, all down his clean clothes again. I felt so bad for the little kid. It was terrible.

Got him all cleaned up again, and finally made it into Hood River. We went with Denny to get some Subway where all Parker had was Apple Juice - we felt this was safe.

We went to the dental office where Denny started working on Bryson, and fairly soon it became apparent that we could not stay at the office with both of our kids doing nothing. So we drove around Hood River, which doesn't take too long. We drove by the house Eric lived in when he was a baby, we drove by some pretty crazy houses (pictures to come later) and the whole time Parker was in his car seat throwing up pure apple juice (only ten times the amount he actually had) into ziploc bags, because there was nothing else for him to throw up in.

As much as I didn't want to leave Bryson at the dental office by himself, I understand not wanting to be left in a place where you don't know anyone, we ended up leaving him.

We walked into Denny and Kellie's hoping to get the kids in the bathtub to help them feel better. Parker was obviously sick, and Preslie hadn't looked amazing for a few days. We put Parker in the tub and literally two seconds later all hell broke loose out of the back end.

Without getting too descriptive, I just have to say - I have seen fountains come out of people's mouths when they are throwing up. I have never seen a fountain come out the back end . . . . again . . . and again . . . . and again. It's a good thing we got Preslie out or else we never woudl have found her.

Luckily Parker seemed to get over his 24 hour flu bug in about 24 hours. On Friday Parker was great, and back to his normal self. Preslie however was a different story . . . . . and that is a separate blog.

The One With The Oreo Pudding

These pictures are from a few weeks ago, March 20th-ish (I'm exact, but not too exact), but I've been meaning to post them for awhile now because I think they are so freaking cute!

Preslie got her first taste of pudding the other day. I rarely buy it, because it seems like it sits in our fridge for a few days, and pudding is tough, you never can tell how old it is. I can get a new package and put it in the fridge, and it looks the exact same as the pudding from two years ago. That kind of creeps me out.

But anyways, my sister has been getting me into this thing called couponing (revolutionary idea I guess . . . . well it is to me) and we had a coupon so we bought it. Which probably makes couponing counter productive . . . when you buy things you normally wouldn't just because you have a coupon. OH WELL!

So we got some oreo cookie pudding, because come on now, why would there be just plain chocolate or vanilla anymore. I started feeding Preslie, and then she got shaking and super excited and would reach her hand out and yell at me like I wasn't feeding her fast enough. I finally just put the cup and the spoon in front of her and she went to town. This was her first time feeding herself too. I think she did a pretty good job.

The One With Parker's Rough Day

Parker had a rough day today.

The kids usually come to the office with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then Eric is at home with them on Friday when I go in. This week since we are leaving to Portland, I'm working Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday instead, with the kids there all three days, and Parker is having a terrible time adjusting.

He shut the door over his toe and pulled off the toenail on his middle toe on the right foot. Not the whole toenail, but the whole right side. I cleaned up the blood and then put him on the couch, turned on Toy Story, and put a bag of ice on it.

Then he pulled over a white board and the edge scratched up his face right under his left eye. Once again I cleaned up teh blood, put him on the couch to watch Toy Story and left.It's a little bruised now but mostly okay.

Then Parker was in Eric's office and smashed his finger between the chair and the desk. His middle finger was bleeding and is now quite bruised.

The other day, Parker, while in the process of potty training, jumped off the toilet and pinched his butt between the seat and the toilet base. I guess better his butt then the other side.

I used to think he was so coordinated. . . . .

The One With Preslie's First Word

Well it's official now. Besides the normal babble of "ma ma ma ma" and "da da da da" and "boo" Preslie has said her first word . . . .and you'll never guess what it is. =]

My first word was "fry" followed very quickly by "hot". Parker's first word was "more" except he said it more like "mow" but would sign it to, so we knew that's what he was getting at.

Preslie's first word was . . . . . . . . .

DRUMROLL PLEASE . . . . . . . . .






Minnie.




Hilarious right?
She got two Minnie Mouse stuffed animals in Disneyland. She always used to point at them and "oohh ooohhh ooohhh" until we gave them to her.

Now she just says, "ninnie" and points.

I love her cute little girl voice. For as loud as she is when she cries or yells or gets angry at us, when she talks it's so quiet and dainty. I LOVE it!

Also Sunday night, the 27th, she started walking. Well not really walking, or else that would be the title of this blog. But she will take a step or two without holding on to things. If Eric stands her up and I sit a few feet in front of her, she will take two very wary steps, and then stop, then sit down on her bum and crawl over to me. So she knows how to do it, she is just lazy I think.

Very exciting stuff for such a cute little girl!

The One With The Bananas

Bananas have become a hot commodity in our house. Eric and I have been trying to get the kids acquainted with all kinds of fruits and vegetables, dinner gets lame when the only variation is opening up a can of green beans or opening up a can of corn. Plus fruit out of a can is disgusting, so we always try and get fresh fruit, whatever is in season.

Parker is obsessed with bananas. He would probably eat ten a day if I would let him, and I would let him, if bananas in mass were as easy to get out as they were to get in . . . if you know what I mean.

This last weekend we got a Bountiful Basket. I hope too many people aren't reading this post as Bountiful Basket has become a family secret, and if too many people know about it, it won't be a secret anymore. Lo and BEHOLD there were two bunches of bananas in the box!

Eric picked up the box of fruits and vegetables at 7am Saturday morning. It is 9am Monday morning, and we are down to a half a bunch of bananas. If I break off a banana, Parker is suddenly at my feet with his hands outstretched saying "I want nana." I have to hide it up my sleeve or in my pocket or something.

This morning Eric and I stealthily snuck two bananas into our bag to go to work. Eric successfully got his banana down without Parker seeing him. I started peeling my banana while Parker was back in his room watching Toy Story. It's like he has dog ears. The first pull of banana peel and he was immediately right next to me asking for the banana.

I said, "But Parker, this is mommy's." And then I gave it to him anyways. I always feel bad for selfishly wanting things for only me - my Heath bars, time to get ready, my comfy bed in the morning - how am I ever supposed to teach Parker to share if I don't show him?

So I sadly handed him the banana and went back to my work. A few minutes later Parker comes back in with half of the banana in his hand and says, "Look Mom, I broke this nana for you."

I guess all my sharing has rubbed off on the little man. . . . and that banana was better than ever!


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In other news, we spent most of the weekend painting our room.

Eric and I have always loved the super modern look. I think anyone can tell that when they walk into our house, it's why we bought the house that we did! (We do what we can with it since it doesn't have concrete floors and cables for stair railings, but still we like it.) But recently we seem to have veered from the super cold modern look - like concrete floors, cables for stair railings, and monochromatic colors - to more of the organic modern look.

Our room started to look too cold, and drab, and the gray just didn't offer much variation. Pictures will come soon, but our walls were gray, with a multicolored gray block accent wall (sounds weird, but everyone has liked it) black and gray bedding, and black furniture. Can anyone say monochromatic? I loved the room, but it was getting old. We hadn't done anything different in it for the three years we have owned the house.

The walls are now a beige and we have very organic purple bedding. Amazingly, Eric picked out the bedspread . . . . purple and all. I will put some pictures up soon. So far the walls are painted, and the bedding is on, but as far as decorations it looks like our room is staged to sell, we have to finish hanging things.

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Preslie is sick. Poor little girl has had a terrible case of the runs for DAYS now. Eric called me at work on Friday and said that when she got up that morning she was covered in poo, all up to her shoulders, puddled in her footie pajamas.

Eric doesn't like changing Preslie. He thinks it's against nature. I tell him it's okay because he's her Dad. So naturally I thought he was exaggerating.

Well after a similar experience waking up with her on Saturday and Sunday morning I no longer think he was exaggerating. We have gone through an entire box of diapers - that usually lasts us an entire month. And now her butt is all red and raw and I feel so terrible for the little girl.

All she wants to do is watch Sesame Street.

The One With All The Shows

With the addition of Netflix, AppleTV and Vudu, and the cancellation of our satellite (since we weren't really watching it anyways) a whole new world of movies and television shows has opened up. We all have our favorites.

When Parker was little, there was nothing we could do to keep him still for longer than 30 seconds. He didn't like playing with pots, any of his toys, he woudl sit in his swing and yell until I took him out. It wasn't until we put on "Finding Nemo" one day that he sat for the entire show GLUED to the TV. It was UTOPIA! He still will sit and not move while he watches it, it's like a drug . . . . and I keep giving it to him.

Preslie has been harder, she keeps herself entertained amazingly, but I always feel bad that she's just sitting in some corner somewhere playing with dust bunnies. WELL . . . . Eric figured out the cure.

Preslie's new favorite show is Sesame Street. And she will sit, on her bum, cross-legged, with her blanket in her lap, sippie cup in one hand and binky in the other and just stare at the TV. I think she has a crush on Elmo.

Parker has a million shows he wants to watch. He loves Sid the Science Kid, which is awesome, cause if he watches mroe than one episode at a time while I clean the house I feel like at least he is learning something. He also loves Phineas and Ferb  . . . . . I love constantly hearing Ashley Tisdale scream "PHINEAS!!!!!!" Seriously, it is my favorite. And his new favorite today is Jimmy Neutron. I guess we will end up with a genius troublemaker for a son. We also just watched Dispicable me, which he has decided is called "Despicable Daddy" because he takes it to literally when Eric says it.

I too have found the joys of the "TV Series" category on Netflix. In addition to watching an entire Hollywood Video's worth of rented movies, I have watched the entire series of Prison Break, Friends, caught myself up on Bone's and Grey's Anatomy (I am very excited that both of these shows are currently in season) and have currently set my tastes on Pushing Daisies. Dirt, Cougar Town, and the Tudors are in my sights as well, although I am open to suggestions.

Eric . . . . he pretty much watches what I have on. I'm a hog like that. We tried watching Lost together, but honestly got bored after episode 7 . . . . . how long before something happens in this show? Besides that, we already heard that the series ends lame, major turn off. Then we tried watching Bone's together, but I got too into it and watched most of it without him. We watched a few episodes of Weeds last night . . . . Eric thinks its hilarious, I mostly don't know what's going on. . . . . we'll see how long this one lasts.

As a family we watch Bizarre Foods, or as Parker calls it "Czar food".

Good times. We will have well television versed children.