Babies, pumpkins, and chickens

Highlights over the past few weeks include time cuddling with Baby Grady, carving a real pumpkin and dressing Trey up as the cutest pumpkin ever, and a visit to the chicken coop at my dad and Sandy's house.

The weather has changed, the leaves are (were) gorgeous, and our days are shorter.  Fall is really here with winter just around the corner.  I'm really looking forward to the upcoming days off from work (Veteran's Day on Friday, a week off at Thanksgiving due to furlough days and the holiday), and, of course, Christmas break....yes, I am already thinking about Christmas break.

 A walk up at Mt. Tabor

The plan was for Trey to play on the playground with Sarah and Kennedy while Adam, Randy and I chatted, but this is what happened instead...

Julie and Tim are in the throes of parenthood.  Grady is a sweet baby with a pretty happy demeanor.  He's only 5 weeks old, so he still gets confused that daytime is for being cute and alert and nighttime is for dreamland.  I was looking back at my blog from when Trey was that age...so quickly we forget how hard and exhausting it is.  

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks:

Trey loves to be in his crib and just "hang out". This usually means throwing his toys and blankets over the edge and giggling as I have Elmo and company "climb" up the crib and fall back into his lap.  I also like to put books in his crib, and I love watching him sit and look through them (even if they are upside down).

 A weekend morning at the science playground at OMSI

Trey thinking, "Seriously?  I get to play in the water
and you're not going to stop me????" 

"Hmmmm, let me see how far I can splash this water and how wet I can get." 

"Better taste this ball." 

All the other kids moved on, but Trey was so content at the water table.  He could have stayed here all day long.  He was DRENCHED when we finally took him away from the table.  

Halloween this year was definitely more of an event than it was last year.  Trey got to carve his first pumpkin, went to a Halloween party at the Woodlawn Swap n Play, and went to another party at his daycare.  We skipped the trick or treating since it was bedtime, but Trey didn't seem to mind.

 Trey digging the guts out of his first pumpkin.

"Now that I have everything out of the pumpkin it's time to put it all back in." 

 Our two pumpkins

Checking out the jack-o-lantern

 Headed to the Woodlawn Swap n Play party with Mindy and Camille 

When we arrived I told Randy that I was bummed Trey couldn't walk yet because he couldn't "mingle" with all of the other kids.  After watching Mindy and Bill chase Camille and Jason and Stefanie chase Declan all around the party, I decided it wasn't so bad that we got to sit in the corner and chat while Trey crawled around.  

Mom and Trey

After the party, Randy's fishing buddies, Jason and Ryan, came back to our house with their wives and boys.  We ordered pizza and hung out while the boys played.  This was so much easier than going out to dinner like we originally had planned.  I love seeing Trey with two friends "playing" in his room.

 Trey and Randy at the daycare party

That's Trey's bed back in the corner.   I still can't believe he takes 2.5 hour naps in this place.  A freaking miracle if you ask me.

Last weekend we went down to Eugene for a fishing/haircut/grandparents trip.  I would say that the majority of Trey's books have to do with animals, so I was excited to get him out to see the chickens and ducks that Heidi and Kelly have at their house.  I love these pictures that Randy took.

 Trey's not too sure about the rooster...

who, by the way, didn't get the memo about the time change.

 Trey and the rooster about to come head to head

I think he did make contact with the chicken 

but luckily there was no pecking involved.,

 Trey was so comfortable with the birds.  

I think he's going to be a creature guy just like his dad.

Trey and Grandpa Gerts

Randy and Trey down at the river.  The tree to the right is where Randy and I were standing when we said our wedding vows.

Extra Random:

Trey likes to hide things around the house.  I looked all over for his "skipit" (his blanket that he has with him all of the time) and could not find it anywhere.  I realized I need to start looking in cupboards and found it in the butcher block.  This kid cracks me up.

Trey hanging out in the man chair reading his books.  I don't know what the story is with his shirt.  Either drool or something from dinner??

I needed to keep Trey entertained while I was doing some things in the kitchen.  Having him play with dried beans and a variety of bowls did the trick.

We are having so much fun with Trey right now.  He is constantly learning new things and exploring.  I love his curiosity and his delight when he figures something out.  He has been extra clingy for the past few weeks, but I secretly love it because it means more cuddle time for Mama.  

Sixteen months old!

Trey is sixteen months old today!  I can't believe how fast time has gone and how much he has grown.  Being around Julie's baby who is only two weeks old reminds me of how tiny Trey used to be.

The camera is pretty wobbly (or maybe it's Trey), but here is Trey walking while holding on to just one hand.  He's making progress!  And I'm starting to wonder if his slow motor development is just his first attempt to torture his mother (being a neurotic special ed teacher who is hypersensitive about developmental milestones and all).

I'm sorry to say that I don't have many interesting things to report from the past two weeks.  I thought maybe I'd share what a normal day looks like for us as working parents.  Thrilling, I know:
5:00am - Elliptical time and bonding with my Friends: Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe and Joey.  I might start talking about them like I know them which is reminiscent of my maternity leave.

Around 5:30am - Trey wakes and Randy gets him up having some quiet morning time together

5:30-7:20am - Morning routines of getting ready for work and playing with Trey in the living room which includes an assortment of books, blocks, trucks, and puzzles.  I get the headlines of the day from Matt and Ann, and then I take Trey to daycare.

7:30-4:30 - Work time.  I am so lucky that I enjoy going to work.  Combining that with Trey loving his daycare makes working full time a lot easier than I anticipated.  For those of you who don't know what I do, I work at an Evaluation Center doing comprehensive evaluations for special education.  I work with a variety of clinical and school psychologists, speech and language pathologists, and other evaluation specialists.  We go into the schools and kids also come to our office.  I really like the variety of schools and students who I work with, but I miss the relationships and community of one building.

4:30-6:30 - Play time, dinner time, bath time, story time, bed time.  It's so precious and it goes so fast.  Sometimes Trey is pretty tired and cranky, but his post-daycare meltdowns seem to have ceased and I think he has adjusted to his new schedule.  Now he's generally in a pretty good mood and we treasure our evenings together.

6:30-a really early bedtime - I have been enjoying meal planning and cooking dinner.  A few weeks ago I bought an issue of Everyday Food and have made four of the recipes so far.  I'm a fan! After dinner it's usually computer time, tv time, reading time, and my favorite...bed time.

The weeks go fast and the weekends are better than ever before because it means All Trey All Day.

Here are some pictures from the past two weeks:

 Playing at Woodlawn Park on the new play structure

The old structure was destroyed by arson.  Yep, we live in the 'hood.

 At the Oaks Park Hops Fest

It was a perfect fall day in Portland, and it was nice to be outside.

 If he can't walk on his feet, maybe he can walk on his hands.

 Intent on finding the perfect piece of dirt

Trey having fun with sticks

 Trey seeing his cousin, Grady, for the first time

Grandpa Gerts and Grady 

Dad and Sandy with their two grandsons

 Tim and Randy (Feifers family members by marriage) with their sons

This may be the only baby Randy has ever held besides Trey.  

Amazingly, Grady didn't cry.  

Randy has definitely improved his baby handling skills. 

I know it's gross, but Trey really likes playing with our bottles in the recycling bins.

Hey, at least we know he has a career as a bottle sorter when he gets older. 

On Wednesday I spent the afternoon with Julie and Grady.  

The sweet boy slept in my arms for almost two hours.  

Talk about baby heaven.   

While I was holding him I decided that it is much more relaxing
when the baby isn't your own.

Although, the difference could be that this time around I am rested...

Here's a confession.  Hopefully, you got bored by my daily schedule above so you didn't get this far.  I love bargain shopping.  Working parttime last year made me very price conscious when grocery shopping.  I even have a very dorky spreadsheet of items we buy and what the prices are in the different stores where I shop (Winco, Fred Meyer, Safeway, New Seasons, Target and Costco).  I love getting deals.  And I don't mean "bulk buying at Costco" deals, but more like sales and coupons.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm a borderline hoarder, but I think I prefer the "extreme couponing" title instead.  And, to my defense, I only hoard...I mean bargain shop...for things that we actually use.  Here is my recent acquisition.

Baby Grady Has Arrived!

Julie and Tim had their baby!!!!!!  Grady Joseph McGuire was born on Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 7:58am.  He weighed in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and was 20 inches long.  He has some blonde/light brown hair and dark blue grey eyes.  Mama and Grady are both doing great!

Julie went into labor on Sunday night.  I got a text from her at 4:30am on Monday and a voice mail at 5:15am.  I knew I had missed something!  Crap!  But when I talked to her at 5:30am, I found that she was still at home but had been in labor all night.  She and Tim went to the hospital that morning, and she was checked in after her water broke.  Julie had a very long day on Monday...Baby Grady wasn't quite ready to come out yet.  Luckily, after some rest and relief Monday night, Julie was able to successfully deliver a healthy baby boy with no complications!  My dad, Julie's BFF Deena, and Deena's mom Judy and I were in the waiting room starting at 6:30am on Tuesday.  We got the word that he had arrived around 8:20am.  I thought that was a long two hours, but it was nothing like the next two hours where we had to wait before we could see them.  We were so excited when Tim sent me a text that we could come back.  We could not wait to meet the newest Feifers family member.

Judy and Deena in the waiting room 

Dad and I waiting, waiting, waiting... 

Grandpa Gerts holding Grady when he was just two hours old 

I can't wait for Grady and Trey to be best friends!!!!

"Grandma" Judy and Julie looking at the perfect baby 

One day old

I can't wait to spoil this boy rotten.

Proud Papa

Julie, Tim, and Grady 

Wednesday night with Grandpa gazing at the baby 

Open eyes!

Trey has just finished his second full week at daycare with no absences! Yay!

A picture M sent me on Wednesday of Trey playing

M, his daycare provider, is giving me a daily sheet to tell me about his day, food, diapers, and naps.  I really love these sheets because it gives me an idea of how Trey's days go.  Here is the one from today.  Can you see why Trey and I both love his daycare?

"Today was a delightful day despite the misty greyness...the weather actually added a cozy feel to our time indoors and a refreshing accent to the fall environment outside. After a gentle morning of free play and stories we ventured off to the play gym and then continued on to the park to pick J up from school and to play outside.  We then returned home for a warm lunch and naptime.  After nap, Trey was in a quiet play mode and enjoyed playing kitchen with "skipit" (his soft blanket).  Overall, Trey was in a lovely mood and really had a good day."

Randy, Trey and I have had some fun over the past two weeks.

Trey riding his scooter outside on the sidewalk 

Breakfast at Muddy's last weekend (I think - maybe the weekend before)

I was looking forward to hearing about Dyer's wedding, 

but they were so busy she barely got to talk to us. 

 Hood River Hops Fest

High fives with Dad

This was tonight.  Trey decided he wanted to "help" me with dinner.  He has become way too interested in the items in the drawers and cabinets.  I usually let him go to town until he gets to the glassware.

It's been a long week with the baby's arrival, my dad staying with us for three nights, and Randy and I both fighting off a cold.  I can't wait to get to bed tonight and read my book, Cutting For Stone.  First comes our fancy dinner - grilled cheese and tomato soup.  It's almost 8 o'clock...Mama better get cookin'.