Welcome to Oregon.

I am enjoying every minute of the Oregon fall. It is cold, rainy and overcast. I love it (in on October 16th, on March 16th not so much). I forgot how much I missed the Oregon seasons.

In true Oregon fashion, we welcomed our friends Tomas, Shae and Beckham last month with a rainy weekend. We hauled the two babies all around the state (more on that to come) and around Portland.

In an effort to introduce Tomas and Shae to Oregon beer (and organic food) we drove down to the Pearl for lunch at Bridgeport Brewery. Waiting in line behind a group of typical Oregonians we noticed a sweet baby not much younger than Ben.

As all mothers do, the mommy turned around to ask about Ben and Beckham. She asked how old our babies were and I looked down at her tiny bundle getting ready to return the question when my eyes grew wide as I realized this mom was breastfeeding her child while waiting for a table. I tried desperately to turn Shae and Tomas's attention to the free peep show as I quickly averted my eyes from the mother's areas.

It must be said that I am all about nursing your baby. I would even go as far to say I support feeding your baby in public, but in line at a restaurant? Please lady, if you are out there, please at least wait until you are seated. And get yourself a Hooter Hider.

Welcome to Oregon.

My Favorite Things: Summer Edition

Technically we still have 3 weeks left of summer but who really counts these last three weeks as summer. School is about to start, Pumpkin Spice Lattes are on the menu at Starbucks and it's currently a lovely 62 degrees outside (a far cry from the 100+ temperatures of early summer).

Here are some of our favorites of the last two months.

1. We celebrated many birthdays. My two sisters, a nephew, my forever friend Becky, a cousin, a sister-in-law, and me all are born in the summer.

2. We drove the hour and a half to the beach twice. It was gorgeous and has to be the most beautiful beach I've ever seen (and I've been to Hawaii many times).

3. Ben, Nate and I spent a week with the family at Black Butte Ranch where my parents have a cabin. We swam, rode bikes, walked, drank milkshakes and went to the fish hatchery. Ben loved the time with his cousins and loved Black Butte!

4. Design Star and Project Runway started!

5. In baby related news, Ben started solid foods (which he loves), can sit up, reaches for his mommy and sleeps all night (almost every night) in his crib.

6. We were finally able to spend time with all our family and friends back in our home state! There is so much to do when you actually know more than 3 people where you live!

My Favorite Things: May

1. My mom came to visit! Nate and I were having a little trouble (understatement) getting the house ready to sell with Ben hanging around (which he tends to do). Mama Wolcott flew out to help clean the house and spend some time with her newest grandson. Even with all the work we had a bunch of fun!

Sadly this is the only picture I took of Ben and his Gigi.

2. Nate and Cooper celebrated birthdays (their 29th and 4th respectively) and Ben celebrated his 3 month birthday! We celebrated by putting our house on the market and eating out at Nate's favorite birthday spot, Red Robin.

3. We put our house on the market. This is actually quite sad but we are really looking forward to actually selling it! 

4. I celebrated my first Mother's Day. We had a low key day but it was great to celebrate being a mom. A lot of things are uncertain right now but I know for sure that I was meant to be a mom. There is nothing better!

4. We drove up to Dallas (the real Texas). Ben was awesome in the car and we had a great time with our friends, Shay, Tomas, and Beckham. We were attacked by mosquitos the size of humming birds and spent some serious time in the heat. Ben learned a lot from Beckham (he's bilingual and sucks his feet at just 7 months). 

5. The Bachelorette and SYTYCD (So You Think Your Can Dance for all you non-fans out there) started! Nothing like some good trashy reality TV to get you through the summer!

It pays to be nice.

To get to Oregon from San Antonio one is required to fly on at least 2 different planes for at least 7 hours. Most often we fly through Denver which splits our time pretty evenly. 

This past trip we flew Continental to Houston which is only about a 30 minute flight. Not bad. I wish we could fly to P-town in a half hour. Flight numero uno went smoothly. Ben ate and was silent the entire trip. Not so hard for a half hour.

It was the next flight I was nervous about. From Houston to Portland is about 4 hours and 30 minutes. That's a long time in the eyes of a 2 month old (and in the eyes of his mother). Nate informed me I had an aisle seat. I wasn't too happy about the thought of flashing myself to an entire plane while feeding my son (I didn't yet own a Hooter Hider and had only a mere blanket to shield me from the onlookers). While in Houston (after eating the most delicious milkshake) we walked up to the gate attendants and asked to be switched to a window seat. We were informed there were none available. I have to be honest, I was mad. Mad at my husband for not getting me a window seat to begin with (what kind of man doesn't think about the effects of breast feeding on a plane?). Mad at the ladies for telling me no. Mad that I would have to feed my son and worry about the drink cart slamming into his sweet little head. Luckily my internal anger monitor was in service that day because I simply thanked them for checking and said I hoped no one minded my feeding my son.

As Nate and I walked away to wait for our plane o' misery the lady called me back to the desk. As a mother to a mother, she said, how would we like to sit in first class. I had to think about it for awhile. Did I want to spoil Ben like that on his first trip to Oregon? Would he think we had money to spend in frivolous ways when really he has two unemployed parents? Would he expect extravagant gifts at Christmas and one of those gigantic blow up decorations in our yard? No. And if he does then let him suffer. We were flying first class.

Flying first class kind of ruins any other type of travel for the rest of your life. Was it worth it though? Yes. We did receive a few nervous looks as we boarded the plane with young Ben. Just wait, I thought. Wait until they see what an awesome baby he is. Before the plane even took off Nate was sucking down free whiskey like he was born to do so. I was really wanting some free alcohol but decided the stares I would get while simultaneously drinking and nursing my son wouldn't be worth it. I stuck to Diet Coke. We also got free dinner, a free movie, a really super hot towel that I'm not sure what you are supposed to do with besides burn yourself (it was really hot) and they use real dishes! Ben didn't make a peep the entire trip (take that haters) and actually slept through the majority of his first class experience (no need to worry about previous worries). I, however, tried to stay awake the entire trip so I wouldn't miss one second of luxury. Seriously though, first class rocks.

The moral of this story is: Always (I stress the always) be nice to anyone who might be able to put you in first class. It's so worth it.

A Year In Review

January

• Brought in the New Year with Nate's family!
• My parents came to visit the grand ole' city of San Antonio.
• I quit my job (actually in December of '07) and enjoyed some very much needed "me" time.

February

• I got a part time job. Way better than my old job!

March

• My niece, Makena, was born!
  
  
  
• Nate and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary.
• I flew home to Oregon to meet Makena and help celebrate Drew's 2nd and Luke's 4th birthdays.
• Nate and I went to Seattle for Nate's cousin's wedding. It was a Hindu wedding and was so gorgeous (and the food was awesome). Nate was a groomsman and made an awesome speech at the Sangeet (which he wrote minutes before on a napkin).

April

• I attended my first Fiesta celebration here in San Antonio. 
• Cooper had his toe amputated. Sad!

May

• Nate turned 28!
• My parents came to visit.
• We decided we wanted a baby!

June

• We went to San Francisco with Nate's work team (they won a regional contest). We were able to see Nate's sisters (Suzanne and Jessica) and Brent. We saw my forever friend, Becky (seriously we've been friends for 28 years)! And we got to go to Alcatraz. My favorite place ever!
• I got knocked up.

July

• We celebrated 4th of July with our Texas friends.
• Morning sickness kicked in (and is sadly still sticking around- although better- in December).
• We told the families we are having a baby!
• I turned 28 on the 28th!

August

• I traveled home to Portland and we took a family trip to my parents' cabin in Black Butte. Sadly Nate couldn't take the time off and join us but he will be there in 2009!




• We found out we are (almost certainly) having a boy. I was shocked!

September

• Nate and I flew to Boulder, CO for a friend's wedding. It was so gorgeous! 
• I went to a few very fun baby showers!

October

• I went back to Oregon to see the family and hang out with my dad after his surgery. 
• I had a big scare on the flight back to San Antonio and had to go to the ER in Denver. By myself mind you. The people at the hospital were so nice to me!
• We found out we are definitely having a boy! He's quite the show off!

November

• My mom came to visit and we worked on the nursery. We went shopping and had a great time!
• I found out I have PIH (pregnancy induced hypertension) and was sentenced to bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy.
• We had our very first "grown up" Thanksgiving with Rob and Christine!

December

• My parents came to visit for Christmas! It was an awesome time!
• My baby is still cooking!

About 6 months ago...

Nate and I took a vacation to San Francisco. Nate's work team had the top sales in the region and were rewarded with the trip. San Francisco is one of my favorite places ever however Nate isn't much of a city person. We were able to shop, see two of Nate's sisters who live in the area and my forever friend, Becky (we've been friends for 28 years people)! We also did a bunch of sight seeing including my favorite place in the world, Alcatraz!

I thought it would be fun to finally post some of my favorite pictures from the trip! They are mostly scenic (it was just the two of us for most of the trip) and some aren't the best (I'm still learning how to use my awesome SLR camera Nate got me last Christmas). Here they are...

My favorite place, Alcatraz!

Nate enjoying a Deschutes beer (very hard to find in TX)!

At Alcatraz...

Had to take this one because Nate works for J&J! 

Chinatown