my little traveler!

grayson and mom on the oregon coast (bandon, OR)

grayson is now 7 weeks old and since the last post he has been our little jet-setter! we had an awesome visit from gramma and grampa Armington, as well as aunt lindsey... gray loved being held all the time by everyone! at the end of their trip to portland they invited me and G to join them for their roadtrip down Hwy 101 along the oregon coast into california.  it was a great time! we had great weather for the most part and saw some beautiful parts of the country! grayson did awesome! he loved being in the car (slept mostly) and did fine sleeping in hotels! the best part was that he also slept our entire flight from san francisco to portland!!! made mommy very proud ... and happy i wasn't one of "those" people with a screaming baby on the plane! (at least this time) it was my practice round for the longer flights to michigan in september. our little traveler will have been to 5 states by the time he's about 3 months old with our upcoming trips to michigan, illinois, and iowa!!!

loves his mobiles

at 7 weeks, grayson is now so much more alert! he is looking at the world around him with such awe. he loves to stare up at the lights above. we love his hair, it's coming in much more now and is SO red!! he's now graduated into 0-3/3M tops, but still in newborn pants depending on the brand.  he is getting so long and big! when the armington's were here we took 'bets' on how much he'll weigh at his next appointment... we'll see!! also he is sleeping much better which helps me out a ton! he has discovered his rattle (thanks to gramma, he loves it!) and playmat (still figuring that one out), and still loves his mobiles.  chase (the cat) still doesn't want much to do with him, but at least they aren't not getting along :-)  we are excited for a visit from my friends ellen & katie this coming weekend, and next up is grandpa clayton & grandma anne in early september! (yikes... september... that means i have to go back to work soon. not really looking forward to that just yet!)

4 weeks!

1 month!

the little dude has made it through his first milestone of life...  grayson is a month old! i won't say it's been the easiest thing we've ever done... whoever says having kids is easy must have been sleep deprived. in fact a friend of mine told me day 1 of being a parent she was ready for #2. chad and i agree, she's crazy! so far i have to say it is an amazing, yet tiring ride.  but every time he looks up at me when he hears my voice... oh my! it makes all those sleepless hours well worth it.  grayson loves, loves to be held and snuggled.  he is definitely starting to "see" us! he nurses well (and often!), and on monday he weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds, 15 ounces... ok he's still a light weight! but we're glad he's growing :-)  we spend most of our days sleeping, eating, and diaper changing... but get out for a walk every day which both gray and mom love. in fact grayson likes to fall asleep by going on walks or car rides. it's been a savior a couple times for chad & me.  last weekend G went to his first wedding and did great! he was the life of the party! (actually he slept the whole time which was fine!)  here are a couple pictures from the past week or so...

sparty on!

my little Spartan!

out cold

chillin' with daddy-o

wide awake in my bouncy seat

love my mobile!

what?

so peaceful!

hello there!

'gray' is one month old!

little man update

hello there! grayson is now 2 weeks, 3 days old :-) and doing very well. his first couple pediatric appointments went great after he started gaining weight... he was just about back to his birth weight at our 2 week check up, and had grown another 1/4 inch.  he's still wearing newborn clothes (some preemie) and i wonder if he'll get to wear some of the cutest outfits we have waiting for him before it gets too cold!  the little guy is definitely more alert this week, his eyes are always wandering to new sounds and our voices. i swear, he can see me now! nights are long as he, like many babies i've heard, likes to be awake more than asleep. we are all trying to get used to our new schedule and of course some days are better than others.  grayson is finally learning to nurse and that has made mom & dad VERY proud! although now this means he likes to eat ALL the time! hello dairy queen (my new nickname)!!  we have had lots of visitors in the past week; gray loves being held by everyone! here are some pictures to enjoy!

after my first bath!

uncle nelson likes to "hog" holding me

 

my sad face is still super cute

 

hello! i'm wide awake
 

mom, your hands are huge!
 

me & my "brother" chase like to nap together
 

my future babysitter grace (age 7)
 

my dad's not the only one in the family w/ red hair!

me and my great uncle frank (my Nonna's brother)
 

my mama likes to put me in my swing, i like it too!

(it keeps me quiet for awhile) :-)
 

what can i say, i'm a ladies man!

me with jenny and jenna
 

hanging out with mom

 

what's up with this tummy time thing?

meet Grayson!

Mama and me

Grandma came to see mehanging with Dad full tummy! I'm cute! I look like my dad :-)

sleepy old man

july=baby month!

well june was pretty much the worst month of my life ... there are no words to describe accurately what losing my mom has been like. everyday i think: maybe today i won't cry, maybe today it will be ok, and then ... it's not ok and i do cry. i know this is all normal, but i can't help feeling cheated.

i started writing this blog post on july 1, now it's july 14 and baby Armington has arrived! sunday, july 4th, 2010, grayson james armington was born at 8:19 pm at providence portland medical center. he weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces at birth, and was 20 1/4 inches long. and what a blessing he is! his birth story has some ups and downs, but in the end the sweet grayson came into our lives and has changed every part of what we knew before.

the birth of our son has been bittersweet. all of the emotions, hormones, and lack of sleep make for a pretty teary-eyed mama most days, but thankfully most of the tears are joyful. i wish every second of every day that my mom would have been able to meet little G. she would have been so proud of his red hair, big beautiful eyes, and soft skin. i tell grayson about his Nonna everyday, someday i know he'll understand what i'm saying and be sad he couldn't meet her too.

coming into the month of july i tried to have a new perspective on things. not to forget of course, but to remember everyday what a great mom i had, and with grayson's birth use her to be a better mama to him. i know she is helping me in some way, whether it is comforting the baby when he's trying to nurse, calming him at a time of meltdown (!) or easing me to sleep in one of my many 2 hour breaks between feedings. i know it will get easier; i try and remember that although sometimes it is hard to get past the sadness.

day 10 today... we're exhausted but so very happy! grayson is amazing and i now know what all my parent friends were talking about... it truly is the best thing in the world.

single digits!

single digits meaning only 9 weeks to go! 31 weeks down, time is really flying. yesterday my good friends maya and sara (one of chad's bosses actually!) threw me a baby shower here in portland, it was fabulous! lots of wonderful ladies were there, and were very generous! as i have said before, baby A is already very loved! i'm pretty sure we have everything we need (and more!) so really, he can come anytime now! i know it's best for him to stay in there as long as possible, but seriously, i am SO ready to not be preggers anymore! haha

work has been super busy lately which is a good problem to have (except for the fact that i am just a little bit (a lot!) tired pretty much all the time again. i'm really looking forward to having the summer off! no work, new baby, lots of visitors... sounds to me like the summer might be awesome!

another awesome thing: we just found out that chad's sister amanda and her boyfriend ben are moving to corvallis, oregon in the fall! amanda was accepted to oregon state for grad school, yay! we are so incredibly excited to have family close to us! i'm already planning future get togethers, holidays, and visits to OSU!!! i think it's about an hour and a half from portland. yipeeeeeee!

baby on the brain...

so i guess i'm not super good at blogging... it has been a month since i last posted. since then, we were fortunate enough to meet chad's family in florida for a week's vacation on the beach in palm coast... ahhhh it was amazing. literally i hardly did ANYthing but it was amazing. did i say how amazing it was? spending time with chad's family is fabulous, and of course the sunshine, beachfront condo, warm weather, good food, and time off work weren't half bad either. it is now my recommendation to EVERY preggo out there to go on vacation while expecting. especially if you get super stressed out and busy part way through (as i was right before we left). it was a total rejuvenation, relaxing wonderful week.

for mother's day chad asked me if i wanted anything. i was a little weirded out since i'm not quite a mom yet, but then realized that this baby is pretty real growing inside me, so yes, i did want something. i wanted to get the baby's room painted!! so, my fabulous husband worked all day long at the restaurant, and then came home and painted the room with my help (i didn't do the hard parts, chad was awesome and did the edges of the walls... not only b/c i'm preggers but also because i have a very difficult time rolling close to the edge of a wall without getting paint everywhere it shouldn't be!) :-)

not only did we paint... but we put together the crib! and now the furniture is all in there. we still need to find a rug and possibly some curtains, but for the most part things are in place. it is very exciting. i have spent probably a total of 2 hours since last night when we finished moving everything back in there, just sitting on the glider staring at everything! (and yes, i did work all day today, i just have been sitting in there a lot!) i am definitely beginning to realize just how real this whole thing is! sure, i will get to dress him up all cute and stuff, but we also have to care for him (not to mention the fact that i have to BIRTH him first, yikes! sidenote: we also started our childbirth prep classes, double yikes and holy eye opener!!). in all seriousness though, it is unreal how much he means to me already and i still haven't even met him. (shed a tear, i know.)

so... needless to say this last month has been all about the little dude (still remains nameless). i can't believe it's practically mid-may! where does the time go?

stuffed avocados-YUM

i made these for an appetizer one night... they turned out DELISH! i got the recipe from one of my favorite specialty grocery stores here in portland (zupan's). gotta love a good, easy app, and of course this one has some health benefits to it, with the good fats in avocado.

stuffed avocados - makes 4 halves
* 2 large ripe avocados
* 1 T butter
* 1/2 medium white onion, finely chopped
* 4 oz. almonds, chopped (i forgot to add these!)
* 4 oz. smoked or plain gruyere cheese, grated
* 4 T parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated
* 2 T fresh parsley, chopped
* 2 T sherry (also omitted this)
* 1 t. salt
* 1 t. fresh ground black pepper

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees (i used our toaster oven and it worked great!)
2. saute onion in butter for 10 minutes or until soft.
3. cut avocados in half, remove pit, and scoop out flesh, being careful not to damage the skin. dice avocado flesh.
4. in medium bowl, combine onion, avocado, gruyere and parm, parsley, sherry, salt, and pepper. mix gently. (ok i just typed this right from the recipe! no wonder i forgot the almonds... they did too! i'm assuming this is where you add them)
5. pile mixture into the empty avocado skins and place in a shallow baking dish. bake for 12 minutes and serve immediately. (side note: i think i baked for 15. i ended up sprinkling some panko breadcrumbs and a little more parm on the top before baking, so i waited 'til they were browned on top.)
6. ENJOY!!!

happy easter!

on this easter holiday, i am missing family and friends a lot. memories of kath and i in our easter dresses and hats, and alex in his little man suit with vest and tie, stick out strongly in my mind right now... those hats were a little ridiculous Mom :-) i remember the yellow bush/tree that was in our backyard on south second, always in bloom for easter.

this year, the skies are gray but trees and flowers are in bloom here in portland. we have a TON of tulips in our front yard, everyday another few open up. spring is definitely here, of course in PDX that means rain too. the easter bunny didn't come to our house this year, but i think he might make an appearance next year :-) i am going to cook a nice dinner tonight but i'm still trying to work out the menu.

as i write this, baby A is kicking me a lot! i think it's because he wants (me to eat) some starburst jelly beans. he is 24 weeks along now, only (give or take) 16 more to go! i can't wait to meet the little guy! if old wives tales are true, based on the heartburn, he will have a full head of hair!! we shall see...

numero uno

so i've never "blogged" before but i am pretty sure all you do is write whatever the heck you want, and if someone wants to read it, they do. if not, it's basically an online journal? at any rate, here is our blog. i figured maybe someday in the near future, when the button decides to join our family this summer, it might be nice for our dear family and friends far away to read about what's going on somewhere else other than facebook. ha!

tonight what i will write about is:
a.) i am so glad it's friday. i got home from work at 8 pm due to a busy friday schedule and lots of charting to do. it's nice to come home to the little guy (chase, our cat), thursday night shows online, and a bowl of granola for dinner (a little heartburn today... cereal sounded really good and really mild). chad's working tonight.
b.) i am super, super pumped about MSU making it to the final 4 again this year... game time tomorrow 3:07 pm (PST)!!! since only 1 of my MSU shirts fit right now (thank you button!) i will be sporting my (tight) green and white and proudly cheering on the spartans in hopefully a victory over butler.
c.) our new grill. it makes me so excited for summer! what could be better than grilling out, a nice chilled glass of kim crawford (for you Miss!) which of course i won't be partaking in until after baby A arrives, and being with friends and family, which very soon will be +1. :-)