River Cruise

Happy New Years Eve!! Today we went on a river cruise on the Willamette River which runs through downtown Portland. The name of the boat we traveled on is The Portland Spirit.We were seated at a table on a climate controlled deck as the cruise included lunch. It was pretty chilly out today so it was good that the main deck where we were most of the time was heated. They provided a highchair for Chance which he did not care much to sit in for long. He would not be held down for this cruise there was too much to see so we spent the cruise taking turns walking around the boat with him and letting him crawl around where there was no one working so he did not get in the way. We went passed little fishing boats and house boats and under bridges and even passed by a submarine. It was a lot of fun. We braved the weather to go out on the upper deck where Scott and I took a few pictures of the scenery you can see those pictures and the rest from the cruise if you click on the 'New Pictures' link to the right and then click into the 'Portland Dec/Jan 02-08 Trip' album. Chance likes people so much he wanted to crawl around and say hi to everyone. He did crawl over and make friends with the piano player who liked him very much. He also made friends with our waitress by trying to steal the pens out of her apron while she took our order. He also braved the cold to go up to visit the Wheel House and meet the Captain. We also visited the smallest floating gift shop on the Willamette River where we could not help ourselves and bought the little hat in the last picture. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed watching all the interesting things as we motored by them.

Cookies and Kitties

Chance has been having a lot of fun here in Portland as have the rest of us. He has lots of new things to see and do and he gets lots of extra special attention from Grandma and Grandpa. He spends his days playing with his new toys which he got for Christmas. He chases the dog and the cat around the house and then crawls around to get lots of loveys from everyone. Today Scott and I left Chance with Grandma and Grandpa while we went out for Sushi at a fun little restaurant where the sushi went by on a conveyor belt. It was fun because I had never been to one of those types of restaurants before. After we ate we took a drive around the city before returning to the house. In the first picture Chance is eating some holiday cookies with Grandpa and in the second picture Chance can be seen trying to get through the baby gate to play with Pandi the cat.

Teeth, teeth and more teeth.

Chance was acting really cranky the last couple of days and we thought it was just from the time change and the traveling and being in a new place but turns out that is not the case. Chance has sprouted two new teeth! The two front top teeth are now poking out of his little gums. I have been trying to get a good picture of his new teeth but so far have not been lucky. This upside down picture was captured in an effort to get a good teeth pic. He is so funny. He has also learned 'gentle' When he would bang on something he was not supposed to I have been petting it and saying "gentle" yesterday I caught him banging on something he shouldn't be and so I told him to stop and that he needed to be gentle. So he stopped banging and petted it jsut like I had showed him. He is such a good boy.

Climbing Stairs

So Scott's Mom's house is three floors tall and since we do not have any stairs at our house to teach him to climb properly I have been working with Chance to learn how to climb the stairs while we are here. It only took one time to show him how to go up and two times to teach him how to go down correctly. He still is not 100 percent with going down and I would not let him go by himself but today with me right behind him he went all the way form the second floor ot the first floor by himself. I am really supprised about how fast he caught on to going down but I am happy that he is so smart. He was self motivating when he went down by himself the first time. He would

take his pasifier out of his mouth and toss it down on the next step then climb down and then toss his pacifier down to the next step again. This time he was tossing the 'V' down in front of him.

Chance with a White Christmas

After Chance woke up from his nap it was still snowing so we took him out to look around and take a few pictures. It was cold but not as cold as I thought it would be for snow. Chance did not seem to care one way or the other about the snow. He noticed there was something different but as far as he is concerned this is jsut another new thing he has never seen but everyone else seems to know all about. There was enough snow to write him name on the car and let Chance to put some in Chance's hand which he just thought was cold and threw it down. All in all it was fun and I am glad that he woke up while there was still snow. Soon after we came inside it stopped snowing and by the time the sun went down the snow was gone.

A White Christmas

Merry Christmas to all!! It is snowing!! We woke up this morning and opened presents then just after we put Chance down for his morning nap Scott's Mom looked out the window and exclaimed "It is Snowing!" We put on our coats and went out to enjoy it. It is snowing just enough to cover the ground. I am a little sad that Chance is asleep but it is still snowing so maybe it will still be when he wakes up. It hasn't snowed on Christmas day in Portland since 1937 so this is a real treat. This is the first time I have ever seen snow on Christmas.

New Camera

I got a new camera for Christmas. Scott let me open it a little early so I could use it

to capture all of our Christams festivities planned for tonight and tomorrow. We made the flight to Portland, OR yesterdeay and will be staying here through the end of the year. These are just a couple pictures we took with the camera today and will post more later. I love it, It makes the pictures look so much clearer. I can't wait to learn all the cool things that the new camera can do.

Happy Birthday Chance!!

Today is Chance's first birthday! We had a very long and eventful day. Starting early at 9am our power went out. It turns out that the wire which comes form the pole at the street to our house was still a temperary wire that they put up after Katrina and with the bad winds we had over the weekend and then the rain we had yesterday it wasn't holding up so well. The wire was sparking and smoking and the power was going in and out so we turned the power off at the house. It wasn't until after 7pm that we got our power turned back on. We were lucky that the weather was mild and we had planned Chance's party early enough in the day that we did not need light also that we had baked the cake the night before. So everything went off without a hitch. My Mom drove up on Wednesday so she was here for the party and then we had four other moms and children over for the party. We just let the kids play while we talked then we had cake. This was truly a fun experience for us all. Chance loved the cake. He picked it up in his little hands and just pushed the whole piece into his mouth until it was all gone and all over him. We had party favors and party hats which Chance actually worn for a while. I think he had a good time with the friends from our playgroup. After the party we had to give Chance a bath he was so dirty from the cake. Once he had his bath we opened his birthday presents. He never really got into opening presents. He loved all the things inside but only helped a little to open them. Another issue is he wanted to play with all the presents and then completely lost interest in opening them. I guess that isn't a bad thing though. Hanukkah would be a great thing one present per day plenty of time to play with your new gift before being bothered to open another one. So after the sun started to go down we brought out candles and since we are leave Sunday for Portland and my Mom is driving home tomorrow we decided to open our Christmas gifts tonight as well. We ordered in dinner and brought out blankets to stay warm then opened the rest of the presents. Chance got lots of great things as did me and Scott as well as Grammy. It was really kind of neat opening the presents my candle light. The electric man arrived just in time to turn the heat on for sleeping. He replaced the old wire in about 20 minutes and we had power again. Chance was up way past his bed time opening presents and then playing with all of his new toys. I think he had a really nice birthday and certainly a memorable one for the rest of us. Thank you to everyone who sent him gifts we appreciate everything.

Getting ready for a party

Well we are busy getting ready for Chance's birthday party tomorrow. I know a few days ago I said he was going to his one year check-up but that got posponed until after we get back from Portland in January. On Tuesday we went to Toys-R-Us where they gave Chance a balloon and a crown to wear and announced that it was his birthday this week. He would not wear the crown inthe store but after we picked Scott up from the airport and came home I put the crown back on Chance and he wore it while Scott carried him around the house. We spent most of the day today cleaning up the house, making cake and putting party favors together. Chance doesn't have any idea what he is in for but he will have fun playing with everyone at the party.

Santa and Playdate

It has been a long weekend for us here.

Saturday night Chance was sick. He was running a temprature of 101 to 102 for the whole second half of the day. After he woke form his nap on Saturday he just laid on the couch with me and we watched Baby Einstein videos and the original Batman movie. It was so sad he really wanted to play but was too sick to do anything. At the end of the day I gave him some Tylenol and a lukewarm bath and put him to bed. He slept through the night and then on Sunday he did not have a temp. but his little nose was running all day. He played though and had a good day over all. On Sunday I caught his cold and spent the day stuffed up and achy then today my voice was going and Chance was still stuffy but we had to get out of the house. So I asked the other people who were at the playdate we had scheduled for today if they minded if we came with possible colds and they said we should come anyway so we did. Chance had a good time playing with the other kids. At one point he disappeared and we found him under a table driving around this little car. The first picture is from a playdate we went on week befroe last where one of the ladies who owns a photography studio took all the kids pictures with Santa (her husband). She gave me our photos from the shoot today at the playdate. Sorry it is small but if you click on the picture it gets bigger. Chance's one year check-up is tomorrow at 2pm and Scott gets in at 4:37p so we are going to have another busy day tomorrow also did I mention I have to clean for Chance's birthday party? add that to the list.

Winno Baglady Witch

This is an old post that I found in my Drafts folder and don't know why I did not post it so here it is.

So we went out a few days ago to the A and P which is no longer the A and P it is now Rouses I think but it is the grocery store in the Quarter. It was cool outside not too cold but we were debating on if Chance needed a blanket. Scott grabbed this green cape/afgan thing I crocheted a few years ago. When I began crocheting it things were going fine but then they started turning for the worse and I ended up with a really fancy really warm half oval thing. Weirdly enough it has two little tufts on it right where your shoulders are if you toss it around your neck. I think it was a valient first effort in afgan making however it should never been doned in public. Nevertheless Scott wrapped it around Chance with his little skull cap and this is what it looked like. Scott thought it looked so funny that he laughed and laughed and had to take this picture. He looks like a Winno baglady wizard.

Laptop

One of the toys I brought for him was his laptop and he played with it a lot on the drive back home. Driving back we did not stop over night. Chance was being good and I was not getting tired so we just kept on driving and made it home in one day. We had a good time visiting with the Taylors. Thank you guys for letting us stay with you.

Dancing

While at Peter's shop a friend of his stopped by, Ruth. She was very nice and even though I do not think we have actually met we both felt like we had met somewhere in the past. Brye was dancing and got both Abbi and Ruth in on it too. This video was taken with my digital camera which is why it does not have audio and is not the best quality but I had to put it up here for all to see. Great dancing girls!!

Different Toys

As I mentioned Peter and Chellee have two great little girls. Brye and Abbi were very nice to Chance while we were there. They showed him how to do things and looked out for him because he is a baby. They also were very nice about letting him play with their toys. Plus they gave Chance some cars for his birthday. He loved the new cars as well as all the other cars their were to play with. He had a good time with the girls. They sleep in bunk beds in Brye's room so Chance slept in Abbi's room. At first we tried putting him in her crib but that did not go over very well so I set up his pack and play and he went right to sleep. He learned how to put the balls back in the top of the toy in the second picture after I showed him a couple times.

Hotel and Restaurant

We ate ar T.G.I. Friday's on our trip. While we were there our server gave Chance a balloon. We tied it to some keys so it would not fly away and let him play with it. He loved the color, red, and spent a bit of time batting the balloon around. He is eating more and more adult food. As a matter of fact while we were staying with Peter and Chellee Chance ate about half of my slice of pizza. Last time I gave him pizza he only ate a couple little pieces but not this time. Later while we were at the hotel there was a mirror above the bed and he would crawl up to it then watch himself int he mirror and then he started kissing his reflection in the mirror. I guess he really likes himself. He went through a little

phase where it seemed as though he had forgotten how to give kissies but now he is starting to give them again.

The drive over

Chance and I just spent the week in Orlando visiting our friends Peter and Chellee and their two wonderful daughters Brye and Abbi. It took us two days to get over there. The drive is only 9 hours but I did not want to push it with it being just me and Chance so We spent the night on the way over in Marianna, Florida. These are a couple pictures I took on the drive over. Chance was very good in the car. I brought some toys for him to play with and he slept a while and played a while and then it was time to stop. These clouds were really beautiful. They were so puffy and just hanging there in the sky.

Sleeping Buddies

These were taken before we left the old apartment. I can't remember what I was doing but I was busy with something when Scott took Chance in the bedroom to kee him occupied. When I finished with whatever it was I was doing I went in to see what they were up to. This is what I found. Scott lay down on the bed and Chance just fell asleep on top of him. By the time I got in there Scott was dozing too. It was so cute. Chance really does love his Daddy. You might think that with Scott being out of town a lot that Chance wouldn't remember him but that is not true at all. Chance lights up as soon as he sees Scott and really perks up when he hears his voice. Chance already does things that Scott remembers doing when he was little.

Playdate

We went to a playdate on Thursday and one of the ladies took some pictures that she posted on the meetup website. These are a couple pictures from the playdate. It was at The home of one of the ladies in the group. It started before Chance's nap time and so he slept on my lap for a little bit while we were there but after he woke up he was ready to go. He was dressed down because at this playdate we were making a craft. A Christmas Ornimant that Chance did not really care about. He has not really gotten into any kind of craft yet. I want to get some finger paints but he will still eat them so I don't think we are ready for that yet either. He will put a crayon to paper and he will watch me color but he much prefers taking the crayons in and out of the box than any kind of coloring. In the second picture you can see that he has highjacked the toy with wheels as seems to be the trend recently. Today we went to another playdate at another ladies house where she owns a photgraphy business. Her husband dressed as Santa and she took pictures of all the kids. We should have those pictures soon. Chance again took all the toys with wheels and drove them around the place.

Hello Hello

I have not posted in a few days, sorry about that. We have been busy and then I have been sick. I feel much better now and Chance shows no signs of even feeling a little under the weather. He went today to get the second dose of his flu shot. He was good and only cried for a second but this time he seemed to remember from all the other times what was about to happen. His face got all worried as I layed him down on the table for the nurse to stick him. After I picked him up though he was fine. Chance is really trying to comunicate more now. He is crying and whining to tell us things but not able to talk to us yet. Also today he pointed for the first time. When he looks and whines I tell him the name of whatever he is looking or pointing at so he can learn the words that he wants to learn. Yesterday he brought back 'mama' he hasn't said it for a couple months but yesterday when I was laying in the floor with my blanket not feeling good he crawled over to me and said "mama" it was so sweet because it was like he had been saving it for a special occation and then he said it when I was sick. These pictures were taken yesterday when he was climbing in the cabinet. He has started opening all the cabinets and taking everything out and/or getting inside. You can also see his little blue car in the cabinet, he takes those cars everywhere now. He has a few spread throughout the house and he drives them around all the time. This one he decided to take in the cabinet with him I guess.

Swinging

Over a week ago now we went to a birthday party for a little girl who we know from the meetup group we go out with often. The party was held outside in a little park near her house. We had fun. I talked to the other parents and Chance played with the other children. He crawled all around and got very very dirty playing in the dirt (you can see the dirt on his pants) then eating cake. They had a swing set and since Chance had never been in a swing before I thought I would put him in one of the baby swings to see if he liked the experience. I think you can tell from these pictures that he did like swinging. I was only pushing him a little and his face just lite up. He smiled when he went backward and he laughed when he went forward. He was so funny to watch. He was holding on to that one side for dear life but he was loving it all the same.

Our Day

Today we spent the morning at the house just wondering around. Setting up Christmas stuff and wrapping up presents. We did some laundry and some dishes. We set up our Christmas tree which is actually a rosemary bush that we bought at Harold's Christmas Trees in the Quarter on Sunday. After Chance's nap we went to the Mall on the Westbank. The mall has been closed since the storm and just reopened a few weeks ago. I have been looking forward to checking out this mall because it is closer to the house than the mall we have been going to which is a huge mega mall that yes has everything you need but also gives you a headache everytime you walk through the doors. So I am happy that this one is open and new and clean with the basic stores I need and none of the crap. They also have highchairs in the food court which is really nice. I got some bourbon chicken, I haven't had any of that in a long time and Chance had yogurt and some of my chicken and we sat there in the mall food court and had a nice lunch. We bought some Christmas presents for some people (we can't say who.) Chance was really good at the mall though he was ready to get out and hang out in the highchair. We came home after the mall and it was starting to get dark, I had not idea we had been there that long. After we got home and ate dinner Dan and Patrick came by and we all walked to the little convienience store a few blocks away. Chance was so happy in his carrier he talked the whole way there and back even though it was chilly outside. The first two pictures are of Chance eating in the food court, the second picture is blurry but I love how you can see how happy he is in it. The third picture is when we got back home form walking to the store tonight and again you can see his happy face. I think he is 100% again. He was sick for a few days and then it seemed to linger as a cough and general ickyness but now I think it is all gone he is back to his happy little self now. The last picture is of our little Christmas tree. I could never get a really great picture of it because I am not sure which settings to use but it is cute and I put little mini ornaments on it too.

Pictures with Papa Noel

On Saturday we took Chance to get pictures taken with Papa Noel. Papa Noel is the French version of Santa Clause. He was brought over here and adopted by the Cajun people and so the people of New Orleans. Sure you can still go to the mall and have pictures taken with the red and white Santa but we decided to go native and take Chance to Papa Noel. The pictures were porfessionally done so I do not have any yet to post here but I am linking to the photographers website where you can see the photos. Right Here. That link should take you to the beginning of the Chance photos then you can scroll through the rest of them with the arrows at the top left corner of the page. He made it about half way through the photos before he started wanting to get away. He mostly whined rather than cried. It was as if he was fine and then he realised he was sitting on a big scary guys lap and he was trying to be polite but still wanted to go. He would look at Papa Noel then look at me and Scott then whine like he was saying "hey guys I... um ... I want to get down now."

Ok the above link does not seem to be working try copy and pasting this into your browser.

http://www.saturday.photoherald.com/index.php?id=60&wedding_id=164757&current_photo_id=429 or just click on it I guess.

50,000 plus words

Yeah, that's right. I finished up my 50,000 words at about 5pm today. I will write more later now I am going to spend the weekend with Scott and just relax.

Drunken Baby

For some reason Chance looks really drunk in this picture

Old door made new

Over the last few days Scott has been working on one of the doors in the house. All of the doors in both sides as well as all the baseboards and door frames are a solid dark wood that has been covered up with layers and layers of paint. So we took a door off and spent two days stripping the paint off of one of the doors and then staining it. It was kind of chilly the last few days too so Scott was very brave doing the work right now. The door turned out to be very pretty. The wood is dark and kind of red with an old marble door knob. If this is the same wood that is under all the painted wood in the house it is going to be beautiful. We are planning to strip and stain the rest of the wood in the house on both sides and it will give a whole new look to the house. A richer look with more character. I put Chance up on the counter while I was standing there to let him talk to Scott through the window. Then this second picture is of Scott looking cool but working hard. The last picture is the finished product.