Happy Father's Day!

Here is a shout out to my great hubby! We just celebrated 4 years together last month. I am very happily married to someone who has become my best friend. He is funny and is always making me smile or laugh and I always enjoy just sitting around and talking with him.

But that is not what the holiday is about right? He is a great father too always taking time to play or rough-house with Jesse. Jesse clearly loves his daddy and I think is going to grow up with a lot of his good qualities. We celebrated in a few short hours between Andy waking up and going to work. I made him some grilled pork chops that were YUMMY! I am including the recipe because I think everyone should try it!

1/4 c honey

3 T soy sauce

4 cloves of garlic (minced)

Mix, dip pork chops, and grill. While grilling

continue to add the glaze so the chops can soak it up.

YUM!!

Now on to me. :) I reached 24 weeks this Sunday

and everything is on schedule and going well. I feel

good. I have been working out for the last month and
it has given me more energy to play with Jesse and just

do what I want to do. Plus I just feel good all around.
I am actually going to take me doctor seriously this time

because I don't want to end up with another almost 9 lb baby.

Here is my 5 almost 6 month pic:

Here are a few pictures of the little man doing

what he loves to do:

Throwing rocks in water

making silly faces while eating his favorite treats (brownies)

Play with cars down his "slide" (part of a set of blinds)

and reading books to himself. I am convinced he is going to love reading. Today I caught him several times laying in his bed reading a book to himself. He is getting good at quote books that we read often and I love to listen to his version of the story.

That's all for now! Happy summer!

Ridgeway Heights

I have no pictures to post today because I am still without a camera. My mom, on the other hand, is very excellent at capturing every moment we are with them, which as been often in the last couple of weeks. If you want to see some pictures of our family outings, just view my mom's blog "Ridgeway Heights" and scroll down through the last couple of posts. These posts include: a day at bush park, hiking at sherwood falls and many more of our adventures. I will get better about taking pictures of my phone I guess until I have a sufficient camera. Thanks!

And then there were four....

Tiffany came to visit us for a week and we had a lot of fun! While she was here we went to Multnomah falls, the beach, boneville dam, and a few other misc places. It was so nice to see her, and this would be our last time for about 18 months! She left for the MTC on May 5th (two days after she got home from Oregon). Here are a few pics of our adventures:

These are Jesse's new sandals which he was anxious to show off (Old Navy $2.50)

Latrell Falls (I think) had a nice little hike to the base and
it was beautiful to see up close!

At the actual Mutlnomah Falls, and Jesse loved riding on Tiff's shoulders.

About a week later Andy's parents came down to visit as well! We have had an eventful month!

We also went to Multnomah Falls with them but did a few more hikes than I had done before. This particular falls is Bridal Veil falls and was well worth the steep hike!

A cute pictures of Jesse looking up at me

We visited the park where Jesse learned how to go down (and climb up) the slide all by himself. As you can tell he is pretty pleased with himself.

Sorry about all the nude pictures- but this one was funny. He found some snow boots recently that he hasn't been able to part with. I let him run around without clothes on in hopes that he would tell me if he had to go to the bathroom (didn't happen ps) and he winded up with the boots on, watering my plants for me on our porch! Our neighbors probably think we are crazy or neglectful parents :). Anyway it was too good to pass up a picture.

When we went to the beach with Andy's parents it was a wonderful day and both Dad and son had some fun in the sand.

Jesse was so funny when we went to this particular beach (Nesquin)! He let us bury him and then wouldn't get out of the sand. He looked so warm and comfortable and kept on saying "blanket" and "Jesse sleepin." He was a mess to clean up, but he enjoyed it.

Visiting Mo's for lunch.

Here is a current pictures of me pregnant. Not a flattering one by far, but I just thought I would post something. Jesse just chose that exact moment to need to be held. I am getting to where i can't pick him up too easily anymore. My back has gotten more sensitive to large loads like Jesse (35 lbs!).

Here is an ultrasound taken of our little one. Our little girl- that's right, we are having a GIRL! We are pretty excited and have already bought an outfit. I am going to have a problem with girl clothes because there are SOOOOO many cute ones out there!!! (IF you can't tell this is profile pictures of the side of her face, and her knees are pointed towards her nose, pretty cute little position).

Jesse was entertained for hours this morning playing with his little toys on the table. He is such a good boy!

Jesse updates: he loves Pizza! We don't have it that often, but he seems to think so many other things are pizza-like spaghetti. :) He is a very good helper and loves to water my plants (as seen in the previous picture). He understands a little of what is going on and the new addition to our family, but it will take a while getting used to. I was in the garage getting out different things to clean up (going through some nesting) and Jesse insisted that they were his toys and he wanted me to take them upstairs so HE could play with him. I got out the swing and he was pushing a leaf in it, and a little too vigorously at that.....We'll be talking to him about the baby lots and lots over the next couple of months so he doesn't do the same to her in the swing. A couple of stories: When we were in the ultrasound he looked at the baby that we were pointing out to him (not that he knew what was going on) and said "I love you baby." It was pretty darn cute. Also when we went to the beach after he was buried in the sand, we headed home so I took off all his clothes to get him in a new diaper and feeling a little cleaner. I set him down next to the car (naked mind you) and the next thing I knew he was half way accross a public parking lot streaking!! It was pretty funny and I am not sure how he was able to run barefoot on the pavement because it hurt my feet! But he was laughing and thought he was a big shot....We'll have to not have him be naked so much or something :). Anway, that is all for now! I am halfway through my pregnancy and loving feeling the little baby move around! Until Later!
Oh and Andy and I are celebrating our 4 year anniversary today! Its been a wonderful four years! Love you Andy!

April Adventures

We have had a couple of slow weeks but we
have tried to do a few things that don't

cost us much money. Thankfully we live in

a beautiful part of Washington with many

things to visit and many sights to see.

First, Andy wanted to take me to Stevenson,
a small town about 30 miles from us. It is

cute and quaint, but has all the accommodations

you would want around you. We were driving down

the street and I told andy that all little towns have

to have an ice cream store....and there it was! This

wonderful little store where we stopped and fulfilled
one of my many cravings!

They had this patio out back where we enjoyed
our ice cream. Andy had Huckleberry Cheesecake,

and I had "Hopscotch" which was a combination

of white chocolate, caramel, butterscotch pieces and

a few other yummy surprises.

We recently inherited my parents BBQ and

since we LOVE to BBQ, it has been put to use

several times already! This was for when we made
Patty Melts. YUM

Anne and Matt recently invited us to the Japanese
Gardens where they have free passes. It was a wonderful,
peaceful way to enjoy beautiful art of nature! Jesse loved it too!

My camera on my phone really does

this little justice, but it was so beautiful,

I could have spent hours there!

Andy wasn't 100% thrilled, but I think he eventually

enjoyed it. He likes places where you can be loud

and goof off...and we had to "shush" him many times :)

Andy and I taking the usual picture

Many varieties of flowers to view-

I think my phone did pretty good on this one!

Well that is about it, but I am looking forward the week ahead of my when my sister-in-law Tiffany will come and visit us. She will be leaving for her mission to Forth Worth, Texas on May 5th, so we are pleased we get to see her before she leaves. I am sure we will have many adventures and hopefully many pictures too! My birthday was lovely and my husband (and mom) pampered me during the day. I have been to several other flower gardens between now and then so if you would like to see pictures of those, my mom always has her camera on her and is good at documenting those trips on her blog. Her blog address is under "Family" and is titled "Ridgeway Heights" so go and take a look to see more pictures of Jesse and I. Thanks for reading!

Silly Jesse

I couldn't resist posting this pictures. I had to make a few adjustments to it to make it appropriate but it just cracked me up! He was walking around in my high heels and I couldn't resist getting a blackmail picture for when he is older.

A few of Jesse's latest: When we do anything silly he always says: "Silly Mama." Usually it is applied to dada because he is the silliest.

The other day I didn't want the candy in my mouth anymore and he wanted it (it was a hard candy ps) and so I put it into his mouth and he spit it out, smiled and said "gusting mama" (as in disgusting mama) hahah.

He LOVES his mr. potato head his aunt anne and uncle matt got him for Christmas. He sleeps with it, takes a bath with it, and brushes his "teeth." The other day I caught him kissing it and saying "love you tato head." I Have to write all these things down so I won't forget them!!

He says "Pee-you!" when I change his diaper now. He insists on wearing his snowman (Christmas) pajamas about 4 times a week.

And lastly I have been telling him when he wines "Stop it Jesse. You are not a baby." He now says it before I can but while he is still whining. You may have to just hear it to have it's full affect. :)

Anyway, I am awaiting pictures from my mom from easter and then I will post again (remember the broken camera?). Thanks for reading!

Multnomah Falls

First I have to preface this post by saying that I have a smart 2 year old. He can access my iphone's pictures and many applications. You ask my why I let him? I only let him when he is sitting down (so it can't be dropped) and when I have an eye on him so he can't make any calls. Okay, so now to the story. We decided to go see Multnomah Falls, a falls that Andy has passed many times on the free way and never stopped to see the beauty. My Dad let me in on a little secret about these backroads that you can take and although they are windy, they are WELL worth it. Here is one view point that we stopped at:

So we traveled on stopped at about 3 more view points and several more falls. If you are ever in this area these are some scenic views you just can't pass by. You take the Historic Highway 30 from Corbitt through to Multnomah Falls. So here is a picture of Jesse and I stopped at one of the falls. Unfortunately my husband didn't get the falls in the pictures because it is hiding directly behind us.

Well The trip took us about 3 hours because we stopped and walked at many places. Jesse examined every stick he came across, and jumped (literally) in every puddle that he saw. These rain boots he has come in VERY handy. His pants were soaked by the end of the day!

After we made it through all the way to multnomah falls, we took the freeway home and I handed my phone to Jesse to keep him entertained. After he went to bed I sat down to do some blogging and realized that he deleted all but these two pictures from our trip. We are probably going to do it again and document it for the memories. I can't be mad at Jesse because he didn't know better and I have learned a lesson! Anyway, it was beautiful. Here is a internet pictures of multnomah falls:

We walked up to the bridge above the lower falls and we got almost soaked! Here is an interesting fact for you: Multnomah Falls is the NATIONS tallest YEARLONG waterfall. Cool!

Doings of Late

Not much has changed around here in the last couple of weeks. Andy's schedule has become more regular and only in the last week have we been able to do anything out of the city together.

Wednesday, we decided, very last minute to go to the beach. The closest beach to us now is, sadly, two hours away!! Cannon beach and Seaside both lie directly West of us so that was our destination. Little did we know that it was spring break for all of the Oregon colleges/high schools/ etc..We decided on Cannon Beach because it had been forever since I had been there! To make a long story short, it was VERY crowded. It is quite the tourist area with many shops and restaurants to choose from. So we made our way to the beach and then decided we were hungry for traditional chip sandwiches. It took us about half an hour. Many dollars later we had what we wanted and headed back to the sand. I took my camera out and dropped it right in a puddle; ruined. I had brought Jesse's boots and he decided to go wading the water a little too far and fell all the way in...there were a few laughing onlookers and my fiery pregnant temper wanted to tell them to....well I wasn't thinking any nice thoughts towards them. Oh and I must add that my husband was one of the laughers.

So anyway, we headed back towards the car and went home. It was an interesting trip but it was nice to be able to walk barefoot in the sand and enjoy the beautiful weather a little. I only wish we lived closer to the less touristy beaches...

Some updates on Jesse: he is really booming in the speech category. He says sentences now and puts most of his words together. "Momma put glasses on" is one of his latest big sentences. "Jesse get three books" is another bed time usual. We are convinced we have a genius on our hands because while we listen to different youtube songs (usually the beatles) he knows how to use the mouse and restart the ones he wants to listen to again. His favorite songs right now are the beatles "Don't let me down" and Jack Johnson's "Bubble Toes" I think it is called. He LOVES music and is quick to catch on and sing to any tune.

One of my favorite parts of the day is bedtime. I know you are thinking that I am happy to get Jesse down to bed, but that's not it! We have a routine where we bathe, brush teeth, say prayers, read three books, and then turn out the lights. After we turn out the lights we usually sing a couple of songs. Its during this time that he lets me cuddle him and I LOVE it! He is so cute and gives me kisses and tells me "I love you" over and over again until I say it back. He is such a precious little boy and such a joy to have around!

We are looking forward to April because we will be having a few visitors. Will and Julie will be coming down to Mom and Dad's house for almost a week. Then the week after Tiffany (and maybe Brent) will be coming down for a week. They are both getting ready to serve missions so this may be our last time to see them for a while.

Anyway, I think that is all I can't think of for now. I found a few cute random pictures to post. I will use my phone for pictures but this computer doesn't have itunes yet. So these older (yet cute) pictures will have to do! :)