I've Moved

Please check out my new blog at www.whereyouhangyourheart.com

New Pictures

Talkin' to Grandpa Scott...

I love Daddy!

I love my giraffe too!

LOL!

On the Town

Today Jacob had the day off, so we decided to inspect the Happy Hour scene in Portland's Nob Hill. For those who don't know, Portland just got voted the nation's best happy hour scene (I think by CNBC). I realized that we've lived here for three years and never really checked it out. It's kind of hard to do when you have to work till five or six during the week and that's when happy hour is over!
First stop was Jo Bar (above). It's located right on 23rd Street, next to Papa Hadyn, which is supposed to be a really good restaurant, but personally it's a little too spendy for me. We were walking around, looking for a place to snack, and discovered it. It's pretty small, but cute. Jacob LOVES fondue, so we ordered a fondue plate. We had fontina and bleu cheese fondue, and it was served with bread, apple slices, and roasted asparagus.

Alex had his own snack while Mommy and Daddy had theirs. I almost had a sangria, but got a diet coke instead!

Next, to cleanse the palate, we had a bubble tea. I love bubble tea!! This Fat Straw was in a basement and had a free intenet cafe, which we didn't utilize but it's good to know that it was there.

Alex was having fun looking at all of the people while Jake and I shared an Original Milk Tea with tapioca pearls. Yum!

The funniest, cutest thing was watching everyone's reaction to Alex. We saw so many ladies look at Alex, nudge their friends and say, "Look at that baby," and smile. So then I recalled the scene from Saturday Night Fever where John Travolta is walking down the street to the BeeGees song "Stayin' Alive." Alex is definitely getting to be a ladies man (even if for now it's just the older ladies!) "Well you can tell by the way I use my walk/ I'm a woman's man, no time to talk!"

LOL!! Of course, it helps that his cute daddy was carrying him down the street! Double the cuteness!

After our Bubble Tea, I was in the mood for tacos, so we walked quite a few blocks to Cha! Taqueria, which we had driven past many times before, but never been to. They have a really cute patio, so we sat outside.

I got another coke, and Alex wanted some too!! He is at the stage where he can hold his own bottle, so when he saw me take a sip, he thought, I know just what to do with that! and grabbed my cup. He is very strong, and I had to hold on tight to the glass so it didn't spill!

Such a snuggly bear!

Jacob got his favorite- nachos! It was a pretty big platter, and only $5.

I got steak tacos, which were really tasty, and a little spicy.

On our way back to our car, we passed this florist's shop that had some really pretty hanging plants, so I wanted to take a picture so I could copy them someday.
It was such a beautiful day in Portland! Fall was in the air, and the sun is probably gone until next June, but at least it didn't rain!

I definitely recommend restaurant hopping during happy hour. It was really fun, and when you are just getting something very small, it takes the pressure off of trying a new place. I always feel like I might be wasting money by going somewhere new and unknown for fear that it will be bad food or service. This way, we aren't investing that much time or money and can try something that we wouldn't otherwise.

If I hadn't been so full, I would have stopped off for some gelato. Oh well, there's always next time!

Going Bananas!

Literally!

Alex ate some bananas today! I mashed them up really really thin, and added some formula. I didn't know if he would go for it or not, but I thought it was worth a try. He knows the routine now for eating cereal, so I strapped him in his highchair, fastened his bib around his neck, and he opened his mouth. It was so cute to see him eat the first bite, as he was expecting cereal but he got a very strange flavor instead. He screwed his face up in surprise, and then grimaced as he chewed it up.

"Uh oh, he didn't like it," I thought. But then, he kicked his legs with happiness and opened his mouth for more! I couldn't shovel it in fast enough, and when it was all gone, he was not a happy camper! So I mashed up a little more.

"Mmmmm banana," I told him. "Nnnnn. Nun nun nun," was his reply between mouthfuls. I should have taken pictures, but it's hard enough to spoon-feed a baby without getting a camera involved. Sorry folks!

As for some grown up lunch, I found a really good recipe for Edamame Salad, which I will share here:

12 oz of Edamame (can be frozen or fresh, but must be shelled)

1 minced garlic clove

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup corn kernals

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Pour all of the ingredients onto a metal roasting pan, mix together to make sure the beans and corn are coated with oil. Roast for 15 minutes.

Wait until the salad is room temp before eating. I would have taken a picture of it, but by the time I figured out if it was a good recipe, it was all gone!!

This recipe was featured on Alton Brown's Good Eats this week. He adds chopped tomato and chopped basil after the salad has cooled, but since I didn't have those items I left them out. Very good dish, and very very good for you!!

Bon apetito!

Yay for Skype!!

Skype is the best invention for long distance families! It has been so nice to "visit" with our families every week. Once Alex starts noticing the computer screen, then he will certainly be excited to talk to his grandparents. We have definitely been sad being so far away from our family these past few years, and now that we have Alex, it has been such a blessing to show Alex in action to the grandmas and grandpas (and aunts and uncles and great grandmas, too!)

Here are some photos that Grandpa Scott and Grandma Shelly took on Skype:

I hope that we will live close together again soon, but until then, thank God for Skype!
(Thanks to Shelly for posting these pictures on Facebook!)

5 months ago....

5 months and 4 days ago, my life changed FOREVER. My beautiful boy came into the world, a precious gift from God. It was so surreal when the doctor handed this baby to me, who was writhing and gasping for air, having just been ejected from the safety of my womb. What a strange feeling, as I had known him for nine months, yet I didn't know his face or recognize his cries. I had planned what I wanted my first words to him to be: "Alex, I love you." And when they gave him to me, through the pain and all-consuming experience of labor, I remembered the words I wanted to say. As he lay there, on my chest, hands grasping at anything, legs kicking, I felt relieved and terrified at the same time. How sublime!

I remember taking him home from the hospital, and that first night at home, trying to change his diaper by myself for the first time. Waking up every hour, even if he wasn't crying, just to make sure he was still breathing. He seemed so fragile, a living, breathing, human fabrege egg.

Oh, how quickly the last five months have gone! And yet, it seems like life before him was long, long ago, almost nonexistent. Being Alex's mother is such a wonderful privilege. I have been there for his first breath, his first smile, his first laugh. I am so excited to see all of the firsts in his life, to be his number one cheerleader, just like my parents were (and still are) for me.

Now, changing diapers, feedings, holding him, bathtimes, are all second nature. But nothing is routine! Everyday is a new discovery, a new adventure, a new first. He can sit up all by himself for longer and longer every day. He notices new things, reaches for things that he wants and laughs more and more. The next time I turn around, he'll be crawling, taking his first steps, and the quiet days of holding my tiny baby, studying each other's faces, will be gone. Believe me, I am treasuring each day being Alex's mom, and enjoying each new adventure.

Pumpkin Down!!

Our Little Pumpkin! We got this outfit in a box of clothes that my dad's friend from work gave them. It will probably be too small by the time halloween rolls around, but we are enjoying it now!

Uh oh!! Pumpkin down!


Our little pumpkin got tired...

Nap time!