Baby Bear Says...

So remember THIS POST way back in April of '08? Well I don't want Baron to be one of those middle children (like both John & I are) who don't have any pictures or videos but their older sibling has tons, so today I attempted to get Baron on video of some of the things he is saying now a days. Plus, I have no idea where his journal is to write this down... oh wait, I am a bad mom and a horrible journal writer and therefore do not have one for him yet! BUT, I am in the very slow process of turning this blog into books for the boys and that is why I like to write this kind of stuff in here- not just to brag, but for their own journaling purposes.

Anyways, ever since we left on vacation, Bear has started adding lots of new words to his vocab! Just while we were in California alone he added 13 words in the 2 1/2 weeks! I definitely think a lot of that had to do with running around after Jackson and Deacon and everyone else, but also, this kid is smart. He picks things up really fast. Most of the time we are not even saying the word to him, but he says it anyways and is always surprising us!

So, for journaling (and slightly proud parenting) reasons, at 13 1/2ish months, Baron can say these words: Ball, juice, Dahdee, Mom or Mommy, nana for banana, cheese (as in everytime we get the camera out he says cheese while smiling!), pooh as in "i have a stinky diaper", Jacksee for Jackson, Papa, Bolby for Colby, bye-bye, night-night, Love you, shoooeeshhh for shoes, ut oh!, choo-choo (and oh how he loves them!), thank-you -even though it's hard to understand, he says it at the right time, No no no, peashe for please, ba for bath, apple, coose me for excuse me, and one of my favorites: "Ta Da!". He also does the sign for more. Here's just a few words I could get him to say on camera: (I LOVE the end! SO darn cute!)

Besides talking, he is really starting to understand a lot more and he is still a really big climber- it is quite common to find him on top of the table or on a high box. He is also starting to really get into choo-choo's and cars, doesn't really care much for any movies or shows (complete opposite of his brother), still opens his mouth real big and says ahhhhh when eating- the kid just really loves food,( also completly opposite of his brother), and he is just learning how to shoot hoops on the little tikes hoop! He is usually into everything, but sure is a blast to have around!

Park Days in Sunny California

We REALLY lucked out and had amazing weather while we were in California. We're talking 70's most days with only half a day of some drizzle the entire 2 1/2 weeks we were there. It was absolutely gorgeous, especially for the end of Dec. and beginning of January! Don't worry, we made sure to take advantage of the sunshine by going to the park, going for bike rides and of course going to the beach! Hearing about the crazy rain storm and flooding they are having down there now makes us realize how lucky we were to get the good weather. Here's proof of our much needed Vitamin D time:

this whole park holds so many wonderful childhood memories for me (except there was a different playground back then) because it is real close to my parents house and we would walk over there and play for hours almost everyday in the summer with my mom. We've also had tons of family birthday pizza parties here and plenty of softball,basketball, football, and ultimate frizbee games!

No he's not doing the potty dance here... he was being silly and thought it would be funny to slide down backwards in the middle of the two slides... ouch! hehe

Bear thought he was strong enough to play Bocce Ball with us :)

the boys loved granpa & grandma's new wagon Santa brought

The Richard Nixon Library Train Exhibit

I am working on putting up all our pictures from our past month, but it may take a few posts because there are just so many! So I thought I would just put them up by event or day in reverse order (this post is one of the last days we were in California). We went to the Richard Nixon Library where they were having a train exhibit- one room with a huge city with lots of trains all made out of legos, and one room with the old antique trains.

The boys- Jack and Deacon stood there watching the trains just mesmerized and with the look like they were in heaven. It was so cute. Gotta love boys. So easy to please.

Jackson loves to go after Deacon when he runs away and bring him back

The presidential helicopter from Nixon, Johnson and JFK's time.

Cousin Buddies for life :)

What have we been up to??

I know it's been a while since I've blogged, and that is because we have been SO busy moving and visiting family and having a blast! Here's a recap of the past few weeks, well close to a month now, so everyone knows where we are and that we are ok.

Sat. Dec. 19th: moved all of our stuff into a storage unit in Tualatin, OR. Long story short, the management company we were working for was horrible and basically made me finally choose between the kids and them... so we said we were done and moved out before Christmas vacation since that would be the only way we could have spent it with our families.

Sun. Dec. 20th: drove out to Redmond, OR (by Bend, OR) to stay a few days out at Eagle Crest Resort with the Graham side. No snow :(, but lots of fun just relaxing and playing games, and to Jacksons great delight, swimming! Oh, and John & I once again dominated in couples tennis :)

While at Eagle Crest, we found out that we got a job we had interviewed for the previous week with a new managing company for a complex that is much better and with a bottom floor 3 bedroom apartment in Aloha, OR. It will be available at the end of Jan.

Wed. Dec. 23rd: got up at 5 am and drove 15 hours all the way to sunny southern California to my parents house! We stopped in Sacramento along the way and had lunch at Rubios with one of my college buddies from my BYU-I days. Thanks again for lunch Amy! It was SO good seeing you!

Thurs. Dec. 24th: walked to the park with the boys and family that was all down there (my sister Brittany and her husband Josh, and their super cute puppy dog, Cali, came down from Provo for the week too!) and enjoyed the very sunny weather! Did some last minute shopping and spent the evening talking about Christ and having a nice and very yummy dinner with my fam.

Frid. Dec. 25th: MERRY CHRISTMAS! Had a very fun Christmas opening presents and playing with toys and having dinner with all the Barons at my grandparents house. I think my parents were a little excited to have 3 of their grandsons staying at their house for Christmas morning... they sure spoiled them!

Dec. 26th-Dec. 30th:Went way too many places and had way too much fun! Here are some things we got to do:

*Went to Ruby's on the pier in Huntington- a favorite family tradition

*Went to Newport Beach and tested out our wetsuits and booties (we never even got cold in the water!)

* Went to Naples to see all the Christmas lights

* Stayed up really late almost everynight playing games and laughing like crazy

* Temple date at the Newport Beach Temple with my sister's and their husbands and lunch afterwards at Pei Wei (a smaller PF Chang's) while the grandkids all played with Papa and Gramie and Uncle Colby

*John & I went on a date to see Sherlock Holmes and ate out at Rubios again! Definitely recommend seeing it- it was SO good!

* In'nout and frozen yogurt trips! SO YUMMY!!

* Swimming in the spa - Jackson and Deacon are crazy and so not afraid of drowning!

* Lots of bike rides and wagon rides to the park- Baron absolutely loves riding in the bike seat. I love riding with him!

* Went to a breakfast reunion party with a bunch of my seminary/high school friends and their spouses and kids... it was so much fun to see everyone and catch up!

Dec. 31- Jan. 1st: Drove up to the mountains in the Idlywild area to visit my grandparents and spent New Years Eve and Day at their cabin riding horses, driving the tractor, enjoying the gorgeous scenary and playing lots of games all night!

Jan. 4th-6th: My parents were SO sweet and volunteered to watch the boys for a few days so I could go stay with John in LA while he was at a training for work. We got to stay at the Westin Bonaventure, which is such a neat hotel! It's in a lot of movies and has the glass elevators that are on the outside and shoot up the building- which makes it perfect for viewing the city day or night! It was a very relaxing and perfect quick little break for both of us.

Thurs. Jan. 7th: I drove back up to LA to pick John up from his training at the end of the day and we got to go to the LA temple to do a session together. That was a really neat experience for me... I had only gotten to do baptisms as a youth in it and so this was my first time inside all the rooms with the gorgeous murels. I couldn't believe how big it was too! I am SO glad we got to go. The LA temple is where my parents were married and where my mother-in-law was sealed to her parents after they joined the church! It was a really special feeling to be there.

Frid. Jan. 8th: Packed up all our stuff in the morning and then went and saw AVATAR in 3-D. LOVED IT! Seriously, an amazing movie. Some people said the story line was too Pocohontas like... what's wrong with Pocohontas? I loved that movie as a kid... besides, this was actually totally unique and different and the animation, or whatever they would call it for this movie, was brilliant and so amazing... totally worth it to see it in 3-D! Anyways, later that night we went out to Don Jose's with my family (my favorite chips and salsa restaurant), and made one last frozen yogurt run and said goodbye to everyone :(

Sat. Jan. 9th: Got up early and drove 13 hours back up to Oregon where we stayed the night at John's parents place. It was a very bittersweet drive. We were really sad to have to say goodbye to my whole side of the family (the boys really grew to know and love their Papa and Gramie and all their Uncles, Aunts and cousin Deacon this trip), and we really miss the 70 + weather we had been enjoying for the past almost 3 weeks, BUT, we were also glad to be getting back home to Oregon.... back to our routine and our stuff and the gorgeous scenary of good ole' Oregon... rain and all.

SO NOW, we are back in the Portland area, living in Aloha to be exact, in the apartment complex we are going to be managing starting at the beginning of February. They had a 2 BD apartment open and we thought it would be best to be here already getting to know the area and close to the current manager for me to be able to train with her before they move. So that's where we are now, and that's where we will be for the next year or so..... and who knows where we will be then! We are always moving and doing something crazy :), though not to our enjoyment... though it has always been for the best and what we feel is the right thing at that time for our little family.

This next 6 months will be pretty crazy, busy and stressful with unpacking, a new job for me, and John taking 3 CPA tests in 3 months along with busy season... but we are determined to be organized and prioritzed and to stick together as a family and make the best of our situation. I am really looking forward to the summer, when things will hopefully slow down for us :) When I get the pictures from our past month on the computer I will post them! Until then, wish us luck with our crazy life!

One Year Ago...

A year ago from Yesterday.....

I woke up with the feeling that "today is the day". I was 6 days away from my due date (though I was scheduled to be induced in 2 days) and my mom was flying in the next evening. I had a few minor no-pain contractions, but then they stopped. After lunch I decided to go for a work out walk and push Jackson in the stroller up some hills to see if that helped get things going. When we got home, I put Jackson down for a nap, took a shower and tidied up the house (even though it was sparkling clean- I had been cleaning every hour of everyday for the past few weeks, just in case). I stopped vacuming for the 2nd time that day because I was pretty sure my stomach was tightening a lot. I timed it and wrote it down. 2 hours later I called John to see if he could start heading home, even though the contractions weren't hurting and were about 2o-30 mins apart, just in case they didn't stop before Jackson woke up. An hour later, John comes home to me lying on the couch. We decide that tonight just might be for real and therefore need to go get some food for the boys and perhaps a movie to distract me from time moving slow (Jackson was 52 hours of labor). Half an hour later in the car, I start freaking out when they all of a sudden start getting real painful and 5 mins. apart. We drive home and grab Jacksons bag to take him over to the Jensen's house. While John is getting all our bags, I am in the car doing the hee-hee hoo's with Jackson (who is also doing them, thinking we are playing some sort of game), and they are coming about 2 mins. apart. We decide to drive straight to the hospital where Tom (our lifesaver) meets us in record time to take Jackson. I get checked in and the midwife tells me I am at a 5-6 and moving fast so I might not get an epidural unless I do it now- I decide to get it even though I was ok at the moment ( I was really scared it would still be awhile til he came). Less than 2 hours later (and 10 mins. of pushing), at 9:43pm, this little guy comes into our world:

And boy has it been a fun year! We truly have fallen in love all over again with baby #2, Baron James/ Baby Bear/Little Bear/Chubs/and sometimes my little Stinker Butt :)

At 1 year:

He has just about 7 teeth (#'s 6 & 7 are about half way in)

He sleeps 12 hours a night

He still LOVES any and all food

He is a little flirt

He absolutely loves to play peek-a-boo

He loves to put things on his head (hats, helmets, bowls, tupperware, blankets, etc.)

He can say, Mom, momma, Dada, No, Ball, No way, Bobba(bottle), Poo, and his working on apple

He walks like a pro now and is working on running

He climbs A LOT and on everything

He still thinks his brother is the funniest person ever

Just can't get enough of our Baby Bear! Happy Birthday Baron!!

Need some help... PLEASE READ AND COMMENT!

Some people have told me recently that our blog is not coming up with the pictures, yet others say they can still see and read everything. Will you please leave me a comment and let me know either way if it's working for you? We are trying to figure out what's wrong with it.... Can you see all the pictures in my previous posts?? Thanks!!

Portland Sight-Seeing with Aunt Shan

While my sista was here visiting, we did some sight-seeing around Portland, when John got back from his training, in an attempt to convert her over to being a Portland fan and in hopes that she will come back again soon! We took her to the Portland Mormon Temple, out to the Nike Campus, and for a drive East along the beautiful Columbia River (with Mt. Hood as some of the gorgeous scenery), ending at the very pretty Multnomah Falls! It was nice for John and I to get some long overdo sight-seeing in for our own pleasure as well. We had driven by Multnomah Falls in the dark before on the way to a campsite, but this was the first time we stopped during the day and made the short journey right up to it, and it was SO worth it! If you are ever in P-town, you MUST go see the Falls! The drive itself is very pretty and it's only about 20-30 minutes away! Plus, you could always stop by Valley Inn- where Prom in Twilight was filmed, since it is on the way! We really wanted to check that out, but ended up not having enough time since Shannon had to catch a plane home :( Next time....

Nike Campus

Michael Johnson and his gold shoes

running around the track

Multnomah Falls

Top of the falls

Bottom

the whole thing!

Jackson taking a picture of the waterfall with his Buzz Lightyear fake camera

the .2 mi trail is that bridge in the middle of the falls and is pretty easy and walkable with a stroller so we went up there and it was SO pretty! The rest of the hikes are pretty much uphill and looked really hard... something to train for when my knee gets better perhaps!