Camping Slideshow - Burlington, WA

1st Camping Trip...(check) !

OK, so we can now check off complete our first camping trip! This past weekend we went up to the Burlington KOA campground which is only 110 miles from the house; made sense since we started out later then we had wanted to and got mixed up in the Friday afternoon commute but didn't really have all that far to go & the boys did great in the car. We went to Mount Vernon to the yearly tulip festival that happens every April, went to an Alpaca farm, roasted marshmallows, and TRIED to make our way to a children's museum...I say tried, because we used the navigation system in Philip's truck that took us to downtown Mt. Vernon with our destination on the left/route over and there was no Children's museum anywhere around. We ended up finding out it was somewhere else, but too late and a dollar short we went to dinner instead! All in all everyone had a great time, even Jordan who fell out of the (lower) bunk bed and Justin who had to sleep in his playard (all you mom's out there know what that's like trying to keep a 1-year old happy and content in a playard)! As I've been doing, below are the links to the places we went:

http://www.countrytimealpacas.com/

http://www.tulipfestival.org/

If I had to give the trip a negative comment, I would have to say it would be the unpreparedness we had going on in the trailer:-) Why this is funny is because I've been giving Philip such a hard time in his preparation of things we needed in the trailer way back when we bought it saying we've got plenty of time to get it ready, and of course what the hell happens...I'm not prepared! I don't know where stuff is (pots, glasses, coffee pot, etc.); that first morning made Philip and I laugh so hard that I created a list as the morning/days progressed on what we definitely need. My thought is that maybe by the end of this camping season, we'll be pros. Philip is definitely a pro at hooking/unhooking up the trailer to the truck and readying the trailer at the campsites when we arrive and leave:-) He's had a manual and CD to watch for review...I've got nothing!!!

We had a great time and are really looking forward to the Oregon trip over Memorial Weekend to Lincoln City for 4 days/3 nights.

E-mailing the Blog (test)!

So if this works, I've created the function whereby I can send an e-mail to this address and it will update on my blog.  I guess like Twitter...It seems that they just came out with this, so I'm sending this as a test!

(yet another) HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Happy Birthday to Jordan...he is 4-years old today!

We go in tomorrow for his 4-year check-up and then it's off to our first camping trip on Friday.

Surgery went great!

Justin's ear tube surgery went excellent today! We had to check-in by 0700 and we left the hospital by 0930; I actually think it was closer to 0915. Since I had already been through the process once (well twice if you include a replacement) with Jordan, there was nothing that was concerning this time around and it was no big deal. One mom actually was crying when she came out....eesh, I guess some just handle it differently. That's it; I just wanted to let everyone know that all went well and Mr. Justin was back up to his 'tricks' in no time.

Short Video Clip - Justin walking

as promised...

News & updates for the week...

Besides the big news I posted on yesterday about Justin starting to walk on his own, a lot has been going on here since last weekend. We switched Justin out of his infant car seat into a forward facing convertible car seat, and wouldn't you know it, the back seat of my jeep is too small to have Jordan and Justin's car seats next to one another so we had to put Justin on one side and Jordan on the other side; there is absolutely no room for anyone else in the back seat...Philip thinks it might be the excuse I need to get a bigger car (i.e., the minivan like my cousin Sara got (Toyota Sienna) that I just fell in love with) so It can be more then just us in the car at one time. I think NOT; I'm hoping for at least another two years with my car. I mean come on, it only has 159K miles on it and is 10 years old. Maybe when Jordan heads of to Kindergarten next September I'll think about it...

We took the travel trailer out this past Saturday and got it ready (UN-winterized) for our 1st camping trip in 2 weeks. We are very excited to get it out and start using it; we bought it last fall and put it right into storage. I do have to mention that when we go back to park it in the storage lot it always seems a chore to me because I've got to guide Philip backing it up while toting the boys and navigating in a tight space between another travel trailer and a trailer for hauling 'stuff'. There is not much room for error, but anyone that knows Philip, knows that he gets very agitated quickly when something is not working out just right...anyways, I was surprised when we went back to park the trailer and he told me to sit in the truck and do you know he backed it up all by himself without land nav., a compass, or a guide right into the exact spot. I got very excited because now that I know he can do it on his own, it eases the stress on my mind of getting him parked the first time:-)

I also want to take note of the VERY GORGEOUS weather we had this past weekend and through to Monday (4/6)...It was sunny all weekend with high 60's on Saturday, low 70's on Sunday, and 75 degrees on Monday!!! It was awesome, however short lived since today it has rained like no tomorrow and we have the possibility of snow on Monday and Tuesday. Yes, you heard me SNOW...last I knew it was Easter on Sunday! You know I can't go without posting on the weather here about the snow we had, did have, or are going to have...lets hope to goodness that I'm not blogging about the snow we have in June!!!

On a final note, wish us luck (well me & Philip anyways); we are getting family pictures taken Saturday morning and anyone with kids knows trying to get them to sit still is one thing, but getting them to smile on queue is an Act of God. Justin I'm not too worried about since he's only 1 (next year will be a different story) and smiles at everything, but Jordan on the other hand that is a totally different situation. I do however have the bribe ready and in place...after pictures Jordan gets to go to party city and pick out his themed decorations for his Birthday party the following Saturday. I think he's shooting for Diego, but I don't want to get him in that store and then have him wander onto a 100 different things; the bribe could backfire as we end up at Party City for the entire afternoon picking out birthday decorations!!! I can only hope that there is only 1 aisle in the store and that the aisle is only full of Diego merchandise...too much to ask?

I'm NOT scared to let go!!!

Justin started to walk on his own last night (5 days after his 1st birthday)...and of course we didn't have the video camera out! I've got to hopefully get a recording tonight so I can post it for your viewing pleasure....remember on one of my earlier posts that I said hopefully he will be walking by his birthday party...well that's now a fact & not a wish:-)

I bent down to have him walk to me and he just came at me 4-5 steps and then when Philip got home from work, he walked to him like those same amount of steps, but what really made it concrete that he's walking was after Philip came in from outside which I should tell you that Justin just loves to be outside, he got up and walked about 10' (length of our formal living room - from the computer desk to the door out to the garage for those of you that have been to the house). Philip & I just got all excited!!! Jordan was even like all excited talking about mommy, look Justin's walking now! We've definitely got our hands full now!

(another) HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday to Philip today! He's the big 3-5 which (to me) means middle aged...it sure would explain the mood swings and the need for a bigger truck?

Happy B-day Honey!!!

1-year stats compare

Well, Justin had his 1-year check up this past Friday and he's doing great. He is significantly way longer then he is heavier, in fact, his weight is being dispersed amongst his ever growing body in length. His pediatrician is amazed on how long he gets each visit we come in. Anyways, here's the compare I said I would do of Justin & Jordan at the 1-year mark.

Jordan - 19 lbs. 6 oz. & 30" long
Justin - 23 lbs. 0 oz. & 31 1/4" long

Obviously Justin is bigger then Jordan, but this is the first visit whereby Jordan was compared to normal 1-year olds even though he was born 11 weeks early. I'm kind of excited to see what the 15-month check up will look like; either Justin will continue to outpace Jordan or maybe they actually get closer in size as time progresses...I'm actually leaning towards the first scenario where Justin just gets bigger then Jordan. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Justin is 1-year old today! Time has flown by SO fast! He's not quite walking yet, but basically runs with his car that he pushes (see the last video I posted). He has taken a few steps here and there on his own once he lets go of something and steps to grab onto something else, but that's about it. We go in tomorrow for his 1-year check up so I'll have to post his stats up against Jordan's for the 1-year mark since this should be the first time where they are more comparable with Jordan being a preemie. I do know that when I pick Justin up, he seems way heavier then I remember Jordan being at this age. Justin has been wearing 18-month clothes for the last month to month and a half. Because Justin is so big, him and Jordan fight over toys and literally wrestle with one another on the floor...it's so cute to watch!

On a side note, Jordan STILL seems to think his birthday party is going to be at Chuckie Cheese's (he again told Mary Kay last night about going to it), so it looks like a trip to Chuckie Cheese will be in our future:)