Welcome Home Mandy!

As most of you know we were in Hawaii for 6 months last year. We were there because Kate's sister Mandy was in Afghanistan, I say was because as of a couple hours ago she was on a plane from Texas back to Hawaii safe and sound. Thanks to all the people that prayed for Mandy, Jake, Scott and us as we were there and welcome home Mandy. I'm so excited for you to get to know Jake more and more, he is a good kid that should keep you just as busy as all those crazy medics you looked after. We can't wait to get a chance to see you and to see your boys again.

A smattering of what is new

The boys are both on the upswing of this sickness cycle and it has been great to have some personality come back into play. Finn asked me for a cookie the other day and when I told him he couldn't have one until after dinner he said "Daddy I want to go back to work!" I had to run over to him and pick him up and give him too many kisses because he cracked me up. I think that just made him more mad. Henry likes to stand at the coffee table and talk to you in unintelligible gibberish. He is so focused though that I am pretty sure he is cussing me out or at least making fun of me. Henry now says ball, Dada, and bow bow which is what my grandma would say to me when she rocked me in the rocking chair. Henry loves to bow bow and will even just crawl up to the chair and bounce a little while saying bow bow, bow bow and then looking around with a big smile because he knows he's super cute. Kate has been busy making all manner of things. You can see the photos of her creations here. This past weekend Grandma and Papa were in town keeping the fire going all day and taking the boys as soon as the woke up allowing Kate and I to sleep in Saturday and Sunday. We have been getting out for walks despite the weather and we are doing more now instead of when X happens. It was great to get comments from the different folks who could relate to my excuses post. There was great advice and good conversations.

Are we many or are we all

While we were eating dinner the other night Finn turned to me and asked: "Daddy are we many or are we all?" I didn't know how to answer him mostly because I wasn't sure what he was asking me. I asked him if we were all at the table and he said yeah and named each person at the table. But then he kept naming people who had at one time or another sat at the table and had dinner with us (Grandma Peggy, Erin, Ms. Jessica, Papa, Tom Tom, Grammi.....) and pointed out that they weren't there. I guess we are many then and not all. Or maybe because in Finn's mind they had been there so they were there now and it that sense we were all. I still don't know what he was asking me or what he meant to say but I love thinking through his questions. We try to get him to flesh out what he is asking a little more but often he starts to close up if we ask too many questions. I think he feels he is not asking the right thing or that we aren't understanding him and he will get frustrated by that or shy. Our Friend Carly said that we should set up a twitter account and just post the things that Finn says with no other context. I think I would follow that one for sure.

We are getting better all of us

We have a household of sickness her at casa de ritroh. All three kids have had to go to the Dr. to get on antiboitics for various infections in ears, eyes and throats. I have been sick for what feels like 3 weeks straight with the latest iteration being an incredibly sore throat and cough. I felt terrible in traing today at work and I am affraid that my suffering came off as aloofness again. Finn has had the eye infection and we have had to put some medicine right into his eye which is quite a champ about. Henry takes his milky medicine with a dinner through a big dropper. Ian is off the sauce for his throat and is a very happy little guy again. Kate has so far managed to stay out of the sickness cloud but it seems when it does hit her it might be hard.

Shirts by kate

Kate has been a creative machine lately making benches for the kitchen table. curtains for the boys room, gifts for expectant mothers and even her own underwear. It has been great to come home and see what new creation she has come up with and see the excitement she has for it. On Sunday night we were laying in bed, me almost asleep, Kate's mind racing with possibilities. I told her to get up and go do what ever she needed to do so I could at least get some sleep. I woke up in the morning to these shirts above. She had taken the shirts in the Goodwill pile and turned them into little mang mang shirts. They are so cool and look great on Finn. Our housemate Jesse was super jealous of the Vans shirt is particular. he wanted to know how she made them, I think planning his own shirts for baby Ian. You can see more of the pictures by clicking on Pictures up top, be sure to comment if you like them.

Henry doing a walkabout

Henry is experimenting with this walking thing. We had this walker toy in the side yard, one of the many treasures left by the family that owns this house. I think we would get along with them if for no other reason then we have a mutual love for this house. The song is You Have known by the pneumatics.

Grammi is Here!

Grammi Kris is here and her way back from Hawaii. Portland is an acclimation area that is the mid way point, weather wise, between warm Hawaii and freezing Indiana. Today though is pretty cold here with a dusting of snow this morning so I am not sure it is really a mid way point. We are all excited to see Kris but Finn is super jazzed. He snuggled with Grammi this morning on the couch while we had our coffee. I am home with the sickness that has been going through our house like the plague. I guess when you have four kids in the house all day you will get some bugs now and then. hopefully Kris doesn't catch anything on her trip through. With Kate's birthday coming up soon her and her mom are out on the town shopping the day away. They have no sympathy for me being sick and have left me with the boys while they stimulate the economy. Really I am just napping while the boys nap as well but I want sympathy anyway, some one feels bad for me right? Anyone? Em? Lins? Aunt Jamie?

New Math

There are some funny new math equations here. I have this friend that came into our well established group of friends a bit late and he tried like the dickens to fit in. He was and probably still is a real good tennis player but he had never played ping pong and we were playing us a lot of ping pong. So this guy practices and practices and become consumed by the game. We have come to learn that consummation is M.O. for our friend, but at the time it was pretty funny to us. He would start a conversation with a ping pong challenge and not give up until you played him. I am a terrible player so he beat me pretty soon after starting and then worked his way up the ladder. I am not sure if he ever beat Kyle, our undisputed ping pong champion, but my guess is he is still practicing if not.

Waiting to live

I was riding home one night a few days ago and I was mulling some things over that I had been feeling for a while without fully fleshing them out. I feel like I am waiting to live. Like I am making plans for the things I will do, places I will go, experiences I will be a part of in some mysterious future time. I am waiting for that time when I have more money to do this or that. When summer comes and I can get out and explore the neighborhood, city, Northwest. I am waiting for that time when Kate goes back to work and I come back home with the boys. When I will fully present in my boys lives and in my own. Waiting for X to happen so that I can enjoy Y. I was thinking how these thoughts are just traps that limit my world. They aren't plans for the future they are just excuses to justify some not living in the moment. Some other excuses like it's late when I get home from work, our money is tight, or there is nothing to do and no time are not untrue but they don't justify apathy. What ends up happening is that my world becomes TV shows, fantasy basketball and other limited escapes that end up taunting more then they satisfy. I am not sure how you break out of this really because there are some valid reasons for waiting. Also waiting is part of life, but i don't want to be waiting for something new when I am meant to be doing the things I was waiting for last month. This doesn't make any sense does it?

Finn's weekend

This weekend was a good one for us but a great one for Finn. It started with a couple nights spent with Grandma in Clatskanie. Papa came home early and he got to spend some time playing trucks and eating crackers. Then Tom Tom and Grandma Sue stopped in on their way home from Hawaii. We went to Multnomah Falls and Finn had his rain boots on and all the puddles he could handle to splash around in. He hiked up the short way to the bridge between the falls and then him and I ran down, dodging hikers and finding puddles. We came back and got a fire going while Finn slept for 3 hours. The next day we took the train downtown for breakfast and found some more puddles around the waterfront. Finn went with Kate to take Tom Tom and Grandma Sue to the airport after a too short but great visit and when he got home Papa was soon delivering a truck load of fire wood. Finn helped us unload and got to hold Papa a little before going down for his nap. Two grandpas, a great grandma, a hike, a train ride, and too many puddles to count, it was a good weekend indeed.

A fist full of payback

Henry is getting more and more mobile and Finn's picking on him is starting to come back to haunt him.

A more Super Sunday

On super bowl Sunday we had some folks over for the game. We had some great snacks, a decent chili and a chaotic house of kids and football to liven up the joint. but long before the game started there was an even more important contest to be won. A local artist was making space in her studio by giving away some paintings from her blog. She put the word out and it trickled to me through this blog. There was some great stuff on there and I wanted in on the action. I debated which painting I wanted, thought of where they would go and why, and what story they would tell about us and our space. Everyone in the house was in on the plan and with the comments opening up at noon that Sunday I picked my peace and got the computer ready. At 11:45 Jesse yelled down from upstairs my 15 minute warning. I went to the computer and brought up the page. Kate told me to type out my response and and copy it so I could paste in as soon as the comments opened and not waste time writing out the particulars. Good Idea! I got my comment ready and refreshed like a madman until the comments opened up. It was exhilarating, my heart was pumping as I scrolled down to what would soon be my piece and clicked on the link. I pasted my comments and saved and that 2 seconds it took to pull the page back up was an eternity. I had done it, mine was the first comment. I got high fives and pat on the butt from Jesse like I had "scored a homer at the super cup" as Esse would say. There was genuine excitement and the game wasn't for another couple hours. There was a comment after mine that was a lovely story about a lady and her son picking out the one they wanted and I hoped the artist wasn't swayed by cute stories. I mean I could say that this was a piece that we wanted for our boys room but it wasn't who had the best story, it was who was first. A couple days later I got an email letting me know when and where to pick up the painting. The artist was great and seems to have had a good experience with the whole process. you can read other accounts here. The painting is not hung in it's new home yet but it is in the third place already. We aren't sure if she will live above the boys train table or above Henry's bed. Maybe in the downstairs family room or maybe in a place as yet unknown. Where ever it will live it will be with us and we are all still pretty excited about that.

Mr. Messy

There will be more to come but here is Henry in the midst of enjoying his birthday cake.

Happy Birthday Henry!

You are 1 today and we are so lucky to have you in our lives. Your a funny baby and have been really easy to raise so far. Your hair is crazy and you dance when ever the music comes on. You like to carry things around in your mouth tilt your head back and forth when you crawl. You tell me in depth stories with the few sounds that you have mastered. Your not walking yet but you say ball. I love you little man and I am so happy that your my boy. Happy birthday buddy.

Rotating beds

Finn got a new bed yesterday, well new to him anyway. He is in a toddler bed now with easy access to getting in and out by himself. He was pretty fired up about it last night, excited to go to bed. "Come see my big boy bed mommy!" With Finn moving to the big boy bed Henry moved up from the small wooden crib to the big rickety one that Finn just left. Henry was starting to get to the point where, standing in the smaller one, he could almost pivot out. Now he is a little guy in a sea of crib. Henry didn't take to his new bed like Finn did. He was screaming and crying each time we left the room. Finn would yell at him that it was OK, but Henry didn't seem to think so. With a warmed up bottle of milk Henry finally saw the light, or stopped seeing lights all together and drifted off to sleep. They both slept through the night after a rough go the night before where both of them were up and crying in our bed at different times. Nap time today will be a real test for Finn to see if he stays in bed or gets down and starts playing but he is pretty good at going to sleep. They are growing up fast, too fast sometimes.