Hey White Duck....

Right now I sit in moments of silence.. green chili chicken enchiladas are in the oven and for the second time in what seems like forever ago I am alone in the house. Jon has taken Jaecob to karate and I am not used to the silence of house and just the ticking of the oven timer! :@)

For being the middle of the week, I'd say we're doing pretty good. We're very blessed. Bre, a sister in Christ and friend from church loaned me some maternity clothes that I am getting great use out of. Jon has helped with the laundry this week and the family has managed to get to bed on schedule each night.

This past weekend Jaecob and I headed over to Papa Jon's organic farm (at his house) and picked some strawberries. After, we headed to the growers market and held hands walking up and down the aisles of the market looking at everything and pausing for more than five minutes to admire the water fountains custom made out of metal & tin that he admires so much. Each week he spends one dollar of his money earned from chores on a cookie. I think he just loves them because of their shapes. It's become a ritual now, and I know he won't want to hold my hand forever, so I cherish these moments.


After we headed downtown to do some errands and then to the Riverside Park or "Duck Park" to feed the ducks, geese and pigeons. If I have enough pictures, it's those of Jaecob outside feeding those ducks. He loves that park not only for the wildlife, but because you can watch the boats race by, the rafts head down the river and the old antique tractors in the playground.



He spent about an hour trying to get the "White Duck" to get close to him. He kept addressing it by saying "Hey White Duck...Come here please." It was cute. When it finally did get close, I was able to get a few good shots.


In that hour I was also able to admire the bee's that were on so many of the flowers and it reminded me of how I needed to follow up on the "Safe the Honey Bees" campaigns that I've lost track of for about two weeks now. I guess getting all excited for our new baby left me in my tracks with this project. If you haven't heard of it yet, or don't know what all the buzz is about you should check it out. It's one of the many reasons we started another garden this year.
http://www.helpthehoneybees.com/ We rely on the honey bee for 1/3 of our food supply. It's interesting when you get all the facts and discover the CDD experiences that the bee's face. :) I am an avid supporter.

19 Weeks

Today was a very exciting day for us. We've had it on the calendar and it's been on the countdown for a few months now. Jon, Jaecob and I plus our moms (Virginia, my mom and Tina, Jon's mom) headed down to view the ultrasound and find out the sex of our baby. It was fun to have everyone there and a room full of love.

Things look very good. It was a huge relief to see that the baby was normal and healthy and all parts intact as I've been so sick and had just had a little bit of anticipation about things. We took the video camera down to tape Jaecob's reaction when they announced the gender....and caught it all on tape.
IT'S A GIRL!!!
Jon swears that he had a vision and has always thought it was a girl. I was undecided, but everyone else thought it was a girl too, except Jaecob who switched his mind at literally, the last second and while he was so excited- he missed his nap and just wanted to play on my I-phone the whole time!We got some 49 pictures, some in 3D of our baby girl. She was wiggling around and we saw her cuddle in next to the placenta a lot. Here were are at 19 weeks and a few days.



Jon and I are headed out to a celebration dinner this evening and Jaecob is spending the afternoon over at his grandparent's house. Now....onto picking colors. We've set the name but are keeping the details private! :-)

Healthy Man

This past year Jon has really turned into a health nut...but for the better.
Since quitting his job at Fire Mountain and working for another company telecommute and developing I-phone apps like Airfare which is doing amazing- he's been more conscious of his eating and snacking habits. Over the past eight months this 6'3" hunk has dropped from 260lbs to 236 and fits into a medium shirt with some room. He's very handsome (although he was before) and has started to now tone his body.

It's an addictive lifestyle and one I am hoping to cling onto. I've never been much of a runner, but have always wanted to say that I've completed a marathon. Although I pretty much kicked this desire with being pregnant. Today we headed over to White City to pick up a Linex Power Tower that was barely used. It sells for over $300 and we only paid $60 for it..plus the cost of gas and a snack from Sonic for the family!

I am amazed by his energy and passion for making healthy choices and am glad that he models such a prime example for our young son who looks up to him. Last night he purchased a new cooking pan. I'll let you know what dishes I get treated to from that!

Fourth of July Weekend

Our Independence day celebrations started with heading over to Papa Jon's house to tour his growing garden (that'll have to be it's own post another day). Jaecob is here next to one of the many second generation artichoke plants. We started fireworks prematurely that evening and celebrated with a family from the Bay area staying at one of Tina's vacation rentals (www.grantspasscvacationrentals.com) who had never seen fireworks. Here they're all waving sparklers around. That evening we met up with my parents to watch the Grants Pass fireworks show. I think it was the latest we've ever let Jaecob stay up.





Sunday was a wonderful day. I got a good nap in and did some housework. In the evening, we headed over to Rob and Christine's beautiful home and had a BBQ with some church friends and a few solid hours of biblical conversation. The kids played in the pool and had a blast. Jaecob was fast asleep on the car-ride home.

Summer Jo's

Jon and I decided to head out off Upper River Road today to try the Summer Jo's Organic farm, restaurant and bakery that we've heard a lot about, but never tried. It's one of my new favorite loves! It started out with the famous $4 Lavender Lemonade. I just loved that idea. It was even garnished with lavender on the side, a sweet touch.

I ordered the special, mushroom and Swiss quiche ($9) with a blue cheese house salad. They have the best blue cheese dressing I've ever had and all dishes come with edible flowers. Jon got the Ruben ($13) with white bean and prosciutto soup. Both dishes came with fresh rosemary rolls made that morning and our server, Aimee was incredibly friendly and sweet.

Our compliments to the chef Joy who finished us off with geranium infused creme brulee. They also have these wonderful desserts you can choose from too. I loved the atmosphere. If you've never been, it should go on your list of restaurants to try.

http://www.summerjos.com/restaurant/breakfastlunchmenu/breakfastlunchmenu.php

Asian Lettuce Wraps...Yummy!!!

I'm not sure that these pictures do me justice, but these were some pretty good lettuce wraps. Forgive the paper plates, as we decided to have a family movie night and I thought...I don't need dishes, I have laundry to do!!

The boys chowed down on them, and quite the healthy dinner if you ask me. Filled with chicken, green beans, red bell peppers, peanut sauce, water chestnuts, chives, chopped peanuts for the top and drizzled in a pink yogurt sauce. They made for a quick and light, easy dinner.

Do they look gross? Maybe it was the camera because I promise they weren't.

The Fighting Arts

(Jaecob in the center without the belt).

We decided to enroll both Jon and Jaecob in some type of fighting arts. After interviewing two places on Monday, we decided to go with Wayne Owen Fighting Arts (of which I attended when I was a child). The earliest children can enroll is at age 5- which was perfect considering his 5th birthday was just in May. Right from the get go he was quite into it, but I was a bit uneasy. It's a different type of activity/sport than we have been involved in before. From a parenting point of view, you're really not allowed to coach or distract your child while they are on the mat and you too have to bow in for permission to cross the mat and use the restroom or get a drink of water. And, speaking of water- the children don't get water when they feel like it, but rather they earn it. It's a unique type of discipline that he took to immediately, but I was a bit reserved about. However, I really enjoyed watching him. There are a few older kids in the class and it's a great opportunity for him to hear "you're out" in a positive manner as these are the terms used when children are dismissed from their particular exercises. There seems to be a lot of self control and emphasis on thinking before doing in this class which we are certain will aid in the character development of Jaecob. They also have to earn their belts, going though a qualification period of about one month and then stepping into the "white" belt. Jon and some of the other parents stepped in to help with the kicking exercises. You can see that in the pictures, both of them were really enjoying it.

Classes meet three times a week, and with Jon attending the adult class we're not home until a bit after 8- past his regular bedtime routine so they'll be some adjustments there. But, I think it'll be worth it. The cutest part was that they pick a student of the day at each class and the instructor explained that Jaecob wouldn't participate in the vote because he hadn't been there during the month. Yet, he was persistent and this quality was rewarded. As the instructor passed each child collecting a silent whispered vote, she came to Jaecob whom she politely passed. He then raised his hand and said he wished to vote where he then announced that his vote was for "God and Jesus." Sweet boy. It was also a precious moment because each child is asked to stand and announce what they are thankful for that day, addressing the teacher, class and parent audience. Jaecob answer was "I am thankful for my Mommy & Daddy!"

I love this little guy sooooo much!!