Good

Thank you all for you thoughts and prayers. My brother is doing much better and is healing perfectly. He'll need some rehabilitation on his one arm but he should be back to 100% in a few months.

Life seems to have perked up for us as well. We're getting a hang of this gluten-free, casein-free diet and back into an easy rhythm of reading books, playing outside when it's not raining, and enjoying Sawyer's new found desire to play with toys!

I'm enjoying my little break from the computer but I wanted to post and thank you all for your comments and emails. Here's a picture of the boys, just this morning, enjoying a banana and strawberry smoothie after breakfast. Life is good.

A break

My brain has been elsewhere lately. Between our vacation and my older brother's wedding, Ian and I were finally diagnosed with having gluten and dairy intolerances which means I'm having to figure out what exactly we can eat. Then just this last weekend, my younger brother ended up having surgery to repair an exposed compound fracture in one arm and a dislocated shoulder in the other after being beaten with metal baseball bats in the middle of the night. No one is sure who the guys are that did it but it seems more and more details are emerging every day. My brother is home now and doing better but the whole thing has me a bit rattled.

So I think I'm going to bow out of here for a short time. Just a small break until things are more settled.

Be back soon...

Two things...updated

• I know I brag on my nephew Nick a lot... but he's only 15 years old. I can't wait to see what he's doing in photography in 10 years. Here's a slideshow of my brother's wedding. Simply amazing.

• An article and video clip I saw this week. Lopez Lomong's story is tragic yet inspiring and I can't wait to see him run in the 1500 meter race.

• After reading my friend Karli's post about recycling, I had to include it. It's so well thought out and she has done an amazing job explaining how to recycle all the different types of plastic including how to set up your own easy system in your garage. I'm definitely going to be working on this for us. Great post Karli!
  

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It's hot today... around 100 degrees... but I don't mind. I know cooler weather will be here in a month or so and I'll be wishing it were summer again. We're planning on a relaxing weekend. Maybe I'll finally finish the apron I've been working on or maybe I'll get to redesigning this blog like I've been wanting to for weeks. Or, maybe I'll sit and read and sip iced tea all weekend.... it's nice to have the choice. Have a wonderful weekend.

Little boys in tuxedos

*All pictures taken by my nephew Nick except for picture #2.

Guitar beginnings

It's amazing how good it feels to get back into routine after a busy vacation. Jeremy is back at work, Ian is building a track for his cars, and Sawyer is watching, trying to figure out how he can squeeze in there and help.

My brother got married over the weekend and both boys were in the wedding in teeny tiny tuxes that made them look so grown up and so handsome. I'll post some pictures as soon as I get them.

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Over the last couple of months, Ian has been asking for his own guitar. He watches Jeremy play, waiting patiently for his turn to strum, and points out guitars everywhere he sees them. We knew he would probably want to learn to play, since Jeremy does, but it was amazing to see him decide when that time would be and to watch the interest grow in him. So just before we went on vacation, we bought him his own. He was so excited, jumping up and down and whooping. He immediately sat down with it, holding it perfectly, and started playing. Pretty soon, all three boys were sitting down and playing a little music together. I don't think Sawyer will be far behind...

Back home

We walked, we biked, we even canoed down the Deschutes River for 4 hours with both boys. We enjoyed coffee first thing every morning while the cousins talked about their plans for the day and evenings were spent having dinner out on the deck reliving the days events. The last day seemed to appear out of nowhere leaving us more excited for next summer when we plan on going again. I think it's the beginning of a new tradition...

Simple

Searching for raspberries in our backyard...

and enjoying them with a best friend....


Simple pleasures.

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We leave tomorrow for a much-longed for vacation. See you in a week!

Changes...

Like a typical younger sibling, Sawyer has wanted to join in from the time he could first focus on Ian and watch him run around the room. Up until now, he's just been reading with us, playing with the toys, and coloring occasionally. Then yesterday, while Ian was molding some play dough, Sawyer climbed up and pointed to the containers, looking at me imploringly. I obliged and was thrilled to see him mashing and molding right away. He played long after Ian had left the table and I was happy to sit along side him making snakes and stars and animals.

I realized this is the beginning of the end. The 'baby' is nearly behind us now. He's becoming less and less satisfied with sitting with me or being carried around, he wants to jump in and refuses to be left out of anything. Since he began walking, the world has opened up and his eyes are noticing things for the first time...his little brain working overtime, turning thoughts inside and out. What a wonder life must be for him...


And as if to punctuate his toddlerhood....his first haircut by our favorite guy, Justin. Despite Sawyer's look of uncertainty, he did great.

Goodbye baby... hello little boy.

Weekending

It takes weekends like this to really, really appreciate the days we are healthy. As in almost perfect response to my post a week and half ago about how healthy they are, Ian went straight from having that eye infection into throwing up last Wednesday. Then I woke up sick the next morning... on our anniversary of all days. By Friday though, Ian and I were on our way to being completely well and so we decided to continue with our anniversary plans which included dinner, but not the kids. This was going to be our 2nd time without either boys since Sawyer was born... and we were looking forward to it. But on our way to my sister's house to drop the boys off, Sawyer got sick in the car. We decided to go ahead and let Ian stay because he was excited to play with the cousins, and then we went home.

While I gave Sawyer a bath and tucked him into bed, Jeremy got us a pizza and some Henry Weinhards root beer and we snuggled on the couch watching a movie. Not what we had planned, but lovely all the same.

Jeremy was the last to get sick and he held off until this morning. He's been sleeping all day and if he follows the rest of us, he should be better tomorrow. And that my friends, I pray is the last of that for awhile!

We were able to sneak in some fun in between different ones falling ill. Jeremy and Ian got some drawing time in. Something Jeremy loves to do...

and Ian loves to watch.

We spent a little bit of time outdoors. Ian enjoyed his new favorite activity..peddling! Last year he struggled with getting his feet to push and turn the peddles in rhythm. This year, he jumped right on like he'd been doing it all summer.

And Sawyer practiced walking in sandles while showing off his cute belly button.

We're going to be busy this week getting ready for our vacation that starts on Saturday. We'll be gone for 5 days, getting back just in time for my brother's wedding. There's so much to do!

And one more year makes 9...

It's hard to believe it's been a full year since I posted this. It just keeps getting better and better... I love you Jeremy.

Pirate adventure

One of my goals this summer for the boys and I is to get out and visit more parks and nature trails around our area. So earlier this week when I asked the boys if they wanted to go on little hike, Ian jumped and up down, nodding yes. Then he suddenly stopped and looked at me with this quizzical look and asked, "a pirate hike?". I quickly jumped on board and exclaimed, "of course, yes, a pirate hike!". (Whoo-hoo creative thinking!)

We went searching the house for pirate attire and something to put a hidden treasure in. And then we were off.

Sawyer trying desperately to keep up with Ian. He did a pretty good job too.

Found a hill he needed to conquer. Sawyer tried as well but only managed a belly slide about halfway up.

Even little pirates need a quick lunch break.

Taking his newly found walking stick home. His treasure from our hike.

Weekend at home

We decided to stay home this weekend and relax. It felt so good to drink coffee and read the paper without a plan or agenda for the day. Jeremy played his guitars and did a few house projects while I sewed. I made a couple more pairs of long shorts for the boys. This red pair for Ian is made from another of Jeremy's old shirts. I used the side seam of the shirt to make the side seam of the shorts and you can see the little split detail on the bottom that was originally on the bottom of each shirt side. The repurposing idea came from The Creative Family. I'm working on another sewing project right now that I hope to finish this week.

Here's the two of them this morning with their new shorts on.

We also watched a new DVD I had recently read about. It's a documentary-style video called The Little Travelers. We watched the Japan DVD and it's so sweet. It's filmed from the two little girls' perspectives and it's all about their adventures in traveling. I love finding something for the boys' to watch that teaches them about other cultures and that is not a cartoon. We're excited to get the other DVD's now!

Fun with sewing

So I had a little time this afternoon and decided I would break out the sewing machine. I have several projects lined up and figured I just needed to start them to get in the groove. I decided to make some board shorts for Ian out of one of Jeremy's old shirts. They ended up too small for Ian but fit Sawyer pretty well. Now that I've done it once... I can work out the kinks and it should be quicker next time.

Blurry baby pic but he doesn't stop moving.

Whee! That was fun... I told Jeremy I'd be raiding his closet this weekend to make more shorts!

Honey and allergies

I am always interested in reading about natural remedies for our health. I have steered away from conventional medicine and drugs since Ian was a baby and so far I see the benefits. The boys are rarely sick and when they are it's usually very mild, and over quickly. One of the biggest things I've tried to do is boost there immune systems by a natural exposure to germs. We don't buy Purell or any type of antibacterial soaps, ever. They kill the good germs as well as the bad and leave you more exposed in the end. Not to mention the problem with the antibiotic resistance that's occurring from overuse. Also, the boys are naturally exposed to the world when we go to the store or have a playdate with other kids, but aren't overly exposed to germs since they don't go to a daycare or preschool.

They also eat really healthy and rarely have sugar. They both prefer water over any other beverage in a cup so juice and milk are never an issue.

Of course this doesn't mean they are super immune as Ian picked up some type of bacterial bug on his hands this week and apparently touched his eyes. I took him to his naturopathic doctor after seeing the bloodshot eyes and the swelling and for the first time in his life, he's on antibiotics. Only topically since they are eye drops, but antibiotics nonetheless. To counteract the negative effects they have on his digestion, I'm giving him lots of probiotics and I'll probably continue for several weeks just to boost the good bacteria in his gut.

The only drug they've ever been given is Tylenol and that has only been the few times they've had a high fever. Otherwise, I use herbs, food, and homeopathic remedies. I've been meaning to put together a natural first aid kit to share on here but haven't gotten to it yet. It's on my list of things to do...

One thing I was interested in learning about was seasonal allergies. Even though Jeremy and I don't suffer from allergies, I wanted to figure out how to boost up the boys' immunity to it since it's becoming more and more common for kids to suffer from them. One of the things I've done since both boys were little babies is give them probiotics. Our pediatrician told me that babies, age newborn on up, on a regular dose of probiotics rarely, if ever get seasonal allergies.

The other thing is eating truly raw, LOCAL, honey. I know people who take local bee pollen and have had great success with reducing their allergy symptoms. But I've read that eating local honey, which contains pollen from the flowers in your own region, can actually help your body build up an immunity to it before the allergy sets in. I personally prefer raw because it also contains the enzymes your body needs to digest it. You have to be pretty specific when you are asking for it though. Most people think all honey is raw if nothing has been added or taken out. But heating the honey is what destroys all the enzymes so you want to make sure to ask whether it's been heated at all. You want honey straight from the comb.

Just this last spring, when we were in Seattle, I found some truly raw, straight from the comb, honey. I bought a 4lb container and we ate every drop. I just ordered more from Snoqualmie Valley Honey farm because Seattle's wild blackberry pollen is similar to here in Portland. Yum.

Sunday at the farm

Thank you for all your advice and sympathy on the night wakings. I'm feeling much better, especially after a weekend when Jeremy is home from work and I can sleep in. Sawyer will sleep through the night someday, I know he will. We don't feel a need to train or teach him other than to comfort him and let him fall back to sleep how he wants to. Ian slept (12 hours) through the night starting at 13 months so I know Sawyer will get there too.

I know throughout parenting, we are always denying our wants, in some way, in order to provide (food, shelter, comfort, trust etc...) for our children. And some times it just takes reminding ourselves of that when particular days are really hard. I think my blog post was that. I have been wanting to do so many things like writing more here, sewing, etc... but Sawyer reminds me that it's just not time, that he still needs me more often than other kids his age might. It felt good to let all that go when I sat down to write.... that it's okay to let the laundry sit, to not update a blog as often as I'd like, and to just enjoy the days as they come. But thank you, thank you... I know you've all been there before and that in itself helps.

On Sunday we took a friend's idea (thanks Karli!) and when to Hood River to visit a couple farms. We went to a lavender farm and a cherry farm. Our car smelled incredible on the way home!

There were thousands of bees pollinating the lavender and the boys couldn't take their eyes off of them. There was this low humming sound everywhere.

Sawyer is walking everywhere now!

And I love his little squats when he's taking a rest.

Mt. Hood

We discovered a big wooden swing at the cherry farm we went to next.

The boyz.

Petting the goats. It was hot but turned out to be a great visit.