The Herrick Family

Spring is finally here!

2011-04-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

We have had an exceptionally cold, rainy winter this year with temperatures 25% lower than normal. :( It's hard to live in the NW when my little boy wants to spend all of his time outside. We were so thankful to finally see the trees budding. Spring is really beautiful in the NW. I love the cherry blossom trees!

We finally had some decent weather this week that actually made it into the 60's! We took Dominic to the pirate ship park and he had a blast!

Domnic on the big boy swing!

He loves the sand!

Into mischief...

2011-04-23T08:57:00.001-07:00

One afternoon as I was putting dishes away, my little guy successfully managed to take out all of the screws out of our dinning room table! Dom turned this into a teaching lesson and Dominic spent a half an hour putting them all back on (with a little help).

That same day I came into the kitchen and he had all of the fingerpaints out from a cupboard and was squirting them onto a dish on the floor and started dipping his fingers in to paint. Luckily I came in just in time. So I used his creative energy in painting with apples on paper instead of all over our kitchen! He is a clever little guy and keeps me on my toes!

Dominic loves to sing!

2011-04-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

Dominic loves music...playing the piano, singing and dancing. He is a budding musician. And he has rhythm too. This is a little song that he burst out with one day!

Reading

2011-04-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

Dominic loves to read books and be read too. One day he decided to read to his bear. He was reading the book "I love you forever" and rocking the bear. It was adorable!

Below is a video of him reading

Birthday Weekend

2011-04-23T08:20:00.001-07:00

We spent my birthday weekend with my parents and uncle Bob at the Oregon Coast in a really beautiful beach house. It was a typical Oregon weekend weather wise with a few breaks of sun. It was cozy watching the storms roll in from the warmth of the house. We had a beautiful view of the ocean!
We made it to the beach once during a sun break. It was pretty cold but a beautiful walk on the beach!

Dominic loved playing in the sand!

Dominic's first wakeboarding lesson with Daddy! A future pro!

Birthday dinner...red wine, dark chocolate cake and beautiful flowers from Dom :)

Dominic with Grampy and Grama

Spring Break

2011-04-23T07:57:00.001-07:00

It's hard to believe that it is already spring break! While our condo was being painted, we headed up to Lake Cavanaugh to spend a few days with my parents.

Dominic helping to bring wood into the house.

On a walk with Grandma.

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa came up to the lake for a day. They were very entertained with Dominic's endless energy!

Dad used to carry my brother and i like this when we were little. Dominic loved it!

Visiting Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

We left the lake and headed to see my grandparents for the afternoon.

Grandma would always read to me growing up. It was fun watching her read to my baby!

Breakfast with Grandpa and Teri
We ended our spring break week with breakfast at a really cool place in Portland with George and Teri.

Three generations of boys!

Walking around Portland

Sleepytime

2011-04-23T07:55:00.001-07:00

This is how Dominic sleeps every night...with a giraffe ("jar" as he calls them) in each had and his "who bear" (dog and bear) right next to him under the blankets.

Cupcake storytime

2011-04-23T07:54:00.001-07:00

Every week we meet with my good friend Kristin and her sweet daughter Susannah (she is 6 months older than Dominic). We take them to the cupcake shop for storytime every week where they hear a story, do a little craft and eat a little cupcake and Kristin and I get to catch up. I love our playdates!

Sunday School

2011-04-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

Dominic loves going to Sunday School! He looked so adorable this morning with his little Bible under his arm that I had to take a picture. He loves singing and dancing to his "Jeje nay" (Jesus music) and reading his "Bibo" (Bible) and talking about "Jeje and Go" (Jesus and God). He loves to pray and thank God for things every night before bed. Most nights he thanks Jesus for Mommy, Daddy, Wu (Ramsey), Tinny (Dustin), and anything else he encountered that day. He also knows that Jesus loves him and wants him to obey. Sometimes he will asks to pray that Jesus will help him to obey! He has such a sweet little heart. And just tonight at bedtime he said that he loves Jesus!

Making Strawberry Jam

2011-04-23T07:46:00.001-07:00

Dominc was a big helper when we made jam a few weeks ago. I decided to try an experiment and make 3 batches of jam...one with white sugar, one with honey and the last with sucanat (an unrefined sugar that is below..really healthy). We were also making freezer jam which is SO MUCH EASIER than canning. I just boil the sugar and mixed strawberries with pectin, let it set on the counter for 24 hrs in a plastic container and then put it in the freezer. It's that easy!
Dominic had a great time eating, mashing and stirring the strawberries.

You can see the difference in color based on the sweeteners we used. The one Dominic is stirring is made with white sugar, the one to the right in front is made with honey and the one to the left of that in front is made with sucanat.

Below is the suacanat mixture. It is slightly brown in color as the sugar is unrefined and unprocessed and has more of a molasses taste...definitely not as sweet as sugar.

Once the jam was ready to eat, Dominic helped me make a loaf of bread. This is our family's favorite recipe and lasts only about a day and a half when I make it. This is the main bread that we eat.

And finally, Dominic is eating the final product...homemade bread with homemade jam. After tasting all of the jams, our family decided that we actually like the one made with sucanat. It is not as sweet of a jam and you taste more of the strawberries because it is not overpowered by the sugary taste!

Dominic around the house

2011-03-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

Dominic loves playing with lego (his duplo set). He is pretty creative with it and loves making airplanes and trucks. He and Dom play lego together a lot.
Dominic also loves to draw. With markers, crayons or finger paint, he covers every inch of the paper, front and back. He is very careful with his coloring and particular with the types of colors he uses. When he first started coloring, marks would appear on the floor, chairs, walls, tables, almost everywhere, but thankfully we have trained him to only draw on paper now!
Dominic loves books. We read his favorites multiple times a day. Right now he loves the book I love you forever, Elmo books, anything with trucks, Thomas the Tank Engine and Curious George.

Dominic loves stuffed animals and carries his little dog all around the house with him. He sleeps with 3 stuffed animals, 2 toy giraffes, and 2 little trucks and has to make sure they are covered up. There's barely room for him in the crib! He also loves reading to his animals...very cute!

Dominic loves being outside, even in the cold, rainy weather.

Daddy's ties

My Little Helper

2011-03-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

I have Dominic help me in the kitchen and with other chores as much as possible. It keeps his busy little hands occupied and out of mischief. And he also LOVES helping out. Even with dishes!
We make bread at least once a week. Later on that day Dominic was awfully quiet, so I went to see what he was doing and he was trying to make bread himself in the crockpot! He had even found a package of yeast and put it in there too...he is a very busy boy!

Snow Day

2011-03-08T20:58:00.001-08:00

We had a late snow day in February this year! It was fun to have Dom home for the day and we all played in the snow. Dominic loves the snow!

Valentine's Day

2011-03-08T20:52:00.000-08:00

We love going to Willamette Valley Vinyards for their Pinot Noir and Chocolate festival which happens every year on Valentine's weekend. This year we got a babysitter and went with George and Teri and had a great time!

Views from our home

2011-02-17T13:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas/New Years

2011-02-17T13:23:00.001-08:00

We had a fabulous Christmas this year. We had a our nephew Dustin stay with us for the first week and then spent the second week in San Antonio, Tx with Dom's sister Tracie and her family.

Dominic and Daddy on the plane
Ramsey also came with us and now lives with Tracie and John!! We miss him but are so thankful that he is there with a buddy to play with and warm weather and a big house!! He is happy and so are we! :)
The cousins

Dominic loves taking pictures too
One thing we loved about San Antonio was the warm sunny weather!
The Alamo

The River Walk in downtown San Antonio
Dominic loves hot salsa!
I got to visit with one of my good college girlfriends who now lives in Austin, so fun to see her!
One handsome little guy who stayed up on New Years Eve!
And he just barely made it to midnight!
Happy New Year!!

Dominic Turns 2

2011-01-27T18:15:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe that our baby is two years old. The years just flew by. He had his two year check up and our pediatritian was reviewing his growth/development questionnaire with us. He passed and exceeded every milestone which was encouraging to hear. She also mentioned that he should have between 10 & 20 words by now. I looked at Dom and told him I don't think he even has 10. That evening Dom and I counted over 70 words that Dominic says regularly and his vocabulary grows daily. It's such a fun, very busy stage!

We started Dominic's birthday with a special breakfast, whole wheat blueberry pancakes with maple syrup. He was a huge fan of the syrup!

Next we went to the church gym behind our house. They have a playdate for the kids 2 Friday mornings a month and he has a blast playing with the big trucks and toys and running around with other little kids his age.

The next day we had a birthday party for him with his little friends at church. Thank you Aunt Julie and Uncle Tyson for the yummy cupcakes and the truck design. Trucks are his favorite!

Happy Birthday Dominic! We love you so much!!

Catch up...Summer/Fall 2010

2011-01-26T08:36:00.000-08:00

2010 flew by and I did not get to update this blog as much as I would have liked too. I thought I would do a quick update on Summer and fall of 2010 and in the next couple of days post pictures of Dominic's 2nd birthday and Christmas. For now, here is a recap of the last 7 months. Enjoy!

We started off the summer with our 3 year anniversary. Grammy and Grampy watched Dominic while Dom and I were able to go out for an evening. We saw the broadway musical The Lion King and had a steak dinner at Morton's Steak House.

A few days after Dom finished his 5th year of teaching, we flew out for a month long adventure visiting family and friends.

California
We started off in California visiting Shelly, Russ and Dustin in San Diego, driving up to West Covina to visit Dom's grandparents and aunt and uncle then back to San Diego for a few more days of California Sunshine. On our drive back down the coast to San Diego Dom took us to his favorite surfing spot where he won a surfing competition! We had a great time at the beach and Dominic loves the water, sand and the waves! He kept going out for more. We love California and so enjoy his family down there!

Dominic and Daddy relaxing

Dominic climbed into this mailbox by himself and tried to close the door!

We loved visiting with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa!

Huntington Beach, Ca

Colorado
After our time in California, we flew to Colorado where we spent time with Dom's high school friend Mark Engle and family. We had a great time together on their beautiful property in the mountains outside of Loveland, Co. They have 3 kids and Dominic had a great time playing with them. Dom has had many adventures with Mark throughout the years and this one was another one for the books! Dom threw out his back the day they were supposed to leave. After a visit to the chiropractor, he felt he was well enough to go, so they took off for 5 days outside of cell phone reception. After a few days on a bucking mule, nearly stepping on a rattlesnake and other mishaps, they came home exhausted and full of stories which you will have to hear from them. I am thankful that God protected them!

Madison, Truxton, Dominic & Morgan

Dominic's 1st encounter with a cow pie

Dom's wilderness adventure:

After a week with the Engle's we went to spend time with Dom's mom and her husband. We had a great time with them and wish they were closer! We spent one afternoon in Estes Park and it was beautiful! We spent our last night with Dom's aunts and uncles who live in Colorado and it was such a wonderful evening!

Dominic & Grandma Chris

Lake Cavanaugh
With all of our travels this summer, we didn't make it up to the cabin until the beginning of August. This summer was Great Grandma's 90th birthday and Grammy's 60th! With it being a 12 hours of driving round trip we only made it up to the cabin once this summer. Dominic does not do well in car rides so it makes for a very long trip! We had a great time!

Dominic & Grammy

Dominic & Great Grandma

Biking trip at Fort Stevens
We spent one day biking and checking out the WWII site at Fort Stevens near the ocean. Dominic loved riding in his little bike trailer.

October Wedding
1996-1999 I lived on the Eastern Shore of Delaware and Maryland. I was very involved in children's ministry in my church and nannied for a family that I love dearly. They have 3 children, one who was married in Washington DC in October. Dominic and I flew out early in the week so that I could spend time with my first cousin and his family, whom I also spent several summers living and nannying for them as well. Dom flew out Friday after work and we had a wonderful weekend. It was such a great time spending time with Mark, Laura, Sean and Erin Pugerude and then going to the wedding where several people that I knew from church were there too. Everyone that I wanted Dom to meet were at this wedding, it was such a special time. And the wedding was incredible, beautiful and a date night for Dom and I :) Laura and the girls babysat Dominic for us. Then Monday we took off for the eastern Shore and saw Maryland and Delware where I attended community college and was really involved in church.

Sean & Erin Pugerude...I used to watch them when they were 5 &1!! Now they were watching my baby! :) Miss you girls

The Wedding...it was beautiful!

The beautiful bride and groom. I started watching her when she was 10! Time flies!

I used to teach these kids sunday school class when they were 6 yrs old!! I am old!

We got so lost on our way home that night. But it was worth it for this view!

The Eastern Shore, Maryland & Delaware

Rehoboth Beach, DE

Mommy's little Helper
Dominic is quite the little helper around the house. He loves helping with dishes, cooking, cleaning, vacuuming and sweeping.

Uh oh...one afternoon he wanted to try making bread on his own!

Dominic around the house
Dominic bring so much joy to our lives. He is so full of energy and joy! We love it! He loves to laugh and sing and play and color and play with playdough, to name a few things.

...he also likes to dress himself!

and wear daddy's shoes!

He has also started potty training. It is a slow process though :)

He loves this bear hat and picked it out himself!

Dominic loves his daddy!

Halloween
Dominic loves giraffe's and sleeps with two plastic little fisher price giraffe's from his Noah's Ark toy set. So when I saw this costume at a second hand store I new this would be perfect for him!

Aunt Julie and Uncle Tyson came trick or treating with us this year. We are excited for Aunt Julie's baby to arrive in March!

We also went trick or treating with our good friends the Johnson's. Dominic loves his little friend Vicky (He calls her "E"). She's in the purple fairy costume.We went out with our friends from church and these are all the kids!

Love this picture from our afternoon at the pumpkin patch!

The Johnsons
This past year Dom and I were so blessed to become great friends with the Chris and Daniela, the pastor and his wife at our church. Daniela and I would walk every morning for 1 hr and we would get together when we could for play dates and family dinners whenever we could. They lived right behind our house! It was such an incredible blessing to have them in our lives and we learned so much from them! We were so sad when they moved back to Florida in December, to be near their family. Dominic still talks about his little friend "E". :)

Tulip Festival

2010-05-08T21:17:00.001-07:00

I took Dominic to the Tulip festival with a friend and her adorable children and we had a great time! It was fun taking pictures of Dominic. He is a very expressive little guy!

Our wonderful friends! They live near us and love having playdates together! We tried several times to get all of the kids to look at us and smile at the same time...almost impossible! But fun to try :) They are cute kiddos!

The girls love Dominic and are so helpful!

Dominic is a very independent little boy and loves to walk around by himself!

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Easter was over a month ago and I am just now posting these pictures! This year has been so busy with Dom's school schedule and with a very busy toddler on my hands that I don't have the time I used to be able to put into the blog. I am a little behind, but will catch up and try to stay on top of it as best I can!

We had a great time as a family that day! My parents came over for dinner after church and we had an Easter egg hunt for Dominic and he seemed to know what to do! We got some cute pictures of Dominic and even managed to sneak the bunny ears on him too! He only tolerated it for a

A short video clip of Dominic hunting for Easter Eggs! Enjoy!!

Spring Break

2010-03-25T11:19:00.001-07:00

We have had a great spring break! Dom was off work for the week, we were house sitting for some friends, and the first half of the week we had gorgeous weather!

My cousin, Elyse was with us the first part of the week and we had a great time showing her around Portland. She grew up in France where her parents are missionaries and the year that I lived there I went to visit them several times. Elyse is now attending Seattle Pacific University
and it was fun to have her with us!

We spent one sunny afternoon at Cannon Beach. The weather was gorgeous and Dominic loved running around and playing in the sand.

Then we made a stop at the candy kitchen to see them making Salt Water Taffy.

And a free sample of fresh salt water taffy. It was still warm! :)

We spent another afternoon in the Gorge, and enjoyed beautiful weather once again!

We saw this hat in the gift shop and couldn't resist putting it on Dominic's head!

We spent some time in down town Portland before Elyse's train took off.

He is already a Starbucks fan! It was an empty cup, but kept him very entertained!

While we were sight seeing, Dominic preferred to walk and loved pushing his stroller!

The video below is of Dominic pushing the stroller through the park.

We did quite a bit of driving and Dominic was fantastic in the car!

Dominic doing a high five!

The video below is of Dominic dancing to music in the car! He loves music!!

Dominic loves fruit!

2010-03-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't found a food that Dominic doesn't like yet. His new love right now though is fruit! He will eat an entire banana and prefers that I don't cut it up for him. Anytime he sees me eat an apple, he wants one too! And of course he likes to eat it like a big boy!

Playtime

2010-03-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Some friends let us borrow a tent and tunnel for Dominic to play with. He LOVES it! He crawls in and out of the tunnel and will bring toys and books into the tent and play in there with it. It's so cute!

Big News

2010-03-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

Walking

Big news...Dominic started walking at 14 months (February 19th)! We were spending the weekend with my cousins' family in south Seattle and Dominic just took off! It was so fun to watch him and he had a big cheering squad!

Some of his first wobbly steps :) So precious!

Bubbles

Dominic loves bubbles. This is a video of him and Ramsey playing with the bubbles.

The Park

Dominic loves going to the park. He loves the swings, slides, anything really. And he hates to leave! It is even more fun now that he walks around and he balances pretty well on the bark chips. These are a few pictures from our last trip we took one Saturday when it was sunny. He loves exploring!

Around the House

Recently one of Dominic's favorite places to play is on the couch! Every morning he points and asks me (in his own way) to move the pillows off. Then he helps me move them. We then put toys around him and he plays, we read books and he walks along the couch! It's pretty funny!

Dominic sits so still when he gets his hair cut. Although his hair is still very fine it does get kind of long. His hair color is a reddish blond tint.

A while ago Dominic hurt his little finger and so I put a bandaid on it. He kept looking at it and lifting his finger to show me.

Recently I have gotten into baking bread for our family. I have been experimenting with several different recipes and finally found one that works for our family. Dominic loves fresh bread and it makes the house smell wonderful!

Dominic loves to play in the kitchen! He loves playing in "his" cupboards and he has a great time exploring in the pantry! While cooking, he often plops himself in the crockpot and plays with anything on shelf level that I deem safe for him to play with. He is still a great little helper with unloading the silverware from the dishwasher. Anytime he hears me open it he comes running to help!

Dominic playing with his little girlfriend who just moved to Miami. We miss them!

Dominic on the go

2010-02-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

Dominic turned a year old and he has been busier than ever and into everything he can get his little hands on. It keep my day interesting!

A few of his daily favorites are...

Helping mommy around the house:
Dominic loves to help me unload the silverwear from the dishwasher every day. It is so cute. He also recently started helping me sweep the kitchen floor. Sometimes I have him help me bake bread, etc, by dumping the flour into the bowl to mix. He is a good little helper even at 1!

Brushing his teeth:

In January, we handed Dominic a toothbrush with some training toothpaste after his nightly bath to see what he would do. He took it, put it right in his mouth and started brushing! He knew exactly what to do!

Playing in Ramsey's crate:

Dominic and Ramsey are best buds. They play together all the time and like to get each other into trouble (mostly, Dominic tempts Ramsey with his toys and food and gives it to him and then Ramsey gets in trouble!). Since Ramsey turned two and has been fixed he has calmed down considerably...he rarely barks (unless someone comes to the door, which I am so thankful for!), he is soooooo good with Dominic, he sleeps most of the day and he gets us out of the house on a walk every day, rain or shine! We are so thankful that we still have him!!

His favorite things:

Brushing his teeth and playing in the crate at the same time!

And of course eating!!!

He will eat almost anything you put in front of him. His favorite thing for breakfast is oatmeal (with wheatgerm and a little bit of honey mixed in) and bananas, lunch he has a sandwich or chicken quesadilla, or soup and for dinner he eats what we do. He is such a good little eater!

Christmas

2010-01-16T20:47:00.001-08:00

Chasing a busy toddler around all day (one who doesn't like to nap!), makes it difficult for me to keep up with things...like the blog. I have more pictures to post which I hope to get to soon, but for now here are our Christmas pictures!! I can't believe that it was over a month ago!
We had a wonderful Christmas, and the highlight was watching Dominic! Although he really didn't understand what was going on, we still had a blast watching our busy little boy move about from one thing to the next. He attempted to open presents (with our help) and even helped decorate the tree!
We were so thankful for the two weeks vacation that Dom had. We spent that time with family...my cousins who live south of Seattle, Lake Cavanaugh with my family and then to Sunriver, OR for a few days with Dom's family.
We had a great time playing with Dominic in the snow for his first time at the Lake. He LOVED it and was crawling and rolling around in it. He even helped us build a big snowman!

Dominic and Great Grandma

Decorating the tree

Our happy little boy!

He's 1!!!

2009-12-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

A year ago today our little boy was born. What a joy this year has brought us! We cherish every moment with our little guy.

Dominic had his 12 month checkup today and he is now 29 inches long (more than half my height!)! He grew 3 inches in the last 3 months and is finally in the 25th % for his height! We are hoping that his daddy's genes are finally kicking in! He is also 21 lb 9 oz. Still very healthy!
Here are some things that Dominic is currently doing...

He is now crawling on hands and knees

He preferres walking along furniture and is fast too! He has let go and stood on his own about 5 times...he will be walking soon!!

He loves helping mommy with chores

He insists on feeding himself now. Mealtime is messy!

He loves the dishwasher. Thankfully this was after emptying a clean load!!

He loves music...dancing, the piano, the xylophone, etc (after his mommy!)

And he is obsessed with keyboards and electronics, chords, etc. (from his daddy!). Can you see the mischievous look in his eyes?

Here are a few pictures from a family party we had for him on Saturday. Dominic had a fun time and even enjoyed his cupcake (although it was made with whole wheat flour, wheat germ, applesauce and mashed bananas with organic baby yogurt as icing! I am not quite ready to give him sweets yet).

I found a picture of Dom and I at around a year. Who do you think Dominic looks more like?

Dom and I talked about it and think that he doesn't look more like one or the other just a good combination of both. But Dominic definitely does have his daddy's eyebrows and expression! HA!

I had fun going through his baby pictures and picking one out from every month.

Our little Christmas blessing

We were snowed in for our 5 day check up (necessary because he was so early and so tiny) and so we took him to the grocery store across the street to have him weighed!

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

and his 1st birthday!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Dominic! We love you so much!

Grandma

2009-12-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

I love this picture with my grandma. It was taken the beginning of November at Grandma and Grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary party.

GoodBye

2009-12-03T21:58:00.000-08:00

The first time Dominic waved good bye was at the end of the night on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving! We were asked to house sit for the week of Thanksgiving and so we were able to use this house host Dom's family. It was my first year to cook the turkey and I was so thankful that it turned out great! I had a fun time cooking and we had great family time too.

Last minute cooking

Dominic was so tired he fell asleep in Uncle Kevin's arms

Uh oh

2009-12-02T22:03:00.000-08:00

This is what I walked out to after putting Dominic to sleep...

Cloth Diapers

2009-12-02T20:50:00.001-08:00

I never thought I would say this, but we are using cloth diapers. Sometime during the end of my pregnancy we were going over the budget and I realized just how much we would save by using cloth and so I started researching more. Although in the long run we would still come out saving over $500 the first year and $800 the second, we could not afford the upfront cost of cloth.

A couple weeks ago, Dom and I were spending time with my cousin's family in Washington and we were given 30 cloth diapers...a big enough supply for me to wash once or twice a week and to last him until he is potty trained!! They are the nicest kind you can by, nicer than the kind I wanted to get us (because I was trying to go the cheapest route)!

I am now two weeks into it and I can't believe how easy it is! I am using a 5 gallon sealed bucket to store them in between washing, which completely contains the smell. I wash and dry them twice a week and it is so easy!! I am using Bumkins all in one diapers that are just like disposable with plastic outside and cloth on the inside, they velcro shut, no pins or covers required. And they can be washed and dried. So easy!!

I am so thankful for this because we are now able to use the extra money to continue to pay off our student loans and work towards becoming financially free. It is such an answer to prayer!

A day in the life of an 11 month old

2009-12-02T20:50:00.000-08:00

Dominic is pretty active now, and my day is busy chasing him around! We have a play date about once a week, go to storytime at church or Barnes and Noble and involved at the moms group at our church . Dominic is growing and gaining more and more confidence on his feet. He walks along furniture, walls, counters and uses his little walker. I can't believe he has just a few short weeks left before his first birthday. I just love every single day with him and every stage he is in!

Dominic is also into everything...cupboards, drawers...really anything he can get into. And, of course, he loves doing this more than playing with his toys!!

Mealtime is another fun time! He is eating more solids now and gets just about as much on his face as he does in his mouth. We get a kick out of watching him!

This video is a little long, but he is so focused on his food, or maybe just playing with the dishes!

Dominic loves to dance. Anytime music comes on, he starts to move. It's pretty cute!

Dominic LOVES his daddy! He always has some fun daddy time when he gets home from work!
Sometimes it's a walk, or just playing and laughing. It is so sweet to see them together!

(He's in the frontpack carrier inside daddy's jacket)

Cutest Little teeth

2009-12-02T20:48:00.002-08:00

Right around the time of our California trip (10/23) Dominic cut his first tooth. I was surprised at how long it took for that little tooth to come out...almost a month. But soon after that, he cut another one on the bottom and now he has two coming in on the top. So cute!! I didn't think that Dominic could get any cuter, and then these adorable little teeth popped out!

Halloween

2009-12-02T20:48:00.001-08:00

We had such a fun time taking Dominic Trick or Treating! We dressed him up in his cute little pumpkin suit and then took him around to stores near our house before moving on to the big houses. :)

Dominic knew what to do right away. We would hold him up to the bowl of candy and he would grab one and put it in his bucket. It was pretty cute!

He was fascinate with the candy in his bucket!

We stopped in at the police station and took a picture with the mascott there. Shortly after we took this picture, Dominic started crying. He was afraid of him!

Here is a video of Dominic trick or treating in Starbucks! He needed some prompting here, probably because we had a camera in front of his face! Normally, though he would grab one right away! We had a great time and Dom enjoyed the candy!!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-12-02T20:47:00.000-08:00

Halloween day we headed out to the pumpkin patch for some fun. It was cut short due to rain, but we still got some cute pictures in!

We love So Cal!!!

2009-12-01T20:21:00.000-08:00

The end of October we headed out to West Covina, California to visit Dom's grandparents, so they could meet baby Dominic. We had such a great time visiting his family and spending time with his mom (who also flew out from Colorado). And we especially loved the chance to escape the rain and spend time in the California sunshine!

Dominic with Grandma Chris

Dominic and Great Grandpa

Great grandma and great grandpa

Dom's sister and family drove up from San Diego to see us! We loved spending time with them. Even if it was short!

Aunt Judy and Uncle Rick, who graciously hosted us while we were visiting

Playing in the fountain

And of course a quick trip to In n Out

Some relaxing time in the hot tub. Dominic Loves the water!!

We also had an opportunity to take some pictures of Dominic in the pumpkin patch at his aunt and uncle's house.

Dominic with his cousin, Dustin

Dom and baby Dominic chewing on apple slices

It was easier for us to fly with him to California, than to take a 3 hour car ride up to Seattle. He does not like his car seat, and loved playing on the plane. He actually slept the majority of each flight. It was nice. :)

Dominic Loves to Dance

2009-10-26T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here are a few quick video's of Dominic dancing. So funny!

And Dominic River Dancing

And here's one last video of Dominic and his daddy playing together.

10 Months Old

2009-10-22T13:44:00.000-07:00

Dominic is growing so fast! He now loves to pull himself up to standing and he loves to run while holding on to our hands (note that I did not say walk). He is a constant bundle of activity and energy and I have to carefully watch for signs of being tired, because he won't even slow down for a nap! (He only sleeps for 30 min at a time twice a day).

Fall

2009-10-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

We have had a gorgeous fall so far. A few days ago, after coming back from our daily walk, I decided to put Dominic in a pile of leaves. He was really fascinated and distracted by the leaves, so much so, that he wouldn't respond to the camera as he normally would. It was pretty cute! I couldn't decide which pictures to post, so I put them all on the blog! Enjoy :)

He is fascinated with the leaves

Dominic's Baptism

2009-10-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

Baby Dominic was baptized Sunday October 11, 2009. Pastor Ron, who performed the baptism, was the same pastor who married us, so that was special to us. We were so blessed to also have our family and friends come and celebrate with us and we were sad that those who lived to far could not come. After the church service we went back to our condo clubhouse for a luncheon. As always, we had a great time with our family and friends and feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people!

I love this little suit on him!

Pictures of the Service

Here are some more pictures of our time after the service

Dominic with Grandpa

Uncle Kevin

Dominic playing with his girlfriend, McKenzie!

Becky's Visit

2009-10-19T12:58:00.000-07:00

It was so fun to have my friend Becky visit! Becky and I met the year I taught in France in '02-'03. On our first day of orientation as teaching assistants in Lyon, we happened to sit next to each other and talked. Then, three days later we ran into each other again at church! Throughout the year we traveled together and were involved in the same church. I moved back to the states after one year and she moved back to San Diego a year later and we have visited each other throughout the years. I haven't seen her in over two years and so I was super excited when she flew up from San Diego for Dominic's Baptism.
She came a few days early and so we (baby Dominic included) took a trip up to the cabin for a few days of relaxation! We had gorgeous weather up there! On the way back we went to visit my grandparents in their new home. They just moved into assisted living and their place is great and the apartment is really cute!! Baby Dominic loves his great grandparents and had a fun visit exploring their new place!

beautiful view of the mountains at the lake!

Wedding at the Beach

2009-09-26T08:20:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we took a trip to Cannon Beach for my cousins wedding. The weather turned into a beautiful sunny and warm day. It was wonderful!! We enjoyed a very comfortable ride in the mini van (we are LOVING IT!!), had lunch at a seafood restaurant and took a long walk on the beach near haystack rock before heading to another beach for the ceremony. We had a great time seeing the Pugerude family and enjoying the beautiful wedding in our gorgeous fall weather.

Dominic LOVES his backpack!!!

Jen & Jon

The little cousins

This little monkey loves climbing over my shoulder!

He managed to sit still for a second for this shot!

Our attempt at a quick family photo...again Dominic is non-stop!!!

A beautiful end to a wonderful day!

Books

2009-09-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

I recently set up a shelf in our living room with just Dominic's books. It is now one of his favorite places to play. He will sit there for a long time, pulling the books off and climbing onto the shelf. It's pretty cute!!

Pizza

2009-09-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

Almost every Friday night we have homemade pizza. It is soo easy to make and really cheap too!

Cute Video

2009-09-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

Dominic thinks that everything Ramsey does is hilarious...especially the things that Ramsey KNOWS he is NOT supposed to do! Dominic is taunting Ramsey with something he is not allowed to have!

Best Waffle Recipe

2009-09-23T08:50:00.001-07:00

We love waffles and this is the BEST recipe out there! Dom did some research online to find out how to make them really crispy and this is the recipe. It's a lot of extra work, but sooo worth it. Dom loves these and we have them on special occasions. Try it out, they are amazing!!!

Ingredients
3/4 cup bleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
6 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 large egg, separated
1 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Heat the oven to 200°F and heat the waffle iron. Mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Measure the buttermilk, milk, and vegetable oil in a Pyrex measuring cup; mix in the egg yolk and set aside.

In another bowl, beat the egg white almost to soft peaks. Sprinkle in the sugar and continue to beat until the peaks are firm and glossy. Beat in the vanilla.

Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until just mixed. Drop the whipped egg white onto the batter in dollops and fold in with a spatula until just incorporated.

Pour the batter onto the hot waffle iron (mine takes about 2/3 cup) and cook until the waffle is crisp and nutty brown (follow the manufacturer's instructions for timing at first and then adjust to your liking). Set the waffle directly on the oven rack to keep it warm and crisp. Repeat with the remaining batter, holding the waffles in the oven (don't stack them). When all the waffles are cooked, serve immediately.
Variations

Whole-Grain Waffles
Add 1/4 cup wheat germ to the dry ingredients.

Chocolate Chip Waffles
Stir 1/2 cup coarsely chopped chocolate chips (or 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips) into the batter.

Cornmeal Waffles
Substitute 1/2 cup cornmeal for 1/2 cup of the flour (keep the cornstarch).

Cranberry Orange Waffles
Stir 2 tsp. finely grated orange zest and 1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries into the batter.

From Fine Cooking 47, pp. 62-65

My experince with cooking

2009-09-23T08:33:00.002-07:00

Growing up, I was never really interested in cooking, despite the many attempts my mother would make to encourage and teach me. I just did not put in the effort.
It was August of 2007, Dom and I had been married just about two months when I realized I needed to figure out this cooking thing. He was really the better cook, but I knew that I needed to improve my skills and take over this area.
One night I had made a simple meal , rice a roni, battered chicken and corn. I served it up and we sat down to eat. He took one bite, managed a swallow, looked at me and asked "Are you ready to hear this"? I wasn't sure what he was getting at, so asked him to continue. His next words shocked me: "this is the worst meal I have ever had in my life"! I am not exaggerating. And as a newlywed, trying to impress my husband, I immediately started crying. Honestly I don't blame him though...I burned the rice a roni, the battered chicked tasted like really dry chicked covered in burned flour and the corn was way overcooked and tasted like nothing! I knew I needed to change this and it was a good wake up call.
The next day I called my friend and she gave me a super easy crockpot pot roast recipe that you can't go wrong with. Dom came home that night to a wonderful smellling house and food that he could actually swallow!!
Our first year of marriage I didn't have much of a chance to work on cooking because we were on the Dave Ramsey money saving kick and ate a LOT of salmon (thanks to his fishing expertise), beans and rice and tuna. So it was definitely a bland year in terms of cooking. But paying of $15,000 in debt definitely made it worth while!!
Fast forward to this year, I will take a mintue to brag because of the horrible beginning I had in cooking...Dom LOVES everything I make and prefers it to going out to eat (which is kind of a bummer because I love going out to eat...but it saves money and we have a tight budget). I also LOVE cooking. When I was in France I lived in the gastronomical capital of the country (Lyon) and they have the best restaurants and the best chefs there. So that year I tried AMAZING food (and wine!) that I have yet to beat here. My goal now is to work on cooking and maybe not mirror what I at there (hard to beat), but learn to cook things that I enjoy. I'm having fun.
I have been attending a free cooking class at William Sonoma (thanks for the info Julia!) and this last week I stood next to a woman who was French and now lives in Portland. It was so cool to be able to talk in French and find out extra tips about French cooking from a native!! It was a treat.
Anyway, all of this to say that I am working on my cooking, have improved from our first year of marriage (not hard to do though!) and I enjoy taking pictures of some of the things that I have made. :)
Here is the most recent one:

Sauteed chicken in a white wine sauce...sooo yummy!!

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-11T23:11:00.001-07:00

Summer flew by!! We decided to stay home over Labor day weekend and relax before the craziness of the new school year started. Friday night Dom and I went to one of my favorite outdoor shopping areas, Bridgeport Village, to walk around. I found a coupon online for free coffee from Seattle's Best and then we used our gift card for happy hour at PF Chang's, so we were able to enjoy our outing without spending anything (and on top of that, our waitress brought us an extra entree free!!). :) Dominic was so cute in the restaurant! His favorite thing to do was pound on the table!

It was so sunny and beautiful outside. And the pretty flowers and cobblestones reminded me of France. :)

We also had a family dinner at Kathy's. Dominic loved seeing his Nanny again! This is the cute blanket that Kathy made for him! He loves it!!

Later that weekend I decided to put some little slippers on Dominic's feet. I rarely put socks or
shoes on because his feet are so fat, they just look uncomfortable on him. It was so cute when I put them on him though, because he sat there for the longest time looking at his feet and touching the design on them. It was really cute!!

A picture of me and my sweet little boy. I love him so much and am so thankful that I get to stay home and take care of him!! I am so blessed!!!

I love 6th Grade!

2009-09-11T23:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, these words that came out of Dom's mouth after the first day of school. This is his 5th year of teaching and these have been very challenging years for him. So hearing this was an answer to a 3 year prayer for his job! And although this is still the "honeymoon phase" of the school year, there have already been instances that have confirmed that this is the right fit for Dom.

1. He made a student cry on the first day of school! (the boy was acting up, and so remorseful for his actions, he cried. With his previous high school students, they would have mouthed off and blamed the teacher or anyone for that matter....I don't know how he put up with the high schoolers!)

2. They went on a field trip today and the kids that were assigned to go with Mr. Herrick cheered, and the ones that were assigned to other teachers complained that they couldn't go with him.
3. When the kids gave highlights of their week, math class was their favorite.
4. Dom has a textbook this year (can you believe he taught for 2 years without one!!) and great resources. He also using some really cool technology in his class that the students LOVE and it is keeping them engaged!

When Dom and I were talking at the end of his first week, he said in passing "I'm not worried about this year". WOW!!! We are so thankful to God for this!!

8 months old!!

2009-08-30T11:10:00.001-07:00

I can hardly believe he is already 8 months old (I know, I say this every month...it just goes so fast!). I took him in to get weighed and he is now...20 lb 7 oz and 26 inches!

Dominic LOVES to put his hands on anything he can grasp...mommy's hair, daddy's nose, computer cords, the knocker on our door, the door stopper (his new found toy)...the list goes on. I am constantly following him as he scoots around our condo.

Dominic has also been compared to a few things as well...the michelin man (can you figure out why??) and...

...a kewpie (cupie?) doll. Can you see these resemblances??

Piano

2009-08-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

One of Dominic's favorite things right now is to sit on our lap and play the piano. He kick's his feet as he is playing because he is so excited!! He actually looks like he knows what he is doing. Last night Dom put his high chair up to the piano and he had the best time, playing away!

Looks like we will need to start lessons early for this one! Watch the video of him playing, it's pretty funny! I had to upload both of them because they were so cute!

Video #1

And more practicing in video #2!

Sick

2009-08-30T09:19:00.001-07:00

We have been working on having Dominic play in the nursery on Sunday during church. He lasts about 5 - 15 minutes at the most (he really misses his mommy, which I don't mind at all!). But I am hesitant to have him in there anymore. This past Sunday we tried it again and then 2 days later he woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't breathe through his nose. :( I don't know why parents bring their sick kids to church (or school for that matter. I was constantly dealing with this as a teacher too!). So Tuesday night was a rough night and all day Wednesday he had a fever, so we were moving pretty slow. But even with this he was still the HAPPIEST little guy. I took this picture of him and he was like this all day!!
Thursday when I woke up, I was sick with a fever and cold. (It is so hard to be a mommy and be sick, because I can't just sleep it off or even rest!) And then Friday, Dom woke up with the same thing. It's been a rough week and we are thankful for the weekend. And no, we are not going to church with our sick baby!

New toys

2009-08-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

I Love gift cards! I have been saving some credit at Babies R Us for a time when we need more items for Dominic. While I was there, I couldn't resist the bath toys because he LOVES the water (just like his daddy!)! And I had to get the fishing set (of course!). As I was running the water for his nightly bath, I showed him the package and his eyes got real big and his arms started to shake as he reached for the package...so cute!! He had so much fun playing with them (or eating them!) in the bath tub!

Dominic eating a fish!

Figuring out the net!!

Bonding

2009-08-30T08:53:00.002-07:00

Dom is returning to work this week. :( He has actually been working 3-5 days a week throughout the summer with classes and paid training through the district and has had 3 weeks completely off in July. So we will just be seeing a little less of him in the fall. I love that he is a teacher because it gives us so much family time. He can get home from work as early as 3:30, so he has lots of time with Dominic before he goes to bed.

Dom has had some great bonding time with Dominic this summer. Dominic LOVES his daddy and wants to spend more and more time with him (it could be because he is the one that throws him around and does all of the things that mommy is too scared to do!). Dominic is constantly reaching for his daddy. This is a little hard for me because I am used to this role, but I am SO grateful that Dom is such an amazing, loving, involved daddy! I have heard from friends that at some point babies (especially little boys) will want to spend all of their time with their daddies, so I knew it was coming. And it melts my heart to watch the two of them together. God has truly blessed us so richly in this little one.

D in the box

2009-08-30T08:53:00.001-07:00

First steps

2009-08-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

Dominic is in the very beginning stages of walking. He likes to stand and every once in awhile he likes to take a few steps while holding on to us...

A few of my favorite things

2009-08-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

Red wine and dark chocolate. And this is what my sweet husband had set out for me after a putting Dominic to sleep for the night! LOVED IT!!! It was such a fun surprise (I LOVE surprises) and a great way to end to the day!!!

Farmers Market

2009-08-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market in Hillsboro. Here are a few pictures of our time there.

Almost crawling

2009-08-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

When we were at the cabin Dominic started to get up on his knees and rock back and forth. The day we came home from the cabin, Dominic started scooting around on his tummy and he continues to move about at ever increasing speed!

This first video clip is the beginning stages of crawling at the cabin.

The second one is of him scooting around here at home 2 weeks later! You can see how much he has improved in a short time.

Due to his ability to get around on his own, he is now into EVERYTHING. We turn around for one second and he is across the floor. We are now in process of baby proofing the house. And we got the new floors in just in time too!

Discovering the piano pedals!

Dom was watching baby Dominic one afternoon and this is where he put Dominic!

Bath Time

2009-08-11T17:25:00.000-07:00

Dominic loves taking a bath! Every night when he hears the water running he starts waving his arms (showing his excitement) and reaching out to get to the tub.

Look at those rolls!

Below is a short video clip of him playing and laughing in the tub!

Dominic's 7th month

2009-08-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe that he is 7 + months old! It is going by so fast. He is so full of energy and always happy. Anyone we meet comments on what a happy baby Dominic is. Even strangers notice it in the few minutes they see him. He is such a joy!

He is already looking mischievous!

I turned away for a minute and this is what happened!

Dominic loves playing with his toys. Here is a short video of him playing.

Life at the lake

2009-08-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

We spent 2 1/2 amazing weeks at the Lake this summer! We had beautiful, sunny weather the whole time and great family time with my parents, grandparents, brother and his sweet girlfriend and our nephew Dustin!! Our time there was spent fishing, hiking, biking, playing with Ramsey (more on that later!), swimming, campfires & smores and time just relaxing. Check out our pictures below:

The Trip

Since we didn't have a car, my cousin let us borrow their PT Cruiser for a week. It was such a blessing that they were able to help us out! Here is a picture of Dominic helping us out on the drive up to the cabin!
When we arrived up there it was the last cool day and we had a fire in the cabin. Dominic loved watching the flames!

Dominic

It was definitely a hot summer, getting up into the 100s! With no air conditioning in the house, we spent time down by the water (and in the water...it got up to a record of 80 degrees!).
Dominic spent a lot of time in just his diaper (too hot for clothes), in the makeshift pool (a wagon!), swimming with us, and even on a boat ride (he actually fell asleep in his life jacket! I guess the boat lulled him to sleep!).

Dustin

We had so much fun with our nephew. We were lucky to have him for 10 days this summer at the lake! He and Dom spent a lot of time hiking, biking, rock hounding, swimming, some wakeboarding, and of course fishing too. Baby Dominic loved spending time with his cousin too. Dustin could make him laugh so hard! It was really cute!! We can't wait for next summer!

One of his fish

The boat ride that Dominic fell asleep on swimming with Ramsey

Fishing

Dom spent a lot of time fishing while we were up there and we were able to enjoy many fabulous meals of fish! He caught trout, Kokanee and bass. His favorite time of day to fish was early morning and evening.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grandma turned 89 this summer. We had a meal of fresh fish and a cake to celebrate! Happy birthday Grandma!! I love you!!!

Ramsey

This summer if full of surprises. Yes, Ramsey is back home with us. My cousin was unable to keep him because her cats did not get along with him. So, for now he is back home with us. Dom and Dustin had a great time with him at the lake! Dom taught him a new trick of pulling him in the water, as well as rescuing us. He taught him that when he sees the sign of someone drowning (hands waving in the air), he will swim toward the person and drag them to shore. When we took Dustin wakeboarding, he had fallen at one point and Ramsey jumped out of the boat and swam toward him, made sure he was ok, and then swam back toward the boat!

Relaxing

We loved this beautiful weather! Dominic and I spent many mornings on the deck with Grammy and Great Grandma.
We also spent some time relaxing at the beach trying to stay cool in this record breaking heat this summer!
Walking

I went on a daily 4.1 mile walk along the lake with Dominic almost every day. In total I walked 42 miles. I loved it, it was such a beautiful walk and it is helping me to knock out this baby weight. This is an evening view of what I saw on my walk. It was so beautiful and peaceful. I miss walking up there!

I love Lake Cavanaugh. It is my favorite place in the world to be. And of all of the places I have lived, this is the one place that feels like home. My grandparents have owned the cabin since the late 60's and I grew up coming here. It means so much to me to come up here now with my family and have my children experience the summers up here too!

Dominic's new trick

2009-08-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

Dom has a great time playing and making Dominic laugh. Sometimes what they do together almost stops my heart! You'll see why when you look at these pictures! Dominic loves it though.

And check out this video!

Baby Talk

2009-08-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

Our new find

2009-08-05T08:51:00.000-07:00

Dom and I joke that this summer has been a character building summer. With the remodeling between his summer work, and major car problems, we have been learning that God is faithful in all things and these stresses are temporary, and the most important thing is that we have our health.
The week we were supposed to head up to the cabin for the 4th of July, the engine on our honda civic died. This was not in our plan at all! We knew this was a temporary car and were saving for a minivan at some point, but for this to happen at this time was stressful to say the least! So Dom started working on his FJ 40 to have as a very temporary backup until we could save some money for another car. A simple 2 hour project kept growing and 15 hours later he came into the house discouraged. The engine on that was gone too. Both of our car engines were gone within a week of each other! Now he could explain in detail exactly what the problems were with both of the cars, but I will leave that to you! All I know is that they were unfit to drive and would cost too much to repair!
Now we were very discouraged, but figured we would limp by without a car for awhile until we had the cash. Dom would bike to work and I could walk to the grocery store. We are HUGE Dave Ramsey fans and after spending 1 year paying off $15,000 in debt, we cut up and cancelled all of our credit cards (we have a savings account for emergencies in place of credit cards) and are chipping away at our final debt...the student loans. Our goal is to be financially free and the last thing we wanted to do was take out a loan and get us deeper in debt.
So we headed up to the lake by train and were there for 2 1/2 weeks! Our nephew Dustin came up to visit us and we had a great time with him at the lake with him. Now Dom and Dustin were supposed to take a 5 day trip in the FJ out in the wilderness, and so the fact that the FJ died was a huge hiccup in their plans. But again, God really took care of them because Dom said that these problems that happened were inevitable, so thank God it happened while Dom was working on it at home, and not when they were in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception!! God was watching out for them!!
While we were at the cabin, we decided to take a look at minivans for sale on craigslist to see what was out there. We were amazed that there were a couple that we had cash to pay for! So July 27th we came home with this incredible find:

2000 Toyota Sienna

It is in excellent condition, mechanically sound, safe, tons of room, comfortable, great gas mileage (24 which is great for a van) clean, perfect color (hard to tell in this picture though, it's a blue/green/gray) the mid model with power EVERYTHING (mind you, I haven't had a power everything car in 5 years (and our last one didn't even have power steering) so this is luxury!!), and we had the cash to pay for it, thanks to Dom working extra this summer! I always vowed that I would not be one of those moms that would drive a minivan, but now that we have one, I can see why so many families have them. They are so comfortable and easy to get around in! I love grocery shopping and running errands in this!! God provided more than we could have imagined. We were saving for a minivan, but didn't figure we would get one for another year or so. So we are thankful for our bad luck with cars because we ended up with this! :)

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
Romans 8:28

Working

2009-07-13T12:17:00.001-07:00

Father and son working on their first project together...before we know it, they will be working under the hood of a car together. Time flies by too fast!

Swinging

2009-07-12T20:51:00.000-07:00

Baby Dominic loves it when Dom swings him in the air!!

Devouring a book

2009-07-12T20:48:00.000-07:00

Rolling Over

2009-07-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

We can't get over what a happy baby Dominic is. Almost all the time, except if he is hungry or tired.

This is a video of Dominic rolling over from his back to his tummy. He did this for the first time today 7/12/08.

4th of July

2009-07-07T21:25:00.001-07:00

As is our tradition, we spend the 4th of July weekend at the Lake. It was a beautiful weekend, in the 80s, and Dom enjoyed some time away from the projects at the house, so he could fish and read and relax. The morning of the 4th Dominic, mom, grandma and I attended a picnic that started with my great great grandparents, the Edwards, who first came over from Norway in the early 1900's. My great grandparents started meeting on the 4th of July back in 1910 on Vashon Island, and they would meet every year. This tradition of the Edwards descendants meeting has continued now for almost 100 years! It is so neat to talk to cousins that I don't see very often and meet new ones. My mom is very good a researching family history and has written one book (soon to be two!) on our Norwegian ancestry and other family stories and I love it!!

Four generations of Norwegians!

After the picnic, we drove back up to the lake for another barbecue with more family! I love family time!! My cousin Allison and her husband Chas and 3 kids (soon 4, she is due any day) came up, along with her parents, Dennis and Nancy, and cousin Nil and Helen. We really enjoy spending time with them when we are at the lake. We built a campfire on the beach and roasted marshmallows and later made smores while we watched the fireworks over the lake. The lake doesn't have anything organized in terms of fireworks, but in the bay where our cabin is situated, the lots on either side of us spend over $5000 (at least!) on fireworks every year. The show is really spectacular!

Cousins
Roasting hotdogs over the fire in the late afternoon
My cake :)

Funny video

2009-07-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

Dominic and Daddy are always having fun together...this is one of the new things Dom does to our sweet boy that makes LOTS of noise!! It's funny!!

Our funny boy

2009-07-07T21:13:00.002-07:00

Dominic loves playing in laundry baskets!!

Before and After

2009-07-07T21:13:00.001-07:00

After a year of budgeting, a week of laying floor and painting, yard sale & craigslist shopping, and some rearranging of furniture, the hard work has paid off. Everything was on sale and we came out under budget!! We initially decided to replace the carpet since it smelled pretty bad from Ramsey and I wanted really clean floors for Dominic when he starts to crawl. We started talking and budgeting and when the time was right and we had the money, God provided deals that were better than we imagined!!!

1. The pergot flooring from Costco was $8 off per packet...we saved a total of $216 (this coupon comes out only once a year)
2. New to us flat screen tv from a garage sale...$30
3. 1 year old Microfiber couch from craiglist...$120 (I talked her down $30!! And we just saw this exact couch in an add for $500 brand new!)
4. Table from goodwill $10 (With a fresh coat of spray paint to bring it up to date and make it look new, and leaves that pull out on both sides it becomes a big table)
5. Paint from home depot $5 off per gallon...$20 savings total!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Happy Father's Day

2009-07-07T21:12:00.001-07:00

Not only am I married to the sweetest, handsome husband, but the most loving, attentive, and funny father Dominic could ever ask for. God has blessed me so much more than I could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20...loosely paraphrased)!!! Dom is soo good with our presious baby and I love watching the two of them together. Dominic lights up whenever he sees his daddy and it is the sweetest thing to see the laugh and play.
His first Father's Day was not quit what I had planned it to be, but we enjoyed it because we were together. As mentioned in the previous post Changes, we started the day off driving up to Centralia, Wa before heading over for a brunch with Dom's dad and family. I didn't have my camera with me :( but love this picture of Dominic with his Dad and Grandpa!
After brunch, we headed back to our condo for more work on the house, while I began dinner preparations for an Italian dinner of Bruschetta (appetizers), and Shrimp Scampi.

The father's took a break from their hard work to enjoy a meal in their honor

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" Ephesians 3:20-21

Changes

2009-07-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

Three days after Dom finished school the changes began. The flooring we have been eying and budgeting for went on sale at costco and we bought it the next day. With Dad's help, they started tearing out the carpet amd starting to lay the flooring on father's day weekend. This project became a week of living in a mess, but we managed and it was worth it.
The biggest new is that we found a new home for Ramsey. This was a hard decision that Dom and I have been talking about for awhile. A few months ago we were really close to putting an add on craiglist and then decided the timing just wasn't right. We started to talk about it again in the month of June and on a whim, I put a notice on facebook. That night we got three inquiries! After talking with my second cousin Cheryl, she was the one! It is such an answer to prayer because we wanted him to go to someone we knew and Cheryl was looking for a dog and has been praying that she would know when the right dog came along!! And she lives 45 minutes from Lake Cavanaugh so we get to see him whenever we are up there!!! She also has a yard with a doghouse and lives in walking distance from an off leash dog park near a river where Ramsey can swim. Her parents also have a lab (that Ramsey played with last summer) and they live on a lake and have kyaks, so she can take Ramsey Kyaking too (one of MANY things Dom taught him to do!). So on Father's Day we drove up to Centralia, Washington to give Ramsey to Cheryl. Dom spent an hour and a half with Cheryl and Ramsey, going over many details, etc. and then we drove off. It was the best decision, and he went to the best person, but it was so hard. I cried for two days. I was surprised at how attached I was to him. But it is very peaceful in our house again, Dom's stress level has significantly lowered, and the place is almost hairless!!

Our wonderful, crazy Ramsey

His first meal

2009-06-18T09:32:00.003-07:00

It's official. He had his first solid food this week. He eats 1 TBSP once a day of Earth's Best Organic Whole Grain Rice Cereal mixed with breast milk. He did alright, it was more watery than solid, so it wasn't too foreign in his mouth. He liked the spoon and would grab it when he could and shove it in his mouth. It was pretty cute! I am sentiment and had him eat his first bite with my baby spoon! It was all metal though, so after the first two bites I switched to a Gerber one that has a plastic spoon.
Dominic will eat only Rice Cereal for the first two weeks (only 1 meal a day for the first week and then 2 a day the second, and still nursing 6 times a day) and then I will gradually introduce new foods. I was planning on making the rice cereal myself, but would have to give him iron supplements which would stain his future teeth yellow, so instead I settled on an organic whole grain rice cereal with iron. We are not an organic family, and usually buy what's chepeast, but when it comes to Dominic's food for the first few years of life, I feel that it is really important to know what exactly is going into his food, eliminating preservatives and other things by making it myself. And it's fun!! And thanks to my fabulous mother in law, I will be making Dominic's baby food with a Williams Sonoma Beaba Babycooker food processor which makes the process so much easier!!

Getting ready for the first bite.
Thanks for the bib, bowl and spoon uncle Damon!
The first bite with my baby spoon :)"This stuff tastes funny"

He tried feeding himself several times!

And here's the video we took of his first meal. Enjoy!

6 months

2009-06-18T09:32:00.001-07:00

I have to post several of these pictures, they are just too cute! He is letting me take pictures of him again (the past month he was trying to reach for the camera instead of smiling!) I guess he is used to me putting the camera in his face!
The latest with Dominic is:
-passing a toy from one hand to another
-sitting and playing with his toys
-while on his tummy, he will turn around, completing 1/2 a circle
-reaching his arms out to be held
-when holding him, he will put his sweet little arms around my neck and put his hands on my shoulder
-he no longer likes to listen to the story, he is more interested in turning the pages!
-sleeping with mommy in bed whenever he can
-eating solids (more on this in a later post!!)
-laughing constantly
-flirting (he catches peoples eye and will smile at them in a store)
-laughing and smiling all the time!

I feel so blessed to stay at home with Dominic. I am selfish, I don't want to miss a minute of being with my little boy. I knew I always wanted to be a stay at home mom, but I didn't know how much work it was to take care of an active boy and a house! My mom reminded me of a cute poem she had framed in my baby room:

Cleaning and cooking can wait 'till tomorrow
for babies grow up, I've learned to my sorrow
so fly away cobwebs, dust go to sleep
for I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep!

I think of this often, because it can be easy to get caught up in housework. Tonight, I put Dominic to bed and started cleaning the kitchen. After an hour or so, he woke up crying (it breaks my heart when he does that). I stopped what I was doing and sat and rocked him for awhile until he fell back to sleep. It was so peaceful, rocking and comforting Dominic. I love that part of being a mommy, knowing that I can comfort and love my child. That's what it is about, not trying to get everything done on my list (my kitchen is still needing some attention), but taking care of the needs of my child, whatever they may be. I love that Dom told me that he would rather I spend my time at home playing with Dominic and taking care of his needs instead of busily trying to clean and get things done. When Dom comes home, he spends time with Dominic and then I can work on the house and cooking. And I am not stressed from trying to multitask with a baby and chores, etc. I can't thank you enough Dom, for all of your hard work in providing for our family. I am blessed beyond words.