Happy 3rd Birthday!

Dear Chandler,

I can't believe that three years have passed since you came into this world and made me into a mommy. How can three years go by so fast?! I remember just days before you were born, sitting on the couch, wondering how the heck am I going to do this for at least another 3 weeks and that's if you weren't late! I figured you were going to be just like you're daddy and take your sweet time and mozy on out of the oven around mid to late September, oh how wrong I was. Little did I know that you were going to be just like mommy and be early bird to your own party...21 days early! At just 19 inches and 6lbs, 11oz you were a little one. You gave us quite a few scares from the get go, a 10 day NICU stay with what I called "the jaundice that would never go away", a possible infection (thank goodness results came back negative), and some blood incompatiblity issues but we made it though the long, windy road and ended up here....a perfectly healthy (not so) little boy three years later.

You have grown into quite a personality this last year. You're biggest achievement has been your speech. Once you picked up language you have never. stopped. talking. I am amazed at how you can talk from the minute you wake up until the minute you go to bed. It's constant but I love that you're not shy and are not afraid to speak up! You've also learned the art of numerous facial expressions and when to use the right ones to get the best impact. Add that to your great sense of humor and I see a budding comedian in training. Your memorization skills are above all your best skill set. You can see/learn something one time and it's ingrained in your memory....forever. You have memorized the ABC's, numbers, 50 states, about 10 presidents, many useless facts about random things, money, some spanish, countless vocab words (that a normal toddler would never know), the way to every store we frequent (good thing cause I have no sense of direction), every episode of the Imagination Movers, and every bad/annoying thing your aunties have taught you. Thanks a lot Anna and Denise :)

You're extremely thoughtful, always wondering what your friends are up to, and are the first to ask if they're ok or why they are sad. You are outgoing, never one to shy away and you usually jump right into the fun stuff (as long as you don't get messy, heaven forbid!) You enjoy learning new things, swimming, soccer and t-ball. You've taken after your mom and dad and love watching the UFC, you even have the announcer, Bruce Buffer's, voice down pat. You can intro the fighters just like he does and it's a riot.

You have been an incredible teacher these last three years too. You've taught me how to enjoy the little moments, to open my eyes and see all my surroundings. You've taught me how to have more patience, that there are many different ways to do something, not just MY way. You've taught me how to be silly, let loose, and just have FUN. I could go on and on about everything you've taught me, all the neat little things you do and what makes you so special to us but I'm going to end this open letter to you with three little words.

Happy Birthday Chandler!

Love,
Mommy

Rub a Dub Dub, Three Men in a Tub

There has been a lot of bangin' and a lot of nailin' going around these neck of the woods and you'd probably wonder why do I have not 1, not 2, but 3 men in my shower while my husband is off at work?

To fix my shower, silly! Get your mind out of the gutter! Ok, I guess I kind of lead you there, but it was too funny not to.

On Friday afternoon around 4pm, the maintenance guy came over and said the downstairs unit was leaking. Well, after a looksie in the bathroom it appears the water has been seeping through some bad caulking down into the walls and into the downstairs unit. CRAZY FUN TIMES, let me tell you! Well, I was informed I can't use my shower, for get this, a week, I thought he was joking, but no, he was serious. Of course, Friday at 4 is no time to start an intensive project so he said he would be here on Monday. Monday came and went, no workers. Tuesday, I went out in the morning and came home to a completely TOTALLED bathroom.

These pics don't do it justice because when I got home there was no board on the wall, just wood, nothing else. They've been in and out today, all three of them, tracking tile dust, and dirt to all over the place. My bathroom is a mess, with their tools all over and it is now 4:30pm and I have no clue if they are coming back today. We'll just have to wait and see. Did I mention that my son's birthday is tomorrow and a party on Thursday? I don't have time for this crap. I have at least two more days of workers between gluing tiles, letting it dry, grouting, letting it dry, and then I can use my bathroom/shower. Let me just thank myself now for getting the apartment with 2 bathrooms instead of one....that is about the only positive in this entire situation. So for the last few days and now a few more I have been showering with the likes of Elmo, rubber duckies, and a lot of other kiddy toys floating at my feet.

Show me those pearly whites!

Just in case you needed a good laugh!!!

I'm smiling with you big ol' horsey!

Honestly, we've had a great week around these neck of the woods. Our house that has been empty for almost 3 years and on the market for almost a year finally sold. If all goes well it will close soon and our "new chapter" of life will start. See, selling this house means that we're one step closer to moving up to Canada and having a more "traditional" life. You know the one where you actually get to LIVE with your husband and he can have a job that allows him to be home more and hopefully add more little monsters to our little family. Secondly, my hubby finally got some extra government credentials, after a silly paperwork mix up that took forever to fix, that will allow him to haul goods from US Ports which equals more money for us. Hooray! And lastly, we're celebrating two birthdays this week. My lovely husband is turning one year wiser (we'll see about that) tomorrow and our cute as a button son turns the big 3 on Wednesday. So we'll have some busy days surrounded by fun, family and friends and I'm pretty sure there will be pics and stories to follow. So, let me know what good news came your way this week. From big news to little tidbits, go ahead a let it out! Let's all brag a bit and smile (although maybe not as big as that horse) about other's news.

Keeping it short and sweet!

Thanks so much to everyone who has commented here and IRL, facebook, etc.I had a long night since I couldn't fall asleep but I did talk to my mom this morning and feel much better about the situation. Sometimes, I'm so glad that I live out of state so that I can keep the drama at bay but when times like this come around and you need family it is hard being so far away.We still feel sadness for my sister for losing someone she loved and for the 3 kids who are now without a daddy(no,they're not my sisters.) Once again, thank you so much to those who reached out, it was much appreciated.

The Call

While I usually keep this blog pretty cheery because honestly, I'm a pretty positive person, tonight is a bit different. My thoughts are pretty jumbled right now, somethings might make sense where others won't but I need to let my thoughts flow. I got a call a couple hours ago that rocked my world. Let me first say that, I'm OK! My sister called, crying hysterically, and asked if I had heard from our mom today, I said no, what's wrong? She starts spewing out how they're murdered and all of these other things I can't understand and for a good 5 minutes I believe that my mom and her boyfriend have been murdered. I'm screaming and yelling and even as I type this and relive the moment I'm continuing to cry. Eventually she says something that is audible and I relize that she is looking for my mom so I ask, "Who was killed?" and she says John Doe(for privacy reasons) and then I figure out it is not my Mom. Relief with a capital R sets in momentarily and then I realize that it's her boyfriend. She then claims my mom is calling her on the other line so I let her go. Even though I know my mom is ok my hysteria is still there. I park my little guy in front of the tv and go to my room to try to gather myself. I'm a mess! I don't know her boyfriend, only by name, and to be honest he doesn't really hang in the right circles so it doesn't entirely surprise me but I can't get the vision out of my mind of what I thought had happened. I just want to talk to my mom but I know she's with my sister right now and they need time together. I don't have much else to say but had to get this off my chest. Sorry for my crazy, jumbled, scatterbrained post.

Here Fishy, Fishy!

Here is our little guy on his first boating/fishing trip. We recently went camping and decided to hit the lake and catch some trout. Unfortunately, only one fishy agreed with our idea and hit on MY pole :) Make that one point for fishermommy, no points for fisherdaddy! Our little guy did amazingly well, we figured we would last an hour, at tops, at trying to keep him contained in the boat but he surprised us all and we fished for almost 6 hours(with the help of lollipops as you can see.) What a trooper! He kept his pole in the water most of the time and often called "here, fishy, fishy come eat my food!" We had a blast making memories and having some much needed family time.

For more WordFULL Wednesdays visit 7 clown circus!

Dear Mother Nature, What did I ever do to you?!

When it ranges between

and

in Portland, Oregon for over a week (Yes, I DID say Portland where we don't see stuff like this very often)

This is what you do to stay cool!

What a scorcher it has been up here! We're on day 10 of a record heat wave with the end finally in sight and I couldn't be any happier. Let me just mention that I moved from California to here to get away from all that sunny business and it still found me. AC is a novelty in homes around here since it is usually not worth the money to install and so we found every way we could to make it though these last 10 days. 2 trips to the water fountains, 2 separate trips to the coast with one being a camping trip (I'll post more about that tomorrow), the longest trip to Wal-Mart EVER to enjoy their AC, and a day at the Children's Museum to stay cool (sidenote- everyone else had the same idea as me, so it was CROWDED!) Needless to say, not much posting has occurred the last few days since I HAD to sit where a fan could blow it's glorious air on me at all times but I hope to get back to our regularly scheduled programming soon. Unless Mother Nature plays an evil trick on me again :)