The drama of the car seat

So we bought a new car seat. Why are car seats so incredibly frustrating? Here are the top 5 reasons:

1. There are about 34,634 car seats to choose from. I have spent literally hours pouring over reviews online.

2. Car seats are important! They are supposed to protect my kidlet - they better be good. I better make the right choice.

3. Cash money, cash money! Car seats are expensive! I'm not complaining - obviously it's worth the money (see reason #2), but sheesh!

4. Installing car seats is always a chore to figure out. Always.

5. Cup holders?! On a car seat? Really?

So anyway. The car seat Henry is cruising around in currently will only last for about 20-ish more pounds, so we figured we might as well start looking for a new one. Now, I realize that it will probably take him the better part of 8-12 months to put on those 20 pounds (right?! I hope he doesn't balloon up 20 pounds real quick like!) but call us johnny-on-the-spot...we wanted to get it done! Probably because the whole process is so unenjoyable...and because the current car seat is borrowed.

So anyway. I did a whole bunch of research online. I always get stuck doing the research. Is it like that at your house? The wife doing the research, I mean? Goodness gracious. Anyway. I read up on lots of options, and settled on a seat from Costco. The benefit of Costco, I figured, was that if we hated the thing, we could take it right back, lickety-split, because of their awesome return-everything-ever policy.

Well.

Good thing that stupid seat came from Costco.

It was the absolute worst contraption in the history of mankind.

Maybe a little dramatic.

It just didn't fit in our car, like, at all.

I spent a good hour and a half wrestling that thing into the back seat, sweating, reading the instruction manual, throwing the instruction manual, and calling the car seat bad names in my head. Aaron, being the good husband that he is, was working in the yard. He would come over periodically and check my progress, shake his head, make a comment about how thrilled he was to be pruning the rosebushes, and walk away. So after all my hard work, it was finally installed, finally!! And look! Here is the result!

See? See how far the passenger side seat had to be pushed up? There was no way anyone was going to be riding shotgun, unless they could fold their legs up to their chest and ride that way, which sounds extremely uncool (and a little unsafe).

So we decided to just let Henry ride around like this:

Right? Way easier, cheaper, and cuter!

I am kidding. You got that, right?

Right.

And, as an extra TV bonus, I present this picture:

How cute is that? He feel asleep like that on the way home from church on Sunday. Playing with friends in the nursery really tuckers a guy out!

And yes, that's the current car seat. We ripped the new one out and reinstalled the old one.

So we accomplished: zip, zero, nada.

For pete's sake.

Scandi-crazy!

So here are a few little pictures from the awesome Scandinavian Festival held in Junction City last weekend:

Our viking in training:

Wish we had outfits like that for real!

So doesn't this look like a great job? Dress like a viking, carry fake weapons, and pose with random strangers for pictures.

You don't even have to smile.

I could totally do that.

Things that are great about Henry - 6 month edition

- Sometimes you still pull your legs up to your tummy - it reminds me of how you were stuck like that in my tummy for 9 months, and makes me nostalgic for the first few days when we would try to stretch out your legs by pulling on them and they'd just spring right back up to your chest!

- People are saying that you look more and more like me. I am thankful for that, because for the first few months you were a miniature version of your dad, only with red hair, which was great. But! I love seeing myself in you, knowing that I have passed on parts of myself, and hoping that they are good.

- I hope I never forget the sound you make as you eat a bottle: inhale, suck, grunt, swallow. Repeat.

- The way you devote your entire attention to things is so impressive: you can watch something or someone for a looooong time. The music programs at the library are 45 minutes long, and you sit on the floor by yourself and watch the whole thing. You are fascinated by life.

- You are such a proficient eater: when a bottle is held up in front of you, you grin, kick your legs, make an excited noise, and reeeeaaach for that food! When you've got that bottle safely in your chubby hands, you raise it up to your mouth, and stick it straight in. And the solids we're giving you! Man! You're loving them! You're just like mom and dad: food is definitely a priority.

- Nothing that lies within arms distance of you is safe: you grab everything!

- Nighttime continues to be something that we are amazed by and thankful for. I don't know how your little body got the memo that you can just shut down for 10 hours - but I am sure glad that it did. You still can't sleep without being swaddled up snug as a bug in a rug, so I am curious as to whether you'll still sleep with your blankets tucked up tight around you when you're a teenager!

- Top things strangers comment on about you: your hair, how well behaved you are, your hair, how smiley you are, and your hair!

- Whenever boredom strikes, you make a crazy ba-ba-ba noise...you almost shout it sometimes! Also, if you're a little sad, you start making that same noise, and it's like you can talk yourself out of crankiness - a few seconds of ba-ba-ba-ing and you're good as new. This sound has led to a billion rounds of 'Ba, Ba, Black Sheep'. Your mom is pretty burnt out on that song, so maybe we could move on to a new vocab choice ...how about ma-ma-ma?

- My favorite thing about you is how much joy you bring to everyone you meet. You are a friend to everyone, and you never fail to treat anyone nearby to a smile. People light up when they see you, and I know that you are spreading Jesus' love already.

- Every night, before I go to bed, I sneak into your room and stand next to your crib. I lean my arms on the railing of your bed and stare at you, thanking God for what He's given me through you. I pray over you, asking for His protection over every aspect of your life. You are a testimony to God's goodness, you show me his grace and mercy daily, and I am so grateful for the way you've drawn me closer to my Savior. I pray that you'll grow to love Jesus and follow after him wholeheartedly every day of your life. And then, when I know I have to go to sleep myself, I lean down and rest my cheek on yours. I let myself linger there, breathing in your scent, watching the way your chest rises steadily up and down, feeling the tickle of your hair on my forehead. I know that you won't be a baby for long. Every day you slip a little further through my fingers, becoming a little more independent, and a little more grownup. I have so many hopes and dreams for you, for what you'll do, for you who'll become. Thank you for being mine.

Five years!

So last week was our fifth anniversary. We decided to celebrate in a low key fashion. It was wonderful! However, Aaron said that he had a surprise planned for Saturday.

Here were my guesses as to what that surprise might be:

1. A picnic at a park (very typical of us)

2. The Eugene Bite, or the Bite of Eugene, or whatever it's called

3. A drive up the river to hike

That's pretty much all I had come up with. I knew he had arranged for his aunt to come watch Henry for the better part of the day. So I was pretty darn excited.

So when a random lady knocked on our door and Aaron answered it acting like he and this random lady were old friends, I was pretty confused. Who was she, why was she at my house, and why was she acting all BFF with my husband? She said she'd be waiting out front whenever we were ready. So I stuck my head out the door and a big old black Escalade was sitting in my driveway. What the what?

See the pretty car?

So Aaron and I kissed Henry goodbye and hopped in the car with this random woman, which seemed a little sketchy to me, but they assured me that it was the right thing to do. Whatev. I was not about to argue with the woman in the Escalade.

I noticed that Aaron had a little bag of snacks packed. I asked what they were for, and he said we might need sustenance to keep up with our big day of wine tasting! Whoa! My little head almost exploded! That is way fancier than we usually roll.

So we started at King Estate, and ate lunch.

Here's the view outside:

And the view inside:

And us at our super awesome table:

Don't we sort of look like celebrities, a little? We are sooo not this fancy! But it was really fun to pretend!

And our wine tasters - yummy:

And our food! It was fantastic! Aaron had a smoked trout sandwich (which I thought was oh-so-icky but I kept my opinion to myself) and it came with lovely little chippy things:

And I had pasta with peas and mushrooms and goat cheese. Did you hear me? Goat cheese! Excuse me as I drool just a little:

So after lunch we headed to winery/vineyard number 2 (What is the proper term? Is there a difference between a winery and a vineyard? I told you we weren't cool enough to be hanging out at places like that. I bet people could totally tell we were impostors.)

So anyway, stop number two was Sweet Cheeks, and it was just lovely. Here we are:

Then after that it was on to Sylvan Ridge:

And after that Noble Estate:

And last but not least was Sarver Winery:

If we look tired by this last shot, it's because we are. Five hours of wine tasting is hard work. For real.

So then we got dropped off by our personal chauffeur, who was just a riot, btw.

It was like being a famous person. Or a rich person. Or a famous rich person.

So it was a pretty good day. :)

The movie we ALMOST saw...

So yesterday was our five year anniversary (pause for polite applause, curtsies, and bows). So our good friend very graciously agreed to watch the boy for us so that the hubs and I could enjoy a night out on the town. Like, just the two of us.

Whoa.

We were pretty excited about the prospects.

We looked like this:

What should we do with ourselves??!!

After much hand wringing and deliberation, we settled on dinner at Dicky Jo's (a fantastic choice - have you had their milkshakes???) and a showing of the most awaited, the most epic, the most anticipated movie of MY ENTIRE LIFE...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2!!!!! (I can't put enough exclamation points behind that title).

Seriously. Excited.

So, you might be asking, if I'm such a huge fan of Harry, why did I wait a whole week after it came out to go and see it?

Excellent question.

Here's the answer.

Because I am learning that with a five month old, you don't always get what you want. (I mean you, as in, the parent. The five month old usually gets what he wants.)

So.

We went to Dicky Joe's, and we ate this:

It was wonderful!

I am a big fan of kid's meals - perfect portion sizes!

After walking around a nearby park for a few minutes to burn off a bite or two of the food we'd just enjoyed, we went to the mall to buy our tickets for the movie that I knew I was destined to love above all movies forever and always!

Oh, here we are at the park:

I was prepared to be enthralled with characters I've loved for years.

To be awed by the special effects.

To be annoyed at how the movie was different than the book.

To be thrilled at how my favorite character, Severus Snape, wraps up his plot line.

To be impressed by how they depicted the scene with Dumbledore at the end.

To be super sad that the series of movies was, at last, over.

To eat the Sour Patch Kids I had shoved in my purse.

But.

Our friend called us home. The boy needed us.

The movie watching would have to wait.

So this turned out to be, on our fifth anniversary, another learning experience of putting someone else's needs above our own. For the past five years, Aaron and I have been working to serve, honor, and love each other. Now we have a wee one to practice on.

So. Until we meet again, Harry - don't go out of the theaters just yet.

Yeah right. Like that's going to happen.

So last weekend Bethel had their 11th annual celebration. We strapped on our walking shoes, loaded the kiddlet into the BOB, and hoofed it 2 miles to the park.

This is what we saw:

And this!

So Henry looked like this:

Clearly, he was beyond thrilled.

So first, we checked out the petting zoo.

We met this guy:

So if you're thinking what I'm thinking...like, what in the world IS that?!

Here's the answer:

Okay, so I don't actually know the answer.

But the friendly petting zoo guy told me that whatever it is is a cousin of the guinea pig.

Crazy, right?

So then I made friends with this guy:

The friendly petting zoo guy kept asking if I wanted to hold him.

Ummm...no thanks.

So then Henry found this guy crawling around in the field:

He was seriously gorgeous!

And then there was this guy:

He was 9 feet long.

For real.

We did not linger near him.

We moved on to the stage, where there was music from local school bands, and then a local band called Medium Troy.

Since it was about 80 degrees and sooo sunny, poor Henry spent much of his time like this:

That kid would thank me for slathering him with sunscreen if only he could speak.

So we ate some food, because that's what we're into.

And Henry looked cute, because that's what he's into.

I mostly like this picture because of the guy in the awesome chili pepper pants behind us.

This guy says a good time was had by all.

Take me out to the ball game...

So we've been lucky enough to get to go to two baseball games in two weeks!

Our friends John and Michelle invited us to see the Ducks play...someone...I don't remember who...anyway, we forgot our camera and only got this one cell phone picture.

Blast!

But here's Henry, enjoying the sun.

We also met my parents in Corvallis for a Beavers game. They played, and lost to, USC.

Henry, looking very serious about the loss.

Henry and I got to have our picture taken with Benny.

True to form, Henry had just spit up and was covered in baby puke.

Awesome.

The four of us after the game. It was a beautiful day!

After the game, we took advantage of the weather and walked across

campus to American Dream.

If I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life, it just might be

American Dream pizza.

No joke - it's that good.

Here's mom taunting the kid with what he can't have.

Only a few more years, kid.

Actually I don't know when he can have pizza.

Hand me the mom of the year award.

Here he is thinking about what he gets to eat instead of the delicious pizza.

Bummer, dude.

In this picture I think he's trying to use the Force to get the pizza to his mouth.

It doesn't seem to be going well.

Hanging out with Grandpa.

So how cute are my parents?

Married for 34 years this fall.

I am so proud of them, and so thankful for them.

Me and the hubs.

Also the top of the boy's head.

Yay for baseball games!