Silent Night...

More about Gracie sleeping...

Since November 4 - the weekend I was sick with the stomach flu - Grace has been waking up sometime between 3:30 and 5 a.m. I know she isn't hungry, therefore I refuse to feed her in the middle of the night, but it is nearly impossible to get her to go back to sleep. We have had a month now of not sleeping, and quite frankly, it is driving us insane. We eventually decided that she just needed to cry, and we hoped she would learn to not wake up... well, I am not sure what did it, but last night was a silent night! She went to bed at 9 p.m. and didn't wake up until 6:15 a.m. Hooray!

What could the culprit have been? We don't really know, but we think it was her growing independence. I know, she is only 5 months old, but she no longer wants to be swaddled when sleeping, and she rolls over all the time now. I think she was getting frustrated in the night when she would get stuck in a funny position. Now she is an expert flipper, and moves to whatever part of the crib she wants to be in. We sneak in to check on her and have found her in some very funny positions... she LOVES sleeping on her belly, and most of the time has her little knees tucked up under her with her little buns sticking up in the air. It is hilarious.

O (not so) Holy Night...

The week after Thanksgiving was pretty low key around here. We didn't have much happening, and were able to just relax. On Thanksgiving the AMC channel had a Hitchcock movie marathon on, and I am now addicted, so I checked out a bunch more of his movies from the library. Some we had seen, and others were new. It is nice to have something to do in the evenings that is relaxing for both of us. Movies from that era were so much better. We have enjoyed watching:

• The Man Who Knew Too Much
• Shadow of a Doubt
• The Trouble with Harry
• To Catch a Thief
• Rear Window
• Dial M for Murder
• The 39 Steps

There are others I have seen before this, but these are the most recent ones I have watched or re-watched. I would recommend them all.

Gary and Margaret were back up this evening to spend some time with us on their way up to Sultan to stay with Macy's family. It was fun to have an afternoon and evening with them - it is rare for us to spend time with them when the rest of the family isn't also around. It gives us a chance to visit with them one-on-one. We enjoyed dinner at Sushi and Maki - one of our favorite Japanese restaurants in town and spent the remainder of the evening relaxing, talking and playing games.

Gracie went to bed at her normal time - around 9 - and SCREAMED! She never really fell asleep that night. At 10 p.m. we were up playing games, and I got her out of her crib. I was tired of listening to her fussing. She was happy to be held by her daddy, and just sat and watched us playing. At 11 p.m. I fed her again, thinking that might help her get sleepy. She ate well, but the minute we put her back in her room she yelled. Uggh. It was going to be a long night. We tried everything, her crib, the little bassinet, the pack-n-play, her bouncer chair that vibrates, her swing. Nothing seemed to work. She nodded off in the swing for about 10 minutes and would then wake up angry until she would nod off again. By 6:30 a.m. I was exhausted and frustrated. Merrick came down to check on us, and offered to take a turn. I crawled in bed until 7:30 when it was time for her to eat again. She was happy to be awake and have both Merrick and I paying attention to her. Then the struggle began to keep her awake that day. We didn't want her to sleep all day and have another awful night. Poor Merrick had to leave for work - I was able to hang out at home in my pj's all day long. Gracie took one good mid-morning nap, and one good late-afternoon nap. (You better believe I slept with her both times). By 9 p.m. she was ready for bed. We put her down, and not a peep. It was fabulous. Merrick and I stayed up just long enough to watch another Hitchcock movie before both crashing ourselves.

Since Gracie was born she has had three nights like this - and all three times we have had company. Twice it was when Margaret was here, and once when Hannah and Emmett were here.

Hi-ho, I'm an elf...

My mom sent me a link today where you can "elf yourself." Click here to see the finished product. (FYI - it may take a minute or so to load).

The thrill of the hunt...

...the tree hunt, that is.


Since the Haverlys stayed with us after Thanksgiving, we decided to head up and get our tree while they were here. We found a great little tree farm between Hillsboro and Newberg (there are about 50 tree farms around here, so it really isn't very hard to find one). It was called Hagg's. It was a beautiful day, and the drive to the farm was amazing. We had some stunning views of Mount Hood - spectacular! Since it was early in the season, the farm wasn't very busy. We took our time visiting the animals in the barn, checking out the little bazaar, and Maleah and Mariah drank their weight in hot cocoa. (Okay, I'll be honest... I had one or two cups full myself.) We took a tractor pulled hay ride up to the trees and found the perfect one for us. We had picked up a saw at the bottom of the hill, but a man (who happened to have a sweet moustache and was wearing a Jack Daniels t-shirt) followed us around with a chain saw. When we found the tree we wanted, he just chopped it right down. I guess Hagg's could be considered U-cut unless chainsaw man beats you to it. It was nice to have him there to help Merrick haul the tree back to the tractor ride so we could get it back down the hill.

All-in-all it was a great experience, and we really do love our tree.

WARNING: the following story is not for those bothered by baby poop or those whose stomachs are at all queasy...

Once home from the tree farm, we quickly put up the tree and went back to playing games with the big girls. Merrick and I love spending time with them, and just don't get to do it enough, so we had to squeeze in as much fun as we could in 24 hours. Melaney was napping, and Gracie was in her Johnny jump-up, so all was good...until we heard Gracie pooping (I warned you, okay). I lifted her out of the jump-up and since she was still wearing her polar bear outfit from our Christmas tree adventures, I simply pulled off the pants where I was standing. I was immediately covered in baby poop... and the diaper was still leaking. I had it down my arms and all over my t-shirt, and both of Gracie's little legs were dripping (no exaggeration here). I screamed, just a little, and Merrick and Macy came to see what the big deal was. Gracie was a total mess, so she went straight into the tub. When all was said and done, there was nothing a bath, some carpet cleaner and a sink full of oxi-clean couldn't take care of. This is just one of those stories that needed to be written down and not forgotten. Thanks for bearing with me.

Giving thanks...

Oh, my favorite holiday has come and gone. We are so blessed, and this year we had so much to be thankful for...

• A new house
• A new baby
• Health
• Happiness
• Family
• Friends

Since it was our first year in our new home, Merrick and I wanted to host Thanksgiving here. We typically trade off who's family we join each year, but this year everyone (well, almost everyone) came to us. My grandparents had other plans, and the Diefenbaughs headed to Scott's folk's house, but we were able to host my parents, Merrick's parents, my brother and Kristin, the Haverlys and Vova, Myroslava and Andriy. It was a big, fun group. I really think I had the easiest part of the hosting - mostly just provided the space and cooked the turkey & stuffing. My parents brought over my grandma's china and a lot of extra serving dishes because I don't have a fully stocked kitchen to serve 20 people. Everyone chipped in with the food, and everything was delicious. I am looking forward to next year!

We ate, visited, ate some more... and when we were tired of eating, we played games! That is my kind of day!


Gracie getting her pj's on... the top got stuck, but was pretty cute, so everyone grabbed their cameras.

Mama's night out...

Marisa, Shannon, Kristen and I had a fun mom's night out. Since Shannon was put on bed rest, and Sophia came three weeks early, we never really had a chance to throw her a shower. So, we decided (7 1/2 months later) to have a girl's night in celebration of Sophie and Shannon. We headed downtown to 23rd to do a little shopping (it was friends and family weekend at Gap) and then we were off to Dosha Salon and Spa for pedicures. It was nice to get out of the house for a while - and our fabulous husbands were all able to stay home with the kiddos (thanks guys!!!). After our time of pampering we headed back into Beaverton for a delicious dinner at Olive Garden. Nothing too fancy for us, just some good ol' pasta, salad and bread sicks. We took a few pictures of our night on the town, but they aren't on my camera. I'll post when/if I get those from Shannon or Marisa.

Torrance, tamales, and toes in the sand...

Our vacation - day 3

Our day with Kelsie and Alex was nice and relaxing. We had nothing on the agenda, other than spending time with friends. Our time was too short, as always, but felt well spent.

We spent the first half of the day wandering through the Torrance farmer's market. It is always interesting to try out new markets - especially in different climates. In Oregon you will never see oranges, avocados, persimmons, pomegranates... in November it is all squash and potatoes. Gets very boring. There were lots of samples to try, and interesting people to watch. We ended up getting fresh homemade root beer and tamales for lunch. Delicious!

After the market we packed up the car and headed to the beach. We started winding up the hills into Palos Verdes. We stopped at a park/nature center where there were great views. We took a bunch of pictures, walked along the paths on the cliffs, and watched a group of dolphins playing in the ocean. We also made a quick stop in the Point Vicente Interpretive Center where we learned a little about area wildlife and past history of whaling.

From the lookout, the views were beautiful in both directions.

Just the girls goofing off.

When we had our fill of spectacular views, we left Palos Verdes and headed to Redondo Beach. We wanted to make sure Gracie got to experience the beach for the first time when both Merrick and I were with her, so this was perfect.

We made it to the beach just in time to watch the sunset!

Us, aka the Brownlees

The first time those cute tiny toes touched the sand. I can imagine that would be a strange sensation... she seemed to like it.

Cold and squishy...

Here it comes...

Look out...

Brrrrrr...

That was fun, let's do it again!

Playing on the beach with daddy, watching the sun get lower...

... and lower...

...and finally just disappear. Beautiful!

With our toes nice and cold, we packed up and headed to dinner. We had quite the experience at PF Chang's, but the food was good. We spent the remainder of our time back at Kelsie and Alex's house playing games and visiting.

We were with them for a total of 28 hours, and it went way too quickly, but we had a great time... and are very much looking forward to seeing them again at Christmas.

Where all our dreams came true...

Our vacation - day 2!

Merrick was VERY excited to get to Disneyland, so the alarm went off at 6 a.m. on Friday morning. Not an ideal wake up time for a vacation weekend, but we did want to have a full day at the park, so we sacrificed our sleep just a bit. We got ready, packed up, and headed down to the free breakfast at the hotel's restaurant. Most of the time the free breakfasts aren't worth the time, but this one was great! Eggs, bacon, potatoes, pancakes, french toast, hot cereal, cold cereal, yogurt, fresh fruit, juice, tea, coffee... it was fabulous - well, for me anyway. Merrick loaded the car and then joined Gracie and I, but ate his instant oatmeal and soy yogurt we had picked up for him the night before. No point in getting sick right before heading off to the "happiest place on earth."

We got to the park, parked the car, and walked straight in. It wasn't busy, there were hardly any lines, it was great. We could tell right away that Gracie was happy and was enjoying the noises and sights of Main Street. The first ride we went on was Storybook Land - the little boats that float you through the mouth of Monstro (the whale from Pinocchio), the village of the three little pigs, Agraba (the city from Aladdin) and many other popular places. She fussed just a bit on this ride, but it was time for her to eat, so that was my fault for letting her get too hungry. We found a nice bench just between Fantasyland and Frontierland where I sat to feed her. It was fun to just watch people go by - there are some odd ones there. Once fed, she was happy as ever, so we put her in the baby bijorn and took off towards Pirates of the Caribbean. There was no line, and we literally walked straight onto a boat and were off... both Merrick and I forgot about the fairly big drop at the beginning of that ride. It was so dark, and we were in the very back of the boat, so it totally caught us off guard. Gracie, strapped to Merrick's chest, didn't even seem to notice that we fell down a waterfall. She was probably confused about the loud explosions from the pirates shooting canon balls at us, and didn't know why we were sitting in the dark, but she didn't seem to mind any of it.

After Pirates, we did the Haunted Mansion. It was all decorated for Halloween/Christmas (two very similar holidays) with the Nightmare Before Christmas theme. It was fun to see it all decked out. Gracie wasn't scared by the ghosts, and fell asleep about 1/2 way through that ride. We then headed off to the Jungle Cruise, where Grace seemed to enjoy the animal sounds, and the colors of the foliage throughout the ride. Again, it was louder than I remembered, but that is probably because I was worried about her little ears. We rode the train around the perimeter of the park and took Gracie on the somewhat new Whinnie the Pooh ride - which she loved. I thought it was interesting that on Pirates, where you fall a story or 2, you aren't strapped in at all... but put you in a honey pot, on the calmest whinnie the pooh ride, and even Gracie had to be "under the safety bar." Silly rules. I just had to have a picture of her "strapped" in to a ride.

For lunch we ate in the French Quarter. We happened to sit down right as a show was starting. Gracie really liked the live music and performer with a very fancy dress on. We noticed that Disney is making an effort to be healthier, so all of the meals come with healthy choices, and at the snack stands they sell fresh fruits and veggies - along with the churros, cotton candy, and (my personal favorite) chocolate covered frozen bananas. Well, at least they're trying.

We found so many cute hats and souvenirs for Grace, but we didn't go too crazy. We took lots of pictures, but didn't actually buy any of these silly hats. Trying to find Mickey ears that fit her was a bit of a hassle, so we tried on this key-chain for size. It was a little too small, but she didn't swim in it like she did the rest of the hats in the park. Even the "infant" size would almost fit me. I guess they are expecting a lot of fat-headed babies to buy hats.

Another thing that changed since we were last there was the island - Tom Sawyer's Island - is now a Pirate's island. Captain Jack Sparrow wanders around the island, and they do pirate shows a few times a day. We had a lot of fun exploring, testing out the crazy bridges, and Gracie loved the ladies dressed like pirates. Since we weren't able to ride the big roller coasters with Grace, we were able to take our time and enjoy the parts of the park that are easy to miss on a normal day.

After visiting the island, we headed back to main street to feed the girl and watch the parade. By the time the parade go to us, she was done eating, and enjoyed standing up and watching the floats, dancers, and Disney characters go by. We had fun watching her excitement. It wasn't my favorite of the Disney parades, but it was nice to sit for a while, and we enjoyed seeing the amazing floats. We took Gracie back to Fantasyland where she was able to enjoy the Pinocchio ride, Snow White's castle, and a quick peek into the princess store - where we found this hat (but again, didn't buy it).

At dinner time, Bill, Andrea and Ryan met us in the park - the joy of having passes is you can come for just the evening. It was fun to hang out with them, and they were sweet and watched Gracie so Merrick and I could ride a few of the bigger rides. We did Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and the Matterhorn. We also all were able to ride It's a Small World - which was decorated for Christmas and rather than the traditional song (that we all love to hate) it was playing Jingle Bells and Deck the Halls.

The evening ended with a huge firework show and the Fantasmic show - which we only saw a few minutes of. At 11:30 we decided it was time to head out - we had been there for almost 15 hours, and we were all exhausted. Since we were staying with Kelsie and Alex, we had a short drive ahead of us, and didn't want to get there too late. =) With Gracie cuddled up with Mickey, we packed up and headed out. We had an amazing time - I don't think this day could have been any better.

Lazy day in Newport Beach...

Our trip to Southern, California - November 8-11, 2007 - Day 1

We flew into Orange County airport on Thursday morning. The flight was uneventful, and Gracie did great! When we landed our gate wasn't ready, so we had to stay on the tarmac for almost 30 minutes. Well, it wouldn't have been so bad, but Merrick REALLY had to pee, so even though we had all been told to "please remain in our seats with our seat belts fastened," Merrick got up and went to the back of the plane. The stewardess opened the bathroom for him, but then got on the intercom and said, "we are sorry for this inconvenience, and we know that some of you need to use the lavatory, but until everyone returns to their seats with their seat belts fastened we will not be able to proceed to the gate. Since we have landed, however, please feel free to use your cellular telephones." Really? Being able to make a call isn't going to relieve his bladder. Oh well. Merrick returned, sat down, buckled up... and we still waited for another 10 minutes. I am sure glad they made Merrick feel so guilty about that.

When we finally got off the plane, got our luggage, and the rental car, we headed off to our hotel. Poor Gracie was very hungry, so we sat in the lobby while I fed her. Merrick asked at the front desk if we could check in early, and there was a room ready! (I was so happy to know I would have a place to crash). We met Merrick's friend Bill for lunch at Chipotle, and then Merrick was off to his design review at work. I dropped him off at Mindspeed and headed back to the hotel to unload the car and rest. (Gracie's new trend is to wake up at 4 a.m. for the day - makes for really long days). Anyway, I put Grace in the port-a-crib, made a pot of decaf coffee, and crawled into bed myself. I slept for a little over 2 hours before Merrick called and was ready to be picked up from his office... it was a much needed and very refreshing nap!

After Merrick had a chance to wind down a bit, we headed out to the beach and drove up the Pacific Coast Highway through Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Long Beach and Seal Beach where we stopped at In N' Out burger for dinner. We also made a quick stop at Trader Joe's to pick up a few things for breakfast the next morning before heading to Lakewood to visit Bill and Andrea's apartment. It was a nice drive - even in the dark - and we had a lot of fun spending the evening with friends we haven't seen for YEARS! Their 2 1/2 year old son, Ryan (who we haven't seen since he was a few weeks old), adored Gracie. It was fun to watch him try to share his stuffed animals, books, and other toys with her. He is such a sweet boy. We looked at a few pictures of him dressed up for Halloween (as a zebra) and he kept saying, "so tute" or "tute, huh mom?" (tute meaning cute, of course). Andrea took a few pictures of the two kiddos together, so I will try to get a few of those from her to post.

It was a long day, and by the time we were back in our hotel room at 10 p.m. we were wiped out and all ready for bed. Gracie slept well, until 3:58 a.m. when she was ready to go for the day. Luckily I was able to feed her and get her back to sleep for a few more hours until Merrick's Disneyland alarm went off...

A new hobby...

Yes, yes, I am working on blogging our Disnyland trip, but just have a few other things to post in the mean time.

Shannon and I were talking the other day about taking a digital photography editing class. We still might do something, but for now I have been using the GIMP program (a free editing program that is easier than photo shop) and online tutorials. The other day I accomplished a selective colorization, so I thought I'd share the end results.

Also, Gracie has learned a few new tricks this week. She can now take her binky out of our hands and put it into her mouth. Sometimes she misses and ends up with her thumb in her mouth instead, but she is pretty regular on getting the binky to the right place. It is cute to watch, and makes her seem a lot more grown up. She is also rolling back to front now - not consistently, but she has done it a few times, so we have to watch her when we leave her up on the kitchen counters and laying on the top stair (only kidding). She has, since the day she was born, rolled front to back, but she is much better at that now too.

'Tis the good old Quaker College...

My grandpa often sends me copies of articles, or other things of interest he thinks I might enjoy. This week it was a copy of an article from the Oregonian about a group of GFU alumni, most of whom live in the Friendsview Retirement Center, sang the old George Fox College song at the beginning of chapel. I didn't even realize there was a song, and since many of the people who read my blog are also GFU grads, I thought I'd share this with you all as well. My grandma appears in the video a few times, as does my cousin's grandma, Betty Lou. I know many of these faces from growing up Quaker and now visiting my grandparents at the manor. Enjoy...



The original article can be found here. And the link to the video on oregonlive.com can be found here.

The lyrics to the song are:
Close beside Chehalem's Mountain
Is the college we adore;
Like and ever-flowing fountain
She will stand forevermore.

Tis the good old Quaker College,
And we'll shout her worthy name;
Where we gained our store of knowledge,
In her halls of honor's fame.

And we'll always in this manner
To our mother school be true,
'Neath the George Fox College banner
Of old Gold and Navy Blue.

Home sweet home...

We are home safe and sound, but exhausted... so rather than updating the blog tonight, I will work on it tomorrow (or asap). We had a great trip, Gracie was fabulous the whole time, and we have some fun pictures to share. Check back soon for all the details!

Until then... goodnight!

Who are you - who who, who who...

Oh I really wanna know.

Okay, now that the CSI theme song is embedded in your mind we can move on. I have been thinking about doing this for some time, and am just now getting around to it. If you frequent my blog, you might have noticed the little map to the right of the posts. It is a tracker and lets me know from where in the world people are logging on to read my blog. What it doesn't tell me, however, is who these people are and how they found me. So, because I am the curious type, I am asking all my blog readers to leave me a comment. Let me know who you are, where you are from, and how you found my blog. Even if you think I know - it will still be fun. Don't be shy, but if you are shy, that's okay too.

Thanks, and happy blog reading!

Gracie's 2nd photo shoot...

We just got the proofs back from our second photo shoot with Gracie. (She was three months old when these were taken.) We have only seen the proofs, so this is just a sneak peek of what's coming. I'll post more when I get the negatives. She has changed so much from the first shoot until these, and looks even different to us now.

All photos taken by Soren Coughlin-Glaser.

Trick-or-treat...

Like I said... we spent Halloween with a hula dancer, a fairy and a ladybug.

Hula Grace - we got the idea for this costume because Gracie loves to stand, but isn't very stable, so she is constantly swaying back and forth looking like a hula dancer. Sure enough, we put on the costume and that adorable grass skirt just started shaking.

The lovely Sophia was a pink and green fairy. She just recently learned to sit up by herself - good timing for all these pictures.
Last, but definitely not least, was Sydney-girl the ladybug. The best part about her costume was how doggone cute she looked in just the tights and leotard underneath it all. Priceless.

Getting the 3 girls to stand, sit or even lie down together for a picture was virtually impossible. I think this is one of the best we ended up with, and that is only because Soph and Gracie are upright and Syd isn't crawling or walking on either of them.
The backs of Soph's and Syd's costumes were very cute too - Sydney wouldn't stay still to be a part of this picture.
Merrick and I didn't dress up, but we had a great time getting Gracie dressed.

After all the pictures were taken, Gracie ended up naked and playing a silly game with auntie Kristen. As you can tell, she was loving it!