New trick

It seems like Niko is learning something new each day. His new trick he has been working on is rolling from his back to his stomach. He has been practicing this for a couple of days now. I noticed it the other night when he was in his bassinet. He started straining to see over his right ear and the next thing I knew he had twisted most of his body onto his stomach. He still isn't able to kick over his legs yet but I'm sure that will be soon to follow. Here is a picture of him practicing on the floor.

I'm not sure what we are going to do today. I've already vacuumed, dusted and did laundry this morning and little Niko is taking a nap at the moment. We got up a little earlier than usual this morning. Niko was having quite the one sided conversation with himself.

Keri called this morning and invited us over to pick raspberries at her place. It sounds fun and yummy but I would like to have one day of not putting Niko in the car seat. So we might stick around here today and take care of some stuff. I think a walk is definitely in our future. It's absolutely gorgeous here today!

Mommie and Niko

Weekend

We had a good weekend in the Habalar-Phillips household. Friday night was pretty chill. I put the whiper snapper to bed and Jason played a little poker. Saturday I slept in til about 10:00 and Jason got up early with Niko to hang out. Saturday and Sunday are my sleep in days. Jason gets up around 6:30 with Niko and gets things done around the house while he sleeps (he usually goes back to sleep soon after getting up in the mornings).

After getting up Saturday Niko and I went to help Auntie Fe with a fundraiser she was participating in for the Dove-Lewis Animal Hospital. Activspace, where her inventory for her business is located, organized an open house and silent auction for Dove-Lewis and Peaceful Valley Greetings had tables set up selling product. It was a pleasant day and Auntie Fe got some items sold. Niko enjoyed it as well--he grooved to the live band and also liked getting oohs and ahhs from the various ladies that came by Felicia's space.

Sunday I again slept in until 10:00 then got up and got myself ready for church. Daddy joined us this morning and he got busy getting Niko ready. Auntie Fe came by around 10:15 and we were off. We decided we would try putting Niko in the church daycare so we could enjoy the service uninterrupted. I had some seperation anxiety but finally was able to say goodbye and leave Niko with the capable people taking care of the infants. Within 4 minutes of sitting down for the service I saw our name appear up on the screen--we were being paged by the nursery. I headed downstairs in a hurry to find out what was going on--I heard Niko before I actually saw him--He was screaming! It really wasn't the nursery's fault. We tried feeding Niko before we left but he wasn't interested. Well his hunger must of kicked in because he wanted to eat and he was letting everyone know it! After calming him down and feeding him I left him with the folk in the nursery again and went upstairs to enjoy the last half of the service. When we went to pick up Niko after the service he was happy as a clam. So lesson learned: Always feed Niko before dropping him off at the nursery.

After church I rushed to a wedding shower at Nikki's house for our friend Dawn who is getting married to Doyle in July. It was a non baby event so Niko stayed home with Daddy. I had a great time with the ladies, eating yummy food, drinking good wine and hearing funny stories about Dawn and Doyle. We also played some games and gave some marriage advice--which was mostly pretty comical.

All in all it was a very nice, but busy weekend.

Mommie annd Niko

A day at the Mall

Tuesday Niko and I had a busy day. We had an appt at 10:00 (man is it tough getting up and out the door at that time) to go visit the daycare at Providence Hospital. We had a nice tour and then left to hit the Mall--yes the Mall. We had an appt at 1:30 to pick up Niko's studio portraits. I thought I would walk around a bit and try to find some clothes that fit my funky figure that I have now. I dressed Niko in his cute little ducky outfit and he got a lot of attention from the ladies while we were shopping. He was talking up a storm--just jibber jabbering the whole time we were there. Check out how cute he is:

After picking up his portraits--which are adorable, we headed home for a nice nap. After catching up on some zzzz's it was time to start dinner. Niko and I made quinoa with Morningstar chicken and veggie shish kabobs on top--Daddy helped too!

We ate outside and then got everyone ready to head out to the ballpark for the Smokey Robots to kick some butt on the ball field. And that they did--the score was 16 to 2 when the game was called because we were so far head. YEA--our first real win of the season--what a doozy! Niko had fun hanging with Kayla and Emily during the game but woke up crying when Mommy cheered a little too loud :(

Niko and I woke this morning and got ready for another daycare tour. This one at the Y childcare facility. But before we left Niko got some tummy time on the floor with his Leap Frog toy which he really likes. He likes looking at himself in the mirror and talking along to the sing song parts. He isn't able to make the music and sounds work yet by himself but I can tell he is trying and putting together in his head what makes them work. He will put his hands over the paddles, which need to be pressed to hear the sounds, but he just doesn't have the strength yet to press them. He does try to drool on them but that doesn't quite work.

It's now nap time for Niko and free time for Momma.

We'll write again soon with our next adventure!

Daddy's Day

Yesterday was Jason's first Father's Day. Well, actually it was his first Father's weekend--he played poker with Steve on Friday night, played in a charity poker tournament on Saturday and on Sunday he played golf with the guys. Pretty nice huh?

Niko and I hung out together on Friday night. I put him to bed early and sat next to him and read a new mystery I picked up at the library. It was very pleasant. Saturday we hung out with Auntie Fe. We headed down to Saturday market and walked around and did some shopping. We both got these really great skirts made from recycled clothes. After that we had some lunch and went back to Fe's place for a movie and some popcorn. Afterwards we came home and congratulated Daddy on his 15th place showing in the poker tournie. Way to go Dad!

Yesterday was busy, busy, busy for Niko and I. Daddy left around 10:00 for golf and Niko and I got ready for church. Auntie Fe came over and we left for the 11:00 service. It was a nice Father's Day service. Niko and I hung out for most of the service in the Mother's room since he started getting fidgety and needed to go through his "routine" in order to fall asleep. I got to hear most of the service though on the t.v. in the room. Afterwards we headed home and prepared our shopping list for the market. We needed to pick up ingredients for the veggie shishkabobs we were making for the Father's Day BBQ at Keri and Steve's after golf. It was a little hectic getting the kabobs made and also taking care of Niko. It was probably poor planning on my part to agree to make such a labor intensive item for the BBQ.

After I arrived at the BBQ with the baby and the food I made a bee line to a glass of wine--it had been a long and tiring day. Unfortunately it had been a long and tiring day for Niko as well--with not many chances to nap--he started wailing. He was both hungry and tired. We fed him and fed him some more and tried to get him to fall asleep but alas he couldn't get his little eyes to fall--he had already reached the inconsolable stage.

It took me 2 hours to get him to sleep after we arrived home. The poor little guy was so tired. His first Father's Day was just a little too much excitement and not enough sleep. All in all though I think Daddy enjoyed himself and was appreciative of what me and the little guy did for him.

Today we are taking it easy. Niko slept in til 10:15 and then we got up and played for an hour. He is now in his swing taking a nap. I'm going to make sure he gets all his naps in today! Tomorrow we are off to visit another daycare. The time of going back to work is coming upon us quickly and we need to find a place that Niko will be well cared for.

I will write again soon I hope--Mommy and Niko.

I'm back!

It's been a long time since I've updated the blog. We have had some busy days the past couple of weeks.

It all started with me having a minor medical snafu that left me incapacitated for Memorial Weekend--not a fun weekend for me, Jason or Niko! Thank heavens Mom (Baja) arrived that weekend and was able to help out with Niko. I was unable to care for him but Jason and Baja did a wonderful job feeding him and loving on him until I was well again.

We had a great time visiting with Baja while she was here. Her and Niko have developed a special bond and he is already missing her. She left this morning to fly back to Minnesota and warm, sunny weather.

While she was here we took a trip with Daddy to Seaside. Jason worked for a few hours and me, Mom and Niko went to the boardwalk and walked around. As usual it was an overcast day at the Coast with no sun in sight. I rather enjoyed it though since it was hot and sunny in Portland and a little cool weather was a nice change. We finished the day with lunch at a little cafe and then headed back to Portland. All in all I think Niko rather enjoyed the beach. We will be heading back to the Coast later this month for a wedding so he will have more time to explore and get sand in his diaper:)

Baja spent a lot of time with Niko so Jason and I could get some special projects done around the house. One of these was picking out an outdoor dining set and bistro set for our backyard. We got a really nice set and spent a Saturday putting it all together. It looks fabulous and we have enjoyed a couple of times already. I especially like the bistro set we have for our back deck. Niko, Jason and I like to sit out there in the morning and have our coffee.
I was going to take a picture of the dining set and bistro set to put in this blog but it's raining out and the cushions are being stored so they don't get wet. So the pictures here are from Target's website--So no we haven't added a pool to our backyard! I will include pictures of the real thing with us enjoying it in future posts.

That night after putting our sets together Auntie Fe and the dogs came over for a night of smoring out at the fire pit. Baja had brought Smore fixings with her from Minnesota and Jason and I went to the natural food store and bought vegan marshmallows so we could participate as well. I know what your thinking--vegan marshmallows!--YUCK! But really, they weren't bad at all. They will definitely work whenever marshmallows are called for.

Baja and I took Niko for his 2 month check up while she was here. Niko now weighs 13lbs and is 25 inches long. When he was born he weighed 9 lbs 3 oz and his length was 22 inches. He is growing like a weed and is healthy. We are so fortunate!

This past week Niko had a very exciting day as Baja and I took him to have his very first portraits taken. He did so good! We got shots of him in several outfits and also in the buff. Of course I ended up spending way too much money on the prints but I'm ok with it since he will only be 11 weeks old once. We get the pictures back on June 19th and I will scan them in and post them here when I get a chance. They really are too adorable!

I also sneaked away this past week and got my hair cut. It was time to get it all chopped off. It hasn't been doing anything for me lately plus Niko has been enjoying tugging on it while he's nursing--which hurts! So, off I went to get my hair all cut off. I'm rather enjoying not fussing with it any longer. Shower time has also been cut in half without having to condition the heck out of it and dry it. Also I figure I'll save money on shampoo and conditioner since I'm using a fraction of the shampoo I used to use and no conditioner at all--I'm so darn thrifty aren't I?

Friday night Auntie Fe, Jason, Niko, Baja and I went to Assagio to celebrate Auntie Fe's birthday. We had a nice dinner and enjoyed each other's company. We had some nice wine, pasta and dessert. I went off my diet for the evening and thoroughly enjoyed myself! A good time was had by all:)

Yesterday Jason picked up our new dining room table and chairs from Dania and spent the good part of the day putting them together. It's so nice to have a nice set now and be able to enjoy meals at a proper table. We have spent too many meals in front of the t.v. and it's time we start having family meals together. I really like it and I think it looks good. We have such a weird area for a table--it's small and awkward--but I think the set looks pretty good with what we had to work with. We had our first dinner at the table last night with Auntie Fe and Baja. Salad and spaghetti--YUM!

Today we are heading out to a BBQ at Rez and Alina's house. It will probably be inside because the day is shaping up to be pretty rainy. Daddy has Niko in the Bjorn and is making a Foonie salad. I need to get this posted so I can get ready and get Niko bathed and dressed as well. Stay tuned for more updates and more pictures. Until then here are a few of the little one to hold you over!