Pacific Northwest Vacation

We flew to Seattle, WA on June 18th and traveled to various places in the Pacific NW for the week, flying back home on the 25th.  We had a great vacation, though I think we're still recovering our energy.  We traveled to a different city nearly every day, so you can imagine we did a lot of unpacking and repacking.  Isaiah did really well on the airplane and enjoyed seeing lots of people and animals.  It's easier to tell the story in pictures, so here we go...

SEATTLE

Pike Place Market

Most of these bouquets in the market were only $10!!  So beautiful and fresh.



We couldn't have survived this vacation without Isaiah's sturdy stroller.  We walked nearly everywhere we went.  When he got bored in the hotel room, he'd walk over to his stroller letting us know he was ready to get going again.



Hotel Living



We used Isaiah's Happi Nappi from daycare for his makeshift bed for the week.  He fought sleep most nights since we were in the same room and all he had to do was raise his head to find us.



Seattle Center and Waterfront

View from the Space Needle

City View from the Space Needle.  Seattle was overcast like this much of the time we were there, though it didn't actually rain much.  I desperately wanted to be able to see Mt. Rainier from the city, but the cloud cover was too thick to allow it.

Waterfront overlooking Elliott Bay of the Puget Sound

FRIDAY HARBOR OF SAN JUAN ISLAND, WA



On the ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor.  The ferries operated very efficiently and made our traveling easy.  Isaiah enjoyed running around the deck and making his mother nervous.

 

Ferry Deck

 

Lime Kiln Point State Park, San Juan Island

 

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

The Empress Hotel.  We didn't actually stay there, but it's a beautiful, historic building that overlooks the harbor.  There's a group of 20-25 people riding on a huge multi-person bicycle in this shot.  I'm not sure what they were promoting, but they circled the city multiple times while we were there and were always a site to see.

Having some fun in the lawn in front of the Parliament Building.

The next several pictures are from our visit to Butchart Gardens just outside Victoria.  It's an amazing place well worth the visit.  The climate there allows them to bloom various flowers at the same time that would bloom in different seasons from each other here.

MT. RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, WASHINGTON

This was our lucky glimpse at "the Mountain" as they call it.  Glaciers surround Mt. Rainier, so when warm air hits the surface, it cools and condenses so that the mountain is surrounded by clouds most of the time.  Our second day there, the mountain was completely concealed by cloud cover, so this was the only time we actually saw the peak.

The view from our window at Paradise Inn in the park. 

On our hike to the Grove of the Patriarchs. 

This "mail bear" was in the lobby of the inn, and Isaiah absolutely loved it.  He constantly pointed and talked about the bear.

This is right outside the inn.  That's a huge wall of snow in front of us.  They had higher snowfall than average this year with colder termperatures, so the snow has not melted as quickly as usual.  The direction we're heading is a trailhead, which as you can tell, is totally covered by snow and impassable.  If we could have looked straight up from that point without being in a cloud ourselves, we would have seen the peak of the mountain.

On the "Trail of Shadows".  Wherever the stroller couldn't go, we strapped Isaiah into this carrier.  He did pretty well and it gave us more flexibility.

We spotted several deer, a couples of foxes, an elk, and a ptarmigan (you'll have to look that up) while in the park.  This deer was right outside the visitor's center eating his breakfast and ignoring all of the gawking humans.



Fun Caught on Video

I get a big kick out of these videos, but of course, I'm an easily charmed Mama. 

This one's sort of long and you have to listen to my pretty pronounced Southern accent and off-key singing, but I think it's pretty funny:



Catching Up

I keep meaning to update the blog, but then I sit down and find lots of other things to fill my time.  I'm going to try to be concise in hitting the highlights from May and early June.  Here we go...

Mother's Day:

My boys spoiled me for Mother's Day.  They gave me a beautiful necklace (that I specifically requested...haha) that's personalized with our names.  I really love it, and we'll be able to add charms with future children(s)' names on it as well.  We opted for Mother's Day dinner since Isaiah usually falls asleep on the way home from church, so we went out to Macaroni Grill that night.

Living/Dining Room Redecoration:

Our living room serves A LOT of purposes in our tiny home: playroom, family room, office, sewing, guest room, and dining of course.  Previously it was decorated with a more formal color scheme, and I really wanted it to be more playful and kid-friendly.  I may have gone overboard with the color scheme, but no one can deny that it's colorful!  I sewed all of the pillows myself, and I even ventured out and made/added piping to some of them.  We also sold the large wingchair and put a desk in it's place (so I finally don't have to use a highchair for the laptop when working!).

Memorial Day:
We had a small gathering of friends at our house to celebrate the day complete with lots of yummy food and the chill'uns playing in a kiddie pool.  It was really HOT and I think all of the adults wished we had our own pool to jump in and cool off.  Isaiah was such a ham in the pool...I have a video of it if I every upload it...and then he ran around the yard like a wild thing with his poor mama trying to reign him in.  Phew...tiring I tell ya.

My birthday: 
I turned 27 on June 7, and I keep laughing about it because I really thought I was turning 28 or 29.  It's pretty bad when you think you're older than you are!  Oddly enough, we met with a lawyer to work on our wills that afternoon.  We never intended it to be on a birthday, but you just have to do things when you can.  Chris and I shared an awesome Swanky's salad for lunch before meeting with the attorney, and we celebrated that evening at PF Changs followed by Ben & Jerry's ice cream cake at home.  Double yum!  Man, this post seems to be a lot about food...I guess you can tell it's approaching dinner time :)

Lecklider visit:
Lindsay and Landon came to visit for a night last week, and we had such a good time just hanging out.  Isaiah really loved having Landon around, and would revert to crawling rather than running after Landon for fun.  Isaiah would squeal out of excitement, and Landon would cry out of fear of Isaiah's loud sounds.  Isaiah learned to say "baby" with him around (except it sounds like "bobby"), and he said "Landon" a couple of times.

 

Healthier eating?

We're going to soon try out a couple of new things with hopes of healthier eating in the future.  The first is that we're joining a CSA (community supported agriculture).  I won't go into detail, but we pay in advance and then get a weekly share of a specific farm's organic produce.  We'll be learning to eat what's in season, and we won't have to worry about pesticides, etc, on our food.  We're also buying a 1/4 beef from a local farm that raises pasture-fed cows only.  These cows aren't exposed to antibiotics, steroids, etc, and because they're pasture rather than feedlot fed, the fat they form is healthier (less saturated food).  We bought a used deep freezer for the meat, so let's hope it stands up to the summer heat in our garage!!

Other Antics:

Isaiah is such a fun boy, and he seems to pick up on things so quickly these days.  He knows all of his farm animals and jungle animals, and he'll make some of their sounds (cow, pig, duck, turkey, monkey, lion, bear, dog).  Beyond knowing all of his facial features, he's also learned belly, feet, and toes.  He's really into drinking out of a big cup.  He's fair at it but still ends up with a good bit on himself.  He also likes to try to fish the ice out of the cup and suck on it.  He likes to say "hi" randomly to people in the store and has a cute little wave with his hand when he does it.  He's doing a pretty good job feeding himself with a fork or spoon, though we still usually opt for hands b/c it's just easier for now.  We hung a swing on the frame of our garage door, and he loves it!  He'll let us push him in it until he nearly falls asleep.  He loves to go out in the sunroom and "hunt" for birds, squirrels, and dogs, and he also will point out the flowers.  He's climbing a lot these days, and he really feels like a big boy when he climbs up on a couch or chair to sit.  When he gets to daycare in the morning, I let him walk in holding my hand, and the minute he crosses the threshold, he runs to his teachers to give them fives.  He's also learned the fist bump and likes to say "boom" when he does it like Daddy.  He likes to dump his bucket of blocks over his head, and then he'll put a few more blocks back in and do it over and over again.

Internship:

This is my last month of intern year, and I'll officially be starting the Dermatology portion of my residency in July.  What a relief!!  The year has really flown by, and I'm so thankful I won't be spending any more nights away from my family in the hospital.

I'll post a few videos separately.  We leave for Seattle this Friday, so we'll have lots of pictures to share when we get back.

A Few Cute Videos

I've been utilizing my iPhone more for video taking lately since it's always handy.  I recently learned that I can directly upload videos from my iPhone to YouTube, and then I can directly post videos from YouTube onto the blog.  It's so easy that I thought I better share some with you...

Chris likes to say "there's something about a boy and his ball".  That's definitely true for this boy.

Who can make you laugh more than your daddy?  Isaiah's in a cackling mood in this one until a very sudden mood change.  I think this is right before bedtime.

This is just from yesterday.  Isaiah has really started enjoying his crib lately.  He's gotten to where he won't let us pick him up for a few minutes after he's woken up.  We usually realize he's awake when we hear the music from his toy elephant that hangs on the side of the crib playing.  We often walk in to him dancing to the music.  I haven't caught a great one of the dancing yet, but here's a happy riser nonetheless...

All grandparents except Pawpaw beware...this may make you green with envy.  Isaiah has recently learned to say Pawpaw (except it sounds like "Dah-daw").  We have a framed picture of Pawpaw and Mimi on the bookshelf, and he'll point at it and say "Dah-daw".  It's only fair payback to Pawpaw, who has had to endure Isaiah's cold shoulder a few times lately.  Your day will come Pawpaw (and perhaps it has)...

Atlanta Trip

For the last week of April, I took the week off as vacation.  On Tuesday and Wednesday, I took my USMLE Step 3 Exam (yes it is a 2 day test...as in 8 hour days).  Woohoo!!  I'm done with USMLE forever...well, that's as long as I passed (don't have my scores yet).  I wish I could say that was it for board exams, but I have the Dermatology board exam to look forward to, and then re-cert. is required every 10 years.  Oh well, I'll enjoy this while I can.

On Thursday, we drove to Atlanta to spend a long weekend with Chris' family.  They had originally planned to come to Memphis, but we wanted to use my vacation time for something outside of Memphis, and meeting in Atlanta was sort of in the middle for us.  We rented a 3 bedroom house in an older neighborhood close to downtown.  The location was great and we were able to get most everywhere without having to hop on the interstate.  The owner's cat was a tenant for the weekend (Leo), and Isaiah absolutely loved him.  He would laugh and point, saying "Dat, dat!!"

You know what Isaiah is thinking..."When can I eat?"

We went to the Georgia Aquarium on Friday.  It's a neat aquarium and definitely worth visiting, but it was SOOO busy that day.  There were a lot of school groups there, which meant masses of kids filing by.  Isaiah really loved the tanks that served as our ceiling.  I think the Baluga whales were my favorite--they really liked to perform.  God's creativity is so evident in the amazing diversity of marine life, and it was fun spending the afternoon glimpsing some of it.  For dinner we ate at Mary Mac's Tea Room, a great southern/soul food place downtown.  I went deep fried all the way--fried catfish, fried green tomatoes, and potatoe cakes.  Yikes!  Don't tell my doctor ;)

Looking into the two-story tank of the Baluga whales.

Milk break!

For Saturday, we'd bought Braves tickets in advance and planned to take Isaiah.  Unfortunately, things didn't go as hoped.  The game started at 1pm, so we were planning for Isaiah to take an early nap and then head on.  Clearly our mistake was when we planned for Isaiah to do anything according to our time schedule.  As tired as he acted, he absolutely fought the nap and didn't fall asleep until it was time to leave for the game.  Oh well, win some you lose some.  Chris, Carl, and Jason went and enjoyed the game, and I stayed at the house with the women and kiddos.  After his 3 hour nap, the ladies, kids, and I walked to an arts and crafts festival in a local park.  That night, we enjoyed some amazing ice cream from a place in walking distance from the house called Jake's...I think it's homemade.  Chris had red velvet and I had Key lime pie ice cream.  Isaiah had a good bit of both :)

We drove back to Memphis on Sunday, and got our second glimpse of some of the damage the tornadoes left just outside Birmingham.  We drove across the shorter cross-section of it, which was probably a quarter of a mile wide.  We couldn't tell how long it was, but it had gone right through a neighborhood and left absolute devastation.  It was really sobering to see.  Pray for those affected.

Easter

We spent Easter weekend in Middle Tennessee.  That sounds pretty vague, but we traveled a lot over Easter.  We originally had every intention of staying in Memphis for Easter; I really dislike being away from our own church on major religious holidays.  Nevertheless, I also hate being away from my family when they're all together, so family won and we left Memphis.  Leading up to the weekend, we got Isaiah's Easter basket down (a gift from Mawmaw).  It's a cute stuffed duck.  He learned really quickly what the duck says after that, and he proudly 'cack-cack'ed for everyone over the weekend.

We spent Friday night in Waverly at Mom's.  With all three boys under one roof, it's always a bit unpredictable with different napping/eating schedule but we had a great time together.  Jordan and Meagan brought Sadie, their cocker spaniel, and after getting over his initial fear of her, Isaiah adored her!  Everytime he saw her he started cackling.  I think Sadie got weary of the attention, but she's really great with the kids.  I wish she could have given Frankie some lessons.  On Saturday, we had a professional photo session for the boys together.  It was hilarious...when we put all three of them together in front of the camera, Jude started crying, which scared Landon so he started crying, and Isaiah cheesed it up for the camera in the middle of it all the entire time.  My kid loves the spotlight, and I'm really not sure where he got it from.  I blame Aunt Lindsay ;)  The only time all three boys were happy together in front of the camera was when they all three had iPhones in their hands.  Scary, huh?!  No Isaiah, you cannot have an iPhone anywhere in the remote future!  I haven't seen proofs from the session yet but they'll at least be good for a laugh and fond memories.

Baby Einstein time!

 We spent Saturday night at Dad's house after a brief Easter egg hunt on the front lawn.  The boys weren't quite sure what to do with the eggs, but we enjoyed the beautiful weather.  This was the first time Dad had all three grandsons together, so I think it was a special treat for him.  Isaiah chased the dogs around the house most of the time...surprise, surprise.  On Sunday, we went to the Easter service at Dad's church.  Unfortunately our schedule was tight and we had to leave right after the service to drive down to Pulaski for lunch and Easter egg hunt with Mom's extended family.

Isaiah and Jude enjoyed playing in the expandable tube; Chase and Landon had some fun out of it too :)

I'm not sure what the boys are thinking here but Pawpaw is sure loving it!

It was our first time in Pulaski since Labor Day, so Isaiah had grown quite a bit since everyone had seen him last.  He enjoyed lots of attention and photoshoots.  For the Easter egg hunt, he was more interested in trying to climb in flower beds.  When Jude got there, we did a hunt just for the two of them.  They weren't much into it, but I'm sure they will be more next year.  The pictures below are from Meagan's iPhone hipstamatic app (makes pics look like from a former decade).

Must be nice to be pulled around in a wagon to do your egg hunting.  Pretty sure I did most of the egg hunting, actually.



Aunt Joyce and her great and great-great niece and nephews.  It occurs to me that Mom should have been in this to make it a true 4 generation shot.

Lastly, we drove to Lawrenceburg (next town over) where my grandmother lives.  The boys ran around the house jabbering and entertaining the rest of us while we visited.  Isaiah had to be bribed with snacks by Dad (Pawpaw) and my Mawmaw (Isaiah's great grandmother) to spend time with them.  Ah, the power of yogurt melts and graham crackers!  Today (May 15) marks the one year anniversary of my Pawpaw's death (Isaiah's great grandfather), so it was a bittersweet Easter as we celebrated it for the first time without him living.  He'd certainly get a kick out of these boys.

While I'm so thankful we got to spend time with family, in all of the busyness, it felt like we lost sight of the true reason for celebrating Easter.  A God who has every right to condemn us all that, in his great love and mercy, sent his very own Son to take our just punishment on himself.  It's unfathomable!  That truly has new meaning now that I have my own son.  Christ willingly died for me that I might live a new life to the glory of God as his adopted daugther.  I did a poor job of it this year, but starting next year, I want to do a better job of developing traditions for Easter that will point to its true significance...here's one idea I found: http://breezyacresfarm.blogspot.com/2011/04/diy-resurrection-tree.html

"Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."  - Ephesians 2:3-5

Remember last Easter?  http://starnesfamsaga.blogspot.com/2010/04/happy-belated-easter.html

I-SAI-AH

Isaiah can say his name, and I actually caught it on video in this little clip a couple of weeks ago.


He clearly understands most of what we say now by his actions.  Just this past week, Chris started telling him to bring him his Jesus book (short children's book about Jesus), and he knew exactly what he was talking about without coaching.
Here are words I can make out that he says:
Mama, Dada, Isaiah, dydy (bye-bye), dat (cat), dog, duck, sDot (Spot, as in the book series), hi, eye, heah (head), ee-i (that counts doesn't it? eieioooh)
He also barks like a dog and quacks (cack-cack) like a duck.  I've worked a good bit on farm animal sounds and names because he loves them so much, but he's still holding out on me.  He can recognize pictures of them though (when cooperative) if you tell him to point to a certain animal.
He can point to his (or usually my) head, eye, and nose, but that's about as far as we've gotten on body parts. 

He's very attached to Mommy these days, and we've definitely noticed a difference in how he interacts with us.  When I'm the only one home, he wants me to hold him A LOT.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love holding and cuddling my baby, but he's a big 30lb boy and it's tough to do for long.  He gets upset when I leave the room, even if he can hear or see me still.  He seems to be more prone to play on his own when Daddy is around.  I guess it's just one of those things.  I try to watch myself from wishing he'd play better by himself because I know one day I'll be wishing he'd let me hold him---ahhh, the irony of parenting :)

We've had a rough patch with bedtimes lately, and Chris and I have spent a lot of hours trying to get that stinker to sleep.  I think part of it has been teething and part of it seems to be he's more aware of his surroundings (dark room away from his parents).  "This too shall pass," we tell ourselves, and it is getting better already.

We used to be able to get by with a bath every other night for Isaiah, but his habit of playing with his hair (particularly during dinner) is requiring more frequent bathing.  Here's a before and after spaghetti night:

He got a panda Pillow Pet for Christmas from Mimi and Pawpaw, and he absolutely loves it.  Actually, at first he was scared of it, so I would treat it like a pet in front of him and he caught on.  Now we'll tell him to get get his panda, and he carries it around like below.  He hugs on him, and bites him, and wrestles with him...you know, all the typical little boy stuff.