Play Center

Here some some pics of Gabriel playing with his newer playcenter, where he can stand or kneel to play with it. He's getting sturdier on his feet, but hasn't taken any steps alone yet.

Oh, and I think the solids strike is over...don't want to speak too soon, but he ate some apples yesterday and this morning.

Let's play "Name that smell"!

Gabe has taken to smelling almost everything. Our faces, hands, his hands, clothing, food, whatever finds it's way under his nose. For those of you that don't know, Craig has a Wolverine-like sense of smell. I really think he knows and recognizes people by their smells! Fortunately, Craig isn't grumpy like the infamous Marvel hero!

Craig tells me his birth dad, Larry, also had a strong sense of smell. So, I am wondering if Gabe has inherited this amazing trait? I say amazing, but it isn't always good to smell things so intently. I mean, people don't smell good all the time!



He sniffed my hand just before I took the pic.



Resting his foot on the table, while NOT eating. LOL



Meddling a little.



Intrigued by the hamper.



Intrigued by what's IN the hamper.

Part 2 of hair care article

I wrote part 2 of my hair care article today. It is pretty hard to concentrate on writing while looking after a 11 month old! I do almost everything while he is napping.

Click right here for the story. Thanks!

Look at mom's new Post

Read my new post on Examiner. Thanks!

First Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

This morning we woke up early to go out for my Mother's Day breakfast. It is still hard to think of myself as someone's mother. Craig gave me a card and it had "Carisa and Mommy" on it. I'm like, who is mommy? Oh, yeah, that's me! We left the house at 8am and went to this place called Genie's in Southeast Portland. We had a wait of about 30 minutes. Gabe laughed at people and looked out the window during that time.

When we were seated we ordered our meals. I had a chicken apple sausage scramble, roasted potatoes, one pancake and decaf coffee. It was all very good; however, midway into the meal, Gabe got really fussy. During the last few days, he's been refusing solids, though still nursing like a champ and drinking juice and water. We think he may be teething (perhaps a dreaded molar coming in??). Or just asserting his newly discovered independence. So, as usual, he refused some fruit mixed with cereal, but drank some water from his sippy cup. Then he went slightly bonkers. So Craig, who eats faster than me anyway, ate his food and took him outside for a walk while I finished my meal.

I nursed him in the car, then we went home. Thankfully, he fell asleep on the way home.

In addition to my card, I got some Godiva chocolate covered dried strawberries. They are pretty good!

It seemed like Mother's Day just snuck up on me; I was late sending out cards to people. They'll be getting them late, but at least they are getting them, :)

Yachats Vacation Pictures

The guys on a bench behind the hotel in front
of the Pacific Ocean.


Overleaf Lodge in Yachats, Or.



Playing on the bed at the hotel.



View outside our room up close.




The Coast at Heceta Head.



The Brewsters on the trail to the Heceta Head Lighthouse.



At our hotel window. I thought this was really cute.



The giant Japanese spider crab!



Gabe looking at a crab. He laughed a lot at it.



Jellyfish! I can't remember what kind.

Yachats, Or Vacation

It's funny...as soon as you get back from vacation, you feel like you didn't have one! But we are thankful that we got to spend a few days traipsing around, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful places in the old USA - the Oregon Coast. Specifically, Yachats, Or.

The Sunday drive down there went pretty well. We only stopped twice; once for Gabe and once for us (coffee). He slept during the last hour or so of the drive.

The hotel we stayed at was extremely affordable (with the help of a coupon) and had a wonderful view of the ocean. There was also a tasty continental breakfast provided in the mornings, which helped save on the food budget. They also have a spa there, where I got a facial and Craig got a massage. Very relaxing atmosphere. The hotel staff was very nice, too.

The only thing about Yachats is that it is a very small town (we're talking several hundred) and only have a few restaurants. Most of which are quite good because it is a tourist town, but you could go through them in a day. Nearby Newport, Or is about 30-40 minutes away, has a lot more places to eat, but that seemed a bit much to drive for dinner with a baby. Well, to us anyway, lol.

The highlight of Yachats was the Heceta Head Lighthouse. After parking, you have to hike half a mile to get to the lighthouse. It seems smaller when you're standing right under it. Because it is so old, they only take about 4 people at a time to tour it. It has four levels, but you don't go up the fourth level because it really serves as access to the light up top. I have to admit it was a bit scary going up those rusty, winding stairwells. It's very narrow once you get up on that third level, too. Our tour guide was a very nice older man who thought Gabe was the cutest thing.

On the way back on Wednesday, Gabe's naps were messed up. We planned to check out the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport and he fell asleep on the way there. However, he woke up when we took him out the car and never drifted back to sleep. He loved the aquarium; really got a kick out of all the different colored fish, jellyfish, sea otters, sea lions, sharks (tiny ones) and shellfish. We saw Japanese spider crabs; they are huge! We're talking as big as Gabriel, maybe bigger. It is considered the world's largest arthropod. Reminded me that shellfish are basically BUGS, people. Not fish, but bugs. Yuck. But cool to look at, though!

So after the aquarium we went to lunch and Gabe was very fussy now because his sleep time was interrupted. After we ordered our food, I took him out to the car to nurse him, thinking I can come back into the restaurant when he is done. But he fell asleep. In the process of going back to the restaurant, he woke again. So that set the stage for about an hour and a half of fussiness while driving, in addition to stopping twice. So we stopped for a third at a rest stop about an hour from Portland where I walked around with him until he fell asleep. Whew! He slept until we got home.

I am going to post some pics shortly! :)