Hawaii with the Vance Family

 As usual, it's been awhile since we've updated! Honestly, not much had been happening around our household until our recent trip to Kona, Hawaii with the Vance Family. We went a couple years ago to the same place and loved it so much the entire family wanted to go back; same house and all!

I was nervous about the plane ride with a 16 month old but he did awesome, both ways! My main concern was him getting a nap because he's not good about sleeping with lots of commotion around him and always fights me when I'm holding him. But once he got tired enough I rocked him for just a couple minutes and he was out! He slept for 45mins there and about 1 hr back; not his usual 2hr nap but I took it! I was even able to lay him on the floor on the way back.

Cousin Bret letting Jax look out the window

 

Panoramic view from the Dolphin House

 The first couple of days were mainly for relaxing. Since we'd been there before, we didn't feel the need to get out all the time exploring which was a relief with Jaxson. We spent lots of time in and around the pool.

Getting used to the pool again

Floatin around

Jax lost his footing and went face first but Del's quick reflexes saved him lol

 A short walk up the beach from our house there's a small beach called Keiki Beach (AKA Baby Beach) which was PERFECT for Jaxson. There's lots of sand for lounging and playing plus the lava formed a fairly large lagoon-type area that's shallow and WARM. Jaxson even took a few face plants into the water but got up laughing (usually).

Splashin'

 

 On Thursday, the family (minus Mom and the 2 babies) went on the same dolphin excursion as we did last time. We had a blast last time, but little did we know we were in for one of the BEST experiences you can get doing one of these excursions!
At the beginning we started out like last time, boating down the coastline in search of dolphins and whales and ran into a few momma whales and their babies. We stopped a few times and followed them a couple times. We saw a few breaches from a decent distance and lots of spouts and tails but got word that the dolphins were settling down in the bay near downtown Kona so we bee-lined there.

I don't have many pictures of the dolphins from the boat because well, we were in the water swimming with them for a solid couple of hours instead! We got on and off the boat just a couple times to follow them around the bay until they finally settled completely down and were making their rounds. It was AMAZING to be literally just 2-6 inches from them more times than I can even count. While they're sleeping they stay low in the water but about every 5-10 mins they'd come up for air a few times before going back down. I figured out that I could keep up with them while they were down low so I'd swim directly above them and just in front of them so that when they were ready to come up, they would come up RIGHT around me. One dolphin even got a little playful and went nose first straight up toward my sister (right next to me) and narrowly missed her. She thought for sure she was getting gored by it lol.

 

We literally swam around with the dolphins so long we were all tired and hungry so we got back on the boat to eat and whale watch. Not long into relaxing we heard some spouts near us and watched a mom and baby breach a couple times probably 50 yards from us (pic below).

We followed them once or twice then my sister heard another one spout behind us. So we all watched as another momma and baby surfaced a couple times about 100 yards behind us...headed RIGHT for us. They worked their way towards us and the baby surfaced about 20 ft from our boat and we all nervously waited to see where momma was going to come up! My sister and I were so nervous that she was going to come up too close for comfort but about 30 seconds later we saw her come up probably 30-40 ft from us on the other side of the boat. It was quite obvious that her path had been RIGHT under us!
The boat crew was just as excited as us about the entire 4 hr excursion! One of them was born and raised in Kona and said he couldn't remember the last time he'd been that close to whales and said the dolphin action ranked way up there on his list too.

The VERY excited, but exhausted, crew!

 I don't know that we'll be doing that excursion next time since it probably won't every top this experience!

On our last full day most of us went to Hapuna Beach for some good boogie boarding. The waves were perfect, not too big, not too small. The boys spent ALL day in the water.

Nephew Bret in the middle and Del on the right

 Jaxson was a little cranky that day so he spent more time in his beach tent than exploring, but I still managed to get him out a few times.

After our beach day the family got dressed up for our "Aloha Dinner" which also happened to also be Valentine's Day.

Headed to dinner at the Fish Hopper

 The morning of our last day my sister, nephew and I had to get in one last adventure before heading to the airport. We had tried to go up near Hapuna the day before but plans got messed up so we HAD to get this in. We got to the beach at about 8am for an hour of stand up paddle boarding in Kamakahonu Bay; the same bay we snorkeled in with the dolphins. We didn't see any dolphins, but it was still the perfect way to end the trip.

 

 

It's bitter-sweet to be back home...we came back to nasty wind and rain! But it was a fabulous week and we're all already talking about 2016!



Almost 14 Months Old...what??

I feel like it has been a little while since I did much of an update on Jaxson so here goes:
He has become quite the little clown! He's constantly running around the house making all sorts of weird noises, growling, laughing, and playing. He loves listening to music and will sometimes stop and dance to it.

The "rockier" it is the more he seems to like it, but he still loves just about anything!

He's also a little bit of a picky eater. I guess at this age it's common for them to stick to foods/textures they know so it's hard for me to introduce new things...although I try and try! Most kids you can't get them to stop putting things in their mouth, but my kid won't even taste something that looks unfamiliar.
He has learned to "give kisses" and has started randomly coming up to give me kisses, which I LOVE! His version of a kiss is his mouth WIDE open haha. Sometimes he'll say "mah" afterward but usually I just get slobbered all over.
He's started showing more separating anxiety too. I recently joined a gym with a daycare and some days he does ok but most days he starts crying as soon as we walk in there. Luckily, there's usually a great daycare person to take him and distract him. Last night he actually cried and reached for me when Dellas picked him up - first time ever! Poor Del.
I think he's finally starting to get who "mama" and "dada" are but isn't 100% consistent yet.
He signs "eat," "night night" and "all done."
Lastly, he loves it when I sit on the floor with him. Even if i'm not totally paying attention to him he just likes to show me toys, sit on my lap or next to me and hang out.
He's a very sweet baby, getting more social, and I can see him learning new things ALL the time!

Craft Crazy

Lately I've been getting into a very "crafty" spirit and been enjoying myself!
First thing I started doing was "alphabet photography."

Such as this!

Someone on one of my buy/sell/trade sites posted that she was in search of a local place that sells alphabet photography. About a year and a half ago I got inspired to make my own for our last name, CLARK and went in search of letters around our house and quickly found them. So I let the gal know that I had done my own and could help her out if she was interested. This offer soon grew into selling her, her friend, my neighbor and now another gal all the letters they needed. It was perfect timing too because I got a new camera as an early xmas gift from Del and my parents!
I now have quite the collection going so if you or anyone you know is interested, let me know!

Next, I got into making ornament wreaths. I came across a super easy way to make them so I made my own:

Of course, this then turned into my mom and sister wanting one so I offered to make them:

Mom's

Jeni's

But I'm not done yet, because then someone on my buy/sell/trade site offered me a box of free ornaments so I made my 4th one that I gave to a friend of mine! Still not done...after posting pics of all of these, another friend of mine asked me to make her one so I'll be doing wreath #5 here shortly! Anyone else? :) Sorry, I don't ship hehe.

Project: Master Bedroom Furniture

After selling our bedroom set to make money for our new king mattress, Dellas and I needed to figure out what to do for furniture! I had recently bought an antique mirror from a neighbor that gave me inspiration to do something totally different! This window came from some sort of old out-building that was torn down recently in a small town about 20mins south of here.

My inspiration

So Del found a cool plan online for some rustic side tables and went to town on those first. We originally planned on staining them with store-bought stain, but I came across a cool oxidizing solution; coffee grounds, black tea, very fine steel wool, all thrown in a jar of white vinegar (let sit for at least 24hrs). Instead of staining, it oxidizes the wood and gives it a naturally "aged" and rustic look.

One of the side tables, Before

Side table, After!

 It was all great and fun to have new side tables, but I still had nowhere to store most of my clothes! Originally, Dellas thought he'd build a dresser to match the tables, but instead we happened across a nice, well-built, pine dresser on Craigslist for $100 and decided to just refinish it to match the tables.

Perfectly good dresser

 So we got going on it and first tore off the tapered trim/molding and big round feet to give it cleaner, more square lines. Then after 1 FULL day of sanding, by yours truly, we had a gorgeous bare pine dresser that Dellas then slapped on some square trim for me.

Almost done!

 After a LOT of applying the solution, sanding, and reapplying solution, I finally am satisfied with the final product! We ordered some cute pulls from Home Depot and I threw them on last night to be 100% DONE! (note about solution: don't "stain" the whole dresser, then wait 10 days to do "touch ups" because then said "touch ups" turn a rusty, pink color because the solution has oxidized that much longer! This caused me to have to sand all the drawers back off, make a new batch of solution and reapply!)

Final product! (although lighting isn't fabulous)

I'm really happy with how it ultimately turned out. The dresser's wood pulled in some deeper tones than the side tables did, I'm guessing because of the differing ages of the wood, but it all looks great together!
And believe it or not, my oxidizing solution made the wood look so much like the naturally aged wood of the old antique window but without the wait!
So for, idk, $150 or so altogether (dresser, side table wood, supplies, etc) we have a new bedroom set! That's 75-80% savings compared to what we paid for our last bedroom set!

October in the Rearview

I can't believe it's already been almost 2 months since my last post. The main event of the last couple of months was definitely our trip to Idaho and Jaxson turning 1! We spent a week at our family's place in New Meadows for Dellas to hunt and to celebrate Jaxson's birthday. It was very special because we had some close family and a couple friends swing thru as well, including Dellas' parents all the way from San Diego.

On Jax's bday we went into McCall to get some cute pictures of the birthday boy by the lake.

That evening we had dinner with family and Jaxson got to open his presents. He got lots of fun toys and few clothes. One of his favorite toys is his new ride-on Jeep from G&G Clark!

All tuckered out

At his 1 year doc appt he was 31" long (83rd percentile) and 22lbs (43rd percentile). He's been walking well for a couple of months now and is quite the jabberer! He says "mama" and "dada" but hasn't quite put together who is who. He is a little bit of a picky eater too. Anything new he's skeptical of but will usually warm up to it. But if he's hungry enough, he only wants what he knows to get that tummy full, NOW!

After we got home we also had a little photography session at a local pumpkin patch. It was only 20 minutes long, which is about perfect for a 1 yr old's patience, but we got a quite few cute ones in that short time!

Next week my mom and I are headed to Spokane for a visit with my sister and my niece. It's the first time flying with Jaxson since he was about 5 months old, so we'll see how it goes! Luckily it's a short flight and I have my mom's help.

Weekend DIY Project

Other than Jaxson updates, I also have spent a little time in updating our guest room. I liked my western decor for a few years but I wanted something different and brighter.

I've had these side tables since I first moved to Boise in 2008, which isn't super long, but they've seen better days. With Del's help we took them apart, sanded them down, and refinished them in just one day.

Before

After!

I am also a member of a local buy/sell/trade site which is essentially a craigslist but on a more comfortable and local level. I like to look at it as going to garage sales but online! Anyway, I found this metal sconce that i liked but it was brown so I painted it black to match the new decor :) 

Finished product!

Also painted the wall shelves the same grey as the tables

I figured out that I made all these updates for under $80; materials included. Not bad I'd say! Wish this was my own bedroom now :-P

Goodbye Summer, Hello Walking Baby (almost)!

With Fall right around the corner I realized I've done a poor job at updating this blog. I have several excuses I can throw out (such as I used my iPad 99% of the time and it's harder to update on there, and our laptop charger broke, etc) but instead I'll just update you...mainly in pics!

We went to Jaxson's first rodeo in a nearby town called Enumclaw with our friends who have a little girl about 2 months older than Jax. While hanging out Nola couldn't stay away from him and stole his first kiss! Too cute.

Some of my family bought tickets to the Boise State vs U of Washington football game here in Seattle. So over Labor Day weekend we had a BBQ at our place then headed to the game. Although an upset for BSU fans, it was still fun. Jaxson stayed with a baby sitter (since it was a night game) and did awesome :)

At the game

Since summer time is winding down, Del and I took Jaxson to a lake just a few mins from our house. He did NOT like getting in or even near the water so we just hung out on the grass at a safe distance from the lake haha.

 Just a few days after the "bad" lake experience, Jaxson started his 1st swim class! I was concerned about how he'd act since he hated the lake but I think since I have to hold him the whole time he decided it wasn't too bad. The 1st lesson he was a little hesitant and worried but we've had 2 more since then and he goes in splashing and leaves with a stomach full of pool water, lol.

Checkin' out that pool...

 Football season has started! Seahawks played their first game last weekend (and won!) and, although he slept thru most of the game, I had to put him in his Hawks gear :)

Future football player??

 As I've said a few times, every nice day this month I've been trying to get out and enjoy it cuz it could be our last! So Jaxson and I spent some time at our neighborhood park. He loves playing in the rocks and swinging!

At 11 months (in just 3 days) Jaxson is always doing new things (good and bad!)  We've been working on boundaries with him and it's giving me an insight into what's to come. For the most part he's a pretty good boy, and stops what he's doing when told. But when it comes to certain things (anything electronic like ipad, cell phones, etc) it takes a little more...coaxing to get him to listen :-P I got my first head-in-his-hands pout the other night after the 3rd time telling him "don't touch" my ipad. It was hard for me not to laugh! Maybe even worse than the pout is when he gives me a smug smile after I tell him "no" then 10 seconds later he does it again. Lol...I wonder who he got that from....
Now for BIG news! Jaxson took his first few steps earlier this week! The first video is that very first night he took any steps, the second one is the next night.

Then this last one was just last night. He has started dancing a little bit when music plays on a few of his toys. It's pretty cute. He's had a decent cold for a week now so it's nice to see him still having fun!