Happy Halloween!

Our little trick-or-treaters were the most adorable pumpkin and spider out there! We went to about 6 houses on our street and we were the only ones out there! I think we are going to have to find a more happening neighborhood next year. Tucker got really into trick-or-treating. He would ring the doorbell and knock on the door. I think he was confused that you only have to do one or the other! Earlier in the day Matt asked Tucker what he was going to be for Halloween and he said, "A spider!" and then Matt asked him how he gets candy on Halloween. Tucker said, "You go to the door and hold out your bag and say 'I love you!'" He is so funny! These are the awesome pumpkins that Matt and I carved this year. Matt's pumpkin is on the left and mine is on the right. This is the first year we have used those stencils and they were pretty fun! Tucker had no interest in carving pumpkins this year so Matt and I did all the work. It was fun, I always love carving pumpkins. And these ones are exceptionally cool! I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!!

More Fall Fun

The other day Tucker and I baked some sugar cookies together. He was very helpful with making the dough, pushing the dough off the spoon and onto the baking sheet and then of course helped decorate the cookies. We had never done this before so I didn't know how much interest he would have but he really did like it. He wore his apron and just looked adorable. He was so cute, he made me forget how much of a mess it is to cook with kids!! He had a hard time decorating the whole cookie and instead piled up all the toppings right in the middle of the cookie. For those of you who are curious, the sugar cookies were a box mix from Costco. Very easy to make and tasty too...highly recommended. We went to the zoo yesterday with a new friend. She works with my Mom and seems REALLY fun! Her little boy is just a few weeks older than Tucker and we are looking forward to getting to know them better. I think her little boy will be a good influence on Tucker because he is potty trained and today Tucker went potty on the toilet and then told me "I went potty just like ___" (I don't know these people well enough to be posting their names on here without asking). So hopefully some of that potty training pride will rub off on Tucker!!! Wouldn't it be nice to be buying diapers for only one child!?! So anyway, I didn't take very many pictures at the zoo but here is Addie in the stroller smiling away...so cute! Our zoo recently had a baby elephant born and his name is Sam, which is short for something I can't remember. I got a picture of him and the kids were very excited to see him. He was running behind his mommy and it was really adorable!

Oh, and if anyone has any helpful tips on how to make my blog cute like the rest of my friends, please let me know!!! I'm blog SpEd, so please send your tips! Thanks!

Two Duds and a Winner

We have been so busy lately enjoying all the fall activities that I haven't made time to write about them all. Every time I do take a moment to sign on here, I end up looking at all my friend's blogs and don't do my own. So here's another attempt at getting this done...

We went to this pumpkin patch that was near Hood River, Oregon and it was a little more than an hour drive to get there. We had heard wonderful things about this farm and their website looked impressive. We eventually get there and it's a total DUD!!! I'm not sure what our "source" was thinking when she recommended this place, but I'm telling you NOT WORTH THE DRIVE. It was really disappointing with not much to do except walk around their wiped out pumpkin field. This tractor was the highlight of the farm. The other thing they had there was pumpkin bowling, where Tucker got to throw small pumpkins at some bowling pins that were impossible to set up on the uneven surface. We did get some good acorn squash to make for dinner, but that was really the best thing we got out of the visit. Of course Tucker didn't mind though because any little boy is happy as long as he gets to run around in a field and no one tells him not to get dirty!! However, we will not be returning next year. We did enjoy the family time together and the weather was pretty warm and sunny!

Tucker did some Halloween crafts this year and they are such a treasure to me! They are beyond adorable and I can't wait to do these things with him for every holiday! Now I know why moms always say they love the homemade gifts the best. This is a pumpkin that he painted. I would highly recommend doing this. It's a thin, wood pumpkin that was bought at Michaels and he loved painting it! We also got some of those tiny pumpkins, felt and glue. These are the "jack-o-lanterns" that we created. I cut a bunch of shapes, mouths and hats out of the felt and let Tucker decide what kinds of faces he wanted on each pumpkin. He loved using the glue and it was really easy for him to do! I wish I could keep these pumpkins for next year, they are so cute! He named them too, (left to right) Pirate Pumpkin, Witch Pumpkin, King Knight and Baby Sister.

The next pumpkin patch that we went to was AWESOME!!! They had this "cow train" ride that Tucker just loved! He wanted to sit in his own cart and he laughed and screamed the whole ride. The lady that sat in front of him just laughed at him the whole ride. It's so fun that he is becoming just a little bit more adventurous and will try some new things. He is usually scared by things like this, so it was good to see him try something new. We ended up going on the cow train two times! He begged to go again, but we wanted to try the corn maze and all the other fun things.

Tucker and Grandma Michele at the Pumpkin Patch!

This is an aerial picture of the maze that we went through at the Pumpkin Patch! It was so much fun, pretty difficult and REALLY muddy! But that just made it all the more fun for us, especially Tucker. He stomped through the mud puddles and squished around on the muddy trails through maze. It took us a while to get through it all, I think the corn field is 5 acres.
This is Tucker in the corn maze. Notice the big mud puddle he has his cowboy boots sunk into! He had so much fun. We will be going back to this farm again next year, without a doubt!

OK, so the last and final stop on our Pumpkin Patch Tour of the Portland Metro Area was none other than the ....dum-dah-dah-dum...Roloff Farm from TLCs Little People, Big World!

I really can't begin to tell you how dorky I felt for the great excitement I felt for going to this farm. In some ways my high hopes were met and in others, I felt let down. One thing that I was very excited about was that we saw both Matt and Amy, but I only got a picture of Matt.

We got to see their dog Rocky.

They had lots of pumpkins that were carved really cool.

TLC was filming, so look for me on TV. ha ha ha

And we got a very rare family picture taken....

Other than those things, I have to sadly admit that I was a little bit disappointed! It felt more like touring a Hollywood set than visiting a pumpkin patch. They had a tractor tour that just showed you the property that you see while watching the show, which was the studio tour part. The rest of the farm was kind of a dud. The "store" that you see on TV for their pumpkin patch was practically empty and there weren't any workers that we recognized. We wanted the kids or grandparents (or anyone we recognized) to be working in the store...nope. So I think since we have seen it once, we probably won't return there either. So I think the summary of our pumpkin patch tours come down to this....Two Duds and a Winner.

Hopelessly Devoted to Voting

Alright, so as many (or none) of you may know, yesterday was the last day to register to vote in Oregon.  I, unfortunately, fell into the category of people who did NOT know that...until about 6pm.  A local news report informed me that I needed to have a voter registration postmarked with October 14th date in order to register to vote.  The news reporter said that a specific post office in downtown Portland would be open until 9pm to give that all-important postmark.  So, feeling an obligation to be a part of what happens in this year's election I felt a NEED, a strong need, to vote.  OK, so I quickly find the voter registration papers online and fill them out.  I find an address for the post office online.  I pack up myself and my baby girl to brave some chilly fall weather on our adventure.  I get down to my car and I punch in the address into my GPS...off we go!  We get to to the downtown post office without a hitch, only to find a lights off and locked up USPS.  RATS!!  There must be some secret entrance for-voter-ballots-only, so I get out of my car and walk around to the side of the building hoping for a "voting ballot day miracle".  Rats again...no secret entrance!  Those dirty bastards at the news station lied!  It's 8:15pm and I'm locked out of the post office they said was open until 9!  OK, get crafty Tami.  You need a postmark and you need it today!  So I find out that the Airport Way post office is open until 10pm.  I'll make it there with time to spare.  So as I leave SW Portland to venture to NE Portland to secure my right to vote, I run into major traffic (did I mention that it's 8:30 pm?).  You read correctly, 

T-R-A-F-F-I-C.  ODOT had their trucks out for a big accident, the kind that have arrows to tell you to move to the left.  So everyone was moving to the left, but what no one knew was that there was a pick-up truck stalled in the left lane (not part of the big accident, just making traffic worse).  Once I make my way to the accident scene, I see a car laying on the driver side with its tires up on the wall that runs along the right lane of the freeway.  WOW.  Alright, that is over now I'm home free to become a registered voter.  I arrive at the Airport Way USPS office, which to my delight, is open!  I go inside, with Addie in her car seat, and wait in line.  The post office worker sees myself and another woman holding voter registration cards in hand and says, "If you are waiting for a postmark on voter registration, I have to put the postage on it."  The lady in front of me gets hostile after this announcement and says, "I already have stamps on these!"  

Post Office Worker:  Then take the stamp off.

Hostile Woman:  These aren't even mine!  I'm doing a service for the campaign!

POW:  I'm sorry, but if you want the postmark, then you peel the stamps. 

HW:  OMG!  Really!

Then HW takes the 4 or 5 registration cards in her hands and tears them in half!!!  Tosses them in the garbage can and walks out of the post office.  Now other than, "What was with that chick" I'm thinking "Is that legal?!?"  That lady just tore up some would-be-voter's registration!  That was the most unethical and questionably illegal thing I've ever witnessed.  The postal workers and customers were all looking around at each other totally flabbergasted that she just did that!  So I finally get my postmark, after tearing off my stamp that I had already put on my registration...I decided not to tear up my papers over .42 cents.  I put Addie back in the car and start the drive back home...only to run into traffic on the way back too....construction.  Well despite all the things that tried to stop me from becoming a registered voter, I triumphed!  I am a registered voter in the state of Oregon!  Oh yeah, and if you are an Oregon resident and trusted your registration to some woman doing a "service for the campaign" and strangely you don't get your voter registration card in the mail....she tore up your registration card and you can reclaim it on Airport Way.  You can vote for the president next time, I hope this election wasn't that important to you.  

Back in the Saddle

Where has the time gone? Addie will be 16 weeks on Thursday!!! My baby is 4 months old? What? Where have I been? OK, enough of the shock and awe. She is doing so well. I think she is having a huge growing spurt because the last two nights she has slept 12 hours STRAIGHT...and then she takes naps during the day too. Did I mention she is the BEST baby ever? She is happy and smiling all the time. She coos and babbles, sometimes with quite a bit of volume. She laughs when you tickle her around her shoulders and belly. She also has a new trick when you change her diaper. She puts her feet on the changing table and pushes up so her bottom comes up off the diaper and she scoots up on the back of her already bald head. She is obviously eating well and for those of you who care, the supply is GOOD. I just adore this little girl and I can't wait to see who she becomes as she gets bigger and shows us more of herself.

Tucker, Tucker, Tucker...where do I even begin? He is so incredibly funny! The other day I was taking the polish off my toes and he comes in the bathroom and says, "Mommy, what doing?" I respond, "I'm taking the polish off my toes." "Oh, good job Mommy. You are a big Mommy." WHAT?? I just smiled and said, "Thank you, Tucker". Not that I want to be a "big Mommy" by any stretch of the imagination, but it made me feel good at the same time. Let me explain. When Tucker does something well we say, "Good job, Tucker. You are such a big boy." So the fact that he hears compliments enough from us to say them back to us, makes me feel really good. He has also complimented Matt by telling him he was a "Big Daddy" too. The other hysterical thing he does is he will walk up to you, throw his arms up in the air and say "Gimme a hug!!" One last good one is "Ohhh, man!" He will say that when we send him to time-out, and if you are familiar, it sound a whole lot like Swiper! He is a blast! He is teething a top two year molar right now, so sometimes he is showing us a horrible case of the terrible twos. I'll blame the behavior of my sweet boy on those awful teeth. Sound like a typical Mom, always making excuses for her perfect children!!! I hated those moms when I was teaching!!

As for me, I'm back in the saddle. I have mostly recovered from my oral surgery and I'm back to normal activity (other than enjoying tortilla chips, which scare me because they are so sharp and crunchy). The roof of my mouth is still healing and I'm sure it will be for several months. There are still spots that are numb because of the incisions which is weird. That has happened with all 3 surgeries and the last two times the feeling eventually came back, so I'm expecting the same. My stitches got taken out on Thursday. I have had the "dissolving" stitches all 3 times, but I must have some deficient spit because my mouth doesn't dissolve the stitches like they say they will. Taking out the stitches was a good reminder of how much I hate this process and how thankful I am that the worst is over. This last surgery was the last of the bad, it will only get better. I will have one more procedure to put an implant in the place of the tooth that was extracted, but I have to assume that's easier! So my body is finally healing from the medical circus I've been through in the last few months. I think I might lay low for a while and not see a doc anytime soon. ...although I have my first "real" appointment with my orthodontist next Monday....and I thought the pain in my mouth was over!!! Well the good news is, I'm smiling for now and the sun is shining. By the way, Tucker took that picture of me! I think I will get him a kids digital camera for Christmas. I think it's very interesting to see the world from his view. Besides, when he uses my expensive camera it makes me sweat a little bit. I hear the kid ones are covered in rubber so it can bounce off the ground, unlike the thud that mine makes when it hits the floor!

Recovery

My oral surgery went really well on Thursday.  Today was my first day of really feeling the pain.  The whole left side of my face feels like I got hit with a frying pan.  Percocet is keeping me from just laying in bed and crying all day.  I'm so thankful that this is all over.  This is the worst of it, even though I will have to go back for implant procedures, there's no way they can compare to this.  If you don't want to know the details...just skip the next section....

I have 15 stitches in my mouth.  The incision goes directly back on my palate from my second tooth on the left.  There is another incision that goes along my molars on the top left side.  They folded the palate back and the tooth was removed and I had bone grafting done for the implant site.  I go back on Thursday to Dr. Beadnell for my post-op.  My palate is swollen, my jaw, temple, nose, eye, ear all hurt/swollen...but only on the left side.  

This sucks, but it will pass and one day my smile will be something that I will be truly proud of.  I've always been pretty self conscious about my smile and I know I will feel differently when this is all done.  I think I will have a smile party when this is all done.  I don't really know what that means (ask the percocet) but I'm going to have that party for sure.  Mark your calendars for about 15-18 months from now!  ha ha ha