Happy Fathers Day!

Happy First Father's Day Jesse! I found some Star Wars shirts a few months back and thought it was so perfect for a day of father-son bonding! "Jedi" has been Jedidiah's nick name since he was born (thank you uncle Blake). For Christmas his aunt Christy gave him a Jedi shirt and so we just embraced it. Hopefully we don't become the parents whose kid hates them for their name!

Seasons: Baby. Food.

We are now in the season of baby food. Jed loooves to eat. I mean he really loves food. We have to make sure we feed him at the right speed or he gets frustrated (sounds a bit like his grandpa doo doo)! In an effort to save a few bucks and so I know what Jed is really eating, I decided to make my own food. Don't get me wrong... when we are going somewhere I always have a back up baby food jar in my diaper bag... so I am not against baby food from the store, this is just my fun little project!

It all starts with fresh fruits and vegetables, and it is sooooo simple! I spent 3 hours yesterday making enough food for about one month. It cost about $20! Baby food costs about $3 per day depending on how much they eat (about 90$ a month).

Plums.

Simmer down until the "melt" in a pot, strain, remove pits, puree.

Sweet Potatoes. (Peel, wrap with tin foil, bake in 425 oven until done (30 min ish), remove foil, puree.)

Peas. (Boil, puree)

Green Beans. (Boil, puree.)

Bananas. (Peel, smash or puree)

Carrots. (Peel, cut, boil, puree).

I use my handy food processor... a must!

I use all different kinds of containers... I put some in ice cube trays... I have some small containers and I also use cup cake trays, both mini and regular.

Keep in mind that there is a 1-3 month window for the food to be eaten so always date the food when you make it.

The food is fresh and tastes good. I made sure to taste all of it! (I wouldn't ever try baby food from a store... it just smells bad!)

Jed likes it!

"Ohhhhhh"

Yummy...

Trying to grab the bowl...

Oops, we missed!

Water please (we just figured out how to hold the cup)!

I'm pretty sure he wants to feed himself... he always wants a spoon so I finally just got two. One for Jed and one for mommy.

Sweet Jed...

My sweet Jed.

Oh how I love this boy.

He makes me smile all day.

When I am away from him, I wish I was with him.

He smiles and giggles.

He sucks his thumb (even though we try to stop him).

He lights up when we walk in to get him in the morning and looks for us when we leave the room.

He always tries to be happy even though it is hard sometimes.

He gives big wet kisses.

He is our sunshine.

7 months

Seattle, Washington

While in Washington we made a day trip into the city of Seattle. It was a crystal clear day... gorgeous!!! We parked in Pioneer Square, which is the old part of Seattle. It was about a 30 minute walk from Pioneer Square to Pikes Place Market. It was great to see the water and all of the historic parts of Seattle.

Pioneer Square

We found a pier and looked at the water and mountains surrounding the city. It was so beautiful!

Who would have thought that Seattle would have a gum wall just like San Louis Obispo... well, my cousin Jonathan knew about it! We had to visit and my mom, Jesse and Jonathan contributed to it! (I can't stand the thought of the germs on that wall!)

We had to see the very first Starbucks!

The flowers in the market were GORGEOUS!!! And inexpensive!

The produce was amazing... we tasted some fun stuff... different olive oils, chocolate pasta... yumm!

After a morning of walking we sat at a park at the north end of Pikes Place Market and each got food from where ever we wanted. Jesse got clam chowder... my mom and I got paninis and root beer, my grandpa, aunt and cousin got pizza... Jed loved looking at the cars and eating the top of the root beer bottle...

After lunch we walked to the monorail which took us to the Space Needle. There is a really cool fountain down town with a path that goes in the middle of it. My mom dared the boys to stick their heads through the fountain. Both did... the only difference is that Jesse had rain gear on and didn't get wet! Jonathan got soaked!!!

Of all the days in Seattle's history, we may have had the top 10 perfect days to go up the Space Needle! We could see all of the mountains surrounding the city. It was absolutely breath taking!

Waiting in line for the elevator ride Jed got lots of play time with aunt Debbie and Great Grandpa!

Great Grandpa, mom and Jonathan

Mount Rainier

After a long day, Jed wanted to snuggle with mommy... he was such a trooper!

Auburn, Washington

On the first of June we embarked on a journey to visit friends and family in Washington and Canada. We arrived at the airport bright and early for Jed's first airplane ride... exciting! He did really good considering he is the worst possible age for sleeping during the flight! We flew into Seattle which is only 30 minutes north of Auburn.

We had SO MUCH FUN!!! We did all kinds of outdoor activities... shooting guns, riding dirt bikes, walking... we watched my cousin graduate from 8th grade... toured Seattle (coming soon on a post) and Jesse even got to drive Grandpa's Corvette!

My grandparents have an AMAZING motor home. They live in southern California 1/2 of the year and drive it up to Auburn and into their living room (where the motor home acts as their bedroom) for the second 1/2 of the year. It is a beautiful set up!

For some perspective we took a picture of Jed next to Great Grandpa's shiny wheels!!!

Here is Jed and Great Grandpa on his Harley Davidson... Great Grandpa looooooved it!

Here is a picture of my mom, her parents, her sister (aunt Debbie) and uncle Ron, Ron's parents, Ron and Debbie's kids Jonathan and Chandler and of course, Jesse, Jed and me.

Jesse and I were playing a scene out of Mr. and Mrs. Smith... I wanted the big gun!

Riding Dirt Bikes around the property was so fun... I as a little intimidated at first but got more comfortable!

My Cousin Jonathan is so great at riding bikes... he is 16 and rides all around the property. My uncle is the principal of the Jr. High/Elementary school that is on the property of Auburn Adventist Academy. So the property they live on is all connected with the school.

Grandpa found an Indianapolis 500 pin ball machine. He is a car collector and has collected 4 out of 6 of the Indianapolis 500 Corvette pace cars. So when he saw this machine he had to get it. It was a ton of fun! Jesse (of course) got one of the high scores and was so proud. Jed loved watching the lights go off!

Great grandma, grandma and Jed... great grandma was in heaven playing with Jed! She gave us a CD with sweet music that Jed fell in love with. He listened (and slept) to it all the way to Vancouver and back!

Eating some yummy food with auntie, grandma and great grandma.

My grandpa said I wasn't holding the gun correctly so I posed for the camera... this is what came out!... looks good to me!

The boys and their guns.

We absolutely loved hanging with the family! It was so lush and green in Washington and we plan on making a return trip soon!