The Beautiful Cascade Mountains

The four of us drove up to Lake Easton State Park just east of the Snoqualmie summit. It was a gorgeous day (has been this way for a few days now). Our main reason for going was to scout out camping sites for this summer. However the snow is so deep there that they just close off the camping loops and they become snowmobile courses for the winter. So unfortunately we didn't get to see the sites. After church we stopped at Whole Foods in Bellevue. Seth ran in and got us a picnic lunch while I sat in the car and fed Alistair. The drive up was uneventful and not a lot of cars on the road. We parked at the swimming area lot. Once we got everyone situated, Seth and I sat down to a delicious meal of Curried Chicken on rolls with a few different salads and some olives. He also picked out a yummy piece of German Chocolate cake for dessert. We only got a taste, however, as both Alistair and Sadie were whining to get moving. So we packed things up and took off for a little walk in the trailer loop. During the winter the road through this loop is turned into a cross-country skiing track. Sadie ran around trying to roll in the snow, but the snow was a little iced over from the sunshine. There wasn't much in the way of powder, so she just had to make due. Once we got around the loop, we went back down to the swimming beach and attempted to walk along the area we usually swim in during the summer. However, every other step resulted in sinking to your knee in the snow. While this was fun and all, we decided it would be more fun to come back with snow shoes and actually get further on the surface of the snow! We stopped in North Bend on the way home to visit with Uncle Bob and Auntie Ann...it also gave Alistair a break from being strapped into something (carseat, backpack). Then we got home and spent the rest of the evening lounging...fresh air poisoning doncha know?

Big Head Alistair

We had a slight scare this week with Alistair. He had a doctor appointment last weekend and while he was there they measured his head. Turns out his head had gone from the 80th percentile to the 97th percentile in the matter of a month. So his pediatrician ordered a cranial ultrasound to take a look to see if there was anything causing the rapid growth. The ultrasound showed a possible explanation, which was Hydrocephalus (Water on the Brain). But before they made that determination, they wanted to do a CT Scan to get a better idea. Yesterday we went in for the CT Scan and the doctor called last night. She said that his head was fine, there was nothing indicating that he had anything wrong. He does have some extra fluid around the sides of his brain, but that is common for premature babies as well as babies with big heads - of which he has both issues! (: So it was a stressful couple of days. Alistair will continue to get his head measured monthly to monitor the growth. But otherwise...WHEW!!! Here are some recent photos to enjoy...
Alistair has made it through the fruits and is now trying vegetables. We decided Sweet Potatoes would be a natural progression as they are still somewhat sweet. He actually made a BLECH noise upon taking his first bite and gagged on subsequent bites. But we kept trying and he has finished a container or 2 now!Alistair has found his feet and they have now become his favorite toy! He loves them especially when he is naked as he has the most flexibility with no layers of fabric to hinder his movement.Putting them in his mouth is even more interesting...especially with socks! Yum!

Camping at the Beach!

What? Camping at the beach you say? That can't possibly be correct, it is the beginning of January on the Washington Coast and you are camping? With a baby?? Yes that is right, we headed out to Grayland Beach State Park for the Martin Luther Day holiday weekend and "camped" with David & Judy. We stayed in a yurt and David & Judy had their trailer. So no we weren't sleeping in a tent and huddled around a fire for warmth. But we did some communing with nature and spent time out on the beach letting the dogs run and run and run! We have never been to the beach when there is snow and ice! It was definitely cold during the night and early morning. But during the day the temperature didn't seem too bad, but it was probably due to the constant sunshine and blue skies! It was gorgeous! Alistair did very well - no major breakdowns or crying sessions. He slept well at night and we were able to keep him appropriately dressed for whatever situation he was in.

These dogs are tired...all that running is hard work!!

Not me! I am the youngest...I could go forever!

What? Your not using it!

Alistair!!

Got Peaches?
Alistair the Anaconda slowly devours his prey. Poor bear never had a chance.
I'm goin' to the store, ma...I'll be back in a jiffy.

WHEN is he LEAVING??

Alistair - Extreme Athlete?

Alistair is now tipping the scales at 16 1/2 pounds. This is making quite a difference in the effect he has on his bouncy seat and position he gets himself into. As the photos below show, he gets himself much further down on the seat...so much so that the bottom of the seat is in the middle of his back! When we gets to that position, he then tries to roll over. When he is higher up on the seat, he has learned to pump and kick his legs to get the seat to bounce so much that the back of the legs bounce up off the floor. He is on the verge of just plain flipping out of the seat. Yes I could strap him in, but what fun is that? (:

He also really enjoys playing in his Jumparoo. This is a Johnny Jump-Up for those with no good door jams. It sits on an independent frame that you can set-up anywhere. Alistair wasn't a huge fan of it when we first bought it. But now he can't get enough. When you put him in it, he just goes. Tonight Seth asked me if there was any way for him to launch himself out of it (which I don't think there is). That should give you an idea of how hard he was jumping! We used to call it his Vomit Comet because no matter when we put him in it after eating (5 minutes or 2 1/2 hours) he would get rid of what he ate. But I think his system has adjusted as he doesn't seem to have a problem now! Oh and he is dressed in this photo...but just a diaper (the way he prefers to hangout).

Happy New Year!!

It's 2007 and 2006 went out with a bang (at least in our neighborhood). Carolyn and Njord came over for a fondue-themed dinner. We played a game and managed to stay up until midnight...it seems to get tougher every year! (: New Year's Day was celebrated the way we have been doing it for 3 years now, Ravioli and Sausage making at the Hennessey's. It was fun and very delicious as always! Alistair and Sully had their own chef hats and aprons, but really didn't contribute much in the way of helping us make anything. They did a better job of distracting people from working! (:

We had sausage galore this year with 3 Cuisinarts going for 8 or 9 different types of sausage. The men, as always, stuffed the sausages...and did a great job! Notice the technique, perfected by the protrusion of the tongues!We had 3 different types of ravioli - plain pasta with artichoke and cheese, beet pasta with meat and spinach pasta with cheese. They were all delicious.

We all left with full tummies and leftovers to enjoy. It was a fun day! Here's to a fun and prosperous 2007!

Alistair's Many Christmases

Alistair thoroughly enjoyed his first Christmas again and again and again....he endured 5 Christmases in all and did a really good job! Saturday started off with Martinson Christmas (usually celebrated Christmas Day) on Fox Island. Fun was had by all as we enjoyed a delicious meal and opened presents. Alistair got to size up his cousin Carrie - she is 3 months younger than him and they are the same height and weight (Alistair is small for his size)!We stayed the night down there to save driving back down the next day as Christmas Eve was celebrated in Graham with the Harris clan. We had our traditional Seafood Quiche which was delcious as always. Then we headed to church at St. Thomas in Bellevue for Christmas Eve Mass at 7pm. We celebrated with Slade Gordon. We don't know if he is a regualr member or was a visitor as we have never seen him there before - he may usually go to the earlier mass on Sundays.

Christmas morning we got up and opened gifts at home. Alistair didn't quite get the whole opening presents thing and we didn't go overboard on giving him stuff since we would just have to turn around and unwrap what we wrapped! (: We then headed back to Fox Island and celebrated Christmas with my family. Both Natalie and Alistair were loaded down with presents from Papa and Nana (the rest of us didn't make out too badly either!). Alistair got a cool animal train set and a cuddle and learn puppy. His two big presents were a Radio Flyer plush bouncy horse from Nana & Papa and a Tickle Me Elmo Extreme from Uncle Jeff, Aunt Michelle & Natalie (although I am pretty sure it was all Jeff's doing!). The horse is quite popular with Alistair...he loves to sit on it and bounce and try to chew on the handles, etc. The Tickle Me Elmo he is not too sure about it, but it is quite entertaining for the rest of us! Sadie doesn't care for it, but that is no big shocker! Next time you are over, please ask for a demo! Natalie wanted to see Alistair in his Gingerbread costume, so we put it on him and she agreed to hold him and pose for some photos. She seems quite enamored with him all in all. After Fox Island we headed to Olympia for our final stop. We had a nice time with the family, opening silly stocking stuffers and some great presents. Alistair was showered with clothes and more toys. His favorite gifts at this stop was the puppy blanket his Grandma made for him. It is one of those small blankets with a stuffed animal head and arms attached to it. It is very cute and quite soft!

We got home today. Seth has the rest of the week off and we are tackling some projects around the house. Christmas was fun and it is hard to believe the holidays are over! Alistair will be 7 months old on Saturday. He is getting to be a big boy, where did the time go?

Ho! Ho! Ho!

We took Alistair to go see the Nordstrom Santa in downtown Seattle last Wednesday. What a haul! We got downtown and in line at about 3:20 or so and at about 4:40 we finally got to see the big man! We were on pins and needles the whole time waiting for Alistair to break-down because he was 1) fed up with not doing anything and/or 2) Hungry. But much to our delight, neither occured and he enjoyed people watching (as did we) and just taking in the lights and decorations around us. When we got to Santa, Alistair just looked at him with his big eyes. The photographer showed me where to place Alistair once he got the picture framed. When he gave me the greenlight, I set Alistair down on Santa's lap. For a split second I thought he was going to loose it, but he didn't and instead started looking around and immediately checked out the person holding him. Seth and I flanked the photographer and began trying anything to get Alistair to look our way and smile - clapping, making faces, making funny noises, the whole bit. We did get some smiles out of him. I resorted to running up and tickling him under the chin. The photography studio sent us 2 different photos - I think they were torn on which pose to send, so they just sent both! He is smiling in the other photo, but looking up at the ceiling (there were twinkling christmas lights). The best part is that Santa sits in a store window and the line wraps down that way, so I am sure we were a good show to watch while waiting for their turn! All in all I think Alistair enjoyed meeting the infamous Santa...but if he is anything like his mommy, that will all change in the next few years!

Hennessey Refugee Camp

This has been quite the end of last week and now beginning of this week. After the incredible wind and rain storm left most of Western Washington without power, we were fortunately left standing with our power. We did lose it for all of 4 hours Thursday evening, so we went to Canyons and had a leisurely dinner and watched the pathetic Seahawks game. We are usually less fortunate since we are in Snohomish County - our neighbors behind us in King County (the county line is our fence) have power when we don't. However the tables were turned and seem to still be. Because we do have power, we are lucky to be able to help out our friends and family. Gabe, Ranae & 7-day old Sully are out of power and most likely won't have it back until Monday or Tuesday. So they have been staying with us since Friday afternoon so Sully has a warm place to be. Carolyn and Njord didn't have power Friday either and they also sought refuge with us. They did have it back last night, however Jen (Ethan-less as he is in Germany) didn't and came up to stay with us. She may be back tonight, but she is hoping they have power. Tomorrow night Seth's dad returns from a long weekend trip to visit the Minnesota relatives (Judy is on a work assignment in Detroit and met him in MN) and will come to stay with us as they won't have power until most likely the end of the week! Our doors are open and we welcome you to come warm yourselves. You can spend the night, but we can't promise a bed - depending on how many other people are here! Couples with infants have first dibs on the guest bed! After that it is an air mattress and then the couches!

****UPDATE****

Gabe, Ranae and Sully fortunately had their power restored today and were able to return to their house. Jen has her power back as well. As for David, I think he might head to Olympia and stay in their trailer. He can turn on the heat and the clean water tank is full. We will see! But our doors are still open to those who still don't have power.

Party at Alistair's Crib!

Alistair really likes his crib these days. He has discovered the little spinning things on his aquarium and will lay there and play with them whenever he wakes up - 12pm, 5pm, 1:30am...whenever. It resonates very well over the baby monitor. I have turned down the one in our room so that we can still hear him cry, but any other noise is not as audible. He hardly cries anymore when he does wake up, we just hear the crab or starfish spin and go in to get him up. The other thing he has gotten into is rearranging his friends that hang out in his crib. They are usually arranged at the head and foot of his crib:

But now that he has his go-go gadget arms and gripping devices, anything within arms reach and easy to grab gets grabbed and hurled around. He also rocks back and forth from one side to the other which moves him up or down his crib and closer to things to grab. Many times when we go in to get him up, his crib looks like this:He also has figured out how to role over onto his tummy, but has forgotten how to role back over to his back - a skill he had mastered before he figured out how to role onto his tummy. So he will sometimes role over onto his tummy, give up and go to sleep. Or he will get mad because he can't get back over and then howl until one of us goes in and recues him. He doesn't do that too often though. More often than not, he has a party in his crib and then they all collapse where they are and go to sleep (or at least that is what it looks like!).

Welcome Sullivan!

The Sandholms had their baby on Friday, December 8th. Sullivan Franklyn Sandholm is his name and he looks just like his daddy. Everyone is doing well. Ranae had some complications, but she is on the mend! If you would like to see photos of him, here is a link to their blog: http://www.sandholmranch.blogspot.com/. There is also a link along the right side of our blog! Congrats to the Sandholms and we look forward to getting to know Sullivan!

What we have been up to in the past week

Alistair started Rice Cereal this week. He has been doing very well with it. We have found the thicker, the better as far as his preferences are concerned. The first day I followed the instructions on the box and it was fairly soupy. So each day I have added a little less liquid and he is consistantly finishing the bowl now. It is only a tablespoon of food and a tablespoon of liquid, but still! (: He eats sitting in his Bumbo on the dining room table. He isn't big enough for his high chair yet. We have also been playing dress-up with him. One of my friends sent him the costume below for Christmas. He didn't seem to mind it too much, despite the look on his face!
This Christmas outfit is courtesy of his 2 grandmothers. Nana Martinson bought him the Christmas pajamas while Grandma Hennessey knitted him the Christmas tree hat. While many people have made comments about how mean we are to our child by dressing him up...let me just point out that WE didn't buy any of these items! (:

6 Months Old!

Our little baby is getting so big! It is hard to believe he is 6 months old already! One day he is tiny and fits in the palm of your hand and the next he is 14 pounds of little boy. He is 25 inches long now. He is fitting pants in his size range much better now! He is constantly changing - he is getting closer to rolling onto his tummy from his back (already has the tummy to back down), he reaches for everything and if he gets it, it goes right into the mouth! We had his pictures taken at Sears yesterday. The photo above is one of many cute shots they got. Incidentally, the photo below is one from a session I tried 2 weeks ago. With a more professional camera I might be able to do-it-myself and not pay for it! (:

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

Not really, but it seemed like the thing to say. So it snowed a little up here in little old Bothell. I measured about 6 inches of frozen precipitation we have received thus far and more is set to come this evening. The good news about that is it will be followed by rain which will melt all of this white stuff and make it go away. Can you tell I am not a fan of snow? It is pretty, I will give you that. But it is also a royal pain to deal with when it falls. We are more or less paralyzed where we are. You have to go up some sort of hill to get to our house and it seems as though the ice has become super thick around us! We had an au pair of sorts Sunday night through Tuesday afternoon. Grete was on her way back to school in Bellingham after spending Thanksgiving with her parents in Eastern Washington. However the drive became an ordeal and then of course Whatcom County was literally paralyzed by the snow. So she hung out with us and helped out with Alistair. It was nice having her around and I think Alistair likes Grete! (: We decided that we needed to get a photo of Alistair in his first snow. So we put his Bumbo seat on the deck and bundled him up. Doesn't he look thrilled about his first snow expereince?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was another resounding success this year. We gathered at the Hennessey's house in Olympia for a delicious dinner. Jeff, Michelle and Natalie and my parents came as well as Jen and Ethan and Jen's parents Don and Jean. One of David's buddies, Ernie, also joined us for dinner. We had lots of great food and managed to eat all day while watching LOTS of football. Alistair had a great time, he did really well and definitely enjoyed all the attention he received. Here he is sporting his preppy look while standing on the new kitchen table (the only person who got to).

Last weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Martinson family up in Woodinville. Almost everyone joined us, but unfortunately we were missing my brother and his family. We had a nice day and in addition to eating good food, cheered the Huskies on to victory in the Apple Cup! The two babies (Alistair and Carrie) had bouncy seat races while the rest of us ate!

I think if he could talk, Alistair would agree that he had a good first Thanksgiving!

Yurting at Cape Disappointment

This past weekend we went to Cape Disappointment State Park and stayed in yurts. The park is located on the South Western tip of Washington, right where the Columbia meets the Pacific. In addition to us, both of our parents, Auntie Ann & Uncle Bob and Gabe & Ranae joined us. We had a nice time. The drive out was making us all wonder why we were even going out in the first place - driving rain, wind and cold temperatures not to mention some mechanical issues with vehicles. But we all made it and got up Saturday morning to blue skies and sunshine! The weather stayed this way most of the day, a tiny rain cloud went through midday, but for the most part it stayed dry. We got up Sunday morning to gray skies and eventually some rain off and on. Overall we totally lucked out on the weather. Alistair seemed to enjoy himself and of course all the attention lavished on him from 10 adults! I think we managed to keep him warm enough - layers are the key!

Future Model?

So I wanted to post this photo sooner, but didn't want to spoil any suprises for Ranae's babyshower. I ordered some collegiate fleece off the internet to make one of those no-sew tie blankets for Baby Sandholm - Iowa Hawkeyes of course! I had ordered 2 yards of it and when I got it, there was definitely way more fabric than I needed for a baby blanket. Being the talented seamstress that my mom is, she suggested we make a few more items out of the leftover fleece. We decided on a hat and then she decided to make a matching jacket. Alistair is modeling the outfit to show how it fits and possibly how it fits him for a future set of his own (not Hawkeye though, no matter what Ranae thinks!).

Alistair's Baptism

Alistair was baptized yesterday at St. Thomas. It was a nice day, but LONG ceremony/mass. There were 9 other babies being baptized along with Alistair! He did very well. He fell asleep right before it was time to go up. Luckily we were able to rouse him enough to be somewhat awake before they poured the water on his head. That would have made for a rude awakening otherwise! Jeff and Michelle are Alistair's Godparents. The Baptism Gown was hand crafted by his 2 grandmothers and will now be a family heirloom that hopefully subsequent Martinson/Hennessey babies will wear for their baptisms! Thank you to everyone who joined us for the ceremony, it was nice to have you there!

MOO! Happy Halloween!!

Happy Birthday Seth!

Today is Seth's 31st birthday! For his birthday, on Sunday, I rented him a Ford Shelby Mustang GT-H. 325 horses under the hood and a loud VROOM when you start her up or stomp on the gas. We had her for the day and drove to Anacortes for some delicious grub at Storks - the restaurant in the bowling alley. They are apparently known for their fish and chips but we have only had and still have only had their breakfast. Next time you are in Anacortes and looking for a place, go there. They are excellent! After breakfast we drove to Whidbey Island. We stopped and walked across the Deception Pass bridge. There were numerous Sea Lions playing in the water below the bridge. It was fun to watch them. Then we drove to Clinton, took the ferry to Mukilteo and got back to our house. Both sets of our parents were there babysitting the grandchild as were Ethan and Jen. Seth was all too happy to take people out for spins and then we gathered for a dinner of homemade pizza followed by an awesome Ice Cream cake from Ben and Jerry's. It was a very fun and day and I think it is safe to say that Seth enjoyed his brithday present! Happy Birthday Seth!