Granny Teri days....and our First Watermelon!!!!

summer days and dog wrestling...

My mom's in town........(YIPEEEEE), so forgive me as I make myself scarce. In the mean time, enjoy the choice pics of a very cute baby and his mama so thoroughly enjoying our beautiful river....

And the answer is...?????

and without further delay, my thoughts on my "Big Question" post follow.....

#1 Thank you SO much to all my commenters....you guys rock and had some very good things to say, all of which I took to heart.
#2 I also agree that there is a LOT that goes into this decision....and, sometimes, not much at all. Nature often takes the reins and makes the decision for us. Maybe that's the best way???
#3 Personally, I think we are looking at the 2 1/2 -3 year plan. For multiple reasons. Many of which have been said. But, looking at our life, my job, and my desires to have more time off with a second child, this seems to fit. I think that by the time Forrest is about 3 we will be financially well off enough for me to take time off...months off...which is what I really really want to do at this point. 7 weeks is just NOT enough time....
#4 And, last but not least, I LOVE my little boy right now. The desire to have a baby is there, but Forrest is amazing me with his smiles, giggles, the way he is growing by leaps and bounds, and all that he is taking in and learning. AND......I have to think that adding another child into the mix earlier might have taken away from this experience? I know some of you have children close together and that is an experience that is joyous in itself, perhaps more adventitious for the kids. My spacing may be a bit selfish for ME, my personal desire to soak up as much as I can from Forrest one on one before our lives are fulfilled yet again....This may also stem from my busy job, but this wonderful Forrest is also such an energy suck....and I am thoroughly fulfilled in so many ways right now...and thoroughly exhausted.

So, that last bit is entirely personal stuff. I know it is different for every mama, every papa, and every different family dynamic and profession. But it's how I feel now.

And now, my pillow calls....:-)

The BIG question...

It seems as if everybody is asking Alex and I the BIG question....or at least the humongo one that tends to pop up when you have one child....
who is over 1 year old...
hmmmmm, have you guessed it yet?

Yep....you got it. It's the

 "So when is Forrest getting a sister/brother/playmate/wrestling partner?"

Or...

"Come on what are you waiting for?"

or...my favorite...

"Okay guys, it's TIME! I think Forrest needs a little sister!" 

(not even bothering to frame it as a question mind you...)

I'm not so much bothered by the comments...as I would like to know the answer as well. So....blog readers....family, friends, strangers, everyone in between...
take aside my personal preference for when I want to get pregnant, (as I'm not exactly jumping up and down in joy for it at the moment...and I don't think Alex is for the matter either....those big bellys are hard on everyone!)
What do you think is the best spacing for kiddies....if you could choose...if you were so lucky to be able to time things, (as I know not everybody is....)
Is it..."have them quick as possible.....get those baby years over with.....I love babies and don't mind two under two"
or...."space them out a bit...2+ years is perfect...."
OR...."there is no way I want two kids in diapers....3+ years is the way to go"
ORRRRR "the more time between them, the better..."
I know there are a lot of ways to look at this equation...and obviously any kids I may or may not be having can't be TOOOO close together as Forrest is already 16 mos. old....
Just looking for comments and opinions, not that they would greatly influence our final decisions...and really whatever happens, happens. I already have my biases, as it seems everybody has a thought on the issue, but I'll keep them to myself for now and I would love to hear from all of you! Even those that don't have kiddies or maybe are in my boat and only have one....what are you thinking?

A slice of summer.....

...my wonderful husband catching LARGE fish in the weee early dawn hours....

and my lovely little family traveling back from a neighborhood party where some of the delicious salmon was consumed in the warm evening breeze.....on our quad.

Country living is nice.....
I love my life....
:-)

16 month old Forrest

All I have to say is....WOW. What changes this little boy has been making in the past month. His well child exam was just 2 days ago and he is tipping the scales at 24 lbs and 32 inches tall, all in the 50th-60th percentile, but his whopping head is still measuring in the 95th percentile...what a noggin he has! He is healthy as can be. I held off on vaccinations this time as he's fighting a cold, but he'll get them sometime soon.
Mr. Forrest is a very mechanical kiddo. He LOVES fiddling with things, figuring out how they work. His favorite toy is a gig wooden board with nine different locks, latchets, and chains on it. It saved us on the plane for at least 30 minutes which is a long time in baby land. He is also extremely mobile and is running and climbing like a champ, making his parents very worries a lot of the time.

He is a great eater, and LOVES berries of all kind. He had a blast eating a ton of east coast blueberries and black berries. Makes for some interesting poop, but there are worse things. He is also an egg lover and a veggie lover. He likes summer squash grilled in olive oil. All of these likes though do take a back seat to his little boy/big baby attitude and pickiness at times. He can be a bit of a crabby baby, and we are still working on his hitting. He can be "gentle" when he wants to and will stroke your head very softly when asked. But for the most part the hitting has not improved.
He also has a bunch of words now. He started saying please and thankyou, as well as hot and blankie. Very very cute. And let's not forget, "Hi." "Hi?" Hiyeeeeeeee, HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!" over, and over, and over again. If he meets you, you can be guaranteed you well get told Hi by a very cute baby at LEAST 5 times. Most likely more like 10 or 15, no Joke. It's kind of like a grump meter. In places like LAX, or Costco, if a stranger doesn't say "hi" back to a cute baby, you know they either can't hear, or are a major grump. I feel good though about spreading cheer to much of humanity as there is nothing like an adorable toddler saying HI to make a person smile, not matter HOW bad your day is!
He is just as adorable as ever and I'm enjoying him so so much. My week with him was wonderful. I got to reconnect and rebond after my endless work stretch....

And here's to more fun times like this one...

Massachusettes waterfalls, great beer, and a very cute, (but sick,) baby.....

Our glorious trip ended with an awesome hike to a beautiful waterfall which we all enjoyed.

We then blessed a great brewery with our presence and found that Forrest loves being the life of the party.

After some great food and beer and chasing a blanket clad baby who was running around making conversation with everyone within shouting distance, home we went where eventually we found our beds, (eventually, but that's another story...)

Our last day, before our flight to LA, we walked around Harvard square, and along the Charles River. Brought back a lot of memories of my rowing racing days. Fun fun times....

Our plane rides were tough. Taking a 16 month old on a 6 hour flight across the county is no joke. Forrest for the most part did well, but, well, having a wiggly nearly 25 pound over tired worm on your lab just isn't much fun. And add a good cold we all had at that point, let's just say it wasn't the highlight of the trip. But, thanks to Jetblue and their personal TV's, I caught up on the Tour de France while Forrest slept and tried to forget my sorethroat with some wine, (healthy I know.) After an overnight stay in LA at a nearby hotel and minimal sleep, we all made it safetly home the next day and were VERY glad for our own beds. Forrest's happy smile when he saw his dad was very sweet!

So, an amazing trip it was, but I do have to say I probably won't be flying with my special little Forrest anytime soon. I think we'll stay a bit closer to home for awhile and wait till he's a little older....or till I feel a bit crazier!

Beautiful Butterflys and more...

We spent an afternoon with the butterflys in Massachusettes. This place was very awesome! Beautiful gardens with thousands of butterflys of all colors. Many of which would flutter to and fro and hitchhike on random heads, feet, etc.
Forrest was the butterfly monster! We had to watch him pretty closely or he would mash the poor beauties.

"Wait, wait, I think one is going to land on me!"

Forrest's face was pretty memorable trying to get the poor butterflys! You can see this one on my finger...

One tired and hot baby....

thus...

some amazing frozen yogurt is in order!

MMM MMMM

The Massachusettes Sister Extravaganza...sneak peak...

So, my vacation is currently going strong, but I couldn't HELP but take some time to post into the WWW the excellence of my sisters and I in our triathlon today.
We WON!

Megan and I after Meg finished...happy but tired girls!

In a team time of 1:21 we won the female team division of the Massachusettes state Triathtlon! This was BIG. Like over 700 participants, most of course doing the entire triathlon, but team format was perfect for us. Nat swam, I biked, and Meg ran and we did it fast enough to win a "medal" of sorts...a winner's pint glass!!! Sweet! Goes along with our vacation quite well....
Lots more soon about the fun times and crazy places we've been...and hope to go...

A sprinkler park and some good times on the Charles River are in the future...
And, a quickie post about butterflys and some delish fro yo to come....

Summer baby...clothing optional!

Life has been way too busy lately. I have a lot to write about but, unfortunately, just not enough hours in the day to actually do it! Work has been insane for me, I just finished 12 days in a row of super long days...and at time nights...and am looking forward to some much needed time off next week!

Despite my crazy work life, summer has marched right in to our lives and we've been soaking it up whenever possible. Our river beach finally appeared after a ton of rain late this spring and Forrest has thoroughly enjoyed his first afternoon on the river. He's loving the bare buns moments of tromping around and playing in the water and his kiddie pool which has become a necessity in the 100 degree heat. Thank goodness he is also good about wearing his hat. His delicate baby skin has remained without a burn for now...
He's surprisingly cautious around the river and pool, which I am thankful for. Though the days of napping on our beach are gone for a while with Mr. F running about. He's wanting to climb on just about everything you can think of and, of course, we all know how the river can be so much more dangerous than it looks, especially for a 1 year old.
Dirt continues to be a favoirte for him, and he can often be found wallowing in his mud pit I create while I get some garden work done.
The life of this kid! strawberries, dirt, river, pool, mud, blueberries. Gotta love it :-)

We're all working hard, but enjoying those free moments we have to soak up the sunshine and enjoy our little boy more than we knew was possible.....