Christmas

I could really say a lot about our trip to Washington DC. We had a great time on our first official family vacation. I will post all my pictures to facebook if you would like to see them, if you don't have facebook, let me know and I will send you a link to see them.  So anyway, here is the short version of what we did. We arrived in Fairfax, Virgina at 1 pm on the 23rd. Kept it simple that day by just taking a nap and going to the local mall for some Santa sight seeing and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. On the 24th we went to the Library of Congress, the Museum of Natural History and drove by the Pentagon. On Christmas we walked to the Washington monument, WW2 memorial, White House, Lincoln memorial and the Koren memorial, then it was nap time with a nice Christmas lunch at the hotel restaurant, then off to Mt Vernon to see George Washington's estate. We made it back to PA around 10 pm that night. We have tons of great pictures to go with tons of great memories. It was a totally nontraditional Christmas, but a wonderfully memorable one at that!

Alexander spreads joy

We all know how wonderful Josh and I think Alexander is! It is our God given right as his parents to think he is the best kid on the planet. Well tonight he continued to prove this fact to me. We were riding the bus home from the library during "rush hour". Everyone was looking tired and grumpy. After about 2 bus stops someone finally gives up their seat for me and Alexander (this usually happens as soon as I get on the bus). I sit with Alexander and Josh steps towards the back of the bus to make room for new riders. At first Alexander is watching the new people but once we get underway he starts looking for Josh. It didn't take long before he saw him behind a couple people, thus began the find and wave to daddy game. He loved it, he was swaying back and forth looking around people from all angles trying to find him, then once they made eye contact, he would start waving and giggling. This happened 2 or 3 times before the lady sitting next to me made my day with her comment. She looked at Alexander and said, "Your sons smile brings joy to my heart!" I almost bust out in tears. What a comment that was, his smile always brings joy to my heart, but the fact that he can do that to a perfect stranger just proves that God made him extra special.

Science Center

Last night we had a family date night and took Alexander to the Carnige Science Center. We had so much fun. There were tons of things for him to play with. Even though he is a little to young to really understand what he was doing, he liked the noises and lights that the different activities did. My favorite things were the trains and the chance to be a weather girl! If you want to see the video I can show you, but it was fun being infront of a blue screen reading the teleprompter. It is harder than it looks! So anyway, I am very thankful that we are able to get into these places because of Josh, it really is a blessing to have fun things to do when you are on such a tight budget.

Being silly with Dad

How is he doing that?

Alexander always goes for the musical toys

Entrance to the Science Center

Losing my mind!

I don't know if it's because we leave in 26 days, if it's because Alexander is getting 3 or 4 teeth right now and waking us up every night, or if I am just losing it because that's what happens when you have kids (at least that's what my friends tell me happens), but this morning when I was getting Alexander out of his pj's to put him on the toilet he had no diaper on. What! How could I NOT put a diaper on him before bed, did he take it off in the night...I remember putting him on the toilet before bed, but didn't I put a diaper on before I laid him down? Upon further investigation I found it had somehow slipped down around his left ankle. How in the world did that happen? But more importantly, I must be losing it because I could not remember even putting his diaper on him. Is this a look at what is to become of me?!?!

This is how we watch tv. Every time I get up he runs over and sits down in my seat. I think he feels like a big boy when he sits in our chairs.

First Complete Sentence

Alexander said his first complete sentence today. For a while he has been saying things that sound like "I love you" or "Let's go" but today he very clearly looked at me and said "I want water" now his water is pronounced "wawer" but he wanted to have a drink. We were sitting eating lunch and he had not had anything to drink yet. I held up his sippy and asked if that is what he wanted, he said please and took a drink. I am so excited that he has now said a complete sentences. I work on sounds and names of things with him every day. Recently we have started to learn the difference between juice and water. He still calls the juice water, but when I say it is juice he then repeats what I said. I am so proud of him.

There are some other cute things he has done lately that I keep forgetting to tell everyone. 1. When we were on our way back to PA from WA I was laying down with him, trying to get him to sleep, and out of no where he sits up, takes out his pacifier, bends down, gives me a kiss, puts his pacifier back in and lays back down. Oh I loved it. 2. The first morning we were back we were, of course, starting the adjustment process. Alexander was a little hyper and was bouncing all over the bed. After headbutting, slapping and spitting in my face I decided it was not a good start to the day. Josh tried to make it better by kissing the back of my hand. It did help, but when Alexander decided that he was going to do it too, my heart melted. He totally copied Josh and then when he noticed it made me smiled he continued to do it several times until I could not laugh anymore. 3 and finally, I have been watching tv online since I don't have a tv. It's nice because I can pause and rewind all I want. Anyway, I decided to watch the current season of Dancing with the Star. After Alexander got up form his afternoon nap he saw I had my computer on. As you all probably know, he is a dancer. If there is music, he is shaking his grove thing. So he heard the music and was getting down with his bad self. After the first song he decided to start watching the show and noticed that the guys were dancing with the girls. How do I know he noticed this, as soon as his brain made the connection he came and got me out of the kitchen by grabbing my hand and pulling me into the living room. Once there, he started swinging my arms and trying to spin himself. I swear he is the cutest boy I have ever been around. I don't know where he comes up with this stuff, but it makes being his mom so much more fun and rewarding.

MHCI retreat

This last weekend Josh arranged a retreat for any of the students in his Masters program who wanted to go. Out of about 51 students 2o came. We had two condos at a ski resort about an hour away. I was incredibly nervous going into it but, of course, I ended up having a good time. I am actually really glad we went because it was the first time I really got to talk with some of the people who we are going to Portugal with. I could go on for a while about everything but I will contain the rest of this blog to just talking about Alexander and how his first snow experience was. He made us laugh a lot because he looked so cute in his warm jacket and boots. I bought the jacket big so we could get more use out of it once we get back, but it worked great this weekend. He was not to sure about the snow hitting his face, and he did not want to walk in his new boots either. He is such a funny kid. It has been amazing though. It started snowing on Saturday around 7 pm and has continued since. The weather report says we should have it all week, so I am totally excited. I love the snow so much, it really brings me a lot of joy to watch come down. I have had my curtains open all day today watching the flakes change in size and quantity. I love that God created snow!! Enjoy the picture of my little chicken legged snow baby.

First Harvest Party

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Hanging out with the gang

So last night we tried to go to a students house to watch Iron Man. When the bus came it was so full the the driver would not let anyone else on. So instead we went to Starbucks to share a Chai Tea and then stopped by Josh's office to change Alexander's diaper before we went home. To my complete joy, there were a couple students there playing Rock Band. They have been playing when I was there before I just never asked to play because Josh was usually doing school work and I needed to take care of Alexander. So you can guess what I did, oh yah, I rocked the drum's!! I have always wanted to play the drum's and I think this was a way to live out a fantasy. But I am not the real story here. There is a sweet young boy who decided he also wanted to be a rock star and since they have two sets of drum's, he was given his own set, with sticks and everything. At one point he did try to hit on the real set while someone was playing, but they love him so much down there that no on cared. It's just a game right. We ended up having so much fun. I also played the base for Metallica while Alexander rocked the drum's. The best part is Josh got him on video, so we can always remember his first time playing. If you want to see video, let me know and I will send one your way.

Alexander playing the drum's for Soundgarden!!

Keeping Busy

I get asked a lot by friends and family back home if I am keeping busy and if so, what am I doing. Yes, I am keeping busy. There is actually a lot to do here, even without anyone to hang out with. Here is a list to answer every ones question.

Tour the City: Each weekend we have been here, Josh and I have tried to see some "site" in the city. Tonight we are going downtown to watch fireworks.
Grocery Shopping: I go every other day because only so many groceries fit on the stroller and in my back pack.
Library: We get books and movies. Movies are free at this library
Visit Josh: We often ride the shuttle to visit Josh between classes or meetings
Shopping: Going to Target, Costco, any retail store really, is an all afternoon event when taking the bus
Internet: While Alexander is napping I spend a lot of time on my PC chatting and planning for the two weddings we have next year in Salem.
ArtApart: I still work a couple hours a week for ArtApart.com
Stay Home Mom: Since I don't have any huge commitments right now I am trying to take the role of "Stay at home mom" seriously. I have been taking time to meal plan. Researching healthier foods to eat, finding exercises I can do at home. And, sadly, doing dishes. We don't have a dish washer so I have to wash everything after every meal. I do not like this task at all.
Bible Study: My friend Mary and I have started a Bible study together. I have not had someone to do this with for a few years (I miss you Brandi!!) So I am soooo excited to be starting it again.

So I think those are the biggest things that keep my busy. I do miss my Sunday night friends, I loved all the advice and support I got from my fellow moms. It is not fun, not having friends to just hang out with when we can, but thanks to MSN, Skype, and Yahoo, I have been able to stay connected pretty well with home. If you even have time, I love to get emails and calls!!!

Having fun doing laundry

Can you find Alexander??

Alexander is quickly becoming my best friend.

We have a lot of fun together. Last night he helped me do some laundry. I thought it would be fun to put the warm clothes out of the dryer on him and he loved it. He loved it so much that for most of the rest of the night he brought me clothes and laid down for me to put them on him. And today he sat down right in the middle of the pile and started handing me socks. He is so much fun. I love the person that he is becoming.

Fun at the natural history museum

On Saturday we took Alexander to the natural history museum. He got to see a lot of cool things, like dinosaurs, bears, fish, and bugs. I was actually surprised as to how much he was into looking at things. Josh took a lot of pictures and if you would like to see them I am going to be making a folder in facebook for them.

Design Fun @ CMU

Josh Zuniga photo

Josh Zuniga typographic portrait

Hey everyone, you typically do not see me typing on this blog.  Mostly because it is a family forum which Katie takes responsibility for.   I really feel at home with the projects and research.  The MHCI program allows me to explore both my roots in computer science and business psychology as well as step in the shoes of designers.  This is the most creative group I have ever worked with, except for our creator.   

Katie encouraged me to add this work to the blog for everyone to see.  Here is one of my projects in the Design School.   The first is the photo and the last is the final result.  It took me like 3 hours on the shading of the upper lip (Napoleon Dynamite crack).  I have many other exciting projects I am working on, all news for later.

Other quick news . . . I had several meetings today with Microsoft, Avenue A | Razorfish, and Yahoo recruiters, to discuss future employment.  It seems that there will be many opportunities to be back in the PNW once our Portugal adventure is over.

Thanks for your prayers and support.  

- Josh

Salem vs. Pittsburgh

So today I found out that Salem and Pittsburgh have something in common. It is sunny and hot yesterday, then today I wake up to the sound of thunder and dumping rain. The only difference is the humidity. I was in a tank top all day and nearly sweating. It was fun though, to watch the rain come down so hard. It reminds me of a funny story. A few years back when Brenda and Kenny (my nephew) were living with us, we had a huge down pour. It was raining so hard that our street was totally underwater. We were eating ice cream Sundays and playing video games. Josh, the silly man that he is, joking said to Brenda, "I dare you to run across the street and touch Paul and Tia's garage door." Brenda, the silly girl that she is, jumped up and bolted out the door without a second thought. As she approaches the half way mark across the street and car comes and she pauses. Now we are not sure why she did this, but it made for a funny sight. I am not joking when I say that when she got back to our front door, she was totally soaked. Not a dry spot on her clothes. I had to go get her a towel just to get her dry enough to get to the bathroom. It was very entertaining. So that is my story, I hope you enjoyed it. Along with this picture of my first ripe tomato.

Step Three - We made it

Alexander and I have been in Pittsburgh for 38.5 hours now and we are starting to feel settled in. It really has not taken us much time to get used to the time difference, but we have been tired. I was able to take a nap this morning for 2.5 hours and if it hadn't been for a neighbor slamming the front door I might have slept longer! Oh the apartment life. Josh got up at midnight last night to ask a "DJ" neighbor, who was working on some music, to please turn it down. I have not had a chance to meet any neighbors yet, but Josh says everyone is nice. I could make this blog pretty long with all the things I have taken in here, so I will try to keep it to the interesting stuff.

Funny things: Tillamook cheese is considered a "fine" cheese and is only sold by the pound in the fine cheese department. It cost $8.50 a pound. We get to ride the CMU shuttle for free. I can go just about anywhere I need to on it, so I don't need a bus pass. It takes me less time to get to the grocery store than it did to get to the park by my house in Salem, oh city life.

Things to get used to: We live near a fairly busy street, so getting used to the traffic noise has been fun. My kitchen is as wide as me, we have not garbage disposal or dishwasher and the stove is maybe 3' wide. Our shower goes from hot to cold all on it's own. AND I have to pay a $1 a load to wash my clothes, then another $1 to dry them, what's up with that.

All in all, we are happy to be here. This has already been an experience living in a big city, but it is fun. There are people from many different cultures here, way more than Salem, and Alexander has had not problem saying hi to each and everyone of them. Once we get a little more settled, I will take some pictures and post them. We miss you all!

Busy Busy Busy

So I have been back in Salem for almost two weeks and I don't even know where the time has gone. I spent the first week finishing up the house, I had two weddings that weekend, and this week has been finding time for family and friends and finishing up little things like address changes and car oil changes. I have three "working" days left before my last wedding, then I catch a train on Monday morning. I miss Josh so much that I am just about at the end of myself waiting to see him. I think Alexander is missing him too, because tonight he woke up crying and saying dadda, dadda, dadda, and it made me sad. I am having a hard time saying good bye to my family and friends, but I am ready to go.

Here is a picture of the last time we were at the house before we handed over the keys to the renters.

Step 2

Well, I am back in Salem. I have settled into my friends Dan and Mary McIntier's home and Alexander is sleeping. Tomorrow starts the first of many busy days I will have this next two weeks. I really am not going to have much time to relax, especially this first week. With two weddings next weekend and renters to get moved into the house, my schedule is full. For those of you in town, let me know if you want to get together before I go because if I don't know you want to, I might not get a chance to make time for you.

-Here's to fun adventures!!

My second week in Washington

I know that the only people who can understand the difference in the following pictures are people who have been to my parents house, but Meghan said I should post them anyway. I spent the second week of my visit to my parents house redecorating their upstairs bathrooms. Both rooms were white with no decorations. The master bath had a blue rectangle on the back wall that looked like a bad design off Trading Spaces. Both my parents have always said they wished they had nice bathrooms to enjoy. So I decided that if they had a little extra money to spare I would do something for them before I left. I designed, shopped, painted, and decorated both bathrooms in fives days, mostly only working on Alexander's naps. I did have help. Kenny helped paint the guest bath, Kiley did a little painting in both baths, plus helped me put the decorations out, mom helped paint the master bath and watched Alexander when I needed to finish something up, and dad helped me put the screws in the walls so that I knew things were safe. I had a lot of fun and I am so happy that they let me do it.

Brown accent wall with freshly painted mirror and shelf to match

New picture, bath mat and fixtures

New mirror frame, shelves, picture and matching fixtures
Most everything in the picture I reused from what they already had

New shower curtain, rug, and towels

Another Fun Day

It has been very hot here, so we have been doing what we can to cool off. Yesterday we went to Mud Mountain to play in the water and on the playground. Alexander did a lot better with going in the pool than he has, but he really did not like going under the the water mushroom. It was really fun seeing his face light up after we would go down the slide, and watching him kick his feet and splash his hands in the water. He is becoming more fun to play with everyday.

Our humble abode

Here are a few pictures of our tiny apartment in Pittsburgh. Other than window coverings, blankets, the pack-in-play and Alexander and me. There will not be many changes once we get there. It is a huge change from our house, but it will work for four months. This morning we met online with Josh and talked on the web cam. It took Alexander a little bit to figure out what was going on. But once he realized it was dad talking to him he started saying hi and blowing kisses.

I am excited to get there, we miss Josh a lot.

Living room

Kitchen

Bedroom with the one bathroom to the right

Playing with Kiley

Alexander has been having so much fun playing with his cousin Kiley. They play from the time they get up until the time they go to bed. Kiley also gets excited when he gets up from his naps, she wants to come with us to do everything, and she helps me get him dressed. I know things are different with boys and girls, but it really supports my idea about having another baby and the fact that Kiley is the exact age difference that I want really helps support my plans. Here are a couple pictures from the last few days.

Step 1

This morning we made the first major step towards our masters adventure. Josh and I were up at 5 am and out the door to drop him off at the SEA-TAC airport. It was very hard for me to put Alexander down for bed last night knowing he would not be able to play with his dad for almost a month. It was expected that I would be sad dropping him off at the airport. But we are so excited to get things going since we have been working/preparing for this for several months now. It just does not make being away from him for so long any easier. We have been together for 11 years now and it will be hard to not have him with us.

I will keep everyone in the loop as things unfold.

First Family Camping Trip

Nap time

Hanging out by the campfire

So we had a really fun time on our short camping trip this weekend. We really should have stayed home and finished packing but we wanted to spend as much time with some of our friends as we could. Even though I forgot just about everything, we had fun. In fact, if you look at all the things that went wrong, you might think I'm crazy for saying that, but it was more humorous than anything. Here let me give you a sample...
1. Directions to the camp ground
2. Wipes for Alexander's bottom
3. Matches or a lighter
4. Napkins, paper/cloth towels
5. Anything to clean Alexander up
6. Soap (dish or body)
7. I had nothing to wash our dishes after I cooked
8. Taggie (Alexander's sleeping blanket)
9. Stroller
10. The jelly to make the PB and J's sandwiches for lunch.
11. Rain gear (we looked at the weather before we left and knew that it was suppose to rain)
12. We forgot to put the rain fly on the tent so when it started raining at 4:30 am I woke up with my face getting wet.
AND
when the baby crying medially started at midnight Alexander decided to be the chorus to the other babies. What I mean by this is that when one baby would cry, he would wait until they were done then start. Then when the next baby would cry, he did the same thing. There were three other children in this song and he was just right in there helping wake up the next child.

This truly was a fun night. Alexander had fun playing with his friends. I had my first run with Tonka Toasters, very good I am hooked. We have fun conversations around the camp fire after the kids were to bed and laughted a lot. We are going to miss our friends (and family Matt and Meghan!) very much. Thanks you guys for sharing you stuff with us, we would not have made it through without you...

I will post all the pictures on my facebook once I get settled at my parents this week.

Afternoon Nap

The last two weeks have been especially tiring for me. I have been trying to get everything in order to move across the state, then out of the country, pack the house, help plan seven weddings, work a couple early mornings a week for Artapart, and take care of a teething toddler (who in the last five days has decided to get up between 6 and 6:30 am). Well finally today, after two weeks of not having the chance, I got to take a nap in the afternoon. It could have been more restful, but what mother would complain about this...


I will let you know that at this point I was not actually sleeping. Josh had come home and woke me up. He wanted to take a picture and since the room was so dark I closed my eyes as to not be blinded by the flash, plus I think it makes for a sweeter memory anyway. We slept like that for about 45 minutes before we had to get up for dinner. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my son!!! (And my husband for taking the picture).

BackYard

Before

After

Well, after five years I finally have a usuable backyard. It's sad I am only going to get to enjoy is for two weeks. I am very pleased with it, though. We (Josh more than me) worked really hard to get it done. It might have turned out a little different if we were staying, but all that to say, it is done!!!

My first "fruit"

I was all excited this year about having a garden for the first time. I finally had a flat backyard to work with, I was going to be home everyday so I could watch it. I planned on canning all my unused vegi's and then we go and move! What's up with that? Well, in an effort to keep me happy, Josh agreed that we should have a small movable garden. So I picked a few vegi's, we got some large pots and I sewed my seeds. I have really enjoyed going out and watering them every morning, pruning the dead leaves and blossoms, and watching them get huge. So today, as usual, I went out to water them and when I moved a leaf to get under to the soil, I found this...
I'm not sure if I missed it yesterday or if it came up last night. It is a squash, and I am soooooo excited to be actually getting food! Once I harvest and eat it, I will let you know if it was any good.

Linn County Fair

We took Alexander to the Linn County Fair tonight. Since Wah Chang is a sponsor we got tickets and had a family date night. He was pretty cute with the animals. He would point to each one as we walked by. We also watched bull riding. Josh and I loved it, Alexander got a little upset when the crowd got loud and cheered for the cowboys. Again, I will post all the pictures in facebook.

California Trip

Alexander and I had a great visit to California this last week. We had a very close friend of the family get married in Foresthill, so I took the opportunity to visit some family and friends before we leave for school. Alexander was so good. He slept well, was very well behaved, and stole every ones heart with his precious smile and loving personality. I will be posting all the trip pictures to my facebook if you want to see them.

Walking

Josh and I have been discussing when to say Alexander is "walking" I have said that he is taking steps, Josh thinks he is walking. Well, today I have now crossed over to the walking side of the road. Up until now he has just taken a few steps here and there every day or so, starting this morning he has gone to and from things, he just takes off into the middle of the room knowing he will have nothing to grab onto, and he is doing it a lot. More times today than all the other steps combined. He also walked all the way across the kitchen to me this morning. I spent a half an hour trying to get this on video and I caught a few of the moments on tape. When you watch this slide show there is a start and stop button in the bottom right corner. If you don't push it, it might go to the next page before you are ready.

I hope you enjoy how sweet he is, I know I do!!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

1 year old

What the last year has brought for me...
-The pain of childbirth, the joy of holding my son for the first time.
-Months of sleepless nights, the innocence of holding my sleeping baby at 2 am.
-Learning what Josh thinks good parenting is, being a parent with him.
-The petrifying feeling of watching him get sick for the first, second, third time. The heartwarming feeling of knowing he is comforted by me holding him.
-Watching him grow so fast, the amazment in his eyes as he discovers new things everyday.
-The fun of rediscoving all the little things in life.

I have been told by so many people what it is like to be a mom, but no one was able to explain how much I would truly love him. Through all of the difficult moments this last year, Alexander has brought me more joy and filled my heart with more love then I could ever put into words. I thank God everyday for giving me the privilege of being his mom.

First step

I am happy to say that Alexander took his first step tonight!

Josh and I went on a date and Sheri watched him for us. Well, when we picked him up I was showing Sheri how Alexander can stand on his own. While he was standing there he decided to go for his dad, so just after I let him go he reached for Josh and took a step right into his hands. So I guess he technically took two steps, but one was fully on his own. I am so pumped!! He actually, just today, started walking with me just holding one of my hands, so I was thinking he would do this some time soon as his balance has really improved the last couple days. I am interested to see how long it will take now for him to really start walking.

Playing with Beans

So Alexander has found a new toy. Anytime he sees that he can get into the pantry he gets a can of refried beans and rolls it around the kitchen floor. It is really fun to watch. Make sure to click on the windows of the ship to see the video and other pictures.

Make a Smilebox postcard

Watching Daddy Work

Monday night we had a neighbor hood bark mulch party!! We split 10 yards between three houses (well we had five of it so it was not totally even) Anyway, Alexander was very excited about all the people outside and stood at the back window watching all guys dumping the mulch. He was really cute.

Not looking like a baby

Okay so when I look at this picture I do not see a baby watching a movie with Josh, I see little boy. Where is my baby?!?!? Don't get me wrong, I am not itching to have another any time soon, but we are 2.5 weeks from his first birthday. WOW! I was told by other parents that it went fast, but I truly understand now.

A funny Alexander story

I am so excited to have a funny Alexander story. I hear fun stories about family and friends kids, and now I have my own!!

I was in the office printing up some mailing labels for work and Alexander was exploring the house as usual. I have learned very quickly what rooms to shut the doors and what rooms he can crawl around in freely. Our bedroom is one of those rooms he can do just about anything he wants. I knew he was in there because I could hear him coming in and out of the bathroom and laughing at himself in my full length mirror (he does that a lot). I was concentrating on what I was doing and not paying much attention to him when I realized I had not heard him for at least five minutes. I thought I better make sure he was not in the living room because there are things in there he can pull over on him. So I got up and headed down the hall. As I was walking past my room something caught my eye. Alexander had gotten into the diaper bag, pulled out the bag of snacks I keep in there for him (mind you he took nothing else out), figured out how to open the bag, dumped the entire contents in his lap, and was eating the food by the fist fulls. He had just had breakfast so I could not imagine he was hungry, but it was so incredibly cute. I love how his personality is coming out more each day.

11 months old

After talking with my dad on the phone Wednesday night, I made a last minute decision to go visit my parents for the weekend. While we were up there Alexander turned 11 months old and to celebrate almost turning 1 he stood by himself while not holding onto anything for the first time. I was so proud of him.

He has also really become a ham when it comes to taking pictures. We were playing with the camera and I took several pictures of him with his cousins in which everytime I said smile he proudly showed his teeth. My mom and I laughed a lot because he was being so funny.

House for Rent

Make a Smilebox slideshow