Our new chair

Ariel and I were excited to stumble upon an estate sale the other day.  We wandered through the house of some unknown, imagining all the things we suddenly needed.  We ended up buying more than we expected, of which involved an oversized chair an ottoman.  So then we had to get it home. 

We have a Honda CRV which does not accomodate 2 adults, a baby and his carseat, as well as said chair and ottoman.  But I knew my dad's truck was sitting in driveway unused (they were on vacation).  But something in my got a little scared about using this new truck to pick up our chair.

So I had a moment of "get real" and remembered what was once my Dominican life.  Not only did I drive our gua-gua (van) through the sugar cane fields over dirt roads followed by crossing through (not over, through) a river, I did it pregnant. 

And I drove a manual shift safari truck down the bumpiest road ever thought of. 

So yah, I hopped in my dad' sbrand new automatic Dodge Ram, drove down the pristine roads of Persimmon Country Club, and picked up my chair.  What a wimp America makes me turn into sometimes!!

Trick or Treat

We had a little monkey this year for Halloween.  He did so well putting his outfit on and trick or treating.  That is, as much trick or treating as an 11 month old does, which is about 4 houses.  We went to visit family in the afternoon, then met up with Jenny and Justin to trick or treat with their family.  Josiah got a few candies for his mom and dad and did a good job of looking cute.

Pumpkin woes

Funny how you get in your mind what something will be like and then it turns out totally different.  I imagined pumpkin carving to be such a fun activity with Josiah and in the end, he hated it, went to bed, and we carved the pumpkins.  Oh well, here's hoping for next year!

11 months

11 months of awesomeness all packed into a monkey suit...doesn't get much better!

Sunday morning

What a blessing and joy it is to have Josiah.  I never knew babies were so fun.  I thought newborns were my favorite, but I was wrong.  Turns out, each new stage is my favorite. I lament a bit the stage left behind, but fall in love with all the new and exciting things the next stage brings.  His laugh is fully contagious, I smile just thinking about it!  He is a little sponge and copycat all at the same time which means he is learning like crazy.  He loves music and anything that makes music, dancing, playing hiding games, riding on my back, and cheese.  Such an amazing little boy!

Saturday Market

One of the great things about being close to Portland is being able to go to many of the activities that are going on.  We headed out to Saturday market and walked through endless stalls of things we'd never buy for sale, had great food, and enjoyed being together!  Josiah got to see a marionette which he LOVED and also like riding MAX (light rail).  It's so amazing to have this boy and even better than I ever imagined!

Fall

We went for a walk through Persimmon to see the amazing colors of the trees and ended up having a photo shoot as well!  It's so beautiful this time of year, the oranges and reds and yellows.  Makes for a great backdrop for photos and nice to look at driving around. 

Pumpkin hunt

Out at Liepold's Farm for the great pumpkin find.  Josiah found a good pumpkin and we had fun walking around and then lunch out.  It's so fun having a baby!!