Don't Mess With Texas

We just returned from a lovely, long weekend spent in Georgetown, Texas. My dad & stepmom bought a house in Sun City last May and it was our first visit out there. They love it there and I can see why. Malcolm loved being outside, playing in the waterfalls and driving golf carts. We spent most of our time in Georgetown but did get to see a little bit of Austin on Sunday before we flew back to Seattle. I prefer it over Houston hands-down. We had lunch at Threadgill's and I loved that they had a ton of vegetarian side dishes for me to choose from. I got to eat real southern cooking, meatless-style: black-eyed peas, garlic cheese grits and turnip greens with sweet tea to drink. Delish! Oh! And I can't forget the dessert: banana pudding. I ordered it for Malcolm but he was just interested in the whipped cream and cookies. More for me!

The Trials of Sleep

Ever since our trip to San Diego, Malcolm has been having a hard time with sleeping. Previous and during our trip, he slept through the night. Now, he wakes up 2-3 times a night, comes into our room and crawls into bed with us. Last night, he was up every 45 minutes from the time he went to bed until around 2 AM. We have no idea how to encourage him to stay in bed all night since we never had to do it before.

Thank goodness for coffee.

And here's some cuteness from San Diego:




To see all of the pictures I took during our trip, go here.

Mal's First Camping Trip

This past weekend, we went on a much anticipated camping trip. It had been 3 years since we had camped last and I've missed it. I found a great deal on a huge tent that Tony thinks is too big. Our other tent was fine for the 2 of us but would have been too crowded for 3 (soon to be 4). We also got Malcolm his own sleeping bag and camping chair that he loves.

I packed up our car Friday afternoon and we picked Tony up from work and headed north. We decided to camp at a campground that we'd been to previously and also try a hike that Tony & friends had done but I missed out on due to my back seizing up. Our trip there took quite a bit longer due to our first car sickness incident (yuck!) and me missing our turn and driving waaaay too long before realizing it. But, we made it there and our friend, Eric, had already arrived and started a fire. Adrianne & Natalie showed up an hour or so after us and we settled in for the night. Although Malcolm loved playing in the tents at REI, he wasn't so sure about sleeping in one that night. After finally falling asleep, he only woke up once during the night.

On Saturday, we headed up to the North Cascade Trail a bit before lunchtime:




We have a backpack carrier for Malcolm that Tony carried him in for most of the way. Mal loved going 'up up in the air' as we climbed. After about 2 miles, Malcolm decided that he'd had enough so The Johnstons headed back down while the rest continued on the trail. We now know the limit for hiking distances with Malcolm at this age. Tony also discovered that it's a lot more work carrying a toddler on your back.

Back at camp, Malcolm spent most of his time throwing rocks which is one of his favorite things to do. We had a tough time keeping him out of the fire pit (when there was no fire going, of course). In the early evening, a fellow camper was walking around with his 3.5 year-old son and he and Malcolm ended up playing for a couple of hours. I think that might of been the highlight of the trip for Mal. He had a much easier time going to sleep that night but had a hard time staying asleep due to the cold and his insistence of not sleeping with covers. He ended up sleeping with us which meant I slept really poorly that night.

We spend Sunday morning having a leisurely breakfast and took our time packing up camp. It was really great to get out in the mountains and spend time together as a family and get to hang out with good friends. We can't wait to do it again.

Atlanta

It seems almost silly posting about our trip to Atlanta 3 weeks after the fact, but I said I would and I'm not one to go back on her word. I'm going to do a short recap.

My awesome friend, Betsy, got married to her awesome girlfriend, Sarah, in Costa Rica a couple of months ago. We could not attend the ceremony for a variety of reasons. They decided to celebrate with all of their friends and family who could not attend the wedding during the last weekend of May in Atlanta. We packed up our bags and got on a plane and went.

We spent our trip hanging out with a bunch of really great people. Kik and Amy came up from Tampa and I actually got to see some peeps from Tallahassee for like, 10 minutes. We also got to hang out with my old friend, Keely, and her 2 daughters. Malcolm still talks about Tuesday (Keely's 4-year-old).

It was a lovely family vacation. Every time I get to hang out with my southern friends, I want to move back just so I can do it a lot more often. Here are some pictures:

After dinner on our last night there:


Malcolm and Tuesday walking in the park:


To see the rest of the pictures, go here.

Checking In

Hi. I'm here. A little tired from lack of sleep. OK, maybe a lot tired. We went to Atlanta last weekend for a little family vacation to visit friends and had good times. I will post pictures sometime in the future.

Pregnancy update: Haven't really had any nausea and my food aversions are pretty much gone. I've started cooking again and buying food which has been nice. My energy is up a little bit but I'm still not pushing myself too hard. Some days it's very difficult not to because, well, the house is not going to clean itself. I have my first doctor's appointment next Thursday and have genetic counseling and ultrasound on the 15th.

Only 30 more weeks to go! Ha.

Happy 2009!

After a looooooong day of travel yesterday, we made it back home to Seattle from Florida. We enjoyed our travels in December, but it's good to be home. I'll update with pictures and stories soon. Right now, I'm working on getting settled back in. Our sleep is all out of whack which is to be expected. I was in bed before 9 PM last night and Tony went to bed before me! Granted, I had been awake since 12:30 AM PST, but still. Mr. Malcolm decided to wake up at 4:30 AM this morning. Tony got up with him so I could sleep a little longer. Both of my boys are currently taking much needed naps and I'm drinking much needed coffee while making a mental list of the things I want to get done today.

2008 was a good year for the Johnston family. I'm looking forward to what 2009 brings us. In the very near future, I'll have a new nephew to fawn over, a new brother-in-law to joke with and a new place to visit if things move quickly for Dad & Carolyn. I already know of 3 trips we'll be making this year: San Diego to meet my new nephew, Atlanta to celebrate the union of Betsy and Sarah and Houston to visit Dad & Carolyn. I'm sure we'll also be going to Utah, but no clue when.

Reporting from San Diego

Me & Malcolm are in San Diego. He's asleep on the bed beside me. Poor kid has a tummy bug. He started getting sick on Thursday. Fortunately, he didn't get sick on the plane ride but did get sick in bed last night. Pieter, bless his heart, cleaned up the bedding and stuff while I cleaned up Malcolm. He's in a relatively good mood but hasn't had much to eat the past couple of days.

I am also sick but not with the same thing. I have mastitis. Yesterday was definitely the worst with the fever and chills. I haven't had any fever today but the muscle aches are sticking around. Dad & Carolyn came back from their cruise today and were totally OK with having a mellow day. I still feel a little guilty having my sister who is 7 months pregnant and her partner take care of me and my kid.

Onion

Malcolm's memory catches me off-guard all the time. For example: last week, while at the grocery store, I bought an Onion. Mal kept calling it an Apple. While going through the check-out, the cashier told him that it was an Onion. Mal said Onion.

This week, while leaving the grocery store, we walk by the cashier from the previous week. Malcolm points to him and says, "Onion".

Another odd tidbit - the employees at this grocery (it's a co-op so it's small) have taken to calling Malcolm, "Famous" because they say he looks like Macaulay Culkin. I actually get people telling me that often. I think "Famous" is an odd nickname whether he looks like an actor or not.

As you can see, the daily posting for a month didn't keep me posting daily after the end of November. I've been busy, you see. I created a very long 'To-Do' list and my free time has been dedicated to crossing things off the list. Couple that with getting ready for our trip to San Diego and trying to put up Christmas decorations, i don't have much time on the computer.

Now that I've checked the forecast for San Diego, I can pack the suitcase. It'll be nice not to have to pack a coat, but I'm kinda sad that we're going to miss the first snow in Seattle this weekend (if it actually happens).

Family Times = Good Times

Make that great times! Our trip to Utah was fun as always. Malcolm loved playing with his cousins. Brenda came over every day and brought Jordan and Collin. When Hannah and Casey were over, Hannah did such a good job of watching/playing with Malcolm and made sure he didn't get into any trouble.

Utah gets pretty hot in the summer. Here's a little video of Jordan and Malcolm playing outside. To keep the porch cool, Jordan was spraying it with water while doing his best not to get Malcolm wet. Mal had other ideas.


Malcolm was constantly amused by Jordan. Here he is laughing his little butt off at Jordan playing with markers:


Here's a picture of half of the cousins (there are 12 total). Tony's step siblings' kids aren't in the picture.


Check out my Flickr page to see the rest of the pictures from our trip.

A week and a half after our return, Jenn, Piet and Cameron came up to Seattle for a long weekend. The boys had a lot of fun playing together (of course!) and we enjoyed hanging out with Jenn & Piet. Their trip was too short as always. I haven't put up the pictures to Flickr because I ran out of room :( I tried signing up for a paid account but it just wouldn't work for me. I'll give it a try again soon. Promise!