book club, kind of.

i started reading the most enchanting book this weekend, and had to share.  if you haven't picked up a copy of this little treasure yet, you are missing out.  and, if you blog...lets start a "sort of book club", meaning we can chat back and forth about this post world war II setting, literary masterpiece.  let me know if you are interested.

Friends, Family and Festivities

We spent the weekend cramming in as many family, friends and festivities as we could possibly fit into one 48 hour period....Friday night we met up with Darin's brother's family (Brian and Kristy),  we exchanged gifts, and Kai loved the blanket Kristy made him as well as the sign language books and cute little cup.  Briana and Garrett were pretty fond of their new keyboard that lights up when you play it. Garrett told Darin: "Thanks for getting me the piano, I've been wanting one my whole life...I just never knew where to find one" (keep in mind he is 4).  It was so cute!

After the gift exchange, we headed out to see the lights...Kai loved hanging out with Brianna and Garett!

The kids spent the night, and had tons of fun cooking pancakes and waffles for breakfast.

In the afternoon, we joined Darin's Mom's side of the family for a holiday party...this was Kai's first introduction to Santa Claus.

That night we had dinner with friends, and they came back to our house for hot chocolate and cookies.  Leila and Kai watched holiday movies and then exchanged gifts.  Leila gave Kai some really cool keys, toys and finger foods.  Kai gave Leila a "Baby Obama" T-shirt, Leila loves to say Omama, Omama, every time she see's pictures of the president, and Kai's parents are big Obama fans, so we wanted to support her infatuation.

Lastly we had a great Sunday resting and eating delicious food...these are my favorite guys in their holiday sweaters.

DSIcation

Some of you may be wondering "What is a DSIcation?"  Well, I will tell you, DSI (Data Systems International) is the company Darin works for, and he often travels for work...well, this past weekend they agreed to send me and Kai with him to San Diego/Riverside, so we turned it into a mini vacation.  We were in San Diego for a couple of days and then headed up to Riverside.  My main goals for this 4 day trip were to EAT a lot of good food, spend time at the beach, sleep in and go shopping.  I admit I get a little carried away thinking I could spend time at the beach, sleep in and shop with an 8 month old...but I sure did EAT a lot! (1 out of 4 is pretty good) Check out all the fun we had...

After an authentic Mexican lunch in OLD TOWN San Diego, we headed down to the pier and spent some time walking the boardwalk checking out the boats, pelicans, and seals.

Kai's favorite shop was a cute little bookstore, where a man was playing Jazz music with a saxophone and an oboe (he had a laptop with a digital band playing in the background)...Kai watched him for an hour and a half, and would have stayed all night if we didn't tear him away to go eat dinner.

However, he was still a pretty happy dude.

Coronada Island was our first destination Sunday morning...we spent the whole morning wandering around this 120 year old hotel admiring the old building, watching sail boats right off the beach, eating ice cream, and watching the kids iceskate on the rink behind the hotel.

 

The Hotel Decorations and outdoor courtyard were beautiful!

Kai enjoyed the Hotel, but mostly the sink...every day, for as long as I would let him.

The highlight of my trip was meeting up with Greg, a great friend I haven't seen in 10 years...we spent the whole night eating delicious food, reminiscing about old times, and catching up.  It was soooooo great to see him!

What a great trip...DSI can send us on vacation any time!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Darin and I have never wanted a Christmas tree, in fact, we usually travel every Christmas, so we haven't ever decorated for the holidays at all.  Everyone said that would change as soon as we had kids.  Well, we have a kid, and it hasn't changed . So, I'm wondering if they literally meant kids (emphasis on the S).  I guess we'll see.
However, Kai is a huge fan of trees, and so we decided to take him to "Festival of the Trees", so that he could get his fill of Christmas decorations.  He had a great time...

We went with his friend Leila, she kept trying to sneak under the super secure barricade (as pictured above) between the aisle and the trees. 

We had a great time checking out literally hundereds of decorated trees, gingerbread houses, quilts, and other Holiday decorations, but Kai's favorite part was watching all of the other little kids running around, he could watch kids for hours and be perfectly content.  Maybe we should just buy him a daycare for Christmas...Hmmm

Thanksgiving...or NOT

I wasn't sure what to name this post, since It wasn't quite Thanksgiving...

Tuesday night I went out to dinner with my friend from graduate school, and I ordered a pulled pork sandwich, I didn't realize that it tasted a little funny, until I had eaten half of it. The next morning about 3 am I woke up with a terrible stomach ache, chills, a fever and major aching all over my body...I seriously wanted to die. Around 10 am I started throwing up, and didn't leave the bathroom floor until 3pm (I threw up 6-8 times during that time period). Darin took Kai to daycare, and then around 4 he came home and took me to the doctor. The doctor said it was definitely food poisoning, and that I couldn't eat anything for the next 48 hours...NO FOOD over Thanksgiving, it was awful! Poor Darin didn't eat any Thanksgiving either...just stayed home with Kai and I. It was the sickest I ever remember being in my whole life, I kept telling Darin that I would miss him and Kai, but I really wanted to die. :)
Then yesterday, I had to go into work for a couple of hours, and so I brought Kai with me and he started acting really funny (moaning, trembling, crying) and he was really hot. We took his temperature and it was 103, so we took him to the doctor. The doctor wasn't sure what is wrong with him, so we have just been holding him nonstop and giving him tylenol to help with the fever...he is so miserable. I can't remember a week filled with so much sickness. YUCK!

However, we have had more family time than usual, so we have spent a lot of time reflecting on all the things we are thankful for.  Our combined list is pretty long, but I feel particularly thankful for such a great partner to raise our amazing little boy with. I never imagined how much I would love having a little family of my own, but nothing has every brought me so much joy.  I am truly thankful.

This is a picture of the dinner Darin made around 9pm on Thanksgiving.  We found a package of "instant potatoes" and a gravy mix that he whipped up like a world class Sous Chef.

Grandma Hope's Birthday

Last Saturday was Kai's great grandma's 91st birthday, she is a rockin' grandma, and Darin's aunts put together a rockin' party complete with delicious food, great company and grandma made out with a haul...books, clothes, handmade towels and some delicious cheesecake to boot.  Kai's favorite thing about grandma Hope is that everytime we go to visit, she always tells us she is going to write all about him in her journal...HE LOVES MAKING THE JOURNAL!  Happy Birthday Grandma!

Kai's favorite SUCKIE

Kai used to like to suck on pacifiers, that is until he turned into an acrobat, and can now fit all 5 of his toes in his mouth...apparently regular suckies have lost their appeal. 

Family Pictures

We had this great idea to get family pictures taken while the beautiful Fall weather was peaking. Good thing we acted on our intuition, because it sure did snow all day yesterday, and now its rediculously cold! Good bye Fall. Hello Winter...(This is not a welcoming hello).

Halloween Heaven

Who knew Halloween was such a fun holiday? Not me. Well, not me until I had a little guy to dress up and hall around the town showing off to anyone that will pay attention to his cute Pumpkin self. We started off our festivities on Friday by getting dressed up and heading to my work. I work at a domestic violence shelter, and all of the kids staying in the shelter during Halloween get dressed up and go around to each of the offices and "trick or treat". Kai loves watching other kids, so I thought it would be fun to let him help me pass out candy. Darin has been sick this past week, but was feeling better while we were getting ready to leave, so he decided to join us. Kai had so much fun (and he doesn't even know about candy...next year is going to blow his mind).
On Halloween we spent some time with his good friend Leila (the pretty princess featured below). Kai couldn't get enough of her costume...literally he kept trying to eat it the whole time they were visiting.
Next we headed up to Ogden for some famous "Ogden Pizzeria" pizza, and a little trick or treating with Kai's cousins Briana and Garrett. Kai got a whole bag full of baby food from Aunt Kristy and Uncle Brian, but the night would not have been complete without a little dance party featuring "Thriller" and "The Monster Mash", we may have scared away all of the Trick or Treaters, but we sure had fun...Kai was in Halloween Heaven!!!

LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW! LET IT SNOW!

Weather dot com said it was going to snow this past Tuesday, so Kai and I decided to get ready. We went to the mall to find him a little hat and mittens.
Weather dot com was right...it snowed all day. Good thing Kai was prepared.

Oh October...

I always dread October. First reason: it starts to get cold. Second reason: Week Without Violence. The first needs no explanation, the second, needs a little explaining. All 300 YWCA's in the country dedicate the third full week of October to educating the public on the effects of violence in our homes, communities and families. I am the Education Director, and therefore I spend all year planning this week of activities, events, public speeches, media interviews and a children's carnival. I love the actual week, but I don't love the 358 days leading up to the week...it's a lot of work. The week finished on Friday night, and I came home to flowers and my favorite candy from my two favorite guys...it was the best ending to a really successfull week! Now on to planning for next year.

6 months later

What do you get when you combine a bumbo chair...

a box of rice cereal...

and a baby boy celebrating his 6 month birthday....

TADA!

That's right folks, Kai has joined the rest of the Patterson family in a life time love affair with food! And, he was practically an expert...barely spit any up!!! We are so proud. The best part is, he doesn't even know how much amazing food their is out their for him to sink his slobbery gums into...but he will soon enough (how could he not with Darin and I for parents...food is really our only hobby).

Congratulations Kai!

To Grandmother's house we go...

Last weekend we went to visit my Mom and Step Dad in Spokane Washington. Kai was in heaven with all of Grandma's kisses, toys, hugs, and candy (he doesn't eat solids...so his parents graciously comandeered it). It was so much fun to show Darin all of the houses I had lived in as a child, schools I went to, places I played at and visited, and most of all things I used to eat (we went to Tomatoe Street for delicious soup and bread pudding, great harvest for pastries, Zips for burgers and fries, and my Mom made her world famouse coffee cake the morning we left). It was GREAT!

Mom and I at Manito park...I used to come here when I was a little girl to play, and they have the most beautiful gardens.

Zips...just as good as I remembered.

Kai and Grandma liked zips too!

As soon as Kai got over his fear of Grandpa's mustache...he just couldn't get enough of it!

My mom discovered Hula Hooping as a great ab workout during commercials while she is watching football. I was amazed at how long she can keep it spinning. She left Darin and I in the dust!

This was Kai's reaction to the news that it was time to get back on the airplane and fly back home (away from Grandma).

We had a great time! Thanks grandma Judy and Grandpa Chuck!!