Christmas Tree Temptations

We told you in our last post that we ventured out in the elements to find the perfect Davis Christmas tree and now our beautiful tree is up in our living room and looking very festive. Bryant is drawn to the tree for even reasons he isn't sure of and for some reason cannot help but unplug the tree at any given moment. He is actually really good about the ornaments and ribbon and has only tried to pull a few things off. Even as I type this he's leisurely hanging out against the wall, next to the outlet and plug for the tree's lights, oh the temptations of a one year old! :-) The actual tree decorating was lots of fun, albeit messy, Bryant really enjoyed the whole process. As you can see, he even cleans up after himself. He pushed the heavy Rubbermaid bin with all the decorations in it all over the downstairs and enjoyed emptying the box and see all the cool stuff we have. We are heading out this afternoon to start, yes I said start, our Christmas shopping, nothing like waiting until the Christmas rush, huh??

We have this little tradition we started last year with my friend Regan where we go out and make a day of shopping and hanging out, it really gets me in the holiday mood and the three of us had a blast together last year, so we are really looking forward to our outing today. Our weather forecast says snow today, so that would definitely put me in the holiday mood! Love you all!

What's This?

Bryant is really starting to develop in his communication just in the last couple of weeks. I taught him to use sign language to say "please," mostly because I wanted him to ask nicely for things instead of whining or crying, it has worked like a charm. He is also getting very good at saying "No" and walks around playing with his toys singing it over and over again, as of now I think it is really cute, ask me again when he is almost two! He says, Mama and Dada, Duck, Dog, NightNight, and my favorite What's this? No joke, he was in Les Schwab with me the other day and there was a stack of studded tires and he walked over to them and said "what's this?" and the lady at the counter said that was the cutest thing she'd ever heard. I was validated, he really does say it!

We have been very busy traveler's since our last posting, traveling over to the Vancouver/Portland area twice in the last week. We spent Thanksgiving at Jeremy's parents house in Vancouver and had a really nice time. Bryant got to meet some new cousins and see his Great-Grandma Viola, it really was a wonderful day. Jeremy's cousins Bart and Cheri came to dinner with their three kids Riley (8), Brooklyn (6) and Lexi (4). I didn't have high expectations for the kids playing with Bryant, after all he is 1 and has a 10 second attention span, but they really had fun together. Bryant would chase the two younger girls Lexi and Brooklyn around the house and at one point he had Lexi up on a chair and was pounding on the chair and screeching at her, it was very entertaining to watch and the kids really seemed to have a lot of fun together.

We traveled back over to Portland last Thursday morning for a holiday dinner for my work. We had a very nice dinner at the restaurant at the Heathman Hotel and Bryant spent the evening playing with his cousin Cortlyn (2) and hanging out with Grandma (my Mom this time!) Bryant had a little bit of a rough night on Thursday, waking up three times and finally getting up on Friday at 4am, which of course meant Mommy and Daddy were up at 4am as well, nothing like 4 hours of tossing and turning to energize your day! :-) We decided to go ahead and head home on Friday because there was supposed to be a snow storm making travel over the mountain passes a bit treacherous on Saturday. I helped my Mom get some Christmas decorations up around her house and then we headed for home.

Today we took our annual trek out to locate the Davis family Christmas tree in our nearby forests. We can get a Christmas Tree cutting permit for $5 and go out and have our pick of the best Deschutes National Forest has to offer. Jeremy's sister Jill and her family went out with us and we did end up finding nice trees, but the weather wasn't very nice at all. As you can see from the pictures, we were definitely in snow, but the weather was slightly warm today and so we were getting rained on, not fun with little kids! Bryant had a really good attitude despite his coat and gloves being way to BIG and the snow too deep to walk in. His face was soaked both from several face plants and the rain, but he hardly cried, what a trooper. This was his first experience in the snow and although i don't think he was all that impressed, I do think he had a fun adventure. I was able to find little infant snow boots and snow bibs at Target so he stayed nice and toasty warm despite the rain.

Well that brings us up to date for now, hope you are all enjoying the holidays!

Hiking and Other Outdoor Fun

There isn't a whole lot going on in our household right now, but for the sake of posting some darling pictures of Bryant, I thought I better update our blog. We have had some absolutely beautiful weather in Central Oregon, especially these last few weeks and, knowing the cold snowy days of winter are likely just around the corner, we have been taking every opportunity to get out and enjoy the sunshine.
Jeremy has a big elk hunt this week, and in preparation for that hunt, the three of us went out on a hiking/scouting trip last Saturday. It was so warm and wonderful, it almost felt like early summer and Bryant did awesome in the backpack. We were probably out for about 3 hours and Jeremy and I split the time carrying Bryant on our backs. I have to say that there is a HUGE difference between early in the summer when I was trekking up Black Butte with Bryant on my back and this Fall. He is so heavy in that backpack, but it was way worth it to get us all outside and having fun together. The area we hiked in is the former site of the B&B fire, I think it was about 4 years ago, so there was a lot of soot and burned wood, we were all covered in it by the time the hike was over. When we got to a spot where we decided to head back, we took Bryant out to play around a little before the trek back to the car, he loved being free to roam around, but the unsteady ground of the great outdoors wreaked havoc with the unstable balance one year olds are prone to. He found lots of rocks and sticks and all in all it was a really fun afternoon.
This afternoon Bryant and I ventured out for a walk with our friends Angel, Madison and Zoey. At the end of the walk we played for a while at a new playground just down the street from our house. The playground is awesome for little tykes because it has two little, and I do mean little slides and the whole thing is surrounded by mounds of bark chips, perfect for little bodies constantly falling down. Bryant crawled up the stairs to the little slides, turned around, got on his tummy and backed his way down the slide, it was adorable and he was so proud of himself. He would only do it once of course before he was interested in other endeavors, so of course I wasn't able to take a picture or record it!

Well, I think that about catches you all up to speed. The weather is supposed to take a turn tomorrow, no snow, but the rain and wind will likely keep us home bound for a few days. Hope you are all enjoying lots of sunshine!!

Our Little Lion Cub

Our little lion put on quite a show for Halloween. Sisters has this darling little trick or treat parade for all the little ones in town. It is at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and most of the merchants in town participate by dressing up and handing out candy to the kiddos in their costumes. It takes about an hour to walk through and trick or treat and it was all I could do to keep Bryant awake. It was a beautiful day, almost 60 degrees, perfect to be out and about. Bryant was accompanied by his two friends, Madison and Zoe, who are twin girls born 2 days before he was. You'll see the three of them all dressed as animals, Madison is the Monkey and Zoe is the Giraffe. We joked that we had Noah's Ark in stroller, it was adorable.

I think by far Bryant's favorite thing about Halloween was the pumpkins, he was fascinated by them. The pumpkins were expertly carved by Jeremy and I, Jeremy carved the Jeep (on the chair) and Noah's Ark (bottom right) and I carved the smiley face.

Bryant and I worked for three days to perfect the Lion Roar that would need to accompany his costume and he got it down pretty good, but as with all cute things that kids do, they never want to do it on command. I think I did a pretty good job of capturing his roar on the video. The roar slightly resembles a cough, but nevertheless, he is very proud of himself!! We also worked on Boo, but it sounds a lot more like Ba. :-)

Not only did Bryant have his first experience with trick or treating and pumpkins, but I am pretty sure he is still coming down off a sugar high. That's right, Bryant had candy, and actually quite a lot of it. It is safe to say that he enjoys candy (I think he must take after his mommy!!)

At the end of the day, Bryant's cousins Hudson and Bevyn came by so we could see their costumes. Bryant was totally fine with their costumes, as long as Hudson didn't have his mask on. Hudson was a Ninja warrior and Bevyn was Cinderella. You'll see in the picture Bryant running towards the camera crying and Hudson off to the right with his mask on. As soon as Hudson took off the mask, Bryant was a happy camper.
Most of the pictures and video don't show it very well, but Bryant's face is pretty scraped up. He fell into a closet door the night before Halloween and then he fell on the sidewalk getting ready to go trick or treating and scraped up his nose. Not to mention this morning he fell off a step stool and went nose first to the floor. Poor little fella, I guess that's all in the day of a one year old!

The Big Bash, Bryant Turns 1!!!!

That's right, it is official, Bryant is now 1 year old. I guess he really isn't Baby Bryant anymore. I swore I wouldn't have a big party for his first birthday because I didn't want to overdo something he wasn't going to remember, but the more I thought about it, the more fun it seemed. Plus I could never let the opportunity slide to have chocolate cake and ice cream!!

On Saturday, October 27th, we transformed our little house in Sister into Birthday Central. We tried to restrain ourselves and only invited family, but we still ended up with more than 20 people in our little townhouse. Thank goodness it was nice outside and we could overflow on to the patio. Despite the fact that there were lots of people and what could be an overwhelming event for a one year old, Bryant did awesome. His Grammy (Jeremy's Mom) brought over balloons and I have to say that was probably his favorite part of the whole day. Bryant's favorite word/expression is "oh" and he said it with conviction throughout the day, but never with as much enthusiasm as when the balloons arrived. Bryant's Grandpa (my Dad) and his wife Robin, drove over from Canby (2 1/2 hour drive) for the party and then drove home after the party, but anyone who knows my Dad knows he doesn't miss an opportunity for cake either!!! Jeremy's brother Jeff and his wife Necia also drove over on Saturday morning for Bryant's celebration from Portland.


During the party, Bryant was happy and social and made his rounds like a true host. He wandered in and out the back door, always getting on his tummy to back down the stairs, he even got little scrapes on both of his shins from sliding up and down the paver step and he never once cried. He ate a little lunch before our guests arrived and then enjoyed 2nd lunch of pizza during the party. Daddy helped him open presents and so did 5 of his cousins, it was quite a scene and I am still not completely sure who the presents came from!


After presents we had cake and he smiled while we all sang Happy Birthday to him. He LOVED the cake. We gave him his own piece on a plate and he picked up the whole thing and ate on it for a while then put it down and picked up the top half and when he was finished he threw the whole piece of cake, frosting side down on the floor. It was hysterical and perfect and exactly what I expected. After all, I rarely get through a meal with him without something ending up on the floor. He was such a trooper and after all the family filtered out, he took a short nap and when he came downstairs he said "Oh" at the balloons and new toys, he was renewed and ready to play again. It was an awesome day and really incredible to celebrate the birth of our priceless, amazing, inspiring little gift from God.

Punkin goes to the Patch

Today was a beautiful day in Central Oregon, and after 4 days of wind, rain and cold, we were anxious to get out and enjoy it. We headed out to the nursery where Jeremy buys a lot of his plants for various jobs, to visit their pumpkin patch and play area. They had a really cute hay maze, slides and climbing areas and a jump house, not to mention all the pumpkins!! Bryant's cousins, Hudson (6), Bevyn (4) and Baylor (almost 2) met us there and the kids really had fun. Bryant loved riding around in the wagon and he even managed to pick out a pumpkin or two to take home. It is so fun to be able to take him out and start these fun holiday traditions, not that he will remember this at 1 year old, but it is fun for his daddy and I to show him off!!

We tried playing in the jump house, but he had more fun watching all the kids jump from outside.

On another note, we have Bryant's Halloween costume, he is going to be a little lion cub. The costume is so cute and he will actually let me put the little hat on him and he doesn't try to take it off. I know you are probably thinking what will a barely 1 year old do on Halloween, but our little town does a really cute Halloween Trick-or-Treat parade and all the kiddos in town (elementary school age and younger) meet in the park in the center of town and form a line of trick-or-treaters and they go around to all the businesses in town and get candy. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen and it gives the little ones a chance to participate without having to be out in the cold or up past their bedtimes. We will definitely be participating (mostly because I think Bryant will love seeing the other kids) and I will put up some pictures of that adventure too!!

Here are some pictures of our day in the sun at the pumpkin patch!

Reflecting on the Last Year

As I look at my sweet little boy growing and changing by the minute, it is hard to believe that at this time last year we were anxiously awaiting his arrival and safety. So much has changed in the last year and it truly feels as though our lives were totally incomplete before Bryant. Next Friday Bryant turns 1 year old and he has managed to perfect many skills in the last year. As you read in our last blog posting, he is walking like a pro and even attempting to run (especially when the kitty is in his path). He says "Oh" with such enthusiasm at almost everything that he turns heads in the grocery store. He has also become extremely social and although he can't quite say "Hi" his high pitched squeal at passersby always elicits a smile. I am amazed at how much he picks up on just by watching his daddy and I. He knows to lift up his feet when I am holding a sock or shoe, he opens his mouth when I hold up a toothbrush, he will help me pick up toys and put them in the bucket or toy box and he is amazing at knocking down a stack of blocks. When you say "bye-bye" he begins to wave and he can shake his head "no" quite profusely. Bryant speaks a language all his own and seems to be constantly babbling about something or the other, it is the most precious sound I have ever heard.

As Jeremy mentioned in our last posting, I am now working from home and caring for Bryant. There are days where doing both are difficult, but for the most part, my job is extremely flexible and I can work on assorted tasks when time permits throughout the day. I really could not have hoped for a better home-based job. I love the people I work for, the actual work challenges me to a degree (but not too much!), and the interaction with other adults during the day has been a really nice change.

Jeremy's business is winding down for the winter (we actually had our first snow overnight last night) and he is anxiously awaiting his next hunt on November 10th. Besides hunting, Jeremy is going to be helping his brother-in-law Mike, who is going to be building us a new house. We are so excited at the prospect of a larger home. We will be building right here in Sisters, just about a 1/4 mile from where we currently live. Our new house will be a little over 2300 square feet and have 3 bedrooms and a bonus room which is significantly bigger than the 2 bedroom townhouse we are in now. We don't have a date for completion, but hopefully we will be moving in sometime in late Spring 2008.

Well, that is a brief rundown in the lives of the Davis' of Sisters. I will post some more pictures and videos next week after we visit the pumpkin patch and Bryant's First Birthday next Saturday. We hope you are all well and enjoying the Fall.

We're walkin baby!

Need I say more?

No, but I will anyway. Bryant has been working hard to perfect his "Frankenstien walk." Out go both arms and he bobbles around half controlled to his next destination. It can be quite fun. He has also mastered backing down the stairs. However, we find it less stressful to leave the baby gate up so that we don't have any long tumbles down the stairs to the front door.

Now you might be wondering why our last post was over a month ago, and I know that most of you have put your live's temporarily on hold until you can catch up on the powerfully interesting details of our little family. For this I'm sorry, but let me explain. Amy recently started a full time job working from home. This new job, coupled with taking care of Bryant and myself takes so much of her time, that she has had to set some tasks aside. So please, go on with your lives. We might not update often, but we will get around to it eventually. Plus, if you feel behind, just come stop by the house and see first hand what's goin on. Just know that you might be given a task such as starting dinner or a load of laundry.

Our Little Traveler

It has been a few weeks since my last post, and for good reason. Bryant and I just returned from a trip down to Reno to visit some family and returned to Portland for a few days and finally arrived back home a couple of days ago. It was a great trip with a lot of time spent in the car and Bryant did amazing in the car and sleeping in unfamiliar places.

We left for Reno on Friday August 3rd and it took us about 8 1/2 hours to get to my Uncle Bill and Aunt Shirley's house from Sisters. We spent a week in Reno visiting with family and seeing the sights. We went up to Squaw Valley, which some of you may know was the sight of the 1964 Winter Olympics. We took a tram ride up to the top where there was an amazing view of the the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range as well as Lake Tahoe off in the distance. There was about a 3500 foot elevation change from Reno to where the tram dropped us off and needless to say the weather was much different as well. We went from the low 90's in Reno to probably right around 60 with some serious wind gusts, it was beautiful, but chilly. I brought a jacket and light blanket for Bryant,
but the rest of us were a little unprepared.
After a few photos, we went inside to check out the Olympic museum and get out of the wind.

Me, My Mom and Bryant (notice the wind???) :-)

The rest of our time in Reno was mostly spent visiting. Bryant got to meet my cousin Kim and her kids Alex (7) and Becca (2).
We left Reno on Friday August 10th early in the morning (5am) and set out for my Mom's house in Troutdale. The trip, on a good day, should take just short of 10 hours. I should have known when we were stopped for 45 min. for construction 2 hours into the journey that this was NOT going to be a 10 hour trip. We didn't arrive at my Mom's house until about 6:30 that evening, 13 1/2 hours later.

Bryant, Becca & My Mom

There were a variety of issues, none of them involving Bryant, but the biggest cause for the delay was commuter traffic on I-5. It took us literally 2 1/2 hours to get from Woodburn to my Mom's house, which is only about 40 miles, it was completely ridiculous and I think I mentioned more than once that this traffic was exactly why I moved to Sisters where we don't even have a stop light. :-) You may notice as you look at these pictures that Bryant has an ouchie on his little nose, let me explain, it is quite sad...as I mentioned above, our car ride home from Reno took 13 hours, so Bryant was thrilled to be out of the car at the end of that ride. When we got to my Mom's, I let him crawl around in the living room, while I unpacked the cooler and supervised him. He went over to the back screen door and pulled himself up to a standing position only to have the screen tear away from the frame of the door and he fell through it, face first and landed on her paver patio. He stopped crying as soon as I picked him up, but I lost it when I saw his face all torn up and his nose bleeding, so he started crying again when he noticed me panicking. He is just fine and his nose (thanks to my putting Neosporin on it 6 times a day) has healed remarkably well. Poor little guy, it is the first of many bumps and scrapes, but that doesn't make is any less sad.

While at my Mom's house, we got to visit with my buddy Erin who lives in Las Vegas, and was in town for our 10 year class reunion. Erin has a little girl, Lauryn (1) and a boy Jacob (7). Bryant and I went to the picnic part of the class reunion, but I didn't bother with the dinner/dancing portion of the weekend because it was expensive and we were driving home from Nevada, so there was just too much going on.

Class Reunion Shot, I am in the back center

my friend Erin, her son Jacob and daughter Lauryn

are to the left of me. (Right) Erin and Lauryn at the picnic

I also had the opportunity to go and visit my friends Garrett and Carrington who had triplets on July 1st. I spent about 2 hours holding babies, changing a couple of diapers and I even got to feed Gabriel. I was so tickled when I got there, Gabriel was wearing the preemie outfit that Bryant came home from the hospital in, it actually made me want to have another baby, if you can believe that!!!!

Garrett with all three babies,

pretty talented Daddy!!

We stayed very busy while at my Mom's house visiting with friends and family, it was a whirlwind, but very, very FUN!! It was hard to say goodbye to my Mom and head home, but we were very anxious to see Daddy, and he was anxious to see us too!

(Right) Bryant and my Dad with my Dad's prized Mustang

Get Ready World, Here I Come!!!

Only a few weeks ago, I was reporting to all of you that Bryant started crawling. He has now mastered this skill and is well on his way to walking. In addition he has FOUR teeth coming in on top and is eating a wide variety of grown up food now. He is by far the happiest when he is upright and moving like the big people in his world, but so far he hasn't figured out how to stay balanced on those two chubby little legs of his. He has figured out that if he doesn't have Mommy or Daddy's hands to hold on to, he can use our dining room chairs to move himself around the downstairs area and still be able to walk. He isn't sure what to do when he runs into a wall or piece of furniture, but he pushes it until he hits a dead end and then abandons the chair and heads for the next adventure. I have to say, now that he is moving around more, he is sleeping much, much better, both at night and during nap time, praise God. Napping is one area where Bryant and I have really struggled and we have finally managed to establish some semblance of a routine, which allows me to get in a workout and a shower in the morning and laundry/reading/cleaning in the afternoon.

Now that he is mobile, Bryant has also become extremely helpful around the house. He is fascinated with the vacuum cleaner and loves every appliance in our kitchen. I have learned to be quite speedy when I am pulling something out of the oven, loading the dishwasher, or opening the refrigerator for any reason. I have designated one cupboard for Bryant to load and unload of his own will and he absolutely loves all the new and interesting things there are to see when that door is opened. As you can see in some of the pictures below, the damage is massive and widespread when Bryant is let loose. Some mornings I feel like he is just on a rampage to see how much he can decorate the floor with in the least amount of time. I guess I should just get used to this habit, because experience has taught me that this habit doesn't change when they are a teenager and even as an adult it can occasionally happen! :-)

Bryant helping mommy unload the dishwasher. (Note the two shiny teeth in this gorgeous smile!!)

Friday of this week, August 3rd, Bryant, Grandma (my Mom) and I are heading down to Reno to visit Uncle Bill, Aunt Shirley and my cousin Kim, her husband Chuck and their little girls Alex and Becca. The trip down to Reno should take just short of 7 hours because we are going to take off from Sisters, but coming home we are going to my Mom's house in Portland and the Reno to Portland route is about 10 hours!!! I have been praying for a quick, seamless trip for Bryant's sake more than anything else. I can't remember how many road trips to Reno and even Eastern Nevada I made growing up, but it was definitely a part of our summer routine. Please pray for our safe travels and Bryant to be content and enjoy his time in the car. Best wishes to you all!!

Jackhammers and Other Exciting Happenings

I am not usually this on top of things in terms of blog postings, but we have been very busy the last 2 days. Jeremy and his crew have been at our house, beginning on Wednesday, tearing out our back patio and laying down pavers. The patio was badly damaged from the harsh Central Oregon winters (cement just doesn't hold up to ice melt and freezing cold temperatures), and we really wanted something we could enjoy for the next year while we are building our next house. I anticipated Bryant being a little scared by all the workers and noise, but boy was I wrong!! The first step in the process involved a jackhammer to break up the patio. For those of you who haven't experienced a jackhammer, directly out your back door, it is very loud. Bryant was so excited, I literally couldn't pull him away from the back door. He spent the entire day glued to the backdoor in complete fascination. When I tried to put him down for a nap at 3:30, he was so worked up that he cried for, no joke, 45 minutes, before we gave up and let him get out of his crib, Bryant-1 Mommy-0. :-) I know Jeremy also appreciated the constant distraction that a smiling, excited little baby standing at the back door provided for his workers. They kept knocking on he window and watching him, it was quite cute.

Bryant observing the jackhammer and workers out the back door.

The patio is still a work in progress, but it is nearly complete today. The crew is working on the walkway around our garage and out to the driveway now and then they will have some planting to do, but it is looking really nice and is a much needed change.

The other big event in our week happened yesterday. Bryant had his first Barber Shop haircut! Jeremy and I attempted to cut his hair ourselves and we failed miserably. We tried using a razor and I think the noise really freaked Bryant out. The Barber Shop wasn't a whole lot better, but he did get to sit in my lap, so I could help soothe him and hold him still and the Barber was a definite professional. He worked fast and efficiently and when it was all said and done, Bryant has a pretty decent haircut. The Barber didn't even charge us, he said first cuts are free, only in a small town!!









Bryant with his big boy haircut. He is really glad it
is all over with!!!