West Coast Waxmans

Hannah Jo and Sammy videos

2008-10-26T16:49:00.000-07:00

2008-October-23 Hannah driving (crashing) her walker

2008-September-23 Hannah dancing...then making silly faces!

Hannah Turns 1

2008-10-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

Hannah turned 1 on Oct 25th. Jason was in China for the week so we had a party the weekend after. Friends and neighbors came over and helped us celebrate. She's been crawling and cruising but hasn't taken any steps yet. Laura put Hannah against the wall and she took her first steps towards her! Pretty cute. She hasn't done it since but she's still holding on to our hands and making us walk her. She's been doing that for a few months now which is breaking our backs!

It's funny how a milestone like a birthday can bring out new behavior. As soon as Hannah turned one, she started throwing little temper tantrums. If you walk away from her, take a toy away, basically don't do what she wants, she shakes her hands and squeels while her face turns red. With Sammy, I was definitely more concerned about how to deal with the tantrum, but with Hannah I just let it go. :-)

I took Sammy and Hannah to her 1 year doctor appointment. They both got shots which wasn't so fun but they handled it pretty well. When I got Hannah undressed, Sammy said, "Hannah - you are going to have boobs like Mommy one day". The nurse and I got a good chuckle out of that.

Sammy Turns 5 plus a video

2008-08-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

Sammy is 5! We celebrated his birthday at Club Sports by rock climbing, eating, and enjoying good friends.

Hannah, Sammy videos

2008-05-26T18:31:00.000-07:00

2008-May-25 Hannah and Sammy watching the fish at the Zoo

2008-May-25 Sammy meets T-Rex at the Zoo

2008-May-25 Sammy & Hannah laughing

Sammy singing the itsy bitsy spider - in Spanish!

Hannah and Sammy videos

2008-02-26T18:30:00.000-08:00

Sammy (4 1/2 yrs) making Hannah (4 mths) giggle

Sammy (4 1/2) and Hannah (4 mths) hanging out

Hannah, 12 weeks old

2008-01-26T18:29:00.000-08:00

Sammy reading, with his toes! 2008-Jan-08

Hannah relaxing and smiling, 9 wks, 2008-Jan-08

Sammy making Hannah giggle, 2008-Jan-01

Hannah, 8 weeks old

2007-12-26T18:08:00.000-08:00

See Hannah Jo smile and coo, 8 wks old

Sammy and Hannah lounging on the floor, 8 wks old

Hannah Jo in the exersaucer, 8 wks old

Hannah Jo relaxing, 6 wks old

Hannah Josephine (aka Starrie) is here!

2007-12-04T11:02:00.000-08:00

On October 25th, 2007 Hannah Josephine Waxman arrived. I was two days late so I was induced the morning of the 25th. I had been 3cm dilated for 2 wks and 85-90% effaced so we were all shocked that she was still chilling out in there. It was an odd feeling driving myself to the hospital at 6AM knowing that I was having a baby that day; even though I wasn't yet in labor. I checked in, got comfie in my room, then Jason arrived around 9AM after taking Sammy to school. They started me on pitosin around 9:30am and the doc came in to break my water around noon. That attempt failed so she came back around 2pm to try again. As soon as my water broke, the contractions started speeding up. I was having contractions the entire morning but they weren't that painful. I was texting friends, Jason brought me a decaf peppermint mocha (the nurse allowed it!). Around 3pm, I was about 7cm dilated and ready for the epidural. The nurse paged the anethesiologist but no response. She paged again and again, no response. I was beginning to squirm when he finally arrived and stated his new cell phone doesn't work in the basement (where his office is). Yikes. After the epidural, I took a nap for about 1.5 hours, then the doc checked me and I was 10cm and ready to begin pushing. I pushed 5 times and bam, here she came. Her head was out, but the cord was stuck around her neck. The doc and nurse brought in reinforcements which was pretty scary. All of a sudden, there were 5 nurses yelling at me to push, Jason was shoved to the back corner of the room, and I could see a very troubled look on my doctors face. Hannah's shoulder was stuck so they had to do some rearranging. On the 6th push, out she came. Her face was pretty bruised but she still looked absolutely beautiful to us.

Hannah Jo meeting Sammy - video

2007-10-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

Sammy meets Hannah Jo at the hospital and holds her for the first time

Sammy talking about Hannah at the hospital

Hello there, Starrie Waxman

2007-09-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

Last week, we went for a 4D ultrasound. It's a fun yet stressful experience because you're constantly trying to figure out what you're looking at...sometimes it makes sense. Here's a photo of Starrie smiling. The bump on her right cheek is there because she's pushed up against the uterine wall.

Oh, and Starrie is just her nickname, don't worry. Sammy named her a few months back after seeing the star on the Carl's Jr sign. He adds a "ie" to every word (bathie, truckie, duckie) so she's now known as Starrie. A real name will come later.

Sammy Turns 4

2007-08-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

Sammy had a 3-stage birthday celebration this year. First, we had a birthday pre-party with Levi at the Rock gym since he is going to be out of town for Sammy's party. The two of them climbed and ran themselves (and us!) ragged.

On the 19th, we celebrated Sammy's birthday some more. We got up early, opened a few presents, headed to the zoo, went to dinner, opened more presents, then had cupcakes for desert. We had a great day and Sammy really enjoyed telling everyone it was his birthday. I think we wore him out because he asked Jason if it was time to go upstairs and read stories. :-)

The birthday fun continued on the 25th when we had a birthday party with 12 of Sammy's friends at Club Sport. We started off with some lunch, then headed to the rock gym for climbing, followed by an obstacle course on the turf, then cake and presents. The kids impressed everyone with their climbing skillz. Climb on!

Baby #2, "Starrie" Waxman

2007-07-19T21:47:00.000-07:00

Originally, I didn't want to find out the gender. But, the control-freak-project-manager in me won and I caved. So, we're having a girl! We're thrilled...

12 weeks pregnant. I was naustious the entire cruise. As soon as I got the ok from my doctor to stop taking the progesterone, the nausea immediately left. I wish I would have asked before we were at sea for 14 days!

At Whistler in British Columbia. 5 months.

Despite everyone thinking I'm due ANY SECOND, I'm actually due on October 23rd, 2007. I can't tell you the number of people who say, "whooa - you're huge!"..."wow - that's going to be a big baby!"..."you have 3 more months?!?". Here I'm almost 7 months.

September...8 months

House Remodel

2007-07-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

Before we move in, we decided to remodel the Kitchen, Baths, floors, staircase, and paint. The work is scheduled to begin on July 23rd. So far, we have ordered the cabinets (Kraftmaid, Cherry, Latte, Layton door style), appliances, tub, toilets, countertops, and flooring. The cabinets are scheduled to arrive on August 18th, '07 so the builder said that should be plenty of time to get the new floors in before they arrive.

I decided to post the current appliances and cabinets on craigslist and have already sold the cabinets and frig! Within a few minutes of posting the cabinets, there are about 40 emails asking about them. Gotta love craigslist.
The "honey-do" list quickly grew before we even purchased the house. We swapped out the gold brass handles with oil rubbed bronze. Sammy and I were the demo-crew and Jason was the "fixer" (as Sammy calls it).

Update September 10th, 2007: The house remodel is in full force now. The new floors are in, the kitchen cabinets have been set, the countertop was installed today, and the upstairs bathroom is being tiled. There's still a lot of work to do in 2 short weeks but we're trying to be optimistic. Here are some before, during, and not quite after pictures.

FAMILY ROOM - BEFORE / DURING

We had new floors installed (brazilian cherry), more lighting added, and new paint.

KITCHEN - BEFORE / DURING

We gutted the kitchen. New cabinets were set last week. Today, the countertop installation occurred. That was fun to watch. Check out the sink - it's massive! After Starrie is born, I'll be able to reach the bottom of the sink...hopefully! The only wall we tore down was this one -- leading into the dining room. It really opens up the space.

DINING / LIVING ROOM: BEFORE/ DURING

In the dining and living rooms, we had windows installed and replaced a window with a french door. The walls were painted a buttercookie yellow too.

MASTER BATHROOM: BEFORE / DURING

We had the master bathroom gutted too. We're having travertine tile installed, a jacuzzi tub, new lighting, vanity, etc.

KIDS BATHROOM: BEFORE / DURING

The kids bath is Jason's project. We sold the old vanity (on craigs list), he tore down the shower slider door, tore out the vinyl floor, and took out the light. We found a marble top vanity at Costco which was the perfect fit! Jason got some southwest looking tile and laid it with a terracotta grout. He installed new faucets and fixtures in the bathtub.

What Sammy thinks about his little sister-to-be

2007-07-08T10:39:00.001-07:00

Sammy has asked tons of questions and talks about his baby sister-to-be tons.
"How is she going to come out?"
"Is she coming out soon?"
"Why can't I hear her crying?"
"Is she coming out now?"
"What will she eat when she comes out? I'm going to feed her bananas."
"I want to give this toy to my sister so she can play with it (in your tummy)."

New House

2007-07-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

After a year or so of living in temporary (yea, right!) housing, we finally bought a house. It's in Lake Oswego, OR. The yard immediately attracted us to the place. We know what Jason will be doing on Saturday mornings. :-)

Until it's daytime

2006-12-26T17:10:00.000-08:00

Sammy is getting very creative with ways of delaying bedtime. Tonight, he got out of his bed, came down the steps, sat down and said, "I'm just pretending it's daytime"...then he said, "I'll just sit here on the steps until it's daytime". Clever.

Holidays '06 - Opening Presents

2006-12-06T17:29:00.000-08:00

Sammy & Mommy singing, 28 mths

2006-12-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2006 with the Kuhners

2006-10-30T17:11:00.000-08:00

First, we headed to Sammy's school for a Halloween Parade which consisted of a short walk to IBM, singing, and trick or treating. Then, we went to Laura and Keller's house for dinner and night-time trick or treating. The rascals had a blast!

Is it Beans or Poopies?

2006-10-10T17:12:00.000-07:00

Sammy was eating a southwest chicken pita from Jack in the Box. He looks inside and says, "...this has poopies in it"! It was black beans.

No, You're the Schmoopie

2006-10-06T17:13:00.000-07:00

Sammy is such a funny kid. He loves to laugh, crack jokes, and make us laugh. The other night, my cell phone rang. I answered, "Hi, Schmoopie, how are you?". Yes - we stole it from Seinfeld. Sammy asks, "Schmoopie, who's that?". I said, "I call Daddy Schmoopie". Jason comes home from work and after about 15 minutes, Sammy says, "Daddy -- are you the Schmoopie?" If you've ever seen the "schmoopie" Seinfeld episode, you will understand why this is sooooo stinkin' funny! Check it out here.

Ma-daddy

2006-10-01T17:13:00.000-07:00

When we were growing up, we always made fun of Mommy and Daddy for getting our names mixed up. I was often called "ha-shonda" or "sha-holly". Actually, Mommy corrected me, saying she called us Sholly and Honda. That did not go over well at all. Aren't blogs cool? :)
Anyway, now I completely understand why this happens and so does Sammy. He calls Jason, "ma-daddy" at least 80% of the time.

Big boy bike

2006-09-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

For Sammy's 3rd birthday, we got him a bicycle. He absolutely loves it but is a bit cautious of hills and let's go of the handlebars and trys to jump off! I think I'm starting to learn how this parenting thing works. The bike is the best incentive for picking up toys, putting away his clothes, going potty by himself, all sorts of things that usually take longer than necessary. Now, with the threat of no bike ride for the day, things are running smoothly in our house.

Shonda's b-day weekend

2006-09-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Debbie came up to visit for my birthday. On Wednesday afternoon, we headed over to the Stock Pot restaurant for lunch (after unsuccessfully finding Chevy's). It was a surprisingly nice club house on a golf course. The weather was beautiful and we had a nice lunch outside.

On Thursday, we headed to Hagg Lake where Sammy impressed mamaw and papaw with his bike riding skillz.

Friday, we went to sports class, then had lunch in the park with Beth, Levi, and JJ. Afterwards, we toured Lake Oswego, grabbed some ice cream at the Tillamook Creamery, then headed back home to quickly change for the evening. Jason arranged for us to take a Dinner Cruise on the Portland Spirit. Sammy didn't have a nap that day and only had one minor melt-down before crashing on Jason's shoulder at 9PM.

Saturday was busy with a stop at the Willamette Falls, then on to Mt Hood to have lunch at the Timberline Lodge. Jason was a trooper as he drove there and back while most of us slept.
On Sunday, we headed to Sunrise Bagels for breakfast, then hit Forest Park so Sammy could ride his bike and we could look at houses. Our favorite was this beauty for the bargain price of 1.4M.

Potty Peculiars

2006-09-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

The daycare facility in Beaveton requires that 3 year olds are potty trained. This fact caused us to quickly step-up our potty-training efforts. Starting in mid-July, we put the potty in the living room and asked Sammy to use it every hour. When he did, we gave him stickers, hugs, kisses, and did a little happy potty dance. At the same time, we switched him over to big-boy underpants. When he first started using the potty, he wanted his pants completely off (which I found annoying but tried to keep my mouth shut) and he would sit so far back on the seat that he almost fell in. Whatever works though, right? Parenting is more about letting go than I ever, ever realized.
Within a week, he was using the potty by himself, pulling his pants off and on, and washing his hands. At school, he did a great job. He would sometimes wet the mat during nap time but hardly had any accidents during the day. From start to finish, he was potty trained in about a month.
That brings us to September. I went to San Jose for a business trip last week and on Monday (the day I left), Sammy peed his pants the entire day at school. He didn't tell his teachers he had to go nor would he go when prompted. I asked Jason if this could be because I was gone but Sammy didn't even realize I was gone yet because I left before he got up. Monday -- Wednesday brought the same series of events -- 4 sets of dirty clothes at the end of the day for daddy to clean up and get ready for the next day. I spent Friday with Sammy and on the way back home, he peed in his car seat and laughed about it. I sat him down for a serious talk as my hunch tells me that the kids at school are laughing and joking about the situation. After our talk, no more accidents have happened. I'm not saying my talk 'cured' him as school seems to be the true test. We'll see on Monday....
I'm happy to report that Monday and Tuesday were drop-off-drama-free and potty accident free. See what happens when mom comes back? Just kidding Jas.

One with nature

2006-09-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

We have a small balcony off our living room. I open the door so Sammy and Fresco can run in and out. I was making dinner (don't get excited, it was only corn dogs and peas) and I hear Sammy say, "I watered the trees". I go out onto the balcony to find Sammy, pants down, and looking over at the wet tree leaves. He was very proud of himself.

Samalito Rascalito

2006-09-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

Sammy favorite new books is this Skippy Jon Jones series by Judy Schachner. When we're reading to him, we always say the title and author and he's having a blast trying to pronounce Schachner which comes out, "snack-ner". We always have a good laugh about that.
The books are about this little Siamese kittenboy who has an over-active imagination and pretends to be a Chichuaha and transforms into a Spanish sword fighting superhero named Skippito.
Anyway, we started calling Sammy, 'Samalito Rascalito' which he finds hilarious.

Sammy's 3rd birthday (video)

2006-08-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

Sammy singing ABC's (3 yrs old)

2006-08-01T17:32:00.000-07:00

Sammy at 2.5 yrs, 'red light honey'

2006-03-01T17:34:00.000-08:00

Sammy at 2.5 yrs...pizza dough

2006-01-15T17:22:00.000-08:00

Sammy in Santa Cruz...at a restaurant where they give kids pizza dough to play with.

Video of Sammy at 26 mths, playing with Fresco & chatting on phone

2005-10-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

Hanging out with Sammy at 26 mths

Sammy at 2 yrs, messy bathtime

2005-08-02T17:35:00.000-07:00

Sammy at 2 yrs, singing down by the station

2005-08-01T17:34:00.000-07:00

Sammy at 2 yrs, drumming at Katie and Paul's house

2005-06-01T17:36:00.000-07:00

Sammy at 2.5 yrs, spelling his name (video)

2005-03-01T17:33:00.000-08:00