family reunion

just got back from a whirlwind family reunion in yellowstone. after coming home from san diego and taking one day to detox, jack and i hopped in my parents' suburban and drove 2,500 miles.

my grandpa [who is now 91 years old] was a ranger in yellowstone for a few summers during the 60s. my dad and his whole family would move up there for three months each year. this year, for our once-per-decade family reunion, everyone coverged in montana to check out grandpa's old digs.

i had never been to yellowstone before and it was seriously gorgeous.

pretty sure poor jack hates his car seat by now. the poor guy was trapped in it practically all week, despite my wholehearted attempts to give him as much play time as possible. he is seriously a champ. jack observed much of yellowstone like this:

here's my dad in front of the tiny cabin they lived in when he was just a little kid:

we all loved wearing matching shirts. obviously.

we had lunch in mammoth hot springs, near grandpa's cabin, and a family of elk came to join us! they were pretty much the only creatures we saw during the whole trip, and i was pretty excited about it. apparently i need to get out of the city a little more.

overall it was really fun [despite some requisite family drama, of course]. we had 60 long lost family members from all over the country, many of whom i hadn't seen since our last payzant family reunion in 2002. the only people we were missing were my brother grant [on a mission in mexico] and b [who couldn't get off work seeing as how he just started his new job a few weeks ago].

the best part was watching all the GREAT grandkids play together. at our last reunion, it was just me and all my cousins/siblings. now, most of us are married with kids and i loved watching the next generation interact with each other.

the little kids loved playing with jack -- even accommodated his need for checking out strangers' belly buttons -- and these little boys followed him around, collecting rocks and pine cones for him to inspect and sharing their frisbees. it was adorable.

what would a good outdoor trip be without some crazy mosquito bites? per my usual circumstance, i wound up with 6 bug bites -- some of which swelled to ridiculous proportions.

i especially loved being with my sister and my parents. sad that seattle is so far away because we won't be seeing any of them again for a while.

jack and i fly home tomorrow after a very long 12 days away. i can't wait to see b and sleep in my own bed -- but it's been a great trip!

blogher11

just got done with a whirlwind three days in san diego for blogher11. that's a blogging conference i've wanted to attend for years, and this year i finally got to go thanks to a corporate sponsor and a freelancer schedule.

i'm still trying to process my thoughts on the whole thing, but let's just say it was amazing. i was MADE for this conference, both as a blogger [come on, read the stationery place!] and as a communications professional -- it was so refreshing to be around people who "get" my industry. from meeting face to face with friends (whom i'd only known online, beforehand) to networking to reconnecting with old friends to learning more about the social media space to feeling inspired and enriched, i got it all.

it was a bit overwhelming (at 3,000+ attendees, this is by far the biggest blog conference around) but blogher delivered everything i was hoping for and more. like this.

a. me and gretchen rubin [go read her book!!] -- who was super gracious and nice -- in the expo hall

b. rooftop bar at the hotel solamar

c. amazing cake at the hostess with the mostess party

d. giuliana rancic just hanging out, no big deal

and speaking of pseudo celebrities, i walked past this blogger in the hotel lobby and did a major double take. i literally changed direction, ran right up to her and gushed my adoration all over the place like an idiot. she was super nice and even asked for my business card [she said: "oh, cool! i love stationery!" and then i died.] and i said hi to nella and that was it. eep.

[i'm a dork.]

and where was jack during all this? my awesome mom came down to sd for the weekend to babysit, so i could soak up all the blogging goodness. they had a blast together and visited me during lunch.

we miss b of course, who couldn't get away seeing as how he barely started his new job. but if we have to be somewhere, california is a great place to be. especially when it's full of bloggers.

a tip on diapering

soooo here's a good one for ya.

monday night, we put jack to bed wearing just a t shirt and diaper because it was hot and we don't have a/c in seattle since the temperature never gets above 80. we could hear him talking to himself and playing in his crib, but he wasn't crying so we left him there. my rule is, if he's not crying, don't bug him just let him go to sleep when he wants to.

so, left him we did. but the weird thing was, he babbled in there for almost two hours. hmmmm. normally he goes to sleep pretty quick, so that was different. i even went for a run and came back and he was still talking. he sounded so happy and playful in there, though.

woke up the next morning and went in to get him and what did i find? the result of all that happy playtime.

jack had taken off his diaper, pooped in the crib, thrown it overboard onto the carpet and rug. i'm pretty sure he might have eaten some judging by the poop on his face. it was in his hair, on his hands and feet, on his legs and rubbed all over the railings. he slept all night in that stuff!!! i took pictures (for posterity, of course) but you should thank me because i will refrain from sharing them here.

if you know ANYTHING about you me you know that i am completely averse to gross stuff, so this just about sent me over the edge. i freaked. bath and disinfecting for j, bleach-cleaning of his entire crib, oxy cleaning of the carpet, immediate hot laundry for the sheets/bumpers/mattress cover.

not the most fun way to start your day. b, of course, thought it was no big deal. to quote him: "all kids do this kind of stuff." uhhhh...pretty sure that's not true, but if it is we're never having another kid.

anyway. moral of the story: always ALWAYS make your kid wear pants (or shorts, or a buttoned onesie) to bed. you never know what adventure they will discover. and i guess i've officially been inducted into mommyhood. like my own mom said -- after this, cleaning up barf will be a breeze.

one cool hat

jack hates hats. if i put anything on his head, he yanks it off after five seconds. [this is really sad b/c he looks adorable in hats.] but yesterday b wore a new hat all day [one of his birthday presents...he turned 29 on thursday if you didn't know] and when he took it off in the afternoon, jack was ALL over it. kept trying to put on the hat, wouldn't move till he had it, then took off like a shot crawling around the room when he knew it was on his head.

i mean, seriously? this kid is the cutest.

in other news, jack is taking his 10th flight this week. i need some fresh ideas for in-flight entertainment [kind of dreading it since he's so mobile now] and will be hitting up target's dollar section this week for ammo. travel suggestions are welcome!

<< rewind: see ya, utah

now that we've been in seattle for officially a month, i figured i better recap some of our last utah days before they're lost to the annals of history.

even though our utah apartment was totally gross, i kind of miss it. jackal hit a lot of milestones in that place, and it was our home for two whole years (minus that random summer internship thing). plus it had swings right outside. we miss you, swings!

and there was a giant field next to the swings. we liked to hang out there on sunny mornings, and seeing these pictures is like a little time warp flashback. jack was happy, i was happy, the grass was gorgeous and green. it was a perfect summer morning.

and we had the BEST neighbors on the planet. leandra and i worked together at american crafts, and she & her little fam moved in right next door while we were in colorado. i looooved having her right next door -- i could run over to tell her whatever popped into my head, jack & sophie could play together to their hearts' content, and we always had buddies for random saturday lunches or swing dates. WE MISS YOU :(

obviously the babies are bff. they really do love each other, you just can't tell.

we got a new couch, finally. it came home to us three days before we packed it up and shipped it to washington. just in time.

this is the living hell we survived in for three days:

then, like i didn't have enough going on, the night before we flew to seattle i spoke at a utah blogging summit. my session was about PR 101 for bloggers...thrilling, i know. [also, most of the tweets about my presentation were about the gold leaf necklace i was wearing, rather than my content, so not sure if that's a win or a lose.] here's me being super serious.

b and jack picked me up from the summit and we spent the night at a hotel in provo since all of our stuff was on a truck somewhere. woke up the next morning, had breakfast [fyi, marriott breakfast buffets are all i craved while i was pregnant, and they are still sooo good], said goodbye to a few final friends, passed our cleaning check with our landlord, picked up some cafe rio and headed for the airport. bye, utah!

21 hours in vegas

i spent most of yesterday in las vegas for a client photo shoot. when you add in travel time, i was gone for just over 24 hours -- but it was the first 24 hours i've ever been away from the jackal.

in the planning phases, this was fine. it seemed like a perfect set up: my mom has been in town all week to keep me and jack company while b was at a conference, so she knew our schedule and jack had tooootally warmed up to her. plus he could stay in his own home. i'd leave after he went to bed one night and get home after he went to sleep the next night. piece of cake.

until the day of, of course. i started freaking out, imagining all sorts of horrible things that might happen to him or me or all of us while we were apart. but i had a flight to catch and i knew he was in good hands, so i left for the airport. [i was already emo, obviously, and then the night got even worse when i went through security and they made me throw away the jars of washington wildflower honey that i was bringing as gifts -- honey is a liquid?!? -- i would be lying if i said i didn't shed a few hormonal tears right there in the carry-on line. stupid terrorists ruining my life.]

ironically i spent both flights sitting next to tween girls traveling alone for the first time ever. they were cute and we became friends. shared starbursts and pretzels and did sudoku together. practically a slumber party at 10,000 feet.

the shoot went well, all things considered, and before i knew it i was going BACK to the airport. and you know the weird thing? i missed that boy a tonnn every time i thought of him...but for a few minutes throughout the day i almost forgot i was a mama. it's like i time traveled back to my old pre-kid life where i could do whatever i wanted at any time and not be covered in juice or yogurt. pretty fun for just a day.

i was SO excited to come home and see my boy and my mom. jack was happy to see me as usual but didn't act like anything out of the ordinary had happened -- guess that's a testament to my mom's good babysitting skills. then, six hours after i got home, we left for the airport AGAIN but this time to drop off my sidekick-mom who has been here for almost two weeks. between the business trip and a departing mom and a traveling husband and a whiny baby [teething?] ... let's just say i'm self medicating tonight with unlimited rice pudding, yoga and my google reader. what a week!

the birthdays!

our joint birthday this year was FANTASTIC! much better than last year, seeing as how i wasn't in labor this time around.

birthday twins!

we woke up early, opened presents, ate chocolate chip scones [what i was SUPPOSED to eat for birthday breakfast last year] and got ready for the day.

our day involved plenty of balloons and streamers, naturally.

then i headed out to seattle to take a cooking class at diane's market kitchen. this place was fantastic! i had read nothing but raving reviews online, and i turned out to be the only student that day -- so i basically got a private cooking lesson.

the kitchen is in a cute little alley just a block from the pier -- an intimate setting and to-die-for kitchen. diane is a fantastic teacher -- she's a regular at pike place, so she knows a TON about all the shops, seasonal foods, local farms, etc. -- and i'm already planning my next class. we went over soups & salads and i loved every second.

my mom was watching jack, and encouraged me to stay out as long as i wanted. so i stopped by bellevue square, my closest mall, to get my new watch sized -- and ended up shopping for a few hours. i had forgotten how GLORIOUS shopping by myself can be; it was blissful.

then it was home to prepare dinner -- our friends the gunters [in town for an internship] came over for dinner and the monumental cupcake eating. obviously, it was a success.

this is probably one of my favorite pictures ever of jackal. it was a fabulous day all around, made even better by the fact that i now share the day with my little sidekick. hooray for double birthdays!