Breakfast with Toby

I've been at work for 30 minutes and heard the word "sin" 173 times. Toby can only pronounce the last syllable of my name. Tragic, I know.

We're sitting at the breakfast table and Toby feels the need to call my name over and over and over and over and...well, you get the point.

I have no idea what he wants. All he says is "Sin? Sin? Sin? Sin? Sin?"

Then I look at him and say, "Yes, Toby? What do you need?"

He says, "A-dunnnn!" (All done!) and throws his hands up in the air like his favorite football team has just scored a touchdown.

He's not 'all done.' He hasn't eaten anything yet.

So I tell him, "Toby, you're not all done. You haven't eaten anything yet."

He proceeds to make horse noises and scrunch his nose: "Heeeee-haaaaaw! Heeeee-haaaaaaw!"

I say, "Toby, eat. You're going to be hungry when we're playing today."

"Peeeeeeeeeeeeas, Sin! A-dunnnnn! Peeeeeeeeeeeeease!" he whines.

I duck my head behind the laptop screen and giggle. He knows he's cute. "You're not getting down until you eat 3 pieces of banana," I tell him.

"Otay!" he exclaims. He puts one slice in his mouth, pushes the bowl away, and announces, "A-dunnnn! Dowwwwwn! Tank ou (thank you), Sin!"

I'm not sure why he's thanking me...but I'm considering taking him out of his booster seat and giving up on food until lunch time.

Then I sneeze.

And Toby starts "fake sneezing" (his newest thing lately). "Ah-shoo! Ah-shoo! AHHHHHH-SHOOO!"

And now, of course, he's eating. And saying "Sin? Sin? Sin? Sin? Sin?" between every bite.

He hears something over by the laundry room, stops eating, and turns his head. "Sin?"

"Yes, Toby?" I answer.

"Sat, Sin? Saaat? (What's that, Allison? What's that?) Shhhhhh!" he proclaims as he raises his eyebrows.

We listen.

"I think something fell in the laundry room," I tell him.

"Awww main! Awww MAIN! (Ah, man!)" he replies.

Oh my goodness. I've been waiting for the day when Toby would start talking and expressing himself...and now that it's here, I don't know how I lived without his crazy personality and cute little voice.

I could do without having my name called 47 times in a row, though :)

Oh, and by the way, Toby just finished every bite of banana and cheerio in his bowl. Somehow I won that battle...

Our First Wedding Anniversary

Exactly one year ago today, I married you - the love of my life.

We promised to put God first in our lives, to be honest, faithful, and loving to each other, and to work through hard times together - even when we didn't know how or want to.

The past year has been a whirlwind, My Love. I can't believe twelve months have already passed since I saw you at the end of that aisle. I couldn't wait to get to you. I cried tears of joy, anticipation, and love as I walked closer and closer. All I needed was to be next to you.

As we stood before God, our family, and our friends, I said my vows:

I, Allison, take you, Aaron, to be my husband and today I choose you above all others. I promise to honor, respect, and encourage you. With Christ's leading, I will strive to fulfill my role as your helpmate. For as Christ is Head of His Church, so is the husband head of his wife. Aaron, I submit myself to you and will follow you as God leads. I promise to laugh with you in good times, cry with you in sorrow, and encourage you in times of strife. I covenant with you and with God to uphold this vow every day of my life, regardless of the circumstances.

Then you said yours:

I love you, Allison, and today is the day that I tell the world that I choose you above all others. As Christ is to His body, the Church, so I desire to be to you - a loving, faithful husband. As Jesus gave Himself up for His church, so I will serve you, putting your needs and desires above my own. Today, I covenant with God and with you to take you as my wife. I will do my best to number my priorities with Jesus Christ first, you second, our children third, and our ministry fourth. I promise to love you with His love, to provide for your needs through His enablement, and to lead you as He leads me as long as He gives us life together, regardless of the circumstances.

Then we exchanged our beautiful wedding rings. I look at them today and see scuffs and scratches on the gold.

Don't worry, Love. Scratches build character. The scuffs are symbolic of our love. We're not perfect, but we're learning more about God and life together everyday. I'm sure there will be many more scuffs and scratches in the future. As long as the Lord is leading us, I say "bring 'em on."

Here's to a hundred more anniversaries with you, My Darling. There are no words to express what you mean to me...

Ba-Ba-Ba-Chicken

This story from Angie Smith's blog made me laugh out loud when I read it earlier this week. She's such a wonderful writer...

The "ba-ba-ba-chicken" story reminded me of Sam.

Enjoy!

School, Storytime, and SLEEP

Today was Sam's first day in his new 4-year-old preschool class! He says he had SO MUCH FUN! I think this is going to be a great year for him :)

While Sam was in school this morning, Toby and I went to Picnic Storytime at ImaginOn. Since the school year has already begun, there were only 6 children in storytime as opposed to 46. It was so nice to be able to actually hear the stories and songs!

For lunch at Picnic Storytime, I packed a normal lunch for Toby (bologna sandwich, carrots, cheese, and milk) and hummus, carrots, and celery for myself to eat. I wanted to know what Toby thought of the hummus, so I dipped one of my celery sticks in it and gave it to him to eat. Hummus and celery quickly became the only foods Toby wanted. Who would have thought?! I love that Toby likes to try new things.

I got 11 hours of pure, silent, uninterrupted sleep last night! I don't think I got that much sleep in 2 nights on vacation...

Wrap It Up

Now I understand exactly why overnight airplane travels are called red-eye flights. Jeez. I look like I haven't slept in 3 days.

Don't get me wrong - I'm glad we took a late flight out so we could spend more time in Oregon, but I can't wait to crawl into bed as soon as I get home from work today.

Here's the final wrap-up of our trip:

• We drove a total of 1,182 miles around Oregon in the Toyota Yaris in 10 days.
• Favorite quote of the week: "You can sleep when you die." -- Sean Lyon
• Favorite moment of the trip: Making it to the top of Mt. Thielsen
• Worst moment(s) of the trip: Aaron and the ducks :) Enough said...
• Best coffee of the week: McMenamins Kennedy School
• Most beautiful scenic drive: the Oregon Coast
• Best restaurant: The Historic Drift Inn in Yachats
• Official album of our Oregon vacation (according to me and Sean, anyway): Give Yourself Away by Robbie Seay
• Most inventive moment: Realizing that we forgot to put sunscreen on before our hike up Mt. Thielsen and using SPF 15 Chapstick all over our faces instead (yes, it works!)
• Most forgetful moment: Aaron leaving all of my favorite clean, white laundry on top of the dresser in Seaside
• Favorite photos: ALL OF THEM! (Thanks again, Sean!)

And so our travels come to an end...until next time...

Leavin' On A Jet Plane...

The guys and I are sitting at McMenamin's for one last Oregon meal (and coffee!).

We're taking a red-eye flight from Portland to San Francisco to Charlotte tonight. Our estimated time of arrival in Charlotte is 6:30 tomorrow morning.

This should be fun...

We'll Be Back

Our Oregon adventure ends today. I'm still not ready to go home. 

Here are a few more of my favorite photos from the past week-and-a-half. I wish I had the words to explain how incredible our trip was...but I don't. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

8-mile hike in Seaside

Our traditional group photo (Seaside hike)

Aaron jumping a fence on our drive along the coast

Watching the waves crash at Heceta Head Lighthouse

Dinner at the lighthouse :)

I love this photo of Sean

Enjoying the sunset

One of my favorite moments in the past 10 days

Mt. Thielsen

Our steep trek to the top

Somehow, Sean managed to capture every feeling I had at the top of Mt. Thielsen in this one photo... 

Check out the rest of our vacation photos at Sean's SmugMug site. Check out his snazzy website to find out how to hire him.

Sean - Thanks for being our tour guide, photographer, coffee & beer connoisseur, coach, and leader on this amazing trip. Most of all, thanks for having the patience of a saint, being an incredible friend, helping us make memories that will last a lifetime, and taking time away from your precious family to show us around the beautiful state of Oregon. YOU ROCK.

Aaron - We've made so many memories to tell our children about someday! It's hard to believe that in 6 days, we'll celebrate a year of being husband and wife! I fall more in love with you each day and I'm so thankful for you. This trip with you has been a fairy tale...

Adios, Oregon. Your beauty and adventures won't soon be forgotten. We'll be back.