On our date night last weekend, we found a Christmas light display close to the house.  We decided to take the kids back this weekend to check it out!  It was in an historic building (a really old house!) up in the north part of town.  They had a big backyard full of lights and the house was all decorated as well.  There was also a gazebo out back that was closed in where they had hot chocolate and hot apple cider and... a HUGE train track with a village!  Cooper's favorite thing right now is Thomas and Friends so he was of course delighted when the train that flew past him was the bright red James from the show!  He talked about it for the rest of the night.  We are going to check out another light display later on this week before Christmas.


Ryan and I got to leave the kids AGAIN this week to go on a boat cruise down the river.  It was with my company but really I just went to see the all the lights!  The boats get all decorated and go up and down the river each night so our boat floated by them.  It was so cool to see them all and to see the whole Portland skyline at night.  What a cool trip!


This morning we got up and decided to make some new cookies that Ryan found.  Cooper has gotten really involved in helping us in the kitchen.  We noticed that when he helps us make our dinner, he ends up eating a whole lot more!  So, we all squeezed together in our tiny kitchen to make cookies and they turned out DELICIOUS!  If Santa is really lucky, there will be a couple left on Friday night that we can leave out for him.


In other news, Olivia has started eating/spitting out cereal.  She has also become quite adept at sucking on her big toe, or her entire foot depending on the angle.  Cooper has done a good job at finding all the Christmas presents in our room, whether they are wrapped or not.  The other day, he tried to convince our friend that there were 'presents in Momma and Dadda's room for you'.  What a little manipulator we have!!  Oh AND, I taught myself how to crochet some hats... and this is what I made!


Hope everybody has a wonderful Christmas week, I know we will!


~ Ryan & Ahna

This year, Ryan and I packed up the kids for the long trek to get our Christmas tree... and then an hour later we were home!  We still got to cut down our own tree, but it didn't take a three hour drive to Utah and a half a day walking through knee deep snow.  Don't get me wrong, that has it's perks... but this was SO GREAT!  Especially with two babies!  We went to a Christmas Tree farm and walked up and down rows of trees that were made just for the purpose of being put in your living room.  Oregon is the number two state in the country for christmas tree production (I'm sure that statistic is at least close to accurate!), so they definitely know how to make em' up here!  We spent the day decorating and listening to Christmas tunes.  We also tried, unsuccessfully, for the PERFECT picture for our holiday cards.  This proved to be fairly difficult so we called it a day and spent the rest of the night inside!

This weekend Ryan and I got to go on our first date since moving to Portland!  We had some friends come over and watch the kids and we went to a play.  It was fantastic and wonderful and so nice to get out of the house by ourselves.  We even spent a good portion of the night talking about things besides kids!

Olivia is getting so loud now that we have trouble having conversations when she is around.  When we put her on the floor, she rolls over almost immediately to her stomach, but then realizes she doesn't actually like it there and starts to whine.  She lifts her head and her feet (imagine the boat pose in yoga) and rocks from side to side.  It's quite a predicament for her as she obviously likes to roll over just because she can only it is just not the position she wants to be in long term! I will post some videos of her doing this soon.

We have talked to Santa about all of the necessities for this Christmas and while the magic hasn't faded, I understand a little bit more about the stresses of being one of Santa's elves.  As I type, Ryan is diligently working on some decals for a toy for Cooper.  I think maybe we'll look for things that are already assembled in the future... I mean, that exists right?!?!  Cooper was eating dinner last night and he looked up and said, 'Trick or Treat is all gone... now it's Happy Holidays!'  The best was the other night when our friends were over, he picked up his drink and said, 'Cheers! Happy Holidays!'  If only we had a video camera constantly going at our house, we'd edit the boring parts and just let people hear what he says!

~Ahna

What a week we had!  We won't be in AZ for Christmas this year so we had to make the most of our time while we were there for Turkey Day.  We left Portland in the snow and woke up to 75 degree weather in Phoenix the next day!  We drove to Tucson for the first part of our trip.  Our first night there was a special dinner with just the five brothers and their better halves.  We spent the whole night eating, drinking and enjoying ourselves; we even got a game in!  The picture above is the table that Emily decorated (my newest sister!), she did such a beautiful job!  Ryan has a great relationship with his brothers and it is always so awesome to watch them together and know that I get to be a part of their family forever.  Thanksgiving was wonderful at Gran's house as always.  We helped her set up and had the whole family over.  Then we got to spend some time at my sister in law's house with her parents.  We tend to overdo while we are in town, making the most of our time and trying to see as many people as possible.  Ryan even had the opportunity to go flying over Tucson with his friend Matt.  


We said our goodbyes and headed up to Phoenix for a second Thanksgiving and some time with my family.  We did the obligatory family picture, which is getting bigger every year!  This year we had a hard time fitting everybody in the photo!  We decorated Christmas cookies with Auntie and Uncs and had some great food at Mom and Dad's later that day.  Luckily Cooper got some much needed Brody time in.  Brody was battling a cold and we weren't sure if he would make it over, but Dad took one for the team and wore a mask for most of the day.  There was some McKiernan/Smith fun to be had and what is a holiday without that?!?!  We also got to see our friend Laura and her new baby girl, Jocelyn.  She is about seven weeks younger than Olivia.  I spent a lot of the Thanksgiving holiday remembering being around all these people when I was 12 and 14 and feeling like it was yesterday and now we are all married and having babies of our own.  


We were lucky to be able to take as much time as we did especially because we won't be down in AZ again for many months.  By the time we go back, Olivia may just be walking!  She's a really strong baby and is spending most of her time talking to us with shrieks and rolling around on the ground.  We have already gotten out of the stage where we can leave her on the couch to go get things done.  Within minutes, she is teetering on the edge and dangerously close to falling.  Lack of movement... it was fun while it lasted.


~Ahna   

Cooper loves to lay where 'baby sister' is.  I sent him out to the family room this morning while I went into the office and I heard him say 'good morning baby sister' and give her a kiss.  It's 
adorable.

~Ahna

We've got a little three-fer for you today.  This blog is about our weekend in Iowa to watch the Pretties get married, Halloween, and a lovely fall!  We flew to Chicago a mere two days after they got hit with the worst storm in 4 decades or something like that, then rented a car and drove a couple hours to Clinton, Iowa; hometown to Jill Patterson, nee Elsasser.  That was the setting for their wedding.  We call them the Pretties because they are just that, really ridiculously good looking.  We met Jill and Brandon in Vegas and became very close.  They moved away shortly after Cooper was born and we were so sad to see them go.  They are amazing people and a great couple.  Jill planned almost the whole wedding and it was beautiful.  We got to join them on the 'party bus' (I think this is a midwest tradition that should make its way into cities nationwide) which went to a few locations for pictures after the ceremony but before the reception.  Her dress was gorgeous and everyone kept saying she should be on the cover of a bridal magazine!     


We had tons of fun on our first weekend away from the kids.  While we were there, Auntie and Uncs came up to stay with Cooper and Olivia.  They got Cooper well prepared for Halloween by making cookies and teaching him to say things like 'trick or treat' and 'Happy Halloween'!  


We got home Sunday afternoon, just in time to carve pumpkins and get the kids ready for trick or treating.  Olivia sat this year out, she stayed home with Uncs to hand out candy while we went to a few houses on the block.  Cooper did awesome, saying 'trick or treat' at each house and then 'thank you' or 'Happy Halloween' after getting his candy.  We weren't sure what to expect for trick or treaters because our neighborhood down in Vegas didn't get too many kids (we were all the way at the end of a cul-de-sac full of houses that kept their lights off!).  I bought a 3 1/2 pound bag of candy assuming I'd take half of it to work the next day but we were ALL out by 8 o'clock!  We weren't even handing out that much to each kid!  By about 7, we were handing out no more than two pieces each.  Cooper was a lion for Halloween and Olivia was a monkey.  Cooper was a monkey for his first Halloween and seeing as how it was only worn for a few minutes, I thought it would be okay.  I won't always make Olivia wear what Cooper used to wear, I promise!  Although, the lion outfit was worn by Brody a couple years ago, so I'm sure I could get one more use out of it next year!  Truth be told we were originally going to have Cooper be a ghost, but he ended up not wanting to have a sheet over his head (shocker), so luckily I had the lion on standby.


Fall is in the air here in Portland, tons of leaves have changed color and the sun is making less of an appearance (though it does still come out at least once a day).  We have already made a few batches of pumpkin bread and cuddled up to more than one cozy fire.  Before we know it, another holiday season will have come and gone!  It has gotten crispy outside and colder, of course.  We spent the weekend enjoying the weather, checking out a new park, and changing our clocks back (Oh Arizona, you are so smart for not getting involved in that pesky daylight savings shenanigans... I envy you).  We took some pictures of the leaves and by we, I mean Ryan.  He takes some awesome pictures!


~Ahna        

~ Ryan & Ahna

Our long week came to an end Monday when we had to head back to Oregon.  For the first time ever though it was a bittersweet goodbye.  Whenever we lived in Vegas we would get sad for a whole day before leaving family because it was never really a place we wanted to be.  This time, leaving just felt different.  We were sad, so sad to say goodbye to the family, but we were really excited to get back 'home'.  For the first time since leaving our childhood homes, we feel comfortable calling somewhere else home.  We are forever indebted to both our families for being so supportive with our move an we only hope that Southwest will keep having phenomenal deals to get us back to Phoenix and Tucson for multiple visits each year!
~Ahna

~Ahna

~Ahna

~Ahna

~Ahna

~Ahna

Then we made dinner, followed by a dessert of strawberry smoothies!  Hopefully, we don't break out in hives.  Happy Father's Day!
~Ahna

It was a great weekend to be with family and friends but Ryan and I were both elated to land back in Portland where it was 68 degrees... I think we might be in our dream spot!  PS, for those who would like to visit... I suggest coming anytime between now and November, it's only going to be gorgeous!
~Ahna

This morning after breakfast, we packed up again and headed out to the Coast.  It's about an hour and a half trip to get to the beach and the drive out there is amazing.  We kept saying all the places it reminded us of (Ireland, Scotland, Greer AZ) and then got excited all over again about the fact that we live here now!  It was the first time we saw pine trees on the beach.  It was hard to believe that when looking straight ahead of you in the car, you saw green trees and rolling hills but then there was an ocean right out your window.  The Coast was beautiful, albeit misty.  We saw Haystack Rock, one of the largest coastal monoliths in the world.  Cooper was enjoying the sand everywhere, including in his mouth.  It was too cold to get in the water, but he definitely tried to break free from us a few times and get there.  He's getting mischievous as he ages.  We ate lunch at a brewery in Cannon Beach and then drove down a little further along the coast to Tillamook (you know... where they make the CHEESE!).  I thought for sure they would have tons of cows that they milk to get their cheese and ice cream, but it turns out they just have 1.7 millions gallons of milk brought in EVERYDAY to make their goods.  We had to sample the ice cream just to see if it was any better from the factory; it's delicious!  After that, we headed back to Portland on another gorgeous drive through the country.  We didn't take nearly enough pictures but we will definitely be going back.
~Ahna & Ryan

PS

"A Haiku by Ryan Ward"

Pretty Oregon
Where have you been all my life?
I love your greenness


--Bet you didn't see that little gem coming, did you?

Happy Memorial Day weekend everybody!!

~Ahna

Sunday was Mother's Day.  It started with some delicious crepes made by Ryan... then I got to open MY present!!!  Oh man, I got a game that I've been wanting for months now!  It's called Just Dance and it's for the Wii.  It's hilarious, or I should say I LOOK hilarious dancing to it.  I am 6 months pregnant, so I can imagine people that might catch a glimpse of a ginormous pregnant lady rocking out to the TV would think it's quite comical.  It was a great day and a fantastic weekend!

~Ahna

I know I'm not alone here when I say that my Dad is hands down the most amazing person I've ever known.  I got to spend the weekend with him and my Mom on a spontaneous visit.  You may or may not know he was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML).  He was even, for lack of a better term, adorable when he broke the news to me over the phone.  He said, 'well, it's not exactly good news.'  I laughed when I thought about the conversation later because I am entirely certain the news should have been laden with lots of profanity and expletives; not delivered in a calm and cool demeanor, but that's my Dad.

Over the years, Ryan and I have gotten to know my parents more as people and have come to cherish our time with them.  In making our decision to move to Portland, being further away from them was the hardest part.  Not everybody gets along with their family like we do and while we all have our weaknesses and idiosyncrasies, our strengths come together beautifully in a crisis.  My Dad is stuck in the hospital for a minimum of six weeks at this point, he's on week three.  My Aunt and Uncle have been there almost every other day and every single day on the weekends.  They've brought my brother and our nephew to come visit and driven countless miles back and forth, just to be with my Dad.  My Mom is inherently upbeat; she exudes positivity from every pore in her body.  She has been so strong and solid for him through this it's unbelievable.  She spends most all her days there and some of her nights, but it's not just because my Dad needs it, it's just where she wants to be.  My parents aren't the sort of people who are meant to be apart.  You look at them and think what a wonderful couple they are and then to watch them through this and actually see them grow stronger is amazing.  Each day we got to that hospital room, my Dad lit up to see my Mom come through the door, and while they have always been that way, it's still nice to see it after so many years.  He makes my Mom happy and I think that's actually all it takes to make him happy.  This weekend we were  talking about marriage and he said 'you have to choose your mate wisely'.  He told me when Ryan asked for my hand in marriage, he asked him why he thought we could make it work and Ryan said, 'I think I can always make her laugh'.  He told Ryan that was good because all he cared about was that I would be taken care of and that I would be happy.  My Dad is amazing for a plethora of reasons, not the least one being that he just wants to see his family happy.

I kept trying to prepare myself for this really sick person in a hospital gown with cords and needles and the like attached all over his body.  So walking down the hallway to his room, I was taking lots of deep breaths.  When I walked in the door, this is what I saw... He was dressed to the nines (as he always is) and he was just my Dad.  I didn't even pretend to shed a tear during the long hug I got from him.  We were able to walk down to the patio and have some coffee and talk about everything that was going on.  The only difference was that it wasn't our patio at home, he hasn't seen that patio for three weeks; but he will again soon.  The next day, my brother came up and we had a head shaving ceremony (you can see pictures at www.caringbridge.org/visit/michaelhmckiernan).  And wouldn't you know... my Dad looks G-O-O-D.  Of course he has a perfectly shaped head and no weird bumps or dents so it's as if he just decided to cut off his ponytail and go hairless for the summer heat.  It was not as if he was losing his hair already due to chemo.  He actually looks perfectly healthy.  It doesn't make sense that he's sick on the inside because he's SO not on the outside.  He's so strong for me and for my Mom, so when something little happens; a bloody nose, or putting on a mask to leave the room, it takes me by surprise because it's only then that I remember he can't just escape the walls of this hospital whenever he wants to.  I met lots of his nurses and doctors while I was there and many of them hugged me as if they knew me.  Apparently my Dad talks about me once in awhile... hopefully, they all know that I am only the person I am today because of my parents.


My Dad is not like anyone I've ever known.  He's strong and compassionate and really intelligent (although I think it took years of convincing from my Mom for him to believe that) and he's also really good looking!  While you could use those words to explain a lot of people, I think most people would understand that I'm ONLY using those words because the real words to describe my Dad don't exist; you can't put it into words.  I sat in that hospital room for three days and I can't even count the amount of times I heard the words 'lucky' and 'grateful'.  To think we were talking about him having leukemia is odd.  We were 'lucky' that they seemed to have caught it so early and we are 'grateful' that he happened to be in such good shape when it happened so he can be stronger to fight it.  In reality, I don't feel 'lucky' at all.  I'm glad I still have my Dad, but not glad he's in the situation he's in.  Being lucky would have meant NO ONE would ever have to encounter this.  And yet, there we all were, together, telling stories and laughing and singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' to Cooper before bed.


We spent my last night there with my Aunt and Uncle having a candlelit dinner and talking about how nice it was to be together.  It will be a long road to recovery but Dad is only 62, so he has a whole bunch of years to spend with my family and his Grandbabies.  And yes, we are thankful.  We are thankful to have the support of our immediate family and the thoughts and hope of our extended family all over the country and world.  And although I would like to be spending my next trip to Phoenix with my parents at my childhood home, I'm open to spending it anywhere as long as we are all together.  Saying goodbye this morning was much different and a whole lot harder than saying hello, so hopefully we'll be saying 'hello' again soon.  I love you Dad and can't wait to hug you again.


~Ahna

 

I couldn't help myself.  Ryan and I aren't entirely certain where Cooper's love for Motrin came about.  Yes, we give him Motrin, not like it's candy but just when he's clearly running a high fever.  We noticed it seemed to work a bit better than Tylenol and it seems to work quite well when he's teething.  So, a few months ago, we noticed he actually ASKED for Motrin from time to time.  Because it's ridiculously expensive, I find myself using my finger to get the last droplets out of the measuring cup and letting Cooper lick my finger (this non-waste thing is all thanks to my mother).  Cooper is clearly popping out a tooth again soon and we know this because of A) his fever and B) how he says 'ow' when we hit a certain spot while brushing his teeth... it turns out it's NOT rocket science.  Anyway, tonight, I gave him some Motrin before bed so he could possibly sleep without the fever and this is what I caught him doing...

PS, I don't know why we can't put the video in the blog anymore... tears.

~Ahna

Yesterday we went on a trip just outside of Portland.  It took us along the river between Oregon and Washington and deposited us in a little town called Hood River.  Along the way we saw a whole slew of waterfalls.  They were amazing.  There was one in particular we were out to see called Multnomah Falls.  It was gorgeous.  We taught Cooper to say 'waterfall' that morning so for most of the trip, that's what he was saying, 'waterfall, waterfall, waterfall'!  I think he missed what it actually meant because when we got to the falls, he just kept screaming 'WATER' with such delight.  My face hurt from smiling because I was watching him smile!  We also stopped at one called Latourell Falls which was a great pre-cursor to Multnomah.  On the way to the town of Hood River, there is a dam where the salmon swim up ladders and they have built an underground area where you can go watch them get through!  This was another favorite activity for Cooper for the day.  We ate at a brewery for lunch where we could look out over the river you see above.  The drive back took us around Mt. Hood which is where Ryan and I will go snowboarding next season, now if we could just find some free babysitting... hmmm...

It was an awesome day trip, one we will definitely take again.  For almost the whole ride, Ryan and I just kept saying over and over, 'I can't believe we live here now!'

~Ahna

Since our Portland arrival, I have had the opportunity to see what a stay-at-home parent has to go through on a regular basis.  For the most part it is pretty tolerable but Cooper is definitely changing as he comes to the end of his second year.  When we were in Vegas, I had no problem leaving him alone in the room next to me or two rooms away, and Cooper never really got into any real trouble.  Now, however, he has decided to become much more mischievous.  Just this morning, for example, I was in the garage for a few minutes and came inside to find Cooper enjoying a package of Juicy Fruit gum.  He was starting on piece number two when I got to him.  Then, not an hour later, he was left alone for about five minutes and decided to re-purpose our couch cushion as an art easel.  Once he realized how upset it made me, he was very sad and apologetic - at least that's what I am telling myself for now...  Cooper's little sister has no idea how fortunate she is for coming along when we THOUGHT children were perfect little angels.


I was fortunate enough to be able to elicit an apology and video tape it - for everyone's viewing pleasure.

-Ryan   

We got to our hotel around midnight on the 1st and spent the next few days waiting.  Our animals got to the house before we did and our things were scheduled to arrive on Saturday morning.  It was touch and go for a bit, but our movers showed up early Saturday and were gone by mid morning.  We spent the next two days trying to figure out how to situate all of our boxes!  The house we moved into has the same number of rooms but much less storage space.  I had to go to work but Ryan spent the whole week getting the house the way we want it and now it really looks good!  I think we will thoroughly enjoy our year here.  

This weekend we got to go out exploring.  We took Cooper to the zoo yesterday so he could see his favorite thing... animals!  We got to see hippos and rhinos and cows and lions and tigers and bears... OH MY!  Today was fantastic though!  We drove about 40 minutes south of Portland to a place called Woodshoe Tulip Farm for their annual Tulip Festival!!  It was amazing!  40 ACRES of tulips, so many different colors and types, you could just walk up and down rows of them!  Cooper also got to see tractors and eat some Elephant Ears (or as we know it in the Southwest, Indian Fry Bread).

We are excited for what next weekend has to bring!

~Ahna & Ryan