Happy Birthday Baby! The Big Wah-Uhn! (Translation: One)

There is a gap between the fireplace and the DVD bookcase; it is Aslynn's nest (she takes after her mother). She backs in - because it is too small and narrow to actually turn around in - and then barricades herself in with toys and such. Photo evidence below.

Aslynn's January 19th birthday begins the Mecham household's string of birthdays - Bre: February, Luke: March and I have decided that our next baby should be born in April just to keep the birthday-line going (don't worry, I'm not holding my breath).

On a side note, I am very upset because the super-amazing "Happy Birthday" singing video will not load because it is one MG too big for blogger. GAH!

*Aslynn in her cool carseat - we have had it for months, but she wasn't allowed to use it until she turned a year. She likes sitting it and talking and talking and talking and talking. Did I mention that she talks a lot when she sits in this carseat?*

Some might consider me a lame-o mother because I didn't plan some big party for Aslynn's first birthday. You know what I say to that?! Less stress, less expense, less clean-up; the kid isn't going to remember it anyway.

We drove to Bend to be with my family for Z's birthday. It was fun! We made cupcakes and I topped with with lots of frosting because frosting, I have been told, is the best part.

We also figured that mashed cake and frosting wash off a naked baby easier than out of clothes.

*Aslynn, how old are you?*

*Getting a bath in the sink.*

After her bath, she got some nifty presents. From great-grandma Shirley her present involved Disney princesses and Tinkerbell.

*Very excited about new shoes from grandma Sherry (and grandpa Alan, I am sure) and aunt Missy.*

When we got back to Portland we went to Cold Stone. We signed Aslynn up for their Birthday Club right after she was born. Luke and I are also members.

Free ice cream is just another reason to keep the birthday-line going with the next kiddo; months of guilt free ice cream (because I have told myself that if it is free, it is also calorie free. You would be wise to accept my outlook and adopt it into your own belief system).

Aslynn LOVED it - we hadn't really given her ice cream before. She had strawberry mixed with sweet cream with rainbow sprinkles.

It was a GREAT first birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our baby girl! We LOVE you SO much!

Life is Short...

I write too much when I blog. I apologize. I will try to keep my paragraph's shorter, more interesting and packed with information. ...yeah.

Random pictures of Aslynn from the last couple of months - in no paticular order.

*This dress used to be mine (Bre's).*

*Tell us how you really feel about the dress, Z.*

*Mom wasn't watching her carefully enough. She face-planted on the arm of the couch and got a nice fat lip.*

*Our favorite dessert - Nilla's and a puddding/cream cheese/whipped cream mixture.*

*Two cuties.*

*Photoshoot on mom's lap.*

*"Aslynn say: GASP!" and then she gasps for you - see the open mouth?*

*Wearing the outfit Grandma Goodie got for her. It is still a little big. The pants won't stay up - a lack of hips is something Z inherited from her mother.*

*EasyMac is her new favorite lunch. If there is a package out where she can get it and someone says the word "lunch" she will get the package and bring it to you. She's a smarty pants.*

I Forgot...

Luke reminded me that in my last post I didn't mention that it took Luke and my brother, Alex, 9 1/2 hours (usually only takes 3) to get from Bend to our apartment in Portland. Why? Because Portland got snow. People from Portland can't drive in the snow. At all.

If you want to laugh a little, youtube "portland drivers in the snow." The top video might be from a couple of years ago, but you'll get the idea. There are lot of videos to choose from and mock - especially if your are from someplace where is it normal to drive in the snow.

Luke and Alex spent most of their time on the I-5 going 5 m.p.h. because people were scared and a lot of them were just abandoning their cars in the middle of the road - yes, even the third lane of the freeway.

The next morning when Luke and I took Z to a doctor's appointment there were still TONS of cars abandoned on the roads by our apartment.

Silly Portland drivers.

I am sorry I didn't get pictures of it. I don't think that you will be able to understand the halarity of the situation without them.

But it was pretty funny.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy-Jog

It was a big hullabaloo trying to get home to Portland. Our flight was supposed to leave Las Vegas at 7 A.M. but it was delayed due to freezing fog and low visibility in Redmond. We didn't leave Vegas until 9:30 A.M.

Z did all right on that flight, but airplanes aren't he favorite mode of transportation.

We tried to land in Redmond twice (once coming within 200 feet of the ground) but couldn't because the pilot couldn't see the runway. They diverted us to Portland and told us that we could be there a couple of hours or even overnight. Then they kicked us off the plane to wait.

*Keeping busy in the Portland airport.*

Luke and I decided that since WE LIVE IN PORTLAND that Z and I (Z was DONE being on an airplane or anything else that matter) would find a ride back to our apartment. Luke needed to fly back to Redmond because we had checked a bag and Aslynn's car seat. We also had left our car at my parent's house in Bend.

I called some friends (much thanks to ye!) to come and get me and the kiddo and Luke got back on the plane and took off for Redmond.

He made it to Redmond and then to Bend BEFORE I made home. AND I WAS IN PORTLAND!

That was our coming home adventure and I never want to do it again. The End.

Get ready for a story! (I went into a lot of detail, you don't have to read it all. This is more for my memory later on. This blog = my journal.)

On the 30th, my family came up for their Christmas "experiences" trip.

*Aslynn got more Christmas presents!*

We had lots of things planned: OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), Blazer's game, TWO Powell's Bookstores, the traditional New Year's Day dinner of Prime Rib and Shrimp Scampi, IKEA, the mall, the Rose Bowl, and going to see Avatar.

*This is our schedule. Notice the arrows as things got moved to different days?*

We went to IKEA and OMSI on the 31st. We had lots of fun!

My sister Melissa, Luke, Z and I were the only ones who had been to IKEA and we love it. The rest of my family seemed to think that it was pretty cool too.

We went to OMSI and explored all the neato-ba-sneato things there.

*Aslynn liked playing with the color disks. She doesn't have pants on because she pooped all over them.*

*Luke, Melissa and I built and arch out of foam blocks.*

The night of the 31st, it hit: the stomach flu - with all the bells and whistles of being sick!

Sidenote: We think that Z had it and then gave it to us because she hadn't been feeling her best for a few days. For everyone else, the virus ran its course in about 24 hours, it didn't for Aslynn; she was feeling yucky for a week or so.

*Z is out of it. Grandma doesn't want her picture taken - but she has to be in the pciture to show how much she took care of the baby!*

Luke was the first adult flu casuality, then Melissa and then me - all in one night.

Our little apartment was packed with seven BIG bodies and one LITTLE body. We had one bathroom. Sounds like fun, yeah? The apartment looked like a morgue - bodies lying everywhere.

the next day, Luke, my mom, and the boys went to Powell's while my dad watched the football game at Matt and Sarah's.

Luke was still pretty sick so he just sat while the boys looked for books. My mom got sick in Powell's (don't worry, she made it to the bathroom!).

Mom came home, the boys went to Avatar.

We put off dinner because four people wouldn't want to eat.

My brothers got sick the night of the 1st. Still, Alex went to the big Powell's with my mom and a Blazer game with my dad.

Dinner got put off until Sunday the 3rd.

We all (except for Z) were feeling better and were able to enjoy dinner (finally!) on the 3rd. Then my family went home.

Doesn't that sound like the BEST visit ever?! NOT!

Despite the fact that everyone (but my dad) got sick, I still think that we had fun!

Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas!

We got up around 6:15ish on Christmas morning.

We opened our stockings first.

*That GINORMOUS stocking is Kim's from her husband Drew. He likes to spoil her. The green writing on the stocking says "My Perfect 1"*

Aslynn's favorite part of her stocking was the mini M&M's. She loves them. We want to make them last for a while so we've only been giving her a few at a time. Still, she knows what mini M&M's shaking in the container sounds like, and when she hears it, she comes a-runnin'! She is so cute when she beggs "please" and "more," it is hard to turn her down. Then when you don't give her anymore she cries big crocodile-tears; then I say, "Oh, you're so cute! Let me love on you!" and sometimes she lets me and other times she's too mad to allow such affection.

In Luke's family each person draws a name and gets a present for the person whose name they drew (saves money this way, see?). Luke drew his sister Stefanie and I drew his sister Barbie. We decided to make our gifts this year, and since we worked hard on them, I am going to brag a little. Sorry!

Luke learned to crochet on his mission. Right when he got back from his mission he said something about making a blanket to Stefanie. They even went out and bought a pound of hot pink yarn to start it, but it never happened. Well, we were unpacking some boxes a few months back and Luke found the hot pink yarn and decided to make that blanket he promised his sister all those years ago. And crochet a blanket he did! It ended up being bigger than he anticipated. That's okay, in my opinion; bigger blankets are always better.


Stefanie seemed to like it. Luke's brothers gave him a hard time about knowing how to crochet, but secretly, I think they were all jealous that they didn't get a spiffy-cool, HUGE, homemade with LOVE blanket.

For Barbie, I decoupaged a wooden picture frame and then put a cork-board into the frame. It took a lot of magazine pictures and words but I had a lot of fun making it. Barbie seemed to like it too.

Aslynn had a great Christmas too. She scored big-time in the present category! From her aunt Michelle and uncle Jared she got a tea pot that teaches her numbers, shapes and MANNERS (all in an adorable British accent). She also recieved a princess tent from her Grandpa Arvel (and Grandma Goodie too, but Grandpa was excited about it the most). It is now up in our living room with a box inside of it; as far as Z is concerned it doesn't get much better than a personal hide-out with a box to sit in.


Z was the envy of her aunt Michelle (for a while, before her aunt opened up her own) when she opened up a Little People Nativity set from her aunt Kim and uncle Drew. Apparently this Nativity is the Holy Grail of all Nativities and Little People for that matter.


Among other things from all the people who love her (and she got a lot more, I just don't think you want to read about each and every single one - though she loves them all), she also got a new Cabbage Patch doll (from Grandma and Grandpa Andreasen) - which means she now has two. She carts them both around the house. One under each arm, taking turns kissing each one. Luke and I are the offical babysitters. If she decides that we need to hold one of her babies, Z expects us to keep them nicely on our laps.


I bought her new pajamas just for Christmas. She's pretty much rocked 'em! You ain't never saw such a cute walkin' Dr. Suess character!

Luke, Breanna and Aslynn say:

"THANK YOU everyone for all the wonderful Christmas presents!"

*Luke got me a beautiful, heavy, cast iron, enameled cooking pot. He left it in Oregon because it was too much to pack so he came up with another idea that would show me what it was and how much it weighed, without it being the actual item. He's so funny (and clever too)!*

Aslynn's Cell Phone Privileges Have Been Revoked

Last night, Aslynn called 911.

When 911 called back I thought it was someone prank calling me (until I looked down and saw my phone on Emergency Mode) and told the man that I had no idea what he was talking about. Needless to say, the 911 man was not impressed with my explaination that the only way my cell phone called 911 is if my 11 7/8 month old daughter did it when she was playing with it. The 911 man advised me to keep my cell phone away from my daughter.

Oops!

Potato Dumplings & Smashing a Pig

On Christmas eve the Mecham house gets interesting. Everyone gets all pumped and ready to eat potato dumplings for dinner.

The preperation starts in the morning. You gotta have two big pots filled with water. Then you throw some ham hocks in and let it boil all day, until the house smells like, well, ham - who would have thought?!

Then the real potato dumpling fun begins.

Different people pitch in and help each year, but there is one individual who is ALWAYS in charge; that person is Grandma Andreasen.

Background information: Potato dumplings are a Norwegian dish. The Andreasen blood that runs through the Arvel and Goodie Mecham family demands that every Christmas eve (and then pan fried on Christmas morning - which makes them taste a bit better) there be potato dumplings.

This time, Luke decided that he wanted to help with the potato dumpling making process.

To make the potato dumpling dough, you start out with lots of grated potatoes (a big THANK YOU goes out to Barbie and Todd who peeled two bags of potatoes so that the grating process would go quicker). It is best to have an electric machine of sorts to do this for you. They used a Bosch (Goodie hasn't been converted to the true and righteous path of the KitchenAid yet).

Sometimes you can mix things up and make two different sizes of grated potatoes for the potato dumplings. (As seen below)

*Notice the discoloration of the different sizes. The grated potatoes for potato dumplings discolor very quickly - we're talking in a few minutes. A couple of years ago we didn't grate fast enough and all the grated potatoes turned gray.*

After you have an adequate amount of grated potatoes (there were two BIG bowls full) you begin add ingredients to make a dough. This is where Grandma Andreasen's presence is CRITICAL. Only she knows the right ingredient proportions for potato dumplings; only she can tell you when you are doing it wrong.

This is a top secret family recipe, so I can't tell you exactly what is in the potato dumplings (besides the obvious potatoes) but I will tell you this, there aren't very many ingredients.

After Grandma says that the dough isn't going to get any better than it already is, you start to make the potato dumpling balls. You put the balls in the pots (ham hocks have been removed, only an exorbitant amount of boiling flavored water remains). You cook the potato dumpling balls until they are done - a.k.a. semi-hard as a rock.

*Luke is disgusted with the thought of putting even lotion on his hands. The fact that he is rubbing his hands in Crisco means that he truly loves potato dumplings with his whole heart.*

The finished product looks like this.

Everyone eats the potato dumplings cut up into pieces and drowned in butter because, according to the family, that's the only way you are going to get them to go down and be able to digest them. Without the butter, they would just sit in your stomach like a rock until you die.


If you were born a Mecham (or an Andreasen) you were born with a love for potato dumplings. If you married into the family, potato dumplings are one of those things that you endure because you love your new family. Everyone agrees that potato dumplings should only be eaten at Christmas time because that is when they taste the best.

*Z is a true Mecham; she loves potato dumplings.*

Confession: Potato dumplings aren't my favorite thing, but I have eaten things that were much worse in my life. Luke ate, like, six or something Christmas eve and I had only one. They aren't too bad - and the butter does help. They are better Christmas morning when you cut them up and fry them up like hash-browns. I LOVE this tradition! Potato dumplings are something you can count on at Christmas.

Goodie got a peppermint pig from a friend of hers and we decided to do the activity associated with it as we finished up dinner.

You put the pig in a little velvet pouch and then you "tap" it with a little hammer and say something good that happened to you over the past year.

*This is Grandma Andreasen. :)*

*Aslynn is informing her cousins that she doesn't need help, thank you very much.*

After everyone has said their good thing, you dump the broken peppermint pig into a bowl and eat it!

*One of our nieces loves pigs and she was into the whole tap with a hammer thing until we dumped out the broken pig and told her to eat a piece. This, to her, was an abomination. She liked the pig and it had been smashed to smithereens. We were mean people, indeed.*

Christmas eve was WONDERFUL!

Fact: I said "potato dumpling(s)" 20 times in this post. :)