Silver Falls

We took a trip in June to one of our favorite places in Oregon: Silver Falls. Lucky for us it's only about 20 minutes from our house--one of our favorite things about Oregon. This was Elias' first trip and as with most things in his life, this was a great adventure. We hiked some walking trails along 2 of the falls and enjoyed the view! The first of many Silver Falls trips I think.

A boy and his purse

Somehow, around age 11-12 months, my son developed an attachment to my purse. He (loudly) lost his mind when I would have to get it out in the grocery store to pay, he sought it out when we were at home, he became obsessive. So I did the only thing I could think to do and I gave it to him. I cleared everything out that I couldn't live without and it became his. It was his best friend. He took it with him everywhere, he carried it around the house, it was his pretty patent sidekick. Much to his Dad's relief, he has since moved on and now only desires my purse for the intent purpose of dumping its contents, but for a time, my rough and tough little boy carried a purse. And he wore it well. Goodbye "purse stage." Hello to a new one, perhaps.

Birthday Boy

1 year old! It's unbelievable that it was a year ago that our little man came into the world. This year has been a long journey, but it still went so fast. Elias has come so far in that year and it is a miracle every day to watch him play and explore, rough-house, and grow is a perpetual blessing. We had so much fun with him at his birthday party and at the zoo the following day on his actual birthday that I couldn't choose what photos to post--it's too limited! To see more birthday photos you can go to the following link:

Facebook album, "Happy Birthday, Baby"

Battle wounds of boyhood

It's happened. The first big bump. Playing chase with Mommy in the living room and somehow instead of crawling behind him into the open room, he leapt to his right straight into the corner of the wall, taking the corner of the baseboards under his eye and the corner of the wall on the forehead. Ouch. Nothing a little ice and permission to play with Mommy's cell phone didn't fix, though. Probably more traumatic for Mom than for Elias. The battle wounds begin.

The gift of Helps

First thing in the morning, Logan set out to install the new TV mount...and it took him twice as long because he had "help." This little guy is passionate about helping!

Armed with the instruction guide and his tool of choice (a baseball rattle), Elias is ready to show his Dad how it's done.

Way to go boys!

Changes: 3

The Martins just graduated up another rung on the life-ladder and purchased their first home. It was one of the most nerve-wracking decisions I've ever had to make. Our experience was "special" in every sense of the word and every piece to the home-buying process fit so perfectly that, in actuality, it was less of a decision and more of an acceptance of our destiny, the next step in His plan, karmaic fortune, _____ fill-in-your-blank. Our "blank" is "His Plan" and so accept we did. We were in no position to buy a house. Ha! We're still in no position to buy a house and yet, I sit and type in my comfy chair from my home rather than a shell of windows and doors that someone is letting me borrow for a while; who may keep a hefty amount of my hard-earned money if I don't give it back better than I found it.

God is good. It's more than a charismatic Christian chant ("All the time!"). It's truth. Not to be mistaken for "God is safe" (thank you, C.S. Lewis) or "God is nice", or "God is happiness;" though I won't argue that He can be all those things. But He is good. God heard a girl in Salem, Oregon say that she wanted a home where her son could crawl around on the carpet and not worry about whose grime he was crawling through. He heard this girl desire a kitchen and not a hallway, a yard and not a mud-pit, and a place where her son would know stability and safety, warmth--in both body and company. This girl's list went on and on (as it usually does when she's daydreaming...or begging) and God heard it all and orchestrated everything for her. He brought the right realtor (thanks, Mia!) who knew the right homeowner with the right house, in the right neighborhood, who would take the right amount of downpayment...shall I go on?

Nope, this is not the house I've dreamed of since I was five (there's no lake here and I do not own 15 horses), but it is right here. I know peace here; in my heart, and for the safety of my family. Puzzle pieces don't fit together when they're thrown in the box, they fit when the puzzleteer places them in the correct order, in the correct direction. Logan and I were fortunate enough to have learned that by now and trusted the Puzzleteer on this one, only to watch our puzzle come together in a way that we would never have been able to put together ourselves. Amazing when He knows us better than we know ourselves.

The fact that we ever finished packing with our little one around is a miracle in itself, but it happened and we're here! We're by no means unpacked yet thanks to travel, sickness, holidays, excuses and more excuses, but we'll get there. We've never had to unpack somewhere that we plan to stay a while, so this is all new for us. You put stuff away more precisely when you know it'll be there a while. In the mean time, we're an open house anyway. Want to come over? Come on over, Reader! Welcome to the Martin abode!

By the way, if it looks like our son found this moving thing to be the greatest adventure of his life, then you're right, he thought it was. He had a blast with all the chaos. Such a trooper.

Changes: 2

Elias is crawling! We knew it was only a matter of time, but somehow I was still shocked by how different life is with a mobile child. Oh, how I long for the days of knowing exactly where my son was at all times. Now I'd need a small army task-force, cameras in all rooms, and a battalion of robots to keep track of him every second of the day. Within days of mastering crawling, he was already clambering up on the furniture and all low-level surfaces to get new perspectives and a boost to his feet. He's a handful. All the time. He keeps life crazy. And he is our joy.

"Helping" Mommy with laundry.