Write here! Write NOW!/ L-O-V-E!

As I am typing this, it is snowing downtown. Or it just snowed rather. For 5 minutes, in April. Hello Springtime, it's been awhile.

While staring out into the light snow from my 9th floor window at work moments ago, I am reminded of the snow that we had in December 2008 through January 2009. I was extremely pregnant, and Kirk often attempted to forbode me from journeying out in the sleet and snow. I would shake my head in a yes motion, and say "maybe" out loud and with a giant grin on my face. There is nothing I like more than snow. I was raised around snow. I'm an Oregonian. I come from salt-of-the-earth people, and I think that Kirk sometimes forgot. Though, I could understand his concern. So, when I left our small bungalow on top of the steep walkway, I slid. I slid on my ass in my giant red parka, my snow boots, and maternity jeans. Then I would wander around and be as happy as a brown bear. Where was I going with that? OH! Pregnancy. It was mere months before our son was to arrive.

One year and some months later, we are celebrating his first birthday! Kirk and I were in shock when April 5th rolled around. Where did the year go? It was hard to recall the things that we had accomplished. Yet, I remember the feeling of moving mountains. I guess all that I would have to do is scroll down our blog to refresh my memory.
I remember being up early, because I had quite the daunting "to do" list. I heard faint laughter coming from his crib, so I went to grab him while singing him Happy Birthday a minimum of 10 times. We played, cleaned, did 4 loads of laundry, went grocery shopping. I bought this big piece of thick poster board and some permanent markers, so that everyone could right a note to Kiddo. I need to get a frame for it. I thought it would be a fun idea. I made homemade macarroni and cheese (with Smoked Guyerre, Muenster, Cheddar and Cauliflour and ham). It turned out pretty darn good. My bestie Sarah and her husband, Damien arrived early to help. Lauren brought cupcakes, and everyone brought snacks here and there. Natalie brought Ezell's Chicken which made Kirk's millenium. He loves it.
I want to say how fortunate that we are to have so many amazing friends. In life we all have the option to choose who we surround ourselves with. I believe that Kirk and I have done an amazing job. We have so many beautiful and ecclectic "brothers and sisters". Kiddo has so many of the most amazing Aunts and Uncles. We would not have it any other way. We have all shared in each others lives. Our own chapters, that bob and weave with others. It is a wonderful blessing! We had a great turn out for his birthday. He was so excited by the attention, though at first he was a bit unsure of what was going on. We all enjoyed the company.
Kiddo opened his presents, we sang Happy Birthday one last time and blew out his candle. Though, Uncle Nate had a shiny green ball, so Kiddo was not having anything to do with his first sugar cupcake. Which was fine with us. We later put him down for bed, and proceeded to visit with our family!

I have to explain Fort Kiddo. Grandma Lydia got Kiddo a bigger car seat for his birthday, because, well... he out grew his at 7 months old. The kid is loooong. (We took him to his 1 year wellness check-up and he was 22lbs and 34in). When we unpacked said carseat, he wanted nothing to do with the seat itself, so Kirk cut out his very first fort. This reminded me of my Grandma and/ or Grandpa taking us to the Maytag Wherehouse for giant (to us kids at the time) refridgerator boxes. We would set up a whole town in our Grandparent's yard in the summer, and just camp out. Those were good memories. We cannot wait to create memories like that for Kiddo.

As far as the Huffman's go as a whole, we are quite content. Kirk and I have been working like crazy. Kay Kay is touring with Damien Jurado in June, so we have been making Kiddo-sitting plans, and attempting to getting ahead a bit financially. My job has been fantastic. Busy, and I like it that way. We have been chasing Kiddo around since he was 11 months old. He is getting more and more swift everyday! It's baffling. New words, adult foods, bigger clothes, a favorite stuffed animal (that I swear he calls Barkbark), a new love for Yo Gabba Gabba, and just an all around happy demeanor! Cohen the cat is by my side always. I think he is feeling a bit left out. On Kiddo's birthday he was loving on everyone to the point where I had to put him away, and if anyone knows our cat (he is an ass), that does not happen often.

Below are photos of Kiddo's birthday and a link to my youtube!

Seriously! Join us Huffman's in Earth Hour. It is a great tradition and it is NEVER too late to start! Share with your kiddies!

Help me out and pledge! It's free and we can save the world!

https://www.myearthhour.org/home?invite=8NJFmymYoD

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go!

Things have been busy AND quiet at the same time. Two opposites pulling us at both ends, only to have us centered and balanced. It's a nice feeling.

Home:
Home has been amazing. We love our apartment, being back on Capitol Hill, and OH SO much closer to work. Yet, for some odd reason I feel as though we are residing in a hotel. When we moved to Lydia's for our stay, we attempted to liberate so many of our belongings. We compromised memories for ease, and it was nice. That being said, our abode is lacking style/ grace/ comfort, and I am in some sort of daft decorating phase. Nesting: Part 2?
I am so fortunate to have friends with so many amazing talents, Jessie Kaye being one of those said friends! She has an amazing eye. So her and I had a brief chat about ideas for our miniature bungalow. I will not be disclosing much more information anytime soon, but when completed, I would love some company. Lydia and my Grandma Harriett have an amazing eye as well. My Grandma gave me a brief tutorial of how to re-upholster a couch. This thrilled both Kirk and I. Our poor red couch will finally be getting a much needed makeover. WAHOO! I have even found some amazing blogs through Jessie regarding the matter of decorating.
More importantly, I want a design that can be timeless and transfer well from one home to the next. Eventually, we will find our dream home.

Friends and Family:
Let me begin with birthdays! Kirk and Linda both turn 27 this month. I cannot even believe how close to 30 we are. I welcome age and wisdom with open arms. We are (patiently) awaiting the arrival of Mikah Indie Layman, Jacob and Cristen's bundle of joy that is due any day now. My "bestie" Sarah Murphy turns 30 this year, and we will celebrate like it is the end of the world. Minus the whole going to bed at 4am thing. It may be more like midnight. Kiddo turns 1 this April.
Kirk has been keeping busy with the bands, Glo's on the weekend, and Kiddo during the day. The word SuperDad comes to my mind, hear you me! I am going to get him a shirt or a coffee mug to tell him so, too! "#1 Dad"! Haha! I cannot tell you how appreciative I am of him, and all that he does for our family, my sanity, and our marriage. I have never been so happy. I pray everyday that it lasts. Things are not perfect, but how BORING would life be if they were? UGH!
Kiddo turned 9 months old today. We, as parents, are filled to the brim with excitement when we visit his pediatrician. Getting all of his stats. The past visits he has always been in the 98th percentile for his height. He is tall. The things that he can do blow my mind. Obviously, he is crawling and pulling up on things. He can climb from the floor to the couch (which is low to the ground), he will dance, and loves to strum Kirk's guitar. His teeth are still coming in, and have been agitating him as of late. Poor baby dude! He is getting more and more chatty, too. Hi (while waving), Dada, Mama, are the usual. Of course, as parents we hear everything that he says. There is one thing that is always the same, and it sounds like "zshthis this". I swear he is asking, "what's this?". My Aunt Mandy had given him some clothes, toys, books, and a dvd that were my cousin Jayden's. The dvd is Sesame Street featuring Stomp, which he ADORES. He will sit and stare. He gets so excited when they sing, and bang on things. It has been fun to watch him mimic us as well. We have undoubtedly had to start watching our mouths, though. Ha!
Rae:
Me, I am doing well. I am working my behind off, and loving every moment of it. I have always loved commercial real estate, and for me property management is easily my forte! It is a win/ win. I feel that if I am too jubilant, everything will get taken away. So, I am doing my best to remain humbled. You know what will humble a person? Doing laundry in your kitchen sink. Haha! That will humble a person, and maybe it will save you some clams, eh?!

Christmas:
This year Kirk and I went to Eagle Point for Christmas, and it was fantastic. From the moment that we headed to Portland to see Jeff, as well as Grandma and Grandpa Huffman... Well, I had a smile on my face that still exists, if that says anything at all.
It was nice to see the Huffman grandparents. They had yet to meet Kiddo and I had not seen them since our wedding day in 2006. They are two of the kindest people that you could ever hope to know. All of mine and Kirk's family are. When we (Jeff, Kirk, Kiddo, and I) arrived at their home, they had KFC waiting. We talked family, relatives, grandbabies, and then I got the "private tour" in which Grandpa showed me all of the most beautiful and amazing family photos. Some of them extremely old. I hope to copy them some day, and frame them for our house (See... Decorating, again! Gripes)! We returned to Jeff's apartment and got some good rest.
I had originally wanted to awake at 5am, and hit the road early. When my alarm went off, I hit the snooze button. OOOOOPS! Mom had ended up calling me around 7am to see how close we were to home, and we had not even gotten up. I let the boys sleep as I readied myself, and ate oatmeal. We visited some more with Jeff, and then hit the road.
The drive to Eagle Point from Seattle is such a love/ hate relationship for me. I love that my destination is HOME, but I hate that the drive is so long. However, it is a beautiful one, with miles of field, farm, cattle, sheep. Kirk and I often talk about how amazing it would be to own land, or a farm down in Eagle Point. Maybe someday. We arrived at Seven Feathers to fill the van with gasoline, and then took an alternate route. Our GPS told us that it would be faster, than to hop back on I-5 and it was. It was perfect, it spit us out right onto Highway 62 in Trail. Not to mention that the drive got a hell of a lot more interesting. The route was a scenic one. When we reached a high enough elevation, we even had snow. None on the roads, but plenty on the sides. Enough to get us ecstatic, and start singing "Let It Snow" and "Over the river" to Kiddo-bear! I did get scared a couple of times. the road narrows and there is no safety median on the side. I swore that we were going to fall off of the cliff. But Kirk is an excellent driver, in the "Driving Mrs. Daisy" sense, so we were safe.
We arrived around 4pm, got settled and immediately went to Abby's (formerly Pappy's) with Mom and Papa Chris. The rest of the trip went way to fast for me. Between visiting with family, Linda Lou, Christmas dinner, and Lifetime Movie Network, I didn't get a chance to breathe. I wish that I could have slowed time down. There were so many things that I didn't get to do or show Kirk. Hopefully next year. We were so blessed to be able to make it down this year. It was with out a doubt, one of my favorites Christmas' in a long time. Nostalgia was met! Leaving was the hardest part. I think I cried for my Mommy from Eagle Point to Eugene. Kirk and I kept hoping that it would snow, and we would get stuck, but alas, this was not the case, and we had to drive back to reality. And our poor "RE" of a cat! Murph, Thanks for feeding Cohen Bean! :)

New Year's:
Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground was extremely honored when we were asked to play at the Showbox Market with Minus The Bear. We played a great set, and for me, it was even better. I don't get to play very often anymore, because I take the babe. But Elizabeth offered to watch him, and I got to be an adult for a night. It was lovely. I will never take performing for granted again, and I hope the band mates don't either. I hope they realize just how special and lucky we all are to have such a brilliant band, and each others friendships.
Sometime before midnight we headed to Aaron (drummer and bff from Eagle Point) and Stacy's (Aaron's stunning wifey and killer hostess from S.O.)for dinner, drinks, and dancing. It was not crowded. We had the most perfect amount of stellar friends there. Old and new. It was such a beautiful night, I wish that we could relive it over and over and over again.


That is all I have for now. Below are some photos from all of the above. I just realized that I have no pictures of Mom and Kiddo from this trip. Mom, will you scan and email me some, then I will add them to this blog?

We love you all dearly! Thanks for reading!

Home for the holla-daze!/ Ch-ch-ch-ch changes!

Holy cow! There has been an immeasurable amount of change since I have blogged last. There is so much that I want to say. Though I feel as though I am learning a new language, and my words are coming out jumbled! Let me see, where to start.

I'll begin with The Biltmore. The Biltmore was the apartment building that Kirk and I lived in before, and while we were married. Our little 420sq ft studio has so many memories with many a rotating cast of friends and family. I am excited to say that we will be residing there once more. However, this go-round we have acquired a one bedroom. We will be "snug as a bug in a rug" to say the least. Holidays (or "holla-daze/ holi-daze"" as I like to say) are my favorite time in The Biltmore. With the furnace radiating and the windows fogging, the dimly lit building brings more than just the holiday spirit to this so-called sap! Ha! We move the weekend of the 20th!

*A note to my beautiful mother-in-law: Lydia! From the depths of our souls we thank you. You have re-filled the love in our hearts with your benevolence! Our glass is half full again and I hope you know just how much we appreciate everything that you have done for us! We will miss our Huffman commune. But most of all, I will miss our chats over wine about life and faith and family. And the fireplace. *winkwink* We love you all more than one could even begin to perceive!

Since the 31st of October I have been assembling my Christmas music list! So far so good. I have also been listening to accuradio.com to get into the holiday mood. Kirkey knows how much I adore the holidays, though I may get a little too giddy. He just smiles and nods his head in approval. We cannot stop talking about pictures with Santa, and Kiddo's first tree.

This time of year reminds me of how thankful I am for everything in my life. It also reminds me of my Grandpa Joe, he always used to set up his train set for my brothers and cousins.

Not sure of what our Thanksgiving day plans are as of yet, but we will be attempting to drive to Eagle Point this Christmas. I cannot remember the last time that I have spent Christmas at home. I am ready. Mt. Ashland, Abby's pizza, family dinner, Christmas tree lighting ceremony, etc! Money permitting we will be traveling down in the Gummi van. With the new apartment and new bills, it may be a tiny hurdle, but worth it to see the whole "fam damily"!

Kay Kay is going well. We will be releasing the 2nd album "Introducing..." soon. Tomorrow we are taking the album cover pictures. It will be amazing. This year it will be the group with our families, kids, et cetera. Very much like old R&B album covers in the 60's. Technicolor, style. SO COOOL! I can't say what the date will be just yet, but we will tell soon!

Kiddo is well at 7 1/2 months! He has 2 bottom teeth, is getting around military style, almost crawling, and still walking with help from Mom and Dad. Everyday he amazes us with sentences, and "ba, ma, da, uhma"! He crinkles his nose and makes a funny growling sound when he gets excited. So fun to watch him grow.

Work is amazing. Everyday I think about how thankful I am to have work. In a time when so many are struggling, we are very fortunate!

I think that Santa has seen how hard we all work, and no one is to get coal in their stocking this Christmas. Or fruitcake for that matter... God willing. ICK! ;)

That is all I have at the moment. Below are some family photos that were taken recently!