Playdates!

I have been trying to get together with friends Sarah and Kalina and their little ones on a weekly (or so) basis. The kids don't really play together yet, but then, are playdates really for the kids?

Lily is tired and sleeping after a long morning's playdate.

Sarah and Lily at the last playdate in the old house. Lily thinks checking out Michaela is a serious job.

Crazy eyes = swinging fun! And Isaiah is right next to her having a ball. 

Playing with Isaiah's toys is SOOOO much more fun than playing with your own toys.

When you're just crawling, it's really hard to keep up with your friend who is walking.
And walking away from you at that.

However, you do have the upper hand when your other friend is barely rolling!

We are looking forward to watching our kiddos grow up together!

photos galore

Since the move, it's taken me 6 weeks to find the time and the device to download pictures from my camera. There was a more labor-intensive method to get the other pictures off that you have seen in that time (or else Adam posted) but here are many pictures to make up for lost time. Maybe it'll help you get a taste for life in our shoes.

Fun at the Timbers game - shirt says "50% mom, 50% dad, 100% Timbers Fan"

Super-tired after the Timbers game

At Aunt Abbey's baby shower... playing with Hayden and using the box as a drum.

Strangely, I got no pictures of Abbey at her baby shower.

Some days are just like that.

I'd moved Michaela's baby bathtub out of her bathroom into ours because she had outgrown it. Apparently she's smart enough to know what it's for, and to get herself in it while Mama does her makeup.

Learning to play the piano - she doesn't look happy, but she likes to listen to the piano, at least!

Fashion forward

At the Twin Rocks 'Party on the Parkway' petting zoo. There was no petting involved.

Supervising Daddy while he replaces the leaky faucet on our new kitchen sink.
Michaela may have learned upon close observation that plumbing is not her Daddy's favorite hobby.

Someone told me when Michaela was born that I should make sure to get pictures of her crying. Check.

Pulling herself upon the windowsill while also trying to "sneak up on" the cat.
The cat is trying to "sneak up on" some birds in the tree outside.

Working the ottoman and the couch. Two excellent support systems.

Practicing pulling herself up.. on Daddy's electronics and attempting to
stick her hand in the VCR (yes, we still have one of those).

I LOVE holding Mama's yellow mug and wish I could drink the tea that's in it (or used to be in it).
I also love showing off my big teeth.

Visiting Grandpa -

- and Ita!

Kenji and the Chipmunk

We haven't posted a whole lot about our new house and we promise that someday we will get some pictures up of the new place.  But for now, we wanted to share a short video of the wildlife in our back yard that seem to have zero fear of our dog, Kenji.  This video was taken a couple days after we moved in.

93 Degrees and Keeping Cool

The thermometer reads 93 degrees, but for at least one of us, it ain't no thing.  Brook headed towards Fred Meyer this afternoon and came home with this gem of a purchase...and from the looks of this video, Michaela couldn't be happier.

Beach Trip

Last weekend we took Michaela to the Oregon Coast for the first time.  Enjoy the photos.

I don't know where we are going, but I think it's going to be fun.

Michaela is plotting her sand castle building attempt.

The ground has been broken for the building of the sand castle.

What is this stuff??? It's kind of dirty!/

But then again, being dirty is so much fun.

p.s.

After re-reading my last post, I just realized I left out something very important. Michaela now sleeps 12 hours through the night!!! Maybe we were overdue in making this happen, who can say? However, I can say that Adam and I are doing much better in the sleep department. We had to sit through two nights of slowly decreasing screams at 3 am, but by night number 3, she slept like a little angel, and so did I. Not to say there wasn't a setback when she came down with a bug the following week and I fed her at midnight out of pity and motherly concern, but once she was fit as a fiddle we were back on the fasting at night, and all the happier for it.

Example of Michaela asleep. The wait at the hospital was obviously quite grueling.

Getting to taste a yummy sample of Daddy's Blizzard.

the eleventh month-a-versary

This will most likely be my last "monthaversary" post, as 12 months equals an actual birthday (I can't believe that!) This has been a busy month in the life of Michaela and the family. In addition to moving into a new home and all that entailed, we have had play dates with friends, bought and frozen pints and quarts of fresh, local strawberries to be eaten during the winter, purchased a quarter of beef from some friends in Newberg and tucked that away in the freezer, took notice of the fact that our 6th wedding anniversary happened - actual celebration to occur later in July!, tackled the backyard overgrowth with a reciprocal saw (Michaela did not partake in that activity), hosted visits from Adam's parents and Adam's sister and brother-in-law, and gone to several Timbers games. We had a great time at the most recent game, as Michaela busted out a new talent - cheering for the home team. She noticed that everyone around her was clapping, and realized that she should probably be doing the same. So she clapped loudly and yelled a bit. This made the folks behind us laugh and engage her more, and she was off. She had a great time at the game and slept very well that night.

As far as developmental updates, Michaela continues to jabber in a language unbeknownst to us. She says dada and mama and I think she is making efforts to identify the dog and cat. She can push herself up to a standing position and is able to balance herself flat-footed when assisted by one of us. Her favorite activity is wrestling with the dog, who handles it with good grace I didn't know she had. Michaela's favorite toy seems to be the vacuum cleaner. She follows me around with enthusiasm while I clean and tries to grab on to the head of the vacuum - not in the least bit helpful. With the motivation of having Michaela be able to eat her birthday cake in a month, I have been trying to introduce her to more and more foods - wheat, blueberries, beef & ham (pureed and in a can, reminiscent of SPAM), cheese cubes and more.

But by far the most exciting event occurred exactly on Michaela's 11-month milestone. We welcomed her first cousin into the world!! Just over a week early by typical measure, but exactly right in God's timing, Abbey and Dave's first son was born on July 8. Greyson Isaac is a handsome little guy (and I mean little, he makes Michaela look so grown up!) with a thatch of black hair and a winsome expression when he is awake.

Michaela has acknowledged his presence but mostly found intriguing how many of the adults were gathered around this little blanket bundle who didn't even move. We've been reassuring her that he will make a wonderful playmate in just a few months' time. Congratulations to the new parents and the thrilled-to-pieces grandparents. Adam and I are pretty pleased to be called uncle and aunt... or whatever similar words eventually come out of Greyson's little mouth.

This New House

To me, what has seemed like an eternal silence on the blog has probably gone unnoticed by most of you. In the intervening days, our little family has been all abustle. For the past many months we have had our house on the market, and when it finally sold it came as somewhat of a surprise. We jumped into house-hunting gear and looked and looked and looked until we found the perfect one. After days of signing, waiting, appraising, inspecting, waiting some more, signing some more, we were finally able to close on both houses and move in to our new home a week ago tonight. As I type, I'm watching Michaela pull old Calvin and Hobbes comic books off of the second-lowest shelf of our bookcase in the living room. I just put those books there last night. That is pretty much par for the course of how my packing and Michaela's "helping" has gone the last few weeks. To be honest, I kind of feel lucky the books had a home there for 24 hours. Many thanks to the family and friends who came to help - for long or for short times - on baby patrol 2010. We wouldn't be moved in without you!! We're very excited to be in our new home and glad for Kenji to have a bigger backyard to run around in. After she calmed down, she has spent a good amount of time chasing chipmunks and birds that used to call this backyard their home. Tigra spent the first two days on the very top shelf of our master bedroom closet, not coming down for anything. I had to carry her down to her litter box on night two to make sure her body systems weren't shutting down. On day 3 we moved our clothes into our closet and Tigra had to step out into the big world. She seems to be liking it quite a bit, and is exploring all the nooks and crannies. We look forward to many visitors, and I hope to get some pics of the new house on the blog here in the next few days.

Promise of a Pie

It all began this last winter when I was a new mother, housebound much of the time, and reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I was struck by the ideas of eating only foods that were grown or produced locally, and learning how to do so even in the middle of winter. Unfortunately, I wanted to begin by putting a garden in my backyard immediately, but it was January. Eating local produce in January apparently required getting ready for winter the summer before, so I had to put off my plan of implementation. This spring, however, we are taking some baby steps toward eating locally. We are taking our Saturday mornings to check out the local farmer's markets and compare for price, variety, and general fun-ness. Adam has graciously agreed to accompany me on these excursions, and on the first one to the Lake Oswego Farmer's Market, I told him that most likely the only things in season yet would be rhubarb, lettuce, and if we were lucky - strawberries.

If the above items were available, I promised him a strawberry-rhubarb pie, which I have never made before. This also required a little sacrifice on my part, too, because I try to get out of making a double-crust pie whenever I can by making meringue pies, or suggesting the pie was meant to be eaten with a crumb topping. Adam has begun to see through my ruse.

See for yourself the beautiful berries we found, which made for a tasty spring pie. It just may be a new family favorite. If I can make it with a crumb topping.

#1 Dominance

Kalina...This picture is especially for you. Although, it looks like we still need to work on the #1 Dominace sign so that it isn't confused with "loser." Then again, maybe Michaela knows exactly what she is doing.