Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Where are my Priorities?

I was accidentally walking down the fabric isle and noticed they had some scraps on sale for $1 -- I couldn't resist. Never mind we are moving in 3 weeks and I should be packing, or cleaning, or at least catching up on laundry. Nothing like a fun project to help you procrastinate. It didn't take me long, and I think it turned out so cute. Just a fun little Halloween skirt (the green fabric looked like 'monster pox' to me).

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

For Daddy

Heading out for a walk . . .it is cold today. Ellie giggled at the ducks, dogs, and an airplane.
Our cutie


We LOVE you!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Ellie Update

She is our jabbering, giggling, wiggling, toothless wonder.
At 7 months (8.11.09) she was 26 in (33 percentile) and weighed 12.4 lbs, which dropped her below the oneth percentile (is 'oneth' a word?). Of course this stressed me out for a few days. I knew she was little, but I had felt like feeding had been going really well. I turned to my baby feeding bible (Child of Mine by Ellyn Satter) and, as always, Sister Satter calmed my anxieties and made me feel like a good mother again. I can only give her good, consistent meals, that is all I can control. She is so active and looks rosy-cheeked healthy. It's only when you sit her next to her butter-balled peers that you realize she's an ity-bity.
We go back in to the doctor next week and if she is still dropping off the growth curves they may do some blood test to rule out any metabolic issues. At this point I really believe she is healthy and growing well. I don't think it is a fair comparison to put these little SGA babies on the same growth curve as babies born a healthy weight.

Ellie loves Annie. She squeals and flaps her arms the minute she sees her dog each morning. When I put Ellie on the ground she wiggles and scoots furiously to try and catch Annie. Not quite a cruiser yet, but takes a few cautious crawling steps here and there. Her all-arms army crawl is still her preferred mode of transportation.
She is not one to sit contently. She takes no interest in TV and in church she is constantly crawling over our laps and shoulders, flirting with whomever will return her smiles. She can make it through "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." She smiles at me when I start to read it and then wacks each animal with her hand as we turn the pages. Any other book is usually too long and after a page or two she starts to arch her back, or eat the book. However, today I wanted to read some Dr. Suess. So, I sat her down and gave her "Brown Bear, Brown Bear," and started to read "Fox in Socks." A couple of pages into the book, I realized she was reading her book. She was looking at the pictures and just jabbering away. It was a cute moment and I got to read a new book.
Brian is always on a mission to find out what will make her laugh. It is usually by accident that we discover a new method. For example, Brian got a new phone and was taking her picture with it. The 'click' of the camera threw her into fits of giggles. The video below is after a dozen or so pictures had already been taken. Before the picture is taken you can see her doing her scrunched-up face (it's one of my favorite expressions of hers).

Summer 2009

Another summer come and gone. It's hard to know exactly where it went. We managed to have some fun amidst the craziness we call life.

During the summer here in Nampa we have sunlight until after ten -- every kids dream, right -- I will always remember our long Idaho summer evenings. After work and chores were done, we could usually be found at the lake. Brian fishing, Annie waiting patiently by his side (or chasing rocks), and Ellie and I strolling the rocky beaches looking for birds. We have the best backyard ever! (no not technically in our backyard, but pretty close)

Our gardening efforts were expanded this year by about 500%. Along with our little corner garden in our yard, we took on a ward garden plot (10 rows, approx 30 ft long). It was alot of work, especially for Brian, but in the end so worth it. I should have taken more pictures of our harvest, you'll just have to imagine the beauty of our potatoes, corn, onions, string beans, peas, carrots, honeydew, zucchini, butternut and crookneck squash, tomatoes, peppers, and pumpkins. Whew, quite the mouthful. I can't explain the incredible satisfaction I have felt as we have harvested and preserved this food. Something great about knowing that (a) we are feeding our family, hands down, the best quality food there is and (b) filling the freezer and pantry with hundreds of dollars worth of food. Mmmmm, I love fresh veggies (so does Ellie).
We love where we live -- although compared to when we lived in Southern CA (think Disneyland) it seems as though friends and family don't love it as much as we do (no this is not a guilt trip, just an observation). We did get a few fun guests this summer and we had a great time showing them around.
Brian's brother, Danny, and his family (RaeLynn and Cole) came to stay for a long weekend in June. Talk about fun visitors. They are so laid back, no worries if dinner burns or we run out of toilet paper. And they are up for anything, except parades, something to do with the innocence of youth or some craziness like that. Of course we spent time at our favorite lake. We also went into Boise to walk the greenbelt and take advantage of the free-stuff booths in the parks. Mostly alot of chillin' and being entertained by Cole.
At the end of July my little sis Jenni came to stay and a week later Brian's little sister Amy stopped in. It is fun having two 13 year old sisters.
It was a little surreal watching Jenni with Ellie realizing that I was 13 when Jenni was born. I found that even though more than a decade separates us we are still sisters and similar in many ways. We did some school shopping, and she watched Ellie while I got caught up on some things around the house (heaven sent I know!). On Saturday She and Brian tried out the yard sale bargain raft I had found a week earlier. They could have tried it out in a pool, or a calm lake but no -- they ventured out on the wild, wild Boise river (it's not that wild). Come to find out, it leaks like a sieve. Thankfully there were enough good Samaritans along the way with pumps.
Amy, too, was so good to play with Ellie (and sometimes Annie) while I did boring things. When Brian would get home then we would have fun. We tried out Nampa's new dog park. Hard to know if Annie or Ellie liked that better. We also stopped at the Botanical gardens and the lake.
To top off our summer, we borrowed our neighbors tent trailer and headed for the mountains. A licorice stick made the last half hour of driving bearable for all of us. It was only for one night and was as sleepless as I expected it to be, but still a great trip. Annie was in heaven exploring the mountains and fishing with Brian. Ellie got her first taste of leaves, pine needles, and dirt yummmm. All in all, a success.