Our Big Disney Adventure

About a year ago the family board (my sisters mostly) decided that we should all meet in Orlando for a family reunion of sorts. Well we pulled it off and though it will probably be the last time because of our swelling numbers, we had a great time. My Mother, bless her heart, arrived with several surprises. As you can see below, her carry-on consisted of a box of peaches, three gallon-sized bags of garden tomatoes and a bag of grapes also from her garden. She didn't tell my Dad what was in her suitcase until they were already on the plane.

Less shocking was the red-polka dot wrapped gifts for all the kiddos: matching red crocs, princess bags (Winnie-the-Pooh for the boys), matching pjs and matching swimming suits. Love my Mom!

Our week in Orlando was divided between the pirate themed pool at our hotel and the Disney theme parks: Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom. It was so fun to see the grandkids playing with their cousins; there's nothing like family.

My other life

This morning I read a friend's blog (we met once at the Smith's in Provo) where she explained that she has consciously not put up loads of pictures of her new baby because she doesn't want to completely lose her identity. I then looked at my own blog and was ashamed. So I pulled out my camera and went to work documenting my other life. Of course Eve is still in every other picture; oh well.

My main personal-time priority is yoga. Therefore I get up and do it first thing in the morning so then I can use Eve's nap time for other things such as....

Christmas sewing! It's less than 4 months away now and at the rate I'm going, I'm going to need every nap time from now till Christmas Eve.

By the way, most of these things are for not Christmas as I want to keep those projects Top Secret. But there's only a handful of patterns I know so this definitely gives you an idea.























Gardening has been another hobby that has kept me occupied during nap time this summer. Our building has a roof-top sitting area (can you say "full sun?!") that I immediately put into use. After Scott hauled up I don't know how many bags of potting soil and I took more trips to the local nursery than I'd like to admit, we had our own little garden. We had one casualty (snapped pepper plant) and one resurrection (German Head tomato) but overall a successful season.















Not as inspiring as teaching a book-binding class or re-finishing a house, but it's my life and I like it. Notice I did n0t post pictures of buttons and fabric scattered all over the living room nor did I mention the fact that I've only showered once this week. That's what baby wipes and perfume is for. Priorities right? Poor Scott.

Maybe we should get Eve galoshes for Christmas

The highlight of the weekend for us was last night after a pizza dinner going to a park nearby where they have a wading pool. We weren't planning on going in the water but there was no convincing Eve otherwise. She loved finding floating leaves and pine cones and then throwing them in the water. As you can see, it was cold enough yesterday to be wearing a sweater and tights. But Eve loves cold water; even in the bath she likes it MUCH colder than I do. It's a good stage of life that we're at. As long as there's things like water and pine cones we're happy.

Pine cone making a break for freedom

Is this safe?

Everyone Loves Grandma

Last night Scott and I got back from a quick trip to Utah for my brother's wedding. My other brother and his family as well as my sister and her youngest were also able to come and you know how it is when you get together with family at Grandpa and Grandmas' house? Dogs, swimming pool, big yard, trampoline, fruit trees, popsicles, endless toys some of which are bigger than you... and to top it off, Grandma's full attention.

Eve slept hardly at all and has returned home to rainy Seattle with a nice tan and plenty of scrapes and slivers; proof of a fun vacation. My Mom, like many Grandmas, is good with little kids but she's also great about doing things with them that they absolutely love but that of course also takes a lot of time and effort; cleaning up the mess afterwards not being the least of the challenges.

One morning my Mom put aprons on Eve and her 2 year-old cousin and they set to work making bread (six loaves mind you). They ground the wheat and put oil in their pans.

This is Eve adding the yeast and her cousin Chrissie adding the egg. I thought putting the pre-broken egg in a bowl was a good idea to avoid shells in the dough.

Here she is testing the flour quality which seems to have glued her top lip to her teeth. Mmmmmmmm.... gluten!

My Mom is great! She has all these toddler-sized bread pans and while the loaves were rising, she took some of the dough and made fresh scones for all of us. It's no wonder when I would try and put Eve to bed she'd keep jumping up saying "Ganma? Ganma?"

And here she is sharing the finished product with Grandpa. I wish we didn't live so far away but at least we get to go visit fairly often.

Trying to escape the heat

This last weekend was a scorcher in Seattle so we packed up some snacks and diapers (just for Eve) and headed north; not knowing where we were going. We ended up stopping at the outlet mall, which we've wanted to do in the past but never got around to it. It was so fun what with all the kids doing their back-to-school shopping. Our favorite place was the Converse store where Scott fulfilled, in his mind, a father's providing responsibilities by buying Eve her first pair of All-Stars. I dragged everybody into the Le Creuset store before doing some more practical shopping (work clothes for Scott and such).

We left the mall laden with shiny bags and started towards North Cascades National Park. On the way we stopped at some fruit stands for peaches and eventually made it into the mountains where the air was thankfully a little cooler. It was great to be in real mountains again; we've missed it.














So excited to be out of the car, Eve kept on pointing to things like sticks, grass, rocks and pine cones saying their name followed by "wow." Scott and I are going to relish this time when our daughter is so easily wowed. If we do it right, we'll get to Disney Land by the time she's 18.

Rough Night

9:30 - Eve falls asleep in her bed.

10:30 - Wakes up crying so I bring her into our bed and nurse her back to sleep.

11:00 - vomits all over me and our bed.
At this point Scott wakes up and half asleep and blind (not wearing his -9.5 contacts) helps me clean up the vomit with baby wipes and offered to let me have the dry side of the bed. He was so tired he seriously would have slept in milk, pasta and apple vomit. Thankfully I was able to convince him to change the sheets.

11:45 - vomits again. We bring out the towels and lay them on the bed.

12:30 - dry heaving and crying

1:30 - dry heaving and crying

2:30 - dry heaving and crying

3:00 - more vomit

6:45 - Scott leaves for work without breakfast and only half a lunch packed (I was in bed with Eve)

7:00 - tried nursing her again afraid of dehydration.

7:05 - vomit allover me and the bathroom floor.
At this point Eve fell into a deep sleep and I was able to clean up a bit. She has since woken up and drank some water and nursed a bit before falling asleep; in my arms at the moment in fact.

It's hard to see your child sick. Last night as I lay awake holding our unusually limp daughter I was thinking of my cousin whose little girl has been fighting leukemia for the past few years complete with chemotherapy, steroids and monthly spinal taps. I can't imagine how you could survive something like that but it has helped me put my own trials in perspective. I'll take a night full of vomit any day.

The Traveling Aunt

Last week my younger sister was here visiting. She is the last of six kids and the only one not married and/or with kids. Therefore she has assumed the role of the Traveling Aunt. In 2008 alone she will have visited me once, my sister in Pittsburgh twice, my sister in Dallas twice and gone on a family vacation with the whole lot for a week in Orlando.

As a result of such frequent visits it's no surprise that she has also become the Favorite Aunt. We had so much fun while she was here doing things as wild and crazy as picking blackberries, throwing rocks in the lake, doing yoga and just hanging out at the park. Funny how being with your sister makes even the day-to-day things seem like a vacation. Love you Liz and thanks again for making the trip out to see us.

Picking blackberries with Auntie Lizzy

Eve's face after she would repeatedly pick and eat the pink ones