Gotta make this short and sweet. Ummmmm, we went to Portland late Sunday morning. Randomly a day early as seems to have become our style. Hit up Costco there, picked up our easter pics, had lunch with Nana and Grandpa, got my first root canal (which was supposed to be just a consult!), there proceeded to eat delicious spare ribs my Grandma made for dinner less than thirty minutes later.
Today both Tony and I have cleanings in the afternoon. He is working in town all day today and Ali is napping but the construction is really loud so I don’t know for how long.
Ali riding on a Radio Flyer bike my Grandma had for her.
At least I’m pretty sure it was. There was an extraordinarily young girl in a Fred Meyer uniform at the store today. And the contractor working next door had one of his little girls with him. So, Tony "took" Ali to work for a bit as well. Adorable, I know. Now, somethings that have been running through my mind.
Ali’s hair is getting SO long. And it’s such chameleon hair too. Dark still on the ends from birth, with red and gold highlights. I’m so interested to see how it "turns out."
The above pics were taken two days ago…on Earth Day. Ali wore her Oregon Zoo t-shirt from Hannah in honor of the event.
I think Ali is teething again. A marked increase in drool, and general tendency to gnaw things I thought I’d taught her not to forever ago (like the coffee table) have led me to this conclusion.
Last night was LAME.
If I wonder why it’s sometimes hard to find the drive and energy to really work out then I probably should take the fact that it’s now been nearly ten months since I got a full night’s sleep into further consideration. Longer if you count pregnancy peeing. Also, I don’t think she’s slept more than four or five consecutive hours since about eight weeks old. That’s a long time.
I hate being stuck indoors.
For days on end.
With a cranky baby.
Who is struggling to nap because of construction noise.
Yesterday is rained and rained and rained. Through the night and hard all morning. When I looked outside after 7am there was a large puddle. About four hours later we had a backyard lake! Crazy-scary but the rain soon slowed and the water went down quickly.
Today we returned home from the store to find cement being poured next door. There were two trucks blocking our entrance but Mr. Contractor was kind enough to have the guys move. I gave him a wave and he gave me a nod. Much appreciated. Still. Loud and obnoxious! I did feel so bad for the poor guy who worked alone almost all day yesterday. In the torrents of rain and 60mph wind gusts. I hope he is appreciated.
April 10th, early on
And later.
Today on the west side.
And the east.
I’m glad people (Karlin!) like the one year ago today feature. It makes me wish I’d blogged more and drives me to strive for daily entries in the present.
Ali is getting so big! She’s mastering skills on a near daily basis and constantly amazing both of us with her growth in all areas. Lately, she’s become Little Ms. Organizer. More onthat to come in the near future. Well, hopefully…
Monday I have a dental consult in Portland. Well, Milwaukie. Here we call anything over the coastal range "Portland." Excited to go "home" even if it’s just for a short period.
Trista is spending next week here! But not with us
She’s a counselor for ODS (outdoor school) next week and Twin Rocks Friends Camp literally RIGHT down the street from us. We’re trying to hook up some sort of run-in but it’s tough because they’re not allowed to bring cell phones.
I hate gas prices. Hate hate hate. Makes me feel even more stuck. Especially in the relentless cold and rain.
Ali received her first pair of Robeez in utero. At my baby shower (thanks Aunt Pam!). And she never took them off. Metaphorically speaking of course. She’s had a few other pairs of shoes but they never stayed on. So frustrating! And like throwing money down the toilet. Meanwhile she kept wearing her 0-6 month Robeez. Which she especially enjoyed chewing upon and carrying around the house in her mouth, puppy dog style.
Finally we broke down and purchased her a new pair. Even if we couldn’t really afford it (they’re pretty pricey!). The kicker was that her toes were running out of room to the point where we worried they were going to be perma curled. Like some form of Chinese foot binding. Also, without shoes on, her socks won’t stay on and even though it’s spring she just can’t be running around barefoot. Especially with it still snowing and all. Which, btw, it did Monday.
Yesterday the above shoes came in the mail. Fresh and new, with room to grow and style to spare. Considering the last pair lasted nine months of near daily wear, even stretching with Ali while she grew , I’m sure we’ll get more than our money’s worth out of these too. So, Robeez…highly recommended!
Yesterday was the first time Ali was really affected by the going ons next door. She usually is awake in three hour increments. Awoke from morning nap at eleven (only down thirty minutes), so should have been sleepy again around two, maybe two-thirty. Went down close to three-thirty. The hammering (they’re working on the foundation…or something I’m no expert) was so loud we could hear it through the monitor. And she woke up after like half and hour. PISSED. It was a long night.
There have actually been a few long nights lately. Somehow I’ve spent the last three of them in Ali’s room. I keep meaning to get on top of the whole sleep in you own bed for most of the night thing. Followed by sleeping THROUGH the night. But she wakes and I take her out to nurse and then we’re both asleep. And she keeps waking before seven. This morning though she randomly feel asleep before I thought she was even tired, like 8:45am. On me. So I just left her like that. It was pouring outside, like really hard, cold, nasty rain. So I just lay on the couch and watched Monday’s episode of Gossip Girl. And that was very nice. It’s like there’s a time and a place for sleeping on top of someone. And 3am ain’t it!
With so much going on (or maybe so little?) it’s easy to forget the nitty gritty of blogging about daily life. Or at least posting picture of "everyday." So…..let’s see. Weather has been crazy! Lots of hailstorms and even rain mixed with snow. Even some "sticking" or whatever you call it when you wake in the morning to a layer of frozen hail covering everything.
After a random "sunny" hailstorm yesterday.
Ali is doing well. She’s begun waving….kind of. But it’s something we’ve been working on and waiting for for awhile. She also finally started clapping today! Or something clapping-ish. It’s so funny how kids hit some milestones way ahead, others right on time, and yet there has to be at least a couple they lag on. Still sleeping really well in her crib. Until sometimes between eleven and one that is. Which is probably more my fault then anything because it’s easier to just take her if I’m going to bed or already asleep. Also she still wakes near hourly most night after she goes down. Will she ever sleep through the night?
Also, the last two mornings she’s woken up at six! YUCK and I hope that doesn’t continue. We’ve had a slight cold blow through around here. Why is there something so cute about a little kid with a runny nose? Maybe that only when it’s your own kid? And when it’s just a touch of clearish sheen, not any nasty green gunk. Yech, I’ll gag just thinking about it. Another recent development is some hardcore cruising. It’s kind of scary how quickly (so it seems!) Ali went from wobbly standing to confident climbing. Yes, climbing. She is trying to tackle our stairs but usually only gets just past halfway up (about stair seven) before going back down. Which, is fine with me. I’m glad she know how to get down because I don’t think that is always the case at first. Seriously though, we really need to invest in some baby gates.
Crouching to pick a fallen pacy is no big thing now.
Beyond that I can’t think of much. Tony is really busy. It was nice to have a weekend home. Alone. I really, really, really, want real spring to be here. I know I need to update on next door (Tony has been working on hooking up a web cam actually, if you are wondering what the new box on the right is). Hopefully will get to that soon. I am waiting on getting pictures situated. Basically, at the moment, the whole thing is a huge dirt lot. A portapotty was delivered Friday though, so I’m anticipating a lot of work this upcoming week. Thus far they’ve just been coming for a few hours in the morning and then peacing out. If anyone is there at all…
Ah yes, I did just remember something else. Ali’s new sense of exploration. Which is especially keen in the kitchen and has prompted a couple baby locks, some reorganizing and a whole cupboard and lower drawer designated for her stuff. One is full of all the jars from baby food that we’re keeping, and her cups and stuff and it is emptied out more times a day then I can count. Probably as many as it all gets put back in!
I have a LOT of odds and ends posts that I’ve been saving, haven’t gotten around too, or have been otherwise held up on and am getting to them in fits and bursts. Is that a saying?
I recently uploaded pics from both Tony’s phone and mine. Like, a year and a half worth of pics. I’ll start with Tony’s. View his full collection here.
Trying again…please bear with me and check out the adorable-ness that is Shayla [and Ali and Tony reading to them both, but basically Shayla steals the spotlight]. For the backstory on the repost click here.
When we were in Seattle (which now seems like ages ago!), Ali went down the slide for the first time at a park near Billie’s. Which she loved! See below:
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