At this point it seems like forever ago, but just afew short weeks ago we were at my parents’ house. We got there on July 16th (I know because the reason for our visit was my getting a wisdom tooth pulled). When we left their house for my appt. we noticed a flatter than flat tire. Lame. Luckily Trista let us take her car, which had just gotten out of the shop the day before. Sometimes luck follows lack of luck.

The tooth removal was fine, I was done 45 minutes after walking in the door. Was sore for a few days, but they give you the good medicine and oneof could supposedly breastfeed with so I survived. Although I did spend a few days fighting nausea while on it.

The first night we were there Ali opened a bunch of presents from my parents and siblings. Jordan got her this Elmo house which she loved (and is still loving- she now scampers into it to hide out everytime a diaper is brought out) but kept knocking over in her attempt to hug and kiss Elmo.

Saturday (we were there from Wed-Mon) we went to the zoo. I don’t think I’ve been there much on weekends before. Especially not summer weekends. Actually I haven’t been to the zoo at all in five years at least. Much had changed and it was pretty crowded. Reminder to do as my mom did when we were kids and go on in-service days. Ali was kind of cranky and much more interested in the other kids than the animals but we had a good time.

Real-life baby bear!

She was into these fish…

…until this little guy showed up.

Before she took a stroller nap.

On the way home.

Saturday evening we had a BBQ. That turned into a birthday BBQ. But began as me asking my dad to BBQ for dinner sometime when we’re there. Because he usually works swing shift this was a number of months in the coming. First we invited my Grandma, then Jordan and Becky, then Gabby and Trista’s new boy Tyler. Although at that point I don’t think they were offical yet. Anyway…

Doing the ‘more’ sign.

My mom told her to kiss the Elmo on her plate.

Playing ‘Apples to Apples.’

Playing with Alyssa at Hammerlee park on Sunday.

If you haven’t seen yet, many more pics here.

Got back from visiting my parents this afternoon. No time for posting much anymore, when we don’t get to spend much time with so many people. Had a good visit, will post more about it soon. Hopefully tomorrow. Until then, I have uploaded an album.

Take it easy. These are, after all, the dog days of summer. Or something along those lines…

As already mentioned Ali slept through the first part of her party. And it was her third nap that day. She woke really cranky and was so, so unsure of all the people when I brought her down. All the people = Tony and I, George and Martha (Karen and Georgia were at a swim meet and came later), Uncle Jim and Aunt Connie, thier son Todd and his girlfriend Meredith, and Grandma and Grandpa Carroll.

We’d gone the day before to the party store to pick out some decorations. We endedup getting an array of stuff; some "First Birthday," some Elmo/Sesame Street, and some Dora. We got to keep it a surprise because Ali let Karen, and even Georgia, hold her while we shopped. So she was super happy to see the Elmo platesand Dora napkins. She actually took an Elmo plate with her on the flights home and is still playing with it. She likes to fold it in half and then open it like she’s playing peekaboo with Elmo.

Sometime during dinner Ali spotted the presents and wanted nothing else than to be able to get to them. She was obsessed. Finally it was time and everyone headed in to watch. Tony set her down, expecting a beeline to the gifts and….nothing. She got scared and hid behind the rocking chair! Also notice that once she does come into the room she gets scared again and tries to climb on who she thinks is her daddy but is actually her great uncle Jim. It’s kind of shaky because I was laughing.

The next video is her opening her first present and then one of her opening her last, the "bike" Tony got for her. As good as she’d been for the past few days, at the farm, at the mall, everywhere, she wasn’t fully herself at this party.  Not as outgoing, not as friendly, not as funny. So that was kind of sad because it was the only time she saw all of the Carrolls.

Can you tell I was holding the video camera (well, actually Tony’s phone) instead of the camera during the present opening? Then it wastime for cake and ice cream and the unveiling of the final surprise:

The singing basically terrified her.

We have a one-year-old in the house!

Afterward we were supposed to do some sparklers but the mosquitos were out and people were starting to leave so it was brief. Then we came inside and Ali watched her new DVD and played with her new toys. Then it was to bed because we had to be at a memorial in Madrid (thirty minutes away?) at 8:00am the next morning.

A rare picture of Auntie Martha.

Chatting with the lid to her new toy.

The remains.

We all (Tony, Ali and I) woke up at 6:30am on her bday. Weird. Especially considering she was born at 8:49am Iowa time. At breakfast this happened:

If you can’t tell the dog was licking yogurt off her hands. Which Ali found to be quite hilarious. After breakfast we walked to Starbucks (which was a looooooong walk). Ali fell asleep which made me happy because she had a long day ahead of her. We went swimming at Hyperion and then home to shower because we were meeting Tony’s cousin Lyn, Aunt Mary, Billie (aka Grandmere), and Lyn’s two kids, Ella and Joey at the Merle Hay mall in the afternoon. Once again Ali napped and we were able to do some decorating for the party that was happening in the evening.

I can’t even begin to post all the absolutely adorable photos of Ali and Joey that I have. Mary has the nicest camera and seeing her high quality puts our camera to shame. So please check out her pics here and the rest of our here. Okay, Joey turned one mid-May and seems like such a mellow guy. And Ella you can tell if just a total sweetheart. Mary said that they sometimes look at this site together and that Ella asked when she got to meet the "girl who lives on the ocean." So cute. Without further ado, here is some of what went down:

Ali modeling for Mary.

Joey being silly.

Lyn and Joey, Tony and Ali, and Ella.

Ali got some presents!

Giving kisses!

And then these two starting loving on each other.

Joey got a little excited and bowled Ali over.

Right back to loving.

Ella playing with Ali’s new toys.

Ali trying to drink Joe’s milk.

Letting Grandmere do something that resembles holding.

Time to go.

Then we went home and put Ali down for yet another nap because there was no way she would last through a whole party…especially a laterish one. I think people began to arrive at 5:30pm and she didn’t wake up until after 6:15 or so. But that’s another post.

We all (Tony, Ali and I) woke up at 6:30am on her bday. Weird. Especially considering she was born at 8:49am Iowa time. At breakfast this happened:

If you can’t tell the dog was licking yogurt off her hands. Which Ali found to be quite hilarious. After breakfast we walked to Starbucks (which was a looooooong walk). Ali fell asleep which made me happy because she had a long day ahead of her. We went swimming at Hyperion and then home to shower because we were meeting Tony’s cousin Lyn, Aunt Mary, Billie (aka Grandmere), and Lyn’s two kids, Ella and Joey at the Merle Hay mall in the afternoon. Once again Ali napped and we were able to do some decorating for the party that was happening in the evening.

I can’t even begin to post all the absolutely adorable photos of Ali and Joey that I have. Mary has the nicest camera and seeing her high quality puts our camera to shame. So please check out her pics here and the rest of our here. Okay, Joey turned one mid-May and seems like such a mellow guy. And Ella you can tell if just a total sweetheart. Mary said that they sometimes look at this site together and that Ella asked when she got to meet the "girl who lives on the ocean." So cute. Without further ado, here is some of what went down:

Ali modeling for Mary.

Joey being silly.

Lyn and Joey, Tony and Ali, and Ella.

Ali got some presents!

Giving kisses!

And then these two starting loving on each other.

Joey got a little excited and bowled Ali over.

Right back to loving.

Ella playing with Ali’s new toys.

Ali trying to drink Joe’s milk.

Letting Grandmere do something that resembles holding.

Time to go.

Then we went home and put Ali down for yet another nap because there was no way she would last through a whole party…especially a laterish one. I think people began to arrive at 5:30pm and she didn’t wake up until after 6:15 or so. But that’s another post.

This is Ali’s Elmo cake that we MADE. And DECORATED. I know, it turned out pretty good, didn’t it. Before this though, we went to the Jordan Creek mall with Karen, Martha, Georgia, and Martha’s friend. Before that we stopped by Pink Hippo Bows where Ali got a few more "birthday presents." Actually they were probably more for me. Last year Karen bought Ali some tiny, tiny bows at the local farmer’s market (and if you’re an avid reader you probably saw the girl wear them often). We then ordered more from their website. Then, they opened a store and we got to visit. I am loving our purchases. You will perhaps spot these cute bows from now on.

Anyway, we went to the mall and they have a really cool kid’s area. Ali had so much fun and is such a little butterfly/daredevil. She tries to make friends with anyone and everyone. She’s also not afriad to climb up, down, or around anything. It was kind of scary to watch. And older girls (like 3-6) absolutely FLOCK to her. It was so hilarious to watch.

And now, the progression of Elmo! We didn’t leave the mall until pretty late. Ali almost fell asleep while eating in the food court. When we got home Georgia helped Tony and I bake the cake, then Karen came home and the four of us ate ice cream while we waited for it to cool. Then the decorating began. We didn’t finish until 11:30pm or so but it was worth it.

As already mentioned Wednesday we ventured out to the Swalla farm in Stuart, Iowa. It was like thirty or forty minutes west of where we were staying in Johnston. I think we were able to get up, showered, and ready by just after ten. Tony’s Grandma Swalla lives on the farm, along with one of her (fourteen!) children, Rosie, and her three kids (Jonathon, whom just graduated high school but we didn’t get to see; Kaitlin, and Megan).

The first thing I noticedwhen we pulled up was KITTENS! I love, love, love kittens but am less enamored with cats. Speaking of cats, Trista told me last night my cat, Peaches, died. I got Peaches when she was just a kitten from a friend the summer before I went into 4th grade. She was 14 years old. Today when I asked what happend Trista said they think she might have been eaten(!) because they haven’t found her and that she had a seizure a few days earlier. I asked aboutthe seizure and she said ti was a "funny story" and she’d tell me later. Bad enough that my cat dies (though, to be honest, I haven’t lived with her for anmost five years so I don’t really feel as if she’s mine anymore) but…THIS?!? I don’t want to think about it.

Anyway, it was really nice to see more of Iowa on the drive out. I’ve never been to the midwest so I spent a ton of time just staring out the window being amazed at how far you could see. And, in Johnston, at the amazing, amazing houses. They all looked like mini plantation mansions.

After playing around for awhile (well, Ali at least) and searching outsome animals (I think we came across three kittens, one momma cat, and two dogs) we satdown for lunch. Grandma Swalla made a rice casserole that was not only good, but that Ali loved at well. She ate so much I was surprised there was anymore left to put the birthday cake she was later presented with.

This picture cracks me up!

Can we say sugar coma?

So excited about her card. Seriously, this kid LOVES cards.

Ali loved playing in this tiny rocking chair that was Grandma Swalla’s mother’s. It is nearly 100 years old!

So cute!

After more playing we went out to tour the farm. That is when Rosie came home so Ali and I got to meet her. By this time Ali was so, so exhausted (kind of a theme from here on out) so we really had to just go. But we had such a nice time and I really wish we could have stayed longer and can go back for a more extend timein the near future. Farm life is so very different from anything I’ve ever been around (even if it wasn’t exactly the crop-growing type of farm) and the space and isolation are so interesting.

In the morning there were some sprinkles too…the only moisture we saw for the week. To give some perspective, it rained a good portion of our drive home from PDX. Welcome back to the NW!

Also, I uploaded the first of three (so far!) photo albums. Check it out here.

Okay…I am going to try to get through these as quickly as possible. If you’ve noticed I haven’t uploaded new photos yet, I’m waiting until I’ve had a chance to post about them first, but soon people, soon.

Monday I mostly slept. I fell asleep at, like, noon and didn’t wake up until 4pm. Ali napped with me at the end and I have no idea what else happened during that time. I know Tony did NOT sleep. Then we had dinner, Karen made meatballs which is a favorite of Ali’s. After dinner, about 7pm or so, I went upstairs to put Ali to sleep and…fell asleep again! Slept through the night, clothes and all. Besides getting little sleep the night before I attribute part of this to not having and coffee that day when I usually drink 2-3 cups. Again, I don’t know what went on that night, Tony may fill in some of the blank spots as he stayed up a few more hours.

Tuesday morning we went to watch Martha play a match of tennis for this tournament she was in. She’s really good, especially for someone who hasn’t been playing that long and was going against really competitive girls. Watching made both Tony and I wish we could spend more time playing ourselves. Babysitting, anyone?

I think Tuesday was the hottest day we had, upper eighties maybe? Yes, we were blessed with basically mild weather. It could have been much hotter which would have been a huge shock to our systems. As it was it quickly became apparent that I just don’t have the wardrobe for hot weather. One pair of longerish bermuda shorts doesn’t really suffice. Obviously we live in a place where pants year-round is a definite possibility.

So in the afternoon we went to Hyperion, a country club that the Carrolls (Tony’s dad’s family with whom we were staying) belong to. They have an outdoor pool with this amazing kiddie area. Ali seriously had the time of her life.

She basically has the doggy paddle down already!

All Georgia’s friends gathered around (Georgia is on the left).

Later that evening We were just hanging around in the backyard and Georgia was reading Ali her [Ali's] favorite book ever. Enter Hallie (pronounced like Ali but with an "H"). Ali and Hallie were so cute together, weary at first but eventually warming up to one another. Ali would go over and pat her, even kiss her on the face! The funniest thing was when either of them was called, both would come because their names sounded so much alike.

Ali hinting to Aunt Georgia.

Sad it’s over.

Moving on to "Aloha is…"

I think Tuesday was also the night we played a modified version of Apples to Apples. Modified in that George, Tony’s dad, was the one and only judge. Anyone who’s played the game knows that the better you know the judge the bigger your advantage. Since I was playing with Tony and Georgia (and later with Georgia’s friend Emma) I started out at a distinct disadvantage but I think I ended up doing pretty well. Something about finishing up the green card brilliant and my laying down lawyers. I’ll let you guess as to George’s occupation.

In the evening we ventured out to Target, a necessity as we were low on diapers. Can’t waste precious luggage space with something you can easily buy, you know. There we also ended up picking some items out for the birthday girl. It’s so funny how a Target can seem so special and full of possibility when you don’thave one near and rarely get to go to one. Tony bought toys and I picked out two outfits. No surprises there, right?

I also think Tuesday was the day that we went to the library to get the pan (yes, you can BORROW mold pans from the library there, how cool is that?) to make Ali’s Elmo cake. This was Tony’s brainchild and you’ll see much more of it later.

The next morning we needed to get up and get going as early as we could manage because we were heading out to the Swalla farm for lunch and an early birthday semi-celebration.

We’re back. Hope to get time to post pictures and write stories soon. Until than, we’ve made it, left with a baby and returned with a ONE YEAR OLD, had an amazing time with amazing people and are now completely and utterly exhausted.

And a little sunburned…

Months that is. Today. My baby is basically one year old. I cannot believe a year has gone by already. Or, eleven-twelfths of it. Gah.

Yesterday the weather was nice when we woke up. Ali had a blowout, like, first thing so she came out of her bedroom in the morning dressed (usually it’s potty time, some play, breakfast, THEN get dressed). Tony had conference calls from 8am to noon so I decided to go out for a walk and enjoy the sun while it lasted. Good decision as it was long gone by about noon. Luckily we got out three times. Once, Ali and I went to the beach [beforementioned]. Then, we went to get the mail after 10am. While walking back we met Tony who’s 10am had been a no-show. We went to the bank and stopped in to the doctor’s to inquire about a prescription refill and schedule Ali’s one year well check(!). We got home about 10:40 and….the internet went down. Which Tony needed for his appointment in twenty minutes. Then I noticed my cell was "searching for service." So was his. Frustrated, Tony picked up the landline to call Embarq about the internet. And it TOO was down. Kind of creepy.

Eventually we walked back to the bank (had to deposit $2) and found out a fiber optic line had been hit. About now is when the sun went away. Our ability to communicate with the outside world wasn’t restored until after 4pm. Last night I spent awhile searching for a story to link this to and…NOTHING. We are apparently not newsworthy at all. It’s so weird not being in the hub-bub, you quickly realize just how self-absorbed metropolitan areas are.

And now, Ali yesterday morning:

Zoned out on Sesame Street.