Spring has sprung! Or is trying to drag itself slowly out of a deep, dank hole. Either one :)

Sunday was a beautiful day and allowed us the opportunity to take our first hike of 2009! We chose a hike in Robe Canyon that wends its way through some very furry trees and then down by the river. Avery had a little cell phone in her pocket that would occasionally "ring" (only she could hear it), and so she'd pick it up and say "Oh hi Hanna. No . . .no . . no, I SAID I DON'T want to go . . .okay . . .bye." "That was just Hannah, mom." Oh good, Avery, now can we get back to the hiking? :)

And we're off!

Sitting in a backpack can sure wear you out! Elliot was a real trooper since the backpack was pretty bumpy.

Avery had great fun climbing on all the rocks.

Slugs and Pigs

Last Saturday (or was it the one before?), the girls and I met up with some friends at Seattle's Green Festival. The picture below is of Avery listening to a song about slugs. Unfortunately, the presenters didn't sing about how to kill them. THAT would have been useful information. !

Elliot and Mike had the same attention span when it came to listening to conference.

Avery, Mike and I had a fun evening playing with play-doh the other day. Both Mike and I constructed pigs (mine pink, his yellow) and we both felt that our pig was superior to the other's pig. Good values for our child to witness, I know.

HA!

DYING

First, I want to announce that my sister Leah had her baby this morning!! Little Sam. It's very exciting and everyone is doing great.

So, apart from the wonderful news of Sam's birth, yesterday and today have been a little trying because Mike's been gone quite a bit lately for various work and church things. And I've been trying to get caught up with work and house stuff and so I've been a little on edge. Of course, I TRY to be patient and understanding as a mother, as much as possible, but sometimes your rope just breaks, right?! So, this afternoon, I asked Avery to go put some socks on so we could get out and run some errands before offices starting closing, etc. I'm running around getting stuff together and walk by Avery's room and notice that she's half naked and has thrown all of her socks and underwear all over her room. So I just look at her, groan and cover my eyes, and Avery says "Mom . . . are you dying?" !

Girls

Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks. Avery and Elliot in matching dresses from Mama Nell. Avery wanted to wear her dress to her school and then wanted Elliot to match.

Just nine months + six months in the making. I finally got frustrated enough with myself to finish the blanket I started for Elliot before she was born. The fuzzy stuff was the main deterrent to finishing . . .the stuff sheds like crazy and everytime I'd take all the quilting stuff out, our house would look like a chicken coop. The blanket ended up about half the size I originally intended, but I'm just happy it's done! And I think it turned out pretty cute too :)

Avery reading to Mike in her fort.

Avery's quotes of the day:

Mom: "Avery! You can pretend you're a caterpillar and sleep in your cocoon the WHOLE night and wake up as a butterfly"

Avery: : "Oh! I can sleep in my cocoon for . . .TWO MINUTES! And then fly around like this!" (as she jumps on her bed)

Mom: "Isn't dad so handsome Avery?"

Avery: "Um . . .I just think dad's a little funny."

More Avery-isms

Avery is pretty much constantly saying funny, weird things. So I have to make sure I consciously save and re-tell some of them so we can remember this comedic phase.

Lately Avery has really enjoyed taking showers. And, as I was starting up a shower for her the other day she excitedly asked "Can I take a shower mom?!" "Yes, Avery, you can." "Oh mom! I can take a shower because I'm stinky . . like you!":

Avery is also queen of the bedtime delay tactics. I had some friends over to watch movies, so I was kind of hurridly getting her into bed. She wanted to stay up and was desperately trying to think of all sorts of things she needed or had to do before going to bed. So, we said a prayer, and I got her some water in the specific cup she needed, but she didn't want to water from the tap because that was "to brush teeth, " she wanted water from the fridge. "Avery, the water from the sink is just fine. It's time to go to bed. " "Okay mom, just . . .just . . . just . . . mom? What does water look like?"

It's also cute to play hide and go seek with Avery because she almost invariably hides under the covers of her or our bed, and then when you come into the room she starts laughing uncontrollably and says "I'm in here!"

A few weeks ago, Mike took Avery with him to our friend Kyle's coffee/snack stand and got Avery a "creamcicle" drink and himself a hot chocolate. So, yesterday, he takes Avery to lunch with Kyle and they stop by the stand and Mike orders a "creamcicle " drink again. Kyle asks if he wants anything else and Mike says, no, he'll just share with Avery. At this, Avery looks a little concerned and then says, half laughingly, "Dad, heh heh, you're supposed to get hot chocolate . . .like last time."

By the way, something screwy is going on with the comments. It says there are zero, but they are showing up in another file somewhere. So, sorry if that's confusing. But I do see them and they're fun to read :)

Most content baby ever award

Walker Visit

I tried to embed a slideshow because I have about 30 pictures from the Walker's visit last weekend, but after I pasted it in, it was taking forever to download the blog. So, I opted for picking out the highlights instead :) Oh my goodness, how lucky did we get with the weather? I was so glad because on all of Heather's previous visits to Seattle it was rainy and bleh. Friday was glorious, and it was wonderful to have everyone visiting to give me the excuse to go outside and fully enjoy it! As you can see in the pictures below, we went to the sculpture park and the Seattle Center. A butterfly actually landed on Avery's finger in the science museum and I snapped the picture just in time! On Saturday, Sandy and I took the girls to a tot symphony performance and we then met up with everyone for lunch in Bellevue before they all headed back to Idaho.

Moscow

On Feb 20th we drove out to Moscow to spend the weekend with Mike's parents and brother and his family (Chris, Heather and Olivia!). It was a quick trip, but we were able to squeeze in a trip to the padded playground at the mall and some crafting at a pottery shop. Avery was SO excited because she got to stay with her Grandma and Grandpa when Mike, Elliot and I went back to Lake Stevens on Sunday. To be honest, we were a little concerned at how nonchalant Avery was about us driving 300 miles away. "You can go now mom!" Everyone else came out to Lake Stevens the following Wednesday because Monte and Chris had meetings in Seattle. Avery did give us hugs when she saw us again, so, whew!

Real Food

Here is Elliot's first taste of rice cereal. I'm sure there are some other moms (and maybe some dads out there) that get as emotional over the first bite as I do. For some reason, it feels like the first time my baby is exposed to the impurities of the outside world; nevermind that she's been sucking on everything in site (thumb, not so clean pacifiers, ancient toys) since birth. She took right to it, though, and maybe when I reflect more on it, I dread the first bite because it's the beginning of MUCH more complicated eating routines compared to nursing :)

Valentines

I feel like I tend to shy away from being overly sentimental while writing on this blog, so hopefully I'll be forgiven for letting it all burst out in this one entry :) I just feel like pushing the pause button for a moment in my sometimes hectic life to talk about my kids. But you do this ALL the time on this blog, you might say, and you'd be right. But what I really want to talk about is what a miraculous gift having a child is. I know these are the moments to savor: being able to cuddle my baby and watch her half-smile in her sleep, to think about who she'll become, to have a constant reminder of the sheer joyfulness of living. To have real conversations with my three year old, read stories together, laugh at jokes "am I funny mom?" To remember what it was like to be learning about life for the first time. Being a parent has grounded me in life in ways I couldn't anticipate in my swingin' single days, fun as they were. I love it, and I love them . . .and I love Mike too. So, Happy Valentine's Day to all.

Avery exchanging Valentines at preschool. We needed to bring 25 cards and the Nerds candy valentines I bought only had 20 in the box. I asked Mike to grab some more Valentines and he came home with NBA Basketball cards. So, my three year old little girl, who is pretending to be a princess more often than not, gave out 5 cards of LeBron James.

For Valentine's Day, Mike and I (and Elliot) drove up to Suncadia, a lodge/resort thing in the Cascade Mtns. It was so nice to get away, have some time to talk and eat a fabulous meal with a wonderful view. Mike planned it all and it was great fun.

Our little Dee got to enjoy the Valentine's outing as well.

On Monday night we took the girls ice skating (with Owen and Jamie and their kids). Avery wanted to go fast, and was very frustrated with the whole "learning" thing. The rink had these buckets (as seen in picture) that kids could use to push themselves along, but Avery figured out that if she leaned her whole body on the bucket and ice-picked her skates like crazy she could get going pretty dang fast. It was one of the first times I've realized how much she has taken on characteristics of her parents; in this case, stubborness and recklessness and I'll let you decide which comes from which parent :)

Curious Little Monkey

The girls and I went into Seattle today to check out the Curious George Exhibit at the Children's Museum with our friends Sue and Chey. The exhibit was really pretty fun, Avery liked playing with nearly all the different stations: there was a rocket ship slide, golfing, a shadows area, wind. We then did some painting and crafts, walked through the global village, saw a Korean subway car, a house modeled after one in the Phillipines, a rickshaw and by then mom was ready to take a nap. But, since Avery wasn't, we went over to the sculpture park and played a rousing game of red light, green light (unintentionally making those walking around us play as well). During all this fun, Mike was slogging it out at a Klondike Derby with the boy scouts all day (I learned today that this does not involve eating a large amount of Klondike bars). Elliot was pretty happy to go along with anything, just piping up a bit every two hours to get fed. We capped off the evening with eating at Red Robin for dinner, getting the girls into bed, catching up on the blog, and now convincing Mike to change the channel from Sports Center. Happy Saturday everyone!

THE LIFE

In no particular order . . .

Below are some pictures from the past week or so. The first was a family activity called "engage Avery in family night by making a fairy outfit out of a paper bag." Both Avery and Mike thought my fairy wings looked more like a bone. But it was a good diversion for about 10 minutes.

SuperBowl Sunday. Elliot is decked out in her Cardinals outfit. Mike and Owen chowing down on wings.

Big kisses. The last picture taken with the old camera. Yay for Circuit City sale! But, too bad for all the people being laid off and all that.

Here is Avery's enthusiastic reading of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Is it just me? Is the way Avery says "boom" hilarious? Along the lines of cracking up . . . after her bath tonight, Avery was pretending she was a chick hatching out of her towel-eggshell, saying "I'm cracking, I'm cracking, I'm cracking up." :)

Another story. We were reading stories on her bed and she decided to jump off, holding one of the books. "Watch me, watch me, mom." She then jumped off and landed in a loud, painful sounding thump on the ground. "That looked dangerous, Avery!" "No, mom" Avery said, as she stood up and nonchalantly put the book on her little desk, "that was just a trick."

Elliot went with me on a business trip last Monday to Tuesday. She was such an angel, sleeping through meetings, charming everyone. Of course, we would love her even if she wasn't so accomodating, but it is a nice perk.

Teatro Zinzanni

"Can you please get my finger out of my ear?" That's what Avery asked me tonight. And so I did.

Last Saturday, Mike and I went to Teatro Zinzanni, a dinner cirque extravaganza. It was really fun, and we took Elliot along. It was a little loud for her to sleep, so she just looked around.

Clarifications

I need to clarify, for Mike's sake, that my birthday was actually very nice and fun. My previous post was a reflection on the psychological impact of turning 31, NOT on the actual events of the day :) Mike made it a very fun day: He got up BEFORE work to make me breakfast. Then we went to sushi that night for dinner and went to see a movie, and Mike arranged the babysitting and everything. SUCH a wonderful husband. !

Lately, Avery has decided that she wants a pet. Never say never, but since neither Mike or I want pets (we actually DO NOT want pets), she has a hard sell. So, after running into a brick wall with direct requests, the other day Avery changed tactics. "Mom," she said, "I have a present for you. I'm going to get a pet for you." "Oh, thank you Avery, that's very nice." "Mom? Can we go to the store and get a pet for you?" On further pressing, Avery revealed that she wanted to get me a purple donkey to match some purple shoes she was also planning on giving me as a present. !

My birthday presents . . .

This past Wednesday was THE DAY. I've definitely noticed a change in the feel of birthdays since passing the 3-0 mark . . .they aren't as fun. BUT, despite the annual reminder that time ticks on relentlessly, there is something about your birthday day that still feels exciting. Just seeing "Jan 7" on the wall calendar at the bank produced a frisson of recognition. As my little sister reminded me, if I wasn't turning OLD (notice how I'm avoiding saying the exact number), I wouldn't have Avery and Elliot yet (and by extension, Mike as well!). And I'm so happy to have these three people in my life, as well as all my other family and good friends.

The pictures below are just some recent shots. Avery is wearing a dress my cousin crocheted for her - I know, amazing! And Elliot is being her usual, relaxed self.

One of the books we got at the library this week is about a frog that wants to play in the snow, even though he is supposed to be sleeping during the winter. Tonight, after we read books and said goodnight, Avery said "But I don't want to hibernate!"