Wednesday, November 4, 2009

New Adventures


Life has found us in Spokane of all places! We left Bellingham October 24th, stayed a night in Ellensburg and arrived the next day to find our house still hadn't closed. Luckfully, the previous owners let us move in as "renters" for a day and we signed paperwork the next day. We are officially further in severe debt now...otherwise known as homeowners! We are loving the house...mostly just because it is ours. After a yucky send off from our previous landlady we are glad to not be renting again. The house is beautiful inside, we don't even need to paint. We had a week off once arriving and got to work unpacking, shopping for household supplies and exploring our new city and neighborhood. We live near some very cool parks! We went on a long wandering walk and came across a huge forested lot with basalt rock outcroppings, a few ponds and trails meandering throughout. As we investigated further we found it was part of one of our local parks. It is now a favorite walking spot of ours and Tinkers. Then there is the Bluff just down the road which has walking and mountain biking for miles and miles...yet again, Tinker was loving it. Then there is Dishman Hills...500 acres of protected land, ponds, hills, and trails just 3 miles away. Tinker thought she was in doggie heaven! Still many more parks to explore. People in Spokane like to say that everything is just a 20 minute drive away...no matter what type of outdoor adventure or city experience you're looking for, you'll find it in 20 minutes. So far it seems to be true!

People have been very nice and generous here as well. Gig met a guy a few blocks away that makes handmade guitars (now Gig is in heaven). We bought a desk from a lady off craigslist and she gave us a pound of organic grass fed beef that she had from a side of cow that she bought! She told us to call her if we needed anything or referrals to good doctors, organic hookups, etc. We went out to dinner and the waitress gave us a free loaf of their signature bread as a house warming gift. We have been very pleasantly surprised with how nice people have been.


Luna has been loving the new house. She has more space to crawl and get into trouble! Luckfully, the previous owners left us a nice retractable baby gate. She celebrated her first Halloween as a chicken. Gig and I were up far too late making her costume, but it was worth it when we saw how cute she was in it. Luna joined cousin Elsa (a puppy for the occasion) for trick-or-treating at the highschool Paul (my bro-in-law) teaches at. Then we went to a few of our neighbors houses to meet and greet and of course get some chocolate. Luna was a trooper as she sucked on the package of a Hershey bar, obviously tired ( and only tasting plastic instead of the yummy chocolate inside it).

Luna is becoming more of a little person everyday. She loves to shake her head "NO" every chance she gets. We're trying to teach her yes, but she's not catching on too quickly. We started on kissing noises too which is very cute to see her attempt to mimic those. She loves standing and is walking with hand support. The biggest change is sleep for both Luna and I. She has been sleeping in a crib in her own room instead of with us. Neither she nor I have been sleeping well the past 9 months, but Gig and I loved having her cuddled with us in bed. She has been sleeping like a champ since being in her own room and I have been getting near 8 hours of sleep again. It's been wonderful! We miss her, but I'm loving the sleep.

Luna is getting 2 new top teeth. It's made for a slightly cranky baby, but she and we are dealing. She has found a new toy of a box that she pushes around like a baby walker. She can get all around the house on her own with it (video to come). Who needs plastic play toys when there are free cardboard boxes at Costco! She's loving seeing her cousins more often since they live only 2 miles away. I now know that we are not cut out to have 3 kids as all hell breaks loose when they're all together.



I have been working full-time for the first time since I was a student (at least I'm getting paid for it this time). I did orientation for the first few weeks, but am now seeing my own caseload. So far, so good. I'm looking forward to working there and the opportunities for professional growth it will afford me. Gig is liking being a stay-at-home dad and house husband. He's been parenting, cooking and cleaning up a storm. It's strange to switch roles so dramatically. He even makes my lunch and drives me to work in the morning.



We had a great Thanksgiving, our first in our new home. We did a local run, the Turkey Trot, in the morning, then had a big family feast with my parents (who drove over from Lynnwood) and my sister's family. Luna enjoyed the turkey and mashed potatoes, but I'm not so sure she still enjoyed it on day 4 of leftovers.

We miss our friends in Bellingham, and the walk-ability of the town, but we don't seem to miss it as much as we thought we would. We are liking it here. The weather has been great, only 1 evening of rain the entire time. It's cold, but beautiful! We are finding good coffee shops and having fun exploring the city.

P.S. You may have noticed the date of this post as November 4th...that's when I started it...yep, only took a month to finish it!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Negligent Blogger Alert

Yes, I've been a negligent blogger...can I use the new mom excuse? I still can't seem to get much done even though Luna is now 7 months old. I'm sure it will continue like this for the next 18 years as well?! So much has happened since I last wrote. We took a trip to Pacific Beach for a week with my parents. It was a relaxing time with many long walks on the beach and bare baby buns in the sun.
Bare buns


The same day we returned from the beach, we left for a weekend long wedding on Lummi Island (we highly recommend The Willows B&B) that Gig had the honor of playing guitar during the ceremony.


Luna is starting to chunk up a bit in the thighs (well, chunky for her...10 oz in 1 week!) thanks to the addition of full cream and avocados to her diet, she is crawling now (let the baby proofing begin), pulling herself up to stand, and consequently, falling a lot more. She is becoming very verbal with yelling and terradactyl noises, along with lots of "mamamamama". I'm going with the belief she's really saying "mama" and not just babbling. She's such a happy girl and makes us laugh all of the time.

Fun in the laundry basket ...... Bathtime in the sink


Kale cheeks and blueberry lip


New high chair ..... Monkey see, Monkey do

Wanna race?..... I may be walking sooner than you think.
We are house hunting and will be making the big move to Spokane near the end of October where I have accepted a new job at St. Luke's Rehabilitation Institute working in the stroke unit. Gig on the other hand, has accepted a new position as homemaker and full-time daddy. We are looking forward to being closer to my sister and her family. Growing up we rarely saw our cousins, so I look forward to the 3 girls growing up together. We are also looking forward to the adventures a new city brings and being first-time home owners.
The garden treated us very well this year, most plants are dying off now, but we harvested pumpkins, acorn and butternut squash the other day. We continue to harvest tomatoes, greens, red cabbage and plums as well. We've been making yummy soups every night this week with fresh garden veggies. Homemade tomato basil, butternut squash & potatoes, and tonight was black bean and collard green. YUMMY! For dessert, plum buttermilk sherbert (thanks to the Italian plum trees in the backyard), and plum crumble. Luna is loving pureed plums for breakfast and kale, zuchinni, or green beans for dinner. All home grown! Planning to make plum jam this weekend. We are very behind in harvesting, once again, blame it on the baby. Luna has a new tree swing that I traded veggies for and she's more than happy to hang out in it while we pick plums.


Hope you've enjoyed this peek into our lives. Thanks for taking the time to catch up with us.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Random Acts of Cuteness


We are blessed to have such a happy baby!





Water Baby

We loved the heat wave last week! I especially loved that Luna took longer naps than usual because of the heat. Not that those have lasted now that it's cooled down. But, we did take Luna for her first swim to cool off a bit. We found a little swim hole in Whatcom Creek that was perfect for a refreshing dip.

She's a true Aquarius.

Luna's 1st Backpacking Trip

How many babies go backpacking at the ripe ol' age of 6 months? I bought this baby backpack off craigslist when I first found out I was pregnant. Talk about priorities! Backpacking with a baby is an interesting adventure. For one, the baby pack doesn't really carry very much, basically just diapers and a snuggly outfit. We bungee corded a sleeping mat and bag to the bottom of it, but otherwise, Gig had to carry EVERYTHING else. We opted to not bring the stove so that it would be a little lighter...which meant no coffee in the morning. I don't know what we were thinking?! After a 3 hr car ride to Spider Meadows trailhead near Leavenworth, Luna wasn't too excited to then be put in the backpack...I had to sing the entire 3 miles to camp.

But as you can see she cheered up by the time we reached camp. Luna slept great (well, her usual, not sure I'd classify it as great) in the sleeping bag with me as Gig, Luna, Tinker and I all crammed into our 2 man tent. The next day we hiked into the Meadows which were beautiful! We took a break near a river so Gig could take a dip and Luna could dunk her toes as usual (didn't think she was up for swimming in glacial melt just yet). Unfortunately, the biting flies where abundant and were ruining the majesty of it all...soooo, instead of staying another night, we opted to hike all the way back out 7 miles and go for beers and brats in Leavenworth...oh, and coffee.

Nature calls =)






Lunch break for Luna

Winthrop


We love Winthrop! Gig and I first met in Winthrop 4th of July 2001. We return every summer to enjoy the warmth, beauty and good times with friends. It was Luna's first time there...out of the womb that is. Luna loved dipping her toes in the cold Methow and sleeping in the tent for the first time.

So happy my shorts haven't fallen off!

Loving when dad plays guitar for me

Can't travel without the bouncy chairs!

Grandma

Visiting with Grandma

and asleep with my snuggly baby that grandma gave me!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Snug as a bug in the sink?

Luna unfortunately has very sensitive skin which means a rashy bum. We read in the Dr. Sears baby book to soak the babes bum in warm water for 5 minutes. She enjoyed it a little more than we had planned. Next she's going to want a pedicure.

New Friends

Our friends Randy and Katherine just brought their new baby Vaughn Winthrop into the world July 6th. We visited over the weekend and the daddy's took their first "babes, boys and bjorns" walk through the woods.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Nature Girl

I think I like this...no, I LOVE this!
Thank goodness for summer! Luna loves spending time in nature. Daddy likes to teach her about the plants in the yard and has her smell all the flowers. She tries to taste most things as well, whether it's edible or not. Here are some pictures of Luna playing in the backyard.