Summertime is here!

We recently spent an entire week at the beach house, something we have never done before.  We had two different couples down with their kids and were able to settle in and relax.  We had nice weather most of the week and only a couple days of rain. 


Morgan had a lot of fun playing with her friend, Liam, who is the same age.  We went to the beach with his family a year ago and the kids didn't play that well together.  But now that they are a bit older, they kept themselves busy and got along great! They had fun throwing rocks into the ocean and spinning in the rocking chair.  We also made a visit to the Octopus tree, which Morgan can now correctly say (last summer is was "ocapus" - always a little sad when they leave those cute little words behind).


Sasha also had a "friend" come visit later in the week.  Baby Bella is only two days older than Sasha, but was born in Myanmar (Burma) to some international teacher friends of ours.  It was fun comparing the girls and seeing how similar they are. 

On the beach, Morgan loved writing letters in the sand and walking the balance beam on the logs.  Sam helped Morgan fly a kite for the first time.  It must have been her older cousin's kite because it was a war plane with shark teeth, but Morgan didn't mind.  I think Sam had more fun with it, but seeing Morgan jump up and down after it was pretty priceless.  The last day on the beach, the weather couldn't have been better - except that there was no wind to actually fly the kite - pretty rare on the Oregon coast.  Sam took Morgan to wade in the surf (she was in her undies because her pants were wet), Sasha was sitting on the blanket chewing on a sand toy, and I looked around thinking how happy I was at that very beautiful moment. 

After we were home, we had a fun 4th of July weekend filled with a trip downtown on MAX, a cute little 4th of July parade in our friends' neighborhood, and several barbecues with family and friends.  On the 4th, Morgan got to throw some "pop-its" and we lit a few little fireworks for her.  She was much more interested this year (last year she was scared of the sparklers I got her), but she put more of her efforts into a dance show to the tune of "Yankee Doodle," while her family sang. Sasha enjoyed her first 4th of July by napping very little all day and doing back bends out of the baby carrier.  Both girls are quite acrobatic!

We were so exhausted the night of the 4th that we were all asleep before 9:00.  Of course the fireworks woke Sam and me up, but fortunately the girls' slept through it all.  We are lucky to have good friends, a great beach house to escape to, and fun times as a family.  Hopefully the good times this summer will keep coming!

Six Months of Sasha

Sasha is now six months and on the downhill side to her first birthday - so hard to believe!  The Sasha we brought home from the hospital in December is quite different from the one we have living with us today.  Sasha has really come into her own, particularly in just the past couple weeks.  She can do so many things now and is suddenly in her baby prime - rolling over, sitting up, sleeping better at night and at naps, reaching for anything she can get her hands on (often her sister's hair), preferring to stand up when we hold her, and being much more social towards new people. In fact, she is a pretty smiley kid now instead of the studious and/or bawling baby she was a few months back.  I was beginning to wonder if that was just her personality....  And this girl is big!  She is quite a bit longer than Morgan was at the same age and is already wearing size 12 month clothes!  

I love seeing her watch and laugh at things Morgan does.  Morgan is having more fun for sure, and loves to give her raspberries on her tummy, tickle her, and use her like a puppet - waving her arms around and pretending to talk in a funny Sasha voice.  Even when Morgan gets carried away and is too rough, Sasha never cries, so it's a little hard to teach Morgan about being more gentle with her sister. The other day the girls were laying on a blanket in the back yard and Sasha gabbed a handful of Morgan's hair.  Morgan screamed and started crying as if she had broken her arm and Sasha seemed quite entertained by the drama.  I found it a bit amusing that little Sasha could cause such a scene, but it made me realize that we are just around the corner from this little one wreaking havoc on her big sister's "stuff."  Not looking forward to babyproofing, mediating, and chasing after a curious mobile baby.  While Sasha is growing and doing so many new things, there are still quite a few things she is NOT doing.  She still refuses to take a bottle - from anyone but me.  Go figure.  That is making going out without kids a big challenge.  Looking back I should have given her a bottle much more early on - one of the down sides of being a nursing, stay at home mom.  But as the time passes so quickly, I am trying to look at it not as a house-arrest situation, but as a fleeting blip in my life - probably something I will never have to or get to do again.  I think I can hang in there for another six months or so.  Sasha is also not sleeping through the night.  I was so lucky with Morgan, who basically put herself on a schedule and was sleeping through the night at three months.  But after many tearful nights (for both of us) in the past couple weeks, Sasha can now fall asleep by herself with minimal crying and without being swaddled.  And she is (knock on wood) sleeping well at night and only getting up once to eat.  So I will take stretches of 4-5 hours of sleep instead of 2-3!

These past six months have taught me a lot about her as an individual, but also about being a mother.  These months have been the most challenging of motherhood yet, and it makes me realize not only how much more I can accomplish in a single day with two kids, but also how much more of myself I have to give to keep everyone happy.  And I only have two... what about my friends with three kids or twins or more! Throughout the past few years of motherhood, all those clichés about parenthood keep running through my head, but the one that I hear most often and ringing most loudly and driving me crazy is: "Every kid is different."  Duh.  That is nothing new and definitely not rocket science, but I really didn't think or choose to believe that until I met Sasha.  I get it now!!!
  
Most of all these months have been very humbling.  “You have not lived a perfect day, unless you have done something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” (Ruth Smeltzer)   Being a parent of two has taught me that this is even less about ME, a lesson we all need to keep learning over and over and over throughout our lives, whether we have children or not. 

I absolutely love raising these two beautiful daughters though.  Our family seems so much fuller and complete now that Sasha is here.  I look at my two girls and know how lucky I am and how precious this time with them is. But I better get going.... laundry to do and a baby who will be waking me up in a couple hours.  The job never ends!

Spring Has Sprung!

Summer is just around the corner and the weather is just finally starting to feel like spring. That means we will be outdoors more and a busy summer will be upon us. But getting the chance to sit down and write something profound, funny, or making any sense whatsoever lately is a challenge. The last couple months have flown by at warp speed, and I am just trying to keep my head above water with the girls and the house. Maybe it's that we have so many birthdays and holidays this time of year, maybe it's Morgan's dance classes and swimming lessons, or maybe it's just motherhood. Anyway, here is a photo recap (before I forget!) of why my spring has been so busy ... beginning in April.

Sasha's first beach trip!

My 36th birthday: Mama gets a night out! This was a real treat since Sasha won't take a bottle or eat without me. (And she screamed for an hour while we were gone...)

Easter! Morgan really got into the egg hunt this year and Sasha was a good sport.

Mother's Day: We hosted a brunch at our house for the wonderful moms in our family.
Sam's Birthday Weekend: The first 70 degree day of the year! He had the day off, and we got to walk to a brewpub and enjoy the sun. We celebrated with his family and Morgan got to help decorate the cake. Then we had a fun date night out (and of course Sasha cried for at least an hour...)

Garden time! Despite the cool weather and our shady back yard, Morgan and I put in a garden. We are growing strawberries, zucchini, lettuces, cabbage, green beans, tomatoes, carrots and green onions in our planter bed and various pots. We will see what grows!
Dinda's birthday: Morgan bought her some balloons (including a Hello Kitty birthday balloon :) and we had a fun dinner with Ron and Dinda.
Gail's birthday: Our mom's birthdays are only two days apart, so we got to celebrate again. We surprised her with a fun family picnic at my nephew's baseball tournament on the first 80 degree day of the year.
And then there's these two....who are going to keep me busy for a long time to come. I just wish time would slow down a bit. They are growing up so fast!

Fenced In

When we visited our house during the buying process, we noticed the junky yard of the neighbor (aka "the hoarder") behind us - with an empty hot tub tilted up on it's side, old milk crates, tarps, a huge old satellite dish, and lots of other crap that looked like it had been there for years. It was certainly an eyesore, but there were at least several large shrubs and trees blocking most of it. What we didn't notice, however, was the two large dogs that lived there. Once we closed on the house and had keys in hand, we were excited to show my parents the place. As we looked out the back French doors, there they were, the "Bumpus Hounds," as I liked to call them. They were peering right in the fence of our small back yard and even barking at us while we were inside the house. This continued once we moved in during the winter, poor Morgan would get barked at while she watched TV. It was even worse once the weather got better and we tried to play in the back yard. Their barks would send Morgan shrieking and running for cover. They barked loudly and aggressively at us if they even heard us outside. Clearly, something had to be done if we were going to use our yard at all this summer.So with ALL the extra money we had lying around after buying a house (and making several repairs to our car - grrr), we bit the bullet and decided to put up a fence. I didn't realize just how expensive fences were, even for a small yard like ours. Fortunately, Sam had time (and the muscles) at the end of the semester to work on it so all we had to buy were the materials. Sam spent several days cutting back and tearing out some of the shrubs that ran right along the current chain-link fence and hauling away two truck loads. Of course he had company - the dogs were just inches away and barked at him entire time. He had to resort to wearing ear protective headphones just to block them out. (Later, we got smart and bought dog treats, and that worked much better!)Once he had everything ready, his engineering brain designed the fence to be on top of a raised flowerbed, which we still need to build ... but one that would block out the view and (hopefully) silence the dogs. Then, after Sam spent a week digging and setting the posts, we were lucky enough to have lots of help to finish the fence in one day! A very BIG thank you to Ron Holloway for risking carpel tunnel syndrome and staining every fence board; to Colin for moral and physical support; to Ron Petti for bringing all his tools and know-how to make our fence look perfect (despite having had knee surgery a few days before!); and to Amy, Kim & Dinda who were my support team while I was inside keeping an eye on the kids while they guys worked. (I secretly wished I was out building fence that day than inside with the laundry, crying, and general chaos.)

BEFORE:

AFTER!!!

Now that the weather is turning nice again, we have already been out enjoying our yard in the last week or two. And I am very happy to report that I hardly even hear the dogs anymore - yay! Well done, Sam & Company!

Three and a Half, Going on Ten

Morgan is now three and a half (which means she's almost 5, according to her) and is at a delightful and difficult stage. She says the funniest things and her imagination continues to come up with new and exciting adventures. Her fashion sense has taken on new heights, and she is more independent than ever. She constantly surprises us with things she will do completely on her own. Of course, with that independence comes a stubbornness that presents problems with most basic tasks throughout the day. I think she has come to terms with the fact that she has a sister (who she adores) and has become better at sharing Mommy. Her relationship with Sam is amazingly close - and I love seeing the way they have bonded in the months since Sasha was born. (I do get a little jealous now because she often cries for Daddy when she is hurt or having a hard time.) But overall, I try and remind myself that age three is a pretty fun ride. I am definitely not an eccentric or spontaneous person, so I can live vicariously through my daughter through this stage of life. One thing I have been amazed with since Morgan turned 3 is her energy level. It was like a switch got turned on at her birthday and I'm running around looking for a mute or power button. She was a pretty mellow toddler, so I guess I thought she wasn't a really busy, energetic kid. Turns out she was just saving it up. She wiggles watching the TV, at dinner she is up and out of her chair ten times, and at night she tells us her eyes just won't close! Fortunately, we have a BIG basement now! Morgan would prefer to play down there all day long if we would let her. She can burn off some energy and the more physical the activity the better. Of course she wants us to be down there with her playing zoo, store, and "garbage sack" games. The last one is when Daddy lifts her up inside of a blanket and pretends he's taking out the trash. She even managed to get Grandma Dinda to drag her and her stuffed animals around on a blanket one day. The more physical the game the better, and she's always changing the rules as we go. "No, Mommy, say this..." "Wait, Daddy, go back and do this..." Somehow we are always doing it wrong. Fortunately, Morgan doesn't mind - she's more than happy to correct us.Morgan loves school even more lately, and is speaking Spanish daily here at home. She often asks me how to say different words in Spanish, or she teaches me how to say things in Spanish. Usually it's just gibberish but said with a convincing Spanish accent and roll of the R. Sometimes she even breaks it up into syllables and makes me repeat after her. She also must have paid really close attention at school during the healthy foods unit, because we are now getting daily lectures and quizzes on "go, slow, and whoa" foods. I love the way they teach kids about nutrition with these terms. "Go" foods are fruits, vegetables, etc. that you can eat a lot of. "Slow" foods are fine but in small amounts. And "whoa" foods are the bad stuff, like fat and sweets. Morgan has always loved her veggies (well, most of them) and been a good eater, but this has made us more aware about what we are eating. She will ask me tricky things like, "Is sour cream a whoa food, Mom?" as I add another dollop to my baked potato. "Uhh...," I stammer, looking at Sam for some help. Sometimes I think she honestly wants to categorize every food in her little brain, but other times I feel like she is testing me to see if I am that healthy with her reverse psychology.
The other day, while Dinda was over visiting and helping out, Morgan came out of the bathroom after quite a while to tell us she had a new friend named Grinney. She was very excited about this new friend and asked to use Grandma Dinda's magnifying glass. It turns out, Grinney is an ant. When we moved into our new house, the ants welcomed us with quite an army. We have done our best to discourage them, but Morgan's bathroom ant patrol was on high alert. She used to get freaked out by them, and I even taught her to squish them. :( But then one day, she decided to befriend the enemy and coexist with them. Very diplomatic of her. So just about every time Morgan went into the bathroom, there was Grinney (or someone who looked just like him!). But lately, Grinney is no where to be found. (The ant traps must finally be working.) I tried to get Morgan to go on an "ant hunt" all over the house, thinking that would keep her busy for hours, but she lost interest at the hallway.Her brain is constantly churning. I mentioned our friends that live in Texas the other day, and she asked, "Is Texas on Earth?" I said, "Yes, everything is on earth," thinking that would be a simple answer for her. "But Mommy, the sun and stars and moon are not on Earth." (See, I think she really sets me up with all these questions.) Another day, Morgan was rough housing and climbing all over Sam and he said something about becoming an old man. Morgan asked, "is that what you want to be when you grow up?" But when we asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, she said, "A ballerina! ..... And a kitchen mopper." I never know what is going to come out of her mouth, and more often than not, it is something new I never thought about or learned before. Thanks for showing me I still have so much to learn, Morgan.

Introducing...... Sasha, Sashi, Sissy, The Sash

I forgot the magic that occurs around 3 months of age. The "fourth trimester" is over, and suddenly Sasha is a little person, a full-fledged baby, and an active member of the family. Wonderful things are happening like smiles, flirting, and batting of the eyelashes. This is all the more enjoyable since Sasha is now sleeping longer at night - we have even had a couple 6 or 7 hour stretches! She can sit in her bouncy chair watching me in the kitchen or play in her baby gym, swatting at toys and listening to her big sister. Life is definitely getting easier and definitely more fun as Sasha grows.Even though she looks and acts differently than Morgan at that age, she is turning out to be a very happy baby, just like her big sister was. She loves a party, and will stay awake watching everything and everyone quite happily. Morgan is used to being a big sister by now, and "keeps an eye on her" if I am out of the room. Most of the time she actually does take good care of her, and is enjoying seeing her smile. Sasha loves watching her big sis, and Morgan has yet to realize the power that she has over her little sister. The other day, she surrounded Sasha with her toys, a la E.T. Sasha seemed to love the attention.

I finally managed to figure out posting videos again, so below is Sasha in action. She is such a joy, and we are so lucky to have her in our lives!

Home Sweet Home

After saving and planning for the last two years, and actually a decade of dreaming of living in an old Portland bungalow, we have moved into our dream home! Sam and I are still pinching ourselves that we found a house we love so much and were able to make it all work considering this crazy housing market. And moving with a two month old and a three year old was much less painful than I thought, thanks to hiring movers and my incredible sisters (and nephew!) who helped unpack my entire kitchen. We were amazed that all our furniture fit so well here, and it instantly felt like home. I think we were meant to be here. Our house is 85 years old, so there are plenty of things that have seen better days or are just a little funky. And I had a moment of panic (after we had closed, of course) that we had bought an old, dilapidated house with too much work to do. The reality is that it has had tons of renovations done on it already but it will always need work. But that's why we love older homes - lots of "character!"

Here are a few more things I already love about this place:
* It's a big house - bigger than we expected to buy - but it feels very cozy. And we will definitely have room to grow into it over the years. In the 13 years Sam and I have lived together, we have never stayed in one place longer than 3 years. Knowing that we will be here for a long time is comforting and makes it feel more like ours.
* Sunlight! Our old apartment was so dark and our new house is full of windows. We haven't had too much sunshine yet, but I have already noticed a big difference that the light brings to my mood. Being at home full time, this makes winters much less dreary for me.
* Chores! The first weekend we were here, Sam was out cleaning the overflowing gutters at 8:30 in the morning. It was so cute to see him so excited to do such a heinous task. They hadn't been cleaned in probably a year. But I have a hunch that may be the only time he is so motivated to clean our gutters.
* I was equally enraptured with cleaning our kitchen for the first time. After the boxes had been unpacked, I thoroughly enjoyed getting the kitchen spick and span. Of course it's a task I will be doing thousands of times in the years to come and will eventually dread it, but for now it's pretty fun.
* Morgan is so happy here! I wasn't sure how another big change in her life would go, but once she finally got to see the house after hearing us talk about it, she was overjoyed. She has a ball running around our basement playroom and loves her new bedroom and big girl bed (even though her room is downstairs and we are all upstairs). And I'm pretty sure she is the only kid in Portland with an antique, custom painted, powder coated, monogrammed bed. Thanks, Papa Ron! * A great Portland neighborhood. Portland is known for its wonderful neighborhoods, and ours so far seems to fit that. First, we have amazing college friends and their kids living on the same block as us. They introduced us to this neighborhood and we have already shared dinners, borrowed tools, and had our kids wear each other out - something we will do a lot of over the years. Second, we have a nice Portland city park three blocks away. Third, there are lots of families with kids and we have already met several neighbors, been invited to the summer block party, and know where the teenage babysitters live. Fourth, every neighborhood has it's odd folks and we have those too. Behind us lives the "Hoarder," with his collections of junk and barking dogs. He probably deserves his own blog post, but for now he will give us something to talk about.
* Our yard. We have a small yard - nothing like our place in Eugene, but enough to keep me happy and give us a place to hang out and play. I am looking forward to getting muddy and sprucing it up over the seasons with my favorite flowers. Morgan is also excited to have a garden and wants to plant a strawberry "tree".
* The history. Being 85 years old, I often think about what the house looked like when it was brand new or how many families have lived here. All of them have left their mark somehow, and I'm sure the walls have lots of stories. Yet there is so much original detail that has survived all these years, like the glass door knobs and the wavy glass windows. And I love that there are already hooks on the mantle for stockings and a place to hang a Christmas wreath on the front door. It feels like home.* The Future. The best part is envisioning all of our own history that will unfold under this roof. Holiday celebrations, the girls first day of school, slumber parties in the basement, conversations over the dinner table, ... all the ups and downs of family life. Sam and I still pinch ourselves that we get to live here - this home already makes us so happy. Owning your own home is such a simple dream, but such a challenge to accomplish. I am definitely counting my blessings. And we are very thankful to our families for all their support and help in making this dream a reality!