Halloweenie

Mama lesson #5478458 - Wait until it gets closer to Halloween to start decorating and surrounding ourselves with scary ghosts, scary witches, scary skeletons etc... because now that Halloween is over, Adelaide is pointing out "scary Santa" and "scary motorcycle" etc. Poor little girl, everything is scary to her now. Even the skeleton that's been living in our fish tank and blowing bubbles long before she was even born. Even Santa...what have I done?! Halloween was really REALLY fun this year. Adelaide had several costumes to choose from, but decided on the red dragon that her friend Judah gave to her when we were in Chico last time. She loves LOVES that dragon costume. Everyone thought she was a boy, but I don't think she cared. We started the weekend carving our pumpkins. It was a quick job, but fun for Adelaide. She wanted to play with the knifes (not good)and I felt bad in the end because she was calling them "mama's pumpkin" and "daddy's pumpkin". So does that mean that she didn't have her own pumpkin? Maybe we should have carved three...

The next day was Halloween. First we went to check out Mississippi Ave. It was okay. There were a few kids in costumes, but one was dressed as a "scary pirate", so we could only stay for a while. Then we moved on to the Kennedy School which was really busy and FULL of people in costumes. We saw several really scary ones, and Adelaide ended up in my arms with her eyes closed really tight and pressed into my neck, so we decided to leave there as well. Maybe next year will be better. More courage. Later we went to our good friends house. They live in a neighborhood where people actually go trick or treating (not as "up and coming" as our hood) and we thought it would be fun to see other trick or treaters. It was fun...AND we got to see baby Frances Bean - we LOVE HER! Trick or treating was really fun. Adelaide was nervous at first, and has no idea what candy is...but figured out how to quietly say "trick or treat" when the door opens, and then get something fun to put in her little skeleton bag. She is so precious it kills me. I can't wait for next year!!!

Jammin

Myles and Adelaide have a new band - and she is no longer afraid of the harmonica.

Play- doh

Hazel

Hazel is our new friend that Adelaide and I are taking care of once a week. She is really sweet, and her and Adelaide get along very well. She is about 4 months younger, but a tough cookie and keeps up with Adelaide great! They were both running and screaming while they chased bubbles, but by the time Myles came out with the camera it turned into Adelaide being a crazy girl. She is the one in the pink hat running around screaming.Hazel was ready for a break!

Play Dates

We met up with our friends from our birth class again. I think now that winter is here we might be meeting up more often so that we all have an excuse to get out of the house - or at least I hope!

Here is Adelaide holding baby Parker! His brother Elliot didn't come today, but Adelaide got to hold his baby brother for the picture. Jai was helping her keep him up!
Here is a picture that was taken of some of the same kids this summer. I just got them from one of the other mamas, but thought they were too cute not to post.

Mothers Milk

At Jenny's wedding about a year ago. One of my favorite pictures of all time.

Play Date

Today Adelaide got to have some time with her friends, and I got to have some time with mine (their mamas!!). I'm so thankful to know other amazing mama's and their kids. Adelaide is VERY good at sharing her toys with others, I'm thankful for that as well =)

Pumpkin Patch

We are so lucky. We get to go to some of the most beautiful Pumpkin Patches in the world. Adelaide really had a blast.

Marry Poppins Dance

I decided that because Adelaide is almost two - she is allowed to watch part of Marry Poppins now. She loves it! She thinks Dick Van Dyke is so funny, and her favorite part is when Marry Poppins dances with her umbrella. Adelaide runs and gets her umbrella and dances too!

Happy Birthday

To the Love of my life - Happy Birthday. Thank you for taking such great care of me and Adelaide. Thanks for being an amazing cook, an awesome comedian (and audience), a beautiful musician, smart, strong, brave and most of all HANDSOME! I love you Myles. You just get better and better every year.
Here is what I gave Myles for his birthday - an enlargement of this precious pic!

No naps Day 1 (officially)

Today was our first day of purposley not giving Adelaide a nap. She did really well until about 5 o'clock tonight, and then started to melt down a little bit. I think today was extra hard on her because I also babysat another precious girl for 4 hours..and that always seems to make things harder on her. She gets more clingy when other kids have been around. BUT overall she did really well, and then when I took her upstairs tonight she went right to sleep -within 5 minutes.

The other thing is that I didn't nurse her ALL DAY! So I nursed her to sleep...until she conked out part way through, and then put her in the crib. Now the test will be to see if she wakes up in a few hours or not, and also how late she will sleep in tomorrow. Maybe she just doesn't need a nap. I know I really missed my nap today though =( Guess I'm going to have to change my bedtime!

Sleeping schedules and situations

Today I moved Adelaide's crib upstairs, and changed it back into a crib from a daybed. Myles and I decided that upstairs will be where we all sleep (we already do) and Adelaide's room will be her play room. I was wanting to put a twin bed in there and maybe try to get her to nap in there, but our house is so tiny, AND we love sleeping with her close. I have loved having her in our bed, but I don't get very good sleep. Actually I'm not sure if any of us do (other than Punkie of course). She is quite the bed hog, and does lots of kicks and spins in her sleep.

Today I took the whole crib apart to get it upstairs, and then put it back together. Adelaide knows that is "her bed" and was excited to see it upstairs. SO and nap time I tried to get her to fall asleep in there. I spent almost two hours, and in the end picked her up and rocked her until she was almost asleep, and then put her back in there to fall asleep. It was hard work, but I knew I had to stick to my guns, otherwise every time I put her in there she will think she can make a fuss and get out.

Tonight she asked me to put her in her bed after she had her milk. Then she tossed and turned while I rubbed her back and sang to her. I kept sitting on the bed and holding her hand through the slats in the crib...wondering if she felt like she was in baby jail. She seemed happy in there though, and after coming out for a poop break, she eventually fell asleep on her little pillow while I held her hand. She didn't even try to stand up or get out. She is so sweet.

And now we have a few plans. The first plan is to possibly stop giving her naps. It sounds crazy I know, but she has never been a good napper, and it seems like it makes bedtime that much harder. Yesterday we laid down for some quite time, and she never took a nap. She was happy and active all day, and then went right to sleep at bedtime. We are going to try that for a few days. Of course I will lay down with her to nap if she seems really tired, but if not, we will just stay up! I really love naps and usually take one with her, so this is sad for me, but I think it's right for her.

The other plan is to keep putting her to bed in her crib. I will hold her hand for the next few nights (if she wants me to) and the next step will be for her to fall asleep with me sitting by the crib, but not touching her. After that we might have a kid that we can actually just "put to bed". I will keep bringing her into bed at night when she wakes up. Maybe I will put her back in the crib once she is asleep again, maybe not. I'm trying to be easy going with the whole thing. I just know that it's almost time to start weaning, and I think all of these things will make that easier.

Now her room has a LOT MORE room to play! We need to get a big rug in there, and maybe a few shelves on the walls to make it feel warmer and more welcoming. My dad is making her a dollhouse AND a little kitchen...so it won't take us long to fill up that space. I hope this all works out as it seems like it will!

Natalie

Last week one of my friends from San Diego was here for a visit. It was so great to see her and get to catch up. It seems there is never enough time to have a good conversation with Adelaide running around! Anyway - she posted some adorable pictures of Adelaide on her blog here.She is the first person that I ever knew that had a blog - and so I thank her for teaching me how easy and important it is to keep track of life in this way! =)

Baby Portraits

I have been busy taking portraits of some of my favorite babies. Here is a look at what I've been up to, and how my style is growing...

Canned Tomatoes

I have been thinking of trying to can tomatoes for a few years now. I know that it's not safe to eat them out of a can because they are lined with BPA, and the acid in the tomatoes breaks down the plastic and so the tomatoes are full of the chemical. We grew a LOT of tomatoes this year, and had plenty, so I gave it a try.

Here is the "recipe" that I used.

I started with two Large bowls of Tomatoes (and put them in a box). These are ALL from our garden!!!! There are about 5 different kinds of tomatoes here. I even used some cherry tomatoes (which was a pain and I don't recommend it).

Here is my production line. One pot to boil tomatoes, and then a bowl of ice water to put them in (to make the peels easier to remove). Removing the peels was where all the work was. Everything else was very easy.

I boiled the lids in a frying pan, had a bowl to put the peels in, and then a big pot to boil the tomatoes before putting them in the jars.
Adelaide was so good the whole time. Here she is at my feet playing with Mr. Potato head for a LONG TIME!


Here is what all of those tomatoes looked like once they were peeled and put in the pot.

And my final result! Not bad for just using what we had in the garden! Now I just hope they taste okay =)

California was my HOME

We had an amazing trip to California to see our families and best friends. There never seems to be enough time to spend with everyone. Sometimes I wish we lived in Chico so we could be closer to all of these people. I love Portland morea than anything, but I wish all of our loves were here with us!!!