BIG DAY!

On Tuesday, I loaded up the 'Burban and headed to Boise.

[Side note: Remember when I told you that we needed a bigger car to haul stuff....well, I wasn't lying. Making the trek with me to Boise was Grace, (Grandma needed her fix!), Lindey and Lucky (my loyal subjects), Kiwi (the parrot) and Mia Kitty (Molly's cat). Honorary mentions go to the running stroller, the regular stroller, Grace's travel swing, her play mat, her suitcase, my suitcase, and our dirty clothes. Packing light truly is a gift...that I don't possess! Thus, the 'Burban!]

As it is the end of April, I figured the only weather we could possibly encounter was heavy rain. WRONG! It was snowing in the Blue Mountains and only 28 degrees. I persevered through the weather pulling off at an exit to tend to Grace's needs. But after I had taken care of Grace and tried to get back on the highway, I discovered that there was no on-ramp to east bound I-84. The exit turned into a two lane, back country road that if followed for over 30 miles would take you to to the unibomber's bunker...I mean, La Grande. If I turned around, I would have to get back on the highway and head West towards Pendleton - 45 minutes in the opposite direction! Are you kidding me?! What kind of an off-ramp doesn't have an on-ramp right next to it?!?! Has anyone in their ENTIRE lives seen an off-ramp not accompanied by an on-ramp right next to it?? It is like the Gods all align on the days I decide to drive to Boise and are out to get me! I ended up backtracking (one of my biggest pet peeves) almost all the way to Pendleton...in the snow! (Lesson learned. When driving to Boise, don't pull off at the Meacham exit! In fact, just don't pull over. Grace be warned!) Needless to say, it was a LONG drive made even longer by having to pull the car over several times for a feeding, a diaper change and some good old fashioned jumping.

That leads me to part I of our Big Day! Grace loves to jump. She can do it by the hour...and in fact, has, much to my dismay. I keep reading about how babies sleep 12-17 hours a day...but not this baby. She probably jumps 12-17 hours a day. Now when I say jump, I obviously don't mean she is standing on her own two feet and launching herself in the air. No. She needs someone to hold her upright...but the launching, she does all on her own.

At Grace's four month appointment, much to my surprise, the doctor ok'd the usage of a jumperoo. I had heard from many a mom, that much like letting your kid run with scissors while his shoes are untied all while eating candy in front of the television, a jumperoo was pure evil, stunting your child's growth and development. According to our pediatrician, that is not the case. I didn't need to hear more! Wanting and needing the use of two hands for more than 15 minutes throughout the day, the second I got to Boise, I purchased what I now consider the Secret to Mommy's Sanity. Best money I've spent in years. This video was shot seconds after putting her into the jumperoo.

WARNING: If you don't have children...or for that matter, a relative named Grace Elizabeth, this could be as entertaining as watching grass grow. I apologize.

As if the Jumperoo wasn't enough to tip the scales from average day to BEST DAY EVER, we decided to get crazy and introduce rice cereal. With my mom at my side showing me what to do, we have now ventured into the world of solid foods. After just a few spoonfuls, she looked like she'd been eating from a spoon her whole life. (Good to see she does have some of my genes after all!) WARNING: Again, this video is probably boring for most but I promise the dialogue is captivating.

With all the jumping and eating, I was SURE this kid would sleep through the night. Let's just say it was Big Day...but not THE Big Day!

So this is how it all started...

Not sure who this kid belongs to...

but he sure has caused a lot of trouble!

I Love Daddy!

Dear Daddy,

Mommy told me that you are traveling a lot in the next few weeks so we may not get to see each other as often as we'd like. She says that when you are far away we should post lots of pictures on the blog so you won't miss a thing. (She also told me to tell you that she is doing a GREAT job as a Mommy...I think her exact words were "Mommy is awesome!...make sure you tell Daddy that...a lot...particularly when in close proximity to a jewelry store!!")

Mommy also says that because I can't speak for myself yet, my clothes should do the talking. So just in case you forget...



I just want you to know that you are the BEST daddy in the whole world! I miss you!

Love,
Grace

Bean Pole

She doesn't get it from me or my side of the family...but Grace is a bonified bean pole! Yesterday, she had her 4 month well baby check-up. Weighing in at 13 lbs. 8 oz. (42%) and measuring 24 1/4 inches long (81%) she is "perfect for her"! She is happy and healthy which was evident from her non-stop dance moves at the doctor's office. (I think she gets that from Daddy's side as well...she'll probably be able to do the "coat dance" before she can walk!)

We did learn that we can start rice formula, as the doctor put it, "anytime Mom is ready" and that an exersaucer is perfectly fine for Grace to spend some time in! This is VERY good news as it will allow Grace to burn off some energy and give me back two hands for a short period of time during the day. Two hands!! Two hands to prep the rice cereal and two hands to clean it all up. Hmmmm...when you put it that way, maybe I'm not ready to have "two hands" just yet!

Foot in Mouth

Yesterday, being Friday and all, I didn't feel like cooking an elaborate dinner...which is what I normally do. (Just call me Giada!) So I went to our local (when I say local, I mean the next town over - 20 minutes down the highway) take-n-bake pizza place to get all the essentials. While I was waiting for my pizza to be made, a mother of two young children entered the store. Both children wore blue jeans and a t-shirt and both children had long, scraggly, blonde hair. Had one not been screaming it's head off I wouldn't have given them another thought...until I went to grab my order.

One of the scraggly haired kids (might I add "snotty nosed") tried to touch Grace. Of course, I freaked out and gasped REALLY loud. I am not normally apprehensive of germs, but these kids looked like walking petri dishes. The mother, picking up on my sheer panic, told her child to get away from the baby. Not respecting the mother's wishes, the kid came at Grace again! Not wanting to be rude, I told the mother "Your girls are adorable!" and swiftly moved Grace's carrier out of the toddler's line of fire. The mother looked at me like I was from Mars so I quickly picked up Grace's carrier and began balancing everything in one hand so I could make a quick escape. As I was doing all this, the other toddler, yelled "He's a boy!"

The kid that had tried to touch Grace was a little boy and I had told his mother that she had two darling little girls! Woopsy!

(If that's not a sign that it is time to cut your kid's hair, I don't know what is!)

Our Easter Celebration!

Easter is a holiday best celebrated with children and now that we have the requisite child, I got to go all out! (Well, as all out as you can with a four month old.) I am already making mental preparations for the festivities next year!

Grace woke up Easter morning sporting her bunny jammies.




She was in awe at what the Easter Bunny left her! Lots of goodies! The good ole Easter Bunny even remembered to bring Mommy and Daddy at little something as well!


Although we didn't dye any eggs this year, we still managed to have an Easter egg hunt. The Easter Bunny knew dying Easter eggs with a four month old was a lot of work so he hid plastic eggs filled with money! A tradition we hope the Easter Bunny continues!! (Although if the Easter bunny wants to upgrade from quarters to say...twenties, there would be no complaints here!)



We invited Court's parents and grandmother over for dinner that night. Grace wore her new Easter dress...
entertained us by making lots of funny faces...


and even channeled Elvis Presley.


Grandma and Grandpa couldn't put her down.

Can't wait for next year!!

Ain't that the truth?!

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone gets a visit from the Easter Bunny today!

Great Grandma

Grace met Great Grandma W yesterday!

It was LOTS of fun!

Rollover

Although technically Grace rolled over unassisted while we were in Hawaii, it felt like it was a 45 minute endeavor. She got on her side and stayed there for 20 minutes, then swung her legs over, again resting in this position for another 20 minutes. Finally, she twisted her torso and lifted her head. We were excited that she did it, but felt like it didn't really count!

This morning, I plopped Grace on her play mat where she likes to spend the morning looking at her toys. Court and I were sharing our morning coffee when Grace just rolled over like she's been doing it all her life. In fact, as I started to write this quick blog entry, she rolled over again!

Mission accomplished! Onto sitting up and crawling...or sleeping through the night.

Maui

Hawaii was nothing short of amazing. We had a great time and feel so lucky we were able to sneak away for a week.

Some highlights

• Time Time together - as a family. Just the three of us. Time to do nothing. Time to sit. Time to think. Time to sleep (well, not much sleep happened but that's ok). Time to walk on the beach. Time to read (or in my case - listen) to a book.
• 
• A Much Needed Massage For some reason, I wouldn't allow myself to splurge on a message while I was pregnant. Too much to buy for the baby I guess...and I felt guilty spending money on myself when the baby needed so much. No longer my friends. Mommy guilt is ova! (At least while on vacation. It returned once the plane landed in Seattle.)
  
• Food...and LOTS of it! We ate fresh fruit and tons and tons of fish...and steak and ice cream...did I mention Mud Pie...and ice cream? The food was glooorious!
  
• Whales From the lanai (that's fancy Hawaiian talk for "porch") of our condo we could see whales breaching. It was amazing! They truly are majestic animals. And to be able to see them from the comfort of our condo was even more spectacular. It's like being able to watch the 4th of July firework display from your house instead of having to deal with thousands of crazy, annoying people. I guess some people enjoy the crowds...like at Disneyland or the fair...not me. Country life is obviously rubbing off on me!
  
• A Dip in the Ocean For most, a trip to Hawaii would obviously include a dip in the ocean and probably wouldn't make the highlights list unless they went surfing or were attacked by a shark. However, I am not most people. I do not like the ocean. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE looking at the ocean. I love walking on beaches and I love going on tropical vacations. I'd MUCH rather hit up the beach than go skiing. I just don't like physically entering the water. I don't just discriminate against oceans. My boycott includes all bodies of water...lakes, rivers, ponds, creeks...where I can't see the bottom. Where does this insane (as Court like to call it) fear come from you ask? Easy. JAWS. The movie. I am really afraid of killer, man-eating, sharks. Which is funny because the one time I've been in the ocean as an adult was in Belize when we went snorkeling in Shark/Ray Ally. There, I jumped into the ocean where sharks, sting rays and sea turtles were buzzing all around. Go figure. (Ladies...this was prior to being engaged so I couldn't let all my crazy out just yet. I had to keep that nicely tucked away until safely down the aisle. On the honeymoon I didn't go in the ocean. Not once!) I don't want to pass on this fear to Grace and so I jumped in the ocean on this trip. Honestly, I don't see why everyone looooooooooves the ocean so much. It tastes salty, you can't see anything, it's cold...am I missing something here? Seriously, what's all the fuss? Anyway, hopefully this is a step in the right direction to conquer my fear or at least table it long enough for Grace to come to her own conclusions about swimming in the ocean.
• Sunrise on Haleakala Well, not quite sunrise. The sun actually came up as we were about half way up the mountain. We didn't think it would take over an hour to get to the top...and we definitely weren't expecting it to be SO cold up there! It was beautiful nonetheless.
• Milestone Grace accomplished her first technical roll over. It wasn't at all pretty but she did in fact roll over. It took her about 20 minutes. First, she rolled onto her side. A few minutes later she swung over her feet and then, after what felt like an hour, she twisted her torso around and lifted her head. Mission accomplished! She only did it once, but it was nice that Court and I were both there to witness it.
• Friends Another highlight was seeing my pregnant friend Cecily. She is a friend from college and she looked amazing. Some people just look and feel really good while pregnant. She is one of them. I, on the other hand, am not!
• Dance Party Our condo came fully equipped. It even had some beats from the 80's. Don't worry. We put those to good use!

So what could I possibly complain about after such a fantastic week in Maui?

Just one complaint and this is legitimate. I found a cockroach. A rather large one. In the toilet. After I finished using it.

All in all...we had a whale of a time!

Happy Anniversary Blog!

It's been a big year! A lot has happened and a lot has changed. For starters, you were initially called "W Family Blog". Yawn. Yawn. Boring. Obviously, my "pregnant" brain was preoccupied with morning sickness to come up with something more clever.

Then, as the morning sickness wore off, you became "Home Place" - named after the farm on which we live. Still not extremely creative but at least we are getting somewhere.

Recently, you made the transition to "Home Sweet Home Place." Still not the most original, but it accurately sums up our life on the farm. Life is truly sweet and home is...well, on Home Place. So there you go!

Besides a year of blogging...and renaming the blog, there has also been a lot of happenings that spurred a laugh or triggered a tear or two. Obviously the big ones like having a baby and turning 20...I mean 30...rank high on the list. But there were other moments that are worth taking a second look at. If you will, I'd like to take a minute to take a look at the past year. A montage if you will. Who could forget?...

Katie's Growing Belly

20 weeks

Halloween 2008
7.5 months pregnant - Didn't think I could get any bigger...

2 weeks before giving birth - 55 lbs. +
Who knew there was a 9 lb. 3 oz beautiful baby girl in there?

Operation Rescue and Release Skunk


(Not that you could forget but that is my mom, brother and brother's friends...)

Taking Halloween Out on the Dogs

Baby Showers

Bad Hair Cuts

Prepping the Nursery

Before

Court's "Run-In" with the Crib

After

An Obese Dog


A Bathroom Remodel

Before

After

An Eager New Father

Grace Elizabeth

Then

Now

First Visitors
First Christmas...

The Sneeze

First Visits with...

Great Grandma Margaret

Uncle Tygh and Aunt Sarah

Having your mom being mistaken for your sister


and finally, who could forget...

Thank you so much for taking the time to tune into our blog. Hopefully, we can keep you laughing and entertained for another year. (With this cast of characters {see above} I don't see how we can disappoint!) Stay tuned!