Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Extremely overdue post

It has been way too long since I have been here. Almost four months since my last post and let me tell you all it has been quite the four months. I guess I will start with Lilleth. She is growing so fast, almost one year already since the little bean entered our world. She is crawling, standing, but not yet walking. She is close to taking that first step. She is sleeping through the night, at least a majority of them these days and has four teeth, a tooth just poking through and more on the way.

This summer Lilleth went camping for the first time and loved it, played at the beach with friends climbing sand dunes and splashing in the ocean. We also spent time visiting friends and family in WI where Lilleth had lots of time to help with Grandma's garden and eat leaves and grass.

We had a couple of small set backs, one being our house getting broken into and our wallets, credit cards, computer and car were stolen. It was a terrible two weeks. However, we got our car back and they caught the person who committed all of the crimes, so we are relieved. We also lost a very important person in our lives this summer and said goodbye with another trip to WI.

But I guess the biggest news, that some of you know about already, is that Lilleth is going to be a big sister! I am 16 weeks pregnant and finally feeling better now that I have entered my second semester. The whole pregnancy was a bit of a surprise for us. In fact, I thought I had the flu and even called the doctor for an appointment. Anyways, we are thrilled to bring a new soul into the world and for Lilleth to be a big sister. By the way, I am due March 4th.

I can't forget to write about our gardening, which is one of Lilleth's favorite things to do. We have been helping a friend with her garden since May and are now reaping the benefits! Can you say tomatoes?! At least once a week we go out to the garden and visit the chickens, the kitties, the doggies, our friends and all of the plants we have been nurturing throughout the season. Almost 100 tomato plants, beans, beans, bean, summer squash, winter squash, onions (sweet and storage), basil, eggplant, blueberries, pears, figs, apples and I could go on and on and on. Already this summer we have put away 40 quarts of tomatoes, zucchini relish, pear/plum honey, fruit butter, 15 pounds of blueberries, 35 pounds of peaches, 5 quarts of pickles and pickled squash, and more is on the way. We love fall and food.

So all in all the last four months have been seriously intense so I am sorry for the lack of communication. I will try to be better now that we are settled (sort of) back into some routine, at least until March.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Taking a Deep Breath

Finally, I am finding the time to update this darn blog. Life has been whizzing by and L is nearly 8 months old. Yes, 8 months old is what I said. I can barely believe that L has been in our lives for that long, but then again I can barely remember the time before she arrived, maybe because of lack of sleep or more likely because she is just so delightful to be around!

Let's see, we have done a lot over the last month...

L has graduated to eating pretty much all solid food in sight! She loves everything we put in front of her including salmon, turkey, blueberries, watermelon, green beens, carrots, potatoes, rice puffs, bread...the list goes on and on. Watching her taste new foods is so fun for us that we have really gotten into making quite the gourmet baby food for L - things like root mash, salmon and rice delight, green bean/turkey and mint yumminess, and more. In fact we are thinking of starting yet another blog that is going to follow our food journey with L. Most of you know that David and I can be considered foodies and food snobs so we are always thinking about how to make sure L shares this love of really yummy, healthy food with us!

We got to spend some time with friends visiting from Missoula who have a little girl just a few months older than L. How fun it was to see the two girls spend time together and for us to spend time with our friends.

The pool has been one of our favorite activities!

We spent time with L's birth mom at the Portland zoo! It was a great trip and L's favorite animals were the zebra and giraffe. It was great to see A and be able to share L's laughs and smiles with her.

L has had the privilege of spending quality time with one set of her grandparents each week, not to mention we have had the pleasure of their fine babysitting skills!

L is now standing up on the furniture on her own (and in her crib) and as of recent she is crawling all over the place! She is so happy that she can get to Ursa (and Ursa's toys) and anywhere else she fancies!

And finally, the best for last - L loves to play the piano and we caught one of her performances on video for you all

Monday, April 25, 2011

Milk Sharing


I haven't written a lot about this topic, not because I haven't wanted to, but mainly because I keep forgetting to share this part of our story. So, this lovely article in our local newspaper about our story (and another family) has prompted me to share with you.

Click here to read the story:
Our Milk Sharing Story

Before Lilleth was born we knew that we wanted to give her the best start to life - breastmilk. I could have tried to figure out how to make my body start lactating, without a promise of success or possibly not producing even 1/2 of the amount of food she would need. Instead, I went with finding breastmilk donors, which has proven to be one of the best things we have done for Lilleth.

After a lot of research and some great advice by a friend (that has been both a donor and recipient) we were convinced this was an excellent choice for our family. We found donors in so many different ways, everything from a website www.milkshare.com to facebook (yes facebook!). We also found donors through local midwives and friends.

What an amazing gift all of our donors have given our family! We can't be anymore thankful to the incredible women that have given all of the liquid gold to us and Lilleth. With the help of many women, we have been able to feed L breastmilk until she was 4 and 1/2 months old and are still giving her it whenever we can get our hands on it.

What an incredible adventure we are on!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Math


Here is an equation I recently solved...

If being a fulltime parent = hardwork
AND
If working fulltime = hardwork
AND
If not getting a full night's sleep = fuzzy brain
THEN
Fulltime parent + Fulltime job x Lilleth - no sleep = A most perfect life!

I just hope Lilleth has such mad math skills as me!