Mother's Day

It is funny.  My daughter was born a little over 2 years ago but this is the first year I really feel like Mother's Day is important to me.  The first year she was only a few weeks old and the reality of motherhood wasn't really real to me yet.  Last year I felt it was important but this year I really realize it is a part of my identity.

Juggling a kiddo, a marriage, work, Bible Study, dog walks and favors for friends, social engagements, baby showers, exercise, grocery shopping, paying the bills, weeding and all the rest really seemed to hit me this year.  So I did the best thing I could yesterday, I ignored it!!

My poor husband.  He tries to do something nice like pick out new clothes or have a handmade bag made for my camera or something else unique and then it never really seems to work for me; this Mother's Day was no exception.  He had planned to go to Seattle for the day to all of our old haunts and visit our old apartments, walk around and see our old neighborhoods and then culminate the day with dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Rialto.  When he announced this to me, I didn't exactly jump with joy.  It was supposed to be a beautiful day and I didn't feel like sitting in the car all day with a 2 year old and 2 hot dogs.  Also I had to take care of a friends dogs in the morning and in the late afternoon which would put a time crunch on things.

Instead, we went as the day took us.  Got up early and took care of my friend's doggies, made some breakfast, walked to church in the early morning sun.  Had lunch and got my daughter down for a nap. Then I sat in my back yard in a lawn chair in the sun and read my book while sipping a delicious sparkling ginger and lemon peel water.  Afterwards, I cam inside and continued reading which then transitioned into a mid afternoon nap.  I never let myself do that, it was awesome!  Did some putzy things around the house and then picked up Beatrice & Chip (friend's dogs) and took them on a long hike with my doggies and family.

Afterwards we went and picked up Thai food from Busara and had a picnic on our lawn before putting Aven down for bed.  Curled up and watched a few episodes of Downton Abbey (if you haven't seen this BBC publication, I highly recommend it!) and curled up for the night.

I mostly just wanted to spend the day relaxing, enjoying the sun and good weather and with my family- success!

getting away (California sun trip)

Aven loved playing on the huge King Sized Bed!

Last day with Grandma Geneva

View from our room, interesting!

Family photo @ Torrey Pines State Park

Torrey Pines State Park hike

The essentials, sun, kid and coffee!

Balboa Park

Zia's Bistro Little Italy San Diego

Ava & Aven

Balboa Theater in Gaslap District, SD

SeaPort Village Carousel

Birch Aquarium at Scripps

Aven and the Jump Jump (Mommy, help me)

Extraordinary Desserts (SD)

Aven entertaining herself on the plane with stickers, sure, put them anywhere!

Fun (or sort of) in the sun/vacation:
A few days after I got back from my quick out of town trip, we went on our first "real vacation" with Aven.  Last year we went to Winthrop but it was only for a few days.  This was a full fledged vacation with plane rides and rental cars and motels and family and tourist activities and nights out on the town!  It was busy and fun but exhausting with a toddler.

Short run down of the trip:

• Left Easter Sunday (had to wake up Aven @ 5:45 am) she did great on the plane although she was tired and a bit restless after having to stay in one place for so long.  Schlepped bags and car seat through the Seattle airport and ate breakfast before schlepping to another terminal with hot coffee spilling all over ourselves!
• Arrived at LAX and rented a car- drove to Huntington Beach to visit Grandma Geneva (Abe's grandma).  Aven had seen her when she was about 7 months old so it would be a lot different this time.  Aven took a 20 min nap the whole day in the car ride from the airport to Geneva's so she was a bit tired that night!  Went to a fun Japanese place with a literal gondola of food!  The servers were so friendly and accommodating of Aven though.  Put Aven to bed and Grandma came over to the guesthouse where we were staying to chat for awhile.
• Took a beautiful warm morning walk to Starbucks for some snacks and caffeine.  Met a nice gentleman from Hungary.  Drove to Laguna Beach for brunch at "The Beach House" a seaside cottage of Slim Summerville in the early 1900's (Hollywood actor) turned restaurant overlooking the water.  Had a wonderful lunch with amazing Lemon basil martini and looked out over the water.
• Drove back to Huntington beach and relaxed for the afternoon with grandma.  Had a dinner of leftovers and relaxed before turning in for the evening.  Put Aven to bed and then swam and relaxed in the Jacuzzi under the night stars and crisp evening air.
• Had some breakfast with Grandma and headed out to San Diego~arrived mid afternoon and checked into our motel.  Out of our room was an interesting logo "Jesus Christ is Lord not a Swear Word"- found out the owner has a trucking business with this name!  Interesting.  After getting settled in and after Aven's nap we headed out to downtown San Diego's Gaslamp district.    Had dinner at The Beer Co.  Cheap eats and good bear.  More of a sports bar and nothing to brag about but we had a great time listening to the early-mid 90's music and sharing a meal together (no baby drama).  We walked around Gaslamp a bit and found some awesome Gelato at Cremolosa restaurant with some very entertaining waiters!
• The next day after breakfast we headed out to Torrey Pines State Park.  We loaded up Aven in the backpack and wandered around most of the trails along the ridge even going down to the beach.  There were some super interesting formations from the sandstone where the water has worn away parts of the minerals.  The whole time we were in beautiful weather and overlooking the beach.  We must have been near a military base because we saw what looked to be bombers and helicopters and all sorts of air crafts.  Aven loved it.  We saw some wild bunnies, all kinds of birds and new flowers and some lizards too.
• That evening we headed down to Seaport Village a little outdoor group of shops right on the water.  It was a bit touristy and some of the shops were cheesy but it was a beautiful evening and the ambiance was great.  Aven even got to ride on her first ever Carousel.  I love the music, makes me feel nostalgic of years past.  After this we headed to San Diego's Little Italy neighborhood.  It is filled with mostly Italian Restaurants and shops.  It has a really neat feel.  We chose Fillippi's a place boasting great atmosphere and a little Italian grocer up front.  The pizza wasn't anything to write about but the place was fun.
• Our last day "on our own" before meeting up with my cousin Gina and her family, we started our day with a breakfast in Pacific Beach at a little cafe.  We sat outside and ate delicious fresh fruit and relaxed in the morning sun.  We ended up befriending another couple sitting beside us with their two kids.  They were down doing some touristy things for Spring Break.  We hopped across the street afterwards to the beach and walked around for a few minutes, taking in the sun.  After this (and I won't go into laborious details about what to do with getting a kid a nap when you have no place to go) we drove about an hour east to Mt. Laguna.  We saw a bobcat there and enjoyed the cool afternoon and then ate our lunch in the car while driving back to SD.  Wandered around driving for (too long) trying to find Balboa Park (found it at last, horrible signs if you are coming from the back side, even with GPS).  Wandered the gardens and buildings, very very beautiful and does truly remind me of Spain.  Ate dinner again in Little Italy at Zia's bistro.  There were linen napkins, live classical guitar and glass water glasses and then then Aven really started to go crazy.  It was about the straw that broke the Daddy's back.  While we had had several nice moments and times there were a lot of frustrations traveling with a toddler and they seemed to come to a head that evening!  On we went though.
• We headed to my cousin Gina's (and husband Matt's) house to stay for a few days. They have a daughter, Ava, who is 1 month older than Aven.  We had seen them when the girls were 7/8 months old but it was fun to watch them again and we had a bit more time to hang out this time.
• Gina and I took the girls to a little play place for the morning so they could do a kid-centered activity and we gave Abe a break.  It was fun to watch the girls play and the place was packed!  Had dinner all together that night and gave the girls a bath together.  The next day we had breakfast all together (with Matt) and then headed out to the La Jolla Aquarium (Birch Aquarium at Scripps).  It is right up on the cliff overlooking the water and there were plenty of new things to see there.  Afterwards we had lunch together and headed home to put the girls to bed!  After getting the girls some dinner and giving them some play time on the Jump Jump the Daddy's put the kiddos to bed and the Mommy's went out for a night on the town.
• Gina and I went to Extraordinary Desserts.  It was a super fun atmosphere and had the most beautiful desserts I have ever seen.  We sat at the bar and talked about motherhood, life, family, husbands, work and just about anything.  It was a really nice evening of just relaxing out together.  After turning in about midnight that night, we set our alarm for 4am (had to wake up Aven @ 4:45) to go to the airport.  She did excellent on the airplane again (the longer trip was first this time) and didn't even get grumpy or cry but she did fall asleep on our final descent down into Bellingham- the girl was tired!
• We arrived home a bit tired and a bit "done" but we all survived and had plenty of good memories to jot down for the record.  It was such a treat to see our family and the sun!

Easter

Each year I learn more about my faith, more about the Christian life and Church calendar, and I learn more about what the death and resurrection of Christ truly mean to me.  This is the second year that have read through the Mosaic Holy Bible's readings on Lent.  They are very meaningful and present both an ascetic (visual- artwork), historical (writings, meditations, prayers) and contemporary presentation of this key time in the Christian Calendar.

As I grow in my faith, I learn more about the freedom that we have when we allow Christ to be the head of our lives and direct our paths.  This isn't easy and takes a lot of practice to determine and to recognize but when we allow God to direct us we are allowed a lot of freedom from our own limitations.

This year there were a few readings that really spoke to me and reminded me of what the Christian life presents and what God offers us.

One reading was in response to Lent:

"Our temptation in Lent is to be so impressed by our sins and failings and so overwhelmed by our lack of generosity that we get stuck in a paralyzing guild, a guild that leads to introspection instead of directing our eyes to God.  It is guild that becomes an idol and form of pride.  But Lent is precisely the time to break down this idol and to direct our attention to our loving Lord...."  Henri J.M. Nouwen


The second is in response to Easter and to the resurrection of Christ and the importance of this act to the belief of Christians.  Without the resurrection, God is a loving deity and Christ a hopeful martyr.  The resurrection of God as Christ is key to our belief as Christians and the understanding that God truly died for our sins and was raised from the dead.  Likewise, we can die to our sins when we accept God's love and agree to follow him as our Lord and we are raised from this past with a new and glorious future.

"The God who is in, through, and beyond creation does not love us from afar.  He springs forthe with light from darkness, order from chaos, with cries from a Virgin's womb and joy from the grave.  And hope springs forth likewise in a universal invitation, a passionate wooing, that every single person might discover a place as a beloved in his story, his family, and in his eternally adoring heart."  Alex Davis (from the writing "Awaken")


As each year passes I hope and pray to know God more through his son and I desire that my steps would be directed and led by my faith in Him.  I pray that he would watch over my husband and daughter and help us to be a family that relies on him every day and worships him in all we do.

He is risen, He is risen indeed.

23 months (100 weeks)

Today marks Aven's 23 month "anniversary" and her 100 weeks on earth so far.  It is a bit bittersweet because she is almost officially 2!  WOW.  Here is a photo collection capturing life this past month, weather in the northwest and general activities that we do in down time.


Aven is really beginning to test her limits and we are having to use the 1-2-3 method with a timeout.  She is also super super funny and says hilarious things everyday which I only wish I could capture and remember forever.


Right now she says "Mommy" or "Daddy" at the end of everything, making it sound very formal (and a bit demanding at times).  She'll say, "more milk Mommy" or "play Legos Daddy."  Her most commonly used phrase is "Aven do it (Mommy) or (Daddy)."  She loves identifying her colors and getting picky about what she wants: spoon Mommy, or fork Daddy, or yellow bowl Mommy, blue plate Daddy.


These past few weeks she has re-discovered how to get into things and how to make a mess.  Somehow I thought we were past this but she seems to have regressed.  Now making a mess of her food is something fun again, playing in the dogs water or the basket of toiletries (including Mommy's tampons), etc are all free game.  In addition, she has discovered that she can climb up on her changing table, on the dining chairs and hence from there onto the dining room table.  It only took a moment for her to get onto the chair and then onto the dining room table.  I walked into the kitchen for a moment and when I returned she was laying on the table pressing the buttons on my Kindle.  Watch out.


She still furiously loves stories and books.  Every night she must read as many as possible before going to sleep and if it were up to her, she wouldn't go to sleep since she would want to keep reading books.  She plays with her babies, wrapping them up and such and likes playing with blocks, legos and other stackable and buildable supplies.  She loves putting on different shoes and practicing putting them on and taking them off again.


She is still a big eater and favors fruits and carbs.  We have an almost weekly event of making Dutch Baby Pancakes on Sundays before church which she fondly calls "Baby Cake-Cakes."  She loves these and happily asks for more, more.


Recently she rode in the bike stroller with Abe and she was able to wear her Eric Carle bike helmet.  She loved it and kept wanting to wear it around just the house.  That night she insisted on wearing it even though we were riding home in the car.

As entertaining as Aven is and as funny as she is she can really push a Mommy's or Daddy's buttons which is extremely challenging on the days when she decides that she doesn't need a nap....because we need a break!  I am afraid that she will grow out of this phase before we are ready, sigh...oh well.

Actually carrying around tampons (where did she find these?)

First "mud puddle" jump (I didn't even point it out)

All the green dots were lined up just by her, she loves to organize things

Ready for school- wearing her St. Patty's day gear

Is loving organizing and playing with Play dough

My little green princess

The kind of weather we've been having lately....rain, show and hail-in excess.

Special visit with Ahma

Looking like Daddy 

Ready to roll!

Face painting at the aquarium- Mommy had a sea star and Aven requested a Dolphin in green.

We love you Aven Lily and you make us laugh each and every day.  You help us to see life in a different way and we love watching you grow and learn about the world.  Can't believe you are almost 2.

twas the day in the life (continued)

Twas the middle of the week when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, lest the noisy furnace
The laundry was done and the grocery shopping too
In hopes that there wouldn't be something else forgotten too.


The child was tucked all snug in her bed
While visions of afternoon playtime danced in her head
An mamma in her sweatshirt and slippers all warm
Had just settled down for a mid-afternoon cup of coffee.


When out of the dog bed there rose a bark and howl
I put down my coffee to see what was the matter
Shushing the doggies and holding my breath,
I looked out the back door to see if the bark was warranted!


The sunshine was fading in winter afternoon style
and shadows fell on the quickly spring beckoned lawn
when what to my wondering eyes should I see
but the clock had flown fast and it was already three!


With a dutiful list and heart so full of love
I knew in a moment I must cross off something quick!
With clever brainstorming and prioritizing too
I crossed and I scribbled and I figured what to do.


Darnit and curse it and how could I dare
on over committing and under performing and pleasing all around
to the couch I say, to the coffee cup too,
now dash away guilt and fears and what to do's!


So as the day drags onward and I think of my list
I met with my obstacle and shook my firm fist
so with regret and with board books in tow
I stacked them up, swept the floors and knew I should go


To dog walks and food deliveries and dusting and dinner
with checkbooks and bills and vacation plans too
to drop offs and pick ups and exercising and play
to think of it all I might run away


so I sit down and sip up and breathe a breath in
and cross my feet and let the light in
and thankfully ponder the day and the wonder
and brood on my list which I have left in the room yonder.


(inspired by Clement Clarke Moore's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas")

months 20, 21 and 22

Wow, I was doing so well but these last 6 months have gone by so quickly that I have totally forgotten to keep up on my months.  

Here is a quick recap of months 20, 21 and 22.

the NOW (month 22) effective Feb 21st:

We are almost into full-fledged toddler-dum now!  My kid walks, talks, runs, eats, has tantrums, opinions, gives hugs, kisses, sings songs, takes care of babies, continues to love books and talks like no other.  Many people say my child is verbal and I couldn't agree more!  She can pretty much speak in almost full sentences (missing a few words).  Some of her favorites are: "Aven do it"   or  "Daddy here now?"  or "Give Ethel/Eleanor, help, please."  

Aven loves sounds: she especially loves music.  We started playing a CD that my Mom got us for Christmas, Elizabeth Mitchell's "you are my little bird" and Aven loves it.  She says, "more music?"  She has two different play pianos and she loves to "push the buttons."  I like to make silly sounds to get her distracted when she doesn't want to do something (like taking off jammies) and she loves to repeat them.  She loves singing her own songs or repeating versus of ones that she has heard or learned from daycare. She also knows lots of animals sounds like: fish, doggie, cat, and monkey.

Aven seems to be well rounded when it comes to "gender" specific toys: dolls, blocks, trucks, etc.  She loves wrapping up her babies and says "wrap up Emma" or "wrap up baby" and has us help her wrap them up.  Then she'll hold them and rock them, sing to them or pat their backs.  She loves playing with her snap together blocks and has just started getting interested in the medium sized legos.  

Aven still loves her books.  She will get really interested in one that we check out from the library and want to read it over and over again, one time after another without a break.  Right now she likes the Real Mother Goose stories (which include Pat-a-cake, Hickory Dickory Dock, Peter-Peter Pumpkin Eater and Humpty Dumpty).  She keeps saying "dumptyhadagreatfall" in all one word, so cute.

Months 20/21:

To be honest, once you go past something it is hard to remember the details, especially the intricacies.  I suppose that is why I have tried to write things down along the way because I know someday I won't remember all the cute little things that Aven used to do, said, sang, etc.  

Aven loves moving around like any other busy toddler.  She thinks it is so fun to put on our shoes and walk around the house, something she never really did before.  She can now put on her own boots and even a few of her Velcro shoes.  No promise that they will end up on the right feet but it is pretty cute.  She will get out her basket of shoes and have them strewn across her bedroom floor putting them all on and taking them off.

This girl has personality and is surely my daughter: stubborn, opinionated and testing her will to do things herself.  She tests her limits at everything which I realize is also the developmental stage she's in but often it can be a little testing on another stubborn person: me.  She likes to try to put on her clothes herself, diapers, drink her own glass of milk, open the door, walk, buckle her car seat, etc.

__________________________________________

This girl teaches me so much about life.  What is important, what to value, when to laugh, when to take a breath and when to be joyful and thankful.  She has created a whole new bond between Abe and I as we learn to be good parents to her and to each other.  She teaches us our limits and our reveals our strengths and weaknesses and she teaches us about love: it is simple but complicated, strong but easily cracks and forgiving.

family sundays

In the last month we've had some relaxing family days, namely Sundays.  Two weekends ago we went on a little tool buying adventure to Port Hadlock (near Port Townsend, Wa).  We decided to make a day of it.  We packed up the doggies, the baby and ourselves in our little Forester, bought some big cups of coffee and bagels and hit the road.  We crossed the water on the Ferry (Aven loved looking out at the water, the boats, the clouds and the birds) and then drove down the island to Port Hadlock.  It was a rare February day in that it was about 55 degrees and wonderfully sunny.  The tool was housed at some property outside of town.  While Abe laboured over moving the huge and very heavy tool, Aven and the dogs and I walked around and explored the property.  It was a lovely spot of land with a huge garden, garden guest house, gigantic shop with guest loft, pond, beautiful house with a deck outside facing the sun and grassy paths that led to all of their neighbors.  Aven loved running around and exploring and running after the doggies.  She played in some leftover fall leaves and really got a taste of running around outside.

After this adventure we headed back up to Port Townsend for some snacks and shopping.  We ducked in a few little restaurants and settled on one: the Courtyard Cafe.  It was a little unassuming Victorian house off a side street and had the perfect Sunday ambiance.  I ran inside to check the menu while Daddy, Aven and doggies held down the fort in the car.  It had some sunny seats by the window, live musicians playing flutes and fiddles and calming folk guitar music and huge cinnamon pull-aparts and amazing scones grabbed my eye in the front glass case.  It was the kind of place that makes you happy that you live in the NorthWest.  Unassuming meals at reasonable prices with a lovely and not stuffy atmosphere.  Young and old mixing it up and interacting together and delicious comfort food.

After an early morning and a long day, we dozed a bit in the car on the ferry ride back while we kept our child entertained with Annie's Cheddar Bunnies.

A few weeks before the above named adventure, we went to one of our favorite splurges, Tweets cafe in Edison, WA.  It is admittedly a bit overpriced but is worth the wonderful atmosphere, amazing little treats and fun small town feeling.  In Edison, everyone is friendly.  It is really a tiny little close knit community where everyone cannot help but know everyone else because, well, it is only about 15 businesses long!  The little "downtown" strip has a wonderful store (mentioned before) called the Lucky Dumpster with fun vintage finds and plenty of creative and locally made treasures like animals made from reclaimed sweaters, felt crowns for kids and industrial metal words with new reclaimed wood tops.  You can wander from here to the woodworking gallery of Smith & Vallee and see wonderful local artists from sculptures and paintings to woodwork and metalwork.  It is housed in a lovely old wooden building with old planked wood floors, open beam ceilings and bright white paint on the walls.  Down the street is a truly unique shop that has everything from awesome handmade jewelry to a Walrus head (I am not sure why, but it is there to see).  Then there is Slough Food (a wine, cheese and food shop), Farm to Market bakery, Tweets, Breadfarm bakery and a few other local haunts like the local bar.

Tweets has the kind of ambiance the old coffee shops in Seattle once had and places like Anthropologie aspire to, only naturally.  The outside has a handful of fresh herbs and plants for sale.  The little wooden tables, chairs and stools inside are missing an appropriate amount of paint to see quaint and are pleasantly mismatched and the uneven wood planked floor seems homey and warm.  But the food is delicious and spitefully a bit too good for its own taste.  Their pastries always boast the amazing citrus infused whipped mascarpone cheese and the other delectables are beyond measure.  A decent cup of coffee will accompany anything you order while you sit among locals and enjoy the rain coming down the windows.  On a sunny day you might sit by the roll up door on rickety iron tables and chairs and see the folks walk by and smile or wave.  But you'll never be disappointed by the treats at Tweets (just maybe the dent it takes out of your wallet).

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I am just trying to enjoy the small and quiet moments of life.  These lazy Sundays are no exception.  There were certainly piles of laundry at home, dishes to wash and put away, bills to pay, recycling to take out and groceries to buy- but there was also a decent time to be had enjoying the company of my family and the simplicity of a beautiful rainy or sunny afternoon.