Snow Day

We got about 18 inches of snow between Mother's Day and the day after, so needless to say we were snowed in and the nanny was snowed out.  This meant I got to play in the snow!  I had a new year's resolution to make a snow angel, so I can check that one off the list.

We were hoping it would be wet May snow so that we could make a snowman.  ("Do you want to build a snowman?") But alas, it was powder.

We enjoyed sliding on the saucer down the top pitch of the driveway.

And hot chocolate afterwards

You would think that after all this the kids would sleep like babies and yet... it seems to be a non-nap day for either of them, even my sleep fiend, Clara.  Too bad for me!

October Highlights

First snow

Selfie

 Throughout dinner, Andrew kept saying, "I love you, daddy," and "I want to give you a hug with my hands." Then he told me, "You should get the camera and take a picture of daddy and me." Can't argue with that...

Visitors

Ten Month Update... And Some Other Stuff

Happy 10 months to my beautiful, happy, friendly, independent little man!  We weighed him last week at the birth center when I went for my midwife appointment.  Looks like he has clawed his way back up from 17lbs at 8 months (7th%ile) to 21 lbs at 10 months (39th%ile).  That's right people - a four pound gain in two months.  No wonder we've had poop!  And he's still eating like a horse!


Oh, and we got the 7th tooth the other day (lower left lateral incisor).  The 8th can't be far behind!


I think we may be done co-sleeping again, this time.  And this time I think it might be for good, barring special circumstances.  He is very restless and distracted when co-sleeping lately, due to his new mobility, and I seem to disturb him a lot (not to mention what he does to me!).  Last night he slept all night in his crib, and had two wakeups at 1:45a and 4:30a, which were easy - a quick bottle and back to sleep by himself.  I think that might be a record - if not, it's only happened one or two other times.  This is great timing for sleeping on his own, because I want him to be a fairly independent sleeper by the time Baby Girl (BG) comes - a new interloper will need to be in my bed!


In other sleeping news, Andrew has given up the pacifier.  He just won't take it anymore.  Which... is really fine, because this seems like an awesome time to wean him from it and not have to worry about a struggle with it later.


The one behavioral thing we are dealing with right now is biting  He seems to bite to communicate that he needs something.  Tired? Bites.  Wants a snack of solids? Bites.  Wants mommy to come down on the floor and play? Bites.  Maybe it's related to the recent/upcoming teething.  But I can't help but think it's at least partly that he needs more ways to communicate.  I've started expanding the signs we use (adding "eat" and "tired" to "milk" and "all done."  Also hoping to add "potty" or some variant soon), and have been trying to be more consistent with them.  He hasn't made any signs back yet, but if I make the sign for milk (which I've been using since he was 4 months), he whimpers and kicks his legs: "YES THAT'S WHAT I WANT, ISN'T IT OBVIOUS???"  Hopefully this is just a teething/communication phase, and not a "We have a biter" revelation.

Also, fascinating cloth diaper development.  In the past, I have just used the Kirkland Free and Clear laundry detergent from Costco for my diaper laundry instead of springing for any special soap (which the diaper makers generally recommend, and it's been working fine.  Well, Travis went to Costco a couple months ago and picked up a bunch of ALL Free and Clear instead - there was a coupon which made the name brand cheaper than the Kirkland brand, so he thought, "Score!" and stocked up on it.  So we've been using All for like 6 weeks now, maybe two months.  

Well, you also might remember that ever since Andrew got back on the eating-not-starving track, he's been pooping up a storm, and having a lot of poop-splosions.  Well, since that time, the diapers have been more stained and way way way more smelly.  Smelly to the point that vinegar was no help, and stained to the point that bleach was no help.  Seriously. Of course, Andrew started eating well... about two months ago.

It finally occurred to me that the smelly, stained diapers could possibly be related to the switch in detergent and not the sudden volume of poop.  So I picked up some more Kirkland detergent this week, and tonight was my first load of diaper wash going back to the Kirkland brand.

You guys, it was like night and day.  There is NO SMELL.  The stains that were there, and I assume were starting to set in are much lighter!  I can't even believe it!  I would never have believed that a name brand like All was worse than Kirkland - let alone WAY WAY worse.  I feel like I should apologize to Costco.

Anyway that's my story.  And the lesson is: diaper stains and smells got you down?  Try switching detergents!  I recommend Kirkland!

Here are some recent pictures of our guy:

Oh and On Pine Hill (heh) last week we got 7-8" of snow when 1-1.5 was expected.  After it warmed up and the slabs of snow started sliding off our metal roof, this is the gnarly ice sculpture we got to enjoy for a while.

Fun times!

Pizza Rebellion

My husband is away flying this weekend.  After I got my Jeep stuck on the driveway yesterday afternoon, it snowed another 12 inches overnight/this morning.  The sun came out for about an hour this afternoon, and now it's snowing again.  My Jeep looks like an igloo -- a Jeep-sized snowpile about halfway down the hill.  I think it's safe to say that I am stuck here. Unfortunately that means that my Super Bowl party plans - hanging out with Shena and Josh, eating potato skins, and watching the game on the big screen - are pretty much cancelled.  Boo!

In rebellion, I made my own pizza.  The whole thing is from scratch.  I made the crust this morning, and I didn't have anything resembling pizza sauce, so I made my own by draining some crushed tomatoes, and mixing with some spices.  I am totally impressed with myself.

On the left is mushroom, red pepper, spinach, mozzarella, and Parmesan.  On the right is mushroom, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, mozzarella, and feta.

Here's a closer look: 

I know you are jealous.  I'd invite you to come over, but we have 12 inches of snow on the ground... and counting.

It's May

This was the view out my window this morning:

And guess what?  It's snowing again.

Luckily, it's really pretty.

But I'm ready for my May flowers now.  Didn't anyone order the May flowers?

Also, check out the slab of snow sliding off the metal roof.

Neato, unless you are standing directly underneath it.

After the storm... getting to work

So, I woke up this morning to the news that I would not, in fact, have a snow day.  Rats.  So disappointing.  Actually though, I ran out and measured the snow and found 10 inches, which was less than the 16-24 they were predicting.  So all in all it wasn't that bad.  I got ready and headed out to work at about 7:30am, and tried to capture some of the gorgeousness.  Snow was still falling lightly:

Of course, I was tromping through the snow to get to my jeep, and the snow was coming up to just below my knee, which would put it at about 14 inches.   The wind had been blowing pretty hard during the storm, so hard to tell what is drift and what is windblown.  I guess we got between 10-14 inches.

I then found my jeep at the bottom:

It cleaned up good, and because I parked a little uphill, I got a running start which helped me fourwheel it over the pile from the snowplow (which had already been by!).  I got to work just fine, on nicely plowed roads.

By late afternoon, it was gorgeous, sunny, and going on warm.  I got my Jeep nestled back into it's spot at the end of the driveway (only took a little knocking down of the snowplow pile with a shovel and a couple runs in 4WD in reverse to push in some tracks), and then snapped a few pics of the sparkling snow.  Complete with my footprints still around from the morning.

I love living here!

First blizzard

Snow was in the forecast for this evening, and the heavens did not disappoint.  I had planned to leave work at about 6, but reports said the snow was beginning to stick at 5:30, so I thought I better take off early.  Boy, am I glad i did.  It was snowing with a VENGEANCE.

I saw two snowplows on the drive home, which was reassuring, but I still laid first tracks up our road.  Visibility was so bad that I almost missed our driveway.  I parked the Jeep at the bottom of the driveway, backed up the hill just a car length or so, to let the plows through if they come.  By the time I walked up the hill, me and my bags were coated in the swirling snow.  We already had over an inch on the ground, and it was only coming down harder.  I snapped some pics before dark.

Now I'm all cozied up and the wind is howling outside. We've had a couple of power dips.  I hope it doesn't go out entirely -- I don't know how to power up the generator yet.  Really hoping for a snow day tomorrow.  If it's a snow day, I'm totally going to build a fire in the stove.  :o)