On Your Own

For those that have gotten this in their email - this will be the last time.
I've made the decision to remove the email option from the blog. If you want to read it and keep up on what may or may not be going on with us you're on your own. No, I'm not turning off the blog, just the option to send my ramblings to your In Box.
If you're wondering why the reason is very simple. I've found myself editing what I choose to put into the blog based on the fact that it is emailed to people. I have sat down to add something to the blog - pictures, updates, thoughts - and then made the decision not to because I knew that it would be going out in email. With this feature on I have to think "is this something I would want to get in my email?" While it may be something I would want, I don't feel qualified to answer for everyone receiving this. I have been told by a few that they wish I would update more and that they enjoy reading about what we're doing. I'm glad. However, I find that I don't enjoy writing To someone. I have trouble knowing what someone else may (or may not) find interesting and have edited the content here because of that.
So - short story long - if you enjoy reading my various ramblings and seeing pictures of the girls and the dogs we're still here. Visit long and often if you so choose.

All my love,

Brandy

Pictures and Pearls

OK so I've gotten a lot of flack lately about not updating enough and everyone wanting to see more pictures and read more about what's going on (you mean someone actually reads this thing?) So, here we are. A few more pictures. I'll try to get more up later too.

Just chillin'

Helping Mama Work...

Snow in Washington - I thought it was called Global WARMING!!!!

Happy 14th Birthday Krystyne!
(hey wait..14?? When did THAT happen?)

Krysty's first driving lesson with Doug. He's braver than I am!

Sometimes it's nice to to have a friend close by...

After a very long and sleepless night I finally handed the baby over to Doug when he got up for work. He scolded me for staying up all night and not waking him up to help. Then used his Papa Magic on her to get her to sleep. Something I had been trying to do for hours! He had this little pearl of wisdom:
He said "If I've learned anything in my 30 days as a father it's that everything takes twice as long as you think it should"
This is why I can't get anything accomplished during the day. Thankfully he understands that.

Just thought I'd add - Bless the Mormons! These two young missionaries just stopped by to do their Missionary thing. It's maybe 30 degrees outside, there's a good 6" of snow on the ground and they're out there trying to spread their message. Stopping door to door trying to do a little good. They're greeted by me, still in my jammies at 11 o'clock, and the dogs. We exchanged pleasantries and I explained that I appreciate what they're doing, but it's just not for us. They were really sweet and said they were also trying to do some good and offered to shovel the walkway for me! I thanked them and said I wasn't planning on venturing out if I could help it. (Sorry everyone, cards are late this year!). It's just nice to see such pleasantness and good will. Especially standing at your front door. I hope they find someone that they can share their message with. If for only to get out of the cold. They deserve it.

Our First Milestone!

YAY FOR TEARS!
OK generally not something we like to say but today it's true! Fiona had her usual I'm-wet-and-not-happy-and-now-I'm-naked-make-it-STOP meltdown this morning with one tiny difference. When I picked her up after the indignity of having not only wet pants, but to be naked on top of it, she had little tears in her eyes! Anyone who's heart doesn't melt at the sight of a two week old tiny tears and a big ol' boo-boo lip has a Grinch sized heart (that's two-sizes-too-small for anyone keeping track).
I get a lot of "Mom when is she going to do this, or that". It may not be much but it sure is a start.
Baby steps. Teeny, tiny, teary-eyed, baby steps...

Christmas is coming and more baby pictures!

Well it's official! Christmas is on its way. We finally got our tree up (only took a week longer than normal). It's not the 12' monstrosity we had last year. As a matter of fact, it's not even a real tree. It's our trusty boxed, pre-lighted, up in 10 minutes tree. Not my favorite, but with Krysty, Allie and Jane heading to WI for Christmas we're going the easy route this year. I promised the girls next year that we'd "Go Big" with the decorations since it's pretty simple this year.

We're supposed to have lights outside, but Doug's been sick so we haven't made it that far yet.
Pierce County Fire and Rescue brought Santa around the neighborhood last night! It was freezing cold and raining but the girls ran out anyway and I followed with the camera. I remember how cool it was when I was a kid to see Santa on the fire trucks!
A little late I suppose but I was finally able to pick tomatoes from the plant I started in May! They're the size of large Cherry tomatoes when they should be the size of Beefsteak but I'm just excited they grew! I'm hoping to keep the plant alive until spring and try again. But really, it's me and a plant. The odds aren't great.

Here's a couple of new pictures of Fiona. Cuddling and sleeping with Papa on the sofa. The flash from the first picture woke up Doug but I made him close his eyes and let me take another one since they looked so cute!

Happy after snuggle time!

Here she is voicing her opinion of diaper changing time!

All better! Clean with a full tummy... this is the life!

Fiona's first bath

OK so I'm a little slow on getting these up. No, today was not Fiona's first bath! We did this Saturday night, I'm just now getting to sharing though.

Her first bath was SO cool. I've never been one for the baby tubs. I don't like them and I've never known a baby that does either. Whoever thought it was a great idea to half submerge a naked baby in warm water while leaving the rest out in the cold didn't really think this through! Krystyne and Allie got sink baths until they were big enough for the tub. You know the kind. Fill up the dish pan full of warm water and dunk the baby in there until they're too big for it. Generally somewhere around 18 months. This is a great idea since it saves your back and you don't have to spend 20 minutes bent over a tub. Jane just got run through the shower with her dad until she was 6 months old. By that time we had figured out that it was easier to stick the kids in the shower with dad than to go through the trouble of a bath. And the girls loved it. So, that's what they did until they were no longer oblivious to the difference between boys and girls and eye level was no longer appropriate (hey Daddy - how come you have this? yank! OW!) . Jane was about 6 months old when she had her first tub bath and was not thrilled about the whole experience.

Doug and I decided since having a bath in the evenings is one of my guilty pleasures that we would try to put Fiona in with me when she needs a bath. Plus it would be some good Mommy time for us. It gives me the opportunity for more than just feeding time since pretty much when the girls are home they take over all the good cuddle time and Papa takes the rest when he gets home. Since I've got work and school during the day we don't get much cuddle time then either.

Fiona has decided that she doesn't like any time that involves removing of the clothing. Diaper changes, pajama time, nothing. After making sure her bits were proudly on display for the ultrasound so we knew she was a girl, she's developed some modesty. Diaper changes usually involve quite the fit since it means exposing her bare little bum to the world. Once she's properly covered she's fine, but before that she has no problem voicing her displeasure with our decision. This did not bode well for bath time since it would require actually stripping her down to nakedness. At bath time I filled the tub with baby bath bubbles and took a few minutes to relax and let the water turn to a more acceptable temperature. Just under boiling is fine for me, but a little much for such delicate skin. When I was ready to be done I let Doug know it was time to get the baby undressed (and I covered up some since I knew we wanted pictures). She did not disappoint us and let us know in no uncertain terms what she felt about our plan. The most amazing thing was once I put her in the water she was instantly quiet and calm! She loved the water. I just held her head and let her float and she was so calm and peaceful. She opened her eyes and looked around and was truly content with the whole experience. I was able to wash her body without fuss and even shampooed her hair with no problem. She seemed perfectly content to just enjoy the water. The girls really enjoyed the whole thing too. They thought it was pretty cool how calm and happy she was. After a while we decided to get out and that seemed to be a big to-do. To be naked in the water is fine. Before and then after - not so fine! She screamed and generally voiced her displeasure at being out of the bath and not dressed. But, once she was dressed again all was well. She got to enjoy some cuddle time with Papa and was calm and happy. She fell asleep not long after and was content for quite a while. I'm really looking forward to making this part of our night time.