I don't want to forget...

Fiona has an incredible memory. She really blows me away. One time I pointed out a kitty in the window of the flower shop on Whidbey. 6 months later we walked past the same flower shop and she asked me where the kitty was. Or the time that Emily visited and took her to the playground. It was before she was really talking much. About 9 months later we were walking back from the same playground. Fiona said, "Emmy took me here and sang me a song." I was amazed how she was able to articulate an experience from her non-talking days. This girl doesn't forget a thing! A smart cookie I tell you!

I on the other hand do not have her memory skills. I need to write things down because I don't want to forget.

• I don't want to forget that she calls the elevator an elligator.
• I don't want to forget the way she curls up with her sister and says in a whisper so quiet I can barely hear her, "I just love her so much Mama."
• I don't want to forget that she sings at the top of her lungs songs about her family when she is happy.
• I don't want to forget the subtle difference between her questions and statements. Only those that speak Fiona can catch it. It's all in the voice.
• I don't want to forget that when we read books that show a child getting tucked into their own bed she gets stressed out about why the Mama is not going to bed with them! (Don't all families cosleep?!) I usually tell her the Mama has to go brush her teeth before going to bed.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this girl!

Sisters...

These girls of mine are so alike, yet so different! See for yourself!

Fiona

Maeve

Fiona (5 months old!)

Maeve (5 weeks old!)

Rockin' Out

Fiona loves to "Rock Out" with her buitar (guitar). When she hears music come on she often runs down the hall yelling, "I need to rock out! I'll get some instruments." The horse made guitar has gotten a lot of play lately. Here she is rockin' out to the White Stripes.

We're back...

I've been meaning to sit down and write on the blog for weeks! Instead I've been learning to adjust to life with a newborn in the house. At some point during the last month we have all been sick too. But now I have more pictures to share with you. We are loving our sweet baby Maeve. Fiona never gives her one kiss- it is always one of the cheek and one on her head. Fiona is totally in love with her and calls her Baby Sister more then Maeve. This is not to say that she doesn't have her moments. She tells me things like, "Put Baby Sister in her hammock" or "Pass Maeve to Papa". My favorite is when she gets things mixed up and tells me to "pass Papa to Maeve." Ha!

Ok, on to the goods...

Maeve Penelope

Our beautiful baby girl Maeve Penelope was born on Oct 7th at 5:06pm. She weighed 6 pounds 14.5 ounces and is 20 inches long. She was born surrounded by family (Papa, Fiona, and Granny) and friends (our wonderful Dr.- Laura and our awesome doula- Zoya). Everything about the labor and delivery was peaceful and just as I wanted it to be. We are thrilled with our new little bundle!

Toddler tested and approved

Fiona has tested out the baby hammock and tummy tub... she approves!

The Kodiak Fair!

We headed to the Fair for the afternoon and it was a big hit with Fiona! She had been talking up riding a horse on the way out but we weren't sure if she would go for it when she got up close to those big animals. We were wrong! She hopped on with no hesitation at all. Watch out Papa, she'll be asking for a horse before you know it! "Her horse" was named Shiloh and was by far the prettiest horse there according to Fiona! I'm pretty sure we have a horse girl in the making!

She loved the animals in the barns and in the petting zoo area too. She really liked the bunnies and was fascinated by their water bottles. Brian and I had fun checking out some different breeds of chickens. We have a couple new ones to add to our list for our next batch of chickens.

Eating is of course an important part of any fair adventure. We all enjoyed our favorite Mexican food from Martha's taco truck. Oh so good! We ate while listening and dancing to some live music.

Fiona was too tired to stay for the rodeo but loved watching the cowgirls and cowboys warming up. Some were practicing with their lassos and some girls were warming up their horses in the arena. All of it was pretty amazing in her eyes. I'm excited for the day that she can join 4-H and be a part of it all!

A trip to Whidbey

Tie dye cousins

One beautiful girl!

Swings- we love this playground!

Market babies!

Going in for a smooch!

Maxwelton Beach- one of my favorite places ever!

This post is a bit late but Fiona and I had a great trip to Whidbey. She told Brian when we got home, "I was a good farm girl!" She played hard with her cousins every day... just the reason for the trip. She and Clara were pretty cute together. Fiona knows she is younger and figured she would hold her and baby her. When we got there she told me, "Clara is heavy, I'll hold her hand!" That seemed to work better for them given that Clara weighs more then Fiona!

We both loved all the baby goats on the farm. Fiona was also a big fan of the two litters of kittens running around. She couldn't get enough of the "jumper" (trampoline) and ran over to Aunt Molly's on her own to jump with no hesitation. Granny and I also braved a trip to the city with Fiona to take her to the zoo. The drive was terrible for my small town girl but she loved the animals- the elephant and penguins were the biggest hit.

Fiona had the flu for the first time during our trip which was a big bummer. I was pretty exhausted at that point but she got over it quickly. Really- that was the only down side. Fiona is a trooper when it comes to flying which I so appreciate when flying alone with her. It's fun to think about our next visit- with baby sister along for the ride!

Summer Happenings!

I haven't been on the blog in forever. We've been having a busy summer around here! Let's see if I can fill you in!

Brian had his nearly month long survey cruise early in the summer. Fiona and I were hanging solo and boy did we miss Papa. A new twist this year of access to a phone meant we could talk to him every few days though. That was so nice to be able to hear his voice during his long absence.

His shoulder is giving him a lot of trouble this summer and we are waiting for him to get into the joint specialist in a few weeks. I really hope he'll be feeling better soon! I hope we get some answers from the specialist about what they think is going on. I'm guessing a month at sea lifting heavy totes of fish is not really recommended for his condition... but that's just a guess!

Fiona is out of diapers during the day! She isn't totally accident free yet but she is doing great. In the beginning she was very excited and all about it and really didn't have any accidents at all. Now that it's old news she gets distracted easily and is less likely to tell us she has to go. We're trudging on anyway. She loves to visit the various public bathrooms about town. It is especially exciting if she can flush with her foot! Who doesn't love that?! The other day she barged in on Brian in the bathroom and pulled up a stool to tell him a story... "Once upon a time there was a little girl named Papa. He liked to visit the farm and see all the animals." I couldn't stop laughing at that one! Yes, there have been long sits with stories going on around here. "Not from a book, from your heart!"

Potty Time!

Stickers on the bathroom door!

We've been having incredible weather around here too. Fiona prefers to strip down "nakey" and run through the yard. Here she's practicing climbing the fence. Although nakey is her favorite she is always sure to accessorize! Sometimes its just a hat or perhaps one shoe and one boot. She certainly has style! She loves playing in the yard with the hose, her sand table, and her beloved chickens and dogs. She and Brian just bought a new soccer ball. It's hard to say who was more excited about that one!

nakey fence climbing!

Suddenly I find myself in the third trimester! How did that happen so fast? Baby Sister will be here before we know it. I just washed all the newborn diapers and dried them on the line the other day. Oh my goodness are they tiny! Hard to believe that they fit Fiona at one time and harder to believe we'll have another one here soon to put them on. Still working on a name but we aren't going to tell you until she's born anyway! :)

6 months down, 3 to go!

We've been putting a lot more energy into the garden this year and it seems to be paying off. That and the sunshine we've been getting! We just started doing compost tea every week too and the plants really seem to be loving it! I'll be harvesting basil in the next few days to get some pesto in the freezer. We also have tons of greens, carrots, potatoes, and garlic. Not a huge variety but its what we love and have had good success with here. We figured more of what we know will grow well is better then just a little bit of what might not do so well in our cooler long days.

Herbs, peppers, and cherry tomatoes growing in the greenhouse. (Excuse me, "It's not a greenhouse mama, its a white house." I stand corrected)

This is one of two raised beds. Normally its covered in a plastic hoop but we took it off today to get everything watered really well.

The other bed has our garlic and potatoes in it.

Babybooks

Taken on Easter by our friend Cat DeVries

A little light reading.... Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon

I was recently reading a friends blog and she mentioned that her family blog serves as a baby book for her kids. I have to say the same. We have a perfectly cute baby book but it sits with pages mostly empty. I've added some weight and heights here and there but mostly I'm not good at conforming to the pages. There is no place to just write what your baby is up to. So here it is. Our blog. It's 99.9% about Fiona who is the center of our lives. Soon the space will be about baby girl #2 too. Hopefully they can read together and recall happy childhoods!

Some Fiona quotes that need to be documented from the past month or so....

While getting her dressed to go the library..."I don't want to wear pants, I just want to wear my knees!" She's very fond of just wearing her knees or just her toes these days. Too bad its still 40 degrees outside.

At my recent prenatal appointment after I peed in the cup... "Good job Mama! You did it!" She wanted to go get me a sticker afterwards. (We've been working on using the potty at home, and she's rocking out by the way.)

While talking about the baby... "I'm going to be a sister. Great! I love sisters!" Lets hope this one sticks!

While trying to avoid going to bed at night... "Oh no, I can't find my eyebrow on my head. It's missing! Better go check it."

After asking me to bring her a drink of water in the bath tub... "Now bring Papa a beer please." He swears he didn't prompt her.

While talking about her farm cousins... "I miss baby Clara. Clara is my best friend!" Cuteness!

Every night while tucking her into bed... "Don't forget to close the lights Mama!"

She also calls her tights "sock leggings" which I love.

A SISTER for Fiona!

We are having another girl! On Tuesday we went as a family to my ultra sound. We were really hoping to find out the sex of the baby but I kept telling myself not to get too disappointed if Baby didn't cooperate. She didn't want to at first but after moving to my side she moved her legs and we got a look at her GIRL bits! I've been having so much thinking about Fiona having a sister and my girls growing up together. Fiona is still convinced she's getting a brother... I'm glad we have some time to work that out! She loved hearing the baby's heartbeat and asked the technician to "do it again!" I was glad because there is nothing quite so amazing as hearing that heartbeat. We watched as our girl worked hard to get her thumb in her mouth too- totally amazing! We were all so proud of her when she managed to get it in there!

I obviously have known I've been pregnant for a long time but this just makes it all feel so real! I can't believe I'm already 18 weeks too. Time is flying by! With Fiona's pregnancy I read the progress of baby week by week and read a million pregnancy and birthing books. Not so much this time! I guess that's what happens when you have a toddler. I have reread Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin because I can't get enough of those hippie birth stories! And a new one on the shelf this time around is the LLL book, Adventures of Tandem Nursing. An adventure for sure! Thankfully help is just a phone call away from the most experienced tandem Mama I know... Molly! Be prepared for lots of calls Sis!