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!

Spring!

Farmer Fiona

Hoop! A popular way to warm up the soil and air temp for veggies in Kodiak is to use hoop houses. They work great!

The garlic we planted last fall. One of our favorite crops. We use a hard neck variety called Music... Granpa's favorite!

Showing off her new Ohio State outfit!

Diggin' the sand and water!

We had a busy weekend of celebrating Spring and Mother's Day around here. As you can see the garden is coming together and the hoop is up for the season. Fiona and Papa planted pototoes and we will get the rest of the veggies in the ground this coming weekend. I love this time of year. We also got some of Fiona's outdoor toys up. She played in her sand and water table for over an hour and half yesterday. Now if that isn't a Mother's Day gift, I don't know what is! She continues to be in love with her chickens. They love her back and let her hold them and eat out of her hands regularly. They love to follow her around and even come begging for food if we eat on the deck! I can't wait to get this girl her own farm... for now she'll have to settle with chickens and visiting our pigs out the road. (That is for another post!)

Papa Love! and Fiona Speak

Fiona is in love with her Papa. When he is home from work and on weekends only Papa will do. Papa must be the one to change her diapers :), get her out of her car seat, and make her lunch. Only Papa can push the stroller or the grocery cart. She often bellows "No, Papa Do It!" at any attempt I make to do anything. She is big into wrestling and doing chores with Papa. She basically doesn't let him out of her sight when he's home. I love it!! She is Papa's girl through and through. I think this will come in handy in October!

Fiona Speak:
These are some of my favorite words and phrases from Fiona. It's funny because Brian and I have adopted many of them ourselves.

tia: quesadilla
bless you: kleenex
care me: carry me
sit on my lap: sit on your lap
mealo: oatmeal
yellow butter: butter
brown butter: peanut butter
paint fingers: finger paints
MaPa: Papa and Mama... she uses this interchangeably for both of us but mostly for Brian

Farm Girl

Here is our farm girl helping with her chores. She takes the job very seriously. Feeding the chickens by hand is one of her favorite things. It's usually a job she does with Papa after work (now that it is light out when he gets home! Hooray for light!) Our last batch of chickens were pretty wild but these 4 are so gentle and tame. They roam the yard for most of the day and are often on the back porch looking in. Sometimes they peck on the door as if to say, "Let us in!" I knew I wanted Fiona to be able to hold and pet and hand feed these chickens so we handled them a lot from the time they arrived as little chicks. Success! They crouch down as soon as we walk up to them and they often follow us around the yard in a little chicken parade. I think Fiona is on her way to becoming quite the farm girl. Now we just need to find her a real farm. Until then our 4 chickens will have to do.

My favorite part of the video is the beginning where she instructs them to say cheese! "Say cheese body."