All in a days word

One first today, possibly two.

Our little Miss B made the sign for "please" today at the table during lunch for the first time! We have been working on this sign for a while now and she has been signing it lately, but at random times. Today she actually indicated with this sign that she would like more food "please". We were all very excited for this accomplishment and for the beginning of understandable communication and had a little party there at the table.

Also this morning when we were petting the kitty as we do every day and saying hi to him she waved at him and said "Ed". She said it several times. Over the next couple days it will be apparent whether or not she was just repeating it or truly connects "Ed" with her kitty cat, but it looks promising. This would be very fun since they are special friends already. She loves her kitty cat and the feeling is clearly mutual.

Some people just have flair!

Hey Mrs. Jones, i happened to have that pix of my "niece" Elton John handy, so here it is...this had to be around spring 2005, right? Love you Miss M! (oodles of LOVE to Jones 2, 3 & 4 also of course :)

The talented Mr. M...

I have been wanting to brag on my husband's most recent endeavors for a while now, so here's the latest. Most of you know what a skilled craftsman Mr. M is, he's very handy to have around if you need to build a fire...or a house. He's also your go-to guy if you need help surviving in or navigating through pretty much any environment, oh, and he's now a certified lifeguard. With that said, he has been busy this last year working on some new skills many of you may not know about including knife making, prolific spoon carving (he has also turned out one SWEET Swedish-style drinking cup out of wood) and most recently basket weaving! Yes, basket weaving. I was amazed that his first one- crafted today, was complete in about an hour. It was amazing to see a pile of dry grasses be transformed into a basket by my husband's own hands in such a short time. Is there anything he can't make? So here are some pix of his creations (and yes, the very small spoons are baby spoons, he started carving them when we found out i was pregnant :) Our little girl has the coolest Daddy! What fun she will have learning all his trades. At the bottom are some pictures of her "working" on spoons with Daddy.

Mr. M's most recent knife & a sampling of spoons

look at the excellent carving detail on the top spoon!

the latest knife, and yes, he makes the leather sheaths as well

first basket, interior

exterior

basket, spoon and Swedish drinking cup

very cool!

turning over a"roughed out" spoon

Daddy's little helper, you would think he just gave her candy

the bite test...

by far, the best Quality Assurance officer ever!

also part of the oversight committee

more QA

feedback is a crucial part to QA~always hard at work!

Bookworm

Hi there, sorry it has been so long. I know i have many promised pictures to get on this blog for family and friends. There are so many moments we have caught on (digital?), doesn't quite roll off the tongue like "caught on film"...anyhow, so many moments to share. Here is some catching up. These pictures were taken about two months ago, the first time i put a book in her hands~ without my help. Since she LOVES to read she thought she had died and gone to heaven to be able to attack her books all by herself...

we regularly discuss that "we read books, we don't eat them"

H2O and getting stuck

Our little Sweet Pea LOVES drinking water out of a big kid cup and is getting pretty darn good at it, so here are some pictures for all to enjoy. The pix at the end are a couple of the promised pictures from yesterday (see "Fuzz Farmer" post below) backing herself up underneath the couch and then realizing she was stuck (not really, she just couldn't roll over so she considered herself stuck.) Again being a good mommy, i saw the moment coming and grabbed my camera...so fun!

we practice holding the cup "with both hands"...doesn't work so well the other way

learning about gravity, and the properties of water. believe it or not i caught it before the water hit the tray. way to go Mom!

getting good at placement, but remember the bottom lip has to be OUTSIDE the cup!

so proud of you baby girl!

"look, I am really drinking..."

i just love this one because i can't get enough of her baby blues and those cute, chubby baby hands!

having a fun time just cruising around the living room...didn't check the rear view mirror though...

hey wait a minute, i can't get it out of reverse! and you are taking pictures?
(hehehe, this is the good stuff)

Our little Fuzz Farmer...

I am guessing this falls under the category of the "cute stuff that our kid does". So our little girl has a new nickname, "Fuzz Farmer". Here's the story. Since our entire house here is hard floors we needed at least a little soft-under-foot somewhere and we recently purchased a 9'x12' area rug for the living room. Any of you that have had new carpet know that at first they shed like crazy and that you have to vacuum seemingly constantly to keep the carpet fuzz under control. Needless to say our little darling is spending a lot of time on said rug still trying to master crawling. (I am sure that we delayed this phenomenon somewhat by almost never putting her on the floor for about two months while we were transitioning and unpacking, but she is working on it.) So far she is pretty skilled at pushing backwards, which i have been assured is solidly pre-crawl. This morning she pushed herself under the couch and got stuck half-under, being a good Mom i took pictures. And she can turn on a dime, for whatever that is worth...rotational skills are very advanced!

Anyhow, the carpet is nice and thick and she now loves nothing better that to bury her little chubby fingers into it, grip tight and pull up (harvest) as much fresh carpet fuzz as she can manage. Furthermore, having complete clarity that the following is absolutely a "no-no", she then proceeds to wad it up and shove it into her mouth as quickly as she can, often while scanning the immediate area to see if anyone that would thwart her efforts has caught her in the act. While we want to maintain a convincing front that this is completely naughty, in hopes of stifling the carpet ingestion, it is also hilarious (especially the trying to be sneaky part.) And some people say we aren't born sinners, c'mon! She also enjoys a little batting from the underside of the easy chair or ottoman as an appetizer or midday snack. If only she would eat real food with such no-questions-asked gusto!

So that's the latest anecdote about our little Fuzz Farmer...oh, and one more amusing detail i almost forgot. Her and Ed (her kitty) seem to have an arrangement worked out. He goes around sharpening his claws on the carpet which of course pulls up LOTS of fresh fuzz which she can then go behind and glean. Because after all, the best carpet fuzz is that which you did not have to work for at all...now isn't it.

Merry Christmas, part 1

Hope you all are having a blessed Christmas. I know that those of you in Spokane are certainly having a white one! We are having a pretty quiet day and have yet to even open presents. I am planning to post pictures another day of EB's first big Christmas experience with presents and all but i wanted to get her Christmas picture up for everyone to enjoy since we are so far away (we just got these back). We love and miss you. Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to our savior Christ Jesus!