To moms, for laughs

To other moms - You have to check this out. What's your favorite? Mine's a tie between the Hands Baby Pillow and the Plush Pee and Poo. Seriously???

Home at Last

We crazily decided to combine refinishing our wood floors with some wall painting, staining and finishing new baseboards, and 2 family vacations (St. Helens with my family and K Falls with his family). I'm quite tired of living out of a suitcase (though it probably wouldn't be as bad if I had cute suitcases like those in the picture!). So after 18 days out of our house, we're finally back home. Not moved in, but home.

3 things I've learned from our temporary homelessness:

1. Though we've lived wonderful years as a wandering couple in temporary homes, it's much harder and less enjoyable with a baby. Our mound of luggage seriously triples when we have her: portable crib, stroller, baby pack, diapers, diaper pail, special gentle detergent for the diapers, butt paste & other baby toiletries, portable high chair, extra blankets, fan for her to sleep, monitors ... and the list goes on. It feels seriously ridiculous.

2. My kitchen is better organized than anyone else's kitchen. I'm saying this a bit tongue in cheek, but I have decided that every kitchen is organized around its cook. My mom's kitchen is organized around her cooking style, and mother-in-law's around hers. And neither of them cook like I do. There is no maple syrup or sucanat, much less a dehydrator and lids to sprout wheat berries and quinoa (oh yeah, there's no quinoa either). And there's certainly no room in our trunk for those things. I'm really not knocking my family because their homes reflect their lives, as they should. Sleeping in someone else's bed and using someone else's bathroom is hard enough, but I've realized that cooking in someone else's kitchen is the hardest for me.

3. We really need check-in time at night, really. We've gotten in the habit of sitting on the couch and chatting after she goes to bed. It's just not the same with family around. Enough said, yeah?

Jam Day

There's nothing better than homemade Oregon strawberry & raspberry jam. We couldn't keep Riley away from the raspberries! We had just taught her the sign for 'more' and I'd say she used it about 50 times while pointing up to the countertop upon which she knew the raspberries sat. Between Riley and Ryan, I did just as much shooing as I did stirring!

I started with some beautiful berries from the Farmers' Market.

And 2 each of canning pots and jam-making pots.

And with my mom's help made 27 jars of beautiful jam.

We've already lathered it on homemade sourdough (on top of a thick layer of butter, of course). Oh yummmmmmmmm.

1st Birthday. 1st Steps.

After the first few tentative steps, this girl went kamikaze on us. No matter how many face plants she did, she rolled over with a giggle and held up her arms to be lifted up for another try.

Eventually, she did figure out that she would balance better if she didn't lean forward so much. But by then the camera was away and we were just enjoying her happy squeals.