The State of Bunt

Well this post is mostly just to let everyone that we are still alive. No strange phenomonum has obliverated us out east. It is mostly the winter doldrums. Which is really a lame excuse considering we really haven't had much of a winter, but I am already sick of it. Every since I gave up skiing I just haven't enjoyed winter as much. We got our first real snow fall on Valentine's day and the snow is still here. We had a little bit of snow Thursday, but mostly it is around because it has been cold. I can't wait for spring when the weather is nice during the day but before the bugs are out in force along with the dreaded humidity.

Not to say that it has been boring around here. We had President's Day brunch with our friend the Smith's and Swint's. I have even considered taking downhill skiing up again as Grace is getting to the point where she may enjoy that and my friend Gary has been taking his kids for the first time this year and has invited Grace and I to come along (unfortunately it has been on Sundays).

Perhaps this is the calm before the storm. We are gearing up for visits every month from March to October. It will be fun to have visitors and for us to be visitors but there is always a lot to take care of on either side of visits. Since Michelle and I are having a battle of will to see who will post about our doings nothing much gets written and plus what has there been to write?

The best way to describe me right now is a state of bunt. I normally go through a couple week period each year (generally in December) where I don't have much desire to do anything. Even lounging is a chore. This past December it didn't happen so perhaps I have it a couple of months late.

Anyway, I can feel the winds of change coming. The feeling of inevitability, and just maybe some exciting news to post to all the world.

Hattie's 9 months old!

I don't notice or celebrate Harriet's little weekly and monthly first-year birthdays as much as I did with Grace. Mostly, it's because I'm doing so much and thinking about so much that I don't even know what day it is! Harriet is also such a fast-forward baby that I'm not even sure what it is she's supposed to be doing at what age. I do know that while we were in Utah, Harriet reached the 9 month mark. Here is what she is and isn't doing now:

She IS:
*very healthy
*very big still - 19.5 pounds and 29 inches long (60th and 90th percentile)
*eating MUCH better - just about anything off of your plate. Her favorite this week was the shredded BBQ pork out of my burrito.
*getting lots of teeth - 3 came for Christmas and one on New Year's
*sitting up extremely well
*playing a lot more
*much happier and personable
*talking a lot - dada, baba, and I swear she says doggie and said kitty once
*laughing a lot
*playing pat-a-cake and waving to people
*taking fewer naps- down to 2 today
*trying VERY hard to crawl and was much inspired by spending time with her 17 month old cousin, Sean
*standing up by holding onto your hands
*paying attention to the TV more (I know this is mostly bad, but it is good for me - especially when making dinner!) Her favorites are Elmo, Baby Mozart, and just the introduction song of Little Einsteins. She also likes the opening scene of the movie "Cars."

She is NOT:
*spitting up as much - down to once or twice a day
*taking prescription meds for her belly anymore
*crying as much during the day or when I leave her with David
*easy going - she has a very sharp little temper
*fitting into the right clothes! I am still buying baby clothes because she skips ahead in sizes and seasons from what I had for Grace. Arggghhh...
*liking baby food so much - big people food please!
*getting a lot of hair, but the hair she does have has a hint of being curly?
*crawling or walking yet, but big sister didn't do those things until 10 and 15 months, so she's got some time before being embarrassed.
*sleeping through the night anymore! she was doing 10 hours, and now only does 4... little stinker...

I also know that I LOVE her. Although a difficult one to figure out, she is a bright spot in my life. I really have connected with her and I understand her. I'm starting to forget what life was like without her and that is a good thing.

Here are some photos of Hattie with all the family she got to hang with in Utah...

January 2007

I feel badly that I didn't blog during the month of January except for my New Year's post. We were just too busy! We spent the first week digging ourselves out of the Christmas mess and the second week packing and getting ready for our trip to Utah that would last until the end of the month.

Our Utah trips aren't quite to the point where you just put in the tape and push "play", but they are developing some similar patterns and themes. Of course, we see as much of our family as we can and we visit as many friends as time allows. Our other main activities are to go for a horsey ride at our old barn, eat out at our old favorite restaurants, and do some major shopping. The local shopping where we live is ok for most things and is actually better for some things, but there is always a list of items that I just can't seem to find or get without some major effort here. So, I make a list and take an empty bag and fill it whenever visiting my familiar shopping places in Utah. It is also much more fun to shop in Utah because there, I have my sisters and mom to shop with and also lots of built-in baby-sitters. This past time, we all went together quite a bit and tag-teamed the kids as we each took turns looking for and trying things on. Here, I either have to leave my kids and go alone, or take them with me and try to shop while they whine and cry and get lost.
It sounds a bit silly for me to go on about shopping because I'm not really a "Nordstrom girl" as we use to say in high school. I am not much into fashion and purses and having the latest things. But, at some point, you do have to replace worn out jeans, buy more clothes when you change sizes, and you do have to buy gifts and let's face it, it is much too fun to buy things for little girls now that I have them! So, I do spend a lot of time shopping with my sisters.

This past month we made several trips to Cottonwood Mall. I kind of feel like I grew up at Cottonwood Mall. When we were little and lived in Wyoming and use to come to Salt Lake to visit my Grandma, she would take us to the mall. We always ate at the food court and tossed coins in the fountain. Then, after we moved to Salt Lake, only blocks from the mall, we made frequent trips with our friends in the summer as pre-teens, and then frequent trips "in-between classes", ahem, in high school. I did get caught at Cottonwood Mall when I shouldn't have been there. As luck would have it, my mom caught me every single time I broke a rule. On one particular unlucky trip, the rusty muffler and tail pipe completely broke off (but was still tethered to) my 88 Camaro in the middle of the mall parking lot - had to call mom and dad to help with that one. In later married years, I use to meet my mom and sisters at the mall early in the morning the day after Thanksgiving to kick-off the Christmas shopping season. Needless to say, the mall has been a place where my family has done lots of shopping and eating together and it brings back lots of memories.

Now, I write about the mall as it completes is final closings. When we were there last month, we visited several stores "on their last day open" and passed many more that had already been closed for months. I have been told that it will be closed for good in April and probably torn down before we go back to Utah. It's weird (not being a shopping addict) that I'm a little sad about losing the mall in my old neighborhood, but I am. Oh well, the mall is not the only place to shop - we have lots of other favorites!

To sum up our vacation, we spent lots of time hanging out! (We also spent lots of time dodging viruses and spraying lysol on door knobs, phones, and toys - finally got sick for the last 4 days of our 17 days there.) The only downside of the trip besides all of our sick relatives was our canceled road trip to southern Utah to see my grandparents there. We had banked on going, but too many people were too sick on too many days to go. The best part of our trip is that Harriet got some really good time in with her grandparents and aunts. She really got to know them and bonded with them. Grace also got lots of individual attention from everyone and always comes away with her "bucket full." It's a deep bucket to fill when we get home and she has to share me with Harriet and all of the daily chores.
We'll have to come again soon before Harriet forgets everyone. Hopefully, May will be our next trip.

Here are some random January pictures. Since, we didn't go anywhere but people's living rooms, the barn, and the mall, so they're not terribly exciting, but I guess, neither are we. I actually love not doing much of anything - doing something is over-rated and doing nothing is highly under-rated.