Superstars

Louisa and I are superstars.

Me, simply because I got my hair highlighted today, so I feel kind of pretty. And Lou, well Lou is a superstar because she has already mastered Maple Leaf (a Ragtime favorite of mine) on daddy's new keyboard :) See for yourself!

Gas works

Mike and I went to Gasworks park the summer before last for the 4th of July. The park is located on the Northern tip of Lake Union and it boasts one of the best views of the Seattle skyline, including the Space Needle. We decided to go back there yesterday to take some pictures and enjoy some fresh...er, city air :) First we stopped by this lovely little pizzaria called Tutta Bella (anyone heard of it?) that had authentic Italian pizza, espresso, and gelato. Okay, I realize most pizza places would like you to believe they are "authentic" Italian but truly, it was these guys' trademark. When my roommate and I went to Italy a few summers ago, this is exactly what we ate. Thin crust, sweet tomato sauce, fresh basil, and of course....GELATO. Oh, it was heavenly, creamy, light and not as sugary. Mike got the lemon which in itself would merit a trip to Wallingford. Louisa enjoyed it too, and we didn't feel as guilty giving it to her because apparently gelato has about half the amount of sugar as ice cream..did you know that? Well. It was quite yummi-licious (that's my baby word for delicious)

We enjoyed our park visit as well, taking pictures of the park and the Seattle skyline. Louisa did this...the whole time. (It was well past her naptime so we expected it) Here are some more pictures. (Hopefully I'm not stealing some of my husband's shots...I'll try only posting the ones I took)

We are so white! Winter white skin...that's us :)

...oh well. Who do we have to impress, but ourselves?

More oatmeal please,

Why is taking pictures of a messy baby so much fun?

The cute husband...

...who I don't talk about nearly enough.

But he really is adorable...isn't he?

He makes me happy and I don't know what I would do without him.

Christ is Born!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas.

...we did! Thanks to family, traditions, delicious food, and togetherness. We are tired though! Chrismas Eve was busy in the morning as we prepared to have guests and finished getting the gifts in order. Mike was able to take the day off and I am so glad he did. Louisa seemed to sense that there was something exciting about to happen. Even though she is still too young to grasp the significance of Christmas, I definitely noticed that she was aware of the fact that we were preparing for something. She was a very good girl as we hustled around cleaning and cooking.

Later in the day, Mike's mom and dad came over along with friends from church and we enjoyed a fasting meal together of 12 dishes. It was a fasting meal in that we did not eat dairy or meat. Even so, it was incredibly delicious so it hardly felt like we were depriving ourselves :) But it was still a meal intended to prepare oneself for the Incarnation. After visiting for a bit we then got Louisa into her Chrismas pj's and headed to mass (well, for our church we call it liturgy) which lasted from 9-12p.m. It was a beautiful, reverent, spiritually fulfilling liturgy and I soaked up every minute. Christ is born! Glorify Him! -we say. That was my first Byzantine Christmas service since becoming Catholic and I hope to enjoy many more Christmas's at St. John's.

Chrismas morning we woke up sleepy, but spiritually refreshed. Louisa, again, is obviously too young to anticipate opening presents, but I will confess that I was excited for her ;) I mean, as parents you always want your children to have fun experiences, and opening gifts is exciting for everyone. We first went downstairs to visit my grandma and grandpa, uncle and cousins. We had coffee and opened a few gifts with them. Louisa got her first piggy bank (super cute - pink with white polka dots) for which great-grandma encouraged her to put to use. After a little while we headed back to our place because we were having Mike's mom and dad over again. There was considerable wrapping paper to be thrown around and Louisa loved all the commotion. She happily played with her new toys while we prepared a delicious breakfast (this time no fasting necessary)

Later that afternoon, the festivities continued for Mike, Louisa, and I when we went over to my aunt (and Lou's god-mother's) house for a gift exchange with my side of the family. There we enjoyed yet another delightful meal. Louisa charmed all the family members and played hard. She started to get a bit worn out, which was to be expected as she had seen lots of activity in the past 24 hours. She finally was able to take a small nap, but by that time the family was beginning to say their goodbyes. We decided to put her in the car and leave ourselves so that we could let her sleep when we got home. Mike and I had a fantastic time all around and we realized how incredibly fortunate we are to have our faith and our families.

These next few days will be restful, I'm sure. Or at least, that's the plan. Louisa is a bundle of energy, so it's really up to her how much rest we'll get. And she has plenty of new toys to play with, so we'll see...

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

...no no, my blog title has nothing to do with that movie. I was just trying to think of something clever that would go with kissing under the mistletoe. I know. I'm sorry. I'm just not that witty! It's a good thing I married into a clever family. I bet one of them would have come up with something better. ;)
I haven't been good about blogging as of late. I hate to be the type to complain that I have nothing to blog about. Actually, it's really not that anyway. But mostly I would be blogging about holiday preparations. And I'm not sure that would be terribly interesting seeing as most everyone else is preparing, too. So...I guess I'll leave it at that.

*Merry Christmas everyone, in case I don't get back to this until after December 25th!*

Sitting under the mistletoe (Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.
Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen - and kissed me there.

-Walter de la Mare

I think we'll need to wait...

...at least one more Christmas before Louisa is ready to help with the cookie making/decorating. Right now, she's just interested in chewing on/throwing the cookie cutters :)

Baby, it's cold outside

My my, I didn't realize so many days had passed since I blogged. The days seem to fly by, especially now as Christmas approaches.

But here we are in December. It's been very chilly in Seattle. That doesn't seem to bother Louisa...
I wanted to write about our morning routine because in the last few weeks, I've felt like it's been pretty regular, which is always a welcomed situation. So...
7:15 - Lou stirs, ready to wake up (I know because she refuses to be nursed back to sleep...:/ darn.)

7:30 - Get up

7:45 - Oatmeal and fruit for breakfast (the girl loves oatmeal!) She can feed herself so I am able to get kitchen tidied up from last night's dinner and make myself coffee.

8:00 or so - Oatmeal has been thoroughly smeared into every baby crevice that can be imagined so into the bath she goes.

9:00- By this time she's usually bathed, clothed (yes, I do dress her every day) and ready to play for a bit.

9:30 - Around this time she's ready for a morning nap. I either lay with her if I'm still tired, or get myself ready for the day. Either way, I will be sad when this morning nap gets cut out.

She usually sleeps for 45min to an hour, sometimes longer. And then....

It's really time to start the day! (she wishes we could cut out the getting dressed part!)

Does this baby look excited or what??

Things around here are pretty good in terms of preparedness. I am almost ready for Christmas. The decorations have been up for a while (I'll post pictures soon), shopping is all done, and gifts are about 50% wrapped. I am picking up Christmas cards today (crossing my fingers that they turned out nice, I ordered 75!) and the stockings are hung with care :) Cookies still need to be baked and decorated, but we are waiting for a certain someone to get home from school to do that. And I still have sewing projects to complete. All around though, I'm feeling prepared and level headed for the festivities to ensue. Hopefully you are too!

The St. Andrew novena that we've been saying:
"Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure virgin Mary. At midnight, in Bethlehem, in freezing cold. In that hour, oh my God, hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of our savior Jesus Christ, and of his Blessed Mother. Amen"

Standing tall

I am working hard to capture on video the newest development in Louisa's happy life. She is starting to stand without support! We discovered she could do it just a few days ago and we've been encouraging her by cheering and clapping whenever she does it. It's so darn cute I can't stand it! Like I said, I am working to get it on camera.

In other news....both our computers have been acting up :/ Not a good sign, obviously. What is it with laptops now? It doesn't seem like they last that long before they need to be replaced. Mike and I take good care of our stuff, so it's not that we've misused them. I've had mine for, lets see, almost 3 years? He's had his for more. I'm sure they've got a lot of use left in them. But I know with mine at least, I've been seeing the blue screen of death a few more times than I'd like lately. How long do your laptops tend to last, I'd like to know. And, do desktops have a longer life?

Well, I'm off to try and catch the beanie in some standing action! (Actually she's fussy right now...it's getting close to morning nap time)

To the fairgrounds

Mike and I, holding Mrs. Clause between us :)

This weekend we braved the wintery weather and headed to A Victorian Country Christmas, which took place at the fairgrounds. It was nice to hang with my mom and Louisa enjoyed all the sights and sounds. Overall though, I don't think we'll make this a tradition. It had the feel of a craft fair more than anything, and as Mike put it, there was alot of people there trying to sell their junk. That may be a bit harsh, though its true, there wasn't a whole lot there that seemed to be worth the high prices.

Peek-a-Boo :D

Chilly walks, oatmeal, and cute babes

The last few days we've been taking some walks in the chilly weather......
We've been eating lots of oatmeal. (Thank goodness for oatmeal! I discovered it will keep her busy for 10-15 minutes because she's learning to really feed herself)
And finally, we've been watching this trailer over, and over, and over. It is SO sweet! Louisa seems to like it as much as I do (it's cute, she gets a concerned look on her face in the beginning part):

Peace

With so much violence and turmoil in the world, I am grateful to know peace. Otherwise, I know I'd break down in despair. I hope you can take a moment to think of the goodness that exists in our world. It is here, all around us, it just does not often make the news.

Hangin' out

Just hangin' out on a Monday.Sorry, Lou, we can't watch a dvd because our dvd player is broken (not that you would pay attention anyway, you don't care much for t.v.)
Missin' daddy.But happy to have mama to play with.
(and to clean up her messes)

Thanksgiving 09

Thanksgiving this year was really nice. We spent it in the same place we did last year, at my aunt's. It was interesting reflecting on how last year I was pregnant and now this year Louisa is here! My little niece recognized how this was a great phenomenon :) She kept asking me, "so is there a baby in your tummy?" to which we'd reply, no not now, Louisa was in my tummy before, but now she's not! Gayla still looked a little confused, but she smiled and danced off anyway. Later she asked me, "Oh, so is there a second baby in your tummy!?"

So yes, as always we enjoyed visiting with family and eating the food that was so lovingly prepared. Lou was a big hit and enjoyed playing with all the kids. She truly would love to have kids to play with every day. She just feeds off their energy and youthfulness.

I have never really done much cooking for Thanksgiving. All growing up it was my aunt, the caterer, who did the bulk of the high maintenance cooking. We did some smaller dishes but I never learned how to cook a turkey, for example. One day, I would like to try. Especially after hearing all these stories of friends who cooked up deliciousness. I'd better start practicing at least a year in advance though, maybe two. :)
Now, to watch some football! (The Apple Cup is today) Friends from school are coming over....
GO COUGS!

This person

We are thankful for this person.

...how could we be otherwise?

It is quite obvious, if you read this blog, that we see Louisa as the most wonderful, supreme gift from God in our marriage.
We are thankful to be her parents.
We are thankful that she is healthy.
We are thankful that she has taught us selflessness and a deeper level of love.
We are thankful that we get to kiss her every night and wake up to her sweet face every morning.
We are so thankful for many other blessings; like our faith, our family, our friends, our freedom, and each other.

These are just a few of my thoughts of gratitude.

Hopefully tomorrow provides an opportunity for you all to reflect on what you're thankful for, too.

My little "helper"

She really had a system going. She was sure to make sure each utensil was "washed" enough before putting it "away" on the floor. Back when we found out we were pregnant with Louisa, I was so thrilled to hear we were having a girl for our first because I thought, "perfect, now I will have a mama's helper!" And here she is, at 9 1/2 months, already practicing. What a lucky mom I am :)

Joy

Christmas traditions

Still no photos to post. I'm sorry, I'm disappointed too. Posts just seem boring without a visual. But, I just wanted to say that since Tuesday I've felt better about things around here. I was able to get some laundry done, and more importantly put up some festive decorations! Yes yes, I may be a little early for Christmas deco. I probably could have waited until after Thanksgiving next week but I was feeling like a change in the apartment. Do you ever get like that, where you just need to re-arrange some furniture or decorate for a new season? I was getting that bug, so I didn't resist putting up some decorations. Also, it makes sense because the Byzantine version of Advent is actually upon us. If you guys don't mind, I'll just go ahead and link to two good posts about this. Anne and Renee wrote about the Byzantine Catholic customs around this time. (You ladies did a great job, so I hope it's okay that I'm linking to your blogs)

This will be Mike and my first Christmas together where we aren't moving, so we can really try to settle into some family traditions. So far, we have simply managed to get the prayer book and settle on some ideas for fasting, but I'm feeling like it's a decent start. I am hoping that doing serious spritual preparations this season will help us to welcome the birth of Christ at Christmas in an especially meaningful manner; really the way it is intended to be for Christians. It is important to nurish my faith around this time because I have a tendency to get caught up in some of the exterior, and sometimes shallow, traditions (like gift-giving, parties, etc.) Since this will be Louisa's first Christmas, I would also like to give her the gift of family tradition - even if she is too young to remember. It is going to be so neat watching Lou experience her first Christmas; very special stuff. I'm looking forward to this holiday season... can you tell? (I basically have skipped over Thanksgiving and gone right to Christmas :) Oh well!

Home

We are back now! Ah, doesn't it always feel so wonderful sleeping in your own bed again after being away? I also love coming home to a clean apartment/house. Even though that was the case, it is now quite messy as the unpacking has ensued. I'm actually feeling a little overwhelmed at this very moment because things really got thrown around for some reason. That, along with the fact that there is only about a week until Thanksgiving then Christmas just around the corner has got my mind in a jumbled state of mind. Another thing is that Mike is back to work! This is very exciting for us. So that also means I'm going to be adjusting to having Lou to myself again. And more Lou time = less cleaning time :) As I'm typing, Louisa is taking another morning nap. Unfortunately she fell asleep in my lap so it's not really conducive to me getting anything accomplished except for updating my blog. I went ahead and did a new header so I would feel better...do ya like it? Lou's bald head makes me chuckle... :)

Pictures of the trip to come. Maybe? Well, I didn't get to take any with my camera. We did get a few with Mike's, but they didn't turn out that nice. So I'll have to wait and see if my mom-in-law got some good shots.

Wish me luck with getting things back in order!

Before we go

Hi all. So, I've been sick. Which is my excuse for not blogging. Really, I probably could have because I spent most of the last two and a half days in bed and I actually got bored at times. Still, I didn't feel like blogging, much. This cold was frustrating for several reasons, most of all because I was so tired but I could barely get any sleep. Especially at night, I just kept waking up and was too uncomfortable to sleep. Louisa and Mike seem to be doing well, so we are hoping it stays that way and they don't catch my cold. I am feeling lots better, but still not 100 percent yet. I hope I can get in a good night's sleep tonight; I'm sure that would help.

I took these pictures (with my phone) today because I finally felt well enough to go outside so I was happy to be able to do that. It was raining a bit, but we didn't mind.

It can sure be hard to get sick when you have a baby (one or more) to care for. That's something I never really thought of before! Mike actually took Louisa to church on Sunday while I stayed home to rest. That was quite strange for both of us. But yeah, he was very good about taking care of both Lou and I while I fought off the cold.

We are off to a few different places for a little while, so you won't hear from me. Will post pictures when we get back, of course. Caio! ;)

Friday's scattered thoughts

Just some quick, blurb-type things to say on this Friday...

-I just filled out an order form on the kcls.org website to request that they buy a book. I have heard you can do it, but this is the first time I have. I'm kind of excited to see if they will purchase it or not. It's called Four Witnesses and its about the early Christian Church. If they do I will be really happy because then I don't have to buy it. I've always been bad about spending too much money on books so this is one way of working on that.

-Baby gates are expensive!! Mike had this idea of completely baby-proofing our living room/dining room area so that we wouldn't have to keep pulling her away from trouble (the phrase I say quite frequently these days is, "Louisa, that's not for babies") so I went on Babies R Us.com and the darn plastic baby gates are 40 bucks!! For one! Ridiculous. Don't worry, in my second effort to save money I have emailed a few people on Craigslist. It does makes me a little nervous though because what it they are flawed or something?

-I can't believe the news stories as of late. A baby left under a bed for 12 hours, mass murderers, unemployment up to 10.2 percent, shootings....ugh my heart feels like it is breaking every time I turn on the t.v. I might need to take a break from the news. But is it just me or does there seem to be a lot happening all at once??

-There was a storm last night. Goodness gracious there was some amazing lightning and booming thunder. It felt like our building was even shaking at times. Anyone else in the area impressed by that storm? It's still in progress, actually, and I'm rather enjoying the sound of the wind right now as I type.

-This evening we are having friends over for dinner. They are a couple and they are expecting! :) I'm so excited to talk pregnancy and babies.

-Finally, my grandma brought up an oriental rug earlier and I'm needing some help deciding if it looks good or not. I think I like it but I don't know for sure. For the most part it matches our furniture but I don't know if I'm crazy about the colors (It's pretty orange-ish.) Maybe you can tell that I have an old fashioned design sense, but be honest if you think it's just plain ugly.

Also, Happy Birthday to Anne! I hope you have a lovely, blessed day!