The other day I was sitting at the computer and when I looked up this is what I saw.
A Bald Eagle.
He just sat there for probably ten minutes. What a majestic sight it was. It was the bird of all birds. And although my camera doesn’t do it justice he was sitting less than a half a mile from me. What a beautiful sight. And a week before when it was snowing I saw a Bald Eagle with its wings spread flying outside of our window. It might be the same eagle. And that is one more thing I am thankful for about living in the North West.
I love this time of year. The wreaths made of pine, the smells of cinnamon and sugar, and the festivities that fill your calendar up to the brim of Christmas day. But there is one thing about this time of year that I’m not so fond of this year and that’s the cookies.
Last night I partook in a wonderful cookie exchange party between the 10 moms there were 11 different types of cookies. My friend and I hosted so of course staying after everyone had left means I got double the amount of cookies. When I left the party last night with my 3 Tupperware containers full of cookies I thought to myself, “these are going to be yummy, I can’t wait to share them.”
Then I got home and one after another I took a bite and then I had to eat the whole thing. My husband with the ever strong will of self control chose one accordingly, a coconut macaroon and was satisfied with his choice.
This morning I woke up making breakfast for my little girl-of course no cookies for her. But for myself I thought I might have a Reese’s peanut butter cup cookie. And then just a plain peanut butter cookie with chocolate chips, then we went out for some errands. A cookie or 3 more when we got home, and I switched from my favorite peanut butter cookies to the chocolate cordial cherry, which was ever so delightful. I devised a list to use in case you’re wondering if you’re eating too many cookies.
1.You start to esteem the ingredients in the cookies as being healthy. For example, the peanut butter is a good source of protein. The cherry counts as a fruit.
2.You sit down to a plate balanced nutritious food and all you can think about are cookies and how you’d rather be eating one.
3.You go to the gym and instead of feeling great from working out you never reach that point of feeling great, but just feel tired and out of gas.
4.You start counting the many ways that you hate cookies.
5.You devise a plan to get the cookies out of reach, but know that just putting them in the freezer isn’t enough. So you take it to the next level. Put them in a duck taped box in the freezer.
6.Tell yourself that you’re going to eat something healthy when you’re done writing this blog instead of eating another cookie!
And that my friend is why I am done with cookies for the holiday season! I am giving my 3 large Tupperware’s of cookies away! And I am praying for self control!
*And folks this pic includes only one container of the cookies that I have left.
Well it's been a while since I've sat down to write a blog.. Thanksgiving week we had snow. It was beautiful. Not only was it beautiful but most of the city shut down because the roads hadn't been salted and the ice made it too dangerous to drive. So we had some extra time together as a family until Paul decided to brave the snow, and he did it :)
Sam didn't know what to think of the calm, cold snow.
Sam loves to play in the funniest things, like baskets and totes.
This is her little pizzeria hat :)
We went to a friends and spent Thanksgiving with her family who was so warm and welcoming, it felt like we were with family. The food was great too. Sam was all grown up at her own little table, which might have only lasted for the photo.
We braved the cold weather to get some family shots of the water with the snow still on the ground.
The next day we meet some friends from California at an indoor water park where Sam loved the water. She walked in the 2 foot deep kid area and played with all the babies splashing around her. We were all pretty exhausted after that day.
But what better way to end the day than with some ice cream?
Well it’s days like this that make the long winter, the sunless days all worth it.
To enjoy the beautiful North West in all its glory. This is what is hiding behind clouds 80% of the year. Paul and I made the hike at our favorite spot, Rattlesnake Lake.
It was exactly a year ago that we took these shots. Paul set up the tripod, put the camera and a timer and ran like a madman to make it in time for the picture. I definitely wasn’t about to go on this hike then. But here are one year later, with our baby on the outside to enjoy it with us :)
We hiked 2.5 miles up and when we got there we took in this glorious view. As I was taking pictures I noticed the camera said the haunting words “No Memory Card.” Noooo! That morning we had uploaded pictures and forgot to put it back in. Bad timing for this glorious day.
Luckily I met a kind girl, Sarah, who gladly took many pictures of us with her camera. It turns out she is an artist and these pictures turned out much better than they would have with our camera or just a stranger taking one or two. So thank you Sarah! I guess things work out for a reason sometimes. Needless to say it was a beautiful day and Sam loved the hike :)
Well to start things off the other morning I was busy doing something. Sam was her usual self exploring around and I turned around and she had gotten into the laundry basket by herself! Without a peep! I don't know how she did it, but she loves laundry, what can I say?
Later she showed me her serious face.
This is my attempt at taking a pregnancy shot. Still working on a place, thanks for the self portrait inspiration Jessica. I think this is about 8 weeks.
Sam's rather a handful these days when it comes to eating. She is a picky girl, but occasionally will let one of us spoon feed her, when it's a nice sugary treat, like homemade applesauce.
She loves to make a mess and look cute while doing it :)
We'll it's been a crazy week. Our friends DJ and Casey had a a baby boy, Caleb on Sunday and now he is awaiting to have open heart surgery. He has been improving since he was born so that is great news, many prayers and the very skilled Doctors are taking good care of him.
On the other hand, my lovely sister had her fourth and final, Claire Love LaTour Monday. I can't wait to meet her!
With all of this going on Sam continues to have a love for laundry. As I fold, she unfolds and puts the laundry on top of her head and goes about playing. She will sit for 5 minutes with a piece of clothing, putting it behind her head and back over it.
Silly girl.
She sorda thinks she's funny :)
In the midst of all of this, we had our first ultrasound and it turns out I'm 8 weeks and 7 days, and I'm due April 30. Not as far along as I thought. So far this pregnancy has been totally different. I was throwing up for a week and then it magically disappeared and all of this so soon. I didn't have any symptoms of pregnancy with Samantha until I was 10 weeks pregnant and I never threw up! The other exciting things is that my friend Ronna is 8 weeks and 5 days and she's due May 2! So we're going to be going through all of this together. This is the kind of thing you hope for as a little girl :) Pretty exciting!!!
A couple of weekends ago we went to the zoo. Paul had some passes from work and the last time we were there I was pregnant with Sam :) Paul had a fun time looking at the penguins with Samantha.
Later her and I took a ride on the carousel. She was so stimulated looking at everything that was passing by as we turned.
Then we looked at the elephants and she thought it was so funny. She was laughing and pointing at him.
She loves wearing my sunglasses. She thinks shes hilarious with putting them on and pulling them off, and she is pretty darn cute doing it too :)
Then we took her to the petting zoo and she loved the goats. This girls not afraid of animals, when were at a friends house with a dog she spends most of the time crawling after the dog. My friend has hairless cats and at first she didn't know what to think of them, but then she started chasing them, but cats are a whole different type of animals. Let's just say she never got the chance to pet them, they run too fast!
Finally it was time to leave and time for her nap. What a fun day with our baby girl! It was much better going to the zoo with child than without a year ago :)
