So Relaxing

Forgetting the nap time To Do List, forgetting the nap, and heading to the beach for some fun family time.

Last Thursday Mike got done with work super early so we decided to head out to a beach we hadn't gone to before that he'd seen while on the job. We had such a nice time together, went to a new beach, and a new pizza place (Leucadia Pizzeria), ate good pizza, the best garlic bread I have ever tasted, and finished up the day with a steamy hot shower and a fun chick flick on TV with my mom. I didn't think about the other things I could or should have been doing once - which is unusual for me! We just had the best time. I'm so glad it's summer and we live near the ocean. Even though I didn't go in the water past my knees - just being out in the sand and the waves, breathing the air, soaking up some sun, and following it up with a hot shower made me feel so rejuvenated! Maybe you have to get a little dirty to truly appreciate getting clean. Anyway - it was a great day and made me feel so grateful for the wonders of God's creations and for lovely modern luxuries like good smelling soap, a powerful shower head, and hot water heaters, and super super grateful for my family.

Helping carry our stuff out to the beach.

Bathing beauty.

Having fun in what Lily calls her "baby suit."

Mike finally tried out the flippers he got for Christmas.

Building sandcastles with Dad.

Lily loves the water!

Playing pretend in the car while waiting to go.

Lemon-eating faces!

Sweet smiles.

What a great day!

News Maker

So fun to have the newspaper fall open to this photo of my niece Evie front and center of the North County section of this morning's Union Tribune. She graduated from preschool earlier this week - the first graduating class of a new parents and children learning together program in Escondido. Look at that face! What a character. We all knew she'd be famous one day. Love it!

New Life!

 I just love watching new green plants sprout up out of the ground - especially plants I put into it. 

 

I love watering them. It's nice having a reason to go outside every morning. I thought it would be fun to post some pictures of our garden so that I can see it's progress over the summer. Mike put in gopher proof wire underneath our garden spots so our gopher population can't tunnel under. If they climb in from the top at least it will be easier to flush them out! He also put down bark where there used to be weed covered dirt so it looks much nicer and makes a nice path for us to walk around. My sister-in-law Rebecca got me the light up garden Lily and some other fun accessories for my birthday.

We planted tons of tomatoes and peppers in some more boxes by the fence on the other side of the yard, but they are barely visible over the top so I didn't take a picture of that area yet. 

 I love seeing new sprouts. It's funny how so many plants start out looking exactly the same - 2 green leaves and a fuzzy purple stem - and then change into such variety.

 In the garden spot pictured above we've got obvious yellow marigolds (which I never really liked before, but they grow in so nice and add color and keep away some pests I've been told so they are growing on me), zucchini, spinach, carrots, onions....

 

 

 We also planted potatoes in big blue buckets so we can add dirt as they grow and dig them out more easily.

We still need to find a spot to plant our strawberries permanently, and we've also got plans for peas and watermelon. Everything's still pretty small except that big onion we've been growing for years that's going to seed, but just the thought of it all makes my mouth water. Garden fresh is the best! Hoping it grows!

Test Drive

at Toys'R'Us

Time flies

It has certainly been a while since I lasted posted - at least compared to my previous track record. Life has been too busy for me to get on here much in a while. 

Lily has developed a pretty nasty cough over the last few days and none of us has gotten enough sleep because of it - so today was truly a day of rest for us. A very much needed day of rest for our family. It was super warm and lovely out so we basked in it in the backyard for a while, and all took a long afternoon nap. Mike has been working double duty pretty much every day this week, yes - Saturday too. He's been super busy - which is good, but it also makes him super tired and I feel like I haven't really gotten to spend time with him in too long. I am probably spoiled. I am used to having him around more and I like it. We actually went on a date this weekend though - without Lily! Wonder of wonders. She had a blast watching movies with her Grandma and cousin Evie. We picked up some greek food and then went to see The Prince of Persia with our friends Mikey and Apryl. It was a good time.

I just got done with a baby monitor broadcast. Standing next to Lily's crib singing slightly cracked renditions of popular children's hymns and rounding up with 'A Whole New World' from The Little Mermaid. Mike is used to it and even said he like it once - hopefully no one else in our neighborhood was tuned to that station. We have picked up some pretty interesting broadcasts from our neighbors on occasion. Of course, we turn the channel to give them their privacy, after a few good giggles. There was a pretty entertaining song about poop from some little girl one time. 

Lily actually went to sleep in her crib tonight! You may think this is strange that that would be a new thing when she is going on 2 years old! But...we do what works! Normally we do our bedtime routine, drinking milk while reading stories, then brush teeth and fall asleep in the dark in the middle of mom and dad's bed with mom beside her - with or without singing depending on her degree of wakefulness. If she's squirming around or chatting she needs a song - settles her down like magic. Then, when she's asleep we do the transfer. She's slept through the night with this method for quite some time. 

For some reason since she was a baby she's had this aversion to being put in her crib. It used to be if she was not completely out and she woke up as you were putting her in there and noticed where she was - she would get so upset she'd wake right up and not go down again for hours. Hence the routine. 

 Evidence: Last October

Not so bad. I've considered myself lucky that she would sleep so well through the night and nap for several hours if we just didn't let her see those crib bars as she drifted off! Seriously, some battles just aren't worth it. You do what you can live with. Good sleep is very important to me. And stages pass. For a while there I had to take Lily on a walk to get her to nap during the day at all. Now she's usually out within a few minutes if I just change her clothes, brush her teeth, and darken the room. 

Anyway, I've been thinking of trying to gradually move her over to falling asleep by herself in her crib like a normal child. I generally fall asleep much too early with the current method when I could be doing important things, like blogging. :) It would be nice to get to the point where I could leave her in there on her own and go spend more time with Mike or catch up on stuff. I figured I would just be doing it this way until the routine shifted over to her own regular bed in her own room and I left her there asleep. But, I don't really know when she will have her own room, and I'm not ready to take her out of her crib with our current set-up. Well, since she has been sleeping so great for so long and shown more and more signs of actually being content in her crib - I figure why not try? Last night as I checked on her (because of all her coughing) she was actually begging to be put back in her crib to sleep she was so tired! I think we can safely say the aversion to the crib is gone. Funny, I think - since whenever she is super cranky Mike and I threaten to put her up in her crib since she must be really tired to be acting that way! Not the best tactic to get her to like her crib, but it looks like it's no harm done :)

I couldn't resist adding these pictures because I was going through my photos over the last few weeks and it's fun to see how much she's grown. Looking back - I can't really remember when exactly the crib aversion began. Babies eat so much during the night at first and she always fell asleep when nursing... I couldn't break her of it, and you can't exactly do that in a crib.

Anyway, here's when she could fit sideways in the crib and sleep safely at the highest level without the bar raised!

Aug 2008

On our bed

Nov 2008

Happy in her crib!

Jan 2009

Asleep on our bed. Love those lips and chubby cheeks!

Awake! Sitting up on her own.

Feb 2009

Loving standing up to the bar.

Apr 2009

My sleepy girl on Memorial Day last year!

May 2009

Nowadays.

Apr 2010

My parents used to always say (about us): "They're so sweet...when they're asleep!" Well, sarcastic as that may be - it is also true without sarcasm. There is something so sweet about a sleeping baby!