Finally, An Update

I can't believe it's been so long since I updated the blog. Time is flying by. Things are going better now. We don't exactly have a set schedule, but Miri has gained weight, Aleaha is a great helper, and Mommy is figuring things out, finally.


Here is Miss A doing a new hobby she called "Horse Fishing".


Here's one of those funky reflex smiles you get from your newborn while they are sleeping, before they actually give you a true smile when awake. It's a wonderful feeling - a little preview of the fun we will soon get when Miri can smile for real.

The weekend of Aug. 8-9, GrammaBon came down to see us, and we all ventured to Woodburn on Saturday to watch Daddy at the racetrack (where he WON his class --woohoo!!). I couldn't have imagined making it all the way up there with both girls if she hadn't been with us. Thank you, GrammaBon!! :)


Aleaha wanted to wear her horse riding helmet at the track. Her reasoning: "So my ears are covered and I don't hear all the noise, Mom." Uh, notice that her ears are NOT covered by this helmet. But hey, some battles you decide not to fight. Right? And if my kid wants to be a safety-sam and wear her helmet, I'm not gonna stop her. Fashion be damned. (Same goes with eating her veggies. She wants to fill up on a snack of broccoli, am I gonna stop her? Heck no!)


Nice shot of Aleaha and Daddy.


This is a bit hard to read, but I thought it was pretty cute and had to snap a photo. Her class was studying occupations, and this is what Aleaha answered when her teachers asked her what she was going to do for a job when she grows up: "I am going to help Mom and help horsies. I'm going to be a cook, but I don't have an apron." (Yes, Mommy is beaming at that! Daddy's response? Well, he'd like to know where mechanic expertise and drag racing will fit in. I'm sure that will have its place too!!)


I had to get this documented. That's Daddy with a MOP in his hand, cleaning the floor of his new racecar trailer.


We have a fabulous big swing that Miss A used for about 2.5 years. Miri was using it too, when the motor conked out. YIKES! Must have replacement!! So, while a new one is being shipped, we went to the back-up model (a portable version). Thank God for Fisher-Price and Duracell!!!


While Daddy was up in Bremerton for the race on Aug. 21-23, Aunt Jodi and Cousin Ella came down to stay with us. It was a Fabulous Girls Weekend together. (Thank you so much, Jo, for making the trek down and helping me!!!!) Here are the twosome, getting ready to do chores.


Ella feeds MamaLlama, one of her favorite animals, while reciting lines from "Llama Llama Red Pajama", one of her favorite books.


Aleaha feeds Weensie and Teensie.


I thought it might be fun to see if Mirielle liked the baby swing outside. Uh, not so much. At least not for now. The rolled-up kitchen towels don't really make it comfy. She likes being outside, but she prefers Mom to wear her in the BabyBjorn.


Here is Miss A modeling her new Happy Canyon sweatshirt from GrammaBon and Aunt Jodi. She also picked out plaid shorts (cuz Mom was wearing something similar). And naturally, the boots were a prerequisite (we had just been down at the barn, feeding the horses).


She can't pump her legs to swing herself (Ella, come teach her that trick, please!!), but she has learned how to spin around like this. Hmm... maybe I should make her put that riding helmet on for stunts like this!

Summer Fun

Mommy took Aleaha and Miri blueberry picking earlier this week. It was one of the hottest days of the year (stupid! but we needed to get out of the house for a bit). We just went down the road a spell. Turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, because the bushes were sorely picked over, and there were no berries at Aleaha's level. So we didn't put too much time into it. Just enough to say we did it and "put by" a quart of berries in the freezer.


Here's a silly shot of her wearing her favorite lead rope. She looks awfully proud, eh? (Hmm, this better not lead to other things later in life... whips, chains, etc.)


And finally it was time to go to the Benton County Fair! After downing some quick fair fare, we hit the pony ride. She was hoping to ride "Silver", the same one as last year. But Silver wasn't there. "Bamboo" obliged us for the ride. Aleaha was Little Miss Serious the whole time. (And then later, when she took another spin before leaving the fair, she was suddenly all smiles about it. Can't 'splain it.)


Then it was off to the Ferris Wheel. However, we don't have any pictures of that because she was full of talk about it, but didn't actually want to ride it. Whatever! Instead, she had spied the carousel, and that's all she could think about. She took a turn on a black one first, and then, after a good ride on a mean-looking roller coaster with Dad, she went back for a ride on a white one.


Time for ice cream!


She fell in love with the aerobatics of the airplane world. And the best part of all was that these things were actually kid-controlled! She was using the stick and pushing the buttons to make the plane go up and down. (Mommy was jealous, having very specific memories of the Dumbo ride at Disneyland, where the controls in the cockpit were merely for looks.)




And what did Mirielle think of the fair? Here's her A-1 activity:

(She was very happy to be hauled around in the Baby Bjorn for 4 hours. Hollered loudly - rivalling Aleaha! -- when it was time to go home.)