Inheritance

Meet Calypso. He and his buddy, Zero, his black-hued twin, are going to be staying with Jason and I for the next 8 months. Ruth was officially accepted as a student missionary to Poland today, so I thought it was appropriate to post a photo of these little guys. When she heads to Europe, Jason and I will be taking care of her fish for her. Hopefully they will live to see her return!

Shots

Today was Kayla's two-month checkup. Which meant shots. Lots of them. She got poked four times and also received an oral immunization as well. She didn't like any of them. But before they gave her the shots they did the exam, and Kayla just laid on the table and cooed and smiled. It made me feel even worse because I knew she was going to be unhappy so soon following. She made it, though...and fell asleep before we made it back outside to the car!

Another Kitty

Tonight we went to Alex and Brittany's house to celebrate Britt's birthday. She's 24 today, and she had a fabulous dinner in honor of it. We had white "chicken" enchiladas, baked potatoes, bread with homemade jam, fresh veggies (tomatoes, cucumber, and carrots) with dip, and vanilla lemonade. For dessert we had apple slices with a DELICIOUS dip (cream cheese, brown sugar, and toffee bits), and fruit pizza. Above is a picture of Lance holding one of Alex and Britt's kittens. I think this one is Chamomile (known as Cammie), but I can't remember which one is which yet. They're both black and white and I've only seen them once before. If you'd like a laugh, here's what Lance's shirt says: "The time for action is past. Now is the time for senseless bickering."

Happy Birthday, Britt!

Meet Gimbie

This...is Gimbie. Ruth found him at the Humane Society a few weeks ago and couldn't pass him up. The unfortunate thing is that since then she's decided to go to Poland for a year and now needs to find a home for Gimbie. We can't take him because Jason's allergic to cats, so if anyone reading this wants an adorable friendly cat, here's one! He's three months old and loves people. He purrs as soon as he sees someone. The only bad thing is that he has a neurological disorder that has made his back legs malfunction. He can't walk very well, but boy does he give it a valiant effort! He's very cute. Today Ruth posted him on a classifieds website so she needed some photos to post with it. I took some, including this one.

While I was trying to get Kayla happy this evening, I noticed how big my avocado tree is growing. Isn't it awesome?!? I'm so excited. Now I just have to figure out how to keep it alive this winter...

Sabbath

Today I took Kayla to Sabbath School for the first time. Because she was a new baby and it was her first time to Sabbath School, they put her in a cradle and all the kids rocked her while we sang a welcome baby song. It was really cute, and Kayla really enjoyed the cradle! One little girl named Elizabeth (not pictured) was especially fascinated with Kayla and kept coming back to stare at her, even when the other kids were eating a snack. I left Kayla in the cradle for a little while because she was actually happy there. The adorable dress she's wearing was made by Nana St. Clair and matches a dress Katrina and she made for me. (It started out as a maternity dress but never got finished in time so they fixed it so I could wear it now.)

This evening I got stir-crazy and bored and decided we should all go to the park. So Ruth packed crackers and sliced apples and Jason loaded up the stroller and diaper bag while I changed Kayla's diaper and grabbed sweaters for all of us. Then we headed to Pioneer Park where we looked at the birds (and a turtle and a little black bunny!) after enjoying a snack on a blanket in the grass. It was nice to get some fresh air, and the temperature this evening was fabulous! We stayed until it was just about sundown - which was much earlier than we expected!

Happy Girl

I think this is the best smile shot I've caught of Kayla so far. She was grinning at Aunt Foofie while we enjoyed our drinks at my favourite local coffee shop. I go every Friday morning with my friend Lara, and it's a lot of fun. This time Ruth got to join us after she got off work. Kayla is having more alert periods and more of them are cheerful, happy, grinning times. It's a huge improvement over fussy days and fussy evenings. Not to say she's never fussy anymore (definitely NOT saying that!!!), but her fussy periods are getting fewer and farther between. She gets more and more fun every single day.

Play Time

This afternoon Kayla and I enjoyed some play time on the adorable teddy bear blanket that Grandma Sevison made for her. It's the perfect size and type for playing on the floor, and Kayla had a good time. We tried tummy time at first, but she wasn't in the mood. So after about 2 minutes we rolled over and watched some of her "Praise Baby" DVD on our sides and backs. It was fun! (But I wish I could have gotten her to look at the camera...)

Smiles

I know it's blurry, but it's still cute. Kayla enjoyed her tummy time this afternoon. Mommy got down on the blanket with her and we had a conversation while she practiced lifting her head and kicking her legs. She even smiled a few times. She certainly had a good time.

Girls Lunch & Date Night

Ruth's roommate from last year, Traci, is visiting WW this week. She is helping her sister get settled in the dorm while also taking the opportunity to visit friends before she heads to Portland to finish her schooling. It was a lot of fun to see her - she became like another little sister to me last year and we're all sad she won't be around this year. Ruth, Traci, Kayla and I went to lunch today at Taco Bell and then finished off with ice cream cones at Baskin Robbins. We had a good time, and Kayla even let me eat without fussing! Aunt Foofie did a good job of keeping her happy.

Then, tonight, I dropped Kayla off at Auntie KarrLayn's house and surprised Jason with a date night when he got off work. I'd packed a picnic dinner (complete with cranberry sauce and Martinelli's) and we drove to a park and enjoyed a quiet dinner under a big tree on the grass. Date nights are fun! And a HUGE thank you to KarrLayn for watching Kayla for two hours for us so we could enjoy some worry-free time together.

Babies Babies Babies

This morning I returned a favour paid to me when I had recently returned from the hospital with Kayla. My friend Cas had her little girl two weeks ago and this morning I took her breakfast. We enjoyed fruit, bagels, and orange juice while we discussed our daughters and the pains and joys of being a new mom. I even let Cas enjoy a long relaxed shower while I watched Millie. She slept the whole time...and Kayla fell asleep, too! The thing I love about this picture is the size difference between the two. Millie was three weeks early and weighed only 5 pounds 9 ounces when she was born. Today she weighed in at 5 pounds 14 ounces. She's close to six pounds! Kayla, on the other hand, is around 10 and a half pounds. After breakfast Cas and I took our little girls to the mommy meeting at the hospital. We nursed them and weighed them and talked to the nurse there. It was really fun.

Tonight we had a major accomplishment: Kayla had her first ever meal from a bottle. She has to be able to do this when I go back to work at the end of October, and since Daddy will be the one giving them to her, he's the one who did the feeding tonight. After crying and fussing for a couple of minutes, Daddy finally convinced her that there was indeed nourishment in this funny plastic nipple. She downed the entire 3.5 ounces in just a few minutes. Well done, Daddy!

Sad Face

Here's a nice shot of Kayla's gunky eye. She has a clogged tear duct, and no matter how often I wipe it (which isn't as often as I'd like because she doesn't like me touching it), it seems to get gunky again in a matter of seconds. I'm told it will open on its own someday, but when that will be is anyone's guess - including the doctor's! It has caused a swelling and a small bump under her skin between her eye and her nose, and we think it hurts her occasionally. Some friends whose kids had this problem, too, said it took nine months or a year before it opened up on its own. If it takes a long enough time, an ophthalmologist can surgically place a valve in her duct and open it manually. I hope we don't have to go that route.

When I took the above shots, Kayla was enjoying some tummy time on Daddy's lap. She usually lasts about a minute or maybe two, because she doesn't much enjoy being on her stomach, but this time she was there for about 20-30 minutes without complaint. It's good for her to do this occasionally to strengthen her neck muscles. It will help her be able to hold her head up better on her own. Which is definitely a plus!

September Wedding

This afternoon we went to a wedding for our friends, Lance and Kristina. We went to college with Lance and then got to know him better when our friends Alex and Tyler moved into his house in Walla Walla. Kristina is a really fun person, and we've had fun getting to know her over the last year or so. It was a beautiful wedding, and I would have taken more pictures, had I not been carting around an I'll-be-fussy-if-you-sit-down baby. The above photo is the groom chatting with someone (not sure who he is!) before the wedding started.

The flower girls had dresses similar in style to the bride's. They were adorable! The wedding was held at a place called Mill Creek Gardens, which is located about a mile past Rooks Park in Walla Walla. It's a home with quite a bit of land, right on Mill Creek. A wonderful place for a wedding.

Here are the groomsmen, awaiting the bride. From left to right: Nic (groom's brother), Alex (friend), Tyler (friend), David (friend). Alex and Tyler were two of Jason's groomsmen, too. David's wife, LuAnn, a faculty member in the English department at WWU, was also a bridesmaid. The women wore a deep purple and it was very elegant.

And...here comes the bride! Isn't she gorgeous?!? The bridesmaids' dresses were the colour of the bride's sash and her mother's dress. She grinned at her husband-to-be all the way up to the front. And he grinned right back at her.

Congratulations, Lance & Kristina!!!

Productivity With a Baby

This can sometimes be an oxymoron, but today it was not! Kayla let me put her in the front pack and she sat there calmly for probably 20 minutes. I needed to make Rice Krispy treats for the birthday party tonight and Daddy was napping, so I loaded Kayla into the front pack and off we went! It's not exactly ideal (it's hard to reach the counter and sink around a 10 1/2 pound baby strapped to your chest), but I made it work. It was actually fun, because she hadn't let me carry her like that for very long in the past. She's getting more tolerant of things these days, which is nice.

Pink

Ruth has been waiting for months for this onesie to fit Kayla. She bought it for her before she was born, and as it's a size 3-6 mo., it's taken a little while for Kayla to grow into it. Fortunately, it's a rather small 3-6 mo. size, so today, at 7 1/2 weeks, Kayla was able to fit into it. It's a tiny bit big, but in a couple of weeks it will almost be too small! Aunt Foofie and I are both against baby girls having entire wardrobes of pink and purple, though we agree SOMETHING has to be pink! They are girls, after all. Anyway, Aunt Foofie knows Kayla's mommy well! It's a fun onesie.

Since we are going to a birthday party on Friday evening we decided to give Kayla her bath tonight. We were also hoping it would calm her down, since she was being quite cranky. Last time we bathed her she enjoyed it so much she even smiled a couple of times. This time...she did NOT like it. She screamed so loud it hurt in that echo-y bathroom. So we made it a quick bath and as soon as we wrapped her in her little pink hooded towel she calmed down. I love holding her after she's gotten out of the bath. She's so little and warm and cuddly. One of these days she'll ruin the mood by peeing or pooping in her towel, but so far so good!

Nighttime Game

Every few weeks the high school in M-F has a football game on their home field. From our front porch, we can see the stadium lights and hear the announcer call the game. Jason said he heard there was a fumble on a play when he was out front earlier this evening. Here's what we can see from our front porch right now. The strip of red and yellow light on the left-hand side near the bottom is a car passing on the street as I snapped the picture. Thanks to Jason for the idea for this picture tonight.

A First and A Last

Today was a day of firsts and lasts. Or perhaps only one of each. For example: today Kayla sucked her thumb for the first time. It was so adorable! And it's exciting to me because now she'll start getting better at self-soothing. She's doing so much better at entertaining herself. Not that we want to ignore her, but it's nice that we can occasionally put her in her Pack 'N Play and go do the dishes or eat dinner and she'll be fine for quite a while. (By "quite a while" I mean anywhere from 10-30 minutes.) And she's also doing better about when she wakes up in the morning or from a nap. She's comfortable just lying in her crib, looking around and stretching. It's a nice change from instant fussing, I admit!

The sad part about today was the Last we experienced: The last time Kayla could wear the outfit she wore home from the hospital. It's a onesie with a dress that goes over the top of it, and it's super cute. I put it on her this morning and realized it would be the last time she could wear it. So I put the dress part on (usually I just use the onesie) since she wouldn't get to wear it again. Unfortunately, it was just a little too snug and Kayla wasn't comfortable. So we had to take it off and redress her. It was a sad moment, putting that outfit in the bag of clothes she's outgrown. But at the same time...she's growing, and that's excellent news! At the mommy meeting at St. Mary's yesterday she weighed in at 10 lb. 4 oz. That's an entire pound she's gained in two weeks! Which is great! She started off slow, but she's picking up speed now. Here's Kayla in her "going home" outfit for the very last time:

Avocados

About three months ago I took an avocado pit and suspended it over a mug of water. Over the course of several weeks, the pit split and grew a long root. At that point I moved it from the mug of water to a pot of loose soil. I thought I'd killed it because nothing seemed to be happening, but a couple of weeks ago I noticed something poking out of the soil. Today, I found THIS in the flowerpot! It's an avocado tree! WHOO-HOO!!! It's about 4 or 5 inches tall...isn't that awesome?!?

Thriller!

Here's Kayla, taking a cat nap on the floor after we got home from Grandma's this afternoon. I think she's dreaming a Michael Jackson music video. She looks like she's dancing with the video in her head. Weird, since she's never heard that song or seen the video...

Sabbath With Family

We went to church this morning with Grandma and Jason's parents. Here is Daddy with his little girl, all ready for church. "Power to the people!" says Kayla.

While at church, Kayla found the talking boring. She stayed awake for the music, but fell asleep when it stopped. After my arms got tired, Grandma asked to hold Kayla. This is how she spent the rest of the service.

After church and lunch, we took the "Generations" picture. This is four generations of St. Clairs. From left to right: Jason's dad, Grandma, Kayla, and Jason. Surprisingly, Kayla didn't cry for the pictures!

To Grandmother's House We Go

This...is a beehive. It's on the underside of a camper at Jason's grandma's house. We're here to visit her this weekend and she showed us this great wonder of nature within feet of her front door. For perspective, here's a shot of Whitney near the hive taking her own picture.

We're having a good weekend at Grandma's house. Jason's parents, as well as Whitney and Rolie, are here, and we're having a good time eating fresh fruit and vegetables, talking, and passing Kayla around for everyone to hold. The view is always enjoyable, too. Here's the sunset we enjoyed this evening. The mountain is Mt. Adams.

Lullaby on Wheels

This afternoon I was going crazy in the house, and Kayla wasn't napping. So I loaded her into the car and we went on a drive in the country. For an hour we explored area fields, gravel roads, views, and buildings. It was a great time, and Kayla did actually sleep for about 30 minutes. It was a nice break from being in the house all day.

NO!

This is the sign I made for myself last night. Before I went to bed I put it on the TV so it would be there first thing in the morning. I've been watching TV every time I nurse Kayla, and sometimes while I'm walking around trying to keep her happy. It dawned on me that her language acquisition was coming, though not entirely, still too much from TV shows. They don't always have the cleanest of language or the most moral of topics, and what's the point of that, if I can quite easily talk to her myself? So I made this sign...and it worked. The TV hasn't come on once today. I talked to Kayla, read to her, sang to her, and showed her pictures and toys. It was frustrating at times, and I was tempted to reach for the remote a couple of times. It's become such a habit. But even if I could have turned it on, I wouldn't have been able to see anything, due to my sign. So really, it was quite effective. And it's still there.

Something Different

Today instead of a photo, you get a video. Hope you don't mind! I posted something similar on my other blog yesterday, but Kayla was more vocal and active this afternoon. She's just so cute!

Me Time

This is what I like to do when I finally have two hands free and am not trying to entertain a baby. I especially like to blog and upload pictures to FaceBook. It's nice when I get that time to myself.

Getting Out

Jason doesn't like to spend his day just sitting on a couch. Even doing work in the house doesn't appease him sometimes. Growing up on ten acres with a dad who's a semi-farmer will do that to you. So tonight he went outside and did a bit of work in the yard. Notice how you can actually SEE the yard from where I took the picture (the back door). Last week my parents tore out the ivy that covered that little fence there. We're debating what to refill the space with. Jason's thinking berry bushes, I'm thinking flowering vine. We're not sure yet what we'll do, but we're both excited the dirty, half-dead ivy is gone. Thanks, Mom & Dad!

Generations

This afternoon some of Jason's family stopped by to meet Little Miss Kayla. His cousins Lindsay, Garrett, and Tommy came with his Aunt Rocelia and Grandma. Grandma had been impatient about seeing Kayla since the day Kayla entered the world, and she finally got to - 5 and a half weeks later. Here's Great-Grandma Beddoe holding Little Miss Kayla for the first time.

Oops!

While we were out doing some shopping and errand-running today, we stopped downtown to check out a women's and children's consignment shop called "Hidden Treasures." As we were getting out of the car, we heard a loud car horn honking at the intersection behind us. Turning, we saw bottles of Coca Cola and Sprite all over the intersection. Apparently a Coke truck had hit a bump and lost a case of pop bottles. Several people ran to help get the hazards out of the road, and within 3 minutes the driver returned to collect the damage. It was quite amusing to watch.

Date Night #1

Tonight Jason and I got to go out for the first time in five weeks without having to lug a car seat and worry about the potential for trying to soothe (and/or feed) a screaming baby in public. My parents graciously agreed to watch Kayla for us while we went out by ourselves. So we went to Thai Ploy, the best Thai restaurant in town, which just reopened with its new name after 3 months of closure for a switch in management and a remodel. It was delicious, and I was hungrier than I thought because I actually ate every single bite of my mussaman curry and rice. Mmmm! When we got home, Ruth took some pictures of us on the front porch.

Long-Awaited

I have been wanting to get my niece a nice little tea set for quite a while. Of course I had to wait until she was old enough to understand it and handle having something a little more fragile than a plastic Little Tykes toy. Saturday is her third birthday, and I decided it's time. She may still need supervision while playing with this set, but I think she'll enjoy it for years to come. It's a beautiful set, and I splurged a bit more than I intended to. It comes in a cute little picnic basket, with a table cloth, matching napkins, and utensils (the rest of the set is under the utensils). It's so adorable I'd like to keep it for myself! I hope she enjoys it. Maybe next time I come to visit she and I can have high tea.

Yardwork

Today we worked outside. Well, my parents did. I spent most of my time carrying a baby around, feeding her, changing her diaper, and then starting all over again. She was in a pretty good mood for most of the day, but she's still pretty high maintenance. Weird. So now our patio has no half-dead, dirty, creeping ivy on the little mini-fence the previous owners put up. The fence is still there, but it's completely empty. Jason wants to put berry bushes there...I'm not sure yet and am contemplating flowering climbing plants. All of the ivy that was torn out filled our garbage can, which was emptied just this morning. My dad did a pretty good job of getting it all in there, though! He tried several different techniques...