Merry Christmas!

Grandma Tutu and Lucy took a nap together the other day!

Rose and Baby Evan on Christmas Eve

Zoe, Lucy and Marc's Mom Randy on Christmas Eve.

Mmmm...lucky girl with a cookie on Christmas morning.

What else is in the stocking?

Lucy figured out how to open the presents pretty quickly.

In the afternoon we went up to Mt Hood to play in the snow!

Randy, Gracie and Marc...sledding fun.

Mommy and Lucy!

Marc, Lucy and Tutu with the rasta snowman they built.

Doing artwork with new art supplies from Aunt Stephanie.

Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful day. Marc's Mom Randy is here visiting and we have been enjoying her company. Lucy loves her "TuTu." For Christmas Eve we went to Rose's family dinner. Prime rib, good company, gift-game exchange and carols. It is always fun. Lucy loves Baby Evan and spending time with everyone. Today we opened presents in the morning, and Lucy caught on quickly. She was a pro by the time they were all open. She was given some thoughtful and useful gifts. She loves the books, art stuff, clothes and shoes! Thanks to everyone. One gift Lucy is giving us is that she is practically potty trained! Wow! After breakfast we headed up to Mt Hood to go sledding and play in the snow. It was a winter wonderland...beautiful weather, happy people, and SNOW!!! Lucy loved it but didn't want to go down the steep hill on the sled. It probably didn't help that I wasn't too into it. I love to ski, but sledding kind of terrifies me. Silly, I know! She enjoyed being pulled along with me on the sled with her over some gentle sloping terrain. A snowman was built, and fun was had. We enjoyed a nice dinner once home and are now relaxing as Lucy has finally gone to bed. I hope that everyone has had a fun, relaxing and special Christmas. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

Southern California Thanksgiving Trip

This year for Thanksgiving we were able to travel down to So Cal to visit our family and welcome Marc's Mom Randy back from her Peace Corps experience. She has spent the last two years in Morocco and had not yet met Lucy. Lucy loved her Grandma Tutu! We did many fun things while we were down, including a trip to California Adventure and Disneyland. Lucy enjoyed her first trip to the parks. It was awesome! We stayed with Marc's brother and his wife Matt and Stephanie, and their son Mason, who had traveled down from Spokane, Washington. It was really nice to get to spend so much quality time with them, and Lucy loves her cousin Mason. On Thanksgiving we went to Marc's Aunt Marsha and Uncle Ricks house for dinner. The food was outstanding and the company even better. Earlier in the day we visited my Aunt Audrey and took Lucy to see my Grandpa Si. He is 97 years old! Wow. My Aunt has such a beautiful yard, and it was nice to see my cousins Joey and Doug. The day after we had a beach day, and lots of family came to hang out. It was a beautiful November day in Oceanside and I was glad to get to hang out at the beach. We wished that we were able to see more of the Karr and Simonson family on this trip...but I am sure we will be down again sooner rather than later.  I always love my time back at home, hanging out with our family, visiting friends (It was great to see my friend Monet and her son Terje!), spending time at the beach, and saying hello to the sun!

Lucy is doing great and learning new things each day. She is very active (of course!) and agile. Yesterday I zoomed her all over the yard on her little bike, going fast, and she held on and didn't want to stop.  Marc took her down a steep water slide on Sunday, but she preferred the smaller slide he said. Slides are a favorite of hers. She has been trying to learn how to put her own clothing on, and she has figured out how to get out of most clothing. She is talking quite a bit, and becoming more independent. Sometimes she can be challenging, and I have to work hard not to get too frustrated.  For the most part, she is a happy, easy going girl.  We decorated for Christmas and she was excited about that! She loves the ornaments, especially the ones that are low. Her favorite seems to be a little wooden girl on a slide. Imagine that!  It is fun to create traditions with her.  Thanks for checking in!

Picking a good one!

Lucy has hit a milestone this week! She went pee-pee on the potty for the first time! I know that that is probably information that only a Mother could love, but it is so exciting to start having a bit of a light at the end of the diaper tunnel! She is using more and more words, like bright, and pretty and fall...the list goes on and on!

Marc's Mom Randy just got got back to the States from her time with the Peace Corps in Morrocco. We are so happy that she is back from her adventure.  Lucy will get to meet her for the first time next week. Yea! Welcome home Grandma Tutu!

Momma's little helper!

Lucy has been doing great and amazes me daily with the things that she understands and is able to do.  Her ability to communicate her needs is growing and she is using a few 2-word sentences. I have been getting a bit more creative in finding ways to do what I need to get done, but at the same time engaging her. One of these new activities is cooking and baking together. She is a natural, and loves to help put ingredients into the bowl, or put chopped veggies into the pan...if Marc or I starts working in the kitchen, the next thing we know she has pulled over a chair so she can help. One funny thing she has been doing is smiling for the camera, but closing her eyes for the flash...I have several funny closed eyes pics of her now! The night before Halloween our friends Polly and Jim hosted a party which was lots of fun. Lucy was a cute butterfly. Because of a late nap, she stayed up until we left at 11:45, dancing and having fun. Don't worry, it was a family friendly party, with lots of kiddos. On Halloween we got blessed with a beautiful day after a night of rain and went mushroom hunting with Rose, Robin and Baby Evan in the Mt. Hood National Forest. We found so many mushrooms which was lots of fun, and a grocery bag full of chanterelles. Yummy! The best part was spending the day in the woods. I didn't take Lucy trick-or-treating, but we did pass out candy. Lucy was not sure what to think about that.  Ever since Halloween Lucy has been wanting me to paint her face! :) Last night we went to a baby shower for our friends Michelle and Rob, and she played with a super cute car.  She is currently "surprising" me by popping up from behind the chair, and laughing and laughing. She is so cute!

Late Summer and Autumn Fun

The last week of August we had a fun weekend with Marc's Aunt Ronda, my sister Katie and my cousin Joey visiting. Lucy loved having so many people around to adore her and play with her.  GrandPappy Bobby came to visit the following weekend, and helped us to build a porch cover.  Lucy began calling Bob "Bobby" during this time, and she is still talking about Bobby. In September we went to the zoo and out to Rose's family farm for a day of apple cider pressing. Lucy really liked gathering apples for the cider. Baby Evan wasn't so sure about sharing a seat with Lucy during the dinner! Yesterday I took her to a pumpkin patch, as the weather was gorgeous. Lucy loved walking through the pumpkins, seeing the farm animals, going on a hayride, and riding the merry-go-round.

Lucy is growing and is learning so much.  She loves to read books, I would definitely rate it as her number one activity. "Book, book" she will say, handing you her choice.  She loves books about cats, dogs and kids. If she is in the right mood, she will sit through long books, that last 10 minutes or longer. Lucy also loves to do artwork, including stickers, painting, markers, glitter glue...you name it, Lucy likes to create with it! The outdoors is another favorite playing spot, in which she spends her time exploring, swinging, and helping Mommy and Daddy with yard work.  She even has her own broom!  Sometimes in new situations Lucy is shy, and that is very cute to see, especially because she is not at all shy at home with us. She is also going through some of the normal toddler tantrums, which can occasionally  get ugly, of course. Lucy is talking more and more. She is not yet talking in short sentences, but will list off her family members..."Mommy, Daddy, Gracie, Kitty."  It is very sweet. Marc said that he is quite impressed with her problem solving ability. She is a good listener, empathetic and likes other children. She is such a delight to be around, and we are all so lucky to have her in our lives.