Marie is Two!!

Marie turned 2 yesterday.  This is her at her birthday party. We invited her friends to the zoo and had all the kids dress up. Marie was a lion with a tutu, or a Circus Lion if you prefer. It was a zoo... ha ha.. laugh.. go on, laugh.  Can you imagine? A dozen kids dressed up as animals running around the zoo, high on chocolate covered peanuts and cupcakes?

Marie has been a practicing 2 year old for a couple of months now, seeking independence, testing boundaries, and just learning about all sorts of things in ways that often lead to messes, breaking things, etc.

She talks all the time in full sentences. We are working on moving from "eeeaaa" to "mama can you help me?" and there is some progress.  She loves to sing and most mornings wakes up in her crib and lies there and sings until we go in.  Since we potty trained her at 18 months, she has done brilliantly and picked it up so quickly.  She has even had around 5ish dry nights before turning 2!  She is generally a very happy and energetic force in our lives. She dropped naps completely around 22 months, and as a result sleeps brilliantly at night - 11 or 11 1/2 hours uninterrupted.  That change has been worth it to me.

It seems she is understanding this whole new baby thing. Because we have so many people in our lives who are pregnant or new parents, she has seen the whole process and before and after. She goes to my midwife appointments with me, and has gotten to hear the baby's heartbeat. She does think that she has a baby in her belly, but that's okay.

Happy birthday, precious!

A little homebrew

In which Heather becomes a different sort of person.

Earlier this week, I had occasion to ask myself "when did I become the sort of person who chops up whole cow livers?" And I wasn't sure of the answer, but I was glad to be that sort of person.  As I stood in the kitchen with a massive beef liver from a freshly butchered cow from the biodynamic farm I workshare at, I mused over these meaningful life questions.

Maybe I've always been that sort of person, and just not had occasion to express that side of myself.

The next day, I had occasion to ask myself a similar question: "When did I become the sort of person who makes homemade liver pate?" Now, I know that I've been that sort of person for quite a while now, at least 4 years or so. But I had still never done it. Well, check that one off the bucket list!  (I used the recipe from Encyclopedia of Country Living for Chicken Liver Pate)

On a related note, there are now several packages of sliced beef liver in the freezer. If you think you may be the kind of person who would want to experiment with some, do let me know. Because it turns out beef livers are really quite huge. I suppose we will use them up, possibly within a year, but I could be convinced to share some with you. :-)  The cows were born, raised, and harvested on the same farm, and were grass-fed and grass-finished.

I've included some photos here for your benefit. Yes, you heard that right - for your benefit. Enjoy!

Also, Marie, who knows how to do summer right.

Of late: what you've missed

The brief: 

We saw the peacock in his feathered glory at the zoo; Marie got pottytrained; Our kitchen got removed never to be replaced; we spent a week with Grandma and Granddad Shaver; We celebrated Ruthie, our newest American citizen; Marie got her first real injury; we had a semi college roommate reunion with 6 children! 

Whew!

Let it be said: 18 months. Best solution to
 diaper rash ever.

Moses Lake: lunch halfway point.

Our newest American!

A run in with a bike.

Could have been so much worse!

The product of 3 couples - all could be credited to one house on 17th and 47th NE.

Also, someone needs to learn how to format these things.

Handmade soap for sale

Handmade cold-process soap for sale! It would make a lovely mother's or father's day gift. My soap friend Ruth Nellis and I have a few options available for you, $4 for a 4ish ounce bar. Current kinds are:

-Nourishing Butters Soap - an extravagant experience of nourishment with the comforting aroma of chocolate. Cocoa and shea butter moisturize and soften the skin and the soul.

-Honeyed Ale with Citrus - this handsome soap is made with beer and barley. It is a masculine scent with exfoliating barley and honey.

-Cedar & Saffron - an earthy aroma with a spicy note. Joel's current favorite.

More to come!! Talk to me for more details!  I could possibly even ship places, if you pay for shipping too.

Oh here it is

I like that one day she wears this outfit, and two days later she wears what you saw in the last post.. bare legs, short sleeves, sandals. Love this place, I do. Don't you?

This is what she looks like now on camera

"baby! baby! baby!"

"baby! baby! baby!"

"baby?!  baby! baby?!"

Sometimes we get lucky. This is what she does if you tell her she has a nice smile.

 I think I told you she calls cameras "baby" since there are always photos of babies on them. Poses a problem when you try to take a photo of her ... she just makes an anguished face and runs to you with arms outstretched shouting "baby baby baby eeeeeuuuu baby".

Love that face!

 Thank you for your comments last time!  So love your words!  Oh I found that other photo for you, but this computer is not rising to the challenge so I'll keep you in suspense...
Joel and I are going away this weekend with our small group to Whidbey for a weekend of rest and feasting. Marie is spending the weekend with grandma and grandpa!  Woo hoo our first nights apart. Hoping all of us can have peace with that. Think of us.

Oh have I mentioned she does laundry?  Start 'em young...

18 months

Marie will be 18 months tomorrow. Which means she's spent twice the amount of time outside my womb as she has inside.  And that number will only keep getting more drastic.  I wanted to post this cute photo I took of Marie today, which is rare these days because every time I get the camera out she starts running toward me shouting "baby! baby! baby!" and reaching and yelling because she wants to see the photos of the baby which of course in her mind are on every single electronic screen that exists. Which means I have to subversively get the camera out and snap fast, leaving no time for camera adjustments which means we have about 4 months of blurry disappointing photos of Marie.  But today I got a nice one of her wearing her red Postman Pat boots with jeans semi-tucked in, and that red sweater with a kitty on it that Grandma Berwold knit for baby Heather 20-odd years ago... and her little blue hat that my mom knit that makes her little blue eyes stand out so much... she was sitting on the wooden steps outside that go up to the back deck. Anyway I can't load the photo because of the aforementioned little girl who must have hidden the key to the computer box and wires.

Such a little cutie face now - she is most definitely a little girl now, people.  In the last week she's been talking up a storm - a storm I tell you.  She repeats all sorts of things - watch out, Justin!  She weighs around 30 pounds now and don't say anything about her being overweight or at risk of anything or you better run the opposite direction as fast as those legs can carry you.  Someone did a week ago to me and oh my that was my first real "momma bear" moment.  Marie eats healthier than probably anyone I know, and has since she was conceived. Well ok, about 7 weeks after that.  There are many many things I am not good at, but feeding my child healthfully is not one of them. I am stellar at that.  Every chubby little ounce of her is full of good fats and adorableness.  And don't even start me on breastfeeding, people.  Would you believe someone in a position of semi-authority told me "don't worry, once you stop breastfeeding, her weight will get better" (ie lower). When she saw my eyes after she said that she started running and she's still running today.

 Oh people, she wears pigtails now and it's so stinkin' cute. So much hair! It's amazing! If I don't comb it out of her face, it gets in her eyes and she starts squinting and touching her eyes with her fingers. How come every little thing a toddler does is just adorable?!?

She still looks so much like my dad it's kind of unnerving at times. Those eyebrows...

Her shades are so hot right now. Starting trends here...

In other news... oh wait, there is no other news. Our lives revolve around this 30 pound strawberry blonde bundle of joy.