It has been warm, well warmer here the past week or so, by warm I mean 40's.  Much of the snow has melted so I thought a hike would be nice this morning. Well it was a little snowier than we though and real boots instead of tennis shoes would have been nice but we still had fun. It was a bit cloudy but the thermometer on the car said about 46. We went to Lake Lucille Park, about 10 miles from where we live. I picked this specifically because I didn't want anything too strenuous, and Mike usually picks trails that take all the fun out of being outside. ( I know he doesn't do this intentionally, we just have different ideas of hiking)  We were only gone for about an hour, couldn't do much exploring due to all the snow but it was nice to be outside. Lilly and I got to try out her back pack from Nana, we both decided that it's a keeper. I'm glad we have it, it will make exploring and hiking so much more fun this summer.

I also finished my first knitted sweater last night. So here it is on Miss Lilly. I am quite proud of myself and know consider myself a true knitter. It was fun and I will do more things. I'm not nearly as afraid to tackle a pattern. As Mom says, 1 step at a time, it doesn't matter what step 7 is until you get there and you have to do 1-6 first. She's right, and as she also says, step 7 usually makes sense by the time you get there.

I had to add this one to show that she is learning to crawl, she spends lots of time on her knees.

And this one, well I just though it was cute, she's enjoying real food and ate almost an entire pumpkin pancake after nursing this morning. Piggy Piggy :-)

Lilly's First Made by Mommy Dress

I made Lilly a dress yesterday and have 3 more to make. It was fun and easy.

Tuesday Morning

Just a few photos from this morning.

Yes they already are buddies I think.

Lilly was fussing and I was trying to make her something to eat, this spot will keep her quiet for a few minutes at least. 

Lilly loves to eat! Cream of wheat with strawberry yogurt seems to be a favorite. I like having Mike home in the mornings. He's such a help. Guess it means that I get to do bed time by myself. Oh well. One or the other I suppose. 

I have been looking for a whisk like this for ages, ever since I saw one at Martha's years and years ago, I use it every morning when I make Lilly's snack, most of the time I have to dig out of the dishwasher or dirty sink. Well worth the 7$.

Two of my favorite mugs, cofee or tea or hot chocolate is a pretty normal thing in this house. Mugs courtesy of the very talented Mr. Gary Neiter (red) and the talented and lovely Audrey Felger (www.backcreekpottery.com)

And last but not least. I have been meaning to capture this in photos and didn't remember until today. This is how Lilly goes to sleep. Every time.

I put her in her bed like this. Almost always awake. Please note the blanket above her head. It is a must have it can be any of the 10 she has that I made her, as long as there is a satin binding on it. Within a few short seconds she does this.

Yes she covers her head up. I'm not kidding, every time, won't sleep without it. Am I a bad Mom for letting her do this? She doesn't move much and can totally pull this off her head. 

See the hand, proof that she really is there. :-) 

Laundry

Yesterday was laundry day. I was finishing up last night and Lilly was fussing. The next thing I know I have a baby in my basket and a husband taking photos.

Lady Abigail

Yesterday we got a cat. I found an add for her on craigslist, she was listed through a rescue. Her add read something like "Abby the cat who loves dogs." So yesterday afternoon we went to check her out. She's about a year old and already named. I have decided that such a pretty cat should have a more sophisticated name, I call her Lady Abigail or Lady. Mike brought her home and I went to the store. He said she had no problems with Hamilton and he was right, they still haven't had any problems. She has swatted him a couple times but I don't have a problem with that.  Lilly is absolutely enchanted with her. Squeals and giggles and squawks as soon as she spots Lady. I love it. She slept with us last night and is napping on the couch after giving herself a bath. I think she's pretty comfortable here.

The weekend

Well this weekend held a lot for us. Mike's birthday was Sunday but we celebrated early with presents (new clothes and a new air compressor) on Friday and a trip to Anchorage for lunch (sushi) and shopping. Part of our shopping trip included a couple gun stores. Mike has really wanted me to have a pistol for a while now and since we do live in "The Last Frontire" he decided that now was a good time. We looked at a couple places and finally found one I like. A Walther PK380. We were planning on buying it on Saturday but had to have Mike's orders so we went back Sunday. So here's my pretty new gun.

I held lots and lots of guns, both the gun salesmen that we talked to said if I was their wife they'd want me to carry a 9mm but I didn't like the way any of them felt. So I got what felt good to me. I can't wait to go shoot. I also go Mike a range membership for his birthday and got myself one too as I knew he'd want me to go with him. 

Mike asked me to make him a blueberry cheesecake for his birthday. After two trips (for Mike) to Walmart to get enough cream cheese. This is how it turned out. 

Yes it tastes as good as it looks, especially 2 days later. I think I am going to cut it up and take it to mom's group with me on Thursday. 

All in all I think all of us had a pretty good weekend. The last full weekend for us for a while. Mike switched to swing shift 3pm-11pm today. He leaves around noon so he can go to the gym before work. Hopefully he will get home before midnight. He also starts two classes this week. One being on line and the other from 9-1 Saturday mornings in Anchorage. Fortunately the one in Anchorage is only 5 or 6 weeks long. To save on gas, I am going to start going to Anchorage on Saturdays to do errands and grocery shopping. Means a weekly visit to the knitting store for me! Yahoo!

Lilly also started sleeping through the night this weekend. Wow, do I feel a thousand times better! Sometimes I wake her before I go to bed and nurse her, other times I don't. She's become quite mobile too. She's not crawling, more scooting on her belly, pulling with her arms and pushing with her feet. If she's determined enough she'll scoot all the way across a room. She's a a constant source of entertainment for us. 

Busy Sunday

Yesterday was a busy day at our house and a lot was accomplished. Here's a photo tour of what we did.

Mike installed knobs and handles on all of the drawers and
cabinets in the kitchen and installed hinges and trays so that the
once just drawer fronts in front of my sink now open. I have always
found it annoying and stupid to have "fake" drawers. It was great
that the builders of this home didn't permanently install these fronts. It
took a little while but they now open and I am so happy to have some
place to store all of the stuff that used to sit on my window sill or behind the faucet.

Hamilton and Lilly have become buddies now that Lilly occasionally eats real food. Hamilton usually shows up as soon as Lilly gets put in her chair. As for this photo, she had just eaten some banana...Hamilton was doing clean up duty. 

Mike also installed this really cool organizer caddy we found at Lowes. As you can see from the photos not only does it slide but comes completely out so when I need to clean the bathrooms etc. I can just take the entire thing with me and don't have to worry about attempting to carry a bunch of bottles. 

As Mike was busy installing I was busy sewing. (I need to be better at taking pictures of the process) I am not by any means a seamstress. In fact, until recently, I HATED sewing. The most I do is a satin binding on a baby blanket, and by blanket I mean 1 1/4 yards of flannel, torn to be approximately square. Well we needed curtains in our living room. Mike wanted them ASAP and so a few weeks ago we went out and bough the rod and the curtains. YUCK. Boring brown. They didn't reach the floor and when pulled shut didn't cover the window. They were wrinkly and harsh looking and I hated them. Fortunately for me I have an incredibly cool Mother who learned how to make curtains years ago from a neighbor. Mrs. Easter I believe. They are lovely and lined and hang nicely and cover the entire window and cost so much less than customs. 

So my lovely mother sends me day by day instructions on how to make curtains. I'm a little confused but am bound and determined to make them. It took me about two weeks, not because there is that much sewing, actually nothing more than a straight seem required, but because drapes, take a lot of time. Well that and I'm also usually in the middle of several projects. Anyways, enough rambling, I am sure that you are just dying to see the finished project, those of you who haven't peaked ahead to the pictures. Ok Ok, I finished them last night and they are just as wonderful as I thought they would be. No more store bought, cost a fortune but don't look like it, curtains for this house... I must say I am quite proud of myself. (can't forget to mention that Lydia helped too, thanks!)

Last night right after I finished.

View from the kitchen, too bad you can't see out the window, the mountains were beautiful this morning.

From the hallway/front door. 

Pictures

This one is a little picture heavy. It was cold today but beautiful, we didn't want to stay inside so we decided to do a little exploring. We headed out around 11 and here's what we discovered down Knik Goose Bay Road...

Isn't it beautiful? I can't believe I live here!

This trail looks to go all the way around the bay. I can't wait to hike it in the summer. Oh to live someplace that will be green makes me so so so happy!

I spotted this bald eagle, I really wish I had a better lens, maybe soon. We also saw a couple of moose but didn't get photos. 

This is Port McKenzie. At one point in time there was rumor that they were going to build a bridge here that would connect to Anchorage, making another way to the Valley. No such thing has happened yet. It's a beautiful view and you certainly don't expect to see this as you come over the hill.

Quiet Snowy Morning

It's 7:40 am, we (Lilly and I) got up for the last time about an hour ago. I say last time as she was up four times during the night. It's snowing, AGAIN. Yuck, I'm tired of it but the locals say it doesn't get warm until May-ish.  Mike is at work, for the first time since Friday, he has a promotion test today and I'm praying that it goes well.

I'm sitting here at my little desk, eating my breakfast of hot chocolate (my one vice for the day, I'm on day three of no sweets) and home made wheat bread toast. Lilly is eating dry cherrios, well more like half eating half choking on them, they are a first for her. Hamilton is near by ready to catch any of the escapees.  I am pondering all of the things I need to do today, bathrooms need cleaned, laundry, floors need vacuumed, and I really really should go to the commissary. Yuck, driving 45 minutes to go grocery shopping. Not what I want to do today and besides it's snowing and come on now I have at least 4 chicken breasts in the freezer and a pantry full of canned goods, as well as two days worth of leftovers and cornbread from last night. I think I may just stay home. Well maybe just for the morning. We'll see. What I really want to do today is knit and sew, but you see that's what I've been doing the last 4 days and that is why my house is a mess. That and the fact that Mike was home for four days and I have a hard time getting anything done when he is home. Oh well

Things here are coming along nicely. We are getting used to Alaska and liking it for the most part. I have made some friends, more friends in six weeks than in the two and a half years we lived in Vegas. All of them are Mom's and all with more experience than I. It's fun, we meet up usually once a week at an organized group for Mom's and then there is usually something every other weekend for Mom's with or without their kids. Mike is great about watching Lilly on those nights so I can go enjoy the company of other women with out a squirmy little on my lap.

Oh as for the house, we got new living room furniture last week, it's wonderful though it's a little too inviting, I find myself spending a little more time there than I should. I am also almost done with the living room drapes. I think ones for our room and Lilly's room are next. I will have to figure out how to make them "light proof" "blackout" I believe is the proper term. It's still light at 7:00 when Lilly goes to bed, she does ok with it now but it will get harder as she gets older I am sure.

Well I had better go shower and put on my "war paint" as my mother calls it and then get busy, even if that means knitting for an hour.

Happy Day!

Play time with Daddy

Just  a couple photos of Mike and Lilly playing together. They do this quite often, Mike actually took her last night when she started screaming bloody murder for now reason, calmed her down, gave her a bath and played with her for a while. They have so much fun together and I can already see her being a Daddy's girl. Anytime he comes into a room she stops what she is doing to find him and then she starts grinning and looking at him with this, look at me Daddy look at me Daddy look. It's pretty cute!

Lilly gets a highchair

So at 6 1/2 months old I decided it's probably ok to feed Lilly some solid food. She's not too interested, a couple bites and she's done. She'll start to like it eventually I'm sure, I'm not too pushy about it. I'm pretty sure she still gets all she needs from me.
I could not find what I wanted while looking for chairs. My mom and sister both have really cool highchairs in their homes. Lydia's is old and metal and is exactly what I wanted. My mom's is from when we were kids and is wooden. Well I couldn't find an antique one unless I wanted to spend a fortune. So I went with modern. Probably better that way as I the more things I buy at this stage in my life that I don't want to part with, the more things I have to cart around the country for the next 15 years...

Mom's visit

My mom was here Feb 20-23. We had a wonderful time and though her visit was way to short I am so glad that she came. Most of our time was spent knitting. She was working on leg warmers for Lilly and I was finishing a hat and starting my first sweater. The weather was beautiful while she was here. Warm and sunny all three days, very unusual for this time I year, or so I hear. Being a Mom myself has made me admire my mom even more. I couldn't have asked for a better mom, I hope that some day I am as cool as she is. Like a Rock.