Long Time No See...or write!!

Hiya!
It has been so so so long...school is just kicking me...kicking me hard lately! I have thought about blogging a lot, but then just too much time seemed to pass and I was like...'where do I even start!???' and Ivy was like 'well I am just going to grow and grow and become funnier and funnier and keep you busier and busier!!' so I have not blogged for awhile!
Seriously she has become SO funny, like she makes jokes to herself! You know most babies will do something, somtehing all baby-like, like the ol'fall on their bums, and adults in the room will laugh, so the baby will keep doing it and doing it just for the laughs, sometimes it almost gets to be annoying to keep fake laughing at a baby falling on their bum?! Ivy does that, BUT she humors herself too! She will be sitting by herself and not know I am watching her, (my favorite thing to just watch her when she doesn't know!), but I will witness her doing something like dropping a toy or contorting her body in odd positions and she will just laugh and laugh at herself! It is so funny! She seriously seems to understand humor, she definitely gets that from her dad!
Anyway...I really just wanted to upload some pictures! Got a new camera and I am pretty excited. It's a Cannon, Dad of Ivy's cousin takes the MOST amazing pictures and she has a Cannon, (way better than mine) but I thought if she has a Cannon, maybe if I get a Cannon I will take half as good of pictures as she takes...but no...she is just a REALLY good photographer, but I do love the camera so far! I have only had it all of about 9 hours...but I determined to like this camera!!






Ok...so I don't know a few things about blogging...like how do I make the pictures go the right way?? and why do the BEST three pictures go sideways!
In those pictures...it is SO funny because she is really really into saying BOO...she says it around every corner, or pole! and that is what she is doing in those pictures...she is leaning her head over and saying...'boo!' Really it is so cute, maybe one of those 'you have to be there' types of situations, but I was there so I can tell you IT WAS SO CUTE!!! Maybe just turn your computer monitor since I don't know how to turn the picture...because it is so cute! :)

Ivy update!

Ivy is walking...will not even consider crawling for a minute these days! She is a walker now!
God help us all!

Sorry for the blurry picture, still trying to figure out my new camera! And that is a piece of toast in her mouth that I am pretty sure she just picked up off the floor! (read post below to understand the "humor" behind that!) Oh and Dad of Ivy, just to let everyone know, is the best man and father in the entire universe! I will shout it from a mountain top next time I am on one!

Does toast taste better off the floor?

For any mother out there, I must ask, did your child/children prefer food off the floor to food on their tray? I really believe, my beautiful amazing daughter wishes she was 'born in a barn' as they say, so she could just eat off the floor.

There are three meals a day, and usually two or three snacks that Ivy and I sit down and eat at the table, so that is five or six times a day that Ivy eats a bite or two, just enough to get me excited she is going to eat it, YAY! I think, sometimes she takes it just long enough and far enough for me to jump up and get the camera, I want to capture her actually eating at the table, and then, EVERY TIME (no Joke) every time, she starts throwing food on the floor. And it is not just a simple toss it over the tray where you almost wonder if it was an accident or not, usually followed by a cute "Uh-oh."
No, No, Ivy waits to make full eye contact with you, almost gives you a little smirk, and then with a full swing of her arm CHUCKS the toast I slaved over (yes even buttering toast is like slave work to me!) across the kitchen, a carrot actually stuck to the sliding glass door the other day so it not just toast. It is fruit, veggies, pasta (what child doesn't like spaghetti....oh yea Mine doesn't), pretty much anything and everything, especially if it is: sticky, will harden into some unknown substance that could hold rocket ships together, or will be stepped on and smash into a million pieces.

It is not just the throwing though... I can handle that, well obviously barely handle that. But it is the fact that twenty minutes later she is crawling back to the kitchen and eating the food she just so disdainfully rejected and threw.
Now, you might wonder here: Whitney, why is there food still on the floor twenty minutes later? Well the best way for me to explain that is... Usually, after these major league pitching sessions called mealtimes, are followed by me struggling to wipe her hands and face (why do all kids hate having their face cleaned? How do I explain to her, 'Ivy, you are a mess and we can't possibly leave this house with you looking like that and if you saw yourself right now it would probably make you scream and cry, even give you nightmares!') I am so exasperated and tired I come sit on the couch, sigh deeply, and look from the food on the floor to the front door and wonder; 'When the *&%#! is dad-of-ivy going to come home and clean this mess up?'

Yea I know he is working, and working hard, but PUH_LEEZ, I just SLAVED over the toaster or microwave (yes slaved and notice not the stove:)) then did some ridiculous song and dance so I could distract her from the "torture" that is a wet cloth on her face, and now I have to sweep and usually mop too? What?
Besides I realized the other day as Ivy was eating the corn off the floor she had just thrown off her tray, why clean when I seem to have given birth to the worlds greatest vacuum/mop?! They say dogs are great vacuums, they should see Ivy.

But my cleaning habits, or lack of, are distracting from the main point...Does toast or any other food taste better off the floor?
So tonight I think I am just going to serve us all dinner on the floor, Ivy seems to think it tastes better that way, I want to give it a try. And tomorrow I am going to talk to Jonathan's boss about giving him some flex time so he can come home and clean.

What have I done...

So school is starting this week, and today I had to take Ivy with me to a mandatory meeting about a bunch of stuff I already have forgotten. But afterwards I thought to myself what have I done?...I have chosen to go to school for a degree that will make me be in school for the REST of my life? What was I possibly thinking when I decided to be a teacher? I am sure I thought, hey I love kids, I am pretty good with kids, I can teach...but I wonder why I didn't think....wait...I hate school! I also hate long long hours, and no money, so again, what was I thinking when I decided to be a teacher?

Oh-well, hopefully my love of kids will outweigh the fact that I am perpetually going to be in elementary school! Ugh...Do you remember elementary? The smell of rotten milk and soggy green beans?
I do love kids though, but then I had one and I now realize I really love only one kid, and I want to be with her 24/7 not other peoples...but hey at least I will be exceptionally reimbursed for my love and commitment to other peoples children with my wonderful teacher's salary :)

So a side note....actually that whole beginning was the side note, now for the real stuff...
I just turned 358 months old, and on Friday Jonathan will be 420 months (ya old fart!)and Ivy will soon be a big 13 month old!! My birthday was picture perfect thanx to my wonderful husband to be! We just hung out, all together, and I got gifts which is really all I care about! Jonathan got me a camera that is amazing, almost intimidating really, but I love it! He said he didn't spend too much money on it, but I am now afraid we won't be eating for the rest of the month, (that is how nice the camera is!) But we will have wonderful pictures and video's of our deprivation!

Ivy is just becoming such a little person! She plays 'Boo', she doesn't concern herself with the 'Peek-a' part, just goes straight for the BOO! She has decided her main form of communication is now going to be in the form of EARSPLITTING screams, which is fun for us! She is being kind of finicky eating, she will gobble something up one minute, and two minutes later totally throw it across the kitchen, which is also fun! Our house is filled with screams and projectile toast or noodles! How could that not be fun!?
So...that is all for now...wish me luck on school...for the rest of my life! Jonathan is also having a stressful week at work so we all might decide to communicate in earsplitting screams this week and throw our food! Anybody wanna come over for dinner? It will be fun, I promise! :)

To Blog or Not to Blog...

I really enjoy blogging....or at least the seven posts or so I have thus far finished...but I can't seem to give it the time and dedication a blog devoted to Ivy deserves. And soon school is going to start and I will have even less time and energy to devote to this...so sorry to my faithful readers...haha all two of you...I think I have to maybe quit the blogging business, but we will see!

So...Ivy is becoming the most amazing little girl...I mean she, of course always has been :)), but lately she has just developed this personality that is SO hilarious. She makes jokes, makes herself laugh (and her parents!), she is so independent but always looks back over her shoulder to see if mom or dad are there!

The other night she was being so funny! We don't live in the largest place, but she just loves exploring all of it! I was getting ready to go to the gym, and her dad was getting her dinner ready, so we were both kind of preoccupied (not the best parenting, I know) usually she just crawls into the room that I am and "chats" and explores, but it took me a minute to realize what she was doing; tonight she was just crawling from room to room, she would crawl into our room and pet the kitty, then she would come back into the bathroom where I was, and wave to her bath froggy, then crawl back out and go to the next room, then crawl back into the bathroom, and she just kept crawling from room to room at this ferocious pace! A few times the cat would jump or run down the hall and she would just start giggling, and keep crawling instead of following the cat...which never has happened before, her cat is her favorite thing to crawl after! When I realized what she was doing, I started quietly following her, and it was just so funny. She would crawl into one room, do something...pick something off the floor, wave to the window, pat the cat....and then turn around and crawl out and just keep going. Pretty soon it became a game of me crawling behind her, and she would go a few paces, and stop and look back, when she saw me behind her she would squeal and hurry and crawl away, and when she would go around a corner and out of sight, I would stop, wait a few moments, and she would always turn back around and peek her head around to see if I was still there! When she saw that I was she would laugh so hard, and hurry and crawl away! One time she started laughing so hard when she saw me, her arms gave way and she couldn't crawl she was laughing so hard!

So...that is a silly story, but one of those that I just want to remember forever and ever!

She is just so funny! It's hard to capture in words or even images...just amazing!
Oh and we started daycare...I am too emotional to talk or blog about it! But Ivy loved it, in fact she, I am starting to worry, might love it a little too much!

Ivy is One Year Old Today!!

That's it...Ivy is one! Wow!!

This time last year I was probably cursing, bouncing on a yoga ball, and squeezing the sh*t outta poor Jonathan's hand every 3-5 minutes! In almost two more hours (this time last year) she made her debut, and life has only gotten better every day since!

Ivy's first birthday...

I am starting to get nervous about Ivy's first birthday. I don't feel like I am putting enough thought into it. This is huge, or so everyone makes it out to be huge. Is it bad that I kind of feel like....what is the big deal? Am I a terrible mother?
I know it is a big milestone, but it is nothing for Ivy! Just another day! We are going to a park, so all it is for her is a really fun day at the park, you know? I think it has to do with that we are so far from family and friends to share it with us. We are having friends come, friends Ivy absolutely loves,(and we do too!) but it is going to be very small, and well, just like a BBQ, not a first birthday! Or at least not a first birthday that I think a lot of other parents plan for their babies.
I guess the main thing is make sure Ivy has fun and understands that it is a special day! Ivy will have fun at a park, outside all day, and with mom and dad, and her friends, she will love it! So I guess that is the best first birthday you can have right?!
Oh and we are getting her a goldfish for her birthday!! haha, how cool is that!? It was daddy's idea, she is going to absolutely love her fishy...'glub, glub, glub,' is what she will say every time she sees it!

Good times!

I obviously need to get better or more serious about blogging! I am so slow!
Ivy is almost one, and we can't believe it. I still remember the day she was born like it was yesterday! I guess that day never fades from your memory! But at the time, it just seemed like she would never be one, never even seemed like she would be a month old, or three months old, or six etc...!

So we have spent the last two weeks looking at daycares for Ivy. It is so hard, and emotional, and just seems like no place is ever going to be good enough! No-one can take care of her like her mommy, or daddy! BUT...I found a place today that I really loved. A really nice daycare, lots of high standards it seems. So I think that will be the one. It was clean, with a lot of natural light, a really cool playground, great staff, Ivy seemed to really enjoy it, but it is still scary, as much as I liked it, or Ivy liked it! It is going to be so hard to actually leave her on the first day...

So...we did end up going hiking last weekend, while daddy rested. It was a lot of fun, just Ivy and I! We ate blueberries under a huge pine tree, next to a river! Watched fish at the local fishery, and even got to pet a very wet smelly dog that was swimming in the Columbia River! Ivy loved him!
She is starting to sign more and more. It is so exciting to see her learn this! I have been signing to her since she was born! She started with 'eat' a few weeks ago, and now she does 'train' and is kind of learning to do 'more.' But as that sign is very similar to clapping, she usually ends up just clapping! That works too!

Sick....Yuck...

Poor Jonathan...he is so sick...Please God...don't let Ivy or myself catch whatever he has...and please make him well! Oh and Ivy is the cutest, it has been just mommy and Ivy today...we went to lunch in Hawthorne district. Yummy at No Fish Go Fish, or is that the other way around, can't remember. But we loved the vegan Split Pea Soup! And we got the Kelty back pack carrier from my sis, took a long walk. Ivy loved it but I obviously need to be in better shape! We are going to go hiking tomorrow to get out of the house away from GERMS, and give daddy time to rest. Wish us luck, it should be like 94 degrees, yuck. Hopefully it will be cooler in the Gorge.

Ivy's gonna be a talker!

She says so many words...I know it is hard to believe, and I am not just being an over enthusiastic first time mom making this up!! She really says a lot of words, I wanted to list them here!!
Her first word, said Easter Weekend was 'book'....how cute is that!
She also says:
'buh'...means bird, she even puts her fingers to her mouth and tries to sign it!!
'num-nums'... of course means food!!
'glub glub glub'... said really fast and always three times is the sound a fish makes!
'ch ch' ... said really fast and twice, is what a train sounds like!
'meahhh'... while she sticks her tongue out is Meow! We think she sticks her tongue out to mimic the me--'YOWWWW' sound!
'hiiiii'... while waving means, well it means Hi! sometimes she says it 'haaaayyyyy'
'mamamamama'...obvious what that means right!? But sometimes it also means dad too!
'yayayayaya'....means dadda!
'di-annnanna'...is her cousin Diana!
'YaaaaaYYY'....means Yay!! now she claps every time we say YAY!
'kitee'...is kitty!
'maaamaaa'....for some reason is ball!

There are more each day, but these are the main ones! I wish I could get a video of each one because, of course, it is the cutest thing in the entire whole world!
Well...that is all for now, still haven't explored the blog thing enough to know how to upload pics, or you know, do anything else but post...one day I promise!
I love you Jonathan!

Hot Hot Hot

This weekend was ridiculous...the heat was almost unbearable. Poor little Ivy with all her hair, I thought she was going to sweat away!!
Despite the heat we had a great weekend! We joined a new parent group, called Portland Punk Parents, and went to a BBQ to get to know some folks already in the group! It was fun, other than being 100 degrees out, literally 100 degrees I am not exaggerating, oh it was awful but fun! The group is made up of some really cool people, those that I met at least, I think that they are going to be fun-if nothing else they enjoy having a nice cold beer in the afternoon, on a 100 degree day, seriously it was 100 degrees!
Ivy had fun too! She is really enjoying being around other children after going to Salt Lake to visit family and her 23 other cousins! (now that is kind of an exaggeration!)

On Sunday we went down to the Pearl District (that is the richy rich part of town, we like to pretend we are a part of it!) to Jamison Fountain, Ivy loves the water and watching all the other children. Then we took the train, Ivy's favorite, back to the Lloyd Center Mall, did a little shopping of course and had lunch at a restaurant I am too embarrassed to admit eating at, but we just wanted a sit down place, and had a very mediocre lunch! But it was a great day, Ivy really enjoyed herself.
Someday when I learn to upload pic's I will upload some of the weekend, our trip to SLC, and just of Ivy in general!
Tonight there was a big thunderstorm with lightning, thunder and rain bursts! I love that more than any other weather! Ivy could not figure out where the noise of the thunder was coming from! Her FIRST thunderstorm!

Start of my blog...

Hello....first off I would like to say I am not a blogger...which is funny since I am starting a blog I know...but I wanted a place to share my experiences as a new (kinda new) mom.
It's my excuse to escape for a minute when I can't always leave my house, and usually when I am in my PJ's until around 2 or 3 p.m.!

It's a place for me to write about her, me, her wonderful daddy, our experiences together as a new family, it's a place for family and friends to visit and see how we are doing since we live so far away from most of them. Ok, really it's a place for me to brag about how my daughter is the most amazing little girl in the whole world! There I said it! Really I just want a place to write and share my thoughts, which usually are nothing so special as to warrant an entire blog, but hey, it's the thought that counts...right?! :)That's what they say at least.

So....Welcome....it's going to be slow going at first as I educate myself on how to blog...please stick around through that learning process, visit often, comment often, read, explore, and have fun, I know I am!