Ya Ya Party

Daphne's ya ya came over on her birthday to give her a few presents. I was out at my knitting circle, but here are some photos from the event.

Bubbles are always a fun activity.

Playmobil HORSES!

Balloon

Daphne was fascinated with how I was able to blow up the balloons for her birthday. She's been working on this yellow balloon since Thursday.

Birthday Cake

I made Daphne a birthday cake for her birthday. I tried making an Angel Food Cake, and it was very simple. It smelled wonderful. Ironically, we still have not found a time to dig in to it and eat some. Perhaps today will be the day.

Blowing out the "fires"

The super excited face because she gets to blow out the fires.

Stick Horse

We decided to get Daphne one large present and one small present for her birthday this year. I thought long and hard about what to get her for a long time. She recently took to riding the broom around the house telling me that it was her stick horse. I then saw a stick horse pattern in the local sewing store. It seemed a bit beyond me, so I got Daphne a stick horse off Etsy. It arrived the day before her birthday and she opened it the morning of her birthday.

As you can see, she took right to it.

There she goes! I said that a few times and now when she rides the stick horse I am required to say, "There she goes" and then "Here she comes" when she returns. I love how Patty is FLYING along behind.
She SO loves her stick horse.
Checkin' him out!

Popsicle

Daphne loves her Popsicles, so when she does not pee in her diaper at night I let her have one or part of one after dinner. Here she is LOVING her Popsicle.

She was snowing me all her pretty teeth, she has 16 now.


Could any baby be happier about eating frozen fruit?

Hey Mr. Groundhog

I must say that I'm very disappointed in the performance of the Groundhog this year. In fact, I read during Groundhog's day that he is only about 30% accurate which means that if you were to assume the weather is going to be opposite what he says, you have a better chance at reality.

The fact is, when he said 6 more weeks of winter, I wasn't so sad. I have an awful lot of sewing to get done and I was buried in schoolwork to boot, so I didn't really mind the prescription to stay inside for another 6 weeks.

The truth is that I'm done with the winter. The weather is completely driving me crazy and I don't like the cold. The fact that I am pregnant does not help my case either because it makes me even more antsy about getting the winter done with. After all, I am due in the summer and it's never going to get here if it keeps on SNOWING.

We woke up yesterday with a dusting of snow on everything. I was sure that was the last snow that I would see, but we had another dusting this morning.

I was sitting down with Daphne to process some photos to get up on the blog this morning and Daphne implored me to look outside. "Snow mama, SNOW." I ignored the comment wrapped up in what I was doing. After she forcibly turned my head I discovered that it was in fact full on snowing outside.

So, Mr. Groundhog, I'm almost done with all my sewing and my schoolwork is completed, I'm officially requesting 60 degree days. Thank you for your kind consideration of my request.

Last Final Completed!

I just finished my last final for my classes. I went into the weekend thinking that it would be nice to get everything done my Sunday night but not actually thinking that it would get done.

Daphne blessed me with a very long nap today so that I could write my English paper, which I am happy to be done with, and posted about earlier.

After dinner, Jared took Daphne to bed and allowed me to work on my last final. It was a timed paper of about 2500 words about various aspects of the American Vice Presidency. It was a challenging paper, but overall, something very satisfying to complete.

This officially means that I've done all the work needed to get an A in my classes. I've turned in all the work that is necessary for school at this point except a few small discussions this week. The discussions are incredibly simple and can be done one handed with a wiggly baby on my lap demanding that I feed her granola and yogurt. I can safely say that I'm free from school.

I'm going to hold of announcing that I'm a college graduate until I get a letter to that effect. The diploma takes about 3 months to get in the mail. Nevertheless, I am excited that I actually made it to this point in my school career, and I am proud!

I'm headed to bed to watch trashy TV and eat coffee ice cream. I deserve it.

Writing

I was telling Jared yesterday that I am very proud of my education and the fact that I will soon be a college graduate.

One skill that I really have down pat is the ability to write. One of my finals that I need to get done is a 5-7 page paper analyzing film in one regard or another. Though I've had an idea for the paper for the past 10 weeks, I was still feeling a little nervous about writing it. I decided that I was going to get all of my finals done today, so as I put Daphne down for a nap, I sat down to pound out 2000 words on the various aspects of the American family and its portrayal in film.

Surprisingly, before Daphne even woke up, I had the 2000 words done, put in perfect MLA format with all works cited. Now all that remains is a quick proof and a submission.

Not only does this mean that I totally adore the ability to pound out 2000 words on any given subject, it means I'm only another 2000 words away from being a college graduate!

One Class Completed!

I've been complaining on here a lot about the various college things I've been going through.

I am currently taking 12 credits, which is 3 classes at PSU. We are drawing very near to the end of the term, and I have been posting here updates here and there.

I'm drawing to a close on all my classes.

The only thing that remains in my Political Science class is the final. I am working to get the professor to open up the final to me so that I can take it and be done.

I have to complete a 5 page paper that I have been working on, and that is all that remains in my English class.

As of now, I have completed all of the requirements for my last class (Women/Queer Studies), and I am guaranteed an A in the class.

Just a few simple steps and I will be a college graduate. Who wudda thunk?

Taco Moon

Jared was reading a book to Daphne last night with shapes in it. There was a picture of the moon as a crescent. When he asked Daphne what it was she said "taco". I guess she knows her food.

Birth Time

Of course, Daphne's birthday is on the 5th of March, and I've found that for the 2nd year in a row it gets me thinking a lot about the whole birth experience.

Last year, Jared was in the hospital up at OHSU during the first part of March, so I spent the entire time driving back and forth to the hospital. It really got me thinking a lot, feeling pretty sad about the entire experience. After all, I had planned for the perfect storybook birth and ended up with the short end of the stick.

This year is a little different. Now, I'm facing being 6 months pregnant, and while thinking about the birth that was, I have to face my future birth plans. I'm working so hard for a VBAC, and though I'm very confident that it will happen, I've got a creeping fear that I will end up with another c-section. Either way, I'm excited to add another member to our family, especially if we will have half as much fun as Daphne and I are having.

Happy 2nd Birthday Daphne Elle!

Happy 2nd Birthday Daphne Elle! Yesterday was Daphne’s 2nd birthday. I knew that it was coming up, but it kind of sneaked up on me, and I couldn’t believe that it was already here.

We spent the day together hanging out, and it was simple and nice. We went to story time in the morning and played music, listened to stories and played with bubbles. When we got home, Daphne took a nap and then we got to work making dinner. We had lobster tails, twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole, angel food cake and coffee ice cream. It was nice.

We gave Daphne a stick horse for her birthday. She truly loved it and spent the entire day running around the house feeding pretend grass to her new friend. It was a nice, calm, perfect day.

Mostly, I want to make sure that Daphne knows I wish her a super happy birthday.

Coffee Ice Cream

I created a recipe for coffee ice cream that has turned out to be incredibly fantastic. Here it is:

2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 cups cream
4 tablespoons instant espresso

In a stand mixer, beat together the eggs and the sugar until the eggs lighten in color, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the milk and the cream slowly and whip to combine. Add in the instant espresso and mix until thoroughly combined.

Turn in an ice cream maker until set and then refrigerate for 2 hours to allow to harden. ENJOY!

Back in Shape

The more pregnant I get, the sicker I get and the less nutrition I get, the more I feel like my body is falling apart. I've always been an incredibly athletic person, and the last 2 years have really shown a decline.

I was in tears yesterday at the grocery store as I looked at all the food around me that I was completely unable to eat myself. I feel like my diet has more orange juice and potato chips than any American should have access to.

I AM starting to turn it around and when I don't vomit up food that is better for me, I try to eat it.

Last night, I decided to get back to running as well. I've been running off and on but it seemed to make me feel more sick. After a nice long run last night, I actually feel decent today. I did yoga after I ran and it was a TREAT. I never would have thought.

So I'm back to running and yoga! Hooray!

Carrot Eater

We have a share with our local CSA where we get fresh vegetables every week from their farm. www.oakhillorganics.org

They have carrots almost every week, so while I pick up, Daphne gets a carrot and munches on it the entire way home. Here Daphne is eating her weekly carrot. She clearly loves it!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Today is Dr. Seuss' birthday, and the library was celebrating. We decided to head out for the party.

They had story time, cake and games. It was all a little over Daphne's head, but I like taking her out and doing things with her.

For Sale: 1 Baby

I've decided to sell my baby.

She is almost 2 years old, like new condition though there are a few scars and bruises from run ins with furniture.

She comes with home made accessories: 2 tu tus, 9 skirts and countless diapers. Good luck trying to clothe her. Good with most animals.

Does anyone really know what they are getting into when they have a toddler?

Zorba

This is GMV Zorba (yes I picked the name). He is 65% German Angora 35% French Angora. I think the perfect mix is about 75%, but I wanted some color in my stock. The color comes from the French Angora sides because the Germans are usually white or black (they are a fairly new breed). He is a torte, and he is beautiful. Though he is not really friendly when I go to feed him, he sat for me perfectly through a pretty intense grooming. He didn't try to bite or scratch as all, I've never seen such calm love in a bunny. In fact, he was so sweet that Daphne got to hold him for me quite a bit, and she did a great job. She even carried him in to her daddy so he could see the grooming job we did.

Bunny Grooming

I got some new rabbits about a month ago to replace the incredible loss that I had this winter with my German Angoras.

When I got them, two of them were very matted up, and needed a lot of care. I finally got a livestock blower and got to work. It was sunny and 60 yesterday so we took the buns out on the porch and I started grooming. Turns out we only got one done because I had plenty of help.

Swinging

We found a swing set on the beach, and Daphne insisted we stop to play. I decided to try to take some fun photos.

A rare photo of daddy swinging.

Love the look in this one.
My absolute favorite of the set!
Giant monster swinging baby.