Home Improvement

Hello,

As I started this post and looked back at our pnotos the past couple weeks, I realized we hardly took any. That's because our lives have been pretty much taken over by a home improvement project we started last weekend.

It started with our fireplace. Earlier in the summer, we found out that we basically couldn't use it anymore. That's because on the outside of the chimney, the mortar between the bricks was in bad shape, and water seeped in and ruined the metal box-thing that lines the fireplace. Josh fixed the mortar a few weeks ago (an all-weekend project) , but it was too late. We looked into replacing that box and doing all we needed to do to get the fireplace up and running again, but it was going to be way, way too expensive. So then we thought about getting a wood stove insert. We always had wood stoves at our houses/apartments when we lived out west,and we loved them. The problem with that idea was that even the tiniest wood stoves put out a ton of heat, enough to heat 1300 square feet for the smallest ones, I think. This room that our fireplace is in is an addition, and it is connected to the rest of the house by 2 doors. We decided that if a wood stove was putting out all that heat, the one room would end up being like 95 degrees and the heat would have a hard time circulating to the rest of the house. So then we looked at gas fireplace inserts. Now, I've always been opposed to gas fireplaces, to the point of vocally spouting off my dislike for them. I always hated those fake logs. But...it kinda seemed like our only option. And after researching them, of course they do put off far less emissions that wood, and are much more efficient. Well, they do use gas, which is not a renewable resource like wood, but oh well. We liked how much easier and cleaner it would be, and also that Linda and Willow could have a fire during the day on those freezing winter days. So gas it will be.

Then we decided to paint over the 1970s wood paneling too. That's pretty much the extent of the project, but the painting alone took an entire week of painting every day. Josh did most of it while I did the child care. Thanks to Emily and Jimmy who helped too. Sorry for blabbing on about out fireplace for so long; I know you might not care! I got a little carried away.

So, here are some "before" photos.























Unfortunately we won't be doing much about that tacky furniture just yet; that's not quite in the budget this time. Someday...

Here's one "during" photo; hopefully by the next post we'll have the "afters".




















Willow turned 18 months corrected on Friday and will turn 21 months on Monday. Her vocabulary is getting quite large. For awhile I was excited about it and was keeping a list of all of her words, but then it got the where I couldn't keep up because she was learning them too quickly. She has some words that only we can understand. For example:

Boo-bye = butterfly
na = moon or sun
na-na = nurse
da = light
da-doe = the other one

She hasn't really spoken any sentences yet, other than a few 2-word ones, like "Linda's here", "all done", and "Dada's home".

Willow has gone pee on the potty twice this week. It was cute how proud she was. It was in the morning when she first woke up, and when Linda arrived we told her about it. Willow was beaming with pride when she heard us telling Linda.

Although she is becoming such a big girl, she's not too big to be worn when necessary. Here she is catching a ride with Dad while he was cooking.
















Here are couple videos. Sorry, I'm not the best videographer!





This is a silly one. Linda taught her this.




Actually, this means Willow is a cultured baby, because "ca-ca" means poop in Finnish. We learned that from Maisa, Willow's bilingual friend.

Halloween

Hello,

It's been too long since I posted. Things have been crazy around here as usual. Willow has done a lot of fun things over the past few weeks.

Grandma and Grandpa Jenson came for a quick visit, which was fun. We went on a hike along the Pilgrim River with them but forgot the camera. Here are a couple shots of Willow with Grandma and Grandpa:


















Willow and Emily and I went on on another one of the hikes from our book, the Marsin Preserve.















It's just a little nature trail under a mile long, and the trail wasn't very well-defined, so I'm not even sure if we went the right way. But we had fun anyway, especially Scout and Willow.
















On Friday of Halloween weekend, downtown Houghton had "Treat Street", where the stores hand out candy and the kids all walk through downtown trick-or-treating. The three of us went, along with Anna and Maisa. It was very, very crowded down there. I don't think we'll do that again unless they close off the street. Willow was a sock monkey. We completely forgot that she was the sock monkey last year too, until someone mentioned it and then we looked back at the blog post from last Halloween. Oops. Oh well, she doesn't know any different! Next year, she will probably be a ladybug. Maisa borrowed that costume this year because it is still too big for Willow. I didn't manage to get a single decent picture of the two girls where they were both looking at the camera.




















Willow has this great toy that started out as a push-toy to help kids learn to walk. Then it converts to a ride-on toy. We thought she was getting too old for the push toy, so we converted it. Too bad her little legs are too short to reach the ground!
















She still loves to ride it, so someone has to push her around - it's hard on the back. Hurry up and grow, little legs!

She also likes to ride in the trunk:















And this morning, it was this. Circus baby!



















I know, we shouldn't encourage that. She is very into climbing right now. For a couple months there, we were able to leave her alone playing while we were in the next room, just peeking in on her once in a while. We can't do that anymore, because the minute you take your eye off of her, she has climbed up onto something and is balancing on it precariously. We had to put the rocking horse and the ride-on toy out in the porch and only bring them out when we're supervising because she climbs them. I keep thinking I have to bring her to that "Treehouse" indoor playground so she can climb safely. The cutest part is, whenever she gets to the top of whatever she climbed, and stands up, she goes, "Ta-da!!" Linda taught her that.

We also started swimming lessons a few weeks ago. It's a Saturday morning parent-and-child class with other parents and babies. It's pretty fun. We sing songs with splashing motions and play with balls and bath toys. The point is to get babies used to the water. Willow seems to like it but hates when we get out and it's cold. Music class is still going great. The new sememster starts soon, and we're totally signing up again. I can hardly wait to get a new CD with new songs!

Here's a few parting shots:

Mount Baldy and more fall fun

Hello,

I went to bed early last night, then woke up early this Saturday morning to sneak downstairs to get some alone time. Maybe I'll finally get this blog updated!

We've done a lot of fun things the past few weeks. It seems like Willow is really starting to fit into our "regular" lives a lot better. It's getting easier, is what I'm trying to say. Infants are so much work! It's just so much fun to bring Willow places and watch her experience new things. She learns so much every day.

Two weekends ago, me, Willow, my friend Anna and Willow's friend Maisa went to the local corn maze and pumpkin patch. Neither of us had ever been to a corn maze before. I guess I don't know what I was expecting, but I think I was sort of envisioning this little maze where kids could scamper around and the moms could hang out and watch. Not quite. When we got there and paid our $5 to the lady, she looked at us and goes, "do you have strollers?" We're like "uh...no". "so, are you going to carry them?" We then found out that the maze usually takes people an hour to an hour and a half to finish! There were goals you were supposed to find throughout the maze to win prizes and stuff. We hadn't even brought diaper bags or sippy cups or anything like that. Well, we went in anyway and didn't take it too seriously and the girls had a great time. (Okay, I did have to leave Anna with the kids and sprint back in to the maze once we were done to find the last goal we were missing). Then we picked out a pumpkin, the girls played in a tepee, and we watched a pumpkin get launched across the field with a huge catapault-thing. It was a really fun time!





















Then last weekend, while poor Josh was slaving away all day fixing our chimney, me, Willow, Beth and Beth's friend Amanda went on a hike from our book: the Helmut and Candis Stern preserve at Mt. Baldy, or just Mt. Baldy for short. It was a 6-miler, the longest hike I've done with Willow. She did great, just hanging in the ergo carrier the whole hike, snoozing on the way back down the mountain. We had lunch at the top - it was an amazing view! I can't believe I never knew about this hike or did it before. There were 360 degree views of the lake and trees. We missed peak leaves by a week or so, but it was still beautiful.


















At the top, you definitely wouldn't want to take your eye off your toddler for even a second - there were huge rock cliffs that went down hundreds of feet, with no safety rails or anything.

















Great-Great-Uncle Anton made and Grandpa Chuck painted this rocking horse for Willow. It's a replica of one I had when I was a kid. She loves it. This photo is sort of blurry because she is rocking so fast, but you can see her big smile. We'll have to try and get a better picture of her on it. The horse is still face-less because the face was supposed to be my job and I haven't had time to do it yet.















Here are some other random photos.

We finally snapped a photo of Willow and her dolly wearing their matching hats. She is starting to like dolls and stuffed animals and will carry them around with her and give them hugs and kisses. She likes to put a friend in her rocking horse with her sometimes too.















Playing the piano. Just the way she has her hands in this photo makes it looks like she is actually playing a masterpiece or something.















At her bookshelf. She will sit here for quite a long time (that would be 5 minutes for a toddler), paging through books and singing or talking about them.















Iron-baby:















On the potty. She hasn't used it since the random poop with Linda, but she sits on it sometimes with a toy...I guess my theory is that it will get her used to it and maybe she'll end up using it by accident? I actually have no strategy for potty training. I have been meaning to read up on it and see what I'm supposed to be doing.




















Playing in the leaf pile in our yard! She actually didn't like it all that much. This was a really lucky picture - I tickled her neck to get her to smile, a technique I learned from the photographer at Wal-Mart.















And last, here is another video of Willow's tricks. Some are repeats from the video a couple posts ago. I had to post it anyway because I love her newest trick of showing how old she is. :)

October already!

I don't really have time for a post today but thought I'd post a few photos from the past week.

19 months old

In contrast to last week's post, when I somehow barely had any photos of Willow, this post is all Willow. She's had a great couple weeks and has been eating really well. She was weighed again on Wednesday, and gained 3 ounces; she's now 18 pounds 3 ounces. Here's a little update on what else Willow has been up to:

Willow is getting more and more verbal. She definitely understands most of what is said to her, and her own vocabulary grows every day, thanks mostly to Linda. She says Linda's name now, pronouncing it "ya-ya". When she hears Linda's car pull up in the morning, she says "ya-ya" and looks towards the window. She loves her ya-ya. Other new words she says a lot are paper, eye, cheese, banana, spoon, bath, and all done. She still loves to sing and seems to always have a tune running through her head - it comes out when she's playing, or distracted; she'll rarely sing if you ask her to though. In addition to twinkle twinkle and Frere Jacques, she also sings B-I-N-G-O and three blind mice. She sings baa baa black sheep too, but it's the same tune as twinkle twinkle...though you can differentiate the words.

She's had two weeks now of her Music Together classes. They're pretty fun. She doesn't seem to notice or care much about the music so far though; she's too interested in watching the other kids. The first class we all had sticky name tags and that was her main goal of the night: to get the name tags off of everyone's shirt. The class is mostly older (3-4 years) boys; there is a 13-month old girl and a tiny baby boy who comes with his older brother. I think this class will be good. She doesn't get to see other kids very often. We also took Willow to a concert at the local library on a Monday night. Linda's friend Jess's band, Trees, was playing there. They are really good. Willow was mesmerized into silence for the first few songs, then she wanted to run around and wreak havoc, so we left after the first set. She was the only kid there. It was fun though; she got a lot of attention. :)

Willow still doesn't sleep all night. I guess that sounds crazy to most people and I'm a little embarrassed to admit it. I was sort of trying to night-wean her before she got sick over labor day, and we were doing pretty well. Then she got sick and all she wanted to do was nurse, plus I was so worried about her getting calories and she wouldn't eat any food, so I nursed her a lot, including at night. Now it's like we backtracked, and she is waking up 1 to 3 times a night again. It's not too bad, honestly. I barely notice or wake up most of the time. She'll stop when she wants to, I guess.

She went poop in the potty one time; it was mostly a fluke, I think. Linda caught her at the perfect moment. However, she does not like to have a wet or dirty diaper and pulls on the front or back of it to let us know it needs to be changed. I think that's a sign she'll be ready to start potty training soon.

Here is a video showing some of the tricks Linda taught her. She can also point to her hair, eye, knee and toes. I should've cut off the last bit of it...oh well.



Here are some photos from the past few weeks:

Big blue eyes:
















With Daddy after a bath:















Being silly:




















We got her this winter coat at a consignment sale. She has some growing to do...it's 18-month size.




















And finally, the new porch! It makes a great playroom, though it will be too cold in the winter. Josh and my dad did a great job on the floor.

Labor Day weekend trip to MN

Hello,

We ended our summer with a 4-day weekend trip to Duluth and Hastings. Unfortunately the trip was cursed with various misfortunes, from death to a sick baby to a skunk. Still, some fun was had.

We left work on Friday to head for Duluth. We spent the night at Sharon and Andy's, though it was a sad night because their friend had just died.

Then there was Willow. She was not being herself at all and was cranky, clingy (to Mom) and not eating much. The not eating worried us a little because of the whole failure-to-thrive thing.

Saturday morning, we got to see our friends from Jackson Hole, Mary and Amy, briefly. They were passing through on a cross-country road trip. Amy and I worked closely with each other in the good ol' JHMR human resources department..I miss it! Then we headed for Hastings. Willow was still not quite herself, but Sunday and Monday were the worst. She basically ate nothing those two whole days other than nursing. With help from Auntie Jill, FNP and three pharmacists, we diagnosed her as teething - she did have two bottom molars coming in that looked sort of painful. So we dosed her with baby tylenol and some Hyland's teething tablets. Those seemed to help a little. Sunday night she had a fever, puked, had some diarrhea, and by the afternoon on Monday we were close to bringing her to the hospital - she was limp, her eyes looked glassy and red, and I could have sworn she looked visibly skinnier. I was envisioning her wasting away until an ER trip which would end in a NG tube. I thought maybe a preemie eating aversion had manifested itself or something. Oh, and the skunking occured Sunday night - Scouty's 4th one this summer, I believe.

The good parts of the trip were seeing our friends and family - we also saw Mark and Amy Sunday night - and going to the State fair. Josh, aunt Jill, uncle Mike and I went on Saturday. It was very crowded, but we still had a great time. We saw Reggie, the biggest pig ever:















some huge pumpkins:
















and some butter sculptures.
















We ate a lot of greasy fair food:
















and rode a couple rides:
















Mike even won me a sweet stuffed monster. I wish I had taken a picture of it.



Monday night we celebrated Great-Grandma Lois's birthday.




















When we got home, I brought Willow to the doctor - on top of everything else she had a rash too. Turns out it probably wasn't teeth at all but just some sort of virus. the doctor predicted she'd be back to her regular self within a day, and she was. She's back to eating normally, thank god. She even gained a half-pound from the last time, though I can't understand how when she ate next to nothing for days. She was 18 pounds even.

The one of Willow with Lois was the only photo of Willow I had for the blog this time - I guess we weren't in the mood to take pictures with her so sad and all - so I just went up and snapped one while she naps. You can see here how her hemangioma is already almost gone. She naps in her crib on weekends.




















This weekend has been very chill. Just hanging out, getting stuff done...Josh and my dad are in the middle of remodeling our porch with paint and a hard wood floor:
















Maybe I'll have a photo of the finished product on the next post.