Behold, the chair!

After much searching and test-sitting, a compromise was made, and the chair I liked the most was purchased.

(Ken gets to pick out the sofa and love seat when we save up more money.)

Yeah!  Cross one more thing off my to-do list before the baby comes.

18-Months and growing

• Amelia is now old enough to go to nursery at church; she seems okay with it, but we'll have to see how she does when Ken isn't there the whole time.
• Amelia loves vegetables.  The other night I had to bribe her with green beans to get her to eat her chicken.  She will also ask for all the mushrooms I have once she has eaten the mushrooms in her entree.
• Books I have read suggest that by this point, the morning nap disappears and they just have 1 afternoon nap.  Amelia is just the opposite.  Her morning naps keep getting longer and she fights taking an afternoon nap, even though I still need an afternoon nap.
• At 22 lbs she has finally reached the 25% for weight for her age group.
• Her first vocal word is "yep" or "uh-huh".  She continues to add more signs to her vocabulary every day and Ken heard her say "Daddy" today.
• Her pediatrician saw a molar trying to break through, but I haven't had to deal with a grumpy girl, so it must not be hurting her too much.
• She loves to push the cart at the store, rather than ride in it and often gets comments about what a great little helper she is.
• She "reads" stories to herself by signing what she sees in the pictures.
• Amelia loves to help me with whatever I'm doing - putting laundry in/out of the washer/dryer, putting pillows on the bed, etc.
• She has mastered kissing (complete with kissing noises), and kisses everything - the car doors, her stuffed animals, the refrigerator.
• Amelia loves to stop and smell the flowers - real, silk, or on paper.

Random Thoughts

• I'm almost finished with Amelia's Christmas stocking, but I'm burned out from working on it and have little desire to finish it.
• Still chair shopping; Ken and I can't agree one.  I'm tempted to just go buy what I want and apologize afterwards ;)
• 7 weeks to go and I am SO not ready for this baby.  I'm ready for it to be out of me, but there are so many things I need to do (not just want to do) before the baby comes, and I have no momentum to do more than the basics.
• Another week of hot temperatures.  I can't wait for the rain!
• We have a ton of green tomatoes, but none of them seem to be ripening - even with all the heat/ sun we've had lately.  When they do ripen, they'll probably all get ripe at once.
• Ken has started looking at houses to buy; not that we're ready to buy yet, he just wants to see what's out there.  Me - it's too overwhelming; kind of like researching the new car we can't yet afford. 

Labor Day Weekend

Ken kept saying that we needed to get more toys for Amelia, and I kept telling him he had to do it, because I didn't want to (for various reasons) . . . so he came home with this (and a few other items).  And everyone is happy (even if they don't look completely happy in the picture).

We went to Portland for Labor Day weekend.  We were able to do a session at the temple - thank you to the Bullocks, who babysat Amelia.  And then we went with the Bullocks to the Lake Oswego Farmers Market.  The best part was watching Amelia play in the fountains, but sadly, we forgot our camera, so you'll just have to imagine how cute/ fun that was.


On Sunday, we went to Cannon Beach for the day.  It was about ten degrees cooler than it was in Portland, so it was a beautiful day - just right for sitting on the beach and watching people play in the water.

 "Dad, here comes the wave."

 "I don't need any help; I've got this wave."

 "Whatcha doin', Dad?  Digging a hole for me?"

 "I think it needs to be just a big bigger."

"Just right!"

And on Monday, we went to visit Ken's mom.  Amelia found a bowl of rocks, of all shapes and sizes, with water in it, and thought it was the best toy.

She also found a ball that Grandma had, and had fun playing with it with her Daddy.

 Thanks to everyone - we had a great, labor-free, weekend!

Miss Independent

This week, Amelia has demonstrated her independence . . . or at least made a valiant effort to be independent.  She:

* put on one shoe, correctly, by herself.

* has almost mastered drinking from a big cup . . . as long as there isn't much liquid in the cup, and the said liquid is only water ;)

* put on shorts by herself, and only ended up with both legs in the same leg hole a few times.

* is getting better with the fork, but has yet to master the spoon, where everything falls off when you turn the spoon upside down.

* has really gotten the hang of drinking from a straw.

* put on sunglasses by herself - but mostly they ended up looking like this.

Chair Shopping

• According to the 27-year old salesman, "all" women have a hard time with recliners.  I don't know about all women, but I do know that I am recliner challenged and foresee it to be even more challenging with a baby in my arms.
• The power recliners they have are pretty sweet, and would definitely solve my recliner issues.
• I don't know that I really want a recliner though.  They seem so big and bulky.
• According to the older saleswoman, "most" women prefer a glider rocker.  I think I'd rather have a rocker than a recliner, but a glider rocker is NOT what I'm looking for.
• I found the chair I like; it rocks, but it doesn't look like a rocking chair or a recliner.  The only problem: Ken doesn't like it because it doesn't come in leather.
• I say we get the 10-year guarantee stain-guard on the chair and call it good.
• Ken says I should keep looking.
• Oh, and the couch he likes: it's not available at Costco anymore, so that's not an option either.

Randomness

• Is it right that I'm jealous of Amelia's new crayons?  Thank goodness school supplies are so cheap right now; I've got to go get some of my own.
• It rained here yesterday, which was a welcome relief from the 89 F Sunday.  I don't do heat . . . and especially when I'm pregnant.
• Amelia has started the tantrum throwing stage - sometimes I can cut them off before they get bad, and sometimes we both have to suffer through.
• I know I'm pregnant and not fat, but I feel fat . . . and I still have 2 months to go.
• I taught my last Sunbeam lesson on Sunday.  Months ago I resented being moved from the 10-year olds to Sunbeams, but Sunday I felt a bit sad about it being my last week with the 3-year olds.
• I'm going shopping for a new chair today.  I'm hoping to find one that isn't too big or too small or too fluffy or not fluffy enough.  Ken is hoping I can't find a chair I like so that we can buy the cool couch he likes ;)
• Amelia has figured out how to buckle her buckle on her highchair, even moving her fingers so that they don't get pinched . . . but she gets mad when she can't unbuckle it.