Thursday, December 31, 2009

Putting the Past Behind Us and Looking Forward

2009 was definitely a year filled with highs and lows. Highs including Lily's first birthday, an amazing trip to New England, some pretty wonderful weddings of some pretty phenomenal people, and beginning a new adventure in Japan. The lows came at the passing of two amazing grandmothers and a very scary stay in the hospital for Lily. It was a roller coaster and we're curious to see what 2010 has to offer.

Lily is starting to turn from a baby into a little girl. She's got more words and we keep talking about weaning her from the pacifier. If only that pacifier wasn't such a life saver in situations where she is a little off her normal game - late nights out with friends or airplane rides, for example. We have close friends here with daughters a year older than Lily and it's fun to look forward to what Lily will be like when she's Avi's or Isabella's age. She definitely has some personality!

Andy is currently down in Sasebo diving under the ships of war and helping to ready them for smooth transport across the waters. He's having such a different experience from the last time he worked with this crew and that's largely because of the new guys on the team and those who have moved on. And quite possibly in part because he has a different relationship with his boss. Andy would likely consider him a friend now as opposed to "the big guy who yells a lot on the barge." We're all looking forward to him being home again and getting to spend his days with Lily. Now that she made the move from 2 naps down to one, maybe they can get out a bit more for some sight seeing.

And then there's me. I'm plugging away at my new job as a kindergarten teacher for DoDDS and having a blast as I do so. Every new school is a challenge, but with a 1.25 years of DoDDS experience and 2 years of Bertschi Pre-K experience, I definitely feel like I've got the tools needed for the job. Now to add to that tool box! I think a Master's program might just be in my future. And then there's also the inevitable question of when will Lily get a little brother or sister. Andy's been gunning for another "squawker" for a while now and I'm both trying to plan to the school year, trying to allow Lily a little time as the only child, and wanting a gap big enough so Lily can be a "little helper" when the new baby comes along. We see friends with kids close in age and they just look TIRED! Happy, certainly, but definitely tired. 2 1/5 years might be enough of a gap...

Enough of my rambling. Until later!

Who needs R&R...

when you can have S&S! At least that's what Lily seemed to think while we were down in Sasebo visiting Andy for Christmas. During the day, while Andy was off diving with his old team and cleaning up the Navy ships, Lily and I would wander. I had a pretty ambitious list of places to go and things to see while we were there. Some of the list was accomplished and some was deemed overrated. Overrated was the 2-4 hour trips to neighboring areas like Nagasaki. Completely do-able were the short bus rides out to the zoo and aquarium or the morning sightseeing trips with the Outdoor Rec. Some days we would head out the gate with great intentions only to spend a couple of hours at the park. Hence R&R turning into S&S - clearly referring to...

SLIDING and...

SWINGING.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Dancing Queen?


We've been up to a lot of moving and shaking since our last post. So much movement pushed me off of the blogging wagon. Not to worry! This is the start of life where we are right now. The video is from the Halloween party at the Purdy Gym here in Yokosuka. Lily has always loved music and is now singing in the car whenever we go places. And, since she's getting more and more confident on her feet, she's gotten into bouncing to the beat. Updates on the past few months will come soon.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Monday, June 29, 2009

June Highlights


Lily figured out how to pull herself up to her feet this month and now spends more time on her feet than on her back side. We're thankful that she hasn't quite learned to walk on her own yet, because she's already got us on our toes with how quickly she crawls off and gets into things. Before we know it, she's got all her books strewn across the floor and is working to take more off the bookshelf.

Highlights from the month include a wonderful gift that arrived from our family/friends in Switzerland. Thanks Claire and Donna for the great hat and the wonderful robe. They're absolutely perfect!


We had a fun filled day with Grandma and Grandpa Reich at the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium. Can you see the polar bear and the puffins? I had forgotten how nice that zoo is. It's much smaller than the Woodland Park Zoo and much easier to get around. No, there aren't as many animals to see, but is that really all that bad?

Our camping trip should probably have a blog entry all its own and if you want to hear more about it, I'm happy to oblige. But, for now, the highlights... We spent the first day hiking a 3.4 mile trail out to Alava camp site at the northern point of the Ozette Triangle on the Olympic Peninsula. We arrived before anyone else and had our pick of the camp sites. Once the tent was all set up and the food was hanging high out of raccoon reach, we stepped out onto the beach and did some exploring. The tide pools there gave us glimpses at a few baby crab, but that was about it. Luckily there was something much more interesting about a mile south along the beach: petroglyphs! The indians who had lived along this beach made carvings into the stones. These were the easiest to see:

The rest were hiding up in the rocks around this one. We saw carvings of fish and coyotes, too. That night we tried getting to sleep early as we had more hiking to do the next day. Lily was so excited to be in a tent between the two of us that it probably took her a solid hour and a half at least to fall asleep. She LOVED that tent! We eventually went to sleep with the sound of sea lions barking away on one of the rock islands just off shore. The next morning we hiked out, drove down to the Hoh Rainforest, and hiked in to the 5 Mile Island camp. We were better prepared with all the fixings for s'mores! Andy claims that he hadn't ever really toasted marshmallows. It's hard to believe. I'm wondering about his memory. Our original plan was to camp two nights there, but, after just one night of Lily waking at 3:30 screaming her head off and waking all of our tenting neighbors, we decided to pack out the next morning. On the hike out we came across a herd of elk that were amazing to see. Lily was transfixed. These were much more interesting than the bunny, deer, and pheasants we had seen. These crazy animals hopped through the forest! The next night we "camped" at Grandma and Grandpa Reich's house in Grayland. It was great to have an unexpected visit. Lily finally got over her fear of grass and also got a few doggie kisses as a reward.

Just this past weekend we had a house guest! Cousin Andrew flew over to spend a few days with us and kindly provided us with an excuse to do a few touristy things we had been wanting to do, but probably wouldn't have done otherwise. We started with a baseball game. It was Andrew's 1st and Lily's 5th. Ichiro started the game with a home run and the home team never gave up their lead. The next day, after Lily's swim lesson, we went downtown to the Seattle Underground Tour. Very fun, but Lily and Andy ended up leaving early. She hadn't napped much that day and was a bit cranky. Oh well! That night we had a blast with our friends Matt, Big Lily, Jonathan, Michelle, Vanessa, Chris, Emma, and Camden. Big Lily and I were celebrating our birthdays as we did together last year. It was great to have the Kaspareks there to join us! Chris and Michelle ran the Rock and Roll half marathon the next day. The next day, before Andrew was scheduled to fly home to Spokane, we squeezed in a trip to the U District farmer's market and then to the Museum of Flight. Thanks Andrew for coming over for a few days! It was great having you here!

Back to that swim lesson... Lily is a bit of a chicken when it comes to water. She's gotten better, but it's still not her favorite thing. So, Lisa and I decided to put our two little tots in swim lessons over at Evans Pool by Greenlake. The class is only a half hour long and consists of a few little songs and mostly time to wade around and get your little one comfortable in the water in a safe environment surrounded by other parent-child duos. I admit, she cried when we first walked down into the pool, but she got more and more comfortable as the lesson went on. By the end she was actually smiling!

This brings us to yesterday! Lily and I drove out to Remlinger Farm right after her morning nap to spend a few hours with our friends the Thompson's. Kristie and I met on the very first day of kindergarten and have been friends ever since. Now we're able to get our own little girls together for play dates and yesterday was a great one! Remlinger Farm is more than just a u-pick strawberry patch. They also have a small amusement park for young kids. Pony rides. A big slide. A little roller coaster. A train ride past the emu, angus bull, and llamas. It was great! Lily and Zoe even rode one of the rides all by themselves!

Okay! Now you're all caught up. Well, almost. I still need to catch you up on something from May. Over Memorial Day weekend Andy's cousin Sam (some of you may remember him as the man who gave the really long toast at our wedding) got married to Neala. It was a beautiful weekend in Moscow, ID. The wedding ceremony was held on the mountain where Sam grew up and the reception was held over in Pullman, WA (where Neala grew up) on the WSU campus. For pictures click here.

Flash back

I just a little over a week the Bug is going to be a whole year old. It's a little hard to believe that at this time last year I had a watermelon for a belly and I was not only getting ready for Lily to arrive, but getting ready to spend the 4th of July with some of my closest friends from college: the Ta-Ta's. I had originally hoped that Lily would come and all the girls would get to meet her before they headed back to their corners of the country. As it turned out a few of the girls were still in town to see her.

This year we're heading east for the 4th and will be flying home on Lily's birthday. I've got a special birthday shirt to wear in honor of the day and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want the stewards on the plane to take notice. I'll post more from our week east when we get back.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Take Me Out to the Ball Game... Again!


So, we might seem a bit obsessed. Last weekend we packed up and went to two of the three Mariners vs Red Sox games here at lovely Safeco Field. Unfortunately the games were set to begin about 10 minutes after Lily is usually in bed. Oh, well. Priorities! She held it together for most of the Friday game, but after a homerun was hit into the stands just two sections down, Lily decided for us that it really was okay to head home in the 7th inning. The next night was much better. She got to sleep in and enjoy her Saturday morning in leisure. And, we got to see friends for the game!

We met up with the Kaspareks to cheer on the Sox. Everyone was decked in in some sort of Sox gear. Well, all except Andy. I melted his favorite hat on our kerosene heater back in Japan and he is yet to find a hat he likes quite as much.
Not only did we get to enjoy the game with friends, but we took a small walkabout and visited cousins Sam and Ted and family who were all there to enjoy the game with an aunt and uncle from out of town. Yes, that is Lily trying out her very first french fry. Then, we headed down and said hello to my friend Michelle who's husband just happened to throw out the first pitch of the night. I'm still not sure how he got that gig, but am definitely envious. It was one heck of a weekend!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

This is the first attempt at using the video option on the new camera. As you can see, Lily already has her papa's fancy dancing skills. Shake that bootie!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's Day

It has been an absolutely delightful Mama's Weekend here in apartment J. To start, Lily is continuing to sleep all the way through the night, something she started the night of her last doctor visit. The doctor mentioned sleep training and gave us his tough love speech and Lily heard and heeded his words. Andy and I both woke up at 4am and looked at each other with a big smile. We didn't have to use the tough love. She did it all on her own! Every once in a while she'll wake up, but she's learned how to put herself back to sleep without us ever needing to get out of bed. Yahoo! Back to Mother's Day antics... After Lily's morning nap yesterday, Andy stole her away for a quick errand. I picked them up downtown after their secret mission was completed and we were off to the zoo for Mom and Me day. Yes, it was crowded. Yes, it was a mad house. Yes, Lily missed her afternoon nap. But it was still a lot of fun to walk amongst all the other families with our friends Brandon, Lisa, and Evelyn beside us. Evelyn and Lily are only 3 months apart and watching them grow up together is a real treat. After checking out the brand new penguin habitat, we headed straight for the carousel. I think it was my favorite part of the day. Watching Lily's reaction as we started spinning was great. She wasn't quite sure what was going on, but everything was going by so fast! She held on tight and tried to take it all in.

We all had a wonderful early dinner at Yanni's Greek Restaurant and a wonderful, warm, sunny walk through the Phinney Art Walk. Then we hopped in our cars to head home for a relaxing evening.

This morning I got up early with Lily and, after her breakfast, the three of us headed down to our local Starbucks for a hot cup of coffee and a snack before Andy had to head off to work. Lily handed me a little green box that they had gotten on their super secret mission the day before. Inside was a beautiful silver necklace with Lily's birth stone, a ruby, hanging delicately it the center. Awww.... After struggling to put it on and take off the necklace Andy had got me for our first wedding anniversary, it fit perfectly. Now Andy is off at work, Lily is napping after a fun filled walk around the freshly re-opened Broadway Farmer's Market, and I am still smiling about the call I just received from my family back in Switzerland. Hopefully Andy will make it home in time for dinner. Shall we have pork loin or fresh clams?

Saturday, May 9, 2009

10 Months!



And we've just updated a few photo albums. Andy shared some more photos which I have added to albums 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9. Have fun going back through the pictures!

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Boosting Spirits



I know I'm in for it when I hear Andy squeal from behind the computer. Every once in a while, in an effort to lift his spirits or just for fun, Andy will randomly searches the internet for camera gear, flights to far off places, paintings,... You get the idea. Well, today, during Lily's afternoon nap, he was at it again. I heard a "YAHOO!" come from the bedroom. Andy had found tickets on top of the Green Monster in Fenway for a steal! And they were for a game against the Seattle Mariners the day after a wedding we had been invited to in Maine. Now, a mere hour and a half later, we have those tickets, plane tickets, hotels and rental car reservations, and plans to see friends and party down in lovely New England. Lily will be celebrating the morning of her first birthday on a flight back from Boston. Andy is now calling everyone he knows that might have any interest in the Red Sox and spinning around the house. In his words, he's "over the moon!"

Goodbye Great Grandma


Yesterday, at about 3pm in Spokane, Andy's grandmother passed away just a few months shy of her 100th birthday. She was blessed in her life with two wonderful children, four loving grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren. I would write more, but words are failing me now.

Friday, April 10, 2009

The Numbers Are In


Lily and I just walked in the door after a fun day of shopping with our friends Lisa and Evie followed by a quick visit to the doctor's office for Lily's 9 month well baby visit. As I mentioned before, my favorite part of these visits is finding our her "stats" and promptly writing them down in her record book. This month, Lily measured 15 pounds, 10 ounces and is still riding the growth scale at the 5th percentile. She measures 27.5 inches and is back up to the 50th percentile there. Then -the one that kills me- they measured her head at 45.5 centimeters or the 90th percentile. Look back to the last post. Do you think she looks top heavy? Maybe it's all the hair? The girl does have quite a mullet! My mom laughed out loud when I told her the measurements and commented that she's growing exactly like I did as a baby. I clearly caught up with the norm.

Well, it's time for me shovel down a quick bite since Lily has already had her dinner and is now ready for a bath and bed. Goodnight all! We love ya'!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Can you believe it?


Today Lily is officially 9 months old. We're going in to see Dr. Fukura (her pediatrician) on Friday for her check up and latest dose of shots. My favorite part of the visit is seeing the nurse's measurements of how much our babe has grown and where she measures up on the growth scale. Will she still be in the 5th percentile for weight? She sure seems heavy to me! Will she measure into the 25th percentile for length again or will she drop down a bit? Whatever the numbers tell us, she measures up to just right.

Things That Ooze


Lily has been pretty lucky so far to have gone through an entire winter without any semblance of a cold. Andy was sick for about a month and I had a pretty nasty long weekend, but the Bug has been healthy... until now. The waterfall of ooze I see so often trailing down under the noses of my students I now see in my own home. She's got a great attitude about it until we try to wipe her nose. She finds that to be a terrible nuisance. And I've noticed that it makes holding on to her pacifier while she naps a bit more difficult. Poor girl sounds like a little pot bellied pig snorting away as she tries to breathe through her nose. With any luck the snot faucet will be turned off soon and her once relatively clean upper lip will be slime free yet again. Of course, we're starting to see the beginning signs of her first teeth including actually seeing those two lower front teeth through the gums. So, not all that oozes will be gone in the near future. And, hopefully the ooze will be the worst of the teething woes. Fingers crossed!

Thanks!

Lily has just gone through yet another growth spurt. Her sleep habits slipped and her pants turned into high waters all in one foul swoop! Luckily she is getting back to her previously programmed sleeping. On the clothes front, we are also in good shape and I must thank my friends for this. Thank you so much to all of you who have given Lily new clothes to grow into be they new or new to us. WE LOVE HAND-ME-DOWNS!! Lily has been spotted in outfits previously worn by Emma or Camden Kasparek, Meg Corsi, Zoe Thompson, and Madeline Meyers. It is so nice to have so many great outfits ready to pull out of our bins under the bed and slide right into Lily's dresser. Of course, thank you, too, Grandma and Grandmommie for the beautiful new duds. Lily is one well dressed little tot!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Hippie Inside

While I was pregnant, I daydreamed about taking Lily through the local farmers market. Yes, there is a bit of liberal hippie in me. I live in Seattle. What can I say? Well, the trips to the local market don't happen every weekend, but last weekend we managed to get over to the U District Farmers Market and picked up tasty local apples, cheese, squash, root veggies,... That afternoon, while I was cooking up some apples, Lily wasn't content on the floor and wanted to be a part of the action.

She had the greatest time gnawing away on that piece of apple.

Friday, February 27, 2009

A Bird's Eye View

Well, it might not exactly be a bird's eye view, but, now that she can sit up, the world is even more interesting!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

More pictures!

I've just updated the links to Lily's photo albums. Check 'em out and see what fun we've been up to. Yes, Lily did meet the Cat in the Hat and went on a fun filled trip to the Woodland Park Zoo. She also took her first trip up to Crystal Mountain ski resort where my dad gave her his old snow suit which she happily slipped on for pictures in the snow. Our Bug is also sitting up on her own now and loving her fruit and oatmeal. Veggies are not quite as yummy, but they're growing on her.

Sleep, Glorious Sleep

On January 8th Lily became 6 months old. She got to try solid foods, was perfecting her rolling technique, and was about to reach another growth spurt. We had one night with a blissful 8 hour stretch of sleep and then it started going down hill. We had moved her into the Pack n Play and out of the moses basket. Maybe it was just an adjustment to the new bed? Or maybe she's ready to move on from swaddling? I held on firmly to our friend, Anne's words: "Everything is a phase and they will go into another one soon enough." Part of me enjoyed the extra quiet time with the bug, but on some of those up-almost-every-hour nights I longed for just a 3 hour stretch.

This week I was on mid-winter vacation from school and figured this would be our week for serious sleep training. I would try to keep her in bed and not move her to the swing part way through the night. First step was getting a crib. We had a few offers of cribs we could either borrow or have. Andy called cousin Ted and asked if he could drop the boys' old crib off on his way home from work. He did two steps better and brought along a mattress and bedding and put it together in our living room. Thanks Tacoma Warren-Christensen Family!

That night Lily was in no way interested! I eventually put her down in the swing after a few attempts at the crib fully planning to put her in the crib after her first nightly wake. She lasted a little over an hour in the crib before I gave up and went back to the swing. The next night would be better!

The next two nights she slowly spent more time in the crib and less in the swing. Then yesterday Andy suggested maybe we take down the swing. Can you imagine the look he got?

Andy has yet to experience the full brunt of one of these sleepless nights. He tries to help when he can and I appreciate everything he does when he can. However, with his job, having a bad night of sleep is actually dangerous. The less rested he is, the easier it is for him to get the bends and be sent to Virginia Mason Hospital to spend the next day in their hyperbaric chamber. He's already been sent there once this year and we don't want it to happen again. So, on nights where he'll be working the next day and needs to be well rested, he takes a sleeping pill and puts in his ear plugs while I handle the night duty. Most nights aren't really that bad. She's just had a rough few weeks.

Until last night, that is! The work toward staying the entire night in her crib paid off big! Yesterday I put her down for all her naps in the crib and even put her in there to play while I ran up and down to the basement to do laundry. Then, at 7, I started getting her ready for bed. A story or two. A nice long bath. Swaddle. Vitamins. Milk. Then down in the crib. Lights off. Mozart on. I went into the bedroom to put away laundry and get myself ready for the night. Andy got home an hour later. I fell asleep and woke on my own at 4:30am! Lily hadn't cried out once! I laid there for a few minutes and hoped she was still alive. Do I dare risk going out to check and possibly waking her up? You bet! I wouldn't have been able to go back to sleep otherwise. I crept out, put my hand on her chest, and... Hallelujah!! I snuck back to bed and was woken only by Andy's alarm. He had to get ready for work at 6:30. Lily woke as Andy was getting ready for his day, but that's when I'd be getting her up during the week anyhow. With any luck we'll have a repeat performance tonight!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Bug's First Christmas


We originally wondered if we'd be able to get down to the beach to spend the holiday with my parents and brother. The snow and ice had made travel here in Seattle pretty nasty. With Andy's determination we headed west just as soon as he got off work the night before Christmas Eve. We made it down without problem and Lily was able to sleep most of the way. We had a feeling that grandma and grandpa might want to snuggle with her a bit before we put her to bed at their house.

She managed about an hour of cuddles and then we whisked her upstairs to sleep in her moses basket in my old room. Mom had to work Christmas Eve and my brother, Matt was driving over the mountains from Boise, Idaho where he is currently working on a project for work. He really can't turn down the per diem pay so he's been doing a lot of traveling for work this past year. Anyhow, with them not around the house, Lily had some grandpa time. Eventually mom was released from work early and Matt made it safely to the harbor.

Christmas Eve dinner was a feast of salmon and family. Lily got into her new holiday jammies and eventually made it to sleep. The next day was a whirlwind of food, gifts, and holiday jolliness. Lily got the royal Reichenberger treatment. She now has her very own rifle, flannel shirt, and rocking horse. She also got three great new stuffed animals: a polar bear, a reindeer, and a mammoth. Andy got wool socks and cast iron. I got rain gear so I won't get too soaked as I ride my bike to work. The day was a great success.
Grandma loved her new boots and Grandpa and Uncle Matt were looking forward to trying out their "seasonal beverages." It was a fabulous holiday, but the thing we learned was that babies' usual routine goes right out the window during the holidays. Luckily they are resilient and relearn routines in just a couple days. We wouldn't have done it any other way.