What? I've been keeping up

It's so sad that blogging has kind of become a drudge-fest. My news now comes from Facebook and pinterest and the very few blogs that I know still update regularly - and I usually know that because they post it on Facebook. Its sad because blogging really is a better entity for writing. And not just because you can post more words - blogging just flows better and makes more sense. Blogging may be more formulaic, but you can have a beginning, middle and end with a blog post - not so much with Facebook. It also doesn't rely on other people's comments to make a masterpiece. Some of the best Facebook posts are not in the post themselves, but are in the comments - blogging stands alone, even when there are comments that are dissenting.

So, do I want to bring blogging back? In a way, yes, but I also love the comraderie of facebook. Blogging seems so very isolated compared to the expansiveness of social media - but it also seems more personal. I think it is a shift that is going to happen whether we like it or not, and I suppose I am not one to go kicking and screaming since I've become a willing participant in the newer thang . . . but I'm a little sad.

This blog has become a bit of a journal, a bit of therapy and a bit of voyerism and I have a feeling I will post here every so often just to prove that I can. Come along for the ride if you like - or just find me on facebook.

Another update

We've been busy here. John's work schedule has changed significantly in the past couple of months. He is working more and has more days he is on-call. He's also working graveyard shifts a lot more - so we get to see him a lot more during the day. Working this way has its advantages, but it has its yucky parts, too. Right now we are simply grateful for a job and we are trying our best to be positive about things that are not in our control.

Like teething . . . Here are two pictures I took of Zoe, two nights in a row. She was miserable and just wanted mommy to hold her till she fell asleep. I was thinking how fleeting this time is in her life and how I was one day going to look back and cherish this cuddle time. Even if it was far too late and I was tired, too, I scooped her up and we cuddled until her warm body gave way to a fitfull sleep. Two nights of that and she sprouted four new molars, and I'm sure there are at least two more waiting to make their appearance. Poor dear must have been in some significant pain.

On a positive note, we love our backyard! It is so much more usable and happy and Zoe especially likes going outside and exploring the terrain. We are getting significantly more usage out of our sidewalk chalk, bubbles and kites. I take my morning walk around the backyard (30 times around is a mile) while Zoe happily plays. I won't be able to do that for much longer because of the heat, but we will find something else we can do to stay active.

Life is good. Not always perfect, but good.

Repenting

I have been a very bad blogger. For this I apologize. I got a tablet for Christmas and I haven't yet figured out how to blog from it. I just need to get on the computer every once in a while, but I feel so caught up when I go onto facebook and pinterest and I sometimes don't feel the need to catch up on my blogs anymore. Such is the way with social media, I suppose, but this is still a good spot to catch everyone up on my life.

Here's the goings on . . .

We're putting in a backyard . .

This is just two of the three berms that we have in the backyard. The path will actually go between these two and there will be a large circular pad of concrete on the other side of the left berm.

Phase 1 - 10 tons of dirt, six boulders, transplanting some agaves from the front yard to the backyard.
Phase 2 - Concrete. A lot of tons of it. We're extending our porch and making a huge path to the pool and around the yard so the kids can ride their bikes/scooters/strollers around. It will be meandering. It will be precious.
Phase 3 - Plants. We have them ordered and the nursery will be coming in and digging the holes and planting the cacti, shrubs and four trees. All low water, low maintenance and pretty.
Phase 4 - Water/Electricity. We will be putting in a drip irrigation system along with some lighting around the pool and possibly around the path.
Phase 5 - Rock. 40 tons of it. Most of it a coppery tan. We will be using about 10 tons of Rip-Rap in a chocolatey brown to accent things.

You may have noticed I didn't say anything about grass. We honestly don't ever want to own a lawnmower again, so we are very happily putting in desert scaping. It will be lovely.

We have a very large backyard for this part of Arizona and we knew this was going to be expensive when we started, but we feel it will be worth it and that we will get so much more use out of our backyard. Our good friend Emily drew up the plans for our backyard and we couldn't be happier about what she recommended. We were clueless as to what to do and she guided us to look for things we never would have.

We are hoping to have this all done before it gets too hot so we can have a big barbeque. I'm still trying to find some porch furniture on Craigslist - I'm at least hoping there is something that can be inexpensive in all of this.

That's the big news - other than that, we're just swimming along and watching our redheads grow too fast. Zoe is finally saying more words - she says Mama, Dada, Duck (for anything with a feather - pigeons or rubber ducks), dog, nana (banana), sssss (shoes), sis (sister), nannie (Annie), night-night and book. She doesn't repeat a lot of what we ask her to, but she's beginning to understand that words have meaning. She will also point to her belly, her ears and her nose if you ask her to. She'll give high fives and knuckles, too. It's a very exciting time.

I'll try to post more often and I'll try to get more pictures of my girls. They are so pretty and so amazing. I really do love being a mom.

Whatcha gonna do?

We have a fancy toy that she can walk with. It makes noise and has buttons and it's the perfect height for her to be able to walk with. She refuses to use it as anything but a noisy toy. But the diaper box - the one that I left in the hallway so that I would see it and throw it away - that's the thing she decides to get up and go on. Hilarious.

Zoe is one!

We started out with some presents - lots of balls (which she loves) and a very happy Zoe.

Then we moved onto the smash cake. I love the look of apprehension on her little face. What do you want me to do with this?

She quickly got the concept.

And happily she smashed. . . .

 . . . and ate a little . . .

. . . and utterly destroyed. Can you see the little specs of frosting and cake on  her chair and the window behind her. But who wouldn't put up with a little cleaning for a look at that smiling face? 

We love you Zoe! Can't believe it's already been a year since you came into our lives. We just didn't know how lonely we were without you! You bring such spunk and happiness to our lives.

Big one year milestones - she's crawling for reals (no longer doing her speedy army crawl) and getting up and into everything. She weaned onto a sippy cup and is drinking whole milk like a champ. She's much less apprehensive of new people and has even been successfully babysat for a night so that mom and dad could get out. She says "mama" "dada" "bye-bye" and still babbles a bunch. She loves the book "Fuzzy, Fuzzy, Fuzzy" by Sandra Boynton and still loves, loves, loves her big sister even though she's still a bit rough with her.

I know, I know

I'm a bad, bad blogger. I admit it. I've been terrible about recording things lately, and it's made me a little sad. It's not for lack of desire - I have a constant need to record and preserve my memories. I want to say that it is because I am so busy, but someone asked me what was new in my life and I just said "I'm keeping a baby alive," which takes a lot of time, but not near as much as I want to believe it does.

So here's a bunch of pictures for the five people who regularly come to my site and look around. I figure this will have to do for right now. 

11 months of amazingness. I just found her sitting up in her crib after her nap today - pretty soon she'll be crawling out and making me get a few more grey hairs. Right now, she's just cuter than anything. She loves pat-a-cake, smiling, taking off her headbands, crawling on her belly so that she gets dirty by the end of the day and eating everything in sight.

Annie loves to read to Zoe and Zoe loves, loves, loves being read to by Annie. This time, it started out very civil, but ended up a little discombobulated. 

Annie has a big project due next Wednesday that involved a craft project. She loved being able to use all my craft supplies and papers. It's projects like this that help her to be a little more independent and a little more focused. I wish all of her homework was like this.

Zoe's Photo Bomb

I have cute redheaded babies. I figured I needed to take Zoe's 10 month picture when she's at her cutest - in the tub. She loves the tub and gets excited every time I turn on the faucet.

She is happiest when she is warm and wet. She will splash and play until the water turns cold.

This was a day that I decided to just cut up an avocado and let Zoe go at it on her own. The avocado won. I think we found avocado in her ear, on her forehead. This is why she gets a bath just about every day.

My good friend, Rebecca, made this pretty dress for Annie when she was about a year old. Zoe fits into it now and it was a fun experiment to see how similar Annie and Zoe look. From what I can see, Zoe's cheeks are a little more defined and their noses are different, but you can definitely tell they are sisters.

Annie at about a year old