Just a few pictures

The month of September has been pretty uneventful as far as big, exciting things go. It is safe to say that we are settling in to a bit more of a routine and a feeling of normalness here in Bellingham. I think Kyle and I have both become much more familiar with Bellingham and are able to get around quite easily. Driving around different neighborhoods in the endless search for a house has helped with that!

We have found time for a few fun things though! We took a Labor Day hike to Point Whitehorn. It was a 3/4 mile fairly flat hike and then a trek down some steps to get to the 'beach' which was all big rocks. Both Annaliese and Elias walked/ran the whole trail, stopping only to look for woodpeckers, check out bugs, or gather sticks along the way. 

The rest of these are around the house or on small little outings we've done to get ourselves outside. 

 Annaliese fell and hit her head on the chair. She immediately asked for the icepack!

 Her new favorite way to get downstairs..."on my belly button" Don't worry...she usually turns around and goes feet first!

 Making cinnamon-raisin bagels

 At Fairhaven Park...Haleigh is sleeping in the stroller in the backgound; we went for a run before playing on the playground.

 Annaliese made lunch for me one day. She set the table all by herself and then got the yogurt out of the fridge and on the table. She then came and got me from the living room and said, "Mom, lunch is ready. We're having urgurt."

 After mine was all gone, she shared some of hers with me...it was pretty much adorable!

Haleigh and I making silly faces

While we've been having a good time at home together, Kyle has been out working every day. Apparently it's pretty exhausting...

6 Months!

Hard to believe that it was 6 months ago that we were in the hospital, meeting our little Haleigh-bear for the first time! She is growing so fast and changing so quickly! I have to remind myself to stop and cherish each moment!

 (yes, we are missing the 'o')

Sleeping: Well, Haleigh's sleeping habits have been all over the place. Ever since we moved, she hasn't slept as well. I never know what to expect- some nights she will go down around 9pm and sleep all night; other nights she wakes up somewhere between 11:30 and 3:00 and wants to eat and then will go back to sleep. Then there have been nights like last night. She was awake and not terribly happy for over 2 hours! Thank you Mama for wanting to cuddle with your granddaughter! Naps are equally unpredicatable. She usually goes down for a nap an hour and half after waking up. Sometimes she will take 2 good naps that are close to 2 hours each...and some days we end up with 3-4 45 minute naps. Oh well. We will just go with it for now and hope that she regulates herself eventually!
       She likes to sleep on her side, with her thumb in her mouth and her purple bunny in her other hand. However, she rolls over at some point because she always wakes up on her belly:)

Eating: We introduced solid foods about a week ago; Haleigh has been very interested in whatever we were eating for the past month, staring intently as we put food onto a fork and then proceeded to eat it. One night at dinner last week, Kyle decided it just wasn't fair and that she should be able to try something. Since we were having avocado, that's what we gave her. She wasn't so sure at first, but she definitely tolerates it just fine. Today I gave her some pumpkin puree and she seemed to like that as well. 

 

Annaliese was a good cheerleader:) She kept telling Haleigh, "Chew it Haleigh. Chew it." followed by, "Yea!! She's doing it!!" 

  

Teeth: Yes, we already have 2 teeth! The front bottom teeth have popped through. Definitely not a pleasant experience. I'm already dreading the other 18 (or however many there are.)

Clothing: Pretty everything we are wearing is 6 months. All of the 3-6 month stuff is now too small and I am ready to go pull the 9 month box of clothing out of storage. The 6 month pants are getting a bit tight. 

Likes: Eating food, being held, Sophie the giraffe, her purple bunny, watching Annaliese do anything, being outside, having her diaper changed, bathtime, sitting up on her own, her jump-thing.

Still working on balancing while sitting:)

Dislikes: Being ignored, getting teeth, Mom eating too much chocolate or garlic (hoping that one of those two things, in combination with teething, are the reason for a crabbier-than-normal little girl!)

Artist Point

Several weeks ago, we joined Auntie Kim, Uncle Thane, and Elias for a drive up to Artist Point. It is basically a parking lot at the end of the Mount Baker Highway that is only accessible for a few months every year because the rest of the year it is under snow. I read something that said it can get over 30 feet of snow/year and that the ski resort on this road has the longest ski season in the country because it usually gets so much snow!

Since the road was open and the sun was shining, we decided to check it out. From the parking lot are gorgeous views of Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan, as well as several different hikes. We decided to do the Chain Lakes Hike...we thought we were just doing a mile or two. It turned into somewhere between 5 and 6 miles! But the weather was beautiful and the girls did great!

 Auntie Kim and Bapa helping Annaliese and Elias throw rocks into the lake.

 Lunch Break...I carried Haleigh in the Ergo for most of the hike. Kim took over at the end. Haleigh got really hot and decided she was done hiking before we reached the end of the trail!

 Cousins!

 Uncle Thane, Auntie Kim, and Elias

 Bapa and Mama

Annaliese has talked for months about peeing outside, ever since she saw one of her friends at the Barn pee outside. I told her once she got really good at using the toilet, then she would be able to try peeing outside. Well...that time came on this hike! Kyle helped her pee in the great outdoors. She came running back to us yelling, "I did it! I did it!" and her pants only got a little bit wet:)

A little of this and a little of that

In between the blueberry picking, the tractor show, and the fair have been more normal days filled with the normal day-to-day activities that happen with a 2 1/2 year old in the house. That means lots of playtime outside, lots of singing ("Do you want to build a snowman?" and "Cinderelly") accompanied by 'dancing' and a few other outings to get us out of the house.

Last week we visited the Marine Life Center which has several salt water tanks; we were able to see an octopus, several sea cucumbers, sea anenomes and starfish. They also have a small touch pool; Auntie Kim and Elias came with us and she was able to convince Annaliese to touch a few of the different animals.

Auntie Kelsey and Mallory came too:) Checking out the octopus!

When we stick around the house, we find all kinds of fun things to keep us busy!

Haleigh loves having her diaper changed! And she has recently started eating her toes during this process! 

Hanging out with cousin Elias

Annaliese was super excited to help brush my hair this morning!

Using two mowers at once proved to be a bit more challenging than she expected!

We gathered pinecones to put in the back of her 'car.' Then she decided they were too dirty and needed to be washed. But after washing two of them, Annaliese didn't like that her hands were getting wet and dirty...so she decided the rest could wait until later!

Haleigh sitting out on the grass while we collected the pinecones...she is getting better and better at sitting up on her own!

Date night:)

That about sums up life according to my phone pictures:) We went on a gorgeous hike last weekend; hopefully I will get some of those pictures up soon. Those pictures were taken with the good camera:)