Look at me now.

One year ago, visiting Nana & Pappi in Seattle, she was four months exactly. And, today, she's a big ole 16-month-old. How does that happen?

We celebrated by taking the little one to the Minnesota State Fair. I mean, you can't get more Minnesota than that, I don't think. We're hoping that our two hours there will entitle us to our own personal lake, the lake we thought they handed you upon buying a house here, the lake of which we've been waiting to claim ownership for two months now. I'll keep you posted. But for now, some State Fair highlights. One of them was NOT waiting 30 minutes in line in the car just to park, but one of them (for Ron) WAS the [filthy] fried Snickers. Yes, I did say fried.


Next year we're taking Al on the giant potato sack slide thing. This year she was happy to see brand new baby piggies and one-day-old lambs, all nursing, thankyouverymuch. (Not sure if she got that, though!) But I digress...on with the rest of the highlights!

This makes me happy.

Just this.

27:12.

That was our stellar time for the 5K we ran on Saturday. Mind you, it's no Amy Shertzer (fyi: the top female 10K time was thirty-two-something-crazy), but it was a fun run around Lake Nokomis.

We strapped Alla into the jogger and gave her a graham cracker. As soon as we crossed the start line, this is what we found.



The first attempt at getting someone to take our picture didn't go well.



Luckily the random person we picked to do it post-race was a little more aware of keeping such important things as noses in the viewfinder. The race finished on the 'beach' of this lake, which also had a park overlooking the water. Not quite as cool as Veteran's Park but you take what you get, so we got Alla in the swing, which was really overshadowed by the gazillion airplanes that flew over. We must have heard the word 'airplane' about 50 times in 10 minutes.

Ten on Tuesday.

Inspired by Susie, I'm doing Ten on Tuesday today. Can't commit to every Tuesday, but I'm glad Susie has. (You have, right, Suz?) Cause sometimes I have ten random things to say.

1. Alla woke up with the drippies: drippy eyes, nose, and drool.

2. The dishwasher guy didn't have to come out after all. He called before he was to show up (and charge me $65), told me to push HI TEMP WASH-HEATED DRY-HI TEMP WASH-HEATED DRY, and sure enough the darn thing reset itself. I am giddy, I tell you. You would never know that I am only 6 weeks into owning a dishwasher. Using a real plate for dinner tonight - thrilling.

3. Today I finished my mango from Costco. Yum. If I were rich I'd buy a pack of it every other day. Just for me. Oh, wait, it's just for me now. I don't share.

4. It's still light outside.

5. I need a haircut. Luckily, Susan told me about Juut Salon so I can get this mop trimmed.

6. I am so thankful for Tara and Ashby. Alla loves her some Ashby, and Tara has been keeping me afloat in this new life.

7. How is it the exact middle of August already? We'll be on Christmas countdown before you know it.

8. Yesterday Alla recognized Elmo on a friend's daughter's diaper. She pointed to the Elmo on her diapered butt and said, "Elmo."

9. My daughter's latest sign is "clean." Not that she is ever, well, clean.

10. Alla is getting into dress-up. Mostly just this red velvet headband and purse from Aunty Loey but she generally will put anything with a handle on her arm and say to you, "Buh Bye!" very enthusiastically, like she really means to go somewhere.

Tagged.

I was tagged by Tara!

1. If you could build a house anywhere, where would it be?
Redondo Beach. Spain. The North Shore in Hawaii. French countryside. Take your pick.

2. What's your favorite article of clothing?
My Rainbows.

3. Favorite physical feature of the opposite sex?
Smile, eyes, strong hugs.

4. Last CD you bought?
The Weepies, 'say i am you'

5. Favorite place to be?
With my family. At home. At the beach.

6. Least favorite place to be?
Not a big fan of the home improvement stores, but I guess there are worse places.

7. Favorite place to be massaged?
Back.

8. Strong in mind or strong in body?
Both are important. I'd like to think I work on both.

9. What time do you wake up in the morning?
Surely you mean what time does ALLA wake up in the morning. So that means 5:30. So I better be getting myself to bed here quickly.

10. Favorite kitchen appliance?
Coffee maker. No, Ron, it isn't the gizmo.

11. What makes you really angry?
Being frustrated with myself when I don't know the answers.

12. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?
Piano.

13. Favorite color?
Red.

14. Sports car or SUV?
C'mon. I'm a mother. SUV.

15. Do you believe in an afterlife?
Yes. Many people I'd love to see.

16. Favorite children's book?
Corduroy.

17. Favorite season?
It's been awhile since I had seasons, so I'm going to admit here that I'm a little excited for fall. If you look real hard there are a few leaves that are already bright red. I cannot wait to see all the trees such colors. But I am only half admitting this, since I know the cold is right behind it.

18. Least favorite household chore?
Vacuuming.

19. If you could have one super power, what would it be?
Endless patience. A breath of fresh air always in my back pocket.

20. If you have a tattoo, what is it?
I have two: a sun and a little magician.

21. Can you juggle?
I would be the worst juggler known to man.

22. Person from your past you wish you could go back and talk to?
Lots of old friends from junior high.

23. Favorite day?
Absolutely Friday. Even though I clean that day. Just because I know it's the weekend. By the time it gets to the weekend, it's already running out!

24. Sushi or hamburger?
I'm going to have to go with hamburger here. Yes, I know I'm from California.

I'm tagging Erin and Megan!

And leaving you with this. Just a snap of my daughter and her new friend, Ashby. Because we are missing all our old friends right now. Thankfully Tara and Ashby have snatched us up and look out for us. Thanks, friends.

What 98 cents will buy you.

It will buy you this darling hat from Target that you could not put down once you put it on her head. It will not, however, get you even close to her sitting still in it. Not for one little picture.

If you spend $2.99, you get this darling baby doll that we had to get her lest she steal Ashby's forever. This one apparently will do. It even has those eyes that close when the baby lays down and open when she gets up. First thing Alla asks for in the morning, after 'na na na na na na,' is 'baaaay-beeee.' Sure thing, sweetness.
If you spend $2.98 a pound, you will discover when you have eaten almost the very last cherry, that she likes them. Wonder of wonders. The child that likes only dip dip and ice likes cherries. (No her mouth isn't bleeding. Though she is cutting molars right now.)

More cherries, mama.
Again, sure thing.

Did you know?

Did you know that when you leave in the morning, she goes right to the window to watch you drive off and she waves bye bye.

Did you know that this morning she was able to put her two thoughts together and make one complete sentence, "Ba ba di," which of course means "Bye Bye Da Da."

We miss you lots on Mondays.

In other news, we got to TJ's this weekend! Hurray! Unfortunately no wine is sold on Sundays so we missed out on our 2Buck Chuck, but we will be heading back so so soon. We stocked up.
And, lastly, I'm not sure how it's possible, but I think Russell has followed us. Ugh.

On this day...

...in 2005: We snuck out for a lovely 9pm reservation at Zazou in Redondo, and after one glass of champagne I realized Alla was fine with Megan. Thanks, Meg.

...in 2004: We celebrated at The Melting Pot. Yum. And we were pregnant, but wouldn't know it for another 7 days.

...in 2003: We delayed the true celebration til September, when we went to the Hale Koa with The Derenzos.

...in 2002: We tied the knot!

Happy Four Years to us.

Nine years. Wow.

Today we celebrate nine years of us. We spent the first two in separate states, the next three in Ohio, the next four in California, and are now beginning this new adventure in here in Minnesota. We have been a lot of places, shared a lot of life so far, been through all of it together.

We're lucky to have our anniversaries back-to-back (yes we planned it that way), so tomorrow is an even more special day.

Oh yeah, baby, he's grillin'.

Well isn't he cute? He grilled us up some steaks tonight, our very first meal on the grill, and it was quite tasty. Lookin forward to more. I found a "recipe" for Banana Boats, which we plan on making soon. Tonight we had Skirt Steak Romesco.

Yum!

Water girl.

This girl would be real happy if she just spent all day long playing in the water. The hose, her sand/water tray, her pool, the hose. Did I say the hose? Cause let's be honest here, she really just wants the hose with water running through it so she can drink the water, spray it in her pool, let it get her belly wet. And she usually ends up with everything else wet, too.

One other thing: this is her pretty girl smile. When you tell her to give it to you, this is what you get. Isn't she lovely?

Fifteen months.

She's fifteen months but I don't know how that happened. She knows a lot. 51 words and 25 signs, I counted the other day. She has a new friend here, "Mimi," who has been with her since in utero but whom she just discovered today. All of a sudden they are best buds. We will see tomorrow. She loves ice. When I tell her to smile, she makes this big cheesy smile (Megan, I remember Mazie doing that!). She doesn't like to try new foods. She goes to bed at six. She is spoon-proficient. She is a pro at the stairs in our new house. Her favorite sign is 'baby.' It might be her first word and sign each morning. She is working on those bottom molars. She is my love. I cannot love her enough each day. I hope she loves this life. I do.

hello.com

Tara introduced me to hello and it is just about the awesomest thing ever. You use to to i.m., to share photos and layouts, but most of all, for me, I can use it to blog! Anyone who uses blogger will love this! Download it today, it's free!

Back in Business.

Thank goodness.
Stupid Internet Explorer. We are now proud Firefox users.

Now I can catch up on all the photos I've been wanting to share!

Here's Al in our kitchen sink. Her new favorite fun. She says, "Wah-r" and that means, please put me up in the sink. She's pretty good about understanding that we can't always do that, so if you tell her no ahead of time, it's fine. If you take her down after she's already been up there, forget about it. Do you see her shirt (thanks, Nana)? It says, "I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. I want to speak to my Grandma." Fitting.

And that's all for now. Nighty-night. My daughter's waking by 5:30 these days so I need to get some rest!

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3.

My brilliant husband came home with his work computer, which has an older version of Internet Explorer, and low and behold, blogger doesn't have a problem with this older version of IE. God forbid you want to update your computer. Ladies and gentlemen, we have identified the problem. Now, onto the solution. And for that we will need Ron.

I just grabbed a disk and picked any old folder and any old photo and this is what I got. A family portrait by US. Six months old. Ahhhhhh.

Blogger issues.

Having MAJOR issues uploading images to blogger. UGH!

But there are ways around everything!

Last weekend was a HOT one, and we are hoping that this one is a little more normal in temperature. But when it was hot, I got some good ones of Alla cooling her behind in her "poo," which of course is her "pool," and she should know, cause she spent the last two weeks becoming a little tadpole in her First Splash class at the Shoreview Community Center.

Pre-pool, trying to get the blind-cords.

In the pool.


I definitely have a thing for those pursed lips.

The current poop face. There's a story here. See, I had the camera. She was naked at this point. (No need to waste a swim diaper on a few minutes of pool time.) I know that looks like a cute face, and it is, but she had just said "poop" and then proceeded to spend the next few minutes squeezing it out. Literally. I saw it coming out. And I caught it in a paper cup. Good mama that I am.


That face.

That's all for now. This is a real pain in all our behinds. So hopefully Blogger will get their act together soon to save us all a headache.

"Beach" Day.

Being desperate for friends, I quickly located the local Mom's Club, which thankfully has playgroups 2-3 times a week. Today was "Beach Day" at Snail Lake, which, as we Californians know, is not really a beach, but a lake, because it is quite a different thing when you can see not the horizon, but the other side. Details, details. Anyway, it was really fun, the water was warm, you could see your toes, and fish just swam right up to you, which of course Alla got a kick out of. She must have signed "fish" about a hundred times.

Here's what I'll be referring to as "beach" from here on out:

Photos from our journey.

I am bringing you highlights from the road. It's going to be awhile til we get the house in any kind of photo-taking state, so just bear with me. And for our first photograph...Notice the pen in hand. That's her thing. She must walk about with a pen. And she calls it "My." We have to take the ink out of whatever pen she picks up and must have. Amy and Rich have this great bench in their living room and I was dying to get Al's picture on it. But she just wanted "dow."
They also have a great leather chair, which I thought would make another great shot. Al had a second of fun and then wanted "dow." (Notice most of these photos will take place either at the Shertzer's or somewhere in Monument, because there really wasn't a lot of photo-taking on the road. We seriously got in the 'just get there' mindset.)
She turned 14 months on the road. Here's the official shot.
Seeing friends was wonderful. Little Sarah.
And her best friend, Caroline.
Watching Alla try out her new walking legs was awesome.
The best part of the journey was how much time Ron got to spend with his daughter. No more papers to write, conference calls, group meetings. Just free time for her.
And us. Me and my girl. (Isn't Amy and Rich's couch nice?) :)

We have arrived.

FINALLY!

We have been in our house since 30 June but just got our household goods 2 days ago.

Alla has mastered the stairs. She goes to the edge, sits down, turns around and scoots down on her belly.

She is a full-fledged walker, and I don't think running is too far behind.

Somewhere between California and Minnesota, she became a toddler.

She has got 75% of Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton memorized.

We start swim class tomorrow.

Her favorite thing here so far is 'side' - also known as going outside. Because there she can play in her sand and water tray. Which is quickly becoming a mud tray. And she must be surrounded by bubbles while she does this, meaning I have to continuously blow them.

Ron starts his new job tomorrow.

It is heavenly to sleep in our own bed after a week on an air mattress.

We need a scrapbook work area/office space. Any ideas?

We miss all those we left.

I leave you with Alla's first walk in the rain. Her first rainstorm. I got her out of it just as the drops started coming, and of course the curious girl she is went right back out. And as it slowed she signed 'more,' but sadly I haven't figured out how to turn the rain on and off. Would make watering our nice new yard a whole lot cheaper.