Below is a picture of the famous Bixby Bridge. It was built in 1932 and was one of the longest concrete arch span bridges in the world, with and arch of 320 feet and standing more than 250 feet above the creek!!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Big Sur
We did a little sightseeing today along the coastline to Big Sur. It is so amazing that these views are only a few miles from where we live! Highway 1 south of the Monterey Penninsula was dedicated as California's first scenic Highway by Lady Bird Johnson in 1966. It goes 130 miles from Carmel to San Luis Obispo, but we only went about 30 miles this time. There are some great State parks that would probably take a day in themselves to check out, so we'll have to go back. Point Lobos State Park, for instance, has been called "the greatest meeting of land and sea in the world." It is a 1,275-acre preserve, more than half of which is below the sea. It is the first undersea preserve in the United States.
Below is a picture of the famous Bixby Bridge. It was built in 1932 and was one of the longest concrete arch span bridges in the world, with and arch of 320 feet and standing more than 250 feet above the creek!!
Below is a picture of the famous Bixby Bridge. It was built in 1932 and was one of the longest concrete arch span bridges in the world, with and arch of 320 feet and standing more than 250 feet above the creek!!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Tofu
Jane Ritchie ate tofu (mixed with banana) for lunch today! There is something very satisfying about feeding her things that are so good for her, that I won't eat! :) I started off making her baby food and got bored. I was basically cooking one vegetable and pureeing it. Then I got turned on to some recipes and that is much more fun! It is actually helping with my diet, too. Whenever I feel the need to whip up some brownies, I make a batch of baby food instead!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Birthday Party
Jane Ritchie went to her first birthday party this weekend! Liam Welch turned ONE on February 26 and the party was on Saturday. Jane Ritchie was such a good girl at the party. She ate her lunch in Liam's high chair and played the rest of the time. There was no crying and she took a long nap when we got home!
Happy Birthday to Liam!
Happy Birthday to Liam!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Dreams dashed...
I'm sure there are many disappointments in the life of a mother, but I'm convinced today that one of the biggest is when you get confused on which day you have a babysitter....or worse, if one cancels at the last minute.
I thought our new daytime babysitter was starting this afternoon, but I just realized that it is not until next week. ugh! I even took a shower today in preparation to go out of the house looking somewhat decent. My dreams of going to the grocery store alone and coming home with time to cook dinner for a friend who had a baby are crushed! Oh well, I'll just have to strap Jane Ritchie in the shopping cart and hope she takes a good afternoon nap so I can get these chores done. Thank goodness she is such a good little girl who is content (most of the time) in her exersaucer playing with a spoon!
I guess the one good thing is that now when the sitter comes next Friday it will feel like a really special treat!!
I thought our new daytime babysitter was starting this afternoon, but I just realized that it is not until next week. ugh! I even took a shower today in preparation to go out of the house looking somewhat decent. My dreams of going to the grocery store alone and coming home with time to cook dinner for a friend who had a baby are crushed! Oh well, I'll just have to strap Jane Ritchie in the shopping cart and hope she takes a good afternoon nap so I can get these chores done. Thank goodness she is such a good little girl who is content (most of the time) in her exersaucer playing with a spoon!
I guess the one good thing is that now when the sitter comes next Friday it will feel like a really special treat!!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
What a sweet girl!!!!
We had some professional photos taken last week at our home. Katie Prentiss (wife of my friend Brian from Murphy and Samford), was kind enough to drive down from Mountain View, CA to do a photo session. Apparently our house is a photographer's dream because of all the windows. She was right. The lighting in the pictures is so beautiful. Here are a few of my favorites!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Swim Lessons
This week we had our first swimming lessons for Jane Ritchie. It is on Mondays and Wednesdays for just 30 minutes. But, what an ordeal it was to get there the first day!
I started packing our bag the night before. What did I need? A swim diaper for Jane Ritchie in case the one she wore in the car needed changing when we got there. A towel for Jane Ritchie and a towel for me. In her case, an adorable white bunny towel that fits over her head like a cape, complete with bunny ears. (Thanks Brooke W.M.!!) A bottle in case she throws a fit and needs soothing. A regular diaper to wear on the way home. Wipes. Toys. Oh, and I also had to figure out what she would wear on the way. It's cold outside. So, she'll wear her bathing suit, some pants and her cute pink Baby Gap cover up with hood. (Thanks Cheryl and Reza!) But, on the way home, she'll need a onesie, too, so gotta throw that in.
The whole time I am packing, I'm wondering how this will work. Ok, so we get to the pool. Then what? She can sit up pretty well, but I'm sure the pool area is not carpeted and I can just picture us headed to the ER in our bathing suits because she has fallen over and hit her head on the tile! How will I get my clothes off? Should I take the stroller or will the Bjorn work? Do people stroll up to the pool and locker room with those big ol' strollers?? These are the things that keep me up at night.
I decided just to take the Bjorn until I surveyed the lay of the land. We were riding with my friend Laura and her 10 month old. Surely we could help each other out. But, little Liam is walking and I envisioned her helping me with Jane Ritchie while Liam toddled off to the deep end.
We got there and by some miracle were able to get ready to get in the pool. Jane Ritchie wasn't too into it. She wasn't scared, but they gave each kid a ring to play with and all she cared about was chewing on it. That darn tooth! I dunked her under once, per the teacher's instructions. She came up and coughed a little bit but did not cry. All too soon, our 30 minutes were up and it was time to figure out how 15 mommies and their babies were supposed to get dry, warm and changed. Oh, by the way, the locker room only had one changing table and there were about 8 babies who could not walk yet.
I made the strategic decision to get out quickly. I was the second person to use the changing table. All the while I'm still dripping because how could I dry off when I'm holding my baby?? Once I got her on the changing table I was able to dry myself a little. My fatal error was that after I got her ready, I removed her from the table so that someone else could use it. Now how was I going to get dressed??? I had to sit down and think about that one. Finally, Laura had Liam settled and she held Jane Ritchie while I got my clothes on.
I was blessed that Jane Ritchie only got fussy once and it was not in the pool. It was in the locker room at the sight of all the naked OLD ladies from water aerobics class. Yikes!
Wednesday was much better. I brought the stroller in with me and I knew "the secret"! There is a "family changing room" in the pool area that not everyone knows about. After lessons we headed there and were in and out in no time! Jane Ritchie had a much better time, too. I did not give her the ring this time so she was able to pay more attention to the fact that she was actually in a pool! We dunked her under a couple of times. No coughing and no crying!
Maybe by the end of the month I'll be agile enough to get some pictures.
Oh, P.S. - Worse than the naked old ladies in the locker room are the two size 4 mommies in itsy bitsy teenie weenie bikinis. Not cool skinny mommies. Not cool.
I started packing our bag the night before. What did I need? A swim diaper for Jane Ritchie in case the one she wore in the car needed changing when we got there. A towel for Jane Ritchie and a towel for me. In her case, an adorable white bunny towel that fits over her head like a cape, complete with bunny ears. (Thanks Brooke W.M.!!) A bottle in case she throws a fit and needs soothing. A regular diaper to wear on the way home. Wipes. Toys. Oh, and I also had to figure out what she would wear on the way. It's cold outside. So, she'll wear her bathing suit, some pants and her cute pink Baby Gap cover up with hood. (Thanks Cheryl and Reza!) But, on the way home, she'll need a onesie, too, so gotta throw that in.
The whole time I am packing, I'm wondering how this will work. Ok, so we get to the pool. Then what? She can sit up pretty well, but I'm sure the pool area is not carpeted and I can just picture us headed to the ER in our bathing suits because she has fallen over and hit her head on the tile! How will I get my clothes off? Should I take the stroller or will the Bjorn work? Do people stroll up to the pool and locker room with those big ol' strollers?? These are the things that keep me up at night.
I decided just to take the Bjorn until I surveyed the lay of the land. We were riding with my friend Laura and her 10 month old. Surely we could help each other out. But, little Liam is walking and I envisioned her helping me with Jane Ritchie while Liam toddled off to the deep end.
We got there and by some miracle were able to get ready to get in the pool. Jane Ritchie wasn't too into it. She wasn't scared, but they gave each kid a ring to play with and all she cared about was chewing on it. That darn tooth! I dunked her under once, per the teacher's instructions. She came up and coughed a little bit but did not cry. All too soon, our 30 minutes were up and it was time to figure out how 15 mommies and their babies were supposed to get dry, warm and changed. Oh, by the way, the locker room only had one changing table and there were about 8 babies who could not walk yet.
I made the strategic decision to get out quickly. I was the second person to use the changing table. All the while I'm still dripping because how could I dry off when I'm holding my baby?? Once I got her on the changing table I was able to dry myself a little. My fatal error was that after I got her ready, I removed her from the table so that someone else could use it. Now how was I going to get dressed??? I had to sit down and think about that one. Finally, Laura had Liam settled and she held Jane Ritchie while I got my clothes on.
I was blessed that Jane Ritchie only got fussy once and it was not in the pool. It was in the locker room at the sight of all the naked OLD ladies from water aerobics class. Yikes!
Wednesday was much better. I brought the stroller in with me and I knew "the secret"! There is a "family changing room" in the pool area that not everyone knows about. After lessons we headed there and were in and out in no time! Jane Ritchie had a much better time, too. I did not give her the ring this time so she was able to pay more attention to the fact that she was actually in a pool! We dunked her under a couple of times. No coughing and no crying!
Maybe by the end of the month I'll be agile enough to get some pictures.
Oh, P.S. - Worse than the naked old ladies in the locker room are the two size 4 mommies in itsy bitsy teenie weenie bikinis. Not cool skinny mommies. Not cool.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
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