Katya is 1!!!!!

We cannot believe our baby is one! I am sure all parents feel this way. Katya had a fever all day on her birthday, poor baby. She did okay though and is feeling a little better today (Motrin has helped a ton and helped her sleep last night). I have been feeling super run down as well so she probably got whatever I have. Besides that she had a nice day. We snuggled up and watched a bit of the Veggie Tales movie that the Faulkner's got her a while back. She only lasted 15minutes but I was happy with that. Yes, we were breaking the no screen time rule but sometimes sick babies and mommas have to break the rules. We went to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner. Grandpa made a delicious stir fry that we all enjoyed. Katya had her first desert, a cupcake which she thoroughly enjoyed as you can tell from the picture.

Today she had her 12month well child check. She is now 21lbs, 8oz and 29 and 3/4inches long. Dr. Oller was pleased with her development and all the signs she knows. She is now doing the sign for 'telephone', 'all done' and 'dog'. She also does 'wind' when we show her how. And...she is crawling on hands and knees!!! It is so cute to watch her. She does it more on the carpet/rug but sometimes on the hard floors too. She still army crawls but is doing both.

Tomorrow we leave for her first camping trip! Can't wait. I have been busy today getting ready; since I was feeling so crappy this week a lot of stuff got put off. I have also been having fun framing her new pictures and working on her baby book. We took her in for professional pictures on Monday. She was very serious for the shoot so the pictures are not quite her animated self but still very cute. I will send out a link so you all can see them soon. Love and prayers, Brenda

Update on the job front

Here is the latest on job stuff. Craig did not get offered the position he interviewed for within Legacy (a few floors up). They did send him a nice rejection e-mail (ha, ha) and told him that his current boss gave him a very good reference. He was their next choice but their first choice person worked out. He was updated via e-mail about the OHSU position, (which for those who don't know is with the MRI imaging center, sounds like an interesting position and they said the could "work with" his 50K salary expectations) the process has been delayed but is moving forward. The guy said that there were several qualified candidates for the position but Craig is on the short list of preferred people, so that is good. In the mean time Craig has been talking with Widmer brewery (who has a restaurant on the route to Craig's work) and they sound like they want to hire him. He scheduled to talk with another manager on Sunday.

Our plan is that Craig will work part time as a server until a better paying job comes his way. He is also interested in Widmer because they like to hire from within and occasionally have positions in the beer making/quality control arena which requires a life science degree. Not sure how much something like that would pay but maybe if he could work his way up...
A bonus about working for Widmer is they give their employees and case of beer every pay period, sweet! So yes, I am going to continue being a stay at home mom for now.

Fourth of July

This is a great picture that Allen took on the 4th at his parents house. We had such a great time; Doug and Sharon hosted a fun party. I will get more pictures from the trip compiled soon and send them out. ~ Brenda

Back Yard Project

I have a fun but hard project going in our back yard. I decided it would be really cool to build a pathway along the border of our yard to eliminate the dirt/bark which is a mess with the dogs. My idea was to do a 3ft(ish) boarder and then fill in the rest of the dirt area between the path and the grass with rock. The path will then be a good place to put pots and stands for pots that are high enough that the dogs cannot kill the plants with their pee. All very good ideas if you have money to spend but of course we don't so it was just a plan. Then I started telling Melanie about it and she said I could have all the bricks I want that they got from a friend but never got around to using. So the cost of my project will just be the sand to lay the bricks onto, not bad!

I have began to excavate a 4inch deep bed for the path. Hard work (I am sore!)but I am making progress. The one thing I did not think about is what I am going to do with all that dirt. Umm.... Anyone know any good illegal dumping spots around Portland? Ha, ha. The bricks came from an old chimney and need some cleaning up but are in good shape. I took one load from Mel's last Saturday and will do another load soon. Not sure how great the end result will be; I have read up on how to build a path on-line and I am trying to keep it simple for myself. I am keeping an eye out on Craig's list for free or cheap masonry sand and river rock. A few weeks ago someone was giving away a bunch of river rock but there was no phone number on the ad and we did not want to drive all the way there if it was already gone. Hmm, maybe someone will want my dirt!

Katya's latest talents

Craig and I got Katya a little pool for her birthday and she loves it! She likes to lay in it on her stomach and splash and has put her face down into the water to see what happens. She also crawls (her army crawl) around it in a circle really fast; it is so funny! The only problem with the pool is getting her out of it, she screams! And when ever she sees it on the patio she starts throwing a fit because she wants to go in.

Katya understands more than 10 words (and probably more than listed here, these are just the ones I can tell that she knows); telephone, milk, light, fan, mom, dad, dog, tongue, eyes, eat, and kiss. She is doing 3 signs; milk, light and fan, although her milk and light look very similar and are hard to differentiate between. We can't believe how smart she is. The other day Craig was outside with her and when she felt the wind blow she did the sign for fan! She has prompted us to get out our Baby Sign book and learn more signs like wind and sun. She is giving kisses, not always when you ask but if she feels like it!

She has two new teeth (upper centeral incisors), making a grand total of 4 and a 5th is getting close to poking through. She is only taking one nap a day but we are having a hard time making that be her afternoon nap (which is the most important). She refuses to take her second nap so we are trying to keep her up until 12noon and then put her to bed earlier (6pm) to protect her sleep. The "sleep book" says that when they go to one nap they should be sleeping longer at night and we should but her to bed earlier. So the nap adjustments and teething has made for one cranky baby! It is also hard for me to adjust to not getting two breaks during the day. I was working out during her morning nap and cleaning/preping dinner during the second nap so I am going to have to find another way to get my workouts in.

Hope everyone is well. Love, Brenda

COMING SOON....

Hi family and friends! I enjoy reading the Smith's blog so much that I decided to do one of my own. It will be a good way for everyone to hear what Katya is up to and see pictures. I am new at this so it will take me a while to get the hang of things. More to come. Love, Brenda