North to AK

xmas card

2010-11-27T20:32:00.001-09:00

Family Story Christmas Card

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Update on Miss K

2009-11-23T12:02:00.002-09:00

Thought I'd share a typical morning with Miss K. K woke up with a start as soon as I opened her bedroom door (sometimes I'll find her sitting up in the dark or talking to herself). She immediately shouted "Wow, look at my binkies!" and started "herding" them in her crib. Then I got the "Mommy, what to wear?" question. Kira loves picking out her shirts every morning, although she sometimes decides she loves two shirts so much that she has to wear both. Once the shirt of the day is chosen, it's time to hop out of the crib and run to show Daddy what "she wear today".

Getting K dressed is somewhat like herding cats, what with all the "work" that she needs to do. This morning, K felt that Daddy needed extra help, and pulled his deoderant out of the bathroom drawer to give to him. She then of course proceeded to systematically ask the names of all things in that same drawer. Luckily, in order to do this, K was relatively motionless, so I managed to wrangle a clean diaper on her and get her liquid vitamins in her mouth. She then whipped her head around and said "OH NO! TOOTH BRUSH!" -- she knows what comes next in the routine.

After tooth brushing, she says "bye daddy, I go dress" and runs towards the living room. This begins the wrangling of clothing (K would only wear a diaper all day if she could get away with it). Today, she was fine with the shirt, but did not want to wear pants. So there was wailing and gnashing of teeth while mom pins K down to put on the dreaded pants.

Once clothes are on, suddenly K becomes starving for breakfast. "I want some pan-cakes pease" Bing-bing is K's name for the microwave. She likes to touch the pancake to verify that yes, indeed it is cold, and requires microwaving (Oh, NO! COLD! Pancake go bing bing!). Once pancakes are made, we settle into high chair mode while K happily eats her pancakes while Mom does K's hair, socks and shoes.

Once Frank is all ready, K's remaining breakfast goes in a sandwich bag for safe transport, and she slowly makes her way down the stairs. It's very dramatic for her. Today, she wanted to count, but kept getting stuck on four (one, two, three....six!). She decided today that she was walking out the door on her own, and turned around half way to say "Bye Mommy, I have good day."

So there's a typical morning for Miss K.

The Pirates Next Door

2009-10-16T09:39:00.002-08:00

Kira watched in fascination as our neighbor backed up their huge boat into their backyard while I was grabbing the mail. When I got back in the car, she said "Shit!"-- and my head swiveled around. No worries, she was saying "Ship!". And then...

"Pirates. Pirate Ship. Arr...Arr...Bye Pirates, bye Ship tomorrow!"

And every day after that, she says hi to the pirates. Cute!

A Good Start

2009-10-12T07:17:00.002-08:00

This morning, K was no trouble at all. It was the first morning for months that Kira did not have at least one crying fit or balk during her morning routine.

How amazing to see her grab her clothes, demand to be changed/dressed, and willingly brush her teeth. Throughout the whole routine, she was smiling and enthusiastic. She even had time to walk into our closet and consult on Daddy's wardrobe ("What WEAR??? Pants???") She egged Frank on out the door ("Come ON! DADDY!"), and at the end, blew me a kiss as she walked out the garage door and into the car.

Sounds like such a small thing, but it was like a star appeared and all the angels sang to me and Frank. I know every morning is not going to be like this, but even the fact that a no cry - no struggle morning is possible is reassuring.

Alpenglow!

2009-10-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

ATTENTION

2009-09-30T11:46:00.002-08:00

To the woodland creatures on the wall runner in Kira's room:
Please stop pestering my daughter. I am tired of hearing about it at night and in the morning. No more "bunking of the head" no "moose poking the eye" and by all means no "eagle poop de pants!".

And which one of you is talking to her about Darfur?
K this morning: "Darfur! Momma Darfur!"
Me "What? What are you learning in circle time?"
K: "No. Darfur. RAWR!"
Me: "Ah, Dinosaur!"
So..dinosaurs. Stop having discussions with my political activist baby. Next thing you know she'll be lobbying for health care reform, and that's the type of discussion I'm not expecting to have for at least a few months.

And as for Swiper...no Swiping. OK? If I hear another sippy drop to the ground and "Oh, NO! Swiper STOP!" or "Oh, NO! Swiper hide de BOOTS" I'm coming after you!

And which one of you goes by "SUPER-POOPY!" Let's have none of that super poop either.

Thank you,
the managment

Fall pictures

2009-09-26T15:37:00.001-08:00

Reviews/Giveaways!

2009-09-18T10:53:00.002-08:00

For those of you looking for great giveaways and reviews, I'll be posting these at: http://northtoakgnr.blogspot.com/.

In other family news, K is still a fantastic child. The unboundless energy she has in the morning is infectious. This morning, I found her already sitting up in her bed, taking charge of the day by rearranging her binkies in her crib. Suddenly, I heard "Panda!" "Ud One" "a Ud One!" describing her sleeper with lots of pandas on it. When her feet hit the floor, she was immediately off to find Daddy and tell him all about her pandas.

Yesterday, I heard in day care how all she could talk about was her Gamma and Papa. All day. She told everyone about Gamma and Papa, where they are (she still thinks they are in the airplane, although sometimes she supsects they are still waiting in the car).

One tough thing to realize is that in her world, TV shows are just always available -- with Tivo she thinks her sources of entertainment are endless. If we run through all the backyardigans, she thinks that if we just look at the right menu, they'll reappear. When they are not there, she gets frustrated...literally pulling the remote from one parent and handing it to another (obviously, it's there, we're just incompetent). She then explains in a very authoritative voice "b'yargins, Oh-Tay?" and nods her head like she's looking for agreement. I wonder where she gets these things from.

In other news, it's fall. Our tomatoes are not red yet, which is a bad sign. I think frost is only a week away or so.

Got to go, but that's the update!

Giveaway on Blessings Abound!

2009-09-12T22:00:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone --

Please follow this great site Blessings Abound! Fantastic giveaway to shabby apple, which has fantastic dresses:
http://www.akblessingsabound.com/2009/08/31/1st-blogoversary-party-shabby-apple-giveaway/

Better late than never?

2009-09-04T05:51:00.002-08:00

Another funny story about Kira (in between meetings)...

So two nights ago, Kira woke up, as she usually does, around 3am. However, this time it was a full on screamfest for quite a few minutes. Frank got up to check on her. Kira kept talking about a Moose. He brought me in, and Kira informed me that a moose had poked her in the eye. When I asked where? She pointed at the woodland creatures in the wallpaper in her room. Great. Woodland creatures coming to life and poking my daughter in the eye at 3am. Ugh. Finally got her back to sleep around 4am to make a conference call at 4:45am. Argh!

Quick Kira update

2009-07-14T13:50:00.002-08:00

Thought I'd share an ancedote on Miss K:

Starting on Saturday, Kira has been really interested in her "potty". We've been encouraging her, telling her "Pee goes in the potty" and walking her through the wonders of the bathroom. Yesterday a light bulb went on, perhaps not the right light bulb. She suddenly looked worried and rushed out of the bathroom, returning with a doll, whose nose got dutifully dabbed with toilet paper before being stuffed in the toilet. That doll's name? Sweet Pea.

Weekend Update

2009-05-11T14:06:00.002-08:00

We are having FANTASTIC weather up here in AK! It's beautiful, dry, and finally all the leaves are budding. It's so warm, in fact, that we wound up planting our herb garden yesterday. Pictures to come soon.

In Kira news, she completed her first week of toddler-training, which means she is learning all sorts of new behaviors:
1) She's decided that clothing -- including diapers-- is optional and rather disagreeable. So, every clothing change is a struggle now. Luckily, I have learned that she can do stand-up diaper changes, which makes her much more compliant.
2) Her love of books is insatiable. She calls them BOCKS. And she wants to read them repeatedly, sometimes six in a row.
3) She loves going on walks. Of course, this is only to pick up everything that she finds on the sidewalk, from gravel to trash. Each little find is a little treasure, and she raises it up, starts running to the nearest parent, with a "WOW WOW WOW". We "almost" made it to the neighborhood park yesterday, but not quite.
4) Regarding the diaper changes, when she is stopped from doing what she wants (especially when we pick her up to move her) she shouts OWEE OWEE OWEE over and over again. Cute, I suppose, and better than "NO" which will come later.
5) She continues to be a little martha stewart in training. How do I know? How else to explain her stash of interior paint swatches? How about the diligent cleaning of the coffee table? The constant monitoring of the carpet for bits of string/choke hazards (with a "Uh OH!"). Next thing you know, she's going to come home armed with glitter, felt and a glue gun.
6) "Babies" are becoming much more important. Elizabeth, baby beluga, and baby bear must be taken care of constantly. They are constantly being put to sleep under blankets, diapered with tissue paper, or carried by their hair around the house. To see Miss K carry three dolls around is really sweet.

Anyways, hope everyone had a great mother's day!

Cordova Pics

2009-04-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

Weekly Recipes: Brazilian Black Bean Stew and Baby Food

2009-04-09T14:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we had a fantastic and easy slow cooker brazilian black bean stew. I made it up based on multiple recipes but here's the idea:

Ingredients:

Two cans of black beans, with water

.75 lb Italian Sausage (ground is best, but I suppose you could slice up a kielbasa if you wanted)

Hot salsa of your choosing (I used safeway's deli brand)

sweet potato cut up into small chunks

Mango slices (Del Monte does all the hard stuff for you)

Cilantro (chopped)

Directions:

Take all ingredients except mango and cilantro. Put into slow cooker on high. Make sure there is enough water to just cover the ingredients -- if not, add water by filling up one black bean can. Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or until sausage is not pink inside. Plate with mango slices on top and chopped cilantro. Yum!

Baby Pasta with sweet potato chunks:

Note: I used sweet potato chunks from the stew above. One key to baby food prep is identifying baby food components in your regular meals, and putting aside those components. Slow cooker made the sweet potato soft, so I didn't have to individually steam/bake the sweet potato.

Ingredients:

one handful chunks of baked sweet potato (soft according to baby palate)

two handfuls Baby Farfalle Pasta (bow-tie, but you could use macaroni as well)

dab of butter

dab cream cheese

two tablespoonse shredded cheese

Cook the farfalle to instructions while you find the rest of the ingredients. Drain the pasta and put into a medium sized bowl. Throw in your butter, cream cheese, and shredded cheese while it is still warm and stir. It should form into a cheese sauce. Throw in your potato chunks so they get cheesy too. Yum!

For Breakfast: Apple, banana, strawberry, mango smoothie

Note: Again, used the sliced mangos from the meal above. The rest of the ingredients we had on hand. Use less cider than you think you need; mangos hold a lot of water.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup apple cider

two bananas

two strawberries

four slices of mango

squirt of lemon

This one's easy. Spin with your immersion blender, add apple cider to your desired consistency. To freeze, scoop into ice cream trays and place in freezer. Transfer into ziplocs once solid.

New Photos!

2009-04-08T07:27:00.001-08:00

New photos on the right --->

Six things about baby.

2009-04-07T11:30:00.004-08:00

So Baby this weekend was a true character!

Some of the best parts...

1) Going to brunch at a friend's house. Seeing Miss K interact with new people, playing peekaboo...demanding to see everyone's belly buttons.

2) Palm Sunday -- Kira at first was not into the palm branches. But then, she saw all the kids waving them and marching around during the first song, she was transfixed. After a nap in the nursery, she grabbed a palm and waved it, triumphantly shouting WOW! WHOA! as she toddled up and down the hallway! I can't wait for the easter baskets next weekend.

3) Kira loves the kitchen, which is why we now have drawer locks on the most dangerous drawers. K is known to walk around with a pie pan for tens of minutes, talking to herself, and licking the pan like she's eating something yummy.

4) It was fun watching her play with a melon baller. Out of all the things she could have done with it, she decided to scoop puppy food out of the dog bowl and feed it to puppy.

5) Her language skills are improving by leaps and bounds. She now knows the sign (followed shortly by the word) Please and says HIYEEE! and BYEEE! to everyone and everything, particularly birds.

6) She LOVES Galileo. This weekend, while he was trying to take a nap, she pet him on the back gently and sang to him(because this is how she is put down to sleep at school), then found a blanket to put on top of him. In the evening, I sometimes find the two of them lying next to each other. The first thing she asks for every morning is puppy. Galileo loves the attention, especially the extra treats she feeds him.

Ba-Ba Bahbit-Baht? Dis? Dis?

2009-03-30T14:09:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd share a little snippet of Kira-speak for you. We spent some time watching the basketball games last afternoon.

Me: Look! There's a ball! That guy is bouncing the ball! He threw the ball! He makes a basket! Yay!

Kira: Baht? Baht? (Kira makes the sign for ball)

Me: Yes that's right, it's a ball...

Kira: Bahbit! (throws hands up in the air)

Me: Yes! He made a basket!

Kira: (claps, pauses, pats chest) ba-ba.

Me: Yes, you're the baby.

Kira: Ba-ba baht? (points to tv) Dis? Dis? Baht Dis?

(pause, then off of my lap and on to the next thing)

Kira also knows most of the time about her Het (head), Ice (eyes), Ba-ba Ba-ba (baby beluga), chuice (shoes), Tiktyu (thank you), and the incessant Dis? Dis? Dis? Dis? (either a I want whatever is out of my reach or tell me what its' name is over and over again). It's great to see her communicating more clearly, although now that she knows we understand the angrier she gets when she can't have something. Can the terrible twos start at 13 months?

Kira on the Move!

2009-03-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

Kira is officially a toddler this week. She is definitely walking (more like running) and talking more than ever. She is working on her greeting skills this week by announcing HIEEE!!!! and BYEEE! to everyone within earshot at the grocery store. She can spend 15 minutes waving and jabbering to the "boids" in our trees in the backyard. She also loves to play jokes on Mom and Dad by calling us by each others' names and cackling. When she walks, she walks with her arms outstretched like frankenstein, usually wiggling her fingers, bidding whatever is in her path to move to her.

With toddlerhood, of course, has come a myriad of new behaviors. Some of these are very sweet and loving, as when she tries to brush puppy's hair, or takes her hair ribbons out of her hair and pins them on my head. On the other hand, she now gets mad when you take things away from her, throwing her head and body back and forth with incredible force. This morning, I took the raisin box away from her and the response sounded like she was mortally wounded. And the fun, I hear, is that I can just expect it to get worse. Yikes!

In other news, we have a volcano that's erupting near us. But don't worry, we are somewhat prepared and now that the equinox has passed, we alaskans are all in a much happier mood.

I've been lax on baby food mondays. Let's talk about beverages. When K gets a snotty nose, I've learned now to give her a little bit of weak herbal tea that's lukewarm -- it warms the nasal passages and gets the snot out without having to use the evil bulb. My favorite is lemon echinacea, because we all know that the battle with day care crud is ongoing, especially in winter.

For our KFC Monday this week, I did slow cooker pork tacos:
1 4 oz can of dried chiles
2 tbsp chile powder
1 tbsp cumin
1 can of chunky salsa
1 lb pork roast
1 bag of dried kidney beans
Water to cover
salt, oregano and pepper to taste

Fixins:
Tortillas
Cheese
Extra salsa

Take all the ingredients and dump it into a slow cooker in the morning. Put the slow cooker on low obviously. Check periodically to confirm that the beans haven't taken all of the water -- if so, add a half cup of water and check in an hour. It's supposed to take nine hours, but I was able to raise the slow cooker to high at the five hour mark and things were tender by 7. You'll know that it's done when you press onto the pork with a wooden spoon and the pork just falls apart.

When the pork is done, take the pork out and shred with a fork. Make tacos using the beans, cheese, salsa and pork. Yum!

My first post using Plinky

2009-03-17T08:30:00.001-08:00

I'd probably split between AK, HI and vacations. I love the nature of Hawaii and think it would be a fantastic place to retire. On the other hand, I love the spirit and snow of Alaska (more general, the mountain west).

New Pictures

2009-02-26T09:48:00.001-09:00

Baby Food Monday

2009-02-24T05:11:00.002-09:00

Hi All --

(by the way, new videos to the right)

Here's another scoop for Monday...you can freeze sandwiches! Cut sandwiches into quarters, wrap individually, and voila.

Spread of the week on her sandwich is...squash ricotta. Basically, we had a great squash soup this weekend, and all I did was scoop the leftovers into a free ice cube tray, then placed in a bag. 20 seconds in the microwave of two cubes + two scoops of ricotta = tasty bread spread.

On the family food front, we had KFC Curry last night -- that's Kitchen Food Cleanout Curry. Buy any curry jar from the grocery store, and chop up just about any vegetables you have hanging out in your kitchen. Fruit can be used to, and gives the curry a sweet flavor.

Have a good week!

Baby Food Monday

2009-02-16T11:21:00.004-09:00

Since I have to make food for K every day for daycare, I thought I'd try to do a baby food monday theme. This makes sure I can actually write down what we're doing with Miss K for food and perhaps share some nice tips for toddler/baby food with the internets.

The menu for daycare this week is...

Ham, Cheese and Avocado spread sandwich with steamed carrots

Snack/breakfast: Blueberry multigrain pancakes with cranberry apple sauce

1) Raw Apple sauce --

Prep -- cut up as many apples as you have around and douse them in lemon juice (bottled works fine). Put about half of the apples and a half cup of juice (I used cranberry) and blend. Add apple pieces until you get your favorite applesauce consistency. Taste. Add cinnamon if you'd like.

Storage -- You can set it in the fridge for about a week. You can also freeze it in little ice cube trays for about two months.

Uses -- Use it in muffins, cereal, yogurt, as a spread, in a dessert, or in a lunch spread (below).

2) Steamed carrots --

Prep -- cut your carrots into baby-sized morsels (depends on baby). Put into a steamer basket over a pot of boiling water (alternatively, use a steamer (some rice steamers come with veggie steamer attachments like mine). Go ahead and throw in a few sprigs of herbs if you have some. Cover. Cook for 12 mins or so for al dente carrots; 15 for mushy carrots for little eaters.

Storage -- Cool, then spread over baking tray in your freezer shelf. Move into zip top bags once they are frozen through.

Uses -- Use them like frozen veggies in stews and soups. Thaw them and puree into tomato sauce to up the nutritional content. Serve them tossed with a salad dressing, olive oil, or maybe some soy sauce.

3) No Brainer Sandwich Spread -- I'm always looking for ways to sneak more veggies into baby. Here's something to try to use on your sandwiches.

Prep -- You need one mashed vegetable, one spready or shredded cheese, and one sweet saucy thing. I used this time avocado, ricotta, and apple butter. I know, sounds gross, but it's actually tasty. Mix the veggie, cheese and sweet all together until you get a spread consistency. Use only a little bit of sweet at first and then adjust to your taste.

Uses -- Use it as a dip or as a sandwich spread -- HINT: You can make a bunch of mini sandwiches in advance, then freeze. I used ham, american cheese and this spread to make a tasty sandwich for myself, then another one that I froze into tiny 1 inch cubes of sandwich for baby. Now, in the morning, I just have to throw the sandwich cubes in her lunchbox!

Anyways, I'll let you know what miss K thinks about the food next Monday, and I'll post the menu for next week. Later! Lori

A ten minute treatise on time with a ten minute update

2009-02-03T15:03:00.002-09:00

Yesterday, Frank asked me late at night how my day had been. It suprised him and I when I really didn't have a good answer, in fact, I was pretty happy just to be at the end of the day, not at the beginning.

Don't get me wrong, I like my job and my family. But my days are a blur and many days there is no room for contemplation. Every weekday, I get up at 4:50 to get to work at 5. At 6:30, I get K up for the day, and Frank shortly afterward. K has breakfast, lunchbox, vitamins, teeth brushing, diaper/clothes change, and binky before I hand her off to Frank to take to daycare at 7:30. Then, I go back downstairs and work until at least 2. Then comes the cleaning (yes I do do it), the dishwashing, the shopping list, the bottle washing, dinner-ing on M/W or anything else best done without baby in hand. Anything not done off of that list, it has to go onto the "post-K bedtime list".

(I've got 4 mins left)
Today I got out at 2:45, meaning all I could muster was a quick dishwashing/tidy up. If I want to exercise for at least 20 mins (how sad is that, to go to the gym for 20 mins of stairclimbing?), I have to get out the door in 3 mins. So I can pick up K at 4. So I can get to the grocery store by 4:30, then feed baby by 5:30. Dinner for me must fit between 5:30 and bathtime at 7. Baby in bed by 7:30, and I from then to my bedtime to relax and/or eat and/or finish everything else on my list. Bedtime for this bonzo is 9 sharp.

This isn't a pity party, it's just the way it is. So the next time I am asked what my day has been like, I may just reference this blog note. It would save time. I'm already late by 2 mins for my gym time. Whew!

UPDATE: So I reread this today and thought I'd clarify a bit. Of course we've got it good -- certainly there are a lot of parents juggling a lot more than I am. I have a wonderful husband who likes to cook and helps out where he can. This schedule above is just the result of the combination of our schedules and the choice that we all have to make to manage our time against what needs to get done everyday. For example, I could do more while K is in the house during weekdays, but I choose to spend as much of that time as I can with our family as the priority. So while I do sometimes wish for some personal time, this schedule above obviously is busy but it at least works.

The MVP is...

2009-02-01T19:10:00.000-09:00

YAY STEELERS!

Dinner Impossible!

2009-01-26T15:41:00.003-09:00

So, it used to be that I would actually think about what we were going to have for dinner. I remember scouring cookbooks on the weekends for hours, looking for the most perfect dish to use the remaining ingredients in our fridge. Post-baby, Frank does most of the scouring for recipes, and I am grateful for anything that comes my way that's not cheerios or cheese slices.

However, during this semester, I actually have cooking duty on MW. With crawling, curious, and post-daycare clingy baby. Fun times.

Here are my requirements for a meal:
1) Has to be done very very fast -- either with prep hours beforehand or with no-chop ingredients.
2) Has to be able to be eaten with one hand -- Knives + babies do not mix.
3) Has to be healthy, preferrably possible to feed to baby.
4) Did I mention it has to be made very fast?
5) Cannot require constant attention -- risotto is right out.
6) Preferrably can be prepared with one hand.

So with those thoughts, I am trying to find the easiest food imaginable to prepare. Today I'm going to try salmon in a teriyaki sauce with frozen veggies. Wish me luck!

Update -- apparently I didn't actually publish this yesterday, so I can tell you how it went :). We had a good meal -- the fish was very easy (here's the Recipe). I made twice the sauce in the baking dish before picking up K, then K and I went out to the store to get salmon and frozen veggies. At home, salmon went flesh-down in the baking dish in the fridge to marinate, until we were ready to eat. In went the salmon with the bread coated in Pam olive oil spray (yay Pam!), veggies were made while we waited. It took an extra 4 mins to cook the fish in our oven, but that's pretty much par for the course for our oven anyways.

So, all in all, tasty dinner done in 20 mins. Could be done one handed, very pleased!

Baking Day

2009-01-18T11:09:00.001-09:00

Hi All --

I promised Mom my muffin and granola recipes, so here they are for everyone:
Jam Muffins:
Muffin pan (butter and flour pan (use PAM for baking-- EASY))
2.5 cups of AP flour
1.5 tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp Allspice
.5 tsp salt
.25 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 and a pinch more baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup of jam/preserves of your choice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup of nuts/dried fruit
Coarse sugar (like turbinado sugar) -- big crystals for garnish

1) Position rack in the lower third of oven, heat oven to 325
2) In a large bowl whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt and cloves
3) in a little bowl combine the buttermilk and baking soda. Let it stand for 7 to 8 mins
Cut butter into 1/2 inch cbes and blace in the bowl of the kitchenaid with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until smooth and lighened in color, about 2 mins. Add the sugar 1-2 tablespoons at a time, taking about 3 minutes to get all the sugar in there. Add the brown sugar next, taking 2-3 mins in the same manner. Scrape down the side of the bowl regularly to get all the sugar to combine with the butter.
4) Add the eggs, oneat a time, beating for 1 minute before adding antoher egg.
5) Add in the jam and vanilla. The mix will look curdled but it will look a LOT better once the flour is added.
6) Reduce mixer speed to wlow, add the flour mix alternately with the buttermilk mixture -- flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour (divide into parts). Mix until just blended after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
7) Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in your nut/fruit mix.
8) Spoon the batter into your butter/floured muffin pan. Give it a tap to make sure the batter settles. Take your good large-grain sugar and sprinkle on each muffin -- this will give you a nice hard top.
9) Put in oven -- it takes about 35 minutes in my oven, but check after 20. They are done when you can stick a knife or fork in one and it doesn't come out goopy.
10) As soon as they are done, give them about 2 mins to settle in, then pop them out over a metal rack (or a dish towel). Let them cool, then pop into a tupperware or freeze them individually.

Granola
You need a flat rimmed pan
Wet and sticky ingredients -- 1 cup
-- you can use maple syrup, molasses/water, honey (not for kids under 2), etc. Vanilla extract is nice (1/2 cup)
The flakey stuff: 8 cups
--Rolled oats, wheat/rye/millet flakes, bran flakes
The nuts and seeds stuff -- 1 cup
--hazlenuts, almons, pecans, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc
The fruits -- 1 cup
--cranberries, raisins, currants, blueberries, dates, apricots, mangoes, whatever

1) Heat the oven to 250.
2) Mix the flakes nuts and seeds into a big bowl (no fruit yet). Stir in the gooey stuff -- eyeball it, you want some pieces to clump together, but not all of it, you also want it not to be all liquidy. So add dry and wet ingredients so you have a clumpy/individual ratio that you like in your granola.
3) Spread the mixture out on your flat sheet. Bake in the oven for about one hour - check every 20 mins or so and stir up your granola. When the granola is slightly brown, take it up.
4) While it's still warm, drop it into a bowl with the dried fruit. Cool it off, then put in airtight containers. Works great with yogurt, soy milk, milk, ice cream, etc.

2009-01-17T08:33:00.002-09:00

Hi All --

Sorry for not posting photos of our holiday trip pronto. Between work eating up my free time, two daycare closure days, and the fact that all of my electronics died as soon as I came back from HI, it's been difficult to get anything useful done.

However here are the pictures:

Suprises abound in the Moore household..

2008-12-10T20:48:00.000-09:00

It's been a wonderful few days in the Moore household. Frank is winding down from his semester, I'm waist deep in work, and Kira, bless her heart, is in the throes of a flu bug.
That's right, a flu bug. So yesterday, I wake her up in the morning. I smelled a hint of ick that made me think she had spit up. Then I felt wet..all over my sweatshirt. That's right, Kira threw up in the night and then rolled around in it. She was totally fine with this, but I was not. After a bath and a complete wardrobe change for us both, she looked and seemed to feel fine. However, last night she threw up right before bedtime. So we are back on vomit watch and pedialyte.
None of this has stopped K from her usual. We got our first "incident report" from daycare yesterday, notifying us that Kira pulled herself up on a piece of furniture and launched herself into a sharp corner. When she came home, she proceeded to recreate the situation multiple times for us. I'm hoping that a good part of her 90% head is cushion, because I don't see the climbing/falling/crying stopping for a while.

Binky herding and other nine month antics

2008-11-23T11:08:00.000-09:00

Sorry for not a lot of posting. Two of the clan have been sick, namely, me and MissK. A week ago, I got a call from daycare to pick up Kira, who had been running a fever and was generally not herself. A doctor's visit quickly identified baby's first ear infection, and we got some lovely tasting antibiotics for her. I'm so glad we took her to the doctor, because she immediately started to get better.

K is changing every day. Yesterday was the first day, ever, that I walked into her room to find her sitting up -- meaning, she sat herself up by herself from a laying down position. It's like suddenly that light just turned on in her head, and now she's doing it all the time.

She's also very much into exploring the world around her. Today, she found the DVD player and was so happy with herself, touching all the buttons, until Mom pulled her away, at which point she showed one of her new tricks -- a blood-curdling protest wail. Yikes.

I spend a lot of time during the weekend watching her, and trying to figure out what she's working on. For the last few days, she has gathered a bunch of binkys around her. She then carefully picks one up, inspects it carefully by turning it around in her hands, then puts it in her mouth. Then, she puts it back down on the ground, carefully, and moves onto the next. Last night, she expanded on her binky-herding repetoire by pulling over her other toys and hitting them with her binkys to make sound. She did this over and over, carefully putting down one binky, picking up the next, and repeating the hitting routine.

The big outing for the weekend was going to powerline pass to ski yesterday with friends. This was the first time we used the burley and ski kit, and, after a bit of wrangling with the parts, we were on our way. Frank pulled Kira most of the time, and Kira went to sleep after about two minutes of skiing. I think we were out for about an hour and a half. I'm so happy that we're able to involve Kira in our ski outings, and that we've gotten good at keeping her warm and toasty.

Anyways, K's waking up, but I thought I'd write something on the blog while I had some time :)

Yikes!

2008-11-03T14:28:00.000-09:00

Kira wants to remind you to go out and VOTE!

What an eventful weekend! I spent Friday and Saturday sick as a dog, and then on Sunday we went to the fun that was early voting! It was like a queue with no ride at the end...except it was through a tiny little building. Like we almost always find up here, people are very cordial and friendly, especially when it comes to baby. Kira became really irritated around the hour mark (and who wasn't), but she hung in there with help from all the friendly early voting people. All in all, it took an hour and a half to vote on Sunday!

Kira is doing great. She is now purposefully crawling to objects that she wants (video is being uploaded as we speak). Weekends are wonderful but also exhausting, as Kira is still learning to play by herself at home. She is a flurry of babbling, clapping, smiles, curiosity, and gestures from morning to nighttime. Luckily, this does tire her out, and you can count on her sleeping peacefully by 8pm (knock on wood).

In holiday news, I am debating what fru-fru outfit Miss K requires for her holiday cheer. I am goofy over the on sale sweater dresses and crazy matching tights (like here). They would make such a fantastic picture for our christmas cards! When I am in a really goofy mood, I think of getting us all matching outfits -- now that would make a REAL super-fantastic card, don't you think?

Touch me!

2008-10-30T17:09:00.001-08:00

So I am writing this from my new itouch! Besides the interface for typing being a little hard to use it is pretty darn neat! Iwould write more but my eyes are starting to cross from this tiny tiny screen!

Weekend Update

2008-10-26T07:50:00.002-08:00

We are enjoying our weekend after a very hectic week. Kira is at my feet playing with an old purse and some juggling balls, chirping as she explores the mystery of "bags can hold other things" and of course the miracle of velcro. She started this week by waving to me, and she's decided now that everyone, even the mona lisa in the office, requires a big wave. She started clapping on Wednesday, so now everything done requires a good clapping as well. It's kind of like having a very tiny but friendly chearleader in your house.

Beyond developmental milestones, it was my birthday (and Anne's birthday) this Friday. While Anne was listening to OC music and sipping Zinfandel, I was eating bad tofu, admiring a beautiful arrangement of roses, talking to family, and enjoying a fantastic champagne. Honestly, it was a great day.

We went to trick or treat town this weekend, which is an event staged in a parking garage for children to get candy in a safe environment. Kira and her friend Elyse seemed to enjoy the festivities as well as they possibly could for infants from their vantage point baby wraps. We felt weird getting Kira candy, considering she can't eat any of it yet. So we looked a bit like creeps getting candy for ourselves, using our child as a crutch. Ah Well. There were 50 stalls of candy-giving volunteers from various businesses in town, and at the end there were Taiko drummers, hot dogs, and popcorn.

Today is a beautiful, sunny day, which in the winter means it is insanely frigid. It's about 13 degrees out there. Yikes!

The sick house

2008-10-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture from last weekend, when all of us were not sick.

Frank's been sick with chills and a chest cold since Thursday, and spent a good amount of time on Saturday in bed. I've had a bad sinus cold since Friday, and of course you know what happens next -- yes, that's right -- Kira woke up today with her first bona fide cold. I would say she woke up crying, but she had lost her voice in the night, so the cry came out more like a tiny bullfrog ("yaak, yaak"). She has been having as good a time as she can, and even managed to sneeze out a massive pile of snot onto daddy's shirt with a huge smile.

Last night, I made tomato soup and grilled cheese for Frank. Miss K has discovered a deep love of tomato soup to go with her pickle spear fixation. She has decided not to eat any vegetables -- although I have to tell you, Gerber peas taste icky anyways. She will eat fruit if there is cinnamon in it. I tried whole milk baby yogurt with her this morning, and she gave me this look like "Seriously? Are you trying to kill me?".

Anyways, that's what is happening in the fun Moore household this weekend.

2

2008-10-11T07:33:00.000-08:00

Kira woke me up this morning with a thwack to the head and a "ta-da!". Ta-Da for sure -- Miss K now has 2 teeth!

Ah-Ha for your Tuesday

2008-10-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

(Pipe Wrench Fight!)

Update

2008-10-02T13:00:00.000-08:00

Kira would like to warn everyone there is a chance of SNOW this evening. Make sure you have a proper snow hat!

In other news, there is not too much new news. Let's see...

--We had been waiting for a good day to go to powerline pass, and finally got our chance last Friday. The pictures are in the 6month album above -- Kira had a great time in the Baby Bjorn.

--I have been doing the Tuesday night trail runs, which are fun. It's the only time I get to go trail running, since I don't especially want to get eaten by bears and the burley stroller doesn't do well on rough terrain. The runs are rugged -- tundra in the fall, I was suprised to find out, is kind of like running on a sponge sitting on top of a trampoline.

--Frank installed one of our new fancy baby gates! We don't need it yet, but we want to get these in before K gets mobile.

--Speaking of mobility, Kira is getting really close! She can now easily go backwards, and is on all fours now. She also has lots of new sounds -- Ga, Ba, Da, Buh, Duh, Ta, Fa. She poked her eye with a metal spoon at Sunrise Grille which set up a really bad Sunday, but thanks to her ever-expanding brain, looks like long-term memory has kicked in enough that she hasn't tried it again...yet.

Anyways, that's all I have today...hope you have a great day!

Sleeping in Circles

2008-09-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Tuesday Night

Baby goes to sleep
Puppy goes outside at 9:30pm
I go to sleep
Frank goes to sleep
Puppy goes to sleep
Baby wakes up
I wake up
Frank wakes up
Puppy wakes up
Can puppy go outside at 2am?
Frank goes to sleep
Baby goes to sleep
I go to sleep
Frank wakes up
Puppy wakes up
Can puppy go outside at 3am?
Baby wakes up
I wake up
Can puppy go outside at 3:15am?
Baby goes to sleep
Baby wakes up
I wake up
Baby goes to sleep
I go to sleep
Baby wakes up
I wake up
Puppy CANNOT go outside at 4am! Do not ask again!
Frank goes back to sleep
Puppy looks at me with sad dejected eyes
Baby looks at me with wide awake eyes and smiles
I give up and lay down with baby
Baby goes to sleep after thwacking me on my head with her talon-like fingernails a few hundred times
Puppy curls up on the floor
I go to sleep
I wake up to the alarm at 5am
Can puppy go outside at 5am?
Baby gets transferred back to her crib
Can puppy go outside at 5:02am?
Baby starts to rustle
Puppy GOES OUTSIDE at 5:03am
I wake Frank to warn him baby wakeup is imminent before I go to work

Videos are up!

2008-09-16T11:39:00.000-08:00

From Kira Month 6

Babies on a Plane!

2008-09-05T16:53:00.001-08:00

So, I guess there are a lot of cool things to talk about...first of all, Kira has a new baby cousin Mackenzie! We are all very excited.

Kira went to Denali and got to ride on her first flightseeing plane...she had a great time and fell asleep. Denali is cool, and big, and a great place for a labor day drive!

That's about it for now but thought I'd try to write something down here while I had a few minutes...

This is Kira Marie, and I approve this message....

2008-08-28T17:11:00.000-08:00

Now, to be fair everyone, we did look high and low for a McCain cutout at the state fair, but there was no McCain booth in sight. I can only assume that this is because McCain believes he can win AK with very little investment.

More state fair pictures on the right...

On the 5 month book

2008-08-27T12:46:00.003-08:00

So everyone wants to know, where is Kira's five month book? Well, it should be coming...soon. I *just* found the rest of my pictures from the midwest trip -- I was smarter than I thought and moved them to an extra special place on my hard drive. Look for a book out this week or weekend :)

P.S. MissK's sixth month appointment is tomorrow. It's your first and last chance to guess correctly how big she is. Extra brownie points go for correct percentiles for height, weight and head size.

Meme Monday

2008-08-25T13:00:00.001-08:00

Anne made me do it....

Apparently someone came up with a list of the one hundred things that you should aspire to eat as an omnivore. There's a lot on this list that I should have eaten but have avoided up to this point. Roadkill of course is one of them (at least as far as I know).

Here’s what I want you to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette mmm...kare kare
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe (recently legalized in the US!)
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (hell no!)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

54/100 -- not too bad :)

Hippy dippy baby-food making yuppie momma stuff

2008-08-22T13:00:00.000-08:00

So baby's first "real" food is...avocado. Why -- you may ask -- would you feed your daughter a first food that you yourself don't really like? Good question. The responsible answer is that it's chock full of essential ingredients that will help her build a useful brain and sharp eyes. The culinary answer would be that I would like my daughter to have a broader and more refined palate than her parents. The other answer is it's probably the easiest thing to ever make.

The hardest thing is to determine when the avocado is ripe. I think it's when you squeeze it will all five fingers and it's mushy. You crack open the avocado in half and pop out the seed. Then, you get your trusty melon baller out (yes, another use for my mad melon balling skillz), and start scooping. Once it's all out, one must mush the mushy avocado into green goo. The first time, as you can see, I used a mortar and pestle. Simple yet suprisingly ineffective. I now use my good friend the immersion blender which is a godsend (seriously, go get an immersion blender). To save, you just put these guys into ice cube trays (use your mini offset spatula to spread the goo evenly -- you do have a mini offset spatula, right?) and voila - you have made ice cubes of avocado for many months of enjoyment.

All in all, it's a 20 minute job -- 25 minutes if you do two avocados.

Now, what else can I make that's easy -- uh, nutritous -- for baby's next food? I'm thinking peaches because they are in season -- and if there's anything a hippy dippy baby food making yuppie momma knows, it's that you should serve your baby something in season (or grown locally -- but she's not allowed to eat rhubarb yet).

In other news, the university officially granted Frank tenure yesterday. Unlike what I thought, there is no tenure fairy or a secret ritual with cloaked professors chanting in latin. He was recognized in an assembly and shook hands with the powers that be. It's fantastic, and a great accomplishment to be a tenured faculty member, so please give him a hand in your comments.

Speaking of fairies, I was reminded of brownies today. Brownies are not only chocolate treats but girl scouts of course, but they are named after a little fairy who picks up the house. Brownies (the girl scout variety) are supposed to pick up the house secretly for their parents a few times before they are inaugurated into the girl scout collective. It will be nice when MissK is a Brownie and stops hiding Daddy's keys in the morning.

Happy Friday!

Guess who is the boss now?

2008-08-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

I guess it's Kira, because the bib won't fit over my big head :)

On Growing up...

2008-08-17T10:33:00.000-08:00

So, day care wound up being great. Miss K took about four days to really warm up to the team, but now she's just fine. She has learned a lot of new sounds and "tricks" from daycare -- like whining when she wants something, sticking her thumb in her mouth, etc -- but on the other hand, these are all things she would have learned anyways. I've been really impressed with the day care folks, they seem to really be attentive and seem genuinely concerned about MissK's welfare.

Two fantastic milestones have flown past in the last week -- Kira sits up on her own (as you can see), and she also rolls over on her stomach easily. Because of this, we have stopped swaddling her at night, which brings all sorts of problems. You see, MissK is flipping onto her stomach in the nighttime and does not find it a happy place yet. So, this morning, at 4:55am, Kira woke mommy up for assistance. Yikes, or should I say paraphrasing Avenue Q -- sucks to be mommy.

On the other hand, Daddy got Mommy a cappucino this morning, and mommy got to watch a half hour of Meet the Press. So now the day is good.

However, Miss K has flipped herself over again..MommyTime!

Day Care Day 1 revelation -- Miss K is not sentimental

2008-08-11T11:56:00.000-08:00

So, Frank and I dropped off Miss K to day care today. She instantly sat down in a bumbo seat and proceeded to play with new toys while I fumbled around with paperwork. When I got up to say goodbye, all she did was grunt. We'll see how she actually does during the day though -- she can be pretty stubborn.

Suddenly, I'm all by myself. Does it feel good? I'm not sure. It's quiet. I can get a lot more work done with actual focus. On the other hand, it's eerily quiet...the type of quiet I haven't really been in for five months. I'm sure I will get used to it, but it's unnerving to say the least. And of course I worry about her -- what she's doing, whether she's throwing a fit, is she crying, does she miss her mom and dad -- but that's not constructive worrying.

Either way, I will let you know how things go. By the way, new pictures in the five month album -- I know, we should turn another month, but I haven't done a five month snapbook yet :) Maybe with all this extra quiet I can get it done...

We/re BACK!

2008-08-06T12:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of Blogging. We are back from our various vacations, which Miss K thoroughly enjoyed, as you can see. Pictures of New Mexico are below...

Touchdown!

2008-07-02T09:21:00.000-08:00

Both of Kira's feet finally touch the ground!

Miss K does go outside.

2008-06-27T17:59:00.000-08:00

Baby is wearing her Alaska Grown t-shirt (it's a 12 m - gah!) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alaska Statehood, being celebrated this weekend. Festivities include Wynonna Judd, Arctic Thunder (air show), the Glacier Pilots vs. Taiwan, and the Scottish Highland games, including the Kilted Mile. Oh, and they will reenact the "starring" of the US flag downtown in the midst of jugglers and all other sorts of street entertainment.

So sing with us and enjoy your weekend!

PS. What is funny about the Alaska Grown t-shirt is that it recreates the sticker that identifies alaskan produce at the supermarket.

This Baby...

2008-06-24T16:02:00.000-08:00

...greets me post-"OMG I have to go in 20 minutes and I'm in my robe" hair appointment by spitting up all over my perfectly coiffed hair and the cardigan I so carefully chose to replace said robe. Thanks kid!

Kira addresses her fans

2008-06-18T16:48:00.000-08:00

nmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmdfrjjesjwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwa'SZDddddddddd mm qaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaEQEV

I believe that is dolphin, since that is the language she appears to be speaking lately.

Kira update

2008-06-14T19:13:00.000-08:00

This week, Kira has been working really hard on vocalizing and grabbing things with two hands. Yes, this means the days of being able to eat at a restaurant peacefully without having to juggle an infant are OVER. When this week started, Kira was talking like an old modem (Gee...Ahh..chrshhhhh) and today she has started calling like a hoot owl (hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!). In These new babbles really throw mommy and daddy for a loop, since we don't know what these new sounds mean.

Her best friend continues to be the lights in our living room above the changing table. When I layed down next to her, I noticed that they do look a lot like a smiley face, so maybe that is what she is reacting to.

She is more cranky, more fussy, and more insistent every day. On the other hand, she is more interactive and socially excited every day, so I guess with the parent thing you must take the good with the bad.

In non-Kira news, it is summer in Alaska. When it is sunny, the light is just so incredible that it's very hard not to think this is the most beautiful place on earth. When it is cloudy, like today, the air feels really chilly and you start wishing for Hawaii. However, today we did get a good rain, and you should see the garden! It's going to be incredible this year. I'll try to get pictures one of these days :)

More pictures

2008-06-10T13:37:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday! More pictures to the right...

The Miss K update

2008-05-31T16:41:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long gap between posts -- now that I'm back to work, it's hard to find time to write (much less read, etc.). Any time I'm not taking care of Kira, I feel like I'm only getting ready for the next time I need to take care of Kira (washing bottles, flipping laundry, taking a shower, etc). It's like being a step ahead and a step behind all the time.

But here I am, writing while Frank entertains K on the exersaucer. Kira is growing up so fast! Today, we went out to Sunrise Grill, and she was just not having any of the car seat. So I put her on my lap and she stared at the tabasco for a few minutes. Soon, she was hitting the edge of my plate, which I had wisely kept out of (what I thought) was her reach. All of the sudden, she had my parsley, and was waving it around! It was very cool.

The picture here is our test run of the Moby wrap in anticipation for the midwest tour. You can see she likes it very much, and that she likes to hold on to her toothbrush, eventhough she has no teeth.

Well that's all the time I have -- Miss K is hungry again!

More Pictures!

2008-05-27T09:17:00.003-08:00

In an effort to find increasingly annoying toys for Miss K, we found the "Jumperoo"!

More pictures to the right!

"If this is the worst thing that happens to her.."

2008-05-24T16:32:00.003-08:00

UPDATE: VIDEOS are now in the three month album to the right.

Kira is growing up so fast! Sometimes I look at her and realize that she's not a newborn anymore.

Last night, she found a cardboard box and could not stop feeling the edges with her hands, leaning forward on it like she wanted it to support her weight. It occupied her for about a half hour. This morning, she was fascinated with a rattle, and finally was successful in grabbing for it. When she got it in her mouth, though, she was so angry to find out it was hard.

In trauma news, while trying to tame her "talons" with the baby nail clippers, I took a little bit of Kira's finger out. She was very very upset, but probably not as upset as I was -- all I could think was "look at me, I'm a terrible mother, cutting off my daughter's fingers". As I was apologizing tearfully to my screaming baby, all these awful scenarios kept going through my head about blood clot disorders, blood poisoning, emergency rooms and stitches. Perhaps that was a little bit of an overreaction considering the wound stopped bleeding within 10 minutes, and Kira gave me a huge smile. By the morning, everything looked great and by today (48 hours post-trauma) you can hardly notice a thing.

In non-trauma news, we have a garden again this year! Lots of beans, herbs, strawberries and raspberries will be on our menus this summer. We are definitely in summer now, with our long nights. This morning, we even had one clap of thunder, which is really unusual for Alaska.

We've already got a good crop of rhubarb, and I'm busy making weekly deserts to keep up with it. This week, we're going to have rhubarb-berry crumble pie.

I also know that the link below doesn't work to youtube, and am working on it :)

Have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend!

Baby talks back

2008-05-20T07:49:00.000-08:00

(more pictures too on the right...)

Back to the Grindstone

2008-05-13T16:51:00.001-08:00

I know I haven't written this week, but we all are still getting used to my new work schedule and all the juggling that's required.

Frank is doing a fantastic job with Kira and is really enjoying his time with her, despite some "setbacks":

In addition to our hectic schedule this week, we got the news yesterday that my grandmother died. To say she will be missed is an understatement. I'm not very good with words or feelings, but eventhough we live far away, I can feel her missing in the world, and that makes me sad. I'd sit here and write some "but on the other hand, it happens to all of us" stuff, but I don't feel like writing about that just yet.

Photoshop fun!

2008-05-09T11:18:00.000-08:00

Dwight the Bobblehead, I'm awfully fond of you...

2008-05-08T10:25:00.000-08:00

Meet Miss K's new business associate, Dwight Schrute the bobblehead. She discovered him in the bathroom mirror yesterday, and was fascinated by what I can only guess is not only his bobbly-headedness, but his good looks and charms. I know this because she totally ignored Michael Scott the bobblehead, standing right next to Dwight. Maybe it's the glasses?

In other news, the bumbo seat has become a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing, as Kira can have fun watching us do things, like eat, for more than 10 minutes at a time. However, this peacefulness comes at a big stinky price. You see, something about the bumbo seat's configuration makes Kira poop. A LOT. So much so that it's magic made us dub it the "Sit and...well..."Poop"". After this set of pictures, we had a blowout so massive that baby got a complete wardrobe change, and mommy almost needed one too.

Anyways, more pictures for you all at the rgiht. I've got the video camera ready for the next time Kira gets talkative.

Houdini

2008-05-03T09:31:00.004-08:00

At night, Kira is currently sleeping in her crib completely swaddled. When I went to wake her up this morning, she greeted me with one of her grand arm waves. She had "escaped" from the swaddle enough to get her right hand out, and, I think, was waving it in the direction of the mobile. I'm actually not sure how she got her arm out -- I put those swaddles on pretty tight. To add to the mystery, she was lying diagonally in the crib, with her feet up in the air along the bumpers. So, not only did she get out of her straightjacket, she managed to move herself around as well.

In other news, it "might" be spring here -- there's still a chance of rain/snow all the way through the weekend, but it's beautiful and sunny. The days are getting long enough that the sun just seems to be up all the time. As soon as "the leaves on the birches are as long as a squirrel's ear", we'll start planting our garden.

Have a good weekend!

Guess who is two months old?

2008-05-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

More pictures on the right...

The cost of stuff and Kira update

2008-04-30T11:47:00.004-08:00

Juneau lost her power lines to the Dam last week, causing a five-fold increase in the cost of electricity to the town. In response:
"Now members of the Graves family eat dinner by candlelight, do dishes by hand, plan to dry their clothes on a rack by the wood stove, and limit their time on the computer."
Can you imagine what it's like? It's got me thinking about the amount of electricity we use on a daily basis, and what we'd do if we had something like this happen.

The price of food has really risen due to rising fuel costs -- ten percent during the first three months of this year. Luckily, if it stops snowing and raining, the farmers and families like us can start growing our own vegetables to keep costs down.

In Kira news...our little chicken slept for 8 HOURS last night! In total I got the most contiguous hours of sleep I have had in two months! Anyways, very exciting for the Moore household today, and almost makes up for the fact that it's snow/sleet outside today.

22 inches! 64wpm!

2008-04-26T15:33:00.001-08:00

So, as I said, perhaps the sunhat is a bit premature. We got 22.5 inches at last count last night! Poor Galileo was really stumped this morning, considering the snow is as tall as he is.

In other news, do not try typeracer. It's addictive, although on the other hand it's fantastic to keep up your typing speed.

Perhaps getting the sun hat out was a little premature...

2008-04-25T10:28:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, it was 60 degrees. I went on a walk without a jacket, and started working on getting the jog stroller in shape.

Today we have big wind gusts, icky cold rain, and...snow! They are predicting 2-3 inches. So Miss K and I are retreating to the water park., where we can pretend it's spring for a little while.

By Popular Demand...

2008-04-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

More pictures on the right-hand side!

In Kira news, she went to the pediatrician, which was great, because we found out she was growing just as expected. She also had her first round of shots to keep her safe from all sorts of diseases. She then proceeded to sleep (it feels) for three days. Then, all of the sudden on Monday, she woke up and frankly has not had a real nap since.

It's beautiful outside here in AK, and I think it's time we run some errands. But I wanted to make sure I first got some pictures up since people were looking for them...

Kira update

2008-04-17T13:42:00.001-08:00

Kira perfecting her Elvis impersonation

Kira's had a very exciting day! On Wednesday, she went back to the water park and sat in the water without crying once! In fact, she smiled at everyone and everything (especially the four year old that came up, touched her feet, and said "Where are the baby's socks?").

She also spent her first few hours at the neighbors (Thanks T!) while Frank and I went out to the opera. Miss K did us proud by being very very good and not throwing one fit.

Then, to top it off, she slept -- get this -- for six hours straight. That's after two nights of getting up every 3 hours, being irritable, and not sleeping hardly at all during the day.

Today, she is sleeping a lot, but in her awake moments, she did play with the bouncy chair (pictures in the gallery at the right) and also played with her keys, but this time, she suprised herself by putting them in her mouth. It sounds like a little thing to you or I, but it was pretty startling for Kira and I, since she's not supposed to be doing that for a while (I thought).

Now, we are off to the pediatrician for our six week visit!

And for my next trick...

2008-04-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

Look, I can hold stuff! So that's what these hands are for....

In other Kira news, we went swimming on Wednesday! Ok, well I went wading into the kiddie pool holding Kira. When I tried to get her into the water, she was pretty upset, but she loved be held near the water -- so much so that she fell asleep.

It was probably all for the better -- the swim diaper didn't fit her very well anyways. But next week, we are going to try again..this time with a swimsuit!

Six Weeks!

2008-04-06T18:49:00.002-08:00

Dear Kira --

You are six weeks old! Can you believe it? It went by so very quickly -- first, you were just a little peanut of a being, and now, you are more of a butternut squash-sized being who is starting to display a personality.

So far, you are not a morning person. Around 7:30am, you wake us up with a wail that seems impossible to come out of your little body. Your little eyes are scrunched up so tightly on your very angry face while your tiny fists are crunched up, and you remain that way until you are fed. Diaper changes, baths, and waking you up when you do not want to be woken up ellicit a similar response.

You like to be held as much as possible, and love to sit while mom and dad type on the computer. This is probably because it reminds you of the womb. Right now, you are leaning on my left hand while in your sling and making cooing sounds and grabbing for my hair. Closets, especially messy closets, are also fascinating to you probably due to the bright colors.

In particular, your favorite object (other than us) is the Matisse poster in our living room. You can stare at that for ten minutes at a time. Your second favorite thing is the skylight in the living room -- I suspect this will continue to be a source of interest especially since the sun is starting to interfere with bedtime.

You continue to sleep (mostly) through the night, with one feeding around 4am, although occasionally you decide to be wide awake at the 4am feeding. The problem is, you don't like sleeping in your crib and also sometimes want to stay up until 1am. Although I would prefer an earlier bedtime (like 9, please!), your dad and I are still very grateful for the sleep we do get, and realize it could be much much worse.

In the last week or so, you have learned how to smile and coo! It still is pretty infrequent, but when you do smile it is fantastic! You look so much like your daddy, especially in the eyes (and, as I usually joke, especially when you're angry :)).

The other big news this week is that you are consistently hitting things with your hands! You aren't grabbing yet, but the fact that you can hit things seems to please you very much.

Today, we finally let the nursery at church take care of you for an hour, since they have been begging for it. In the nursery, you proceeded to pee, spit up, and poop (a cornucopia of baby goo!) all over your clothes, requiring a complete change. Of course they didn't care because you were so gosh darn cute doing it :).

All in all, you are a good girl!

Love,
Mom

Bullwinkle's demise

2008-04-05T13:29:00.001-08:00

It's a sad day in Anchorage as our beloved moose is no more.

For Your In-car-sideration...

2008-04-03T14:04:00.002-08:00

Today I came upon a slew of inconsiderate drivers in Anchorage. I'm usually pretty calm about these things, but certainly today I just hit the jackpot.

It all started when I walked to my car after lunch to realize that some ginormous SUV had parked so cocky-swabbled and close to my driver side that I could not get the baby carrier into the car. So, I had to get the dog out of the car, crawl through the passenger side with a big old car seat, get the dog back in the car, wedge myself into the car, and drive off. As I'm wedging myself into the car, the SUV lady walks right past me, scales the Mt. Everest of her car, and drives off without any acknowledgement of the situation she put me through.

Then, as someone else was turning into the parking lot, I turned on the main road. As soon as I did that, a lovely suited gentleman in another huge SUV is on my bumper, honking, flicking me off and of course talking on his cell phone. He had flipped into my lane without turning on his signal while I was turning. Now granted, I am not getting a lot of sleep these days and fully acknowledge that I may be a slower-than-normal, but I don't think I was so slow to warrant such an awful response.

On a good note, at the next parking lot I went to, a raven was sitting on top of the car next to mine, picking at something on the top of the car. Now that was cute.

However, while I was trucking my baby carrier from the very back of the parking lot, I got to see a solo burly guy get into a huge SUV that was parked in the "Expectant mothers and families with small children" space. Argh.

Usually I find driving in Anchorage to very non-stressful and full of relaxed but generally friendly drivers. Frank found a poll that said 43% of Anchorage drivers at any time are on drugs -- maybe the lunch crowd today is taking a different cocktail than the normal afternoon crowd? If so, we should change their meds.

Rocking the Vote at one month old...

2008-04-02T13:32:00.002-08:00

Kira got her first sticker yesterday from the voting center!

In other news...this is funny!

Kira says...

2008-03-31T13:56:00.000-08:00

"Hey, I think this label says there are more pictures up!"

Quick wisdom for the day

2008-03-28T09:46:00.001-08:00

If ifs and buts were fruits and nuts, the squirrels would all be fat.

In Non-Kira news...

2008-03-26T18:32:00.002-08:00

Every time I see John McCain I think of this youtube video which is sad because I spend a lot of time right now in front of the TV breastfeeding:

In Kira news, today is a five (yesterday, by the way, WAS an 8) she finally started hitting the lower objects in the rainforest, and has discovered the dangling cow on her snugride. Unfortunately, all this newfound excitment makes her fussy sometimes :)

Yesterday was a 2, Today looks like an 8

2008-03-25T09:50:00.004-08:00

Ever read your horoscope in the paper? They rate your day on a scale from 1-9 (is there a 10? I've never seen it). Yesterday, if you had looked at Kira's horoscope, it would have looked like this:

Today is a 2. Today is a good day to be generally and vaguely irritable to those around you, but only in short bursts. When you make a huge smile afterwards, everyone will forget until you startle them with another wail, which is fun. Today is also a good day to strengthen your vocal chords by screaming for Mom (a-LAAAAAA, a-LAAAAA) any time she is out of your nearsighted eyesight, because that really helps everyone relax.

Today, luckily, is so far turning out to be a good day (I'm projecting an 8) -- Kira slept somewhat through the night (I got 3+3 hours of sleep), and she is actually dozing right now in-between feedings. So, to celebrate, despite the fact that there is a lot to do, I am taking a "sanity holiday" by writing this blog entry while having an actually healthy breakfast omelette and checking email.

All in all, Chikin is a great baby, and yesterday was totally mild compared to many newborn's regular days I hear. We are so very lucky that we can still count on our hands the "two" days she has had.

Video!

2008-03-22T07:59:00.002-08:00

2008-03-20T13:46:00.000-08:00

Hey, don't you know there are more pictures up?

Eyes of...Blue?

2008-03-19T11:34:00.001-08:00

You may not be able to tell from the pictures, but Chikin still has dark blue eyes! Considering the very strong "very brown to black" eye dominance of the Lohrman clan, and the fact that blue is generally recessive, it's pretty amazing that Kira somehow managed to come up with blue eyes with a little ring of light blue/green in the middle. I realize they can change color at any point up to 4 months, but man, those eyes sure look like they are staying blue to me.

We also discuss her hair color a lot. Her skin tone is very much a redhead skin tone -- and by that I mean pale (might as well stock up on sunscreen now, kid). Her hair has a lot of red in it, but, like any redhead, it's definitely it's own shade of red mixed in with blond and brown. It changes color depending on the light, but one thing is for sure -- Kira has a LOT of hair already, and it's not falling out.

In other Kira news, she has mandated her own schedule. At night, she requests a feeding at 11pm, 5am, and 8am. These times are not negotiable, and any attempt to alter these times is met with "aLA! aLA!" wails and high pitched screams until the allotted time for the next feeding.

Once she gets what she wants, however, she is still a very calm baby.

There are other things going on in the world, other than Kira, I hear. For one, we have the NCAA basketball champs happening soon, and Greg our groomsmen is in space, literally. In ANC, we got a beautiful dusting of snow but it's pretty clear that the days for skiing are numbered.

Also, my "little" brother Will(ie) has a birthday today! Happy Birthday Will!

More Pics!

2008-03-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

Kira says have you looked at the new pictures yet?

Kira and I are having fun feeding, changing diapers, taking photos and playing with all the fun gizmos we now have in the house while Dad is at work. I am amazed at how much time it takes to take care of such a little thing, even if Kira is a very good baby. Between the two-hours start-start feedings and the diaper changes, everything just takes so much time. To add to the challenge, I am mentally impaired -- whether it's sleep deprivation or just post-partum baby dementia, I am not sure. All I know is that to concentrate or remember anything for more than two minutes is just not happening like it used to.

As for Kira, she is fantastic. In the last few days she has learned to spit bubbles out of her mouth, pee and poop specifically during a diaper change, and grab hair. She is wearing out with the rainforest excerciser -- she babbles to it and waves her arms and feet at it. She's not sure about the bouncer and the bumbo chair yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Happy Friday!

2008-03-14T17:28:00.000-08:00

More Pictures here...

7 days!

2008-03-07T10:01:00.001-09:00

Can you believe that Kira Marie is 7 days old today? I can't. It's amazing how fast she is changing. She spends more and more time awake and alert, and we're slowly getting to know her better.

Some things today about Kira -- yesterday, she started taking interest in stuffed animals. She can track them with her eyes (they still cross), but she now will stare at them for a while and wave her uncoordinated hands at them. She still likes to have her hands up around her face (like the picture) and have her feet crossed, but she's slowly learning to stretch out her legs more often. When she's alert, she likes to mimic our faces and is very interested in her mommy's hair. She is also very warm-blooded (maybe due to all of those ski sessions?) and is unable to keep socks on her feet. She likes to sleep all early evening, which is great for going to dinner, but awful for staying asleep at night.

Sorry everyone for the awfully late responses to emails and well-wishes -- I cannot believe how fast time seemse to fly at the moment! Anyways, more pictures here.

Kira Update!

2008-03-05T19:49:00.002-09:00

I thought I'd give a quick update on Kira's first few days. She is wonderful as you can expect. I'm amazed at how much work a little baby can be -- between feedings, diaper changes, and sleep deprivation, it's astonishing how fast time flies!

We call Kira "squeak" now...she does little bird noises and squeaks a lot when she's uncomfortable. She also talks in her sleep sometimes, which is cute.

Pictures are updated...sorry for a lack of pictures, but half of the pics I need to fix on photoshop (sleep deprivation again) and I haven't had the time yet.

Thanks for all the well wishes,
Lori

Leap Year Surprise

2008-03-02T11:56:00.001-09:00

Kira Marie was born on February 29th at 2:51 pm. She was 7lb, 6oz, and 19.6 inches long. Baby, Mom, Dad and Grandma are all at home enjoying our new little bundle :)

I'll list pictures here as I can...
Pictures Updated!

Running of the Reindeer!

2008-02-25T09:10:00.002-09:00

Sunday was the first ever Fur Rondy Running of the Reindeer! Enjoy via the wonders of youtube:

Triage!

2008-02-23T19:14:00.004-09:00

It was such a beautiful day today! The sun was out, the temp was a tropical 32, and the snow was sure to be fast fast.

In fact, the weather inspired this 37.5 week pregnant woman to waddle with sticks on her feet (i.e. ski). After going to a fantastic lunch at Kinleys (where the eggs benedict special was great and the desserts were even better), Frank and I took to the trails. We decided to do the first half of Besh together, then Frank would do hillside while I finished up Besh. For me, everything was pretty smooth, and I enjoyed taking my time enjoying being outside.

When I finished, Frank wasn't back yet, so I decided to take Puppy on his usual walk. During that walk, I noticed that it was a little slippery, so I was taking really small steps. At one point in the walk, I called for Galileo to turn around and the next moment I was in the air flying backwards, like I'd slipped on a banana peel. My head hit the ground hard enough that it bounced. Galileo stared at me as I curled up into a little ball and swore a few times while I took stock.

I was OK, other than my head and pride :) I got up and walked back to the car to meet Frank and explained what happened.

Now when you are pregnant, there are different rules than normal. Normally, I would have waited out to make sure my head was OK, but of course with Chikin it's most important to make sure she is OK.

Which is how Frank and I wound up in OB Triage on Doctor's orders this afternoon.

Triage was actually very nice. They checked me in (all my stuff is already preregistered) and got chikin hooked up to fancy monitors. They asked a bunch of questions, which is good because I think some of them I won't have to answer again since they are now in my chart. They also asked me a bunch of questions, I think, to make sure I didn't have a concussion. It was kind of fun to listen to Chikin trying to kick off those monitors too - I do not think she is very fond of them. After about an hour of that (and of watching college basketball), we got an ultrasound. Kira is still sitting in a good amount of fluid, with her hands right around her eyes. After that, it was back on the monitors for a little bit and then the doctor discharged us all.

All in all, it was a good experience, except for the massive headache that I will have for a while. Chikin is doing fantastically and so is my uterus. Frank and I now know how to get to the maternity ward and are all prepared for what triage is like. Oh, and I should be careful and not fall again :)

Monopoly: World Edition needs an Anchorage

2008-02-23T09:21:00.002-09:00

Anchorage apparently has a real chance to be the Baltic Avenue of the new World edition of Monopoly! Help us out by voting today!

Sunday is Baking Day!

2008-02-18T10:33:00.001-09:00

For this week, I made Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Buttermilk Frosting. A little disfigured due to an unfortunate bundt pan to plate transition, but otherwise pretty successful (and a lot easier than banana layer cake). I haven't tasted it yet, but it smells good. Apparently it will be best three days from now, but I suspect it will not last that long :)

Alaska News

2008-02-16T08:58:00.002-09:00

From ADN today:
Iron Dog: Our Governor's husband Todd Palin is the returning Iron Dog champion. I guess he took a pretty nasty spill in the race yesterday, but he is OK.
Moose News: Buzzwinkle, the aptly-named moose who during the Christmas season got stuck in town square's lights after eating too many crab apples, was seen with a big bruise on his leg. They think he was hit by a car, but he will be OK.
Ski Time!: It is a very exciting few weeks for skiing up here. The high school conference nordic ski championships are this weekend! Who will get the coveted title of "skimeister" this year? We also have coming up the Tour of Anchorage on Mar 2, which is the second largest ski event in the US, and the Junior Olympic Cross Country Ski Championships on Mar 9-15.

In personal news, you can see we have a projected 26 days to go until showtime! At this point, I'm pretty tired of being pregnant, so am looking more forward to getting on with the whole thing. Kira, as well, seems quite restless. She doesn't seem to like it when I set things on my belly (I mean, what's the use of having a belly if you can't use it as a shelf sometimes?) -- she kicks off magazines and tivo remotes.

Anchorage is just beautiful at the moment. The sunset last night was spectacular. I think if the snow lets up (we've got maybe five inches of snow on the ground, and another inch or so being dumped at a moment), I just might try to go ski again. It's horribly cruel that when it's the hardest to ski for me Anchorage decides to have warmer temperatures (mid teens, lower 20s) and lovely fluffy snowfall.

Some people...

2008-02-15T08:13:00.001-09:00

...have a little more time on their hands than others.

Rondy Time!

2008-02-14T13:10:00.002-09:00

Late Feb/Early March in AK where the additional sun, the slightly warmer weather, and the snow all combine to make people just a little bit lightheaded and ready to have a little fun.

Of course it's the perfect time for the Fur Rondy! It's a lot of fun, with lots of strange events, like the outhouse races, the first ever running of the reindeer, snow sculptures, world championship dog sled races, a foot race and a parade. It's just a lot of fun, and a good excuse to get outside and do something wacky.

Look, there's even funny ads this year.

Of course, it's also time for the Iditarod to start. Despite being pregnant, I am still itching to get out on March 1 to see the ceremonial start. It's such an event, and just in general impressive.

Now of course, there is a downside to Fur Rondy, and that is that during or soon after these festivals are over, we all hold our breath for breakup, and then the drying up of the icky post-breakup mud and trash left over from months under snow. This is when people get cranky and irritable. It doesn't especially subside until the last traces of ice and snow fade. Suddenly, usually in June, the town goes into tourist mode -- the pickup crews, the sand people, the empty princess buses that slowly turn into full princess buses.

Oh and the joy of the tourist season. We enjoy watching giddy people in oversized colorful parkas with ALASKA written on it wandering around downtown looking for moose and bear. They will fill the local tourist restaurants we enjoy in the off season and now will avoid during the summer. They will walk into our grocery stores shouting "MARGE, LOOK AT HOW EXPENSIVE THESE TOMATOES ARE!". Some of them, I'm sure, will be out late basking in the midnight sun. And sometimes, they will watch us, trying to determine if we are "Real Alaskans".

But I'm happy that these people come -- they are here because it's a once in a lifetime adventure. Seeing AK through other people's eyes makes you realize how incredibly lucky you are to be living in someone's vacation.

Sunday is Baking Day!

2008-02-10T17:40:00.000-09:00

Baking a three layer banana cake with cream cheese frosting? Not trivial.
Baking a three layer banana cake with cream cheese frosting while pregnant and attempting to get the frosting to stick to the sides? Next to impossible.

This is actually my first attempt at a layered cake. I've made angel food cake before, and sheet cakes, but never an actual layered cake. After one attempt, I decided just to lump all the extra icing on top and not mess with the sides.

32 days!

2008-02-10T09:44:00.000-09:00

Is a month a long time? To me it's a little fast. That's 30 days of inturrupted sleep to savor, but I also have, if I'm lucky, 8 more mornings of being able to sleep in without an alarm clock. Kinda scary.

So how's the pregnancy going?
On the other hand, I am looking forward to quite a few things. Like being able to eat like a normal person -- currently I keep dropping food onto my belly, which is gross. I would also like to be able to wear clothes in my closet again, now that I have to wear a lot of Frank's clothes (my shirts tend to pop out, exposing my lower belly to the elements--not good). I'm also looking forward to wearing socks again -- which I have banned except for skiing. It would also be very nice to be able to pick up things off the floor in a non-comical way.

One of the things I miss the most is being able to taste things "right", or the way they used to taste. Everything has tasted completely different for about eight months, and not in a good way.

On the positive side...
Hey Anchorage Museum has a pretty awesome exhibit starting up, all about native Alaskan technology. To survive out there in the frozen north, certainly one has to be clever.

I also caught Clinically Wild: Alaska last night -- the show Galileo is supposed to be on. All the action takes place within miles of our house. As usual, it's very weird to realize that others think that Anchorage is this weird place with weird outdoorsy people, moose, guns, and dogs. So far, no Galileo sightings, but there was a pretty fantastic set of scenes where the vets got to pull porcupine quills out of two dogs.

Hope you had a good weekend!

Galileo's TV Debut

2008-02-06T05:45:00.000-09:00

Don't miss Galileo's TV Debut in Clinically Wild, an Animal Planet series which was shot down the street at the PET Emergency Center in Anchorage

Now, I don't know how they are using him, but we had to sign a waiver form, so we'll all just have to wait and see :)

Super Tuesday in AK

2008-02-01T14:39:00.000-09:00

For a hoot, I looked up how to vote here in AK in the upcoming Super Tuesday ruckus. Because our state is SO BIG, voting kind of becomes an issue.

The democratic party (let's face it, it's small) has a caucus on Super Tuesday. In order to be a part of the fun if you reside in Anchorage/Eagle River, you have to get to Begich Middle school, which is way over on the other side of town, during rush hour. Of course, I am complaining about a small thing. Imagine you want to be involved, and you live in one of the interior villages, a HUGE area? You have a choice of Ft. Yukon or Nenana.

The republicans hold a "preference vote", and you have to drive downtown to the Egan Center, unless you live in district 21, which is meeting in the How How restaurant.

UPDATED: More information on Tuesday in AK here.

Does the world really need a biopic on...

2008-01-31T12:36:00.000-09:00

...Falco??????

In other news, it's a beautiful, sunny, and rather cold day here in the good land. Skiing is plentiful but the cold really makes ski waxing tricky. I waxed all of our skis with special green as a base, and with blue as a top layer (after struggling with special green and having a minor pregnancy-induced hissy fit, it was just better this way).

I am slowly counting down the days to delivery, and have just started thinking about how nice it will be to be able to run. At the same time, Kira gets stronger and stronger everyday, and so do her kicks. I think we are all ready to get this whole delivery thing over with.

Speaking of delivery and labor, childbirth class has been a lot of fun. Not only do we get to meet a lot of new people in our same boat, but also we get to watch the "real baby story" -- real people in graphic detail going through labor. Once again, all data points suggest that there is pain involved, and drugs are starting to look mighty good. I keep reminding myself that, despite the societal pressures surrounding pregnancy and birth, that delivery is not a competition, and there is probably not a gold medal involved.

The other funny part of childbirth class is the practicing of labor positions and what the partner can do to help. Since many of the positions involve hanging on your partner or the partner bending over to massage you, Frank's back started aching. We decided he may also need some drugs to get through labor :).

What else can I say? We've got a jam-packed weekend coming up...a UAA hockey game, concert tickets, and the super bowl of course on Sunday. I would say the Ski for Women (the world's largest women-only XC event) is also on Sunday, but I think maybe this is a good year to skip since it's kind of like a roller derby on skis.

Have a good weekend!

Random Notes

2008-01-21T10:02:00.000-09:00

How cool to live in a place that you actually get to see on TV every once in a while :)

Yesterday we had a temperature inversion, meaning that the warmest weather was actually on the hillside, melting our snow, and the cold air wound up down near the water. It's pretty scary for us skiers because if it continues to be warm and rainy, we will either lose all of our good base of ski snow or everything will icy (icy trails != good skiing for the pregnant).

Otherwise, we're just enjoying a lazy non-working day. The US needs more holidays. Shouldn't we have more three day weekends? And shouldn't we have a holiday once every month?

It must be the salt...

2008-01-19T09:40:00.000-09:00

During my cold, Galileo has developed a taste for used kleenexes. He especially likes the snotty ones. Luckily, he's afraid of the bathroom so I can put them in the wastebasket.

In other news, once again (suprise) the sun is coming up. The sky is a beautiful peachy/pink color, and the clouds usually mean that it should be a relatively warm (20-ish) day today. Good skiing weather!

We did go ski yesterday -- Frank is so nice, he patiently let me lead now that I'm pretty pregnant, just in case I fall and can't get back up. I'm still pretty good at looking ahead and am enjoying the little boost of speed I have on the downhills with the added weight.

Anyways, hope your weekend is awesome!

No rest for the weary

2008-01-14T16:53:00.000-09:00

There I am, done with work for the day, sick with a fever and a cold, when Galileo greets me at the screen door. I had left him outside for maybe 20 minutes, and in that time, he had decided to dig down underneath the porch and get lovely muddy dark dirt under his feet.

My choices were pretty slim. Since I couldn't leave him outside in the balmy .1F to be a puppy-sicle, he had to come inside, but the carpet inside is a beautiful cream color made to show the black dirt. Usually I can get him to sit on his pad (really an old papasan cover), but to make it over to the bathroom is really difficult without getting some carpet mess that has to be cleaned up.

So, pregnant and tired, I picked up our 50lb austrailian shepherd and attempted to get him to the bathroom about 10 feet away. After an accidental dropping on the bathroom floor (which flung ice-mud across the linoleum--nice), we made it to the bathtub for the third paw-cleaning in two weeks.

Puppy was traumatized; I was traumatized. Pregnant or not pregnant, sick or not sick, something had to be done! I went out to the garage to grab a snow shovel and started shoveling snow under the porch to try to keep Galileo out next time. We'll see if it works.

In other news, I'm sick, but have discovered Tylenol is not only for reducing pain after a particularly brutal marathon training session, but it also reduces fevers really well. I'd always seen it on the box, but never tried it really until today.

And ear thermometers? Easy to play with, very very hard to get a correct reading off of of. Maybe this is because I am a hothead.

Also, I watched the Price is Right while waiting for my fever to come down. I'm not sure what I am more disturbed about -- the insanely high prices on the show (600 bucks for two mp3 players?), the very odd selection of prizes (water trike or a grandfather clock!), or the contestants that seem way, way to eager to be on the show. Either way, I think it may have contributed to my fever reduction by reducing the number of brain cells firing in my head.

P.S. for those of you wondering about baby Kira -- she doesn't seem to be traumatized at all by me being sick and is in fact entirely unsympathetic. She has taken this opportunity to perfect her kung fu inside my belly, and likes to give me an extra kick to the kidney when I cough or sneeze.

North to AK

xmas card

Update on Miss K

The Pirates Next Door

A Good Start

Alpenglow!

ATTENTION

Fall pictures

Reviews/Giveaways!

Giveaway on Blessings Abound!

Better late than never?

Quick Kira update

Weekend Update

Cordova Pics

Weekly Recipes: Brazilian Black Bean Stew and Baby Food

New Photos!

Six things about baby.

Ba-Ba Bahbit-Baht? Dis? Dis?

Kira on the Move!

My first post using Plinky

New Pictures

Baby Food Monday

Baby Food Monday

A ten minute treatise on time with a ten minute update

The MVP is...

Dinner Impossible!

Baking Day

Suprises abound in the Moore household..

Binky herding and other nine month antics

Yikes!

Touch me!

Weekend Update

The sick house

2

Ah-Ha for your Tuesday

Update

Sleeping in Circles

Videos are up!

Babies on a Plane!

This is Kira Marie, and I approve this message....

On the 5 month book

Meme Monday

Hippy dippy baby-food making yuppie momma stuff

Guess who is the boss now?

On Growing up...

Day Care Day 1 revelation -- Miss K is not sentimental

We/re BACK!

Touchdown!

Miss K does go outside.

This Baby...

Kira addresses her fans

Kira update

More pictures

The Miss K update

More Pictures!

"If this is the worst thing that happens to her.."

Baby talks back

Back to the Grindstone

Photoshop fun!

Dwight the Bobblehead, I'm awfully fond of you...

Houdini

Guess who is two months old?

The cost of stuff and Kira update

22 inches! 64wpm!

Perhaps getting the sun hat out was a little premature...

By Popular Demand...

Kira update

And for my next trick...

More Video!

Six Weeks!

Bullwinkle's demise

For Your In-car-sideration...

Rocking the Vote at one month old...

Kira says...

Quick wisdom for the day

In Non-Kira news...

Yesterday was a 2, Today looks like an 8

Video!

Eyes of...Blue?

More Pics!