Bananas & Toes

We started LindyJean on solids on Sunday (11.7.10). I decided to try smooshed banana first. I really didn't want to give her any foods yet(for purely selfish reasons - it's more work than breastfeeding and it's the first step towards weaning), but Eric insisted and I relented.

She doesn't seem to like or dislike it and only eats about a tablespoon at a time, before she begins spitting it out.

Tomorrow we are going to start rice cereal, which by the way is REALLY easy to make homemade, so don't buy it! Subsequently, I want to try avocado.

It takes fierce concentration to use a spoon!

LindyJean loves to be NAKED. In fact, one of the only times she regularly fusses is when you are attempting to dress her. She's all smiles when the clothes are coming off, though. After bathtime I have been cranking the heat and letting her hangout naked on the changing table for 5-10 minutes. She peed on me today.

She has also discovered that the ten little piggies stuck on that foot attached to her leg, belong to her! She really likes to gnaw on them. Very cute... when you're not a walker and there's nothing nasty on your feet.

Everyday

Everyday... as in normal, day to day, everyday activities.

Aunty Staci came for a day visit - to play and take family pictures. Wait until you see 'em.

Galbraith Clan came for dinner. I made the mossssst delicious shepherd's pie - Lamb & Round Steak filling topped with Horseradish Cheddar Potato/Parsnip mashers. After we did "Science Experiment" dessert. We put a giant Marshmallow in a Foodsaver jar and vacuumed it. It got huge. Here is the before photo.

Here is the after - and this picture is not accurately depicting the size difference. I thought Adelaide would deafen us with her excited squeals.

Babushka.

Adelaide is REALLY into cooking. She is constantly raiding my drawers & cupboards for supplies & "gredients." Here she is making LindyJean a cake, "a banana, rosemary, black pepper cake Mama, it's delicious and 'tritious." Ha.

Under construction

Bitty & Daddy go together like peanut butter & jelly. It is such a blessing that he has been provided with a burgeoning business that is so very close to home. He's home for lunch every day and if he missed breakfast, Adelaide often insists we make something and walk it down to him. This morning, he was laying tongue & groove cedar decking over a trap door (photos of that later) and we brought him a toasted breakfast sandwich. Adelaide was overjoyed to be with him.

Watching them brings me true joy.

Trick or Treat

Spokane Street, which the Galbraith household is on, is the most popular trick or treating street in town. So much, in fact, that our neighbors Steve & Cherylanne donated this monstrosity to their doorstep. Here are the menfolk hammin' it up at my request.

Our Trick or Treaters.

Maggie & Bitty are yelling "TRICK OR TREAT." We took them out for a half hour at 5:00, up one side and down the other of Spokane Street. We then returned to Brian & Lisa's for pizza, beer, the World Series, and handing out candy. The girls really enjoyed doling out the goodies. There were about 200 trick or treaters. It was a constant stream of kidlets.

They were very mindful of street safety; looking both ways and holding hands. Isn't this photo adorable?

Of course, as the wielder of the photographic device, while wearing LindyJean in the moby... there is nary a single photo of me nor the baby. Boohoo.

Waffles, Syrah, Bathing, & God Bless America!

Here are some random photos of the last two weeks of my girls...

Eric decided one morning (at 4 a.m., mind you) that he wanted waffles and we were going to load up and go buy a waffle iron. We did and Bitty played sous-chef. She loves stirring.

The expression subsequent to Mama requesting a smile via "Cheese." She looks scary.

Before we were done, she had batter dripping down the counters and cupboards and all over her jammas.

They have begun bathing together to make our lives easier and Bitty loves it and LindyJean is beginning to find Adelaide very entertaining.

Tummytime!

Here we are singing God Bless America and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. I am going to get this on the Flip and send it to Brandon, because it's patriotic and so very funny.

It's harvest/crush in the Yakima Valley and I took the girls to the winery because Bitty wanted to see them smooosh the grapes. Carlos gave her a bunch and she was estatic. I mistakenly allowed her to eat them in the car on the ride home. Her shirt, the carseat, and her face were a mess.

She was eating Syrah, which is the most deeply colored wine grape.

Here she is telling me how they sort the grapes and how important it is that they get out all the yuckies (leaves, sticks and other foreign materials that get in the bins) before they make the wine.

Pork Butt

Eric has decided that one weekend day will be devoted to the BBQ-ing of a large chunk of animal flesh. Slow-fired roasted and eventually accompanied by a schmorgy sides, we will dine like royalty celebrating some festive occasion. I made a mole, fresh salsa, homemade refried beans, and tortillas. The Pork Butt was 10.9.10

Not sure if this look on his face is because of his BBQ glory or the beer... likely a combination.

It was seriously delicious.

What a goofball.

I have been woefully negligent in capturing our lives as of late. The following weekend was our neighbor Brian's 40th - which involved a rotissiered leg of lamb, a bunch us gathering at his house (including a fellow visiting from Georgia (the country), who taught us how to toast in Georgian and we drank from goat horns that he brought), Maggie & Bitty watching baseball and hollering God Bless America at the top of their lungs...

I've canned apple butter - 28 pints to be exact. We've been harvesting and dismantling the garden as a hard frost is imminent. I returned to part time work at the winery in the first week of October (the wine club is a mess, they've hired a new manager, and somehow I landed the job of training her and I've been there a lot - girls in tow). Eric has been working like mad and the girls are, as ever, a lot of hard work. Those are my not good enough, but trying very hard to be, excuses for the lack of documentation.

Being busy is good, it beats boredom. And you know what they say... idle hands are the devil's handiwork!

dozens & dozens of dahlias

The fella who cultivates the pumpkins, also has hundreds of the most beautiful dahlias in every color, size, and petal shape you can imagine. They were absolutely gorgeous.

The girls and I.

This photo is just plain funny.

Bitty picked a huge dahlia and decided it would make a lovely hat.

Ta-da!