Bauman Farms

After having lunch with grandma & grandpa (Bob & Diane, my in-laws) on Tuesday in Salem, we decided to take a little trip to Bauman Farms in Gervais Oregon, which is a couple miles outside of Woodburn. It was on our way home anyway, plus it was so beautiful outside that it would have been a waste not to spend the day walking around a little farm, petting the animals and soaking in some rays. We had never been there in the summer and I feel bummed that we just now went. They have a great pumpkin patch in October with the best fresh pressed apple cider and fresh baked donuts, but I have to say, it might just become a Halloween and summer tradition.

We had so much fun! It was the hottest day in a long time so we had to take a couple stops in the air conditioned market, but the weather was very enjoyable. We ate strawberry donuts, farm fresh strawberry-shortcake with ice-cream and washed it down with some of the best strawberry lemonade I have ever had. Grandma & Grandpa even showed up after they got off work. It was a great summer day. If only summer would just stay around.

The petting zoo was great. Our sides we sore from laughing so much with Maisie as she watched the animals eagerly try to get a scratch, pat and maybe score some treats. The animals were very social and not at all shy. The goats climb up the steep catwalks (or goatwalks I guess) there we even a couple new babies. A beautiful lamb named Valentine and a couple of teeny tiny rambunctious goats.

When we start trying to figure out landscaping ideas for our new place, I am definitely buying some gems from their garden. BEAUTIFUL hanging plants and very decently priced. It makes me so excited to stock up on flowers and plants and getting my hands dirty in the garden.

Here are some pictures from our fun farm filled day.

Sunshine

You are my sunshine.

My only sunshine.

You make me happy,

when skies are grey.

You'll never know dear,

how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away.

Daisy Head Maisie

We found out about this book after we already had decided Maisie's name. But if we didn't spell Maisie the way we did, I think this would have been option 2. There are so many ways you can spell "Maisie" pick any of the following options:

Mae/Mai/May sey/sie/zee/zie/si/sy/zi/zy

At first we had a hard time deciding on how we wanted to spell her name. All we knew is that we wanted it to end with "ie". Once we found this spelling it was very mutual that we liked (loved) it best. It's very sweet, plus it has more of a "old fashioned" feeling.

This picture was nearly impossible to capture because Maisie wanted to admire (/eat) the flower, not actually wear it. Plus, we lucked out. The pink fluffy dress was her fathers day garb, it just happened to work perfectly to complete the daisy-head Maisie look.

We still need to acquire this book. It's not very common, but we will find it!

married life

2 years ago yesterday, I married my best friend.

Words cannot describe how much I adore the man I have chose to love forever. He is my best friend, constant companion, strength and reminder for things to come and has always been the love of my life. There is absolutely no one I would rather experience and enjoy this crazy life with. He has an ability to always make me laugh and smile and just when I thought I couldn't love him any more, I watched him become a father to our amazingly beautiful little girl. He is patient and oh so sweet to her. It melts my heart watching them together. Austin works so hard every day to provide for us, his small family. He puts food on the table and gives us a home, all while being the best and most supportive husband and father. I am so thankful and so proud of him.

He takes my breath away.

The picture above, is a print I found that I want to recreate (using silhouette pictures of us) to mat and hang next to this one. Ever since Austin and I saw the movie "Up" we knew that Carl & Ellie were the perfect embodiment of what we will be like after growing old together. Similar dreams and hopes, but overall just how much they still loved each other.

The song below, is the song "Married life" from the "Up" movie soundtrack. When we both heard it, it reminded us both of each other so much so, that eventually we made it our ring tones for when we call each other. We are old souls and I love it.

I love you my handsome husband.

Zoo

This last weekend the McArdle's treated us to a trip to the Zoo. We decided to be brave and take the Max there. It was quite the adventure. This was my first "Max ride" and it's been quite some time that I have been on any form of public transportation. I have been on the Seattle monorail and the San Fransico Trolley, but again, that was years and years ago, plus I was childless (that always makes things much easier). Anyway, we saw a couple of the green line trains take off before our blue line one came. It seriously stopped for 20 seconds to unload and load passengers. That's when I got nervous. I was heavily armed with toys, food and a fussy baby. All I could imagine is that only some of us were going to make it in time. So already I was stressing out. Then ours came, I pulled it together and we were able to get Maisie, the stroller and diaper bag on, BUT there was no room to sit. I forgot to lock the stroller breaks and before I had a chance to even situate myself the doors were shutting and I had nothing to hold on to. Oh boy, the whole time I am quietly, but noticeably freaking out. I was worried I was going to get motion-sick, pass out, fall over, but I managed to survive, but not without embarrassing Austin. Well sorry I didn't live in Vienna for a year, mastering the art of public transportation. He is excited to take me there some day, but he wants me to promise him I won't embarrass him like I did on the Max here in Portland. At least I will be speaking English and maybe the surrounding Austrians won't notice my stress cries. I guess we will see how that goes.

Anyway, onto the zoo! As we walked in it started to drizzle (oh, Oregon you have been killing me these past 2 years, please remind me why I love you so). It wasn't so bad and it also wasn't too cold so that helped out a lot. Most of the animals weren't so keen on the rain, so that was kind of lame, but we were with good friends and that made it so much better. We took our time walking through all of the areas. Maisie was having a hard day due to teething, so she was pretty much a pill the whole time, but she did enjoy the giraffes a lot, but the animal she loved the most was a goat. Yes, just a normal goat, like one you find on a farm or the average petting zoo. She loved that goat and she even was able to pet him a couple times. She was cracking up the whole time. It sure was cute.

After the zoo we all headed back to our place where we had a nice BBQ and sat around talking way too late. We always enjoy our little get togethers with the McArdles. We always look forward to seeing them.

Here are some pictures of our fun little trip...

Keenan is there he's just passed out. Maisie needs to take some lessons from that little man. She never falls asleep in her stroller!

Maisie's little buddy.

Maisie & a few of her lovely friends

Ok, so the first 4 pictures are pretty old. I think they were taken March(ish) hence the moving boxes and our old apartment, but I am going through a lot of pictures that I have been meaning to post, but alas due to busy-mommy-forgetfulness (totally worse than pregnancy forgetfulness, and yes that's a real thing) they have been spaced.

Maisie & her boyfriend Keenan

I believe this is the baby equivalent of sharing a long spaghetti noodle.

Which always leads to...

a sweet little kiss.

Maisie acting oblivious to Keenan's attempts to woo her.

It's going to be so fun to see how these two interact with each other as they get older. I can see it now, Keenan trying to convince Maisie to eat a mud pie and then Maisie trying to persuade Keenan into playing dress up. How fun!

Maisie's best gal pals.

Ella on the Left, Livvie on the right, Maisie sandwiched in between.

Nice face Maisie.

I don't know what it is, but 2 things seem to happen when we get these girls together 1) it quickly turns into a diaper clad only event. 2) There is always lots and lots of dancing involved. It's almost sickening how cute all the sweet baby girl chub there is in one room. It should be illegal.

12 month appointment

On Monday Maisie had her 12 month appointment (12 1/2 month appointment really) and everything went just fine. We had a lot of questions for the Dr. mainly regarding sleep because we are still not getting any of it in this household. That woman is a saint, I always feel like I am causing her to get behind for all her other appointments, but she is so patient and kind. I know I have said this before, but I really do adore our pediatrician. She is very reassuring and real. She doesn't sugar coat anything, but at the same time very personable and sweet. Maisie enjoys her too. Anyway, after getting much needed reassurance and advice it was time for Maisie's vaccinations. Oh man. Austin convinced me to stay in the room and it was the worst EVER. Since Maisie is old enough to put up a fight they have to pin her down good. So Austin was holding her arms while the nurse was holding her legs and I was in the corner of the room literally not knowing what the heck to do with myself. I was fidgeting, turning in circles because I didn't know if I should watch or not and covering my mouth. I seriously looked like a crazy person. I wanted to snatch her up so bad, but couldn't. Before I knew it, it was over and little Maisie was holding her arms out to me with tears streaming down her cheeks. After a little bit of snuggles she was back to normal in no time.

birth: weight- 7 pounds even height- 19.5 inches

1 week: weight- 7 pounds 3 oz gained back the 4% body weight + 3 oz

2 weeks: weight 7 pounds 15oz height: 21.25 inches

2 months: weight- 11 pounds 1 oz height- 23 inches

5 month: weight- 15 pounds 5 oz height- 26 inches

7 month: weight- 16 pounds 14 oz height- 27 inches

9 month: weight- 17 pounds 15 oz height- 28 inches

12 month: weight- 18 pounds 14 oz height- 30 inches

I was a little worried that Maisie hadn't even gained a pound since her last appointment 3 months ago, but they said that it was very normal for babys to peak for awhile especially because she is so much more active than before and it's not like she isn't growing because she grew 2 inches! Maisie is very healthy and even though shes only in the 10th percentile for weight now, she still has a some chunk on her. She is very petite and dainty with chub in all the right places.

Oh and the peditrition then witnessed all of Maisie's brilliantness (I.E mind tricks/games) and she warned us that it's the really smart kids that are the difficult ones. I think we are in for a crazy adventure. Maisie has a crazy vocabulary she knows ALL the names to her toys, everyday utinsils (spoon, cup, bowl), eating terms (milk, water, food, more), facial body parts (eyes, ears, mouth, nose, lips and teeth), clothing items (socks, shoes, hat, diaper) animals (cow, duck, caterpillar, dog, cat) although she doesn't say most of these terms yet she loves proving that she understands by bringing you the item you asked for or when she's being lazy just pointing at it. I knew she knew a lot of names for things, but one day I decided to test her by asking her to bring me pretty much everything in sight and she did it perfectly no help at all. It was a little frightening, but very exciting. Everyday I try to throw a new word or object in to make it interesting. I love how proud she gets of herself and how confident she is in her ability to do something. She is determined and stubborn, but it is so exciting to see her, who she really is now and who she is becoming.

We are teaching her "please" right now, which is a little more difficult because there's no face to put to it. I think she is a visual learner like me and maybe even has a little bit of photographic memory like I do (I get it from my grandpa). We will see, hopefully "please" will catch on soon, I just hope it doesn't make us cave every time she uses it ( I can just see it now. "Maisie not right now" *Maisie signs please* "ok, here you go."). After she masters that one, we will work on "thank you". Nothing is boring with little Maisie that's for sure!

walks & evening tunderstorms

Today Maisie and I decided to walk to Austin's work to greet him as he got off. Maisie woke up from her nap a little later than expected, but I wasn't about to wake her. I packed up the stroller with way too much stuff (that I didn't end up needing) but I was prepared for meltdowns, blow-outs, milk pleas and boredom. The walk was easier than expected ( about 5 1/2 miles) I know that sounds like cake, but I haven't been very diligent about my exercise as of late (but I still complain about not losing weight. I know, I know, I'm crazy) and I also don't have any appropriate exercise garb. I have an old pair of nikes somewhere, but who really knows where. So I was wearing jeans and TOMS. It was muggy out today, so that wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't raining and the sun was shining and that's a plus! I ended up getting way too much sun and Maisie, whom I tried to shield away ended up getting a little burn on her nose and a little bit on her forehead. I tried to lotion her up and keep her out of the sun as much as possible,but I was no match against the sun on her creamy skin. I would have put a hat on her, but there is no way on this green earth she would keep it on, tie and all. Tomorrow we have her 1 year appointment and I am praying that tomorrow her little burn will be gone (baby skin heals remarkably fast) that way people won't think I just keep my baby out in the sun without protection. Anyway, I will post about the appointment tomorrow.

Anyway, at about 7:30 pm Austin, Maisie and I decided to sit on the front porch to cool off. There was a storm brewing and the breezy air was cool and refreshing. As we sat there we were talking about how we wished Oregon had thunderstorms and no joke, 5 minutes later a huge flash and then rumbling thunder sounded 10 seconds after (yes we counted). Then random giant raindrops started to fall. It felt so good on our warm skin. Maisie was clad only in a diaper and I remember looking at Austin holding her while raindrops were hitting their skin and all of us were laughing in between the random bouts of lightening andthunder. It was such a sweet family moment. We were worryfree and enjoying everything in that moment.

Here comes the sun... (finally)

The weather man promised sun this weekend, but today was incredible. Anyone who lives in the green state of Oregon knows 2 things; 1) It's green because it rains a lot and 2) the weather men don't get it right often. So when it was actually beautiful allll day long, I could have jumped for joy (I may or may not have done a cartwheel or 2). You better believe Maisie and I took advantage of this rare sun sighting (so depressing seeing how it's June and EVERY day should be like today, but I'll take it). Austin joined the fun when he got off work at 1:30pm.

Maisie and I started our day opening all the windows in the house and letting the fresh morning air in. We went about our normal routine of breakfast, play, reading and sometimes a baby Einstein or 2 and then down for a nap. When she woke up I fed her a snack, slathered SPF on her and suited her up in her bathing suit and hit the kiddie pool. I set up the umbrella and put a few pitchers of warm water in the pool and it was good to go. Maisie was having such a great time splashing and enjoying the warm sunshine. I set a towel down, put some music on and sipped on ice cold water as Maisie splashed around. Austin came home about a half hour into the pool party and he snuck into the backyard and surprised Maisie. Then we all sat outside and talked until we decided to go to the park. Austin and I just got a bocce ball set, so any chance we have to go play, you better believe we're taking it. So we went to a local park and played a round of bocce ball while Maisie rolled around in the grass and soaked in a little more sun. Then we came home lit the BBQ threw a couple of hot dogs on and I made a summery spinach/orzo/feta salad. It was the perfect taste of what summer has in store. BBQs every night, fresh salads, iced tea, warm air, lots of sunshine and tons of pool/park time. Come on summer can't you just stay here?!

Here are a few pictures of our 76

degree day!

This is her cold face. If you notice the little hair she does have is being blown by the wind it was chilly for a second if you were all wet!

Splash.

Park time!

Future Bocce ball champ.

Today was a great day and I have high hopes that tomorrow will be just as wonderful.

My phone says that tomorrow's high is 85! :)