First Step

The little man sure was proud of himself when he did the stand by himself thing again.  Then he took his first step.  He got an even bigger smile.  Tomorrow I'm sure there will be another step or two. He is quite the little man and once he does something, he goes gung ho at it.

Today

I am blessed.
I am enjoying the growth of the little kids in my house.
I am listening to owls and crickets.
I am breathing and practicing ahimsa.
I am deepening my friendship with Kristie.
I am working on understanding and acceptance.
I am laughing at veiled practices.
I am enjoying quiet moments with the little man.
I am grateful for the nurturing in Audrie.
I am happy to have my job, especially when everyone is working.
I am wishing Mona a speedy recovery.
I am planning my fall.
I am happy for another day with Mom.
I am connected to Pat and Denise.
I am missing Doug.
I am happy to know that Mike is all right (alive) even if I am setting boundaries.
I am laughing at Jacob's escapades, as he sure knows where to find them.
I am blessed.

Weekend Ending

The little kids and I took a quick trip up to the convalescent home to see my friend Mona.  She fell a couple weeks ago and broke a couple ribs.  Sounds like she is going home tomorrow.  Both little kids were pretty well behaved while we were there.  The first thing Audrie did was climb into bed with Mona's roommate.  Good thing the lady didn't mind.  She showed Audrie her boo-boo so Audrie knew where not to bump her.
After dinner and baths Audrie and I went out to look at the moon and the stars.  We could hear the owls hooting when there wasn't any traffic.  Sound was travelling a long ways and for a long time tonight.  When it was completely traffic free we could also hear the crickets.  We spotted some planes.  It was nice just sitting out there with her.  She still loves the moon and stars.  I love the owls.
Found out my uncle Glen is in the hospital.  That just feels ominous.  I have no idea why, just that he may not be doing well.  He is getting up there in years.  I'm guessing mid 70 range.  Sending him love and light and whatever he needs for his journey.

Another Saturday Night

Nana Nita texted and asked if she could have Audrie for the night.  She was coming down to pick up Tracy and wanted to spend the night at the cabin. Naturally we said yes.  With her were the Atwaters.  Kyle is Tracy and Cassies' half brother and Chad is his father.  So the kids got to meet their biological half uncle.  Boy if that doesn't get to be a mouthful.  Anyway it was nice to meet them.
The little man has spent time today practicing standing all by himself.  And he can do it.  The first time he did it this morning he was distracted and just did it.  After that he did it on purpose.  I caught him doing it four times.  I think it won't be long now and he'll be walking unaided.  He is such a little man.

Rasmussen's, Powell's, and Finnegan's

It was the day to take the Mini in for service and to discover what the engine light was all about.  Turns out they moved and I didn't know so I drove to the old space.  The service guy for BMW was very helpful and pointed me in the direction I needed to go.  Canyon Road in Beaverton.  Got there and then they drove me down to the MAX station so I could get back to Powell's.  Usually I would walk, but Beaverton is a little too far for that.  MAX dropped me about four blocks from Powell's and I walked down a couple of streets I hadn't been on before.  So while I was a tad annoyed at the new location for my car work, I was happy to find some new stores.
At Powell's I sold some books and had a little store credit.  I never get as much credit as I spend though.  I found a couple new books for the kids and some new books for me.  I love Powell's.
On the way back I stopped at Finnegan's Toys.  Oh man.  What a toy store.  Tons of educational type toys. Not your usual toy store that is for sure.  I found some beads to string for Audrie and the little man got a pounding toy.  They liked their new toys and actually shared with each other.
Caught MAX back to Beaverton and called for a ride.  By the time I got back to Rasmussen they had finished my car and it only costed me $290 today.  So that is twice in a row that I got out of there for less than $500.  I was a happy camper since I was expecting to spend at least that much.
All in all a good morning.

Small Chores

In the past couple of days I have managed to get a couple of small chores done.  You know, the ones that don't really take long, but just don't hit a priority list.  We did get the toy box out of the living room and the toys moved to the bins.  Funny how first thing this morning little miss emptied half of them into a big pile in the middle of the living room.  Did not make a happy camper out of Nana.
After Miranda was here we got some laundry done.  While putting the new clothes from last weekend's trip to Expo; I moved all of Audrie's clothes from the top three drawers of her dresser to the bottom three.  That way they are now accessible to her.  I didn't want to have to lean all the way over when I had to get her clothes.  Now that she is almost three years-old and has dressed herself for a long time I decided it was time to make it her job to get her own clothes.
Since I was moving all the clothing I went through and again grabbed out all the stuff that was too small or almost too small.  She has enough stuff now to last until next summer.  She didn't need the old small stuff taking up space in her drawers.  I did the same again for the little man.  Seems like he is always outgrowing things.  He is definitely in 18 month clothing and I am now buying 24 month.  Looks like he is set until he reaches that next size.  Hopefully next summer.
The afternoon was filled with visitation with Wes.  We didn't have a supervised visit at CPS but they knew we were at the park.
Felt like a pretty productive day.  I like it.  And I really like that a few of my small chores are now crossed off my list.  :)

Another Visit

Miranda, the new speech therapist, came out today to do a quick evaluation on Audrie.  It definitely looks like Audrie is caught up to where she should be for her age.  We are all pretty sure she won't need any more services after her third birthday.  It is really great news.  Her vocabulary grows in leaps and bounds.  She is using sentences and moving into verbs correctly.  She is answering who and what questions and moving onto the wheres.  Just like she is suppose to be.  She just needed a boost to get her going.  Got to like the fact that the boost was there for her.  Thank you so much Educational Opportunities.
Her third birthday is just over a month away.  Time to plan her party.  Oh....I think we'll have cake. Oh, wait.  I think we decided on cupcakes.  :)