Fetching

Maddy Fetching/Brie giggling

No matter how many times I hear Brie's laugh, it makes me smile and laugh!

Found a place

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="zoomed in view of some of the buildings in Oswego"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Mat and canal/loch from Lake Ontario"][/caption]

Who knew it would be so hard to find a place up here?  I didn't really think it would be, but we were very lucky that we chanced upon the place we are currently staying at.  It's been a great place to live while searching for the spot to reside in.  We'd stay here, but I've been spoiled for that last several years in not having to share wall space.  I don't know how people live in apartments, I feel so terrible when Brie cries and she's just affecting one family.  In an apartment, who knows how many people would get to hear her.  So I haven't been sleeping much at night.  Brie got off her nice schedule of sleeping through the night with our move up here.  At least the people next door have a couple of adorable kids under 3 and they've been nice to us and not angry about her crying.

We are moving in a month to Oswego to a single family home.  It is in the city so it has a tiny yard, but it's got a front porch and a big kitchen.  The town also has over 18,000 people and lots of greenspace, parks on the lake and urban trails.  And they have a farmer's market on Thursday evenings.  Very excited about it and possibility of finding a mama's group to be a part of and maybe finding a part-time job.  After signing the lease we went for a walk on a section of the Harbor Rail Trail.  I am very grateful that Mat is willing to add 10-15 minutes to his commute time so that our life outside of work will be more varied.

more hiking

Last weekend we went out towards Saranac Lake and did a lovely hike up Baker Mountain. It was a beautiful day and area, albeit a bit buggy. We ate dinner at a restaurant in Tupper Lake where they served us rootbeer in the actual plastic bottle instead of having fountain drinks.  It was different.  Brie enjoyed the fish that Mat slipped her and some of the greasy insides of the french fries.  :-)

Brie's new hobby

She's taking after her dad and is showing an interest in birding.  This it out at Black Pond just a quick drive from our house, so we are frequent visitors.

Adirondack hiking

A couple weekends ago, when the weather was lovely, we did a couple of classic hikes in the Old Forge area. It was a beautiful afternoon and we could see for miles from the top of the restored Rondaxe fire tower.  It was a fun walk to the top hiking on exposed rock.

Then we did another quick little jaunt up Rocky Mountain for some more great views of the Fulton Chain of Lakes.  It was a lovely day!

Manners

The last week or so on facebook, I had a couple of friends post articles about teaching your children manners. Not only is it great for parents with kids, but I think all adults need this reminder every so often!

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/25-manners-every-kid-should-know-by-age-9-2480238

and one by my friend

http://commentarista.com/2011/05/16/are-magic-words-just-for-kids/

Mat's double prime number birthday!

3-3 that is!   I wanted to surprise Mat with a cheesecake for his birthday and since he was working a split shift yesterday, I had to quickly make the cheesecake before I left to go get the alignment done on the car.  I had an hour and 20 minutes.  The recipe said it would take 20 minutes to prepare and 55 minutes to cook.  And we did it.  Phew.  (I was very excited to find organic strawberries up here, since they are supposedly something you really shouldn't eat unless they are organic.  Lots of pesticides.)

Mat said he was surprised.  This was on his couple hour break before he went back to work until late.  (Don't feel too bad, he was paddling around some setting some traps to measure some fish in a beautiful wetland area.)  But since he was working for most the day, it will be his birthday weekend.   We get to do whatever he wants.  Hopefully the forecast isn't correct and it doesn't rain!

Mother's Day

This was my first Mother's Day as a mother.  It was lovely to have this honor of being a mother and honestly, I think I am mother to the most beautiful baby ever!  AND I am lucky enough to have a wonderful, kind and loving mother, as well.

Mother's Day, for me, comes with mixed emotions.  It was 3 years ago that I called my mom to wish her Happy Mother's Day and found out that my mom and dad were at the hospital.  I can hardly believe that my dad has been gone almost 3 years!  So much has happened, yet at times it feels like just yesterday that I could call my dad to talk to him.   I am so grateful for the loving family he and my mom raised me in and for all that they showed me by example.   I still can't imagine how they raised 7 children, the challenges and chaos of 1 child is overwhelming at times!

7 months old

I am amazed at how much Brie has accomplished in the last couple of weeks, not only did she cut a tooth, she sits and she can scoot herself across the floor. We've placed covers on the electrical outlets so she won't stick her fingers in the holes, but she really just loves cords (i.e. computer cords, cords to the refrigerator, lamp cords, etc.) and I'm afraid she's going to pull something down on her head.  I've been trying the distraction method, because I don't think she understands no, but she just goes back to the cord. I guess with all this growth and change, she's having to catch up on her rest because the last couple of days she's really been sleeping. Which is helping me to catch my breath - really mental calmness - because Monday through Wednesday were pretty fussy days for Brie. She didn't want to nap and just pretty much wanted to be held. Yesterday, I was finally able to pick up some of the clutter that had accumulated around the house and it felt great!

Teething, anyone?

[flickr video=5693354090]

It seems like she's going through a huge growth spurt right now.  Not only did she pop a tooth through her gums, but she also is sitting for longer and longer periods and she's continuing to scoot and pull herself around and she's trying to pull herself up the coffee table.  I tried to get a video of it but she wasn't having any of it.  She just looked at me and smiled.  I like the above video of her just gumming and giggling in her crib.

Checking out the area

This past weekend we went on several exploratory trips to find some nice hiking areas. We did a hike Friday evening up at Inman Gulf which was only about 20 minutes from our place. It was a nice walk in the woods very similar feeling to hiking around the top of Mt. Mitchell. We didn't take any pictures. I think partly to do with the fact that 5 minutes into our hike I tried to traverse a muddy, murky section by following Mat's lead of log walking. I was not successful. Brie wasn't fazed at all and she didn't get wet. My shoes and whole left pant leg were drenched in mud which made for a damp 2 hour or so walk.

On Saturday, we went to the Labrador Hollow Unique Area. It was very beautiful and interesting AND we had stellar weather. Blue skies and warm temperatures.  We went on a couple short hikes on a boardwalk to the lake and to Tinker Falls.  Then we went on longer hike up to where people jump off for non-motorized hang gliding.   On our way back home we stopped in Syracuse for dinner at Empire Brewing Company where we ate some tasty burgers.   They use local farms for their food. :-)  Mat had an elk burger and I  had a regular burger and they were cooked exactly as we ordered.  They might have been so tasty because we just had energy bars for lunch and so we were STARVING.

On Sunday, we explored Treman State Park in Ithaca, NY where Cornell University is.  (Side note:  supposedly, Belleville was in the running to have Cornell University here.)  It was a very nice walk in the woods.  The CCC built the trail and stairs for one of their projects and they were beautiful.  Lucifer Falls were huge and amazing!  I wonder if it's always so big or if it has something to do with all the rain we've had lately.  It was so luscious and green walking around with lots of plants beginning to flower and peek through.

We saw quite a bit of Dutchman's Britches in bloom which was awesome.  It is down in western NC as well, it just seems that we never timed it right to see it blooming out in the wild.  I guess we got lucky this past weekend because we saw it on both days!

Brie cut her first tooth!

For months now I've been saying that Brie is teething pretty much anytime she's cranky, drooling excessively, wanting to eat all the time, not wanting to sleep, etc.

For the past week or so Brie has been all of the above.

I figured it was because I took some allergy medicine, so she was just hungry because I wasn't producing enough milk, then I got a blocked milk duct, and then I figured she was going through a growth spurt or something.

This afternoon I was thinking about it and going to tell Mat that maybe she's just teething and possibly that is why she's been Miss Cranky Pants and then I thought, no, he'll just tell me that is what I always say.

So I didn't say anything.

But lo and behold, this evening I was playing with her and the two white dots I saw earlier today looked like they had popped through so I touched her gums and yep, her first tooth has been cut! We'll see if it stays up. It was still up when I put her to bed.

A few weeks ago, her bottom gum was all swollen and streaky purple and I thought for certain that she was going to cut a tooth, but it just went away. That is why I'm not 100% certain that it will stay up!