Tia Sarah's visit to northern NY

It was so delightful to have Tia Sarah come visit us.  She was the guinea pig for our "tall" bed in Brie's room and she didn't come away with any injuries, so that is good!  We went to Old Forge in the Adirondacks for lunch one day and on the way home stopped by Lake Julia to walk around.  We went walking out at our favorite spots locally, Black Pond and Wehle State Park.  It was chilly, but Sarah survived all the walks we went on.  It also lightly snowed one day to make us feel like it is winter.  :-)  Huge thanks to Tia Sarah for visiting here in the winter!!
 

Gabriella with her "popper"

Brie finds this to be an entertaining past time...Maddy kind of enjoys it.

Gabriella's Latest Skill

Ignore the tv on in the background!  It's annoying, I know, but I was afraid that if I turned it off, Brie would realize that I was videoing her. 

I hope this phase lasts forever...

It was getting close to Brie's bedtime tonight and we'd been playing around when Brie decided she had to have some banana bread.  (She was standing at the stove crying/whining for it.)  So I picked her up and was telling her that it was too late to have some when Mat came over and said "are you ready for bed" and did the sign.  Brie wiggled out of my arms and walked right into her room to get ready for bed.

This phase rocks...

I hope it lasts forever!

Brie is growing before my eyes!

I always feel like she's growing, so last week we measured her against the wall and marked the spot on some duct tape.  Yesterday morning, when I lifted Brie out of bed and she hugged me she just felt taller and I was saying that to Mat.  To which Mat gave me the look of "you always think she's growing" and I said "I know, I know." And was just going to let it go, but then I remembered I measured her last week.  So we had her stand against the wall and she had, indeed, grown.  Just under an inch!

Here she's enjoying sitting at her desk with her legs up on it.

A Brie First

eating on her own with a spoon!

She is enjoying her cream of wheat with cheerios. 

Miss Helpful

The other day, Brie's dirty diaper was sitting on the side table by the bed (where we change her) and when she got off the bed, she grabbed the diaper and took it to the garbage can.  It made me smile.

Then this morning, as I was making the cream of wheat I emptied the box and Brie wanted it.  So I handed it to her and she took and put it in the recycling bin.  :-)

It's amazing to realize how much she is observing and picking up on.

The ridding of stuff...

So, as most of you all know, Mat and I live in a small space.  It's completely adequate for our needs and makes us so happy in the sheer fact of it's location.  We did have to rent it furnished, so when we first moved here we put our belongings into storage and paid six months upfront because we then got the seventh month free.  Well, hard to believe, but we have been in Henderson Harbor for six months.  Geez, time flies.

We decided that we'd get rid of our storage unit and go through all the boxes and items there to see if we really needed them and to sell a couple of our big items (i.e. the couch, glider rocker, etc.) We are trying to hang onto the bed, because Mat feels that it's the most comfortable bed and because they are super expensive to purchase.  So, if you come to visit us and stay in our guest room, you will now have a very tall bed.   We've put the box spring and mattress below the other set that was all ready in the guest room.  It now makes it quite easy to change Brie.  No need to bend over.  She's right at the perfect height!

Anyway, back to the ridding of stuff...

It's been very refreshing and freeing to go through and send to the thrift store books, clothes, kitchen gadgets, and other extraneous items that we really haven't needed or missed in the six months that we had them in the storage unit.  And it's kind of exhilarating to know that we don't have all those possessions anymore.  I think that was one thing that I really actually loved about working seasonally and moving every six months for the many years that we did it.  I'm still amazed at how much we accumulated in just five years in Asheville.   I am so very, very thankful that we didn't have a large house because we would have had even more stuff to cart around!

Playtime at the Park

While waiting for some friends to show up to play with, we had a fun photo session at the park.  Brie loves the slide because it is her perfect size to do on her own.  It was kind of an overcast day to be out, but it was fun!  She was pretty worn out by the end of the park playtime and took a great nap this afternoon.  (She hasn't been napping too much lately during the day.  I hope she goes back to at least one nap a day!)

Brie's new favorite thing to do

Brie's reading room of choice tonight.

Brie used to love sitting down in a cardboard box and reading to herself.  I guess she decided the box was too big, because she's now started inserting herself into Maddy's food bowl and my mixing bowls to do her reading. 

 
(The day she was putting herself into Maddy's bowl she couldn't figure out why she didn't fit.  She'd squat down and her bum would go into the water bowl. Then stand up, look around and repeat.   I wish I would have gotten it on video!)