It’s been a while so I thought I’d do a bit of catching up.  I found myself a little girl to nanny full time, which is going to help us tremendously! I also sit two boys once a week, which means I make as much as I did before I quit working. Whew! A load off. We will have our savings back in no time. All of that money stress is beginning to melt away.

I don’t write as often as I’d like to, but someday I will have a little more time to write and take photos. For now, I have my hands full, for a good cause. If it didn’t take me so long to write anything, I’d start an income generating blog, but I simply don’t write that fast. Anyhow…more writing as there is more time.

Andor is growing up fast! He almost exclusively speaks in sentences now. He makes up his own games, he is polite and empathetic, and he really likes to help in the kitchen. He has finally started eating food regularly instead of nursing all the time. The guy preferred his nummies much longer than many other babies. He still wakes up a million times at night, but I know that this too shall pass and that I should just be patient. Soon enough he will be a big boy, in his own bed, in his own room and I will be pining for the days when he was so snuggly.

I really enjoy my work as a mother. I find it to be far more fulfilling than any other work I have ever attempted. When people say that it’s thankless, I beg to differ. I find it utterly satisfying and I know that my little family appreciates the work that I do. When I’m not tending to the house, Andor, or Cal I find a little time to work out, which, is working! I’m not losing any weight, but my body is starting to take on a little more of a girly shape instead of having that, “I just had a baby” shape. Perhaps I’ll lose a little weight when Andor is done nursing. Some say that some ladies just hang on to a few pounds while they nurse. We’ll see. I’m eating smaller portions and laying off the chocolate, that ought to do something! Other than that I am still taking pictures, just not as many these days because we spend so much time inside, and the lighting stinks.

However, the Spring is around the corner and already we have seen the light! The sun is supposed to shine all week even!

Well, that’s it for now. My time is up.

I’ve posted resolutions before and found that they are only marginally helpful for me. Last year I promised to blog more and lose weight and I have’t done much of either really! This year I have only one resolution and that’s to make a little money!

Money, money, freaking money! We need to build our savings back up! Since I’m not interested in Cal taking another job, and us not seeing him ever again, its up to me! I’m not going back to work, so I’ve been looking around for a nanny position. So far I’ve spoken to one family about possibly caring for their 5 year old daughter. So the possibility is there, it just takes a while.

I’ve been working on the saving money each month thing too. It doesn’t help that it’s so flippin’ cold outside! Our last heating bill was outrageous! I can’t think of much to do to save money on our food bill. We could certainly have vegetarian meals a few times a week and save a little. If we could buy more things in bulk it would help too. I really hope that the garden this summer helps a little bit. I can also hang our clothes to dry outside now that we have a little porch in the back. I still have the lines and clips from the little apartment,, they just need to be hung. We really just need to make more money every month.

And now for something completely different.Andor wants me to come play legos!

Later!

I got to stay home and be a mother to my little monkey baby. We moved into a bigger space that is much closer to where Cal works so we see him much more. Abra, George, and I organized and implemented a garden with smashing success. I discovered an abandoned community garden a couple of blocks away from the new place that I will get to fill with herbs and salad greens this coming Spring. Abra had her perfect little baby, at home, beautifully and I got to be there! My birthday party was so nice, and the food was great. I made two new friends! This Christmas was by far the best one yet. It was so relaxing and I got to spend it with family.  There are many other things that I can’t think of right now and Andor is calling for me to come play.

Here is to another great year! I love you all and am thankful for you.

I don’t blog even a little bit these days. My life has been taken over by this beautiful little man, and I make no apologies for it. I spend most of my time making sure that he is happy and the rest of the time getting somewhere that will make him happy! Our lives just don’t really support much of the sedentary, and when it does, I choose to take a hot bath, or order groceries online. I hardly even take any pictures anymore because of the time that it takes to post them, edit them, etc.

However, about a month ago, Andor started taking very substantial naps around noon and I have been able to do a little bit of sitting around (although I ought to be working out to try and ditch these last 10 pounds), and I have opened a site on Etsy!

I need for us to have about $200 more a month in income so that I can have health insurance. I can’t go on without that safety net any longer and I’m hoping that I can make at least that on Etsy each month. I feel very uneasy with the idea that one sickness could wipe us out financially! Cal and Andor are covered and I just play the odds. I think it might be part of my anxiety.

Anyhow..that’s the deal. I’m making jewelry and selling some pristine vintage items on Etsy and I hope you visit my site.

Otherwise, we are really settling into our new place. Cal lives really close to work now and can walk there! We have so much more time with him now! It’s nice. Andor is growing, talking, running, climbing, jumping, and bossing! I love it! He’s so handsome I can hardly stand it. I want to eat him up all of the time. I savor these moments and know that they go by so quickly! He reads a million books a day and seems to get new words/phrases all of the time. All of his eye teeth are about to break through. Toilet training will be here soon.

Some bits and pieces…Cal is going to start school again. I am going to look at how much it will cost to cap my front tooth at the end of December. Gluten free is really working for our family. Routines are the way to go.

Go and visit my Etsy and tell me what you think!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/RyndsTrends

This summer, originally uploaded by CamilleRynd.

It’s been a while since I’ve written, I suppose that I’m getting used it, but I think about my poor neglected blog all of the time. I’m sure that as Andor gets more independent, I’ll have more time to write. As of now, we spend most of our time out of the house running around parks. He doesn’t like being at the house unless he has a friend with him. We’re working on that.

This summer has been busy busy busy. We have moved from the Pearl, and then moved again. That’s a long story, and I won’t bother telling it. Suffice it to say, we’re happier with our new place and we’ll be staying here for a long while.

Abra had Olivine, a perfect little darling girl. Her birth was beautiful. I got to film and photograph the whole thing. You can see the final moments here
It was utterly beautiful. You can hear me nearly break down, I’m a little wimp for beautiful moments. I love the picture of her big brother holding her in the picture above.

We also went camping for the first time since Andor was born!! It was a blast. Andor had the best time throwing rocks into the river and sleeping in the tent. When we woke up in the morning he looked up and exclaimed, “trees!!” He loved helping me build a fire by gathering sticks and kept a very respectful distance from the flame, commenting, “hot..fire” again and again. We went hunting for chantrelles but didn’t really end up with much, maybe a gallon. Grandpa Gibson gave us a half a flat because he felt sorry for our sad attempt. We got to spend a little time with him and Andor thought that the chickens were super cool! He spent most of the time there picking berries and eating them. I can’t wait for us to go out again. Cal and I sat and stared at the sky as the stars came out. It was beautiful. I love the quiet of the woods and the majesty of the night sky when it isn’t blotted out by the city lights.

I still have a little pregnancy weight to work off. I may not get rid of it entirely until Andor weans, and that’s fine really. We are finally attempting to night wean. Last night was the first night and Andor was very resistant to the idea. Hopefully tonight will be better. I won’t wean him entirely until much later though. I just need to get some sleep at night. He wakes up a lot sometimes and I get no rest at all. No bueno.

Anyhow, I’m going to throw myself a birthday party this year. I haven’t EVER had a birthday party and I think it’s time. I get at least one right? I mean, I’ve gone out with friends, etc, but never a real party! I want one!

I look forward to the challenge that this winter will bring trying to keep Andor occupied without going to the park twice a day.

Gotta go or I won’t have time for a bath!!

Alright, so I haven’t blogged in four months!! I know! Lots of things have happened in the meantime and I don’t even know where to begin. I’m also pressed for time, I have another 15 minutes and then my babysitter is leaving.

Yes, babysitter. I have a neighbor (at least he’s a neighbor for another month or so) that I can trust with Andor and I’ve had him over three times now to watch Andor while I try to have some down time. However, as my luck would have it, It looks like his family has bought a house and are moving in at the end of this month! What then?!?! I finally find someone that I can trust to watch Andor and he’s moving away. Grrr. Arrrg. He claims that his mother will drive him here for a weekly thing, but I really don’t think that that’s going to happen really. It sounds like they have a lot of renovation on the house, and then he will start school again.

I don’t know what I’ll do. Andor requires ALOT of interaction, and I have reached my limit. I need time to decompress and write, or read, or just stare at the wall for a couple of hours a week. It’s unnatural for a grown-up to play 17 month old games all day! In order for me to be a better mom, I need more alone time.

Anyway. Andor finally decided that solid food was better than nummies and eats way more regular food. He still nurses plenty, but over all he asks for food more and nummies less. He loves to swim (he is part fish) , and run, and play with legos. He is talking up a storm.  He just loves a kitty of any kind and would pretty much chase one all day long if he could.

Also, Abra and I have planted a garden and it has grown up and started to produce. It is great! We have been eating plenty of fresh produce from it! It has been utterly satisfying to grow food. I hope I have a chance to grow my own food from now on. It’s nice.

Also, Abra is due on the 8th, in two days, so there is a new baby soon! Oh how exciting it is. She is ready for the baby to come, so, now we just wait…I have been given the task of making food and taking pictures at the birth.  She is having a home birth and it will be nice to document.

Lastly, Cal and I have applied for work at Breitenbush Hot Springs. I’ll keep you updated!! If we get it, we’ll move there. It will be interesting.

Love you gotta go!!

I can’t even describe how badly I want the weather to be nice again! Early this month the sun came out, full blast, and we all packed up and went down to the Square and had a day of sun and relaxation! It was lovely. Andor played and played and played. Of course, the weather went back to it’s normal cold and rainy and we went back to being inside and waiting out the rain with books and snacks and rolling cars around on the floor. Ho hum …

It’s supposed to be nice and sunny this weekend, so, we’ll see,

We’re all settled in to the new place now. We had Cal’s parents over for a little dinner of artichokes, salad, mussels, and blueberry gallette to break it in officially. Next I’ll have to have a little get together/ house warming party. My friends have to actually be available though. I’ll poll later on facebook to see if people are available next week

What else? Andor has started to do kiss sounds..mmuuuuumua! He also stands at the door waving, indicating that it’s time to go outside now! We went to the zoo on $2 Tuesday, and he tried to hug the big Amazon fish, while he cooed, “woooaaa, wooaaa”. He likes fish. The big cats were a hit too.

Soon enough, the sun will be blazing and I will be watching Andor splash in the water fountains!

That’s the update.

Andor is waking up and I need to go.

More later.

Here we are, three months into the new year and my poor ignored resolutions are yet to be reached. Blogging twice a week isn’t impossible, but I choose to read or play with my son when I have the time. I’m just not motivated to write that much. I think I ought to change the resolution to read: to blog at least twice a month! That is more realistic. Also loosing ten more pounds has turned into 15 because I seem to have put on a little weight since Andor started eating more solids! It’s a trap! I want to keep the food he doesn’t eat from being wasted, so I eat it! It’s no good, and If I keep it up I’ll be sorry. Eat less move more is my mantra. When we move into the new space it will be a lot easier to work out everyday, that and this summer the baby will be running around and I can chase him! I know I can take this weight off, I just have to be mindful. That’s enough about resolutions.

Andor is walking. He gave up on crawling almost all together and walks around looking so thrilled about it. I think it’s awesome. He is also getting the teeth next to his two front teeth and frozen blueberries seem to be the only thing he really wants to eat. I don’t blame him, they’re yummy. The sweater jacket he’s wearing in this picture is his new favorite thing. He points at it, barks “that” and when I give it to him he wanders around with it, sometimes pressing it to his cheek lovingly. I’m not sure what it is about the thing. It’s a vintage I picked up at the bins. He oves it. He knows that it’s his, and perhaps he associates it with going outside. I don’t know.

So, we move out of this tiny little place on the 28th, and into a 2 bedroom that is nearly three times the size of our current apartment. It will be just a few minutes from Cal’s work in Beaverton. We will be so happy with more space and to have Cal home more. Andor really really loves hanging out with his daddy, and well, so do I. I can’t wait to get to know the neighborhood. I have spent a little time in google maps looking for a few things, but I’m much better at exploring in person. There are many asian markets in the area that i can’t wait to check out. Also, the library and a couple of parks are close.

Anyhow, these days are spent slowly packing and cleaning and organizing and playing with Andor. I love being able to take my time to pack up the house, and go through everything. I can stop everything and entertain Andor or go for a walk or cook and not sweat it. It’s nice. It’s pretty amazing how much stuff we have packed into this tiny space and how little of it is used because it’s in perpetual storage.

That will change in the new place! The next blog will be after we’ve moved in and there will be many pictures!

This is certainly a bittersweet moment, as I will greatly miss my neighborhood and my neighbors, but the time has come.

So, with that, I have made a list of things that I wish to have to fill my new space and make it a home. If you have any of the following things that you’d like to donate, I will gladly take the off of your hands. It’s not exhaustive, so, if there is something lurking in your storage taking up space that you were going to get rid of that you think I might need, let me know.

I will also be announcing a going away party soon.

Wish List:

Toaster
Large Stock Pot
Medium pot
Small Pot
Durable Couch
Complete silverware set
Steak Knives
Dry goods containers
Prints and Pictures
Toy Organizing something
Baby bookshelf
Train table
Toddler Bed
Plants

These photos and this blog were a long time coming, but they’re here! I can’t even describe how well the wedding went, despite the weather nearly causing many tempers to be tested and chain application challenged! All went well, no one fainted or gave drunken toasts, the food was good and the staff was very helpful.

We were at the Bonneville Day Spa in Washington, accommodations were perfect and very comfortable, and we spent the night after the wedding lounging in the hot tub outside, surrounded by snow drifts and cool fresh air. It was very nice.

So, now that the pictures are in, we can pour over the memories, and decided which one of these things to print. I think this picture is a candidate for printing for my wall for sure.