I love date night

On Tuesday, Ian and I arranged for a babysitter swap so that we could go out on Friday night on a date. I looked forward to this alone time with my husband all week. I couldn't wait for Friday to come. I had always heard that once babies came into the picture that have an uninterrupted conversation was pretty much impossible. Little did I know how true this really could be. Dinner time is spent with Niev asking for "burr" (more) or throwing what she doesn't want to eat on the floor or spitting a bite out onto the table, etc. It is no longer the time when we catch up on our lives together.

Anyway, on Friday we went to "Son of Rambow" which is really cute British film. The editing was kind of weird in parts, but oh so cute. It is about two boys that go to the same school, but are total opposites. One is the rebel, bad-boy of the school and the other is the shy, quiet kid who is a bit weird because he belongs to the Plymouth Brethren group (kind of like the Amish). They become friends and it is about their blossoming friendship. It really is one of the cutest films I have seen in a while. I would highly recommend it.

After the movie, we went to dinner at the Olive Garden (the dining experience in the tri-cities is very limited). Being pregnant, I easily out-ate Ian. I really thought my belly would explode, but I couldn't help myself; the breadstick and salad are too delicious!!! (Melissa, you know about me, pregnancy and the Olive Garden so I am sure you can relate to Ian being quite shocked out how much I could down!)

It was great to be reminded of why we love each other and realize that we were still the best of friends. I truly enjoyed our weekend together.

When we went to pick up Niev from our friends, she was sitting on a Sit-and-Twirl and saying, "Wee, wee, wee!" She didn't even miss us!

No circus for us

We had heard there was a circus coming to town and would be in our area on Monday. Now I normally think of the circus as a place for creepy men and crazy people to hang out, but when you marry an artist that paints "interesting" people, you end up in places you never would have imagined yourself. We also found out that it was free float day at A&W. We planned on going to the circus with Niev, stop by A&W on the way home, and making a Family Home Evening out of it. Well, Ian got sick. He didn't feel well all day. We didn't make it to the circus or A&W (I did find out that the free float day was canceled--no loss there).

WARNING**The following contains Lora's inner thoughts which are not always positive. Continuing to read may lead to negative thoughts about sick people, Ian or groaners. Precede with caution!

I love my husband...when he is healthy. When he is sick, he groans and it is the most irritating sound. I can't handle it. It makes me not feel bad for him one bit! He winces and moans as if he is playing a mummy in a horrible horror flick in the 90's. I can't get away fast enough. It truly is worse than nails on a chalkboard.

So unfortunately for all, he was sick yesterday. Niev loves her dad though and would not let her lay down for a nap. She continued knocking on the bedroom door until finally Ian let her enter. She climbed into bed with him and was being the cutest thing ever!
Kissy-faces are the cutest on 17-month olds (and 27-year olds!).

One of my tactics at trying to allow Ian to get some rest without Niev was to give her a popsicle. I am not anti-sugar, but I try to limit the amount of sugar she has in a day so this was a real treat. After it started melting too much, I put it in a bowl for her as to try to avoid some of the mess.I think she quite enjoyed it. Every last drop!

Best father for my children

Ian with Niev and her buddy, Tyler at her 1-year birthday party

Happy Father's Day to my one and only true love! He is the unselfish one in our relationship. For example, it being Daddy's Day yesterday, he should have been the one to take an uninterrupted afternoon nap. But after Niev had knocked on his bedroom door twice (both times crying as I pulled her away), he allowed her to come in. He then let ME take a hour and a half nap (even though I told him not to let me sleep longer than 30 minutes!). His reasoning: I'm pregnant and need my sleep, plus I had made a delicious lemon chicken thing for lunch that he LOVED! He is so kind and thoughtful.

The sun was quite blinding! (Niev 9 months old)

Niev loves her Dad. We have to build a wall to separate Ian's garage door (his studio) from the rest of the house because Niev hears him talking or squeaking his chair and she will run over and knock on his door unmercifully. She then will talk through the door if that does not warrant a response. She loves to give her Daddy pats or rubs on the back as he holds her. She definitely prefers him over me (which is not a bad thing after spending all day being mauled by her). When I get her out of her crib in the morning, her first words after "Out, peese" are always, "Daddy!". She really cannot spend enough time with her Dad.

I loved this time period when Ian and Niev had matching haircuts! (Niev 6 months)

I have always loved children and one of the priorities I looked for in guys that were marriage material was their views on children and excitement level for having a family. Ian's matched my desires so perfectly it actually turned me off at first (I was not wanting to date him at first, remember). I had never met someone that desired children and loved ALL kids as much as me. I could not have married a more perfect match for me. He is priceless and such a great caretaker, father, husband and love of mine!

Stuff, stuff and more stuff

Ian had asked me for several weeks/months/YEARS to watch The Story of Stuff online. He found it really motivating and true. I watched it last night and I think she has some very interesting points, but I wasn't quite as excited about it as Ian. Don't get me wrong it was great, but it did seem a little extreme and maybe a bit depressing. Maybe I have a hard time facing the reality of the world. I'm not super environmental, but I enjoy different viewpoints of what I can do differently to help things be better.

I did enjoy however that she mentions in the 20-minute video how we are controlled to think that we constantly in need of new things. She gave some interesting statistics that make you realize how media controls our thoughts and actions more than we realize. She also leads to the point of our stuff controlling us as well. We think we MUST have that new gadget or electronic gizmo, when really society and media help us to think that. I did like the overall feeling of simplify, simplify, simplify!

I would recommend checking it out for yourself and if you do please let me know what you think. I am very curious in people's response to this video. It only takes 20-minutes and it is well done and entertaining as well as informational. Click here to watch the video.

PS--Luckily Niev is a bit more herself today. She seems to be pulling out of this sickness. YEA!

Sickness in the Strawn house

Niev is sick today. I hate when a baby is sick; you never feel as if you are doing enough! She woke up this morning with a horrible fever. We fed her and I put her down to play. She was not her normal Niev. Very lackadaisical--not her normal busy self. I sat down on the couch for a few minutes to outline my day and dream about going for the first time to the local farmer's market to see if it is any good. Niev waddles up to me slowly and says, "Up, peese!" I pull her up and she lays on my chest for a bit. She begins to squirm as if she wants down, but them cries when I put her down. I pull her back up and just lay her on the couch next to me. She rolls over on her stomach and tucks her chubby arms under her belly (her usual comfy position). I started rubbing her back and tucked a blanket around her. Every few minutes, she would say random words: Dadda, out, slide, baby, etc. Finally, I look over and cute little lips are puckered out and she is asleep. She had only woken up an hour and a half previous to this. I moved her to her crib where she slept for over three hours! Poor girl. So needless to say, it has been a tough day.

Here is a picure of Boston and Niev at about 6 months old--gotta love Boston's excitement!

Memories in the corner of my mind

I have recently been going through some of Niev's older pictures from birth until present--organizing, picking favorites, categorizing, etc. I didn't realize what an alien I gave birth to. She was quite tiny even though at the time I thought she was HUGE (a whopping 8 lbs 7 oz), but I guess when you think of that coming out of your body, that tends to distort the picture a bit.

Luckily she grew up quickly and within a matter of a few weeks became quite the chunk! I love the sumo-boobies in this picture!
This reflection has allowed me to remember a few fond memories of my sweet girl that I haven't written down anywhere yet so please excuse my mushy gushy mother-ness.

It was very hard for me to go back to work after having Niev. Luckily, I took 8 weeks off and only had about 11 more weeks of teaching 6th grade left when I went back. This did not make that transition easy by any means. I was fortunate enough to have a loving and supportive husband that stayed at home and took fantastic care of Niev. More importantly, this is what greeted me each day when I came home!
There are several memories of mine that as soon as I would get unloaded from work, I would scoop Niev up and play with her on my lap. Oh the giggles that she rewarded me with. Ian, I think, was feeling a bit ripped because he had been with her all day and did not get this kind of reaction. This time was something I looked forward to all day. Near the end of the school year, when I was getting hate letters from parents, pressure to teach the next year from my co-workers and feeling exhausted from a years worth of hard work, Niev was giving me smiles, giggles, and gaauhhs before I could even try to make her laugh. She was my world and still makes life so rewarding.

We had a rocking chair in our last apartment that squeaked horribly. When Niev was just barely home from the hospital, my sister Melissa came to visit us at home. Melissa was rocking her in the noisy rocker and Niev was actually imitating the squeaking of the rocker! It was amazing. I should have known then that she liked music. Melissa stopped rocking and Niev stopped making her high-pitched groaning noises. It was classic.

I do realize I look very haggard here. And I thought I was so skinny!

When she was about six months old, she would eat anything in sight. Whatever she found she ingested. We visited Ian's grandparents on the coast and a group of us were in the bedroom chatting, including Niev and her aunt Kaki. As we were talking, Niev LUNGES for Kaki's nose and starts sucking on it as if it were her binkie! She started make carnivorous noises as if she were a T-rex and for several minutes sucked on Kaki's nose! We were all laughing so hard to do anything about it except grab the camera. I finally pulled Niev off of Kaki and Kaki did form a dark hickie on the end of her nose. It was quite disturbing and yet hilarious. Poor Kaki had the ugliest end of nose any of us had seen for several days. You are a good sport Kaki!
Don't get me wrong, some days I really consider getting a job so that I don't hear whining all day or have to deal with laundry, dishes and the never ending chores. But then I think of Niev's cute smile or her "Peese, Peese, Peese," with her head slightly tilted. Being a stay-at-home mom has been a challenge for me. I won't deny it. I loved teaching and consider going back almost weekly, but I wouldn't miss Niev's cute moments for teaching. Not at this stage in my life. That is not what I am to be doing. With every job, there are miserable things. I just need to accept the ones that I don't like about being a mom and housewife, instead of trying to change them.

Although we are expecting another baby, I hope that my first babygirl will always know what a prize she is to her mother. Niev has truly trained us how to be parents. She has been the easiest baby ever! I keep telling Ian, "I don't know what we are going to do when we have a real baby!" because Niev is completely unreal. I love you, Niev. I could not be more proud of my daughter. She is beautiful, bright, happy and has a large sense of humor for a 17-month old. What a perfect first baby!

Phone calls from Gramma Buh

So I don't know if I have mentioned it or not, but Ian's mom loves being a Gramma. She has looked forward to being a gramma since she was just a tiny girl and Niev made her greatest dream come true. Unfortunately, they live in California so they don't get to see Niev all that often (Paula does try to visit as often as possible, but that is normally about every six weeks; a lot happens in the life of a little one in six weeks time!). Luckily we have phone calls. Gramma Buh has called Niev since she was about six months old and could barely giggle or babble on the phone. As Niev has been able to communicate more and more, these phone calls truly have been little treasures.

I clipped several videos together so sorry if it seems choppy, but I wanted you to get all the highlights!


During my birthday trip to Portland, Ian had called to talk to me and Niev. I told her to tell Daddy that she missed him and loved him and it was the first time she started kissing the phone like that. I thought I was going to cry.If you ever tell Niev, "Say I love you!" (and she is in a good mood) she will pucker up and give kisses. It really is the sweetest thing. She is truly the joy of our lives right now. Tiring, but so much fun! We wouldn't trade her for the world (most days anyway...)