I love where I live

 We live in a beautiful place, don't we now? I love that we can drive 7 minutes to this. Our city is absolutely gorgeous, particular on crisp, sunny days like last Wednesday. These recent sunshine teases have sent us scurrying downtown for some exercise, duck hunting, and beach playing. I'm already looking forward to all the things that summer brings: heat, lots of swimming and park-going. I always said I wanted to live on the "west side" eventually but now I'm not sure I could ever tear myself away from the paradise that is Kirkland. Could you?

17 Months

Isla is our curly-headed, busy girl who seems to have an attention span comparable to that of a potato bug (they don't stop for anything...have you noticed?) The other day Graham showed her a new way to play with a toy and she stuck with it for FIVE WHOLE MINUTES! We both almost fell over.

Needless to say, we've discovered some great ways for her to burn off some energy. I purchased a few storage tubs with the intention of doing some New Year's organizing but I never did put one of them away. It is now filled with all sorts of household items as Isla loves to push it around and "shop" in my drawers, cupboards and shelves. If ever I'm missing anything (like my wire whisk, the remote control, my cell), it can likely be found in her tub. Today I came home from grocery shopping and before I knew it, she was off with one of the paper bags, toting it around and filling it with toys. Collecting seems to be her game of choice right now.

Isla is also really into toys where she can put shapes in and then take them out. My parents have a couple of these kinds of toys and she just can't get enough of them.

She seems to be more and more focused on getting things just right. The other day, for instance, she was trying to sit her ducky at my parents' kid-sized coloring table. Ducky kept leaning over and it was obviously very frustrating for her. She was not satisfied until my mom or I propped Ducky up just right. Oh dear! I think we have a mini-me.

Lest we forget, she has a whopping 2 teeth now! The second one (bottom left) made it's first appearance on New Years Eve. Ha, even Isla likes holidays! I'm convinced that is the only time she gets teeth. The first one on Halloween, the 2nd on New Years Eve.... I'm pretty sure the 3rd will appear any day now but I'm just hoping she doesn't hold out until Valentine's as these nighttime wakenings and poor napping have got to go.

Sadly our near-perfect sleep routine seems to be ending. I'm thankful though because we've had a good schedule going since September (4 months!) I was always told I shouldn't cling to my routine because it wouldn't last but this one stayed much longer than anticipated! I can't quite figure out what is going on now but naps have been rough, particularly in the afternoon. We're back to lots of crying and some complete refusals to sleep (and therefore a very cranky girl and moderately cranky mommy). I thought maybe this meant Isla was ready to transition to one nap but we've been working on that this week and it has resulted in a VERY short single nap so I don't know if we're quite there. She completely falls apart without her morning nap (except on occasions when she gets to skip it and play with other kiddos such as at MOPS). I'm gonna blame this one on teeth. Thankfully, she still goes down without fuss at 6:30 PM every night.

Isla's vocabulary continues to expand tremendously. New words this month include: "key," "pa-pa" (pasta), "shoe," "seat," "che-che" (cheerios), "uh oh" (somes uh uh uh oh oh), "beep," "more," and my personal favorite, "please."

We've started watching Isla's cousin Gideon twice a month and Isla LOVES it. She gets so excited when she wakes up in the morning to find that he is here. "BABY!!!!" is how she usually greets him. Although she loves him to death, sometimes I'm not sure which she is more excited to see, the baby or his carseat. She loves trying to fasten Ducky or her dolls into his seat and sometimes even tries to climb in it herself (she is obsessed with fastening straps right now). Isla is already showing signs of being a great babysitter. She'll hear Gideon crying, run to him, and then run back to me, as if to tell me that he's crying. It's pretty sweet to watch.

After my previous blog post, I'm sure we're all well-aware that discipline has been the hot topic around here. Thanks all for your advice! Love and Logic is actually the one parenting book that we had already purchased so we're looking forward to applying some of those ideas along with timeouts.

Isla has a new fascination with cars. She likes to stand up on her changing table before bed (while hanging onto me) and watch for headlights coming up the road. She gets so excited when she sees some and yells "Car!" Then the other night she said "Car!" and then added "Da-da!" because she knows we usually wait for him to come home from work in his car. Pretty cute!

Discipline

I don't think many people become parents because they just can't wait to discipline. I know I sure didn't. And I'm pretty sure that's not what made Graham a giddy first-time-dad either. But yet here we find ourselves, tumbling toward the inevitable, and we can't seem to slow down our pace. This is happening a lot sooner than I would have liked. I feel unprepared. I mean, I haven't read many (ok, any) books on the topic. YET. I must give myself at least one pat on the back. I have a parenting book sitting on the coffee table in front of me. That's gotta count for something. And I've made it through at least two chapters. So far it has not offered any magical answers so my motivation to continue is quickly wavering. Sigh.

Don't get me wrong; it's not that we have a badly-behaved toddler. It's just that we've reached that age where she is really starting to push the limits and we haven't quite yet developed our battle plan. The main problems that have surfaced over the past couple weeks are:

1) food throwing
2) slapping mommy in the face while saying "owww" repeatedly.

Graham and I had a family meeting earlier this week after I had a particularly challenging day alone with Isla. It was quite obvious that we needed to figure out what we were going to do when she misbehaves and we needed to both be consistent in our response together as parents. Doesn't that make it sound like we have a good plan now moving forward? Ha! I wish! I feel like our discussion kept taking us in circles as we both felt clueless regarding what is realistic/appropriate for a 17 month old. It feels too early for timeouts (although we might give it a shot when she hits me). Distracting her and telling her that hitting me in the face is not nice does not stop the behavior. A lot of people say to ignore kids when they misbehave but you try ignoring whacks to the noggin. Really, that doesn't seem like an effective way to deal with the problem. We haven't fully decided our take on spanking yet either. I don't think either of us are opposed but it seems a bit confusing to have a child hit you in the face and then you punish her by slapping her hand or behind, don't ya think?  Plus, yet again, it just feels like she's too young to understand us when we explain our reasoning.

So here we are, back at square one (or so it feels). Tips anyone?!

Staying at Home

 I just love staying at home! I feel like I don't say that enough. I am so thankful I was able to cut back as much as I have now only working 1-2 days a week. I love my quiet mornings. I love the rare occasions when I get to sleep in until 9 AM. I adore the greeting I receive from this sweet face when she finally wakes and calls out for me.

 I love teaching her new things and watching her take everything in. I love that I have the time to cook exciting foods for her to expand her little palate. I thought it felt good when adults liked my cooking, but having an almost-17-month-old ask for seconds or thirds is far better.

 I love taking her for long walks. I love making her giggle uncontrollably. I love how she follows me around the how because she just wants to be near me. I love snuggling her in her fuzzy fleece jammies.

I just love this being a mom thing!

Solomon's Porch Reunion

We have really awesome friends. Over Christmas break, we were able to gather with a very special group of former SPUers (and their dates/spouses + 2 kiddos!) for a reunion. It had been over 5 years since everyone was together but it felt like no time had passed. I think that's when you know you have really good friends.

During our senior year, Graham was in a theme house called Solomon's Porch with these guys pictured below and a couple others not pictured (Barney and Jason).

 These guys made it their ministry to mentor younger men on the SPU campus. Although I'm sure they really ministered to a lot of lower class men, I think they also really ministered to each other. I am so thankful for these guys because I they played a huge role in shaping Graham into the man of God he is today. We were newly-dating when Graham lived with these guys and they'd waited a long time for me to give Graham a chance (particularly Brant, wearing brown above, and his wife Jackie, who'd been trying to hook us up from the get go). When I did, it seriously felt like we had a whole team rooting for us and it was awesome.

Kaytee, our host Tim, and Glendon 

 Long distance girlfriends, Maddie and Isla finally get to spend some time together in person!

Barney brought his girlfriend, Nikki, to meet the gang. She fit right in! I'm not sure what could possibly be more adorable than their tag-team bedtime story reading. 

 We got to spend an extra night with Glendon and Kaytee at Kaytee's parents' in Salem. Why do you guys have to live so far away!?

 We spent the evening eating, catching up, playing games and reminiscing. My only complaint was that time passed far too quickly. We ended the evening in prayer which warmed my heart and made me miss these God-fearing people all the more. Let's do this again soon and hopefully there will be some more babies in the group next year!

Wilson Christmas 2010

Looking back, I'm quite thankful that my parents' church was offering free professional family portraits at their Christmas Eve services. I only now realized this was the only shot we got of the three of us throughout all our Christmas celebrations! We were also able to get a nice group shot (minus the Hertzogs who didn't join us until Christmas day). 

If you read my earlier post on Christmas traditions, you may recall how we typically celebrate on Christmas Eve. After a attending a completely packed 3 PM service at my parent's church, we drove around the city to peruse the lights. I didn't know if Isla would be able to see the lights from her carseat but was happy to learn that she rode just high enough and seemed quite captivated by the lights at the James Street Estates. 

I neglected to mention our all-time-favorite centerpiece in my recollections post. This gold angel candle set up has been a part of our table for as long as I can remember. The hotter the candles burn, the fast the angels spin, dinging the bells as they make each lap.

Christmas Eve dinner was quite delicious: flank steak with rice, rolls, vegetables, and sparkling beverages or wine. Isla made it about 10 minutes into dinner before we retired her to bed (you can see her yawning in the picture below). Too much excitement for one day I guess. I love the photo below, not for any artistic beauty, but because it reminds me of that famous picture of the stiff farmer and his wife, pitchfork in hand. Can you see it? I think the candles add such a nice pitchfork effect.



Next we gathered around the Christmas tree for the reading of the Christmas story while munching on sweet treats.

Christmas Day was packed with activity, eating and puzzle-doing. It was great to have the whole family together.

I love that babies can sleep even when surrounded by total chaos!

It was a very generous Christmas in the Wilson household and we all left completely spoiled, well-fed and feeling quite loved. I love this family!

New year, new house?

Probably not but who knows what 2011 will hold for us? We secretly hope a new home is in our future but are realistically tallying all the factors that are working against us in this venture. Many prayers are being lifted surrounding this topic and if we are to make a change, we are awaiting clear direction. Truth be told, I think we'll be here at least through next summer when Graham graduates and most of our "unknown expenses" disappear.

It never hurts to be prepared though, so, just in case, I am creating a "New House Bucket List," a list of the features I would like in a new place. Usually I'm really indecisive and unsure about things, but in this case, I know what I want.

New House Bucket List (Kelsie)
-4+ bedrooms
-2+ full baths (one must be a master)
-a large kitchen that is open to the living area
-gas stove
-a dining room
-open floor plan/good for hosting gatherings
-sunny yard with room for a vegetable and perennial garden
-LOTS of storage
-an entry area with space (closet maybe?) to neatly store shoes, coats, future kiddos backpacks so they are not strewn about
-nearby a Trader Joes
-walkable/cute neighborhood
-a garage (preferably attached but I might be willing to give on this one)
-good school district
-preferably south of Shoreline, north of downtown Seattle on the west side or south of Bothell, north of downtown Bellevue on the eastside

Graham and my "House Bucket Lists" are quite different so this could get interesting! If I dare to say so, my list is more heavily weighted by function while Graham prefers look/aesthetics. Of course, for the most part, I LOVE the things on his list, I would just need some practical additions to make it livable for me (particularly in regards to lack of storage in older homes). I know I'm going to butcher this but here is my shot at Graham's list:

New House Bucket List (Graham)
-built before 1940ish or after 2000
-on a street with sidewalks
-detached garage with side entrance (NOT visible from the front of the house)
-within walking distance of a neighborhood coffee shop
-real hardwood floors
-dining room

Of course, we realized we can't have everything and so will likely have to compromise on some things. It never hurts to dream, as my husband always says!