6.29.2008

Beach Babies

A little while ago I mentioned that Nora, Camella and I had spent some time at the beach. We had a great time at the park, playing on the playground, having a picnic on the grass and gradually making our way down to the ocean. I set the girls up on their towel, slathered them in sunscreen and relaxed.
The girls had such a great time splashing around in the warm water. Normally, the ocean along the Maine coastline is freezing anytime of the year except August- and even then it's not warm. This day, however, we were on a beach that has a very gradual descent, and the tide was coming in at a rate that allowed the hot stones on the beach to warm it up to the level of bath water. Does this make sense to anyone besides me? In any case, the girls just sat in the water for long periods of time until the wrinkles set in and the tidewater was deep enough to feel cold.
Eventually we all made it back to the towel, where we warmed up and had another great snack, provided by Camella's mom-
And the perfect end to this sunny day? A nice nap on the way home.


6.27.2008

I've finally found a moment to post a few pictures for all of you! It has been a very busy past few days. We're out of the house now and strawberry season is in full swing. We had Nora's birthday party, which was a huge success, and then Nora and I hung out with Camella at the beach for a couple days. I'll just post a few pictures from the party right now- we're getting ready to take our new Chariot out for a test run. Shane is going to pull Nora behind his bike while I jog with Kalen in the LLBean jogger down to the farmer's market. A big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Ramirez for the awesome birthday present! We are very excited to be using it today. For now, enjoy the party pictures!
Doing some walking the day before the party.
Kalen helps out with the dishes.
Nora enjoying her green ball.
Nora loved this outfit from Donna, Tim and Olive-
The view from above.
The big birthday cake-
and Nora's own little cake!
Do I have anything on my face?
The last of the stragglers enjoy the bonfire.
Rough night- better keep the sunglasses on today!

6.18.2008

Thanks for the comments from everyone on that last post. I'll be sure to show you all pictures of her party after this weekend. Now we're waiting for Camella to show up and I'm wracking my brain, trying to figure out how to keep her occupied for the next seven hours when it's so rainy out. Nora is a bit under the weather. She's had a cold for a few days and is a little clingy. That's the sign that she's sick- she's never clingy otherwise!
This past weekend we were down south with Debbie and Cindy taking part in another yard sale. It was a gorgeous day that finally felt like summer, so of course we had to break out the wading pool.
Nora loved every minute of it, but I think she especially enjoyed the naked part of it. She is her father's daughter, through and through.
The next day, Sunday, we drove to Belfast to welcome Shane home after he took part in the Trek Across Maine. We were so proud of him- he biked over 150 miles! Here he is, with our friend Greg and Nora, who is sporting her birthday present from her Dad. She'll be wearing this quite often over the summer when we get the new bike trailer!
(Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!)I like to pretend that Nora's just laughing in this picture, not screaming her head off hysterically because I'm not holding her. For four and a half seconds. Of the whole day. (This is the day the cold began, if you can't tell.)
I'll try to post again soon, but I have to warn you- this next week and a half is going to be chaotic. We're packing and moving, Shane's finishing up school, then has a three day conference, strawberry season starts next week (and we pick and sell), I'm still watching Camella and the week after next I start up again at the daycare, working two days a week while Shane hangs out with Nora. Whew! That seems like a lot more once typed. I'll leave you with one more picture, to tide you over until I get back here.Oops, sorry, was that inappropriate? Too bad, I thought it was cute! Have a nice day everyone!

6.17.2008

One Year

This past Sunday, Father’s Day, was Nora’s first birthday. It seems a little crazy just to be typing those words. Shane and I sat next to each other last night as we gave Nora a bath and marveled at one another- we have a one year old! Of course, about a year ago we did the same thing, whispering to each other over the head of our sleeping newborn- we have a daughter! I’m not sure every birthday will feel this special to me so for now I’m just savoring it.
This last year has seemed significantly longer than any other in my life. I know that for a lot of parents, the time just flies by, and some moments did feel that way. However, those first three (okay, four) months felt as if they dragged on for years. It was a rough period of time, one in which we got to know intimately the ways in which Nora liked (or didn’t like) to be bounced, swayed, rocked and jostled. It was exhausting, it was overwhelming, and it was life changing. I’m sure it is for all new parents.
Now, although definitely not experts, we finally feel at home with this parenting thing and amazingly enough it only took a year.
Happy birthday, sweet girl. We love you so much.

6.10.2008

Does this picture freak anyone else out?

I'm not really sure what else I could possibly write about this photo. I think it speaks volumes on it's own.It reminded me of an image I'd seen before...
monkey cymbal
Need I say more?

6.09.2008

It's about time I wrote a new post. I had to get that gross meat picture off the top of the page!
As usual we've been up to our busy ways. We took part in a multi-family yard sale this weekend and actually made some money, which was awesome. (Getting rid of lots of junk was pretty great, too.) We've got another one next weekend, and I'm already scrounging around to see what else we can find.
Yesterday Shane, Hayley, Nora and I drove down to Tara and Josh's house to hang out with Kalen. This Thursday is Tara and Josh's wedding anniversary, and to celebrate they went on a nice picnic. We went to a nearby playground and then a beach before they left and snapped some great pictures. This first picture is of Josh holding Kalen. He doesn't appear much on the blog. In fact, I'm not sure he's ever been on here, but that's only because the poor guy works 15,000 hours per week at his restaurant and two shops. Yup, he's busy. Yesterday, however, he had the day off and we were finally able to hang out with him!What isn't to love about this picture? There go the guys, pushing the kids while the three sisters hang back and visit. Nora dipped her feet in the ocean and got them, well, damp. She was not interested in splashing around too much, probably because it was so cold that the beginning stages of hypothermia began when I waded in past my big toe.Here's poor Hayley, wandering off on her own, despondent and depressed at the state of affairs in our world today. Just kidding; Tara and Kalen are just out of the frame on the left.Thank goodness Tara and Josh live almost beside this beach. With temperatures in the nineties inland, we really needed to be on the water today. Hope everyone else is keeping cool!
By the way, thanks to Hayley for using (stealing) my camera to get some of these great shots!

6.05.2008

A slow day...

Yesterday was very low-key for Nora and I. We didn't have the entertainment of little Camella, but she should be here this morning, any minute. Instead, Nora and I read books, played and made a lasagna using a recipe I found on this site. It was delicious, and we'll be eating leftovers for a few days, but I wasn't so sure when the recipe started out like this:
For those of you who know me, I'm not exactly known as a meat-lover. I cook it maybe once a month- and chicken at that. Granted, this wasn't red meat, just ground turkey and sweet Italian sausage, but it was still a little disconcerting for me as I browned it. The finished product, however, was worth it. It was delicious and will taste even better when I heat up a piece for lunch. Somehow I don't think tofu would have tasted quite the same.
I didn't get a picture of the finished product- I literally pulled it from the oven and cut into it for myself. I was going swimming within the hour and wanted to eat as far before the swim as possible. Believe me, though, it was beautiful.
Nora was so great the whole time I was cooking. She spent some time in her favorite jungle gym:
and did some cooking with her pots and pans:
This morning I thought I'd snap a few more pictures for the blog. Our phone died during the last thunderstorm and hasn't recovered, so it officially became Nora's new toy this morning. Notice she hasn't quite figured out the difference between the base and the receiver...
Have a nice day, everyone!

6.02.2008

House Hunting

As the title aptly describes, Shane and I have recently been house hunting. Actually, in all honesty we've been looking for a house for the last year. Who knows if we'll ever actually buy one again. We aren't exactly known for making a choice and sticking with it. Anyhow, we found a house about ten miles from Shane's teaching job that was in our price range and looked beautiful in the pictures. We decided to check it out today.
It really is a nice house. It's over a hundred years old, but in 2006 was stripped down to it's studs and redone. There are some great wood floors in the house and a pretty nice kitchen with super high ceilings. (Of course, heating costs come to mind with that lovely feature...)
The first floor has a kitchen, a living room, and a guest room with an attached full bath. Oh, and it has a wrap around porch! (Can you tell I liked it?)
The second floor has a master bedroom, a bathroom, and a smaller bedroom with a little playspace perfect for a kid.
There is one major drawback, however. It sits right next to a building company that has been known to use loud equipment. Anybody have experience with this?
There's always something, especially in the price range we can afford! Oh well, we'll continue to investigate it. At least we have this little cutie to keep us occupied for the time being!