Tis the Season to Be Skyping...

Since the world did not end on this lovely solstice morning..... it is time to keep gearing up for the holidays.

What better way to do it than Skyping your friends and family.  

V now knows that when you lift the computer you may see aunt "ra ra", grandma or grandpa, and who knows maybe even get a free concert out of the deal.

We have been doing weekly skype times with family in Wisconsin since little A's arrival.  It is a nice way to keep in touch and help V remember family far away.  

We just need to remember to tell her that they don't live in the computer!

Thankful...

This Thanksgiving we had much to be thankful for.  Like other years we are thankful for our families, friends, health and happiness.  This year we are extra thankful for our new little healthy girl and of course her big sister.  

This was our first Thanksgiving in Anchorage.  

It was sad to move from my sister and her family in Nome, but the upside is that we moved closer to Zeb's sister in Anchorage.  We are lucky to still have family around us. 

 We headed to her house for Thanksgiving, early on Tuesday, due to work schedules.
Grandma and Grandpa Scherer came down to celebrate with us too!

Both girls wore their "Thanksgiving best" for the occasion.

  

V enjoyed playing with new toys at Aunties house!

 Nothing more appropriate for this little pilot to be then a Wonder Woman airplane!

V sat with us at the table and enjoyed the Thanksgiving meal. 

Here you can see her interacting with her little sister.  I am THANKFUL that so far, they get a long well and V is a good big sister. 

Many things to be thankful for this year! 

A New Tradition...

With V getting older, I am trying to establish lots of meaningful activities into her routine.  Before A came into the picture V and I would go to the zoo and the library.  More of our activities will be homebound for now, which is fine.  Until we can take A out to other events, home activities are best.

As a child I remember our family buying gifts for other children at Christmas time.  There was a tree in the church that had the names of children on it with their ages.  You could select a card and then buy a present appropriate for that child.  Well, I am sure that exists here in Anchorage, since we did this in Nome as well.  But this year, V and I participated in a different event:  Operation Christmas Child.  We headed off to Walmart and purchased items to fill our container.  We chose a 2-4 year old girl.

 Going around the store, we tried to find things to put in the bin. V would say, "ohhh" as we went down the isles, which gave me a good indication that we were making good choices.

At the very end V chose some bows off a shelf.  They will probably be enjoyed by a young girl, especially since our little girl picked them and really liked them!  We ended up with lots of good items including, a Play Dough set, socks, toothbrushes, an Ariel doll, crayons, paints and hair bows.  Hopefully through the years, V will realize that at Christmas time it is nice to do something for others and we can start a new tradition.

16 months......and 1 week

16 months... and 1 week are the ages of little girls in our house now.  Announcing the arrival of our second baby girl.  She makes big girl V look like a toddler now.  Since the new baby's arrival, V has been walking, talking more, reading, eating with silverware and a plate, and getting her hair done in "pretties."

 At first I am not sure what she thought of her new little sister.  At the hospital she was more interested in the balloons, and wanted nothing to do with mommy, daddy or the new baby.  

Each day she gets a little more curious.

 Now she actually comes out of her room in the morning, walks over to the bassinet and looks for "baby."

I know in time these too little ladies will have a lot in common and grow to love each others company.

For now our toddler has to get used to no longer being the queen of the house since her new princess sister joined the pack. 

Pumpkin Time

Grandma Scherer and I ventured out to find the perfect pumpkin for big girl V.  We headed off to Bell's Nursery to see if they had one.  We kept hearing on the radio that they had photos available in their pumpkin patch.  When we got there, it was an indoor photo set up with hay, pumpkins, and fake fall flowers.  Very nice, but not when you are expecting something else.  We had V's photo taken..... but alas it is not digital to share.  Turned out cute though.  

Bell's was sold out of pumpkins, so we headed off to Carr's.

 That is where we saw this big boy!  Big Mac Pumpkin, well at least it is less than $90.00.  I couldn't even imagine carving this one.

 We found 2 really good ones, a medium one that Zeb carved for us, and a small one fit for Queen V.  

Thank you Grandma for a wonderful pumpkin day!

Going to the Zoo...

Baby V and I have been using our season pass a lot lately and heading to the zoo.  When it is not raining, the zoo makes for a great place to walk around.  She loves animals and we can enjoy the special programs they have going on.

 On Mondays, toddlers enjoy music time at the zoo.  As you enter the building, you pick up an instrument and get ready to jam along.  V was really into this little drum.  

 Eventually she was less shy and made her way over to the big drum with another girl.  

She sure loves music.  There is an open mike time, but she is still too young for that. I am considering bringing a song next week, but we shall see.

On Wednesdays, you can enjoy an animal story and then an encounter with the animal.  Last week, it was all about the Red Fox.  Here is Chance, the zoo's oldest red fox.  He was hit by a car, and got a second "chance" at life.  Now he is an outreach animal. 

 In between activities, we like to visit the bears.  V likes all kinds of bears, black, brown and polar.  Here is Ahpun.  She is running for president of the zoo.  We voted!  You can too by clicking here, but it does cost $1.00.  Cheaper than any other political campaign right now.  

I am happy that we can enjoy these activities well into the winter months, we just need to be prepared with our snow boots and suits as the weather changes. 

Fall... Time to Get Ready For Halloween

I love Halloween, always have.  This year I was excited to possibly incorporate my pregnant belly into a costume, but alas, we will be having the baby around October 25, and I probably won't be pregnant for Halloween.  BUMMER!  My costume making skills must have brushed off on baby V, though.  She created this all on her own, no help at all from mom.  I am just glad I caught it on video!  Enjoy!

Gearing Up...

As some of you may (or may not know) we are expecting baby Scherer number 2 in late October.  In order to get baby V (who will become big sister V) ready for her sister, we got her a "realistic" baby doll.  When the doll first came out of the box, V hung it upside down by its toes and slammed its head into the ground.  We had to work on "be nice to baby."  

She is getting better!

 Now we hug the baby.

And give the baby a bottle saying "num, num."  

Hopefully when the new sister arrives, she will know how to handle it... or at the very least, she won't hold her upside down and slam her head into the carpet :)

Sharing...

Wouldn't it be great if you never had to teach your children about sharing?  If they just came with all these skills on their own, what a relaxing time parenting would be.  Alas, they do not come with the skills for knowing how to share, and when it is appropriate NOT to share.

Today V decided to share her bunny crackers with Tisuk.  

Of course, Tisuk was ALL over this idea. 

I happened to catch it on camera, only because I thought it was so cute that she was finally using her snack cup correctly.  

She showed me her snack.  Awwww, what a sweetie!

Then after looking me straight in the eye, she fed one to Tisuk!

(Which was an advancement for her from just teasing Tisuk with it.)

And so the fun of sharing began!

Now you may ask yourself, what is the problem?  She had a snack and shared it, what a good little girl.  That may be true, but what I could not get her to understand is why Tisuk cannot have her snacks.  Try explaining to a 13 month old that a 10 year old dog who can get an upset tummy shouldn't get any bunny crackers.  I lost the battle and so did poor Tisuk-- yup, poor dog suffered a case of the Cha, Cha's.  The battle of sharing begins.... I just hope Tisuk makes it through alright. 

Traveling

We have had some wonderful travels lately.... First baby V and I went off to Wisconsin for a couple weeks, while Zeb headed off to training for his new job.  We had a great time with grandma and grandpa.  V had lots of fun seeing cousins, aunts, uncles, and great grandma too. V experienced her first bout of hot weather.  Too hot to enjoy crawling on the grass (since it was crispy and dead), but perfect for enjoying the swimming pool each day. 

 We headed back to Anchorage with aunt Lara and were blessed with several days of beautiful weather finally!  Cousin Tay came for a visit and we headed to the beach and the zoo.

Then the girls all headed down to Seward for a day of fun. 

We took a 3 hour tour of Resurrection Bay.  It was an amazing day for a boat ride.  Blue skies and smooth sailing made our trip a success.  I was a little nervous about taking V on such an adventure but she did great.  I wore her in the back back, took her out on deck for some sightseeing, and also let her crawl around in the cabin.

When she was ready for a nap, she took one.

 And woke up a happy little baby!

 We had a great girls visit to Seward.  Our boat showed us wildlife, glaciers and other beauty that Alaska has to offer.  Aunt Lara got to see a little more of Alaska, so that was exciting too.   

 V has been so lucky to have Tay and Lara here to entertain her for the last week.  Everyone leaves tomorrow.......we will see how baby does when we are back to just mama :)

O...N...E

Baby V turned 1 year old today!  We celebrated with a small party on Monday night with mommy, daddy and auntie Marilou.  She took a while to get the hang of opening presents.  At first the thought the the box or the paper were the present.  But eventually she figured it out and enjoyed her new toys!

She is liking her new airplane toy and daddy is teaching her to make take off noises when it lifts out of the air.  

 Of course she also liked the box it came in. 

 After presents, it was time to get her in her chair and get ready to have cake.  No bib needed, just shirt off and ready for cake!

She had 2 cakes.  One was a DQ ice cream cake for the adults----- and her cake was called the "go bananas" cake found here.

I thought that since she does not currently eat extra sugar, this cake was perfect.  I put some rubber ducks on it, she sure loves those.  She got really messy, almost too messy for her to handle, and headed straight for the tub, again filled with lots of rubber ducks to end her night.  

She can be seen in this video enjoying the present from mommy and daddy.  Yes a box of kleenex.  I read somewhere that one year olds love to play with the box.  They were right.  This provided her lots of entertainment this morning, until she began to really "eat" the paper.  Then we had to abort the mission.

Successful first birthday I'd say!

Father's Day

We enjoyed our first father's day in Anchorage.  We were able to take baby V to watch the float planes at Lake Hood, something I know her daddy really enjoys.

It was a beautiful day to enjoy the scenery and the sun!  Our little darling however was only interested in one thing.... Dandelions!  Having never seen them before, she could not get enough of this lovely yellow weed!

11th Month Adventures

Since we are in the middle of our move to Anchorage, this blog entry is short but sweet.  

Enjoy baby V's 11th Month Adventures.

She's Cruising Now

When Victoria turned 9 months old she was just on the brink of crawling.  3 days later, we couldn't stop her.  Now, it seems as though we cannot sit in the living room unless chairs and footstools baracade her so she cannot get into trouble.  It is an exciting time and also makes us aware of how much we need to baby proof the house!

Nine Months!

Nine months sure went by fast.  It seems like just a few days ago our lives changed by adding this new little person to them.  Now, of course, we cannot imagine life without her!  Each day is filled with new challenges and excitement. 

In her ninth month, Victoria is enjoying tofu and teething biscuits.  She is drooling a lot and needs to wear a bib (that I have to change out every few hours do to the excessive drool).  Any time now we hope to see some white popping out of those gums!

I am glad we get our teeth as babies, after what she is going through, it seems like an adventure you would want to FORGET! 

Tisuk sure enjoys Victoria more than ever.  Mostly because she might drop a snack or have applesauce on her cheek. Rest assured, Tisuk the mighty licker, is there to clean up Victoria anytime, anywhere!  They make a good team and keep the house in pretty good shape that way.

You can see her in action in the video below.  She is getting the hang of "independent movement".  Sometimes she moves backwards better than forward, but she is getting it and is less frustrated than even just a week ago.  Sometimes we find her in her crib sitting up!  All these new things at nine months!

Apple Popcicles

She loved them.........

(Thought the grandmas and grandpas would get a kick out of her eating the apple as much as we did :)

Eight is Great!

8 months is great!  I am sitting up on my own and can do so many cool things now.  In the bath tub I like to play with my rubber duckies and kick my legs all over the place.  Even though I have been in the big tub  (in my little tub) for a long time, mommy thinks we need an even bigger tub because I can splash all the way to the door!

 I like playing on the carpet and in my exersaucer.  I get frustrated when I cannot quite crawl to where I need to go, I haven't figured that out yet.   And guess what, I even have enough hair to hold a little bow.  I have a pretty fluffy outfit on, but don't worry daddy, I may be a princess or the quessn, my socks still say Carhardt.

 (Mommy couldn't resist sharing this photo, even though it is blurry)

Mommy made me my own little neck warmer to cover my face on those -3 days.  It is adjustable so hopefully it will fit me through this winter anyway.   It is fun to get out.  I know that Tisuk sure enjoys when the weather is nice enough for me.  8 months old is great!

Thinking Spring

With the weather getting cold again in Nome (-32 windchill, inside recess, etc.) I was trying to think of spring.  




The daylight gets so deceiving when it is cold.  The days are longer now and the sun seems to beckon me to join it after work (but you step out and the wind bites).  Just when Victoria is able to start going out and enjoy the snow, the cold and wind prevent us from doing so.  Don't get me wrong, we can still go out at -10, but windchill of -32 gets a little rough.   Instead, we are thinking of springtime things:  frogs, daisies and butterflies during this cold spell.  




Victoria loves her frog toy, it is the coolest and she can actually enjoy it now.  It ribbits, rings, and has a fish, jellyfish, and a crab that fit into its mouth.  What a creative toy (made in Belgium).  Thank you to the Ryan's that got it for her.  I wonder if it will turn into a prince one day by the rate she kisses it :)

Now That's Organic!

Living in rural Alaska, our produce choices can be somewhat limiting at times.  For the past year or maybe longer now, we have been getting a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) box from Full Circle Farm.  Every two weeks a box of delicious fresh, organic produce is shipped to us from Washington.  We notice that it is fresher than anything we can buy here, lasts longer, and is a delicious treat, especially in the middle of winter.  Now we get to start sharing our produce with Victoria as well.  

 Using the baby bullet (thank you Lara!) we can blend and puree our organic goods into food for Victoria. The best part is we know what is in there and for the most part where it came from!  After steaming or boiling the produce it is ready to blend.  We then pour it into little containers for her to enjoy during the week. 

It may not always be cheaper to do her food this way, but I sure love taking part in her healthy eating by serving her homemade organic baby food.  As you can see from the video below, baby likes it too!

(I like to think that all this yummy food is helping her say "mama" too :)

Diary of A Newborn: 7 Months Is Tiring!

I am an active 7 month old baby.  After I finish my breakfast bottle, I head to the exersaucer for my daily reps of putting things in my mouth, lifting my monkey teether  ...

grabbing the rings...

and exercising my lungs.

It can be a tough workout but I make it through.

At seven months, I am enjoying some more solid foods as well.  My list is long and includes: sweet potatoes, green beans, avocado, mangos, banana, apple, pear, and oh yes rice cereal (don't tell mommy, I don't like it very much).  Carrots and peas are the trial this week.  

Mommy has been giving me a sippy cup to practice with, I am not very good at it yet.  I am still working on that one. 

I am loving life at 7 months!