We are overdue for an update. While Josie and I were out of town briefly in early January, the real excuse is just being busy. Josie and I had an interesting trip up north last month. My Great Uncle Mike passed away on Dec. 26 and his funeral was on Jan. 7. He was a great man who met my grandpa in naval training and then introduced him to his younger sister, my grandma. My parents, Josie, and I drove up to Bellingham, WA, on Jan. 6 and spent the night so we could be at the funeral on the 7th. The timing was unfortunate. We woke up the next morning to find that the road in front of the hotel was closed due to flooding. We were able to get out and to the church but the rain never stopped. It was a lovely service and we were really glad to be there. We started home afterwards and heard they were going to close I-5 near Chehalis, WA, around midnight. No problem! We should be past there by 8 that evening. Unfortunately, they moved up the closure to 6 PM while we were driving. With how bad traffic had been that day the whole way down, there was no way we would have made it past there before the closure unless we didn’t go to the service. We tried to find an alternate route but of course they were all closed due to flooding and mudslides. Not that we would have tried it at night, but the mountain passes were closed also so we couldn’t even head over the mountains and swing back around and down to Vancouver. So we were stranded. Steve, who had to work so was at home waiting for us, managed to call the Guesthouse Inn in Tumwater (just south of Olympia) and literally booked the last room, a family suite, for us. It worked well for that first night but Josie was sleeping in her play pen next to the bathroom which made sneaking to the bathroom in the middle of the night difficult. Our overnight trip turned into 3 nights. We had to make several trips to the store for supplies while we waited it out. Mom and I were supposed to go to the Neil Diamond concert in Portland on Thursday night but we missed it. 
What made it more bitter was the fact that they canceled the concert in Sept. when it was originally scheduled for what appeared to be very lame reasons – they supposedly had logistical problems setting up his concert at the Rose Garden even though he’s played there before and they host many concerts every year. Anyway, they finally opened I-5 that Friday around noon and we were on the road by 2 PM. We were thrilled to get home!
My parents left for Cancun, Mexico, a couple days later. They were gone for 3 weeks and boy did Josie miss them! Steve’s parents were able to join them for about 10 days down there and they all had a great time together. Meanwhile, Hotel Abbott played host to Chico, the cockatiel, and Callie, the Maltese. Yes, for those that don’t know, her name really is Callie Fornia. My dad finally got his way and was able to name someone in the family “California”. We had a very busy and noisy household for a while there. Josie really enjoyed having the animals with us and misses them now that they’re gone. Steve and I didn’t enjoy the chirping and extra barking waking Josie up during nap time but otherwise they were fun to have around.
Josie went in for a weight check a couple weeks ago and is now a whopping 21 pounds 2 ounces. That means she gained a whole pound in the last 2 months. We were sure she had gained more than that so I was a little disappointed. But she at least is maintaining her percentile (around the 3rd). I just wish she would be more willing to eat things like meat. She’s getting better about trying new things. The other night she actually took a very small bite of steamed broccoli. She didn’t like it and spit it back out but we considered it a huge accomplishment that she even put it in her mouth. We’ll just keep trying new stuff as she’ll let us. I have a feeling we may be in for a rude awakening when the new baby grows like a typical child. I won’t know what to do when I only get 3 or so months out of clothes instead of 6-9 months.
Speaking of the new baby, we had a checkup at the end of January and everything is looking good. This baby sure likes to kick a lot. Josie did a lot of rolling and swishing, which is a very different feeling. This one seems to be tap dancing much of the time. It’s even woken me up in the middle of the night, which is something Josie never did (before she was born anyway). We are working on Josie’s “big girl” room so we can transition her out of the nursery before the baby is born. I’m not sure who’s going to have a harder time with the transition, her or me. We are going with a “Mickey Mouse” theme again for her room because she is so in love with him and his friends. The nursery is done in “Classic Mickey” so perhaps moving from one Mickey room to another will make it easier. She now easily uses 3-word phrases and is starting some 4-word ones. She seems to gain several new vocabulary words every day. She knows her first name and how old she is and just today starting working on adding her last name. She still loves to read and is very excited any time we get a new book. She’s also getting more into role-playing and is enjoying her baby dolls, weebles, Little People house, cooking, and Mr. Potato Head. She is quite an active and entertaining little girl.
I have taken up crocheting, which seems to fill all my spare time. I’m making a baby afghan that needs to be finished before the baby comes so I’ve really been working hard on it to make sure I get it done. I have just over 1/4 of the squares made (192 squares total) and will have to stitch them together once they’re all made. I’m sure I can get it done, but me being me I’m worried about it so am pushing myself to get as many squares made in a day as I can. Unfortunately, it takes me between 30 and 45 minutes to make one square so it’s a slow process.
Steve had his birthday yesterday. Happy belated birthday, honey! We were able to take advantage of my parents keeping Josie for the night and we went out for a really nice dinner at the Chart House. Their lava cake can’t be beat! Not to mention the macadamia nut sea bass and the tenderloin medallions. As always, the dinner was excellent and it was really nice to get out for a meal without having Miss Crankypants along for the ride. All in all, I think Steve had a nice birthday.
I’m sure there’s more to report on but with my brain being as full of holes as it has been lately, I can’t think of anything else. I’ll do my best to keep things better up to date.
Here are some fun pictures from the last month or so:
Our 2009 girl:
Dressing up and then feeding her bunny:
Taking her babies for a walk:
Making lunch:
In bed with her friends:
Steve’s “Shrek” cake that I made him:
