These are the days

These are the days where happiness is made. Where we linger over stories, and adventure. Where our make up is dirt, s’mores stuck to our lips, our hair bigger than normal, smelling of campfire smoke. These are the days where we chase sunshine’s last rays and watch stars long into the night.

“Momma! Did you see that star fly by?! Did you wish?”
“Yes, baby. Did you?”

These days fly by and we hold on to every moment as long as we can; watching, waiting, learning and I am still in so much awe of it all.

Recently, we headed north to Rasar State Park to rest, explore and make new memories. We were itching for a camp out and with all of the rain, blue sky tarp camping didn’t sound appealing and the cabins, outfitted with bathrooms and a wet bar, were perfect.

Izzy and I spent the first two days just she and I, with our first afternoon and evening spent getting settled, setting up camp and going on a short hike before chopping firewood and attempting to build a fire. Luckily the campers next door came to our rescue with dry wood and expert fire building skills. We ate s’mores and watched the stars in the sky, listening to owls and other night critters. We talked about her dreams, what she wanted to be for Halloween and what I do all day at work. She would crawl into my lap in my chair by the fire and fall asleep and I’d carry her little body into the cabin, clean up her face and put her to bed.

The next day we hiked through the woods and open fields, exploring the river banks and spotting tiny fish and other critters. We took turns taking pictures, and I eventually would find out what poison oak feels like (itchy and awful!). We walked through waist-high grass, and watched the sky change from blues, to darker and ran back to the cabin to avoid being soaked by the sudden downpour.

We’d eventually have Izzy’s poppa join us later that trip for amazing beers at Birdsview Brewing, a short 1.5 mile stroll from the cabin, followed by more s’mores. This was perfect timing as my lackluster fire building skills were just plain embarrassing. The next day was spent at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and La Conner, looking at flowers and little shops and even getting in a little toddler yoga, a toddler meltdown and resulting wine tasting at Skagit Cellars before heading back to the cabin for one last night.

The weekend wasn’t long enough, as they never are, but watching Izzy explore and run and create new memories made my heart so full.

“Momma! Can we come back to our cabin again next year?”
“Of course baby, any time you want”.

These are the days, where sunshine fades into long nights, full of snuggles and happiness, wishes and critters.


Yours in adventure
Raina

Before the spring

Hello dear reader! We’re finally in the home stretch here in Seattle; finally getting out of the cold and into the spring. This winter has been rough, with quite a few snow days, and fewer than 15 days of sunshine in 6+ months, and we’re now getting a good steady drizzle of rain. I don’t know about you, but I am ready for longer (and sunnier!) days spent out in the garden, out on the trails, and generally not cooped up inside!  Before the spring hits, I wanted to share all we did over the winter. I really need to be better about posting quick updates, in addition to the food posts!

My hope for the winter was to continue building traditions with Izzy, creating magical memories for her to relish for years. I look at all of the pictures and somehow she has gone from my tiny baby into my little girl. She grew so much over the winter, and while my heart breaks to know she’s no longer a tiny baby, I am so excited for all of our adventures we’re having and all that we’ll be able to do as she gets bigger. I am trying to live in the moment with her and enjoy everything as it comes.

This winter we explored, played in the snow, and traveled to Eastern Washington as we needed to get away and have a break during all of the holiday craziness. We rented the sweetest dog friendly Air BnB in Kittitas, right above the Thrall & Dodge Winery. For three days, we cooked meals in the retro 1940’s kitchen, snuggled in the massive bed, played in the snow and explored the tiny town and surrounding areas. We stumbled upon Whipsaw Brewing in Ellensburg, and I explored used book stores adding to my Serendipity book collection for Izzy. Happy and rested, we would return home for more holiday adventures.

One of the biggest highlights of the holiday season was the Mount Rainier Railroad’s Polar Express train ride, a two-hour adventure filled with elves, singing, and Santa! Izzy danced, sang “Jingle Bells” at the top of her lungs and stared in wonderment at Santa as he gave her a bell. The parents were entertained by amazing views of the Mt Rainier area and various rivers and their children totally embracing the spirit of the holiday. We’ll definitely take that trip again, making it an ongoing family tradition.

To really bring Christmas home and get us in the spirit, we returned to Pfaff’s Tree Farm to visit Santa again for some one on one time, and to cut down our own Christmas tree. We hunted for an hour for the perfect tree, finally settling on one that would (yet again) be way too tall for the highest part of my ceiling, despite chopping more than a few feet off of the bottom.  Almost every year I misjudge how high my ceiling actually is, and every year I still make that darn thing fit. Izzy found her first live turkey and gobbled along happily with it.

Lastly, Izzy saw the Nutcracker for the first time. She loved the ballerinas, but was disappointed in the lack of mermaids (no idea why she thought there’d be mermaids), which she loudly proclaimed often to the annoyance of the little girl in front of her who would continue to turn around and scowl at us. Izzy and her daddy would eventually make faces right back at the grumpy girl who finally stopped her leering, confused why an adult made faces back at her.

Our magical winter was spent making memories with these amazing events and finding down time where we danced in snow flurries with our critters (true story: bunnies hate snow) and chased sun beams for as long as they stayed around. We snuggled on the couch and read books together, and celebrated each moment with each other trying to keep the magic of her childhood alive and strong for yet one more year and I couldn’t imagine a better way to have spent the winter.

And there you have it! So many adventures were had, before the spring. What did you do this winter?

Raina

 

Back to a moment

It’s funny how a scent can do so much-bring you back to a moment, connect you to someone, remind you of a place. For me, scent is emotive, and I connect so many scents with memory.

Tonight, I reached for soap to wash my hands, grabbing blindly to wash off my kiddos bright blue bathwater after letting out the drain plug. I inhale.

Johnson & Johnson’s no more tears bath wash. I smile. I never buy it. It’s crap, but her dad picked some up.

I inhale and smile again. Instantly, I am at Seattle Children’s Hospital, out of the NICU and in specialty care. We’re being taught how to give our 5 day old baby a bath with an ng tube.

There’s squeals; mine and hers. Laughter; ours and the medical staff. Everyone has gathered around our little amazing baby as they know we’re on our way out of the hospital soon. That smell; that clean, soapy smell reminds me of every passed medical test we had to go through, every exam, every medical team amazed at how strong my baby was, at how strong we were.

I stop and look at Izzy now, post bath. Her hair is slicked down and she’s so big now, reasoning with me why she shouldn’t have to eat dinner or go to bed. She’s three and soon, she won’t need me. I inhale and smile. She’s still my baby girl.

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Yours in love

Raina

Falling Leaves

Oh, how I love this time of year! The leaves are falling, the weather is cool and crisp, and everything is bathed in a golden glow. Fall came so quickly this year. The hot and sunny days were quickly replaced by shorter days requiring more and more layers. We’ve been spending our days crafting, cooking, playing, and camping; trying so hard to squeeze as much as possible in before it gets dark or the need for a nap takes over. Despite being busy, I try to keep to fall tradition and head to a pumpkin patch and this year was no different. Izzy and I bundle up, and make our way to play and find the most loveliest of pumpkins.

I look at these pictures and think, “Oh! My big girl! My beautiful love. She’s growing so fast!” I can barely see the baby in her now, but I love this phase she’s in-the constant energy, the desire to learn and explore.  These are my favorite days with her. We spent hours at Carpinito Brothers, playing with the critters, making corn angels, playing in the hay; her happy squeals loud above the noise of the other kids. I loved walking through the pumpkin patch with her, watching her look at each one closely in an attempt to find just the right one. “Is this the one Momma? No, momma this isn’t it. I’ll keep looking!”.  After hours of climbing, jumping, playing, and talking to critters, we settled on one massive pumpkin, and three smaller ones. We returned home to snuggle and talk about what other adventures we should go on next. I am so grateful for this time of year, and the adventures with her every day.

My heart is full.

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Aromatherapy Play Dough

We go through a ton of play dough here, and I get tired of running to the store to replace what didn’t get put away fast enough, or rolled under the table and dried up. Yesterday, I tried making a version with corn starch and conditioner and one with corn starch and lotion. You know what that made? A big ass mess. No thank you. I needed something that would come together quickly, hold up to a toddler and that didn’t contain mystery ingredients. I started playing around with what I had in my pantry and came up with this-it takes some stirring, but it’s now my kiddos favorite toy! When you combine essential oils, you get aromatherapy play dough – something that is fun to play with and appeals to other senses!  Standard disclaimer: the main recipe is edible, once you add scents or coloring, you want to make sure that it’s food grade and edible. I went with doTERRA essential oils, since I have them on hand and I trust them. Please research whether the oils you have are meant to be used internally or omit them if you aren’t sure in case your kiddo likes to eat things, or feed them to the dog.

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Aromatherapy Play Dough Recipe
Makes 6 – 1/2 cup balls of dough
Time to make: 15-20 mins (unless you can’t find your cream of tartar, then add extra time to ransack your pantry and finally decide to just go to Target)
2 cups flour
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4 Tablespoons cream of tartar
1/2 cup salt
Optional Ingredients:
Food coloring (i used the gel kind, but you can also use natural products like beet root powder for other coloring)
5 drops Essential Oils per ball (I chose lime, lemon, peppermint, wild orange and lavender-if you have skin sensitivities, you can use less)

In a heavy bottomed pot, combine the flour, water, oil, cream of tartar, and salt and mix until the ingredients are all incorporated. You’re likely going to have lumps, and that’s ok. The goal is to get the big ones out and smoosh up some of the small ones.

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Turn the heat on medium and keep stirring. You’re going to stir for a while, and you may even get annoyed. Channel that annoyance to keep stirring. After about 3-5 minutes, you’ll notice that it’s starting to go from paste to something thicker-you’re getting there! Keep stirring, and scrape the bottom of the pot and the sides. At about the 7 minute mark, you should have something that is getting close to play dough and looks like a big ball, but is still sticky-you’re almost done!

Once the dough is no longer sticky and resembles actual play dough and isn’t sticky, turn off the heat and let it cool.

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Once your dough is cooled, separate into 6 balls and flatten them. It’s time to add your fragrance and color! I added three drops of food coloring (If blending colors, use two drops of each color) and 5 drops of essential oils. Fold the flattened dough in half, and in half again, and then smoosh it all up, so the color and the oils get distributed evenly but don’t leak out. A warning: I didn’t do the fold method with one of them, and the coloring leaked out and I now have red hands. Pro Mom Tip: If you don’t mind your dough the same color or scent, you can add your essential oils and coloring at step one with all of your other ingredients. I opted to match my scents with colors for fun, but you can get crazy and do whatever works for you!

Enjoy!
Raina

My big girl

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My big girl, my sweet, sweet child.

These pictures are already a month old and every day she looks more and more like a big girl, than my little baby. I love her wild, fluffy hair, and her expressive little face. Like me, this kid will not be good at poker. You know how she’s doing with out saying a word.

We adventure every weekend and explore together. She’s a sea of words, and questions, and energy. We snuggle in to watch “Stella and Sam” and we sing at the top of our lungs on drives. She is my favorite road trip pal, and as long as we have snacks and a park nearby, she is more than happy to go anywhere. We play play dough when the weather is too poor to go out, and I love watching her tiny little hands with their soft dimples roll the dough in to various shapes.

On the feeding front, we’re considering her weaned from her g-tube, but will be keeping it in for another few months. She’s growing like a weed; 3 feet or so now and is a bean pole.

She never ceases to amaze me, this wild-child of mine. My heart is full.

Yours in mommaness,
Raina

A long time coming

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Almost two years ago, this tiny wild child came into my life. We’ve had good days, we have had rough days, and we have had amazing days. All the days have pushed me to be better than I was the day before, and I know this will continue with each passing day, month, and year.

When Izzy was born, we were in a whirlwind of doctors, specialists, hospitals, and equipment (for those of you new to the blog, you can read more about that experience here).We longed for the day when kiddo could eat with us, and when we didn’t have to spend our time around a feeding pump, or a bolus syringe. We wondered if that would ever end, and if we would ever experience “normal”. It turns out, normal is overrated, and when you spend the first week of your child’s life in Children’s Hospital, you get your very own baby care manual.

After a week in the NICU and specialty care, two surgeries, hours of hospital visits and home care visits and who knows how many medical supply shipments over almost the past two years, Izzy is officially weaned from her g-tube and is eating on her own.

It feels so good to say that!

It wasn’t an easy journey. We started a couple weans in the past, and they just didn’t stick. We all ended up tired, sad, and frustrated. This time though, we had a lot of support!  We worked with our tube weaning clinic team at Seattle Children’s and our feeding specialist at NW Center Kids. Folks came to the house weekly and we worked with Izzy to help her relearn to eat and swallow. Once she was able to master those techniques, we began the actual wean which was reducing her overall calories down to 30% to trigger hunger. She would do well for the first few days, live on Goldfish crackers the next few days, but eventually she learned and we used the g-tube less and less. Here we are now, feeding her what we eat and having her choose her own meals. We’re working on meal timing, versus just grazing all day (a work in progress for me as well!), but the main thing is that she is eating consistently.

Now that the hard stuff  is behind us, we can focus on the fun. Our days are spent playing, painting and exploring. She loves climbing and hates butterflies. She dresses herself and insists on wearing hats as much as possible. She’s obsessed with boots and anything tiny (again, except for butterflies. I don’t get it) and is just the happiest little thing.  She plays hard and then sleeps hard.

Dear reader, I am so, so lucky. Thank you for being on this journey with me too!

On a completely different note-stay tuned for some posts this week about drinks and new holiday recipes (buckwheat whiskey cocktails or chocolate bourbon pecan pie, anyone!?) Some DIY goodies-I’m whipping up some arnica and calendula salves, and even some beauty and date night recommendations.

It’s been an amazing couple weeks, and I can’t wait to share more, but I wanted to share the good news about kiddo 🙂

Yours in happiness,

Raina