Building Memories

To kick off my birthday weekend I had taken today off.  I scheduled a haircut, had G lined up at the sitters and Gigi on point to keep Piper in the afternoon.  I was totally going to get some ME time.  Well, until the sitter cancelled that is.  I was bummed but decided I would take advantage of some Build A Bear gift cards a friend recently gave me and we could make at least a half a day of it.  When you live in the boonies everything takes half a day!

I somehow managed to time it perfect so we go on the road just as PipPip was ready for her morning nap.  She slept the entire hour to the mall while G peppered me with his usual existential questioning.  G - What would happen if the cows peed all over the city?  Me - Uhm that would be messy.  G - hysterical laughter at himself.

I had researched where the store was located to save time and we got a great spot.  There weren't a ton of people at the mall and we even got to ride the escalator which is one of G's favorite activities.

Build a Bear is nothing but marketing genius and of course their latest bear line is super hero themed and placed right at the entrance.  G needed to look no further.  He dug out what he will tell you was "the bestest spider man bear ever", quickly announced he needed the Batman outfit and we were off to the stuffing line.

I can only imagine what a zoo that place must be on the weekends but there were only a few families today so we quickly got Bat Bear stuffed, hearted, washed and dressed.  G loved it!

Afterward we treated ourselves to an Orange Juilus smoothie so PipPip could eat and we could gear up for the ride back. 

Honestly, I think this birthday so far has been on par to the trip to Vegas for 30.  My how kids change you!  And the weekend has only begun.  I am so blessed!

All Done

Despite all the snow Nick still has spring fever with his boat project.  He peruses boat books and boat postings every day.  Currently the image below is a close representation on his goal for our boat when it is all done.

We will see how close he gets.  I bet it will be even better!

Yum!

Pip Pip is such a fan of, well everything!  She really takes in the world around her through those beautiful big eyes.  For at least a month now she has been obsessed with whatever you are eating.  She will follow the food from your plate to your mouth, try to snatch food off your plate and grab snacks from G's hands.  So we have started her a few weeks early on a bit of baby food from time to time.  She really seems to like it.  So far tomato is the only thing she hasn't been so sure about.

It is really funny to watch as she is often overcome with the excitement and newness of the whole thing:

Snow Day

For the first time in the almost six years I have worked for my company, we had a snow day yesterday.  Anyone who works in customer service knows there is never a true snow day for you.  I spent the early morning on text and email wrangling the troops and we patched together at least the business customer service piece yesterday.  It was rough.

But, I had the cutest cube mate ever!

Since I was at home Nick and G got a chance to go out and enjoy the snow some.  Last nap of the day for Pip Pip I even made it out to join in the fun.

The snow continued all night and we probably have 6 inches on the ground this morning and it is still coming down.  It is really gorgeous light and fluffy snow.  It is supposed to warm up and turn to rain tomorrow.  We will be sad to see it go. 

Have a boat that just might float

Nick has been on a boat quest for quite some time now.  His research had led him most recently to deciding that perhaps he could build his own plywood boat.  There were a few in process projects being sold off on Craigslist but nothing quite right.  And then he found this beauty!  He will have to come back and correct all these details, but it is a 15 foot plywood boat complete with a tilt trailer and goes great with a motor he was given.

There was no "proper" before shot taken but here you can get the idea.  Nick has already gutted it and is in the process of removing all the old paint.  The plan is then to replace any rotten pieces, epoxy the hull, repaint it and of course deck it out with new seating, storage and wooden accents.  I am sure it will be amazing!  Stay tuned.

Gunnar thinks we should name it Iron, short for Iron Man.  Imagine that!

TMNT

We frequent a resale shop in Boring called Upscale Resale and the owner there is just impossibly nice!  We went there last weekend as Pip Pip has outgrown all her 6 month jammies (aka all she ever wears) and of course Gunnar just had to find something he couldn't live without.  I really do (Nick, stop shaking your head) try to not give him everything he wants all the time so I was explaining we only came for clothes for Piper today etc etc when the shop owner offered to let him have one thing for being such a good boy.  Oh geez!  Well, the object of his affection was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sleeping bag.  He loves it of course!  Nick got some really funny pics of him snuggled in it:

He keeps mentioning that he is ready to go camping now that he has this sleeping bag which is so funny as it reminds of a memory from my childhood.  We took a family trip to Colorado and did some camping.  I too was prepared with my purple and pink Thumbelina sleeping bag.  Well you can imagine how cold it got during that mountain night!  Sure enough, by morning I was in the big sleeping bag all nice and warm with mom while dad shivered under his Thumbelina sleeping bag!  I am pretty sure we only camped that one night.

Piper Five Months

I can't believe baby girl is heading full force to being half a year old.  Seems impossible!  I cannot express what a great baby she is and how fun it is to watch her grow.  She loves her big brother so much and cannot wait to give him a run for his money.  Or more likely his food!  She has a pretty good grasp on sitting up these days and has sampled a few foods as we gear up to start solids in a couple weeks.

Here is Gunnar helping us out with FIVE when she hit 5 months: