*escuela

Vera is sooo excited to be a big kid in preschool!! She's been talking about it for at least a year, every time a school bus passes the house. I didn't think we'd actually send her to one because it costs money [which we don't have] and because it's easy enough to teach your child things at home. But we came across an opportunity at a creative arts preschool here where I volunteer for half the time for half the cost. We of course have yet to see how it works with the baby, but I think it'll be fine. This first week I don't have to help though and I'm glad as it gives her a chance to just establish herself. She has always told me someday she's going to school BY HERSELF and that I CANT COME. It's so fun and cute to see her excitement and to afterwards hear about her day :) It's also so amazing to have some time to myself!!! Tuesday I went for a long walk with my friend... and then was almost too tired to do anything else except tidy up the house. Today I plan to can some tomatoes, freeze some raspberries and green beans and clean the toilets. and then lay down and rest for a bit. WoohoO!!

[Jenny has some cute pictures of what they do at school]

*

Vera couldn't eat her oatmeal this morning because...

1) it made her neck hurt.

2) her hands were too cold.

3) it made her mouth hurt like when popsicles are already gone.

*las siestas

Vera's naps always gave me so much anxiety. Taping the curtains against the frame, noise machines, swaddling, binkies, trying to find that perfect sleepy moment, consistency - all for a 15-18 minute nap.

Now I don't want her to nap [because if she does, she won't go to bed till like 11:00 or who knows when], yet she'll fall asleep with the lights on, windows open, having just eaten candy, no white noise, me walking in and out, timer going off - you name it. So not fair.

*mamacita

This has been on my long list of things to do/make before the baby comes. As usual it took me a couple weeks to get the fabric, an afternoon to look up the pattern and then it sat in the living room for a few days waiting for "enough time" or for me to "feel like it" - which never happens. But yesterday Vera saw the fabric and said, let's make a sling! (I'd been telling her I would)

So in literally no time at all I had made this cute little pouch sling for her! Seriously it amazes me every time how much you can get done if you just decide to do it right then and there.

She mostly holds Bunny, but Baby even got a little ride too. You can't tell in the picture, but the outside is cute peach+pink flowers and the inside is light blue pinstripes, all with orange stitching. Both fabrics were sheets from the thrift store - I love making things from thrifted sheets because there's a lot less pressure to not mess up!

I can't wait 'till Baby comes and we can both wear our slings to the Farmer's Market - so hip.

*tomates

Helping me cook last night - she had a polite conversation with each tomato:

Excuse me, can I get washed?

Yes, you may.

*3+

This 3 year old...


::is still telling everyone she "already had her birthday" and that she's THree. Yes, starting to say her "th"s right :( If she sees something she wants me to buy she'll say we should get it for her other birthday.


::spends most of her time dancing, singing to herself [has a new one she made up about "you're breaking my hea-ar-ar-ar-art"], dressing up, putting animals and babies to bed, cooking in her kitchen, wanting me to read her stories and play doctor or "let's pretend I'm the Mama and you're the Little Girl" [this one can go on forever].


::favorite books are Pinkalicious, Skippy Jon Jones, Hiawatha, Dogger, Little Pea, Dr. Seuss, Fancy Nancy, Cars and Trucks and Things that Go, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Where the Wild Things Are...


::is having a hard time going to bed and wakes up 3-4 times between midnight and morning. I'm trying to get back on a schedule and not let her nap - I think it will clear up the problem. The last two nights have been successful!


::is a difficult little eater. Unless it's a dessert, yogurt, pancakes, certain pasta dishes or eggs I have to either "count to 3" for every bite or feed it to her myself. She'll try at least a bite of most things and seems to like to show off/please Tia or another friend, showing her that she "looooves squash/cucumbers, etc." even though she does not.


::loves tasks. Her Sunday school teachers say she is really focused and I know she would love to go to a Montessori school. She's starting a creative arts preschool though in 2 weeks which I know she'll love as well :)

*huevitos

[She was being coy and posing for the camera here, new for her]

Our neighbors were out of town for a week and asked if we'd collect the eggs from their chickens. It was so much fun peeking in the boxes to find the little gems! I loved it probably as much as Vera did. She, however, also fell in love with the littlest green one and would cuddle it, sing to it and put it to bed until I'd get freaked out about bacteria and hide it in the back of the fridge. I tried to explain that these eggs don't have little chicks in them because they don't have a daddy, but the first time she accidentally broke one you should have seen the look of horror and sadness on her face! I quickly reminded her there wasn't a chick in there and she surprised me by brightly saying, let's eat it!

I thought to post these pictures now, because I just read an article on CNN about the salmonella outbreak.

"Rodents, piles of manure, uncaged birds and flies too numerous to count were found by investigators at Iowa farms at the heart of the recall of more than half a billion eggs, the Food and Drug Administration reported Monday." from cnn.com

Ew! Please, neighbors, you can call on us any time to fetch the eggs! :)

*when she's good...

she's very very good, and when she's bad she's horrid!

I've used this old saying to describe Vera since she was practically born. When she's bad she's a feisty, stubborn, screaming, stomping mess. When she's good, she's spunky and funny and adorable and sweet and full of personality. Yesterday afternoon/evening we experienced the former - probably half my fault not feeding her enough and not putting her to bed early enough. But today -oh my- she was an angel! This afternoon she was jumping to help me in any way she could, saying "I will!" every time I asked her to do something, being snuggly and cute and fun almost all day, and then running to get her jammies on and have her teeth brushed, not stalling a second during bedtime [after sweetly praying for Amelia to feel better and for help for us all to "love to each other"]. Days like this are so needed sometimes! I wanted to eat her up. Lord, your patience for the other days!

*

Vera got this great sandbox for her birthday and sadly doesn't use it as much as I'd hoped. I'd imagined her workly diligently in there by herself while I worked in the garden or inside. The thing is, she needs a playmate! If a friend comes over she loves to sit in there and fill up the dump truck or make soups and cupcakes and ice cream cones, but by herself it usually doesn't last long. It's also been so hot. This was the other day when we had a fabulous cool breezed afternoon. I went outside, sat myself down and ordered some cupcakes. She served up a whole buffet, including one delicious milkshake made of salt, pepper, vinegar, mustard and sprinkles, mmmmm.

Related, my friend Jenny found some amazing posts about outdoor mud pie kitchens and I am in love with them!! Someday I would love to have this kind of backyard with fun little nooks such as these and these.

and then more corn husking... we are doing a CSA plus food co-op plus our own garden and are up to our ears in corn ;)

*

Rosie got Vera this great little word reading puzzle. She seemed real smart at first, knowing all the letters and apparently "reading" - until she got to these two. She doesn't know all her lower-case letters and it was hilarious the first time she did the hen one: k-e-u - chicken!!!

*the hula hoop

Vera came up with these new moves on our vacation. They've evolved a bit and are a lot sassier now, but I just uploaded this first version anyway. I have to try hard to not laugh or she might get mad and never do it again. She calls it the hula hoop:

*licuados de banana

My little sister first had the idea for these banana milkshakes this last January. Seriously I don't know what it is but they are .so.delicious. - just blended frozen banana, ice cream and milk. I've been pretty good about eating healthy lately and so it was especially amazing tonight. You should make one.

*la artista

Vera loves helping me make birthday and thank you cards - she colors in my drawing or draws one of her own and loves to put on the stamp and close and decorate the envelope. A fun little project we've done together for a long time now. I was really impressed today with her coloring job which wasn't monochrome pink and which was pretty well in the lines! She also drew a car for the first time - I think the shape turned out looking like a car so she added wheels, but anyways she was pleased with it. I love to see her skills developing in this area - I think with all her artistic uncles and aunts on both sides she has a good chance of being a little artist herself.

*unas fresas

I want to make these! Maybe if I post it here I'll do it.

*from here*

*pasta verde

I'm not sure if I've ever shared this, but I need to because it's one of my favorite staples.  It's from a Jamie Oliver cookbook that Ben gave me when we were dating - he knew me so soon :)  This is how I use most of the pesto that I freeze during the summer, but last night it was a special treat to have fresh pesto.  Also the green beans were from our garden!  The potatoes and garlic could have been had I planned better...  Either way it was a good batch, yum.  I can't wait for the leftovers today!

Pasta Genovese

pesto (3/4 cup or so? I don't know)

kosher salt + fresh ground pepper

4 or 5 small potatoes - red, yukon gold...

1 package pasta (he uses tagliatelle I use spaghetti)

1 big handful green beans

parmesan 

saved cooking water

Cut the potatoes into slightly smaller, even-sized chunks.  Boil in a big pot of salted water until they are pierce-able but not soft.  Add the pasta and cook until it has a little less than 3 minutes to go.  Add the green beans.  Just before you drain it all off, reserve some of the cooking water.  Drain everything and then stir in as much pesto as you like, plus a little of the cooking water so it's a 'looser' sauce, not so sticky.  Salt to taste and plenty of parmesan.  

*

I was talking to Rosie near the end of our looong vacation and looong car ride. She had the brilliant idea of letting Vera color on herself with a [washable] marker. Seriously this was the biggest hit ever - like way bigger than the jumbo princess sticker book or the new videos or the hello kitty candy bracelet that I'd thought would entertain her for hours. She was so tickled that she was getting to color herself pink and literally sang about it allll the way home :) I highly recommend it as that one last trick for that last 100 miles!!

*el maiz

I love this age of eager helpfulness! You probably can't tell here but she was very serious about getting this job done. She is also eager to help set the table, fold clothes, get my vitamins, weed the garden ... but extremely slow to pick up any toys.

*big sister

31 weeks - measuring at 33, sigh.

Vera is extremely excited about her coming baby sister.  We talk about the baby a lot, about how cute and squirmy and little and squeaky [vera's words] she's going to be, about how she'll cry sometimes and we'll have to be patient, about how we'll have to be sooo careful with her, about how much she'll love her big sister, about how fun it will be to change her diaper and dress her up in little clothes.  She's really adamant about one certain name [not going to share :)] and if we even discuss other names she gets really angry - I DONT LIKE THAT, I only like ____!  She loves to give my stomach hugs and kisses and pats and always asks if she's kicking me.  She often can't stay still long enough to feel the baby move, but I love when she does and I see the bright look of wonderment on her face.  It's a really sweet time and I need to stop wishing these last couple months fly by...

*rock creek

We had such a good time with Ben's family this year! We first spent a few days at a fun little motel in Bishop - playing in the pool, eating out, a trip to Manzanar [the WWII Japanese internment camp] and a beautiful fish hatchery and the boys up a "serious" 4 wheel drive to a mountain lake with huge trout.

The rest of the time we spent up in Rock Creek - fishing, hiking, eating pie [the store's specialty], hanging out in the cabin, etc. I wish I could say Vera was a little trooper, loving the outdoors and hiking through the woods. She would do ok in the backpack for a while but mostly wanted to go home, I'm tired, I'm cold, I don't like the mountains etc. :( She did like to pick wildflowers and rocks and pinecones and treasures [hehe, tjh] and would forget her complaining and have fun. She also loved to be down by the lake fishing. She loved to be helpful and bring people bait or help reel in a fish - it really made her open up and forget her shyness. It's frustrating and bothersome that she's not yet a total nature lover, but we have to realize she's just 3 and has plenty of time to learn to love to hike! When asked she said her favorite part of being in the mountains was being a ballerina - ayayay. Personally, I had an even better time than I expected to. I thought I'd be too big and pregnant to enjoy anything, but I actually was able to walk and hike a lot - at least several miles a day :) The Caters' friend, Teresa, came along and I had a great time walking with her and practicing my Spanish [when I got over my lack of confidence]. I loved watching Vera have fun with everyone and I loved getting to read my book - The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand [longest book I've ever read that didn't have me skipping sections]. The sleeping was horrible, but to be honest noone slept well at that altitude.

anyway, to the pictures....

at the motel in Bishop:

having fun at sushi:

bonding over art with Uncle Matty:

pie at the rock creek resort:

by the lake:

root beer floats:

the wildflowers this year were amazing:

more birthday. give me that pink present!!!! :

still fits somewhat in the backpack. how do you like the patagonia/nature inspired outfit she chose for herself? pink hat on pink stripes on pink flowers on pink dots:

everybody:

on another note, Vera got into some wacky sleeping habits. I'm finishing this post now at 10am and she is still sleeping!!! I need to get her straightened out.... but then again it's so nice to have the morning to myself....

*we ♥ the sierras

more pictures to follow... but aren't those mountains and those colors and that sky just beautiful??

*el cumpleaños

...July 29 - at the lake...

good morning vera! how old are you today?

the cake ordered months ago: chocolate with pink sprinkles. also a tinkerbell candle and rainbow confetti made by olivia. the birthday girl was beyond pleased.

helping make the cupcakes for the non-chocolate lovers:

these are more my style :)

the balloons kept these three entertained for hours:

the little party - my mom, dad, liz, olivia, ivor, eliot, ben and I. my niece and nephews were really sweet and had a lot of fun helping to decorate and make it special. olivia even made vera some adorable paper dolls that morning :)

she also made bows for the 3 dogs:

I cannot describe the intensity of emotion here as vera opened these princess wands [that ben got at the grocery store 15 minutes before]. you need help opening it vera? nope, I got it! definitely one of the highlights of the day.