The Big Move

We closed on our house on Friday and moved on Saturday. We've been pretty busy packing boxes and getting all the loose ends ready for moving. I even remembered to take pictures of the move.

A couple weeks before moving with boxes stacked in the corner

Empty kitchen on move day

Our new house and the sweet 26' moving truck

Grandma watched Inga while we moved boxes and furniture

The new living room (notice Inga making a bee line for underneath the couch)

New kitchen

New dining room

Super happy to have a big place to play (and super happy for her new consolation prize lego set)

We had our washer and dryer and stove delivered on Monday. I didn't know I would be so happy to be able to do laundry. Inga has her own room and is adapting nicely after a rough first nice. She sleeps a lot better now that midnight snacks aren't so easily accessible. We still have a lot of work to do not just on the inside, but the outside as well. The yard is a total mess and all our neighbors keeps immaculate lawns!

Side note on the Inga front, she now says "Da" when Daddy comes home from work and "Mama" when having a total meltdown.

The Boring Half of a Business Trip

A few weeks ago, Sam went to a super important trade show in Anaheim, CA. Right across the street from Disneyland. For anyone who's ever worked a trade show, you know they are usually in a pretty cool location, but you're too busy working to actually see anything other than the convention floor. So it always sounds like Sam is going someplace exciting, but I really know he is actually standing on his feet all day talking to customers and then going out to dinner to talk to more customers. Disneyland is just a cruel temptation.

Well, that might be me trying to make the best of being stuck in Ohio instead of out in California. Anyway, while he was gone the weather turned rather spring-like. Inga and I took a walk around Dawes Arboretum to scope out some landscaping ideas for the new house.

Teton tower Colorado blue spruce.

We walked the conifer glen since nothing is flowering quite yet (aside from daffodils and crocuses!). I saw several nice plants for low ground cover, but liked the Teton tower the best.

Buckeye "17"

17 Buckeyes planted to form the numeral 17 since, that's right, Ohio was the 17th state in the nation.

Having a great time in the sunshine. (ERGO Carrier FTW!)

After our walk, Inga discovered that a dress is also great to play with! She doesn't wear dresses very often and was pretty excited to be able to chew on her own clothes. Also in this picture are a couple new toys because every little girl should get new toys as a consolation for Daddy going away on business.

We picked Daddy up from the airport the next morning. Inga took her morning nap in the car on the way to the airport so was very confused when I woke her up in a strange place. She was even more confused to see Daddy in the strange place. I'm not sure if she thought she was dreaming or what, but she warmed up to Daddy pretty quickly.

For those wondering (or not), we will be moving to our new house very soon. Don't worry (you weren't), I will post pictures of the house as soon as we are moved in (you know, in like August).

6 Months

We've been so busy around here I was surprised to see Inga was 6 months old already! When did that happen? (For those who don't know, we are in the process of buying a house and look set to move at the end of March!)

Inga is so grown up compared to a month ago. She can sit up all on her own and just a couple days ago rolled over from tummy to back (finally). This means she is more or less mobile since she can also roll from back to tummy. Gah!

She is so giggly and happy especially when seeing new people and places. Since the weather has been amazing lately, we have taken lots of walks in the afternoon. She loves to look at all the new things and fall asleep in the sunshine in her stroller or on Mama's back. She is so easy to run errands with because she loves seeing new people so much. She tries to make eyes with all the cashiers. She definitely takes after her Daddy for much of her personality.

All smiles for the camera

Eat the bear? Who me?

Mom, you're so funny:)

We are still working on eating solid foods. She is working on the whole spoon/swallow thing. Her favorite foods are all vegetables except for avocado. She just doesn't like banana, pear, or apple. Weird, but she likes carrot, sweet potato, mashed potato and broccoli, avocado, and beets. She also prefers to feed herself, which is a bit problematic. We have a system worked out where she grabs the spoon and directs it to her mouth, while I hold onto it to make sure she doesn't jam it down her throat. She also started exploring a sippy cup the other day. She was starting to get the hang of it and liked the cool water on her gums.

Why do I keep her dressed during meals?

She has a check up in a week, so I will find out them how much she weighs. I'm guessing she is pushing 20 lbs. She's our big girl!

Springtime Walk

Sam and Inga took a walk today in the amazing spring weather. Spring can come 6 weeks early every year, if you ask me!

Unfortunately, I was home sick (and still am feeling under the weather). Inga was happy to spend the day with Daddy, but was super glad Mommy was around for nursies even if Mommy was sniffling and sneezing all the time.

5 Months

Inga is five months old already. She can almost sit up unsupported, makes lots of loud noises, and is exploring the world of solid food. She keeps getting bigger and carrying her around in her carseat is getting very difficult. It will be time to move to a different carseat soon, but I like the infant seat because she can take a nap in the grocery store in it. She's still working on rolling from her tummy to her back and is starting to try to inch worm around the floor. She enjoys sucking her thumb and her toes when she can reach them.

Oh so close to sitting up on her own.

She and the bear were having a very funny conversation.

She is much more interactive with the big, pink bear.

We have been exploring food at breakfast and dinner for a couple weeks. She likes everything she's tried so far just not the spoon. My freezer is full of fruit and veggie ice cubes. She likes avocado and banana a lot, which is good because they are super easy to fix.

Daddy tries to make dinner time super exciting. Inga is not so sure.

California Christmas: Day 9

Our last full day in California, Sam got to do something he's always talking about: deep sea fishing. He and my brother went on a fishing trip to the Farallon Islands where they caught rockfish and dungeness crab. This year's crab fishing was apparently amazing and they came back with 6 crab each! It was a very long day for them, but I think they had a lot of fun.

Showing off his catch (not quite as impressive as king, but not as dangerous either)

I stayed home with Inga and the grandparents. My dad and I went shooting in the morning, which was a lot of fun. I hadn't been shooting in a long time. I didn't do too bad at 100 yards with a .22 long.

The next morning we left for the airport super early (4am). It was a long day of traveling, but Inga was a seasoned pro by this point and charmed all the grandmas at the airports. She even slept for most of the long flight from Las Vegas to Columbus. It took her a few days to get back on Ohio schedule, but she did great flying. Of course, Ohio greeted us with snow. Oh well, I got my sunny winter vacation, right?

California Christmas: Days 7-8

We took a little family getaway to Monterey for a night. We drove down US-101 through Gilroy and Salinas to get to Monterey. It took us right through the heart of artichoke farms (and strawberries, brussels sprouts, lettuce, etc.). We stopped in Castroville for a diaper change and some nursing. It was a fortuitous stop because we walked across the street to try to advertised french fried artichokes. They were amazing and I loved the fruit stand, deli, coffee shop, liquor store combination. It was so classic entrepreneurial California Mexican. I highly recommend getting some french fried artichokes if you are in Castroville.

It was such a nice day, we had to go to the beach. We just saw a sign for Ft. Ord Dunes State Park and pulled off the highway. I had never heard of Ft. Ord State Park because it became a state park in 2009. Ft. Ord was built during WWII and the park is where the rifle ranges used to be along with the old dock. It was a beautiful stretch of beach. Inga had her first experience with sand and the ocean. She LOVED the sand! We will have to take her to the beach again.

Sand dunes covered in ice plant

The beach and some great surf

Playing in the Pacific Ocean

SAND!

An amazing December day

All three of us took a nice afternoon nap at the hotel, then headed down to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner. It was the first "nice" dinner we had taken since Inga was born. She did very well, but we helped her out by doing a very early dinner (5pm). We ate at Abalonetti and had fresh Monterey sardines and calamari.

Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey

The next morning we headed down to Cannery Row and the aquarium. We got up nice and early and beat the long line to get into the aquarium (one of the benefits of traveling with a little one). We parked at the southern end of Cannery Row and walked the length of the street down to the aquarium. We saw some divers at San Carlos beach and I saw a whale (probably a gray).

San Carlos beach

Cannery Row from San Carlos beach

My two beach bums

We got to the aquarium not long after they opened and I am really glad we did. When we left around lunch time the ticket line was over one block long! There was so much to see, but we had to take an abbreviated tour because it was too noisy for Inga to nap in the ergo and she got really fussy by lunch. We were impressed by the kelp forest and all the schools of sardines and mackerels. They also had a really great open ocean tank with mahi mahi, turtles, and sardines (no GWS, though).

Coal boilers of the old Hovden cannery

School of sardines in the kelp forest tank

Inga loved the kelp touch pool

The circular sardine tank on the ceiling. So cool!

Humpback (for JNW)

Kelp forest

After lunch we drove to Pacific Grove to see some of the coast line. There is a great walking path along the coast here, but it was too foggy and cold (and Inga was napping in the car). We stopped at a couple pull outs to take some pictures.

Mama and baby otter

We took highway 1 to get back home driving up to Half Moon Bay before cutting across the hills. It was a very nice drive once we left the fog behind in Watsonville. We stopped at Scott Creek Beach (apparently a nude beach although there were no nudists when we were there) to see the kite boarders and wind surfers.

A touch windy

Pristine coastline

We had a lot of fun in Monterey and there is so much more to do in the area. I would love to come back and see one of the nearby missions as well as drive down to Big Sur.