Week in Review

I feel badly not posting as much over here on my home life blog, but honestly I feel we have been uber-mundane and have nothing to report. The things I type now seem like highlights of the week and yet so dull. Oh well, that's what you get folks!

Two events happened last week which I forgot to mention:

1) We got a BBQ! Granted it was a freebie from Josh and Lizzie, who inherited it from Kam and Sarianna - BUT HEY, we have a BBQ. And I feel that the BBQ must like being kept in the family as we are the third Kay sibling to own it. Last Sunday Elliott cooked up some steaks and they were oh so yummy. I am so grateful for that grill.

2) I got my sewing machine fixed. YEAH! I haven't busted it out yet to work on the plethora of projects which seem to have piled up (ok, projects I created for myself) but there is such a peace knowing it is at home and working anytime I want to use it. Also, the quilting store which serviced it is an awesome find and one I would frequent more often if it wasn't on the other side of town (Literally! If you take a big diagonal line and run it through a map of Las Vegas, my house would be on one end with the quilting store on the other). I bought some cute fabric to make a couple of nursing covers and am a little jealous that I didn't have this fabric for my own cover (that's how cute I think the fabric is).

This week we seemed to have a social activity every day (how does that happen with two under two?) but had a great time being out and about for park trips, play groups, and visits with friends. Somewhere in there we had to have the washing machine fixed (the problem - the sensor on the lid which senses it is shut had shorted out and it thought the lid was open all of the time so it wouldn't wash the clothes). AND Lily learned to sit up all by herself. That's right - she can do it! This milestone along with her inchworm mobility make crawling and absolute freedom imminent. Oh boy!

Lily is really getting in to feeding herself, but her hand/eye coordination isn't quite up to par which causes her frustration. I still try to give her little things in the highchair to amuse her - bits of sweet potato or banana - but fruit puffs seem to be her favorite. They are not quite as sticky as most soft foods she would be able to eat so she is able to grab them easier. I have also learned (the hard way) that Ava can't have a TV program on while I am trying to feed Lily, as Lily gets REALLY into watching the TV. It's a little scary for her to be so young and so tuned in, but once again my super smart almost two year old, raised on PBS programming, is a good reminder to me to simply monitor and limit, not freak out and cut out all TV programming.

Lizzie and I got a couple pretty good Freegan hauls from the grocery store this week, allowing me to freeze some baby food peaches, red and yellow pepper strips and blanched green beans; prepare stuffed green peppers, corn on the cob, and Jell-O with strawberries for dinner one night; and prep and refrigerate lettuce, baby carrots, radishes and cucumbers for salads. (Boy that list made me realize how grateful I am. Thank you God!)

Elliott and I are talking about what to do in our backyard right now. The ultimate goal we decided is to put in a concrete patio and fake grass over our existing grass. Our yard just stays so shady (which is a good thing!) that it is hard to overcome that, plus watering restrictions, for a green yard. So a landscaper came today to take some measurements and will let me know how much that will cost to put it all in. I think Elliott and I are in agreement that it is a good investment whatever the amount, because with the weather cooling off I will want Ava (and soon Lily) to be able to go outside and play in a nice yard. This being said, I am not saying we will be able to automatically afford a costly upgrade. It may take us awhile to accomplish this goal but it is one we are committed working on.