daily life

aaah, let's see... I'm gonna get a little chatty here and write down what we've been up to lately. My lil sis Sarah recently commented that I don't write much on my blog, so here goes... :-)

Me, I've been keeping myself busy with sewing. You'd think after my sweat shop to finish Christmas presents, I'd keep that sewing machine put away for months. But, I'm realizing I really love sewing! And I have a list full of things I want to sew in the next couple months, including a present or two for Pea's bday in March. (I'm thinking a little apron, since she's always been my little kitchen buddy.)

I finally cut out pattern pieces from the Oliver+S bubble dress that I've held onto for way to long. And it wasn't hard at all! I practiced first with some random fabric, and made it a little casual jumper. But I'm excited to make it again with the scallop view, and using the pretty Anna Maria Horner voile fabric I picked out for it ages ago.

Pearce has been really into dresses lately, so it'll be good to add a couple play dresses to her wardrobe. She started this habit while at grandma's house over Christmas break. Here's a clip of her twirling and checking her dress out in the mirror and of course, dancing. She's always shakin' and dancing'. (But, PLEASE ignore my voice in this video. B/c who likes the sound of their own voice?? eek.)


This week I started LONG OVERDUE sleep training for Pearce. I was chatting with my older sister Jessica recently and complaining that Pearce wakes up as soon as I put her in her crib for nap time. I call her for all mommy advice!! She knows a thing or two considering she has 5 "highly spirited" (those are her words) children. I'm pretty sure she was floored that I still rock her to sleep! So I figured, it was finally time for Pearce to learn how to fall asleep in her crib by herself. We're on day 3, and making progress...

Pearce is loving her new baby doll (thanks Grandma C!) and doll stroller. And always has to have her buckled. It's cute to see her so kind and loving (most of the time) to her baby. I think her favorite thing to do, though, is "burb!" the baby!

She has also been staying busy in her play kitchen. Her friend Audrey doesn't play with it anymore, so she is letting us borrow it for a little bit. Pearce will occasionally say "Thank you Audrey" when playing with it. While I was making dinner last night she just about emptied the entire lower pantry of can goods, etc onto her kitchen---then miraculously---moved everything back to the pantry. She usually says she's making chicken or cookies. Sooo cute.

We still havent had much snow here, which is crazy considering the massive snow dumps we had last winter. It snowed a wee bit earlier this week, and the last time was a month before that. It makes running little errands in town much easier. I like to get out of the house everyday or so, and really the only place to go is the Safeway grocery. They have a small seasonal Toy section for Pearce, and I like to scan through the hot-off-the-press weekly magazines that come out every Thursday.

Even though there hasn't been much snow, it is still FREEZING!! Daytime temps range in the 30s, and nighttime is low 20s. Newsworthy is we now sleep with an electric blanket (along with a down comforter and an extra quilt for me). It works wonders!! I no longer lay in bed for hours too freezing to be able to fall asleep. Hopping into a warm toasty bed is the best!!

Jeremy is finishing up a writing contract (for a private school in Redmond, WA) and still applying for full-time jobs daily (mostly in the Seattle-area). It's frustrating at times feeling like online applications are going into a black hole. But we are still staying optimistic that something great is just around the corner.

Jeremy has a new form of entertainment as of late...he recently downloaded a new app that picks up police scanners all over the country. I'll ask him what he's listening to (mostly as I'm falling asleep at night) and he'll tell me about the crazy stuff that's going on...
         
             In L.A. police are stopping traffic on the 605 and 110 due to a man trying to jump off...
             
             Or a possible arson suspect on the other side of town.
             
             Or there is reported gunshots.
             
             There are MANY reports of 'high speed vehicle going 90+ mph weaving through traffic'. That is sooo typical. One of the first things I noticed when I moved to Orange County right after college was that everyone on the road is a Nascar Driver...
           
             He'll switch over to Kittitas County (our county in central Washington) and it's practically silent. With an occasional "a man drove past a school bus stop sign". 
             
             It cracks me up when he plays  the New Orleans police scan. Totally take me back home in an instance listening to them talk. The other night, there were lots of undercover cops in the French Quarter for the post-Sugar Bowl crowds talking to each other.  


And that's about all I can think of for now! Until next time.... :-)