a northwestern thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we flew to Portland to visit Leif's family, who are all absolutely wonderful. How many people can say that about their inlaws?  Unfortunately we missed the majority of the fall leaves by a couple of days.  The riot of reds and golds and yellows had nearly all been blown away by an early winter storm, leaving but a few leaves to dot the mostly naked branches.  What was left was the landscape of deep green hues; the evergreens which make the Pacific Northwest undeniably beautiful any time of the year. So not much fall colors but still beautiful, nonetheless.

It's hard to visit Portland and not fall in love with the city.  There really isn't anywhere in the States that is quite like this city.

It was the first time for Leif's family, other than grandma and grandpa, to meet Clio so the few days we were there were full of exciting new faces for her- including her cousin Jasper.  She handled all the excitement fairly well considering her nap schedule was all wonky.  We thought she was fussy but everyone else laughed and said we had no idea what fussy really was.  Admittedly we have a pretty mellow baby.  Still, she didn't want to breastfeed because of all the environmental stimulation (even when we hid out in the basement) so I ended up pumping and bottle-feeding her quite a bit.  That was not fun.  The minute we got home she was all, GIVE ME THAT BOOB IN MY MOUTH RIGHT NOW OR ELSE I AM GOING TO START SCREAMING AND NEVER STOP!!!!!!!  I guess she is just a finicky little eater.

Leif and I took advantage of the grandparents and went out for a date, leaving them to watch Clio.  We had some really salty nachos, drank some really good locally brewed beer, and saw Hugo in 3D.  Maybe it was just the time -it started at 9:30, which is usually my bedtime- but it was a snooze fest.  At least I thought so.  Leif liked it though.

On the morning of the second day the battery in our camera died and we realized that we did not pack the charger or the extra battery.  So we ended up just using my phone most of the time.  Once upon a time mobile phones were called car phones, weighed about two pounds, and didn't have cameras.  So it could have been worse but we were still pretty bummed about not being able to use our camera.

 -oh bangs, you are too long and when I pin you back you look like a pompadour-

 -my most handsome husband-

 -my most awesome inlaws-

On the way home Clio slept through the entire flight on my lap.  So precious.  Then we got up to exit the plane and realized that our precious baby had shit herself to the point where it was escaping out the back of her diaper, onto her shirt and finally coming to rest on my jeans.  Sigh.  She's still precious, poop and all.

Things that make me happy; the weekend edition

Finishing three pairs of pants for Clio (mom did all the hard work).

A dramatic sky over Pasadena City Hall.

Wrapping up Clio in warm clothes.

Spending the afternoon with friends and relaxing on their awesome couch.

Watching their adorable daughter walk around in her dad's shoes.

Having a good friend hold a sleeping Clio.

Scouting out a possible location for our family photo, which will go out with the holiday card this year (gotta get going on this).

Packing Clio's clothes for a trip to visit Leif's family in the chilly Pacific Northwest and going overboard.

Picking out an outfit for Thanksgiving dinner that includes pink tights.

 Taking photographs of these two while the weather outside looked like this...

A rainy day in Los Angeles.

Finally settling on a fabric for Clio's crib skirt.  Bright pink faux bois.

 Cousins together, none of whom were too happy to sit for a portrait.

Trying on a winter coat for our visit up north.

Which was a wee bit too big.

My beautiful sister holding my beautiful daughter.

sew what

Last week my mom kindly made a trip down here to watch Clio while I worked and Leif went out of town for a hiking trip.  She brought her much-better-than-mine sewing machine and while she was here we worked on making a dress for Clio.  Truth be told she did 99% of the work and I just did the grunt work like pinning, ironing and eating cookies from my favorite bakery in the town where I grew up.  It turned out super cute but because we had a tough time finding a pattern I liked in her current size this one probably won't be worn until the spring.

The weather is starting to get chilly enough here that I can no longer put Clio in dresses and bloomers and call it a day.  So in order to keep my child from getting cold while simultaneously saving myself the irritation of having to remove pants every time I change a dirty diaper I made some legwarmers for her.  There are tons of tutorials online so I'll spare you the details and just give you a summary, which is this; adult-size socks + scissors + pins + thread + sewing machine = baby-sized legwarmers.

Also, and this partially explains the lack of posting, I've been sick.  A real nasty cold, the kind that leaves you exhausted from all the sneezing and so frustrated by the snot trickling out of your nose that you finally end up just stuffing kleenex up there to staunch the flow.  Normally I would just drug myself into a stupor, call in sick to work, and hang out on the couch watching bad movies in between long naps.  But, alas, working part time means no calling off work, breast-feeding means no strong cold medicine, and a baby who doesn't nap much means no naps for me either.  So, what I am trying to say is that I've been sick and without much relief.

That's ok, though.  I've got this little girl to make me feel better.

P.S. Instagram is fun.  I've had the app for a long time but haven't ever used it much.  Now I can't get enough.  If you would so like, you can follow my photos under the name theoneyearlease