Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to everyone. We did not send out cards this year...so I will wish you all the best right here!
Christmas this year was so quiet and different. We were snowed in and could not make it out for our big family dinner on Christmas Eve. So the three of us snuggled in and enjoyed a quiet Christmas. Frances really got into the presents this year. I love the look on her face when she opens a gift. It took all morning to open presents because she wanted to play with each one before moving on to the next. It was a lot of fun. Our living room looks like a ransacked toy store.

Thanks Aunt Patty for the dollhouse! In another year or so she might be able to access the third floor without a footstool. She loves it...and if you look at the closeup above you can see that Curious George is enjoying his mansion. We might purchase some dolls...but I don't think George will be moving out anytime soon as he is at the top of the toy pecking order. Hmm I wonder if 'The man with the yellow hat' comes in an 8-11inch doll?

Looking Pretty with her stolen flower in her hair. I had to move my flowering bulbs a little bit higher...

Very pleased with her fancy dress from Nana. She cried when she had to take it off but perked up when I suggested that her princess PJ's might be more comfortable. Thanks Nana! It is a beautiful dress.

Rocking her 'bear' boots and new pink hat and mittens also from Nana! These Mittens were worn to bed at least once.

Crazy excited to receive another package in the mail...so excited that she could not bother herself with clothes after her bath.

SNOW!

We have been snowed in and Frank and Frances have been playing out in the snow. She was very excited to show me a snow ball that she made and refused to leave it outside...so there it sits in the freezer!

chaos

It is a little hectic in this LeGallo household...we are picking up camp (haha) and moving closer to the big city. We have a lot of work to do between now and December first when Frank starts his new job. Our internet is in a box... I only have so much power left and do not know which blogs to read.
chaos...

Hope

Tonight's election has brought me to tears. I just do not have the talent to fully express what it means to me and what it will mean to my child- so I won't. I just wanted to express my joy.

Freazing in Lincoln City, Oregon

Last Monday we decided to grab a quick trip to the coast. It was supposed to be warm, low 80's! Um, no try high 50's. We got suckered and we froze! Frances decided to take a quick dip, but Frank scooped her out. She loved it; the beach, the wind, and would have loved to splash around in the water.

Look ma, no hands!

My blog is boring...but

There are a lot of amazing writers out in the blogosphere creating great blogs. This is not one of them. My blog is more like a little scrap book for the grandmas, nanas, and friends in which I say how adorable and smart my kid is. Sometimes I wish I had one of those other really smart blogs because I have a few things I would really like to say...hmm it would have to be anonymous.
Imagine my surprise to discover how popular I have become among the "tree sap in hair" Googling sect. Oh yeah! Go ahead and Google, see who pops up fourth. So in light of my blogger success I created a link above on the left. And while my blog may be boring I feel I have made an important contribution to society: Got Tree Sap? It's okay, because I have answers!
I promise cute unrelated pictures to follow.

Photo update...

She likes to read on the pot... I hate this book so it has become the official potty book. Take that, Cuddles.
Napping with Papa

My Grammy and her great-grand children

photo update...

Napping along the bike paths of Sun River
Loves babies...
Just a squirrel, trying to get a nut. OH, but look at that really cool fence in the background. Yeah, we built that.
I quit my day job to become a baby photographer. Oh yeah, I don't have a day job. But seriously this is my newest cousin and he his adorable. Congrats to his happy parents.

Camping little mama

seriously I can't stop...

If you look close you can see the top of Frances's head.













My beautiful nieces that I had the pleasure of hugging in NC. It was a gift in light of sad circumstances that I was able to reunite with my siblings and their families. We ate nothing but Carolina bbq, sweet sweet tea, and milk shakes for three days. Frank called me 'Sweet Tea' instead of Honey for a few weeks.
Both my Franks. I love these two individuals more than anything.



















It was worth all the hard work turning dirt into a place to play for Frances. With MUCH help from Frances's Grandma.

Long time, no post...

An amazing quilt from the Sisters, OR Quilt show. We had fun walking around this fun little western town with quilts being displayed everywhere. It was however very painful for our nephews while Mom shopped!



















It has been a busy summer. Some good and some not so good.
Here is the good stuff:
Frank's Mom came for an extended three week stay. She brought our nephews ages 11 and 12. Frances loved having a full house. It was a lot of fun. And for part of this time his sister's family of four was able to come for a week. Frances loved having her cousins to play with. It was hard when they all left. We have never had so many people in our house at once, it definitely feels empty. They can come back anytime they want! We miss them all.
Three is such a small family. Not nearly loud enough for me...or Frances! Family of four sounds nice.
Frances went camping for the first time. She also went canoeing and has spent a lot of time splashing around in public fountains with our best girlfriend Lucy and also in the new water fountain at our local park. We spent an amazing three days in Sunriver. Frank rented a bike and trailer. We are hooked and can't wait to find a second hand bike trailer so we can take our bikes out and about again. And the absolute best thing is that Frances has been proudly using her potty! The pee pee in the potty/ pee pee on the floor ratio is definitely tipping in our favor.

Remembering that First Father's Day

I had the honor of meeting my daughter on Father's Day. It is hard to believe we have been together for a whole year. On this Father's Day I found myself remembering that first day. I was so nervous I did not know what to expect. How would she react when I tried to hold her? How would I? She seemed so small and helpless. Now that baby is my little girl who amazes me everyday with what she knows. And I look forward to the second year and try to imagine where we'll be on next Father's Day.

No crayons, thanks

These days Frances has little blue lines all over her hand...sometimes her mouth. Her knew thing is scribbling with a pen. She does not want crayons- just a pen and a scrap of paper. And without showing or telling her how, she holds the pen perfectly in her small hand.

Oh, and a word from the wise- don't let your pen enamored toddler see you place pens/pencils behind your ear!

Frances at 21months, poor crock never had a chance

Toddler parenting has been very challenging lately. well, actually for the whole month of May! First she had a virus with a high fever, followed by teething...FOUR teeth at once, and then Frank was away for work- leaving me in fear of being an only parent for a week, after a very fussy cranky two weeks. Her new words are "Nooooo" and "MINE". Oh man, has she been testing her limits and boundaries with me lately causing me all sorts of grief and worry, only to wake up the next day super super sweet and full of hugs and kisses. Even though this month has been tough I have really embraced staying at home with her. My first month home was hard. I felt a little alone when Frank was at work or sleeping. But I don't feel that way anymore- which is good. She makes me smile and laugh and I am enjoying all this time we have together. Here are some of the things she does at 21 months that crack me up:

*She loves to help me wash dishes. She gets so excited when I am at the kitchen sink. She runs for her little pink stool and drags it over to the sink, climbs up and rinses the dishes I hand her and places them in the strainer. I always wash the recycling last and she knows to rinse those and put them in the recycling bin instead of the strainer. (I have to sneak in dish washing if I want it done in a timely manner!)

*Still my water baby. She takes showers and loves to go under water at swim class.

*No picky eater here. Loves all types of food. Frank was making dinner the other night and she asked for a bite. He handed her a piece of onion he was chopping. She ate it and said, "More...bowl" So Papa gave her a bowl of onions which she carried to the coffee table then dragged her stool over and set down and ate every last one.

*She loves it when I open the moon roof and roll down all the windows in the car. She laughs and screams in delight as her hair is whipped around by the wind. It is a beautiful sight.

*I absolutely love her silliness and sense of humor. It is hard to drive because when I look at her in the rear view mirror she makes silly faces, smiles, and blows kisses to me.

I can't believe it has almost been one year of all of us together as a family.

Papa, we miss you!

Little Baby Momma

Changing her Bear's diaper.

Pointing to her hurting teeth.

And super cute after sleeping.

You have my whole heart and I love you.

How do you remove pine tree sap?

Below are step by step illustrated instructions for removing a mess of pine tree sap from the back of your toddlers head.

STEP ONE: Take a large spoonful of peanut butter and apply to tree sap matted hair. (creamy works best)

STEP TWO: Hand PB spoon to toddler.(Warning: Do not skip this child pacifying step)

STEP THREE: Warm PB lathered hair with blow dryer. (Diffuser not necessary)

STEP FOUR: Comb hair with a fine toothed comb.

STEP FIVE: Rinse hair in warm water and shampoo as usual.

Tree sap gone!

Frances + 4 McPherson boys!

Nice Pajamas...

The McPherson boys: Devon (age 3), Aidan (5), and Austin (8)

Frances tackles Austin

Playing cars with the boys

I have had a very crazy week. Our house has been over run by three boys for the past five days, with two more to go. Our good friends are off cavorting in sunny Mexico enjoying their first real vacation with out kids. It felt really good to be able to do this for them and Frances loves the boys. Four kids is sooooo much work.

I was doing great at first, but am starting to tire. Today I took the kids to the park and noticed half way through playing that their youngest was wearing slippers! I ran out of PJ's for Frances, see the P-jamy 'get-up' above. So far I have remembered to feed everyone.

A full house has been so much fun. I want another...ONE. Family of four sounds nice. Frances is having an absolute ball with these little guys. I don't know what she will do when they go home. I will have to schedule a busy week to ease her back into her life as an only child.

smooshed daisies

Frances' new thing is picking daisies. I keep finding dried up little flowers throughout the house. It is hard to get anywhere on a walk, as she has to stop and pick daisies and dandelions. This is always followed by an, "uh-oh" as she drops one from her handful.

Frances runs...cooks...and washes dishes!

I am ending my first month as a Mom who no longer works another job for 40hrs. a week(Hate that other title. (SAHM)) I must confess I was a little worried I was going to he to ask for my job back! I was definitely missing people, and feeling successful at the end of a work day. But I am warming up to this challenge and enjoying all of our close time together. I definitely see myself working part time after the summer, even if just a few days a month.

Frances is wonderful. At 20months she is doing and saying a whole lot. She is running and climbing. Frank is enrolled with her in a parent-tot swim class. She smiles the whole time. Her language has really taken off. She says new words every day it seems, and is starting to link them in a sentence with prompts. We ordered half a dozen parenting books as she has discovered she is her own self and sometimes does not want her diaper changed...or wants a snack,"nak, nak, nak" right now. Toddler parenting is definitely a challenge. I miss what little bit of baby time I had, but am loving this little person emerging. I love her humor, dramatics, craziness and sweetness.

I love it all.