snowy surprise

On Friday, I mentioned that winter was coming.  And guess what?  We woke up Saturday morning to snow!  It was so beautiful and is now long gone, but I thought I'd share some pictures.

oh yeah, did I mention?

Our little guy is mobile (like, really mobile)!  You put him down, look away for two seconds and he's halfway across the house in the kitchen.  It's crazy!  And what's even crazier is how scared I am of when he gets faster and can actually crawl on his hands and knees, rather than just dragging his legs.

winter is coming

Not to sound like a Stark or anything (haha).  But seriously, all the signs are here.  It was so chilly (39 degrees!) for my run this morning that I had to bundle Riggs in his little REI parka.  He was so cute in it I had to snap a picture with my phone before putting him in the stroller, and it reminded me of a picture of him from when he was just one week old.  He swam in his 0-3 month snowsuit then, and how he's growing into the 18 month version.  Where does the time go?

left: one week old Riggy in the 0-3 month snowsuit
right:  8.5 months old Riggy in the 18 month snowsuit

Riggs quickly fell asleep, but as I ran around our loop, I was just blown away by how everything has changed so much in the last couple of weeks.  It rained all night last night and this morning, but obviously it was snowing on the mountains all around our house.

Here is another comparison, one the left is a picture I took on my run today, and on the right is a picture I took on a walk with Steve on the 10th.  That's only 17 days ago!

And to top it all off?  Yeah, that's SNOW in the forecast on Sunday.  Not for the mountains, mind you, but for our area!  It's so crazy and I hope it does snow...I'm ready for it :)

Keeping Busy...

Right now, I am...

...laughing multiple times a day as I watch Riggs and Tutka interact together.  It amazes me how gentle and patient Tutka is with Riggs, especially when Riggs isn't quite so gentle himself.  It's what we were hoping for when we added Tutka to our family with Riggs so young (they are only a month and two days apart), and it's satisfying to see their relationship developing so nicely.  

...about to enter the strange couple of weeks in between fall and winter.  I love fall, and I love winter, but I'm not so sure about the drab days that are usually October in Alaska.  Out here in our little corner of the Butte, the constant rain and wind have stripped the trees of nearly all the leaves and I know one day soon we will wake up to find those beautiful colors have all turned to brown and the glory days of fall will be over.  Then the scramble will really begin to get everything buckled down for the first snow...I'm hoping to get some Christmas lights up at some point during October, before the snow begins to fly.  One (of the many) things I love about our new house is the outlets up under the eve of the roof which are connected to a light switch inside the house just for Christmas lights.  Now I just have to decide whether or not we will put up white lights or those big, ceramic colored lights...

...having the time of my life watching Riggs grow and change and learn.  He is so mobile now, although he still isn't quite crawling.  He can army crawl all around but when he's up on his hands and knees, he hasn't quite figured out how to move his arms at the same time as his legs.  Now that he can get around and get into things, he is happy to spend nearly the entire day (between naps and meals) down on the floor just hanging out and doing his thing.  It's amazing to see how independent he is.  He is also starting to really understand cause and effect, and can really play in a more interactive way because of it.

Here is a video of Riggs playing with his Opa and Oma (Steve's dad and his wife, Dorle) when they visited this past weekend:

fall has come

Today is officially the first day of fall, the autumnal equinox.  The cooler, crisp temperatures, golden sun, and colorful leaves are a welcome change in our house, fall is welcome here!  We have had quite the stormy weather over the last two weeks, and yesterday was the first sunny day in over a week.

Our area is still under a flood watch because of the heavy rain we've had, and during the last three windstorms we have had 5 trees down (and my new little rhubarb plant had a rough time of it, we will have to see if the poor little thing comes back at all next year).  Although I am sorry for all the damage caused by the extreme weather, I must admit there is something terribly beautiful and awesome about it as well.  The drenching rain and gusty wind made me ever so thankful for a strong roof over my head, thick warm blankets and cozy beeswax candles when the power was out, and a happy, content little baby to share the slower-paced days with.

This is the beginning of my favorite time of year, filled with friends, family, food, tall leather boots, and thick, warm sweaters.  My mind has been filled with the signs of fall and winter, of the cheerful twinkle of Christmas lights, the smell of fresh baked bread or apple pie, and anticipation for those first silent snowflakes drifting slowly down to touch the frozen grass.  It's such a charming time of year and watching Riggs experience it for the first time is going to make it even more special.  Happy Autumn!

weekending

We have been filling jars with summer fruits to enjoy in the winter, enjoying some family time after not seeing Steve for about a week straight while he was working a storm.  It's been a lovely week with a laid back weekend, just perfect.

Oh and PS - my attempt at a "sock bun" - still not sure what to think, it just might be too big of a bun and I had a hard time stuffing all my hair into it haha.  I just had to share and get some feedback...

{this moment}

this moment.  A Friday ritual.  A single photo, no words, capturing a moment from the week.

A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

eight months old

Riggs is eight months old, hurrah!  He is having a blast changing and growing and learning new things.

What he's been up to:

...at about seven and a half months he really started to eat food on a regular basis.  Avocado, strawberries, homemade bread, and curried lentils and coconut milk are some of his favorite foods.  We spoon feed him some, and he eats some on his own (mostly fruit bits and bread chunks without the crust).

...blowing raspberries has become a new favorite past time, and seems to happen especially often when he is down on the floor playing with Tutka.

...Riggs slept in his crib (in our room) for the first time from about 8:30pm to 12:30pm this month and has continued that trend randomly throughout the month when mama feels like staying up with Daddy in the living room.  It's so nice that he is so versatile and doesn't mind going to sleep by himself some nights.  He has no problem with it, but I definitely miss him and have a hard time going to sleep when he's not snuggled up next to me!

...scooting around using his hands to push him around or his toes to push him forward.  He is working his way towards crawling and we are enjoying this calm before the storm.

...he loves to play with his play cube for 30 minutes (or more) at a time and gets very serious when he does so.  He gets so focused on whatever he is doing and has to inspect things very carefully as he is playing with them.

...he has started pulling himself up to stand and when we help him he can stand for quite a while and move around a tiny bit before falling back down onto him bum.

He is now 20 lbs 4oz (61%) and 30 inches long (97%) and still growing like a weed.  He just in the last week grew out of his 6-12 month clothes and is now in 12 month and some 18 month clothes (but they're still pretty big).  I have to admit theres been some silly sadness over putting away the clothes he's grown out of, mostly because I remember thinking they were so big before he was born.  It's just crazy to think that in four short months he will be one year old!

KCCO

The other day I posted about thrifting, and here is another thrifting success story.  While browsing around, I happened to pick up a few picture frames, one with a cute little picture of a mouse and two others that matched with nothing in them.  They were about $1 for all of them, and when I  got home I painted the two matching frames a bright blue to use in Riggy's room.

They've been dry for quite some time, but I wasn't quite sure what to use them for.  Then today I decided just to make up a little something to put inside them and get them up in his room.  I've really been into Longfellow lately, and one quote of his in particular stood out to me, so I jotted it down on some lined paper, cut it to the right dimensions, and slapped it in there.  I thought it turned out pretty cute:

 

For the other, I used some scrapbook paper and jotted down the specifics of Riggs' birth, which was eight months ago tomorrow.  And now excuse me while I go cry somewhere and beg Riggs to stop growing (for the record I tried this with my nephew Corbin, and he's in Kindergarten now, so I don't think this method works too well).

I really like how they turned out, but I might have to redo the one with Riggs' birth stats - the '5' just sticks out like a sore thumb to me.  I love how they turned out in his room too, they fit just perfectly on the little bit of wall left over next to his closet.

Riggs likes them too.  Here he is telling you all about it!  My big-nearly-eight-month-old baby boy.  SOB.

linked up with Nicole at Frontier Dreams for Keep Calm Craft On {crafting on}

::growing gratitude::

Right now, I am...

...thankful that, although we lost power for two days, we didn't have any damage to our home, cars, or garage.

...in awe of the raw force of nature.

...surprised by how much I enjoyed not having power.  The only thing that bothered me was worrying about the frozen fish we had in the freezer thawing out (it didn't).

...happy that I captured Riggs as he is now, his arms and legs nearly always moving when he is interested in or excited about something.  He is getting to be such a big boy, moving rapidly from infant to toddler, so busy all the time.

...in love with his rolls and dimples and creases.  How could something be so scrumptious?

...surprised that we woke up to such a hard frost this morning and temperatures in the twenties, 26 degrees Fahrenheit to be exact.  Fall really is here!