So we are here at amber’s parents house in the Virginia mountains its chilly and snuggly and LJ is the only kid around 8 adults so we are getting some rest.

When we say what we are thankful for in an hour or so, I’ll say I’m thankful for exactly what I have. There are people and things I miss and wish for, but I love my wife and daughter so much, if I never got anymore than what I have today I’ll be happy.

I’m thinking of the ivp-ers who are still battling up this hill. I wish for you energy and hope to keep going.

We start in a few hours at my grandparents house. Here is our cutie ready to go. (those tights are in the wash now – note to self, white tights go on at the last minute. )

I picked this outfit out. I’ll post tomorrows outfit that her granny picked out. I did add the bow for the picture- it’s gone now!

Pretty sure LJ is working on UTI number five. It’s 3am and she is up playing. She’s been running a fever over 103 since about 2pm. Rather than putting her to sleep the Ty.lenol is making her hyper.

I don’t know that I have blogged about any of her infections past the first two. We are still on preventitive antibiotics everyday. In three weeks they will redo the testing for her kidneys and see if anything has changed. If it has not, I think they will likely push us toward surgery.

So in a few hours we will head to the docs office for yucky testing. Maybe it’s the flu, one can hope.

The pic is LJ saying eat. Kid, it’s 3???

LJ’s new favorite food? She likes a whole apple. She pulls it out of my lunch bag, thankfully she will let me peel it first.

She also likes walking and perhaps new shoes.

Evidently there is something magical about 12 months where everyone assumes you will stop nursing.  When we got into this I was committed to six months. After I got past the first month, I committed to 12 months mainly because it had been such a hassle to get there.  At nine months we almost stopped when she was cutting 4 teeth at once. 

Now here we are at 13 months and neither of us is interested in stopping.  And yet, I’m getting tired of people asking when we will.  The answer is, I don’t know.  At some point either LJ or myself won’t be enjoying it anymore and so we will stop.  I do not totally subscribe to child led weaning because I admit that occassionally I will see a mom and tot nursing and feel weird about it (the kindergardener?) But really who am I to judge if it works for them.  

This week she named it…  she calls it nummies.  She comes over and signs more and then says nummies.  Seriously.  She also responds to “wait” if I am busy or don’t want to nurse in public.  After we are done she sighs very hard and then gives me a kiss on my hand or cheek.  

I love the increase in communication it just reminds me that there are reasons why the two of us are still nursing.  I know it doesn’t work for everyone – but LJ and I are doing just fine.

Happy Halloween. The good news, the kiddo enjoyed herself. The bad news, the wife has had the swine since Thursday and couldn’t go. I took an insane number of pictures of our butterfly. Here are my favorites.

first party...loved the candle...not so much on the cupcake...

It’s finally chilly! This weekend we went to the Shenandoah valley to visit some college friends. We visited wineries and then an orchard and pumpkin patch. It was like autumn heaven.

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I’ve been cheating on my blog with Twitter and facebook. Actually I’ve been working with Twitter and facebook. I am teaching a class for nonprofit professionals on social media and I’ve been using both a lot to get ready. That’s actually the reason for less blogging too. This is a new 10 hour class and i’m having to start from scratch in creating the curriculum. So visit my blog where my Twitter feed is and follow me so we can chat there.

Oh, here are some pictures. Back to my four part time jobs. Part sahm, part school job, part household manager, part small business owner.

very excited about the pumpkins.

The babe, she walks.  How exactly this happened I do not know.  1 week before she turns 1(holy cow) she walks.  It was a teeter tooter 4 steps into my arms and then back into her mom’s arms.  I prayed for a slow walker but the sheer joy on her face from having accomplished this was worth it.  

I’m currently working on her birthday presents.  We decided we would only buy her one present but that she could get as many handmade gifts as we could make.  So I made her a felt birthday crown (see soule mama blog, too lazy to link), an owl pillow, a lovey blanket, and I am currently working on a doll.  Amber is making her a rocking horse…

 1……good lord. 

mouth full – oh, but the curls!

Six years ago today I showed up at a friends house for brunch postively smitten with the girl I had met at their house the night before. Little did I know they invited her to brunch too. Hours later, after a long walk in a park and dinner I ran to meet my bff and tell her about this girl.

How could I have known then that she would be the mother of my child and my wife of almost three years. And yet, I knew it was something.

I would be lying if I told you that LJ neve cries. So I thought I would show you a sad picture.

Throughtout pregnancy we slowly became crunchier and crunchier. Things I thought we wouldn’t do just seem so natural so now almost a year in we are working to guide friends and family when they are thinking of gift giving. Today I sent out her birthday gathering email and included links to some great natural toy stores. The reason? Granny, who Is generous and loving and basically the perfect grandmother asked what kind of computerized game she should get lj for her birthday. Ugh.

So yeah, we are those people who don’t let her watch tv, and prefer wooden toys over plastic ones. And I’m typing this while nursing. Who knew.

So great ivp- what kind of birthday traditions have you started? We are looking for things that are not food or present related. Our current consideration is a birthday ring. Other ideas?