a beautiful day in the neighborhood

We got a pleasant surprise today - a warm, sunny day to wrap up September with. The cottonwoods are yellow and dropping all their leaves already, it hasn't rained (yet) all day, and the breeze is cold but not the air.

Sophie played with leaves in her stroller on our walk on the Airport Dike Trail this morning. We both had to take our coats off because it was so warm out, I think they said on the radio highs to 55 degrees today. Sophie got tired of sitting and playing with leaves by the time we got to the end of the trail, so we had a little play-break on the beach.

She likes to throw rocks as far as she can, run as fast as she can, and when she gets tired she likes to find the wettest place she can to sit down in. Like a bunch of seaweed. Or beach weeds.

We better enjoy the beach (and the trees, and the clean air) all we can now because we're moving back to Colorado Springs in December, right before Christmas, and right after my semester at UAS ends.

Some other changes: Sophie's down to one nap a day now (which she is currently protesting) and she is going to bed earlier (usually she's asleep by 7:45pm). This gives me less time to do homework during the day but more time at night, which I guess is a good enough trade. Also I am back on methotrexate after an almost four-week break due to getting caught up with a new doctor here in Juneau, and am now back to feeling like all of my bones have gained an extra pound or two.

But it's a beautiful day, I've got nothing to complain about, and Sophie wants to go out and play!

happy anniversary!

Happy 24th anniversary Mom and Dad, and happy 53rd anniversary to Grandma and Grandpa!

I think our family friend Amanda is getting married today also, it must be a popular day!

fall is here

... but we're still trying to get some more summer out of these last few days (fall officially starts on Monday!).

Sophie and I are pretty busy these days. I have classes four days a week; the "new parents group" that we started going to when Sophie was two months old has grown up and split into two - us, the "old parents group" because we're not new parents anymore! - and the real new parents group for little babies and their mamas. I'm co-heading the "old parents group" and having so much fun.

I have to wonder if our babies will still be friends when they start school. High school. College. They have already been "friends" for what seems like a very long time; a year even! One of our parent group babies, Lydia, is having her birthday party this Sunday at Sandy Beach (still hoping for some more summer!). It really is hard to believe.

Sophie is at Grandma and Grandpa Manning's house on Thursdays, while I am at my Anatomy & Physiology lab, and the whole family turns out to sit around and watch her sleep.

She is so lucky already to have all of these friends and family.

walkin' in her mama's shoes

She wears those shoes more than I do :)

how we do lunch

Or rather, how Sophie does lunch.

Like this:



Brown rice, black beans, curry powder, and melted Monterrey Jack cheese.

Hey, whatever she'll eat!



And boy did she eat it. Success!

Now if only she'd learn some table manners:



On second thought.... I'll pick my battles!

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Happy PFD day!

breakfast of champions

Mmmm....



Nothing like a steaming hot plate of leftover lasagna first thing in the morning.

first day of classes

actually the first day of classes was august 28, but my first class was today, which is really all that matters, right?

human anatomy & physiology 1 lecture... from 6:00-9:00pm. i am pretty sure that is past my bedtime.

the bad news:

for one, again, it's definitely past my bedtime (yay for red bull!); two, the professor was all spaced out. seriously? "oh and this molecule actually looks like this, [draws chemical map of molecule, taking his time to get it just right and even going back to re-draw part of it] but i'm just going to write out the name, but actually this doesnt matter at all and you don't have to know any of this right now."

but the good news:

my friends from way back when, evan, and his older brother trevor, are in the lecture too so i have someone to snicker at the professor with (not that that's immature or anything).
and evan always has red bull.