During the evening just before Halloween, the old willow tree in our backyard fell entirely on its own. We've been having a lot of rain lately and although I knew half the tree was dead, I figured it was a solid tree and would hold up for a few more years so I could one day slowly cut it down piece by piece. Although it was a sad dying tree, the ( Read more... )

All year long, we've been planning a get-together with Nicole's immediate family in California. Nicole's sister's baby is turning 1 this month and as Scarlett's only biological cousin, it was important to us to somehow get the new families together this year. And we did during a pretty epic week in mid-October! Sadly, the trip overlapped our ( Read more... )

Another September, another birthday! This year, I apparently turned 43. Seems so weird. Nothing's really all that different. More than ever, it really is just another day on the calendar. Another work day. Another day following Scarlett around. I think that Nicole and I are so focused on Scarlett and her growth that things surrounding ourselves ( Read more... )

In early August, Nicole and I took Scarlett to the annual county fair. It's here in town, which is greatly convenient. It's a somewhat small affair (Yamhill county isn't huge) but it's really nice to see what our neighbors are up to as well as get a sense of the kinds of responsibilities our local farms are up to. Scarlett had opportunities to get ( Read more... )

In July, we had Scarlett's 15-month checkup and all is well. She remains in the 90th percentile for height and is simply growing like a weed. Her lightish-curly hair has taken over her head and she's more vocal than ever. No real words just yet, but she can answer simple questions and point out certain things. It's absolutely mind-blowing to see ( Read more... )

The good news I was hoping to have this month about my job didn't materialize in June. There was one job posting but it was for a project management position that I'm not terribly interested in but with the manager guy on PTO, I can't ask for details. I'll learn more in July but it sucks. I was really hoping for something to get me out of my ( Read more... )

May was a good month. The weather is beginning to really transition into summer-like weather and all the trees have their leaves. The sun stays up past 9 PM now and the sunny days are that much more comforting. It's really lifted my mood concerning my job ( Read more... )

Scarlett is beyond thirteen months and continues to grow and excel. More and more of her personality is coming out and she's using her body in more risky ways. What I mean by that is that she's begun climbing furniture, running, tripping over everything, and standing on things that she falls off of. She also throws proto-tantrums and is very much a ( Read more... )

Scarlett is one year old! It's been such a fast year; it's hard to believe. She's walking quite well now and just about running. She waves at people and has really turned into a toddler. I think the true infant/baby phase is over. We celebrated with a party and invited friends and family. We opened our home to a bunch of visitors all at once which ( Read more... )

Scarlett is eleven months old and is getting tantalizingly close to her first birthday. It's just weeks away at this point. In March, I'll be taking off the final couple weeks of Paternity Leave that I still have remaining and I'll be taking a bit more PTO after that too, so I'll be out the majority of March. That's something I've been looking ( Read more... )