New post!

Alright, Ellen tells me that her portrait is catching her off-guard every time she visits the site, so I'm putting up a new post. But I think from now on I'll put up a big picture of EACH OF YOU on your BIRTHDAY!

The next birthday boy/girl already has enough pictures up here for a lifetime, I think. Scott turns one year old on Sunday (and my mom is flying in for a quick visit and I'm so excited!!!). He looks a lot like Luke did at one:

Baby Luke, already participating in home maintenance

Therese and Luke, about 1 year old. I plan on recreating all of their photos with Scott and Emma, which we will think is SO FUN and they will think is ridiculous.

Scott is big -- his feet now touch the stroller's footrest, which I couldn't imagine ever happening! -- and funny and very determined. He explores everything and is social and is just a lot of fun. One is awesome.

Check out the feet on the footrest!

Scott explores the backyard, which FINALLY got some rain!

And we have an announcement: our lemon tree is expecting! Quintuplets! She's very young and is not supposed to be having seedlings for at least another year, but she is mature for her age and I think she can handle it. Our neighbors also have a lemon tree so she won't be single parenting the little budlings.

Teeny baby lemons!

One last thing: how cute are these reading Wagners?

Answer key: Very.

Ellen

Today was Ellen's birthday! Happy 20th, Ellen. You are the sweetest and I promise I'll get you those videos you took really really soon.

He's WALKING!

Does this mean he's officially not a baby anymore?



He'll be toddling across the country to visit all of you just as soon as he learns how to pack a bag (skillful luggage packing runs on the Koop side).

Also, his shirt says "Science is Awesome!". Excellent baby gift.

Camping

This weekend we took Scott camping for the first time! Luke and I enjoy a night or two tent camping -- we went at Lake Bryan with friends early in our relationship and again outside SA while Scott stayed with my parents before Christmas -- and it was cool to make it a family thing. There's a great group out here called Stroller Hikes that invited us. The camp was in Soquel, just south of Santa Cruz. We met really great people, ate really great camp food, and made a really great decision to cut our trip down to 2 days instead of 3 when Scott and Luke came down with colds.

Somehow ALL of our camping stuff is orange. I really like the color but sort of feel like I should paint a maroon stripe on the tent, a la College Station Whataburger. It also kind of reminds me of middle school, when my friend-boys (NOT boyfriends) always called my hair orange and I would insist it was AUBURN and they'd say "Yeah, auBURNT ORANGE."

In the wild (outdoors or in large groups of other kiddos), Scott is TOUGH. He loves exploring places seeing other young ones. He crawls and toddles all over, eating dirt and spreading pine needles and eucalyptus pods around the forest floor like a good baby bear. (Eucalyptus trees apparently grow great out here and seem to keep bugs away from the campsites. Funny!) He was definitely meant to be a tribe baby.

In the creek with this super cool lab

Last night we drove home, showered, slept, and woke up feeling much healthier.

He's walking away in this picture, little toddle-Scott

We're approaching the end of the first year of parenting. So much has changed. We moved across the country. We're no longer students. At the beginning, parenting mostly just required perseverance: the perseverance to keep on rocking, or stay awake, or to pull myself out of bed at 5 am to go for walks to soothe screams. Now discipline is being introduced. Luke seems to just deeply and easily know how to do it, lovingly guiding Scott away from behaviors that are unsafe or wrong. (Luke groks discipline.) (Me, not so much. I'm learning.)

What has remained is the (sometimes overwhelming) love I feel for both Luke and Scott. I think every day I have at least one moment that takes me aback and fills me with joy, and thanks, and praise to God, and pleas for wisdom to be a better wife and better mother. Tonight, at bedtime, I was rocking Scott and he curled into my shoulder, with his feet folded by my hips and head nestled in my neck. His arms were draped around me as he fell asleep and I draped mine over him, my hands huge across his small back and my mind amazed that this little body was our son. He is so precious. I pray and know that God is refining me and watching over Scott as we see him develop into the man he will be. (Amen!)

Daily dose of dirt

Scott makes little kissy sounds when he eats juice-and-water popsicles. (Aren't those popsicle sticks cute? They have little straws built in so you can sip the melted part.)



The fall looks frightening, but he's a quite accomplished faller and has very good technique.

Karie, I'm still working on getting a good walking vid!

Actress Sarah Jones

Very funny gal speaks at the TED conference.

Mama's little baby loves rhubarb pie

Strawberry rhubarb pie, that is, with a heart in the middle:


I was inspired by the song on Prairie Home Companion and a movie, Waitress, that we recently watched. It was GOOD. And I made my own crust because I got all crazy on Friday and decided it would be worth it. (It is good, but takes a long time and a lot of counter space. I'm glad I made 2 extras in the freezer for the next pies and think I'll return to store-boughts from now on.)

In retrospect, it probably wasn't the best day to bake because today was HOT. Yesterday's high was 101, and today it was 103. With no AC that is downright sweltering. We went swimming and walked around stores to cool off. Thankfully things should return to Northern California normal tonight, dipping into the 50s with a forecasted high of 83 tomorrow. Ahhhh.