fall, thanksgiving, snow, oh my!

I've sat down to update this a few times, and just haven't gotten there.  We've been insanely busy this fall, but thankfully we're coming in on some time off.  All three of us has this weekend, which has been nice and relaxing (ish), and over the next few weeks we'll finish up the quarter for school, and I'm out the 17th for winter break from work.  We had a massive snowstorm last week, resulting in a lot of bad roads for both of us, but Rhia looooves the snow, as seen below.

She's doing great, growing like a weed.  She's grown about three inches since we moved into this house at the end of June!  She loves school and her friends, and is always amazing her teacher with her brainyness.  She's getting really into those hidden picture pages in Highlights, which is actually fun for all of us.  She's doing better with potty training, and is turning out to be a pretty good conversationalist (and she rarely stops talking).  She's getting super independent, and refuses to let us help her with most things, which is both cool (that she's such her own person) and frustrating (it takes us forever to do anything).

The order of the pictures is a little backwards, but you get the idea.  

Playing in the snow

Learning how to make a snow angel

success!

Getting good use out of my halloween costume...the hat lives with her dress-up clothes, it's a favorite

cheesy camera face

dancing with piggy

being silly with mama

watching football on thanksgiving

                                                 all geared up for thanksgiving dinner

long time, no post

...we've been busy.  Insanely so.  But I thought I should do a quick update, since it's been a couple of months.

We're all doing really well.  Rhia is doing amazingly well.  She's finally tall enough to open doors....(one of the perks of having a tenth-percentile-for-height child is that they can't reach things), so she comes in and snuggles with us in the mornings, now.  I think it's sweet, Al says it's not so much when it's every morning...usually they're both still asleep when I leave in the morning during the week.

She's loving school, and doing really well.  Her teacher says that she's incredibly well-behaved, loves the other kids, and is very smart.  She's apparently very empathetic--when other kids go to time-out she'll go sit with them to keep them company.  Her language skills are amazing-using all sorts of complex linguistic stuff, we can actually hold real conversations, now.  Sort of.  She's putting together 48 piece puzzles independently, which is impressive yet terrifying.  She can "read" a few of her books (memorization, but still cool).  She's got a really big heart, and it's so amazing to watch her turn into her own person.  She's getting super independent, hates us helping her with most things.  We're changing fewer and fewer diapers, so we're getting there with potty training.  She loves the farmer's market on saturdays, the new frozen yogurt place in town, and can use chopsticks to eat sushi.  She's getting super into pretend stuff, and loves her baby dolls and pretending to be Dora.

Al is currently teaching a course at Central and finishing up stuff at UW, so he's crazy busy all of the time.  I'm busy teaching and working on my Master's, so, again, crazy busy.  But we're all doing well, loving Ellensburg, and getting by.

Loves dancing

Fishing while we were in Montana

Again, fishing.  She's a fan.

Making a silly face at dinner

Batgirl?  I have no idea.

A completed puzzle.  Solo.

Naptime with puppy.

Einstein!

Cheese-face.

Tricycle!

Here's what Rhia learned to do last night!  Pretty spiffy!

The thermometer says 98*, I think it's summertime

Rhia was really excited about her house...

I don't even really know where to begin, as it's been a good long time since I updated this, and so much has changed.  I think the biggest event of the summer is that we bought a house in Ellensburg and moved back, so we've been incredibly busy doing whatever projects we can come up with (because we can!) and adjusting to being back in a small town.  Thus far we're doing really well.  Al is teaching Summer Quarter at Central, and I'm enjoying summer vacation and hanging out with Rhia.  I'll be teaching 6th grade come this fall, which is approaching much more quickly than I expected it to.

Rhia is just doing amazingly well.  The move was a big adjustment, but she loves having a big yard to play in (that's not full of slugs and moss), and we go for walks every night to visit the horses down the road.  She's transitioned into a big-girl bed without much fuss, and we're working on the whole potty training thing.  She is sassy and disturbingly smart.  Her coolest new trick is "reading" us one of her books.  She has the whole book memorized, and will go through the whole thing with anyone who will let her.  She'll be starting at a new daycare this fall, a few days a week in the preschool room, because the two-year-old room was a bit too slow-paced for her when we checked it out.  We're pretty proud of our smarty pants.  She's started to ask us questions about things, like "what was that?" and she loves to help cook and measure out things--especially for pancakes.  We're pretty sure she's a lefty, like her mama, it seems to be the hand her crayons live in.  She's started to get really into pretend play, which is pretty cute.  She's pushing a lot of boundaries and testing us quite a bit, which is not as cute.  yay for the terrible twos.

                                               It's hot in Ellensburg...we eat a lot of popsicles. 

                                                                  Pretty, but devious.

                                                        Picking wildflowers in the mountains.

                                                                    Our little family.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

Two!

 

So this will be a very picture-heavy post, as it's been awhile since I posted, and amidst everything, Rhia turned two!  She had a great birthday....her grandma and grandpa came out from Montana for the weekend (we're still de-grandmafying), and she just loved it.  She had a great time exhausting her grandpa mark, was spoiled rotten, and got a chance to show off all of her new communication skills.  Her most recent:  "Hear that?  Hear that?" whenever she hears something.  Anything.  And until you say, "yes, I hear , she will keep asking if you "hear that?"  She's so much a person now, it's really hard to comprehend that two years ago she was this little helpless mass of baby coos and exhaustion.  I mean, she's still exhausting, but in a different way.

The big news as of late is that we are moving back to Ellensburg at the end of the month.  So, beware, Eastern Washington.  Our new house has central air, though, so hopefully no repeats of the blue popsicle picture from Rhia's early infancy.  We keep it on the fridge as a reminder of just how miserable a 1-month-old can look.


Without further ado, the pictures, as promised.  The school year is almost over, and hopefully then I can get a chance to update a little more frequently.  I'm also still having trouble with the new blogger formatting, so please excuse the poor picture organization/spacing.

Our poor dog.  Thankfully, she's a good sport.

I just really love her face in this. 

saaaasssyyy.

 Braids!  Her hair is too fine to hold them very well, but still!

Birthday Girl!

Family picture, mid-cupcake for Rhia.

They're her favorite....

Taking time from all of that new-toy glory to give a half-hearted "cheese."

Playing with the bubbles from her bubble machine.  coolest.  toy.  ever.

Almost Two? WHAT?!?!? and...Happy Mother's Day.

So, it's May.  Rhia will be two years old in about three weeks.  I'm not sure I can even wrap my brain around that.  I'm not sure I can even begin to comprehend that it's been close to three years since I found out that I was pregnant with her.  Where the heck does time go?  Al and I will have been married for five years this summer, together for almost ten, Rhia is almost two, and I'm still not completely sure how this has happened.  I mean, I know how this has all happened, of course, but you get my point.  Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana and all of that.

Anyways.  Happy Mother's Day out there to all of the moms who read this blog religiously (ha!), I hope it was an amazingly lovely day.  I've been thinking a lot about being a mom lately (I mean, more than usual), for a variety of reasons (a few of my friends are having their first babies/having second (gasp!) babies, Rhia is getting bigger and more independent, and completely separately, has also been up a lot at night, therefore I spent a lot of time awake in the middle of the night on the couch with a frightened near-two-year-old-who-keeps-having-bad-dreams, therefore I have way too much time to think.  But one can do a lot of thinking between one and four a.m., so that's what I've done.  So, some thoughts--but, be warned, they are generally pretty sleep deprived thoughts.

Being a mom is exhausting.  It's a 24 hour a day, unpaid, tiring, neverending shift.  Even if I'm at work, my phone is on in case something happens to Rhia at daycare.  If I'm not diligently assessing MAPs scores, Reading data, and (gods forbid) teaching, I'm worrying about that kid that bit her and whether or not she's going to suffer lasting psychological damage.  I'm one of the first people to leave work in the afternoon, despite this making me feel like a horrible teacher, because I can't stand being away from her for longer than I have to, so I take work home with me, and try to get it done between her bedtime and mine (there's not a huge difference there during the week, either).  I no longer use the restroom alone.  I walk with a limp, not because of an injury, but because my daughter is so distraught over me leaving her on a daily basis for work to support her, that when I'm home she does that thing kids do where they wrap themselves around your leg and won't let go.  I'm constantly lugging an extra 28 pounds around on my ankle (and I thought getting rid of the babyweight on my hips was rough).  I know all of the songs on "Dora the Explorer," and if I have that freaking "backpack" song stuck in my head again tomorrow during state test prep, I may lose my mind.  I don't go out to dinner, and if I do, my purse is full of stickers, crayons, and cheerios.  I can't carry on a full-length conversation without interruptions of "Don't jump off the chair!" or "No, we don't lick the tables in strange places." A lot of my friends just don't get it.  Because of this, I don't see a lot of them anymore.  A lot of my friends do, and I love them unconditionally for it.

But being a mom is amazing.  When I walk in the door after work, she runs up and wraps her little arms around my neck, and it's the most incredible feeling.  She's brilliant, kind, and sweet.  She can count to five in Russian (and thirteen in English), tells me all about her day, and always says "please" and "thank you."  She says "I love you, Mommy." before she goes to bed, and can sing me a few of the songs I've been singing her at bedtime since she was born.  She watches the Mariners with me every night, something her and I did while I was still pregnant with her and Al was gone nightly working on his Master's Thesis.  Except now she can chant "Ichiro" and give me five.  She even says "oh, man!" when they strike out.  She "reads."  She runs, jumps, plays, and never ceases to amaze me.  I grew her from almost nothing, and that may be the most empowering feeling.  Ever.  She is my baby.  I protect her from the scary things at night, sneak her chocolate when her daddy isn't looking (shh), and look forward to all of the mother/daughter experiences (both good and bad) that we will share in the future.  It's heartbreaking and exhausting and never easy, but it's something that I wouldn't trade for the world.  She is amazing.

So anyways.  We've been crazy busy.  Al is teaching two sections of History for Central, and is back and forth between here and Ellensburg quite a bit, I've been working nonstop and gearing up for the big state tests, and Rhia has been doing all sorts of amazing and smarty-pants things.  Everything is "mommy and baby" now (actual mommies/babies, small/big flowers, animals, etc.), counting, helping me plant flowers, attempting to ride her tricycle, talking on the phone, climbing out of the small-child containers (cribs, etc.) that are supposed to contain her, and generally growing up.  Her vocabulary has gone nuts, she's really excited to see Grandma Julie and Grandpa Mark for her birthday, and she loved visiting Uncle JJ in New Orleans over spring break.

So, some pictures, since I haven't posted them in awhile.  Sort of hodge-podged, but, cute, regardless.  Enjoy.

Jamming out with DaddyIn NOLA with Grandma and Mom

Cupcakes!/Dying Easter Eggs/checking out the Easter BasketThe favorite toy--the Tunnel/showing that Girls can both Rule and be pretty

cherry blossom time

Just quick update from the Washington Miller clan:

Rhia is doing great.  She's started putting together 2-3 word sentences, pluralizing, and adding possessive -s to some words, it's pretty spectacular.  She's also gotten pretty good at putting on her own shoes and socks, as well as putting them on her faithful puppy.  She's also gotten super into singing along with everything and parroting everything we say.  Cute, but dangerous.  She'll count to five pretty consistently, and she even wandered all the way up to seven this evening.

Al was recently offered a position as an adjunct professor for Central, so he's teaching two sections of Freshman-level history this spring, which is pretty exciting.  He's been busy writing lectures and figuring out stuff for the last week or so.

Last weekend we went and played on the UW campus to celebrate the first day of spring.  The cherry blossoms are out in full bloom right now, and it was a beautiful, sunny day, so we had a great time, and Rhia loved the "pretty flowers."  I took a bunch of pictures, testing out my new camera (Rhia dropped my last one and it broke pretty much beyond reasonably priced repair, and I needed a camera before her and i go to New Orleans to visit Uncle JJ this coming weekend).

Enjoy!

Using a mouse.  We are a house full of computer nerds.  (Grandma--this is that outfit)

Looking pretty

Family Picture

Cherry Blossoms at UW

Midwinter Break

Well, the sun is (well, was, it's dark now) shining, the rain has let up, and we've busted out the non-wool coats, so it must be getting close to spring.  Not that winter has been much to shiver about this year in Seattle, but still.  Things are going well, we're still pretty busy and Rhia is still pretty busy growing.  I've had the last week off for midwinter break, so we've kept ourselves busy cleaning/decluttering, watching the Olympics (Rhia loves the ice skating--she was "skating" around the living room today while her and I watched it), and going on family expeditions around the area.  It's been a great week, I'm a bit sad to go back to work tomorrow.

Rhia's doing really well, she's starting to count a little bit--she can get to three pretty well, but after that everything is "five," and is actually singing "twinkle, twinkle little star" to the melody once in awhile.   Not much else going on, but I wanted to put up some pictures from our time off. :)  Enjoy!  

     She loves hats, so Al gave her his Lions hat to wear one day.  I told him this was damaging, so the next day I went out and bought her a little toddler-sized Mariner's hat.  Much better.

      

You can't tell, but her hair is in an actual ponytail!

Being goofy after dinner.   Yes, that's a bib on her head.

So I'm having trouble formatting with the new blogger editor, but anyways.  Rhia and I went to Mattawa last week to visit the Sander crew and meet Beatrix.  Rhia and Elke had a great time playing together, and I had a great time catching up with Maggie.  Here they are "sharing," and below checking out Baby Bea.  Rhia thought she was pretty cool, and kept checking on her.



On Friday Al, Rhia, and I went to the Aquarium. Rhia looooved it, and ran around going "fish! fish!" the whole time. It was such a great experience for her, she even got to touch starfish and sea urchins.  She was even a good enough sport to stop for two seconds to take her picture in the jellyfish thing.  Notice that Puppy also made the trek, as he does for just about everything.  Puppy is also a good sport.