Friday, October 23, 2009

At last!


Caught in the act! Geagen breaks into the cheerios in the diaper bag.

Geagen pauses for a moment to pose for picture while committing the theft of cheerios.

Geagen trying her best to look innocent.
Who could it possibly be?

Peekaboo!

Geagen Grace Wood at 15 1/2 months.

Such a pretty girl! And so grown up!

Geagen poses for the camera with her toy windmill.

I'm finally back after 5 1/2 months of not blogging (no I don't have a good excuse) and I have lots to catch all of you up on but I don't have time tonight (I am canning applesauce in the morning at Robin's house) except to tell you that Geagen is walking, RUNNING, singing, reading, has 9 1/2 teeth (another molar should break through any day), eats with a spoon, shakes hands, plays with her shape sorter incessantly, moos (anything large with 4 legs is considered a cow and appropriately mooed at), blows kisses and loves the kitties ("Killty, killty, killty...SPIKE!" - that is a direct quote from Geagen, it is really cute to watch her pet Badgley, Mischka and Spike, she really loves the kitties. She was weighed, measured and even had her H1N1 vaccination toady so her stats are: 26.75 lbs. and 31 7/8" (personally I would just say 27 lbs, and 32" and call it good but you know how accurate those medical people insist on being) I have lots of pictures from earlier this summer and even a video of Geagen's first steps (I think...it happened while I was getting my hair done.) so I will be working on catching up with the old stuff as I blog about all the new and exciting things in the Wood household.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Our Trip to Sunny California!


Geagen and her Uncle John

Geagen is fascinated with Uncle John's sunglasses

We definitely had a whirlwind trip to visit Grammy Ann and Grandpa Dick but we had so much fun while we were there. Grammy Ann and I drove to Grass Valley to meet Uncle John for lunch and a visit. He hadn't seen Geagen since Thanksgiving so it was nice for them to visit. Geagen is now much more exciting than she was at Thanksgiving so I think Uncle John enjoyed her a little more now that she can sit up, eat solid foods and make funny sounds.


Geagen smiles for the camera

Silly girl!

Shopping at Wal-Mart with Great-Aunt Barbara and Grammy Ann
While we were in Oroville we were able to visit Great-Aunt Barbara and also introduce Geagen to a time-honored tradition of lunch at Taco Bell followed by shopping at Wal-Mart. It's true- we do live on the edge! We had fun visiting and hearing all about Great-Aunt Barbara and her family.

Great-Nana Chamberlain gives Geagen kisses
Geagen and Great-Nana Chamberlain share a bonding moment
Geagen and I were able to go to lunch with Great-Nana Chamberlain while we were in town. We went to Charlie's and Great-Nana was amazed at how well Geagen behaved herself during lunch. After lunch we went back to her house for a visit and some pictures together. I'm glad Geagen is able to get to know both of her great-grandmothers.

The Shetland ewe and lamb at Chaffin Family Farms
Grammy Ann, Joshua and Geagen pose for a picture in the pasture at Chaffin Family Farms

Fluff the birthday chicken wears her party hat for the occasion
Grammy Ann and I took Geagen out for a visit at the Albrecht's house (aka: Chaffin Family Farms) and had lots of fun. We visited with Carol and Kurt and also celebrated Fluff and AJ's second birthday with Joshua. Fluff wore a little green crocheted hat that was made especially for this occasion. I must say she looked rather fetching. Joshua took us out into the pasture and showed us his Shetland ewes and their new lambs. They are rather skittish so we had to admire them from afar.


A rare picture of Mommy and Geagen

Geagen loves baby Rorie
Peaches and baby Rorie
It was a lot of fun to catch up with my friend Peaches who drove up from Modesto to visit. She brought her daughter Rorie and it was fun to see our girls together even with the age difference (Rorie is 8 weeks old). Big brother Finn had a cold so he stayed home. It's still weird for me to see people who I grew up with children- Peaches and I have known each other since we 6 months old. She is a wonderful mother who makes it all seem so effortless. Rorie is a little charmer with the sweetest face. She looks so much like her Aunt Katey. She is precious! I'm so glad we were able to meet up and hope to make these visits more regular as our families grow up. I think it's so neat to be able to introduce my daughter to people who've known me all my life and hope she enjoys meeting them too.

Rusty and Geagen are friends at last!
Geagen was terrified of my parent's dog Rusty when she first arrived. He's not at all aggressive but he barks when he gets excited. We don't have a dog and Geagen hasn't really been exposed to dogs because nobody we know has them. Geagen is friends with our cats and wants to pet all kitties but to her a dog might as well be an elephant to her so it took some time for her to get used to Rusty. After a few days she realized that he really was harmless and just wanted to give her kisses. He also hoped that she would scratch his belly but she didn't quite figure it out. Maybe next time Rusty.

Geagen and Grandpa Dick read a book
Geagen and Grandpa Dick were able to bond while we were visiting. Like Uncle John, Grandpa Dick also hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving and was amazed at how much she has grown and changed. He was a little overwhelmed by all the crying- poor Geagen had a rough time adjusting initially and was rather emotional to say the least. She did get accustomed to my parent's house and her surroundings after a few days. Once she settled in it was a little easier for them to play and spend time together.
We've been home a full week now and are catching up on all the excitement (aka: housework) that we missed while we were gone. Jon did an excellent job of being a bachelor and even cleaned the house too. He did lots of work in yard and it really looks nice. I can't wait to see what everything looks like once the yard fills in this summer. It was fun to go and visit but it's even nicer to be home.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter!


Geagen is all ready for church in her Easter dress

Geagen demonstrates that she can even crawl in a dress
Geagen is more interested in the grass than taking pictures for Mommy- do I sense a recurring theme here?

Geagen reaches for her Easter basket

Geagen examines her bounty from the Easter Bunny
Oh the joy of posed holiday pictures! I try and remind myself that one day she will see her baby albums and appreciate all of the memories that have been diligently documented on her behalf but right now she's just not that into is so I've learned to take what you get with these photo sessions sometimes. Geagen was a good sport for the outdoor pictures seeing as how she was exhausted from church. Geagen is still too young to truly appreciate Easter and all the joy that the Easter Bunny brings but I enjoyed myself and made sure that she looked her Easter best and was fully accessorized as far as babies go. I think next year that she will need a little Easter purse and hat though. Anyway, the Easter Bunny (you never know if she reads this or not but I don't want to be the one that shatters her dreams) filled her personalized basket and made sure that there were lots of fun things for her to find. She especially liked her bubbles and toothbrushes. We had fun playing with those this afternoon. We had Jon's mom and sister over for Easter dinner and had a nice time as a family. Jon made an excellent North Carolina style mustard glazed ham and we all enjoyed the good food. All in all it was a good day.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Ode to a Guinea Pig


Trigger lounges around in her cage
On this past Friday morning the Wood family mourned a sad loss in their extended furry/feathered family, Trigger the guinea pig passed away peacefully in her cage at the ripe old age of 2 1/2 years. She will be sorely missed by all of us. It is already eerily quiet downstairs (that's a considerable feat when you figure that Mischka's meow alone can wake the dead- no pun intended) without her inevitable squeals of desire whenever anyone rustles a plastic bag- she was quite convinced that these crinkling bags would contain hay- one of her most favorite treats in the whole world. She also brought joy into our world when Grandpa Lancaster was alive and would look forward to a section from his daily orange every morning like clockwork. She was a sweet little creature and we miss her.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

9 months old!


Geagen grins at the camera

Geagen tries to crawl away from Woolamina and the photo session

Finally a cute smile for mommy


It's hard to believe that we have managed to keep Geagen alive for 3/4 of a year already. Time sure does fly. Geagen went in for her 9 month check-up today and she officially weighs 23.0 lbs,. and is 29.0" long. She is still a big, tall, healthy girl. Dr. Travis says she is right on track developmentally which means she's supposed to throw fits on daily basis. I guess I can just chalk up the crankiness to teething and plain old development. I also just realized that I forgot to mention that Miss Geagen is the proud possessor of 2 very cute and very sharp teeth (on the bottom). I would post a picture of her cute toothy smile but she won't open her mouth for anything other than food. I'm just glad she still takes 2 naps a day so I last have a passing shot at sanity. We still have lots of fun together and I will be sure and pass on any exciting news (crawling, walking, new teeth) to her adoring public when it happens.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Grandma Ann'sVisit


Grandma and Geagen snuggle on the couch

Grandma Ann feeds Geagen lunch

Grandma Ann brushes Geagen's hair

Grandma Ann plays on the floor with Geagen

So I'm finally bloggin about my mom's visit in February. Yes-I'm aware that it is April now. In fact I just looked at my pictures and realized I only took 1 picture of Geagen in March. Sad I know but life has been busy around here. Even though we are super busy these days our lives are tragically boring. Geagen is desparately trying to crawl and hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet. She keeps getting her legs stuck under here and then she freaks out. She can get around but it's mostly a mixture of the army crawl and scooting on her butt. It's funny to watch but it gets her a few places- thankfully not any long distances. She is also learing how to feed herself which makes things interesting. She loves Cheerios (just like her Mommy and Grandpa Dick- it's in her blood) and picking things up from her high chair tray. Jon has been busy helping fence our pasture in order to put a cow in it. Soon we will have a Black Angus heifer living in it and hopefully a calf in the spring if all goes according to plan. Jon has also been planning and planting our vegetable garden as well. I promise pictures when there are more exciting things to look at. During spring break Jon and I were able to get away for a night in Boise sans baby. We went to the Anniversary Inn which is a bed and breakfast with themed rooms. We chose the "Sultan's Palace" that had life-size elephants coming through the walls. Other than that, Geagen and I are looking forward to our upcoming visit to California in a few weeks and I'm sure Jon is looking forward to the peace and quiet.
Back to Grandma Ann's visit. It was fun to visit with her and for her to get to know Geagen better. They hadn't seen each other since Thanksgiving and Geagen wasn't a whole lot of fun back then. She was kind of a lump- but a cute lump nonetheless. Geagen showed her all of her tricks- eating solid foods, rolling over, sitting up, etc. and Grandma Ann was thrilled. We also did some shopping because Geagen didn't have enough clothes (okay we just needed an excuse to go to Target and they have super cute baby clothes) and some super cute summer clothes that I can't wait for her to wear. Since Jon was gone for most of that week it was just nice to relax and not have to worry about anything boring like ironing or making lunches. We're glad Grandma Ann was able to come and are looking forward to her visit when she comes here with Grandpa Dick for Mother's Day weekend.

Badgley loves Geagen


Badgley headbutts Geagen

Badgley is very interested in Geagen

Badgley lets Geagen gently pet him

Badgley waits patiently for Geagen to lose interest in the shelves
My sweet little 11 1/2 year cat Badgley has finally decided that this noisy stinky creature that we call a baby really isn't so bad after all. At first Badgley was terrified of Geagen and afraid that she might hurt him. When you're only 9 pounds or so a baby can do a lot of damage so he was probably smart to stay away. Mischka originally thought that the baby was the cat's meow and couldn't get enough of Geagen scratching her back for her. Then Geagen decided that this was so much fun that she would screech with delight while petting Mischka and Mischka decided to head for the hills. The cutest part all of this is that this has been all Badgley's idea. I'm very surprised that he has been brave enough to lay upside down on the floor while waiting for Geagen to notice him. Now that Geagen has made such a good friend in Badgley and he is willing to stick around when I'm holding her now she has become obsessed with Badgley's tail. So far she has been unsuccessful in her attempts. Badgley is grateful for this.


Monday, March 9, 2009

Spacing?!?!

Something seems to have gone haywire with the spacing in my most recent posts. I always put spaces between the last picture and the text as well as in between paragraphs but am having no luck. They disappear once I publish the post! Has it been so long since I last posted that I've forgotten or is there some evil widget out to get me? One never knows.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

At Long Last!


Sittin' pretty

Geagen shows us her happy side
Geagen models one of her church dresses- she looks thrilled to be there

Geagen indulges in an invigorating bubble bath

This duck tastes great mom! Do you have the recipe?
So it's been a little while since I've posted. It seems that life has gotten in the way once again. Things have finally settled back down and are slowly returning to normal. Jon has been travelling extensively for the past 6 weeks and is home with us until the end of the school year in May. Grandma Ann came up for a visit a few weeks ago- pictures to be posted in the near future. There really isn't much news except for me getting a hair cut- same style just hadn't been cut in 8 months (I was still pregnant at the time) so I was in desperate need of a trim. I also went out and got some fantastic new jeans and got to get out of the house without little miss Geagen to have a child-free shopping trip with my friend Dawn. Jon picked out some new glasses and I'm doing the same on Tuesday. I did a little bit of browsing the selection already and can't decide between a swirly magenta pair or black and white glasses with cut-out temples.
It's kind of sad when you think that as busy as we have been that we probably lead the most boring life in existence. Today for example Jon and I read the ads for the local case-lot sales at the grocery stores and debated the merits of various types of food for our food storage as well as comparing prices. As if that wasn't stimulating enough we took apart our vacuum together since it wasn't working this evening. We discovered that with our purple dyson you're supposed to wash the filter every 6 months. We didn't get the memo- it'd never been cleaned in the 2 years we've had it. We also went to our niece Mikayla's 8th birthday party in Boise yesterday and took advantage of the opportunity to do a little shopping while we were at it. We ended up getting a new stereo so we can plug in Jorge (the ipod) and also listen to the radio with both speakers. Our old boom-box was dying a slow death one speaker at a time. We also looked at cordless phones and answering machines (you didn't believe me when I said boring did you?) and had no idea of all the complexities involved in making such a purchase- multiple handsets?, digital or analog?, color display? It was ultimately decided that it would be best to put off said purchase until more research had been completed. So that's our a life in a nutshell. More to follow as it unfolds.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

We're Back!


Geagen and her daddy

Geagen in her polar bear outfit- quit possibly my most favorite outfit ever

Geagen tries to find her happy place unsuccessfully

Geagen wears her serious face with her new dolly from Iler & Wilma

It has been a crazy month or so since I last blogged. The sad part is that while we have been super busy we haven't really done much. Jon has been in and out keeping himself busy at the middle school in addition to travelling a great deal on school business. We have also been refinancing our house and it seems like I have been making phone calls left and right to get everything straight with the lender and title company- in between the meltdowns of course. It's sad when one of the highlights of your week is getting baby food on sale at Albertson's. Not only was it 10 for $4 but I saved a grand total of $49.52 on all of my groceries for the month. The funny part about our life these days is that we are so busy with appointments and other commitments that I was going to call and invite some friends over for dinner the other day until I looked on the calendar and realized that there only 4 nights in February that we didn't have anything going on so the entertaining will be put on hold until March when things settle down.
Geagen has had a rough month and I hope and pray that this phase will pass soon. Separation anxiety has set in and there seems to be no way to avoid the all the tears. I'm actually kind of torn with all of this drama- part of me desperately wants to get away for just a minute (that's really all I want) to go and do dishes, laundry or just be by myself. Poor Geagen gets so upset and I feel bad that she thinks I'm leaving forever so now I just keep her where she can see me. She's so broken up about all of this that she has lost the will to jump in her jumperoo unless someone is right next to her. Jon and Robin have been especially wonderful during this phase- it's not uncommon to pass her off to one of them after a long day for a short break. The other drama with Geagen is that she still sleeps completely swaddled which is fantastic because she's all snug and secure and sleeps for 12 hours straight (most nights) but she won't sleep without being swaddled so we are trying to figure out how to gradually wean her off her swaddling blanket. The only problem with this plan is that Geagen has a cold and has become even more clingy and she doesn't feel good and is just miserable which means any sort of change is bad and therefore must be put on hold until the sniffles are gone.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Long Anticipated Jumperoo Footage


Geagen with Woolamina at 6 months

Geagen has her mouth open ready to eat her fingers- so not surprising

Geagen likes her ball from Great Aunt Barbara and Great Uncle Paul

Geagen is clearly deep in thought



I'm not entirely sure why this is sideways but it took 10 minutes to upload so it's staying.

I have finally taken some new pictures of Miss Geagen Grace and am amazed at how much she has grown and changed in the last 6 months. I took her for her 6 month check-up today and she weighs 18 lbs. 6 ounces and is 27 1/4" long. She's in the 90% for height and weight. She's a healthy girl with an even healthier appetite. Her favorite food of the moment is pureed pears but could be replaced at any time by another fruit or vegetable.

She is just starting to sit up by herself and is even playing with toys while sitting. This a very good thing. Maybe I can leave the room for a minute or two to do laundry or dishes and not have her scream. I figure as long as she's looking at the floor I can't some stuff done around the house. She also really likes her jumperoo and does a funny little dance when she jumps- it's really quite cute- even if it is sideways.