Best of the Blizzard, December '08

Just a few more pictures from Last week's snow storm... All of these pictures were taken by Drew, and all are of our yard.

That's our house, peaking out from behind the Douglas Fir.
And that's our boy!
Shannon's dog Sparky, sitting in the rut created by her SUV when she exited the driveway. As is his custom, he stared up the driveway waiting for her to return for what seemed like an endless period of time. For some reason, this loyalty seemed all the more poignant, given the stark whiteness of the snow surrounding him.
Another of yard. The art studio is in the background, and the greenhouse, barely discernible, is in front of it.
Winter berries.
And one more from Snowman day!
Drew has a few more posted on his Flickr photostream, in case you're interested.

Sunday is for Snowmen

Snowman

Snow family

Silas was not certain about the snow. Too much of a good thing.

A little help...please?

Patrick was unaffected by the cold.

I'm ready to go inside now.

Despite the snow, a bird's still gotta eat. After Shannon thawed out the sugar water, we saw many a hummingbird.

Yesterday, about an hour after I emailed my parents to tell them we hadn't lost power, we lost power. We thought we were in the clear as we didn't loose power during the storm itself. Apparently, the weight of the snow eventually became too much for a tree, and it fell over a power line. Electricity was finally restored about 40 minutes ago, so we were out only about 27 hours. It could have been worse. And we still had heat, at least, and could cook. It is a drag not to have running water though. One gets used to such luxuries. Silas, in his short lifetime, has already been conditioned to assume things such as light and music should appear and occur with the flip of a switch or a push of a button. He was not too thrilled with the outage and walked around shaking his head "no" saying "power, power." At least he learned a new word.

So, for those of you in the Midwest, the snow shown in these pictures is simply typical winter weather. But for the Northwest folks, this storm was and still is a huge deal. This will come as a shock to non-Northwesterners, but we don't even own a snow shovel. Most people don't. We usually only get a few inches of snow and that usually melts away before the day is done. Not this time. This time, we've got over a foot. Drew and Patrick spent a good chunk of time using garden shovels to remove snow from the driveway. Still, my little car wasn't going anywhere today, and it's doubtful I'll make it into work tomorrow either. Only major roads get plowed (if that) and hardly anything gets sanded/salted, which means getting out of our neighborhood may be trecherous. We'll see what the morning brings. Right now, I'm just grateful for electricity. Fingers crossed, it won't go out again!

We took more pictures today as there was even more snow than seen in the pictures above. We'll post them at some point.

Saturday is for Sledding

Shannon dug up her old sled for us to use, and use it we did! We pulled Silas around the yard and then up on the trail for quite a ways. He was a very happy boy. I'll post a video from today soon.

Note, the lack-of-mittens problem we had last weekend has been remedied, thanks to a wonderfully quick pattern that I found and some leftover alpaca yarn.

Weather alert: I already missed 2 days of work this week due to ice and snow. Some time tonight, we're supposed to get more snow and a wind storm. It's the wind storm part that really has us worried. The whole island is bracing for a power outage. We've prepared the best that we can. The tub is full of water, our lantern has batteries, extra bread is baked. There's not much more we can do but wait and see... If you don't hear from me for a while, you'll know why. Two years ago, when I was 6 months pregnant, we were without power for a week. Let's hope it's not that bad and we'll have light and running water for Christmas!

The week and a half in review

Let's play catch-up, starting with today's events and working our way back a bit...
First of all, obviously, it snowed. These pictures were all taken this morning. It's our first snow of the season and since this is western WA state, it may very well be the last. So, we made the most of it.
Oooh, what is this?
Um, seriously. What. is. this. Any why haven't you made mittens for me?
And is this really necessary?
Okay. The other big thing going on today is Drew's and Patrick's art reception. Yea! Silas is resting up now from his time playing in the snow so that he'll be bright-eyed for the event.

Silas has the sniffles, but that's life. We've been running a humidifier in our bedroom, which seems to help.

And now, working our way back...We've received two Christmas presents in the mail so far. Thank you Grandparents! We are using the little table and chairs already. He has a very nice "work" area now for slicing his wooden vegetables, drawing, reading, typing on his keyboard, etc. I will have pictures at some point. The other gift will have to wait till Christmas morning...

Tuesday the 9th: Drew's birthday! A fine day indeed. I didn't get any stellar pictures of the two boys together that day, so I'm not posting any. But Silas did help his dad open his gifts, and Silas very much liked the boxes (and Drew very much liked what came in them).

Last weekend (the 6th and 7th): Drew and Patrick hung their show, which took quite a bit of time. So, Silas and I hung out together a lot, and went to several Christmas in the Country places. This is a weekend long event which takes place at various houses and farms around the island. People sell handmade goods, food, etc. There are activities like live music, pony rides, and Santa. I did point Santa out to him, but he was more interested in the water feature set up next to Santa's chair. Since we really don't care about getting a picture of him screaming his head off as we force him to sit on a strange man's lap, we took a pass on that and enjoyed the music guild's chamber ensemble. Silas LOVED that!

And finally, last Friday...Silas went to the doctor. He wailed the ENTIRE time, even though no shots were given. But other than the trauma he experienced simply by being there, the biggest issue he's facing is some eczema on his face. The doctor doesn't think it's food related, so we are just keeping it moisturized as best we can. Other than a minor cold, he is healthy and happy (when not at the doctor).

That pretty much catches us up. I'm hoping to post more frequently this week, but I make no promises :)

It looks like snow, BUT...

...it's HAIL. No kidding! We had the craziest hail storm yesterday. Never in all of our years have we seen a hail storm that poured down for 20+ minutes and coated the ground like snow.
Seriously, we couldn't get over it, so we both took lots of pictures.

Here's our welcome mat, completely covered with hail:
And here's the scene from our front porch, just 3 hours after the storm. Quite a contrast.

Well, it's been a whole week since Silas became ill. We called the after-hours nurse yesterday afternoon after another hurling episode. She basically said that we had to wait it out and let it run it's course, but there was nothing to worry about as long as he wasn't dehydrated and was eating/drinking a bit. Finally, last evening, Silas seemed really really hungry! Woo-hoo! Today, I am happy to report, was vomit-free. His appetite still comes and goes, but he is starting to eat better, though we are still restricting his diet to bland foods. Anyways, let's hope he's finally over this yuckiness!

Head Shoulders Knees & Toes

Head: Silas and mom survey the damage from our recent storm while dad snaps a few pictures. Our road was completely flooded during the storm but mom's car managed to traverse several feet of gushing water on Monday to make it home safely. And it wasn't just our road. In Silverdale, where mom works, many streets and parking lots were completely flooded. Salmon actually swam across the main thoroughfare, Silverdale Way, when their stream flooded!



Shoulders: Rides on dad's and mom's shoulders are a new experience for Silas. He loves being up that high and also enjoys the opportunity to get in some good hair pulling.










Knees: Silas isn't crawling yet, but he REALLY wants to. He lunges forward from a sitting position onto all fours, then promptly flops over. It is frustrating to him that he is so intellectually ready to explore, but isn't quite physically capable. The more he practices though, the closer he gets (mind you, mom and dad really aren't complaining that he still isn't too mobile). As you can see from the picture, he really can balance on those knees nicely.

Toes: Post-bath is a perfect time to play with those toes! Actually, bath time is a great time to play with them too. Silas loves to grab onto both toes while in his bath chair, and then throw them both down into the water and splash. Mom is often just about as wet as Silas is by the end of the bath!

That's our boy, from head to toe!

First Snow

Snow is a rare treat here in the Puget Sound Region. Usually, we only get a tiny bit, perhaps a few times a winter, if that. Silas got to experience it for the first time yesterday afternoon. How beautiful it was, and Si had so much fun! We've posted a video as well (below). Like the other videos of Silas that we've posted, this one is an "old school" home movie as our little camera has no sound capabilities. So, do not attempt to adjust the volume on your computer when you play it. Just enjoy!

Let It Snow

Baby's first power outage

Well, technically, Si's first power outage happened when he was still in the womb--1 whole week without electricity last December. But now he's experienced first hand how dependent mom and dad are on electricity. We lost power Thursday, around 5 pm due to a windstorm, and just got it back this morning. Thankfully, we have heat while the power's off, but no water, which is most unpleasant. Mom and Dad really hope to go solar some day! Power outages are a fact of life out here, so Silas will get used to it fast!

Rainy Sunday

Dad was originally planning on going to Seattle today to work on some photos at the Photographic Center. But heavy rainfall (surprise surprise) nixed that idea, and we all decided to hang out together at home instead. Rainy days aren't so bad, right Silas?

COOL Summer Stylings with Silas

Yes, that's right, Midwestern readers, it really has been "hat and sweater" cold here this week. At least Silas got to show off one of his handmade sweaters, and try out his 12-month corduroys and sweatpants, which all fit rather nicely on this almost 5-month-old. Now, thankfully, warm weather is upon us again, and it's back to onesies and short-sleeve rompers for the time being...