Tons of news!

It's been a long time since I've put photos online because our camera broke since our last beach trip. I've got a few now so this will have to do.

From July - Sept '10

Odin playing with his friend Armstrong, from school.

From July - Sept '10

Freya with Maya (Rachel's daughter).

My cousin Rachel and her husband Kevin brought Maya, their daughter, down to Eugene and saw us for a few hours. They played together at our house and it was really cute. Odin was really good to both kids.

Freya had her shots today. She took 'em like a champ and all day she's been energetic and smily so go figure that one out. She's also walking now! She can make it a pretty fair distance but she loves to take off and run, which is too fast yet so she trips a lot. I'll get it on video when I can solve our camera situation. I got Odin walking the second time he ever did it so I hope I can find a good video soon. There might be one on Alyssa's phone and I just have to copy it, so I'll look into that later tonight.

Odin is doing well. He seems taller somehow..... He gets smarter every day, too. We're going to start trying to get him to read soon.

We did another phonebook delivery job this summer. Torture, as usual, but the extra cash will help. Now we're both just studying for our future classes and tests and hoping all goes well. School search is still going, University of Washington (Seattle) is looking good at the moment.

We're just enjoying our summer and movin' along....

Bowling!

We've had a fun weekend. Yesterday we helped Jason and Emily move some stuff around so they could get new furniture in their place, and we got to hang out with them which was really nice since we barely saw them during our classes. Emily gave us a Raw Foods cookbook and we've been making everything we can think of; almond cheese, pumpkin breakfast pie with pecan crust, macadamia nut ricotta, etc. Most of it requires a dehydrator so we got one of those and we're gonna try to make some salmon jerky soon.

Today we met Emily (different one), Ryder, and Kim for bowling! It was really fun. The kids used this ramp-like thing that they set the balls on and then push instead of throwing, they actually got over 60 points each! Totally fun for Odin too.

We've put Odin's crib back together with one piece missing so there's an opening. It's pushed up next to our bed. Freya doesn't sleep in her own bed, and she keeps us awake all night, so this is a middle ground. If she's on her own, she doesn't wake up as much (maybe once or twice a night) but we can never get her to her pack-and-play. With the crib right next to our bed, we can just slide her over after she falls asleep, and she's in her own little bed but still near enough to us to sense that we're there. We're trying it tonight, hope we get some sleep!

Fun and growth

Freya is almost walking. Her record is 4 steps without falling afterwards and every day she tries several times. She also has a few words and she's finally started saying "mama" pretty clearly. Since she's not sick and not getting any teeth and we've got no homework to worry about (after Friday) which is a collection of criteria which have never all been true at the same time, we're going back to helping her learn how to sleep in her own bed.

Odin's been having fun. He had a play-date at Armstrong's house on Monday and he gets to go to school with June because we're taking her until her mom gets a new bike.

Alyssa and I have our final exams on Friday, then we're free for the summer (except for my Greek lessons). It'll be nice having some vacation, and we're excited for our Fall term classes. We also just settled some paperwork with the U of O about our financial aid and we'll have a bit of money to help live.

For now, we're making a list of all the cool stuff we're going to do with our free time. When Alyssa gets her sight running, I'll be sure to link it here.

I've also got a lot of pictures to upload so I'm sure I'll put that on my to-do list for the summer. :)

Walking!

That's right, we caught Freya walking for the first time today! She's been able to get to standing without holding anything for quite a while, and she was actually pretty frustrated the past few days because she wants to walk so bad. Today she managed two steps, then stabilized herself, and then sat back down. Not much, but she's on her way. Unfortunately all our camera's are broken so I'm trying to secure a temporary one before she really gets going. We also noticed she can get right up stairs when she wants. (Even up to Odin's bed, which is waist level for an adult!)

She had a check-up today. Came in at 27.5" (30%) and 20lbs 15.8oz (75%) and was in great health according to the doctor.

Freya has her own words for stuff, which you learn when you spend enough time around her. Her communication is really impressive. She also knows how to clap and will do so when you start singing the right songs. She can high five when prompted, and knows how to click her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

As for the rest of us, Odin is doing fine as well. He's just started being home with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It's cheaper for the child care costs, but it's also really fun because it's like having extra weekend days with him in the middle of the week. We think he's headed for a growth-spurt soon as well.

Alyssa has Mastitis again, bad fever and general icky-ness going on, but she's getting through it. Summer classes are almost out for both of us, so all we'll have is my Greek lessons. Alyssa is trying to finish up her portfolio and websites so she can be applying for positions. She actually just submitted her resume for the senior sound engineer at 343 Industries, part of Microsoft working on a Halo game project! We'll see how that pans out. She says that, even if it doesn't, it's still nice to try and it's better to be rejected for something huge than to apply for something small and feel like you didn't try.

I still have some pictures (such as those from a beach trip or two) that I've been lazy busy about getting uploaded, but soon enough....