Digital Sketchbook: Grow

My Mom recently sent over a photo of the harvest in full-swing going on in Minnesota, which is the image that is overlayed in the graphic below. Harvest is my Dad's favorite time of year and if you were to talk to him for just 5 or 10 minutes about the season, you would certainly be able to tell.

I have very fond memories of harvest back when I was young. I remember one year my Dad let me help unload each truckload of corn. I diligently watched the corn flow out of the truck and into the auger, making sure to sweep any piles of corn that had fallen outside. I felt even more proud when at one point during harvest my Dad left me to go the shop to grab some more supplies and I was "in charge" of unloading the entire truck by myself. I think he had even taught me how to lift and lower the truck bed. From there on that year, I was my Dad's tag-a-long. At that time we had a Springer Spaniel named Sadie, who, like most dogs, loved a good car ride. When the corn had been emptied and Dad was ready to drive back out the the field, I would call out for Sadie and she would come running and make her jump in the truck and the three of us would be on our way again.

I have so many more sweet recollections of autumn and harvest, but I think that one is probably the one I hold closest to my heart.

 

Today's Adventure: As told by Sebastian

The last week of August I was gone on my annual company trip. As a company, we once again made our yearly goals for growth, so each full-time employee was flown out to Cabo to enjoy a little bit of relaxation after another whirlwind summer. For most people in our company, summer is non-stop chaos since that is when our actual summer camps are up and running and it's showtime. (On a side note: I can't believe I've been there 6 years now. It was my first "career" job out of college and what an amazing company it has been to work at for so long.)

Of course, our company doesn't pay for each employee's family, which is understandable, so each family or friend brought along is an additional expense. Aliyah turned the big 2 this summer which means that bringing her and Sebastian along would have been pretty expensive with flights and hotel, so we decided to save a few pennies and have Mom go solo for the first year since I've been married or been a parent. (I have to say, I'm pretty sad to see the "free" seat for Aliyah go now that she's two.) Because I was leaving my two favorite people at home, I decided to just do four days in paradise. It was the perfect amount of time to be away. Just enough to have some fun and alone time, but also enough to be incredibly happy and grateful to be back in their arms when I returned.

I often get asked by my co-workers if Sebastian can handle taking care of Aliyah for such a long time when I'm away for business trips in San Jose. And to that I never have any hesitation to say, "Of course!". Sebastian is an amazing Dad and while I miss both he and Aliyah terribly when I go away, one thing that I am very grateful for is that I know that Aliyah is in great hands with Sebastian. I never have to worry about how they're getting by. Sebastian is also great at keeping me in the loop and writing me sweet little letters like this so I can read all the fun they're having together.

Here's his letter from when I was in Cabo:

What a day,

This morning, Aliyah's sentence repetition blew me away. "Look at the little bunny, Daddy." She spoke it slowly and clearly, and I think she kept repeating it because she was so proud. We got off to a bit of a slow start because were having quite a bit of fun. Once she got in the car, she started fussing a bit about Lightning not being there. Then she fussed about you being gone.

Then more about Lightning... and a little more "Where's Lightning?" after that.

I picked her up a bit early today (since the team did well) and disaster struck immediately.

Everyday, Aliyah rushes up to me. This time she came barreling towards me like a maniac. I failed to soften her slamming into me though, and her nose bumped hard into my shoulder. It wasn't super painful and she didn't cry too much, but she had quite a bloody nose. It got on her shirt, my shirt, and she really didn't know what to make of it. She was fascinated by the taste (it was really coming out) and the color it left on the napkins.

She wouldn't look up so I had to lay her down. She didn't like that, so Ms. Monica and I assuaged her plight with some crackers.

At home, she went nuts with Nola (that's "gronola in Aliyah talk) again. I gave her some celery, but she kept asking for Nola. We played a bit and I downloaded Madagascar. At first, she was a bit spooked, but she settled into my shoulders for a bit and we watched it with few interruptions.

After that, it was Lightning Puzzle time. We also did some spelling exercises in Microsoft Word. I had her find letters and I think she's starting to get the concept of sounding out words. We'll see. Bedtime was a little challenging, but I'm committed to turning her around in the next four days. I played hard ball.

Real hard ball. I told her if she didn't stop crying I was going to take Italian Car, because Italian's don't like crying. She cried.

I look Italian Car. She lost her 'Ish, Marta. You should've heard her. I felt terrible.

I returned 10 seconds later and returned Italian Car.

She went to sleep with just one more request. Tea.

She's such a sweetheart. We miss you lots and hope your enjoying the Margaritas and Coronas. You absolutely deserve your trip.

Love,

Bastian Sauce and Aliyah Berry

Letter to Aliyah: Happy 2nd Birthday from Daddy

I'm very late in posting this (which is also why I'm back-dating it) but still wanted to do so anyway. After I had written my birthday letter to Aliyah, I thought it would be a great idea to have Sebastian write one as well. My hope is that every year until she's 18, we will both write her a letter. 

It was interesting for me to read what Sebastian wrote, because I realized as I was reading his letter that how we remember milestones can really differ from person to person. 

____________________________________

Happy 2nd birthday, Princess!

I can't believe it's been two years. Put better, I can't believe it's been ONLY two years.

Where to begin? The last year has been amazing, but it didn't really start so. I missed your first birthday because I had already driven to Arizona. I had just taken my promotion and was so worried I would be one of those Dads who wasn't around - I even told your Mom all about that fear. I did Skype your birthday party (you had it at your Godmother's house.)

I flew up the next weekend, picked up you and your Mom and we drove for two days down California and into the desert. We won't talk about the first hotel we tried to stay at in Palm Springs, but it was quite a trip. You behaved so well. We stopped at a few truck stops to watch the big 18-wheelers go by as we ate lunch. I must say that through all the moves and travel, you've been quite the sport. I can only hope you hold onto this quality as you grow.

We spent two weeks in a nice condo in North Scottsdale, right beside a beautiful open desert field and the airport. The sunsets were as beautiful as the weather was hot. But neither the heat nor the sunsets compared in intensity to the sheer joy you brought your mother and I when you started talking steps.

You had been standing for so long, just building confidence. And then you did it. On a wood floor in the middle of the condo, you took a step... then fell. And from there on out, our days were set - I came home and we got to work! Mom and I would sit on the floor across from each other and you would take 1... then 2... then 4, 5, 6 steps. Before we knew it, you were standing on your own and walking across rooms.

Settling into our apartment in Tempe was tough. We lived in a 2 story, fairly cramped and bland apartment for 8 months before we bought our house last April. You adjusted to daycare pretty well.

How you loved Mrs. Olga, your older Russian daycare teacher. And she loved you right back. When you first started talking, Olga was a very popular word! By the time we left that daycare, Olga cried. I believed her when she said you were special. The emotion was absolutely authentic, to the point where my emotions surprised me.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Let's step back...

We worked hard on lots of your learning fundamentals. ABCs came, and numbers a few months later. In between we did shapes, animals and you started needing your nighttime story time. And let's be fair - colors were very difficult for you, especially green and red. You get them now... most of the time.

At some point in Tempe, you fell in love with two things; two very big things. Trucks and Airplanes. You could spot them from so far away. Every now and then you would scream, "AIRPLANE!", and Mom and I would look into the sky. We wouldn't see anything and you'd keep yelling, and I'm telling you, each and every time, there was an airplane - a pixel in the sky, and eagle-eye Aliyah saw it!

Trucks had a similar impact. So did any type of animal. So did any type of anything really. It wasn't that you were curious (all toddlers are), but the exuberance you brought to those moments of discovery. Soon enough, you'd say "What that!?" and we'd say "cactus". And you'd remember. Just like that. Then you'd remind us that you knew by shouting "Cactus!" every time we passed one (which, in Arizona, is quite often.)

Mom and I were pretty good about the rules we set for you. We didn't want you watching alot of TV and did pretty good up until about 18 months. You loved your ABC puppies, Cars (Ligh'ping go fast!) and Dora. At this point, it's pretty much ‘all Dora, all the time’ when the TV's on.

You've fallen in love with Legos, choose a different fruit to love just about every week, and seem to have a knack for most everything you try. You’re still a bit fussy when it comes time to go to bed. Not to say that you’re not good at going into your crib. At least 5 times a night you call for your mother or I to come in for some different reason – to get your Lightning McQueen, or for water, or a book. Right now we’re simply rocking you to a calm state each night and you fall asleep.

You’re absolutely in love with the outdoors. You have been since you were a baby. The first thing that ever fascinated you were trees. Any type of tree you saw, we would stop so you could take a closer look. What’s funny about that is trees are the source of your greatest current fear.

Leaves! They stop you cold. In the pool or on a walkway, you’re never more distressed than when a leaf stands between you and your door. Your mother and I aren’t too worried. I doubt you’re leaphobia will persist.

I’m missing a lot of good memories, I know, but if your 2nd year of life leaves me with one clear memory - one I will always remember with absolute glee - it was your singing. Oh, how you sang. In the car on the way home from school, we sing each and everyday (in between games of “where’s Aliyah”). Here is a small sample of your current favorites

• ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’
• ‘ABCs’
•  ‘Happy Birthday to You’
•  ‘Yellow Submarine’ (which you learned simply from me. I don’t know that you’ve ever heard the Beatles do it)
• ‘You Make me Feel’ so… La La La La La.
• ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider’
•  ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ (You’ve replaced wheels and wipers with cows and pigs)
•  Any song from Dora
•  ‘If You’re Happy and you Know It’
•  ‘Please and Thank You’

And that isn’t even half of them. Your Mom used to say, “I sing because I’m happy.” And if that’s true, you’re one happy girl. Like all parents, that’s all we want.

I know you’re little, but I’m so proud of you; the way you grow, the way you behave, the way you sing and smile. You are a gift to us, each and everyday. Even when you’re trouble, it’s hard for me to see anything but a beautiful, vibrant little girl who loves her parents and the world around her.

Do me one favor, would you? Please keep asking “What’s that?” Keep asking “Oh, no! What’s happened Daddy?” I can’t wait to answer your questions as you come to find out who you are, and your wonderful place in this world.

Oh, and you’ve got a cannon for an arm. I’ve never seen a little girl who can throw a ball quite like you!

With all the love I have,

Your Daddy,

Sebastian

Letter to Aliyah: Happy 2nd Birthday from Mommy

Dear Aliyah,

Happy 2nd birthday to my sweet girl!



What a difference a year makes. Every day you amaze me with yet another new thing that you can do. I love watching you grow and discover things. You're so full of love, laughter and excitement for the things that are around you. You love your Daddy and me with such a strong fervor that when in our presence, you never want to let us out of your sight. While this makes it hard to get some things done or to leave you with a baby-sitter, this love that you have for us is such a special gift and one that we will always be grateful for as your parents.



The last 12 months have brought many big changes for you that you have handled well for someone so young. A year ago tomorrow, you moved from the only home you knew in San Jose, CA to the beautiful, yet vastly different climate of the desert of Arizona. Unaware at the time, you had to say good-bye to your first friends and your first daycare teachers in San Jose. Once in Tempe, it took you about a month to adjust to your new daycare teachers, but once you did, you fell deeply in love with Ms. Debbie, Ms. Alisha and Ms. Olga. Every day on the way home from daycare, you would ask about Ms. Debbie and your best friend Ethan. Seven months later, we moved you again, but this time to your first house. Like the last time, it took awhile for you to adjust (we realize now that change is tricky for you...much like it is for your Mom.), but finally this past month we've heard you talk about your new teachers and your new friends, Carter and Amelie. Such a relief for your Mom and Dad to hear!



You love your new house. From the moment you walked in, you would run through the halls and kitchen laughing. To this day you still do, and you love to have me chase you when it's time to put on your pajamas. Most nights around 7:30, I can find you running away from me naked. On the weekends, you corral your Daddy and I into your room--one of your favorite spaces--and sit us down for "circle time" and coloring.



At seventeen months you were able to say your ABC's, and a few weeks later, you were counting to 10. Around twenty months you could count to 20 and at twenty-two months you could count intermittently to 10 in German. You started brushing your teeth (mostly) by yourself around twenty-two months. You love to take charge (a trait I believe you got from your Daddy), and always let us know when you like or dislike something. Some of the most memorable phrases you've learned this year are, "Not nice," "Just walk away," "Oh my goodness", "I love you!" "Look at all the mountains (or birds, or trees.)", "I tooted" and "Lipening go fast!". You love to sing and for awhile, I think there was barely a moment in the day when you weren't belting out a tune.



You've recently become a pickier eater, but when you like something, you will eat huge portions of it. Your tastes seem to go in phases. One week you love broccoli, another week you love strawberries, another yogurt. And then suddenly you want nothing to do with a certain food, only to have it become your favorite the following week. This can make meal-times tricky, but Mom and Dad are slowly trying to teach you to, "Just try it." Sometimes this works, most times it doesn't.



You are one extremely happy and vocal girl, but if something doesn't go your way, you have mastered the art of throwing a temper tantrum. Sometimes it's a long, loud wail, other times you fall to the floor with the grace and drama of a well-paid actress. In the past couple of months, you've been introduced to short time-outs and as independent as you are, you always obey when you're told to sit down for a time out.



Bedtime has been a complete change this past year. You use to go to bed with a bottle around 8 and never made a peep until morning. You've always been such a good sleeper and still are once you actually fall asleep. We managed to finally wean you from the only bottles you took before your nap and bedtime just a couple of weeks ago, which was longer than I wanted you to have a bottle, but it made you fall asleep so much easier! As you've become older you're realizing your time is much better used to explore and have fun, rather than sleep, and with this comes nighttime calls from you every 10 minutes or so for about an hour after we put your to bed at 8. It's typical childhood requests, like a book to read in your crib, or some more water in your sippy cup, or keeping the door open or asking to be tucked in and kissed again. Your Dad and I are slowly learning how to be more firm with you and gradually the time it's taking you to wind down is dwindling. You still sleep soundly through the night, but where you once woke up around 8, you now wake up anywhere from 6:30am-7:00am. Your naps are becoming shorter as well, sometimes only being an hour to an hour and a half.



Aliyah, I'm so excited to see what the next year will hold for you. Your exuberance for little things like taking walks and watching the birds are what make you such a joy to be around. Thank you for making your Daddy and I so happy with your presence. I love you so much. You are such a beautiful little girl and a true blessing to have in our family.



Happy Birthday my sweet daughter. I'll forever love and be smitten with you.

Love,

Mommy

Lightning McQueen

Aliyah's passions seem to change monthly. This month it's Cars--specifically Lightning McQueen. Cars is the first, full-length movie we let her watch and she loved it. Her favorite part is making me skip through to each racing scene and exclaiming, "Lipening go fast!" or "Go Lipening go!"



A few weeks back, we were in Target and she spotted some pool toys of the Cars characters. I knew she was only attracted to the fact that Lightning McQueen was in the package so in order to divert her attention to a cheaper option, I took her to the toy aisle and found the cheapest toy car of Lightning McQueen I could find. It was a huge hit with Aliyah, especially since it had a button on the top that, when pressed, Lightning's tongue would pop out. Unfortunately, somewhere in the midst of taking it everywhere for the next couple of weeks, I misplaced it. When I went back to Target a few nights ago, the same toy was nowhere to be found so I settled on the next cheapest option, which had Lightning McQueen (no tongue popping feature though) and another new character from the Cars 2 movie.



Who is this second character? I didn't know at the time, but when she asked I told her it was the Italian Car. She stumbled on saying that for a couple of days, but now that I researched what that character's name actually is (Francesco for anyone who is wondering), she corrects me by saying, "No, Mommy, that's the Italian Car."



Aliyah's shoes have been giving her a blister on her right, big toe for some reason, but lucky for her they make Cars band-aids.



Daddy helped put together a little race course for the two cars this evening and she got a big kick out of it.



We figured that we should watch the second movie just so she could see this Italian Car in action. The movie is terrible. Half-way though Sebastian and I looked at one another and asked sheepishly, "How do you like the movie so far?" No response from either of us. By this time, Aliyah had also become bored and was trying to balance herself between the couch and the ottoman, and we decided to throw in the towel with this Pixar flick. Sort of disappointing. I didn't think Pixar had it in them to make that bad of a movie. Apologies to Pixar, I still love you and will drool every time I see a sequence of storyboards or hear about your newest movie. In fact, I'm already looking forward to Monster's University and The Good Dinosaur set to come out in the next few years.



For now, I'm more than happy to sit back and watch the first Cars movie (over and over and over), which is a classic in my mind. To enjoy the sentimental value I know it will hold for me years from now when I look inside a box of Aliyah's old toys and find these cars is something I'll gladly take.

Montezuma Peak

This past weekend we met up with a good friend of Sebastian's who has been in the Tuscon area for a couple of weeks training for the National Reserves. I may be wrong on that exact title...but I know it's something close. Jon was in the Army for about 4 years and is currently working in the D.C. area. He and Sebastian have been friends since high school and was also one of our groomsmen in our wedding.

When Jon invited us to come down and visit, we didn't hesitate. We all arrived on Saturday late afternoon and stayed the night in Tuscon. Then got up early on Sunday and made our way to the quaint, historic town of Bisbee, Arizona. With a toddler and two men in tow, I couldn't really do much shopping, but  I caught glimpses of so many neat shops that I would love to make the trip down there again just to look around some more.

We had breakfast at a great little place called The Breakfast Club. The service was up to par with Minnesota nice and the food was pretty tasty too.

From there Jon then took us to Montezuma Peak. It was absolutely breathtaking.





This time we took along the hiking backpack for Aliyah, which turned out to be a good idea. When Jon told us about the hike up to the top of peak I wasn't expecting the it to be so steep. I'm sure that making it to the top would have been much more time-consuming had we not Aliyah strapped to Sebastian's back. And even though Aliyah did whine a bit while in there, the view at the top was well, well worth it. 





Miles and miles of beautiful land. Some of it the U.S. and some of it Mexico. Simply stunning.



This image below fascinates me because in the middle of the photo, the straight black line is actually the immigration wall on the border of the U.S. and Mexico. It seemed a bit surreal that we were so close to such a controversial piece of land and to realize and even wonder with dismay how something so beautiful could be such a cause of turmoil for so many people. 

If there is one thing I have learned from living in Arizona a short while, it's that this state does not disappoint when it comes to nature.

Our Kitchen

This is my kitchen on its best behavior. In other words, I cleaned it in anticipation of this post.

We love this kitchen. We designed and picked everything out ourselves and this room is a true labor of love on Sebastian's part. While we brought in contractors for some items like electrical and some installation of a few of the appliances, for the most part, this kitchen was put together by Sebastian. 

There are still many little things I want to do like adding some shelves and artwork to the bare walls, bringing in some sort of moulding, adding a backsplash and painting and re-staining the movable kitchen island in the center. The rest will come gradually, I know, and I love that we can take our time. For now, it's pretty much complete and we are enjoying the fact that this is the nicest kitchen that Sebastian and I have lived in since being together. 

The farmhouse sink above is probably one of my favorite things in the kitchen. The knobs and pulls come a close second. I was able to find them online for a steal and the wheat motif on the knobs reminds me of my childhood days on the farm. 

I'm also enjoying adding in the little details like showcasing my late Grandma Kramer's drying towels, among other things.

Details like this that let me know that we are building a home-base that Aliyah and any future sibling(s) will enjoy and create memories for years to come

Little Helper

Aliyah is at the prime age right now where helping out Mommy and Daddy seems like a fantastic thing, and I am going to milk this phase for all it's worth. This is great for two big reasons. One, it keeps her occupied and prevents mischief, and two, it's awesome having a little helper for chores! Just this past Saturday we went outside on our front stone area and cleaned away all the leaves. I swept and she held the dust pan and dumped them in a bucket. I wasn't sure she would be much help, but it was the perfect job for her and I actually found myself thinking it made the job a little bit easier and a lot more fun to have her by my side.

Today, after she spent about twenty minutes jumping from the ottoman to the couch, I decided to put her to work again by helping Daddy install our built-in cabinet handles. She was really interested in what Sebastian was doing and wanted to know the whole process. She was also very intent on giving him the right tools for the job.

This weekend I finally got around to painting the living room a gray-toned blue. Up until I finished painting this room, I was feeling a little overwhelmed at all I still wanted to do with the new place, especially after a whirlwind few months of big renovations and then moving. (Have I mentioned I really, really, really, really, really dislike moving?)  But seeing the transformation of a new coat of paint is good motivation and I'm ready to keep going. My next goal is to paint the dining area a very, very light color. Right now I have two deeper hues in the kitchen and the living room, so I think I need to tone it down a bit and bring in a more subtle color.

I just realized that the below photo as our cat post right front and center. Looks like it might be time for a new one. This view of the living room shows just a hint of the built-in bookshelves/entertainment center/fireplace that we had designed in place of the old brick fireplace.

Other than giving Aliyah mini-chores, stickers are my other go-to activity for her. Stickers have helped make many plane rides bearable for this girl, and are also a good way to get her to actually calm down for a bit when needed. I usually find big 700 count packs of stickers at the dollar store, which are perfect because I'm able to let her loose and not have to worry about wasting any. She was excited to see some farm stickers since she immediately associated them with Grandpa Peters.

This girl continues to make us laugh often. She was a dancing machine today in church, and in the past few days she has figured out that if she can't get our attention by calling out Daddy or Mommy, saying Bastian and "Marna" will no doubt turn heads. She keeps us on our toes, that is for sure!

Health Kick & Green Goodness

I'm on another one of my health kicks. The ones where I work out feverishly and try to eat extremely well for about two weeks and then I just sort of fizzle out. Some days I'm all for excersising and then other days I think about having to make an effort every week of my life to maintain a certain physique and I wonder if it's really worth it. Also, I love dessert. And sweets. Especially cake. Oh, and my Mom's baking. I'm pretty sure her baking is the reason for the sweet tooth of her children and grandchildren.

But, like I said, for now, I'm on a health kick. And this time I have more at stake because I'm in on a bet with the CEO of my company, my manager and one of their friends. We each have a certain weight goal to get to before our all-company trip to Cabo San Lucas at the end of August, and whomever doesn't make their goal weight has to be the butler to the other three for the day. If there's one thing I know about myself, it's that I'm competitive. I may not always come in first, but when there's a competition on the line I excel more than if I were to just do it myself.

Lately I've been using the juicer that we received as a wedding gift as a way to get an abundance of fruits and veggies so that I'm filled up on nutritious food rather than bad. What I love is that it is so easy to use. Just wash and throw the items in. The juicer does the rest. For me, the best part about juicing is that I can pretty much use any selection of veggies that I have on hand, add some sweet fruits like grapes or an apple and it will taste absolutely delicious. Sebastian goes a little more hard-core and will sometimes make an all-veggie juice and those are harder for me to drink then the sweeter ones I make.

I've also noticed that when I juice about an hour or half hour before I run during my lunch hour, my runs are much easier. The burst of wholesome produce must be good for my endurance and energy.

Here's what I threw into the juicer today. Incredibly delicious, sweet and simply healthy.

When I first started juicing, the colors of the drinks would throw me off. I thought that something this hue would surely not taste good at all, but I was wrong. I've learned to never judge a juice by its color.

Weekend Getaway

Sebastian and I decided to take a weekend trip with Aliyah up to Northern Arizona. Making the decision to do this on Wednesday afternoon, we quickly found that almost all of the area's cabins were booked solid--many until mid-July. We finally lucked out and were able to book a nice little cabin nearby Strawberry, Arizona.

My hope was to see some scenic landscapes on our trip and going North did not disappoint. Some of the views on the drive there are absolutely stunning. Perhaps the most beautiful part was our hike to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. It was gorgeous. It's incredible to think that such a lush forest of trees and plants is only two hours away from the heat of Scottsdale.

We stayed at a place called The Cabins on Strawberry Hill, which had individual cabins on the property, along with grills, a small playground and some additional outdoor activities. Our cabin was quaint with a small little porch out front and just enough rustic charm to feel like we were getting away from the hustle of everyday life, but not completely away from it all. (Germany was playing a big soccer match, which Sebastian had to watch and there was wi-fi, which allowed me to check Pinterest, facebook and Instragram, so you can see how we couldn't quite "rough-it" too much.) We took in an evening concert in Payson, and also found a spot in the same city where the food was so delicious and the service so nice that we went there twice.

Aliyah had a great time and did pretty well on the hike with a mix of walking some parts herself and then being carried for some parts. She still loves to be outside, as well as with Mom and Dad. I think her favorite part may have been when she realized she was "helping" me pack up the car to go home on Sunday morning. We took a lot of trips back and forth to the truk (trunk) to make sure everything was in its place.

Next spots on our Arizona travel list are Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. Taking trips like that make me realize just how much beauty there is in nature that I'm unaware of. A thought that is very much inspiring to me.