More proof that I'm insane.

I cut my hair. Drastically. And all by myself. I quite like it though. It kind of looks like I dyed it red in this photo. I may just go ahead and do that.


In other news, we went camping. The spot was near Umpqua Lighthouse, in Winchester Bay. That's Oregon, for those of you not in the know.


We camped on Lake Marie, a small lake about a mile around, and full of trout that evaded us the entire time.


Our campsite was "cozy". The Loud Family stayed next door. Here we are setting up camp.



Someone didn't help. She just sat there smirking.


Tania had her own little tent. She's so brave. I'm such a wuss that I had to wake Joey up to pee with me at night.


Someone also thought 5 a.m. was a good time to wake up.


Here's the breakfast crowd.


Someone ate all of the sausage.


Tania and Tutu did some bonding.



And at some point, Tania got really tired of having to pose for the camera.








Someone never tires of getting her photo taken.


Tania did find her true love on the camping trip, though.



And Someone got in a lot of walking and exploring.


No, you're the man.


We looked and looked and looked in the woods for fairies, but they totally hid from us. They can be such a-holes. We know they were there though, because we found their hiding spots.




I think Tania got her fill of helping with Lu. She's over it for a while.


She also insisted on folding her tent up all by herself and protested about my uncoolness when I had to take a photo.


Back to civilization.

My baby walks.

Finally. And thank God, because I was getting really tired of people's comments and questions. "Why doesn't she walk yet?" "Ohhh, my grandson was walking at seven months." "What does the doctor say?"


So I think it all made me go temporarily insane. I started making up reasons why my baby didn't walk yet.

EXAMPLE ONE:

Lady: Wow, she's huuuuuge. How old is she?
Me: 14 months.
Lady: Oh, she's not walking yet?
Me: No.
Lady: Ohhh...I thought they started walking by one year.
Me: Oh, well, it's because of The Accident.
Lady: Oh?
Me: Yeah...her um, dad, uh...threw her down the stairs. She's paralyzed from the waist down.
Lady: Oh my gosh!

At this this point, Joey walks up and picks up Talula and says, "Here's your daddy, Lula!" Lady looks horrified. Then Joey puts her down and she stands up for a while.

Me: Oh my God! It's a miracle! She can stand! She can stand!

Joey looks confused. Lady shakes her head and walks away.

EXAMPLE TWO:

Lady: What a chubby little thing! How old?
Me: 5 months.
Lady: Only 5 months!? Wow!
Me: Yeah, she was 15 pounds when she was born.
Lady: Oh my God. That's amazing! And she's crawling? Wow, just...wow!
Me: Yeah, I was the same way. So was my other daughter.

EXAMPLE THREE:

Lady: You cute little chubby thing! How old are you?
Me: 29.
Lady: Oh, ha ha. No, how old is the baby?
Me: Oh. 14 months.
Lady: Well, does she walk yet?
Me: No.
Lady: Hmmm...well, I'm pretty sure she should be walking by now.
Me: Ohhh...yeah, well see the thing is, she's really, really, really stupid.
Lady: What?
Me: No, I'm serious. She's really stupid. My other daughter was never that stupid.
Lady: Really?
Me: Yeah, watch this. Talula. Talula. What's two plus two? See? I mean, who doesn't know what two plus two is? Stupid. Stu. Pid.
Lady: You can't be serious.
Me: What do you mean? Don't you know what two plus two is? Watch this. Talula. Talula. Who is the president? Yeah, see that? Everyone knows that. Stupid.
Lady: Uh, this is weird.
Me: Yeah, tell me about it.

Our morning walk

Lu and I like to take a walk in the morning to say hello to all of her friends. This is Morning Lu, ready to face the day, armed with a smile and a bag full of cuteness, no one can stand in her way.


We say hello to her chicken friends. They like to peck at things in the vineyard.


Hello, rooster friend. He looks for hawks while the hens get their pecking on.


These hen friends are new-ish and have not been socialized with the other chickens yet. Tonight. Big night. Party in the hen house.


We say hello to Lu's piggie friends. They're busy sleeping and cuddling.


Some of her horsie friends are grazing.


One of them stares at us blankly.


And then there's these guys.



We see a couple of her doggie friends.


And a couple of her moo-cow friends. Moooooooooooooooooooooooooo, we say to them.


Poor little Lu has thrush, and so I can't eat these lovelies.


And that's our morning walk.

By the way, my girl can wear pigtails now.

Oh my God. I'm back in blog world.

Yay. I'm finally hooked up to the internets and found my camera cord. Obviously, I can't catch up completely or I'd bore myself to death, but here are some things we have been doing lately.

Eating dirt:


Going to the Oregon Country Fair. My brother Bryan and some handsome devil named Joey. Yes, my brother dresses like that all the time.


Joey pulling Tania.


Talula looking adorable.


We've also been working to get the barn built. In July, we started laying concrete. Big job. I'm glad I have a baby. Otherwise, they might have asked me to help. Instead, I was on photo duty. I must have taken a hundred (yawwwwwn) photos, but here are just a few.

From left to right, Jim, Some Guy, Some Other Guy, Bryan (crouched down), and Joey. They're leveling the concrete.


From left to right, Bryan, Joey and Jim. They're shoveling excess concrete out.


With some of the excess, we made personalized stepping stones. Here is Tania, handprinting the Aiston stone.


My dad and mom, enjoying a *gasp* beer??? What kind of vineyard is this? For shame.


My dad writing his name in the finished cement.


Tania making things out of excess concrete.


Tania and Talula drive the tractor now. Totally safe.


Been trying to work sometimes. It was kind of doable for a while, but then Lu decided she wants to try to walk all the time now, so now it's really hard unless she's asleep.


And the latest thing that we've been up to...recovery from this incident. 3 plums + 1 peach = diarrhea for days.


Will check in regularly from here on out.