the house....Before...

We are still in the "before" stage. Just getting things started. But I thought I would post some pictures of what it looks like now.

Johari looking out the window from the downstairs "rec" room

Upstairs bathroom

Master bedroom with hot tub out on the deck...won't be a bedroom for us

A Bedroom

Another Bedroom

The deck out back

Front door

Kitchen

Dining and Living Room Space

Downstairs "Rec" Room

Garage

Downstairs bathroom and laundry

Front yard

I didn't take a good picture of the backyard which I love. It has at least one apple tree that is still full of rotting apples that didn't fall for some reason. The birds and squirrels are loving them. I am not sure how to take a good picture of a small room.
I have been taking down the one wall of wallpaper in the entry way. And Stacy took down an oogly border in one of the bedrooms.
I can't wait to move in. I really like the space. It feels good. And it will feel even better when we get the ceilings done and paint it and do the floors. I would like to do some other things but we'll see what is affordable when we get the basics done. Exciting stuff. Johari keeps asking me if the house is fixed yet. Every time we talk about the house or go there, she asks me if it is fixed. She must be ready to live there too. I asked her what colors she wants our bedroom to be...black and white. I don't know that I can hang with that color scheme. It might make me dizzy!

teddy bear shorts and bubble bath

She has been wearing a tank top around even when it is chilly out. And these are a teddy bear's shorts. They just barely fit over her little butt but she made them work!!! Unbelievable.

One Ponytail do!

First Bubblebath!!! Fun. Making bubble beards.

And eating bubbles!!

Smile on, sweetness!

Did you know that?

Tutu Magoo

Flour Girl

Johari really likes to play with a bowl of flour and a spoon. Great fun spreading it around and swirling and making designs.

Mama on the shiatsu massage machine

Johari has been exploring Grandpa's massage machine. She and I were trying it out as well as baby dolls.

She loves it when public bathrooms have chair accommodations for the kiddos

Taking out Grandma's braids to ring in the new year.

Learning the mechanics of a vacuum with Grandpa

Johari with her new (resale shop) fairy cabbage patch doll

I totally tried to resist the cabbage patch doll when we were in the resale shop but then I gave that up for some cheap fun. She was totally into this doll. She undid her twisted ponytails. And loved the fairy outfit that is so much like her fairy costumes.

We also got this lucky find in the resale shop. Mr. Potatohead and Junior Potatohead!!!

A cool feelings game that her Uncle Doug got her. She doesn't seem to be lacking in the ability to talk about feelings, but it can't hurt to have even more things to look at to talk about feelings.

In fact, last night I was upset about something. And Merlin (our big dog) slipped and hurt himself the other day so he has been crying when he moves certain ways. So when I got upset and sad, Johari said, "Are you like Merlin?"

Johari's new sparkle shoes

Johari and Merlin in the back seat of the Honda

Johari and Spiderman...another cheap resale find that she was fascinated by. He looks a little like a Spiderman Yogi sitting in meditation.

Johari has been having a whole lot of fun practicing her "mean" faces. It cracks her up, really. It cracks me up, too.
She found some lacing toys that I had waiting around for the right time for her. And she got really into them. She calls it "kneating" like knitting. The way she ends up looping the stuff around has a part that looks like a strap so she calls her creations purses or collars for the dog.
Her new line after telling me all kinds of stories and thoughts and anything that might pour out of her mouth is, "Did you know that?" And then she tells me something else and "Did you know that?"
We are nearing the diapers end. I thought we were there for a few days. No diapers or wetting at night even, but that was followed by some night pees. When I thought we were done with diapers, it was a very cool thought. Not needing to carry those things around anymore. But I am patient and we don't need to carry them around during the day so I don't even have to schlep around the backpack if I don't want to. It means I slack on carrying the snacks often but how nice not to always be attached to a backpack full of stuff. And when we are out we still often have to visit a public bathroom many times before she is really ready to use it.
She just discovered the fun in wearing a pillowcase in many different ways. Primary way is to walk around with a pillowcase over her legs and tied around her waist. Then last night she tried it a shirt. And then it was a head dress and she called herself an "African girl". Then she said she was carrying water on her head and would I like some?
Fun times.

clippage

Here Johari is nursing her baby and then pretending that her baby bites her nyo-nyo and telling the baby that she can't do that.



Helping Grandpa fix the vaccuum cleaner



Baby doll massage

JUST

I will hear Johari saying something at times and respond with, "What was that?", figuring that she is talking to me. She tells me, "I am just talking to Ahdji-Oudjou!" Like I should butt out of this one. Or "I am just talking to myself!" She is singing and I try to join in or inquire about what song it is, "I am just singing!" If she is up to something that I might ask her not to do, she comes up with some "JUST" explanation.
She likes to sing. Sometimes she makes up her own songs about things. Often she sings "I am a little Tea Pot". If she sings the alphabet song, it loops at X back to the S because I guess those letters sound the same to her so they are both S.

bandaid trauma.....

Johari has had cold after cold since we came back from Togo. She had a small bout of pneumonia as well. She got to experience the joys of going to get a chest x-ray at the hospital. In any case, I decided to get us flu shots to see if we could get a little less sick. I am not sure it has made any difference really but no biggie either way, hopefully. In any case, when we got our flu shots, they quickly put a bandaid on the spot of injection. Well, that bandaid was the source of much drama and stress for Johari. I am not sure what she had come to believe about that bandaid but she was unable to take a bath because of it for many days. She would start to get undressed for the bath and then see it and immediately change her mindabout taking a bath and want to get dressed again. Or even if she thought about undressing for a bath she would think about the bandaid on her arm and change her mind. So after about a week of this, I knew we really had to get over it. A bandaid will eventually fall off, I guess but those were 'good' bandaids that seemed it would take a long time to deteriorate. So we had a dramatic ending to the bandaid where she ends up in the bathtub with her fairy costume on. And then she wrapped her arm in a washcloth for a bandage when the bandaid was no longer protecting her.

new paint set...new fun

It started with this cool tiny easel and canvases that Johari got from the Langfords (which I don't have any pictures of her doing). She had great fun with those little canvases. She talks about what she is painting. My face, grandma's face, Marvin's face and more. Then I got her a paint set for her big easel that I set up in the only safe place to do it...the bathroom. She enjoys painting the paper and herself. And last night she painted a picture on the shirt she was wearing.

Skirt time, snow time, fun time....

Johari and Ishmael having bed jumping fun!!!

Super smiley in the super snowy Seattle

A silly mean mug

Bouncing at Carkeek Park on a beautiful day...Ishmael, a boy that joined them and Johari.

In a doll crib pretending to cry in Missoula

Smiley in front of Grandpa Gary's house

The snow is disappearing although it is not yet completely gone. I got stuck in the snow once. The hills and lack of plowing or salt really do make getting around tough. We are back to typically mild Seattle winter weather for now.
I used to think skirts were ridiculous for Johari. I guess when she was just a crawler and newly walking but now we are going to enter a skirt phase. Layering the skirts on is fun. And they aren't hard to sew either. I just got a few more materials to make some more skirts for her. She will even layer skirts on skirts, a look some of you may want to try out yourselves.
Her new favorite movie besides Shrek is Akeelah and the Bee. She asks about emotions all the time. "Is she sad?" "Why is she sad?" So we sort through this emotional world and try to figure it all out. She is highly persceptive to it all. She often asks me, "Mom, are you frustrated?" or "Mom, are you upset?" It is pretty cool because it gives me an opportunity to step back for a moment and think about what's going on for me rather than just bottling it up.
Just as I wrote that the snow was gone and the "normal" weather is back, guess what happens....yes, it started snowing! We'll see how serious it gets. I didn't hear the pre-hype about this one so it probably isn't a big deal.