Lunch!

So, I am cheating a little bit...these pictures are from Saturday. Westin and I had perogies (yummy little dumplings with a potato-based filling that are both tasty and apparently, make excellent hair gel). Please note that my son is eating happily--this is a rare event these days--somewhat akin to seeing a patch of grass or a ray of sunlight in December in South Dakota, but I digress. As Westin enters toddlerhood, he is becoming more and more picky about what he eats. I have been warned of such things, but always dismissed that worry, as 'not my kid'..HA! The joke is on me AGAIN!! HA HA! Food items that used to bring him joy--cheese, for example, are now being spit out like we are feeding him something that we scraped off of the bottom of our shoes. Yes, that disgusting. Dalen is seriously worried about his vitamin and nutrient intake. So when I bring up something like: 'Hey, at least he still likes wagon wheels', I get a response like, 'Lisa, that doesn't count. There is NO nutritive value in wagon wheels.'. Eh, so Dalen is right. What do I know? I subsisted for YEARS off of Kraft macaroni and cheese. AND despite all of the lack of eating, the little monkey is fitting snugly in 12 month clothes and is often wearing 18 month clothes. Go figure! One new trick of Westin's is that he has learned that he can put something in his mouth and still crawl around on all fours! Ah well, that will be something for the dentist to worry about.

Favorite Reads of the Week: Dr. Seuss's ABC's; Dr. Seuss's One fish, two fish, three fish; That's not my Dragon

Lost in a Drift......

Well, almost. A small snow event that was supposed to drop 1-4 inches, turned into a blizzard and dumped 8+ inches of snow with snow drifts up to 2ft. Way to go Meteorologists; you really nailed that one! So we missed out on rushing to the grocery store and emptying the shelves of milk and bread (a time-honored Southern tradition). BUT, Dalen did go to Wal-Mart for the shear adventure of it. He saw 3 cars stuck in the middle of the road and visibility was low (shockingly). After shoveling out, we have become inspired to fix our elderly neighbor's snow blower.It has been a busy December. We are becoming more steady on our feet, learning to use a spoon, broadening our ever growing appetite, learning that boxes are way more fun than what comes in them, how to topple grand towers, and that in our jungle, tigers always eat the elephants (even if you spot them 24). At Westin's 1 year appointment we met a new doctor, who swiftly put Dalen and I in time-out for introducing peanut butter, but conceded that Westin was healthy after all. Westin is 31" long and 21 lbs 3oz...long and lean :)
Favorite books: Dr. Seuss's ABC's; One fish, two fish, three, four, five; That's Not My Dragon (tied with Very Hungry Caterpillar)

Our First South Dakotan Snow!

Okay, so the above and below pictures are not of snow, but Westin was learning what it was like to be tall...and they are cute pictures, no?!So far in South Dakota, we have experienced intense wind, this (picture sarcasm font here:) lovely thing called freezing drizzle, but until today, which started out miserably with aforementioned freezing drizzle, it has not snowed. Hooray for Today!!! Now my West Virginia compatriots remember my zeal for snow. In fact they blamed me for the snowiest winter in Morgantown-the first winter that I was there, because I kept wishing for snow. Apparently, I have great powers! :) Now, CopperDog is in his element. In fact, he rolls around in snow, buries himself, gets really cute and frisky. On the other hand, little Westin Moore likes it better from the comfort of his B.O.B and let his Dada know that he was cold, and wanted to go inside. Ahhhh, little personalities. How bold. How new. How strong.

Another first for Westin today: the taste of dog food. Ah, such a proud moment as a parent, and it is completely and totally my fault. When I come home, Copper gets ansy, because he knows: FOOD IS COMING. The dogworld revolves around food. So I peeked outside and Copper's food bowl had about 2 inches of snow in it. While Copper was perfectly happy eating his food in snow, I was not. So I gave Copper his food inside on his happy little dog mat, and before I knew it...our little Monkey had crawled over to the food bowl and plucked a piece out and into his mouth. It happened just that quickly. Thankfully, Copper is not possessive about food (who knew, until NOW??). I have to remind myself that both Dalen and I survived our formidable years after eating dog food..granted we were much older, like 4, and it was pure curiosity, but STILL: I let my son eat dog food. Yet another reason to nominate me, 'Mom of the Year'. Oh--and I did try to pry it from his mouth, but with his new molars, he clamps down and doesn't let go. Good times. Thank goodness we buy Copper really expensive dog food.......Okay...back to happy....

Chris, the Christmas Tree

There is this song on this old record entitled "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" it is about this Christmas tree named, 'Chris'. My sister and I used to listen to this record incessantly when we were kids. Recently my Dad found someone who had it and then burned it to a CD (Thanks, G-pops!)...so now Westin can listen to it incessantly....there are worse things :).

G-pops and D departed early this morning, so to get our minds off of missing them, we went hunting for a Christmas tree. Dalen found this great Christmas tree farm, the 'Mannings Garryowens Christmas Tree farm'...only minutes from our house. So why did it take us 45 minutes to find it?? Well, apparently, there are two Burbank, SD's or it is an incredibly long small town. We went SE to find the farm, when in actuality, it is NE of Vermillion...go figure and thank you Google Maps!! Anyway, it was kind of funny and added to the adventure of the day. You can get there via dirt road. Dalen and I appreciate this. In Montana, we would pay $5 for a permit and head off into the Bitterroot National Forest to chop down our Christmas tree. Granted, these trees resembled Charlie Brown Christmas trees, but they had their charm and it was uniquely Montana. We bundled up Westin and headed out on the grounds. It didn't take us long to find our very own Chris the Christmas Tree. ...It was a lovely morning, and we all came home, rehydrated,
and took a nice long nap. All in all, a very Happy Saturday!

Black Friday: Exterior Lumination Day

Black Friday. Some people got up with the sun, or even before the sun, and went shopping. In the Moore household, we got going on exterior lumination. Now I don't have any pictures of the putting up part...it is hard to hold a ladder and take pictures at the same time. It should be noted that no G-pops were hurt in exterior-luminating activities. While G-pops and I were outside, Dalen was lowering Westin's crib mattress...AGAIN. Dalen caught him trying to hike a leg over the rails, so clearly, we needed to nip that in the bud. All the while, D heroiclly chased after a very mobile Westin. Lucky for Westin, D was very indulgent of playing with legos in the living room, crawling over to the frig in the kitchen to play with leap frog farm animal magnets...and back again, and again, and again.

Here are the results of Exterior Lumination Day......I should note that when Dalen and I originally discussed outdoor holiday decorations, it did not involve a 9ft inflatable Santa. He thought we would put a tasteful fake tree with white lights on the front porch, to which I said BORING!!! What are we, 90? Turns out that a 9ft inflatable Santa is not as garish as originally thought. What can I say, placement is everything! Oh, and Thanks, Dad. You have taught me everything I know about exterior lumination.:)

We really appreciated G-pops and D's visit! We miss them already!!!

Oh, and I have a song that sums up the day....maestro, please........

Hey Alabama! Hey Alabama! Hey Alabama! We just beat the HELL out of you! Rammer Jammer, Yellowhammer, Go to HELL Alabama!!!
War Eagle and Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

There are so many things to be thankful for today! I am thankful for a happy healthy Baby Toddler! I am so IN LOVE with my husband! We have a lovely home. Happy enough to have our First Thanksgiving here in South Dakota...and G-pops and D were here to enjoy it....even in the bitter cold...wind chill today, 0 degrees Fahrenheit....BALMY!:) Some people I know don't believe in luck, maybe they believe in kharma-or the like, but I believe whole-heartedly in both. We, as a family, do the best that we can every day; be the best people that we can be everyday, treat everyone that we meet with respect, and sometimes to keep our sanity (one very wise lady) told me that "you have to let the rough end drag". All the rest, my friends, is gravy!

So it was quite the calm day...I know, despite the bitter cold, I have no family drama to report. Dalen and I started cooking last night, so that today would not be so hectic (so, I totally had a freak out moment, when we almost didn't have enough space to put ALL of the stuff coming out of the oven...butcher block in the kitchen on the checklist of renovations!). And it helped. We started cooking at 10 am and we ate around 2 pm. Perfect. Perfect. What did we have? The real question is what didn't we have? Keep in mind when you see the following people, there were four adults and wonderful Westin (and CopperDog by way of Westin) partaking in this meal......

For this meal, Dalen had to take apart a Duck...a feet never before attempted. Despite not having the correct butchering knives, Dalen totally ROCKED IT! Whole beautiful duck:butchering: raw breasts + oysters plus pieces of the leg:Beautiful Thanksgiving table...a lovely centerpiece would clearly not have fit. Now, we had a brined turkey as a back-up plan. But I have to say, those of you out there who have never had duck and have only thought of it as this greasy waterfowl, well, stand to be corrected! Just in case you are wondering, duck is SO YUMMY-GOOD! I mean, Hello-Heaven-in-my-happy-little-mouth good. And if you don't believe me, just have Dalen over to cook it for you, and you will be a true believer!
Needless to say, we had a lovely meal and plenty of leftovers. To round off the day, we had an Old Rucks/New Moore family tradition: a viewing of National Lampoon's Christmas Family Vacation. Hope that your cups runneth over as well....Happy Thanksgiving!!!!! To all of the family and friends that couldn't be with us today: SALUDE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WESTIN!!!!

One years old! We have a One Year Old!! Kind of hard to believe that this time last year we were in a hospital marveling at our new little guy, tired from the labor, and completely happy and simultaneously freaking out about what to do next. One year later, and we still have our freak outs, BUT our baby is becoming this amazing little toddler AND we are happy happy happy pants! Today, I had grand intentions of going into work for at least half a day. I was home by 10:00 am. It was just too exciting. Today is my Baby's Birthday!!! G-pops and D are in town. Thanksgiving is tomorrow and the Iron Bowl is on Friday...how could I possibly concentrate on chlamydia and peptidoglycan (I have an interesting project idea based on some data that I have been getting...but all of that is just science wonkyness and not 1st birthday material)?? Dalen and I have been flipping back through the blog posts and marveling at how much Westin has changed. For example, tonight at dinner, he was playing peek-a-boo with CopperDog...just him and Copper. Westin covering his eyes and giggling, then peeking to see if Copper was still there. Copper was sitting obediently and hoping to get a scrap of food, but when it comes to Wagon Wheels, well, Westin doesn't leave very many of those behind.So back to the Birthday........the morning nap was never meant to be; lunch was replaced with a puppy cupcake. Westin's official first word is 'doggie', which sounds like 'dawggga'. (He says this whenever he sees CopperDog and more regularly than Dada or Mama, just to put things into perspective.) Then we hosed him off, and went straight for the presents. Dalen got some great practice in assembly...just in time for the Holidays!!! Westin enjoyed playing with all of his presents......The giant rocking giraffe is from Dalen and I; it was a hit! Dalen also got him the dump truck-wagon full of large legos...also a hit! There was a cool parking garage (G-pops and D), an awesome talking dinosaur (Uncle Dayn and Aunt Diane), great clothes and a fun birthday book (and many other wonderful things!!)(Grandpa and Grandma Moore)....so many many things to be thankful for!!! Our baby is so loved!! The only hard part about the 1 year mark is the realization that Westin is growing up--already, way too fast--and that sooner than I want, like right now, I won't be able to call him my Baby Boy anymore. He will be/is a toddler; creating his own sort of mischief and exploring the world his own way. So for one last time....good night, Baby Boy; Mama loves you!!!