Lazy Long Weekend Approaching

August has flown by! We're now preparing for a 3-day weekend with pre-fall house projects, errands, a cookout, and hopefully a walk to the ice cream shop.

Before this we celebrated a birthday with family--

And visited 2 brewpubs in as many days. :)

photos courtesy of Marci!

And went to an OR Symphony event at Mt. Scott Park with friends --
Next week: photos of home projects. Woo!
Have a great Labor Day!

-A

The Value of One Hand

, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Here lies a 12-pound baby. If she is not lying on her back losing hair, or on her tummy squawking, or in any various baby containment apparatus, she is in arms. This creates challenging tasks for a holder's once-simple activities. Try typing an email using one hand, or fixing breakfast, or going to the bathroom. Huh?
Anyway, what I've created may revolutionized diaper changes away from home, and also help lessen the need for disposable and plasticized changing mats. Prepare yourselves...

for the One-handed Diaper Change Travel Mat!*

Fold

Roll Mat

Roll Strap

Fasten Velcro

Ta-Da!

Now in reverse!

No, I'll spare you. Maybe these will end up in my etsy shop someday.

-A

* made from 100% cotton.

PS - For demonstration purposes only, the opposite hand held a camera rather than a baby.

Hop Shortage? I Think Not!

Tis the season in the Pacific Northwest. The rest of the homebrewing world may be suffering from high hop costs, but here at your local A&P, hops are plentiful. This is my third year with these two vines, one Cascade and one Willamette. This year is by far the most productive. I figure I have about 3X last years yield, so I should have about a pound and a half of dried hoppy goodness. The only down side is the loss of some great shade the vines provided on top of the arbor. To my bro-in-law, you can expect a few ounces of koski-cascades in the mail one of these days to brew with. I just need to do some picking, drying, and vacuum sealing first. If anybody is eager to try a fresh, ultra hoppy IPA in about 5 weeks, feel free to stop on by. It's on my to-do list within the next couple of weeks!

Running Around

Running, originally uploaded by apkoski.

WE just returned from raucous tour of grandparents, Aelaide's that is. We saw not two, not four, but six grandparents in fewer days! Lucky girl; we only had four...

We made our triangular way from G&G plus cousins in St Louis to G&G plus uncle in Columbia, MO, to G&G plus cousins in Washington, IA. We played basketball, ate meat off the grill, toured the best student Rec. Center in the country, ate at a microbrewery/enjoyed MW microbrews...
took walks, watched the municipal band concert, went to the Farmer's Market, got McDonald's for breakfast (woo-hoo), went letterboxing, had an summer birthdays party, got a manicure and massage.... oy.

I am sad to say that we have very few pictures from the trip - busy trigger fingers. (If you're reading this and have a couple shareable pics, we'd love to get a copy, digital or otherwise!)

-A

Have I mentioned that we like beer?

Yes, and not just homebrew! We visited the Oregon Brew Fest downtown yesterday. It was the final day of the festival, and if you don't like rubbing elbows with frat boys and women dressed like their favorite Bratz doll, then attend the brew fest on Sunday before 3pm. Even the baby liked it (the festival, not the beer people)!
-A

Doing something else besides feeding and cleaning

Rocker is done, originally uploaded by apkoski.

If you think that I pretty much quit sewing things, then you're wrong. Sticking with the new apparent theme of this blog, I've been finishing up a few things that I intended to have done for Adelaide's birth day, like my nursing apron and a diaper/wipes envelope. But the most royal pain was doing the upholstery on that rocking chair. A friend, who incidentally donated nearly her entire nursery to us, gave us the chair too, which carried the wear of 2 children. I found some BH&G outdoor (so stain- and water-resistant) material at JoAnn and proceeded. Let me just say, folks, you have little business re-doing upholstery if you own a cheap Singer that you picked up from Wal-mart. It was a wrestling match.

Totally worth it though! We've already logged many hours in that thing.
Oh - Before pic is below:

- A

Eight Weeks Later...

Earlier this week a friend reminded me that we never blogged an official birth announcement for Adelaide. So here's a digital copy of our snail mail announcement - never too late, right?!


Anyway, if you need photo birth announcements, invitations, or holiday cards, check out this non-macro company called Doodlebug Dezigns. Their work & customer service was wonderful.

So here we are at 8 weeks (but not yet 2 calendar months -- how does that work?). We're happy to be here!

-A

Can't wait to take her shopping for new shoes and a pocket book!




-A

I Made Something!

Cards & Tags, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Start to finish, in about 15 days.

A Big Snore

Here's what we've been up to.



Bonus points for anyone who figures out the editing.

And now the original:

-A

A few months ago my mom brought me this dress out of my 'baby box' in her attic. It has matching plastic bloomers. It has lots of pleats and lace. It hasn't been worn since Ford was in office. I'm trying to imagine what people said when they saw me dressed in it.

My Dress, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Hmmmm....

(Not looking for any reassurance. After all, well - watch the clip.)

And in this Corner, Weighing in At.....

Our Scale shows just a tad over 9 lbs. That puts a total gain of 2 lbs, 6 oz since she came out of the oven. That's about 10 oz per week. I was trying to put that into proportion..... If I gained that kind of weight, about 7% a week, I would be putting on a tad over 11 lbs a week. What's healthy for some is not for others.....

-Paul

Waiting in Line at At said Video Rental Store

Girl (10-year-old-ish): Um, can I get by? I want to look at that movie.

Me: Sure, here you go.

Girl: Oh, it's a game, not a movie. Jackass. It's this show about these guys who do really crazy, crazy things. It's really funny, and crazy.

Me: Oh, really, wow (Because I'm obviously old and have never heard of Jackass and therefore need it explained to me).

Thanks Kid.

Best Fathers Day card EVER!

Adelaide picked it.


Best Fathers Day card EVER!, originally uploaded by apkoski.

We've been taking more walks lately, getting used to the jogger. This morning our destination was the new Collage & DIY Lounge at our local shopping center. I think they're taking a leap, opening their doors in our not-so-avant guarde-for-Portland-besides-The Delta Woodstock neighborhood, so I'm going to try and help them thrive as often as possible.

And isn't this too cute?!

-A

To the Circus

, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Today we went to the Cirque du Cycling, and enjoyed a bike parade, the Sprockettes, a Criterion, but not the beer garden. No, you have to be 21 to enter.
And we were gonna try out Adelaide's fake ID...

-A

Ta-Da!

For now, and the last couple months, anyway...

Yes, Fingernails! They don't look near as impressive here as they do in person. I've almost licked it. See?

And no, I haven't just been sitting around photographing my fingers. Here's some baby love, folks.

Accomplishment for the first month:



And nursery decor:


Unembroidered Embroidery Hoops, originally uploaded by apkoski.

Picture Time

She

Faces, originally uploaded by apkoski.


And US!
- A

Our Little Miss Clean, Sleeping Thing

So we've answered your (you know who you are) cries for MORE Adelaide footage!
Below are two more snips of her exciting day. If you are bored already, come back in a couple weeks when this madness dies down. Otherwise enjoy (and notice the repetition)!





** Poor light quality due to 9:51 pm capture. Next time we'll film her waking up at 5 am, 8 am, or 11 am, or 2 pm, or 6 pm, or....

-A

We're Back

Behold, our last 72 hours. Well, the features. We left out sleeping, diaper changing, and eating. So, presenting 2 of the last 72 hours:


- A&P&A

New Kind of Babymoon

Thanks everybody for all the well wishes over the weekend! Our family is now at home and we're very excited to be here. In fact, for the next few days we're going to work on getting settled - without interruption. So, if you're reading, channel us happy baby thoughts and we'll talk to you after Wednesday!
Love,
A&P&A