Dave & Alyssa Smith

First we got some serious work done on the downstairs bathroom…

Then, Margreta got some new hardware…

Then Dave felt like he needed to get new hardware too.

And that was the start of the summer.  Margreta now has 6 teeth, Dave has near full mobility of his elbow again, and the basement is a bit more trimmed out than it was earlier, but not by much.  New windows have been installed, things that needed painting for years have been done, and a few sweaters and other knitted and sewn items have been made.  Whew.  Here’s hoping that the fall is a bit mellower.

More recent photos of Margreta at arount 8 months…

Watching the neighborhood.

Hanging out with Ruby (born 2 days after Margreta) and Ruby’s dad, Brent.

Hanging out with Mom.

At the Zoo.

With Uncle Todd and Cousins Erin, and Phoebe.

Planning our next adventure with Dad.

With today’s springlike weather (first good weather since November it seems), we decided to take Margreta out to see how she would do in the airplane.

Our plan was to fly down to Olympia to pay a visit to the Burk grandparents. Though it was clear and sunny in Seattle, Olympia airport was reporting 300 foot cloud ceilings and Fog/Mist.

We took the gamble that the sun would burn the clouds off by the time we arrived, but it didn’t work out. We called theOlympia tower from the north end of Budd Inlet at about 12:30 and they were still reporting 300 foot ceilings – barely IFR conditions. We flew towards Sanderson field near Shelton to wait things out – it was clearing up there, but still a little dicey to land. We then landed at Tacoma Narrows to give the ladies a break and snap a few photos, then flew home.

As for Margreta, she seemed to like it just fine. It’s a lot like riding in the car, just a little louder.

Dave has installed the linoleum downstairs, and we are working on picking tile for the basement bathroom. Once that is done, we will get the toilet installed, and then focus on trimming out the main room or tiling the wall in the bathroom.

All else is going smoothly. Margreta is sitting and can roll both ways. She has also found her feet, and doesn’t really like to let them out of her hot little hands if she can help it. She likes her johnny-jump-up (we have a picture of her not “sharing” well with Ella posted) and actually shuffles her feet as if she is thinking about taking steps. Favorite books seem to be “Hooray for Fish” and “Hippos go Berserk”, the second one probably because it lends itself to dramatic reading.
We have all been xc skiing, and Margreta likes it quite a bit, just so long as a) Dad goes fast and b) there are other people to smile at along the way. Otherwise, she hums and ahems as if she is getting bored, though this stops when Dave speeds up.

More progress on the basement the past couple of weekends:

•  Painted (except for bathroom)
• Subfloor is installed
• Windows installed (still need exterior trim/finishing)

Some photos:

Some new pictures from our visit to Oly for Thanksgiving. As you can see, Margreta is getting taller - almost as tall as her cousin Ella who’s about 6 weeks older. More photos here

Had an intense hailstorm blow through Ballard today. Since I was working from home today I managed to get some video of “Hailstorm 2007″ (you heard it here first folks.)

Some pictures:

Apparently taking care of a newborn isn’t keeping us busy enough, so we decided to begin another home project we’ve been putting off since day 1…turning part of the basement into a livable space. This is actually a 2-phase project, with phase 1 being to segment off half of the basement into a office/living space and adding a bathroom. Phase 2 (starting next spring at the earliest) will be to drop a new set of stairs down from the front of the house. Here are a few shots of the project so far:

North Half framed in, wired and ready for drywall:

View from the shop area:

Bathroom, with sewer pipes installed under the slab:

Check out the new sweater mom made….