Sunday, June 15, 2014

Dads


Feeling so blessed
...for these two magnificent men
...for the beautiful weather
...for promise of more family visits to come (i'm looking at you, mom!)

Happy Father's Day to the men who act as role models, as mentors, as friends.
The work you do every day is beyond words.


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

{him}: this week

so much excitement, we can barely stand it.
the dentist!!! we went to see the dentist for the first time! we are now enamored with all things dental - floss! new toothbrush (pooh toothbrush no less)! pink mouthwash! (no, not really. i scooted that one out of his goody bag before he saw it. he got a ring that says "look, ma, no cavities", a necklace shaped like a tooth that you can open and actually put your lost tooth in. he got to choose his toothpaste flavor (orange, in case you were wondering), and got his "teeth tickled".






ah, he was such a champ.
the next day, he got to watch mama as she got her teeth cleaned. he had quite the view, too from atop my belly, shoveling blueberries into his mouth and playing commentator.

come to think of it, he got a sticker at my appointment, too. how is that fair?

Saturday, May 10, 2014

{she} this week


Happy much?

This little girls is almost 10 months old! How did that happen?

You can't see the top ones here, but she has FOUR teeth now and is just about to get a whole mouthful more. These things are flying into her head, I tell you.

Can you believe this awesome sweater I got at the consignment shop for $5? Someone obviously spend a lot of time (and probably money on that gorgeous yarn!) on it, and I'm so delighted that it's a part of our world. She's been teething on those buttons like a crazy person and just LOVES to take whatever she's wearing off - particularly her hat. I have a feeling I might have two kiddos running naked before too long.


This little girl is a smart one. She's taking it all in, learning, learning, learning every day. She's certainly thinking about crawling, or at least finding her way around, but is pretty content now to sit and play. 
She's becoming a bit more clingy with me, which is fine. I know it's just a stage, and the sweet baby snuggles are just that - so sweet. It's hard to make dinner sometimes when she's howling to be held by me, but I know I'll miss these days when they're gone.



Just this week, she's begun holding her arms and hands up to be picked up. It's the most irresistable thing (except, perhaps, when she's covered in egg salad). 
She's also talk, talk, talking all the time - mostly baby blabbers, but lots of "DA! Dadadadadadadada".
I'm starting what will likely be a long and stressful week, so I'm trying to take a moment to settle in here and think about my baby girl. She's an absolute dream and I just love her to bits. I hope I'm able to keep balance this summer between doing the work that inspires me and spending time with these beautiful babies who grow up so fast.
Deep breath.

Monday, April 21, 2014

{him} this week



Spring is here at last! This boy learned how to do the thing that I've always been so jealous of boys for - he is an outside pee-er. We made sure he knows he can't just "drop trou" and pee wherever he wants to. He's already got a tree he uses, and he finds any opportunity he can to go to his tree. How many times does this kid have to go in a ten minute span, you may ask? You don't want to know.

In addition to that exciting development, Finn has also decided to use the moderately warmer weather to haul out the kiddy pool, strip down, and plonk his bottom down in the 1/2 inch of water I've filled it up with before leaping up, yelling "brrrrr! it's TOLD!!!", and running inside to be dried off, just to do it all over again moments later.


Ah, springtime. How I love you.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

kids!

A few weeks ago, we got the opportunity to go to a "goat tea"...I mean, really. Who could resist an invitation like that?
Some friends of ours have a small goat dairy, and two of the ladies had just had babies. There were three in all and we went up to spend some time with them. The owner and cheesemaker wants to get the goats as well-adjusted to humans and human contact as possible, so from day one, they are consistently handled by adults, and these babies were being bottle-fed already, so Finn got to take the opportunity to feed one of the babes.


We probably won't have goats in our world - chickens and pigs are definite possibilities, but goats are a whole different ballgame - longer term, more pet-like. Plus there's the whole milking thing. So it's nice to have friends with such great critters for us to come and hang out with. Lorelei didn't mind sharing my lap at all :)


....and then! More goats!
Another friend has a pair of does who both kidded within about 5 days of one another, and then there were more bouncing, beautiful babies...and this on the most gorgeous "first" sunny, warm spring day. What a treat.




Thursday, March 27, 2014

{them} ...this week



Lorelei.
8 months, 13 days.
I don't know where all this hair is coming from, but it's starting to grow down over her perfect little ears now. We often say to each other, "I can't wait until..."
but I can. I can wait. This is all going so, so, so much faster than Finn's babyhood.
Maybe it's knowing she's our last.

She's laughing all the time, smiling all the time, so delighted to see "her" people. She shows it by flapping, like she's going to take off, or by slapping my chest repeatedly. It's hilarious. She's going to have quite the sense of humor. Or I guess she already does.


Finn.
2 years, 8 months, 24 days
Favorite game: Running naked.
At the end of the day, between taking off clothes and putting on jammies (or between bath and jammies, if it's a bath night), Finn runs naked. This is exactly what you're thinking, except that in addition to running around our house naked, he also yells, "I'M RUNNING NAKED!!!!" over. and over. and over. It's pretty much the most hysterical thing ever.


Siblings. 
Their connection grows every day. It's amazing to watch. It changes our whole family dynamic. He runs up the stairs to see her when she wakes up from her nap, yelling, "I'm coming, Lorelei!". When she cries, he sings "Twinkle Twinkle" (tinkle tinkle). He shares with her (so far). He makes her laugh. He tickles her. 
And she sucks it all up. She knows exactly who she is and where she belongs. She knows he's got her back.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

zzzzzzzzzz....


It's so funny. I uploaded this picture onto this post a few days ago intending to write a little blurb about it, and I just came on to do that and WOAH! That kid looks like me! It's so funny when it hits me - kind of a moment of "how can that be possible" with "oh yeah, i MADE her (with help)".

So incredible. Miracles, these little critters.

Unfortunately, this little miracle is giving us a bit of a hard time. Luckily, more often than not, this is her general MO:


But a sleeper this girl is NOT. Her brother is a dream sleeper, and has been for a while (not that was always the case). I'm sort of hoping that Lorelei follows in her brother's footsteps, but I'm a bit concerned that she's getting waaaaay too used to sleeping in the bed with us. She's still nursing, so it's easy to just roll over and pop a boob in her mouth if she fusses. We've gotten through lots of nights that way, but now she's just sort of used to nursing to sleep, waking, nursing, waking, nursing...and it gets old. It's hard to move around in bed. I've taken to propping myself up from behind with a pillow so I'm kind of on my side and kind of on my back, but this little bugger just keeps scooting over so I'm practically falling off the bed. I've been trying to make a concerted effort to put her back in her room each time I get her back to sleep, but that requires a lot more waking up than just rolling over, and is more disruptive to the ever-elusive sleep. I'm also really trying to get her down in her bed when she's at least partially asleep, rather than soundly so. I'm hoping that once she learns to fall asleep on her own in her own bed, when she wakes, she'll be better at re-settling.

Hopefully, these two strategies at least begin to start solving our nighttime issues, because if not, we're pulling out the big guns - sleep training - again. I talked with my parents about me and Finn spending the night at their house so his sleep isn't disrupted and he gets used to sleeping in some new digs, something we've been meaning to give him more experience with for a while. We went to Boston a few weeks ago and stayed with some friends just outside of the city, and he woke up in the night each night we were there, so getting him used to new spaces/noises is on our "to-do" list so he's better equipped as he grows up to sleep in new places.

So yeah. I can barely contain myself that my selfless, amazing husband is willing to go through two nights of torture with our daughter so we can all sleep better. The man is a saint.

But I mean, really - this kiddo is a freaking angel and we thank our lucky stars EVERY DAY that she's ours.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

he's got his own language



Finn is a toddler. He has a toddler language. It's hilarious. Here are some examples.

down-downstairs - because you can't just say it once.

baby DIE - by far the most hilarious thing finn says - "CR" isn't a sound he can make, so "D" begins any word starting with that sound, and you should see the funny looks we get at the grocery store and lorelei starts crying and finn is yelling "baby die! baby die!" at the top of his lungs.

dampa & nammie - his island grandparents, who he sees regularly. it's so funny - i'm just realizing that he recognizes vehicles now. we'll drive through town and he'll be able to point out "dampa"'s truck, even if it's not in a likely location. or if we're driving by their house, he'll say, "where's nammie" because her car isn't in the driveway. smart cookie, this kid.

nammie boo-boo - my mom, who lives in CT...I had always hoped that finn would come up with some awesome names for his grandparents. some friends are called gummy and gumpy by their grandkids, which just melts my heart. i mean, really - does it get any cuter than that? so i'm THRILLED that he came up with this freaking adorable nickname for my mom. it's just the cutest darn thing. and even though he doesn't get to see her all that often, he still talks about her every day in his fun, imaginative playtime now. she's either reading him a book or taking a nap. it's really very sweet.

i doit - "do" and "it" are combined into one word here...it basically means, I'll do it myself, and believe me, he says it a LOT. usually accompanied by lots of "no!"s.

oo-why - Lorelei

binn, or sometimes winn - Finn

nee-na - granola. he and i have a granola-making date each week, and if i'm not up and at em early enough with breakfast on the table pretty much as soon as he wakes up, he can be very demanding about having some.

eep, beah, manha (as in mahna mahna!) - the triumvirate - sheep, bear, and llama...

ur-up - syrup (this is pretty obvious, but pretty hilarious)

croc-a-di-dill - crocodile...pretty obvious, but this one kills me every time

woddy: coffee. our son is well versed in the beverages that make his parents happy - wine, beer, woddy.

Oh man, there's more, so much more...and more than that besides since there's still some stuff I don't understand all the way. He responds to some things with a perky little "oh!", and sometimes when he gets really excited trying to explain something, he winds himself up into a loop ..."and, and, and, and, and, and, and..."

I want to get these all down now because as fast as this kid is growing and as quickly as he's learning, I know it will all be a blip on the radar of development.

I went in to say goodnight to Finn after putting Lorelei down last night and he just wanted to talk - to talk, and talk, and talk...processing all of those thoughts in that little brain. And all he wanted me to do was listen, and I did, and it was awesome. Man, so much happens in so little time and sometimes all they want is for you to listen, and I have to say...it was probably the most satisfying moment of my day. Because I really LIKE him. I LIKE him SO MUCH. He just chattered on about types of animals and how bears were animals and how they live in the woods and maybe we could go in the woods and see the bears and do they eat poop (insert hysterical laughter. poop is hilarious). He's such a little guy, but so big at the same time. It's really starting to fly, this time thing.

I was telling Chad that it's going to be SO COOL when Lorelei is Finn's age and she's talking and her real personality is starting to shine through. So Lorelei will be 2 & 1/2 and Finn will be 4 & 1/2 and then they can stop growing up.

Right?







Thursday, March 6, 2014

moving...


i started a bit of an adventure this week.
for the next month, i'm participating in a challenge to track mileage. we self-report at the end of each week, and whoever logs the most miles by the end of the month wins a jackpot!
i'm not a gambler, but figured this was something i could put my money behind, especially since i have ulterior motives.
i've been a bit bummed this winter that i haven't been more active with my kids - it's hard to go sledding or ice skating with finn when i've got lorelei usually strapped to me in some way, and it's hard to get out with her and have any consistent movement when finn is lollygagging behind me, shuffling his feet and whining to be picked up five minutes after we leave the house, even though he was insistent when we left that he wanted to walk by himself.
i've been training for a half marathon for a few months now and have gotten up to 8 miles, which isn't too shabby, but i've done all my running either with a friend, our dog (nugget), or by myself. so my goal for this challenge is to get outside with both of my kids...to emulate an active lifestyle for them. it might be more inconvenient and take a bit of extra planning, but it's been a long winter and we've been cooped up for a lot of it and it's time to suck it up and do something that might be a little tricky now, but that will be a small step toward their understanding of a healthy life.
finn just got a super cute pair of snowshoes in the mail the other day, so we're going to try our hand at a tromp around the yard in preparation for a real hike in the woods...at least if we get another significant snowfall!
(i have to say, i know a lot of people are SO over winter, but i'm sort of loving it. i'm sorry if you hate me for that, but it's been a long time since i've been able to get out and play in the snow. the past few winters haven't been conducive to sledding and ice skating and snowman making and it's FUN to play in the snow!)
that picture up there was one that i snapped on my early am walk with the pooch this morning. it made being out before 7am worth it :)

huzzah!

My swap gift arrived! 

Yay!!




I think something like this was exactly what I was after - "meeting" new people who are so far away and - in many ways - so different from me, but who now feel a bit closer.



The woman who created this gorgeous trivet is Renee of Heirloom Seasons. I've only just discovered her via this lovely gift and have enjoyed delving into her life via her blog. So far, I've found it so inspiring, such a good reminder to slow down and to pay attention to what's important.


Renee mentioned in her note that she sews from her vintage feedsack pieces. I'm just in love with some of these patterns and can't quite decide which I like best. Finn keeps changing his mind, too. 

I just adore these little bookmarks.


Thank you, Renee (and Amanda and Anna)! 
What a lovely time it's been swapping - looking forward to another one this summer!

Saturday, March 1, 2014

swappy swapperton

confession time:
i didn't just randomly decide to start blogging more regularly. i had a motive.

so i was recently a part of a blogger swap where we were invited to put together little crafty packages for someone we don't know, but who also blogs. i SCORED with anna, my swap-ee (is that the correct terminology? i don't even know. anyway, she blogs here and has been suuuuch a bloggy inspiration to me - she is a super consistent blogger.

then i realized...oh no! what is the person who drew my name to swap with going to think about my terrible bloggy housekeeping???

so yes, judgment played a role in my return to the blogosphere...and i'm glad it did! i now spend a few minutes each night putting down thoughts, adding to blog posts i've already got going, and thinking about my kids, reflecting on the day, and thinking about what i want to put "out there".

so thank you, bloggy friends i don't know - thank you for getting me back in the "groove" (and to allow me to write a post when i get to say "bloggy" all the time!)

as for the swap itself, i'm quite remiss in that i completely spaced on bringing my phone with me to the post office, so as i was packing it up, i had NO way to take photos of it. in it was a "cold weather survival kit". i made some body butter, some chest rub (half strength so she can use it on her babe if need be), and some peppermint lip balm. (THEN i read this post wherein i totally look like i copied the woman running the swap! but really, i already had it packed up by then!) (here's the post where anna received my gift!). i also whipped up a pair of pants for her daughter and a matching pair for lorelei...which i can at least take a picture of since i have such a cute model!









i also tossed in a card from kirk, who blogs here and takes amazing photographs.

I am waiting with baited breath for my swap package - wonder who "got" me and what's making its way to me right now! Will update when it arrives :)

Either way, I'm so grateful to Amanda for organizing this swap, and by extension, breathing new life back into my blog!

Thursday, February 27, 2014

play space transformation

just before christmas, we made a pretty huge change to our living room - we took out a chimney that had occupied the dead center (more or less), thereby creating a completely open space. after living in it for a while, it became clear to me what we needed to to. we needed to get a big, honking couch. one that might juuuuust make it into the vehicle we bring to pick it up.
that was a story in and of itself.

but, long story short, we got it, as well as a few other odds and ends, home, and have been loving up on our new living space ever since.

one of the best parts about the transformation is the new toy/play area...there's TONS of storage, which means that things almost always look at least tidy, if not clean, and (in my opinion), it looks awesome! it's just this bookcase with a few of these...


finn loves it, i love it, guests and other kids love it...win, win, win, win, win.





Sunday, February 23, 2014

the n word

no, not THAT word!
sheesh. what kind of blog do you think this is, anyway?

no, the n word i'm talking about is

.....

NIPPLES!!!!!!

.....

i don't think that many exclamation points can even begin to express how excited finn is about nipples - his own, mine when i'm feeding lorelei, the fact that everyone has them, his enthusiasm for showing his own to people....

case in point:

yesterday, i had some friends over. we were discussing their wedding, trying to hammer out some details and get them in a good place...all is going swimmingly, and then...

finn drops his undies, pulls up his shirt and yells at the top of his voice

(you guessed it)

NIPPLES!!!!!!!!

perhaps i should use a different font size...would that help?

NIPPLES!!!!!

why he needed to drop his undies to show everyone his nipples remains a mystery.

oh, who am i kidding, most of the things this kid remain a mystery to me.

a hilarious, adorable mystery, but a mystery nonetheless.


{she}...this week

TWO!
Two teeth, ha ha.
 (to be read in the voice of "The Count" from Sesame Street.

leaps and bounds this week, people - leaps and bounds. in addition to cutting her first two teeth, this little girl is chowing down on everything in sight...tonight, it was chicken stew with biscuits.
we're loosely following a method called "baby led weaning", wherein the baby gets whatever the family is eating in baby-appropriate sizes on a tray and goes to town feeding him or herself. it's so much less stressful than making or buying her special food - she just gets what we get and mashes it all over herself, tosses it off the high chair, feeds the dog, etc. it's a total mess, but she loves it in a way she did NOT like purees (she's still getting most of her nutrients from me, anyway - this is more like practice eating), and her hand-eye coordination is kicking into high gear. now, she gets things into her mouth on the first try...most of the time, anyway.

unfortunately, with cutting teeth comes teething, and while she's just been her delightful little self during the day, she has woken up more often during the night. i'm afraid we may have to do the sleep training thing again, which i am most decidedly not looking forward to...but midnight and 4am are starting to be my least favorite times of day.

 we're heading south to an avett brothers concert in a few weeks, and are only planning to bring lorelei (finn will have his first sleepover with his island grandparents), and we're both really looking forward to getting some two-on-one time with her. it's so rare that she gets us all to herself with her needy, demanding, drama-queen, rambunctious brother around, requesting our attention at all times.

this babyhood is flying, FLYing by in a way that finn's didn't...whereas with finn, i couldn't wait for him to get older, especially for those first few months, i'm already really missing those early days with lorelei. mostly because i feel like i really did miss them - it's so hard to savor time with number two when number one (in more ways than one around here!) has a whole other set of much more pressing needs (at least in his mind, and he doesn't mind sharing that with everyone within earshot).

stay little just a while longer, please, l...please?



Thursday, February 20, 2014

us



Back in September, when Lorelei was just two months old, we asked Amanda to come back out and photograph our family - our COMPLETE family - and we're so glad we did. Here are a few shots from that day, and here's a link to her blog, where she posted a few more. 

I know there are some duplicates, but I chose my faves...no, that's not true - I chose a smattering of my faves. I just sort of closed my eyes and clicked, because if I didn't, they ALL would have wound up on here, no joke.

It's amazing how much things can change in just a few months - I mean, my boy is so much bigger, yes, but my GIRL? She's such a little lump here, and now - my goodness, NOW - she's such a person, has such a personALITY. It's funny how much a heart can grow - you think you have as much love as it's possible to give, and then - there's more. I fall more in love with these guys every day...

ALL of these guys (yes, that means you, Chad :)


Sunday, February 16, 2014

what's a group of 7 called?

this week, i want to share a phenomenon that's been developing for the past two years, slowly but surely...finn's stuffies.
so these are the friends that finn sleeps with. he doesn't usually take them out of the house, thank goodness, since i'm sure we'd have lost one or more by now - we've certainly had our share of scares.

so.

it started as one - a gift from one of chad's caretaking clients: sheep.


then my mom got sheep a friend: bear.


a couple of months ago, we took a trip downeast to visit chad's mom and finn picked out a new member (the three are now nicknamed the triumvirate)...llama joined the crew.

then the strangest thing happened - three became six virtually overnight. one night, he went to sleep with his three "regulars", and in the morning, he woke up with six - welcome to "bunny bear", platypus, and "rachel bear".



i'll stop here for a quick intro to these characters - finn's had all three since he was wee - in one case, before he was born.
"rachel bear", so named after the woman who gave him to me - was the first gift i received when i found out i was pregnant in the UK.
"bunny bear", a flawlessly handknit bear wearing a full bunny suit was made for him by another dear friend from england, but given to him in person when he was just a few days old.
platypus was sewn for finn by his "nammie", my stepmom and the grandmother he sees most often. it's made of scraps from a hat that she made for him (which, i believe, was made from scraps from a hat that she made for herself).

and so there were six.

and then we had a visit from chad's mom a few weeks ago now and giraffe found a home in our hearts - and finn's arms.


so now, there are seven. there is a bit of an overrepresentation of a certain brand name, but i'm ok with that - jellycat (sheep, bear, and giraffe are all jellycat) is my undisputed favorite brand of stuffy.

i'm getting a little nervous that we're going to have to hire someone to carry these guys around, but so far, he can carry them all - just. pretty sure we're at maximum capacity now - i'm hopeful that he doesn't take a shine to another!