Yule logs and ukuleles

Christmas was amazing.
I was literally catered to after working an 18 hour shift the night before. Got to see my family, got overloaded with amazing gifts, and got to see my little love open her presents. This year was fun.
So magical.
We spent the following few days relaxing, loving and playing with all our new toys.
What's better than that?
I hope your Christmases were merry!

NH

The girl and I took a mini trip up to visit our family.
These pictures are not in order, for some reason they don't post in order on my phone.

But we spent the time with family, snuggling and enjoying each other. Then headed to the county fair where my girl had herself a grand time. Mama too. :)

A day at the park

We started the day sleeping late, then headed over to the park to some bullfrog watching, catfish spying, and doggie dodging before heading out for ice cream, napping, and then ending our glorious day at Nooney & Papa's house. This little monkey has been a happy, happy girl this week....great listener, full of fun and energy, using her words to fend off frustration, going on the potty, and hasn't gotten a single 'time-out' yet. Thus, the ice cream reward. :)

Summertime...and the livin's easy...

It's summertime in our little house in the woods....and that means sunshine, swimming, days at the park, long walks, ice cream, late bedtimes, smores, and lots and lots of family lovin'.
We stayed home this week, playing in the kiddie pool and relaxing...time waits for summer. I love working 3 days a week....but during the hot summer days, although it's hard to force myself to go into work, once i'm done with my shifts, EVERY day feels like vacation. Like that very first day of summer....full of endless possibility, freckles, pruned fingers, and late night conversations watching fireflies in the warm air.
And every day that I have with this gorgeous monkey, makes me experience that joy of being a kid all over again. My soul screeches with excitement at her face, full of every drop of fun that ever was.

Color Me Happy....

It was a cloudy day, but the air was warm and so we broke out the sidewalk chalk that I have been waiting to open since last fall. Then Papa stopped by to color on the driveway with us and play a short game of teeball with my little muffin. We finished this glorious evening covered in chalk, dirt, and slurping down not one, but TWO "pos-i-cals" after dinner. ;)

It's days like these that make me feel like the Mom that I want to be, in-between the to-do lists, grocery shopping, errands, chores.












Stay tuned....there is more where this came from....

embarrassing story #1

I knew that it would happen.
My parents have a slew of stories about my sister and me and how much we embarrassed them out in public. Truth: most of those stories were of Sarah doing the embarrassing....actually....I'm fairly certain ALL of those stories were of Sarah.

I digress....

I always knew it would happen. I have been blessed with a mostly very happy, very friendly, coy and flirty little babe, especially out in public. And so, I haven't really had a terrible we-are-leaving-this-store-right-now meltdown, and she just started stringing words together enough for her non-mommy and non-daddy relatives to finally understand. Thus, I thought I had a little more time. Just say'in. Wrong.

Cue story #1....

We are out to dinner at a favorite pizza place...my parents, my sister, and the babe and me. It is 2 hours post-bedtime. Babes is bordering freak-out mode, and after one injury-induced meltdown, and mommy's scolding about how we can not, in fact, leap from her high chair to her grandmother like a little flying squirrel, I attempt to distract.

mommy (wide eyed and feigning excitement): Avonlea, would you like to take a bath tonight or a shower with mommy in the morning???
* internal dialogue: please say shower, please say shower...its so late and (mommy needs a break) you need to go to bed. *

avonlea (thoughtful):..... hmm...shower...mommy.

m: good answer! remember the last time we took a shower, and we played with your alphabet letters in the tub?

a: yes.
*pause*
*pause*
and i wash mama's BUTT.

m: *blink...blink*
yes.
*pause*
yes. you did wash mommy's butt.

a: and 'gina!

m: *huge blink, stifling laughter as Avonlea beams with pride*
yes. yes, you did wash mommy's vagina. thank you. and thank you for sharing that.


there was a lot of oh-my-god-i-cant-breathe-from-laughing-so-hard minutes after that little gem.

let the fun begin!

oh she speaks....

i know i am ridiculously overdue on a newsletter....i have one partially written, but just cant get my act together long enough to finish it off.

so i thought i'd give some satiating stats.....

avonlea is 18 months old.

which means she is basically 2 years old, because that's how she acts now. :)

she is smart and stubborn, and a little ball of sweet love.

last week at the doctor, she was 31.25 inches long, and 22.25 lbs. she has thinned out, and gotten taller, and still fits in her 12 month clothing. i must admit, her 18 month clothing is ALMOST perfect for her but for the huge gap at the waist.

she is a picky eater. for only mommy and daddy. and eats everyone else out of house and home.

she loves elmo, and the muppets, and You're Baby Can Read videos. and books. good goddess, that girl loves her books. and being outside. she will run, and swing and slide all day if you let her.

here are all the words she knows:

hi/bye

yeah/no

muhma/dada/love you

baba/gaga/gramma/grampa

auntie

kitty/owl/octopus/elephant/duck

more/milk/water/eat/book/ice cream/waffle/egg/apple/hot/cold

elmo/cookie/oscar/count/big bird/telly

feet/sock/shoe/hat

i know there are more....but i can't seem to think of them right now. if you ask her to repeat a word, she will repeat almost anything...but these are her every day words now.

edit:

also, add these words to the every day list:

ernie/right there/up/down/thank you/bless you/stinky/nose/eye/ear/cheek/hair/head/hot dog/all done/toes/buns

she knows the animal sounds to-

dog/kitty/owl/snake/elephant/cow/monkey/duck/lion (and anything else that looks vicious enough to rawr)/cookie monster :)

i know this is a poor excuse for a newsletter...but it's just a little update. :)

i hope you enjoyed it as much as i am enjoying her....she is too delicious to share blogging time with. :)

24 hours in New Hampshire

What do you do when you have 24 hours of unplanned time?

Well, I packed up the babes and threw her in the car for a short 3 hour car ride to lovely New Hampshire, where the family is thick as thieves and the love is a'flowin. Just what I needed for a 24 hour vacation.

What do you do once you get there?

Eat fresh silver corn. and lots of it. And swim in a quasi-warm pool. and get loved up by those delicious grandparents and aunties and cousins.

I love when grandma sits in the kiddie pool. It's oddly hilarious to me.

And then out come the bubbles.....

Zoe also enjoyed the bubble popping....she and Avonlea compete....

A 24 hours well spent....we came home with full bellies and full souls. What more could we ask for?

:)

p.s. this post is for my dad...who swears there are NO pictures of him and the babycakes. take that grandpa...you wanted 'em...you got 'em. ;)