Piper's Baby Blanket
I have been working on a baby quilt for baby Piper with the goal that I would finish it before she was born (a goal I have not achieved with the other girls). I had set a precedent of machine quilting the blocks and hand-quilting the quilt for each baby (in Piper's case, I made circles on the quilt), so that they have a unique present from me. Ava loves her baby blanket, which in turn makes my heart melt, and someday Piper and Lily will hopefully appreciate theirs as much. My sister Tracy gave me this pattern (Log Cabin I think it is called) which she used to make a quilt for her son. So here's Piper's baby blanket!
Popsicle Time
The girls have discovered the joys of popsicles, which I let them enjoy after dinner out in the backyard (usually on days when I won't mind having bathtime afterwards.) Oh glorious summer!
I made "drip catchers" out of baby food lids.
I made "drip catchers" out of baby food lids.
This video is a bit mundane, but I thought you would like Lily's "yum" comments:
Week in Review
I think it has been closer to two weeks since I have written, but it has been a lovely, slow summer so far. And I am loving it!
The past two weeks Ava has taken swimming lessons in a friend's pool with an instructor who teaches a two-year old class. Overall, she did very well. At least she stayed in the pool for most of the 30 minutes each lesson (which wasn't always the casse with the kids), but she was adamant that she not go underwater and was pretty hesitant about putting her head anywhere near the water. Oh well, I hope that she feels more comfortable in the water now and we will try to teach her some fundamentals next year. (I will confess here I am a bad mommy and never took my camera to swimming lessons, so I don't have any fun shots for you. Boo!)
The last couple of weeks were very mild here (high of 85) and we took full advantage. After swimming class the girls and I would head to a little park down the street (Ava calls it the Twirly Whirly Park, due to some spinning toys) for a picnic lunch. I would find a shady spot under a little tree, catch a nice breeze - it was heaven! The girls would run around a bit and then would take a really long nap. It was so nice.
Ava and I went toa Super Why! event at Toys R Us last week, where we picked up some fun goodies including a 24 piece puzzle, which she LOVES. We do it after dinner each night and she is so good at it!A lady down our street was giving away some free toys last week (I found out via an email) so I jumped on it and got a few fun new playthings for the girls. Among them was a Little People Carnival and a Fisher Price rocker in the shape of a blue dog. The girls love them (especially Lily) and it has kept them busy for hours!
Enjoying our backyard
Lily went in on Monday for her 15 month vaccine shots and we were able to get a size update on her, which is always fun. She weighed 26 pounds 6 ounces and was almost 32 inches tall. Just for curiosity's sake, I looked up in Ava's baby book to see where she was at this stage and discovered that at Ava's 2 year check-up she weighed 27 pounds and was 33 inches tall. So Lily is as big now as Ava was at 2. Oh boy! Well, I could've told you that without any science - just to pick her up these days is an effort. Elliott will say "which one do you want?" when we go out and I don't think it really matters as far as which girl is smaller or easier to wrangle. They are pretty evenly match.
Lily is now able to climb on the couch all by herself. So I have to watch where I put things on the kitchen counter, to make sure she can't get anything. Here's where I discovered her the other day:
Last night Jack caught a bird in our backyard. Elliott and I constantly egg him on as he barks at the back door at the birds that enter his yard, but have never seen him actually catch anything so it seemed harmless. Well, last night I let him out at a bird he was barking at, thinking it would be smart and fly away. But Jack caught it. And killed it. Into several pieces. Elliott and I sat there in shock as it flopped on thre ground, asking each other what we were supposed to do and how did that happen. I tried to keep the girls' attention away from the door because it was easy to see and I knew Ava would be upset by it. Eventually the bird stopped flopping and Elliott packaged up the pieces for the trashman on Monday, but we have learned not to underestimate our hunting dog again.
And here are a few funny Ava-isms for your enjoyment:
Ava wanted a toy from the other room and after I told her 'no' she started proclaiming "Don't make me sad mom!"After swimming lessons we talk about how fun it was, etc. Ava kept insisting she didn't want to go underwater, but that she would become a boy THEN go underwater. I tried to explain to her that girls went underwater too and that God made her a girl, not a boy. "When I go to the grave, then I will come back a boy." OH BOY! No, people I have not been talking about reincarnation or anything. I think she picked up the word "grave" from church, i.e. Jesus in the grave. This thought was solidified when she overheard me telling Elliott about our conversation. She piped up "Why you say 'grave' mom?" No reason, nobody's in the grave. "Jesus is in the grave." You're right, he was in the grave, but then he rose again and went back to heaven. "He went to heaven on a horse. Or an airplane." The theological ideas she comes up with!
Ava was running around my room and picked up a bra. "This is for my boobies." I played along and put it up to me, Is it for mommy's boobies? Do you have boobies? She pulled up her shirt, took a look and said "No, I no have boobies. They're still growing."
Update from Sarah
I figure that after volumes of what the little girls are up to, I would take a moment to write a few things on my behalf. I have a life too (I think).
Elliott and I are enjoying the lack of summer TV, freeing up lots of time to catch up on movies via Netflix. I have also taken advantage of some free Redbox movie codes as well, so we have been running through movies like mad around here. Better late than never! So far we have watched the last two Bond movies (so-so), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Elliott and I agree that we couldn't figure out how to feel about the movie but by the end we wanted to go hug our girls), Revolutionary Road (a Sam Mendes-directed movie which really made me think), and Valkyrie (we really enjoyed this one). There are of course a few glut movies thrown in there too, but in the line-up for our viewing pleasure this week we have the The International and Defiance. Yeah! And we even have a date night lined up for this Saturday, so maybe we will actually try to take in a new release in the movie theater, like the new Star Trek or Transformers.
Even though the TV season has wound down the return of one of our favorites is here: So You Think You Can Dance. We love this show! The last couple of weeks they have profiled the audition process and last night was Week 1 of the actual competition. Elliott and I agreed that overall we were highly impressed at the talent level for Week 1. These are some talented people! Can't wait to see what new dances they come up with each week!
The little girls have been enjoying the watermelon season, even though Elliott doesn't like watermelon and I am allergic. The funny thing though is that when I was pregnant with Ava I could eat watermelon with no allergic reaction. I was quite excited to see if this held true for the third baby, but alas no. I am still allergic and am forced to watch Lily and Ava enjoy it without me. We have been eating smoothies together though, and we are all enjoying that.
Just a couple of months left to go for Baby #3! Time has really flown by the last few weeks. Overall I feel pretty well, but I do get more tired every day. I am back to taking a few naps (something I only do the first trimester) and just trying to keep the pace slower. Even though the weather has been unusually mild here in Las Vegas the past couple of weeks I get really hot and am grateful that Elliott doesn't give me a hard time by how low the thermostat it set. I try to be conscience of the energy bill and keep it up as high as I can, but there are simply moments where I get too hot and give in. I also love ceiling fans, they are my lifesaver!
The baby moves more and more all of the time and I am excited for her to get bigger and for Elliott to be able to feel her freely too. There are moments where he has felt her, but the bigger she gets the easier it will be for him. We have settled on a first name for her: Piper. We are still debating a middle name, but it has been fun to refer to her by name and see her personality developing.
A couple of pregnancy side notes: I can't keep up with my growing fingernails! I seem to clip them all of the time. I know this is normal, but I am finding it highly annoying. And the time is soon coming for my final craving (I have it every time) - ice chewing. Elliott and I joke about this but it doesn't matter what weather season I am in, I never chew ice except the last six weeks of my pregnancy. Now that it is even hotter out, the time may be coming sooner than that. I actually went out of my way to go to Sonic the other day so I could get a yummy drink then eat the pebble ice. Ha ha! Oh well, if that's the worst I have it there is no complaining.
I have really been enjoying the beginning of summer though, with the slowdown in schedules. I never even thought we were that busy (and in the scheme of things we aren't) but with no where to be at no particular time is such a treat and I am taking full advantage for myself as well. In the past couple of weeks I have caught up on so many little projects (like writing in the girls' baby books and filing paperwork) as well as bigger projects, like piecing a quilt together for Piper and actually finishing a novel. It makes me feel so good to have a little bit of Sarah-time before Piper comes along, and to watch Ava and Lily play together nicely and not worry as much about them. Yesterday we went to a local park for a picnic lunch and I enjoyed sitting on a bench the entire time while they played independently. That is such a treat, seeing as Lily is just now hitting this phase and I am taking in every minute of it.
Elliott and I are enjoying the lack of summer TV, freeing up lots of time to catch up on movies via Netflix. I have also taken advantage of some free Redbox movie codes as well, so we have been running through movies like mad around here. Better late than never! So far we have watched the last two Bond movies (so-so), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Elliott and I agree that we couldn't figure out how to feel about the movie but by the end we wanted to go hug our girls), Revolutionary Road (a Sam Mendes-directed movie which really made me think), and Valkyrie (we really enjoyed this one). There are of course a few glut movies thrown in there too, but in the line-up for our viewing pleasure this week we have the The International and Defiance. Yeah! And we even have a date night lined up for this Saturday, so maybe we will actually try to take in a new release in the movie theater, like the new Star Trek or Transformers.
Even though the TV season has wound down the return of one of our favorites is here: So You Think You Can Dance. We love this show! The last couple of weeks they have profiled the audition process and last night was Week 1 of the actual competition. Elliott and I agreed that overall we were highly impressed at the talent level for Week 1. These are some talented people! Can't wait to see what new dances they come up with each week!
The little girls have been enjoying the watermelon season, even though Elliott doesn't like watermelon and I am allergic. The funny thing though is that when I was pregnant with Ava I could eat watermelon with no allergic reaction. I was quite excited to see if this held true for the third baby, but alas no. I am still allergic and am forced to watch Lily and Ava enjoy it without me. We have been eating smoothies together though, and we are all enjoying that.
Just a couple of months left to go for Baby #3! Time has really flown by the last few weeks. Overall I feel pretty well, but I do get more tired every day. I am back to taking a few naps (something I only do the first trimester) and just trying to keep the pace slower. Even though the weather has been unusually mild here in Las Vegas the past couple of weeks I get really hot and am grateful that Elliott doesn't give me a hard time by how low the thermostat it set. I try to be conscience of the energy bill and keep it up as high as I can, but there are simply moments where I get too hot and give in. I also love ceiling fans, they are my lifesaver!
The baby moves more and more all of the time and I am excited for her to get bigger and for Elliott to be able to feel her freely too. There are moments where he has felt her, but the bigger she gets the easier it will be for him. We have settled on a first name for her: Piper. We are still debating a middle name, but it has been fun to refer to her by name and see her personality developing.
A couple of pregnancy side notes: I can't keep up with my growing fingernails! I seem to clip them all of the time. I know this is normal, but I am finding it highly annoying. And the time is soon coming for my final craving (I have it every time) - ice chewing. Elliott and I joke about this but it doesn't matter what weather season I am in, I never chew ice except the last six weeks of my pregnancy. Now that it is even hotter out, the time may be coming sooner than that. I actually went out of my way to go to Sonic the other day so I could get a yummy drink then eat the pebble ice. Ha ha! Oh well, if that's the worst I have it there is no complaining.
I have really been enjoying the beginning of summer though, with the slowdown in schedules. I never even thought we were that busy (and in the scheme of things we aren't) but with no where to be at no particular time is such a treat and I am taking full advantage for myself as well. In the past couple of weeks I have caught up on so many little projects (like writing in the girls' baby books and filing paperwork) as well as bigger projects, like piecing a quilt together for Piper and actually finishing a novel. It makes me feel so good to have a little bit of Sarah-time before Piper comes along, and to watch Ava and Lily play together nicely and not worry as much about them. Yesterday we went to a local park for a picnic lunch and I enjoyed sitting on a bench the entire time while they played independently. That is such a treat, seeing as Lily is just now hitting this phase and I am taking in every minute of it.
Our little monkey
Elliott had the ladder out last Saturday so that he could change some lightbulbs and Lily found it right away. She has loved when Elliott helps her climb the monkey bars at the playground so the ladder was right up her alley:
The Fruits of Our Garden
Our little sidewalk garden (one half of it)
Some of our green bean plants
Our dwarf tomato bush
Our beefsteak tomato plant
Ava wants to pick our first tomato!
...And she does! The first fruits of our laborGrowing Up
I already filled you in on Lily's progress but both girls have been growing up right before our eyes.
We had been telling Ava that when we got back from Utah she would move into a "big girl bed." But we chickened out! Ava is a great sleeper and loves her crib , so in the end we thought why rock the boat. We compromised though - we now leave her crib bar down full-time. She can climb in and out as she pleases, but still feel safe in her crib. Both Elliott and I thought that this would also allow her some extra freedom to climb out and get whatever toys or books she would like to get after we leave the room. We have discovered however that Ava truly respects the boundaries of her crib regardless of what we tell her. I have told her that after naptime (and when she wakes up in the morning) she can climb out of her crib, open her bedroom door and come to find me.
She doesn't. She won't. She refuses.
* (I was trying to explain how we put two words together to make a sentence): Like puzzle pieces!
Lily is more of a chatterbox than the last time I wrote. Elliott and I are constantly amused at her endless stream of inflection and mimicry. She adds new sounds and words to her vocabulary all the time and we find great joy in communicating with her.
We had been telling Ava that when we got back from Utah she would move into a "big girl bed." But we chickened out! Ava is a great sleeper and loves her crib , so in the end we thought why rock the boat. We compromised though - we now leave her crib bar down full-time. She can climb in and out as she pleases, but still feel safe in her crib. Both Elliott and I thought that this would also allow her some extra freedom to climb out and get whatever toys or books she would like to get after we leave the room. We have discovered however that Ava truly respects the boundaries of her crib regardless of what we tell her. I have told her that after naptime (and when she wakes up in the morning) she can climb out of her crib, open her bedroom door and come to find me.She doesn't. She won't. She refuses.
When she wakes up she cries out as usual. You go in to her like normal. She talks to you like normal. Then you have to give her permission to get out of her crib, she answers cheerily "OK!" then climbs out and moves on with her day. Maybe someday she will venture out on her own (I swear she climbed out at naptime today to get some of her musical instruments because I could hear her playing with them) but until then we are just grateful she hasn't taken this bit of freedom too far.
As for her other freedoms, Ava can now open our doors with the greatest of ease. So upon returning home I put safety knobs on the doors where I don't want her to go - Lily's bedroom, our bedroom, and the front door. She hates it, but it is a lifesaver to me. Kinda. When I am putting Lily to bed sometimes she stands outside the door and screams (or knocks) because she can't come in, which is distracting to Lily (needless to say).
Here are a couple of Ava-isms for your amusement:
* (Ava playing with Legos, talking to herself) How does this work? I have no idea!
* I got a new mattress Daddy. It's so lovely!
* (Wearing her new sunglasses): Look at me, I am so stylish!
* (Ava playing with Legos, talking to herself) How does this work? I have no idea!
* I got a new mattress Daddy. It's so lovely!
* (Wearing her new sunglasses): Look at me, I am so stylish!
* (I was trying to explain how we put two words together to make a sentence): Like puzzle pieces!
Lily is more of a chatterbox than the last time I wrote. Elliott and I are constantly amused at her endless stream of inflection and mimicry. She adds new sounds and words to her vocabulary all the time and we find great joy in communicating with her.
I have to share this picture with you - too cute! We had family dinner at our house a few Sundays back and in order to try and amuse the kids (mine, cousins and friends) long enough that the adults could play a little game, I put on a show (Monsters Inc. I think). Here's all of them lined up on the couch enjoying it:
A Little Trip
As I alluded to in my last post the girls and I hit the road last month for a trip to see family (poor Elliott had to stay home and work - boo!). The main purpose of the trip was to see my new nephew Levi Michael Lindley, my sister Tracy's first child. The girls and I drove to Utah, where they stayed with their Grandma and Grandpa Kay for the time that I travelled to Missouri.
Levi is such a good baby and I had a great time visiting with Tracy, her husband Matthew, family and friends. Here are some pictures of the little guy:
Levi and his daddy
Levi and his mommy
Ah! I love the lovin'!
Levi Michael Lindley
Levi and I have a little chat
Levi is such a good baby and I had a great time visiting with Tracy, her husband Matthew, family and friends. Here are some pictures of the little guy:
Levi and his daddy
Levi and his mommyAh! I love the lovin'!
Levi Michael Lindley
Levi and I have a little chatI was able to be there for Levi's baby dedication at church, which was very special, and to see my dad for the first time since Tracy's wedding in 2004. I even got to visit with my cousin Becky, who I haven't seen since 2000 (I think).
After five days away from the girls I was ready to see them again (I hadn't been away from them before) and they were excited to see me. My welcome at the airport was quite fun, with Ava wanting lots and lots of hugs while in her carseat and Lily wanting to hold my hand. Ah! Yes, I basked in it. Overall the girls were quite good for Grandma and Grandpa, though Lily had a couple of rough nights (one she missed me and one she was sick). Ava had a great time exploring the new activities at Grandma's house and didn't miss me so much I think. They also got to spend lots of time with their cousins and really enjoyed the novelty of grass and big backyards. I wish I had some pictures of them enjoying the swingsets, but my camera ran out of battery and I forgot the charger (oops!)
All in all we had a GREAT time visiting with everybody, but after 10 days we were ready to go home and see daddy (and he us). The reunion for the girls was just exuberant and I think it made Elliott's day - just squeals and shrieks all around. The girls couldn't get enough hugs! I suppose that reaction made it all worthwhile.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
