New Space

Hi. We've moved! Until I figure out the technical way to cyber-swoop you over to our new blog, find us here!

Hair Cut; One Bit!

I finally broke down. I didn't want to. I REALLY didn't want to. But there is little more irritating in life than having bangs in your eyes. So, we plunked Josiah down in his highchair and gave him his first hair cut. Just a little bang trim, taking his emo bangs out of his eyes.

Now he can see unimpeded. It's going to take a while for me to adjust. He doesn't look like my same baby. Honestly when I look at him with his straight-cut bangs I instantly see two things: 1. a picture of Nate when he was a toddler 2. Lloyd Christmas. 

If you think the latter, but find it unkosher to say, it's okay. You can say it. We think so too. 

Memorial Day

The first half of Memorial Day the kids spent marathon napping while Nate worked on a little of that bathroom remodel that got started a year ago and I alternated between reading and watching dramedies on Netflix. That in itself would have made a lovely vacation, but we decided to do what so many natives don't do on Memorial Day; go to the beach!

We're getting better at packing more quickly for an afternoon at the beach. This time it only took us 45 minutes (said with ironic tone of voice) and the only thing that got left behind were Selah's sunglasses.

If she looks red in the picture it's not a sunburn so don't be alarmed. It's just a fever. Yes, we took her to the beach anyway. So, maybe be alarmed. It was worth hearing the extra whines. Nate and I were doing our best dancing monkey impressions and histrionic renditions of "wow, isn't this so fun!" as we built a family sand castle and watched the tide fill our moat. Fever was not impressed.

 Yes, that's Josiah enjoying his favorite activity; eating unknown objects. 

While we were there I began to wonder when fear comes into our lives. Fear. Exploration. Reasoning. Feeling. After a traumatizing ride on the Disneyland Finding Nemo sub and a few visits to watch Shamu, Selah Grace is seriously scared to get in the water. Even her ankles.

Josiah happy screams in response to the crash of the wave break and runs at the receding tide, as if daring it to come farther into his territory. There is no fear.

I hope he always finds so much exuberant joy in life. I hope he continues to run toward the good things and doesn't shrink away from the loud crashes. As a mom it's scary to say I hope he remains fearless. Instead I'll say that I hope he always dreams fearlessly, but in the daily things, a little common sense would be nice. 

Baby Work

Josiah's been working hard around here this weekend. One of his words these days is, "INNNNN." Not only has he been using it to the max, he's been busy doing it.

What does this pile of toys have in common with daddy's guitar? They all came from "INNN"side daddy's guitar.

And he's sneaky about it too. We never see it happen, we just shake the guitar every night and unload the loot. (The picture below was a set-up for photo memories.)

Now if only he could stealth deposit things in helpful places like money in our bank account...We're thankful it's toys in the guitar though. Selah Grace was known for hiding old snacks in small pockets and drawers. NOT as nice to find later.

Can Someone PLEASE Get Me Some GummyBear Juice!

Each morning when I open the fridge at a groggy 5:30 to get Josiah's big boy cup of whole milk I look for it. It's never there, but I still hope. A little vile of gummy bear juice to get me going. To kick the foggy/groggy head and dead-weight body into action! One day those bounding bears will leave me a little bottle of love and for a few minutes I will remember what it feels like to feel AWAKE and powerful in my body! In the meantime, here's to my fellow under-slept, over-caffeinated parents who are bouncing here and there and everywhere despite the lack of gummy juice! Cheers!

Kid Craft: Cuff Tutorial!

Selah Grace and I have been having fun mixing trendy fashion with a kid-friendly craft these past few weeks making felt cuffs.

Throwing a 4th of July BBQ this year and want the kids to create something fun? Try these!

Step 1: Cut Strip of Felt

Felt strip should be a few inches wide and long enough to wrap around child's arm. Wrap felt band around child's arm to measure and cut length. 

Step 2: Make Button Fastener

Cut a small slit 1/2 inch in from one end. Cut a slightly larger slit 1/2 inch in from the other end. These will be your button holes. 

 Take a button, and a small piece of pipe cleaner. 

Thread the pipe cleaner through the button hole, twist the back a few times, leaving a little pipe cleaner untwisted to create a brad effect. 

Treating the button/pipe cleaner combo like a brad, put it through the small slit on the felt cuff and splay on back to secure. 

Step 3: Decorate!

Now for the fun part! We used sticky-backed felt shape cut-outs and glitter glue. Go to town with embellishment! You can use: glitter glue pens, sticky-backed felt shape cut-outs, buttons, foamies, fabric markers, ribbon, pretty much anything in your scrap bins! If you don't have sticky-backed felt you can just cut shapes out of regular felt and use white glue to adhere them. 

 Selah Grace wanted some pom-pom ribbon on hers so I hot-glued it for her. 

 Happy girl with her party cuff!

This project is really simple, very cheap, and can be modified to fit almost any theme or age. Try making gladiator warrior cuffs or birthday cuffs with numbers for their new age. Older tweens cans layer ribbons, lace, and buttons to create fun fashion cuffs for a more mature look. 

Mamas, try layering together some eyelet lace, lace, and a victorian-looking button for a mama version. Or a man's tie with simple button for a sophisticated look. More mama cuff tutorials to come. In the meantime, check out this one: victorian cuff . 

Have fun creating! Can't wait to see them!

Josiah the Inquisitive

What do all of these items have in common? 

I've taken them all out of Josiah's mouth! 

Moral of the story: no matter how much you babyproof your house, there is always the great wide world that is not babyproof friendly. I've learned to be vigilant and pre-emptive to dangers, but there's always more. The finger sweep has become my best friend and most used baby tool. But mostly, I've learned to relax a little about Josiah eating bugs. At least they're organic. 

Little Girl 3rd Birthday Presents.

What do you get a 3 year old girl for her birthday? Here are a few of Selah's favorite birthday gifts. Our family likes to get a few practical and fun things and at least one experience as presents. The bubble machine and playdough have already offered HOURS of play. I can't wait for mommy-and-me swim classes this summer. And let's just say I'm more than a little jealous of her pink glitter Toms! I've said it before: cute, comfy, and philanthropic. What more do you want from a shoe?

Life Is Good Today, Life is Good Today...

This morning the Zach Brown Band has been singing in my head, "Toes in the water, "toes" in the sand, not a worry in the world, cold beer in my hand, life is good  today, life is good today!"

The bougainvillea on this little whitewashed beach house makes me happy. 

We met some friends down at Mission Beach today; a grubby but wonderful place. Us mamas talked and laughed and lived vicarious dream-land lives by ogling the backyard beach patios along the boardwalk. The toddlers ran barefoot in the sand and grass and learned the importance of not flinging shovels of sand into the wind and staying on the correct side of that yellow line along the boardwalk.




The babies ate rice cakes covered in sand and pretzels covered in sand and a few more straight-up handfuls of sand for good measure.

Baby Kate and Baby Josiah with Baby Hands. 

Stare challenging his sand-soaked pretzel stick. 

Life is good on a Friday morning in May at Mission Bay. 

A single file line of a hundred pelicans kept flying up and down the coast line single file with impressive synchronization. There was even a pod of dolphins playing in the wave break close to shore for us to ooh and aah over.

A little bit of quality time with friends. A little bit of sunshine soaking into my skin and making my face warm with freckles. A little bit of sand on chubby baby toes. These are the little bursts of happy to my everydayness.

Circus Baby

We aren't too into generalizations around here, but the phrase "All BOY!" is finding it's way out of my mouth a lot lately. Josiah spent about two weeks crawling then started walking at nine months. Walking is old news and he's in a rush to find more adventurous mobility. Wobbly walks have been traded in for full-on running, dancing, scaling furniture, and dangling from tables mid air by the shear strength of his baby biceps.

Granted, we're pretty relaxed about letting our kiddos roam our house. They're free range. But I don't expect to find this...

Standing ON his Baby Einstein Jumper

 or this...

Racing back and forth across the couch. Yes, he stacks pillows to get a boost up. 

 or this...

Joining sister on her bed to play. 

 or this...

Standing up on the seat of his trike. 

I think next week we'll enter him into the circus!