Friday play date pics

Priscilla has a brand-new, extra-large crate for our upcoming move.  Priscilla has no desire to get anywhere near it.  The babies are enjoying it, though. It seems like every time I turn my back, one or both of them is inside of the crate.  Here are pics from this morning:

Here are today's pics from the park.  Bode was off and running at the park. I stuck close to Gianna and made sure she didn't climb to the top of the play structure.

What are your plans for the weekend?  My plan is to pack, pack, pack (and pack some more). And to get out the calendar and plan out the next couple of weeks (as much as possible).  I also want to take Bode to a pancake breakfast hosted by our local firemen.  Shhh!  He doesn't know about it.  I haven't told him because I'm not sure if the timing is going to work for us. I hope that we make it. I know my little guy would love to see a real fire truck first thing in the morning.  Whatever your plans, I hope that you have a happy weekend!  And, HAPPY FALL!
xo

Farewell, Summer

This afternoon around 4 PM, Bob called me.  The babies had woken up from their naps and had already eaten a snack. "What are you doing?" he asked. I explained that the babies were up and I was trying to decide what to do. It's been such a hot week. I've had a hard time motivating to get everyone outside. "Well," Bob continued, "I'm downtown and you know, the farmer's market is going on."  Within a few minutes, we were headed downtown to meet Bob at our local farmer's market. 

See this dude?  See what he is doing? See the popcorn flying?  Kettle corn.

Bode scored his third bag of popcorn this summer. The bags are HUGE. I asked if it was possible to get a mini bag. The lady who manned the register shook her head No, but took pity on me and gave me another plastic bag, so that I could spoon out a smaller portion for Bode to eat from the humongous bag we purchased.

Bode ate and ate and ate while we walked up and down the street, looking at the produce and other foods.  I was taking this picture of Bode when I spotted the firemen.  I spy with my little eye....

We sat on the street curb and watched the people walk by.  We enjoyed the shade and thought about dinner. 



We dined at an outdoor table covered in a plastic red-checked table cloth and ate falafel, pita and hummus.

It was the perfect end to summer.

xo

Friday play date (or photos of Gianna standing in the park)

We went to the Friday play date at the park for Gianna's play group.  I spent my time watching Gianna pull up on various things and stand.  And then occasionally I would panic, thinking, "Oh! I have another child! Where is he?"  I would scan the park worriedly until I found him, climbing the play  structure or sitting in the sandbox playing "construction" with some other kids.  That's about it. Here are some snaps of the standing baby:

On Tuesday, I took the babies to get photos taken at a studio.  I want this to be an annual thing. It is mainly for me.  I love the professional shots of all of us from last year.  Looking at the photos from last year, I am reminded of how tiny and perfect Gianna was, how newly-2-year-old Bode had the most innocent, adorable outlook on everything, and how Priscilla (and Kelly) is a part of this family.  At this photo session on Tuesday, I had the babies in coordinating outfits. I didn't want matchy-matchy, but as you know, in a nice photo, coordinating colors and some pattern make for a nice photo.  The outfits looked good. But the babies were not working well together.  This is normal. They are two individuals wanting to do two different things.  Asking them to sit still and smile in the same direction is asking a lot, especially in a studio with a lot of fun props to explore.  The photographer was great. He was fun and played with them, all the while trying his hardest to get a decent shot.  Boy, he worked hard. I was exhausted just watching him work. I even briefly thought that maybe his job was harder than mine (that is, until I tried to put two cranky babies down for a nap after the photo shoot).  I left the photographer's feeling discouraged and frustrated about the outcome of the photo shoot. I just hope that there is one good shot of the babies together. I have been thinking/wishing/hoping for this one good photo ever since Tuesday. 
But then last night, I had another thought.  I take a lot of shots of the babies every day: the mundane, the silly, the dirty, the crying, on and on. I take photos of our life.  Sometimes the babies' clothes are dirty or covered in dog hair. Sometimes (okay, a lot of times) there is a laundry basket of dirty (or clean) laundry in the background.  The toys in the play area are scattered all around and there's no organization to them, despite shelving and baskets.  The windows are dirty and smeared with handprints. Gianna has hair that is wild and Bode might have peanut butter on his chin.  Maybe the dog is eating something off of the high chair or the floor (or maybe Gianna is eating something off the floor).  I don't edit (unless it is me in pjs).  I want these things posted and remembered.  Because this is our life right now. Years from now, Bode and Gianna will look at these photos. And I'm betting that they don't want to see the canned studio shots. They will want to look back on the messy, ordinary (and fun) times they had together.

Happy Friday.
xo

Buy buy, baby

I have been shopping up a storm.  It has been fun, in a manic, "Do-we-need-this-now-or-possibly-in-the-next-three-months?" kind of way. I'm trying to gear up for all of our travel, as well as, have warm clothing for the winter months that are going to smack us in the faces once we arrive in Berlin and New York.

Remember when I was all, "No pink, please" when I was pregnant? You can laugh now.

Bode is set on clothes. Thanks to grandmothers and aunts, he is stocked for the next two years.  Gianna, not so much.  This is not a plea for clothing donations.  She is still a baby and is growing by "months"  sizes and not "year" sizes like Bode. So I'm trying to stock up without you know, over-stocking.

Gianna sez, "There's no such thing as too many clothes!"

We went shoe shopping for Gianna today.  This baby has tiny feet.  I was so very disappointed when the nice shoe salesman informed me that they do not make Uggs in Gianna's teeny baby feet size.  I was so very disappointed, until he said, "But we do have these..."  and presented me with the most adorable little suede booties in fuchsia!  My heartbeat quickened as I saw that the adorable little suede fuchsia booties had matching fuchsia faux fur lined on the inside. Not quite Uggs, but still, YUM.  The salesman also showed me the same booties in black and tan.  Excuse me?  No.  We want the (fun) fuchsia.

Gianna sez, "Wearing a matching cloth diaper is optional, but it's so fab if you do!"

Another of my more manic interesting purchases has been this guy.  Meet Baby Emperor. 

from here

He was a gift from Grandma.  A long time ago, Grandma went to the zoo and sent Bode and Gianna some stuffed animal  souvenirs: a lion cub and (this) penguin. When I opened the box, Bode grabbed the lion cub.  So the penguin was given to baby Gianna, who knew no difference.  In fact, I'm pretty sure Bode grabbed the penguin out of baby Gianna's hands as soon as I gave it to her.  But now? Now this is really Gianna's penguin. This is Gianna's go-to at nap and bedtime.  She also sometimes likes to bring him table-side when eating breakfast.  The poor guy has been in the washing machine and dryer more times than he'd like, I'm sure. I call him Guin, short for penguin. Ho! So clever, I know.  Bode never had an "attachment" or "transition" object except for a wooden puzzle piece, a school bus, that hardly ever left his hands.  I'm not sure how "attached" Gianna is to Guin.  She doesn't cry for him or can't sleep without him, as far as I can tell.  And, we don't  really  encourage attachments.  I don't bring Guin in the stroller, in the car, or anywhere.  But we aren't taking any chances.  Today I ordered two Baby Emperor stuffed animals just like Guin.  We will have back-ups, just in case Guin flies, or swims, the coop.

Gianna sez, "Guin won't leave me!"

Big hug

In other news, Gianna walked today with the use of her baby doll stroller.  I wasn't very surprised, as she has been standing on her own two feet and "walking" on her knees for awhile now. Or maybe it's just hours and hours of observing her mother walk while pushing a shopping cart.

Happy Friday!

xo

Friday Play Date

Four babies, and only two swings.  What do you do?  Double up!

These girls are in the same play groups as Bode and Gianna. Bode and Isabella are the same age and same play group. Mia is a month younger than Gianna, and in the same play group. It's nice to have a mother to compare notes and stories!

Today Bode climbed a structure that he has never attempted before.  Go, Bode, go!  I love seeing my little guy attempt new things.  When he got to the top, he got a little freaked about the last big hurdle. I was there to help him.

Bode is fascinated by reflections in glass and water.  He loves it when  he sees himself in windows.

A big biking guy now, Bode often wants to ride his bike after dinner.  "Ride my bike!" he announces, and so we head outside before bath and jammies. We are taking advantage of the extended daylight hours for as long as we can. 

Gianna is getting closer to that cruising-to-walking stage.  She now 'walks' on her knees.  And she'll crawl with her legs straight for a ways, too.  It won't be long.  We saw a lot of babies walking-toddling around at today's play date, and I told her, "Don't get any ideas." It is surprising how many of the babies in her play group are walking now.  Gianna is also quite the "cruiser" on anything with wheels. Maybe it's from watching Bode.

Any weekend plans?  We are in the midst of another lifestyle change! So I imagine our weekend is going to be spent close to home, planning and purging. At least, that sounds good to me right now.

Happy weekend!
xo