Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

A Trip to the Mailbox

Amelia’s officially a toddler. In all essences of the word, I mean. Tall for her age (and therefore able to reach high) and exceptionally inquisitive, she is um, everywhere. All at once, it seems. Becoming acquainted with the range of mature emotions must certainly be frustrating and as the world gets bigger to her, she’s both pushing the boundaries of independence and clinging to me like never before. Her favorite move is to get herself in front of me and wrap both arms around both of my legs, smash her head between my shins, and look up at me whining, hanging, desperate for a moment of snuggles before she insists on getting back to the ground so she can run away.

We go get the mail together everyday.

It’s an experience. Here’s the mail tale.

Cool, plants.

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Leaves!

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I must sit to investigate.

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What mail?

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Oh right, MAIL! Bye!

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Wait, Mama. (that is NOT our yard btw)

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I’m coming!

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And I don’t have brakes.

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That’s better.  I think I need a ride the rest of the way.

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The End.

 

The best part about this stage is that when we are off to the next adventure (or the next room of the house), I put my hand out, Amelia grabs it and starts walking. She walks more confidently whilst holding my fingers in hers and when she clasps my hand, she takes off. In the past couple days, she’s been sticking her hand up, waiting for me to grab it so we can be off together. It’s the sweetest thing. My favorite thing. Even if she does stop every two seconds to explore the crack in the sidewalk.

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Moving Target

It’s grown increasingly difficult to get a good picture of Amelia. She is ever more independent each day, running about on her own exploration missions. She’s more and more curious about how things work and not at all interested in sitting still, looking pretty, or cooperating.

Most pictures come out something like this.

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Or this.

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And my new favorite mess-up

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I guess it’s representative of where Amelia is at this moment (or better, where she’s NOT—like in front of the camera!), but it’s pretty frustrating. I think it’s easier to get pictures of the dogs. Together!

Maybe I should teach Amelia to “stay.” Seriously, aren’t the common dog commands also useful for kids? Sit, Stay, Go Lay Down, Come, Heel.

Oops. I didn’t mean that last one.

Kinda.

I could go on and on about the similarities between the toddler and the pups, but I will leave it at that. In the meantime, I shall see if hot dogs are as good for training A as they are for Mr. Luke and maybe then I could get a decent picture.

It’s not like this one’s going in a frame anytime soon!

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Independence Day Wrap-up, Part II: Family Times

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I love this picture. A simple moment in time. The lighting’s not great, angle is off, and yet it’s fantastic. My family, together, and laughing, and having times.

Look at these two shenanigans. Pure joy between Grandpa and only Grandchild.

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And these two.

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This is my mom doing exactly what she does when Amelia is around—ignoring the rest of civilization. The times they will have . . .

family orig And what are the parents to do with so many family members hankering for their baby’s attention? Sit back and enjoy a beer, of course! And that empty chair? It’s the perfect representation of me . . . always stepping away from the moment to get it captured.

 

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And when you’re too old to sit on the laps and too young to have the beer, you pull up close to the fire, melt some mallows, and pretend that you’re utterly bored. Naturally.

Friday, July 10, 2009

She will never love the rain

A little Miss Somebody appears to have curly locks that only gather more ringlets with length.



I wonder from where she gets it???

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Independence Day Wrap-Up, Part I: Rookie Move

We traveled a long distance to be with the extended family over the holiday weekend. After a devastating loss this year, I think we all longed to make more memories with one another and feel the security of family wrapped around our shoulders.
For our little family, we could not wait to get Amelia to the beach! We have waited for this weekend for a LONG time, talking about taking The Baby to the ocean before we even knew who The Baby was. The beach is kinda our place. We vacation at the beach every year (ahem, except last year), got engaged at the beach, and later married on the beaches of Mexico. We dream of retiring near the California coast, with our lab pups in tow to fetch sticks out of the waves.
We decided on our first morning in Grover Beach that we'd go on our usual morning walk, but to take the route to the beach. Let Amelia see the water before she gets to play in it later, we thought. I brought my camera for the moment of introduction and we all set out, gabbing with my mom and Aunt Sharon along the way.
This is where it's important to say that I am an over-prepared mama. Always. I have blankets, changes of clothes, diapers galore, snacks, you name it--and they are in my purse at all times. However, on this morning, we were just out for a walk, AND Justin was with us (who complains incessantly about all the crap I carry about), so we set off with nothing more than a key to our beach house and our Starbucks cups in hand.

Now I ask you this. What in sam hell was I thinking? Amelia took one look at the ocean and that was it.


She plopped right down in the watery sand. No matter how hard we tried to keep her from the water, she returned, pulling her hands away from ours and running. The love affair had begun for her too.
While I sat there and worried about her diaper exploding, her (only) pants getting dirty, and her little body getting too cold, she played in the sand, loving every minute of it. (On a side note, isn't that the big difference with having your own babies? If I'd seen another baby in this same situation, I would have thought, "how cute. That baby loves the beach--look at her play." With my own child, I felt the Bad Mommy pressure of not having enough clothes or even bringing a change of diaper! For Shame!)
Oh good lawd!



For the walk home:

Excuse me, where is that baby child's pants?

Other pics from the morning meet-up.

Oh, my poor, aching heart.

Daddy to Amelia: "This is a Sand Dollar" Amelia to Sand Dollar: "oooohhhh"


New Mommy Fave.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The muse. . .

I have a confession. I am a Crafty. Yep, the kind that peruses the aisles of Michaels with my coupons, looking for the perfect yarn for the perfect pattern, etc. It doesn't stop there, but I won't bore you with the rest. It's rather embarrassing really, the unlimited scope of my interests in all things craft. I am absolutely the kind of person who looks at something cute and says, "I'm not paying for that when I can make it myself." As if I am living amidst the Great Depression (oh wait. . .), I save materials to make them into other materials and refuse to pay for something hand-crafted even if made by hands far more talented than my own.

This obsession of mine has only increased ten (thousand)-fold since having Amelia. One of my secret reasons that I secretly wanted a daughter was because of all the cool things I could make a little girl. The possibilities seemed endless. Don't even get me started!! Just wait until that baby child is school-aged and has a scarf to match her little cardigan as she carries a jar of homemade jam to her teacher. oy to the vey.

Recently, I asked my internet-turned-real friend Amie where she gets miss Taylor's adorable dresses like this. She replied "Etsy of course!" Etsy is the website of all things crafty. That is, if you want to sell or buy something handmade, Etsy is the place! To me, it's a lot like Ross online. You have to sift through a lotta crap to get what you want. Amie though, is extremely talented at finding good etsy things, as she has pointed me in the direction of things time and again. The dresses are called Pillowcase dresses and are ridiculously adorable. I wanted something similar for Amelia, but a little different. Most notably without the bows on the shoulders. Y'all know by now that I'm not really into the adornment thing. In my search, I found this dress.
(Link to the shop here)

It's exactly what I want! So cute. So I decide to go on search for a pattern for this dress rather than pony up the cash for the one you see here.

The catch? I don't sew, you see.

That's okay though because my mom DOES! See how nicely that works? I bought the pattern, searched for the fabric and spent a day with my mom last weekend. Guess what came out of it all?







I hereby declare three things:
1) I shall learn to sew. Immediately.
2) There will be more Pillowcase Dresses in Amelia's future. There WILL be. And perhaps some for every other baby girl child we know. Or have known. Or will know. Or have never known.
3)All of the possibilities swimming about my tiny pool of brains for these dresses in all varieties can't possibly ever come to fruition. Yet I shall try. We. I mean we seeing as I don't sew and all.

Oh and Amelia shall never again wear that hat with that dress. But that's four things, I suppose.