Geogling

trip videos

2012-01-29T12:10:00.003-06:00

Here is the pinata on Jonas' birthday. As much as he is keen on destroying things, he wasn't too into whacking the pinata. The other kids were professionals though, and made up for his lack of interest.

Here we are walking down the street on the way to the Zocalo, the large central historic plaza in Mexico City. Jonas enjoys pointing out the sights along the way.

Ellie rides the pink creature at a mall in Queretaro. This was one of those "this doesn't happen in the US" moments. If kids were even allowed to ride something like this, it certainly wouldn't be just in the middle of the mall with no fence or bumper or anything. It was hilarious.

mexico trip

2012-01-12T19:16:00.012-06:00

Here are lots of pics from the trip. I'll update this post with descriptions as soon as I can. Coming soon: video.

first birthday

2011-12-30T12:40:00.002-06:00

around the house

2011-12-22T08:51:00.004-06:00

this is what happens when i put buddy to bed. "mom, I made a dance club nest." she took out every. single. item. of. clothing. she owns from her dresser and closet and made a perfectly round nest.

at breakfast. can you tell jonas is saying "ooh!" at something outside?

we've moved from just opening the cupboards to climbing in the cupboards.

i think i can reach it!

hard at work painting christmas wrapping paper.

the artists at work.

jonas eating a straw.

the boy

2011-12-05T09:57:00.003-06:00

Ellie insisted we take this picture to show how Jonas' hair was sticking up. You have to look realllllly closely, but it is.

Jonas works on rice to mouth delivery techniques.

Further evidence that everything Ellie does is hilarious to Jonas. Here she makes an elephant sound and he laughs.

mostly halloween

2011-11-18T21:45:00.003-06:00

Halloween plus a bit of Jonas eating, which can be either a treat or a trick.

We seem to have a picture of Ellie at about this age eating vegetable fried rice too. With similar results.

Ellie proud of her jack o lantern.

The tree. It was her idea and thanks to a quick google image search and a $.99 bag of leaves from Michaels she was a tree.

The tree and her trusty sidekick the squirrel.

The house thanks to Adam and his lights. We had a super spooky glow plus lightning flashes.

catching up with LA part II

2011-11-18T21:31:00.009-06:00

I am so behind. This was a month ago already. I never get to sit at the real computer where the pictures are archived. Jonas is always on a path of destruction aimed at the computer.

But he's sleeping and I'm not (a rare occurrence).

Here we are at the Getty Museum. It was lovely.

The view west towards Hollywood from Stefano and Maria's dining room table.

Ohhh, embarrassing picture 15 years from now! Ellie and Black in the tub.

Look what Maria bought at the farmers market! That's little Rainy. She is just the cutest thing.

Stefano hauls the big kids around at the farmers market.

I haul Jonas around at the farmers market and have the best strawberry lemonade I've ever had in my life.

Little Bob Dylan works on his beats.

ellie and friends

2011-11-17T09:06:00.002-06:00

ellie is enjoying her new preschool friends, though finds the shift from a 10 kid daycare to a 19 kid preschool class a bit "crazy" at times.

Here she is with one of her best pals Alex. They are building a box castle at the kids play cafe near her school. We go here some days when it is too cold to play at the school playground.

another db post

2011-11-10T10:30:00.004-06:00

I fished a paper clip out of his mouth the other day. And I'm pretty sure he ate a lady bug. I only fished out a leg from his mouth. Mmmm.

Yesterday he learned to open the cupboard doors so we put the locks on. Foiled again!

And in that picture above, that mark on his left cheek isn't dirt (though that is entirely likely given his habits). It's a bruise from where he fell on the corner of a cardboard box he was pulling up on.

LA trip part I

2011-10-19T13:07:00.005-05:00

Without the usual regard for chronology, we'll skip around to some L.A. trip highlights.

This is the day we visited Santa Monica pier and beach. Ellie and I rode the ferris wheel, her first time ever. She was looking not so sure at first, but in the end really liked it.

Jonas loved the beach. Especially all of that sand to eat.

"Try to put them together so I can take a picture."

That's better.

Danger baby, part II

2011-10-04T21:02:00.002-05:00

Today I removed the following items from d.b.'s mouth within the span of 15 minutes:
2 rocks
1 acorn
2 wood chips

Ok, granted, I let him crawl around in the mulch at Ellie's school playground, but really!

On Saturday he and Ellie were playing in our bedroom. Adam was sitting right there and I was sewing in the next (adjoining) room. Ellie brought a toy to me and wanted to know what the red stuff on it was. It looked like paint to me. Later she brought a different toy too. Gah! Danger baby had a cut on his finger and was crawling around leaving a trail of little blood spots all over everything. We spent the next half hour crawling around on the carpet with rags wiping up tiny blood spots. I had to wrestle a band aid on J. because his finger would only stop bleeding when a band aid was on it. He of course kept wanting to bite it off. Never did cry about it. We think it was from him "strumming" the cold air return vent. Those things are kind of sharp.

I went out and bought two boxes of band aids. I have a feeling that won't be the last time something like that happens!

Today he figured out how to rock his high chair up on two legs. He loves to rock back and forth as he anticipates the food coming. I wedged it up with the tray under the dining room table so he can't tip himself over. Sheesh. And the kid loves food. So far he hasn't refused a single thing we've put in front of him. Current favorites are hummus and lentil/vegetable soup and avocados. I feed him hummus on a spoon. I wonder if that will last?

Ellie is very faithful at protecting him and reporting his every move if it seems the least bit dangerous. I'm sure he'll appreciate that tattle mode when he gets a little bigger. "Mom, Buddy's......!!"

pics to follow.

exploring

2011-09-25T09:58:00.001-05:00

as strange as it sounds, we actually live in columbus, OH. still can't get used to that. part of it is that columbus is such an everyplace USA kinda town that it feels familiar enough. still feels a bit like being on vacation for me because we're staying in a nice house and i'm not working and we spend a lot of time exploring. sounds like vacation to me.

Ellie is settling in to her new routine. She goes to preschool at the School for Young Children. We all love it. It is such an excellent program and a beautiful progression from Chrissie and Nina's - very similar philosophy and "feel." The fun thing about school is that afterwards a lot of the parents stick around and play on the playground there so the kids get extra time together and the grown ups get to talk. Here she is on her first day.

Jonas is doing his share of exploring right now too. Here he is learning how to deliver food from bowl to mouth.

And exploring the kitchen cupboards.

danger baby

2011-09-13T18:26:00.004-05:00

and his faithful assistant safety girl...

most days are filled with Jonas going after one dangerous/expensive/fragile/messy thing after another, us taking him away from it, then him crying about it. there is a lot of crying going on around here from our otherwise sunny boy.

thanks to friend Kristen Froebel for coining the term danger baby!

Ellie is safety girl because I often hear her from the other room: Mom! Buddy's eating the ________! and I have to come rescue him.

First a photo by safety girl. Look at that innocent face. Could this baby be any trouble?

That is us in front of Ellie's new bunkbed with the tent on top (which she thus far has refused to sleep in because it is a "little bit scary").

Ellie at her typical silly best.

Danger baby's new skill: pulling up to new heights.

And with crawling comes (very) dirty feet.

And someone here likes to eat dirt.

Ellie sets up her waterslide.

We have to put pants and shoes on him outside to protect his knees and toes. What you can't see in this picture is him crying because he is so restricted by the stiff jeans and thick diaper.

Uh-oh. Buddy, what did you do?

Silly wolf girl rides the pony and makes Jonas laugh.

moving

2011-09-07T18:17:00.006-05:00

we've been in columbus for a week now and are feeling like we've gotten a bit settled now. still some boxes around, but better.

my view from the truck en route.

Jonas entertains himself along the drive.

Adam scales the truck to clean the window.

My one hour of driving out of the whole trip. Definitely the most utterly terrifying thing I've done recently (except for my dissertation defense).

With the big guys at the rest area. Note the baby seat.

Pulling into our neighborhood.

This is our alley on the way to our garage.

It looks like there is room to spare.

Oh yes, definitely at least 4 inches under that flagpole. In German Village even the alleys are lined with houses. This is our neighbor in the alley.

At our garage (to my back). Fortunately, we could pull into the neighbor's yard to back into our driveway.

The kitchen, pre-organization.

The living room and front door.

Jonas checks out the fun in the back yard.

and...go!

2011-08-16T22:02:00.002-05:00

we begged and pleaded that he not start crawling before we moved, but he just wouldn't listen.

grandma!

2011-07-28T22:29:00.004-05:00

Great Grandma Nini came for a visit and got to meet Jonas.

We finally got to ride the Como-Harriet Streetcar. I'm pretty sure I was the most enthusiastic about the ride.

Jonas loves to jump. I am amazed he hasn't whacked his head on the door frame yet.

Spoons are for babies. I want to feed myself. Notice the puckery face he makes when he actually tastes the watermelon.

Ellie tries to explain to Jonas that food goes on the inside not the outside of you.

Ellie plays with Grandma Nini.

summer days

2011-07-24T23:22:00.004-05:00

super hot day - 118 degree heat index the very hour this photo was taken, actually.

The kids play with water on the kitchen floor.

picture taken by ellie. I think it's quite good.

At the zero depth entry wading pool by lake hiawatha. Jonas loved splashing in the water.

Ellie takes on the climbing wall.

eating and laughing

2011-07-11T22:55:00.003-05:00

Jonas entered the solid food stage now that he's sitting, getting teeth, and grabbing for everything on our plates. First up: avocados. He likes to grab the spoon and do it himself.

Driving home from my parents' new place in Burnsville, Jonas cried all the way to Lyn Lake (that's 30 of 35 mins or so). I found Ellie, also asleep by then, holding on to him when we got home.

Ellie, can you pick out a bib for Jonas?

She made him into super baby bunny instead. And she's super girl with her bib cape.

Swinging in the big kid swing at the park.

Jonas started giggling for no apparent reason as I gave Ellie a bath one night.

Avocado eating in action.

happy 4th

2011-07-04T17:30:00.005-05:00

watching the parade

ellie joins auntie kristen and the other children's home society folks in the parade

Jonas showing off his new sitting skills and ellie points to a balloon that got away.

I have a new tooth!

man, 4th of july is so tiring!

sleeping, etc.

2011-06-07T07:55:00.007-05:00

people ask how it's going with adam in columbus and just me and the kids. it's alright. the biggest change for ellie is that she's allowed back in my bed for "sleepovers" since there is room now. this was the scene 20 minutes ago when i got up. the spot i vacated is where the pink dotted blanket is. lots of little feet on me at night.

this was the scene last night. it was really really hot. i had just gotten the a/c going. jonas had just gone to sleep (ellie had been asleep in there for a while). i had to lay him down so i could go brush my teeth. i don't yet let them sleep alone together if I'm not there to watch b/c he's too small, but in the 3 minutes it took me to brush, this is how they ended up. when i laid him down, there was a nice safe 3 feet between them. i can see that it will be much easier to transition Jonas out of our bed when the time comes because he will have a big sister to snuggle with in their room!

This is more like it. And no, that's not a rash under her arm. it's marker.

the last thing i always hear from ellie at night is "but mom, i just can't sleep!" this night she didn't want to sleep in my bed, she didn't want to sleep in her bed, and she didn't want to sleep on her little mattress on my floor so this is where she ended up - sound asleep in the chair.

this is an illustration of kids learning what they live. before ellie fell asleep, i heard her say to her baby "oh, you just need a little nursie to be calm and go to sleep." she was nursing that one until she turned over in her sleep.

Jonas wearing my baby pajamas.

Sunhats.

Jonas checks out the summer sale at creative kidstuff.

ellie thought that jonas really needed a pacifier attached to his shirt (never mind that he won't take a paci).

more graduation pictures

2011-06-05T22:18:00.006-05:00

wolf hotel

2011-05-16T19:25:00.004-05:00

first, ellie and jonas play with uni (the unicorn pillow pet, of course).

as something fun for ellie after making her endure my graduation, meeting with boring professors (not that i think they are boring!), and talking to sundry other strangers, we surprised her with a night at an indoor waterpark hotel. we all had a blast. it had a woods theme and we stayed in the wolf den.

it had a bunkbed kids' room with a wolf theme. that's her and her choice of bed time reading: the gideon bible!

ellie is wearing her plush wolf ears from her kids' meal at the lodge restaurant.

howling!

story time in the lobby.

ellie tried all of the little kid slides and had fun with all the water play areas.

kentucky trip part I

2011-05-09T08:00:00.004-05:00

two days in the car needs a good toy system.

grandma got an ipad. ellie was entertained.

delivered the tome to the department.

and graduated.
more pictures to come...

happy easter

2011-04-24T16:26:00.005-05:00

ellie came running in to me while I was washing dishes saying "Mom, you gotta see this. It's hilarious!" She put her sheep ears on Jonas. And yes, she does have underwear on.

Making dinner. Baby crying. Still making dinner. Baby stopped crying. He must have found his toy. Nope. Nap time.

What a big boy.

Ellie at her beloved dance class. She takes it so seriously and watches and listens to her teacher so intently.

"take five jumps."

Tendue.

5 little girls and Graham, bless him, in his awesome outfit. That's my kind of boy.

Jonas' first easter egg hunt at church. He fell asleep just before they let the kids loose in the kids space. I laid him down to put on the beco and he amazingly stayed asleep. This, the kid who's never slept in a crib.

Ellie finds some loot.

Jonas sleeps on while a little friend searches for candy under the crib.

traveling

2011-04-18T12:29:00.011-05:00

We traveled to Seattle for the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers. Prior to the meeting we went up to Vancouver for a visit since we'd never been there.

On our first night in Seattle we stayed with our friends John and Anna. Here's Jonas hugging his blanket at 6 in the morning when we had to get up to catch our train to Vancouver.

On the train. It was a great ride - right along the seashore and through lovely countryside and towns all the way up.

On Robson St. near our hotel on Vancouver's West End. A sample of the diversity of the city:

Japanese, Mexican, Mongolian, Middle Eastern, and Japanese again.

Some Spanish hot chocolate at a restaurant called Judas Goat. If you've never had Spanish hot chocolate, think pudding you can drink. It is amazing, even when not consumed in Spain.

Jonas Goat.

Riding on the little Aquabus - water taxi.

Happy on the Aquabus. Followed by crying for the rest of the ride. Oh well.

Orca sculpture.

Mountains just north of Vancouver. You could see these from everywhere.

View from our room.

Vancouver's train station at 6:00am. It's a beauty.

Jonas rides the train back to Seattle.

Daddy pushes the stroller up one of Seattle's many hills.

Yeah, he was credentialed.

Breakfast our last day there was at Top Pot. Yum.

Jonas was not as impressed with the place as we were.

At the airport on the way home. What a big boy to sit in this little seat while mama goes potty.

Sitting in the airplane before leaving Seattle. He slept almost the entire way home.

Ellie and Kristen came to pick us up. She loves to watch the suitcases come down the chute.

friends

2011-04-05T15:18:00.004-05:00

my favorite jammies.

Jonas with his buddies Aaron and Sam. Aaron is two weeks older and Sam is two months younger.

This picture captures the moment J starts to pull A's hair, just before he starts to cry.

Jonas loves his baby.

the diaper post

2011-03-26T21:19:00.004-06:00

I did one of these with ellie too, but I've refined my techniques a bit since then.

Exhibit A: The pre-fold with a Snappi.

The old classic diaper. I used these a bit with Ellie, but hated the pins and even with the covers that said you could just lay it in there, didn't have much success because it always managed to bunch and move and leak. The snappi works pretty slick. It is a stretchy band with hooks on the ends much like those you use with an ace bandage and it holds the diaper in place better than pins.

I got my prefolds at Linden Hills coop but you can get them anywhere. Can't remember what I paid - $25 for a dozen? But they are very good quality.

On top of the snappi-enclosed pre-fold goes a waterproof cover. This is a Lite-Wrap. No idea if they still make these. They are ok, but I prefer the Bummi's super whisper wraps - they are more durable and more waterproof. I do like the aplix instead of regular velcro on the Lite-Wraps though - much more long lasting than regular.

Exhibit B: Mama-made pocket diapers

I've definitely refined my diaper-sewing since Ellie was this size. Much trial and error later... These are a pocket diaper fashioned after fuzzibunz and the like. PUL outer layer, microfleece inner layer. Opening to stuff with whatever kind of absorbent layer you like. I use microfiber inserts or just plain folded microfiber towels from the auto supply section of target! Much cheaper for the very same material. I like my version better though than the retail brands because my fleece is grey! No poop stains are visible. Why oh why do they make diapers white? What a stupid idea.

Another of the same idea. These I used microfleece from some old pajama pants I got at the thrift store. Super soft polka dots. I made Ellie a pair of pj pants from them and used what was left to line a diaper.

Exhibit C: Bum Genius

One of my favorite kinds of pocket diapers (if I were to only buy pre-made ones). These are Bum-Genius 3.0. Pros: very waterproof, adjustable with the snaps for sizes 7lbs to 35lbs. And yes, he wore them at 4 weeks old and Ellie wore these just prior to potty training. Elastic is good and very customizable with how much you want to stuff them with for varying absorbency. Cons: the velcro wears out pretty fast. But, the new Bum-Geniuses come with a snap option instead of velcro. And the polyester fleece seems to hold stains worse than other diapers. Other con: almost $20 a diaper. This is why I copy them and sew my own for about $3 per diaper.

Oh, I just realized these were the Bum-Genius all in ones not the adjustable pockets. They look alike. The difference is that these come with the absorbent pad sewn in but there is also a pocket to put more stuffing in. I add an extra soaker pad for night-time. I don't like how long they take to dry and they are only one size, not adjustable.

Overall, I love cloth dipes. They've proven very economical especially since I can sew my own, but I also have gotten a lot second hand. Even when we have to pay $2 per load of laundry in our building to wash them I spend $4 per week on diapers if I do all cloth. If I do all disposable it would cost me about twice that per week for Target brand diapers and closer to $15 per week for expensive brand diapers. I'm not including the cost of buying the diapers because I already had them all from Ellie or had already bought the fabric before he was born for the ones I'm still sewing.

In addition to being cheap, they are extra soft and comfy and extra cute. I am so tired of the same diaper prints: Huggies has Winnie the Pooh, Target has polka dots, etc... With cloth you can have a different pattern and color every day.

Washing is not a big deal, but if you have a strong poop aversion, like Adam does, you won't like it. We just wash on hot with BioKleen detergent. When we used to have our own washer I'd do an extra cold rinse first and an extra rinse after to get any detergent residue out, but it's too expensive to do that with a pay laundry now. Still works just fine but I may have to strip my dipes of detergent more often (that's the subject of another post...).

snow, sleep, bath, etc.

2011-03-26T21:10:00.002-06:00

Snowy day. Tired Mama who refused to play outside in the snow with Ellie, so we just brought the snow inside to play with.

This scenario played out like this: Ellie, playing computer games, suddenly stopped and came over to me on the couch saying "Mom, I need somewhere to sleep!" and she was out. Brother was already out. A cozy snuggle, but too bad it was at 6:00 when dinner was cooking.

Practicing, practicing, practicing.... Trying to make this whole hands free nursing thing a reality. Looks fairly discreet but it still takes too much in the way of acrobatics to get him going. We'll keep trying...

Happy bathtime boy.

the new kid

2011-03-17T21:39:00.002-06:00

2011-03-16T09:04:00.001-06:00

Hedgehog.

My view down into the pouch.

Another pouch view.

my head is so heavy!

early march

2011-03-07T15:02:00.007-06:00

ET phone home.

Sister keeps giving me toys.

Ellie's room - we made a new bulletin board.

While we're at it, a tour of some other parts of her room. The changing table.

We made the birdie garland as a remedy towards the white walls.

Leaning tower of baby toys.

What?! An infant of mine actually sleeps without touching me?! ;) Ha, don't worry, it didn't last.

as many toys as she gives him, he never takes his eyes off of her.

lots of laughs

2011-03-02T16:40:00.005-06:00

Ellie and Jonas love each other. He loves to watch her run around and she loves to kiss him and get in his face.

Looking at big sis.

Smiles.

Goldy! Ellie picked out this shirt before he was born.

Playing at Ikea.

Ellie sings with the girls and Scott at church. Before recently she would stand up there and dance but not really sing. Then they handed her a mic and she decided she could sing with gusto.

thrift love

2011-02-28T22:09:00.002-06:00

I just have to report my excellent thrifting success. I went to Unique on friday for 25% off day for VIP card holders (yes, that's me).

For a grand total of $40, here's what I got:

for Jonas:

land's end winter coat (size 4)

hanna anderson winter coat (size 2-3)

fleece jacket/pants outfit to fit now

for ellie:

marmot raincoat (size 10/12, but it's worth holding on to!) I had one like this and paid over $100 for it - got hers for $5.25.

long underwear/pj set (looks brand new)

polypropolene long underwear shirt (easily pay over $25 for a new one of these)

for me:

rei fleece jacket

hooded sweatshirt

j jill t shirt in my favorite color to replace the identical one i also got at unique a few years ago but have worn to death.

plus a new muffin tin and a muffin tin with heart shapes for ellie

yes, all for $40. The most expensive thing was that marmot coat for $5.25.

I should take some pics and post them.

more pics of jonas and ellie soon!

sister and brother

2011-02-16T10:51:00.003-06:00

can you guess who is who?

if he's not eating or being changed there's a pretty strong chance he's in the moby. we get a lot done this way and when we go outside I just zip him into my coat.

who's that bear?

Happy Valentine's Day.

Ellie sings a song with the lyrics "Ellie loves you,..."

Jonas works on keeping that fist in his mouth.

lots of pictures

2011-02-11T13:21:00.004-06:00

finally an update.

here's the boy at 4 0r 5 weeks.

ellie parallel to the pillows with her typical friend array.

almost catching a smile here.

asleep with daddy.

storytime.

big sister

2011-01-31T16:38:00.001-06:00

we had a little party for all of our birthdays together, including Jonas, who is "0".

Ellie loves on her little brother.

jonas

2011-01-15T18:24:00.004-06:00

More Jonas

2010-12-31T12:06:00.004-06:00

It should be illegal to deliver a baby without the help of a doula. Here is

my awesome doula Jen with me, Jonas, and Adam shortly after the birth. I don't know how I would have made it without her. She was just there doing exactly what I needed without me even knowing that I needed it and certainly before I could say what I needed.

Ellie gets to know her brother. In her words "well, I really wanted a sister, but I'll like a brother."

"He's petable" says Ellie.

Jonas Samuel arrives

2010-12-30T21:09:00.001-06:00

Surprise, mom and dad. I was ready, whether or not you were.

12:01am

12/29/10

7lbs 3oz

20 inches

14 inch head (ow)

(mama says: birth story to follow tomorrow or sometime soon)

christmas

2010-12-27T15:06:00.006-06:00

Christmas morning - Ellie puts on a puppet show with her new puppet theater.

the coveted pillow pet! (see video below)

Playing with her new cash register from Grandma Nini - one of her favorite new toys.

Amid the chaos.

Ellie downtown in the skyways. Daddy took her to see the Holidazzle parade.

Pillowpet unwrapped.

What would you do if someone put a hot cup of tea on your feet?

It always riles up the baby. There goes my table.

early winter

2010-12-19T12:34:00.003-06:00

Looking out our front door at 17 unplowed inches of snow. It stayed this way for a few days.

What we did on our snow day.

You have to work pretty hard to get bed head this amazing.

Typical sleeping scenario. How many friends will fit in bed with her?

Ellie the sheep in the church christmas show. She did not want to be up there and this was about as participatory as she got.

October

2010-11-19T07:59:00.003-06:00

Slowly catching up here. Some photos from October. Ellie picks out a pumpkin at the North Loop pumpkin party.

And, as it is now a tradition, we got hot cocoa at the Dunn Bros. after the pumpkin party.

Ellie said that her hair, sticking out of her hello kitty underpants hat, was her "antlers."

A variation on her halloween costume.

The real halloween costume, with Auntie Kristen.

Jack o lanterns at Stefano and Maria's house.

Eating candy before we even went out trick or treating.

Ellie and Black.

Getting some treats.

this and that

2010-10-10T17:17:00.002-05:00

Ellie put all of her bears (only the heads, mind you) to sleep in her new socks.

Mama's little research assistant: a visit to the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary, one of my dissertation case study sites.

Fairs

2010-09-19T09:45:00.008-05:00

We weren't planning on it, but decided to go to the state fair anyway one evening. It was a good time to go b/c it had rained and was threatening more, but it never did, so it was nice and uncrowded.

First we visited the baby animals barn.

Then the quest for food. We didn't eat the fries, but liked the sign.

Ellie was proud to be able to both reach and operate this fountain all by herself.

At least she's still at an age where the free attractions are just as fun.

And the next fair... Heritage Fair in Mt. Lake. I just felt like some good Mennonite foods and roped in friends Stefano and Maria into going. They are from LA and are always interested in small town midwest experiences, so this fit the bill.

First, my borscht and bread and zweiback (and ellie's pickle on a stick, which she took all of one bite of).

And yes, they do spell zweiback the way everyone pronounces it: tweback.

Ellie leads Black to the caboose.

Up in the crows nest in the caboose.

Ellie by the depot.

And in the school house.

And trying out the stroller that's just like Grandpa Rainey had when he was little.

Brushing up on a little Mountain Lake history on the way home.

At the geography department picnic, riding in the fun peddle car with Black, Stefano and other geog kids.

the new kid in town

2010-09-03T11:16:00.004-05:00

Ellie thought it was pretty cool for the first 5 minutes or so, but even adults find looking at bladders and such not that interesting so we weren't surprised when she piped up with the following:

(after they turned on the heartbeat audio) "Hey, I'm readin' here!"

To which we responded, "oh, get used to it kid. it's just the first of many times your sibling will annoy you."

learning new things

2010-08-29T13:39:00.005-05:00

well, i finally managed to upload some photos and videos. the camera has been in the glovebox all month for some reason so we're a little short on photos lately!

Ellie is learning to write her name. We haven't even practiced with her. I think she learned this from Kaiya and Abrea. She had me write the "i" but she did the rest.

This is what happens when you get 2 inches of rain in about a half an hour (and then it continues to rain!). Fortunately it was only coming in here, and not b/c we are low - it's only because the building's only roof drain releases an enormous volume of water right outside the window. This video was taken shortly before I managed to knock over the basin. I was feeling pretty proud of my hydro-engineering up to this point. Bug the good news is that it quit raining soon after and quit pouring in. No long term damage.

Ellie's new skill - and new haircut! if you haven't seen her lately. We were way behind on that and just kept forgetting. Now if only Mama could get around to getting a haircut. Too bad no one else will cut mine for me on a stool in the bathroom. I actually have to make an appt somewhere and pay someone!

some recent ellie-isms

2010-08-05T14:44:00.002-05:00

can you make one ponytail on the top of my head like a flower growing out?

out of the blue, walking with us, no one was saying anything:

sometimes, dreams really do come true!

excover = discover + explore

we have a placemat that is a cartoon map of the US and there is a big
pretzel over pennsylvania. I told ellie the real name for the state
and she said, "but I'm going to call it pretzelvania." it will forever
be that in our family lexicon!

she has decreed, as part of us trying to ease her into sleeping into
her own room, that she will have a "bye bye mama's bed" party. hey, if
that works, we'll gladly go with it!

so behind

2010-07-25T11:15:00.004-05:00

ok, so we moved. and i'm almost done with a second dissertation draft. and we're caretakers at our new apt. and have some new work to do. and with that, we are studying to take our boilers' license exam. so we've been busy.

but here are a few recent shots. pics of moving and the new place still to come.

Here are Ellie and Kaiya swimming at Wirth Lake. It's pretty shallow so Kaiya could take Ellie way out there.

A little closer. I'm really liking the yellow and black and white life jacket. I can always spot the kid wherever she is.

Ellie at her "Bye-Bye Nursies" party. We had a party at the park by our house to celebrate and mark weaning for her. She had so much fun and felt very special. Weaning was easy overall - a few tears for a few nights, but they were pretty forced and she was pretty accepting.

Friends Liz, Fiona (back to camera), Stefano, Maria, and Black.

Stefano's skewed sense of humor. What does one bring to a weaning party, anyway?!

a dissertation is born

2010-07-08T11:48:00.003-05:00

This is what you find when you move. I remember creating this thing. With the fear of a meeting with Karl in my heart, I spent an hour alone late at night in my dark office on campus hammering this out. I put it into sentences the next day, and Karl said "I think you have something nifty here." 275 pages and counting later, I sure hope so. Pictures of the final product to follow in a few months.

May

2010-05-24T19:57:00.006-05:00

Everyone's favorite baby friend, Black. As Stefano (his daddy) says, "if you didn't know Ellie, wouldn't you say he's the cutest baby in the world?"

Ellie and little friend Millie wait with Chrissie before the "old man winter show" at daycare.

Ellie and Lillian are getting ready to put old man winter to sleep.

Old man winter (aka Brian) faces the spring sprites.

Putting old man winter to sleep.

My first, last, and only time to wear my master's regalia. Too bad this picture doesn't show the bat wings. For some reason, master's gowns come with wings.

I got to sit on stage during CLA graduation b/c a student invited me. It was fun, but hot to be wearing polyester black under stage lights.

I never walked through commencement for my MA, so this was my first time wearing the outfit (UKY colors, there). Hopefully after this fall it will be only PhD regalia for me (oh joy, add some heavy velvet to this outfit!)

Ellie and Black go for a little ride at Black's birthday party. She loves to ride in his trailer with him. He was trying to sneak a kiss in.

Ellie's new skill and love: computer games on PBSKids.org. We finally figured out that we had to slow the mouse speed down and then she does just fine. This is an alphabet bingo game and she was getting them all right.

an ode to cosleeping

2010-04-30T21:19:00.004-05:00

this picture sums it up: are you comfortable with either a) your feet on someone's head? or b) someone's feet on your head? then you may be a veteran co-sleeper.

We were somewhat reluctant co-sleepers. I was sure our arm's reach co-sleeper bassinet would work out just as advertised and i could keep baby close while not having her in our bed. hmm, fine, except the baby hated it. our first night home from the hospital she slept a total of like three 15 minute increments in there. it was so cold. and wide open, and flat. and did i mention cold? where was mama?

it took us a few weeks to get used to her tiny baby-ness and be comfortable with the idea, but by the time she was 5 weeks old she was in the bed most of the time. we transitioned a bit for a while there with some time in her gliding baby chair thingy, but that lost its luster to her after a short time.
right about the time i started feeling really comfortable with her in the bed was when i finally figured out how to nurse laying down (and she had enough head control to manage this). that was at about 10 weeks. that saved our collective lives.

she never would even cry at night. she'd start to stir and kick and grunt, i'd latch her on, and we'd both immediately go back to sleep. when she was done, I'd unhook her and roll her away from me. repeat. 2-15 times per night and i still felt like a normal human being and didn't feel compelled to let my tiny mewling infant cry alone in her crib b/c i didn't want to wake up and go get her. she was already there! brilliant!

i have to step back and tell a funny story from those early days of co-sleeping. adam was a bit more reluctant that me even - he was worried we'd roll on her or cover her up. but neither of us understood how amazing the nursing mama's sense of baby can be. i always knew exactly where she was and woke immediately if she needed me.

anyway, back to the funny story. she was probably about 2-3 weeks old and we were just starting to have her in the bed for short times. adam woke up and said "where's the baby?" i, in my sleepy stupor, said, "she's down there." pointing vaguely toward the blankets. Adam starts tearing through the blankets searching for ellie saying "she better not be!" at this point I wake up more and say, "no, she's in the bassinet!" I had put her back and forgot.

as she got older it got even easier. as she could move herself and roll over at night i no longer worried at all about her rolling against me and not being able to breathe. she could (and did) totally defend herself. night time nursing was seamless and we'd each only awake for a few brief moments. sure was helpful since she didn't truly sleep a 6 hour stretch (never, not even once) until she was 16 months old. by 22 months she was almost completely night weaned and just sometimes would wake up more than once in the early morning to nurse.

It also made traveling with her super easy. no pack and play. no fears of strange beds or strange settings. as long as mama and daddy were there, no problem. this was good because we've dragged her all over the world.

people ask when she'll leave our bed. well, when a new baby comes along we'll need the real estate, so i guess the answer is sometime before that happens. but we don't mind her there. she's pretty easy to sleep by and tends to stay pretty still in her spot between us - head burrowed up between our pillows - her knees in one person's back and feet against the other's. or her other favorite formation: the X: one hand and one leg sprawled across each parent.

who can blame a baby or child for wanting to be close and cuddled at night? after all, mama and daddy don't have to sleep alone, why should baby?

some favorite co-sleeping scenes:

Early moves towards efficient co-sleeping before we learned how to nurse laying down consisted of me falling asleep sitting up with her nursing all night. At least here my head is laying down. Many a night it was me with my chin bobbing down to my chest.

Also early. Not really sleeping at night, but at least getting a little nap with her.

Ahh. Now we're talking. That's my spot vacated in the middle there. Ellie was about 3 months old here. That's the cosleeper on the outside edge of the bed. At least it made a nice bumper so she couldn't roll out.

Professionals.

playtime

2010-04-30T21:14:00.001-05:00

easter

2010-04-05T21:18:00.004-05:00

Here's Ellie at the easter egg hunt after church. they had enough eggs for 20 kids but we only have 7 in our church! I was hardly able to get a picture b/c she was constantly moving and wanted to open each egg she found to vet its contents before putting it in her bag. We finally convinced her they are all good to keep.

Not easter, but funny. "Show me your blueberry hands."

Ellie and the girls sing one of the "kids' songs" at church. Ellie loves this part even though she doesn't know the words - she just does her interpretive dance/run (wait for it). When we tell her it's time for the kids' song (first thing at start of service), she comes running from wherever she is yelling "KIDS' SONG!!!!!"

farms and songs

2010-03-27T09:51:00.004-06:00

some miscellany. always playing catch up here. We visited Gale Woods Farm to see the sheep shearing. Was a trip down memory lane to days on the farm as a kid. Ron used to put Josh and me in the metal feed bin to watch shearing. We'd stand in there all day just about. It was so exciting watching them wrangle the rambunctious sheep. Ellie's attention span lasted about five minutes.

She made sure to bring her "sheep facts" animal flashcard to show the sheep. ;)

The had a cool indoor play area too with lots of farm themed toys and wool crafts.

Ellie set up all the calves to nurse.

The "funny bed" Ellie made one day. She looks like she could go to sleep on it.

Ellie nursies her baby while reading "We Like to Nurse" to her.

You are My Sunshine, by Ellie. Notice the extra cool vibrato at the end. For some reason this song always ends with vibrato for her.

catch up

2010-03-07T13:44:00.004-06:00

Ellie helps mama make valentine's cookies. What is not documented here is her banished to the high chair b/c she insisted on grabbing all the dough I'd rolled out for cookies to make into a "pile" for herself. For your own good, dear, b/c I know you'll want to eat them!

Mama's birthday with every candle in the house lit.

No, this picture is not blurry or overexposed. That's all the smoke in the air.

We went to the MN Transportation Museum at the Jackson Street Roundhouse in St. Paul. It was so super cool. They had all kinds of cars you could go in - my favorite was a 1930s era sleeping car with all of the little bunks and sleeper units and all of the fine woodwork. A far cry from today's dented and dull aluminum crap. They also had a caboose that they towed up and down the railroad yard that we got to ride in. I have no pictures of the kids on the caboose because they were so excited they could hardly stand still (we went with Chan and Annika and Lukie).

A typical everyday occurrence in our house. Ellie exercises.

ellie's little buddy

2010-02-25T10:52:00.005-06:00

here are some pics stefano shot of ellie and black last week. she stayed there one evening when adam and I went skiing.

car update

2010-02-10T16:08:00.002-06:00

well, the dealer would charge us $566 for the repair, but the two parts cost $50, so Adam is planning to make it himself. Waiting to get the repair manual out of the library again (why did we never buy one for this car?) and hoping we don't have to try to do it in the parking lot at the dealership. They might frown on that.

So the demise of the white car is unlikely. Really, who would pay them $566 for a repair on a car that is only worth $500?

latest adventures

2010-02-08T11:53:00.004-06:00

included buckling the baby seat into a police vehicle! Ha!

So on saturday we did the ECFE kids' dance, then dropped ellie off at Kristen's so Adam and I could go out for dinner for his birthday (albeit a late dinner). We picked Ellie up at 11 or so and headed home. The white car had other ideas. Lost power at the Duluth St exit on 100 and coasted to the bottom. This is the exit before ours. Fortunately at that exact time a kindly police officer happened to pass. He got us set up with the towing company and then brought us home since the tow didn't have room for the three of us. Ellie was so excited to meet a police officer and to ride in his truck. He gave her a junior deputy "badge" sticker.

Awaiting to see what the issue was with the car. Acted just like it did when it broke a belt a few years ago, but all the belts appeared to be intact. Will this be the end of our free 20 year old car?

blog drought

2010-02-04T22:41:00.003-06:00

not much in the way of photo-ops going on around here.

but here's a shot of ellie in her new sunglasses. after super-gluing her last pair twice (and having them immediately break again each time), I gave up and she picked out this pair.

a quote of the day from ellie:
E (to me, holding up a squirt bottle and hello kitty toothbrush side by side):
Which one looks the mommy-est and which one looks the girliest?

I've just been working on getting some stuff on etsy. It's only taken me like 6 months to get three things up there. You can check it out at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/geogling.

I have a third play quilt in the pipeline: a city/road themed one. But I still need to finish piecing (almost done there), a few appliques, basting, quilting and binding! Phew. That ought to take another 6 months or so. Guess I can't quit that day job yet.

ellie reinterprets...

2010-01-25T19:33:00.003-06:00

the ways of the natural world. In her imagination, even reptiles nursie their mommies.
"Dinosaurs nursie standing up just like horsies!"

christmas was here

2009-12-30T22:38:00.007-06:00

Ellie sends a letter to Santa at Macy's.

Christmas morning - socks from Santa. Ellie, our little precision girl, promptly sets to work arranging them in a rainbow.

Taking her dinosaurs for a ride in her new sled. She wasn't thrilled about trying it in actual snow, though.

Our snowman family promptly melted and drooped (the snow was so heavy and wet) - then froze that way! So now we have a bent and headless snowman family.

Ellie plays with her new forest friends play quilt. I said they were elves but she insists they are "just people."

now I can fully post pics of ellie's gifts that I made - since she is a regular reader of geogling I couldn't exactly put them up here before christmas!

Her "little people" shirt. They are her favorite toys. I used freezer paper stenciling to do this - a layer for each color plus a little freehanding to touch up the details. It was way more labor intensive than I like, but it sure turned out cute.

A doctor kit for the kid who is always nurturing some "sick" or "hurt" baby, animal, or willing-to-play-along parent. Now we have to always play the "checking game" as in: pretend you're sick and I'll check you!

christmas is coming

2009-12-23T10:38:00.004-06:00

Ellie's annual Show at Chrissie and Nina's daycare. They do a song with motions and this year Ellie actually participated (last year she pouted and put a finger up her nose). Video follows at the bottom.

Ellie helps Auntie Kristen make spritz cookies. She was due for a nap and wanted only to EAT the candy decor. After a while I cut her off and she replied "But Mama, I'm HUNGRY...for candy!"

Candy enroute to mouth.

Ellie decided to take a little nap on grandpa Doug's lap and grandma joined her.

The Show

some random fun stuff

2009-12-15T22:59:00.003-06:00

Ellie sings with the girls at the coffee shop christmas party. She was alternately joyful and devastated during the song time: during all of the other songs the older girls held the microphone up at their height and Ellie couldn't reach or hold it. Nevermind the fact that she doesn't know any of the other songs they sang and for the two she does know (Rudolf and Jingle Bells) they let her hold it. Too bad I didn't record her wailing "but I want a microphone too..." over and over. Video of this follows at the end of the post.

Let's set the scene here: Ellie, up way late (as usual) is crying in the bed "I'm not sleepy, I'm not sleepy..." This morphed to "I want Mommy, I want Mommy..." Hmmm...not sleepy, eh? Then I heard her out in the living room padding around (I was in the basement at the time). I went up to see what she was doing and found her playing with her cars. I sent her back to bed, cars in hand. She played with them and chatted away for another half an hour or so and when I came to bed this is what I found.

Way too cold to actually play outside so we brought in some snow to play with instead.

Ellie builds her "snowman."

Ellie makes what she calls a cookie, though I think this one looks more like a snowman!

birthday celebrations (part 1, 2, and 3)

2009-12-12T08:27:00.009-06:00

Lots of photo-rific moments to catch up on here before we move on to the next events!
We start out at thanksgiving/birthday 1 at Grandma Cindy's and Grandpa Doug's.

Mmmm...helping daddy with his burrito on the way home.

Birthday part 2: Ellie's presents from Mom and Dad. Mrs. Peterson, my 8th grade shop teacher would be so proud of my carpentry skills (I made the bed). I made the quilt too. Maybe someday she'll want to sleep in it.

Here's Ellie's birthday party with friends. We had an art party and had people bring "art ingredients" instead of gifts. I wonder how long she'll let us get away with the no gifts parties? Everyone had a lot of fun creating.

They also got to decorate their own cupcakes. Ellie carefully embeds as many chocolate chips as possible.

Ellie dances a birthday jig.

Ellie reads a story to baby Black and friend Ariana. Black is eyeing her nifty birthday hat.

Everyone's favorite baby friend - he didn't even try to rip his hat off!

Hot cocoa on a cold, cold night.

Ellie helps us put up all the Christmas decorations by wearing the stockings.

And now she helps by hanging out under the decoration box.

The annual retrospective birthday post

2009-12-02T22:37:00.005-06:00

yes, it's that time again, when I get all nostalgic for pacing the house for 24 hours of early contractions. No wait, I think I get nostalgic for that precious mewling bundle.

This time 3 years ago we'd just returned from a late evening "let's get your mind off things" trip to Home Depot for christmas lights. I'd been contracting all. day. long. but with no pain and no forward progress. Finally went to bed at 2am, up at 6 with the real deal. In the tub for an hour. Then to the hospital at around 9am. I was at 5cm by then.

Into the tub again for about 2.5 hours. Then transition (oh boy!). that took awhile. Then pushing. That really took awhile. I pushed from about 12:15 til she was born at 2:42pm.

Here's our girl. Hasn't changed a bit. Well, she wears ponytails now and that whole sci fi skull ridge cleared itself up. Her head was a bit compressed from the trip.

I never have gotten around to writing out the full birth story. The above is the bulleted list version, practically.

Lots of friends have had/are having babies recently so it gets me to thinking about how things went and how I'd like to do them differently. First off, we were so, so, so, (so, so,....) dang lucky that we got the midwife we did - since my midwife I'd been seeing all along went off duty 3 hours before we arrived. If I couldn't have Georgeanne, Michelle was a wonderful second choice. But man, I'll never gamble like that again. I'm going to know exactly who's going to be at the birth the next time.

We also got so dang lucky on nurses. Jodi, we love you! I didn't want internal or strapped on monitors so she stood behind me with the doppler monitor for at least an hour while I labored through transition - one hand around me with the monitor and one hand bracing on my lower back to help the pain. She was awesome.

I'm glad I didn't get the nurses that kept poking their heads in to see what all the commotion was about. See, Abbott is attached to Children's Hospital, so all the high risk (and high intervention) cases go there. Most moms don't labor naturally there so the staff wasn't really used to the crying and carrying on and they kept coming in saying "can we help with something?" No! go away! Here's the take-home. We had the birth we wanted, for the most part, in a place it really was very unlikely to happen. Purely by providence, stubbornness, and naivete. So the next one won't be arriving at Abbott.

Kinda blurry (oh no! a flash might scare the baby - all of our newborn pics are blurry!). But gotta love the little old man wrinkled brow. And those skull plates. Yay for hair.

Ellie - we love you! You are a hilarious, kind, nurturing, and creative little creature who stops us in our tracks most days with some crazy insight or new idea (where'd she learn that?!). You really are a big girl now! Though much to our chagrin she's already started counting down to kindergarten.

when I grow up...

2009-11-18T23:16:00.002-06:00

Ellie's standard answer to this question for the past few months has been "a farmer. and I'm going to grow carrots on my farm! and have bunnies!"

Today in the car she said "when I grow up I'm going to be a queen. And I'll have a wand."
(a minute passes)
"And then after I be a queen I'm gonna drive just like you mommy."
(much later)
"After I grow up and be a queen and a driving girl I wanna be a... (thinking, looking around) I wanna ride a school bus and go to school and learn sumping (we drove past school buses)."

I think those sound like fine plans for the future, my girl!

super bear

2009-11-01T21:17:00.003-06:00

to the rescue!

Ellie somehow came up with this concept for her costume. Not sure where she got the idea, but when I asked her what she wanted to be, this is what she said. Akin to the wonderpets, I suppose. The good thing was that I had all of the materials and didn't have to buy a thing.

Too bad on Halloween Ellie's cold ramped up and she got a fever. It was just a bit when we decided to go to the party at the Linden Hills park, but while we were there watching the magician she kept saying "i want to go now" and "i want to go out that door - there" so we left. By 10 or so her fever was 102. But the good news is that she slept almost the entire time from when we g

ot home at 8 till the morning and I got to watch a movie I wanted to see while laying in bed holding her.

At some point in the night in her restless sleep (and my no sleep because of that - and listening to her breathing all night) she said "put my paws on, mom" referring to her bear costume.

But by morning she was perky enough to say, at about 7:30, I want to get up now!

fall weekend

2009-10-19T10:34:00.004-05:00

Went to the pumpkin party in the North Loop on saturday - got to pick out pumpkins and play pumpkin themed games.

Then we got to have some hot chocolate at the coffee shop next door. Is this a mother's sacrifice, or what? I let Ellie lick off the whipped cream - my favorite part - and she barely left me any.

The wind up...

And the plow...

Our other weekend project - a haircut! ps: don't look too close at how even it isn't.

braids

2009-10-08T22:34:00.007-05:00

This is what we started out with.

and this is what happens when you leave the same braids in for 5 days. what is not documented here is the amount of dreadlocking that was starting to happen. i can't believe i managed to comb it out without a screaming fit (from ellie, just to clarify). she thought this look was hilarious.

oh, and by the way, we'd just finished eating something (i don't remember what) - ellie's teeth are not usually quite so brown.

This is the "puppy house" she and daddy built one day while I was at work.

Bayfield Apple Festival

2009-10-08T22:24:00.002-05:00

Some pics from our trip to Bayfield and Madeline Island. Somehow I managed to take another trip and come home with a paltry collection of photos. Sheesh. I don't know what I was thinking. Well, I think I know what I was thinking: man it's cold. I'm getting wet. Where's Ellie? When will I be able to eat my next apple-themed treat? I wasn't thinking: that would make a lovely shot. I should have taken pics of the festival, the food, the ferry, etc. The good thing is that Kristen and Maria were taking lovely pictures too, so I think it's fully documented.

Here's our camp on Saturday morning. We managed to set this up in the dark, cold, rain, and wind at about midnight friday night. Pretty good, eh?

Here's Maria and Black - no exterior set-up required for their Eurovan, so the rain was no problem here.

Stefano, Arianna, and Ellie enjoy some camp breakfast.

On the ferry back to Bayfield on Saturday.

I think Arianna's expression pretty much explains it all.

still lifes

2009-09-21T23:25:00.005-05:00

These scenes are a daily occurrence around our house. Ellie is always arranging her people in various vignettes - some with the people doing something like sleeping but often just in some sort of geometric, precise, symmetrical pattern.

Here she said she was putting them in and out of the swimming pool. That must be the hot tub on the right.

Halfway through creating this scene last night Ellie was distressed that she couldn't find more people because "I'm making a circle mama!" Good thing we found the rest of the people!

And some non-still lifes.

Hard to see, but that's another dress I made for Ellie - this one from a grown up size shirt I got for $0.99 at SalArmy.

This is what I found when I got home one day. Both sound asleep, though a few minutes later Adam denied the nap story.

And this is what I found when I finally went to bed last night. Ellie hugging the three bears. This was after she called out "mama! I need sumpin! will somebody be my friend? mama! will you be my friend? mama! I need you!"

weekend and updates

2009-09-08T11:16:00.002-05:00

Pics to follow, but in a bit of work avoidance blogging, here are some updates.

Our weekend was lovely: we took a nice bike ride on the new Dakota Regional Trail that starts in Wayzata and goes west to St. Boni. We went as far as Navarre, had a picnic at the park there, and came back. It was a perfect summer evening. Ellie didn't even mind the face full of gnats as we were speeding back through clouds of them.

I had a fine weekend of thrifting, fabric store shopping, and sewing. All of the thrift stores in the area do 50% off on holidays. Sometimes I'm up for the challenge of braving the crowds and sometimes not but yesterday I did. My strategy was to go just before closing on sunday night and scope out (and push to the back) all of the items I wanted. Then I came back right away on monday morning. I found everything I'd wanted from the day before. For a grand total of $26 and change I got 5 long sleeved shirts, 3 warm cotton tights, and a pair of mittens for ellie, two bags of zippers, one bag of buttons, two bags of various craft beads for ellie, a book and a card game for ellie, and various materials for some craft projects I'm making to sell. Not bad. The most expensive thing I got was a shirt for ellie that still had the store tags on it for $3.47.

It will be a handmade christmas this year and I have lots of plans in the works for projects for ellie. Stay tuned for progress updates.

Ellie's big news is pottying success. She's really getting the hang of it so far - she even stayed dry the whole time we were out for our bike ride and picnic (like 5 hours). But she hasn't figured out the whole poo on the potty yet. The only warning we get is "mom, there's poop on the floor!" oops. too late.

For me now it is back to the routine of school and actually seeing students everyday. My office hours start in 5 mins. Time to open my door and start talking.

Projeps

2009-08-26T21:52:00.005-05:00

First, a burst of creativity and thriftiness lately (pics of Ellie below). I think it's because we don't have cable anymore. Each night when I put Ellie to bed I say I have to go do some projects and then I'll come back to bed with her. She always asks "what kind of projeps?" and I have to list off what I'll do. This first dress is one I made for Ellie from a dress and a t-shirt I never wore, remade down to her size. I got another skirt out of it too for her a few sizes bigger.

Some pants with cuffs. I had this fabric laying around.

Jammies - had this fabric left over from a project too. And yes, I'm pretty sure that one leg IS a little longer than the other. Oh well. That's what happens when you don't use a pattern.

My favorite project so far. I love love love this polka dot fabric. I used every last scrap of it - bought it for diapers and used the leftovers here.

Lucky me, mom had some cute trim that matched this skirt. This fabric was leftover too. I'm trying to purge my stash and use it for something instead of just getting rid of it.

The only fabric I actually paid some real money for. I saw this online and had to buy it. If you can't see, it's tiny squirrels and mushrooms and birds and trees. I think this will be a cute christmas dress.

Ellie swimming at the pool at Grandma and Grandpa's hotel.

The hotel has this "venetian" theme and she wanted to ride in the gondola with Grandma Nini. She wasn't too sure about that fake gondolier, though.

On the carousel at Como Park with Grandma.

Ellie reads a story to her little friends.

one more

2009-08-25T09:30:00.001-05:00

last night, as Ellie hiccuped and clearly couldn't remember the word "hiccup":

Mom, what is my mouth saying?

A rather typical bedtime lately

2009-08-21T12:44:00.003-05:00

E: "mom! mom!mom! mom!mom! mom!mom! mom!"
M: (going into the bedroom after putting her to bed) what?
E: "Turtles can dive in the water!"
M: "Yes, Ellie, go to sleep."
(time elapses)
E: "mom! mom!mom! mom!mom! mom!mom! mom!"
M: What"
E: "Where's my Clifford pillow?"
M: "Right here. Go to sleep."
(more time elapses)
E: "mom! mom!mom! mom!mom! mom!mom! mom!"
M: "what?"
E: "ummm...snakes can dive in the water!"
M: "Go to sleep!"
(time elapses)
E: "mom! mom!mom! mom!mom! mom!mom! mom!"
M: What"
E: "Where's my Clifford pillow?"
M: "Right here. Go to sleep."
(time elapses)
E: "mom! mom!mom! mom!mom! mom!mom! mom!"
M: "what?"
E: "whose pants are these?" (handing me a pair of her shorts)
M: "They are yours."
E: "Can you put them in the laundry?"
M: "yes. go to sleep."
(time elapses)
E: "Can you sing me one night night song?"
M: "yes."

after which she finally goes to sleep - it's been an hour since she laid down!

Ellie-isms part II

2009-08-12T22:11:00.002-05:00

So here are a few more:

Ellie, crying at bedtime, calls me back in to sing her a song and calm her back down.

I ask "what song should I sing?"

She replies, tearfully, "you pick, mama, I'm crying."

Adam related a story of how Ellie bit him in the back while playing during the day.

We talked some about what happened.

Adam said "it's not ok to bite daddy!"

Ellie replies, with a pout, "but I was playing a wolf game!"

(adam clarifies "actually, it was dinosaurs.")

I can't remember the context, but Ellie was bellyaching over something small and I said, somewhat sarcastically, "oh, quit cryin' over that."

Ellie says "but I want to cry over that!"

Favorite game to play there for a while, explained thusly by Ellie:

How 'bout I be a doggie?

How 'bout I be lost?

How 'bout you cry about me?

(she proceeds to run - on all fours - away and I have to cry and then she comes back. hours of fun!)

She has learned the following phrases and how to correctly deploy them:

So, what we waitin' for?

Mama, what's your problem?

'zat sound like a good plan?

slings

2009-08-12T22:05:00.001-05:00

here are a few pics of ellie wearing her baby in a sling.

this is the pouch sling.

this is the ring sling.

some recent ellie-isms

2009-08-12T11:51:00.002-05:00

While we watched a video of Ellie as a tiny baby she asked what babies say and I said "they just make cooing sounds." Ellie's eyes got big and she replied "like raccoons?"

Ellie often speaks about her future sibling(s) (ahem...) and the other day stated, "I want a baby brother and a baby sister! ... to hug!...because I wuv them!"

picmic=picnic

nola-ga-bar = granola bar (they used to just be nola bars)

growm-ups = grown-ups

I know there are more - I'll add them as I find my little scraps where I wrote them down.

points south

2009-07-29T22:24:00.005-05:00

Well, ok, so this one isn't very far south. Unless you count that it's a llama, native to points quite a bit south. But Ellie calls it a camel and apparently it was a baby camel all tucked in.

We trekked to NE to visit with my folks for the week. Here's Ellie and Grandpa on the space shuttle. This morning in the car Ellie piped up "Mama, when I get bigger I can ride on a space ship!" I don't think she was remembering this ride. Later she said "when I get bigger I can ride on a school bus!" Somehow that seems a bit more likely.

Downtown Hebron, NE.

I was able to intersect with my friends Ellen and Sean on what is now becoming their annual trip across the country. We met up in Kansas a couple of hours south of Hebron. Here Ellie is helping Sean check the bike.

Breakfast at the campsite our last day together. Actually, all the toys you see in the picture belong to Ellen. Any surprise how much Ellie likes Ellen and Sean?

On Grandma and Grandpa's porch swing petting the bunny.

this and that and catching up

2009-07-15T22:48:00.007-05:00

A few shots from our camping trip to Taylor's Falls. Ellie enjoys the hammock here - she also liked pushing mama in the hammock.

It was extremely hot that whole weekend so Ellie enjoyed a little post-nap cool off in her little "pool".

Then she decided she really needed to wear her snoopy life jacket in the pool.

Painting is a full body experience.

Good thing it's pool season and we really can hose her off outside.

Ellie with Grandma and Grandpa at Ellen and Frank's wedding.

Mama and Auntie Kristen were in the wedding (hence the fancy dress and flowers). For some reason I didn't take any other pics. I think because 99 other people were taking them.

Ellie helped mama with some strawberry eating - I mean picking. It was hard to keep up with her pace of consumption to assure we actually came home with some. Good thing they didn't weigh her coming in and out.

Mama and Daddy's creative project is finally (almost) done after about 6 months of work. I still need to put the door handles on the stove and micro and put on the burners and we're adding some right angle trim to hide some wavy cuts and not so straight edges.

I've moved on to creative projects of the sewing variety. My new love and constant distraction is www.soulemama.com's blog. She had some great ideas for easy kids' sewing projects. As soon as I get some photos of ellie wearing some of them I'll post.

some pow wow videos

2009-06-21T14:45:00.003-05:00

Ellie rides the puppies at Pow Wow.

Ellie learns to blow bubbles.