A Day in the Life: Thursday

Our day started at 6:05 this morning.  I was draaaaaging.  I was really, really tired this morning.  I'm usually able to get up and wake up relatively quickly, but this morning I will it admit, it was rough.  It was definitely an Elmo's World morning.  I laid on the couch half asleep with Eliza while she watched an episode we have on DVD.  I finally managed to wake up enough to check my email and blogs.  

After we said goodbye to hubby, at around 7:00, I made us breakfast (scrambled eggs and strawberries) and then we got dressed.  I wasn't able to do the dishes because Eliza was a little clingy and whiny this morning, so I just left them in the sink/on the counter and snapped a photo of them instead of washing them - ha!  Then we went outside to water the plants.  My window boxes (well, mainly just this one) have totally exploded this year!  I'm in love with my window boxes.  My dad made them for me the summer after we moved into this house.

This morning we had plans to go visit a close family friend, Marce - she is my dad's godmother and she just celebrated her 90th birthday.  She is a hoot.  I of course forgot my camera, which I was really bummed out about, I really wanted to get her photo with Eliza.  We had a nice time visiting with her.  My mom brought Star.bucks and muffins and we chatted and chased Eliza around her PRISTINE house.  She has a gorgeous old house and it hasn't been changed since like the 1950s.  It's amazing, and full of awesome, kitschy knick-knacks (that I constantly had to keep Eliza away from!) and SO SO CLEAN.  Every one of the four bedrooms is always ready for guests, with clean sheets on the beds and not a spec of dust ANYWHERE.  It was amazing.  Eliza had a fabulous time, Marce loves Eliza, and she gave Eliza a fancy little purse.  It must now come everywhere with us, of course.  Haha, isn't it so cute how she carries it on her elbow?

After nap, we went to an indoor playground - it was in the upper 90s today, and the heat index was over 100, so I welcomed the air conditioned play area!!!  Eliza really likes this place, and she is getting old enough to run around and play by herself in some of the areas (when the place isn't crawling with tons and tons of kids, that is), so I let her be for the most part, and it was cool to watch her interact with the other kids and explore the place on her own.  She enjoyed the bounce house most of all!  Afterwards we walked through the building the playground is housed in.  They have a little indoor conservatory/garden area there with a pond and a waterfall.  Eliza learned about throwing pennies into the pond, thanks to a sweet elderly couple sitting on a nearby bench - they were giving out pennies to all the kids to throw into the pond.  Eliza took like 10 of them and got all excited with each throw.  It was sweet. 

While we were there, Eliza took a little tumble down a step, so when we got home, a Hello Kitty band-aid for her knee was in order. 

Then we spent the hour before hubby got home playing with Eliza's toys (indoors), and reading books.  Since it was so hot, I didn't want to turn on the oven to cook dinner (I figured we were paying to cool the house, why would we turn on the oven and heat the place up?), so hubby picked up dinner on his way home.  Sweet! 

Then it was the usual bedtime routine, and Eliza was asleep by 7:30.  After she was in bed, I put a load of laundry in, picked up the house a little bit, checked email/twitter/fb for any word of our friends' new baby's arrival (well actually, I've been doing that obsessively all day long, haha), and poured myself a glass of wine (same bottle as yesterday - we don't go through bottles and bottles of wine around here, don't worry!!).  Now I'm going to watch an episode of Glee and then it's off to bed.

Good night all! 

A Day in the Life: Wednesday

(My first Day in the Life post was here: it kind of got pushed down due to my WW post)

Eliza woke up at 6:30 this morning - not so bad!  I stayed in bed for about 15 minutes trying to wake up falling back asleep on and off until 6:50 when I finally dragged myself into the kitchen to make coffee.  Eliza and hubby were playing for a bit before he had to leave.  He left a little late today, around 7:15 or so.

After we said bye bye to dada, we went into the kitchen and got breakfast ready.  Oatmeal for Eliza and cereal for me.  We also split a peach.  Eliza ate all of the raisins out of her oatmeal first, which I always laugh at.  I am also a "miner" when it comes to food - hubby likes to accuse me of mining all the good chocolate or other yummy candy chunks out of ice cream.  It's true, I'm totally guilty of that - sorry honey!

After breakfast, we had some time to kill before we had to be out the door for music class.  We leave at around 10:00 or so, and it was only 8:00 by this point.  So we got dressed and went outside to play.  It was a beautiful day today, and the morning was cool and breezy.  We discovered our just-bloomed lilies (see WW post!), sat at the picnic table for a bit, where Eliza enjoyed playing with my cell phone (yes I have a totally outdated phone-only cell phone, don't laugh!), and had a nice chat over (iced) coffee, heheh... and just played around outside until, somehow, like 2 hours had passed...

      

Then it was time to leave for music class.  We take a weekly Music Together music class and today was our third class.  I like it, and I think Eliza does too, but I think it was WAY overpriced.  Oh well - it is what it is, but I don't know that I'd sign up for another session.  I've been surprised to see Eliza act so shy and timid at these classes - she is usually SO outgoing and not shy at all around other kids and parents.  It's weird, and I can't figure out why, but she just buries her head in my shoulder and won't let me put her down.  She eventually warms up, but it takes a while!  At the end of class, all the kids line up (well, sort of) to get a rubber stamp on their hands.  This is a highlight for Eliza - today's stamp was a ladybug.

Still a little wary - she was afraid to go right up to the teacher for her stamp.

Then it was time for nap, so we headed home and Eliza fell asleep about 11:40 or so.  I ate lunch while Eliza napped and checked my email, and then I realized that I should have checked my phone because my BFF was in town apartment hunting (that's where I was yesterday, btw, from 12:30-4, looking at apartments with her - so fun!!!) and was going to come over if she had time before she had to go to the airport.  Of course I missed her text, but I called her and she was still nearby so she came over.  We chatted a while and Eliza woke up at 1:10.  Eliza ate lunch while we watched her and talked some more.  Then we just played and hung out in the house and - yes - talked some more!  We can do that... a lot :)  At about 2:30, she had to head to the airport so we had to say goodbye.  But only for a month or so - she is moving back here from the west coast, and we are SO. EXCITED. to get her back!  So, saying goodbye wasn't so hard today.

Eliza has a sour face on, but she really loves her Auntie/Godmama Ashley :)

After she left, Eliza and I went to water the tomatoes.  She loves helping me drinking out of the hose sprayer:

It was getting really hot and sunny outside so we went inside to cool off.  We played around the house some more...

Holdie-Outie Fail

Someone knows they are not supposed to be standing on the toilet...

One of our favorite past times: sitting on the kitchen floor eating sorbet from the container!

My mom called and said she was picking up pizza from our all-time favorite Neapolitan pizza place, Punch, and we should come over for dinner.  YUM!  I asked her to pick one up for hubby, too.  So we jumped in the car and went over to my parents' house.  Eliza played with Grandpa and me (and the kitties), and Grandma got there soon after with the pizzas.  We ate dinner and then Eliza had a little time afterwards to play with Grandma before we had to get home.

"OMG MOM, THAT PIZZA SLICE IS AS BIG AS MY HEAD"

Man-handling a Mango

We got home right as hubby pulled up, so we had perfect timing.  After he ate his dinner, it was time for the usual: bath time, diaper and PJs, books, nurse.  She was asleep tonight by 7:40.  

Now I'm sitting on the couch with a glass of wine.  Heading to bed early tonight with my Kindle (I'm reading 'The Help')!

Wordless Wednesday: My lilies are blooming!

A Day in the Life

This sounded like fun, so I thought I'd join in and try blogging a few days in our life...though I don't think I will be able to do the whole week...

Tuesday.

Eliza woke up at 6:00 this morning, and even after going to sleep last night before 10pm (9:30, I think?), I was dragging this morning when my wake-up call came.  She woke up at 10:00, 11:45 and then like 3(?)am, which is unusual for her these days (she's down to more like 2 wakings only - hooray!), so I was tired.  What's new though, right?  It was okay though, because Eliza was happy as a clam and that smile of hers can cheer me right up.  So anyway, she nursed in bed for a while and we just lazed around for a while before we both rolled out of bed around 6:20.  Then she climbed down off the bed and went to the door saying "dada", so I knew she was ready to get going (and she hasn't quite figured out how to open doors yet, so I have to open the door for her).

Hubby leaves the house about 7:00 and so Eliza likes to "help" him get ready by making him read her a few stories, asking to smell his breath after he brushes his teeth (haha, it's become sort of a thing they do now), and "helping" him pick out what to wear that day.  This gives me a few minutes to fully wake up, check my email, get my coffee made (I LOVE MY KEURIG!), and maybe turn on the news to check the weather.

We say bye-bye to dada around 7.  Eliza needs a diaper change so I do that first, and then she requests that I put her swim suit on her.  Okay, whatever floats your boat, child.  So on goes the swim suit.  I start breakfast - oatmeal and eggs.  My mom calls and says she and my dad are going to stop by for a visit before my mom has to go to work.  Yay!  Eliza waits for them at the door and greets them.  They brought cereal for breakfast, and a ripe peach, too, so we all eat together - it's quite the spread.

After breakfast, my mom plays with Eliza for a bit, and Eliza convinces grandma to let her go for a "swim" in the bathtub.  Eliza loves water, and she loves all her bath toys - so she fills up the tub with a bit of water and Eliza sits in it and plays.  They leave soon after and I check my email and a couple of blogs again while Eliza continues to play in the tub (don't worry, I sat right next to her on the floor of the bathroom).

I have to get the kitchen cleaned up and the dishes washed, so Eliza watches a bit of an Elmo's World DVD while I do that.  She eventually gets tired of it (she loves it for about 15 minutes and then seems to get bored), so she plays by herself while I finish.  I'm so glad she's getting better at independent play time!

Then we get dressed, change diaper again, get a snack/drink together and, by 9:40, we finally get out the door.  We go to baby story time every Tuesday at a local bookstore.  Eliza loves it, and I actually do too :)  We get there about 30 minutes early so we can get a good spot (it gets super busy and space is tight).  Story time goes from 10:30-11:05.  Then we usually head straight home for nap.  This morning we went to my parents' house because my dad was going to watch Eliza from 12:30-4:00 and I knew she would never be up from her nap by 12:30 in time for me to bring her over there, so I just put her down at their house.  She fell asleep about 11:30.

I was gone from about 12:30 - 4:20, and it's pretty unusual for me to be gone that long (or at all!), so I suppose this isn't a typical "day in the life"...

When I got back to my parents' house, I found Eliza and Grandpa swinging in the backyard swing having a great time.  My dad said Eliza woke up about 1:00, she ate some lunch, they walked to the park and had a great afternoon together.  She always has fun with Grandpa.

Eliza had a snack at their house before we left, and then we said goodbye to Grandpa.  We spent about 5 minutes in the driveway where Eliza protested quite loudly about getting into her car seat.  Oh yes folks, this child is almost 20 months old and she still hates her car seat, and likes to tell me about it quite frequently.  We have a car seat battle nearly every day where she physically refuses to sit in her car seat. Although, I will say that she is quite reasonable, and after some talking to her, she stops fighting me and sits in it herself.  I don't feel comfortable physically pushing her down to get her buckled... at least it's never had to come to that yet...

So we get home around 5:15 or so.  Hubby gets home around 6:15 usually, so we have an hour until he's home and I know dinner will only take like 20 minutes so Eliza and I play for a while.  I also check my email on my iPod, open the mail, and return a phone call.

Eventually I make dinner: spicy black bean burgers, brown rice/peas/carrots medley (frozen - don't get any crazy ideas that I made that in 15 minutes!), and peach slices.  Hubby gets home and we eat at about 6:15.

After dinner, we start the bathtub, hubby reads Eliza a few books and then he handles bath time with her while I wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen.  I usually try to go in at about 7:00 to help her brush her teeth and get her out of the tub.  Then it's diaper, PJs and milk time.  She was asleep by 7:30.

Tomorrow I'll try to include photos!

In Praise of All

I was not paid to say this, but for cloth diapers, I love All Free & Clear!  It's cheap and it does a great job.  I have never once had to strip my diapers due to detergent build-up, I've never had an issue with diaper odor, and I've been using the same dipes for 18 months!  At first we started with Charlie's soap laundry powder, but I just decided it was too expensive and on the advice of another CDing friend, Aletta, decided to switch to All F&C about a year ago.

So to those new CDing mamas, don't let the interwebs convince you you have to buy special, fancy, expensive soap to safely wash your diapers.  All Free & Clear will do the job just as well.

List Update

Remember this list I made?  It was exactly two weeks ago and, as of today, of the ten items on that list, I have completed five.

#1: My closet.  Officially cleaned out and organized.  Gave away two huge garbage bags full of clothing to the goodwill.  It feels great to be able to actually pull things off hangers and out of drawers that I know fit me and that are seasonally appropriate (of course, today it was barely 60 degrees so I had to dig for a sweatshirt - gah! What's with this weather?)

#2: Well, I bought a few new summer shirts and I did find a dress at the thrift store, but it's sort of too fancy for everyday casual dress-wearing.  Anyway, at least I have a few new items to choose from.

#5: The cats.  Those poor animals.  I have been giving them more attention lately and hubby and I managed to finally trim their nails, so we're making steps in the right direction.  Unfortunately, it seems that Eliza has made it her goal to negate all of this progress by grabbing them, pulling them down from wherever they were peacefully sleeping, yanking on their paws and generally just harassing them nonstop.  Poor things!

#7: The dust ruffle on E's crib!  Done!  And I decided not to actually hem it, but to use double-sided tape so that I could undo it in the future in case (hopefully, when) we need to use the crib again at the highest mattress setting.

#9: My tomato beds: weeded and mulched!  Eliza helped me do this today.  We had great fun - turns out she's an expert at grabbing handfuls of mulch and throwing them on the tomato bed.  And we found cocoa bean mulch, which is the best stuff in the world - have you ever smelled it?  It smells like chocolate!  And, it's pretty.  Highly recommended.

So, my progress is not all that bad I guess - 5 out of 10 isn't bad!

Wordless Wednesday: There's a lot going on here...

Our Weekend

This weekend we had a couple of visitors - hubby's parents, also known as Nana and Pop Pop.  We had tickets to Florence and the Machine for Friday night and hubby and I both really wanted to go, so they offered to stay at our house while Eliza slept that evening so we could go.

The concert was awesome. Florence was very ethereal with her long fuchsia see-through, flowy garb (she was wearing a leotard underneath) - and man, can that girl sing.  The concert was outdoors, which was extra cool.  We had a great time - we danced and ate kettle corn and had a drink.  Afterwards, on our way home (and once we confirmed that The Girl was still sleeping peacefully), we stopped at the gas station for ice cream treats - oh yes, we know how to do it up right with the gas station desserts!  Watch out for us - we're crazy.

Saturday morning, Eliza and hubby took our visitors out to breakfast at one of their favorite breakfast spots, and then they hit up the farmer's market.  Wondering what I was doing?  SLEEPING.  It was awesome.  The end.

Later on, after nap, Nana and Pop Pop offered to watch Eliza while we went to a local brewery for a big party celebrating their recent victory defeating a very old law that did not allow breweries to sell their own beer on site.  Now that the law has been changed, they can go ahead with plans to build a massive new facility that includes a restaurant and bar.

Hubby having a pint in the rain.

A toast to their success!  "Power of the Pint!"

Eliza had a fantastic time with her Nana and Pop Pop - she loved playing with them all afternoon.  Unfortunately it rained all day, so they had to spend the whole afternoon indoors, but they still had a great time. 

Later that evening, we ordered in and after Eliza went to bed we just chatted - my sister-in-law is recently engaged and the wedding planning has just begun so we talked a lot about that.  I'm so excited for her, and I loved planning my wedding so I look forward to lots of wedding planning discussion with her :)

On Sunday, we went to hubby's favorite local restaurant for Father's Day and then we took Eliza to a playground nearby and played until it was time for nap.  After Eliza woke up, Nana and Pop Pop had to leave.  Sadly, I totally failed in the photo department this weekend, so I don't have much to show for their visit (which is also why I needed to write about it here so I wouldn't forget!).  We did manage to snap a quick one when N&PP were on their way out, though it's not the greatest of Eliza...

See her dress?  Nana got it for her at the farmer's market - it is so cute!

It was a great weekend.  And we decided that we're going to leave Eliza with Nana and Pop Pop every time they come to visit - they had a good time bonding, and hubby and I got a nice little afternoon date.  After all, they admitted that while they like seeing us, they really come to visit to see Eliza.  But, of course, we already knew that! ;)

BLW Link

Anyone interested in baby led weaning should check out Jess's blog again today.  She's continuing her Tuesdays Unwrapped series with an installment she wrote about her experience with BLW and her daughter, Gabby.  She found that a combination of purees and BLW has worked best for Gabby.  It's a good reminder that in parenting (as well as life in general), it doesn't have to be all or nothing.  All babies are different and what works for one baby won't always be best for another.  We each know our own babes best, so do what works for you and yours!

A Day at the Beach*

Grandma and Grandpa took me and Eliza to the beach today.  We only have a few months of beach weather 'round these parts, so we thought we should take full advantage.  I hope this is just the first of many trips to the beach this summer.  

Eliza had a blast.  It is true that she is a very happy girl all around, but oh my, playing at the beach today brought out a giddiness we don't see very often in our girl.  She was all smiles when she played in the water...and, of course, when Grandpa swung her up in the air!

She felt right at home.  In fact, she made a run for it and headed straight for the water at her first opportunity - no adult supervision or hand-holding needed, apparently.  She loved the sand.  So much so, that after digging her hands and feet into it, she thought she'd see how it tasted, too.  Why not?  Eh, she didn't think it was all that good.  But, she sure liked the feeling of it on her toes.

The weather was perfect - not too hot or sunny (though that didn't stop me from covering that baby from head to toe in sunscreen), but warm enough that the water felt nice.  We sat under the shade of a massive (but closed) umbrella, and I spent a lot of time just watching Eliza and taking photos of her.  It was great, and very relaxing.  I sat there and dreamt of someday being able to bring my Kindle to read in the shade while Eliza and Dada swim :)

Reaching for a rock to "sploosh"

Laughing at Grandpa as Grandma looks on

This is a beach my parents used to take me and my brother to when we were young.  My dad said how he never thought he'd be taking his daughter's daughter to the very same beach someday.  I never thought I'd be taking my daughter here, either.  How surreal... and how very lucky I am.  

Can you even stand the cuteness that is those baby shoulders??

I still have to blog about the fantastic weekend we had, but just wanted to get this up since I loved the photos I got today - the light was perfect, and my subject was just so darn cute, I couldn't stand it!

***

*Okay, so this beach isn't really a real beach.  It's a "man-made lake", as everyone around here calls it; the water is skimmed and treated similar to a pool, and the sand was brought in.  It's actually pretty cool, though, at least to our land-locked population. You get all the benefits of a lake without some of the downsides (seaweed, slippery rocks, algae).

Our Thursday Mini-Adventure

On Thursday (when I first posted this I thought we did this on Friday, but then later realized it was actually Thursday - haha, go me), Eliza and I went on a little adventure together - it was fun, and we were so exhausted by the end of the day!  After nap, we headed to the closest park and ride, and we hopped on the light rail to go downtown and visit hubby/Dada at work.  It was Eliza's first time on the light rail, and she loved it.  I had told her all morning that we were going to ride on a train later on, so by the time we got there and saw the train (and heard the whistle), she was really excited.  We got on and rode it for about 25 minutes into downtown.  She sat on her very own seat and looked out the window, and at all the people on the train.  Of course, my camera was buried in the stroller basket which was folded up on the train, so I didn't get any photos of her actually on the train (fail).

At the train station

We met up with hubby at his office, where Eliza charmed all of the people there, and then went to have a bite to eat from a food truck - they are all the rage here now and they serve up some yummy food!  Then we walked around and Eliza enjoyed the ride in her stroller.  She is a people-watcher at heart, just like her dada.  Afterwards, we hit the skyways and, since the lunch rush was over, we let her run wild.  

Hubby had to go back to work, so we said goodbye and went to meet my brother and sister-in-law at their office, which is about a 10 minute walk through the skyways.  We had a coffee/chocolate milk date with them and Eliza enjoyed playing with her auntie and uncle for a while.  It's fun going downtown because there are three (soon to be four!) people we can visit!

We went back to hubby's office to pick him up, and walked back to the train station.  Eliza was happy to spend so much time with her dada that day - they usually only get to see each other for about an hour in the mornings and an hour in the evenings, so it was a special treat for her.

It was a fun afternoon, and we were tired when we got home from all the walking/running/carrying.  Needless to say, Eliza fell right asleep at bedtime that night.  We should do that more often, I guess!!!

Header Love

So, wow!  Some of you, like, actually want me to make you blog headers... who knew?  Now, mind you, I don't know any fancy tricks - the above example is pretty much the extent of my knowledge on this whole header making business.  Photo + text = header!

But, yeah!  Why not?  I'll give it a go.  Just for you, my lovely readers.

Email me at: empberry gmail com with a couple of photos you'd like me to use AND your blog's header width.  In blogger, this info can be found in your dashboard under design > edit header (I think, I told you I'm new at this!).  The width should be given in pixels and is commonly in the range of 800-1000 pixels.

And I promise, if I make you one and you hate it, you don't have to use it.  Or, alternatively, you could just tell me and I will change it, I'm cool like that.

(Thanks for all the compliments on the new header, btw!)

Wordless Wednesday

(Even if it wasn't WW, I still wouldn't have any words for this photo.  Anyone want to take a stab at a caption?)

New Header

Like my new blog header?

I had a ton of fun making it. It was really easy, too, once I figured out a thing or two about blog width rules, pixels and resolution... I'm sort of a novice when it comes to this stuff, but thanks to Google, I don't think I did half bad.

If you want me to make one for your blog, let me know!  I'd love more practice :)

Part II

The second and final installment of my guest blogging experience about Baby Led Weaning over at Jess's blog is up today.

Go check it out!

Ahma

Eliza is finally learning to say "grandma".  For a while, she didn't really have a word for my mom (we're calling my parents "grandma" and "grandpa", and hubby's parents are "nana" and "pop pop", names which she both says and uses quite efficiently).  It was weird.  She clearly knew who grandma was all along, but whenever we talked about grandma and grandpa, she would only verbalize "grandpa" (which came out "bumpah", and still does), making the sign along with it.  It was as though this word/sign combination represented both grandpa and grandma...?  Maybe?  Or perhaps she just never got around to learning the word "grandma"?  I guess we'll never know.  

But finally - finally - she has started to try to say grandma and it is so cute.  It comes out as "ahma".  It melts my heart (and if it melts my heart, I can't even imagine what it does to my mom's).  

Those two are best friends.  Eliza always prefers to be with/be held by my mom over me when given the choice (unless of course there is nursing to be done, then she will settle for mama), and it doesn't make me sad or jealous in the least.  I am so happy to see them together and to see Eliza love her grandma so much.  They have a special bond and they are both very lucky to have the other!

Play Date with Auntie K

Fun on the big girl slide!  (Photo alternately titled: "My child needs either a barrette or a haircut")

Feeding auntie's fishies in her backyard.  Eliza takes this job VERY seriously.  

What I keep meaning to do...

I've noticed a few bloggers recently posting all the things they have been meaning to do lately, but have been putting off.  I knew I had to get in on this - I love lists.  Is it just me?  No no, I KNOW there are lots of you who get all excited by a potential list-making opportunities.  Admit it.  It's the first step, people.

Anyway, yes, list-making is a favorite past time of mine, and this exercise made me realize how many things I've been meaning to do*... and have been putting off.  So I thought maybe if I wrote them all down (or, at least the first 10 that came to my mind) in black and white, I might actually get the motivation to do them.  Well, a girl can hope anyway...

1. Clean out my über-tiny closet, switch out winter clothes for summer clothes the three t-shirts and one pair of shorts that are in a box labeled "summer clothes" in the basement.
2. Buy some new summer clothes - oh, and buy a dress!  Yes, I want to wear dresses.  Summery, casual ones.  That go with casual sandals.
3. List items on eBay that I've been meaning to sell for... a while.
4. Go through Eliza's dresser and box up clothes that no longer fit her or are too warm to wear - it was 104 degrees here yesterday, people!  It's time for the warm clothes to move over (for at least a few months...) and make room for summer clothes.
5. Pay more attention to my cats.  This includes: brushing them, clipping their daggers nails regularly, and other good-cat-owner behaviors.  They have been seriously neglected since approximately 11-14-09.
6. Get my sewing machine fixed so that I can...
7. Hem the dust ruffle (what an ugly name for something so pretty) on Eliza's crib.  I made it so that it was the right length for the mattress at its highest/wee-baby setting, and now that it's on the lowest setting, it looks ridiculous.  
8. Find or develop a recipe for a healthy muffin for Eliza.  That girl is SUCH a carb fiend (hubby wants to find this shirt in her size), and I'd like to offer her a nutrient-packed, whole wheat, grainy (read: not as yummy) version of one of her favorite treats: the muffin.  Recommendations welcome!
9. Weed my tomato bed.  Buy cocoa bean mulch, add mulch to said tomato bed.
10. Buy thistle seed and fill the backyard bird feeders.

*this list (obviously) only pertains to inter-household/domestic-awesomeness duties.  My long list of grad school to-dos is tedious and boring, so I won't make you read it.  You're welcome.

Wordless Wednesday: One Year Ago

Guest Blogging

I am a guest blogger over on Jess's blog this week as part of her "Tuesdays Unwrapped" series.  Today's post is part one of two about our experience with Baby Led Weaning.

Thanks for having me, Jess, it was a lot of fun!

Go check it out!

Water, Bubbles & Dock Dancing

We had such a fun weekend!  The weather was beautiful - it was super hot and humid in the cities, but the weather at the cabin was perfect (it seems to always be about 10 degrees cooler there than in the city). We drove up on Friday, ate dinner and then put The Girl to bed.  Then we relaxed with our Kindles (hubby relaxed by fishing off the dock, but he did have his Kindle in one hand!), and a drink.  It was awesome!

The next day, my parents came up, which made Eliza very happy - Mama and Dada are just not as fun as they are, apparently :)  She was asleep when they arrived, but when she woke up she was very happy to see them.  

We had a great day.  We hung out on our new dock (where Eliza thought it was pretty fun to freak her parents and grandparents out by dancing on the dock like a wild child), walked in the lake (still too cold to swim for this mama), and we also checked out a few garage sales in town.  They were all pretty lame, unfortunately, but we did stop by a little petting zoo while we were in town - there was a little festival going on and we just caught the tail end of it.  Of course I forgot my camera :(  There were baby goats there.  They were SO cute!  Aren't all baby animals cute?  They kill me with their adorable-ness.  Anyway, Eliza loved the animals, so it was worth the garage sale strikeouts.  

That night we grilled and had fajitas for dinner, followed by a fantastic rhubarb tart made by my mama.  My dad completed the awesomeness by picking up some DQ soft serve.  YUMMMMM.

The next morning we decided to check out a new playground after breakfast.  We have our 'usual' playground in town that we always go to, but it was fun to check out a new one.  It's at the boat launch on the adjoining lake, only about a 5 minute drive from our cabin.  Eliza gave it her stamp of approval by going down the twirly slide about two dozen times.  While we were there hubby found a baby painted turtle in the sand - it was so tiny and SO cute (what did I say about baby animals??).  My mom moved it to the woods so it wouldn't get stepped on.  Then we went to get coffee before we headed home.

Eliza took an EPIC three-hour nap when we got home, and I joined her for about two of those hours, which was so nice.  This is one of my favorite things about the cabin - napping in the middle of the day is perfectly acceptable :)

After nap, Eliza and Grandpa played with some bubbles on the dock.  Grandpa would blow bubbles and help Eliza catch them on her hand - she thought this was great fun.  She did this for quite a while!

Then we did some more walking in the water with Grandma.  Eliza is becoming a pro at this!  Hopefully soon the water will be warm enough to go swimming (warm enough for mama, that is!).

The day at the cabin ended with my mom making the most out-of-this-world, mind blowing pizza EVER.  Words cannot describe how awesome it was.  We were singing her praises the rest of the night (and today).  It. was. so. good.  Then we headed home while my parents stayed for one more night.  

It was a lovely, fun, relaxing weekend for all, but most of all, Eliza had a blast.  She loves it up there, and I am so glad.  She is the fifth generation to enjoy our family's lake cabin and it is such a wonderful sight to see.  I love watching her with my parents, it reminds me of when I was little, when I spent time there with my grandparents.  I have so many happy memories from that time, and I hope that Eliza makes wonderful memories there with her grandparents, too.  

I am one lucky mama.  In so, so, so many ways.  

Making Faces

Eliza loves making faces.  

She knows that she can get a laugh out of us (because obviously, it's hilarious), so she does it a lot.  I think, though, that she thinks she makes different faces, but in fact she is making the same face every time.  

She squeezes her eyes shut, squishes up her nose and puts her head to her chest.  There is always a shy smile, too.  

This girl cracks me up.

Happy weekend!