Firsts

Aiko's birthday was 2 months ago and we just barely opened up one of her gifts. 

I wanted to wait until a snowy, dreary day, but we haven't had any.

Grandpa was in town, and since he gave her the kit, it only seemed appropriate to have him witness her first mess.

 

Obviously, she loved every minute.  Luckily, it was washable paint and didn't stain anything. 

Saying goodbye, by Signing.

A month or so ago we discovered that one of our beloved pine trees was dead.  Just plain dead.  One day he was green and lovely, the next, dead.  I was and am still slightly upset about it.  I'm not a tree hugger, but dang it, these trees worked so hard to grow up so big!

We all sat around creepily watching the tree-cutters.

Here, you can see on the right side how dead he was.

Doesn't he just look naked?  You can barely see the logger guy in there.  He truly was majestic.  (the tree that is.)

This adorableness just happened after the tree was taken down.  You'd think she was smiling at me, but no, she was SOOO excited because I let her watch Signing Time. 

Be Still my heart

This is the best picture I could get on my phone...but really, how adorable is this?  Sometimes Aiko will say "More? More?" after seeing me hold Little Brother's hand. 

I think (hope) they will be the best of friends.

I've had these photos for a while.

To post or not to post. 

To post. 

Family time

 

While I was napping (because I had just birthed a baby like 4 hours before) the family was sitting in the living room, eating and resting after quite an exciting day.  Little Aiko loves when her Uncle Jan comes to visit.  See how she lovingly gazes at him?  (Ignore the mess, like I just previously mentioned, birth happened.)

 

The family is hanging out in the same room, whilst looking at iphones.  You know that half asleep/awake napping?  Well, I was half asleep/awake listening to laughter, the loudest coming from the little girl of mine.  This is why. 

The photos were taken from a video...but you get the point.  Aiko would stand there while her favorite Uncle would throw a ball at her head.  After, she would pick up the ball, waddle over to him, run back to grandma, brace herself and let it happen all over again.

#ohthatbaby

Just a few pictures from this last week.

I see posts of sleeping babies all the time.  We have very few after like 6 months of this baby girl.  When she's down for a nap, she's usually in a bed somewhere, in the car, she rarely sleeps.  But when she sleeps, she SLEEPS. 

Oh, just a side profile of 39 weeks.

Watching TV while dad is asleep.

Have I mentioned that this baby is finally walking?  Consistently?  It's kind of hilarious.   She's so little, plus she has to carry everything, plus she looks like a drunk zombie.  Adorable I say.

She's also taken to this washbasin lately.  She dumps some toys in it and then squeezes herself in.  Oh, she also desperately, loves, loves, this monkey.  Here she's giving him "nose" and "hugs."  Which a hug includes squeezing him and turning side to side while saying "Ohhhhhh."   A lot goes into her hugs.

People look at us strangely, especially when she has super awesome outfits on.  But even more so when we are at the store and I have her in the main cart section.  She loves to just stand and stare at everyone.  I'm sure they think I'm crazy that this tiny child isn't strapped in, but they also don't know that she is almost 18 months and she behaves so much better there.

My little homeless child. 

I came out of the restroom at the store (because that's where I am all the time lately.) and could hear my child screaming "DAAAAAAAaaaaaa, DAAAAAAAAAaaad.  Ball, BAAAAAAAAALLLL." Mind you, they were screams of pure happiness.  You've never seen such a happy little girl walking through the store in her dads arms with a giant orange ball.  The husband always takes her to go see the ball pin.  This time, we actually purchased a "BAAAlllllllllllllllllll!!!"

Spring Fires

 

Sometimes, I forget that I'm pregnant, and then someone shows me a picture and I'm like "Whoa."  Especially when I see how awesome my outfits are getting towards the last few weeks.  It's gotten a little worse.  You'll notice that I have snowboots, the husband's sweat pants and a jacket that I was hoping would at least zip up.   Today I ironed a WHOLE dress, that I wore the last few weeks when pregnant with Aiko.  I probably should have tried it on before ironing...it didn't fit.  As my husband put it..."Your buttons are bursting all over."  Sigh.

You may recall similar outfits from my pregnancy with Aiko...gems.  I tell you.  Gems. here.

 

Crazy to think that it's only March and we're having bonfires.  Here I figured would be a good time to try imitating Tom Hanks from Castaway.  I felt it was pretty Oscar worthy.  Oh...yes, most of my shirts don't fit anymore, but once I put a shirt on, I rarely change it.  Which, is not my norm.  I'm usually a pull out 5 outfits before we find the right one.  Not so now. 

Aiko has yet to learn how to smile for pictures.  She is usually pretty stonefaced.  I'm trying to soak up as my #ohniceandchubbybaby time as I can, it's going to be a little weird adding in a #littlebrother into the mix too.  People keep asking if she has any idea what's going on...I'm pretty sure she doesn't.  But luckily, she does love baby dolls, so that should help right?

Nesting

This last week was kind of rough, Aiko was teething and giving attitude.  We didn't really go anywhere. No smiles were given by her.  She also has perfected this smug little look that . . . what?  Hurt my feelings?  

Yes, maybe a little.  

She did this I won't look at you, but I'll cast my eyes down to make you feel like you are not good enough for me to look at, while keeping my head at a proud upright position.  While my feelings were slightly hurt, I was also slightly furious.  I don't do well with attitudes, no matter the age. 

This isn't her smug look, but more, I am completely miserable look she held on to for the last week. 

 She slept a lot, this mama slept a lot.  She screamed a lot, this mama didn't scream, yet, happiness wasn't found either.   Luckily, she is almost her happy self, but a little more spoiled and perhaps turning into a slight 2 year old.  I think we've reached the point of her just being frustrated because she can't tell us what she wants.  Nonetheless, she grew a few inches last week and ways a pound more!  So now, she's 27.5 inches tall and weighs about 20 pounds.  Her 9 month pants are finally fitting just perfect.

 

While that #ohniceandchubbybaby slept last week, I decided that I needed to finish the piano.  It's been sitting for a few weeks with splashes of paint here and there looking pretty trashy.  I had tried an orange color, only to want nothing to do with it.  Luckily, I actually thought to be smart (instead of my compulsive self) and just buy a sample.  As soon as she handed me the sample I knew I hated it.  Oh, I tried a few coats on the piano here and there and still hated it.  

Then I tried this color above.  Which, was suppose to be a yellow-green, that looks more school-bus-butt-yellow.  I want a bright yet muted color and someone I've struck out twice already.  I've never been one to worry about colors, it usually comes a bit more easily to me. 

I am struggling. 

I decided to use up the sample school-bus-butt-yellow color for a few base coats.  Just so you know, it appears that at least 4 coats of paint may be needed.  But good to know that a sample paint will let you do two full coats on a piano  in the picture above. (minus the chair.)

So, now I sit once again with some new colors, but the picture doesn't look anything like the actual colors.  I'm actually leaning towards Margarita Time, but now that I see it in a different light it kind of grosses me out. 
Sigh.

Ewok Style Almost

Crocheted this adorable thing the other day.  Cowl?  What do people call them? 

Well anyways, it started out because I've been seeing this way too many time on Pinterest.

Then I saw this the other day.  I decided we just needed to do it.  

I loved the Ewok movie.  Not the one in Star Wars, but the other one.  I started looking at this free pattern and realized that it was an adult size and I'd have to figure out how to make it fit Aiko.  Looking at the pattern I realized how easy they were to make and that I wouldn't make it an Ewok style after all.  (Mainly, because the husband thought it was kind of weird.)  So instead, I thought we'd make up our own cowl pattern.  No, I didn't right the pattern down as I went...but I'm sure there is a free one somewhere!  The only thing I did use from the free pattern was the ears. 

Since, I mainly crochet with that baby is sleeping, I kind of guess on all the sizes.  She has a much bigger head than I thought.  Plus, I didn't really think about the button holes until it was too late.  Because, really, I'm not going to undo all that...so while it still needs some tweaking, I thought it looked pretty cute on #ohniceandchubbybaby.