that's so Pi'bears

(had a great time in Nashville...thanks for all the fun ideas! I'll fill you all in on our day later)

Sarah has been especially spunky lately and there are lots of things I've been jotting down here and there, saving them for a memory-keeping post. So here we go.

1. Before our Memorial Day Beach Trip the kids and I headed to the store to pick up a few items. On our list was a bathing suit for daddy. When I told Sarah this she responded with, "a big fat bathing suit?" Which, of course, is even more hilarious if you know my bean pole husband.

2. McDonalds is officially "Big Donalds". And if anyone corrects her I may have to get a little crazy on your so watch it.

3. Sarah's last day of preschool was a few weeks ago. I told her several times that it was her last day of school. I think she liked the "last" concept. In the past week she's told me no less than three times that it was her "last day for soap". I just kind of shook my head and marveled at her toddler randomness, thinking nothing of it. Until two days ago I caught her washing her hands soap-less after going potty. When I reminded her to get a squirt of soap she said, "NO! It's my laaaaast day for soap!" Oh my. Her random toddler words had actually translated to action (or inaction as it may be). After stating that only big girls who did all of their potty things correctly (including using soap to wash hands) would get dessert she quickly discarded her "last day for soap" ideas.

4. If you ask Sarah where something is, say your sunglasses that she definitely was playing with just five minutes ago, she's sure to respond with "it's somewhew". Nice. Thanks for the details kid.

5. Tonight on our way home from my mom's Brent was encouraging Sarah to sleep in her carseat. He told her it was "past her night night time" to which she responded, "just like Pastor Steve!" HUH? It took a minute for this mommy's brain to catch up. But when I did I realized that when Brent said "past your night night time" that Pi'bears heard "PASTOR Night Night Time". Which made me chuckle. And then brought to mind several "Pastor Night Night Time"s I've heard in my life. And for the record, Pastor Steve isn't one of them.

6. Just a picture...

Of Her Royal Toddlerness applying "special cream" a.k.a. Ephraim's homemade sweet potato puree. She's a big fan of having her own bowl of baby food as Ephraim's eating his...but it only took about 10 seconds with my back turned to remind me that turning my back on an eating Pi'bears is NEVER a good idea.

Hey Nashvillians! Got ideas?

First off, thanks for all your fun comments yesterday. RWR is gonna be my new favorite thing, I can already tell!

Guess WHAT?! Brent told me this morning that we're headed to Nashville tonight to 1) spend the night with my mom and stepdad 2) hang out in the city tomorrow...WITHOUT KIDS 3) See Jesus Christ Superstar and I am deliriously excited!

So I'm thinking we're going to have several hours tomorrow to bum around town together with nary a stop at a "potty", "watermountain", or any other child-related neccessity. (woohoo!) So where should we go? I'd love a heads-up on any cool shops, restaurants, vintage stores, breweries, etc. (I threw "breweries" in there for Brent...I mean, if I have any hopes of getting some fun shopping done I better make sure the man gets a beer first, right?!)

Hope your weekend is fantastic!

Oh, WAIT! One more thing.

My sweet Lily. I did a shoot with her while we were down at the beach last weekend and there are some gorgeous gems over on the business blog. Check it!

Readers Who Rock.

If you guys only knew how much time I spend racking my brain trying to figure out how to make you all feel as good about yourselves as you make me feel about myself (whoa, I think I'm lost in that sentence, are you?) you might be a little concerned. I know I've said it before but it's worth repeating: this blog makes me happy. Sharing bits of our life and having people who read it...it makes me feel connected when some days I feel so isolated. And then to top it off you guys leave me these amazing comments that make me turn and look over my shoulder because you seriously are not talking about me. And I know I've said this before too but it's also worth repeating: I wake up lots of mornings and hope/try to be the person that some of you who read my blog think I am. I'm no wonderwoman. Not even close. And many days I'm even the evil opposite of wonderwoman (surely she had a nemesis, right?).

So. Here's my new fun little game. Readers Who Rock. I wish I had 500 smackeroos to toss around to fun places like Ree often does but a little shout-out is the next best thing, right? Well, maybe not the NEXT best thing but I'm sure it ranks high. Right? right?

Here we go.

Our inagural "Reader Who Rocks" is...Karly of Josh and Karly. Last week when I posted this shot of Ephraim...



She left this comment:

"Oh my gosh the hat! The first picture i ever saw of Sarah was in that same hat - and i've been hooked ever since. I squeeled with delight at its reappearance!"

And I'm pretty sure she's talking about a shot that looked something like this...



And it made my day that she remembered it.

Thanks Karly. You rock.

who knew the Q and A would breed?

Certainly not me. Apparently the questions and the answers got a little rowdy while I was away and when I came back...POOF...more questions were born! I'll do my best to get to all of them in the next week or so. After my mini blogging marathon Monday night I'm just not sure I can face it right now. =)

What I CAN face is this crazy little one inhaling a piece of my birthday cake at Tory and Parmy's house last weekend...

It was a big ol' honkin' piece but according to Pi'bears it just wasn't enough. Because after she finished licking off this birthday candle with Daddy...

...she proceeded to take about a 1 1/2 inch chunk out of that wax candle. "It's in my belly" she replied when I asked where it went.

That's my girl. My crazy sweet-eating girl.

eta: check back tomorrow for the first edition of "Readers Who Rock"...this is gonna be fun! Hmmm...wonder who it will be...

here we go!

1. Do you calibrate your monitor???? If so, what do you use? Um, sort of. I've actually never calibrated my desktop monitor with a calibration device because my prints come out EXACTLY how they look on my screen. Not sure how that happened without calibrating but I love it and I'm afraid to mess with a good thing. Back in CO I did mess with the brightnesssettings on my screen once because my prints were coming back a bit darker than I anticipated but ever since then it's been perfection. I do all my editing on my desktop so when it dies I'm not really sure what I'll do! I do calibrate my laptop regularly though using the Huey Pantone system. I can't really say I'd recommend it since my laptop colors still look wonky but I just chalk that up to it being a laptop and move on. I use my laptop to show proofs to clients but I also show hard copies so I don't worry too much about correct calibration.

2. get that husband of yours to film a "what's in Erin's bag"... ooooh...I like! Cool video, Kristen, thanks for sharing. I'll definitely save this and try to work on it in the next few weeks. Feel free to remind me when I inevitably forget. :)

3. What kinds of things did you feed Sarah when she was oh about 1 1/2? Sarah was that age when we moved here last summer and I remember her eating a ton of noodles for about a 4 month period. Egg noodles with a tiny bit of butter and fresh parmesan cheese. That would have been her choice for lunch and dinner everyday if I let her! I would usually (and still do) let her choose what she wanted for lunch and then whatever we're having for dinner as a family is the only thing available in the evening. I learned from J.J. that toddlers tend to balance out their food consumption over a week period so I never really stressed about what/how much she ate during any given day. I just figured that if I always offered healthy things it would all even out. Back to your question: noodles, omelets (a good way to mix in mashed veggies), cheese tortillas, scrambled eggs, any fruits, grilled cheese sandwiches - gosh, we ate a lot of cheese! Still do I guess. :)

4. You mentioned that you make your own clenaing supplies. Any directions or tips? I just started doing this so it's still really new but so far I really like it. I googled "homemade cleaning supplies" and came up with lots of things. I scanned a few sites, got the gist of what most people were doing and then put some cleaners together on my own. I really liked the recipes on this site in particular. I found the colored spray bottles at the dollar tree. I accidentally got the sudsy ammonia which most recipes say specifically not to get because it can be hard to clean off. I haven't had a problem so far but next time I'm at the store I'll probably pick up the non-sudsing kind to try that out too.

(check me out kicking it Pioneer Woman style!)

5. I'd love to know what camera/lenses you use and which one(s) are your favorites. These days I find myself shooting with my 50mm/1.4 about 90% of the time. I still love my 85mm/1.8 but for some reason it's been sitting in my bag a bunch lately. I'd really, really like to try some new lenses but I'm undecided as to what I want. A macro lens is definitely on the list though. And I always shoot with the 5d with the Rebel in my bag as a back-up.

6. Did you consider any other cameras besides the 5D when you bought it? Ever consider any Nikons? What sealed the deal on the 5D? I pretty much knew I wanted the 5d. I've always loved and felt comfortable with Canons so I didn't even consider a Nikon. My main reason for wanting and going with the 5D was for the rave reviews it got for handling noise. And, oh my goodness, it doesn't disappoint!

7. Is there anything at all about the 5D you would change or you don't like as much? How's the LCD? ISO? Not having pop up flash? Um, the price?! =) Seriously, that's it. LCD - great, nice and big. ISO - see above. Pop-up what? =) Nope, don't miss it.

8. what is your advice for getting SHARP pictures (especially considering our subjects are constantly moving (i.e. a 6 month old!)? Did you find that when you went from the Rebel to the 5D your pictures got sharper/better? Oh gosh, this is a BIG question. In the interest of time I'll just say three things 1) Make sure your shutter speed is fast enough - never drop below 1/125 when shooting little ones. And that should be even faster if you're using a longer lens. 2) Learn to toggle your focus points if you're not already and try to adjust only slightly after you lock in focus - better to not move at all! 3) Complete the shot as soon as possible after locking in your focus. If you hesitate even the slightest bit the little ones are going to move out of your focal plane. As for the Rebel/5D question a new camera isn't going to make your photos sharper automatically. Sharpen your skills with lots of practice and trial and error and that will make your photos sharper. The 5D definitely has amazing capability - especially for handling high iso's in well-exposed images - but the camera in and of itself isn't going to change your photography. It will be a great tool though for YOU to up your game with.

9. When did Ephraim start sitting up unassisted? Uh, maybe tomorrow? No, seriously, he started sitting up for very, very short periods on his own a little over a week ago. He still is not a totally balanced sitter-upper but he's getting better. I wouldn't walk away from him yet when he's sitting but we're getting there.

10. My question is about transitioning to a big girl (boy) bed. What approach did you use and how did it go? Would it be cheating if I put this question off until next Monday? Sounds like a perfect MM topic to me! :)

11. I have asked on another blog post but how do you get your kids' eyes to look so vibrant and beautiful in photos? I have tried many different things and my kids' eyes never look so good. Is it a photoshop trick? I would love to know! Honestly, it's all about the light. Make sure you have good light in their eyes and the God-created beauty will shine! If you're shooting indoors make sure their eyes are facing toward a window. And the closer they are to the window, the bigger the catchlights will be. Now, having said that, there are a few things you can do in PS to enhance the prettiness you've already captured but please make sure you get good catchlights first. Otherwise anything else you do will look cheesy and fake. You can dodge the catchlights with your dodge tool set to a very low opacity (like 8%). Try the highlights first for just one pass or maybe two and then maybe the midtones for like one pass. Always do this on a duplicate layer so you click it on and off and see if you like it or even reduce the opacity if you need to. Another thing you can do is a high-pass sharpen to the eyes. Use your lasso tool to select the iris of one eye and then hold down the shift key as you lasso the second eye. Be sure to only select the iris and not the whites of the eye. Then right click and choose "layer via copy". Then go up to your toolbar and choose filter-other-highpass. Set the pixels to 8. Then in your layers palette change the layer mode to "soft light" and adjust opacity to taste. (by the way, that last tutorial was passed along to me by the amazingly talented Anna Jones)

12. How do you get such amazing catchlights? Is your house full of windows?! The post below of Ephraim, did you use a reflector? What's your secret? And how often do you use reflectors? No, my house isn't full of windows but I wish it was! I do have a great window in my family room that I use a lot and Sarah's room also has two great windows but other than that I don't have anything great. And I only have one north/south window (which yields the best light) and we keep that one closed all the time because otherwise we have a few of our neighbor's trampoline. The key is making sure that wherever you're shooting you have your subject angled toward the window and close, if possible. And there are definitely times that I just don't take a shot because I know I won't have catchlights or there is too much shadowing going on. In those shots of Ephraim in the hat I had him laying on my couch facing the ceiling. Our large family room window is directly to his right which floods the room with light. The catchlights you're seeing in his eyes are coming from the light reflecting off of the white celing and a little bit from the window itself. I didn't use a reflector here but for this shot I did - and I used the same big window, just behind him.

13. Do you CWB? I never have luck doing that, so most of the time I stick with AWB. Just curious if you have any advice on this. For snapshots, no. For client work or actual shoots of my own kids, always. You can adjust the color in photoshop but you'll never, ever get it to look as sparkly and true as if you just did a custom white balance in the first place. THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO USE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS. Elements doesn't have a color balance tool so you really need to make sure you're getting perfect color sooc. I use a grey divider from the inside of my old camera bag to take my cwb shot - and sometimes I just use a white piece of cardstock. Either are fine. Check with your camera manual for more info on how to do this with your own camera. It's important.

14. If you could only have one lens for portraits what would it be? Well, the 50mm/1.4 but only because that's what I know. I'm sure if you put an L lens in my hands for a period of time I'd be singing a different tune. Anyone have an L lens they want to put in my hands? :) HA!

15. Ever thought about mentoring? Yes, I have. And I will. I know it seems like I keep putting it off but I just feel like I'll know when the time is right. Wendy was so amazing to me and I want to be able to put that kind of time and energy into someone else's journey. Bear with me, I promise I'll do it one day.

16. Ever consider coming to Canada for a visit? Oh gosh, I'm totally flattered! I can't foresee a time that I would travel to shoot in Canada (although I'd love to visit someday!). Hmmmm...I'll guess I'll have to think on that!

17. I want to know what's on the wall behind little E's head :) Looks interesting. It's a wall collage of 9 5x7's in 8x10 frames. They're of our family, our siblings, and our best friends. I could stare at it all day. I love those people. You can see it a little better here.

18. Do you plan on having any more kids? How many and how soon? Who knows. Who knows and who knows. How's that. =) No seriously, who knows!?

19. Also, why do some people call you Erin and others call you DeeDee? My given name is Erin and all of my friends call me that. My nickname is DeeDee because my sister (who is 18 months older than me) couldn't say "Erin" when I was born so she tried to say "sissy" and it came out "DeeDee". My entire family calls me DeeDee as well as my husband. Technically he calls me Deed.

20. How did you meet your husband? At church when I was 11 and he was 15. I remember the first time I saw him...and I had a mega-crush on him from then on out. We didn't start dating until I was in college at Auburn and he was at the Air Force Academy. It was pretty clear within the first few months though that we would be getting married. Oh man do I love him.

21. Is it weird to you that so many people you don't know come to this site religously? Maybe it should weird me out but it really doesn't. I guess because I visit so many blogs of other creative/interesting people that I don't know I just realize that that's how it is sometimes. I'm glad you guys come and I hope you find whatever it is that you're looking for.

22. How do you get that wonderful back lighting? Baclighting can really be tricky but when you learn to do it well it's so fun! The most important thing is to make sure that you have a light source in front of your subject, even when the main light source is coming from behind. This could mean an additional window...like in this shot, or a reflector of some sort (believe it or not, tinfoil is my reflector of choice)...seen here, or even something outdoors like sidewalk or a white wall.

23. Hey, if anyone wants a REAL answer about Miss Erin, ask me. About her, not the photography, obviously. :) She tends to forgot the truth sometimes. Okay, this isn't a question but it does illustrate how obnoxious my dear Samantha can be (aka ssclark01). Hmm...maybe we need an "Ask Samantha" post.

24. I have often wondered if you would consider mentoring or having some type of photography workshop...I guess now would be a good time to ask!! (see 15) As for the workshop thing I doubt that's in the cards. I really like sharing things here with you guys for free so I'll just stick with that for now! If you're looking for an excellent workshop though I can't say enough about Wendy Schulz and what she's doing now. Check her out here.

25. Also, do you ever use an external flash if you don't have enough light...if so, which one do you have? I do, but rarely on a shoot...just around my own house where I'm comfortable with it. I have the 420ex although technically it belongs to my Aunt Lori and has been on loan for going on two years now! :)

26. What is your family's favorite meal to cook at home? I have no idea. My husband always says that I never cook things enough times for us to have favorites...I like to try new things! If you ask Pi'bears she's say spaghetti and meatballs, Brent says anything on the grill, and I vote for black bean and goat cheese quesadillas which I only make if a girlfriend is over for lunch since Brent can't stand goat cheese. So since that's not technically a family meal I'll vote for pizza with homemade crust...I love making pizza dough! And the fam loves eating pizza!

27. How many posts do you think should be archived before making a blurb book? Any other tips regarding a book? I liked doing mine by year...it just seemed to fit well that way. I guess though it would depend on how often you blog. I probably had about 200 posts in mine and it was a nice size. If you blogged daily for a year the book might be a little tight. Can't think of any other tips...sorry!

28. What cleaning supplies do you make and what are the recipes? We seem to be using vinegar for everything. Check out #4 way up there.

29. Have you heard of the new BPA/ Born free bottles? If so are you using them? Yep, I'm a little freaked out too. I looked into BPA free bottles but it seemed to me like the choices were glass (which didn't really bother me so much but the nipples looked so narrow...wasn't sure how that would go over) and Born Free which apparently come with all the piece and parts like Dr. Brown's do. I wash our bottles by hand and I didn't want to be messing with all of that. We compromised by not dishwashing our bottles and not microwaving them. The dishwashing thing was no problem since I've always done them by hand but the microwaving thing threw me for a bit of a loop. What we do now is microwave the water in a glass pyrex measuring cup and then mix the formula in the bottle. My understanding is that the chemical leakage happens when the plastic is heated so I feel a little safer this way. If I'm mistaken, don't tell me. I'll just cover my ears and sing "la la la"...I can only handle so much gloom and doom and overly cautious mothering. :)

30. My question is where did you start learning about photography. I am not sure wher to start. I read stuff online and in books but not sure what I should be learning about first when it comes to photography. Check out my version of photography faq's here and here. I'm pretty sure I went into that in one of those but I'm not sure which one! Those links are also in the sidebar for future reference. Happy reading!

31. How do you get your cloth diapers clean enough so that they don't smell? Rachel, I'm so sorry you're having trouble with this! I've never had this problem so I'm not sure what to tell you. We just do a simple cold water rinse, one hot water wash and then dry them and they come out fine. One thing I've read is to decrease the amount of detergent you're using to half or less....detergent can actually make the smell linger in diapers...go figure! Try that and see what happens.

32. I have the same question as Bree. I love taking piictures of my daughter. I have a Rebel XTi, but usually just shoot on the green square. I want to learn how to take better pics of my daughter, but feel so overwhelmed with all the info out there. Where should I start learning the basics? Start with the faq's (see #30) - they have good links in them!

33. Would love to hear some lunch ideas. I feel like I'm in such a lunch time rut. Good question...mind if I add it to the Mama Monday list? For now let me just say applesauce with wheat germ sprinkled on the top is one of Sarah's latest faves. It doesn't constitute a whole meal but it's a rockin' healthy side. I buy the natural applesauce with no added sugar and the wheat germ adds an almost sweet crunch. She calls it "crunchy sprinkles". I love it too!

34. Can you give us some photography tips? Your pictures are always so sharp! Info on aperture, f-stops, ISO, etc. What setting do you usually have your camera set at? Whatever you are willing to share! Also, how do you interact with your photo subjects? Any tricks? See #30!

35. What's that cool photo display I see behind Ephraim's head in today's picture? Do share!! Check out #17.

36. It's evident that you have such an amazing connection with your hubby and best friend, Samantha. So, I'd like to know how you met them. How long have you known them? Samantha, feel free to answer if you're feeling left out. I love this question and I'm so happy to end on it! I answered a bit about meeting Brent previously but perhaps someday I'll expound on it. There's so much to our story and it makes me smile inside just thinking about it. It makes me think about something our pastor preached on a few weeks back: "divine appointments". That's what I think about when I think about meeting Brent. As for Samantha, our husbands actually went to the Air Force Academy together and were in the same squadron in 98 and 99. We were both dating our husbands at the time but never met. They moved to Dayton in 2001 right after we moved there and we had them over for dinner one night. It actually wasn't an instant bond even though we had a nice time. Through a series of coincidences we ended up interviewing for the same job a couple of weeks later which probably delayed our friendship for a few months. That was in July of 2001...by January of 2002 we were inseparable. In June of 2004 both couples moved to Colorado Springs within 10 days of each other where we met up with Rich and Amy a few months later. The 6 of us all lived within 2 block of each other for three years...ah, the good ol' days...

37. You just seem to do it all! How/When do you find the time to do everything you do? Do you have any time management/organizational tips that you live by? Yep..."good enough"! It drives my husband crazy but I like to do things FAST which means that lots of times things get done "good enough". I'm by no means a perfectionist and I don't waste time on little things that I don't think will matter in the grand scheme of things. I pretty much spend all of my kids nap time on the computer working on business stuff, proofing photos, blogging, etc. I actually really enjoy it - even the work stuff - so it's a nice break for me. I clean and do other chores when they're awake and we spend time doing that stuff together. Then again in the evening I do computer work and what not.

(I have no desire to proofread this...if you notice anything funky just ignore)

huh?

aw yeah...nothing like some good baby drool.

So. Happy Memorial Day Weekend! AKA Holiday-weekend-that-always-falls-on-erin's-birthday-and-sends-us-out-of-town-and-driving-home-on-aforementioned-special-day. Happy THAT! :)

No, we're actually super-excited about heading down to the beach tomorrow to hang out with the Cobb side of our fam for the weekend. Lots of fun pics of my other favorite niece next week. Promise!

And in honor of HWTAFOEBASUOOTADHOASD (see above) I'm an open book for you! As the business has picked up several things have fallen to the bottom of my time managment list and one of those things is answering emails from you guys. I always love the things you say and the things you wonder and I really, really love to help when you're looking for something or need help with something or whatever. SO. If there's anything that you wonder, anything at all, ask it here! Photography, baby food, diapers, meals, how to effectively sell your children to the circus, why my husband puts up with the fact that I still sleep with my childhood blankie...anything! I promise not to push this post to the bottom of the time management list. And if I come back and there are only 3 questions and two of them are repeats or deleted comments I promise to only feel like a slightly deflated fool. hee hee!

I'll start by answering the question I've gotten a few times over the last week about the house blocks from Sarah's room a few posts back. I looked and saw that W.J. Fantasy makes them and a reader, Jenny, dug a little further and found the link to purchase them right here. I'm pretty sure I got mine from Marshall's or TJMaxx...my very favorite place to buy kid toys and books.

Have a great weekend peeps!

stay beautiful.

There are a few lame things about me that I'm not afraid to share with you:

1) I still sleep with my childhood blankie.
2) I'm whiter than a sheet and gave up sunning long ago instead embracing a "white is cool" mentality (I'm still waiting for the rest of the country to catch up)
3) I shamelessly listen to mainstream (pop/country/r and b) music on the radio and enjoy it...we do have a few eclectic selections in my personal listening library but for the most part I'm sadly uncool in this department.

So. The point is. I like Taylor Swift. I think she's cute and bubbly and positive and I think it's amazing that she writes her own songs at her age (at any age really!). I got her CD for Christmas and have been mildly obsessed with it since. Sarah has followed suit and knows pretty much all the songs. In this house though, our favorite is "Ephraim's Song".

Okay, no. That's not really the title. At least not according to Taylor Swift. She calls it "Stay Beautiful". Tomayto, Tomahto. I wish I knew how to link to the music or the video or something but just add that as #4 on the lam-o things about me list. It's worth downloading though if you're cooler than me and actually know how to do it. (Oh look! Megan hooked me up with the link)

You're beautiful.
Every little piece, love.
And don't you know,
You're really gonna be someone,
Ask anyone.
And when you find
everything you look for,
I hope your life leads you back to my door.
Oh but if it don't,
Stay Beautiful.

Yep, it's totally Ephraim's song.

Ephraim, who turned 6 months old yesterday.






Stay beautiful my sweet, smiley mama's boy.

not sure what this says about me...

A conversation from this evening as Brent stands peering into the pantry:

B: Oh cool, you bought treats!

Me: I did?

B: Yeah, I see banana chips...and...uh...some other stuff...

Me: Really? Banana chips are a treat?

B: Well, when the alternative is some whole grain seed cracker things, yeah.

***

I keep insisting to Brent that when our kids are older this will be the hang out house. I want this to be the hangout house. When your house is the hangout house then you always know where your kids are and who they're spending time with, right?

He's quick to point out that we'll never be the hangout house with "treats" like ours.

I think he may be right.

good news.

I am so happy to report that my sweet, sweet Pi'bears is back! Where did she go, you ask? Well she's spent the last two weeks muddling her way through Grumpland where naughty children cry and scream and say "no" to their mommies every other minute. While she was gone I went to bed thinking about her every night. These were the competing thoughts that ran through my head:

I'm too hard on her. I'm not hard enough.

I'm going to sell her to the circus. I'm going to run away to the circus.

I should spend more time with her...she's feeling neglected. I should spend less time with her...she's being coddled.

For the record, the circus one got the most air time on my little brain waves.

But WHO CARES?! She's BACK! My sweet little girl who says things like, "I want to hold your hand" and "can you 'cratch my back" and "I want to give you a cuddle." I've missed her so.

We spent some fun tower-crashing time together this morning in celebration.






Now if I only I could figure out an expedited way to fly her back home the next time she visits Grumpland...

Mama Monday VIII: Daily Chores

Mama Monday Disclaimer: I am nowhere near an expert mom. I am on a mama journey just like all of you are. However, I'm more than willing to share my experience with you guys. If today's topic is something that you have an experience with then I hope you'll share too...either on your own blog (be sure to leave us a link) or in the comments section.

Okay, daily chores. Here's the thing, I refuse to do housework when my kiddos are napping. Especially now that there's two of them and there's a business to run naptime is absolutely sacred. I decided early on that I could easily still spend time with them when they were awake while still getting all the things that needed to be done, done. (does a comma go there? who knows.) So here are some hints for how it works in our house...

1. cleaning. Now that Sarah is at an age where she can really help with some of the cleaning I've finally made the switch to safer, healthier cleaning products. For now I'm making my own but if anyone is interested in safe alternatives that aren't homemade check out Shaklee products. My friend Janelle just started selling them and she's super-excited about them. SO. Back to the original point. Now that Sarah is old enough and our cleaning supplies are safe enough she loves helping me wipe off the spray on the kitchen counters, living room furniture, windows, etc. It may take a few extra paper towels this way but it keeps her occupied and teaches her a lifelong skill. I'm all about that.

2. cooking. A few months back Sarah was obsessed with helping me make dinner every night. She wanted to "put eeeeverything in" as I mixed, chopped, and sauteed. Her interest has waned a bit now that she's realized that onions will occasionally burn your eyes. She won't set foot anywhere near the kitchen if she thinks onions are being prepared. If it's onion-less though she's still all about it. There are lots and lots of things little ones can do in the kitchen as you're preparing meals, just be sure that you've taught them some safety basics first. Some of ours include, "don't touch the cutting board while mommy is cutting", "don't ever reach on top of the oven", "always wash your hands first", and "always ask if something is hot before touching". I've found that the best use for her little helping hands is washing vegetables and dumping cut veggies or other ingredients into pans or bowls. She'll often just sit right on the counter but more often than not she's standing next to me on the best stepstool ever made.

3. laundry. Sarah has been helping fold the laundry since she was a baby baby. There must be something about the flash of colors, the clean smell, and the warm fluffiness that makes every baby happy. Ephraim loves it too. Often I'll dump the laundry on them and then fold from there. They have fun playing in it and Sarah enjoys finding her things. Starting when she was around 18 months I started asking her to put some of her clothes in her drawers. I'd give her a little stack and tell her where to put it. I'm not super-anal about how the drawers look for the kiddos as long as things are in the right place so it always worked out. Fairly often now she'll find her own stacks and put them away herself.

4. diapers. Because washing diapers, folding diapers, and making wipes is an activity that occurs around here every few days they're very into it. Sarah has always loved gathering the wipes and helping me fold them into the box. Pouring the soap solution is now her new favorite thing. She's pretty good at it too!

5. grocery shopping. If I truly has my choice I'd probably do this on my own but I don't want to waste weekend family time shopping so I take the kiddos with me. It's definitely a hassle but I think it's a vocabulary goldmine for little ones. I know the other shoppers think I'm crazy talking to my babies about every little thing that goes into the cart but the kids love it and so do I. Sarah can identify pretty much everything in the produce section and tell you if we need it or not. The more they're engaged in the shopping experience the better behaved they are too. That's a plus. Oh, and on shopping day (Thursday) Sarah always helps me make the grocery list and pick what's for dinner that night.

6. yardwork. Brent is pretty much a genius in this area when it comes to getting Sarah active in the outdoor work. Just today as we walked to the car she told me that yesterday she helped daddy cut the roses. Her favorite activity is to gather up the weeds from the sidewalk as we're pulling them up...she tosses them in her shopping cart and pretends she's doing the grocery shopping. When she's done all the weeds are gathered and we just dump them into the trash. Perfect!

Okay, that's all I can think of for now. I can't wait to get some ideas from you guys. I always walk away from Mama Mondays so inspired!

Buddy Posters:

Kristin - awesome chore charts for older kids

Heather at the SarahBear

family faves.

We just got home from an awesome long weekend at my dad's house. Having Meghan, Dave and Charlotte there was such a blast. I couldn't get enough of watching the girls play together. All the way home today Sarah kept saying, "baby Charlotte talks now!" And indeed she does!

Check 'em out eying each other's crocs...



Can you tell who has the cooler mommy by the sunglasses they're wearing? I'll give you a hint, it's not the one on the right.



I mean, for real, can you get any cooler than this?




(and yes, you're allowed to hate her skinny booty)

Meghan wasn't the only one with mad skills at the playground though...





And a shot of the fam for the road...



Here's your 12 hour Mama Monday warning: Getting kids involved in daily chores...discuss!

a little piece of happy

This little guys brightens my world. Especially on days like weeks like this one where his sister seems to be testing the upper limits of the stink-o-meter. I love her SO much...which may explain why she can get under my skin like no other. :) Please tell me I'm not the only mama feeling this way.




(you may have already seen that one on my business blog. Yes that was a shameless plug.)


A few other things brightening my day:

- Vegan night! Have you checked out Angela's scrumptious looking recipes at Dinner's Ready? She makes it look so cool and so easy to be vegan. I realize this isn't a everyday bandwagon my family will be jumping on but you can't deny the health benefits. So how about vegan night? Tonight we're having Vegetable Chickpea Curry (not actually from Angela's blog...but she's my inspiration!) and I'm so incredibly excited. It's in the slow-cooker right now and even half-done with still crunchy veggies it tastes goooooood.

- the Pigbears' big give. I got the most amazing call from the recipient of your goodness last week. I haven't stopped thinking about it since. You guys have touched their lives in a way you can't even imagine and I feel so guilty that I'm the only one who got to hear the joyful, thankful surprise in her voice. PPAHBR reader's rock! :)

- Nana and Grandaddy's house! Tomorrow we head there for the weekend and this whole fam is crazy excited about it.

- And the last piece of happy for today...wait for it...wait for it...



Oh yeeeeaaaah...that's three square feet of Cobb comin' at you! I mean, seriously, does it get better than that? HA! (samantha, keep your comments to yourself)



For the record, it's a 36" square canvas with a black wrap. It's actually true b/w but this was the best I could do first thing this morning. It arrived yesterday and I had to catch myself or I would have kissed the fedex dude.

Hope your day has a few happies in it too!

Ten on Tuesday: Grama Edition

We're counting Pi'bear style which means that even though there are really 11 photos here you'll pretend you only counted 10. One to one correspondence isn't yet her strong suit. :)

Those are some lucky girls, wouldn't you say?

if you squint just a little...

You'd say they were sisters, not cousins;

daughters, not granddaughters;

18 months apart, not nine.

You'd say this was shot in California, not Tennessee;

on an army base, not a subdivision;

in a carport, not a driveway.

Just my mama and her girls...version 2.0.

(I love you mom!)

one week later

Would you believe me if I told you I've been trying all week to blog? I really, really have. I've even started posts here and there and it just never ends up happening. It's been a busy business week (which is good) but it's left me with little time for my own stuff (which is not good). I'm working on finding my happy medium. :)

Anyway, a few more from last Saturday morning when Sarah and I were traipsing around in the rain. These are super-quick edits so the colors are weird and lack consistency but oh well. I love this first one where she just looks so enthralled and determined as she trudges along in her big girl boots.


For the past several months she's decided that making eye contact with my camera = fate worse than death. I try to trick her. She's so over me. Every once in a while though she'll give me the quickest glance and I get lucky.

Her favorite tree in our front yard...



There you have it. Rainy day photos, one week later.

Enjoy mama's day tomorrow peeps! :)

I can honestly say...

...that when I bought my video camera two years ago I never, ever, thought I would capture a moment like this. I (this is PigBear's Daddy blogging) was leaving for work this morning when Sarah decided to make her first political observation. So now, in the wake of the N.C. and Indiana primaries, we can say with certainty that Barack is finished. You'll see why when you watch the video.

Remember 2004 when we had to live with that ridiculous phrase, "You've been swiftboated"? Well Senator Obama, it's even worse: You've been Pi'Beared. And with this blog's following, you might as well hang it up. You might overcome Jeremiah Wright, but not Sarah Lorraine.

I still cannot come to terms with how Sarah put these thoughts together. Was it the constant Reaganomic rants from her rabidly Republican mother? (In case no one out there gets it, that last sentence was just slightly tongue-in-cheek.) And what is the political slant of that preschool class she attends once a week? Erin playfully said something to Sarah about the government taking her (pretend) cash monies. The previous day Erin mentioned that Barack Obama was running for president, so Sarah put these thoughts together. Should I beam with pride at my daughter's political involvement, or cringe at the fact that all the girl really wants is her cash monies?

Whatever you call it, it's funny. And all you armchair Limbaughs out there, please save your comments. Let's just enjoy this one.

Stan, did you ever think you'd have a two-year old supply-sider?

mama monday VII: SLEEP!

Mama Monday Disclaimer: I am nowhere near an expert mom. I am on a mama journey just like all of you are. However, I'm more than willing to share my experience with you guys. If today's topic is something that you have an experience with then I hope you'll share too...either on your own blog (be sure to leave us a link) or in the comments section.

Sleep. Mmmmmm, glorious sleep! I could talk about this all day. There are a lot of things I stress about as a mama but sleep has never been one of them (theirs OR mine). I realize that this isn't the case though for lots of you out there...nothing can get a mama riled up like her not-sleeping baby! So I hope this post, the buddy posts, and the comments will help those of you who might be struggling with this issue. Let me start by saying where we are and then I'll list some ways that we got there. Ephraim sleeps for 12 hours straight every night starting at 6:30 or 7:00. He takes three naps during the day that each range from 45 minutes to over two hours. Sarah sleeps for about 11 hours each night starting around 7:30. She takes one nap in the afternoon for about an hour and a half.

List form seems to work well for MM so here it goes:

1. Swaddling. We have always swaddled our babies from the time they were in the hospital until they find their hands (around 2-3 months). We always swaddled with two thin thermal blankets (a tip learned from J.J.) One thing I realized early on though was that swaddling did nothing but tick the kiddos off unless it was done right...and right=TIGHT. There are a handful of things that I know I do well and one of them is swaddling a baby. Maybe I should add that to my profile...master swaddler. I'm willing to make and post a video if anyone is struggling with this and would like to see it in action! When Hayden was first born and I visited him in the hospital I swaddled him up as a nurse walked in. She took one look at him and said to me, "you must be a nurse." To which I responded, "nope, just a mommy!" :) At any rate, swaddling has always worked for us. Let me add though that "worked for us" doesn't actually translate too "babies always liked it and cooed and babbled up at my adoringly as I wrapped them tighter than a bandito burrito." Which brings me to my next point...

2. Crying. When it comes to sleep I have always been able to keep in perspective that *I* know best what my babies need. They have often fought it and cried about it and I'm totally okay with that. I don't think teeny tiny babies really benefit from lots of crying but between birth and like 2-3 months I totally think it's okay to let them fuss for a couple of minutes during a nap(probably not more than five) to give them a chance to calm themselves down. Occassionally it will work, usually it won't, but giving them the opportunity to soothe themselves back to sleep will only be good for them (and you!) in the long term.

5. Noise. I realize that some people are really anti-white noise but it's always worked for us. With Sarah we ran a humidifier everytime she slept...partly for the humming but also because of the horribly dry air in Colorado. We do the same thing for Ephraim now. Sarah still sleeps with a small fan in her room that runs for background noise but she can totally go to sleep without it. In the beginning it was one of the strongest sleep cues for both of our kids and Ephraim still depends on it for a strong cue. As soon as I bring him in his room, turn the lights off and start the humidifier his thumb goes straight into his mouth...sleep time!

6. Sleep cues. Let's face it, these little creatures are trainable...probably even more so than adults. The more cues we give them that it's time for sleep, the easier it will be for them to rest well. And that means ROUTINE. Our nightime routine has always included a bath, books, and then a feeding before sleep. We bathe both of them every night and I really thinks it helps them wind down and know what's coming next. For naptime Ephraim's sleep cues go like this: walk in the room, turn the lights off, draw the curtains, turn on the humidifier, swaddle from the waist down and lay down in the crib. Even though all of that takes 10 seconds or less by the time I lay him down he knows that it's time for sleep. Of course, he didn't know this in the beginning but after weeks and weeks and months and months of the same thing he's totally trained. He goes to sleep without a peep about 99% of the time.

7. The first 3 months. I always soothed my babies to sleep until they were 2-3 months old. Sometimes that meant rocking, sometimes swaying, sometimes walking, sometimes even nursing. It ALWAYS included swaddling. Once they found their hands and could bring things to their mouth independently I took that as a sign that they didn't need the soothing/swaddling anymore. At that point I made both of them figure out how to get to sleep on their own.

8. After 3(ish) months. I put the -ish in there because it's not so much a date as a developmental milestone. Even if your kids don't soothe themselves with their hands (sucking thumbs, holding a lovey, whatever) finding and being able to use their hands means that they have enough control of their body to not need swaddling anymore. When they're itty bitty and jerky and spastic they often need help holding it all together...after they find their hands they don't. This is the point when I started swaddling both Sarah and Ephraim from the waist down so they had access to their hands. Ephraim is 5 1/2 months and I still swaddle him this way as one of his sleep cues. As an added bonus it discourages him from rolling over onto his tummy and getting all ticked off and screamy (although he's quickly outgrowing that thank goodness.)

9. Nightime waking. Sarah started sleeping through the night (11-12 hours) around 2 1/2 months and was doing it consistently by 3 1/2 months. She pretty much did it on her own. In the interest of full disclosure she weaned from breast to bottle just before three months. She was sleeping through the night about 30% of the time before weaning and within weeks she was doing it all the time. I think she would have done this weaned or not. As for Ephraim, he would still be waking up once for a feeding if it were his choice. He weaned from breast to bottle at three months (a mama monday for another day...and another blogger...unfortunately nursing is just not my strong point) and was getting up once in the night at that point. He continued to get up once every night until he was just over four months old. At that point we started letting him cry it out. It took about 3 nights before he stopped waking up at all. Now, let me say this: if I were still nursing him I would not have done this. But not for the reason you're probably thinking. Some people will say that formula holds them longer because it doesn't breakdown as quickly and I'm sure that's true to an extent. But. I didn't notice a difference in either of my babies eating patterns when they weaned. They still ate just as often during the day and at night. The only reason I was comfortable letting him cry once he weaned was because at that point I could actually SEE his intake. And I saw that he was taking a full bottle in the middle of the night and then literally nibbling an ounce or two in the morning. He clearly didn't need that nightime feeding. He just needed to learn to wait. If I had still been nursing him though I wouldn't have known that and I would have been too nervous about my supply to nighttime wean him. I probably would have cut him off at six months though.

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and hit "publish" and I'll come back and add to this if I think of anything else or if there are questions I can answer.

Buddy Posters:

Mandy

Megan M.

Becca

Colleen

*Be sure to check the comments section for other great ideas and routines, including a great post from Krista about sleep as it relates to a baby with colic.

just one.

Yesterday morning we had a calm rain so I went outside with Sarah so she could stomp around in the puddles. She insisted that we take a walk with our umbrellas so I dropped the camera off with Brent and followed her. As soon as I saw this though I ran back, pounding on the door, asking for my camera again. How could I resist these awesome leading lines and even a little reflection action? It was definitely worth the detour.

On an unrelated note, tomorrow is Monday and Mama Monday will be in full affect. In honor of RaeRae getting the axe how about we do a little something about nap and bedtime routines? Anyone else feel like sharing? Post tomorrow and I'll link you up!

Happy weekend friends!

the end of an era

As it happens "era" is an anagram of "rae". And our RaeRae era came to an end yesterday. Pi'bears and RaeRae have been together for two years now. It started innocently enough but quickly took a foul turn when Sarah started sucking on his ears. And by foul I mean FOUL. Seriously, saying it stinks doesn't cut it. That thing stanks. We have four of them now and I wash them constantly and they still come out of the dryer smelling like rotten toddler breath. Or rotten toddler who's been chewing on dog poop breath. They're nasty.

I've been fed up for a while but knowing taking him would break her heart we've put it off. (it's definitely a him. Only boys can stink that bad) Yesterday though I walked into her room after the door had been closed for a bit and I almost fell over. Alabama heat and humidity + stanky RaeRae = a new level of horribleness. The time had come.

So I talked it up all morning and yesterday's nap went pretty well. She fell asleep fine but only napped for about 45 minutes and then woke up a total crab. She recovered quickly and we ended up having a nice afternoon. We went out to dinner last night (Cracker Barrel, her choice) to celebrate her new big girlness but then she wailed a bit at bedtime as she fell asleep. She woke up at 5 this morning looking for him but fell asleep again about 45 minutes later after some cuddletime with mommy. Now she's "napping" again. Quotation marks due to the fact that she's not actually asleep yet. The jury's still out.

I definitely know this is the end though. I may be compulsive but I'm also headstrong. So even when I make snap decisions I always stick to them. And besides, it's really, really time.

So long RaeRae. You've served us well. I promise to wash you 87 times in boiling water and baking soda before stashing you away in Pi'bears memory box.

Fest.

In addition to "Buddy-Ro" Ephraim has earned another nickname from his daddy: "Fest". Short for "Lovefest" which is what Brent says every time he walks by and we're snuggled up once again.











Have I mentioned lately how much I love having a son? Love you, Fest.