Raising Cubs in a Campground

But my favorite is the color of her eyes

Another week has passed already and thanks to this photo-dump style post I've been able to record some every day moments that would otherwise be a vapor in my memory. It's only been three weeks but already I feel so good about writing more here and posting photos for our family blog book series. Don't be intimidated by the number of photos I'm posting - jump in and post ONE photo - even one view from your shoes will be a slice of time in your life that you can't get back. Moving on to some views I had this past week... Saturday night PapaBear and I had the opportunity to leave the kids home with my mom and go out to a local bar to celebrate my BIL's 40th. This is what I found when I got home. Julia in a basket. In the closet. This is nothing new as I have a whole series of photos of her unique sleeping habits. Sunday after the kids sang at the early church service we enjoyed a quiet day at home with my mom. Sam wanted to join in the Quiddler fun and did ...

Kitchen Helper If there's baking or dish washing to be done then I can always count on Julia to be right there to help. Some day she won't need a stool to reach the sink. Who am I kidding...some day she might not willingly stand at the sink - stool or no stool!  I relish our time together in the kitchen and try really hard to not stress out about how her 'helping' can sometimes make things take longer and make a bigger mess.  These are the moments I want to remember! What Alphabitty Moment do YOU want to remember this week?

It's no surprise that I love using the alphabet as a theme. It's been three years and I'm still coming up with new words for my Alphabitty Moments project.  This winter I tied the alphabet into a hike with the kids. Julia helped me find letters along the way and when we got home and still didn't have an 'i' I made one using marshmallows (I am working on spelling out the name of our park in 'campground' items so this 'i' will get used again for that project later on). It was a fun way to get some exercise and see our backyard in a new light. It's been almost four years since we moved here so activities like this help mix things up and get the kids excited to be outside.  Have you done anything to encourage you kids to get outside even when there isn't snow to play in? Do share! 

Our trees, under the weight of ice and snow, reminded me of the trees in Whoville so of course I had to add a little Cindy Lou Who to complete the scene. We love Dr. Seuss books around here, especially this one.  And look the foot DOES fit! (My favorite shot of Elsa in her Dr. Seuss hat can be found here)

Elsa turned 8 months old yesterday and 35 weeks today. Since today happens to also be Dr. Seuss birthday I took a couple of minutes and pieced together a hat in his honor. Pieced being the key word since it it's really just felt wrapped around an existing winter hat and white felt laid on top. I hand stitched a brim to give it some dimension but I didn't even have enough felt to go all the way around. Oh well...you get the idea.... Moving on to Elsa's 35 week update.... I mentioned in her 34 week update that she likes to make lots of noises and this week she's added 'singing' to her sounds. She quietly sings "ha ha ha" with the same tones every time. It's the first sounds she's ever repeated back to me when I make them. This all started on Sunday the 26th as well as bouncing to music. Gotta love a dancing baby! :) We continue to work on transitioning out of the swaddle but are stuck with what to do about the fact that she likes to sleep on...

Any time Elsa is on her back she's grabbing for her feet. It was during this mini session that she popped one of them in her mouth for the first time. I was adjusting the settings on my camera and heard a sucking sound. I looked up and saw this: I keep trying to stop using the swaddle but it's been a slow transition. She falls asleep so well when she's wrapped up tight but she is too big and too strong to stay wrapped up. On the 21st of February we started with the swaddle at 7pm and she slept until 2:30. I didn't bother to swaddle her after I fed her and she stayed asleep until 6:00. We're taking it slow...one day at a time. I don't know how many times I've written on the calendar that we've stopped swaddling her only to start up again. She's always been pretty vocal and when you sit down to read to her it's almost impossible because she's so loud. She loves books and will flap her arms and make tons of noise. She does this gurgling in h...

We have a tooth! Elsa's first tooth popped through on the 16th of February. That's when I noticed at least. I don't make it a habit to stick my fingers in her mouth all that often so it could have been there for a few days but I put the 16th on the calendar. Ironically, the next day Julia discovered another wiggly tooth. Teeth are coming and going around here! The other thing I noted on the calendar about Elsa's 33rd week is that she's become rather attached to her paci. She doesn't NEED to have it all the time, but if you try to pull it out of her mouth she doesn't release her lips. She holds on tight! This means she's not dropping it all the time like she used to. She has a preference for the larger MAM size now. Did you know they make glow in the dark ones? Genius. They hold a 'charge' for a long time - many hours - saves me at least a couple trips into her room since she's very good at finding it and popping it back in when she loses it. ...

Last week a photo of my girls in a grocery cart inspired me to make an effort to photograph and blog photos of life from my viewpoint throughout the day. The following photographs were taken this past week and provide a glimpse into our daily lives. This photo dump sort of post gives me a place to record the every day moments with my family. If you'd like to join in and share the view from where you are there is a linky at the bottom of this post.  Post one photo or twenty - it's completely up to you! My view during Elsa's nap on Friday. Iced coffee, my parenting class book , and the yellow crayon I used as a highlighter. A new view for the weekly baby in a basket shot . Yummy toes! A casual comment to Sam about maybe doing a pirate theme for his birthday party turned into a morning of treasure hunts and sword fights. The Science Museum has a pirate exhibit right now but we need to save up in order to go. Wow is that place expensive!!! Instead I watched Sam ring t...