Two Girls One Room

After returning from Tucson, we said what the heck and decided to move Eliza into Addie's room. We set up the crib two months ago but were intimidated to get both girls to sleep in the same room figuring Addie would keep Eliza up as she tried to fall asleep and then Eliza would wake Addie up in the middle of the night. A little of both has happened but we're sticking to it and the girls seem to be settling into the routine. Addie now reads books in the living room and is careful not to wake Eliza when she creeps into bed. Eliza isn't always as considerate if she wakes up in the night but delights Addie in the morning with her smiles.



This video was taken on the first day we set up the crib in January. Addie climbed right in (as we have found her with her sister on a few occasions in the mornings since). I love that Addie was excited to share her room - and still is. Phew!

Signs of Spring

Trader Joe's daffodils


Sweet wisteria blooming at the Kidspace Museum


Flower dresses and walking in water


Wildflower sprouting! (and crusty, dirty kid feet)


Short sleeve onesies


dirty little birdy feet


Pretend picnics on the front lawn


Fuzzly Blueberry the dwarf hampster at a birthday party


Chinchilla munching grass


Sausage, Banana and Strawberry - our caterpillars (Thanks Jeannine for a fun outing!)

Happy spring!

Breaking News!

She crawls!



and for sparkly shoes no less. We are so screwed.

By special request

This is for you, Jamie.
Photos of Addie in her red swim cap.

First Day of Spring

We celebrated the first day of Spring with a little gardening. Addie and I planted several packets of wildflower seeds that my sister gave to Addie from a trip to Butchart Gardens, British Columbia as a Big Sister present when Eliza was born. We may have waited too long to plant them unfortunately as the warning label read. The fun is in the planting though and I'll be pleasantly surprised if one seedling sprouts. Then we planted strawberries, herbs and a variety of tomato plants in our container garden.

Hello Spring!


Eliza, not feeling it

Tucson, Tucson, Tucson

How we love you. Every time we come to Tucson, we say, "Dang, when are we going to move here?" We jump off that airplane and suck up that cool desert night air. Even if we don't have plans to move, we love having family to visit. GranJanne lives there and became Eliza's main bottle feeder, snuggler and Addie playmate. Pop Pop and Nana came down for their annual desert sojourn and Uncle Drew and his girl Christina were there as well.

We got sick, we got better. We ate, we drank and shared a night sans kids in the hotel where we got married (THANK YOU GRANJANNE!!!). We went swimming, walked amongst the butterflies and the hummingbirds and watched our girls love their family and be loved. That's Tucson for ya.


The artist and her puffer fish


The butterfly exhibit at the Tucson Botanic Garden


The photographer and the hummingbird at the Desert Museum


GranJanne's favorite fuzzy man cacti


Nana and the hitchhiker


Addie in a grandma sandwich


Pop Pop, Eliza and Addie the Tortoise

Check here for more pictures of our trip.

On your mark . . .

get set . . .


crawl? Well, not yet but soon. We just got back from 5 lovely nights (minus the part where Cap and I were sick) in Tucson vising family. Eliza had her 6 month birthday on Friday which she celebrated by adding a few new milestones and a second tooth. She can now sit up unassisted with the support of her hands and get into a sitting position all on her own. She also is getting into crawling position on all fours thanks in part to the carpeting at GranJanne's house. She's in an awesome stage where she's easy to take out to dinner with us and drifts off to sleep in your arms after gulping down a bottle. She loves watching Addie, and Addie loves making her laugh.

Today she also started at Addie's Montessori school in the infant room. We are sad to say good-bye to Andi who has been another grandmother to our kids, but absolutely thrilled with the single drop-off and pick-up, and the fact we won't have to transition her to another school for pre-school. Simplicity!

Happy 6 months lil' Eliza Wren!

Addie Ant and the Mexican Wrestlers

More drawings by Addie! Here is Addie Ant although later she explained it was a Mommy Ant that was sad because she lost her baby ants. I commented that the ant was smiling and that Addie could maybe draw some baby ants. Addie said no, she didn't know how to draw baby ants.




This is another family portrait that Addie drew at school last week. I was asking her about it and then I got distracted watching Ellen interview Courtney Cox. When I looked back down, Addie had drawn masks on the people. See, Mommy. They have masks now. I think we look a little Nacho Libre-esque.

Home Projects

According to avid housing blog reader and husband, Cap thinks we probably won't be able to buy a house in LA for, oh, maybe 7 years. Depressing. Maybe we should move to Ohio. With that mental readjustment in mind, I've decided to throw myself into home decorating projects here in my apartment.



Inspired by this project in an issue of Sunset Magazine, I made this photo wall over a year ago. I never was able to figure out a way to successfully hang it though (duct tape as the article suggested didn't seem to work for me). It's been hiding behind our sofa since then. Now that I've discovered the joy of 3M command strips, I dusted off the picture frames and finally hung them up. Success! Since Addie is about 2 1/2 in these and Eliza is completely absent, it's probably time to update the photos as well. Hopefully it won't take another year for me to do that!

You may also have seen my facebook update a few weeks ago when I snagged this gorgeous Mahogany china cabinet for $80 off craigslist. I feel a little guilty. The cabinet belong originally to the mother of an elderly gentlemen who was moving from his one bedroom into a studio apartment. We promise to take good care of it, Sir! My dining room was starting to look a little grandma-y though and needed a face-lift. We moved the cardboard deer head from the office into the dining room to bring a little humor and levity to all the heavy antiques. Then this past weekend, I lined the back of the cabinet with a wrapping paper I found for $1.99 a roll at Tuesday Morning. My mom reminded me that Nana lined her China cabinet with wallpaper to spruce it up. Nana was an interior decorator in Chicago and her style has definitely influenced my own design aesthetic - traditional but with a twist. I guess being grandma-y can be a good thing!


Before


After

When I was on maternity leave, I also had a pair of chairs recovered. They were gifts from Nana to my parents and then to me. The fabric has been in tatters for over a decade after a certain black kitty decided to use the chairs as a scratching post. I never could make a decision about the fabric, but when Eliza was a week old, My mom and I drove to Calico Corners and made an ultimatum that we wouldn't leave without picking a fabric. Sometimes I just need a hard deadline to make a decision.


Addie wanted to get in on the action too. She and I made paper chains on Sunday and she hung them (with some help from Cap) from the ceiling in her bedroom.


Other home decorating projects on my list include:

- Sewing new curtains for Addie and Eliza's room
- Roman blinds in the office (another DIY project)
- Headboard for the master bedroom (DIY?!??)
- Reupholstering 2 side chairs (definitely a job for the professionals)
- Curtains in the dining room (dare I make them myself???)
- Maybe a rug for the dining room too (I like the look of sisal but the thought of cleaning maple syrup or spaghetti sauce out of the fibers makes me reconsider)
- I'm obsessed with the concept of removable wallpaper. Maybe for the front hall? Perfect for the renter and/or commitment-phobe (i'm both).

Living in America

This is Addie's drawing of our family. I'm the giant figure in the center, little Eliza is on the right, Daddy on top left and Addie bottom left. Addie is into drawing hearts now and these figures are a derivation of that shape. Cute, huh.



And then here Addie explained this was a house with a chimney, windows, stairs and a front door with "beautiful decorations on it." Under her own strict design instructions I helped her put tiny dots as "decorations" on the outside. When I asked her if it was our house, she said, "No, it's North America."