Peek of the Week - September 30, 2011

What's Peek of the Week, you ask? It's our Friday feature and it's all about you! I want to hear (and share with my readers) what wowed you this week. It could be a cool finished project, a work in progress, a personal accomplishment, a cute kid moment, or something that surprised you.

If we could peek into your week - what would you want to show us?

Each week I'll share my own Peek of the Week to get the ball rolling, and invite you to link to your blog post about your Peek of the Week. I know y'all are up to cool stuff - we wanna see it!



It's been a while since my Peek of the Week has featured any new projects. It's been all kids being born and kids doing cute stuff and videos from cute stuff past. Which is all good stuff, don't get me wrong, but I do love a good reveal.

We've been doing lots of fall crafting around here lately. Eli chose his own crafty supplies at Michael's and had a project in mind. He went right to work on it when we got home.
I did the same.

Aside - one of the hardest parts of motherhood for me is when I get a crafty project itch and I want to just dive in head first. I miss being able to devote myself entirely to the project without regard for meals or time, or you know...attending to the people I made and keeping them alive.

So when I got home from Michael's I did little bits of my project in fits and starts until everyone was asleep so I could get down to business. And I finished it!

See it?

Aside: The boys love raking leaves. It was a good three hours of entertainment today.


It's the wreath! I made the shiniest, blingiest, glitteriest wreath on God's green earth and it is fantastic. And...it's square. I really had my heart set on a square wreath, which was not available at Michaels', so I bought a sheet of floral foam and made it myself. Take that Michael's.

And I love it.

I know it's nothing big. But it's a crafty project finished and that's kinda huge.


Ok, now you!
You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

If you don't get a chance to get here on Friday, feel free to link your post up later.
The InLinkz button will be active for 5 days.

Embrace Normalcy

Can you see it?

Normalcy is beginning to reappear around here.
First off, I blogged more than once this week.
Secondly, check back tomorrow because the Peek of the Week is actually going to reveal a new (and completed!) project. That hasn't happened for a while.

And to continue in the trend of the normal, I give you a weekly entry to the Embrace the Camera feature at the Anderson Crew Blog.
Here's Miss Hazey and me at a friend's 4th birthday party at the Botanic Gardens. So fun. She's such a little snuggle nugget.

And here we are last night. Poor Amos has had the crud.

He scurried up into my lap to read books and just gave it up. It was such a sweet pitiful moment with my two sleepy babies. If only Eli could've found a leg up there. The trifecta.

Come back tomorrow to see what we've been crafting around here! It's fall-tastic!

Hazey Gets a Bath. 'Bout Time.

Tonight after our walk the fella said that Hazel and I smelled like a dog's foot.

So...we bathed.

It was Hazel's 4th bath here at home. She has loved them all.

Here was her 1st:




She is a perfect little nugget and we are having so. much. fun.

Smile!

What it is about your kids doing totally normal things that is so cute?

This week's normal thing: going to the dentist.
It was baby A's first time and I really wasn't optimistic.
But he did great! He got brushed, examined and vitamined like it was no big deal. He liked the cool glasses and the bag of dentist swag. I was super impressed.

Eli hopped up in the chair like it was his job and they cleaned him up real nice.
Total pro.

Peek of the Week - September 23, 2011

I'm so lucky. I know every parent feels this way - like they've hit the kiddo lottery - and really we all have. But I feel so so lucky that we got the ones we got.

I try not to compare. All kids are remarkable in their own ways.

The thing is, I just really like my kids. I like how they're the same and different from each other. I love their personalities, idiosyncrasies, and senses of humor. I like the predictable parts about them and when they surprise me. I like what they like.

I love how and what they observe about the world and what occurs to them about it and how different it is from what occurs to me about it.

I really really like their smell.

I love when they're vulnerable and how they're delicate about different things from each other.
I love when they're strong and how they're confident about different things from each other.
I love it when their vulnerabilities and strengths converge so that Amos' fearlessness about the big (really big) slide bolsters Eli's confidence about it and he gives it a try for the first time in his life. And loves it.

I love that Eli gets panicked when he thinks Amos is in danger and throws himself in front of him to protect him from the escalator, the fountain, the wind (He really used to think Amos would blow away. What's not lovable about that?). And when he hears Hazel crying from his room he yells, "Do you need me to check on her?"

I love how affectionate they are and how their faces light up when they see me. I love that Amos wraps himself around my legs at least 10 times a day and sings me "Bushel and a Peck" at bedtime. I love that the thing that calms Hazel down the fastest is feeling my cheek on hers.

Know what else? I love that my baby daughter was born with a tiny ponytail of hair at the base of her neck, and that my boys had wee little mohawks on day one. How about that?

Sorry to gush, but man, these kids just do it to me. And in celebration of these three, let's get a peek at them in their Big Brother/Little Sister shirts, shall we?

And..photo shoot over:

Wanna share something great about your week?
You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

Traveling with an Infant. Embrace it.

Hazel and I embarked on an unexpected adventure into the air this week.

We got the very sad news on the 12th that my father-in-law passed away unexpectedly. So Eric headed out to Texas to take care of some of his things and then drove to North Carolina to plan the funeral service. Monday afternoon Hazel and I took to the airways to join him there.
Pre-flight #1. All looks peaceful. Traveling with just Hazel and a backpack feels like traveling light, so I'm optimistic.


Flight one is 2.5 hours and goes ok. There are a few bouts of crying, but mostly Hazel sat looking at me like, "What thuh?" Our row mate was a labor and delivery nurse who was very gracious and helpful. Thank goodness.

Pre-flight #2, Atlanta airport, things start going south.

We land in Greensboro in good shape. With my broken shoe I can either drag shuffle or one-footed duck march, so I alternate those moves to get our luggage and get to target for new shoes. Eric and I were able to have a lovely quiet dinner and sleep soooooo good on a cushy hotel king sized bed.

Tuesday was spent celebrating Eric's dad and enjoying family. Hazel was able to meet Gram a few weeks early and get lots of good squeezing from her N.C. family.

Then it was off to the airport for Hazel and me for our return trip.

Mid-flight #3 - all hell breaks loose. Hazel explodes in what my row mate called "fireworks" of poop. i.e. loud explosions followed by bursts of color.


With 20 minutes to land I sacrificed a burp cloth and somehow managed to keep from being covered in poop myself. At the Atlanta airport Hazel and I holed up in a family bathroom for a good 30 minutes where I gave her a sink bath and a new outfit. Her clothes did not survive the affair.


Flight #4 was the smoothest. We had an empty seat next to us and she was worn out from poop fest 2011, so she slept the whole way.

A hot Australian picked me up from the airport (thanks Scott!) and we made it home by 12:30 a.m.

And after dropping the boys off at school Wednesday morning, Hazel and I got back in bed. Yay for being home.

It makes me so sad that Hazel never got to meet her Grandpa. We will miss him dearly.



Sending this over to Embrace the Camera:

So Proud.

What makes a boy make a face so proud?

Building super cool houses out of Lincoln Logs.

Peek-a-boo.

I love this face and seeing him so proud of himself. Watching them grow and master things they haven't been able to do on their own before is so rewarding and heartwarming. This kid felt like he could do anything. And I don't doubt him for a second.

Peek of the Week - September 16, 2011

What's Peek of the Week, you ask? It's our Friday feature and it's all about you! I want to hear (and share with my readers) what wowed you this week. It could be a cool finished project, a work in progress, a personal accomplishment, a cute kid moment, or something that surprised you.

If we could peek into your week - what would you want to show us?

Each week I'll share my own Peek of the Week to get the ball rolling, and invite you to link to your blog post about your Peek of the Week. I know y'all are up to cool stuff - we wanna see it!


Mine is a super cute sibling snuggle peek:

Yaya's bed is the best place to snuggle, watch a movie, and eat pop tarts.

Uh oh. Intruder.

Notice the lean.

Oh my. I love this crew.

See? Simple as that.
You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

If you don't get a chance to get here on Friday, feel free to link your post up later.
The InLinkz button will be active for 5 days.

Embracing Hazel Time

Now that the boys are in school three days a week, Hazel and I have those days to have one on one time. She is a lovely companion and we love school days.

For the first week they were in school Happily Home Sewn was stewing in back orders, so we spent the days sewing.

Once we got caught up with those we had a bit more freedom. Sometimes we stay home and get some work done.

Lazy Hazey.

At some point those days will include blogging more. Sorry for the sparse posting of late.

But the last two school days we've done something a bit more girlie and fun. Now that I'm back down to pre-preggo size, I needed some new clothes. So my daughter and I spent two school days shopping.

She was a very good shopper. She hibernated while I shopped. And when she woke up I strolled into Posh Nails and nursed her whilst I got a pedicure. She even sat on my lap while I got my eyebrows waxed. Gotta love the girlie-ness.

So I have a few sweet new pieces in the wardrobe, cute toes and two eyebrows again. Tomorrow's a working school day. I might even find my way to blogging again. We'll see.

As is our Thursday tradition, I'm posting this on Embrace the Camera. Go check it out!

Peek of the Week - September 9, 2011

What's Peek of the Week, you ask? It's our Friday feature and it's all about you! I want to hear (and share with my readers) what wowed you this week. It could be a cool finished project, a work in progress, a personal accomplishment, a cute kid moment, or something that surprised you.

If we could peek into your week - what would you want to show us?

Each week I'll share my own Peek of the Week to get the ball rolling, and invite you to link to your blog post about your Peek of the Week. I know y'all are up to cool stuff - we wanna see it!


This week we brought sweet baby Hazel to one of our favorite places. We really miss living on campus where we used to live. We don't miss the tiny student apartment or the 3 flights of stairs leading to it, but we do miss the beautiful atmosphere of a college campus.

Luckily it's just a few blocks away, so we can still enjoy it. Hazel loved it. She's an outdoorsy baby for sure.


Amos REALLY wanted to go swimming.










It was a lovely day of wandering, water, and flower picking. Oh - and veggie dogs at our favorite hot dog place - Mustard's.

A pure delight.


Now, it's your turn!
You could get peeking in three easy steps:
1. Blog about your Peek of the Week - whatever it is. Whatever happened that made you proud, laugh, smile, inspired, excited, or just plain happy - now that's worth sharing.
2. Include a link to this blog or put the Peek of the Week button (on the sidebar) in your post.
3. Link your blog post using the InLinkz button below.

If you don't get a chance to get here on Friday, feel free to link your post up later.
The InLinkz button will be active for 5 days.