The Day I Said To Myself… Freaking Teach Your Kid Something

Maybe the title is a little harsh, but if you live in Minnesota (or anywhere that gets more than five inches of snow during the winter) you know what it feels like to be stuck indoors while you wait for mother nature to get her act in gear and start the wonderful ascent into summer. It’s like snow is awesome until Christmas, maybe New Years if you’re being really generous, and then after that you’re just like, “Seriously, so over the powder/slush/ice chunks”.

This feeling of stuckness is only amplified when you’ve got little ones. I felt myself running out of tricks to keep them occupied. We do our fair share of playing out in the snow, but we’re still inside most of the time. And last week, after resorting to movies one too many times, I decided it was time to get my act in gear. Something had to be done.

So I googled (and did a Pinterest search) entitled “Stuff to do with Toddlers when you can’t go outside”. True Story. And lo and behold, a ton of homeschooling preschool activities popped up and I was introduced to the world of educational, toddler activities! I read about homeschooling moms teaching their just-turned-two children the states’ names! Like, they knew ALL OF THEM! Their kids were already counting past 30, and they were past learning the alphabet and onto the phonetic aspects of each letter. And that’s when I was like, “Dang girl, teach your kids something.”

It’s not that I haven’t been teaching my girls anything. It’s amazing how much thye learn on a day to day basis just doing ordinary things like going to the grocery store, visiting the zoo, learning to share with their sibling. The list goes on and on but I thought that maybe it would be good to start introducing more structured learning like focusing specifically on the letters of the alphabet, not just singing the song (Sophie knows a handful of letters already, but we’ve never actually sat down and attempted to learn all of them), counting past 10 (we’ve been stuck at 10 for over a year) and incorporating concepts like geography and science deliberately. So I went all “Super Mom” and bought myself a lesson planner from the dollar spot at Target and planned my first week of what I call, “Freaking Teach Your Kid Something”, where we are focusing mainly on learning the letters of the alphabet. Monday through Thursday we are devoting each day to a letter, and then Friday is a review day which focuses on the four letters we looked at through out the week.

I’ll make sure to post some of the websites I’ve found helpful too.  There are some really good ones out there. Feel free to follow my “School” board on Pinterest too. It’s where I keep a lot of my inspiration links so they’re easy access.

Monday, of course, was A Day, where we focused on learning the letter A. I found a great website called Mud Hut Mama about a mom raising her kids on a wildlife reserve in Africa (seriously? Who is supremely jealous? This girl.) and homeschooling them at the same time. She’s got a lot of fun ideas for hands on activities for young children. I actually got the letter-a-day idea from her, originally. I also searched some websites and came across this one which has a ton of free printouts that’s been my go-to for art-based activities ever since.

For our day, we used the bingo marker printout to help Sophie understand the shape of the letter A (because tracing is a little too fine-motor-skills for Sophie). The bingo marker I got for fifty cents at JoAnns with a coupon, and I picked up two (one for Sophie and for Charlotte for a grand total of $1. Then I just printed out a couple of sheets for Sophie to try out.

I know that parent’s are always talking about how their kids “surprise” them, but I was really impressed with how well Sophie did. Look at that concentration! I kind of expected her to just glob a bunch of dots on there and I would tell myself, it’s the exposure that counts, but no, she followed the dots perfectly. She even lasted through three sheets of these before getting antsy. So I would definitely recommend trying this. Sophie’s only two and she loved it!

Once we had finished the bingo marker activity, we looked at books that had alligators in it. A is for alligator after all.

Then things got crazy (not really). With this activity, I just drew the outline of an alligator (I used the books we were reading illustration’s as a guide) on white paper (one for Sophie and one for Charlotte) and then wrote “Aa is for Alligator” at the top. There are two ways we did this activity, one for Sophie and one for Charlotte. Charlotte got to use markers and color her picture. She was so excited to be able to use markers, not crayons. Half the fun is just taking the cap off the marker for her. Sophie got to use a glue stick and glue little green scraps of paper (cut from magazines and left over craft paper) onto her alligator. She especially loved the paper with glitter on it.

We had all kinds of paper with different textures and weights to make it a fun sensory project too. Plus, this was just a different kind of project than the normal paint/color stuff we do on a regular basis. It held her attention for a long time. She loved being able to use the glue stick. Elmer’s glue probably would have held better but I didn’t really want a big, globby mess. Just picking my battles.

Now we have some great “original” artwork on our fridge too.

So that was what we did with Sophie yesterday to teach her all about the letter A. Since then, she has been pointing “A”s out everywhere. So I call it a success. Plus it made the time go by much faster for me and I didn’t resort to movies once, which was a goal of mine. By the time the projects were all done it was time for Quite Time/Nap Time which was great.

After they woke up we did music time, and began the steps to counting to twenty. I filled a jar of twenty clothes pins and we dumped it out and refilled it while counting the number of clothespins several times (Charlotte helped). Then we sang the 1-20 song and used rhythm sticks to keep a steady beat. We then looked at our United States placemat and named all the A states on the map. Sophie was able to do all of them by the end of 10 minutes. We’ll see if she retains any of that information on Friday. At some point I would like to get a new placemat without all the pictures on it but for now, the pictures help give some facts to each of the states which, I think, makes it more fun for Sophie.

Tuesday is B Day and I’ll hopefully be able to share the projects we incorporated for B too.

What about you super parents out there? Any fool-proof projects that your kids love every time? Ever watched your kid and been like, “Dude, we have a genius”? Having trouble filling up the time while the winter persists? What other blogs do you all follow that have great ideas for activities?

Cheers!

Good News!

Ok, so my posting has been less than satisfactory lately (last post was in October!), but I’m here today to tell you some really exciting news! So, Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Come May 11th, Peaches and Bean Boutique (the new name for The Bean House Shop) will be appearing at the 8th annual Saint Paul Craftstravaganza in the Minnesota Fair Grounds!

The St. Paul Craftstravaganza is an annual urban craft fair. It is a place to find unique handmade art, meet the artists who make it, and learn new crafty skills to start your own projects!

There will also be many other fun and inspiring shops that’ll make you wish you could buy everything! Plus, they do all kinds of fun workshops throughout the day, AND if you’re one of the first 100 people through the door, you get a pretty amazing little gift before entering!

Sorry about all the exclamation points, I’m just really excited (!). So mark you calendars, May 11th. Come out with your moms (since Mother’s Day is on the twelfth… oh and Sophie’s birthday is also on the 12th), I know mine will be with me! Tell your friends, tell your friend’s friends. Oh just come alone and stop by so we can say hello! We’ll keep you posted (hopefully in a more effective way than how we’ve  been doing the last couple months… whop whop) with all the updates. Cheers!

 

The Double Stroller Diaries

Once upon a time, there was a girl. She had two beautiful children, but one unfortunate problem. She didn’t have a stroller to accommodate her two little wiggly worms. So she searched online for one that was affordable and allowed her to exercise, as well as stroll with her bambinos. The pool of double jogging strollers was large, but finally she found one that she thought would suit her needs well. Was it her dream stroller? No. But it was practical, and affordable. So she ordered it, and then waited for its impending arrival. Sadly, tragedies abounded from the get-go.

Anybody excited to hear what really happened?

If not, go somewhere else. For those who can’t get enough banter about double stroller options, read on.

Here’s the deal, for the first few months after Charlotte was born, I’d been operating under a stroller and carrier system when it came to going out in public. And actually, I use this carrier as well. I would recommend either, for those who are interested. Anyway, I soon realized that this system couldn’t last. I loved being able to carry Charlotte around (and she loved it too) while still having my hands free to deal with Sophie, but as Charlotte got bigger, I realized that eventually Charlotte wasn’t going to want to stay in a carrier. Babies grow, they want to explore and most of all, they want to be just like the bigger siblings. On top of all of this, with Husband working full-time, and myself staying at home with the girls, working my part-time job and starting Peaches and Bean Baby Boutique (then The Bean House Shop) I had absolutely no time to exercise, and this was fast becoming a problem. Two children may = running around all the time… but it’s not enough running to get your heart rate going the necessary amount for the necessary time, plus the “running around” more often consists of “driving around” aka doesn’t count.

I watched some of the women in my neighborhood walking to yoga with their perfect swinging ponytails and yoga mats in their bags, ready for an hour of awesome, synchronized sun salutations and then glimpsed at my sweatshirt-wearing, baby-wrestling, haven’t-showered-in-four-days self and found myself aching with jealousy. But honestly, in a normal week, I don’t have the time (nor the babysitter) for the kinds of exercise that those ponytail deities have.

Solution? Double stroller must also be a jogging stroller!

At the time, I wasn’t a big runner, but I’d tried to become one several times before (see my “Run-On” posts) to become one but to no avail since it either got too cold to continue outside, or I got pregnant and had to stop. Basically, life happened.

Enter the original stroller we ordered, In-Step’s Grand Safari Double Jogging Stroller. We had scoured the internet looking for jogging strollers within a reasonable price range, and having worked at a baby supply store before, I was pretty aware of what was out there and how they all performed. Unfortunately, our budget was really tight and most of the high-end joggers are $500 on the “cheap” end.

So enter our first stroller:

I had heard good things about it, and on the price scale it wasn’t so cheap that I was afraid it was going to fall apart at any minute, and wasn’t so expensive that I felt like I was giving away my life savings just to jog. After about two weeks worth of searching this is the guy we bought (through Amazon) and then… I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

The truth? Amazon changed the estimated delivery time for our stroller three (three!) times. After the second time, I called their help line to ask what the dealy-o was. The person on the phone explained that it was in stock and going to be shipping soon… so imagine my bafflement when I got the email a third time that the shipping was being pushed back again.

Fail Amazon. Fail.

So, I cancelled my order and bought it from Target instead (online) and I had it within a week.

So fast forward about a month and a half from my original purchase, and I was pleased to finally have the stroller arrive on our door step. I opened it like it was Christmas (I think it was actually May-ish or sometime around there) and put the whole thing together in about 10 minutes. I was so excited until I noticed that the plastic part on the top of the front wheel (the big plastic part where the kids feet are supposed to rest) didn’t attach to the stroller. Nope, there was no *click* down or anything, meaning every time we hit a bump, the thing came flying off. I also wasn’t too pleased that I couldn’t get the thing out the front door. I know that some of you might be like, “Duh, it’s a double stroller, those don’t fit through doors.” Wrong. They do. Why would I want to buy a stroller that I couldn’t push through a door? Answer… I wouldn’t.

So my frustration level went to annoyance to mommy-rage in about two minutes.

I know that there are a lot of moms out there that have a Grand Safari and love it, so don’t let this one experience with an item that was obviously just a manufacturer’s error dissuade you from still considering this stroller as an option. Again, I had heard good things about it.

The item couldn’t be returned to a store (per the big “Don’t Return This To A Store” sign on the box) so we had to ship it back to Target.

So there I was. Still no stroller, and still watching those bloody ponytailed women walking all smirky to yoga class like they had something to prove or something (kidding, they didn’t but it sure felt that way!).

So Tim and I sat down and had “the talk”. No, not that awkward sex talk you dread as a middle schooler, the maybe-it-would-be-worth-t0-shell-out-some-extra-beans-for-a-good-quality-stroller talk.

Enter the BOB Revolution Duallie:

This is the stroller I had originally wanted. We see them all the time in the cities, they work great for any kind of surface, gravel, dirt, paved, whatever. So after being disappointed with our first purchase, we started searching for this guy on Craigslist.

The problem? Even two-year old BOBs on Craigslist were over $400 and I never seemed to stalk the List hard enough. These babies get snatched up in a jiffy.

Then, REI was having a 25% off anniversary deal and it was almost too good to be true, still a grit-your-teeth-and-do-it price, but after seeing the resale value on other BOBs and knowing this was one of the best strollers you could get, we finally decided that it was “the one”. It was still an expensive purchase, but it is so worth the money. Diagnosis? We love it, and are so happy with it. It’s such a smooth ride for the girls, it’s really easy for me to push, both for running as well as walking (even through doors!) and Tim has even decided that he thinks it was worth it… something that is hard for a cheapskate er thrifty superman to admit to. Plus, as an extra bonus, it’s easy to fold up and store, it even fits in the back of my Ford Focus. Talk about a hard-working stroller.

We’ve now had the stroller for almost six months, I’m happy to say, I’ve now begun training for a half-marathon and most of the time I’m training while pushing the girls! Take that yoga ladies! Just kidding… yoga is cool too.

After all that, for those looking for a stroller for two, here’s my advice to you:

1) Know what you want.

Is it just to use on shopping outings? Do you want to be able to exercise?Do you care if it’s a side-by-side or would you prefer seats that are front-to-back? Do you care if it folds easily? Do you have a small or a big car? Answer all these questions before setting out on your stroller mission, it’ll make narrowing the field much easier.

2) Name your price, name your quality.

If you have strict budget (Tim wanted cheap, I wanted go-the-distance quality, I won out it then end), maybe instead of going brand new, you should stalk craigslist, or wait for strollers to go on sale at the end of the year (right before they bring out the new models for the new year, most strollers go on super sale to get the inventory out to make room for the new ones).

3) Know that often times with strollers, you get what you pay for.

But again, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to buy full price all the time. Craigslist. Online. Coupons. Selling your old one to help pay for the new one. There are lots of ways to reduce cost.

4) Enjoy your stroller.

Once you have one, use it. My girls are so happy in their stroller, but not because of the type (though it makes me really happy) but because they get to be outside (or inside at a mall) doing something different other than play with their same old toys, in their same old house, doing the same old things. Charlotte would probably be just as content still be carried in the carrier so long as it meant a change of pace and scenery, it was me who wanted the change. So either way, just enjoy the time you get to spend with your munchkins.

We are really lucky to have been able to get such an amazing stroller, it’s been wonderful to have such a great mode of bringing the kids places, especially since we walk everywhere in our neighborhood and it’s given me the great opportunity of being able to get back into shape after two back-to-back pregnancies. After such a long delay, I am happy to say that the stroller hunt is concluded for us.

Signing out,

Jen

Smell That?

It smells like homemade bread! Some pretty rockin’ Honey Whole Wheat bread. But don’t take my word for it… ask Charlotte.

She was pretty excited about it. But first, let’s talk about the disaster that was my first attempt…

The thing is, depending on the recipe, there is a difference between bread recipes made from a pan and oven v. bread maker and an even bigger difference between regular flour, and bread flour. Just in case any of you follow in my footsteps and try this yourself, make sure you’re looking at the right recipe because if you don’t, you may end up with a less-than-appetizing looking lump of crusty flour (as I did with attempt one). Make sure you read your bread maker’s instruction manual all about how to operate and layer ingredients in your bread maker. I went for the guess and hope you’re right attempt the first time and no good.

My inspiration for making my own bread was actually when I looked the ingredient list on the back of our bread package… have you ever seen it? Or are you like me, you just assumed bread was bread? After I looked at ours, I also looked at some other brands and found the same thing, the ingredient list was fourteen (if we were lucky) to twenty-five ingredients long!

So I hopped on the “I’m tired of all those pesky preservatives” train and asked my mom if I could borrow her bread maker. It’s an older version of this guy. I figured, it couldn’t be that difficult. The truth is, it’s not that difficult if you do it right. If you don’t do it right, it’s actually a really frustrating experience. The bread sits in the maker for over three hours, you feel like at the end of it you’re going to have this delicious loaf of wholesome awesomeness… and then you get a blob. Le sigh.

So after 1, reading the manual and 2, finding a recipe that was for the bread maker, we had a genuine loaf of whole-food yumminess! Kid approved and everything!

I would show you a picture of Sophie eating it, but she was sleeping through the whole taste test. For those wondering how to make their own, I would look through your bread maker instruction manual and try the recipes they give you, that’s what I did and it worked great!

What about you guys? Made any homemade bread lately? Homemade anything (cookies count!)? Worried about all the preservatives in your food? How are you guys modifying your diet to cut out some of the preservatives?

Psst- there is a great website all about trying a whole-foods diet (not the store but actual whole foods) complete with fun recipes and a meal plan guide. Visit it here.

The Girls’ Bedroom: Updated

When we moved in, I did a quick post taking you through our apartment. Lots of things have changed since when we first moved in, but one of the biggest changes has been in the girls’ room! There were several reasons for changing things, but one of the biggest reasons is that ever since we moved in… Sophie has been sleeping in our bed.

It’s true. It took her over two hours to fall asleep in her bed. Whether for naps or bedtime, it took F.O.R.E.V.E.R. (said in true Sandlot style). And we probably could have been more firm about the whole thing and insisted that she sleep in her bed, but we weren’t so we basically had Charlotte in her own room, and Sophie was sharing a bedroom with us. Let’s just say it was not working out.

So, we decided that perhaps if we got her into a real “big girl” bed, that she would finally have a reason to love sleeping in her own room. The most important decision became, do we get her a simple single bed and then get Charlotte a matching one when she was ready or do we get her a bunk bed and have Charlotte take the second bunk when she’s ready.

We talked extensively about both options, each having their own pros and cons, but ultimately decided that we wanted the floor space that bunk beds offered. Plus, when we went to look at beds, Sophie loved (read: obsessed) laying in the top bunk of all the beds, and was less than enthused about the single twins. So, we went for the bunks.

So we hit up Sir Craig and his freaking amazing list and found a bunk bed set in our budget ($80). We could have gone for something new, but decided that $80 versus around$150 and higher was the better option for us. Especially after seeing the beds in person, they’re a super sturdy solid wood, we didn’t feel like we were getting something unsafe or anything. Sold.

In the end we ended up spending less than $250 on the whole set-up (though we still have to buy duvet covers for the blankets) including bed, two extra pillows (we already had two on hand from Sophie’s toddler bed), bed sheets, duvet comforters for both beds, pillowcase sheets for the two extra pillows, mattresses and mattress protectors. Not too shabby.

So without further ado, the new and improved girls’ room!

Pretty sure my camera lens needs to be cleaned… embarrassing.

Anywho… so when we got the new bed, we asked what kind of bed Sophie wanted. You know what her answer was?

“I need a princess bed!”

“A princess bed?” responded me, “Why a princess bed?”

“Because I’m really like a princess.”

Yep, so the hunt for princess sheets was on. Except, and all you big Disney fans will have to excuse me, I didn’t want a bedroom-turned-shrine containing all things Disney princess-y. It’s kind of like how I have this thing against clothing with the Winnie-the-Pooh characters, I also apparently have a thing against Disney princess paraphernalia. Makes no sense, I know, but it’s the way I roll.

Update: Just so you know, I have nothing against Disney princesses and little girls loving them. We have our fair share of Disney princess movies, Sophie’s favorite book right now is Beauty and the Beast and is often caught singing a medley of Tangled songs in the grocery store, I just didn’t want to turn the room into a tribute to them.

So instead, we compromised. Sophie got her lovely princess sheets, and I got to cover them with a white comforter so they weren’t overwhelming. Everyone wins!

And yes… my daughter’s other favorite book is the National Geographic Dinosaur book. We keep it diverse here in the Bean household.

On the edge of the bed are some cheap-o hooks from Ikea to hang the girls’ jackets and hats. Things I’m too lazy to hang up on a hanger and it also makes them easier for the girls to grab them when we are about to run out the door.

For those who are wondering what they’re attached with, it’s actually 3M strips… although I’m not convinced they’re going to make it for the long haul (baby coats may be small, but they’re still heavy) so we’re eventually going to drill them in.

On Charlotte’s side, not much has changed other than that she’s now on the wall that sits opposite Sophie. Having the crib on that wall opened up the room from the hall and also makes it look bigger when you’re inside. We like it.

Another big change, is the dresser. I’ve posted twice now about how I bought the dresser off of Craigslist and then painted it, but then it turned yellow, so I painted it again. Guess what? It turned yellow again!

So after uttering all manner of swear words, and feeling slightly better, I sanded the sucker down again, put more stain blocker and painted the whole thing white and then skipped the poly top coat. The result? It’s been three weeks and no yellow. So happy.

Artwork! A clean dresser top! No yellow! I could just kiss myself with joy!

Awkward.

Honestly though, I love the way this turned out. I’m hoping to add some shelves on the right side next to the hanging pictures but one step at a time. This was a big overhaul, the shelves are number #245 on my list. I’m on item #53, we’re getting there. You also get to see the calendar Sophie and I use everyday to teach her about things like the month of the year, the day of the month and other great lessons that make me feel like a productive mother. Yeah calendar!

In the middle of the room is the girls’ little table where they like to draw, play with their doll house and slide the chairs out and push them around the room (that last one is only something Charlotte finds entertaining).

Voila! Girls’ room is now about 75% of the way finished. But who knows, maybe we’ll decide we want all lime green furniture and I’ll have to start painting furniture all over again. Good thing I’ve got a plethora of sandpaper just waiting to be used!

What about you guys? Any rooms asking for a facelift? Cold weather driving you inside and you’re realizing some furniture needs a little re-arranging to help fit everyone during the hibernation months? Painted any furniture white recently and then pulled all your hair out because it started turning yellow (for the second time)? Okay, that last one was me…

A Year in the Life Of… Miss Charlotte

My little baby is all big and grown up (sort of)! Except she barely tips the scale at 25 pounds soaking wet so perhaps “all grown up” isn’t the correct terminology. The point is, she’s one year old with many more in front of her so it’s time to celebrate!

But to fully appreciate the ending, let’s take a trip to the beginning… shall we? I feel like most of the first three months of Charlotte were spent in a coma for me. Sleeping = non-existent for me and Tim the first three months. I suppose after all the bragging I did on how well Sophie slept, I deserved it… but gee wiz… that girl DID NOT SLEEP!

But she was so cute, we decided to keep her anyway. She was born at 1:00pm, October 6th weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs 2 ounces, which is great because when we checked in the nurse looked at me and went, “Whoa, it’s going to be a big one!” Thank you medical professional, because I wasn’t feeling large enough. Whatever, I’ve made my peace.

One month and no later sleep later, our little dumpling was almost walking! Not really, but it’s so funny to see how fast they grow! Charlotte was jaundice when she was born, at our one month appointment I can report she was all de-oranged and we were so thrilled. She and I have opposite blood types which is apparently a recipe for trouble so it was a huge relief when we were told she was a perfectly healthy baby.

This picture bothers me. For some reason, with the two month photo I only took four. Yep, four options to choose from, all of which had bad lighting. So when they all got edited they were all weird and bright. Oh well, sometimes in life when you’re not a naturally good photographer monthly photos look funny (she’s still cute though).

At three months, Charlotte was having a drool-fest trying to get in her first baby tooth. She didn’t get her first teeth in until she was six months old, but the drooling and crankiness started at three months. It was sort of on and off crankiness, lots of ear pulling (Sophie did that too when she was teething). She started all out giggling at the same too though, what’s a little crankiness when you’ve got gummy smiles and laughs too?

Hehe she is such a little monster. I would like to say that she was sleeping better by this time, but no… no she wasn’t. Good thing she’s so darn cute! She did, however, start eating oatmeal. So that was a pretty awesome new step. I was able to ease up on breastfeeding a little with the introduction of “solids”. Win for me!  She looks so stoic in this picture, I love it.

Anyone else notice this is the first picture where both her fists aren’t clenched? At five months Charlotte started rolling over. The odd thing? She rolled from back to front first. I’m told in mommy-circles that it’s easier for them to do front to back first? Little over achiever!

At six months, Charlotte finally got her two bottom teeth. This is a great picture of her showing those little guys she worked so hard on off. It also felt like six months was a turning point for us. Charlotte started to sleep through the night. She would go to bed at eight and not wake up until around four or five, and then, once fed, would go back to sleep. Compared to the four to five wake-ups previous to this point, waking up once was like a dream-come-true for us! She also started crawling at six months and we started giving her actual solid food at this point. Lots of milestones for our little scrumptious one!

Anyone know which milestone she conquered this month? Waving goodbye. Oh… and sitting up too. This is also the embarrassing photo that I circled the wrong date on. Sometimes in life, you just do really dumb things. And sometimes… it’s caught on camera.

Look at those baby thighs! She used them to start the walking process this month (although she didn’t actually start walking until eleven months). She loved to stand up in the middle of a room and just sort of bounce. Talk about a workout. She had four teeth at this point and girggled up a storm. Her personality was really starting to come through this month too. For instance, we discovered she loved stuffed animals, and thought taking the caps off of markers was a hoot.

Nine months old! Is it wrong that at this point one of my greatest triumphs was not being pregnant again? Since I got pregnant with Charlotte a short seven months after I had Sophie, I’ve sort of been doing little victory dances for every month I go without getting pregnant. We would love more children, just not yet.

Ten months old! This is probably one of my favorite photographs because she’s “blurbbling”. Yes, that’s the word I’m using. She’s done this since she was around three months old… purses her lips and blows… it’s the Charlotte blurbble. Because her sister walked at ten months, we were sort of expecting her to do it too, but no dice. She did, however, get two molars in.

How big is Charlotte? So big! And eleven months old! Little squeaky finally started walking at eleven months. Just from one person to the next but it was something! Her and Sophie really started being able to play together too, which has been a really exciting change.

Ta da! Birthday girl! All grown up (sort of)! In Sophie’s one year picture for her birthday party invite she’s in a tutu, so we decided to get Charlotte in the tutu as well. She’s such a doll. Seriously, she’s been the most chill baby (except for her sleeping issue which I’m happy to say is now over… she sleeps from eight to eight every night!) and always in such a good mood! She’s now sporting ten teeth, is trying so hard to walk like her big sister and loves (loves) all stuffed animals.

We had a great birthday weekend and we’re so excited for all the years to come!

Thanks to all for your love and well wishes!

Cheers!

Jen

Charlotte: Eleven Months

Charlotte’s turning one in just a couple of weeks! I figured I should probably be up to date on all of her month-to-month photos so we’re all caught up for 12 months (aka one year!!!). So here she is, the funny little goober.

PS Guess who started walking this week? We’re so excited!

Together in Paris

We did something really exciting the other day. Okay, maybe it isn’t actually that exciting except for someone like me. So here’s the scoop, we just moved in so the number of walls that need attention are astronomical. That might be too strong a word, but there are lots of bare walls. Like this guy in the kitchen:

So sad, so boring, so in need of a little something. So, we scrounged in our box of prints and paintings and found two pictures that have been dying to be put into frames since I bought them as a junior studying abroad in Italy in college. But they are hiding in storage no longer!

I bought these during a short trip to Paris. Some side vendor was selling these. I loved the colors of the paintings and up close you can see all the brush strokes he used. I’ve wanted to frame them and put them up since I bought them, but first I didn’t have frames, and then there never seemed to be a good place to hang them. Now, however, they’re enjoying their home in the kitchen. Let’s zoom in a minute and get little closer, shall we?

Isn’t it lovely? It goes great with the soft grey walls and wood cupboards. We found the frames on sale at Target for $13 and immediately snatched two up. Not a bad display for having only spent $26 right? They’re prett big paintings so even at Ikea we were worried we would have to spend upwards of 30 to 40 beans on frames. I didn’t even want to think about custom framing. Custom framing hurts our wallets.

Sophie loves to point at them and talk about the princesses that must live in the “castles” in the paintings. I’ve tried several times to tell her what the monuments in the photos actually are, but with no success. She still says the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame Cathedral are the homes of Belle and Anastasia. Gotta love her!

We love them. Makes me want to take a trip really badly… someday. I’m just happy these two have a home now. A home that doesn’t consist of being hidden in a box. Big win. They also make our kitchen look a little bit more put together. One thing down, a million and one things to go. Happy Wednesday friends!

It’s the Little Things in Life…

I have never noticed this before! Look at what’s on the bottom of a Forever 21 bag:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

Our Humble Abode – Quick Shots

We’re still in the process of getting internet at our place, but I was able to steal away to a coffee shop again and give you a little update. First and foremost, we love it. Love. It. Like, get-giddy-to-come-back-home like it. It’s beautiful, we fit better in it, and it is close to everything we love. I feel incredibly blessed to be here. When we found out that we had gotten the apartment (three people applied the same day it was listed, including us) I cried. Yep, straight up cried. After the last apartment, I couldn’t believe we would finally be somewhere as awesome as this. As much as I hyped up the last place, there were A LOT of problems with it. We dealt with them because the rent was good, but ultimately we knew that we couldn’t live there for any longer. So, compared to that place… we feel like we are living in a palace.

Sophie bomb!

Introducing our living room! Admire the shiny floors, the amazing windows, and of course, the ridiculously cute child in the foreground! Another thing that you realize unless you’ve visited our place, the windows actually work! The last place had gaps in the windows, most didn’t open, and the ones that did normally didn’t have any screens on them. We had two working, screened windows in the old place. Two. This place has a full set of gorgeous, working windows. We’ve been enjoying nice fall breezes for days now. Sigh. Here’s what it looks like right now:

I took these pictures early in the morning, so it looks kind of dark, but trust me when I say it’s normally very bright and happy in here. The best part is in the right-hand corner of the room.

Can I get an “awww”! This puppy was only $7 at a sidewalk sale a couple of months ago. I had been searching for a rocking chair for the girls for months and we were on our way to lunch for Tim’s birthday when I saw it as we passed on the road and I literally yelled, “Oh my gosh! A rocking chair! STOP!”, kicked my cousin out of the car and told her if it was under $15 I wanted it. She came back with the good news of its 7 bean price tag and SOLD. We threw it in the trunk and brought it home (it also may or may not have fallen out of the half-open trunk on our way home, but SURVIVED… this guy is in it for the long haul) and then continued on to Tim’s lunch like nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. I’m contemplating whether or not to paint it some bright color like yellow or turquoise or just leave it nice and birchy. Decisions, decisions.

On the other side of the living room we’ve set up Sophie and Charlotte’s space. Most of their toys live happily in their bedroom, but some had to come out since we spend most of our time in the living room.

I’ll talk a little bit more about this area in a different post. But for now, this area works great as a place for the girls to play and sprawl out. The shelves make cleaning a quick pick-up job too and since everything is low to the ground, they’re able to reach everything they want to play with, which makes it much easier for me because I’m not having to get everything out for them. It’s also much easier for them to assist in picking up.

The dining room is very similar to the old one (except that the windows work and there is no buffet) but it somehow feels more open. Probably because of all the natural light we get in.

Quick! Don’t be distracted by the kitchen in the background! Focus!

Ooops, how did Charlotte get in there? Actually, she was the reason I was up at 6:30 in the morning that day. Dining room is definitely a work in progress, but I’m just happy that our piano, and dining room fit so comfortably in there. We can expand it with one leaf and still leave it facing the way it is, or we can put in both leaves and turn the table so it’s coming through the archway. Gotta love options. Not sure I’m sold with the placement of the bookcase but for right now the dining room is rocking it and we’re letting it.

Now we can go into my favorite room just because it’s such a change from what we had, the kitchen. The amount of counter space was drool-inducing when toured. It was the first room we saw, and I think I was ready to write the check as soon as I saw it.

Ha what? There’s a dishwasher? What? There’s a garbage disposal? Oh my goodness, are those stainless steel appliances? And wait, granite countertops? Holy cow, don’t worry, you had me at “dishwasher”. Except really, he had me at “dishwasher”. Everything else is like icing on the cake.

Okay, so perhaps the after pics aren’t that impressive. Don’t mind the piles of bins that still need to be stored/brought back to their original owners. The silverware is out on the counter because we don’t have a holder that’s small enough for the silverware drawer and we’re hunting on craigslist right now for stools to sit at the bar. But even with all the chaos of moving, it’s still a hundred times better than the dark dungeon of a kitchen we had previously. I. Just. Love. This. Apartment.

The bathroom is really nice because we don’t have to side-step around the toilet to shut the door. Also, all the grout on the tub isn’t coming off and the tile floors look like they’ve been maintained and cleaned on a regular basis. Win!

Ooo cleeeeeeeean. We’re hoping to actually hang a legitimate shower curtain and get a caddy in the shower for all the shampoo and stuff stored on the toilet. Then we can simply close the curtain and all you’ll see is a clean, happy bathroom. It would also be superb to find a better way of storing the girls’ bath time accessories. Perhaps this guy? I do love a good frog bath toy holder.

The girls’ room was first priority when we moved. I wanted to make sure they would be comfortable in their new room from the get-go. I didn’t want them to be drowning in boxes. We actually ended up giving them the bigger room. Partially because their room has an air conditioner so we could control the climate when it gets nasty-hot in the summer, partially because there is more room for the bounty of toys, games and clothes they seem to accumulate, but also because the closet is really long, and there is a cute little shelf and cubby-nook at the end of it, making a perfect little reading area for Sophie, and someday Charlotte.

Not bad for having just moved in, huh? This room was set-up and ready to go almost as soon as all the boxes were moved in. It took us two days to do everything, but the girls’ room has looked basically the same since day one.

This side of the room is fairly unfortunate, but it can’t be all done perfectly. They’ve got so much more space now, though that even large messes seem like small ones. It’s great. Plus, once there are a couple of photos on the wall…

Yep, I’m a rock star artist. Anyway, imagine a little art, a cleaned off dresser and we’re golden. Remember that post way back when and I said I was going to clean the girls’ room? Consider it cleaned! Moving is so multitasking!

The master bedroom is a completely different story of course. We spent little to no time getting it ready. So it kind of looks like it got attacked by a monster that leaves clothes and donate-able items in its wake. Not sure if that kind of monster has a name…

Speaking of piles of stuff… they’re everywhere! We’re working on it, one day at a time. We’ve got a lot of changes happening and I’ll make sure we keep you up to date as they happen. But for now, we’re excited to be moved in and getting settled.