6-29-10

Pretty much one year ago today, we took this picture and discovered Lilys inner diva!
Look at that chic little girl!


I am really enjoying this summer, but feeling a bit nostalgic about last summer, spent soaking up lily's last little babyisms and napping away our afternoons together. She's grown up so much this year, and I'm so so proud of her.

6-28-10

we are so fun, even the DOGS get dressed up to come to our pool parties.

really though, spent most of the day playing with tami and charlie and lily in the pool, we even got daddy for part of the day! we also enjoyed a very relaxed meal at lilianas, and chatted with one of our farmers about farming, cooking and all the problems with food industries in America (sidenote: YUM! love our Maggie's Farm Raspberries!)

Lovely day!

6-27-10

silly handsome baby boy

Charlie is wearing an adorable whale shirt that used to be Daves as a baby, how cute!

We've been watching lots of documentaries and programs about whaling... I can't believe its still happening! I'm appalled. So my baby wears a whale shirt and I teach my kids to love whales and hope thats enough for today.

6-26-10

while some things seem to be changing fast with little charlie, he consistently loves his swing, and his feet.

6-25-10

Charlie is learning some things about our family.
Heideism #148276:
Sometimes big sister is craaaazzzzyyy.


You know its bad when she can't even hold her wiggles as long as 8 month old Charlie!

6-24-10

food!

Charlie has really started enjoying food! He's getting better at chewing so he's able to explore some new textures and new foods. Fun!

6-23-10

happy wednesday!

Lily, Charlie and I made our way down to the Farmers Market (I can't believe we've never been to the wednesday market before!) and had a lovely warm afternoon downtown. We had a relaxed walk around and picked up some bread, cheese, berries, cottage cheese (I was thrilled to find this locally made!), ground beef, eggs and lilies (2 large bouquets for $5! what a deal!). We walked up to the capital to sit on the lawn and enjoy the muffin picked for a treat.

Love buying local!

Unfortunately, I had the bright idea of using the stroller instead of a carrier for Charlie. Then parked in a parking garage with stairs but no elevator... then lily didn't want to stay near the stroller, then charlie didn't want to be in the stroller.. and so on. We worked it out eventually, however it was a good reminder that the "convenience" of a stroller isn't always convenient and a little backache and extra heat (strapping a 20+ lb person to your chest is a bit warm, believe it or not :) can still make for a bit easier time in the long run!

6-22-10

it was 90 degrees today and so, so humid!

so here's what I wish we were doing all day

sadly, this picture is a few days old.

daddy was working and I haven't quite worked up the guts to take both kids in the pool without help, and anyway I was busy most of the day grooming dogs, helping dave and running some errands.

my kids were patient today and we're all hoping for fun tomorrow, even if we are forecasted for thunderstorms all day :(

library? indoor play area? playdate? arts and crafts? mix and match?

6-21-10

Love that my girl can fully enjoy mani-pedi day with mama and Auntie Tami,

Then immediately embrace strawberry picking

I feel its a major parenting win that my girl can walk up to most any plant and figure out whether it's edible and what part of it to eat, AND LOVES IT.

Strawberry Zen

A rare picture of mama! (I'm usually behind the camera!)

6-20-10

We love you, Daddy!

Becoming a daddy, 2006

Daddy again, 2010

We love that you are handsome!

And help us be silly!

We love that you help us play

and that you are important,

And snuggly!

We love that you are tall!

And proud of us!

We love that you always make time to read us a story.


We also really lucked out with a fantastic Grandpa John! (Happy Fathers Day, Daddy!)

A loving and patient Papa (Happy Fathers Day Papa!)

And a very special Grandpapa Hanrahan

We love you all so so much!

6-19-10

Happy 8 month day beautiful baby

Oh my baby, look how you've grown!

You sit up!

You eat food!

You stand (with something to lean on)!

You have friends!

Charlie is turning into such a fun little character! He is so affectionate and curious and loving!

Thanks, Christine, for taking pictures at our playgroup today, since I didnt even think about my camera till the last second!

6-18-10

Alright, there is plenty I don't know about food preparation/cooking/kitchen related things, but today I encountered something that I'm pretty sure at least some other people don't know either.

Did you know watermelons are really easy to cut? I've never bought a whole watermelon before, though its so enticing in the summer I could easily eat a whole watermelon before it would go bad, I always thought it needed power tools and skill to hack it open.

Not so!

I grabbed a knife, prepared myself to really use my muscles, and the knife just slid right in! what? Why is there always prepackaged half/quarter/sliced/diced watermelon at the store!? Are other people as intimidated by watermelon as I always have been? Get over it! It's EASY!

and YUMMY!

Charlie approves

i don't particularly enjoy pineapple or coconut, but now I want to buy one of each and see if they are as intimidating as they look, too!

6-17-10

Seriously? Attempting to take a picture of Lily at Fitchburg Farmers Market strawberry fest today, took at least five, and sadly, this is the best of them!

"hey, whats over there?!"

"strawberries!?"

"oh no, they aren't organic?!"

"oh, they are, phew!"

6-16-10

I've been tackling some major organizing that has been getting put off, so by the end of the day my poor kids were just aching to do something fun (lily thinks being a "helper" is really only fun for a short period of time, and then it's just work)

Luckily, Daddy saved the day with an impromptu (note charlie's lack of swimsuit) pool party.

naked baby!

charlie loves to swim!

my flash ruined this otherwise cute picture, darn it! :(

we did not plan the strategically placed fountain of water, charlie just has a great sense of humor and some impressive splashing skills.

also, what a difference a year makes! last year, lily was still so clingy and nervous in the water (she had fun, but definitely not independent fun!)

now, she can get in and out by herself

and she can touch bottom! she ballerina tip-toes around the shallow end, so proud to be exploring the water on her own.

6-15-10

Lots of rainy days in a row lately, which has meant plenty of art projects, cooking and some organizing, but also TOADS.

Apparently in Wisconsin when it rains a lot, baby toads start hopping around. I don't know anything about this, because I'm from San Diego.. but I do know my little princess loves these things, so when we were running errands yesterday and saw 11 million tiny toads bouncing across the sidewalk, I knew we were in trouble.

And now three hand selected baby toads are living in my house.

1)

2)

3)

they will be returning to the wild very, very soon.

Also, we (even Charlie!) painted our own wrapping paper for our fathers day gifts! I'm way too excited for fathers day this year.

6-14-10

Shameless Self Promotion:

Did you know I help author a parenting resource blog called Raising Madison?

Well I do, and I just posted about some of my favorite local Etsy shops, here and make sure to check it out because we're doing a giveaway from three of the super fun shops I featured.

and "like" us on facebook!

Here's Miss Lily, storming the Capitol with the infamous KissyFace and cinnamon bread from our lovely farmers market.