Behold, Princess Alison

Alison takes her role as princess VERY seriously. She has been playing dress up with her friends and we aren't stocked up on dress up clothes here. So even though I've been saving this dress for Halloween this year, we pulled it out the other day.

She stood there in awe of her dress that was, "just like Kate's!!" She literally stood there for several minutes, with her hands clasped at her waist contemplating her new role as princess. I think she was so enamored that she owns such a beautiful dress that she was rendered speechless. I finally got her smiling after a few minutes. It was so funny!

I now have more leverage. If she isn't nice like princesses are then we have to take the dress off. Like the other day when she not so nicely took something from Andrew. . . this princess stuff is serious business.

Andrew's bed!

I finally got Andrew's crib put together. I really think being in a real bed (no more packnplay) will help him nap better. Plus he seems to really like it! He had to break in the bumpers first thing.

I think I should rename him Kilroy.

He was being really cranky while I was putting the crib together and tying on the bumpers. Probably because I wasn't holding him. Anyway, I decided as I finished up I would put him in the bed. He LOVED it!! Smiles all around and stopped fussing! And earlier, he woke up from a nap (too short) and I left him for a few minutes and he settled back down! Woah. I think I may be on to something here.

He had to practice pulling himself up and I think he was pleased to find that the bars are much easier to grab onto than the mesh on his old bed. Between this and feeding him more, I think we may have a happier baby in our midst!

I plan on getting the binding on that quilt sewn down while I listen to General Conference next weekend. I want to make some sheets too. I have so much of that fabric, I think it needs to be used!

A day in the life

Andrew looks so cute in his first pair of overalls. I hope it cools off so he can wear them again before he grows out of them! Well, he can always wear them to church - it's always cold there. He's also got on his first real shoes. Alison loves to play with him, and she's usually pretty good about following the big sister rules: Be nice. Have fun!

Why, why doesn't the crazy lady put the camera down?

Someone picked out some new pants to go with that shirt. And it wasn't me. SOMEONE is obsessed with changing her clothes. Not me. This was pair 2 of 5 pairs of pants put on yesterday within a couple of hours.

Andrew loves the car. He's can reach the floor with his toes and he likes to dive off when he's done. I had to replace the batteries this morning from all the playing it's been getting.

An Andrew Fix

I had some great light the other day and was able to snap a few great shots of my little guy. Is this really the face that only a mother could love? Or are you smitten too? (and why do people keep asking how old my baby girl is??)

P.S. He can ride in the cart now, but he still prefers the bjorn. And he's crawling - hands and knees...

Proof

that if my kids have bad manners it's not my fault.

A Glimpse of N.C. Road Trip

Breakfast of Champions - steel cut oats, blueberries and peaches!

Buried


Somebody loves the sand.

and trees. . .

A girl after my own heart

I love watermelon. I have bequeathed that love to Alison. So much so that when the watermelon was all gone last night. . .

. . . she just had to finish off every last drop.

Taking an interest

Me: Alison, what are you reading?
AK: A book about kids!
Me: Oh!
(???? how did she know?)

Another yoga baby

This is what happens to your babies when you do pre-natal yoga. Never mind the yellow spit up stains on his outfit - this kid can do a mean down-dog!!

He's also learning to use a sippy cup. The concept of using the handles was lost on him. So he just bent down to get to the spout! He'll be a champion at Bobbing for Apples.

He got it!

How much is that baby in the mirror?

I needed Andrew to be busy for a minute the other day. I put him in front of the mirror. This is what happened.




It was VERY funny. He was completely entertained by sticking out his tongue and making faces. Later that night he was close enough to try and grab "that kid" in the mirror. I took all of these and was going to toss the ones I didn't like. But I love them all, and I love that his expression in each picture is so different. The mirror is my newest distraction for him when I am trying to get dressed or something.

Summer Fun

We went to the Lake on base for a family picnic hosted by Nick's work. Of course Alison wanted to spend the whole time on the swings. She is addicted. And she always wants to go "super high!" High is not good enough, you have to push her so there's some slack in the chains she's gone so high. It's a little tiring and hard to do with Andrew in the Bjorn. She and Nick spent some time on the little dock throwing rocks into the water. She has a thing for "wocks". She's got a collection. Or at least she would if I let her bring in every rock she ever picked up!

It was such a nice day yesterday I got the camera out to take some pictures. I love these two. Calm and serene and then Andrew attacks - Tickle time! Hilarious! I hope these two always have this much fun together. Alison's big sister rules are 1. Be nice and 2. Have fun. So far, so good.

Clearly someone is a mama's boy.

Okay, so maybe he likes Daddy too.

Daddy-Love

We had a little dog-pile daddy time the other day and I tried to get some pics. Unfortunately, Nick has a hard time keeping his eyes open for the camera. And so does Alison. Andrew seems to be the only one who can keep them open.

Andrew did really well in the bathtub the other night. He's really doing a great job sitting up on his own. He had his 6 month check up last week too. He's 2 inches and 2 ponds bigger than Alison was at 6 months. He's 16 lbs 2 oz and 27 inches long. And he didn't even cry when he got his shots!

I bought this hydrangea to put in the front of our boring unlandscaped house. It's really pretty and Alison's has dubbed them "her flowers". So we took a little Sunday best picture with them.

More videos

5 little monkeys


Alison 'reads' the baby faces book.


Trying to get Andrew to say dada.