1.31.12

well hey there

Cutie Pie

checking out the "real"* swing for the 2nd time in her 2nd month

*the papasan swing being the "fake" swing 

that gets used at least twice a day 

since she gets fussy pretty easily

1.30.12

in the last two weeks

Cutie Cakes has been soooo sweet to Cutie Pie

She's thoughtful, concerned, caring, and inclusive

towards her sweet little sister

and it is SO heartwarming to watch!

1.29.12

Finger Painting

before church

i can't believe how big Cutie Cakes looks in this photo

(pigtails requested by daddy)

1.28.12

today is my grandpa's birthday

he would have been 84

he really didn't like cats

but he tolerated ours...even to the point of calling,

"...here kitty kitty kitty..."

whenever we would take them to Florida to visit

i can still picture him in his favorite chair

beckoning Churchill and dangling his fingers down

while wearing a shirt that said,

"i like cats, i just can't eat a whole one by myself"

yup, that was my grandpa!

1.27.12

Meet Cutie Face, 

the mom

or just the ever-dutiful big sister who set up a whole play display

(complete with head pillow)

for Cutie Pie

From the looks of it, Cutie Pie seems to like all this attention!

1.26.12

Sometimes Cutie Cakes looks up at me

and i catch my breath

her eyes are just unreal!

when I was little, 

I used to pray my eyes would turn blue like the twin's

then we read a missionary story about Amy Carmichael

she quickly became my favorite missionary 

(do kids have such things?!)

because she used to pray that her eyes would change color, too

she knew God could answer her prayers. She believed He could

but He didn't.

Years later, as a missionary in India,

she realized God answered her prayer with a "no"

in order to blend in and not stick out 

as a woman 

who just happened to be a missionary

it was imperative that she look the part

all the way down to her brown eyes

anyway.

all that to say,

it seems 2 of my girls received the stunning blue eyes 

i prayed for long ago

1.25.12

post-breakfast craft time

with the fabulous Melissa & Doug alphabet stamp sets

(+ a princess and hello kitty set thrown in for good measure)

just don't put the cuties on the spot and ask them

to identify their letters

it appears that they inherited my "fear of failure" issue

and would often rather not try than be wrong

we're working on that

1.24.12

why ride it

when you can demonstrate your brute strength?

way to go Cutie Cakes

1.23.12

it's an iPhone photo

but it's all i've got from today

i needed some place to put Cutie Pie 

while playing garden with the big girls

why not just pretend she's a rutabaga? 

1.22.12

GIANTS!

FOR THE WIN!

1.21.12

turns out that the Chattanooga Children's Museum

is way cooler than the one in Atlanta

all the more reason to visit you, Papa :)

1.20.12

I worked in the Harvard Museum of Natural History for 3 years

so it was only natural

for us to become members of Atlanta's own history museum

Fernbank

bonus? we can (literally) run there in about 10 minutes.

i foresee many trips to the science center this winter and summer...

hooray for educational playtime in a controlled climate!

1.19.12

a week or two ago

we discovered that the toy store

next to Trader Joe's

has a working ride-on horse toy

nowadays, it's almost an obligatory stop 

after every trip to the Teej

but i don't mind--

might be the best $0.25 spent to illicit such huge grins!

1.18.12

my friend Becca

is, among other incredibly awesome things,

a super-superior-stellar photographer

she's inspiring in all she does

because she is motivated by the LOVE of God

to live and love freely,

serving those around her

with compassion and grace

but anyway, that's not what this post is about

it's about how awesome her photography skills are.

i can only hope that one day i'll be a fraction as good 

as she is behind the camera

(she took the 2nd to last photo while i was at her house and i cannot believe her eye for the extraordinary in the ordinary--simply amazing to see her perspective and ability!)

until then, i'll take my 3 squirmy girls who often make photos blurry*

(*yup, just blamed them for blur)

and continue to document their daily life!

1.17.12

the iPhone saves the picture-a-cutie crisis again

apparently i like taking pictures of Cutie Pie in her bouncer

the day is documented

in that this scene is very typical

Cutie Pie needing to be bounced, rocked, held, & otherwise soothed

at all times

and so picture-a-cutie 

via the iPhone 

really does capture our daily ritual 

(lest i forget for in this moment it feels like we won't ever leave this stage!)

1.16.12

it was princess day at the Imagine It! Children's Museum

somehow* we ended up at the Aquarium instead

and stuck out like sore thumbs

let's just say that the girls didn't mind 

the attention 

of being the only princesses in the land...

*apparently when the America's Mart is in full swing, prices in Atlanta parking lots jump 200% and this cheapskate (ahem, me) would rather not pay those fees!

i{heart}faces: family fun!

My family is fun

at least i think so :o

i{heart}faces is fun

and everything thinks so

it's only logical, therefore, 

to enter a family fun photo in i{heart}faces!

here are all three of three kiddos + J

frolicking on the beach

(or being held by J)

on the last day of 2011

fun memories for sure!

also for sure? there are is a lot of family fun going on at i{heart}faces

check it out now!

1.15.12

Popcorn + Football

with their daddy

what could be better on a Sunday afternoon?

1.14.12

one

two

three

JUMP!

we ventured to the playground

the girls got in their daily outside quota

bonus: i got in a quick run in the chilly air, too!

1.13.12

Mommy & Me

breakfast dates

every Friday

this week?

Waffle House!

1.12.12

while socializing with the Atlanta Track Club members,

Cutie Pie took a turn on the American Idol Coca-Cola couch

if she's a runner or a singer

(or something in between)

we're so excited to watch her grow!

1.11.12

sometimes you forget

to take a picture until it's bath time 

and half the family is naked

hence the fake bikini coverups

classic

sensory overload

J and his very cool siblings were homeschooled by their very smart mom who was supported by their very helpful dad. Homeschooling is something i contemplate from time to time to do for our cuties, too. We'll see--prayer and wisdom appreciated in that regard.

Anyway.

There are many many hundreds of blogs* about how to incorporate the theories behind education movements such as montessori, reggio, waldorf etc. in the home. As a left-brainer, imaginative play does not come easily to me. In fact, before I ever had kids, I was deathly afraid of what I'd do with my own babies as they grew into children who wanted to play make-believe. I just didn't do that well.

The preschool that Cutie Face attends is very learn-through-play centric. Which is great for her since she would have my left-brained antics to deal with at home 24/7 were she not in school. The more I read about exploring and playing (especially in the baby-preschool years) the more I agree with it. I mean, really, Cutie Face doesn't need to be in "school" yet anyway, so why push the craziness and pressures that comes with school any earlier? 

At home I am starting to try new learning opportunities with both girls, especially the 'Cakes since she isn't in playschool yet. One of the big ideas is sensory experiences--learning through all five senses. Take a sandbox, for example--how does sand pour through my fingers? does it taste gritty? what does it smell like? etc. 

We are really blessed that we have two "sensory areas" 

in our own backyard--the water table (thank you blog review!) 

and the sandbox (thank you Mimi &Poppy!)

The days that i actually remember we have such a space

are days that we all have fun seeing how things

pour through holes, run through water wheels, etc.

I'd been waiting for this to happen for some time now,

but the latest sensory experiment that Cutie Face finally initiated

was to mix the sand with the water

(here she is in transport mode)

it shook my control-freak nature to the core

due to the slightly incredibly mess that i knew would ensue

but i gritted my teeth and resolved that it really would be okay

to get a little dirty. 

Besides, it appealed to my scientific side--

I could watch her figure out states of matter and physical properties!

*one such blog is Play at Home Mom

and in a new topic completely, totally unsensory related--what does it mean when you have to place your baby in a jogging stroller in your own house just to soothe her while you cook? 

at least we have one good trick!

1.10.12

Immediately following this picture

she was sopping wet

Fee Fi Fo Fun

the Cuties' favorite museum in Atlanta is by far 

the Children's Museum

We typically go every Monday

they do not allow school groups or field trips that day

and, if you get there right when it opens,

you're basically the first and only people in attendance

for at least 20-minutes

that means we get to be the ones to mess everything up first

(which i feel very badly about & initially try to chase after the girls 

attempting to put everything back in their proper places 

but then i realize its a futile effort once even one more family arrives)

J and I thought long and hard about getting the girls

a train table for Christmas. They love this play area!

*in the end, we got them a great dollhouse--

something the children's museum does not have

another fan/fam favorite is the moon dough

I could play with this myself the entire time

Cutie Cakes decided she wanted to be an antagonist

and smashed/stole/destroyed Cutie Face's "cupcakes"

three times in a row.

resulting in a lovely time-out...

in the middle of the children's museum

awesome

nothing a "sorry mommy. sorry cutie face" couldn't fix

or a well-timed snack break for that matter!

all in all, a good diversion from the house

filled with lots of lessons on how to behave & interact in public!

the bonus is,

you're surrounded by families/moms/kids that completely understand 

the situation you are currently in 

since they are more than likely in the same place as us!

1.9.12

15 days* after her first

"official"

smile,

i looked over at her

and saw her smiling at this lion toy

and finally

remembered to grab

my camera to capture it

(and i seriously have about 30 pics to choose from now)

*she smiled at us on Christmas Day which is the only reason why i know how long she has been smiling

1.8.12

i really feel like

this is how i must look

when Cutie Pie is laying on my chest

do i have the same exhausted and slightly listless look

on my face that Cutie Face has on hers?

(don't worry--Cutie Face was just waking up from a 2.5-hour nap

--most definitely not sleep deprived!)

GymborCutie

Today was

definitely

a lazy Sunday

afternoon

complete with rain

and football

(all of daddy's teams won..and the whole house could breathe)

in between games,

we built an obstacle course for the cuties

they got into it

complete with a wall, slide, tunnel, and house 

to crawl over, up, down, through, and into 

we challenged them to see if they could go through it faster

Cutie Face challenged herself to see if she could do it backwards

she definitely also challenged herself

to see how high she could jump

again and again

don't worry, we stressed that this kind of activity

ONLY

happens when Mom and Dad sanction it

thankfully, the Cuties

wore themselves out pretty quickly

and made little cuddle islands out of the obstacle course

all in all,

a very well-spent afternoon!