Morning Chillin

I peeked into the living room one morning to find that Ivory had pulled up the blanket on the futon and snuggled up under it--my little girl is getting so big!

Sign Language Class

Our church has a sign language class on Wednesday nights.  I've been taking Ivory in hopes of her learning some more.  Complete disinterest.  Totaly shyness.  Stubborness.  That pretty much sums up our experience every week.  But, I'm learning a lot and teaching her at home.  And we're having fun.  Ivory gets Bobo time.  And she's making new friends.

Our deaf instructor, Ken.

Kay (she took over my job as church secretary assistant) & Ann (Ken's wife, she's also deaf).  Ken and Ann are one of the sweetest couples you'll ever meet--and so very, very patient with us.  I enjoy learning how to better communicate with them.

Kay, Ann, Angela.  Angela is practicing her sign name.  We all received sign names Wednesday night.  Well, actually Ivory has had one since birth.  Micah recently received one.  And apparently I've had one for years...I just didn't know it.  Nice to learn these things.

Micah enjoyed some snuggles from Mrs. Ann while I worked on my signing.

Ivory with her Cassie.

One of THOSE Days

Ever had one of these days?

I mean a lousy, nose picking, awful day?

When something distracts from the pain for a moment (camera fascination).

(self-portrait)

But the day quickly went bad again

then, something a friend comes by and your day takes a turn for the better?

And life takes a turn for the better.  And the day speeds by in fun and joy.

Of course, putting on your best boots helps the day go even better.

And who wouldn't have a better day with this sweetheart visiting you?

Now you might still hit some bumps in the road.

But overall, the day is 99.9% better.

Micah enjoyed the visit, too.

And, of course, some time must be spent relaxing a little.

And who doesn't enjoy some pb&j and Cars?

Yes, a friend makes all the difference in the world.  Thanks for a fun day, Addie.

Everyday Happenings

6Micah handles tummy time much better then Ivory...who screamed the entire time every time.  Wait, Micah handles just about *everything* more calmly then Ivory.  Ivory is a blast and she is so full of life and energy--from birth.  She brings the biggest smiles to her mommy's face and makes me laugh like no other.  Her hugs, snuggles, and kisses are sweet as sugar.  Micah is our sweet, calm little boy who completely melts my heart.

This was the calm before the storm.  After calmly, and quite cutely, playing with these memory cards Ivory proceeded to head to the bookcase where she pulled approximately 30 books of the shelf and threw them on the floor making quite the mess.  Well, she threw a royal tantrum when I instructed her to clean up the books.  She VERY. SLOWLY. put ONE. Book. at. a. time. on the shelf with multiple spankings to motivate...followed by massive screaming.  Then, onto cleaning up the cards before naptime.  That made putting the books away seem like a piece of cake.  She dumped the cards out at least twice in the "cleaning-up" process.  Boy is clean-up time fun! =)  However, I must say, I was pleasantly surprise when the next day at someone's house clean-up only resulted in one tantrum followed by one spanking.  Hooray for progress!

Gotta love baby booty!

Jason I never could understand the line "sleeping like a baby" until having Micah.  Ivory was much to interested in everything around her to fall asleep.  But this boy, man he can fall asleep just about anywhere.  And yes, i'm soaking up every bit of it.  Enjoing snuggles.  Easyness.  Quiet. 

Mommy's little sweetheart.

This video captures life perfectly as of late. He's happy and content and then big sister comes. Poking, prodding, pulling, hitting -or- kissing, touching, patting, sweetly talking. All depends on her current mood. We finally had to make a "don't touch Micah in the car" when we heard a piercing wail in the car and I turned around to find Micah's nose bloodied by a nail scratch. Nice.

Sleep

Ivory now has to sleep with blue blankie (she affectionately calls blue), pink blankie (when possible), bear, little Elmo, and BIG Elmo.  And as of today, a pillow.  Crowded?  Yes.  Happy?  Yes.  So, it's all good.

Sadly, these are the last photos you will see of sweet Ivory in her todller bed.  She has recently graduated to her twin size trundle bed.  Those pictures will soon come.

The toddler bed has morphed back into a crib.

Sporting the new bedding set I made B.M. - Before Micah.

Micah has slept the past three nights in his crib in the same room as Ivory.  Well, he sleeps in there until I hear him waking on the monitor and then he comes and feeds in our bed and I roll him into his Moses basket beside our bed.

My sweet sleeper.  I love him.  I loved him before I even met him.  Micah = Sweetness personified.

Homegrown Goods

We had an excessive amount of cucumbers from Jason's garden.  So, I decided to try my hand at making pickles.  I used a recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Fly Through Our Window.

I tried my hand at resourcefulness re-using jars we already had.

I also did some meal prep for the next several days.  I feel so organized and on the ball!  Well, until I walk into my bedroom...

From LA Projects 2010

And aren't these flowers gorgeous?  They come from my husband's garden.  And yes, he picked a bunch and put them on our kitchen table.  Better then any hothouse flowers for sure.

From Jason Projects