Jellabee!

*rachel, me, melany, lana

Newman CA 1999

Melany has been one of my good good friends since high school. Some of my fondest memories growing up are the times my sister, Rachel, and I spent hanging out with Melany, and her sister Lana. We went to countless dances, shows, road trips to San Francisco, and just hungout at her super fun house. They had the BEST hangout house with an amazing/huge back yard and a trampoline that sat in a hole so it was level with the ground!!! (It's funny how I grew up with a pool in my back yard but would rather jump on her trampoline any day of the week).

*some of my favorites from jellabee jr.

Anyway, so back to Melany. She is crazy talented and crafty and has opened up shop to give everyone the opportunity to benefit from her skills. She has an etsy shop with handmade hair accessories: jellabee, and a shop for baby hair accesories and other goodies: jellabee jr. She also has a blog that I love to stalk, you can check it out here. You're welcome.

*wendy wearing one of her jellabee jr. hair clips! i love it! ps. how pretty is that pink/purple sunset outside my windows?!

HALLOWENDY!

*Wendy with her Great-Grandma Witten

For Halloween this year, Wendy was FOOFA. She had this amazing hand crocheted poncho that her mom's mom's mom (aka. Great-Grandma Witten) made her!! She LLOOOVVESS it! I thought I would have to prep her, you know, let her wear it every once in a while so she'd keep it on for Halloween. But boy was I wrong! I don't know how to get it off of her. She's been carrying it around the house for the whole month of October like a blankie.

The night before Halloween, Wendy got to hang out with THE REAL FOOFA! Along with all the other characters and "mama" Lance Rock (which is what she calls him). She was in heaven and wouldn't let them leave her sight. Lance was a wonderful sport and gave Wendy lots of attention. He made her night, and therefore made mine as well. Maybe one day she'll know how lucky she is.

Special thanks to Grandma Witten for taking the time to make this wonderful costume for Wendy! I can't even tell you how many compliments we got or how much she loves it. THANK YOU!

* these last pictures were taken by my friend jenn! check out some of her other photography here.

Best Mother's Day Present EVER!

For mother's day, my wonderful husband got me a family photoshoot with our friend, Amelia Lyon. I made sure he knew it was really the only thing I really wanted for my birthday in June, but he wanted it to be a "surprise" (even though I'd asked for it) so he gave it early in May. Little did he know how excited I would be and how serious I was about it.

You might have noticed that Mother's Day took place about 5 months ago, but I wasn't ready then. I needed everything to be perfect for the pictures and that included Wendy walking. The little stinker didn't walk until she was 16 months old so that's why we waited so long.

See the rest of the photos here. I love them. Amelia is one talented lady.

Remember Wendy?

My blog has been lacking some Wendy ever since she turned 1 and I stopped doing those monthly pictures. Now that she's almost 18 months old !?, here are some recent pictures and (mostly for myself) a long list of her current quirks:

She has grown up so much in the past month or two. She's still OBSESSED with yo gabba and is turning into a daredevil climbing up on anything she can.

Wendy's current vocabulary

"Hi" (said as 2 syllables with a cute little wave)

bye bye

dog

ball

daddy

momma

mimi =grammie

mam-uh = grandma

papa =grandpa

got? (what do you got?)

wassat? (what's that?)

hot! (usually referring to food or her carseat)

gabba

foofa

bubee =brobee

pleh pleh pleh! = plex (always said at least 3x's in a row)

mumow = muno

coocoo = cooper

ah-geee & an-you = audrey & andrew (her cousins that live next door)

baba (bottle)

baby (at the site of any doll or baby up to about 1 year older than her)

Songs:

itsy bitsy spider

pop corn popping

If you ask her:

Where are your pretty eyes? She'll roll her eyes and blink

Where's your nose? She'll scrunch up her nose and breath in & out of it really fast

Where's your mouth? She'll stick her tongue out and say, "BLAHH!"

Where are your hands? She'll rub them together like she's washing them

Where's your belly button? She'll lift up her shirt & show you

How big is Wendy? Raises both hands up in the air

*at the park wearing her muno beanie that great grandma witten made her!

In my dreams...

...my enclosed patio room would look something like this image I found in a Better Homes & Gardens. I love the bench under the windows that goes all the way around the room. It makes for lots of seating and great storage. I also love the window coverings, maybe one day I'll get crafty and make some. 

But as a mom, I realize there are far better uses for this room (like a place to store all the BIG toys instead of letting them take over the house). What I really needed was a place to occupy Wendy while I run my 2 miles on the treadmill. So, last Thursday was spent putting together this little play area for Wendy. The BEST part about it was that the whole setup only cost me $14.07! (thanks to some great toysrus coupons and Ryan's aunt next door).

    

*and I still get to have my "pretty to look at/hangout/read a book and feel like you're outside without the bugs" space on the other side of the room

Wendy loves her play area. And, as you can see, the bird has found a lovely home NOT inside the house, but not quite outside either. So everyone is happy. 

IT'S BAAACK!!

For those of you who were as bummed as I was to hear that Polaroid film was done, here's some GREAT news!!  It's a little pricey, but, I believe, a product that's worth it. Get it here.

*The last polaroid I thought I'd ever be in.

Ryan & I at my mom's 45th birthday party. I was about 5 months pregnant with Wendy.

Where Have I Been All Summer? (part III)

Wendy and I took "Parent & Me" swimming lessons at the Brea Plunge this summer. On the days I worked she got to go with either Ryan or my mom. The class pretty much teaches the toddlers how to hold their breath under water and gets them ready for real swimming lessons. The other moms, mainly Ruth, said they had fun watching my face every time Wendy got dunked. I don't know who hated it more, me or her.

       

Wendy was given the MVP award by her teacher, Brett. She was SUPER bummed on the first half of lessons. She would cry and cling to me, but by the end, I was dropping her off the diving board (to the swim instructor waiting below of course) and she was trying to jump before I let her go and would come up laughing.