Had the urge to take a few pictures tonight so that I could play with some new Photoshop actions from Pioneer Woman. I have to give a disclaimer for that link, though. A friend of mine shared it on her blog, and I lost myself in her blogs. Pioneer Woman is an engaging writer and awesome photographer as well as being a decent cook, rancher's wife, and homeschooling mom of four. So before you visit her blog, block out a chunk of time to really explore.
One of the major concerns for us in choosing a dog is whether it would be good with kids. I think the pictures tell most of the story, but let me tell you that Shadrach was not whining or struggling during this whole playtime. He definitely has more playful moments when he is not this mellow, but S started playing with him just before his nap.
Miester is a monkey, a dare-devil who has stopped the hearts of many a grandmother with his antics. Now little S started climbing early as well, and has recently figured out how to climb her sister's ladder to her loft bed. She's only 17 months old, so I can only imagine what she will be into at age two.
Seems like the youngest always gets to be the guineau pig for the olders "inventions".
She wasn't hurt, but the idea of my baby doll being tied up to a car seat dangling in the air just didn't feel right to me. This "invention" has now been strictly forbidden to be used with live subjects. Stuffed animals and dolls are ok.
In my attempt to paint V's bedroom this week, there have been many times where I have been painting with a busy 14-month old underfoot. I thought I'd share what I've learned from my experiences:
Do expect baby to want to help.
Don't expect to get much done.
Do dress baby in only a diaper because skin washes easier than clothes.
Don't put baby dressed only in a diaper down for a nap without putting more clothes on, she is likely to take the diaper off.
Do put up a baby gate so baby cannot splash in your paint bucket.
Don't use lead-based paint because baby likes to taste anything she splashes in.
Do put plastic or dropcloth under your paint bucket and preferably all over the floor of the room you are working on.
Don't let baby stand on your paint bucket. When she tips it over, the lid will come loose spilling paint all over.
Do secure baby someplace safe before cleaning up spilled paint from the carpet so she doesn't track it through the house.
Don't let the paint spilled on the carpet dry before cleaning it up.
Just as I was heading upstairs to make supper, I peeked over at S playing with the other kids in the basement. I immediately knew that I would not be making supper just then, but supervising an emergency bath to remove fabric paint from the little wrinkles of S's fingers and face.
Turned out that Miah had created a design for the window with fabric paints and had failed to put it up high to dry. (For those of you with crafty kids, my kids love to paint designs using fabric paints on ziploc bags. After they dry, they can be peeled off the bags and placed on the windows like a window-cling. I even wash windows right over them with no troubles. When we want to remove them, they peel right off.)
Jo and I dragged all 8 kids to Philadelphia today to the Franklin Institute. The Tut Exhibit is in town, and since we just studied ancient Egypt in school this year, V and K have been very excited to go see the treasures from Tut's tomb. While we were waiting for our appointed time to enter the exhibit, we explored the rest of the Franklin Institute's science exhibits. It was a little crazy with all the school field trips going on, so we felt more like sheep herders than parents ready to experience science with their children. Thankfully, we had our trusty saints, Kelli and my brother Dan with us so we did manage to come home with all of our children.
Here's a picture of S enjoying the mirror maze. Most of the exhibits were not meant for little ones her age, but this one caught her attention.
Today was the baby's birthday. Last year, she was born in the truck on the way to the hospital on the evening of Mother's Day. Yesterday, she had her first cake, and seemed to enjoy it. Today Grandma Shirley was officially allowed to give her sweets. (We had forbidden it until she turned one) :-)
Both K and S are getting their upper right teeth just now. K has a terrible time getting her baby teeth out in order to let the permanent teeth have their proper place, so this is the second snaggle tooth we've had to look at for weeks on end. In the past we've had to bribe her BIGTIME in order to let us help her get those baby teeth out - as in all the ice pops she wants for an entire day or staying up an hour later than bedtime to watch the second hour of Extreme Makeovers: Home Edition. So far the dentist has taken out two, and mom and dad have each pulled one with pliers. Anyone have any great tips for getting these snaggle teeth out of unwilling mouths without traumatizing a poor girl emotionally? {Hint: look for "# Comments" at the end of this post and click - you will find yourself at another page where you can leave a comment or suggestion.}
This little firecracker is not even 9 months old yet, yet today she was climbing up the kitchen step stool to reach something up on the counter. I've also caught her letting go and standing on her own for several seconds. What are we in for?
Stayed up WAY too late last night working on this (1 a.m.). Once I got going, I just couldn't stop! Journaling reads: "Before you were born, Daddy wrestled with your nickname. He has always had a special name for K (Sweets), and so before you were born he settled on one for you (Sugar). Although you are awfully sweet, “Pumpkin” seemed so natural for you that the other nicknames were soon forgotten. Now even Meister calls you “Punkin”, and you recognize it just as easily as your regular name."
Credits
Sometimes I find myself at a loss for how to arrange my scrapbook layouts. Especially when most published examples are of one page layouts. I like to be able to open the kids' scrapbooks up and have coordinating pages on each side, so I'm always looking for dual page ideas. I found a scrapbook sketch at Page Maps by Becky Fleck that I thought would work with my pictures, took the layout idea and 70 minutes later I had this:
Credits: Papers & elements - Heavenly Holiday kit from Atomic Cupcake
Did I mention she has a fascination with her tongue right now?
Eventually she got tired of staying in one place, but that canvas is so scratchy on bare knees, so we've got to do the bear crawl instead.
We see little white nubs starting to come through. Don't you just love babies' toothless grins?
I'm drowning in laundry today. It has been an incoming tide that never seems to recede. I don't have a hard time getting it all clean, it is the folding and putting away that seems impossible. Always makes me think of two friends from college who have laundry quirks. One is so particular about her shirt folding that she actually researched and learned the best method for shirt-folding online. The other imagines the wrinkles being permanently pressed into the clothes if they aren't folded as soon as the dryer sounds its signal.
Today I took a break to share how S helps with the laundry - NOT. She's actually so cute that she becomes a major distraction!
She's only 4.5 months old and has been doing this for a few weeks now. I guess she watches too many other kids moving around here. Time to pick up those Legos!
