Feb. sewing projects

As our last post of February, I thought I'd share a few of the sewing projects I've been doing lately. Meredith has three pairs of soft shoes now that keep her wee toes warm. My friend, Jeannette sent me a great tutorial on how to make these little shoes - so fun and easy!

Below MJ is modeling one of the polka dot pair. :)

And...a sweet friend of mine has ordered two "owlies" through my etsy shop. So, I've been putting together a custom order for her. There will be others available (like this cute owlie below)... so let me know if you are interested in one of these fine feathered friends. :)

Let's have tea!

One of Meredith's favorite friends, Anna Kate, came over for a play date yesterday. Anna Kate is always so sweet to Meredith, and Meredith thinks she is the coolest. They are both SO excited to see each other each time we get them together - it's so cute! Sometime I need to video tape their greeting to one another - squeals, giggles and smiles!

Shortly after Anna Kate arrived, I asked if she would like to have a tea party with Meredith. "Yeah!" was Anna Kate's immediate response and she began to quickly collect the tea things.

Anna Kate was so sweet to Meredith...even when she kept re-arranging the tea table. :)

Meredith watched Anna Kate's every move and tried to do exactly what she did. :)

Later, they had story time together before bedtime.

movin' and groovin'

I just love that she turns in circles!

MJ's recent achievements

Hello, friends! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. It's been a bit of a slow life around here lately - more sickness and lots of snuggle time. Meredith is a leech to me right now...along with her yellow blanket. :) I'm hopeful we are on the up-swing though. Come back to us, sweet health!

So, I'm catching up a bit. Last week, despite a rather nasty cold, MJ made several large achievements in her life. Way to go, girlie! Here's the list...(several of these happened in the same day - boy did we have stories to tell Daddy at the dinner table that evening!!) :)

MJ's February Achievements:

> She finally got the hang of her sippy cup. Mama is happy!

> She began "scooching" on the floor...using her legs and staying in an upright sitting position. It's awesome and hysterical to watch her because she mainly turns in circles! heehee

> She began signing "more" (first sign ever!) YAY for sign language for babies! She is soooo proud of herself too. :)

> She recognizes the word "moon" and points to every moon in all her story books. Since we read a lot of bedtime type books...there are a lot of moons. :)

> Recently Daddy claims he's taught her to recognize "cow" and point to all the cows in her storybooks...but, Mama has yet to verify this. ;)

And here are some fun family photos we had fun with the other night...

Cousin Photos

Meredith and Lila couldn't get enough play time together this past weekend. These are some "too cute" shots I had to post. Thanks to Bria for the photos!




Stay tuned for a special post coming soon about all of MJ's achievements this week - she's been a busy little girl (even with having a pretty nasty cold)!

Feb. Family Time

We had a quick trip to Dillsburg (just outside of Carlisle, PA) this weekend to visit with Jonny, Bria and Lila...and the McKinzie folks - Granna and Grandaddy! :) Despite having the beginning of a rather nasty cold, Meredith had lots of fun with her cousin and Grandparents.

lots of snuggling time was needed to help with the sniffles...

Lila was as wild as ever - such an inspiration for her cousin! :) what a cutie!

...yes, cherrios always taste better off someone else's tray...

livin' it up with the toys

I love balls!

Erik and Meredith have a special Daddy-daughter game that involves lots of balls! Balls on our warped old wood floors is pretty amazingly awesome fun! The balls roll all over the place and usually roll back to you...hurrah, for uneven floors! This is another reason (of many) why we love old and quirky homes. :)

Cherrios Conquered!

Yes, eating cherrios has been an ordeal in our household over the past month. For some time now, Meredith has been capable of picking up small particles of anything - no worries there. But, the action of then putting these small particles into her mouth has been the issue. With most kids putting things in their mouth is the easy part - not for MJ. She hasn't ever been a in-your-mouth kind of baby, we know that. But... after all, this is food we are talking about!

Since the beginning of the new year, I have been setting cherrios and a few other foods on MJ's tray to entice her to eat them by herself. But no...she wouldn't put them in her mouth. Ever. She would pick them up and hoard them in her hands....as much as she could hold in both fists. Then, she'd look back up at us and wait for the next spoon-fed bite to be given to her - mouth wide open. UGH!

I can't tell you how many times I thought "Okay, I know every other kid in the universe eats cherrios, and puts practically everything in their mouth....I guess MJ's going to completely miss this stage of development." :( I had visions of spoon-feeding her everything until she was 2 or 3!

But then, after four weeks of dutiful repetition each morning: put cherrios on tray, watch MJ hoard them into her fists for a few minutes, say "put it into your mouth", demonstrate eating cherrios...etc. She did it! And here are the photos to prove it. :)

She goes for it...

Yes! In your mouth, Girl!!

So proud. :)

Mama is realizing how awesome this whole "eating cherrios" event is in our household - MJ is content for up to half an hour in this position... with a frequently replenished tray full of cherrios. YES!

Birthday Girls

On Saturday, February 5th, Jane turned 27 and Meredith turned 10 months! :) We had a weekend full of celebrating!

After the surprise party on Friday evening (see previous post), we headed off to Princeton for the morning/early afternoon for exploration. We had never been there before, and one of our Wheaton friends is at the seminary there now. So, we met up with him (Dan Hutchinson) for lunch at a sweet soup/sandwich spot.

birthday girls!

Dan-the-Man with MJ :)

It was quite a slushy day, so we popped into just a few places before heading home. The Record Exchange was awesome, and we scored a record for $1! Then, we dried off in this sweet bookstore with a great children's section. So fun!

MJ and Daddy reading Charlie Harper's ABC book

Surprise Party!

Dear friends and my sweet husband gave me an AMAZING surprise birthday party tonight. :)

Meredith and I were spending a quiet evening at home...Erik was supposedly 'working a concert' tonight, so MJ and I were chillin' together with no plans....until...the doorbell rang. We opened the door to smiling faces, "surprise!", "happy birthday!", and many arms full of food and merriment! I couldn't have been more completely surprised, and so very touched.

Thanks so very much to you all - Keifers, Jen Loux and Darryl Hart!

We feasted with a huge spread of delicious food (Beef Bourguignon, Potato Gratin and a fresh Greek salad), wine and an incredible cake. The photos can express it all better than I can.

the party! (minus MJ who was in bed at this point in the evening...and, Ann Hart who has a bad cold - I missed having you here, Ann!)

Sammy having some sweet Auntie Jen time :)

Sammy was a big helper with opening the gifts. :)

the to-die-for cake Cheryl made - SO yummy!! :) :) :)

Yay! What a fun step into being 27... :)