4 months!

Eliza Wren is growing up so quickly - and what a personality this girlie has!  She's full of giggles, squeals and love for all.  If you're around her, she'll flash you a happy smile and wiggle with joy!

 Teething has begun in earnest, and our little Wren is into chewing on anything and everything!

Happy 4 months, sweet wee one!

Arts and Crafts

Meredith's drawings of people are changing and progressing the more she does it.  I just love watching her draw all these little people and hearing her talk about who is who.  :)  Usually there's a Mama, Daddy and a baby...sometimes someone is "sad" and she will tell me which person is going to make the sad one feel better.  Love this little growing imagination!

You'll notice she's added arms, legs, hands and feet - as well as hair! 

Look at the change from just a few weeks ago. 

And, this week we dyed Easter eggs. :)  Meredith was a bit hesitant at first, and asked several times just to eat the eggs (she loves hard boiled eggs!)...but, once we got out the dye she got into it.

March indoor play

We've had a very chilly March this year, so there's been lots of indoor play, instead of outside play time.  Meredith, as usual, has been creative with the indoor time - a favorite activity lately is to use all of her blocks to build a city!

A few weekends ago Erik and Meredith planted seeds together - the beginning of our garden!

And, of course lots of reading is happening around here.  I was so excited that I caught Mer making this silly face on camera - it's one of my favorites, just before she explodes into giggles! :)

In Daddy's Arms

I caught some smiles and adoring looks from Eliza Wren to her Daddy. :)

Things That MJ Likes

Earlier this week, as I (Erik) was sitting at the table with Meredith over lunch, I asked her what things she liked.  As she started churning out answers, I grabbed a pen to notate as fast as I could.  Here's what came out in her order:

Cars

Toys

Chairs

People

Mommy

Eliza (x3)

Daddy

Me

Carrots

Apples

Oranges (x2)

Water

Our House

Airplanes

Trees

Stars

Pillows

Sally (her doll)

Peas

Laying in the grass

Back Yard

Swings

Doggies

Tigers

Kitty cats

Pens

Theo

Judah

Bananas

Another thing Meredith likes is nursery rhymes.  Here's her rendition of Hey Diddle Diddle.  Then she started Wee Willy Winkie, but promptly got distracted... :)

IKEA

IKEA is one of Meredith's favorite places to go!  It's an affection that extends way beyond the big blue box.  She not only asks to go every day, but all her animals and toy people make their way to IKEA during little make-believe trips around the house.

For mom and dad, it's a great chance to get everyone out of the house, have dinner taken care of, and gives Meredith some space to stretch her legs.  After Swedish meatballs and chicken fingers, we wind our way through the children's section before heading to find other "home improvements" that are hard to pass up.

No IKEA visit would be complete without ice cream!!!

Outside!

This past weekend brought us our first spring weather!  

It was absolutely gorgeous, so we were able to have lots of outdoor time.

Erik made a wonderful start on our community garden plot.  

Our plot wasn't used last year, so it has a lot of ground covering weeds on it. :-p 

Meredith and her best pal, Leah enjoyed running along the paths together Sunday afternoon.

 Love getting shots of these girlies together :)

Puddles

Our day began with lovely snow falling...but with the quickly rising temperatures, everything was wet and most of the snow melted by the time we went for our afternoon walk.  But, what 2 year old doesn't like puddle jumping!?!?!  :)

Weekending

We did a few home projects/improvements this weekend. 

 I'm excited to finally be getting the girl's room put together step by step. :)

This piece has needed a face-lift for some time now...

...even before we salvaged it, I believe. :p

 So, Erik went to work to revive it...

Ta-Da!

A lovely compliment to the chair Erik recovered last year!

More photos to come of other recent projects...
...and hopefully photos of the finished girl's room!

favorite moments

These were some of my favorite moments this week... :)