Bed head

It's kind of impossible to be a sleepless grump when you have this to wake up to. I love her.

32!

I had SUCH a good birthday this year, and was so spoiled! It's a perfect weekend, and on top of the festivities, the weather is gorgeous and feels like summertime. My favorite. I was gifted with some birthday money so my Etsy cart I've been virtually filling got purchased and I made use of my JoAnn's 50% off coupons with a little spending spree. I can't wait for things to arrive in the mail! And the best part of the day... playing with the two cutest little babies!

Look who found her feet today!! I took off her sock so she could have the full toes experience.

Thanks everyone for all the sweet birthday messages, gifts, and love. 32 is going to be a good age, I can feel it!

The morning after...

The plumbers are here unclogging our drains, the cats are basking in the sun, I'm Black Friday online shopping, and Elsa is sleepily enjoying all that's going on around her.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday was Elsa's first Thanksgiving, and our first Thanksgiving with a baby. This year we were thankful for Lynne and Karen making most of the meal we invited everyone to while we juggled taking care of the baby, hosting, and dealing with a clogged and overflowing sink. Good times. All in all though, it was awesome having a house full of close friends, good food on the table, a happy baby, and a giant bottle of Prosecco. 

Elsa's holiday attire for most of the day was a sweet little denim jumper and pieces of head flair. Jeff thought three was too many so we narrowed it down to just one.

Lynne got MVP of the day. She was a baby whisperer, mimosa maker, chef, and dishwasher and we probably couldn't have done it without her. 

Nice shot Jeff. Not like you actually want to see us or anything. I think he was channeling my Dad's photography framing here. It's hard to tell but that's Lynne, Jan and I. And I'm wearing my beautiful new Moth sweater from Anthro Lynne gifted me for my birthday. It's navy blue and the back is a sheer navy blue and white polka dotted chiffon. It's gorgeous.

Karen and Mark came through yet again and brought this beautiful bird. It was the star of the Thanksgiving table.

And more of the baby because she's cuter than a turkey.

New toy! Karen brought over this new gem for Elsa to play with. It secures really easily to the door jambs and she seems to enjoy bouncing in it. Carrie also lent us a crazy looking exersaucer thing that we haven't tried out yet, but looks promising. Pics of that later.

I hope everyone had a fun Thanksgiving, and celebrated the many things we have to be thankful for. I know we did.

Merry Christmas!! Love, Elsa and her new plaid dress.

Little bugger wouldn't hold still for her Christmas card portrait.

Elsa's first non-titty milk food!

We had Elsa's four month check up with the pediatrician yesterday and here are her stats: 11 lbs 2 ounces (below the 5th percentile! She's mini), 25 inches long (between the 50-75th percentile), and 40 cm head circumference (between 10-25th percentile). The doctor said she looked perfect though and had a perfect physical exam so we're not worried about her midget stats. She got my little genes.

Excitingly, the doctor said it would be okay to start trying a little rice cereal for her in the hopes that the boob milk and cereal mix will stick to her ribs a little more and give us a little more time in between feedings, especially at night. We gave her the Earth's Best whole grain rice cereal because it's organic and the box is pretty. You can see a video of her first feeding on my YouTube channel.

I'm really excited to break out all of Elsa's eating-related gifts. We have a big bag full of gifts given to us to assist in the job of feeding the baby. All of the little bowls and spoons and sippy cups and snack traps and food mill and Beaba are going to start coming into rotation. Fun!

She still has her tongue thrust reflex so a lot of the cereal ended up on her face and bib, but she swallowed a little bit of it. It was less of an eating experience and more of a rub it all over your face and make funny sounds and take pictures experience. We watered down the leftovers with more milk and gave her that in a bottle which she took down like a champ, and then she slept for a solid 5 hour chunk!

Jude dude!

Jerod and Jude came over yesterday to see my mom and hang out a bit. The babies were old enough now to stare lovingly at each other. It was so fun holding Jude, he's such a sturdy little man. Elsa feels so mini and wiggly compared to him. 

Jude loved Thor! And I think Thor returned the affection by not moving away when Jude grabbed handfuls of his fur.

My little troll

My cousin said that Elsa looks like one of the cute trolls in Norwegian folklore. I can see it, especially when she wears this sweater.

Look how little she looks in her IKEA highchair! We put all of her toys on the tray and she stays entertained for about 38 seconds. 

It was chilly here this morning so we put her in the sweet little hat Hallie's grandmother knit for her. I love the colors of it, so cute!

Crafts!

Elsa's first visit to JoAnn's! She loved it. She's going to be crafty.

Here's a sneak peek at some of the fabrics I'm using for the Christmas presents I'm making.

My mom cross-stitched this one and it's so rad. It's on a shimmery metallic cross stitch fabric, and the colors are amazing. I hope she forgets it here and I get to keep it.

Kitties, Jeff and baby

Our boy Thor has been fighting off kitty bronchitis, so he's been a little wheezy and dropped some weight, but he's on antibiotics now (Jeff is giving him the meds since I took care of Lily Mae... it's his turn.) and he's looking and sounding much better. He'll be ship shape in no time. 

My mom is here visiting for the week (SO AWESOME having her here all week. She's cooked, cleaned, and taken care of the baby the whole time she's been here, it's going to be hard to say goodbye!!) and she's such a sucker for the cats. Thor has been on her lap pretty much every second she's been sitting down without the baby, and I think that's sped up his recovery a bit. 

And here's Jeff looking like a model holding Elsa. Hot.

Sleep sack perfection

Okay all you enablers out there... tell me how much I Elsa needs this. It's starting to get chilly and baby needs a snuggly sleep sack. I entertained the idea of making one but I have Christmas crap to make. I don't have time. And this one is perfect. It's even her little elephant pattern!! And a luxurious thick flannel on the inside, all organic fabrics, all snuggly. The details are really well played too. I like the snaps, the light blue polka dot fold is sweet, and I like this style of sleep sacks more than the ones that zip up the front. Only problem? It's silly expensive. I really love everything that the Organic Quilt Company on Etsy does though. Just lovely.

New Hipsta prints on their way!

I just ordered more from the Hipstamart... love them!