mid to late august. really?

so here are a few glimpses into recent life.

I was feeling like we needed to lighten up around here, literally. our old brown sofa had sprung a few holes that magz enjoyed sticking her fingers into to triumphantly pull out tufts of stuffing, so we decided to gift Old Brown to brother J and hit craigslist for a replacement. we found a super-cool sofa/chair set for a great price, and voila! I really like the color and the clean, modern vibe of them. here's mgb and the baby demonstrating the sofa's napping capability:

can we talk about the most dramatic plant ever? these coleus plants have positively thrived in our front bed, crowding out other flora friends and behaving in a rather flamboyant manner. this was how they looked when we got home one afternoon... droopy, sad, parched, someone help us this is a dire situation gasp!

close up of sad, dramatic coleus.

two - count 'em - TWO hours later after a little watering and a brief, freak rain shower:

REFRESHED! BOOOIIIIINGGGGG!

woohoo!! look alive, everybody!!

the DRAMA.

this was taken after church last Sunday. you can't see it much, but this is a dress mgb bought me as a surprise, and I love it so much.

iphone photos of naps.

iphone photos of storytime. goodnight, moon!

back to the whole 'lightening up' idea. we gave away our old dining room table and chairs and sold our antique buffet on craigslist. you can sort of see that we're using the other table to eat at in the sunroom, which feels really nice. we still have to move that light fixture that hung down over the table, but I think we're going to leave the space clear. the open space is sooo nice! we're calling it the 'dance floor'. we've finally finished all of the carpentry work on the shelving and replaced our huge television with a sleek version that swivels out to watch and fits nice and flush against the wall when we want to put it away. all in all, the house just feels a lot bigger and it was a nice, emotional boost to switch things up a bit. plus it's easier to clean.

playing with scarfs I brought back from mexico.

a tricked-out version of daddy & magz. thanks, instagram app.

hmmmm, I've got my thinking bowl on...

dear.

she can say mama, dada, elmo, up, dog, I done, I do, no, and hi. she can sign apple, more, please, cereal, eat, drink, hot, banana, and bib. she loves those books of first words, and is getting pretty good at recognizing animals, foods, pieces of clothing, toys, etc. she's also getting good at shaking her head 'no' and communicating with her body, she give lots of kisses, and will hug and pat you. oh, and she's working on saying this:

coping by organizing my phone

there have been a few stories in the news lately that simply slay me if I think about them for very long, awful events that leave behind children without parents, a man without his wife and 4 kids. it's so fragile, this life we live - my chest hurts and I'm shamed to think about how I gamble it by texting in the car or trying to read something while driving.

I'm also chastised when I consider how quick to frustration and short of patience I've been the past few weeks. it's not very pretty, and it's not who I really want to be.

so, to cope with feeling... um... feelings... I clean or try to organize things to, you know, attempt to regain control. my iphone was an easy mark, as I've not updated podcasts/calendars/photos in forever. I've added a new podcast this go-'round - at the suggestion of Ms. R.A. I subscribed to Ecclesia Church's podcast, just to see what that church has got going on. I've not been over there in years, but I used to frequent the coffee shop and I appreciated a lot of their ideals.

before I forget, I really enjoyed my friend K's newest blog post - I was an avid reader up through high school, but especially in elementary and jr. high. I read anything I could get my hands on, and I loved carefully filling out the Weekly Reader order forms and choosing treasures at book fairs. the thoughts K expressed about some of the purposes and goals of children's literature strike me as true and line up with my experience as a young reader. I read all sorts of different kinds of things, and I believe that by doing so I was able learn to distinguish that it wasn't all the same - various ideals carried different 'weight' based on my worldview and I was able to work that out by being exposed to large themes and different genres, whether it was Golden Books or Sweet Pickles or Nancy Drew or Judy Blume or a wonderful book about Joseph and his coat of many colors that I read at YaYa's until it fell apart.

I don't remember politics ever being connected to what I read or thought, or even being much on my radar (except for 'voting' for Jimmy Carter in the second grade). I would say I was raised to be a faithful Christian, but that my parents still allowed us to experience the world in a way that allowed us to think and wrestle with it, and I'm really grateful for that. in an increasingly-standardized and fearful/distrustful society, I want to help our girl learn how to navigate the world thoughtfully and compassionately, and I think the stories she hears are a good place to start.

this is a bit of a tangent, but in a recent late-night conversation with my brother, I said that I believe kids today are likely to have a super-different view of the world than even my generation, as the internet and such makes the global community so accessible... it's becoming easier and easier to view most people of different countries as being fellow humans, same as us, that we can banter with on discussion boards and do business with instead of viewing them as national allies or enemies. I don't know what that will mean, I just believe it to probably be true.

here are an assortment of photos rescued from the iphone. ones from mexico, grandad's funeral, etc. will come another time. oh, while you peruse these photos imagine this darling face screaming and unconsolable at 12:30 last night, arms flailing and little body twisting in frustration. she's better today, sweet and still a little clingy. every so often, she finds her favorite blanket and presses it to her face, biting the yarn hard and trying to take the edge off. teething is a hardcore, serious business.

helping with laundry

first story-time!

exhausted from playing with the calculator

I came home one day to find a picnic in progress

watching the end of Elmo's World with momo

my hair, before.

and after. :)

I'm still getting used to it... I keep thinking I just have my hair pulled up in back. It's never been this short before, but I really like it.

happy Saturday!

L

freed photos on a rampage, drunk with freedom and running amuck

alright, grandparents, get ready to hit 'save'. I tried to cull them, but I just love too many photos. here are a few highs/lows/tricks from the past couple of weeks:

I thought this picture taken with the iphone was so interesting... I was sitting in the car waiting for my windshield to thaw out so I could go to Target, and as I rolled down my driver's side window bit by bit a thin sheet of ice was left for me to chip away:

Magz got sick. We've all been sick now, and it's taken forever to get over all of it. I *think* we're all mostly mended now, but this little girl camped out on me last Friday. it was pretty gratifying to be so needed:

bootie in the air!

so sick, but trying to wave and smile through the baby snot (of which there is so flipping much!):

head-butting daddy... she'll lean her forehead in and touch ours, it's pretty sweet.

biting down on daddy's finger with her tooth:

pulling books off the bottom shelf... oh how we all love 'the five love languages'... if you look closely, you can see her spots in this photo. our baby's broken out with hives twice now! three-day hives that come and go, don't itch, and don't cause fever. do we know what caused it? no. did the doctor provide an answer? no. just benadryl, which I'm not convinced did anything but help her get a couple of good naps.

ugh. so sweet.

honking daddy's nose:

preciouses!

she hasn't figured out that the sippy cup is for sipping yet, but she sure does like to handle and gnaw on it.

she's feeling better. we still have the sniffles but seem to be coming through to the other side. babies are so sad and pitiful when they're sick!

pulling up at the couch. hubs said she pulled up to her feet after I went to work. !!!

on the move!

today in the Meyerland parking lot. we took this picture for daddy, to tell him we were thinking about him and his important phone call today. yes, she's gnawing on a plastic bottle. what can I say - it was a restless point in the day and for five minutes she was all over that thing.

daddy came out to meet us... look how happy she is! I love these people.

you may now return to your lives.

-m.y.