Just another phone picture

Who has time to blog? Not me.

Sorry for all the phone pictures on the blog lately. But it's better than nothing!

Story time

Trapped

Erickson excitement

Ever had a quarter-pound meatball?

Gideon

Stella

Just a few phone pictures...

And the winner is...

First of all, let me say that I really enjoyed my giveaway! I am going to have to give something away again sometime soon. I took all the qualifying entries [although if 'anonymous' had posted their name, I might have considered the Mychal Hexum/hooded towel idea] and assigned each one a number, then I plugged those numbers into random.org...and that is how I chose a winner.

SO, the moment you all [seven people] have been waiting for.. The winner is.... Rebekah! Congratulations, girl! I'm excited that your sweet one will have such cute little leggings for her birthday! I'll be contacting you soon. Oh, and the entry that won was your extra entry for posting on facebook, so that totally paid off for you!

And to the rest of you...just cough up the money and buy a pair already! You get a gift for someone, and you get to know that you helped a family fulfill God's calling to adopt. Not bad for seven bucks. :)

HERE'S THE LINK TO THE ETSY SHOP...NO EXCUSES!

Christmas Wish List

I am super easy to buy presents for. I love stuff. I love receiving stuff. So most people that have to shop for me have a pretty easy time doing so. So I suppose writing a post about stuff I want is kind of silly. But I'm going to do it anyway because A.) it sounds fun and it's my blog, and B.) maybe this little list will help you find a gift for someone that you are shopping for. Okay go.

For the kitchen
I'm not very good at it and I don't get to do it very often, but I enjoy baking. I think I'd enjoy it even more if I had these measuring cups:

and basically any apron from Anthropologie.
I mean...seriously....

Also on my kitchen wishlist is a KitchenAid Mixer. Oh and mason jars! Just sayin'.

For The Bathroom

I don't wear a lot of make-up very often, but I like to buy it. You know, just in case I've got a hot date or something. I also like owning all kinds of lotions, perfumes, bath enhancers, and basically anything you can buy at Sephora. Like, say, this stuff.

Or this...

or this...

And don't even get me started on Lush Cosmetics. Have you tried their bath bombs?
Worth.
Every.
Penny.


To Wear
Here are a couple items that I would buy if I liked to not have money:

this top 

 this skirt:

Also on my list:
A sewing machine [my one experience with sewing was a catastrophe, but I totally want to try again.]
Ribbon, beads, buttons, tulle...basically any materials for making bows. It's my new favorite hobby.
Cozy pajamas.
A little steamer--I'm really bad at ironing and I think its about time I own a steamer.
Luggage--really cute in bold colors so it stands out at the airport




Okay, this post is getting crazy long and I hear that my boy has just woken up from his nap, so I'm done for now. If I come up with something else, I'll be sure to add it.








What do you want for Christmas?

Chula Vista

We went to Chula Vista in the Dells for a couple days this week. The Dells are only a couple hours from us, but we were SO happy that J, C, N, & M decided to drive manymany more miles to come with us. All of the kids except N were too young to enjoy a water park, but we managed to have fun anyway. I thought Gideon would at least enjoy sitting in the water and splashing a little bit, because he enjoys bathtime, but I guess I was wrong! Here is how Gideon felt:

It actually wasn't that bad the whole time...but poor guy. Hopefully he likes the water better in January! He really did enjoy playing with his big cousins, though...see:

And my girly-girl enjoyed playing with my mascara and practicing standing:

Oh, and staring at things:

And doesn't this just make you think of the Princess and the Pea? Seriously, she is all girl [even though she is wearing boy pajamas]...

And one last photo that I hope can make you laugh...

Fabulous gift idea plus a GIVEAWAY!

I've always kind of been interested in doing giveaways on my blog, but I've been too lazy to write to companies to get their products. Well, this giveaway comes from my own pocket, because it's something I believe in!

Facebook is a great thing. I've reconnected with many long lost friends. One of those friends of mine is adopting a child from Ethiopia! As you know, I am a big fan of adoption. She has an etsy shop to help raise money. [check it out here.] She is selling darling leggings and the sweetest hooded towels. See:

Great ideas for the little ones on your Christmas list! Please consider purchasing something from her shop!

To help spread the word, I'm going to buy one of those pairs of leggings for one lucky reader. And since I have like two people that read this blog, you have a GOOD CHANCE of winning! Here's how you do it:

1. Go check out her etsy shop.
2. Write a comment on my blog telling me who you'd like to give your leggings to [your child? niece? neighbor?] and which pair is your favorite.
3. You have until 12:01am CST on Saturday, December 4 to enter.

That's it!

Want an extra entry? Just share a link to her etsy shop on your facebook page. Then post a seperate comment on this post telling me that you shared it on facebook [and I'll trust you!].

Thanksgiving pictures

 Krista and Mychal did a LOT of work in the kitchen (thanks guys!)

 Gideon loved spending time with Uncle Pete...here he is mesmerized by the computer.

 I tried to teach him the chicken dance.

 Turkey. [Yes, that's intentionally left open for interpretation] 

Gideon LOVES puppies. He enjoyed Bailey and all of her kisses.

Two Under One: I knew this day would come....

I knew this day would come, but I didn't expect it so soon.

This story begins rather grossly: Stella has been having problems with blowouts lately. Yuck. We thought she just needed a bigger size diaper. But she started wearing twos yesterday, and it turns out that wasn't the solution. This morning, I was taking a nap [THANK YOU HUSBAND], and Stella had an incident. Gideon also happened to be taking a nap and Ole didn't want to go in their room to get a change of clothes for her, and her spare outfit in the diaper bag hadn't been replaced yet [I told you, lots of blowouts], so he took Gideon's spare onesie out of the diaper bag and put Stella in it.

It fit.

I knew there was a good chance they'd be wearing the same size or Stella would pass Gideon in size, but my little three-month-old? Oh dear.

Anyway, here is photographic proof.  Gideon and Stella are wearing the same style, brand, and size [9 mo.] onsie. The only difference is the color.

Oh yes.

Gideon takes steps. I'm not a very good videographer. Proof of both right here.

Update

I really enjoyed Carolyn's update post, so I am going to copy it. Here's what's up with my babies.

Gideon is three days shy of ten months. He is busy getting into discovering everything! He crawls everywhere and enjoys pulling himself up on the furniture and cruising. Yesterday he took four or five unassisted steps: he had pulled himself up on the rocker and wanted to get to the crib, so he just let go and went for it. [oh.dear.] He loves to eat and can easily handle anything that doesn't require teeth. He can drink from a sippy cup or a cup with a straw [or a regular cup, but that gets pretty wet]. He's a great sleeper except when Stella's bugging him. He loves books. He loves chasing the dog. He enjoys having 'clicking conversations' with you: he makes a clucking noise with his mouth, you make the same noise [or any noise], he clucks back, etc. I'm trying to teach him to clap and wave and blow kisses, but he's not interested in any of that. People generally comment on his amazing blue eyes [they are pretty great], or how well behaved he is. Things he's good at that surprise me include: wearing hats, getting his ears cleaned [he especially loves this], and getting his nails clipped. He's not very good at getting his diaper changed and I often end up with a butt-naked baby crawling halfway accross the room. Oh, how I love him.

Stella is three months and four days old. I love this age! So much happens [much too quickly]. She is now smiling all the time, she can bear some weight on her legs, and she's just beginning to laugh. Sometimes she sleeps through the night [yesterday she slept from 9-7 with just a little fussing around 5], and sometimes she doesn't [two nights ago I wanted to cry. wait, i did cry.]. She's starting to reach for things, but hasn't found much success yet. I love that I can carry her with one arm without worrying that her head is going to fall off. She likes her swing, her mobile, and her momma's face. She eats four times a day, sometimes a tiny bit at night. She's not a pacifier lover like Gideon was, but she's really great at sucking on her fist. She's wonderful!

I enjoy watching them grow. They are pretty interested in each other, but I keep them separated for the most part. I'm kind of nervous about what Gideon will do [once he smacked her in the face. hard.]. Sometimes Gideon tries to click at her, and he's always trying to grab at her. This stage of life is crazy! Crazy and fun.

No Big Deal

If you know anything about how to be a trendy mom, then you know that you are supposed to put a big, honkin' bow on your daughter. I once saw a onsie that read, "the bigger the bow, the better the mom." Well, Stella didn't have any big bows, so what did I do? I made one. See:

I got a bunch of pink ribon and went to town. Then I stuck it on a headband:

I know it's not perfect, but I'm so proud that I made the thing. Go me.