Animal Ears, Ham Sandwiches & So Much More...

Well well well, look who's back!

I've been meaning to to post something for about a week but finding spare time these days is harder than it seems. Where to begin... Well Mabel got a new coat for winter and I am in love with it! I normally am not a fan of leopard print on babies but this is so snugly and I figure the ears take it down a few notches. Sam asked, "why does everything we buy her have to have animal ears of some sort?" Yes, I admit I am a sucker for all things with ears. Not that she needs it, but I think it takes her cuteness and kicks it up a little?

Mabel is walking and I can't believe it. When it took her 10 months to crawl I convinced myself that I wouldn't be chasing her around until well after 12 months, but sister is moving! She gets faster everyday. Her balance is also improving by the minute. I love the way she walks, she looks like she is doing an impression of Frankenstein.

She is all over the place. She has discovered so many new things. Her new fav destination is the guest bathroom. Did you know you can unravel a whole role of toilet paper in under a minute?

She's even becoming more self sufficient. Here she is making herself a snack before bed.



Ham sandwich anyone?



I love when we are hanging out and she decides to leave the room on a whim then 2 seconds later she will pop back in and say "hi!" as if she hasn't seen me in 3 weeks.

She would be the best Walmart greeter around. "Hi" is her new favorite word. Everywhere we take her she has to make sure she says "hi" to everyone she sees, at least 10 times, or until they stop to gush over what a cute baby she is.



Where's your nose?

Digging through the bins and bins of clothes I have for Mabel, I found this sweater that my Mom gave me over Easter. It used to be my brother Josh's and was handmade by someone (my mom couldn't remember who). Anyone who knows me can attest, I love vintage. It's all over our house and in our closets. Sure you can find cute new clothes for babies, with ears and all, but something with a little history just seems so much sweeter.

Speaking of sweet...How cute are these two in their matching outfits?

 Jayden came to spend the day with Mabel and I. Mabel loves Jayden, she gets so excited watching her do, whatever it is, big kids do.

We're back to fall like weather here in Sedona, we haven't seen snow for a week or so. We went to the park Monday afternoon for some quality time on the swings and with each other.

                                      

Shadow Family! You can even see my bump :)



I love the way Sam carries Mabel. Just so casual and cool.



Runaway Baby.

We're happy to report all things are good with little brother to be. I'm feeling fantastic and plump.

So now here we are getting ready for the holidays. Mabel and I have been logging some serious shopping hours this past week. Spirits are high and we're ready for all to come, no stressing here!

Only Snuggles :) Have a good weekend everyone!

Snow on a Cactus and Appreciating the Small Stuff

One of the complaints I've had about Sedona is the weather. For the past couple of months I've been pining for a Fall. It had seemed to me that everyone else in the entire country was wearing their sweaters, raking their leaves, and eating chilli while we were still enduring 85 degree weather. Maybe my internal clock is not quite used to the timing of the seasons here, I don't know? So about 1 week ago we finally got some soup weather, if you know what I mean. Now here we are freezing our tushies off  and waking up to white outs!



Mabel was intrigued by the snow but also wondering when her teeth would stop chattering.



Have you ever seen snow on a cactus?

         Unlike most families, our weekends don't start until Sunday and boy do we love our Sundays! Daddy gets to stay home all day instead of running off to work after his ritual diaper change and morning bottle with Mabes. We get to do things like stay in our jammies until noon and make pancakes. It's the best.


                
I love having breakfast, or any meal for that matter, with my family. Sam and I have always been really into food so now that Mabel can join us at the table, meals are even better. When Sam makes pancakes, Mabel gets special mini pancakes which she loves. We always give her her own food on her tray but she would rather eat from our plates, even though it's the same thing. I think she wants to make sure she is not missing out anything. She even wants to drink from our glasses as opposed to her sippy cup. She recently discovered Daddy's orange juice and compared to her water, it's the bee's knees.

Mabel's hat in this picture is her new favorite, and mine too.

She loves the attention she gets when she wears it.

I love, love, love when Mabel is overly tired and super snuggly. Our house was so cold, there was not much more we could do.

We started a fire in our fireplace for the first time. We were a little nervous about how it would go so we called the fire department for some pointers. They sent 3 firemen in the fire truck over to take a look at things which Mabel loved, and I didn't mind either. God Bless Firemen!

 Sam got it up and running and we enjoyed bowls of spicy chilli  by the fire, just being snuggly.

Mabel loves her Daddy :)

At this point in our lives, our days are simple. Other than nap schedules, meals, and diaper changes we don't do a whole lot. I really cherish these times because I know that in the future the days we spend as a family by the fire in our living room will be few and far between. If we are like most families, pretty soon playdates, birthday parties, band practices, etc. will fill our weekends up.

My favorite time a day in our house is night time before bed. After dinner we give Mabel a bath and get into jammies then we play in her room for about a half of an hour. On weekdays we time it perfectly so this happens right when Daddy gets home from work. When Mabel plays in her room this really means reading book after book after book. She is such a little book worm. I could sit and watch her flip through the pages and point to pictures for hours. She nods her head and spouts off words (baby words) with each page. I'm certain that she understands the idea of a story. She gets excited and even sad sometimes.

Last night during playtime, Sam and I got into a conversation about how we are always wanting or needing something. I don't know how many times a day I start a sentence with, " You know what we need in here" or "We need a new..." We started an inventory of all the things we do have and how lucky we actually are. When we were finished we realized that we have more than we need and were a little ashamed of ourselves. Why is it that we are constantly wanting more and is anyone ever completely satisfied? We are so material driven sometimes I think it's easy to forget about the things that are actually most valuable like our health or a warm bed at night. The reality is that a kitchen aid mixer will not make me happier nor will a bigger TV with an NFL package make Sam. We made a pact to help each other try and cut back on the complaining in hopes that we can appreciate more, the many blessings we do have. Sure I have those moments where everything is perfect and I feel like the luckiest woman in the world like for instance when Mabel falls asleep on my shoulder after a baba or pancake breakfasts on Sundays. Our goal here is to carry that feeling with us all the time, and not to sweat the small stuff, as they say, but to really appreciate the small stuff.

For it is the small stuff that makes us truly HAPPY!!



Mabel's First Halloween

Halloween was a blast this year! It's definitely a holiday for the kids. Sam and I had so much fun doing all things spooky with our little Mabel or should I say our little pig.

We carved pumpkins the night before while listening to "Thriller" and my personal favorite "The Monster Mash". Mabel was pretty serious about carving her pumkins and really enjoyed eating all the guts of the pumkins.

Halloween night, after getting dressed up, we stopped by the neighbors for some pazole before heading out to trick-or-treat. Mabel loved seeing all the other kids dressed up in costume and she definitely loved all the attention she was getting from everyone. I don't think Sam minded all the attention he was getting either! I have to say my farmer and his little pig were quite darling.

Our Family Halloween 2011