Oh-Bla-Di

At the beginning of March, Matt called me at work one day (totally out of the blue) and said, “Want to go to the beach?  Let’s go to San Diego.  I’m online booking it now.” So, in early April, we went!  We stayed at the awesome Navy North Island NAS in some of the nicest TLFs we’ve ever visited.  I suppose, really, the rooms weren’t anything truly luxurious (and we were in the old building) but we weren’t there for the hotel room.  We were there for this…

See that ship?  It was waaaay out there.  It’s a BIG ship.

From our room, we walked across a lawn and then hit the beach…leading straight to the Pacific Ocean.

Needless to say, we absolutely loved it.  The weather wasn’t the most cooperative (we were freezing!) but that didn’t stop us from getting some play time in with the waves and digging up as much sand as possible.  This was Noah’s first trip to a beach and Ava’s first that she would really remember, so it was a highly exciting time!

Chasing waves.

Bundled up because he face-planted in the (cold) water.

“Ladybug Girl LOVES the beach!”

Sand!!

Each day we were there, we spent a couple hours just wandering the beach or going to check on the waves.  These kiddos are definitely water lovers, so it did take a little effort to keep them from just running straight into the water.  But, if we stayed back from the tide line, they were just as happy to play in the sand and make a total mess.

Nothing says “Day at the Beach” like winter coats and sweatpants, right?

Like I said, they enjoyed getting messy.  Ahh…sand in fleece.  That’s so easy to shake out!

This guy loves the beach.

So does this girl.

A great start to a wonderful adventure.  More from San Diego soon!

We had a very busy Easter weekend with three egg hunts, church and a picnic.  We had a lot of fun, though, so all the busyness ended up being worth it.

The weekend started with the annual AF Family picnic and egg hunt in the park.  We missed last year’s since we were in San Antonio, so we were excited to get to join in the fun this time.  Photos from the first year are here and the second year are here. The picnic is a potluck adventure, so it’s super easy for everyone to participate.  We’re grateful to the Hoffmans for always getting it organized! After lunch, the kiddos do an egg hunt but, before we turn them loose, they all have to smile pretty for the camera.  This is always hysterical to watch – when you turn around and look at the adults acting like fools trying to get all the kids to stay still, together, and happy.

But, once the paparazzi gets its fill, then it’s off to the races to find those eggs and eat that candy!

After we got home from the picnic and everyone slept off our sugar crash, it was time to color some Easter eggs.  Ava is still quite a color mix-master and Noah even got in on the action a bit this year.  (Excuse the semi-nude babies.  We weren’t interested in dying clothes, so this was easier than micromanaging.)

Since all the prep was done the day before, Easter morning dawned with a visit from the Easter bunny and a mini-egg hunt at home in the backyard.

Waiting patiently for the camera lady to be ready to document their trip downstairs in the morning.  

Found one!

We headed for church a little early on Easter because we wanted to do a little photo shoot with Noah.  We took about 300 frames and I think we got one shot for the wall.  Still have to sort that out.  But, while we were all dressed up with a green background, we grabbed a couple family shots as well.

Obviously everyone was thrilled with that idea.

What we were all thrilled with was the (third!) egg hunt of the weekend.  And, wow, does St. Christopher’s know how to do an egg hunt.  There were easily 200 eggs for the kiddos to find.  Our own two came home with enough plastic eggs to last a lifetime.

The kiddos last year on Easter.

All in all, it was a joyful weekend full of family, friends, and renewed faith.  It was extra special that, this year, Ava understood the real meaning of Easter and celebrated that with as much enthusiasm as she gave the candy.  Surely, she’s setting a fantastic example for Noah, who watches her every move. As the Easter season continues, we celebrate new beginnings and familiar tradition.  Happy Spring!

For some reason, I got a bee in my bonnet about making the kids Waldorf Dolls.  Since there’s nothing in the world that I hate more than bees, I had to get that thing out of my bonnet.  Therefore, I proceeded with all haste to acquire supplies for these incredibly intimidating things and get to work.  Of course, with Valentine’s Day only a couple of weeks away from my original urge to create, I put into place a completely unnecessary and extreme timeline for getting them done.  Plus, I hate having projects hanging over my head (or buzzing near my ears) so Valentine gifts were as good a motivator as anything.

Having no idea where to begin, I turned to the internets.  Via Pinterest (pin 1, 2, & 3), I determined that I could make this happen.  But, then, thanks again to the internet, I found that it’s absolutely impossible to buy products in stores anymore.  I did manage to find a source for wool bat (bizzaro sheets of carded wool that I’d never heard of before) locally, but had to order a kit for the other stuff from a Waldorf doll supply store online.  That was ok, though, because I traced the sewn doll body I received and now I have a pattern!

Anyway, the hardest part about making these dolls is the head.  So, after dinner on the day my stuff arrived, I got started.  I followed a couple of great tutorials online, so the internet and I became friends again in spite of the way it had demolished craft supply stores.

Once you’re done rolling and stuffing and stitching, the head looks something like this.

Since I had purchased pre-sewn bodies, all of the sewing I did on these dolls was by hand.  So, after some more stuffing and stitching, I ended up with a nakey, bald Waldorf baby looking like this:

Of course, that’s when the Facebook comments about voodoo dolls started rolling in.  Not one to be deterred, I moved on to the next most intimidating part of this project, the hair! I found a couple of great tutorials online and used two different ones – one for the boy’s hair and one for the girl’s.  Without a doubt, the tutorial for the boy’s hair was better and it’s the one I’ll use if I ever make another doll (even if it did take me four hours to complete).  Noah’s doll’s hair is about fifteen kinds of awesome whereas Ava’s often suffers from a “balding baby” look.  Noah’s doll turned out better overall, but I spent longer on it and was more careful since I did it first.  I also ended up having to make the dolls’ clothes because I couldn’t find any simple clothing for dolls this size to buy.  So, the dolls and kids all got new pajama pants to wear, which was a fun exercise anyway (Noah got three new pairs!).  I still need some practice and they’re not perfect, but these were fun to make.

10 days after I started working on them, it was time for these little friends to be gifted to their new owners!

Big sister got in the way and it’s blurry, but that’s the sweetest baby boy hug ever for his new buddy.

And, here they are all dressed to match!

Neither doll has a name really (Ava calls hers “Ava” and Noah calls his “Baby”) but both get lots of love.  Noah’s baby comes in the van every day to school and Ava sleeps with hers every night.

I’m so glad I got to make them something to love and pick up some new skills in the process.  These dolls are proof that you don’t have to be perfect to be well-loved!

Shocking as it is, Noah celebrated his un-birthday last week. It’s so hard to believe that we’ve gotten to get to know this little dude for a whole year and a half, but there it is…the calendar doesn’t lie. In honor of the eighteen months of Doozers’s life, here’s a list of eighteen things about him!

1. Noah likes to learn how things work. He likes to make blocks stack, put things together, generally inspect items to figure out what makes them go. He’s probably his father’s child.

2. Dude understands that most often, to make things go, he needs help. He’s not afraid to ask for it. Noah doesn’t have all the words he needs, but communicates pretty well with gestures and an earnest look.

3. Speaking of words, Noah says: milk, cup, shoes, trains, “I did it!,” please, “woof, woof,” meow, duck, sit, yes, no, socks, baby, bath, and dance. He also has specific gestures or sounds for airplane, helicopter, water (says “milk” while doing the sign for water), please, eat, all done, hi, and bye. Maybe there are more that they get at school, but these are the ones we can rely on at home.

4. Loves trains. He wakes up in the morning asking about his trains and goes to bed at night saying “whoooo, whooo.” The child is obsessed.

5. Thanks to his obsession with trains, we have finally succumbed to character toys in our house. We had held out against buying any toy that was a licensed character (the kids have received some as gifts, but we haven’t purchased), but have finally given in to Thomas trains. The trains Doozers got for Christmas are great, but they don’t connect by magnets, so he can’t take them apart and put them together himself. How were we to know that the taking/putting was the very best part? So, Thomas trains it is. At least the wooden Thomas trains fit the track we already have from the Plan Toys set.

6. Noah has three favorite books. They are “Chugga-Chugga-Choo-Choo,” “Planes,” and “Hello, Day.” If he has a willing reader, he’ll happily sit through these three over and over and over again.

7. We finally had to remove the plasma car from the house due to Noah’s daredevil antics aboard it. He could turn corners at inhuman speeds and I was constantly terrified he was going to break his nugget on the tile. I’m sure he misses it, but I know my furniture and walls are glad for the break from the pounding.

8. Other favorite toys these days are matchbox cars, larger cars, die-cast airplanes, trains, trains, and trains. Noticing a theme? I promise, the kid has access to plenty of other stuff, but he’s in love with “things that go.”

9. Our boy still really likes his music. Since the great playroom reorg of 2011 (post-Christmas clean out), the boom box is more available for use in that room. As I mentioned in #2, he’s been known to come find us, indicate that we follow, and then go bang on the boom box until we turn the music on. After that, it’s all booty-shakin’ until the CD is done.

10. Although he’s become more demanding and more opinionated as he’s gotten older, Noah is still an incredibly good sport. He’ll go along with just about anything if he thinks it means that Ava is going to play with him.

11. I’ll admit that the draw to the above pictured game (which was hula dancing a la Lilo & Stitch) was probably the nakedness involved. He LOVES to run around in nothing but a diaper.

12. Speaking of running, I find that I’m shocked that he can. Since I last updated about him, at which point “running” meant a fast walk with an even faster left arm, he’s really hit his stride. Also, he’s really super fast.

13. Dude uses his speed to his advantage to scare the crap out of us. He really gets around and, apparently, has absolutely no fear of high places or concussions. He falls a lot and seems to lead with his head. No matter how cautious we are, his face always seems to show the signs of his most recent toddler moment.

14. Speaking of scaring the crap out of us, Noah also likes to hide. The whole “two kids” thing can sometimes mean that we let him wander alone in presumed “safe” spaces. But, then when we go looking for him in a few minutes, he’s nowhere to be found. He’s decided it’s pretty funny to get behind a door or just around a corner and stay absolutely silent. While I was gone to Kentucky for a conference, Matt found him hiding in our closet after searching for ten minutes. Sneaky little dude.

Who? Me?

15. Doozers makes great animal noises. He can do “moo,” “cock-a-doodle-doo,” “woof, woof,” “quack” and “meow.” Meow is my favorite because he always tilts his head all the way to the right and uses his whole face to say it. Hilarious (and very cute).

16. Still loves Pocoyo. It’s a cartoon short that comes on after Peep and the Big Wide World, and he recognizes the National Science Foundation ad that runs in between the two. When that ad plays, he drops everything he’s doing (even trains!) and comes running to sit and watch Pocoyo. Seven straight up minutes of happy.

17. Has discovered Little Einsteins! Noah asks specifically to watch these shows by pointing to the TV, saying “Sit,” and then “Pat, pat, pat!” Honestly, the kids only get maybe half an hour of TV an evening, but he sure loves it!

18. Noah still gives great hugs and kisses. Even though we sometimes feel challenged by his determination and strong opinions, Noah is still a very sweet boy. He’s very affectionate and gentle most of the time (just don’t take his stuff ).

Love you, baby boy. Thanks for letting us watch you grow up!

ETA: At his 18 month appointment Noah’s stats were 24 lbs, 2 oz & 33 inches.  Growing boy!

I’m not sure that I’ve been able to find anything that makes our kids happier than running around nearly nude.  Ava asks every single night if she can run around with no pants and Noah has been known to walk around tugging on his clothes trying to get rid of them.  Usually, we make them keep their clothes on (those tile floors are cold!) but, on nights when it’s still too long until bedtime and the TV isn’t an option, nudity is where it’s at.

Their favorite game to play is “chase” which just means that they run around screaming like crazy people.  The only reason this is acceptable is that it’s the happy kind of laughing screaming rather than the “I want something now” kind of screaming.  I’ll take loud and happy over loud and cranky any day – either way, it’s all just loud.

Strangely enough, the other fun game to play when running around in one’s underwear is dress up.  Anyone remember this?  Well, apparently, the Michael Phelps look is genetic.

If Noah had more words, I’m sure he’d be saying, “Silly parents, clothes are for grown ups.”