Stella on the Move

Stella is scooting into all kinds of mischief these days. She hasn't mastered crawling yet, although we see lots of signs that it is coming soon. Mostly, she is pushing herself around backwards on her bum. This isn't her favorite means of transport because it takes her further away from what she wants. I'm doing my best to try and leave her be in some of these sticky predicaments so she'd be motivated to crawl...but what can I say...I'm a big softie...

Stella loves babydolls, esp. poking at their eyes. I love the progress of sweetness in these photos to all out eye jabbing! BUSTED! Keep all real babies at a safe distance please!

Here's Stellie contemplating life's great mysteries, like where are my sisters and why aren't they playing with me...

The before and after of her first mouthful of grass! : )

Working on mobility with a little encouragement from her sisters!

Stella is SUCH a sweet little girl. She's growing so fast and in less than a month will celebrate her first birthday. She brings us all so much JOY! She is in love with her sisters and they with her. I can't wait to see the dynamics once she is truly mobile and can really get into their stuff!

The "Before" of the NEW HOUSE

Here are the "before" photos of the new rental house we are moving into in two weeks. TONS has changed already, and I've got big plans once we are actually inside of it!!! We got lots of latitude to improve/update the inside. These photos are filled with paneling and a house stuck in the not so cute past, but in a few short weeks this house isn't going to recognize itself. Stay tuned for the "after" pictures!

The yummy master bath...which will probably be the girls' bathroom. I'm more interested in the double sink main bath at the other end of the hall (can't wait to have my own sink!).

Don't you just love all the paneling - don't worry - for the most part now it has been removed. As we speak, beautiful wood floors are being installed and all of the walls have been given a fresh coat of paint.

Bottom right - the part I'm most excited about in this house - THE LAUNDRY ROOM! Yes, a whole room - so my delicates won't be air drying right next to my toaster and my sticky handed children!!!! I'm even going to sneak a daybed at the end for extra sleeping (or for a rowdy toddler who won't nap and wants to wake up her sister...). You are only seeing half of the laundry room, the other half is going to be a fabulous mudroom/landing spot for shoes and coats. I have an awesome 1960's 3-seater bench at the reupholster for this very spot!

Oh My...it is June

How is it possible that it has been nearly TWO MONTHS since I've blogged! No wonder I've been getting concerned emails and pleas for updates...okay just a few...don't want you to think we are THAT popular.

I present my excuses for being delinquent:

1.) About a month ago, we discovered we'd be moving to a different rental house. This kicked off a whole new period of obsessing over new decor, possible furniture arrangements, selling current furniture on Craigslist, buying new furniture on CL (changing style all together for new house...), etc.

2.) I have been SLAMMED with graphic design jobs. I've had 8 design projects in the last 60 days. Normally I have about 1-2 a month, but lately I've been hopping with extra work. This is fun for me - but also sucks up all my extra free time (to prove my point, I just got two calls while writing this sentance regarding corrections to two of the eight projects)!

3.) Stella has been a runny nose, teething mess! She is still as sweet as can be, but wants me closer than close.

4.) It's WARM so we've been outside, on walks, to parks, with friends ALOT - leaving not as much time home in front of the computer!

Okay, so now that I've plead my case, here's the back log of photos from the last two months!!!

Stellie Bellie & Sisters

The sweetest little girl in the world has decided she will only eat pears - by the pound. She's developed clever methods of extracting otherwise unwanted (food other than pears) nutritious bits from her mouth. She clamps her lips closed, she spits it out and recoils for effect, she picks it out with her fingers, she feeds it to dogs or toddlers (whoever is quickest), and then she throws the rest on the floor. But if she sees a pear out of the corner of her eye - perhaps on the cutting board near her highchair - she starts indicating her preference with a steely gaze of determination! Someday she'll eat something else right?

My dad used to sing to me, "Every party needs a pooper, that's why we invited you...party pooper...party pooper..." We had a wonderful birthday lunch with the girls at Red Robin. I wanted to get a b-day picture outside and clearly Addie was not in the mood...I could hear my dad singing. I actually think the picts are quite funny! : )

On the left you will see Stella's alter ego...

Some random pictures from around the house - including two of the bottom ones where A&M dumped a pile of books in Stella's crib and sat there reading until I discovered them. They thought they were so naughty! Silly girls!

Now that the weather is nice we spend TONS of time outside in our backyard. It's a happy end to everybody's day. Although Alex would prefer the girls stop throwing things over the fence for him to fetch...

Tried Stella's sun hat on to see if it fit - she thought it would do. : )

Addie & Mina's 3rd Birthday Eggstravaganza

Here are the girls on their big day! We can't believe they are three already. They had a great time on their big day and kept saying, "It's MY birthday!" It is fun to be to an age where they actually get and can verbalize that it is a special day.

We tried to keep the food simple to minimize the crazy. PB & J sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, Annie's bunny crackers, strawberries, cupcakes, and rice krispie treats. Even with that simplicity, we were boiling eggs like mad, slapping on PB & J, and dunking newly frosted cupcakes into a vat of jelly beans just minutes before guests were arriving.

This was the BEST part! The kids were so excited!!! Due to some advice I had read online about an Easter theme birthday party, I assigned each kid a color of egg (and also wrote their name on that color) so all the kids would have a chance to find quite a few eggs. Thankfully, we also had a beautiful day - hunting with 16 children in our 1500 sq. ft. house would have been...madness!

The girls LOVED all their presents and were so excited to see what was in each brightly wrapped package. We've been playing new games, stamping, coloring, and keeping busy with their new acquisitions. These nightgowns were also one of their presents...they've been very popular...we've worn them every night...they need a wash!

Stella enjoyed all the extra holding and attention she received from her godparents and grandma. She could barely each lunch since there were so many busy bodies to watch running around!

Thanks so much to my friend, Angie, who took this picture of me and the girls. You always forget in the moment to take enough pictures. She sent me several of the ones you see on this post!

I LOVE this photo - I think I'm going to get it framed. This must be as we were announcing the Easter Egg Hunt. Jasmine was making a beeline for the gate so she didn't miss a minute of the action! : )