ira disappeared for a little while, when I found her she was quietly gluing together some craft sticks to make a frame.....





for this picture she found of us two years ago in detroit....

week in review

out to dinner with friends.....lots of dancing.....then hot cocoa.....





early morning performances by liv......






moving closer and closer to solstice........

books

we got a package with some books from the girls' great aunt! we nestled in and read last night....

Frosty the Snowman

Merry Christmas Mouse

William and The Christmas Moon

This is a really really cool shadow casting book!

A Magical Christmas

Fancy Nancy


then we dove into some library books.... it was that kind of night.

MINE! a backpack baby story

Butterfly House



The Grasshoper's Song

We had a lot of fun reading this book.... definitely a "to buy" book.

new WIP

what it is exactly? well that has yet to be determined..... i think a knitting bag for ME!

COOKIES!

the girls and i spent the day making all kinds of doughs... sugar, gingerbread, refrigerator, etc....






this was the creation of ira and jared.... so cute....

WIP: complete

i shared it here before i had decided where it would go/ how it would look......

it. is. done! it felt like it took forever!!!!

my lovely silly girl....

please ignore the poor quality of the iphone/moving child pics!!!!

drying herbs

letters to afghanistan

livs love of books....

and animals.....

mama i made you a present.....

"you love rainbows, right" she asks..... with extra excitement... when i tell her of course, she adds, "are you REALLY happy?" why, yes, i am.

"wanna watch scoooooooooby doooooo then?"

aha.

bribery. i've been boycotting scooby doo to avoid end of pregnancy insanity.... but when she sweetens the deal with RAINBOWS...... well... who could say no?

Work In Progress.....

a bright yellow/green wool skirt for ira....

scenes from our home.....

sister silly....

iras favourite new spot....

liv is a texter!

39 weeks 6 days

and in the still... we wait.....

Tree Trimming!

Ira wanted to decorate the tree all on her own, so I put on the lights with her helping and then she totally took over!

She did a great job! granted that MOST of the ornaments are on one particular area.... but she spread them out a bit afterwards.

Tree shopping!

Unfortunately, here in tucson, there arent large groves of trees and snow to go scouting in... so we just went to home depot- since there was a sale and all. It was freezing (for us) and starting to storm.... but Ira was NOT letting us rush her.

"daddy, put it down, we are NOT getting that one.... I'll choose"







live was quite content to hang out in the car- the walking in the cold through puddles- not her thing. I ended up having to carry her the whole way. Here she is happily back in the car while daddy loaded up the tree. (she is wearing the first hat I ever crocheted for ira last year!)

~My Sweet Girl~

I started this blog for so many reasons. Reasons I do not even think I understood at the time. When I had Liv, I was so worried that Ira would somehow feel lost in the shuffle, I was feeling like I had been slipping in the fun parent department because of all the demands a newborn makes on a family... I started to journal all that we were doing in an attempt to have documented proof of our full and rich lives to look at when the day ended and to quell the creeping self doubt.

Starting this blog has been the single most amazing thing to happen on my computer. I can look back and not only see that our lives our full, as if it were necessary- they feel FULL- but I can also look at our journey and see what an amazing effect the birth of liv has had on our family and on ira! Ira has so loved becoming a sister. She has gone from being my little baby... to being this 4.5 year old teacher of life. She teaches me so much about myself, my needs, my hang ups and fears.... she teaches me how to look at the world without the goggles given to me as a child.
She teaches liv things that only a child can really show a child. Like how to spin until you fall over, how to turn a coffee table into a fort and most recently- how to climb to the top of the solstice tree and snag candy canes when no one is looking.

last night, on accident, I sat on her foot while she was sleeping on the couch and woke her up. I said, "im sorry, ira. are you okay?" she said, "i'm fine. You didnt hurt me." I said, " I love you" and she responded with "I know you love me. I love you too. thanks mama" and she fell back asleep.

She knows.

And THAT, that is all I needed to know.


this is her taking, in her words "a moment of peace in the warm sun"

then continuing catalog shopping :)

~snow~

we drove into the mountains today to see some freshly fallen snow...we hadn't planned on it... we were really on our way to get some odds and ends at target. But when we saw the clouds... we just could NOT resist.

it was sooo cold!

so we got some hot cocoa...






and chilli.....

by the fire, it was really really fun....

winter storms brewing

finally bringing some rain our way!

randomness