A single photo. No words. Capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. – Joining Soulemama. Happy Friday!
A Day in The City
If there was ever a place to feel truly like an American, the glorious city of Boston is that place. Every time I visit I love exploring this fantastic town. I feel like I’ve gone back in time with all the old, historical buildings and churches and I always wonder what the founding fathers (and mothers) would think of this bustling city now?
Today was Ellie’s first visit to the city of Boston. She took her first train ride into the city, watching out the windows as the houses and trees zipped by. She made friends with fellow train riders, waving to people and cooing at them. She stayed close to Mama in the ergo when we first walked through the city. She took it all in instantly, looking around at the buses, lights, nosies and masses of people walking everywhere. We went to Fanuiel Hall and Quincy Market for pizza. Then we walked all the way back to Boston Common where we sat and ate and let Ellie crawl around on the grass. The weather was warm and breezy, perfect for discovering a city for the very first time. After lunch we walked around the Common, past the Frog pond where Jeff’s family had taken me iceskating years ago. We strolled through the botanical gardens and stood in line for the Swan Boats. A delightful ride around the lake, we saw ducks with their ducklings and swans resting in the shade. Then as Ellie began to yawn, we headed back to the train and made our way home to Nana and Papa’s house for an afternoon nap. An exciting first trip to city for one little girl.
Eloise’s Monthly Photo: 10 Months!
This picture says it all! The other pictures were just as busy (this was the only one that was somewhat in focus)! You are busy little one and keeping Mama and Daddy on their toes! You love crawling all over the place and exploring. You are enjoying things that once you were afraid of (the bath, the sand, the grass). You are talkative and making all sorts of sounds. You are eating more and more solid food but still prefer Mama’s milk. You are the most wonderful, tiring, little thing in the world! Love you my silly, sweet ten month old baby girl!
xoxo, Mama
Weekending!
After a beautiful, sunny Friday at the park, we thought for sure the weekend would be one of the warm, summery kind… we were mistaken. The fog rolled in and it was here to stay. We also had a little sick dog on our hands for the beginning of the weekend. Nothing starts a saturday morning quite like waking up to dog throw up ALL OVER your bedroom carpet. We’re not quite sure what Charlotte got into but she definitely got it all out. Jeff had to bring our poor girl into the vet first thing because she started breathing funny and shaking after all the throwing up but after getting rehydrated and given anti-nausea meds, she was quickly back to her silly frenchie self.
I finally got my hair cut this weekend. It has been over two years since I had it cut and it was time. I was hoping to donate it to locks of love but surprisingly didn’t have enough usable length. So I kept the cut simple and still longish (Jeff likes it long). It’s much easier to handle now, fresh and almost looks darker to me for some reason.
The rest of the weekend was low key. I finished a special softie for a good friend’s baby shower, spiffed it up with a handmade card, bought her one of these and tied the whole present up with a bow. We took naps, practiced our standing skills, had more tea (banana for Ellie) and I even put on socks it was so darn cold this weekend! We’re packing for our trip to Boston. We leave on Tuesday so I may be absent from this space for a bit. How was your weekend?
*that adorable chicken bib on Ellie is courtesy of this lovely lady.
*Joining Amanda for Weekending!
Portrait Project
22/52
eloise: it’s neat to watch you with bigger kids. You got to play with your cousins (my very young, first cousins) and I loved watching the engaged, interested way you interacted with them. And again at the park with a little girl this week; you were rolling your ball to her and following her around on all fours. It’s a whole new realm now, you are growing into a social little girl and I can already see you want to get out into the world, meet people and play away!
*joining jodi for the lovely 52 project!
My favorites from last week : I loved this magical shot. This sweet girl and her freckles. And what a cute snail!
{this moment}
“A single photo. Capturing a moment from the week, a simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.” – joining soulemama this Friday! Have a great weekend!
Making + Listening : Birthday Edition
MAKING: Yesterday was Jeff’s birthday. Being that it was a Wednesday workday, the day was pretty much like every other but I hoped we made it a little more special with some presents (primarily beer/brew books for my brewer husband) and some homemade goodies as well.
Beer books, beer t-shirt, a framed picture of Daddy with his little girl for his home office and a little something I whipped up- an embroidered (freehand) Hop plant.
I’m also going to include the cake I made for Jeff’s birthday. I was so excited about it because it was a Chocolate Beer Cake and I spent the night before and the morning of working my butt off to make it with a little girl tugging at my heels the whole time. It was an adorable cake but looks can unfortunatly be deceiving. I’m not sure where I went wrong but let’s just say we only had one piece. Tomorrow I plan to stick to what I know best and make it up to him with some chocolate chip cookies.
At least he got a good wish out of the cake!
As for LISTENING: Of course we have sung Happy Birthday a few times to dear old Dad this week but other than that we’ve been rotating between that Steve Martin c.d., some Sinatra and a bit of Elizabeth Mitchell while we play and fold laundry.
*joining Dawn with Making and Listening.
Around Town: Botanical Gardens
We took a little hike the other day to check out the newly opened Ventura Botanical Gardens. Right now it’s mostly California shrubbery and wildflowers but the city has major plans for a full Botanical Garden that will include many different walking trails and different flora throughout. The views from this hike are lovely and although the trail was rather crowded with families and their dogs, it was nice to see so many people out enjoying the outdoors and the trail still seemed rather quiet and peaceful.
There were some beautiful little wildflowers hidden and scattered throughout the trail. We came across a honeycomb from a bee hive that was strewn out along the trail. It was a neat site to see and photograph. Ellie didn’t seem to enjoy the hike as much as we would have liked her to. Half way down the trail she was done and let us know. We hope as she gets older she will enjoy taking these little hikes with us. I know we enjoy being outside in the California open.
The Tao of Cloth
I’ve been asked by many people if cloth diapering is hard? Doesn’t it take up so much time? Aren’t you always doing laundry? I am doing laundry a lot these days, but cloth diapering has become so second nature I don’t notice the extra load any more. In fact, it’s a routine I rather enjoy. I hear that a lot from my cloth diapering Mama friends too. It’s not like regular laundry. It’s laundry that becomes almost like a meditation. There is a rhythm to washing your little ones diapers that brings a quiet serenity. Every other day I wash the diapers, carefully pulling covers from the wash and drying many of the inserts. I take the wet covers outside with me and hang each one carefully on the line, making sure the sun shines the stains out. It’s here that I feel the warmth of the mid-morning sun. I take an extra long breath and smile at the colorful banner I’ve just created, spread across the yard. Ellie helps me now. She sits in the grass and pulls out the diapers one by one and waves them in the air proudly. She likes standing up, hanging onto the laundry basket. The moment is hers too.
The line drying is only the beginning of the cloth ritual. When the diapers are dry and fluffy we shuttle them inside and begin the process of stuffing them or putting them together, preparing them for the day. Inserts are put in piles according to the type of diaper they belong to. Velcro is inspected for fuzz and each diaper is lovingly put together again, all ready for my baby girl to wear. Nice and clean, soft and fluffy. There’s something soothing and comforting about this ritual. A chore with repetitive meditative properties. I smile to myself as I place each finished, put together diaper in the basket. This task is done and my heart and soul are lighter as I scoop my little girl up in my arms and kiss her, patting that soft padded, cloth diapered bum… we’re ready to take on the day.
Weekending!
A weekend consisting mostly of gardening, laundry, playing at home, visiting the farmers market and all of the other regular weekend chores. Sunday however, was spent at my Grandmother’s house in Los Angeles celebrating my Uncle’s birthday. My Grandma was kind enough to add Jeff’s upcoming birthday in the festivities as well. Besides the horrible traffic we had to endure on our trip back home, it was a fun-filled day of family and too much sugar. The best part is, there’s still one more day of weekend to be had! Happy Memorial Day!
*joining Amanda at The Habit.
summerplayshouse 