my weekend in pictures.

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{After a very trying week, this sister love was exactly what I needed. Seriously, is there anything cuter?}

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{Lots of new products hit the Shop in the past few weeks, including cards and mini flags. I feel so behind, but better late than never I guess! And working to get out Christmas flags and cards out soon.}

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{Ah, this girl. The sweetest little bug!}

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{Family bath time. Being able to bathe the girls together is a game-changer and they both LOVE it!}

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{Saturday morning we had a PEPS play date, and this was the first time Daphne could really play with the big kids. She just started pulling up on the play kitchen (we have this same one) and she is so excited!}

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{Cooking with Aaron for Friendsgiving.}

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{Friendsgiving this year was filled with babies! This is the only photo I took so I think that is a good sign we had a good time. Thanks to the Andersons for hosting this year!}

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{In case you missed it on my Instagram and Facebook, Eloise the ballerina. She has ballet classes starting next month, so I got her tights and shoes which she, of course, had to try on. I am SO excited to see her as a ballerina!}

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{Sunday morning play time. Eloise is always so excited to see Daphne every morning. Love them!}

It’s been a crazy and trying week (I may delve into details at a later time, but for now, I am moving on!) but we had a pretty good weekend with these sweet girls of ours. We saw lots of friends and celebrated Friendsgiving! How was your weekend?

M

eloise {three-and-a-quarter years}

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{lion: jellycat via Nordstrom // top: Cat and Jack for Target // leggings: Cat and Jack for Target // socks: Cat and Jack for Target // watch: Timex}

{three-and-a-quarter years} Gosh, Eloise seems so much older than when she turned three just a few short months ago. Her communication and language skills are astounding. We are definitely dealing with some sass and some dreaded three-nager behavior, but Eloise is mostly just a sweet little one who is always skipping and singing a song. Aaron says “she always has a song in her heart” and it is SO true! She’s the master of mash-ups (like old-school Glee) and mixes up songs.

We still have bedtime meltdowns, but it comes in waves and is mostly manageable. The girls have staggered bedtimes now, with Daphne going down earlier, which I think helps. Then the focus is on Eloise. There is a pretty good routine regarding the things that need to be done (teeth and hair brushed, potty, jammies, two stories) but the order is up to Eloise for the most part. We also use her stories as “rewards” in the sense that bad behavior can lead to losing stories. Usually Eloise will lie in bed and read (look at books) and play around (like dress and undress in whatever she can find), sometimes for hours. Seriously, we do bedtime around 8 pm and some nights she is up until 10:30 or 11 when we go to bed!

One reason she is staying up so late (other than the fact that her wake-up time is still late at 8 am) is her afternoon nap. She was going down between 1:30 and 2 pm, but usually didn’t fall asleep until 3 or even 3:30 pm. And then we were expecting her to be sleepy and go to bed at 8? Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. So on the days that she wasn’t napping, we noticed she would fall asleep by 8:30 or so. Just in the past week or so, we have changed “nap time” to “rest time” and she goes down at 2 pm in her bed with books and I get her up around 3:30 pm. Some days she naps (and then is up late) but most days she (pretty) happily reads during this time. For me, this time is incredibly important because it is the only time when both girls are in their rooms and I have time for myself (usually its 90 minutes).

Eloise is still an amazing big sister. We are having more moments where Eloise is grabbing toys away from Daphne that she doesn’t want Daphne to have, but generally things are still very cordial. It is best if I can find some way for Eloise to help me or be a part of what I am doing with Daphne. Or else we get some jealousy for sure.

Right before we left for Mexico (like three weeks before) we decided it was time to night-time train Eloise. She was telling us that she wanted to wear underpants to bed and didn’t want to wear diapers anymore, and she wasn’t wearing diapers at nap time and was doing great! So, we sort of just went for it and told her that she could get up out of bed if she had to go potty, and we woke her up twice (once around 11 pm and another time around 2 am). Aaron was doing the middle-of-the-night wakeups because he can fall asleep so quickly whereas it would take me an hour to fall back to sleep! No bueno. And things were going so well. We had the occasional accident, but generally, it was so good. And we went to Mexico and planned on keeping the same structure. The first night went well. And then the second night when Aaron woke Eloise up, she had some kind of night terror or something and just was screaming and crying, for like 45 minutes, and would not sit on the potty. So we just calmed her down and put her back to bed. And the third night, the night terror happened again and she had a meltdown on the bathroom floor. So after that, we decided not to wake her up and see what happened. And she was great all night the rest of the trip!

And now that we are home again, we haven’t been waking her up at night and she has been mostly great! There are a few times she has had an accident because she either couldn’t get to the bathroom fast enough or was asleep and started peeing, but not even once a week I would say. The biggest thing we are dealing with on this front is that Eloise will not (WILL NOT) get out of bed on her own to use the potty. So she’s had an accident before because she is waiting in bed and calling for one of us to come and help instead of just getting up and going to the bathroom. It’s not the worst thing (because it also means she stays in bed during “rest time” and doesn’t suddenly appear in our room or upstairs during the night or early in the morning) but we are working on it.

Speaking of Mexico, Eloise is an amazing little traveler. She always has been, but this was a really long haul and to some place that was really very different than home. The flight was good and she only had one melt-down in all four flight legs. She napped, albeit not really a long time, but some. Once we got to the resort, she was friendly to the staff and even started speaking in Spanish, asking for her water (agua) and milk (leche) or saying please and thank you. And she had the BEST time with family. It was Aaron’s family from the midwest that we see only once per year and only for a short time when we do. So having a few days with everyone was huge for her, and she really enjoyed the company: lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Eloise is in her second year of pre-school (at the same school she was at last school year) and she LOVES it. Seriously. She goes Monday thru Thursday mornings and every single Friday (when she is home with me and Daphne) she asks if she can go to school. It used to make me a little sad, but now it makes me happy because she just loves her school and her friends and teachers so much! We are a little bummed that her school doesn’t do pre-K, so she will start at a new school next year (before she starts kindergarten the following year!) and we are just getting into the whole routine of applications and school tours. Gosh, there are so many different schools and boy is it expensive! But, I think we have it narrowed down to two and I hope we like them and they end up being a good fit.

And the newest rendition of Things Eloise Says:

Hanitizer: hand + sanitizer.

“Mama, I really like Daphne. She’s so cute!”

“I always drink coffee in the morning. And beer in the evening.”

Telling Aaron about (diaper pail) deodorizers: “Mama bought these to make the diaper pail feel better.”

In her room looking around: “Eloise what are you doing?” “I was just pondering.”

“The people on the bus say ‘thank you driver!'”

“What if the dish ran away with the spoon?”

“My boobies really hurt.” (Talking about nursing her doll, Stella.)

“Stella threw up three times in her car seat when we were at Natalie’s house. It was super stressful.” (This past spring Eloise was car sick and we stayed at an Airbnb house owned by a lady named Natalie.)

Grabs my hand: “We are going on a date! I am wearing lipstick and we are going on a date!”

“I don’t want to watch football. I want to watch appetizers (advertisements).”

“What do zebras say?” “Zzzz.”

Aaron falls asleep next to Eloise in her bed. He tries to get up after I go wake him up. “No, you are mine!”

Aaron leaves for work and Eloise comes back to the breakfast table after saying good-bye: “I am missing him.”

Mama: “When Daphne can sit better you can take a bath with her. Would you like that?” Eloise: “That would be perfect!”

“I am mad. I am sad. This is not my finest moment.” (In her book The Most Magnificent Thing, there is a part where it talks about the main character’s actions being “not her finest moment.”)

Trying to get a huge blanket into a little bag: “I need it to smoosh some more!”

“My belly feels better, but it feels a little aggressive.”

“Can you fix my straw in my water bottle Mama? It’s a little awkward.” (It was crooked in the bottle.)

“Where do pumpkins sleep at night? Do they sleep outside?”

Antennas: eye-tennies or eye-tenticles.

Papa: “Why didn’t I get purple shoes?” Eloise: “Because you are old. And stinky!”

“I have a baby in my belly. It is Mister Rogers.”

“I’m a Mama. I can do all the things.”

“This chair is woggoly Mama. It means it moves around a lot.”

{weight} 33 pounds (my guess); height: 37 inches

{hair} (reddish) brown.

{teeth} 20 teeth plus four molars.

{eyes} dark brown.

{clothes}  some 3T, mostly 4T.

{diapers} NONE!

{feeding} during the day, three meals, (sometimes a) morning snack, & (sometimes an) afternoon snack. cup of milk with every meal.

{likes} singing, dancing, taking walks around the blocks, talking to the neighbors, Teddy the mailman, school and her friends, Daphne, coloring, yelling, Duplos, digging in the dirt, splashing, counting, any person outside on the sidewalk, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, coloring, buckles, jumping, watching out the front window (dogs, kids, trucks), books, mama & papa’s cell phone, FaceTime (but she always wants to hold the phone), bath time, shoes, mama’s (diaper) bag, putting things inside a bag or box, helping with anything & everything, when Papa comes home from work.

{dislikes} not being included, having something taken away from her, not eating when someone else is, being hungry, TimeOut.

{nicknames} Bug, Love Bug, Baby Bug, E, Wheezy, Kiddo, Love, Bugaboo, E-Lo or Elle.

Happy three-and-a-quarter years Eloise!

{I am only planning on doing quarterly updates thru this third year, and then I will switch to bi-annual or annual updates. It just seems like she is still changing so much this year, and also the blog feels very Daphne-heavy given her weekly and monthly updates.}

M

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daphne {week 36}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // onesie: babyGap (old) // jeans: babyGap (old) // socks: Cat and Jack for Target // hat: Etsy (old)}

{week 36} This week marks Daphne’s first cold. It was inevitable with a seemingly early and bad cold season along with Eloise in school with other toddlers. Germs. So many germs.

But, even the runny nose, cough, and raspyness, Daphne is still in pretty good spirits. We started running a humidifier in her room last night which seemed to help with her (small) cough, but even before then, she wasn’t up much more (like once or twice) in the night. Other than the constant wiping of her nose (thank goodness for Boogie Wipes guys – these are the best!) Daphne really only seems “sick” because she gets fussier when she would already be fussy. Does that make sense? Like she is much more frantic and fussy right before a nursing session and then also right before bed time when she is ready for her bottle. Those are times when she would be fussy anyways, it just seems to be slightly more since she has this cold. All-in-all not so bad and I am hoping we can get thru it this week!

Daphne, as I have been mentioning, is all over these days and scarcely where you leave her just seconds after putting her down. She is crawling (at rapid speed) over to the coffee table and couch where she then tries to pull herself up. She can always get to her knees, but can sometimes get to her feet too which is slightly terrifying… And just yesterday she started cruising along the coffee table with Aaron, holding on and walking her feet. Yikes! Guys, I am not ready for walking yet. Not even close.

And there is also pulling up happening in her crib once she wakes up. I think she gets stuck though and once she is up on her knees, she can’t figure out how to get back down into the crib, so there is often some hollering that happens. Plus, she is still wearing a sleep sack at night, so it makes crawling and pulling up slightly more difficult, though obviously doesn’t prevent it! I am just glad we lowered the crib mattress a few weeks ago.

Since we got winter weather starting on Friday (snow and freezing temps already!) I pulled out all of our cold weather clothes and accessories. Luckily, I saved so many of Eloise’s old coats and hats, so we are pretty good on that front. However, Daphne does not like keeping a hat on her head. She will immediately pull it off, so I am amazed that we got this week’s photo with her hat on! It should make this fall and winter interesting…

And lastly, clothing. I get so many questions about Daphne’s (and Eloise’s too) clothing. I always try to link the things the girls are wearing in their updates, but with Daphne you may have noticed that so much of what she has says “old.” That is because she basically is wearing all of E’s old clothes, so three years later, that particular piece of clothing isn’t available. But, to answer the question of where I shop, mostly it’s babyGap (always a sale!), Old Navy (runs small and also always a sale), Cat and Jack for Target (obsessed!), June and January, and Hanna Andersson (for jammies). I (really) try not to spend too much on clothes for the girls (hence using all of Eloise’s old clothes) because we are in the phase still where Daphne is just growing out of everything! I hate to spend money on something she will only wear once or twice. But, it’s so hard because there are so many cute things out there! I also love shopping small and supporting (mostly) woman-owned clothing lines, like The Dress Shop, Hadley Girl (bows), and Childhoods Clothing. In terms of style and just my preference, I stay away from anything branded, love anything with stripes, and try to get things that can be mixed and matched, so pretty neutral. (This is basically how I try to dress myself too.) And for shoes, at least when the girls were little, it is Freshly Picked moccasins all the way. Daphne has inherited all of Eloise’s old gold moccs and until she is really walking, I won’t get Baby D any other shoes. And for Eloise, we love See Kai Run, Old Navy (for boots), Bogs (for rain boots), and Cat and Jack for Target.

Happy 36 weeks Daphne!

M

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my weekend in pictures.

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{Some music time with the girls! Eloise is always (always) singing and Daphne loves rattles and the maracas we brought back from Mexico.}

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{Since we got snow (yes, SNOW!) starting on Friday, I was pulling out all of our warm, winter clothes, including this “snowsuit” that my mom bought when I was pregnant in case it was really cold when the baby was born. Needless to say, it was HUGE because it fits Daphne right now. But, she wasn’t thrilled about it…}

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{Sadie is living her best life. She thinks the highchair is magic because when the baby is in it, food just appears on the floor!}

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{We had family game night on Saturday but realized we don’t have any toddler-friendly games (hello, Christmas ideas!) so we played Legos instead. And Daphne is blurry because she is always moving. Always.}

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{World’s Best Papa right here. Eloise has been into taking her babies to the doctor (for hilarious “injuries”) and Aaron played the doctor this morning.}

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{This morning I hit up Trader Joe’s without the kids and before the crowds and it felt like a vacation. Almost. And there were so many impulse buys guys, like truffle butter!}

Just as we woke up Friday to snow (yep, it’s super early this year!), colds set in for Daphne and me. So we spent all day Friday and this weekend pretty much laying low and hanging out at the house. We didn’t have anything planned, so it worked out pretty well. Aaron got some raking and yard clean-up done between the storms and I took a 2 hour nap on Saturday! Plus, we finished Season 2 of Stranger Things after binge-watching it on and off this week.

It definitely feels like fall now that the weather has changed (it actually feels like winter) and that we have set the clocks back. Luckily though, we made out pretty well with the time change and Eloise slept until her normal wake-up time of 8 AM since she was up SO late last night reading before bed, and Daphne was up slightly before her normal wake-up time and Aaron snuggled with her for a bit so I could sleep until 7:30 this morning. Not too shabby. Especially since I know that a lot of those mama friends out there with little ones were probably up at the crack of dawn!

Feeling much better today and hoping to be back to normal to start this week! How was your weekend?

M

daphne {month eight}

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{alligator: Jellycat //onesie: Carter’s (old) // jeans: babyGap (old) // wooden doll teether: old}

{month eight} Haha, I think Daphne looks like a little old man in this month’s picture! We took our family Christmas card photos this morning, so the last thing she wanted to do before her nap was take more photos… she just wanted to launch herself off the front of the chair! It’s super fun and not at all terrifying (said no mama ever).

I think the biggest thing about this month (okay, everything seems big still!) is the four new teeth Daphne is growing! I noticed some serious increase in the amount of drool she was producing (like shirt-soaking) and, lo and behold, four tooth buds. It’s her top four teeth coming thru all at once. She didn’t seem overly fussy or bothered by them cutting, but of course any time she awakes during nap time or at night is blamed on those new teeth. You can’t really see them very well because of her top lip, but she is going to look so much older once they are in! And now I really feel like I should be brushing her teeth, since I need more things to do to fill in my day, right? Daphne will see the dentist next month when Eloise goes in for her bi-annual appointment. If I only have to drive across the city twice per year and both girls see the dentist at the same time, that is a mama win!

She likes to click her tongue on the roof of her mouth lately which started around the time her top teeth started making an entrance. She isn’t blowing raspberries as much as she was a few months ago, but lots of clicking!

Daphne is an eating champ. Seriously. She eats anything and everything. It may be messy, but she will find a way to eat it. And there isn’t a single thing we have fed her that she didn’t devour: broccoli (just like big sis!), brussel sprouts, salmon, chicken, ground beef, Dragon fruit (in Mexico). Everything! Purees have pretty much become a thing of the past though because Daphne really just wants to feed herself. If there is something (like yogurt or refried beans) that requires a spoon, she wants to grab the spoon and bang it on her tray. So there is a lot of “fighting” over the spoon which isn’t super fun for any of us. Plus, since she is feeding herself, it makes mealtimes (for me) much more enjoyable. Also, we haven’t been doing a lot of cup training recently but after reading Eloise’s update (linked below) I realized that we are behind on teaching Daphne how to use a straw. I remember that being a game-changer, so it’s on the to-do list for this coming weekend.

Daphne’s newest tricks involve her pulling up to either her knees or to standing, or bear crawling around on her hands and feet. She is so ready to be moving like a big kid and just does not stay still at all these days! I used to be able to set her on the play mat with toys and she would be occupied, but now she is immediately off the play mat and crawling towards whoever she can see (or to the kitchen)! But then she cries and gets upset when she gets stuck somewhere! It’s the same situation when we are downstairs. I could leave her on the floor of her nursery with toys while I threw away a diaper or washed my hands, but now she is crawling out her door and down the hallway or into the bathroom to see what everyone else is up to! She also likes to reach for anything she can grab and then pull it down from wherever it was (the little shelf on the sidetable, the coffee table).

In the weeks leading up to our Mexico trip, I was planning on pumping just like I had been doing in the morning and evening for Daphne’s bedtime bottle. But, then it started to occur to me that we would need to bring some frozen milk for the first day or so until I had produced enough to cover the bottle (since I wasn’t producing enough every day to cover her bottle) which would require some sort of dry ice and Yeti cooler type of situation. Thru TSA (we are Pre-Check, but still) and then thru Customs and Immigration along with all of the other things we were shlepping on the trip, including both car seats! Yep, that wasn’t going to happen. So I did some a ton of research and bought some formula to take just in case. {Note: Formula, the type and use of, like many other child-related things is controversial. Lots of people have lots of opinions about it. We chose formula that we thought best-suited Daphne’s needs but every family and baby is different.} It turns out the formula I had chosen (Holle which is a German formula) is being imported by a close friend’s sister via her company Purely Loved Organics which is located just north of us in Lynnwood. Luckily, Daphne drank it down with no issues, so we didn’t have to try any other types or brands. Then in the days leading up to our trip, I started panicking about pumping in Mexico. Not the actual pumping part, but the logistics. Mainly the washing pump parts with bottled water in the bathroom part (since you aren’t supposed to drink the tap water in Mexico). We bought this travel Boon drying rack and bottle brush, but the idea of washing my pump just sort of sent me over the edge. So Aaron and I had a lot of conversation about it, and I let my mama guilt go and decided to stop pumping completely. In all honesty, it was an agonizing decision for me to make (and if you are a recent mama, you probably completely understand) but ultimately I think it worked out for the best. I didn’t have to worry about spending my mornings and evenings pumping or washing pump parts, and Daphne did amazingly well with one bottle of formula at bedtime during our trip, Now that we are at home we defrost frozen milk for her bottle and once we go thru our frozen stash, we will do formula until she is one.

And lastly, Daphne has been pushing her feeding schedule out to 3.5 or 4 hours. Her morning nap is usually interrupted by errands (while Eloise is at school) but she will usually at least cat nap in the car seat. I try to not go out more than two mornings per week during that morning nap time so that she can have solid morning naps. If we are home (or even out) I notice she starts getting tired around 9:30 am and will usually sleep at least an hour if not 90 minutes. Then her afternoon nap is after we get home from picking up Eloise (at 1 pm) and it’s length is dependent on her morning nap, longer if the morning was shorter and vice versa. Her late cat nap (which happens around 5ish) is always a crap shoot and it happens about 50% of the time.

{weight} I would guess close to 17 or 18 pounds but our scale is broken.
{hair} blackish brown.
{teeth} two bottom middle teeth, top four teeth (including two front teeth).
{eyes} dark grey/brown.
{clothes} 3 to 6 months (pants only), 6 months and 12 months (Carter’s), 6 to 12 months.
{diapers} size 3 {from the honest company}. At home we are doing cloth (bumGenius and Grovia) and disposables when we go out and overnight.
{feeding} nursing every 3.5 to 4 hours during the day, starting around 8 am. feeding sessions last around 5 to 10 minutes (both sides). bedtime is around 7:30 with a 6 oz bottle.

{likes} eating, bath time with Eloise, watching big kids or babies, crawling, pulling up to her knees or feet, spinning on her back and belly, teething rings, chewing on anything, sitting in her highchair, staring at her quilt (from Amanda), rattles, nursing, riding in the car (usually), her big sister Eloise, Sadie, singing, lights, paci, being bounced, sucking on her hands, being tickled, talking (cooing).
{dislikes} having gas, lying down flat right after eating, being hungry or tired, not having a bottle immediately after seeing it, having her face or nose wiped off.

{nicknames} Daph, Daph Daph, Daphers, Bug, Snorty, Baby D, Daphne Doo, Daph-a-doo, Love, Lovebug.

And here is Eloise’s eight month update.

Happy Eight Months Daphne!

M

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Happy Halloween! {2017}

Happy Halloween from the Lowers!

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{And this is was a definite fail on my part. I off-centered the cherry and frosting on the headband (it would’ve been so cute if it would have stayed like that!) but it was too heavy and kept falling off…}

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Eloise decided a while ago (like in the summer) that she wanted to be a cupcake. And I waited for a while to see if she would change her mind. But she didn’t! And her only request was that it be purple (surprise). I looked at a few places to see if I could find a pre-made cupcake costume, but there weren’t very many, and of the ones that were available, I just didn’t like any of them… they all looked a little cheesy! So, I searched Pinterest and found quite a few tutorials. I ended up using this one. I am super happy with the way it turned out, but practically it was a little cumbersome for Eloise to actually trick-or-treat in. Almost everyone in our neighborhood has stairs, and that was a bit of a challenge. Half-way thru the night she came back and I offered for her to change into her pumpkin costume from last year. Much better. So, note to self, easy to walk in Halloween costume is a requirement!

Eloise did really well this year for Halloween saying “trick-or-treat,” “Happy Halloween,” and “thank you” when we were at each neighbor’s door. She is usually pretty reserved when we see people we don’t know, so I sort of expected she would be that way and hide behind either Aaron or me, but it wasn’t the case at all!

Happy Halloween!

M

daphne {first halloween!}

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{Happy Halloween!} Daphne is dressing up as a donut this year to complement Eloise’s cupcake costume (which I will probably just post pictures of on Instagram and Facebook). I chose a similar color scheme (the sprinkles on both costumes are the same color) so the girls’ costumes are cute together but not too matchy-matchy! I followed this DIY Donut Costume Tutorial but used flannel for the donut and icing instead of felt and also sewed the donut instead of hot-gluing it all together (but trust me when I say I used a LOT of hot-glue for Halloween costumes this year!).

Daphne will probably join Eloise and Papa trick-or-treating at a few houses this year along with the parade before hanging at home with me to hand out candy to the kids (and Eloise will stay out longer this year with Aaron and some friends). We either get like 4 kids or like 150 depending on the year!

And see Eloise’s first Halloween here!

Happy Halloween Daphne!

M

 

my weekend in pictures.

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{It was SO nice and sunny on Friday afternoon that we had to take a walk after lunch. Eloise and I wore our new shoes, both from the Cat and Jack for Target line: hers and mine. Eloise’s are the most beautiful shade of purple which, of course, she LOVES!}

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{I got the girls’ costumes done just in time! A donut and a cupcake. Hopefully we will get some cute photos of them in costume in the next couple of days.}

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{And this is Daphne’s newest trick. She wants to be on those feet so badly! Soon enough kiddo.}

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{We carved pumpkins on Friday night and Eloise was pretty excited about it. I always forget though how un-kid-friendly carving pumpkins is… she was okay with it when she got her kitty pumpkin! Also, it looks really unsafe with Daphne on the counter, but we only did this for the photo and I promise I am hiding behind her and have my hand on her back!}

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{We celebrated our little friend Emerson’s first birthday on Saturday morning, and this was Eloise’s party outfit. Quite the fashionista. And she very much enjoyed the cake!}

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{This is Daphne’s other favorite thing to do. She kneels at that shelf and throws everything on the floor.}

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{This year’s pumpkins! Eloise’s kitty, Aaron’s love and peace, and my stars.}

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{I had to steal this picture from Jess’s Instagram of the two littles. The Andersons came over on Saturday evening for dinner and it was fun to see Daphne and Austin together. Just 6 weeks apart!}

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{Peek-a-boo!}

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{Starting the process of finding a pre-k program for Eloise. Seriously, there are so many decisions to make! A spreadsheet is necessary. I wish she could stay at her current school until she starts Kindergarten, but it only goes until 4s and doesn’t include pre-k.}

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{We headed to a Halloween party this evening and Eloise was excited to finally wear her costume (I just finished the headpiece today!). I didn’t consider how cumbersome this costume would be and she took it off within about 5 minutes of our arrival. Hopefully it will last thru trick-or-treating a bit longer!}

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{My friend Kari had quite the Halloween-themed food spread!}

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{And Daphne had a good time playing! Her costume was pretty easy for her to move in still and gave her some padding when she was on her belly!}

This weekend was SO beautiful! It was perfect fall weather: foggy and cold mornings followed by sunny afternoons in the low 60s. I wish it would stay like this for the rest of fall (and into winter)!

We had a fun weekend filled with parties and friends which was a nice way to spend the last weekend of October (what?!). We are gearing up for Halloween over her and Eloise is pretty excited for the Halloween parade (mostly for the drum line of the marching band though she will be disappointed when the entire marching band doesn’t show up) and also getting to have THREE pieces of candy! We talked to her about the candy she would get at Halloween and she agreed on three pieces and we would give the rest of the candy to other kids who didn’t have any candy… she is the sweetest kid!

How was your weekend?

M

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daphne {week 34}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // tee: June and January // cords: babyGap (old) // bib: DIY from Rifle Paper Co. fabric // toy: Manhattan Toy Company}

{week 34} This week seems like Daphne has grown leaps and bounds. Maybe it was because we didn’t give her free rein of the hotel room in Mexico to just cruise around, but these past few days it seems like Daphne is just on. the. move.

Crawling (as I mentioned last week) is a definite thing now and she is becoming more confident in her ability to move while up on her hands and knees. Though army crawling is still way faster, so she is still doing that too. Daphne also does a lot of planking still and is practicing her forward-fold (bottom up in the air, on her feet and hands on the floor). It amazes me to see how much she can move around!

We also noticed in the past few days that Daphne is getting more teeth. We can see all four top teeth (the two front teeth and the ones right next door) all coming in and starting to break thru the gums. And I suspect there is also a bottom tooth (or two) coming in as well. I have noticed a few more wake-ups in the early part of a nap or nighttime which I would blame on teething, but mostly it has just been an increase in drool. Holy saliva, it’s crazy. Within a half a day of me noticing her increase in drool we found tooth buds coming thru. If Daphne isn’t wearing a shirt, like after mealtime, within minutes her chest is soaking wet like she just got out of the bath! So I have gotten the bibs back out again to keep her from soaking thru all of her shirts.

Also, Daphne has started sitting up in her crib at the end of her nap time or in the morning when she’s up, but has also started reaching out of her crib if she’s close to the side. So needless to say I had Aaron lower the crib mattress before she starts pulling up to standing (which I anticipate will be sooner rather than later)! It is really sweet to come into her nursery to get her after a nap or in the morning and have her sitting up and smiling. Such a sweet babe!

Finally, I haven’t noticed Daphne sucking her thumb nearly as much these days. Maybe it has something to do with teething? And as cute as it was to see her sucking her thumb, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if she gave that up! And, on a completely unrelated note, Daphne is also using her right hand much more these days (rather than her left hand which she was doing there a lot for a while) so my theory of her being a lefty is a bit up in the air!

And see Eloise’s 34 week update here.

Happy 34 weeks Daphne!

M

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