“Pluck Your Head”?

Posted on April 2, 2011 by Laura

You know that fun little song, “Alouette“?  We grew up singing it – it has a catchy tune and I liked singing in French, even though I had no idea what it meant.  I found myself singing it to Ellie the other day and wondered, “What am I singing to her?”  Well, thanks to Wikipedia, now I know.

Little skylark, lovely little skylark
Little lark, I will pluck your feathers off
I’ll pluck the feathers off your head
I’ll pluck the feathers off your head
Off your head – off your head
Little lark, little lark
O-o-o-o-oh

Interesting.  Not quite what I had pictured.  I’m not sure if I’ll keep singing it to her or not.  Would you?

Posted in just for fun, parenting | 2 Comments

I love this girl

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Laura

Sometimes, I love her little cheeks the best of all.

Posted in Ellie | 5 Comments

Sitting!

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Laura

Posted in Ellie, movie | 3 Comments

Crazy Hair

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Laura

Ellie has the coolest cowlick on the top/back of her head.  It basically looks like an S-curve.  I have no idea what will happen when her hair actually starts growing but for now, we have fun admiring it!

Posted in Ellie | 2 Comments

Finished!

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Laura

I quilted it with straight lines in light pink and bound it with a pieced binding made from some of the fabrics in the quilt along with a leftover strip from the pieced part of the quilt.  I love it!

This is my first big quilt along with the first time I’ve designed something like this, without using someone else’s design for a jumping off point.  I was, however, inspired by Film in the Fridge‘s quilt backs.

The front:

The back:

The binding:

All three pieced strips (2 on the front and the one on the back) originated from one big piecing.  I used another layer of flannel for the batting.

I love it and I hope Ellie loves it too, once she’s old enough to be aware of it!

Posted in Ellie, sewing | 5 Comments

Saving Money and the Environment with your Dishwasher

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Laura

Here’s a quick tip – don’t fill both soap receptacles in your dishwasher with soap.  Just fill the pre-wash one (and don’t even fill it completely).  This means that you use half as much soap and your dishes get rinsed twice, assuring that all detergent residue is gone.  For a bonus, use an environmentally-friendly detergent.  We use Seventh Generation.  (Conventional dishwasher soap is full of crazily-toxic chemicals, both for you and the environment, specifically the Bay for us.)

We’ve been doing this for about a month now and our dishes are just as clean as they ever were!

This post is for Works For Me Wednesday.

Posted in house/neighborhood | 3 Comments

Six Months!! (and teeth)

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Laura

Six months ago today, our lives changed dramatically.  Eliana Elisabeth arrived and she fills our life with joy every day.

To celebrate her 6-month birthday, she decided to push out her two bottom teeth!  We did our best to get some pictures of them but as you will see from the following pictures, that was a difficult task.

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In case you didn’t catch it in the slideshow, here’s the best we could do:

And to illustrate how difficult it was, and how fast she can move her tongue, here’s a little video for you.

Happy Half Birthday Ellie!  We love you so much!

Posted in Ellie, love, movie | 4 Comments

Teething – Alaska style

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Laura

Teething is where it’s at around here.  Lots of drooling, a bit of fussiness, and more drooling are our constant companions.  I can feel her two front teeth just below the surface.  In our quest to reduce the amount of plastic in our lives, we decided to buy solid wood teething rings, rather than the soft plastic teethers you can get at the store.  We bought two fun teethers from this store on Etsy.  They’re solid maple, unfinished, and fun.  We bought a guitar for Nik and this one for me.  She may not live there but Alaska cousins, can you say that you chew on Alaska?*

*Ellie hasn’t actually figured out how to chew on Alaska yet.  But she will!

Posted in Ellie | 1 Comment

Hippos in tutus

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Laura

Last Saturday, my friend Joanna told us that her mom likes to call baby girls “hippos in tutus” because of their beautiful ruffled dresses, thick thighs, and bald heads.

On Sunday, Ellie wore her peacock dress (for the whole day, I might add) and I realized, “It’s true!  An adorable, lovable, precious hippo in a tutu.”

See for yourself.

Posted in Ellie | 6 Comments

Finally – toys

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Laura

Ellie has finally, at the age of almost 6 months, decided that she’s interested in toys.  It’s nice to be able to give her something and have it occupy her for at least 30 seconds before she drops it.  My only problem now?  Remembering to put a toy in the diaper bag so she’s not bored when we get to where we’re going.  Thank you Aunt Nikki for the fun ducky rattle!  It’s the perfect size for her hands.

In this last picture, I think I can catch a glimpse of the beautiful, precious person she is becoming.

Posted in Ellie | 3 Comments