The Puthoff Family

We Love Grandma!!

2010-04-07T14:37:00.000-07:00

My kids absolutely adore their Grandma!

Amelie talks about her constantly, and squeals anytime she finds out she gets to go see her. She loves to snuggle up & watch TV with Grandma, ride in her car, play at her house... Anything that has to do with Grandma!

Oliver grunts, smiles and giggles the second he sees her... That's usually reserved for Daddy, Mommy, Amelie and really yummy food, but Grandma now gets that reaction as well!

I've always said my kids were smart... This just proves it. Aaron and I love our kids' Grandma too!

I was playing around with my camera on Easter, trying to get a picture of mom. I got about 20 pictures of her laughing, blinking & turning away. She is quite possibly the worst picture getter I've ever met. NOT because she isn't beautiful, but because the camera must make her nervous or something! Anyway, I thought these pictures were really cute of her. It's bad photography on MY part (I'm sad that Oliver is so blurry! I'm working on my focusing!), but I love these pictures of her.

Sitting on Babies.

2010-03-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I've been babysitting Maya about 4 days a month. It's been fun to see the little girlies interact and grow up together. I take pictures of them all day long, but here are a few of my recent faves!

They were playing ring around the rosy...

Maya came over wearing clothes that Amelie also has, so of course, I had to dress them up as twins!

The coloring is off on these, but I don't have editing software, so you'll just have to deal with it :)

And, of course, where it all began!

Fine, I'll do it!

2010-03-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

It seems as though NOBODY is updating their blogs very often these days, so I guess I'll go ahead and change it up a bit. Given the fact that I haven't updated since October, a lot has changed! Oliver is trying his darndest to walk and his personality is really coming out. Amelie is more & more fun every day... She's becoming a miniature human being now, it's crazy! Aaron is working away at Costco and just waiting to hear back on his financial aid so he can get back to school. I have been sewing my brains out. I am also trying to study to finally actually get my real estate license. In my free time (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA) I've been trying to figure out how to become a better picture taker. I don't want to say photographer, cause I will just never be that good (mostly because of my lack of free time). Basically, we are just living life and enjoying our little family (so much, apparently, that we can't seem to find time to blog about it). Here are a few recent pics to quench your thirst. P.S. Some of these were taken BEFORE I started trying to improve my skillz, so don't judge me...

New Blog

2010-03-21T02:36:00.001-07:00

I'm still using this as my regular blog... But, I'm going to be doing a sewing/craft blog. I'm kicking it off with a giveaway, so check it out!

Mama Loves to Sew

It's about time!

2009-10-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

Oh man! I haven't updated this thing in MONTHS! Where do I start... Hmmm...

Alright... Oliver. Oliver is almost 5 months old (in a week)! Time flies by! I swear he was just a tiny little newborn, and now he's trying to crawl! He is THE sweetest little boy ever! He loves to snuggle, smile, laugh & babble. He just goes with the flow & barely ever cries. Even if he's starving, he'll be crying, but you smile at him & he'll stop to give you his big gummy grin! He scoots EVERYWHERE now, so I can barely leave him for a second! He will make his way all over the living room, searching out toys & whatever interesting treasures he can find. There's no way to explain him without using the words sweet, patient, loving, happy, laid back & determined. We love having him in our family!

Amelie & Oliver are seriously just the best of friends! It's so much fun to see them growing together. Amelie loves him so much & is such a wonderful sister. She brings him toys, tries to share her snacks with him, wipes his drool off his chin... If he starts to whine, she'll softly pat his bum & "shush" him... Or, one time, I said "Oh, Oliver, your little toes are so cold!!" and she ran to the sock drawer & brought a pair of (pink!) socks and put them on him! She's constantly taking care of him (free babysitter, woohoo! J/K, I swear), playing with him & letting him know she loves him! He loves her, too. His whole world lights up when she comes to talk to him. He thinks she is hilarious. We do too :)

(Okay, maybe he didn't think she was very hilarious at this moment...)

(I promise she has undies on here!)

(wiping his drool!)

Amelie is 20.5 months old. She is pretty much smarter than me & Aaron combined. We stopped keeping track of all her words that she'd say when she was around 17 months old... By then, it was impossible to track. She had HUNDREDS of words under her belt and was speaking to us in sentences like it was no big deal. She would literally copy every word we said! She knew all her animals & what they said. By 18 months, she could count to 10. By about 19.5 months, she knew her alphabet. She knows what every letter is, and can tell us a thing or two that each letter "stands for" (ie, C for Cat, T for Tree, D for Door)... She forced us to potty train her when she was 18 months old & was fully day trained in a day & a half! She just amazes us every day! She has the sweetest heart ever. She loves to help out around the house... From doing laundry & dishes, to picking up her toys, to scrubbing the floors & cleaning windows! She sincerely loves her friends and family & is so giving. She says please, thank you, excuse me, bless you & sorry all the time. She is definitely becoming very *ahem* opinionated, like most kids her age... But, along with that comes her fun, bubbly, talkative, playful personality that we adore, so it's a pretty good trade off!

This seems to be a common predicament for both kids...

We've decided that she totally has OCD... She lines everything up just right, and likes things to be even. She is definitely a thinker. She loves puzzles, books & flash cards. She might be a nerd when she's older. We like nerds, though, so it's okay.

I've been babysitting Maya, and they have so much fun together! I was making lunch one day & looked down to find this... The funny thing is that neither of them are thumb suckers!!

(She was feeding her bear crackers with a spoon & getting him ready for the day! She's also been picking out her outfits... If you can't tell)

This was really funny... I was taking pictures of Oliver, cause he scooted himself backwards across the family room & almost down the steps... Amelie ended up flying down the stairs in the background! Crazy kid!

This is her new best friend. I asked Aaron to get some salt, cause we were out... We now own 25 lbs of salt. Amelie weighs under 24 lbs. We have less Amelie than salt. I should have known better than to ask a Costco worker to bring home some salt.

& even more pics!

2009-06-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was hanging out at mom & dad's house, and Aaron got off work early... Mom said I could just leave Amelie & Oliver there while I ran to get Aaron real quick. Well, when we got back to their house, we were greeted by a couple little monkeys in the window... Trista caught Amelie's reaction to seeing us come home! Super cute!!

This was before, when Zoe & Amelie were jumping on the couch... They were having so much fun together!!

This is Amelie following Grandpa EVERYWHERE!!! She just adores him! She wanders around the house pointing at our front door, saying "Gramma, Grampa"... The second she gets to their house, she'll run around searching for Grandpa!

Earlier that day, we went to Amelie's friend, Scarlett's birthday party. Scarlett's parents, Sheena & Cory, went to school with Aaron in Chewelah. The party was lots of fun! Amelie had a blast wandering around playing and eating all the yummy fruits & other food! Oliver had fun sleeping the whole time :)

While we were getting ready in the morning, we heard Amelie in her room saying "nigh nigh"... We went in there and found her dolly on a blanket next to her crib, and Amelie was reading her a book! So sweet! She's such a great little mama! We've also found her changing dolly's diaper, feeding dolly lunch, swaddling dolly, strapping her in to the car seat and, the best so far... 'Nursing' her teddy bear. Hmmm. She's a very observant child!

Sharing her sippy :)

I caught him smiling!! It's a bit off-centered, cause he was on my lap... Couldn't see what I was doing!

She carefully lined all her toys up on the fireplace, then sat next to them and admired her work! OCD, much?!?!

These are just some cute ones of her running around the house, eating fruit...

All Done!

She picked out this outfit & dressed herself!

Showing off her tongue!

K, the monkeys are hungry, so I don't have time to make this post pretty... Check out all my other posts too :) Bye!

More Pics...

2009-06-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

Amelie got her first freckle!!!

Picture time!

2009-06-27T16:40:00.001-07:00

Amelie... Did you give your brother kisses??

Nooo... Why??

Amelie loves stealing Oliver's bink! She never wanted one before, now she's obsessed!!

I just think this is a cute picture of Syler at Priest Lake

Cutest dad ever award??

2009-06-27T13:11:00.001-07:00

Well, obviously I like Aaron quite a bit and think he's great. Now I have proof! I should have technically posted this on Father's day, but holiday's are overrated anyway, right?

While I was pregnant, every time I would go to do Amelie's hair, Aaron would be like "do you want me to do that?"... I didn't think anything of it, so I'd just say "no thanks, I've got it". Finally he said to me "Talia, I need to start doing her hair, so please let me do it"... Umm... Okay! I didn't realize you had this deep NEED to put little pigtails in our daughter's hair, but who am I to stop you from fulfilling this all important task? Anyway, so he went on to explain that he needed to practice, so that when I wasn't around, she could still have cute hair! To which I said "good thinking, if I die, Amelie still needs to be cute!"... Apparently, he just meant while I was in the hospital after my c-section, so he then got sad about the idea of me dying... BUT, I thought that was the cutest thing ever!

I was wrong.

A couple weeks ago, Aaron had put Amelie down for bed at night after we had a BBQ at our house. The next morning, I went in to get her... When I walked in, there was a little make-shift bed on the floor next to her crib. One of her little teddy bears was tucked into it, nice & snuggly! I asked Aaron about it and he explained to me that Amelie REALLY wanted to sleep with the bear the night before... She sleeps with several stuffed animals, so normally we'd just toss it in the crib with her... However, that evening, she was carrying the bear around outside and kept dropping it in the dirt, so he didn't want her to sleep with it! He carefully made the bear a bed and let Amelie tuck it in, give it kisses, and say good night to it.

He's such a good dad. Most guys wouldn't even think about the fact that the bear was dropped on the ground... If they did, they would have either let the kid sleep with the dirty bear or just said "nope, sorry, the bear is dirty". It would have been faster/easier to do either of those. He never takes the easy way. He is always going above and beyond to make sure that Amelie is safe, happy, learning, careful and all around well taken care of. Oliver & Amelie are lucky little duckies, and I'm a lucky wife!

My sweet babies

2009-05-25T21:21:00.001-07:00

Today, Amelie turned 16 months old and our new addition, Oliver, turned 6 days old. It's been a fairly smooth transition so far... Amelie loves her new baby. She likes to give him kisses and poke at him. Whenever she hears him cry, she finds the nearest item of his (binky, blanket, hat, shirt... Anything!) and brings it over to him in an attempt to make him happy. She loves helping out, so she's been bringing us his diapers and wipes & helping pick out his outfits! The only thing she doesn't love is that she misses her mommy. I miss her, too, so I can understand her feelings. I had a repeat c-section, so I haven't been able to pick her up much. And I'm usually feeding Oliver, so Aaron has been taking care of Amelie a lot. After a teary breakdown today, I decided that I truly don't care if my incision rips open and my gizzards fall out... I just want to hold my 'baby' again. So, we've been splitting our time more evenly between Amelie & Oliver, and we're all happy campers! I guess we'll get this 2 kid thing sooner or later, right?

Oh, and for those of you that don't know the details... Oliver was born on May 19th (Happy Birthday, Trista!) @ 1:08 pm. He weighed 8lbs, 1oz & was 20". My surgery was scheduled 8 days before my due date, so the doc & a couple nurses all predicted he would have been at least 9 1/2lbs, possibly close to 10, if he came when he was due! Guess I have big babies :) It's funny, cause even though most people think an 8 lb-er is big, we are in awe at how 'tiny' he is! He was 7lbs, 10oz when we left the hospital (2 days old), and Amelie never went below the 9lb she was born at! Anyway, he's a wonderful little guy so far. We just feel like even more of a family. We can't wait to see Amelie & Oliver become little buddies.

(Amelie wants to put Aaron's socks on all the time... We think it's so funny, cause she looks like a little kangaroo or something, cause of the heels!)

Our last picture as a family of 3 (well... 3 living out in the real world!)

The morning of my c-section

One of Oliver's first pics... I just think this one is so cute!

Amelie meeting Oliver... She was a bit confused at this point!

Then she was excited to find out that he has eyes :)

She's always been really into her baby doll, but she has been especially nurturing and motherly to her this past week. It's so sweet! She's also been swaddling her pink cow that Oliver 'gave her' the day he came home from the hospital! Anyway, here she is taking care of dolly with the boppy around her waist!

And here she is having a conversation with Aaron about parenting.

Leaving the hospital! Woohoo!!

Amelie watching Oliver get weighed on the shipping scale!

HEY! Boys are people too, you know.

2009-05-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

So, as you all know, Aaron & I are having a boy this time... In 3 Days! EEP! Anyway... When we found out it was a boy, we were ecstatic (okay, I was a bit more ecstatic than Aaron- he hoped to save money by re-using all of Amelie's stuff! But we were actually both hoping for a boy). Then came the comments. Nearly EVERY person that we've told that we're having a boy *okay, mostly strangers* follows it up with a sympathetic look and a comment about how 'it's okay' that it isn't a girl. Well, thank you for okaying it, but we actually WANTED a boy. We PREFERRED a boy over another girl. I know this is absolutely shocking to the minds of most crazy old ladies that I run into at the fabric store, or the snobby girls shopping at BabyGap... But it's true. Before I even found out what it was, I talked about wanting a boy. Anyway, Aaron & I have both just noticed such a huge contrast from when I was pregnant with Amelie... People would practically throw me a party every time I said we were having a girl. It's like, they ask you the gender, but they don't really want to hear what you're having... Unless it's a girl. Well, all I have to say is boys are people too. I'm sure this may be contrary to what the feminists of the world think, but we wouldn't be here without boys. He's our baby, and we're just as excited about him joining our family as we were about Amelie.

So, save your sympathy. A boy is exactly what we WANT.

Then again, perhaps everyone just assumes that we'd want another girl, considering how stinkin' cute & fun our first one is... Now THAT makes sense.

My computer is being weird, so I can't post any more pics, but you'll get an overload real soon. Promise.

Woot Woot! Moving along....

2009-04-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

Amelie made it to the 2nd round of Baby Idol... Wanna vote again?? It's only the top 20 out of 100, so she needs all the votes she can get. Thanks, you're the coolest.

Link- AMELIE 100

VOTE FOR AMELIE!!

2009-03-31T12:44:00.000-07:00

Cause she's the cutest. Or just because I'm so darn cool. Or just cause you're bored.

For whatever reason, VOTE FOR AMELIE. She's #100 and 101 in the picture gallery, but just vote for #100. I'm dumb, and put her in twice, cause I didn't think the first pic was uploading. Anyway, thanks!!

See, learning really can be fun!

2009-03-06T14:24:00.000-08:00

Okay, this post involves even MORE bragging about my child, but hey... I'm having fun seeing her little brain learn and grow... So here I go again.

These past couple weeks, we've been having so much fun learning our body parts! She started out by learning nose a while back, and has since added toes, eye, mouth, and belly button. She can say them all well, except belly button... She just says buh or bvv (kinda like bzzz, but with a v sound!). We're not too worried about trying to get her to really say it, cause it is a bit more complicated than all her other words! Anyway, she started out just pointing things out and asking "what's that?", and now she'll come point and tell us what it is! She can point the items out on me, daddy, bear, monkey, dolly and herself! Oh, and Cohen... Though, he's not a huge fan of her trying to point out where his eye is. It's so cute when she tries to find her belly button to point to for us, and she has to move aside her little pot belly and stretch her little neck out to find it!

So, yeah... That's been fun. Babies are just so darn cute!

The Cat Says Meow!

2009-02-20T16:42:00.000-08:00

This past week Amelie learned how to tell us that a cat says "Meow" and a dog says "Ruff" or "Woof"! She also learned the difference between her stuffed bear and her stuffed monkey... She used to call them both "bear", but now she calls her monkey "mungh"... Which I'm assuming is her best attempt at monkey!?

We had her one year appt (at 12.5 months, actually...) last week. The pedi was surprised at Amelie's development, and said she's right on track with 18 month old toddlers! I was surprised by that. I mean, we of course think Amelie's pretty nifty (as she's drawing on my face), but it was cool to hear someone else tell us that, too, since we're pretty biased! Here are her 'physical' stats:

Weight: 22lbs

Length: 32"

Head: Big... Can't remember actual measurement :)

Jumping Jelly Beans

2009-02-12T16:05:00.000-08:00

Amelie has turned into quite the little kangaroo lately! About a month ago, Aaron 'jumped' her all over the living room, and she had so much fun that she's started jumping around ALL the time. It's really funny, cause you can tell she's so proud of herself for getting SUPER far off the ground, when really, her feet are totally still touching! Anyway, we always say "Jump, Jump" when she does it, so a couple weeks ago, she started saying "Jump" along with us! She's so silly!

Just in the last couple weeks, she's also started saying 'tink' (stinky), 'home', 'wipes' & 'go'. She obviously takes after me in this area, cause Aaron never talks :). By 11 months, Amelie had a good 25-ish words, and now, at 12.5 months, she has over 40 that she says regularly and clearly! And, a ton more that we have no clue what the heck she's trying to say! Or just sounds, like when she's 'singing' she'll say "lalalala" in different tunes, etc.

I am having a hard time keeping up with her new words all the time, so I copied Trista's idea of putting the words in the sidebar... Thanks, Trista, for helping me be a better mommy. Now, can you please come over and finish filling out her baby book? I think I got as far as "Amelie Josephine Pu...", so if you could just go ahead and finish up her name and add her milestones? K, Thanks.

Coming Soon to a Boutique Near You!

2009-02-05T16:25:00.000-08:00

Woohoo! I'm so excited! My booties were 'discovered' by a boutique owner about a week or so ago, and will now officially be part of her store!

A friend of mine, Misty, that I met about a year and a half ago through my baby board purchased some booties from me... In fact, she's such a sweet, loyal customer, she's bought a few pair of booties, a bracelet, a tutu for Lexsey's 1st birthday, a hat, some bows & headbands... Anyway, so her daughter had the booties on while she was shopping at her local boutique and the owner saw them and thought they were super cute! She got my info and emailed me, and we've been playing a bit of phone tag for the last week. I talked to her today, and she's going to get 15 pairs of booties to start out with! I'll be doing 2 boy's styles & 3 girl's styles with 3 sizes each (though, she said to decide if I want to do a 4th size, which would make it 20 pair of booties!). I'm just so excited to have another venue for my stuff! I really love making everything, so I hope this all works out.

The boutique is in Chico, CA, and is called Apple Blossom Baby. The owner is awesome! She is friendly and funny Aaron heard a voicemail she left and was like "she seems really cool!"... Haha!! Her store sounds great, Misty said it's her favorite boutique. Darcie (the owner) said that the people that shop there are really into supporting the local WAHM's (Work @ Home Moms), which is awesome. I'm so thankful to her for letting me have my booties in her store! And, of course, I'm thankful to have such loyal customers, like Misty (& others that are always telling their friends about my stuff and passing around my business cards!), that have really helped my business stay afloat in this big sea of incredibly talented WAHM's!

Time to Par-tay!

2009-01-31T13:13:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we had Amelie's 1st birthday party, and Syler's 2nd, and it was so much fun!

We were glad that Alex Romney and his cute little girls could join us- I think the kids had a ton of fun playing together! At least, that's what I gathered from the screaming and giggling that came from the basement all night long! We even had to work to convince them to come up for CAKE! They must have been having fun! We missed Brady & Lisa and the kids... But not enough to force them to come over, given the fact that they were ALL puking their guts out all weekend! So, as much as we really wished we could be there, they had a good excuse (and we told them to stay far, far away)! Brady was so thoughtful and texted to tell Amelie Happy Birthday, and called later to let me know he was sorry they couldn't make it. The rest of our wonderful family made sure to keep their weekend available, just for a silly little birthday party (and we know B, L & fam were prepared to help celebrate too, before puke fest became more exciting... and that Jeff, Julie, Tasha, Pete & their adorable families would have been here if they could!)! We are so thankful to have such great people around that are always there to support us. We know that no matter what is going on in our life, you'll all be there for us. We are constantly reminded how much our family loves us, and how much we love and need them! Thank you for giving a crap about us, cause we sure as heck give a crap about all of you :)

Anyway, enough babbling!

Dinner Time!!

We had Cafe Rio Salads for dinner (of course, since that's basically what we all have every time we get together... YUM!) w/Chips & Salsa from Azteca. The salads didn't turn out quite as well as usual, since I made the dressing & I bought *medium* grain rice instead of long grain... But, it was still a hit! Oh, and everyone definitely got their fill of the yummy punch I made (that I forgot to put the freshly sliced strawberries in :(... Oh well, nobody noticed!)

(Amelie's "Birthday Spot")

I think someone just informed her that she was a whole year old!

Cake Time!!

For dessert, Amelie got her own little cake that I made for her. I started running out of time, so I just got a store bought

cake mix... I held up the strawberry one & the confetti one and asked Amelie to choose. She promptly pointed at the confetti box and said "DIS!", then grabbed it out of my hand and held on for dear life the rest of the grocery trip! I couldn't help but giggle inside, cause the confetti cake is my ALL TIME fave! Smart girl! Anyway... I attempted to use the store bought frosting, but that was a ridiculous idea! Who does that anyway!? I ended up just whipping up my own strawberry concoction, and it worked perfectly! Then, I adorned it with some leftover chocolate frosting from our brownies the week before :). Anyway, Syler & the other little kids got to eat his yummy snowboard cake, and I think there was one scoop of ice cream that got eaten. The adults got a cheesecake bar... Complete with cheesecake and your choice of fresh strawberry topping, fresh blackberry & raspberry topping, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, crushed snickers bars & cool whip! Mmm. I myself had a slice with all the fruit topping on and it was delish! T (Then next morning, for breakfast, I had a piece with caramel, chocolate, snickers and cool whip, and I almost died- it was so heavenly!!!). Anyway, all in all, I think everyone left there pretty stuffed!

(I think Ryder wants some cake, too!)

Present Time!!

We were SO glad that all the big kids were there to *help* tear open the presents! These were actually mostly leftover gifts from Christmas that Amelie just never opened! She doesn't quite get the concept yet, but the big kids definitely did! They had a ton of fun opening everything for her, and we're just glad we didn't have to sit there for the next 2 hours, trying to force Amelie to do something she had no interest in! Boy, THAT would have been a ton of fun for all our guests to watch! Looks like everyone won!

Thanks for coming everyone!!

See you later!

My Baby is ONE!!!

2009-01-27T17:40:00.000-08:00

It's true! The day we never thought would arrive, has come & gone. Amelie is officially over a year old! Now, anyone that knows Amelie knows that she for some reason never really felt the desire to be a BABY, so we've seen her as a toddler for quite some time now. However, now we can't fight her about it. Whether we like it or not, she IS a toddler.

A year ago, we met this tiny (okay, no THAT tiny... She was 9 lbs, 21.25") little stranger and fell in love. We had no clue who she was, what her needs/wants were. I remember those first nights, she'd wake up crying and we just had no clue what to do! I can just picture Aaron bringing the yoga ball into the bathroom, turning on the water, and bouncing/rocking her- cause nothing else was working. All she wanted was her mommy & daddy. I'm so glad that we could be there to comfort her, hold her, rock her and let her know that we love her and will always be there for her. Even though we were clueless!

For the past year, I've watched Aaron change her diapers, bathe her, feed her, sing to her, chase her around the house, tickle her, teach her to say new words, snuggle her while she was sick, kiss her when she bonked her head... I've gotten to do all the same things. We've seen her hold her head up, roll over, sit up on her own, crawl, climb the stairs, stand up, take steps, walk, run, fall & get back up, walk back down the stairs... We've watched this perfect little baby, that knew nothing about the world she just entered, turn into a smart, happy, giggly, fun toddler that loves life. We used to shower her with kisses, now she runs up to shower us with them first! We used to pick her up to bring her from point A to point B, now she runs alongside us. When she used to look up at the ceiling, we'd say "that's a light, Amelie", now she points them out to US and tells US that it's a "dight"... She's becoming her own person now. She has a personality, a heart, a brain and feelings. When daddy pulls into the garage after work, and I say "Amelie! Guess who's home?"... She runs to the door squealing, pointing and shouting "DADDY!!!"... If she's playing with Aaron, and hears my voice she gets excited and yells "Mama!!". She knows who we are, and now we know her. We love her more than anything & can't imagine life without her laughter or tears. As she gets older, it will be sad to leave behind the past, but there is so much more to learn about her. Every day we spend with her, every birthday that goes by, we're blessed just that much more.

So, while I say good-bye to my precious, innocent baby and say hello to my crazy little toddler, I'll shed a tear for the tiny onesies that I pack away, then thank God for the little girl he's allowing me to love & raise.

CUTE!

2009-01-13T00:05:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make some Mary Janes, but didn't know how, so I picked up some fabric the other day, and started cutting... I whipped them up pretty quick, so they are obviously just a very rough 1st try... BUT, I am so excited to make an 'actual' pair. I just made this one single bootie, but the next time I make them, I will make the hole smaller (so the toe part goes up further), and I will actually make them *well*. Anyway, here is my ROUGH sample... Remember, this isn't my perfected version, just an attempt.

1, 2, 3... FIGHT!!

2008-12-31T02:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, I will try to be a good little blogger, and post an actual Christmas post later... But this picture was way too funny to not post it this VERY second!

I think what was happening was that Amelie and Zoe were about to engage in some sumo wrestling, and Maya was the referee. At least that's what I can gather.

Posh Princesses Baby Boutique

2008-12-23T17:12:00.000-08:00

I've had a few people ask me to post some pictures of my stuff that I make, so here goes. This is just a sample of the billions (okay, not quite billions... Just super close) of things that I've done! I usually do my orders 100% custom, to match the exact needs of my buyers, but if you see something you specifically like, I can re-make items as well.

BOWS/CLIPPIES/HEADBANDS:

BOOTIES/SOFT SOLED SHOES:

HAT & BOOTIE SETS:

SHOPPING CART COVERS/MISC ITEMS

The End :)

Mission Accomplished!

2008-12-22T03:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, not really accomplished, but at least started!

We officially purchased our first 2 items of boy clothing! I picked out the blue & grey thing for when he's a newborn, & Aaron picked out the white onesie for 3-6 months.

We will NOT have a mama's boy. We will have a rock star instead.

Whoa, I've stepped into a whole other realm.

2008-12-18T19:11:00.000-08:00

Aaron and I found out today that we are having a BOY!!! We are beyond excited, as this was what we (at least I) was hoping for.

I came home, hopped on the computer, and went directly to Baby Gap's website. Ummm... Huh? What do I... How do I... I mean, where... uhhh... But, is there... Wait, huh?

What am I supposed to do??? I don't know what boys wear!?!?! I mean, what do I put him in that isn't going to either make him look like a girl (so, you mean, I can't make him a tutu?) or that won't make him look gay (which is basically like the previous... And I mean this all in the most PC way possible, of course)? Everything I see out there is blue pastel with little bears that are shouting "mama's boy". Really, do I want to be encouraging my child to be a mama's boy?? I'm so lost! I've aced the whole 'princess' look, but I can see I have a really big task ahead of me.

Perhaps this baby will just have to go naked.

Christmas Time is Here!!

2008-12-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

I'm SO excited for Christmas this year, since it's Amelie's first! I feel like I am SOOO busy that I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but I just don't care, cause soon, I will get to watch my little baby enjoy her first Christmas toys! Of course, I know that isn't the real reason for Christmas... But I am just excited to start new holiday traditions with my sweet little baby and wonderful husband.

I've been super busy with orders (which, I am NOT complaining about, cause I love making stuff that makes others happy! Just explaining why I've been busy.)... Just in the past month or so I have made 34 pairs of booties, 6 hats, 9 bows, 3 cart covers and 3 tutus! I still have orders that are just coming in too! I, of course, stitch every single stitch on my own (mostly because I'm a control freak, and want to make sure everything is done PERFECTLY... At least, perfectly in my mind!), so I've pretty much just been living inside my sewing machine.

Speaking of living... The next reason we've been busy, we moved... AGAIN! We are in love with this place and the area and we hope to stay here until we shrivel up and die.

Oh, and I am 17 weeks along now, but I haven't actually realized I'm pregnant yet... So, please don't tell me. Thanks.

In between everything, we've been attempting to decorate for Christmas... I'll post another blog with a bunch of pics, but for now, I'm having some technical difficulties with iPhoto. I guess you're not supposed to try having 9,000 photos on there all at once... iPhoto is apparently NOT for Photos.

Dancing Queen

2008-11-24T01:09:00.000-08:00

Amelie has always loved to dance. I even remember several months ago, while we lived at mom & dad's house, watching her with mom as she shaked her booty. We would just laugh cause the second the music came on, her little diaper butt was a'shaking.

[Insert Video Here]

So, this past few weeks, she has added several new moves to her routines. She now taps her foot, clicks her tongue, and shimmies her hands!

[Insert Video Here]

It's pretty much the cutest thing ever... She can be completely involved in something else, but the second music turns on (even if it's just a commercial on the TV that we totally shouldn't have on while she's in the room), she'll stand up, put out her hands, shake her butt, and start tapping away. I love that she loves music. I remember when I was pregnant, telling a friend that I would turn my music on super loud and she'd start kicking like crazy. I figured that either meant that she loved the music or hated the music... I'm glad to find out that I wasn't torturing her the whole time she was in the womb.

P.S. I'd love to insert videos in their rightful places, but I can't upload my video onto my STUPID computer. Just activate your imaginations in place of the videos.

And She's Off!

2008-11-17T22:58:00.000-08:00

Amelie is officially WALKING. She basically refuses to crawl anywhere. We've calculated her age of departure as 9 1/2 months old. Now the fun begins, eh?

Alright Smarty Pants!

2008-11-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

Now, some people like to say that it is way too early to tell if your baby is smart or not. I beg to differ. My baby is smart.

About a month ago, when Amelie was 8 1/2 months old, she was playing in the living room while we sat there staring at her (as usual). She loves to stick her bum in the air and look under things, so she started looking under our ginormous ottoman. She found a toy under there, and started reaching for it. She reached and reached, but it was just too far, so she sat up, looked around for a second, then took off crawling across the room. She grabbed another toy, brought it back to the ottoman, then used that toy to fish out the toy that was out of reach! THAT takes some good problem solving abilities. I mean, I can totally do that, but an 8 1/2 month old?

Then, fast forward to yesterday (wait, I guess we'd rewind to get to yesterday, right? No, fast forward from a month ago, where we had previously rewound to, to yesterday. Got it.). whenever we have food or anything, Amelie *and the animals* come running. We were eating our dinner at our fine dining table that some people like to call TV trays. Amelie always stands up next to us and tries to get our food off the tray. Well, she's starting to get taller, so she can almost get the food now, so I have to keep moving my plate away from the side. Last night, after going back and forth from Aaron, to me and back again, she looked up at the couch and found a solution. There was a new package of diapers sitting there, so she pulled it down, pushed it over to the TV tray, climbed on top and grabbed my plate! Crazy baby! Nothing is safe from her anymore!

So, pretty much, I think my baby is smart... I very well may be crazy for thinking that I can tell that my 9 1/2 month old baby has great brain function, but guess what? I do. And I am her mother, so I am allowed to think she is THE smartest, cutest, funniest, coolest, most amazing baby on earth. Cause she is, so don't mess with her... Got it?

Amelie's 9 Month Stats

2008-11-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

Amelie had her 9 month Dr. appt a few days ago (Oct. 30th), and here are her stats...

Weight: 20 lbs, 10 oz (75th %ile)

Height: 30.5" (WAY off the charts, 100th %ile)

She basically hasn't gained a darn thing in the past few months... She just keeps getting taller and taller... Poor little thing, all her little fat rolls are disappearing :( I sware we feed her though, look, I have proof (just in case CPS gets called):

And this is her a couple months ago, when we realized it was really not a good idea to keep forcing the idea of pureed food on her. She's not a big fan of letting someone else feed her...

PICTURE TIME!!

2008-11-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

Alright, here are some fall/Halloween pictures.

Pumpkin Patch/Greenbluff

Pumpkin Carving/Dinner Party @ Sean & Sadie's

Aaron's Pumpkin (lft), Talia's Pumpkin (rt)... We carved them the night after everyone else...

Amelie on Halloween

In her Fairy Princess costume for the HALLOWEEN Party :)

Yay for election season!!

2008-11-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

If we're all so GREEN, what's with the mass amount of flyers I'm bombarded with, telling me which of the 2 idiots I'm supposed to vote for? Leave me alone & let me decide for myself. I don't care who you and P. Diddy think I should vote for, so go plant a tree, rather than wasting one. How's that for a CHANGE?

Happy 9 Months Little Bunny!!!

2008-10-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm a few days late, but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't.

Amelie is NINE months old! Huh?? How did that happen? I just had her sliced out of my stomach, like, last weekend...

I tried posting pics, but my Mac SUCKS, so I will have to do a pic overload later. Amelie is just as fun as ever. She loves to explore her world all day long. She has been cruising furniture for quite some time now, and will take a couple steps before figuring out that crawling is much more efficient. About a week or so ago, she figured out how to stand up completely on her own, from a sitting position... Not holding on to anything at all! She loves to eat EVERYTHING! She has EIGHT teeth now, and she likes to use them! She likes flavorful food, like her mommy and daddy! We are terrible parents, so we just give her whatever we're eating... Even if we haven't tested it for allergies yet... EEEP!! So far so good, though... She likes Mexican, Italian, American and of course French... Fries. She still talks all the time and has added a few more "words" to her vocabulary. She is really good at learning new tricks too (what can I say, we had a dog first.). She waves & says bye-bye, she gives high fives, she points at people and laughs. I taught her that one... I make sure she points at someone ugly or overweight... (Okay, no, really, she just likes to point at everything and laugh at everything, so the 2 just happen to go together a lot!), and Aaron taught her how to blubber her lips with her finger... You know, when you flick your finger up and down on your lip and make noises? Pretty cute. Oh, and of course, she's been clapping for a couple months. She likes to laugh and talk and play and mimic everything we do. She has a fake cough, fake laugh, and fake cry! Her fake laugh is hilarious, cause she pushes it out so hard! Whenever she sees a cat, she spits at it! When she sees Grandma and Grandpa, she gets the biggest smile on her face and is just beyond excited!! She just loves them!! When daddy comes home from work, she starts squealing and laughing and smiling, then dives into his arms and hugs him... and kisses him if he's lucky... Mostly, she just pretends she's gonna, then pulls away and laughs! She will ALWAYS kiss me, and has even planted lots of wet sloppy ones on Grandma... But with daddy, it's a game! Basically, she is just so much fun! I think this is such a great age. I love every second that I get to spend with her. Even right now, as she's screaming at me to feed her... Gotta go.

I Love JAMMIES!!

2008-10-28T01:01:00.000-07:00

As I was going through some pictures, I realized what an alarmingly large number of them were of Amelie in her jams. Not sure if it's just that she looks so supa fly in them, or if she's never wearing anything but them. Hmm... Also, you'll notice that she likes to lick things... I think she is testing out her little taste buds. Actually, probably the biggest problem is how many jammie pics show her eating candy wrappers and going after tins of candy. What can I say? She's my child (Oh, and I'm a fabulous mom... Isn't that how you do it? Bribe 'em with candy?).

(We put her to sleep in the middle of the bed, with this pillow next to her... We came in a while later to find her snuggled up on the pillow! Looks like she's been watching how mommy and daddy use pillows!)

(She pushed her high chair across the entire kitchen, then proceeded to lick the whole thing. It's a really good thing that her mother has OCD and scrubs this thing down like there's no tomorrow.)

(and I thought she no longer liked the jumperoo!)

Hmmm... Well, speaking of jammies. Amelie and Aaron are fast asleep, so it looks like I better go join in on the fun. Good night!!

I AM the American Dream

2008-09-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

Now that we're living a million miles from any life form, we seem to end up having no food around the house more often than I'd like. Today, as I sat here starving, I just decided, what the heck, I'll just take a little road trip to Arby's.

I haven't showered in probably 3 days (story of my life), so I threw my old standby black hat over my grease filled hair. I was just in my pajama shorts and a tank, but hey, I was just going through the drive thru, so it was okay. I grabbed my naked baby, threw on a dirty, stained onesie and strapped her in her car seat. She, of course, still had bed head... When she wakes up, she has a small rat's nest sitting on top of her cute little head... but again, she'd just be in her car seat, so no biggie. I finally get to Arby's, get to the window and I don't have my ID, so the guy won't let me use my debit card! ARGH! I get so annoyed when they don't check my ID, but NOW I was annoyed that he DID! After swearing up and down that I was me, I drove off, still hungry, still smelly.

I decided after the long trek, I wasn't going home empty bellied. I went to the gas station next to Arby's to use the ATM. I pulled my homeless looking child out of he car seat and went inside. As I stood there with my 400 pound cellulite stomach sagging over the top of my slightly too tight shorts, and my hairy (oh, did I forget to mention I haven't shaven my legs in, OH, probably 3 weeks) bruise covered legs bulging out the bottom, some guy came up and asked me if I had a cigarette he could borrow (and when exactly are you planning on giving it back?)... WHAT??? My first reaction was to give him the most stuck up, disgusted look possible and say "ugh, do I LOOK like I would have a cigarette???"

Then I realized that, yes... I DO look like I would have a cigarette. And a half empty beer to share as well.

Umm... Sexist Much?

2008-08-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

Who says the PeePee Teepee is just for boys??

Thanks for the wonderful picture, Sean!

I Love Daddy, He Loves Me!

2008-07-29T23:36:00.000-07:00

*LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!*

Aaron is such an amazing daddy to Amelie, I am just so blessed to have such a great husband! He's so proud of her and loves her to pieces. I absolutely love watching him with her, cause you can just tell that he truly enjoys spending time getting to know her and seeing her grow.

I was in my friend Cori's wedding last weekend. The week before, Aaron was in his friend Sam's wedding... In 2 weekends, we did about 10 hours worth of driving (between the 2 cars)! It was hectic, but fun. Amelie was such a trooper, aside from the choking and vomiting out her nose incident. Everyone at both weddings just oohed and ahhed over her, and couldn't get over what a cute, sweet, happy baby she is. Neither can we :) Anyway... At both weddings, people kept commenting that Aaron is so good with her and that I am so lucky. They just watched him play with her and make her laugh, then they'd tell me how nice it was to see such an involved, loving dad. I agree. He works so hard every day, then still comes home and changes poopy diapers without any complaints (well, almost no complaints!).

Here are some cute pics from the weddings of Amelie and her favorite guy in the whole wide world.

Sam's WeddingOkay, I'm not her favorite guy... But I'm a close 2nd, so I'm allowed in the picture.
Sorry mom, I didn't delete it! This picture was just too funny. He was snapping his fingers to try to get Amelie to look towards the camera. I swear.
Their 1st Daddy Daughter Dance. Cori's Wedding
And yes, GASP! Amelie wore the same dress to both events. Please, PLEASE don't let Suri Cruise, Harlow Richie-Madden-Hilton, Emme Lopez-Anthony-Affleck, or Vivienne Jolie-Pitt-Aniston-Vaughn-Mayer know. Amelie would be the laughing stalk of the "it" babies.

Here are some more (non-wedding) pictures of my 2 favorite people in, well... Ever.
Daddy teaching Amelie his favorite sport... She's a natural, just like him!
Oh my gosh!! She was so small! Where did my newborn go???
KISSES!!Alright, well... It's past my bedtime, so I must say good-night.

I'm right, You're wrong... Unless, of course, you agree with me.

2008-07-26T12:10:00.000-07:00

I was putting the little McMuffin down for a nap just now, and had the TV on while she ate her bottle. There was a girl on some reality show complaining about how so and so "always thought they were right". I heard someone say this recently about their mother in law too... "ugh... she always thinks that HER opinion is right!"

I guess I just have to say... You know what? I always think I'm right too. That's why I have the opinions or thoughts that I have. I mean, why would I think something that I thought was wrong?? To me, that actually sounds even sillier than always thinking my opinions are right. "Hey, I think I am wrong, but you should really do this... Even though I'm pretty sure it's not the way you're supposed to do it." Huh? I guess I just don't get why I shouldn't have opinions that I think are right. Of course I understand that people should be open to learning about other opinions or thoughts, and also be accepting of others who think differently... But, if I think 'a' is right and 'b' is wrong, I see nothing wrong with thinking that I am right for believing in 'a'.

Am I wrong? Cause I don't think so.

House Hunting...

2008-07-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad were supposed to be gone through next year, but we were really excited to hear that they were going to come back this fall... However, that actually also means that we'll be homeless come Labor Day. We've been searching for a house for a few months now, but apparently we're way too picky. We put in offers on 3 homes already! The first 2, we didn't like their counter offers, so we moved on to the 3rd, then the 2nd one called us back (yes, the house itself called us back.) and told us they'd take our original offer... Ummm, you snooze, you lose, buddy!

Well, the 3rd house is a big pit. It's definitely a fixer, and smells like an ash tray. Yum. BUT, we figured if we got a good enough deal on it, we could spend a little money fixing it up and it'd be pretty cute. Really the only thing going for it was that it is in Pine River Park, right behind Trista & Gregg, and a couple blocks from Sean & Sadie. We really liked the idea of living so close to family, so it was worth having a floor plan we hated, and a pretty disgusting house altogether. After the inspection, we were a little bit stressed over ALL the things wrong with the house. I mean, some were small, but some were big and needed to be addressed. We countered back asking them to fix the defective things, including fixing the crappy roof (P.S. They OWN their own roofing company!). They countered back saying they wouldn't fix ANY of the defective items, and they'd only put a 20 year 3 tab roof on (rather than a 25 year architectural, like we asked) if they raised the price of the house $1500. Uhh... A little note to you sir... Your house sucks. It smells like a stale, 80 year old smoker hag. There are 6,892,754 things that we'd need to fix even AFTER you fix the defective items! your house has been for sale for almost a year for a reason. Sorry, but you're gonna have to lower your price. Again.

So, yeah. We're still homeless.

Okay, Okay... I'll update my blog! Jeeze!

2008-07-26T10:55:00.001-07:00

So, apparently Tasha is getting sick of staring at the hot chick on my last blog, so here's something new to satiate your taste buds.

That should do it, right?! She is just more and more fun & amazing every day... AHHHH!! Okay, I'm back. Out of like 6 toys on the floor, she managed to make her way over to the dog's disgusting, dirty rotten ball, and start to stick it in her mouth. C'mon! I don't spend hours on end cleaning all your toys so that you can stick a dirty dog toy in your mouth! Crap! Now I'm gonna have to start scrubbing Cohen's toys too... Hmmm... OH, right, back to Amelie being great and all...
So, she has her 2nd tooth in (as of a few days ago). Her 1st one came in about a week and a half ago. Her 1/2 birthday was yesterday!!!!!! We celebrated it by driving by 40 houses and walking through about 5. Lucky little girl. She's getting pretty good at moving around. When she gets up on all fours, she just sits there rocking for a second and laughs, like she's so proud of what she can do! Then she'll make a break for her toy.

She also talks non-stop! She says Mama, Baba, Dada, Lalalalalala, and several other sounds (sa, ta, ca...). She'll lie in bed, staring up at the ceiling, and practice new noises over and over. When she figures out a new sound, she smiles, says it a few more times, then moves to the next noise. It's funny, cause she'll start out whispering (so as not to embarrass herself if she can't say it right), then gradually get louder until she's almost yelling it... Then off to whispering her next sound! Silly little thing! I basically love her guts.

Even I deserve to look THAT hot.

2008-06-30T00:54:00.000-07:00

I was browsing through the back pages of a magazine... I read them back to front, cause I think the ads are fun to look at, but if I go to them last, I would be too bored to look at them. BUT, this way, since I actually WANT to look at the real stuff, I can read the ads, THEN the real stuff, and never get bored (prize goes to the first person who can tell me how bad of run on sentences those were ANNNND how many commas... GO). Actually, I think it's because I'm partially dyslexic, cause I also eat pudding/yogurt/anything that will stick, with my spoon upside down and eat sandwiches/hamburgers/anything between 2 bread-like substances upside down...I digress.

So, my point was... I found an ad that has literally changed my whole world. It has given me new hope. Here it is in all its glory.
Isn't it amazing that Nutrisystem can make an OBVIOUSLY obese person look SO good in a bikini? I mean, if you click on the picture and look closely, you can tell that she's TOTALLY huge in her before picture. It has absolutely nothing to do with the oversized parka that she has on. Nothing.

You've sold me, Nutrisystem... you've sold me.

Pool Corners and Filter

2008-05-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

Really exciting post for dad! (Click on the pictures and you can see it better)

And a reminder to stop and smell the roses...

2008-05-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

Or whatever kind of flowers you come across...

Yay for summer!!

2008-05-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

Aaron and I planted some flowers a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd post some pics for mom to see. I've never really planted flowers, so I'm sure this looks completely dorky... BUT, if you saw how gross this area looked before, you know it's an improvement! I pulled weeds, raked all the pine needles up and evened out the dirt... I took these pics the day of a crappy wind storm, so it doesn't look quite as nice as it did, but oh well. You get the idea! (oh, the 2nd pic of the little bush, I didn't plant, I just cleaned it up)

Here are a couple of mom's pretty trees

And a cute little animal we found sleeping in the grass! (Aaron fertilized it, then didn't mow for a few days, it was SO long! Apparently it was good fertilizer!)

Yard work is sort of hard with a baby, so I'm just doing little bits here and there... Hopefully by the end of summer the whole yard will look good :)

Alright, Little Fishies, Time For a Swim!

2008-05-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

Mom and dad decided to fix the pool, after much coaxing from me! They were just gonna rip it up and fill it in, but I convinced them it was silly! I think they REALLY still would have rather filled it in, but we all know they've spent their lives doing what will make us kids happy... Even if it's not what they want. The diving board isn't up yet, but they got a brand new one, and a new filter and solar cover. They put a LOT into fixing it, so that we and our kids can have many more fun filled summers... Make sure to let them know how much we all appreciate it:) Here are the before and after pics...

AHHH... Much better. Thanks mom & dad.

Just in case I forget to say it enough.

2008-05-23T01:09:00.000-07:00

Amelie~ You're amazing. You need to know that you are loved beyond anything words can describe. You are so beautiful and smart. I love to snuggle you and kiss your belly. I love spending my days just talking to you and watching you grow. I love to comfort you when you cry. I love all your new noises- even your new cry! I'm going to miss your cries some day. I love all your cute faces you make (like when I let you lick a sour patch kid... Oh, and yes, I'm a terrible mom!). I can't get enough of you. I hope that you grow up to be happy and content with who you are. If I could take every pain that will ever come into your heart, so you wouldn't have to feel it, I would be more than happy to. I hope you make good decisions and do all the things that you want to do. Don't be like me, afraid to do things that you want to. Don't be afraid to love people and let them love you- even if you get hurt. When you're a teenager, and decide to hate me, it's okay. I will still love you, nothing will ever change that. When you make stupid decisions, it's okay. It doesn't mean you're stupid, it means you're human. I'm a better person ever since I met you- I love you.

Aaron~ I could have never imagined that I would meet a person like you. When people meet you, they see a nice, shy person. There's so much more there. You are SO funny! I love to talk to you and laugh. I'm so glad that I met someone with such a great sense of humor. You are so logical, which is rare to find these days ;) It's also a necessary trait, since I'm not a big fan of illogical twits :) You are extremely smart... Smarter than you think. You are a hard worker. You (rarely!) complain. You are the most amazing dad to Amelie. I love how much you love her. I love that you want to take care of her as much as I do. I love how you argue with me over who gets to snuggle her next, or change her diaper, or feed her, or push her in the stroller! I love how you come home from work and just can't wait to see us. I love how you brag about me and Amelie, you make me feel worthwhile. I love that you like helping me clean and do laundry and do grocery shopping. I love cooking new, fun meals together. I love that we're truly best friends, always on the same page. I love that you helped me plant flowers, even though I'm sure you would have rather played video games or watched sports! I love going on drives with you and talking about everything and nothing! You're so forgiving of me, and so accepting of my faults. You're always there when I need you. I love how much you've grown in these past four years. You have come out of your shell and gained confidence. I'm proud of you for everything you do and everything you are. I love our relationship- we are so lucky! We're like peanut butter and jelly... We're good individually, but even better together! We just make sense together! You've saved my life in so many ways, and I love every day that I get to spend with you.

Teething Perhaps?

2008-05-17T17:48:00.000-07:00

K, Amelie is basically just a leaky faucet these days. She chews on EVERY single thing she can get her hands on, too. She doesn't just drool, she pours. This kid is crazy. It's okay, we still love her.

Practically a Teenager.

2008-05-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

Holy Moly!! Next week, Amelie will be FOUR months old... Where the heck has time gone?!

She is such a blessing to us, of course! We're sure she'll make up for it when she's a toddler, but for now, she's the sweetest baby imaginable! So, here's an update on her and what she's been up to for her first 3 months & 3 weeks of life!

Amelie is very social! She loves to talk to everyone and everything! When we bring her out and about on our errands, people always stop and tell us how cute she is... To which she ALWAYS quickly replies with a big huge smile! As I'm sure my mom could agree, you can barely get a word in edge wise with her! Every time I'm talking to mom on the phone, Amelie squeals and coos in the background! She figures out new noises all the time, then she'll do that noise over and over for days! Until she figures out a new sound! She is always happily screaming and babbling- I just wish I could figure out what she's trying to say! Even still, we have the most wonderful conversations all day long!

Amelie is also a big gift giver (must've gotten that from Daddy, cause us Carlsen's have never been big on gifts!). At 2 weeks, 6 days, on Valentines Day, she flashed us her first real smile. 4 days shy of 2 months, we got her first big belly laugh, on Easter weekend, when everyone came over to dye Easter eggs (Zoe was apparently hilarious!! Until the video camera came out... Then, she was hilarious again right after the video camera died... GRRR!). The night of my birthday, Amelie decided all on her own that it was time to sleep through the night... Other than a little week long growth spurt last week, she's been sleeping from 9-ish until 7:30-ish... Happy Birthday, me!! Maybe she'll start walking on Christmas? Just an idea, Amelie... No pressure :)

In the morning when I wake up to her talking next to me (she sleeps in a bassinet about a foot from our bed), I'll look at her, say good morning, and she smiles so big! Then Aaron will lean over, say good morning, and she gives him a huge smile... She then starts kicking her legs and giggling like it's the beginning of the best day of her life!! Again, she got this from Daddy, cause we all know I HATE mornings! I'm most certainly NOT giggling until close to 6 o'clock at night! Whichever one of us doesn't go out to make her bottle, will sit with their face next to her bassinet, as she reaches her soft little hands up to pet our nose, tug at our lips, and touch our cheeks (she especially loves Daddy's scruff!! She can pull on his little facial hairs forever!). She loves to explore everything... Touching, grabbing, eating, licking, watching!! She's so observant!

She's about 16 lbs now, with little sausage links (as Trista calls them) for arms!! Today, a little old lady at the post office came over to gawk at her... When she found out she was not even 4 months, she asked how much she weighs... When she found that out, she looked at me with much sympathy and said "oh, you poor thing!"... Then Amelie just started laughing at the thought of her poor mommy lugging her around! The lady thought it was quite funny. Luckily, I've never had a tiny, fragile, little baby, so my beast is normal and perfect to me!

We've definitely decided her inner animal is a kitten (YAY! She really is my child!). She licks everything, and she always licks the back of her hand then rubs her head and face! Like a kitty cat cleaning itself!! Sometimes her noises she makes sound like meows, and she's started to growl a lot too... Crazy kitty!!

Basically, we can't get enough of her! In our possibly biased opinion, she's the smartest, happiest, cutest, sweetest baby on earth (with all our nieces and nephews tying for 2nd place!). She's just an angel.

She's quite the multi-tasker!

Don't worry, the can isn't open!!

Hmmm... I think someone spit up?? She looks like she's sneaking up on her prey!

No, Mom... I call the shots around here.

2008-04-27T18:22:00.001-07:00

So, before I had Amelie, I of course KNEW exactly what I was going to do with her... I made my decisions about what I thought was the best way to do everything.

For example, I KNEW that I would give her a pacifier, so that she would never suck her thumb. You can always lose a pacifier, but what do you do, cut off their thumb??

I guess I have no say. Sigh. Let's just hope we don't have to amputate the thumb.

And Aaron's hair?

2008-04-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

Here's to hoping that she really did get Aaron's hair...

Oh my gosh! How is she just so dang cute????????

Who DOESN'T Love an Incredibly Smart Movie Star?

2008-04-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

So I was reading in a magazine the other day, and there was an article called "This minute, you want to know about..." then (apparently, this thing I'm dying to know about) "Stars' Going Green Tips"

Okay, get ready, cause this one's gonna save the world.

"Turn off the Tap"- Jennifer Aniston is a stickler about conserving water: "I take a three-minute shower," she recently said. "I even brush my teeth while I shower!"

Oh Jennifer... THANK you. I've always thought that the way to preserve water while I brushed my teeth was to turn off the faucet, then brush while NO water whatsoever was running! All this time I should have been standing with a shower full of water unnecessarily flowing all over my body! Think of all the water I'VE wasted standing at my quiet, dry sink! I just wish that somehow I could have been as smart as you to have come up with this amazing "Going Green" tip.

And another thing... If you take 3 minute showers, how long do you brush your teeth for?? I can hardly believe that it really takes you 3 minutes to brush your teeth, shampoo your hair, shave and clean yourself up... I mean, it takes me at least 3 minutes just to brush my teeth.

Perhaps you need to go back to your publicist and ask them again what you were supposed to say, cause I think you may have gotten it wrong...

This Little Piggy...

2008-04-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry, we just thought this was so cute! I'm holding back by only posting a few pics... We actually took like 50!!

I'd like to take a moment to thank my fans.

2008-04-16T22:30:00.000-07:00

Oh, I don't have any??? Well you just wait.

So, I've started making baby headbands and bracelets to sell, and thought I'd show a couple off (I'm actually mostly showing off the super cute model!). I just taught myself to make bows last week, so please don't hate me for them not being perfect. Please. I beg you.

My sisters and sisters in law get a free headband (I know, I'm so nice!), so just let me know what you want. I can do every color under the sun (almost)... Polka dots, plaid, solid, sheer, rhinestones, flowers... Whatever. Let your imaginations run wild, to the ends of the earth even. Let's just get crazy.

Oh, and this is just her being cute. No bows involved.
Please make sure to take a moment to check out her cute little butt. Yes, I want people to check out my daughter's butt. Now.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

Last Week.

Yes, I'm a bit late, but I have been busy staring at my baby, as usual. Maybe if she was really boring, or not so cute, I would be a better blogger. Unfortunately, she had to be adorable, smart, fun, and well, pretty much perfect. SO, here we are now... I stare at her all day, talk and laugh with her, play games and watch her take in this new world of hers... And you're stuck NOT reading my blogs. Cause I don't post any. Cause I'm staring at her. Cause she's so cute. Wait, did I already explain all that?

Her she is with her first Easter basket, after her bath

Here she is after church in her Easter outfit (time out for bragging... Cause I haven't been bragging at all yet in this whole post. Not even a tiny bit... So, I made the headband and bracelet at like 2 am Sunday, to match her dress... I like them :) ... Okay, now back to me NOT bragging.)

Amelie showing off her beefy soccer calves, and Zoe floating next to her mommy.

Beautiful Zoe

Amelie the Bunny, going to Trista & Gregg's for dinner

The old cousin dominating the new cousin

And of course, cute little Maya as a Bunny Rabbit!

And a few more for good measure...

On St. Patty's Day

Checking out her totally awesome mother in the mirror

and her totally awesome dad... Who let her wear his hat.

Alright... Don't hold your breath until the next post, k?

With Family Like This, Who Needs Friends?

2008-03-20T21:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, I guess I will actually post something, since I've had this thing for like 4 months already.

(P.S. Pretty much, don't expect me to post all that often, K?)

BUT, here are the 2 main reasons why I'm posting...

1.)

(OH, You guys weren't hoping those would remain private forever, were you??)

and of course,

2.)

Now. I may just overload you all with pictures of Amelie, but hey... You told me to blog. Blog I will do.