Our Friday

We had such a nice day today. I love Fridays. We went to the library story hour, out for lunch, & did some shopping. When we got home I got this little Radio Flyer out of the basement and Magnolia loved riding it. We also blew bubbles and ran in the grass. Yes, grass! The snow is almost gone. Then I learned of my Grandpa's failing health. It saddens me so much so my thoughts are with him and all of my family.

17 Months

Magnolia turned 17 months yesterday. Her vocabulary is growing everyday and she is constantly repeating things she hears. Just in the past couple of days she has been "talking" nonstop. She's really trying to tell us something. We just listen and beg for more....what is she is she saying, we would love to know! She is also growing much more independent. When she's in a social situation she doesn't cling, she's off exploring but will periodically come back to us. We consider this to be great attachment with a lot of trust. She still loves salty and spicy but has recently experienced chocolate and REALLY likes it. She LOVES her book Hug by Jez Alborough and the reunion of baby and mother in the story frequently gets acted out in this house. She is becoming more and more of a daddy's girl. She goes crazy when he walks in the door at night and looks for him first thing in the morning. During the day she asks for him and I tell her he's working so now she says "dada wo wo." She just cut her 9th tooth, her canine tooth. No sign of those 1 year molars yet. She loves to recognize the letter "O" anywhere she sees one, I'm sure because I was SO impressed the first time she did. She also tries to draw "o"s too. She can hold a pencil very well, all the way at the bottom and she can make tiny marks on the paper. We have yet to see what hand will be the dominate one. I love seeing the world through her eyes. She does the sign for butterfly when she sees a large bird flying...that does make sense. I filed my nails today and when she saw the nail dust (gross), she exclaimed "snow!" :) Looking at a jewelry kiosk in the mall she did the sign for butterfly. I had to go over and see where she saw the butterfly and sure enough in the middle of a hundred tiny little gold charms, there was a butterfly charm! It is so much fun to watch Magnolia grow and reach all of these little milestones with her. She delights us in every way and we just love her like crazy. Happy 17 months Magnolia. xoxox

Magnolia's First Easter

Nana & Papa's

Outside Finally

We've had nice weather all week. Sunny skies and upper 30s & 40s. Feels downright warm for us northerners. Magnolia has LOVED being outside, I mean LOVED. She goes to the door and cries to go out. She loves the slush and puddles, she also has loved taking long walks in the stroller. Our cul-de-sac has been filled with lots of kids which has been fun for Magnolia too. In other news, Magnolia's sense of humor is really shining through. She giggles at things on t.v., on cue too. She's very dry and very much a little ham. She said "door " the other day when a closet door swung towards her. Today she shut the dryer door for me and said "door" so that's her new word of the week. She also says light, paper, purple, bye bye, hug, and pretty much anything you ask her to say. She says "no" to me but it's a very sweet no, like "no, I don't think so but thanks for asking."

My Sewing Room

Soon after we came home from China I moved all of my sewing stuff into this room, the office, but never took the time to get rid of the office stuff. Needless to say, it was very crowded. I realized since having Magnolia home I was standing and using the ironing board as a work table because it kept everything up high and out of reach. That's when I asked George to build me a big work station. We got the general idea for this table from Pottery Barn but I asked for bins rather than shelves for all of my fabric. I also asked for a table for Magnolia that could fold down when she wasn't using it. To make it even better, George put in the paper holder so her paper was always at hand. We emptied the books from the shelves and that gave me a ton more storage space. We painted one wall coral and George made me a frame that I covered with a vintage curtain to make a bulletin board. I just love my new space. I love everything that's in it. From the old chimney cabinet my mom gave me, to the old frame that was in my grandparent's basement that I covered in muslin, to the couch George bought me 9 Christmases ago. Everything in this room makes me very happy. Now I'm ready to dive back into whatever little project inspires me.

Happy Daylight Savings

Daylight Saving Time

In Spring when maple buds are red,
We turn the Clock an hour ahead;
Which means, each April that arrives,
We lose an hour,
Out of our lives.

Who cares? When Autumn birds in flocks
Fly southward, back we turn the Clocks,
And so regain a lovely thing-
That missing hour
We lost last Spring.

-Phyllis McGinley

Friday Magnolia and I drove to Oshkosh, WI to go to the Oshkosh B'Gosh outlet mall. She wore her Oshkosh B'Gosh sweatsuit our neighbor gave her. It was an Oshkosh kind of day.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We stayed busy recreating my sewing room (photos to come). Yay for daylight savings. We're happy to have that extra hour of light in the evening!

Moo, Baa.

Just the other day I asked Magnolia what a sheep says and she belted out "baaaa!" Then I did the same with cow and got a "mooooo!" We read a book about animal sounds but I didn't know she knew the sounds. Here they are along with some other animal signs and sounds. We just learned the sign for owl. You make circles with your hands and twist them over your eyes so that's why Magnolia is rubbing her eye here. :)

Flu Be Gone

George and I are finally done with the flu. Somehow Magnolia avoided it. I don't know how, but she did (knock on wood). With that said, there hasn't been a whole lot of picture taking but here are some random shots I did get. Magnolia got her first goldfish this weekend! We have them on the coffee table which I know seems risky but she doesn't even attempt to knock it over and this way the fish are really at her eye level. Sunday we went out to lunch. She loved the bean dip and she ate half of my lunch.

Hoping everyone is staying healthy and the snow is melting in your neck of the woods. We still have two feet on the ground!