yogini

today, baby girl and i went to our very last baby & me yoga class at OmMama.  it was a little bittersweet for me, but leslie & i got a kick out of watching baby girl do some of her own asanas.

oooooommmmmm...

didn't quite catch her in plank...

let's call this a variation on half upright seated angle...

locust-ish...

downward facing dog

namaste...

blocked

i can't think of witty captions today...  i guess it's title-less tuesday.

episode IV

"A few hours ago, in a Wii very close by...
The Rebel forces had just won their first battle with the Empire.  Agents have stolen plans for the Death Egg battle station.  Princess Leia, a pretty pink hedgehog from Alderon, had the plans and was racing home in her star cruiser..."

so begins the epic story of our time:

Starring: 

Sonic as Sonic Skywalker

Amy as Princess Leia

Mario as Han Mario

Luigi as Chuigi

Wario as Obi-Wario

Robotnik as Darth Eggman

Tails as T-3PO

Toad as Toad2D2

King Koopa as Jabba the Bowser

Shy Guys as "short people in robes"

and a host of supporting characters such as Storm Koopa Troopers, Storm Goombas and "crazy aliens"...

see this one in the theaters, folks~  the special effects are *awesome*! 

"pieww! pieww!"

inspired

today was a busy day, as i attended the annual homeschooling conference presented by The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers.  i've attended every conference they've held since my eldest was one, so this is my 4th (or is it 5th?) conference even though this is our first "official" year of homeschooling.  as always, i feel motivated, inspired, and have come away with a few new ideas/perspectives that i hadn't thought of or considered (yet).  now, to keep that positive energy going as the end of the year approaches and we have to do our proof of progress testing.  eeeeeeek!

paleontology

my mom & i took the kids to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden this afternoon to check out the Orchids Galore exhibit and, of course, to visit the Children's Garden, where we discovered the fossilized remains of Pac-Man...

having the kids along made it hard to focus on photography, so i think i may try to go back alone (or for a MMO/MAO with some photog friends?) and try to get some better shots of the flowers, because i *love* orchids, and i was blown away by the many different varieties...  

i'm also definitely starting to feel the limitations of the kit lens.    

trees of life

the apple blossom buds are starting to open on the two trees we planted with the boys' placentas...

tater tot

and yes, the younger son *always* has some sort of food residue on his face!  

scoot! *

the eldest, trying out his scooter for the first time this spring...

*title must be read in an Allison Janney from 10 Things I Hate About You voice

namesake

Nana (my mother-in-law) enjoying her sweet granddaughter, who is partly named for her...

(baby girl's first and middle names are variations of both of the grandmothers' middle names~ her first name is based on Nana's middle, and her middle name comes from Grammie's middle.)

arsenal

i was mistaken...  baby girl has TWO teeth peeking through the gum!

she's been wearing her amber teething necklace for a while, but it is time to break out some of the other tools.  i do still need to pick up some hyland's teething tablets~  those are back on the shelves now, right?  RIGHT???!!!

currently in the arsenal: Gummy Oil, Angel Brush, amber teething necklace

discoveries

today i learned that baby girl can sit unassisted for a few minutes and is *this* close to figuring out how to go from hand and knees onto her butt.  (she is still *this* close to crawling, which is what she'd been working on when she started trying to move into sitting.)

she also has a tooth peeking through the gum, so she is no longer rough and toothless...  well, maybe for a few days longer, as it breaks all the way through.
>sigh<

incarcerated

over the weekend we got the outdoor playpen (that we've had since the eldest was a babe) from the shed and cleaned it up so that baby girl could enjoy being outside with us as we worked in the yard.  i set her up in it today as i attempted to work on relocating our herb garden.  of course, i decided that i really needed the husband's opinion and assistance before i could do anything, so instead i just took some pretty pictures.

Tabhair 'om póg, is Éireannach mé!

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

the offspring and i met a couple of friends for a little outdoor fun on this beautiful St. Patrick's Day, and i *had* to dress my half-irish babes for the occasion...

although it was mid-to-late afternoon, which is typically prime time for the crankies, i think we all had a pretty enjoyable time...  even so, i'm sure we moms were all thinking the same thing on the way home:

"Pionta Guinness, le do thoil!!!"

circle of life

i've been eying some of the lovely designs from StephieMc Designs for a while to give as gifts to a couple of special ladies.  last week the SMD shop celebrated its "birthday" with a 25% off sale and a free gift with a purchase over a certain amount, so i decided to take advantage and go ahead and order.
i mentioned in the "message to seller" during checkout that even though i knew i was over the dollar amount, i wasn't interested in the piece that SMD was giving away, and that i would have preferred one of the rings.  i was really surprised when SMD messaged me to get my ring size and personalization info.

a sweet little gift for me...

reflection

baby girl was enjoying looking at herself and admiring my mother blessing necklace...

and since i missed yesterday~ here's a twofer...  

satiated and snoozing

hey pretty...

hey pretty, baby!

baby girl was checking out the little beauty in the exersaucer mirror while enjoying a lovely day outside with mom & dad as they did a few yard projects.

uncertainty

baby's in a corner!

where's patrick swayze when you need him?

incentive

oh so close to crawling, baby girl just needs something to reach toward...

3/10

me and my shadow

warped

the eldest asked me to help him make warp pipes today.  although we did some photos together of sonic and tails going through, i wasn't happy with any of them.

so i did some on my own with shadow.

going in the pipe

and coming out into a new world...

anniversary

baby girl is "wild for [her] dad", and so am i...

jill & rene 
03.07.1998

butt words

i'm sad that baby girl has almost outgrown these (and the burgundy pair embroidered with "happiness is mama's milk")...  it's funny to think that there will come a day when i will probably cringe to see words across her butt.

tinker-belle

accoutrement

the eldest has spent the last two days creating a whole arsenal of mario gear.  he actually has two pieces that we can't find, and didn't want me to take a picture without them... so i waited until he was asleep.  ;-)

top row: frog suit, invincibility star & superleaf, 1-up mushroom (i think), yoshi
middle row: super boots, metal mushroom, penguin suit, bee mushroom
bottom: fire flower, propeller mushroom, spring mushroom, ice flower
not pictured: yoshi egg and cape feather

sit down in your thinking chair...

and think...  think...   thi-eeee-ink!

they are streaming some early seasons of Blues Clues on Netflix right now (which i appreciate, because Steve is awesome. Joe in the later seasons is totally lame. and yes, i actually have an opinion on which one is better.  (on a similar note, i also think that George Carlin is the best conductor ever)).  i actually saw a lot of the early BC episodes on air, when my now 16-year-old nephew was a toddler, so maybe that's why i'm a little partial to the show (and to Steve)...

whatever the reason, it really made me smile when the eldest cut out his own "clues" and had me find them:

the first "paw print", which was on our TV. 

#2, on super mario galaxy 2

#3, on the sonic & tails stuffies

he then made me sit down in our recliner and pretend it was our thinking chair, so i could figure out the clues.

which i did, because i'm really smart.

checking in...

i had well child checkups for the younger son and baby girl yesterday...
it's hard to get a great picture when you don't want to let someone roll off the counter.

and happy 5 month birthday to my jagunda daughter~  18.12 lbs, 26.75 in long!
(and the 4 yr old big brother was 41 lbs, 42.5 in tall)

wash, rinse, repeat

i've cloth diapered all of my kids.  i love it.

i have used several different kinds, but eventually came back to the awesome Mother-Ease One Size Fitteds (which i use almost exclusively with wool covers).
my current stash is made up of white MEOS diapers that i'd bought originally for my eldest in 2005, sold to a friend when i switched to pocket diapers, and then rebought from her when i switched back.
the colored diapers were originally purchased white and dyed by a friend (before ME started selling their own colored versions), who then sold me her stash when her son potty trained.  i also bought a few more diapers from another friend, which had been dyed by that same mama.

here they are folded:

yes, i am anal enough that i alternate my whites with the colors, and also which way they face to help the stack stay upright.

oh, and this is only half of my stash...