an elsie fashion show: one month old

I am very late in posting these pictures...three months late, actually. Josie, the wardrobe director on this photo shoot, has been patiently waiting for this post ever since we took the pictures. We took SO MANY pictures that day I was just overwhelmed picking my favorites. But since Elsie just made the jump into 9 month clothes, and this was a photoshoot of her wearing my favorite newborn and 0-3 month outfits, I thought I had better get these pictures up. (That pink bonnet above was mine when I was Elsie's age!)

 

Josie is a favorite around these parts. Most often referred to as "Osie!" she is well loved and even had the patience to teach Ivar how to play hide-and-seek...which consisted of a lot of lessons on how to keep our eyes closed and not follow the person hiding.

This first dress came from Hawaii from Mimi. I'm pretty sure Elsie is saying in this picture, "Let's go to Waikiki, Mimi."

 

 

 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to go and put another blanket on Elsie. Given the wind outside my window right now, it just doesn't look like she is wearing enough clothes in these pictures!

leaves!

Our old house in Minneapolis had two trees and therefore two trees worth of leaves. Can't count the trees we have here...but I can count the number of times I dragged this 12 by 16 foot tarp into the grove, heavy with leaves. Eight is the number. And that's only the front of the yard. Haven't even made it to the back.

But for the record, raking is great upper body cardio!

 

a true story

Sunday we came home from church and I was feeling really ill. So I ate some crackers, fed Elsie and went to bed. I had the chills, had the sweats, had a bucket near by.

At 4:30 that afternoon I woke up and was taking it nice and easy. Rory had just changed Elsie who was still wearing her dress from church but nothing but a diaper on the bottom. This is important to note because as we sat in Ivar's room watching him play, Elsie sitting upright on my lap, she filled that diaper. Or she would have filled that diaper had it been covering both of her butt cheeks. Instead I suddenly felt lots of warmth on my lap.

I hollered for Rory to come and take his daughter. He had heard the filling from the other room and we laughed when he lifted her away. The diaper was empty. My pajama pants were a sight. 

Ivar was interested in what we were laughing at and came to look. But the second he saw my pants his face fell and he went white. His eyes began to water and he looked like he was choking on his tongue. I tried to reverse this moment, but it was too late. The boy lost his lunch, projectile, getting the floor, himself and mostly my pajama pants.

It didn't stop for a while. I yelled for a bucket and Rory threw the one that had been by my bed into Ivar's room running back to Elsie and yelling, "why is this happening?!!"

Minutes later Rory was taking all articles of clothing...Elsie's soiled leggings, Ivar's spewed on shirt and pants, and my poor pajama pants that were victim of both, and starting a load of laundry. I was on my knees working spot shot into the carpet, and Ivar was playing with his bath toys in a tub with no water, waiting for one of us to be able to supervise.

When Rory came back upstairs he began to run Ivar's bath water and I commented, "hey. remember how I am the sick one today? let's not forget that."

Ivar was fine after his bath. We now know he has a terribly weak stomach. And Elsie was fine once she had a diaper covering both cheeks. And strangely, after inhaling the fumes of spot shot and gross, I started to feel better too. I think it was the adrenaline of surprise shooting through me (or shooting at me?) that kicked me back into mother mode. Clearly there's really no good time for the mama to get sick.

sockie booboo

Ivar's favorite game lately is playing "nigh nigh! (tiny pause) good morning!"

His favorite thing to say is "sockie booboo." We have no idea what this means and have tried every coy way to try to figure it out. But he says it just out of the blue, "Hey Mama! Sockie Booboo!" Any good guesses?

The other super fun development is that Ivar can tell us stories now. A few weeks ago he spent the night with Kyle and Lisa. He came home saying on repeat, "Uncle Lisa! Kyle! Scuse Me!" Uncle Kyle had introduced him to Steve Martin via youtube and Ivar learned how to say, "Well Excuuuuuse Me!" Except Ivar's version is very staccato and always with Uncle Lisa and Kyle.

Then on Saturday Ivar spent the day with my dad and Svea. And when I was driving Ivar home he kept saying, "Grandpa say Slllooowwww Slow Slllloooooowwwww." I was almost home before I called my dad and asked what he was talking about. And dad replied, "that kid eats so fast, I kept telling him 'slow Ivar. sllllowww. you'll choke." 

Until tomorrow, Sockie Booboo!

a little catch up

I have so much that I have wanted to share on this blog. Little time I guess. So here are a few of the things in my head in one very random mind dump:

+I chose this picture to begin this post for two reasons. Number one: because it's adorable. Number two: to announce that my bangs are finally long enough to pull back. Somebody shout something!! Many a bobby pin has been used to keep these bangs out my eyes and now they are officially part of the rest of my hair. Praisalluja!

+My sister is wise. She was at a conference last week and told me later, "it was good. one session was pretty basic and a waste of time but I had stationary in my bag so I wrote notes to our aunts." And then she told me that she always brings stationary to events like this just in case. What foresight!

+And she shared this with me: She has a friend who is trying to create more rhythm and routine in her life in an attempt to take better care of herself. So she decided that every day she would 1) make her bed 2) put fresh lemon in her water bottle and 3) put nice lotion on her feet, followed by thick socks before she goes to bed. And the friend reported that these three simple things really make a difference in her everyday. I liked these ideas a lot.

+I think Annika is so pretty. She looks tired in this picture, and cold, but I think she is so beautiful.

 

+ When we were on the north shore for the Harrington Family Reunion I got to hear my brother read bedtime stories to the kids. And it was awesome. He's an attorney, but the man has a real knack for reading Winnie the Pooh. He used different voices for all of the characters. He sped up and slowed down, he was loud for some voices and quiet for others. I was transfixed. And he didn't even know I was listening. He was up in the loft with the kids and I was down below. But I left totally convicted that I need to up my game for bedtime stories. It's time to bring it.

+Also. While en route to the north shore I looked back at Ivar in his footie pajamas (we set out early) and asked Rory if he had grabbed Ivar's shoes by the door before we left. He did not. I didn't either. So Ivar got to wear pink mary janes for four days of hiking on rocks. Thankfully my cousin Yang Yang and his daughter Nui Nui had brought these brand new shoes to give to Svea for her birthday. But they fit Ivar, and he really made them his own.

+And, after a few people asked: Yang Yang is my Aunt Jane's nephew. He came to the United States probably 15 years ago and I consider him a cousin...my only cousin on the Harrington side. He married Nancy and they have Nui Nui. Unfortunately Nancy couldn't make it to the reunion because she was abroad (I think in Poland) for a work conference. Thank you YY and NN for letting Ivar wear the shoes you intended for Svea all weekend!

+Finally, I will close with a picture I just came across while looking at all of these North Shore pictures. I appreciate that they included a dog in this quality photo op from Split Rock.