Farewell October

October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.

~George Cooper

I hope you all enjoy this last day of October. This month has seemed to be on wings and positively flew by. Tomorrow is November and the countdown to Thanksgiving and Christmas really begin. Love to you all...


Pictures taken by B Bowden of Rochester, NY.

home again

home again... jiggity jig
We're home! Did you miss me? :)
We had a good time in FL visiting family. It was a little crazy and a little chaotic, but there were 12 of us in one house and that just happens to be my family.
We love each other anyways. :)
It was so good to see family members that we haven't gotten to see in a long time, really good.
I hope you enjoy the pictures (and commentary.)

The welcome
I enjoyed all the amazing flowers around the house. These are "Bird of Paradise" (I think)Angelia's banana tree with baby bananas on it!
A bromeliad
One day we went to visit the town of Mt. Dora and we had lots of fun browsing through shops and enjoying the most delicious weather.

The best frozen coffees ever! I'm so not kidding. I would go back to visit, just to have another one. :)

Really neat iron (and copper?) gate. I loved the roses.

Amazing looking Shepard's pie through the bakery window.

Sunlight through the trees

Rosie and Mike, so happy

looking down the hill to the lake at the foot of the town

not sure what these are, but really pretty

another "not sure" but such a pretty vine-ing flower

Lovely bougainvillea, it was everywhere

Gorgeous flowers but check out the thorns on the stem! Just a friendly reminder to look and not touch!


When we came home in the evening we enjoyed glasses of wine and books by the pool.

Sadie~Rose watching the pool action from the sidelines.
Some enjoyed evening swims

and Olivia playing in Hershey's bed.

Another day Mike, our girls and I went to Wekiwa Springs State Park which was amazing.
We found bear tracks by the walkway. It was so strange to be in central sunny FL, and be all bundled up in coats (it was 60 degrees at noon), walking through sand, out in the country, seeing cactus, and bear tracks. So strange, but fun. :)
We went back to Mt. Dora in the afternoon to visit the great knitting store and cupcake store. I had a chocolate cappuccino cupcake. Yum.


Olivia and Mike devoured theirs before I could hand off the baby and take pictures.


I had a productive trip home. Knitting and books on iPod.


We had to stop and give Rose a little snack of sweet 'taters
and guess what welcomed us?


Home sweet South Carolina!

Thank you, Leland and Angi for having us and putting up with the commotion!
Olivia's already talking about next time and I'm pretty sure Rose is missing Hershey.
Love you guys and we'll have to do it again!

ready to go

the kids are still sleeping
and dad wishes he was too,
but we are up and getting ready
to take a short vacation to sunny FL.

the bags are packed
and the music ready to play
the gps is charged and ready to go.

i will be home no later than wed.
i'll miss you ladies,
and be ready to catch up on thursday.
have a wonderful weekend!

dying...

Play silks that is!

I was inspired by creative Ms. Kristen and we followed these instructions.

Rose got a hold of a package, but we saved it. (Or her, how ever you look at it)

Waiting for them to soak.

Mixing up the pink.

Mixing up the purple. (This color stinks like grape cough syrup!)

And the red (also stinky!)
Our finished results. After washing and drying, the read is more tangerine/peach than bright red. We are going to try that color again. But Olivia and Sadie~Rose love them.
I bought a set of 6 big scarves (30 in) and a set of 12 handkerchiefs. Big ones for Olivia and small ones for Rose. (We have them bundle up and hiding for her birthday.) We are going to do green, blue, yellow, and orange next time.
These make great Christmas and birthday gifts and are so much fun for older kids to help with. We will be certain to do these again.

11 months

It's so hard to believe that another month has passed and we are seeing the arrival of month number 11. I can honestly say that tears have been shed thinking about your 1st birthday which will be here sooner rather than later.
You are our darling baby. So many changes this month.
You are talking. Da-da is still the word of choice but others are starting to emerge. Words like "hi" "more" "that" "sister." They all have specific sounds and even if no one else around can understand, we do. And we are cool with that. Our own secret family language. :) But you do chatter on, constantly. I think you will be a talker like your big sister.
You love the cupboards. You've figured out how to open the doors and you love to climb in. I have locks on some, like under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, but you have fun in the cupboard with the pots and pans and the one with the toaster and blender. And it all depends on your mood of which one you will pick. If your in a climbing mood, you'll pick the pots and pans cupboard because you can push everything to one side and climb up onto the shelf in the cupboard and lay there, watching us make dinner or clean up. If you are in a snack-y mood, you climb in the cupboard with the toaster where you sit and eat toast crumbs. Delicious, you say.
You are a scavenger. You crawl around the kitchen floor and pick up any and all crumbs on the floor and eat them. Doesn't matter what it is, you eat it. Doesn't matter how much I sweep the floor, you still find it. You know that your Daddy is messy, so when he eats crackers or chips you crawl along behind him, waiting for crumbs to fall. You do a good job cleaning up after him.

Your sister's chair is your new love. For indeed, you have fallen in love with it.
Poor sister was ill and spending much of her time in it, but roused herself long enough to get up and put in a new movie. But you stealthily snuck up and climbed in, making yourself totally comfortable. Sister complained, but I told her to give you a moment and then you would be out and on your merry way. I was wrong.
You sat in that chair for over 30 minutes and any time sister tried to join you or make herself comfortable, you pushed her out and whined for your own space.
Craziness, I know.
You have figured out how to climb down the stairs on your own. I loved sitting on the stairs watching you figure out the best way to make your way down. So amazing to see those little wheels turning in your mind.
You whistle. Yes, whistle. You've always enjoyed watching and listening to your Daddy and I whistle, but lately you've decided to join us. You were playing in the fridge while Daddy and I cooked lunch. I hear a short little note and looked at your Dad to see what he was whistling about. At the same time he looked at me and we both asked the same question, "Was that you?" and we both answered no. So we turned around and looked at our baby girl, who again puckered up and blew. Tiny little notes and usually made by accident. But whistled notes, nonetheless.
You have your own little way of dancing. After inquisitively watching your Daddy and I waltz around the kitchen a few times, you will tuck your head low, crawl/stomp yourself in a straight line, come to a halt, make a complete circle once, maybe twice and then start all over. All while singing a song in your loudest voice. Adorably cute.
You took your 1st steps today. We were spending the day at a friends and you and I were sitting on the floor playing. I stood you up and let go for some reason and you took the 3 steps between us without a problem. The entire room came to a halt and we had to set you up and watch you do it again and again. Daddy is sad and doesn't want us to do this. He wants you to stay our little crawling baby for a little while longer. I understand, but it is exciting to see you do new things.
You enjoy joining us at meals. We set you in your "bumbo" with it's new tray and will give you a pieces of sweet potato, carrot, avocado, broccoli, blueberries, apple, banana, or a strawberry. Your favorites being sweet potato, carrot, and strawberry.
We gave you an avocado the other day and with each bite you said, "ukkk." "guggg" "bleck" "guck" but you kept eating. Eventually you decided it was better for your skin and hair (of which you have little) than it was to eat. So you smashed it on the tray and then smeared it all over. You most enjoyed the frozen strawberry. I think because it helps bring relief to the top little tooth that is struggling to make it way through.
It fun to watch you experiment, but you a quite the little mooch. Any cookie, cake, bread, or pie and you want it with a passion and will cry cry cry if we refuse (which we do!)
You think you are such a big girl. You play "chase" but you are now the chaser. You giggle uncontrollably at silly things. You love to be outside. If a door is ever open, you go through it. You love to sit on the porch steps after lunch and wave "bye-bye" to Da-da even though you've only managed to actually wave one time.
Strollers thoroughly confuse you. You think of them as a neat climbing device rather than something to ride in. The sling is still your preferred method of transportation when you can more yourself.
You love music. You love to sing and dance. You will crawl to the stereo in the living room and fiddle with the dials trying to get music to come on while you stand there dancing to the tune in your head.

We are so thrilled to have you in our lives and we cherish every moment. This next month will bring even more big changes and the next time, I will be writing your birthday post.
So much love to you, darling baby Rose.
Always and forever,
your mommy

I would never do this

Nope, not me. I would never pull out the graham crackers, the peanut butter, and the chocolate chips and combine them. I bet it would taste good. Especially if you got the peanut butter to chocolate chip ratio figured out(i.e. less pb and more chips.) What's not to like?
But I mean, come on! Who would do this?
Like I said, not me.
Never me.

Whatever.

It's just been that kind of day.

A special day

Almost 3 years ago I had the sweetest comment left on my blog.

May 05 10:23 AM

Hi Fairlight-

I just love your name, it's beautiful! And so is the name Olivia!

I am so glad to have discovered you... we have so much in common. I also have a little girl and am a stay at home mom (who loves interior decorating and flower gardening). Annabelle is almost 11 weeks old and I just love being a mommy. Your little Olivia is such a doll!

I was just reading to Annabelle today as well. The tip of the week for 8 weeks old on Americanbaby.com said to start reading books to your baby, so we went to the library and have been reading together ever since then.

Have you ever heard of the Toot and Puddle books by Holly Hobbie? They are so darling! Annabelle stairs and smiles at the bright pictures on the page...it's so much fun!

Very pretty sight you have here. I would love to know how to put music or a video onto mine!

You and Olivia have a lovely day now and we'll check in on you again, you can be sure!

-Chelle

P.S. I found you by the comment you left at Aunt Teas. And I am glad that I did.:)

That day started a dear friendship. We started with leaving each other comments, sometimes 8 a day. But that was too slow a form of communication. So we switched to email, which was great, but still not perfect. So we switched to instant message which we great but kept us tied to the computer for hours at a time. Which was a little difficult with my young 3 year old running around. Eventually I asked her for her phone number. Oh my goodness, thankfully I have unlimited long distance because we had and still do have so much to talk about. :)
I have loved getting to know her, learning her likes and dislikes, sharing joys and sorrows, swapping ideas and inspirations, sharing a blog, talking about hopes and dreams until we thought our heads we explode, celebrating babies and the openings of etsy shops, trading parenting advice, and prayers that we're doing it half way right. Trying to help each other (over the phone) with difficult sewing tasks and new projects. Rejoicing when it all worked out ok. Last fall, a good sized box arrived and in it was a most cherished quilt. Made just for my little Sadie~Rose.


I've learned so much from her, laughed until I cried, woke up to birthday greetings from her,
called her when I'm upset or sad and been cheered up just by the sound of her voice. Found packages sitting on my doorstep totally unexpected, e-cards in my inbox just to say "hi" or proclaim the new season. We e-mail, instant message, and call each other daily. Always checking in, always sharing. She is my sanity when my "real life" get's out of control. She is my prayer partner and encouraging friend. A shoulder to lean on and cry on, if need be. She will share a Word or point me back to Jesus when the days are tough and when they are good. She's got the best giggle. Ever. She can always find something to be cheerful about. She is honest and real. She's gorgous. On the inside as well as the outside. She is extremly creative. She looks for the best in everyone. She is so in-love with her husband. She is the best mommy to Miss Annabelle Lucy. She loves Jesus and always seeks to follow Him.
It has been one of my biggest joys and blessings of my adult life - to have her a my friend.

So on this happy day I wish you, Chelle, a day full of joy, good news, a happy toddler, a mail box full of goodies, friends and family calling with good wishes, and all the cupcakey polka dotted goodness you deserve.

Happy Birthday Chelle!

maternity photos #1

I had my 1st maternity shoot this past Saturday with a friend and her sweet family.
I had a lot of fun, her boys are the sweetest, and it was great to meet her husband and see how in-love they are with each other.



Thank you J + M for letting me do this! It was lots of fun and I hope your pleased.
Now, hurry up sweet baby, we're all waiting impatiently for you!