Orange Stripes Day

Today is Orange Stripes Day. Sophia has three articles of clothing with orange stripes, so we decided to mix them all together. Here's the very cute (if clashy) result!

And here's the close-up:

Poor Sophia. Her clothing is subject to Mommy's whims, never know what she'll have to put up with!

Spring

Sophia and I are so enjoying spring. I never realized how long winter is when you are locked away inside with an infant! "Let's go out for a run, Sophia! . . . Oh, right, it's 12 degrees out, you'd freeze." Grrr.

So I can take a day of rain (or two or three) because I know it won't be sticking around white and cold and 6 inches deep for months at a time. And when it stops raining we can get back out there with the baby jogger, and go for a run.

Or a walk.

Or just play in the yard.

Or go to the Tripp's house.

Or . . .

The possibilities are endless when it is 50 degrees out there. Yay for spring!

More cuteness

Snuggle time!

First time feeding herself.

Maybe shouldn't have started with spinach.

Good job, Sophia!

Mommy loves to spike the Snuggler's hair after bathtime.

I love coming in to find a happy baby after naptime!

She is always so pleased with herself when she turns over.

Our house

I love our house. Though there are a few downsides to where we live, there are so many wonderful reasons to be happy with it. Here goes:

1. Close to family. Now when we want to visit family, we can walk around the corner to visit my sister and her fam, drive 6 miles to John's parents, or drive 10 miles to my parents. Sure beats an hour each way for the holidays!

2. The upgrade from 500 square feet to just over 1400. Lack of furniture was a great "problem" to have when we moved in last spring!

3. Getting to decorate! This is especially great for me; living in our white walled apartment was getting really old. Now we live in a purple/blue/gray/yellow/cream walled house! More colors to come, as I am so not into the whole white walled thing. Next up on the painting menu: green dining room.

4. Location, location, location. Of course, this one is a blessing and a curse, but it is so nice to live just a couple miles from Wal-Mart, the library, our bank, and of course the Home Depot.

5. Sidewalks to run on. Sophia and I have been getting out for runs regularly now that it is spring, and it's great to run without worrying that I'm going to get her killed because we can run on the sidewalk. Something I never thought about before having a kid.

6. I can see the stars! Never could see the stars very well when I lived in Portland or South Portland. I was walking outside tonight and when I looked up there was the Big Dipper! Of course, that and the Little Dipper are the extent of my constellation knowledge.

7. Storage. As faithful followers of my blog may know, I did a basement makeover at the start of the year. How nice to have a basement to makeover! When we lived in South Portland our upstairs neighbors let us store stuff in their attic area (Thanks, N & B!), but having it in your own basement is so much nicer.

8. We have our own little yard. It may be only a quarter of an acre, but I'm sure it will be fun to take Sophia out there this summer for playtime.

9. My favorite reason (today): my craft area! All of my craft supplies (from sewing/quilting to paper goods, beading, etc) have all been stored away for literally years, but as of today I have my own craft area. Our den is off-limits to kids, and is our office/music room at one end, and my craft room at the other end. With the addition of some new free furniture, I finally got it (mostly) organized, and can't wait to start my next project.

Why do you love your place, be it apartment, house, whatever?

Lunchtime confessions

Nowadays Sophia eats several ice cubes worth of puree mixed with rice cereal for lunch. Usually I thaw a green veggie cube, and a cube of some sort of fruit, and throw them in a bowl together with some rice cereal. She doesn't seem to mind mixed food (unlike her mama!) so why not?

Today's meal was a non-mixer, however, as it was peas and prunes. I just don't think you can mix those two like you can peas and applesauce. Really, though, the true reason for not mixing them is the "confession" part of this post.

There are a few baby foods that belong in the "one bite for you, one bite for me" category. Pureed prunes is one of them. Also making the short list are apricots, peaches, and pears. Definitely not chicken or beef, those just look nasty, never mind trying them.

The "one bite, one bite" started a long time ago, while babysitting the next door neighbor boys. (Sorry, Donnabeth, but I made sure your kids didn't go hungry!) Peaches especially; those are tasty!

So when I feed Sophia her lunchtime meal I have to consider whether I plan to steal some of it so that I thaw the right amount. Yummy, two cubes thawed and not mixed with the veggies. Yucky, you can have it all, kid!