2012 in pictures

This was a pretty big year, what with the brand new person, and the move, and so much more. I'm going to try and stick to one photo per month for this year in pictures.

January


February


March


April


May


June


July


August


September


October


November


December

So this is Christmas

Despite my Mom's terrified expression here, we had a good Christmas. Davis has figured out how to make his desires known and spent a lot of time crawling to various people to demand to be picked up. He's also figured out how to make Mom's powerchair go, so that's interesting.

Moira is really getting socially adept. She spent most of her time at our extended family celebrations leading people around, politely engaging in conversation, and convincing them to do her bidding. She even shared her brand new, and much desired, VTech Laptop with her cousin. I KNOW! I'm as surprised as you are. Possibly more.

We got a lot of games for Christmas. The computer and PS3 ones are not pictured here, because of reasons. We've played Castle Panic, and it was as fun as Wil Wheaton made it look. Eventually I might get around to writing a post about good board games to play with kids.

Pictured in my Christmas village here are the Tiny Titans (and Moira) peg dolls I painted. She has already requested more of these. Pictures of Davis' new pants and shirt are on my camera still, so you will have to wait for those.

Is it bad that I already have a list of things to make for next year's Christmas? I figure it won't be so bad if I start now. This list is:
Cloth napkins - We need more of these anyway, now that 6 of us are using them every night.
Matching pajamas - Because I tried really hard to buy these and it was ridiculously hard since Moira wants a nightgown, and Walker wants a button up flannel shirt with his bottoms, and I'd prefer a knit shirt. Apparently real men don't wear full flannel pajamas now?
Hand embroidered gift tags - These could be really cute, especially if I use Moira's handwriting for hers. Awww!


Here's the other thing Davis started doing during Christmas! Purposeful walking towards a goal, all the way across the room! I love the Frankenbaby phase of walking.

WW: Super fans!

Linking up with Hobo Mama and NPN.

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful, peaceful day.

WW: Train!

Linked up at Hobo Mama & NPN (where you can see Moira enjoying a giant snowfall from last January).

Sexism spotted!

We went downtown last week to see various sights, and found this statue of Santa at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, with a horribly sexist naughty or nice list. There was one girl with a checkmark on the naughty side, out of something like 25 people marked naughty. One. All the rest were boys. Is this really the kind of message we want to send our children?
I was there with Lauren, and we made sure to talk loudly about it to our kids. I'm already fighting this idea Moira has picked up that boys are mean and girls aren't, despite some obvious examples either way.

Elving time!

We have been busy (sometimes a little too busy) with Christmas activities lately. I keep thinking we are over booked, and then Walker will suggest a thing he could do on his own with the kids, and I think, "But I want to do that too!"
A selection of what we've been up to:

We went to Wild Lights at the Woodland Park Zoo. A couple of zoo employees excitedly told me that it was the first time ever! And I told them that wasn't true because they used to do it when I was a kid. I. Am. Old.

I taught Moira to make snowflakes. She quickly decided that it was best to only make one cut, so we have a lot of circle shaped snowflakes. Maybe we should call them suns, for the Solstice.

It took a little convincing, but Moira is happily on board with making presents and decorating wrappings. We call it "elving," and as soon as she's done with one thing, she wants to know what the next activity is.

We also went to the lights at the Bellevue Botanical Garden. Moira loved it, but was in a horrible mood, so she kept waffling between, "I want to leave now!" and "Let's walk through again!"

We went to the Nutcracker with my Mom, and saw the train at the Armory. That is quite the display. Moira got to drive it for a little.

Our friend Tillie (the one Moira plans to marry when she grows up) came to visit and helped us make cookies and candy. We all went to the Luminary Walk at Greenlake, and Moira was distinctly underwhelmed. Candles in paper bags cannot hold up against the other light displays we have seen. I liked it though.

After Davis' birthday, we put up our tree. Moira wanted to know where each ornament came from, and did a good job making sure the one's Davis can't play with are up high.
This afternoon we are going downtown to ride the carousel and see the gingerbread houses. All our shopping is done. I have a few handmade presents to finish, and we'd like to make more cookies. Oh, and we have to wrap presents. But mostly, I'm feeling ready for Christmas, and ready to relax a little and have fun.

WW: I finally got stuff off the phone!

So, this post has some words, because my child refuses to be silent on camera. What's up with that?



Linking up with Hobo Mama & NPN.

One whole year around the sun

Today is a certain someone's first birthday.

Ta da!
It's crazy and ridiculous how big he is. How much he's not a teeny baby anymore. He has opinions that he is not shy of stating, and starts games all on his own, and all sorts of things.
Some of his favorite things right now.

Climbing up on things. Especially the art table, which always has tasty things on it like play dough. Note, some time after this picture he actually ate some of the play dough before I got it away from him, and he was NOT impressed with that taste.
Snuggling with Mommy and not other people, or being put down.
Books. He has started carrying them around, and reading(yelling) while flipping through them. He also likes to take a book into his favorite drawer to read in there.

Playing with Moira, especially this game where they chase/push each other around on the riding toys.
Opening and closing doors. He gets very upset when I won't let him into Moira's ballet class.
Feeding other people food. Real, or not.
Quietly opening the door to the bedroom after nap (it doesn't always latch right) and sneaking down the stairs to play with the shoes.

He has a few words he says, and one sign he uses on a regular basis. Pictured is his version of "More food!" Which is raising his fist in the air, and making the sign for milk.
His word for food of any kind is: Nananana!
I'm angry, but not enough to cry: Blowing rasberries.
What is that?: Na! Na! Na! (with pointing)
Oooooooh: dododododo (softly)
Mommy: MA MA!
Hold me: Mamamamama
Daddy: Dadadada
I want to play: Dadadada! or Babababa!

He recently went down to one nap, which is sad because I finally got the hang of planning activities around his two naps! Other than that, it's fine because he still sleeps for a long time.
All in all, he's a joy to spend time with. Moira is still in love with him, even though he sometimes gets things that she doesn't. Walker and I are readjusting to keeping everything out of reach, and things that could be climbed on away from the counters.
Happy birthday Davis! Here's to another year of snuggly fun!

My body is amazing (but I still hate it a little)

Welcome to the Body: AMAZING Carnival!



This post was written as a part of the Body: AMAZING Carnival co-hosted by Jennifer of True Confessions of a Real Mommy and Amy of Anktangle. Carnival participants were invited to write about how we learn to appreciate the ways our bodies grow and change. Our posts explain some incredible ways our bodies impress and amaze us.



Please read to the bottom to find a list of submissions from all of today's carnival participants.

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The other day I was at Goodwill, trying on a lot of new clothes. Trying on clothes is always an exercise in frustration, even more when you are trying on second hand clothes because every clothing company uses different measurements. In fact, sometimes you'll even get different sizings within a brand, just for that extra level of annoyance.
As I tried on the third or fourth shirt that was obviously unflattering, I glanced for a few extra seconds into the mirror, and thought, "I hate my body right now."
I sat with that thought for a minute. I had a baby less than a year ago, a baby who has decided to only nurse on one side. I am short on sleep, so the circles under my eyes are pronounced. I'm hunched over because I'm used to carrying a kid and three bags everywhere I go. Of course my body is weird and lumpy right now. Of course I feel like this is not "my" body.

One of these outlines is mine, but I couldn't pick it out of the lineup.

My body is doing amazing things right now. It is feeding another human being. It is keeping me upright, and mostly functional on 4 hours of sleep. It is recovering from years of constant anxiety, and debilitating neck pain. It is a soft place for my children to land. It may not look like I expect it to, but that hasn't happened since I was 12.
I look forward to the changes that will naturally happen as my kids get older, but it is doing it's job, and I am not going to beat myself up for what it looks like while that's happening. For better or worse, this is what I look like at 36, with 2 young kids. And I think that's awesome.

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More to read and love about honoring our bodies at these other blogs. Please visit them all and leave some comment love!



Jennifer from True Confessions of a Real Mommy is moved to trust her body, even the fuzzy parts. You can also find Jennifer on Facebook and Twitter.



Amy of Anktangle writes about living with chronic pain and how she appreciates the ways her body functions in spite of its challenges. You can also find Amy on Facebook and Twitter.



Mari from Honey on the Bum talks a little bit about how her body has changed and how she loves it and what it does for her. You can also find Mari on Twitter.



Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes talks about why she's not worried about how her body looks, because it has a much more important job right now.



Joella from Fine and Fair discusses her love and respect for her body as it grows and changes during pregnancy over. Hear more from Joella on Twitter and Facebook.



Issa Waters at LoveLiveGrow on how Paganism taught her to accept reality and by extension herself and her body. Find her on Twitter and Facebook.



Amy W. at Me, Mothering, and Making it All Work shares about her love/hate relationship with a nose that she saw as ugly . . . until she started to learn to love it. Amy W. can also be followed on Twitter and Facebook.



Destany at They Are All of Me writes about releasing the negative notions she was taught about her period, and embracing it instead.



Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children talks about how she had to push through her pre-conditioned comfort level and found herself in a position to naturally be open and honest with her children. More great stuff from Mandy on Facebook.



Lauren at Hobo Mama is not a runner . . . but she proved herself wrong by completing a race. Keep up with Lauren's adventures on Twitter and Facebook.

WW: Read to me

Linked up at Hobo Mama & NPN.