what momma writes

there are many times that i want to see the world from 18 months. sometimes i even get on that level to see what it looks like physically. running through the grass and spotting birds brings such joy. laughing at the book with the picture of the flower with a face or winne the pooh smiling - who knew they could make one so happy. smelling flowers and inspecting their petals in amazement. the best. the world would likely be happier if we looked at it from 18 months.

this Spring we've taken more time outside to explore nature with our senses. we love to feel the wind, listen to the rain and touch  and point out different objects outside. we are starting to do some  new indoor fun as well now that we are putting things in our  mouth less. still doing it, just less.             pictured above: 1) blowing dandelions 2) picking up an acorn 3) making noises with bowls 4) scooping handfulls of pebbles 5) smelling the flowers 6) feeling chalk on our skin 7) art on the chalkboard 8) labeling and touching moss 9) blades of grass on our hands and cheeks i'm hoping bird always appreciates the simple things outside and  shares a passion for creating. time will tell, but it's fun to see  the wheels turn in that little noggin!...

can someone please explain to me how i can feel more tired when i am home with my little tot all day (or weekend or whatever) than at a normal day at work? i find it truly baffling.  i admit, i live for the full days i am with her, but find myself needing a nap at her naptime (when i am supposed to be racing against the clock getting everything else done right?!) or daydreaming of coffee or planning what coffeeshop we attend pre or post naptime. i also admit, i have a little mom guilt about this. should redirecting and playing with a toddler make me this tired? is it because i only have one to focus my attention and i refuse to have the TV play 'babysitter' ??  OR perhaps this mobile, curious little person is just tiring for that reason. i don't mean to use the word tiring in an negative way either. i love that my gal is mobile, curious, and adventuresome, but i think it's these things that wear me out. i work out of the house 4 days a week and there are plenty...

this post is a little late since we had two easter celebratory weekends this year and some spring time fun as well. it's been fun to take advantage of the easter festivities in the city with family along with running barefoot in the yard, playing with cousins, and exploring parks and swings.  fun at the park with grands! we are so lucky to have such great parks in cincinnati and our new favorite is in Over the Rhine. it's newly renovated the past year or so and has such great energy and activities. mamawm, pawpaw, birdie and i had brunch at a favorite coffee spot downtown after the egg hunt that didn't happen for us. lil gal was enjoying hamming it up with the spoon and making friends with folks. ummmmm, so we went down to OTR for an egg hunt and i neglected to look and see that the age brackets started at age 3, so uh, we hung out with the massive amounts of people in the park and the EB happened to be there. i'm not the type that will stand in line for ...

burlap and stencils makes the perfect bday sign. and yes, i will reuse this every year thank you. pinterest is my friend. easy little booklets and picture book decor with ribbon. a friend of mine at posies patches made this bib for stella. she had no idea my plates were brown polka dots and yellow! more pinterest. i can't take credit where it's not due... but i made up my own verbiage. messy photoshop changing christ's cake to stella's cake. book title food labels - john made his delish chili for all. who's more excited? moma or bird? proud of bird for palming her cake. nicely done, child. a peek at our invite. library theme if you didn't catch it yet. a lil play on no one better than the old Dr. Seuss! a play on library card insert and poking fun at my own little lack of birth announcement. a year OVERDUE eh, better late th...

those little legs. are always on the move. a little explorer, you are- always adventure bound. those little rolly legs, i just can't get enough of them. climbing. cruising. crawling. all over the place. sometimes you wear me out. but i love every minute. love watching you investigate- each.little.thing. you move fast with those little legs and i slowly soak you up.

chalk up another post i thought i would do pre-baby. but, heck, i thought i had 2 weeks and 2 days to kill before little monkey debuted!! here is stella's space. we chose a gender neutral color ( montego bay if interested) and wanted it to simply be "child friendly" i didn't want a huge theme or something a child couldn't potentially grow into. mister john painted both the accent wall and the light gray walls along with  putting up crown molding with my dad. nicely done fellas. we are happy with the outcome. i hope stella is too. (left to right) white crib with accent wall. i wanted a vintage-y looking crib. window seat. nursing and reading time. simple changing station. john's grandpa made that dresser. love the history. kiddie korner. you never can have too much storage in a kiddie room. close up of shelf. wanted her room to be montessori friendly -  she will be able to reach all the things she needs to reach (books, stuffed animals and a few toys) clos...

today's post is from one of my favorite blogs  (oops, am i allowed to have favorites?) thank you Little One Love for sharing these treats - happy shopping! if you aren't familiar with this blog, bop on over -  she's got some good reads,  great kiddo fashion and always something to swoon over. Hello, See You In November readers!  Lindsay from  Little One Love  here.  First of all, Congratulations to Caren and John on Welcoming their precious baby girl, Stella. I can't wait to meet her! Caren has asked me to write a little post while she adjusts to momma hood and can take some time to enjoy her little before the daily routines of work, blog and those sorts of things set back in.  With that said, I'd like to share some of my favorite kiddo finds with you in hopes of making your holiday shopping a tad easier for the littles in your life. 1. elephant pillow by  areawear 2. backpack by  fjallraven kanken 3. truck by  areawear ...

life's going quickly. but i've managed to capture little bits along the way. here's what has been up lately. 1. we had an ink explosion in the dryer. ruined clothes. called for a gift card splurge. 2. yoga on ludlow. such a treat on saturday morn. outside. 3. grandma turned 82. so young. she made her yummy peach pie. 4. pockets went on a sticker binge during the bday party. 5. i am attempting to edge. not well. not consistently. but learning. 6. park. jog. perspective. snapshot. 7. a big red balloon. where's my tummy? 8. a lovely tuesday evening for a jog and walk. 9. garbage can art. i like it. 10. on the porch with my little after i successfully self-pedicured my toes. 1. celebrated F.I.L. bob's bday and hazel enjoyed opening his presents. 2. lunch with " my kids " - - great to catch up with these guys. 3. dad's been busy working on our master closet... 4. i've been busy trying to ignore all the pumpkin gear that i want. i may have a pumpki...

remember Paisely ? I got to see my little Paisley Grace today - such a treat! She, like usual, graced me with some funny comments. 1.  Her mom was on a conference call so we were practicing our whispering. I was sitting next to her working on a puzzle and she said "It pells like Miss Taren in here" I snicker and say "really, and what does Miss Taren smell like?" Paisley replies with a pleased smile with a simple "you." 2.  While looking at my tummy she says "Is that what I think it is in there? a baby?" "Why is your tummy getting so big?" I tell her the baby is growing and that makes my belly grow. She replies "How is the baby going to get out?" I throw it back at her and say "How do you think the baby will exit?" She comes up with "the baby probably will slip right out your belly button. You don't have any other holes big enough" 3.  I also learned that little miss P told her ...

pockets is interested in babies in bellies. i wonder why... looking for her baby. finding the baby in her bellie. (delivered by an interesting c-section) feeding baby anthony. feeding baby holly and making sucking sounds of her eating the food. it is so sweet to see her imitate and see the little nurturer. looks like she is ready to chip in and help out with her cousin. i think we have room for her in the rotation!

i follow a blog. i actually follow too many. but today i share from mrkate . i always find interesting tidbits on here, but today i'd like to see what everyone else has to say about a particular post as it's what mrkate calls "a fine line" and i think i agree with that. take a gander to this mrkate post  -  photo via   i'd love to know what you think. below are my own comments, but i'd recommend checking the site first. here are my comments. what do you think? agreed. such a fine line. while i can't help but recognize her natural beauty, i too felt uncomfortable knowing her age and then seeing some of the outfits and poses. true we don't know how she will turn out and she may be enjoying all this attention, but is it teaching her she is only useful in her outer beauty? is this helping her self-esteem or hindering in the long run? who's to tell, but time? if it were my 10 year old daughter or kid sister it sure would make me ill to think so...

these are "my" kids. i have referred to them as "my" kids since college  and well, one of them wasn't even born at that point. my friends prolly thought i had issues talking about "my" kids,  but they all knew what kids i was talking about. i have watched these precious' grow up and it has been quite the joy. i met anthony when he was idk, 8m or so and instantly fell in love. i watched him in high school in the summers and on the weekends. we have some roots. it is so hard to believe he is 14. not just double digits, not just a teen, but capital ONE, capital FOUR! i met nicholas day 2 he was home from the hospital.  he was such a little peanut, the lil preemie, but you'd never know! noodle man was the perfect addition. i adored watching 2 boys and we had oh, so much fun. i went off to college and along came annie. we all swore she would be a danny. met this lil dove about 20 minutes into the world! who'd a thought a girl... and i r...