Sisters on Valentine's Day

While I was taking Adeline's newborn photos Cordelia looked at me and said "make sure you don't take more picture of Adeline than you do of me, I don't want there to be more of her". I have since used this against her every time she doesn't want her picture taken. 

It would take a lot of effort to surpass the number of photos of Cordelia in just two short months- in fact I don't think I will ever have more of Adeline than Cordelia because most of my pictures now include both of them! 

Fair has been one of Cordelia's main concerns these days- It's not "fair" if I seem to take more photos of Adeline, it's not "fair" if Adeline gets new socks and Cordelia doesn't, I made them both Valentine's day hair bands and it wasn't going to be fair that I planned them to be different. For the most part it only really drives me insane when I am tired because I know this is a big adjustment for Cordelia and "fairness" has been her only real complaint, most of the time she is a super enthusiastic sister. Also, from being one of four kids I know that fairness is a never ending issue.

In the end Cordelia didn't complain about her headband because it was much fancier and I think she thinks she got the better end of the deal. She is also home from school and on her 6th day of being sick- so she has more pressing things to complain to me about. I wish you all a wonderful Valentine's day free from sick kids and full of fun adventures. 

Some Bunny Loves You

Brendon and I both grew up going to church, but neither of us are particularly religious in our adult lives. However, we both agree that Easter is an excellent opportunity to eat ham with family and let Cordelia eat way too much sugar. 

Cordelia is actually pretty funny because she is super into holidays- she is convinced that I must own decorations for each one, and has been pretty disappointed to find out that I actually don't. Apartment living really means that I have to pick and choose- and Halloween and Christmas win out over all the others. But I can't blame her, holidays are really exciting when you are a kid, and I have enjoyed rediscovering that joy. 

This dress wasn't originally in the plan- I had cut the Easter dress from my "to do" list, but yesterday was a pretty uninspiring, disappointing day (more on that in another post) and off to my sewing machine I went to make sense of it all. I greatly appreciate the ability to make something happy after a bad day.   

If you haven't noticed by now, I should point out that Cordelia is a pretty dramatic kid. She likes things big, loud, colorful, and over the top. Every time I ask her to "design" a dress for me to make her it always has crazy flowing sleeves. So I figured for this dress I would indulge her. 

She was thrilled. She rotated between calling them her "wings" and her "cape". I haven't added dramatic sleeve like things to anything since high school (I was a pretty dramatic kid as well) and these ended up with a bit more shoulder puff then I had intended, but I don't think they will be my last dramatic "sleeve" addition to one of her dresses. 

This sweet bunny fabric is a Michael Miller print called "Some Bunny Loves You" that my sweet mother in law surprised me with with awhile back, the gray and pink are some plain inexpensive cotton I had laying in around in my stash, the buttons are vintage from Grandma's stash, and the tiny ball fringe I have been hording for about two years. All of that adds up to a successful "sew your stash" moment- which I have been working really hard on doing this year! 

This is a totally self drafted dress, and I had to include a little pocket- perfect to stash an egg in.

I hope you all enjoyed a "hoppy" Easter! Do you have any Easter Traditions, things that make the day perfect?

Leap Day?

I never really spent time with children before I had Cordelia and so I never really understood how literal they are. Today I struggled to explain the 29th of February to Cordelia and I just couldn't get it across. She understands that there are seven days in a week, and that there are months, but we are still working on how it all works together. 

In the end Cordelia decided that Leap Day was just about "leaping". And really, that works for me. 

Cordelia picked out her Halloween Spider costume to wear so she could be a "leaping bug". We spent our time outside (in the amazingly beautiful weather), naming and drawing animals who "leap". We came up with rabbits, praying mantises (her pick, I am not sure they actually leap), monkeys, frogs, lemurs, and kangaroos. What leaping animals can you think of?

I can't remember our last leap day- it is obscured in the brain fog of early parenthood, and this leap day caught me by surprise so I didn't have anything fun planned . Do you have any leap day traditions?

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Guys, I cannot believe that today is Christmas, This year has gone by soo quickly! I am happy to report that while 2015 was a stressful year that it was also full have happiness, laughter, and Love. This year for our Holiday photos Brendon suited up in my fathers very first Santa Costume. My dad dressed up as Santa for over 25 years and it was wonderful to still get a picture with a family Santa this year even though my dad isn't up to dressing up anymore.  

I hope you all are having a very Merry Christmas, and that you are all happy and safe- we are off to the Grandparents now! 

Pastel Bunnies Laying Eggs

It may be cliche to say so, but one of the greatest things about parenthood is that you get to feel like a kid again. Holidays are the best example of this. As you become an adult you no longer wake up at five am Christmas morning to see if you passed the test and were good enough for Santa to bring you a sack full of goodies. Halloween becomes a day where you hand out candy and worry about your house getting egged; Valentines day is treated as either singles awareness day or it's that day where you are pressured to be romantic and mushy even if that's totally not your thing and Easter is just a normal Sunday. 

However, having kids means you get to trick-or-treat again, it means you get to believe in Santa Clause  the tooth fairy-and the Easter Bunny! I was super thrilled to believe in the Easter Bunny. When I was a kid we used to do a big egg hunt with my cousins and it was always so much fun. Now, I'm not going to lie- Cordelia has been doing egg hunts all week long. As I have mentioned before, my kid can be very hard to entertain and egg hunts are a great way to engage and occupy her- she just loves to search for things. Easter was our first time hiding the eggs outside, and it was also the first time I made her wear rabbit ears (I'm thinking the ears might be a tradition, I'm kinda in love). 

Daddies are the best at helping with egg hunts