Burrito Babies

Our babes loved to be swaddled up nice and tight. When Lola was 2 weeks old, I swaddled her. 

On this particular day, Ada decided that she wanted to be wrapped up too!

When my sister was with us, she'd wrap Ada up in a big blanket and sing, "Burrito baaaaaby!" to her. 

Ada saw Lola swaddled and asked for, "Beeto baby!" herself. I had to use our throw blanket since she doesn't fit in baby blankets anymore!

Two little burrito sisters :)

Ice, bath?

Have you played on Pinterest yet? It's so fun, but a total time suck. Don't say I didn't warn you!

 It is full of fun ideas like this one, which was originally "pinned" from this book.

Just add a drop of food coloring (or two for making purple, orange, and green) to your ice cubes. 

Pop a few in the tub with your kids and let them chase the cubes around before they melt.

This made bath time go from not so fun to coooooool! Ada now frequently requests, "Ice, bath?"

They didn't stain her or our tub, and the little bit of red on our bathmat (oops - they're slippery) washed out fine.

Notes About Santa Cruz V

- You see guys like this dancing to no music in the middle of a busy intersection. I turned our radio to the rap station and blasted it for effect. But he was just dancing to the music in his head.  

- Some people say really rude things. I think they mean well, but many around these parts have no filter. Concerned citizens? Maybe. Total strangers? Yep. My baby does not have really big ears, and she does not need to grow into them. They are perfectly proportionate to her beautiful little head and you are mean.

- Dudes with no deodorant stand WAY too close behind you at the grocery store. Holy stench! (I said that. He might have heard me. If he did, he didn't care.) I might have mentioned before that stinky people were the hardest part about being pregnant in this town. Olfactory overload! 

- People have signs like this in their yard

- Little boys flash you as you drive home. We turned around so fast and found the boy's parents. He couldn't have been  more than 10 years old. I was so mad...what if Ada had seen it? Thankfully I was the only one that did, Matt was too busy watching the other kid slapping his own butt on top of a Jeep. 

- There are shops called things like, "Puff-N-Pass." Oh dear.

- We saw this on a walk, it made me feel bad for the guy! His car must have been broken into multiple times before.

- You can pick juicy, sweet, blackberries in your backyard!

- Guys in kilts go shopping at Trader Joe's

Oh Santa Cruz you are colorful & we love ya.

Life as Four

We are adjusting into our new life as a family of four. It includes trying to spend as much one on one time with each child, especially the one who is used to having ALL of your time. Ada has been doing so well, we have only had a few times where I wish I had four arms and two laps. But that would just be creepy.

For the most part it's been good and fun...

And there's lots of love between these two.

We've figured out that the grocery store is an ordeal. To have room in your cart, you've gotta bust out with the car-cart. (I made Matt wipe that thing down with disinfectant wipes like crazy before we put Ada in it!) This cart is insane & has a mind of it's own. Ada was in heaven and honked that horn all over the store. At the end of the clip, after her maniacal laugh, she says, "Bye, Mommy!"

Ada's becoming quite the little performer...oh, the drama! She can see herself in this video while being recorded, and I think she's especially proud of her face around :25.

I've been trying not to worry about keeping my house perfectly clean. Trying not to stress about doing everything and doing it perfectly. I keep reminding myself that what is important is being present in my family's life. For moments like these :)

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Lola is 1 Month Old!

Already?! Fastest month of my life. 

She is such a squishable, huggable, double-chinned ball of love. 

Her cry is getting a little louder, but is still cute. Her bottom lip and chin tremble sometimes.

She is very vocal, I call her my little grunt. Even while she sleeps she's making noise!

She makes some of the greatest faces! She seems very serious sometimes with her furrowed brow.

This girl LOVES to be snuggled. Swaddled up really tight, held, cradled...she's a snuggler. 

I hold her upright a lot because she spits up and is more gassy than Ada ever was. I'll be holding her and she'll nuzzle until she is face down smooshed up against my neck! Then she falls asleep and I turn her.

We finally got a double stroller! I'm no longer trapped inside or have someone else with me to go on a walk! 

I found it on craigslist and it was close to us, a reasonable price for the condition (still too much if you ask me), and we had the money available.  

The girls love it! Ada kept saying, "New!" Here's Lola in the back.

Apologies for the grainy pic, but it was early morning and taken on my phone. 

This is one of my favorite Lola expressions. Bright eyed (they look like they'll be blue like her momma's!), tight lips, and double chin.

Ada loves her little sister and says, "Oh, sah Lala" whenever Lola cries. Her voice gets really high and she'll go over and say, "Aww, Lala. Hug!" Then lean over and put her cheek on hers. We have to keep an eye on her though because she'll try to help and not be gentle enough. I can tell Ada just can't wait until Lola can run, "fass" with her :)

Family Photos

Poor Lola, just trying to sleep with all of these crazy people in the background!

Play Dough!

I found a play dough recipe on Pinterest via How Does She? and made it for Ada.

It is so easy & took me back to Joy School...sitting at Lisa Griffith's kitchen table in 1988!

This is Ada's first experience with play dough:

She loved it! Even picked up the purple lump and hugged it.

Happy girl. Happy Mommy :) 

Here's the recipe: 

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 T. vegetable oil

food coloring (I used 2 drops red and 2 drops blue. At first it looked gray and ugly but once it cooked it became a pretty purple) 

Add all ingredients to a medium pot and mix. 

Put your pot on the stove and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it forms into a ball.

As soon as it joins into one big glob, take it off the heat and dump it onto your counter or some wax paper.  Wait for it to cool, then knead it a few times until it is nice and soft.

I keep it in a plastic tupperware and in the fridge.