If you’ve ever been curious about boudoir photography, please check out my interview with Heather Hooton of Hooton Images over on Lifetime Moms.
Would you ever consider doing a boudoir photo shoot? Or have you already had boudoir photos taken? If so, I’d love to hear about your experience! Please leave a comment below.
{photograph courtesy of Hooton Images}
Today is Levi’s 20-month birthday! In honor of this milestone, I thought I’d share a quick glimpse into Levi’s life as a busy toddler.
At 20 months old…
He has boundless energy and is always on the “go, go, go!”
His favorite activity is playing with his kitchen (“ki-kin”) and pretend food.
His second favorite activity is getting the mail, or “may-ul.”
He’s obsessed with elevators and, to a lesser degree, escalators. He yells, “Aggi! Aggi” when he sees either (and then doesn’t stop screaming it).
When prompted, he says please (“peas”) after asking for something he’d like to have.
He loves to suck on ice chips and to play with ice packs.
His favorite TV shows are “Sesame Street” and “Yo Gabba Gabba.”
He has four teeth on top, two on the bottom, and all four one-year molars.
He calls his sucky (our word for pacifier) a “gucky.”
He loves to scoop, dump, and sometimes drink the water during bath time.
When he sees a toilet, he grabs his crotch and says, “Boddy! Boddy!”
He also grabs his crotch and squats when asked if he has poop.
He’s starting to show interest in playing with trucks but still prefer blocks, Legos, puzzles, crayons, and stickers.
He can unzip his sleep sack. (Is it time for a crib blanket?)
He runs over for a quick kiss when he gets a bump or boo-boo.
He’ll lean his head towards to the dog when asked to give Briscoe a hug or a kiss.
He loves to carry or drag heavy bags, boxes, or random objects across the room.
And how could I forget…
Lately he’s been adding “oy” to the end of words — for example, more is now “moy.”
He’s also been saying “uh-oak” instead of uh-oh.
He loves to play with my hair brushes and combs and heads straight to that drawer in my bathroom to pull them out.
He eats a lot of bananas.
He calls my father “boo-ba” instead of Ubie, which is what my dad would like to be called.
He can’t say “Max,” so he calls his new baby cousin “Mahk,” like Mark without the “r.”
PS: I’ll be sharing my next letter to Levi when he turns two years old in July, but you can read his 18 month old milestone update here.
{top photos taken at Omaha Children’s Museum // bottom photos taken at Javits Playground in NYC}
While I’m celebrating the arrival of baby Max with my family, I’ve asked some friends to fill in for me on the blog. Our final guest blogger this week is Eden from The Road to the Good Life. Eden and I met virtually in an Alt Summit Facebook group shortly before our Salt Lake City adventure, and I had the pleasure of enjoying lunch with her before Alt officially began. I like Eden because her vintage style and calm demeanor give the impression of an old soul, yet she describes herself as thriving “in the intersection between technology and communication.” Please join me in welcoming Eden!
Growing up my mom sent weekly letters to her mom, my grandmother, and her sister, my aunt. There was something special about receiving one of my mom’s letters. It’s this tradition of regular letter writing that I turned to when coming up with a way to share Gates’ childhood with her great grandmothers, both of whom are not online.
A 1977 Letter from My Mom to My GrandmotherWith a little organization, you can share moments of your children’s lives with relatives that aren’t online as well as create priceless keepsakes for yourself. And face it, wouldn’t you like tangible mementos? I know I would.
A Monthly Portrait and Blog Post are A Letter to Offline RelativesI blog weekly about what my family is up to and close to the second of every month I take a portrait of Gates. These posts and photos are my letter. As Gates gets older and begins fingerpainting and drawing, I’ll also tuck some of her masterpieces into the packages.
Over the month, I use a mix of old school office supplies and the help of technology to keep my sanity and record those moments I don’t want to forget. The Sunday morning after I take and post Gates’ portrait, I sit down for about 30 minutes, address envelopes, write a short three sentence note, slip photos and a few blog posts into the envelopes, and then I’m done. In a day or two, both of Gates’ grandmothers who aren’t online, will know what she’s been up to.
Reduce Assembly Time with Everything in One PlaceBefore you can get organized, you need to scope out your project. I recommend starting small to avoid setting expectations too high; you want a doable project that gets rave reviews that doesn’t make you pull out your hair.
Once you know the scope of your project here’s how I make assembly a snap.
Use a Mobile Project File and Checklist for Stress-free Letter Writing
Label the Backs of Photos as You Print Them OutWondering where your priceless keepsake is? Here. Print out an extra copy of each missive and bind them together into a yearly annual, a treasure for both your family and you to enjoy. If you’re more ambitious, organize everything digitally so that you can use it to create a coffee table book through Blurb.
Where did I get this idea? From my grandmother, Gates’ great grandmother. When I got married, she gave me two binders she had made with every letter, my mom or I had ever sent her. There were newspaper clippings of awards I had won, fabric swatches from dresses my mom and I had designed and sewn, and more. It was amazing. I was able to read in my mom’s words how proud she was of me. The experience really deepened my relationship with my mom, and I hope to give Gates the same.
A Newspaper Clipping from 1974 that My Mom sent in a LetterWhile I’m celebrating the arrival of baby Max with my family, I’ve asked some friends to fill in for me on the blog. Our second guest blogger is Brandi from Little Brim Baby. I can’t recall where I first met Brandi, but I follow her on both Twitter and Instagram. Since she writes a baby gear review blog, I thought she’d be the perfect person to share her top 10 infant toys.
From the moment I found out I was expecting my first child, I have done painstaking research on everything having to do with pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, baby gear, and parenting. My son is now fifteen months old, and last year I decided to launch my first website, Little Brim Baby, to share my research and reviews with other parents with the goal of finding the best products for our families. We have focused on reviewing and highlighting the items that we have found to be the most helpful and useful.
Now that I am currently in the toddler-rearing phase, I thought I would take a look back at the top ten infant toys that were the most popular with my son–and we have tried them all. Sophie la Girafe is one of the most gifted baby shower and infant toy items, so we have excluded her from our list for now. Hopefully this will introduce you to a few mostly inexpensive items that have lead to months of entertainment in our home.
I’m meeting my nephew for the first time this afternoon! I’m so excited that I can hardly concentrate on putting together a proper blog post. I hope you’ll forgive me.
In the meantime, check out these links and be sure to come back on Monday for March’s Desktop Designs. I have to say, it’s even better than last month’s desktop wallpaper!
Have a great weekend!
{my iPhone photos}
I’m all for diaper bags that don’t look like diaper bags. Take mine, for example. With it’s classic shape and sophisticated color (the one I have is eggplant), it can easily pass as a large purse, gym bag, or carry-on. In fact, it’s designed to be used as all of those things.
That being said, it didn’t have quite as many pockets as I needed to store all of Levi’s diaper-changing paraphernalia, and despite it’s oversize appearance, it was always stuffed to the brim. Oh, and there’s no way JB would carry it, as it clearly looked like a woman’s bag. (He had his own “manly” diaper bag
So I’m kind of loving this SoYoung Charlie diaper bag. Made from rugged canvas, it’s utilitarian style is both practical and unisex. Plus, it seems to feature an abundance of interior space and pockets–even an insulated bottle pocket. It also converts from a shoulder bag to a backpack and includes the ever-essential stroller straps.
What are you (or were you) looking for in a diaper bag? Would the SoYoung Charlie meet your needs?
The SoYoung Charlie Unisex Diaper Bag
{Thanks, Emily!}
The first thing I did upon waking yesterday morning was check my iPhone for an email or text from my family. My sister was scheduled to have a C-section at 8:45am EST. I knew 7:15am CST would be too early for the baby to have been born, but I was hoping to have received some sort of update on my sister’s status.
Nada.
I texted my parents, who were waiting in the hospital, after dropping off Levi at Montessori. It was now 8:45am CST.
“Status update???”
My dad responded that my sister was taken to the OR on time and that he suspected the baby had been born. And then a few minutes later, he wrote back with the official news that my nephew had arrived and weighed 6lbs 7oz. But no length and no name.
An hour later, my brother-in-law sent a group text message to his family members and mine with a photo of my sister holding her new baby boy. She looked amazing, and he was so sweet. But still, no length and no name.
Nearly an hour and a half after that, my mom reported that she ran into the doctor in the hospital cafe. (She, my dad, and my sister’s in-laws were still waiting for the OK to go up to the recovery room.) Dr. F told my mom that the baby was long, lean, and…blond!
Meanwhile, JB kept calling the house from work. “Does he have a name yet?” “I think his name is going to be Isaac.” “Have you heard anything yet?” “What is his name??”
Finally, at 11:57am CST, my sister made the long-awaited announcement via group text.
Baby Max arrived at 9:19am EST on February 25th, weighing 6lb 7oz and measuring 19.7in long. I was able to meet him via FaceTime at 1:23pm CST while Levi was napping.
He stirred when he heard my voice, trying to open his eyes to see me. I think that’s because my sister and I sound a lot alike! The little guy was extra sleepy because he never got the memo that today was going to be his birth day.
We were able to FaceTime again in the evening so that JB and Levi could see Max. It was so adorable to hear Levi say “bay-bee” when Max’s face appeared on the screen.
“Is that baby Max?” we asked Levi.
“Mac! Mac!”
Welcome to the family, Mac — I mean, Max. Thanks for making me an aunt!
{my dad’s photos}
While I was away at Alt Summit last month, Levi learned a new word — Elmo. Although we occasionally watched “Sesame Street” together, he had never shown a preference towards the furry red monster. However, my mom reported that while she was babysitting, Levi was obsessed with reading his Elmo’s World lift-the-flap books
During Levi’s most recent hunger strike (he refuses to eat when he’s teething), I let him watch “Elmo’s World” on Netflix after a long, drawn-out dinner. JB was working late, and I was so exhausted from solo-parenting a cranky toddler that I couldn’t even muster up the energy to give Levi a bath or go through our normal bedtime routine.
When the “Sesame Street” segment ended, I carried Levi upstairs, changed him into his jammies, and told him it was time to go night-night. Uncharacteristically, he began throwing a fit at his bedroom door, trying to get out. As he cried, Levi performed the sign language gesture for hungry, so I picked him up and brought him back downstairs.
Standing in front of the refrigerator, Levi then asked for milk. When I handed him his sippy cup, he promptly marched with it into the living room, reached for the remote on the arm of the sofa, and turned on the TV.
“Eh-mo! Eh-mo!” he cried, waving the remote control in my direction.
I almost laughed when I realized what had just happened: Levi played me. He knew how desperate I was for him to eat, so he fake hunger to indulge in his Elmo obsession.
That little stinker.
PS: Sometimes I hear Levi saying Elmo’s name in his sleep! Isn’t that too funny?
PPS: I don’t like to buy Levi too many licensed toys (see above), but sometimes Elmo products are unavoidable — especially when you have a 19 month old.
Have you heard of Vine? It’s a new social networking site from Twitter that lets you film and share 6-second looping videos. You can then post them to Vine or share them on Twitter and Facebook.
I actually find it a bit dizzying that the videos play on a loop and start automatically as soon you scroll through your Vine feed. There’s no stopping them! I also don’t really have time to engage yet another social media community (I barely attend to my Pinterest account as it is), but I have enjoyed watching a few really creative videos posted by a couple of the people I follow.
Nevertheless, the early adopter in me couldn’t resist signing up, and I’ve posted a couple of super short Levi videos like the one above, if you’d like to take a look. (Download Vine from the App Store and search for me – @bunnyanddolly)
Are you on Vine? If so, leave your username in the comments below, and I’ll check out your videos! (If not, is it because you just can’t deal with yet another social media website?)
PS: Some of my favorite non-Vine videos are of Levi feeding the dog, Levi showing off his moves, and Levi making music.
