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portrait a week 51/52

my grown up chocolate faced girl sleeping in her own room.

after a really frustrating night over the weekend of ever sleeping worse than usual we moved her to her own room.  we were desperate to try anything in hopes that we can all get a decent night of sleep.  it is crazy that at almost 21 months old she still doesn't sleep through the night.  

saturday when she went to bed i was nervous about how she would do.  i hoped she wouldn't feel lonely or afraid.  i spent all day talking up her room and making a big deal about how she was going to be a big girl and sleep in there by herself.  when i went to bed i felt really sad that she wasn't next to me in her crib.  luckily she did well on her own.  i think it was a transition that was harder for me than her.  now we just need her to start sleeping the entire night.  so far any trick i've tried hasn't worked but like anything else with her, she will do it when she is ready.  

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portrait a week 50/52

christmas decor, music, and illness

what a week this has been.  over the weekend i was busy putting finishing touches on the decor i did for our church music program.  i had basically neglected all sorts of other things around the house and christmas wise with the thought that monday i'd be able to start catching up.  the music program turned out really well.  i meant to take better pictures of the things i had worked on but forget when in a rush.

luckily my friend aleasha gave me a bare wreath and some burlap so at the last minute i could add fresh pine pieces and antique sheet music to finish out the decor i had worked on.  

the theme i was going for was natural/vintage and i was happy with the outcome.

i used a ton of doilies, twine with gold and silver accent, antique sheet music, fresh pine, mason jars, etc.

here is a picture of one corner of my decorating at the church.

then i brought it all home and added it to my christmas decor here.

i am really in love with the little bottle brush trees.....ever is too.

it is too bad all these pictures are blurry but they are an accurate potrayal of ever.  she never stops moving.  i can't get over how fancy and festive she looks.

by the way...in her hand is a jack skellington christmas ornament that she refuses to keep on the tree.  she takes it everywhere with her.

marcy and her little dude came to the music program which made it extra fun.  we kept laughing at our little ones interacting.  they loved each other.

and z loved will....they feeling was mutual.  

later that night after we got home i got really sick with what i suspect was food poisoning but i'm not certain.  a couple hours later will got sick.  i have to applaud will for still tending to ever's needs in the middle of the night when i literally couldn't get up.  it was the most violent illness i've had in my life.  will was really sick but not quite as bad as me.  my mom and will basically forced me to go to the emergency room.  i'm the type that would prefer to suffer at home.  in fact this was my first trip there and it just so happens it was on the 5 year anniversary of the first date will and i went on.  we planned on celebrating the day in a better way but life happened.  instead we had matching hospital bands and iv's together.  yesterday i finally felt well enough to do a few things and today i feel even better but still not top notch.

i have to say just how thankful i am for my mom swooping in to take ever all day while we went to the hospital and then slept the rest of the day at home.  also her friend karen came over and cleaned our house which i'm both embarrassed and thankful about.  then last night a sweet lady left us the prettiest and yummiest homemade meal at our doorstep.  i'm not sure i would have survived without all the help.  now i'm really behind on christmas projects and wrapping but hopefully i can catch up this weekend and our home can stay illness free for a good amount of time.     

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portrait a week 49/52

i'm breaking all the rules and posting 6 pictures for the portrait a week because i couldn't decide which one i wanted most and i'm in a hurry.

i am helping out with decorations for the christmas music program at church this coming sunday.  last night i had to go by there to work on a couple things.  ever thinks the church is one of the most fun places in the world.  she climbed on chairs and ran around in the gym then she requested to carry her purse as we walked out.

  

a not so fancy gift giving guide

i always like when i see gift giving guides because they give me ideas of things to buy things that ever might enjoy or need.  this is my not so fancy attempt at a gift giving guide but you'll still get the idea.  a perfect little stack of things for our 20 month old who loves all things cute.  as i mentioned previously i tried to stick with the want/need/wear/read rule.  also i took advantage of all the sales online right after thanksgiving....easy christmas shopping without crowds is my kind of thing.  

1. shirt and pants  2. dream animals book, romeo and juliet  3. alphabet puzzle 

4. pajamas  5. tights  6. sonny angels  

a little more on why i picked these toys....

today ever handed me objects and counted.  her counting went like this...one two free four five six ten twelve.  she is all about learning and i figured this bright wooden alphabet puzzle would be perfect for her to become acquainted with letters. 

i honestly can't tell you enough just how much i love this book.  i was drawn to it because of the illustrations when i found it online.  then when i read the story after it arrived i couldn't even believe how perfect the entire thing was.  reading books is a bedtime ritual for us.  this book is not only the cutest thing to look at but it rhymes and there aren't too many words so it is the best for our little lady who doesn't stay focused very long.  it took everything i had not to give her the book the night it arrived.   

we have several other babylit books that ever adores but romeo and juliet wasn't part of her collection yet so naturally it needed to be added to her collection.

then there are the sonny angels.  ever has been obsessed with the porcelain kewpie dolls in her room lately.  she has managed to climb and get a couple of them in her hands several times.  last week i heard a crash and there she was in the hallway with a busted up kewpie doll at her feet saying "oooh nooo" "oooh crap".  i glued it back together but now it looks more like sally from nightmare before christmas since i couldn't get the pieces to line up very well.  i thought ever would love these since they look just like non-breakable kewpies but with hats and privates (the obvious miniature private parts were something my mom loved about them and you'll understand that if you know my mom).  these came in a little box with an insert that showed all the different varieties you can get.  ever hasn't seen the dolls but she saw the insert and it is something she almost always carries around with her while exclaiming "ooooh cuuuuute!"  i know her so well.  

christmas morning can't get here soon enough.  i am so excited to watch ever open her presents since this year she is old enough to really enjoy it.    

jumbled mess of things

here are some pictures, stories, and ideas i wanted to share but nothing really goes together hence the title.  i don't usually like to post unless it all matches and or can be wrapped up together in a nice way but then a lot of times i end up not posting pictures or stories i wanted to because they didn't fit in and then they are forgotten so here we go....probably the first of many other jumbled posts.

last week i finished this painting.  i have noticed i tend to be fascinated by things when they have a story (like antiques that you are lucky enough to know the history on) so here is the story behind this painting.  not all my paintings have a story but most of them do.  over a week ago as i was doing ordinary things around the house i suddenly had a vision of a seahorse looking fancy with a purse, pillbox hat, and pearls.  this picture literally popped in my head without even thinking about seahorses or seeing a seahorse.  it was the strangest but most wonderful thing and i wish it could happen all the time.  this vision of mine even included the colors used in the painting.  when i told will about it i told him i was doubtful i could replicate it the way i pictured it because very often that is the case when i paint something.  i went to work on it anyway and not very long after i started the painting i was almost done and so satisfied with the outcome.  the next day i finished detail work on it and i fell completely in love with this seahorse....so much so that i made up a little story about her when i posted the item to sell on society6 .  before i posted it i text will and told him i wanted him to tell me what name he thought suited her.  i had already thought of a name but i wanted to see what he could come up with.  i was so shocked when he wrote back.....i think she looks like a vivienne.  that was the exact name and spelling i had thought of.  we tend to very often be on the exact same wavelength and i think it is fun.  i'm thinking vivienne will be my next phone case.   

thanksgiving night when we got home i took these pictures of ever.  she was showing off her sticker wall then after she changed into pajamas she decided to add upside down glasses, her "purse" the jenga box she refused to let go of all night even when it was full and heavy, and she furiously ran around the house pushing her toy making car noises.  her car noise sounds more like "meeeoooooowwww".  she pushes that toy around often and makes that noise....we always crack up.  it seems like usually little boys are famous for their sound effects while playing with toys but then again ever has the ultimate sound effect/voices specialist for a dad.  an endearing trait that i fell in love with when will and i were dating because he'd leave me voice messages all the time as different characters.  maybe his dream of voicing of an animated character in a pixar film is going to come true someday.  he's got skills.

one night we spontaneously drove to lake havasu over the long weekend because i needed to search for a few items in particular.  boy was that a mistake.  ever was in rare form....even for her.  thank goodness for the sugar packets at dinner...they kept her somewhat entertained so will and i could quickly eat our food.  she didn't care about the crayons the restaurant gave....usually crayons are her thing at home as is evident by the coloring on the walls and various other surfaces in our house.  she also didn't care about the chocolate milkshake i tried to bribe her with.  luckily she kept her tantrums mostly under wraps while we were out to dinner.  once we went to drive home she threw the biggest fit because she wasn't in the mood to be in her carseat.  we had to pull over to unbuckle her and calm her down before she vomited from crying so hard.  there was no reasoning with her.  after sitting on the side of the road for a bit she calmed down and i rode in the back with her in hopes that she wouldn't have another outburst.  after getting really creative about keeping her entertained for half the ride home she finally slept the rest of the way and we vowed to never go anywhere with her again.  it was rough.  one of those moments that makes you question your sanity about wanting have more children.    

 i posted this picture on instagram and my brother's simple comment of carl fredricksen had me laughing so hard.  i might have even laughed more than i did when i found ever like this.  the things she does completely on her own are so entertaining to me.  

these were supposed to be ever's new christmas pajamas but i let her have them early because i couldn't resist her "oooohhh cuuuute" when she saw them....seeing her in footie jamas reminds me of when she was younger and i love it.  i also love how ever loves clothes.  forget toys, when she saw the new clothing i got her for christmas she insisted on taking a couple pair of tights with her to the crib when she took a nap.  she cuddled with them.

this morning ever put on one of her hats and stood on the chair of her antique school desk while flipping through a journal.  she looked so cute and studious.  i was glad i managed to capture her serious expression as she looked up at me.  she has been extra funny today.  i know i always say how funny she is but i swear every day she gets funnier.  here's one last cute/naughty story about ever.  i guess ever listens more than i realize and i guess she's heard me or will say kiss my butt because yesterday as i was trying to get her to stay still while i put clothes on her she yells out "kissa butt!" while wiggling away from me.  what gets me is that she used that in the right context.  in fact she used it again later in the day when i tried to keep her out of the street on our walk.   

also i wanted to share the idea i had for christmas gifting.  we are going to keep things simple this year like we have previous years but i wanted to still be able to exchange gifts with will without spending too much.  i also wanted it to be creative.  i saw somewhere online a gift giving guide for kids that used the rules something you want/something you need/something to wear/something to read.  i tried to stick with that guideline when it came to ever's gifts.  then after brainstorming with will we decided rather than forgo gift giving completely between us (original plan) we would make a fun little game of it.  eventually we narrowed it down to this made up guideline...

stocking stuffers (i've mentioned before i always loved the things in my stocking growing up....sometimes more than the bigger gifts) in the following categories:

taste- favorite snacks

touch- a small antique 

see- a movie

hear- we have to make something creative for each other that is full of compliments...sweet words you love to hear but in written creative form.

smell- this item we decided could be a small fragrance or any other type of toiletry/beauty product.  

the other fun part of this is we are going to try our absolute hardest to pick/make these items for each other without the other one knowing about them at all.  i think it takes the fun out of it when you make a list for someone of things to buy for you.  besides i'm pretty sure we know each other well enough to pick items that the other will love.

i'm excited for this fun little challenge.

walking our toddler

there's lots more pictures where the portrait a week photo came from.....

the other day we saw some people walking their dogs in our neighborhood.  we laughed as we passed them and the guy mentioned that their dogs weren't on a leash but our child was.  he didn't say it in a mean way it was more of a funny thing.  more often than not the leash just ends up being in the way on our neighborhood walks so we take it off.  she prefers to hold our hands anyway which is nice.

i love that i caught this look.  how dare i let go of her hand.

this was the point she was crawling around and meowing.  

then she yelled "go!" and took off....

this was when she picked up a weed and called it a tree.  she carried it for a while then she moved on to a stick that she used to sweep leaves off the sidewalk and after that a pinecone.  she was playing a game with will where he would throw or kick the pinecone down the road and when she finally caught up to it she would pick it up and throw it.  they did this over and over 

then the leaves happened.  

as i mentioned in my previous post i thought we would never get her back home once she stumbled upon this crunchy corner.  it was so cute to see how happy she was crunching through the leaves.  the tantrum when we finally tore her away...not so cute...but a sort of common thing for this 20 month old of ours.  i know it is a phase...hopefully a phase that doesn't last too long.  i've been reading about how to handle our determined girl in such situations but sometimes i just have to hold on until her roller coaster ride is over.  other times techniques i've read about seem to help.

i guess she got tired on our walk because this was when she said "nigh-night" and plopped down on the ground.

and this is what happens when we take her inside.

keeping it real and documenting all the moments. 

♥

in fact as we were on one of our walks this weekend i told will how it seems like just yesterday i was pushing the newborn ever around those streets in her stroller and now she's all about doing her own thing.  i told him next thing we know it is going to seem like a blink of the eye and she will be years older walking along with us...probably ahead of us because we aren't so cool.  we will then say.....remember when she was a toddler and flopping around on the sidewalk because she didn't want to go home.