Catching Up

How is it already the end of July and I haven't posted anything yet this month?  Henry, when you read these posts someday and wonder why I told so many more stories and posted so many more pictures when your sister was tiny, just know that all of your stories are tucked safely away in my heart for you to hear one day even if I haven't shared them.  That, and you are one busy kiddo.  Keeping up with you takes every ounce of energy I have most days, and I figure you'd rather have me playing motorcycles with you, reading you Beautiful Oops one more time, and kissing your scraped knees than staring at this computer.  Anyway, here are a few photos of the last several weeks to catch up at least a bit!

 

This is one of Henry's many motorcycle shirts.  He gets so excited to wear them and then rediscovers the motorcycle at several points throughout the day and gets just as excited.

 

Madelyn in her ballerina fancies.  She took lessons for the first time this past spring and loved it.  She's not currently taking lessons, but about once per week she has to get all dressed up (including fancy make-up) and dance around in our living room.  

Henry driving Uncle Jeff's Scout.  He was pretty chuffed about the size of that steering wheel!

I caught Madelyn reading to Henry one morning.  Believe me, there are plenty of times when I catch her tripping him with her feet or him biting her on her arm, so we take our sweet moments as often as we can get them!  (And there are plenty, truth be told.  They are particularly fond of kissing each other goodnight lately and it just about melts me every time.)

Henry "working" in the backyard during a morning of weeding.  He absolutely loves to be outside, and we have made our backyard our favorite room of the house these past several weeks.

First raspberries of the season which means Henry's first raspberries ever.  I canned jam for the first time this year (and am now a total canning addict!), so he can enjoy fresh raspberries all year long!

 Good gracious, I love this boy.

Henry has formed an unbreakable attachment to his blankie "BeeBee" and his polar bear.  Lately, we don't go many places -- including the high chair at mealtime -- without them.  Consequently, polar bear in particular gets a lot of baths.

4 1/2 year old Madelyn wearing 18 month old Henry's clothes.  Our girl just seems to stretch taller and taller these days.  The funny thing is, given her September birthday, she will be one of the oldest children in her Kindergarten class in 2013.  By that time, she'll be so tall people will wonder what this third grader is doing in a Kindergarten classroom.

Madelyn got to go to the American Girls store in Seattle when we were there visiting Auntie Kari, Uncle Brad, Uncle Kris, and Auntie Laura.  This picture pretty much says it all.

We transfer our girl from our bed to her bed every night.  I wish I could sleep this hard!

A recent trip to the zoo with Daddy.  Cheetahs are my absolute favorite, but kind of crazy to think that a one inch piece of glass is the only thing that stands between my baby and those teeth. 

 

Henry likes to experience his food with all five senses.  All 7 foods that he eats, that is.  Our Vitamix is in the mail as we speak because I'm genuinely worried about this boy's nutritional intake.  Trust me, I wish mac 'n cheese fulfilled all of my nutritional requirements too, but the world just doesn't work that way.

Number One Fan

When I was pregnant with Madelyn, we didn't know she was a "Madelyn" until she was actually born.  I didn't really think too hard about what it would be like to parent a little boy or a little girl because I was genuinely excited about parenting either and I didn't want to start hoping for one over the other.  As I was coming out of the anesthesia fog and Kurt told me that Madelyn Grace was waiting for me, I felt an immediate sense of relief and connection.  I would've been just as thrilled with a baby boy, but there was less mystery about a girl.  I'm a girl.  I know how to be a girl and connect with a girl, and indeed, parenting a little girl has been a delight and a blessing.

When I was pregnant with Henry, we chose to find out that he was a "Henry" at twenty weeks, so I had several months to imagine what it would be like to parent a little boy.  I knew I would be bonkers in love with him, but I did worry that I wouldn't connect to him as easily as I did with Madelyn or that I wouldn't be as motivated to play with him because I've never been super excited about typical "boy" activities.

Well as it turns out, all that worry was a complete waste of time (story of my life).  I connected immediately, deeply, and eternally to that little boy the second I heard his cry, and the second I held him in my arms, I knew I would enthusiastically hunt for worms, play cops and robbers, or roll around in the mud if that's what would bring him joy.  In the last several months, we have really seen Henry's little personality emerge and begin to blossom.  He has had access to the same toys and the same activities that Madelyn did when she was his age, but the toys toward which he gravitates and the ways that he plays with them are completely different.  This boy is all about wheels.  In a book full of gorgeous, colorful animals, he can find the one page with the one tiny truck drawn in the distance and he doesn't want to look at any other pages.  Thursdays are the best mornings at our house because the garbage truck, recycle truck, and compost truck all come in their big wheeled, loud engined, smelly glory.  He can (and does) make a car out of anything and somehow instinctively knows to drive it along any surface (floor, arm chairs, my legs) while making an enthusiastic "bbbbb" sound.  But in Henry's world, even garbage trucks, racecars, and tractors are trumped by anything with two wheels, much to his father's and Papa's utter delight.  He is absolutely fascinated with bicycles and motorcycles.  We start every day with a MotoGP motorcycle video, and he can always hear a motorcycle coming before I can.  Daddy is practically a superhero because he rides his bike to work everyday, and even at just 17 months, he tries desperately to ride his sister's Strider bike and is getting closer and closer to actually doing it every day (he doesn't know this yet, but a brand new red Strider is in his near future).  Papa gave him a short motorcycle riding demo up and down their street yesterday, and Henry stood on the front stoop and watched with rapt fascination.  

The thing is:  I absolutely love connecting with my son over motorcycles.  I think they're loud and dangerous and pretty impractical in Portland, but none of that matters one lick when they bring my son joy.  I know I might sing a different tune when he's 16 and wants to actually start riding them (Lord help me), but for now, I genuinely enjoy sitting down with him and pouring over the pages of the most recent issue of Cycle World and watching him point out all the Ducati's (how does he already know this stuff?!).  

Anyway, no matter what the passion, I love being my son's number one fan, and I so look forward to continuing to learn about who he is and what he loves.  Who knows, maybe he and his MOMMY will ride motorcycles together one day!

Meet Kirsten

My oh my did I have a great parenting moment the other night.  A couple of weeks ago, my parents dropped off a big Rubbermaid container of my old books (SO glad you saved them, Mom and Dad!).  In there were all of my American Girls books -- the original ones with the vintage sketches that actually say "Pleasant Company" on them.  Madelyn became immediately interested and started flipping through the books, asking all sorts of questions about who these girls were and what they were doing.  We began reading them that night, and she pretty much hasn't talked about anything since.  Imagine her reaction when she learned that there were dolls and all sorts of accessories that went along with them so you could actually play out all of the events in the books.  I told her that I had Kirsten when I was a little girl and that my sister had Molly and that we loved those dolls and used to play with them all the time.  (True.  We had to earn the $69 to buy the dolls ourselves, and while we were earning the money, we would kiss their catalog pictures every night before bed.  When they finally arrived in the mail in this perfectly huge box, I really thought that this would probably be the pinnacle of my whole life.  When I told my dad that story a few days ago, he laughed and stated that in some ways, it just might have been.)  

Thursday evening, my parents brought Kirsten and her world of belongings to our house.  We had to leave for her school program shortly thereafter, but when we returned, after her brother was down to sleep and no longer occupying her mama's attention, she asked if we could look through Kirsten's things together.  I sat down with her and began going through each of her outfits with their matching shawls, aprons, socks, boots, etc.  I showed her Kirsten's fish basket, her lunch box complete with a tiny sausage, apple, hunk of cheese, and loaf of bread, her tray of Christmas buns, and her birthday quilt.  We compared them to the book covers, and she was absolutely delighted that everything was exactly as it was described and depicted in the books.  She held Kirsten in her lap this entire time, and I had a total time-pausing, heart-exploding, out-of-body moment where I thought that I never would've imagined that someday, my own little girl would hold my favorite doll with as much tenderness and affection as I once held her.  I got a little joy-weepy and told her that I was so happy that she liked Kirsten and that I hoped she would get to know her and have as much fun with her as I did.  She looked up at me with wide, excited eyes and said "Yeah!  And I will keep her and someday my little girl can play with her too!"  It's so perfectly Hallmark Channel that it can only be true, right?!

Sigh.  So I've pretty much been playing with Kirsten nonstop for the last two days.  Errr, I mean, Madelyn has pretty much been playing with Kirsten nonstop for the last two days.  She changes her clothes about every two hours, pulls out her accessories and enacts various scenarios, and has had to take her along everywhere we've gone since Thursday night.  Just like I used to do.  And, word has it, just like my grand-daughter will do someday, too.

Backyard Shots

These shots were taken by my neighbor and friend, Eden.  Aren't they fantastic?  She took them super off the cuff when all four of our kids were running around our backyards having a blast.  She has recently started her own photography business.  Just imagine what she can do when her shots are not off the cuff and she's not on-duty with her own kids!  Let me know if you'd like her contact information.  I enthusiastically recommend her!

By the way, THANK GOD for sunshine and backyards and warmth.  And plants and s'mores and bicycles while we're at it.  Until July 4, we Portlanders never know how long the sunshine will last so we soak up every glorious minute.  We even broke out the kiddie pool today much to the splashing delight of both children.  The garden is fully in, and Kurt worked hard all afternoon and evening getting an awesome irrigation system put in.  All in all, a pretty fantastic couple of days, and I'm feeling pretty grateful.

Soft Lighting, My Two Favorite Small Faces, and a Camera

Event Overload

Our first trip to the zoo this season, and Henry's first trip to the zoo ever:

A random shot of Henry eagerly awaiting the garbage, recycling, and compost trucks. Thursdays are just the best.

Easter morning:

Two bookworms! This mama's dream come true. Evidently naked reading is the best.

Tulip Festival 2012:

A few recent updates on Henry Finn:

1. Henry loves all things with wheels. Whether 1 or 18, it doesn't matter. He enthusiastically makes a "raspberry" sound with his mouth and points and just lights up. We live on a busy street. This happens many, many times per day. Mass amounts of cuteness.

2. He still hasn't really said his first word, but about once every day or so, we swear he repeats a word. "Bus," "thank you," "daddy." He is, however, officially saying "uh oh." Is that technically a word? He hears it all the time, so it's no surprise we're hearing it back :)

3. Henry absolutely loves being outside. He points at the sky and the clouds and the doggies ("doodoo!") and runs as fast as his little legs will carry him. He has absolutely no fear either. He climbs to the top of the slide and just takes off down it without pausing. Half the time he ends up sideways, catching air off the end, but he laughs the whole time.

4. What do you get when you cross a monkey with a mountain goat? Henry Finn.

5. Henry is super busy and is on the move constantly, but when he's sleepy he gets really snuggly and loves to give kisses over and over again. Love that boy!

Stella & Dot Sample Sale

Hey ladies,

I'm selling off a few of my sample Stella & Dot pieces to make room for some more. If you are interested in any of them, email me at kimberlee.olmsted@gmail.com. I have a few other pieces that I'm willing to raffle off at a trunk show, and I'm also running a Spring hostess special -- a complimentary pair of our Soirree Stud Earrings when you book a trunk show in March or April. So let me know if you are interested! If you've never been to a Stella & Dot trunk show before, they are a blast, and if you've never hostessed one before, they are quite lucrative. I'd love to put one together for you! Never even heard of Stella & Dot? Come visit us at www.stelladot.com/kimberleeolmsted. Happy styling!

Soiree Studs in Hematite (they also come in gold). FREE when hostessing a show in March or April.

Isadora Pearl Bib Necklace: $64 (originally $128)

Chantilly Lace Cuff Bracelet: $49 (originally $98)

Revival Tassel Necklace: $38 (originally $79)

Revival Bracelet: $17 (originally $34)

Vintage Cluster Ring: $19 (originally $39)

Soiree Pave Pearl Bracelet in Ivory: $16 (originally $34)