The Magic of the Ordinary

 Peek-a-boo with Papaw!

Puzzles after breakfast.

Audrey's got her game face on!  

This face CRACKS NINNIE UP!!!

Silly time!

Lots of play time!

Whenever Papaw leaves, he hides money in each of their rooms.  

This time, I was here when they got to hunt them.  Fun times!

On her little potty.

We started to work on potty training with Levi and look who started to join us!

Little Miss Priss did GREAT this week and she goes potty every time we put her on.

Good thing Mama had two potties!  :)

I had to teach Levi the proper use for training pants...haha!

This is a vintage doll bed Jamie found at an antique store while shopping for
vintage kitten decor for Audrey's 1st birthday.  

Jamie also made her little sheets, pillow, and quilt for a Christmas gift, 

using all reproduction vintage fabrics for them.

I love the little decal and the little "abc blocks" in the headboard.

Levi LOVES the bed his Papaw made for him that I brought down here in the fall.  He calls it his "Papaw bed".  He did make the transition very easily from the baby bed to his "big boy" (toddler) bed.

I have spent the last two weeks immersed in my grand baby's glow.

I just thought I'd share a few images and a few anecdotal stories to tell you what I've been up to. 

It's been pure bliss, I've enjoyed every minute, and tomorrow I head back home....the trail of tears.  Saying good-bye is the worst!

Levi told me today "Ninnie, I will miss all my PEOPLE."  He calls all of us from Michigan who visit him as "his people".  He's right, we are his and his sissie's people, too.

My husband and older son left here a week ago, and myself and my younger son got to stay another week.  After his Papaw left last week with his Uncle Mark, he asked:  "Where did my people go?"  I had to explain to him that they had to get back to Michigan and back to work.

This morning when we all got up, I explained to him:  "Tomorrow I won't be here when you wake up, Luke and I will go back to Papaw and Uncle Mark in Michigan."  He responded "Ninnie, I will miss all my people and I want my Papaw!"  

That is the truth, and we shall miss him and his family, too.  

I have learned this from living so far from my babies:  the time spent immersed in their lives 24/7 is the best part of the separation. It's the silver lining I had to look for.  

The worst part is not being here from day to day, in the small ways, but so much of the enjoyment while we are here is waking up with them and being with them until they close their eyes at night, reading them stories, putting them down for their naps...being present for their meals.  It's all so good.

I will see you next week.

 xoxoxox

Show 'n Tell: Audrey's Dollhouse

Audrey says "You want to see my dollhouse?"

"I LOVE IT!"

It's something that's really nice and will last her (and possibly little sisters, too) for years!  (It was $95.99 and now it's on sale for $79.)

 You can see her motor home she got from us for Christmas in the background.

She got the dollhouse and dolls for her birthday in October, but it's really fun to add things to it for Christmas...

It comes from either Amazon.com (here) or Bed, Bath & Beyond, online.

The house comes with the wooden furniture (shown) but not with dolls.  Wooden dolls that KidCraft makes for it just aren't as much fun.

After looking around, my daughter settled on the Fisher Price Loving Family dolls (like this) and extras (like this) because the family of dolls are jointed and pose-able, and will actually sit at the table and on the couch, in the car, etc.  

Those Loving Family dolls are easily available at any major retailer that carries toys or again, from Amazon.com, although on Amazon the dolls themselves seem to be very expensive, at places like Meijer or Wal-Mart are very affordable.

It's fun to add to her house for birthdays and Christmas, and mom has even made her a few things to go with it.

It's well-constructed and very tough, and will more than likely be kept as an heirloom.

The doors and the windows open and shut.  Above you can see how well the Fisher Price Loving Family dog house and dogs fit in with the scale of the Kid Craft house.  We like this house much better than the Loving Family doll house, which is gaudy and plastic.

I found a Christmas tree for Audrey's house!  It's the perfect scale and size and she loves it.  Right away she said "twee!".

The bathroom with tub, toilet and sink that it came with.

The kitchen table.

The groceries on the table came with the Fisher-Price Loving Family Mini-van.

So the KidCraft house and Loving Family dolls and extras like the minivan and pet furnishings all work well together!  

Soon, I'll show you the Fire House that KidCraft makes and Levi got for his first birthday.  It's another well-constructed piece that would last through several kids and be kept for an heirloom.

It's always good to know a quality toy that's worth spending your money on and this one is for sure in that category!

Hope your Christmas was great, and you're enjoying your family and the holidays.

Miss Audrey...

I got one of her vintage dresses of her little hangers and put her in it.

The quilt is a flannel one her mommy made her for her birthday.

The vintage rattle is one that we bought to decorate her room with.

THE afternoon....was sunny and the baby had just woken from her nap all smiley and cuddly and sweet.

So we were silly for a minute and then I thought...hey, sunlight as a backup and a cuddly sweet girl, time to get the camera out.  Someday, Miss Audrey will learn to bargain with me and get a bribe for posing...right now she's pretty good about it!

She put up with me for about twenty minutes or so, and mommy came into the room and posed with her for a few toward the end, too.  

For those of you that want to photograph babies, the best time is just after a nap if they're not hungry, and also it's nice if they have an object to play with, too.  Toward the end, when she got fidgety, to get a couple more photos, I got her one of the vintage Little Golden books to see and play with.  You can easily use that as a photo prop!

She's just such an angel and I love her dearly.

I had a lot, lot, lot of fun shopping for a little girl for Christmas again!

A Precious Milestone...

Someone turned ONE yesterday!

And this dear little girl is such a little sweetheart, and we just love her to pieces, can 't imagine our family without her in it.

We took her out with the washtub for some pictures with her little pink Osh-Kosh overalls ... and a well-worn, well-loved little vintage flannel quilt.  

Jamie shot the pictures and the kitty cat cooperated nicely.

Isn't it amazing how these little ones are the light of our lives?  It's a wonderful thing to be able to see your grandchildren come into the world and watch them grow.  

Little chubby elbows that are dimples, really. 

So thankful, ever so, for the chance to do this.

It's a blessing to have this sweet little girl in our lives.  

Audrey & Zinnias

Had a little bit 'o fun with Audrey last night right at sunset.  

You grab those sweet moments while you can.  


She's nine months today!  


Man, time sure does fly.

And sweet little gal was wearing a dress that coordinated with her mama's zinnias perfectly.

But pretty soon, she'd had enough of the hat.


(Sometimes, this is the sort of photo that turns out to be my favorite.  Look at that expression!  Melts my heart!)  

I went along with her self-determination.

How could I not?  


Enjoy your Tuesday.


(Hey, I turned 51 yesterday, and it's not half-bad.  Hehe!)