Halloween 2009

halloween has been a BIG deal this year! part of that excitement was due to the surprise factor of isa's costume. in the weeks leading up to Halloween, she had a million ideas of what she wanted to be. figuring this might make it hard to actually pick one, i decided i'd make something that i knew she would love-- hence the butterfly! sylvi's costume was a little easier, since she couldn't exactly choose this year. we started the day at the children's museum Fall Carnival and ended it trick or treating with the masses on Main Street. all in all, a very fun (and busy) Halloween!

TGIAFF

thank god it's (almost) friday folks.

happy ELEVEN months sylvi!

hard to believe another month has passed and the Roo is ELEVEN months old. never mind the fact that in just 30 days she will be a one year old. *sniff sniff*

at eleven months, sylvi just still as sweet and happy as ever. she still smiles at anyone and everyone and enjoys interacting more and more each day. she is definitely a talker and you can usually find her anywhere in the house if you just listen-- because she is almost always singing or talking to herself or anyone else that will listen! i think her first word (aside from mama and dada) is going to be baby. she already signs it and says "Day-dee!" with a big smile if prompted. actually, she will pick up just about anything and hold it and rock it while saying "day-dee". what can we say, the girl likes her babies... or shampoo bottles or sippy cups, or whatever else she can snuggle in her little arms! she is also starting to reliably sign "more" and "all done" as well, which makes feeding time alot more fun.

she isn't walking yet, but she has "accidentally" taken a few steps before she realized that no one was holding on to her. her two bottom teeth have almost completely come in and we're hoping for a little reprieve before the rest of them follow. she loves playing peekaboo and will giggle herself to tears being "chased" around the house in her birthday suit before bath time each night. she is a silly one, i tell ya.

there you have it, sylvi at eleven months. happy birthday roo!

just tuesday

H1N... whatever.

ah the flu. H1N1 has reared it's ugly head in our area like it's nobody's business, and like most places in the country, it's running rampant through schools and offices and public places in general. so it wasn't a huge surprise that we are starting to get sick too. after much consideration, the girls actually received the (first of two) vaccinations last week. but it appears that it may not have been soon enough, atleast for sylvi at this point. i have been sick since last wednesday and roo woke up last night with a high fever. so we are off to the doctor this morning to get a flu swab and if confirmed, ask some questions about the possibility of getting Tamiflu as well. so far phil and isa are not showing signs of illness, but i gotta say-- i'll be shocked if isa gets the full benefit of the vax before actually contracting the flu. *sigh*

for bub and queen...

these pictures crack me up! getting both of them to sit on the couch together for thirty seconds was akin to herding cats. sylvi looks wary (or terrified?) and isa looks like her normal maniacal self! they were very excited to wake up from their naps to a halloween package from bub and queen. now if we can get isa to turn off her blinking pumpkin necklace at bedtime... wish us luck with that!

Mountain Aven Baby facebook giveaway!

oh the internets, such a mixed bag. and Facebook is certainly no exception to that sentiment. but in the age of viral online marketing, getting your name out there amongst the millions and millions and millions of products... well, it can be challenging to say the least. etsy can only take you so far really. as much as i don't like to admit it, Facebook can be a great way to spread the word and expand your audience. and so it is that Mountain Aven Baby started a fan page! it's been surprisingly pleasant so far and actually pretty fun too! now twitter? that's another story, but i digress...

so in honor of all this 'friendly' internet media mayhem, we are having a little Mountain Aven Baby Facebook giveaway! already a fan? no problem, just check out our page and you're on your way to winning a free bib! not a fan yet? well, look us up (mountain aven baby) and become one! all you need to do is leave a comment about your favorite bib on the giveaway post to be entered! you have until Sunday, Octber 25th so hop to!

highchair freak out

someone will only eat from a fork now. fingers and spoons? no. only a fork that she can hold herself.

there is alot of serious satisfaction as soon as she gets a bite in her mouth.

and that will hold her over for a good five seconds before you can get the fork loaded again and hand it off.

pumpkin face

outtakes!

from this morning's Cozy Corduroy dress shoot for the shop!

scissor happy

you might notice that someone's hair looks much shorter all of the sudden? that's because isa and mommy had a spontaneous haircutting session this afternoon! what can i say-- i was tired of tangled nightmare, so i asked isa if she wanted to cut her hair short and she replied with an emphatic yes. and that's what we did! it's really short and super, super cute. hard to tell from this picture, but the back in a little shorter than the front and with the little bit of curl that her hair naturally has, it hangs just right. we cut off about three inches total and we both love it!

pumpkin carving

we heard last week that 'uncle latane' had a bonafide pumpkin carving kit, so we naturally thought isa and sylvi should get in on something serious pumpkin carving! and that they did! as you can see from the photos, everyone had a blast and even the littlest of fingers were able to help out. sylvi was actually quite serious about taking part and did not want to be held back. isa had alot of fun helping dig out the slime and separating the seeds for roasting. of course she had her fair share of roasted pumpkins seeds before dinner too, but it seemed like a good reward for all of her hard work!

speaking of pumpkins, aunt emily and uncle latane will have their own little pumpkin come february! woohoo for playmates!

playdate in the park

all this (really early) cold and snowy weather has made for a very wet Fall. the park is normally covered in beautiful yellow leaves at this point, but now it's just brown and wet and cold. seems too early for the playground to be covered in snow and ice! but we made the best of it this afternoon, trying to take advantage of any warm and sunny days while we can. since the play equipment was icy and cold, the kids decided they would make their own fun by hanging out with the horses and getting soaking wet in the puddles. hard to stop them when they're having that much fun!

three muskateers (with cupcakes)

nothing like a little Fall cupcake action with your buddies. this little gang of three is a riot lately. really, the girls would prefer to be a gang of two, but timothy will have none of that. poor little buddy just doesn't want to be left out! sylvi is doing her best to get in on the action as well, so pretty soon there will be four of them getting into trouble (two big troublemakers AND two little ones)!

sledding in october!

and not the end of october. no, we've had two days of great sledding at the beginning of the month! it's been a crazy week or so of cold, snowy weather around these parts. clearly no one seems to care though! this weekend was perfect for getting out of the house and playing. this was sylvi's first time actually on the sled and she enjoyed herself immensely (and fell asleep within seconds of being buckled up for the ride home). isa was as fearless as ever and didn't mind the occasional wipe out or a face full of snow-- she was happy to go right back up the hill and go again.

silly sylvi

let the (work) mayhem begin...

the season of Crazy has once again descended upon our little sweatshop of one. while i still don't like to say it outloud, for fear it actually being true, there is less than a month until the big Marketplace Magic show in Billings. for those who haven't heard yet, Mountain Aven Baby will be participating in this (huge) three day show November 6-8th. and while i am really looking forward to the show itself, it's the massive amount of work leading up to it that keeps me up at night-- both literally and figuratively speaking. on the To Do List are: 80 minky scarves, 65 chenille bibs, dozens of tees, lounge sets, and dresses, and a handful of other wares. luckily i have help for some of those things, but there is still much to do! the details are coming together ahead of schedule though, which is helpful. hopefully some of this planning will also help with Art in the Afternoon that takes place the first week in December as well. phil is being his normal handy self with regards to building displays and racks and the like, for which i am very grateful.

and all of this on top of the regular Holiday season that normally starts up by mid-October! as always, i am looking forward to the shows and sales and general fun of it all-- but i am also looking forward to a nice (perhaps warm and sunny?) vacation come January too!

allergy testing

isa had some allergy testing done this morning to see if there was an obvious answer to the mild skin rash she's had since she was a tiny baby. alas, there was no obvious answer and of three dozen allergens she was exposed to, only two things (chocolate and oranges) were even remotely evident-- and even they were not enough to warrant the "allergic" label. but we are glad to have ruled many things out and get some questions answered. and you'll be relieved to hear that the new skin test are painless and non-invasive (though slightly less accurate than the old skin-prick test). isa did awesome and didn't even flinch! she was actually really interested in the whole process and proud of the "caterpillar" tracks that were left on her arms-- good job goose!

so what did they decide? that she mostly likely has very, very sensitive skin. and since it can be somewhat controlled by using sensitive skin products (and LOTS of lotion) that it's one of those "wait and see" issues that will hopefully not become a big issue. so we'll just keep on keepin' on with what we are currently doing, and be glad that she's not incredibly allergic to anything we can test for at this time!

sometimes she humors me

part of being born into this family means that you have to put up with some amount of having a camera in your face. they don't call me 'the papparazzi' around here for nothing! in sylvi's case, this means being the on-call model. her sister revolted on this a long time ago, but sylvi is still (mostly) happy to oblige-- as long as i let her have some fun in the process, which in this case meant sitting in the rocking chair and trying to rock herself. unfortunately i think this little modeling honeymoon will soon be coming to an end, as she is increasingly mobile (read: FAST) and less willing to sit still!

in case you haven't seen it yet, she is modeling the New Modern Christmas Lounge Set in these pictures!

first snow!

we had our first big storm of the year! it started snowing early sunday morning and was still snowing monday when isa headed off to school. we have a little less than a foot in the yard at this point, but more melted off sunday afternoon, maybe we got about 18 inches total? isa was thrilled to get to put on her "new snow clothes" and go play. sylvi was slightly less excited, though she still enjoyed herself. i think she enjoyed licking the snow off my jacket more than anything ;)

night at the museum

last night was a special Family Night at the children's museum. they were open late and had some new exhibits-- and there was a pizza party! while isa gets to go often with her friday babysitter, the whole fam hadn't been there in quite a while. isa and charlotte were particularly serious about their grocery shopping, as you can see in the photos. sylvi also enjoyed herself this time around and was fascinated by all of the people around her. they have a little baby section now with lots of colorful (baby) toys, which she really enjoyed as well.

Sylvi at Ten Months...

i just couldn't decide which picture i liked best here-- so for this special Ten Month post, you get two special pictures!

it has been a BIG month for Sylvi! this little girl has packed a whole lot of newness into thirty days. let's see: she got her first teeth (bottom two), learned to crawl in ernest, stand on her own, and start to take steps! she has learned to wave hello and goodbye and has added the word "baby" to her vocabularly (or so we think?). she has also earned the nickname Nosey Rosie, as she must know what is going on at all times! no joke! she is really, really curious about people especially and does not like to be left out of any conversation. so if someone around her is talking, she will crane that skinny little neck and that big ole head until she can see where the voice is coming from. and if she feels so inclined she will also start chatting as well, just to make sure her voice is heard. this also means that she will follow you around the house to make sure she can see what you're doing (especially if you're on the phone!). while she is still happy and content to play and explore on her own, she is not afraid to check in anyone and everyone in another room.

we are seeing more of her personality come out lately as well. she is a social butterfly and will smile at anyone who catches her eye-- this drives the old ladies in the grocery store crazy! she doesn't seem to have any stranger anxiety in general and will let just about anyone hold her. although she does still have her favorites, and will start flapping her arms like a baby bird anytime isa or daddy walk into the room!

HAPPY TEN MONTHS ROO, WE LOVE YOU!