she makes hats

insta-life

i love to use instagram (i'm "shemakeshats") - it's the perfect way to capture little moments of life. some days i take tons of shots, some days i totally ignore it, but i always love to peek back at my feed and glance at those bits of life that would go unnoticed otherwise.

like after-bath hair, or Bon Jovi's car at the zoo. playing trivia with dad or some of the many Toms i saw strolling around Chicago.

my hope is to continue to take photos like these, and at the end of the year turn them into a photo book via Blurb - they've got a way to slurp your photos and make it super user-friendly and simple to create a book of your little memories!

in love with goats

A few weeks ago, we took Owen to the zoo for the first time! He loved just about everything there was to see and do at the zoo - the carosel, the train, all the animals, and mostly people watching!

Our zoo has a little petting zoo area inside it, full of teenie goats for little kids to brush and feed and learn about. Owen took particular interest in one goat, and Zach got it all caputured with our camera!

Ridiculous! We're headed back soon with Owen's friend Jack, and we'll be sure to visit the goats again!

force of nature

Oh, child of mine. You are, without a doubt, a force of nature.

In five days you learned to sit up while laying down, crawl, pull up to standing, cruise along furniture, clap, and got your second tooth.

Then you decided to tackle stairs, aiming directly for daddy's drill.

Now you are climbing up the baby gate, and pulling yourself over the edge of your crib to play with the curtains.

I had no idea three weeks ago what this would be like, following you around the house for hours at a time while you pull yourself up on everything, play with your toys, pause to eat, and then repeat. It's exhausting, quite honestly - but in the best way!

I spend my days in awe of you ... and my nights playing catchup with all the things I used to do while you sat quietly(ish) and played with toys. Now I can't turn around for two seconds or you're in the trash can trying to find treasure.

We have placed bets as to when you'll start walking. I think by mid-July you'll be toddling all over and my days will get even more crazy.

I am in awe of mothers with more than one child. How do they do it? You are all I can handle, that's for sure!

Child of mine, foce of nature.

owen and the drums

We just got back from five days in Chicago, visiting my family. So much fun, and so many photos!

I'll be sharing bits of our trip over the next week or two (amidst giveaways, hats, and more!) but for now, I had to share these.

Grandpa C took it upon himself to teach Owen how to play the drums, and he loved it! He's been wielding his drum sticks as weapons ever since, and we couldn't be happier. Seriously - we love that he loves to make music, and love how much he loves his family and everything they do with him.

Already missing our Chicago family bunches!

suddenly

I wrote you a letter when you turned nine months old. And it feels like as soon as I hit publish, you changed.

You are no longer a baby; you are now somehow a toddler.

You are sitting up in your crib - we got the mattress moved down JUST in time for that one!

You can go from any position to sitting, and love to do so!

You crawl three or four steps before sliding back to sitting, and shimmy your way backwards and sideways all over the place.

You scoot to, and then pull yourself up onto just about anything you can find.

>> >> >> >>

Unreal.

I know everyone says the days are long, but the years are short. That I will blink and you will be an adult. But I never realized they meant one day to the next you would be all but unrecognizable to me.

No longer my baby, that's for sure. My little man now.

And I love it!