life lately

It's been like crickets on the blog, and don't even get me started on Eliza's weekly photo which only has 3 weeks left, and I'm about 6 weeks behind. I think it's kinda defeating the purpose if they aren't taken on the correct day. Anyway, here we go. 

The (ever so exciting) happenings at chez Kostrzewa: 

Easily one of my favorite things Ken does. He's been doing this since Avery was a newbie. 

Also, no matter how down I might be, makes me giggle. 

We had mother's day like all the mothers out there and it was nice, but you should see the outtakes to get this picture. 

I think Avery had just finished saying, "But I don't want to take a piiiiiccture with yooouuuu!" 

It would be dishonest not to include this little lovely I caught the other day to update ken when he sent his mid morning, "how's it going babe?" text. We have been going at it lately. To the left you have morning, and to the right you have a post nap popsicle on the porch. We like to acknowledge the good and the bad here, because those throw down on the ground tantrums made those 20 minutes of calm on the porch that much sweeter. 

Eliza has followed her sister in loving blueberries. Her mom doesn't care for what it does to her diapers. And, moms, do you pick up constantly throughout the day? I normally do, but this day I said, "oh, let the mess reign" and by 11:00 my house was like this. It drove me nuts. 

Another one to the moms. Baby hair regrowth. The exact same thing happened with Avery, just as the girls were approaching their first birthday, my hairstyle is approaching a style what was popular among our founding fathers. Seriously, the wings of mercury. When I straighten my hair, these little doobers stick straight up, or to the side. There is very little hope. 

Avery lost her books last week, due to an unfortunate tantrum that manifested itself in ripping up about 5 of her favorite books, not to mention one that Ken had when he was a little kid. We are slowly adding a book at a time back into the fold, and when she got her Jesus Storybook Bible back, it was a wonderful 30 minutes of Avery exploring the stories she loves, and her telling me about how Jesus died  on the cross because he loves us. It's amazing how the timing of that hit me hard, that even in this rough toddler season, the gospel is still true. 

 Cutie. 

Avery is determined to get Eliza walking. I think that's why Eliza has been sleeping till 8:45 the past couple mornings, she's exhausted from the Avery Kostrzewa Walking Boot Camp. 

My peanut, my baby. Still wearing 6 month onesies, standing all the time, and sleeping in. Making words and pointing to daddy and doggies and making the most adorable "ooohhhhh" face. I can't believe she'll be one in three weeks. 

There you have it. Life lately. Looking forward to summer trips and visits, an anniversary getaway with my man of 5 years of wedded bliss, and some Rhoads family time at the lake. For New Orleans folks, do you like how summer has made itself known via the weather already? 

I'm definitely purchasing one of the classy plastic pools and parking it in the front and we will be dipping frequently. 

Feel free to stop by for a popsicle. 

flashback // avery 15 months

When Avery was 3 months old, I went back to work full time. Meaning I left the house while she was still sleeping, and came home only a couple hours before she went to bed. We had a friend who watched her, but quite frequently, the flexibility of Ken's schedule at the time allowed him to stay home with her. And he's a FUN dad. Always outside with his girls, hitting up parks and going on walks. If he had a lunch meeting, he brought Avery with him. He just loves her so much. Of course Eliza too, but Avery and dad are super close, and I think that will always be true. Probably closer than her and I are, and I don't say that to feel sad, it makes me really happy. It's so valuable for girls to have close relationships with their dads. Nothing could be more true of these two. 

Last night Ken worked late, and the girls had been put to bed. When he walked in, after a mini bouquet of flowers were handed to me, he says, "Is Avery already asleep?" "Yes, about 20 minutes ago." "Shoot, I wanted to see her." Avery often stirs in the early hours of her "bedtime" and we have to go in the room and kindly remind her that clapping in bed will wake up her sister. When she started doing this, Ken was thrilled because it meant he got to see her. 

These pictures were sent to me from a friend from back in the day. It's probably just me, but can't you just tell how much he loves her? 

photos by Harris Martinson < http://www.flickr.com/photos/hmartinson >

a tuesday at the market

We just started adding this to our schedule and we're so glad we did. Every Tuesday is a farmer's market uptown, and it's small and charming. They always have a featured "green plate special" from a local food truck or restaurant. And as we all know, farmer's markets have the best produce. My girls are addicted to strawberries and tis the season here in Louisiana. I think Louisiana strawberries are the sweetest I've tasted. Here are some pictures from our morning at the market.

a sunday afternoon at the fairgrounds

When your neighbors text you Sunday morning offering jazz fest tickets, you say yes. 

You also laugh at how sweet they are to hook you up with tickets for the past couple years.

You then look at the line up of music and conclude that you're only going for the food.

Then you decide, this should be like a day date, let's get a sitter. 

You then think, yeah, who would want to babysit on this beautiful Sunday afternoon? 

You take a chance and text your friend, who willingly agrees to hang out with your daughters. 

You hit up the ATM before you head down to pay a ridiculous amount of money on parking 

(it supported a school trip at a charter school, so it's okay that it was $25?!?) 

You walk a good ways to the fairgrounds. 

You then waste no time and you go straight for the best thing at jazz fest: cochon de lait po-boy. 

You probably should take some pictures of it before you knock it out. 

You then peruse the different craft venders and pop into the tents (blues, gospel, and jazz) and you realize you're thirsty. 

You buy an overpriced Abita and an iced coffee and you walk over to Congo Square. 

You try on hats that are so fabulous but too small for your head. 

You enter the book fair and pick about 7 books you want to buy Avery, but you show restraint. 

You run into about a dozen people you know, in a crowd of about 20,000 or more. 

You realize, New Orleans is a small city; one that you dearly love. 

You then convince your husband that we should really see what the hype is over this crawfish bread.

You eat it, and you get it. 

You find yourself saying how much fun you're having. 

You love that you're not pushing a stroller or wearing a baby for an afternoon. 

You do think about how much fun the girls would be having if they did come.

You're still thankful for the break.  

You walk back to the car and head home, not before capturing this picture as you turn around and bid adieu to Jazz Fest 2013. 

That's what you do on a Sunday afternoon at the fairgrounds. 

cousins

The Rhoads children like to do things the same way. We all got married in August, in consecutive years, and we all decided to have baby girls. In 2012, Jack, Steve, and I planned our to have our babies 3 months apart. We planned for them to be knock outs. We planned for them to live in three different states only to make visits and reunions really difficult for grandma and grandpa.

Not really, but hey. Whatever.

Last week we got to meet Savannah and oh my heavens, she is a beauty. From the moment I saw her, I wanted to hold her and never let go. She's a dream baby. It's hard to say what's my favorite feature of her face: her deep blue eyes with long dark lashes or her perfect dimple on her right cheek. As much as I loved her, Eliza was so happy the whole time. She rarely cried all week and she was often found petting Savannah's head. Telling an 11 month old to be gentle doesn't really work, but Savannah was a good sport about it. We hit up the town with 3 littles in tow and they all did great. It was so much fun having the Rhoads family in town! Come back already!

 We'd like some bananas please!

 Eliza containing her petting for 3 seconds

 Yes!

 Avery trying to get some Savannah, but I think Eliza is winning this one

 "Savannah! You're pulling away!"

 "I just love you so much!"

 "Oh mom, what's the clicking sound?" as Avery swoops in. Like I said, Savannah was a good sport. 

Thanks for coming Steve, Sandy and Savannah! 

42, 43, 44, 45

Eliza is growing up so fast. She's saying "da da" and what I think is "nom, nom" when she's hungry. She does the sign for "more" exactly the way Avery did. Not the was it's technically suppose to be. She does really well at the park, climbing up and swinging with her sister.

She had an ear infection last week, her first "sick" visit at the doctors. She's still a tiny peanut, 20lbs and 30 inches. She eats just about everything we eat for supper. She takes three bottles throughout the day, and so far is not the biggest fan of a sippy cup. We started putting shoes on her so she could feel them when she walks along things like at the park. I thought she'd be more interested in walking, but she'll probably walk around the time when Avery did.

Eliza, we love her dearly, but she's a handful at times. She cries a bit in the morning before her first nap, probably because I'm busy doing things around the house. She just loves to be held, and that's more than okay, she's a baby. But I guess I'm so used to Avery being really independent from the beginning. It feels like her first birthday is right around the corner!

You are the cutest little thing girly! 

quilt time

With 9 weeks to go till Eliza's first birthday, and the end of the weekly photo, I thought I'd jack another clever idea of younghouselove and make a quilt with the fabrics for baby girl. I found this great tutorial of the most adorable quilt. She even gives you the template of the triangle so it'll look perfect like hers. 

Modern Ombre Quilt Tutorial

I'll let you know if this actually happens, I mean, I never made a quilt before. Eek!