Toddler Crafts (?)

H is starting to show a real interest in "art"... I use the term loosely because her skills and our crafts are very basic... scribbling, stickering, etc but I still want to encourage it! Hence the question mark at the beginning! Art is such an important part of our world.

This past week after nap time I have tried to make an effort to attempt some 19 month old skill level crafts. Again very basic. I have seen so so many clever ideas for toddler crafts on pinterest; hopefully this summer when our spring activities end, I can get some fun outdoor type crafts going. (and the motivation to gather the supplies with our very limited Hawaiian craft stores!) I am sure in a couple of years we will be knee deep in all sorts of (messy!) beading, painting, glittery stuff but for now we will stick to play doh and coloring!

Play Doh... She is obsessed (and I am sure her love with only grow). It is definitely a necessary toy/craft for every kid; I mean who grows up not playing with Play Doh?! But I will admit, I am slightly terrified of the the combo of Play Doh and rugs...

H is obsessed with boxes. She loves coloring with old shoe boxes.. Why not? It always take her about 30 minutes to complete her decorations... which is quite a long time in the H world.

H loves jewelry! Anyway, the other day at school she made a necklace by stringing together little pieces of paper. So easy and so perfect. 

and here are some other pictures of the week... just because!

(I love this picture after Church!)

Happy weekend! We are planning on going to the zoo... and picking up Uncle Rem from the airport for a fun filled week in Oahu!

xoxo,

allie 

Book Worm

So far our weekend has been full of rain, wind, and more rain. Honestly in Hawaii sometimes a rainy day is a welcomed break from the endless (lovely but intense!) sun.. but it does make for longer days with a very active 1.5 year old.

Yesterday was the quarterly "Yard Sale Mania" on post... phew, both a fascinating and intense morning; usually I'll walk around our neighborhood half heatedly looking at peoples stuff but I rarely come back with any "finds"; however we were on a mission this time. While Will was deployed we had lawn service, which I SO appreciated and saved me the hassle of mowing our tiny lawn (side note- I am by no means anti mowing a lawn.. but with a baby alone it was one less worry). Anyway... our yard is SO small and we don't need anything fancy so we drove around post and found a great little mower for 20 dollars. It was a bargain... because believe me, at Lowe's there is quite a Hawaiian markup for those little machines. It is PCS season (in Army moving) so the yard sales were FULL of stuff; people become desperate getting rid of stuff in Hawaii because we have a crate weight limit when we leave for the mainland.. Overall success with our mower. We spend the rest of Saturday with some friends who came over for dins!

Our little lady has a new obsession.... Books. I am SO happy she loves books. Although she can't read, she is completely fascinated by the pictures.

Right now her favorites are the DK series. They are full of real pictures with one word; there is no plot...It truly is a picture book. We have a touch and feel version, a farm version, and first words... but there are countless versions. As she becomes more interested in "topics" I will certainly be ordering more. For any new talker I think they are perfect. She is obsessed!

and each night before bed we read 2 books. I would love to read more but H has a pretty minimal attention span right now. I try to rotate books each month or we can caught in root of the same book over and over. Not the worst thing, but we do like to change it up. For April we are on a Eric Carle kick. Our current favorites are The Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? I LOVE the pictures. Amazing.

What are your favorite children's books? Childhood books? We are always looking for new ideas!

xoxo,
allie

Playdater

Happy Thursday! We have had a busy week full of play dates! H is getting to the perfect age of interacting with other kids and I love having the opportunity to chat with the moms. We seemed to have left the rainy season behind so we spent tons of time outside with our friends. Oddly enough, H is one of the only girls in her little group of friends... but there are tons of baby boys in the 1-2 range. That means lots of trucks, dirt, and rough play- which every little girl needs a bit of in their life.

(I love this last photo... her little friend is pushing her!)

 

and we met another friend at the splash park! H adored it. A perfect activity.

We are looking forward to many more years of play dates!

xoxo,

allie

p.s. Uncle Rem gets here in almost a week and we are SO excited!!! See you soon Remi!!

A Day in the Life

Alright so this post is probably going to be very boring for most of you... but the other day I was thinking about how much Harps and my day have changed since she left from babyhood to toddler-hood. Since this blog serves a "mini" scrapbook for our family, I am going to occasionally post "A Day in the Life" just so we can look back! Each day of the week, like for most families, varies depending on our activities which can shifts our schedules. Since I have the luxury of being a Stay at Home Mom, a bunch of our morning activities are Harper themed. I randomly picked Wednesday to feature... So let the day begin.

Harps begins her day between 5:30 am and 6:00 am... She typically wakes up as Will leaves for PT around 5:45 am. Army families always start their day early! We turn on Sesame Street at 6:00 am and watch it until 7:00 am. She adores Elmo and it gives mommy a chance to enjoy a cup of coffee. Harps is a big morning eater (or in general!).. she needs a full tray! This morning happen to be waffles, applesauce, and turkey sausages.

On Wednesday mornings we often hurry off to Stroller Strides after breakfast. Stroller Strides is a wonderful group were moms can work out with the babies in the strollers. I highly recommend it! Wednesday is our favorite because it is Weighted Wednesdays with a playgroup and planned activity afterwards. People always assume it is just walking around but believe me.. it is intense, burpies and all.

After Stroller Strides, Harps and I usually run errands etc.. but this Wednesday we took a break for an impromptu park visit to Harp's favorite pirate park.

Then home for lunch and nap! One major shift in our schedule is Harps has transitioned to one nap; I love the one long nap.. It gives us the opportunity to have a full morning and a quiet post nap afternoon. Since Will just started block leave, he has only been working half days; we love the extra time with him! Depending on Harp's mood, I will usually take her back outside or we play in her playroom. (Like I always tell Will, we spend hours outside.. I honestly don't know how to parent in cold climates!).

Yes, an outfit change.  Being a kid can be very messy.

Then Dinner time. I cook every night (well almost with our few exceptions of going out to eat maybe twice a month).  Whenever people ask me if I cook, they always seemed surprised when I say yes..  I love family dinners; although Harps is young, it gives everyone a chance to share about their day, enjoy each others company, and eat healthy food. I am very skeptical of lots of ingredients in food, especially for a growing toddler but if I make it from scratch I know exactly what goes in it! Last night we had Uncle Greg over for dinner!

(Twins in Matching Shirts!)

Then bath, story time, and bed! 

Phew, I told you it was a boring post for most of you... but for us it is always a busy day (especially when you add in toy clean up, laundry, vacuuming, etc). We wouldn't have it any other way. 

xoxo,

allie

Mama and Harp Dates

Although we live in beautiful amazing Hawaii... so much of our day to day life is just life. We are busy shuffling to and from activities, folding laundry, endlessly cleaning Harp's high chair, and lots of playing! Sometimes it is easy to forget we live in paradise... and then you just have to look outside. Anyway after our Saturday morning Stroller Strides (a mom stroller workout class), Harps and I decided to hit the beach. It was a necessary break.

On Oahu there is so much diversity with beaches. Depending on the summer or "winter" season, each side of the island differs with wave height/frequency. With H lady now "running" towards the water, we always try to avoid the big waves for beach time (although they are super cool to watch!) but not as safe for toddlers. Anyway, on the air force base here they have a very shallow sand bar that is protected in a cove; the water is SO warm and never goes above H's belly... the perfect combo for a fun morning.

We hope everyone else is having a relaxing weekend and enjoying the fall weather that we are missing!

xoxo,
allie

sippy success

Thankfully we have finally had some minor success transitioning to the sippy cup. Pediatricians recommend a full transition to the sippy cup by 12 months... a lofty goal for a women who ADORES her bottle. I can't honestly say we still don't have the bottle in house but we are using them much less. Baby steps, as some would say.

These last couple of photos are from a playground in our neighborhood. H lady loves just playing on the rubber mats and running in circles around the playground... (hey, whatever works for a good bedtime!)

(shopper!)

Redeployment (the term used for soldiers returning!) is coming up soon. As an FRG co leader life is getting busy. It is a very exciting time, yet, also chaotic. We are focusing most of our energy on the single soldier barracks; after a year away in Afghanistan a "homey" room is a nice touch (especially if you are a single soldier and don't have a family to welcome you!). The holidays seem to be quickly sneaking up on us as well....

xoxo,
allie

Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?

The girl who hated her birthday cake and frosting has discovered candy... just for in time Halloween. I have always had candy around my house, (naturally with my sweet tooth), and someone found it. 

The best part is she thinks she is very sneaky. Silly girl. She actually has never had candy (yes, I am admittedly weird about her sugar intact) before but I think I will give her a piece on Halloween. Anyway, the best part about structure, nap times, bed times, rules, etc. is to break them so October 31st every year will be filled with sugar. Why not? We only live once.

xoxo,
allie

Where is Harper?

Hm? Do you see her? (this little one is tricky)

Oooo, there she is!

Peek-a-boo is a way of life around our house these days... It doesn't matter what the object is! Big or small...

The best part is her reaction full of tons of sweet baby giggle.. every single time!

and H is almost walking... I have a feeling it is right around the corner.

xoxo,
allie