Sledding - An Opportunity To Eat Snow, Snow and More Snow

Since the Burns adults chose to donate to a charity this year rather than exchange gifts, we thought it would be fun to focus our attention on sharing a fun experience as we all gathered for the holiday. Sledding fit the bill. And while there was more than one snafu in arriving at a safe and available sledding spot, hilarity eventually ensued.

Stella wasn't super interested in sledding actually. Consuming vast quantities of snow under the adoring gaze of her cousins occupied most of her attention for the whole afternoon. At least we know she was well hydrated.

Our backdrop. Seriously.

And just so you know, this pregnant mama demonstrated great restraint and held back her sledding desires. But don't think winter gear that doesn't fit over a pregnant belly could stop me from trekking around in the snow. Nope. Fashion be damned. I'm joining in.

Christmas: Part III

For our second round of Christmas, we headed to Seattle to celebrate with the Burns fam. Stella was so excited that Santa was going to visit her at Grandma Carol and Poppy's house and was pretty darn thrilled with the drum he brought her.

Some artistic Christmas sass.

More than all the thoughtful gifts, Stella loved hanging with her big girl cousins. She was totally enamored by Hannah and Amelia, affectionately calling them the "Big Guys."And then seeing Olivia and Eva Maria sent her over the edge. She kept calling them "the tiny Amelia" and "the other tiny Amelia." Surrounded by love and laughter, it was a fabulous Christmas. Thank you, Burns crew.

Christmas: Part II

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how to create meaningful and lasting traditions that celebrate the spirit of Solstice and Christmas without falling prey to the overwhelming and meaningless materialism of the season. Don't get me wrong - Stella received her fair share of books, paints and puzzles this year. But we're interested in teasing out the true meaning of sharing and giving with our kids as they grow in this beautiful and crazy world.

That said, I took a cue from Erin over at BlueBirdBaby and have started a new tradition I think our family will enjoy for years.

A few days before Christmas, Stella and I went for a nature walk to collect the biggest and most impressive pine cones we could find. A natural gatherer, Stella was more than game. On Christmas Eve morning, the three of us rolled the pine cones in sunflower butter and bird seed and then headed to one of our favorite parks to share these treats with our bird and squirrel friends.

Of course, Stella was a bit perplexed as to why fluffy little bunnies and tame deer didn't magically appear at our feet as we scattered the treats. But she eventually dug the whole process, quietly calling "Critters! Critters!" and picking out the perfect stumps and burrows to leave the yummy pine cones. And while I have no illusions that my two and a half year old loves giving more than receiving at this point, I did see her wheels earnestly turning as she enjoyed sharing with her animal friends.

So despite some serious chill, we had a wonderful time walking around an obscenely beautiful forest (complete with "water mountains," aka waterfalls), listening to the birds and taking a moment to just chill out together in the fresh air before the holiday madness hit.

And I will never, ever, ever tire of seeing this sight. Oh, my beloveds.

If you are interested in a great holiday picture book that focuses on a magical animal world and the power of sharing, check out A Sharing Christmas by Kate Westerlund and Eve Tharlet.

Christmas: Part I

The face of pure bliss. More on this later...

Fortunate enough to live near both our families, we celebrate with both sets of beloveds in person each year with a little planning and flexibility. This year, we celebrated our first round of Christmas early with the Bresslers. And while Stella is still wrapping her head around the bizarre concept of Christmas, Santa and flying reindeer, she is always thrilled to see Grandpa Harte, Grandma Jannie, Aunt Mandy and Uncle Jeff. As you can see, early into the present opening phase of the holiday, we quickly realized that all our thoughtfully chosen gifts and carefully planned surprises were quickly and resolutely trumped by cardboard boxes and packing bubbles.

That is, until Stella opened her oh-so-thoughtful and oh-so-generous gift from Grandma Jannie and Grandpa Harte. I wish you could all hear Stella ooh and aah as she explored each (furnished!) room for the first time. It was truly magical. And watching Jan and Harte enjoy the surprise was a treat as well.

And while Stella loved basking in such generous attention, it pleased Brian and me to no end to see her delight equally as much in giving a present to Grandpa Harte. She was so proud of her painting and hopped right in to describe all the colors in his new painting for the office.

And what would Christmas be without cowboy hats and shared snacks?

And here, my friends, is the visual definition of "a good sport." You rock, Porthos.

It was a thoroughly lovely and peaceful start to our holiday; thank you Bressler family! And thank you, Jeff, for all these fabulous photos! (Check out his wonderful site here.)

Stella-isms

I know. I know. Every parent believes their child is brilliant. And adorable. And clever. And yes, we unabashedly fall into that category. Nearly every night as we're falling asleep, Brian and I share our favorite Stella moments from the day. And the distinctly Scout-like Stella-isms these days have us in stitches. So please forgive me if these little tidbits seem mundane or ordinary; we see them as anything but.

• It's been windy in our town lately, and Stella looked out the window one day and said, "Mama, the wind is making my bottom dizzy."
• "Mama! Papa! The trees are dancing!" (Yes, it's been that windy.)
• Whenever we decide to embark on a new adventure - from leaving the house to heading upstairs for a change of scenery - Stella happily yells "Chop Chop, Mama! Chop Chop, Papa!" or "Let's boog!"
• When we open the door for our first morning excursion, Stella always says, "It's refreshing out."
• Acutely aware of the differences between day and night, Stella often announces "It's getting not darker now."
• To comfort herself as we explored a park that has made her a bit edgy in the past, Stella said, "This park loves me. This park really loves me."
• "Excuse me" sounds like "Scoompies."
• During a walk to the post office, Stella sang a little song. At one point we passed a man in a black and white striped sweater walking a dog. Stella's song shifted quite naturally to include the lyrics, "Hey there, doggie. Hey there, Zebra Man."
• After Vinnie scratched me while wrestling last night, Stella walked to me and announced "I need to give you a hug, Mama. Come here."

Oh, the list is endless, and I fear I'll delve into annoying parent mode here if I continue. This list and the billion little tidbits Stella shares with us each day remind me that we're doing a pretty good job of guiding a bright, curious and polite little person and, more importantly, she is really her own character already. We're a solid scaffold for this girl, but she's climbing in her own direction and we are so ridiculously lucky to watch in awe.

The First Snow

Coinciding with a lovely visit from Grandma Carol, we enjoyed our first snow of the season this week. While it was short lived, it was gorgeous. And our wee Scout soaked up every minute of it. Since we spotted flurries the day before and therefore read every book about snow we could find, Stella was ready for some serious snow action. She practiced catching snow flakes on her tongue, built a lame but admirably attempted snowman with very little snow and marveled at just how delicious snow tastes.

Stella would be sorely disappointed if I failed to mention how many footprints we made on our snow walk. She was downright obsessed with making tracks and spent a good portion of our walk simply staring at the path behind us. Funny girl.

Getting Ready

Do you think this wee Scout is aware of what's about to happen?

Yup, Stella is excited about being a big sister. And while we're totally prepared for her to suddenly decide that having a little sister isn't always groovy, she's already proving to be a rockin' big sister. She calls the baby Junebug and is very proud to tell everyone "I'm a sister now." She says hello to Junebug every morning and often warns me "not squish Junebug, Mama!" whenever I bend to tie my shoes. And she periodically wants a Junebug in her tummy too.

Sweetness abounds.

Grateful

Oh, we are so grateful.

After a long ten day stretch of the dreaded H1N1 virus, we're all on the mend. Yup, we had the pork fever, and it wreaked havoc with our lovely holiday plans this year. But alas, we made do and focused on all we have and love.

The shot above is Stella in all her fashionable glory on Thanksgiving afternoon. Since she was feeling totally recovered (she was a total champ through it all), she assumed the role of entertainer for a still recovering Papa and a whooped pregnant Mama. We talked a lot about what we are grateful for that day - our health, our humor, our friends and family, our home, our good fortune. And we were so thankful to spend a belated "Thanksgiving brunch" with the Bresslers later that weekend when we were all fever-free. (Thanks, Jan and Harte!)

Of course, Stella tops our gratitude list. Not only is she the most passionate, creative and curious kid we've encountered, her heart is growing in leaps and bounds. Or, rather, her ability to express what's in her little-big heart is increasing by the minute. And it's such a pleasure to sit back at watch in awe.

While we're eager to have the binky-fairy arrive sooner rather than later, we were all for maximum comfort during our week of feeling punk. Maximum comfort, baby. All the way.

(A HUGE thank you to all of you who called to check in and ran errands for us while we were ill. Your sympathetic ears and willingness to help was immensely comforting. Thank you!)

A Perfect Morning

Last Sunday morning was one of those perfect days. Papa surprised us by coming home extra early from his mountain bike ride, the sun was shining in full force and Stella was in great spirits after a week of sorta kinda fighting a little cold. So, after a warm bowl of porridge, we all bundled up for a meandering stroll on the interurban trail near our house.

Here Stella sits on Papa's shoulders while Grizzly - her favorite imaginary critter at the moment - sits on her shoulders. She kept hold of Grizzly's feet so conscientiously... until she asked me to hold Grizzly in my pocket. (I can't tell you how many imaginary friends I hold in my pockets these days. Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Grizzly Bear, "Pretend" Isaac and Scarlet.... I now make sure I always have pockets when we head out of the house.)

Stella is starting to enjoy filling her Gather Basket (Thank you, Grandma Jannie!) when we go for walks. We look for cool colored leaves or funny looking rocks and collect for a short spell. (Stella usually likes to free her gathered treasures after we've walked for awhile.) It's so fun to stand back and let her tell us what she finds interesting or beautiful. Nests and fallen trees definitely top the list at the moment.

To top it off? We set up an impromptu picnic of warm tea and satsumas in the living room when we got home. And since we heard a particularly intriguing frog ribbiting on the trail, Stella was more than thrilled to hunker down on Papa's lap to read all our frog stories - who knew we had six stories about frogs? - and sip some tea. Heaven.

Ain't Life Grand?

Yup, it's official. Big Kid Scout Bressler is going to be a big sister. This coming February, this blog will shift a bit to include another little girl who already has us smitten despite the fact that she currently resides in utero. Of course, that isn't stopping this wee one. She's already earning her keep by participating in the most raucous of conga lines in my tummy. So needless to say, we're a bit excited to meet her.

And while Stella is still just starting to wrap her brilliant but tiny head around what's coming, we know with absolute certainty that she's going to be a stellar big sister.

My, my. We are lucky, lucky, lucky.

Rainy Days

Fall has officially hit the Northwest. Despite some gorgeous orange leaves and chillier nights, it's actually been a really mild autumn so far this year. But since it's the first week of November, the winds have hit our town in full force. It's blustery and wet outside which means Stella and I are figuring out what indoor activities help keep us engaged and happy. (The use of "we" is quite liberal here. But I assure you, a happy kid begets a happy mama.)

After some serious closet reorganization, we now have a handy art tote basket that moves from room to room depending on where we feel like creating. And Stella is an artist. She loves to draw and paint, and I love watching her hone in on her little zen zone as she quietly works.

Interestingly enough, Stella's favorite painting and drawing soundtrack at the moment: Michael Jackson's Off the Wall and any variation of "Cheek to Cheek."


Stella loves blues and greens and pretty much only paints with these colors right now.

And she loves painting in the kitchen for a spell and then looking up at her framed artwork, claiming "I made those, Mama. Stella is a painter." Yes, indeedy.

And really, what's a rainy day without a mustache?

Giraffes and... Penguins?

We started our Halloween celebrations with a trip to Grandma Jannie and Grandpa Harte's house. Dressed as a sweet and cuddly giraffe, Stella was pretty jazzed about the whole dressing up gig.

As we were headed out the door later that day to a friend's Halloween party, Stella swiftly changed gears, refusing to wear her costume. When given the choice of giraffe, flamenco dancer or no costume at all, Stella chose a penguin. Yup, a penguin.

For some reason, the amazing and adorable flamenco dress our dear friend Anne brought back from Spain looks like a penguin to Stella.

And I've now decided that our family Christmas gift is going to be a children's animal encyclopedia since we obviously have a few discrepancies between penguins and... well... Spanish dancers. Hmmm.

Stella has spent every Halloween now with her buddies, Scarlet, Isaac and Ansen. This year, Stella is missing from the photo op since we added a new member of the crew, Baby Marina. And for some reason, an inert six month old in a lobster costume was way too creepy for Stella. Trick-or-treaters with fangs and scars, no problem. Crustaceous infants, terrifying. Go figure.

Pumpkin Goo

There's our industrious but observant girl, overseeing all that is pumpkin-y and gooey.

Stella isn't a big fan of getting dirty. As she's heard me say a thousand times, she now says "It's no big deal, Mama...?" whenever she finds herself in a goopy mess. But I can tell she's just a clean kid at heart. So when we set out to carve pumpkins this weekend with Grandma Jannie and Grandpa Harte, Stella quietly observed with great curiosity. It was so sweet to watch her try to figure out why in the world we were cutting up these perfectly good pumpkins and sticking our hands into a gloppy mess of pumpkin seeds.

But she eventually recognized that we were all having fun, so she sat back and enjoyed all the adults scooping and carving to their hearts' content.



And here's Grandpa Harte, documenting the whole event. On behalf of Harte, thank you to all of you who have been sending good wishes his way. He's improving a great deal - thanks, for the most part, to the loving care of Jan! - and was able to enjoy the pumpkin carving extravaganza as well as one of Brian's cyclo cross races. It was such a pleasure to see Harte and Jan out and about and to see Stella sink into the groove again with her B'ham grandparents. Thanks for making the effort to come out and play!