our (felt) family

Mommy: Zoey, what is this?
Zoey: It's our family.  In felt.
M: It's really clever, Zoey.
Z: Yes, it is. This is Daddy (pointing to the one on the far right), the tall one with the spiky hair on his chin.
M: I like how skinny my legs are.
Z: Yeah, and do you like the sky and the grass?
M: Yes, they are lovely. What are purple circles in the sky?
Z: Mommy, you know what they are!
M: I do?
Z: Yes, they are lots of O's for Olson Family!

kai kai

We've started calling Kaia Kai Kai. And by we I mean Zoey.  Here are some Kai Kai pictures.

Bright blue-eyed babe (she's totally an Olson - or a Bunderson).

Seriously crawling all over. It's killing me!

Sleeping with Daddy.

Tolerating Big Sister

Loving Big Sister

My littlest lovie is over 5 months old already. She still doesn't sleep well or eat anything except for milk from mommy BUT she is smiley and beautiful and loves, loves, loves her Big Sister.

go get dressed, please...

In the last few weeks Zoey has successfully transitioned from needing help while getting dressed to being able to do it on her own.  The proof is below.

Every single day for about 5 days in a row this is what Z would come in wearing.  Then I put my foot down and said, "And don't come back with your ballerina outfit on!"

Helpfully, this was her alternative. She laughed and laughed. Hilarious.

When I really laid down the law and insisted on no more costumes she insisted this was not a skirt made from a Happy Meal box but actually a sleeping bag so technically she had listened to me. Sigh.

When I urged for real clothes and fully clothed she wore all green. She knows how mommy loves "matching" colors.

When I yelled from downstairs, "And not all green today!" she came down in all pink and thought she was so clever (and, really, she is).

Today she is just flat out mocking me.

Luckily preschool starts this week and mommy gets to pick out the clothes. I'm thinking all purple - four different shades, of course.

a taste of summer

a.k.a. trying to tame the monster...

Zoey loves watermelon - she has since her first taste of it when she turned one. Here is our first really yummy watermelon of the summer.

the one with lots of snow days

We're just trying to stay warm and cozy (and sane, if I'm being honest).

the one with some gratitude

Zoey, yesterday (Wednesday) I had my first day off of work in a long time. The anticipation of spending the entire day with only you had me giddy all week. Sadly, when you woke up in the morning you thought it was the "Turkey Party Day" and that you would be spending the entire day with me and daddy. Since daddy had to go to work, you cried all day long - over shoes, over clothes, over every single time I said no, over food, over nearly everything. Your crying had me in tears of frustration. So, for lunch I made a special treat: a chocolate rice cake topped with peanut butter and bananas (thanks, Christie!) and it was the ONLY time ALL day you were happy and smiling for more than 5 consecutive minutes.

After I finished my deliciousness for lunch, I sat and watched you enjoy yours and was overwhelmed with gratitude for you. You try so hard to be good and to listen to mommy and daddy. You make me laugh every single day of my life. You are so, so beautiful and so, so smart. You try to keep everything clean. See how you are drinking your milk because your hands are covered in peanut butter? You have been doing that since you were tiny tiny. You are so precious to me, Zoey. I love you.

And you, Brian. Thank you for spending all your time off doing "stuffs" for Zoey and me. Thank you for painting and putting up shelves and fixing doorknobs and cooking stuffing and baking bubble loaf and cleaning and bringing up Christmas bins and taking down fall bins and hanging lights on the tree and hanging lights outside and buying me ice cream and bending over for me every 3 minutes and playing with Zoey and letting me sleep in and letting me take naps and for everything else I am forgetting. I love you, too.

the one with serious fashion

When we leave Zoey alone for even a minute, she usually feels the need to accessorize. It always makes us laugh.

a natural artist

18 months old and already her musical talent is leaps and bounds ahead of her parents. It must skip a few generations.

early celebration...

We celebrated Zoey's first birthday a few weeks early in order to use the Olsons' beautiful backyard one last time (sniffle, sniffle). We could not have asked for better weather, yummier food, or nicer friends.

never too young to accessorize...

Since the subtitle to our blog is

and a few other things that make us smile...

...this has been making me smile totally crack up [like bust-a-gut-laughter (I know, I know - I need to get out more)] all week long. When she wakes up in the morning, she finds the rings and they stay on most of the day. The smallest two rings don't fit around her hands (those cute, pudgy hands) and she nearly throws a fit each time she can't get them on. How can I stand it, right?

homebodies...

Zoey has been doing a lot of hanging out at home:

gabbering to her audience below at grandma's house

watching all the kids play outside

telling mommy what all the kids outside are doing

those pesky stairs

already loves the bling

kids say the darnest things...

My nephew, Jeffrey, to me: Hey! You're in my way!
Me: Um, can you say that in a nicer way?
Jeffrey: Hey! You're in my way, please!

the gift of tongues...

(No, she is not really so impolite as to stick her tongue out at you.)

Zoey loves these little teething biscuits and I love Zoey, so I want her to have them. But, it has to be in the bathtub while she's nekkid. Judge me all you want - they are messy!

Is there anything you don't do or let your kids do because of the mess, or am I alone in this?

more hands, please...

Zoey loves her new fishies from Mike and Christina and insists on having one in each hand. Recently, she became frustrated when she wanted a third fish and had no more hands. So, she nose-dived into her toys and came up with the third fishy in her mouth. She looked so proud of herself that I found myself in stitches. She likes to make me laugh, so she continued the process for the next 30 minutes or so.

Raw talent, I say, raw talent.

we love to read...

Oh, Say Can You Say?

How much we love to read each day?

We'll read in a box or with a fox.

Oh! The Thinks You Can Think when we read a book

we open it ip to take a closer look.

I Can Read with My Eyes Shut (or I could If I Ran the Zoo),

If I Ran the Circus I would read there, too!

Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? to have books to read?

We can do it fast or slow or any old speed!

We can pretend There's a Wocket in My Pocket or to eat Green Eggs and Ham,

How lucky are we, Sam I am?

I love reading, I want you to know -

Reading with mommy or daddy, Oh, the Places You'll Go!