i know you seen me on the video (true)

since i can't get blogger to upload videos for some reason (blast you, blogger!), i'm uploading them onto facebook. if any of you readers of mine are on facebook and haven't found me yet, friend me so you can watch. these videos are hilarious and adorable, and include:

• elias playing the piano singing "glory God" and "red sox song" (for you, auntie kris). watch his star-quality as he tells me to clap and not to come "too close." just plain hilarious.


• the release of ribbons the mouse and her four babies "into the wild"...some funny commentary on this one.


• piper dancing to "boom boom pow" in the living room. shaking her booty booty. SO adorable.

hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
if you're local, check out the rummage sale going on at our church today from 8 to 2!

my baby girl

in the past couple weeks, i've come to the realization that my baby girl is not really a baby anymore. she's getting...big.


last time i dedicated a blog to piper, she was 6 months old- and today, she's 9 months old! crazy!


truth is, i really love that she's getting bigger. i do love the novelty of small- don't get me wrong. that's why babies are so darn cute to me- miniature things are my favorite. but as piper's personality takes shape, i suddenly have this new infatuation with her. on the verge of obsession, actually. i can't get enough of her big blue eyes, her loud & silly laugh, her big squeezy neck hugs, her cheerful disposition. i'm happy when she wakes up from her naps, and i adore watching her excitement at the sight of her nutty big brother. i could literally smooch her big round chubby cheeks all day long.

for those of you who don't get to see my snuggle bug all the time, here's what piper has been up to since my last post about her:
-she sits up (well, she has for quite a while now). but for the past month or so, she's been rock solid sitter, except if her big brother is lurking sneakily around. then she mysteriously falls over. hmm.
-she feeds herself. fruit, cheerios, vegetables. sometimes she gets all aggressive with her food and her hand lunges out and snatches it up into her fist, like 'ha! i got you!'. she takes food from elias all the time, too. pretty funny.
-actually, she does a lot of lunging. that's her thing right now. she comes at you like a spider monkey. she leaped across eli's bed the other night trying to get alicia, his doll. she'll whap at you if you get in her way, which is what elias is quickly learning.
-she scoots about on her belly. military style. and she can get herself onto her hands and knees and rock. she "crawls" backwards a little, too, and can just about get out of her own way from a sit to a crawl position; she gets her legs all twisted up like a pretzel a lot.
-she can pull herself from a sit to a stand, in her crib at least. saw it the other day. little sneak.
-she loves to clap. clap clap clap. and wave. not a girly miss america wave, though. a hand folds in half, arm jutting straight out. she'll probably be about as dainty as i am. ha.
-she smacks her lips. well, it's her tongue, actually, smacking the roof of her mouth. but it's very loud. and very cute. she likes attention. typical girl.
-she's got herself a nice bottom tooth, and bottom tooth #2 is almost here to keep #1 company.
-she constantly chirps, my little bird. chitter chatter, sing song, she's always got something to say. it's what i call her "constant commentary." elias is always saying "quiet, piper!". and it's for better or worse. if she's mad- you'll know it. piper's got pipes. and one furrowed brow. whoo-ee. she's got a little fiesty italian in her.

here's a closer look at miss expressive:

this picture i LOVE. it's so...her.

this is what i call the "stratton nose flair," typically accompanied by the "stratton serious" face

tip-toes
smiley girl


she's got herself some big bad baby blues

hehe. those cheeks, i tell you!


the last thing that piper is up to, which i adore, is when she jams out when she hears music. this is her rockin out to her glow bug. precious :)

picture post: march

eli's whipped cream mustache

miss piper, smiley girl

playing paino, just like dada

with her my little pony

hanging on the bed with mama

investigating

elias the "firefighter"

haha, in my rainboots and vest

how soon we forget...

i think, after about 5 days, that i am finally climbing out of the dark hole called sickness, with elias and piper not too far behind. dave, with the power of orange juice, vitamins, and will power, has somehow avoided the train wreck. sunday he wasn't feeling well, but he told me he was going to kick this sickness in the...

miss piper sleeping through the night the past couple nights has been a huge help. when i say huge, i mean tremendous. GIGANTIC.

and a jagged edge of her first little tooth has finally emerged. her bottom left.

(angels singing)

this is only the beginning, but i'm ready for all the madness tooth cutting brings.

ha ha ha, not really.

truth is, i have no recollection of tooth cutting, or whether elias was rotten when he got teeth, or what is was like in that period of time. he's like the golden boy who did no wrong because we simply can't remember. dave and i are always trying to recall things from when elias was piper's age, and we rarely can.

regardless of our failed memories, poor piper takes the cake for being a pain in the neck overall anyway. she's a sassy little thing, with her furrowed brow, her angry little fits of rage, and her adorable, beautiful, shrieking, smiling, face.

it's sort of like she's my first child. all the things i thought i learned, or would remember "for next time"? yeah, couldn't tell you one of them.

the other night i recalled (i already had forgotten?!) how she used to make me wrestle her to breastfeed. every time. relentlessly. and now, we don't wrestle anymore (proof that God really does love me!). man, i like her a whole lot more! yet another example of the short term memory loss associated with our kids.

i tend to think it's part of God's divine plan that women especially would forget all of the reasons why we would never want to be pregnant, giving birth, breastfeeding, raising little tiny people, etc. etc. etc. there are about 53972350823 trillion reasons why logic would tell us 'this is not a good idea.' and if this part of our brains functioned properly, would we really ever jump excitedly at the chance to do it again?! if we really remembered??


no. the answer is no.

us women, we just love it all. we can't help it.


the good.
the bad.
the ugly.
ALL of it.

which is why despite some sleepless nights, drippy, boogery noses, coughing, whining, and all the other fun things sickness brings along with it, i still love my life. and i love my children.

and i wouldn't even trade it.


see?! WHAT is wrong with us!?!?

picture post

i have SO many pictures.

i am totally a photographers daughter, i guess. growing up there was always a camera following me around like paparazzi, and i've grown to love taking photographs and love having my picture taken. my mum still always has her camera, and her and my big sister have been shooting professionally as bartlett photography for years (shameless plug www.bartlettphotographyonline.com). i'm so spoiled, because my mum will just swing by and take pictures. like these first two shots (two out of the 2,000 she took) that she took last week on a whim. gotta love a piper's christmas tutu for these instances.

i can barely stand this picture.

c'monnn...

my chipper little bird. she wakes up this way. every day. every time.

my two monkeys with their two monkeys.

i might rename her cheeks mcgee

elias helping dada in the "project room" as he calls it. he does so many projects with dave that he actually has legit skills. like handling drills. he knows what he's doing, man. it's nuts.

so big. so cute.

speaking of cute...

piper sleeping as i burp her. priceless.

this is eli's doll. she's been around since his first birthday (thanks, lee!) and he's had quite an affinity for her lately. he named her alicia (ah-lee-ce-yah) after diego's sister in"go, diego, go!" (he's addicted to that show lately.) and he takes her around with him everywhere. to church. to bed. to watch tv. he sits her on his lap. i could die, it's so flippin adorable.

piper also loves his doll. mostly to chew on. here she is with my sister nicole and her cousin jack.

eli's new thing is crawling into piper's crib with her when she wakes up. now that her crib is covered in a tarp, it's hard, but when he can, he hops right in and snuggles her. and puts blankets over her head.

double-trouble

i LOVE this shot. this is my dad, eli's "gp" and one very happy boy. elias is a lot like my dad. full of energy. a bit fresh. fun to be around. active, which is a gross understatement for them both. elias is obsessed with ATV's because his gp rides ATV's. they play together for hours. because my dad is actually still a kid. good for me. maybe not for my mom...

ahhh, my son. goofball. how did he even get into this? who knows...

and my piper glory girl. her and elias both have these big ole beautiful eyes. lucky little ducks, they are.

a glimpse of what's to come...

next stop on the project list: piper's shabby chic nursery. here is a sneak peek :)

the chandelier (from ikea- believe it) to be swung over her crib. hopefully she won't get any notions to swing from it. we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

the whole shebang. her crib isn't white, however. it's a light wood. do i paint it?

the bumper

the quilt

and her crib sheet

outstanding questions to consider:

1. paint color. i'm thinking i should pull the blue out bc i'm so not into pink on walls. but maybe a shade or two darker. any thoughts?

2. she has a sloped wall like elias- do i paint it? white? or the same as the wall color? or do i wallpaper it?

3. what color carpet for her and eli's room? it needs to be replaced at some point (soon) and carpets baffle me. i was thinking a texture, jute-like, in a tan color. anyone?

miracles

i started this blog last friday. yeah, almost a week ago. better late than never, right? here it is :)

as some of you may know, i took piper into orthopaedics at Mass General Hospital for Children today for a follow up on her hips.

here's a little back story for some of my readers: when piper was 8 weeks old, she had a routine ultrasound because she was breech for some of her stint in the womb. results of that ultrasound showed she had hip dysplasia (ie, a problem with formation of her hip joint). she had to wear this awful harness for 8 weeks and i was so traumatized, i don't even know if i have a photo of her in it. poor thing.

our last appointment was in september, and at that point, her ultrasound looked great, but they told me to finish her 8 weeks in the harness. hip dysplasia is tricky and may look like it's gone but then it returns. we were encouraged by that appointment, though, and i felt at peace knowing God can handle healing her hips just fine. i still hated that blasted harness, though, and so did piper.

so we go in today (ie, last friday) and there is no sign of hip dysplasia in her tiny little bones and joints. her angles on her hips were perfect, and it was as if she never had any problem at all.

the doctor had reviewed the first ultrasound findings and there certainly was hip dysplasia evidenced in that film. he seemed a bit puzzled almost. it was gone!

a miracle!

it just reminds me that God is so much bigger than our little lives and problems. he is always in control of them, and he still works today miraculously. i think we just expect "red sea" type of scenarios, but this reminded me to be aware of small miracles...everyday miracles. because the israelites saw the red sea part and still they doubted.

and i see my daughter healed and wonder if maybe it was just a medical mistake or oversight.

but the only mistake is that i'm limiting God and his power. and the power of prayer. and forgetting the ways that God speaks and reveals himself. so i wanted to say to you all that we should never forget that God is working now- this very moment. that he's making the impossible happen right before our eyes.

and we have a choice to either acknowledge it...or not. i don't know about you, but i don't want to be like those crazy israelites...

(for those of you who have never seen a pavlik harness, here is some cute baby in one.)

miss piper glory

in light of her 6 month birthday this friday...a closer look at my little girly girl, miss p:

well, i call her my chipper little bird. and it explains so much of her personality. she is lively, and happy, and chatty, and she always smiles.

cutest part? she has SO many dimples. and these cheeks that make you want to just bite her.

and these big blue saucers for eyes... and this dark hair (it is staying dark, we'll see!)...

and her laugh is just too adorable. it breaks my heart. it sounds like those fake laughs you hear when you squeeze a baby doll. and she's so ticklish! everywhere. her giggles are so intense that you start to wonder if she might just laugh so hard she cries.

AND she has the girliest little yell and shriek! she is always kick-kicking and punch-punching. always flapping. she is sitting up these days, almost independantly, which looks funny, because she is a tiny little thing (even though she's actually tall). she also digging standing up and holding onto our fingers. elias finds this quite humorous.

piper also has this serious and concerned look. a bit of a furrowed brow, really. it's what i call her "stratton serious" because no one in my family is very serious. we're mostly a bunch of goofs. (except nikki maybe...hey sister, maybe YOU'RE the adopted one)

she is madly in love with elias, whom she watches with utter delight and fascination. he always makes her laugh and smile. they're going to be double trouble before i know it.

things she likes right now:

being thrown up in the air. she curls up into a little ball of shrieking gladness.

sucking her bottom lip

pulling my hair...while eating/drooling on my face

chatting and shouting

playing with and eating toys

holding her feet in her hands

chewing on her pointer finger

and from time to time, sucking her thumb (which i adore)

some more snapshots...i can never resist.

pippa and jaxon :)

with alyssa making her crazy new bird face

sucking her thumb (be still my heart)

yeah...elias sticking his finger in her mouth. 'what, mum, she's chewing on it...'

take that, brother! how do you like it?!