of wolf spiders and little white lies

A few weeks ago Avery & I went to toddler time at our local wetlands center and got to see a mother wolf spider and her babies. It's a terrible picture because I only had my phone and sadly the clarity of the infant spiders is lost. But the fuzziness on the body of the spider is actually a billion babies. Or at least a hundred. Maybe. Definitely a lot.

After watching the spiders, I asked one of the workers what happens to all of the babies and she nonchalantly informed me that you know, they go home with visitors, or escape to other areas of the building. But they've "never seen any adults around!" Such a comforting statement! Or not.

So on Deran's last Friday off for the summer we spent the day taking in the new Winnie the Pooh movie (EXCELLENT!) and then ended the day with a visit to the wetlands center. I've really been wanting Deran to check it out because I think it's a neat place and Avery & I spend several days a month there. Anyway, it happened to be the same week we'd seen the spider and I was eager for him to see it because the babies only stay with the mother for a week or two. I'm a wolf spider expert now. I came home after the first trip and found this video. And that's exactly what I saw, minus the crazy person holding the mother spider.

When we saw the spider on Friday, sure enough we saw a baby or three escaping out of the top of her enclosure. On Saturday Deran mowed the lawn and it became obvious that he was bitten by an INSECT. Internet, I'm not only an expert on wolf spiders, I'm also an expert on bumps and bites on the body. And let me tell you, if I'm not concerned about it - you shouldn't be either!

By Monday Deran had convinced himself that he was not bitten by an insect, but rather he was bitten by a wolf spider and that it was my fault. A few days later we were still talking about his leg (that wasn't even red at this point) and he's still all "wolf spider this" and "wolf spider that," when Avery grabs her leg and says, "Oh no, wolf spider bit-ted me!"

It was hilarious. A wolf spider has since bitten her numerous times and it bit one of her babies too. And she's not only telling tales about spider bites, one day her chin was a little red and I asked her what happened and she said that Oscar bit her. Totally not true as he was sleeping on top of a couch cushion. So I know we should correct her and teach her not to tell fibs and the importance of being honest...it's just that the way she says "wolse pider" is really cute!

This was a couple of weeks ago, splashing around after story time at Discovery Green with cousins. She's so cute, and that's no lie! Now I'm off to repair the damage from Saturday's birthday party. It's a busy week on the blog with a couple of cute kids and a newborn session coming up. Not to mention party pictures!

nine days new

His momma warned me that he was a light sleeper, and she wasn't kidding. She'd no sooner get him back to sleep than I would move and wake him up. :)

Oh, but I'm patient. And he was well worth the wait.

He has such a pretty complexion. His face was so smooth and I love that his little hands and feet were peeling. It just makes him that much more...fresh or new or I don't know but I LOVE newborns!!

I'm so thankful to count his momma as a friend. I'm excited to see this cute boy learn and grow!

twenty-four months equals two years

Today we celebrate the birth of our sweet girl, well at 18:45 to be exact. Two whole years we've been blessed to have her in our lives! A lot has changed since last year, but some things remain the same.

At twenty-four months Avery loves Diego, taking off her diaper even when she's dry, cousins, playing with her babies, baths, her bike, Diego, helping feed the pugs, going to the library, outer space, being held by mommy & daddy, her piggy banks, Diego, picking out her own clothes, and Diego. Seriously, it's all Diego all the time. For the last few weeks she's been randomly running around saying, "Animal in trouble? Diego help it!"

She dislikes Hot Tamales candy, being told no, the Chick-fil-A cow, and wearing pants. Deran lets her pick out her own clothes more often than I do and I recently came home late from a session and walked in to see that she was wearing a ruffled denim skirt. My first thought was that they'd gone somewhere, but no, the skirt was her pajama bottom of choice. And that's the difference between me and D - I let her choose from the pajama drawer, he lets her choose from any drawer. :)

She long ago mastered colors and we're still working on the alphabet. She still loves to go to the library and will sit to let me read book after book. She's getting good at pasting and I've promised her a pair of scissors soon. She's been watching me cut paper and fabric in preparation for her party but of course those scissors are dangerous. She says she needs "baby scissors." I have a couple of cute preschool workbooks that have cutting exercises, I guess it's time to use them!

Her language skills have been developing like crazy lately and she's always asking what/who/where. She tries to repeat everything we say and I'm thankful she's patient with us. It took her repeating it about five times yesterday before I realized she was saying "play barbie dolls." I kept asking, "Baby dogs?" She's totally cute though and we really love how easy it is to communicate with her these days. She's able to tell us what hurts, what she wants to eat/drink, etc. Life is good! I know it's only a matter of time before her speech is even clearer and correct pronunciations are just around the corner. It makes me a little sad, actually. I love the way she says Hess! (Yes) and milt (milk) and a long list of other cute toddler pronunciations.


We are so in love with Avery right now, she's at such a great age! I truly have enjoyed every stage and phase, but man, being her parent is just...the best!! We're so thankful that she's our daughter. Goodness we love that girl!

The monthly iPhone photo tribute:

Happy 24 month birthday baby girl, we love you lots!

diy: ruffled party hats

I decided to add ruffles to the party hats I'd bought for Avery's birthday party. I love the look of ruffles on just about anything and I thought it would be a good way to add a girly touch. :) I took a huge shortcut by using existing party hats, but you can easily make one out of cardstock and in fact, I did make one for Avery's pictures so I could use a different print. But time is running out so pre-existing hats won!

Start by cutting strips of fabric about 1.5-2 inches apart. Then rip each piece aaaallll the way down your fabric. I was using a yard of fabric so one strip was actually enough length for two hats.

Obviously another shortcut here is that I'm not hemming the fabric, it has raw edges. I like the shabby chic look for this project so yea for saving time! Plus, I really hate ironing and hemming. So once you have your strips, you're ready to ruffle. That's another tutorial for another day so I'm just going to link to a pretty good ruffling tutorial just in case someone doesn't know how.

All eight ruffled strips complete, you're ready to assemble your party hats! Supplies: 8 ruffles, 1 package party hats, hot glue gun + 2 sticks glue. And good grief do I need another cover on that ironing board!

Just glue the strips around the base of the hat, letting the bottom half of the ruffle hang over the edge of the hat. Make sure to meet the ends of your ruffled strip at the back seam of your hat. And drumroll please.....Your stack of party hats will go from plain to fabulous!! :)

the perfect model

I had a portrait session on Saturday evening with this gorgeous girl. She totally rocked our session with great hair, makeup, and wardrobe!!

Her boyfriend showed up about half-way through and we were able to get him in a few pictures. They're such a cute couple! And he's quite the trooper, meeting us after spending most of the day at the hospital. No worries, he's healthy. :)

Thanks so much for meeting me B! I hope you enjoy your photos!