music {favorites} and emotional longing

Sometimes I run across artists that are able to articulate and share music in such a lovely way that I can hardly explain how it touches me emotionally.  It is the sound of their voices, the way they use their voices and the words and instruments that make sounds that are truly indescribable.  One of those artists is someone I ran across truly by fluke through YouTube.  Aven was in a phase of loving the song "Hallelujah" that she had heard and started to want to hear every version under the sun.  So we did.  We listened to the Shrek, Kate Voegele, KD Lang version, the original Leonard Cohen version and about every possible artist that performed on the Voice, America's Got Talent or American Idol.  One day though I ran across the artist Natalie Lungley a British artist that displayed a truly flawless and effortless talent for performing this song with her haunting and slightly melancholy tone.

Tonight I checked in on her website and listened to her cover (she does several) of Damien Rice's song "9 Crimes"and I almost had chills.  It is hard to truly put into words how listening to her voice makes me feel but it is both peaceful and a little mysterious.  Head on over and check out her music and website here.  Some of my favorite covers are "Hallelujah," Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares to You," "Somebody that I used to know" by Gotye and the new post of Damien Rice's "9 Crimes."

As you may remember, I started a blog called Circular-Review on blogger.  I don't actively post many things there but if you like you can skip over there for some of my thoughts on music.

Thanks for listening to my rambles.  Music has always been a critical part of my life.  A way to mark the eras and the moments in my life.  So many emotional memories are tied to music and for me it helps me connect to life, God, and people.  There is something so wonderful about an acoustic guitar or a toe tapping mountain song or lyrics that convict and encourage and admonish and surround and to me they make up the life that I live and are a crucial piece.  Enjoy Natalie's Music and any other artists that truly feed your soul.

words (in no particular order)

Aven is now 17 months old and I can barely keep up with all of the new words she seems to be learning daily!  More to be posted of her at 17 months and some funny pics and quotes to go along.

words:

doggie, mommy, daddy, up (uppie), please (ese), yeah/yes/ya, no, socks, shoes, slippers (slippies or slips), down, drink, bite, bowl (not sure on this one yet), book (bookie), birdie, outside, thank you, help me (yep me), more, blankie, binkie, night-night, bye-bye, what's that, hello (hallo), hi, Amah, Grandpa (Boppa), ouchie, bonkers, hot (complete with hand motion), sip, pet/pat (for doggies), baby

signs:

more, please, all done

thursday favorites

Things I am loving this week:

• Trader Joes extra-sour English Muffins (so yummy with a little bit of butter- mmmm)
• Blood Oranges- I got quite a few in my Dandelion Organic delivery- they are so sweet and yet a little bitter tart but such a different sweetness than regular oranges, they are awesome and so juicy- very beautiful too
• Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream French Lavendar flavor- made here in Washington and so delicious- on sale @ Haggen's Grocery Store this week for 1.99/pint and totally worth it.

You?

Annual Girls Weekend (#3)

In no particular order, some moments from this year's girls weekend.

Aven playing with the vintage toy I found at the Antique Mall.
Super cute with a little squeaky red button on top and fluttering eyes- Made in Holland.

There are this year's ladies (- me)- Nancy, Sophia &
Kari out for a lovely day of shopping.

We squeezed in a little time for Sophia & Aven to have a
play date while Kari went to a wedding.  It was cute watching
 the two girls only about 7 weeks apart and then
 we went to the local Franklin Park for some swinging & sliding.

Sophia & her beautiful blue eyes.

Nancy & Sophia- relaxing for a quiet moment.

Nancy wanted to practice using my camera
and she took this really cute picture of Aven
- so rare for me to capture her smiling in a photo.

On our way to a yummy Sunday morning breakfast
@ Harris Ave Cafe in Fairhaven.

Sweet little miniature bouquet on our table.

Inside of Harris St. Cafe w/some unique oil paintings of
faces lining the walls.

Kari, browsing for fun vintage greeting
cards and other silly memorabilia.

Nancy enjoying a moment without any
kids in her lap on Friday night @ dinner.

Sophia, happy and delightful.

Perplexed at all of the shopping- but so cute.

Nostalgia, vintage clothing - browsed for the perfect
wedding outfit for Kari- Nancy got some
awesome & really sweet vintage skirts.

Downtown Fairhaven, WA.

Super cool light post in Fairhaven.

It seems that one drops off every year- the first year there were 5 of us and we went to Seattle in November- then last year only 4 and we went to Portland in February- this year only 3 and we are in April....hard for all of us ladies to really organize our lives and now all of our babes but we're going to make a better game plan for next year.

The weekend was pretty non-eventful but relaxing all the same.  Stayed at a friend's condo in Fairhaven and walked to breakfast, dinner & shops right around the corner.  Went to Vietnamese food on Friday night- stayed up late talking and relaxing at the condo- drinking a little wine & eating ginger snaps from Trader Joes.  Had a large gathering of ladies @ Milagro Mexican restaurant on Saturday night where the staple order was the big Mama Margarita- chips, salsa and guac.  Had a fun time catching up with some ladies I rarely see and getting to know others better.  Closed down the place and stood on the sidewalk talking until the rain sent us scattering.  Stayed up until 2 am chatting and discussing life, family, God, kids and the like.


Kari and I hit up the Antique shops on Sunday after we ate breakfast @ Harris Ave Cafe in Fairhaven.  All that shopping made us hungry so we squeezed in one more kid-free outing @ the Mount Bakery and split a savory & sweet crepe before heading home.


First time away from Aven went fine and it was lovely to just relax, eat out and have no obligations for a weekend.  Can't wait until next year!

11 months already

Look at this girl- she is looking so much older to me lately- a whole whopping 11 months.  She is still petite- what is new- and weighs in at less than 17 lbs still.  I was thinking she'd get to the 3 times her birth weight thing by her first birthday but I don't know if that will happen.  So here is a photo recap of what has been happening around here lately and some comments to bring you up to date.

I know that I have a lot of pictures in this pose but it is one of my favorite places to take pictures of Aven because of the natural sunlight and the view outside.  My girl is an outside girl.  She has loved being outside from day 1.  Within the first week of her life she had already been on several walks outside with the doggies and that hasn't changed since.  She loved being in the Baby Bjorn and now the backpack or Daddy's bike trailer in the afternoon spring sunshine.

Aven has been crawling and pulling herself up since a few days after her 9 month marker.  She is a lot more proficient at pulling herself up and can easily let herself back down or hang on with one hand.  She can sometimes stand for a few seconds but she often will drop down and then crawl somewhere.  She can kind of walk while you hold her hands although she isn't too quick or steady.  She likes to pull herself up onto objects and just stand there talking to herself, holding toys or raising herself up and down on her tiptoes.

Aven likes to play with toys although she doesn't seem to have any favorites or preferences.  There are certainly things that she shows no interest in but for the most part she is not picky.  She doesn't seem to latch onto stuffed animals or even any particular blanket or toy.  She likes her little Baby Einstein ABC table that plays all kinds of fun songs when you press the different buttons.  She loves her Green Toys tool set (from Christmas) and likes the Flathead Screwdriver the saw and the hammer.  Lately she has been really enjoying music and kind of "shimmies" as Abe calls it.  It is super cute and so funny.  She seems to really enjoy books and being read to.  She will turn the page in her board books and often close the book for me (before I am done that stinker).  She likes to touch the pages especially when there are interesting patterns, textures and contrasts.

This girl is very independent.  She is so great at playing by herself for long periods of time.  Sometimes when I haven't heard her for awhile I am worried she has gotten into something and then I walk into her room or the dining room and she's sitting there looking at something or playing quietly with herself.  On the other hand, when she wants something- she is not afraid to show it.  It is funny- since she's been very little her patience has been short when it comes to something she wants.  She'll be perfectly happy and then within 5 minutes totally break down and be exhausted for bed.

She is also a very independent eater.  Over a month ago she pretty much stopped letting us feed her the baby purees I'd made.  Most things she doesn't want us to feed her (although she'll still let us feed her cereal or yogurt or cottage cheese).  Most everything else she wants to feed herself.  And she does a pretty good job of it too- it can just take awhile for a meal (try an hour sometimes if she's hungry).

I don't know if independent or opinionated is the best word but the other thing she's decided she doesn't like is brushing her teeth.  At first I thought it was because she was maybe teething or because I was pressing too hard on her gums but now it just seems to be part of her daily routine: crying when I brush her teeth.  The whole exercise takes about 3 times longer since I have to keep pinning her arms down while I try to pry her mouth open with one hand and then get the toothbrush in and actually clean something.  I have tried many tactics but so far none have worked; hopefully it is just a phase.

Aven is so cute.  Her personality is just coming out more and more and she is a fun baby.  She is a relatively happy baby most days and goes with the flow.  She sleeps well for naps (usually a longer one between 1 1/2 hours and 2hrs in the morning and about 1/2 hour in the afternoon).  And I am happy to say that she is pretty much sleeping through the night for the last several weeks.  She goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:30 and usually doesn't wake up to nurse until 5:30 or 6 in the morning and then will usually go back to bed for a bit longer (around 7 or 7:30).  The only thing I need to break her of is the swaddle blanket.  I can't believe I still use it at 11 months.  The last few nights I've used a large muslin blanket that sort of holds her tight but that can easily unwrap to try to get her used to not sleeping all night in the swaddle- we'll see how that works.

Back to cuteness- this is an important topic.  The girl loves her Daddy and doggies and friends.  She plays silly games by looking over one persons shoulder at someone standing behind.  She will giggle and laugh if we do funny things with her and she can let out a loud scream of glee if she's really happy about something.  For a few months she would point her finger at just about anything- especially people.  It was super funny but in the last few days it seems she is moving on to new things.  It is funny how something that your kid does can come and go so quickly and a year from now I probably won't even remember something she did for a month or a few weeks (sad, sigh).  But the delightful thing is that it is always replaced by something new and different so no need to really be sad because there is so much to look forward to and learn.

Other stuff: Aven and Abe just finished taking a 5 week parent/baby swimming class at the YMCA.  She did really well until the last week (luckily minutes before the end of class) she swallowed too much pool water and puked back into the kiddie pool whereupon the lifeguard yelled "everyone out of the pool."  Our girl has been fighting a variety of different ailments this past month.  First it was the 24 hour flu- then a bad cold with logs of boogers and crusty nights.  Then she has had a variety of digestive issues these past few days requiring lots of outfit changes and clean up.  I don't know if it was just too many new foods, a particular food that upset her or just a different issue.  She is a trooper though and does her best to stay happy all the while.

Birthday Celebration stuff: going to Portland to hang out with our families for Aven's 1 year b-day.  We'll go to the zoo and hang out with Aunts and Uncle, cousin(s), Grandmas and Grandpas.  Should be really fun and a weekend away from the business here.  Planning on doing family photos for her actual 1 year b-day here in Bellingham- any suggestions for affordable photographers?  Looks like the going rate is around $250 just for the shoot.  Lastly, any suggestions for the one year celebration?  Trying to decide if I want to do the traditional cake for the baby thing or not.

Well- so many little changes every day- hard to capture them and remember all of the subtleties.  Not a lot of big changes yet (no words or first steps) but so many delightful moments logged daily in photo or memory.  Our sweet little one is a treasure and we love watching her grow.

it is hard work monkeying around all day!

what Saturdays are made of

Taking pictures of curious images on buildings in downtown Edison, Wa at

Curator's Shop

The Lucky Dumpster -my favorite place to stop and browse...local crafty things made of reclaimed fabric, cards, wood, paper, vintage fabric, etc as well as fun thrift store finds. Very eclectic collection of items to browse through and friendly locals to chat with while you sip your coffee purchased from Tweets coffee (below)

Great lite and fun vintage sign on turn of the century building

Tweets

coffee & treats, wonderful homemade pies, pastries and coffee- a little overpriced but worth the beautiful drive to enjoy the sights and smells- roll up garage door lets warm afternoon sunlight in and locals roll on through and get their mid-morning or afternoon caffeine fix

Wishful thinking, outdoor seating in Washington....will spring be here soon?

Farm to Market Bakery

amazing pastries and yummy breakfast treats and sandwiches- enjoyed an "odds and ends" cinnamon roll for 1.50 with an unhealthy dollop of cream cheese frosting, polenta cakes saturated in fresh squeezed lime juice, quiche with local eggs and veggies

gosh how I love guilty pleasures....nothing starts my weekend better than a cinnamon roll, latte and my having a date with my husband....

******

hope yours is happy too whatever you do

things I love

I {heart} these Eric Carle alphabet cards. I especially {heart} the choice for "X"- Xolo, which is a Mexican dog. Great pictures, texture and fun and unusual words. What a great an inspiring artist- fun books too.