Yurt Birthday

This past weekend we went to the Isle of Wight to celebrate Lois's 2nd birthday. We stayed in a yurt in an apple orchard. I thought, hmm, fancy camping, an apple orchard--that sounds like a fun birthday weekend! The Really Green Holiday Company owns and maintains the yurts on the Afton Park orchard, and they did a great job making us feel at home. I had never stayed in a yurt before, but it was great--ideal for someone who likes the idea of camping, but prefers the comforts of home (like me). The yurt was really large, with a big bed, a little kitchen nook, a stove that kept the yurt nice and toasty, and a futon for lounging. There was also an outdoor bathroom. (See, fancy camping!) When we weren't relaxing in the yurt we were exploring the island. We rented bikes on Saturday and Sunday and also hiked a bit of the coastal path. Here's a peek at our yurt-birthday weekend. 

Our comfortable yurt!

Breakfast and dinner, yum. They provided breakfast and Andrew cooked delicious dinner for us on the BBQ.

I wish I could say we slept in, but Lois wakes up very early. We slept comfortably though. 

It was neat just to lie back and look at the yurt. It looks really cool when you look up. 

We left the orchard and went out on a bike ride. 

We passed quite a few thatched roof houses. 

Then Saturday afternoon we celebrated a birthday. 

The birthday girl! I made her hat and top from some vintage carnival print curtains that bought on etsy a while back. I made these a while back, but I thought the theme was cute with the yurts because there are a few carnival tents in the print. 

I think she liked her little orchard party. 

On Sunday we walked along the coastal path. We made our way to the path through a pasture. Lois said "moo" a lot on the way. 

The coast!

The ocean. 

Wildflowers. 

Then it was time to head back to the orchard and pack up. 

Birthday

Over the weekend I celebrated a birthday! Party girl! I haven't been great at updating my blog regularly so it will be a surprise to know that I celebrated my birthday at home in Atlanta. We're here for one week visiting our families and then we're heading to the beach in South Carolina for a week. It's so nice to be home! Andrew's mom had a little family cookout for me on Sunday and we had a great birthday. Here are a few pictures from my big day. (I didn't have time to make my own party hat before we left, but I had to have at least some paper, store-bought party hats.)

Party dress and shoes. 

For the tiny tot too. 

Andrew's sister, Jessica and Me. 

My sister, Page, me, Lois and my friend Jill. 

Me and Andrew. 

My friend Megan, me, my sister, and Jill. 

Birthday girl!! I love birthdays!

Belated Birthday

Yesterday Lois celebrated her 8 month birthday. We haven't taken 8 month birthday pictures yet, though, and I probably won't get around to it until this weekend. I want to try to get a few pictures of me, Andrew, and Lois together, so I need to wait till he's off work and with us to do that. My brother-in-law and photographer, Brandon, took some family photos of us when we were in Atlanta, and they turned out great! I don't have prints yet, but maybe I can show you some of those soon, too. Until our 8 month birthday shoot, here are a few pictures from last month during her 7 month birthday week. These were taken in my mom's yard with Lois sitting in a little bumbo seat. I handed her a pansy to get her to look up, and of course it went right into her mouth!

7 Month Birthday

I'm a few days behind with Lois' 7 month birthday pictures, but it was worth the wait. I wanted to wait until we were here to put her in her bathing suit for her first dip in the pool (an itty bitty pool with about 2 inches of water). Aren't baby bathing suits the cutest things ever? I almost bought her a yellow polka dot bikini, but I didn't want her little belly to get too much sun. So we went with a one piece heart print suit. Here she is in my mom's backyard yesterday. It was so much fun! She also had her first swing on the swing set and her first slide at the playground (with grandma holding her). A day of firsts.



It's been a few weeks since I posted these 7 month birthday pictures, but I realized that every time I post her monthly birthday pictures, I'm in a hurry for some reason, and I never mention her developments. I have a feeling I'll regret that later, so I decided to start mentioning those too. This was the first birthday photo shoot where Lois could actually sit up on her own. She's sitting up really well now and only falls over after a few minutes or when she tries to grab something. It's so much easier now to take her picture. Before I'd be holding one arm, and quickly let go to take a picture, then grab her arm again so she wouldn't fall over! She's also waving lately. I think it's intentional sometimes, but she's probably just interested in her arm and hand. She's rolling all over the place, and she also scoots up on her feet with her behind in the air but manages to move backward more than forward. It's really cute, and we call her "scooter" lately. She also does this thing where she makes a sound like ahhhhhhh and moves her hand, balled in a fist, over her mouth in an up and down motion, which makes a wa, wa, wa sort of sound. Every day is exciting with Lois. It's so fun to see her learn and grow.

Birthday Baking

Last week Lois had her 5th birthday. I can't believe she's already five! I think everyone who has children can't believe how fast their children grow up and remark on that as they get older, but time does fly. We had a really fun party over the weekend. As soon as I get the party photos on my computer, I'll do a party post. But before the party we had to bake a few things.

Birthday Dress!

This week I made Ellie a birthday dress to celebrate her upcoming first birthday. Already one! I can't believe how fast this year has gone by. I've had the Oliver + S Family Reunion pattern for a while now and have been meaning to make one for Ellie and Lois. I finally got motivated with her birthday coming up and got to cutting and sewing. I was tempted to buy some nice, new fabric, but really I have plenty to work with, and especially for such a wee dress, you don't need much fabric. I used some navy stripe shirt fabric my mom gave me a while back and some Liberty fabric for the neck facing and buttons. I've been looking around for a while now at what sorts of fabrics I like for this dress (lots of ideas here on pinterest), and found I like simpler fabrics for the base with a bit of contrast. It was so much fun to make!

A Birthday to Come

Today was Lois' 9 month birthday! That's a big one for the under 1 year birthday monthlies. I put her in a pretty white ruffly dress for her photo shoot, but she got really dirty before I had a chance to take the pictures. A mixture of dog sludge and her mushy turkey and veggie lunch did the trick and canceled the photo shoot for the day. I was at my sister's house, and the only other clothes I brought over there were dirty too, so her official birthday shoot will be in the next few days. Or maybe I'll wait until we get to the beach. In any case, they're coming soon. To hold you over, here's a shot with the iPhone--Lois in her glam baby sunglasses kickin' it in the backyard with her cousins earlier this week. Life is good. Tomorrow I'll post some pictures from my sister's house. I'm so excited to show you those.

5 Month Birthday

Lois turned 5 months yesterday! As usual we had our birthday photo shoot. This time, though, I wasn't sure what to put on her for her birthday. She's already worn all the cute outfits I brought with us in other pictures and birthday shoots. So we tried a few different things, including her pink bear jacket and a hat Andrew bought for her at Laku (one of my top favorite San Francisco shops). The hat isn't especially girly because of the colors, but I love it, and she looks so cute in it even if people might think she's a boy when they see her in it. Here are a few of my favorite pictures. It's so hard to pick just a few! Her most recent pastimes are yelling and sticking out her tongue.






She doesn't always like these little photo shoots, you know.

Four!

Lois celebrated a birthday a few weeks ago. We had a great day on her actual birthday. We made a cake, same as last year (a delicious cake!), went to her favorite candy shop, and she got a new haircut. Then on the weekend we had a fun party with some nursery school friends. I made a batch of party hats, which took about a week. They were just for a handful of kids, but they are time-consuming to make, and I'm a little out of practice making them. But I'm glad I did.