momma's "helper"

Elliott has most certainly reached that "in to everything" phase. My house frequently looks like a tornado just came through it, and for once, I don't care. It's too exhausting to pick up every random thing he finds, carries, and drops around the house, windex away every tiny hand print on the glass, or to repeat "no no" and "don't touch" 42,000 times a day. So, I'm stopping to enjoy it... because he won't walk around the house with a colander on his head forever.

The things that seem like annoyances now, will be the things I miss most one day when my house is quiet and empty.

rainy day fun:

It's been a dreary, cold day today. 

So, we took Elliott to The Wonder Place for the first time. 

I think it's safe to say he liked it ;)

wye mountain:

Today Elliott and I met some friends at Wye Mountain to take pictures among the daffodils. The weather was a perfect 82 degrees, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. This was my first time at Wye mountain, but we'll definately be making this an annual tradition! Here are a few of my favorite photos from our trip, but you can see more if you head over to my Flickr page. (Click the little circle with the pink and white dots on your right ----->)

Hope you get to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather this weekend. We'll be out soaking it up every chance we get!

eczema update:

A few weeks ago I posted about our battle between our sweet boy and the "trifecta" (allergies, asthma, and eczema). Since then, things have been much better. The steroid helped with a lot of his symptoms, where antibiotics have done nothing. I'm still hearing the normal rattly cough several times a day, but the runny nose, eyes, and ears have been gone for three weeks, and he's managed to not catch anything new, which is huge for us!

His eczema has returned, but seems to be milder, and is contained to just his chest and belly. We have been using Bert's Baby Bee body wash, lotion, and diaper cream, All Free and Clear laundry detergent, Pampers Sensitive wipes, and an Aveeno Baby Eczema Therapy soothing bath treatment once a week. I lather him with the lotion morning and night, and use the Aveeno in kitchen sink to make it more concentrated.

We're still trying to figure it all out, but I feel like we're making progress. We are looking into pediatric chiropractors as the next step in clearing up the remaining chest congestion, with hopes of getting him off of the inhalers, and allergy medications as quickly as possible. Thanks for all your advice and encouragement, it means more than you know!

life lately, according to my iPhone:

order outing.

On Friday, the long distance portion of "The Order" was in town. So, we celebrated with a mini road trip to downtown Morrilton to eat lunch and shop the antique stores. Elliott got to tag along, and he was such a good sport, tolerating Destiny's Child in the car and hanging out in his stroller while we shopped.

Morrilton had an excellent selection of antique/thrift stores! I brought home a vintage clutch, two antique blue mason jars, a couple of hard back books for E (one of which is a Reading Rainbow edition), and a darling floral dessert plate for a project I'm working on in our kitchen. I'm regretting passing up an antique school desk though, so a return trip may be in our near future...

I love these girls dearly. They are some of my oldest friends. The kind where you can just pick right up where you left off, even if one of you has had a baby and another lives in South Korea. These kinds of friendships are hard to come by, but are a true treasure when you find one... or three!

snap shop: week two

I finished my second (and almost third) week of Snapshop, the online photography class I've been taking. We learned the basics of shooting in manual, and I was surprised to find it hasn't been as hard as I thought it might be. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm feeling more confident every day. These were all taken with a Canon T2i (with kit lens) in manual mode, using natural light.

For those who asked, the class I'm taking is through Ashley Ann Photography. You can find info on the class here. She will be offering several more this year, and I highly recommend taking it if you're interested in learning the basics of photography using a DSLR. If you haven't heard of Ashley Ann before, you should also check out her blog. She is a believer, has an adorable family and home, and her photography is simply beautiful.