Behind the scenes

I am pretty fortunate to have one very awesome Photographer's Assistant. On our latest photo shoot he read books to the subject and even demonstrated a couple poses. 

These two are priceless...love them so very much.

Siblings

These two are so happy to pose for pictures lately which means we are getting as many as we can.

Half Birthday - Milayla

Can you have a half birthday if you have not yet had a full birthday? Sure you can! 

This Little Lady of ours has changed and grown a lot in the last 6 months which certainly warrants a need to celebrate. From tiny toes to tasty toes. From flopping over to sitting up independently. From barely making a sound to telling us about everything. The signs that this girl of ours is growing up are all over the place. Her extra long lone eyelash has fallen out and her hair is filling out. Still hard to believe her little announcement pictures were taken 6 months ago...

Milayla is always on the move and has discovered that she can push herself around backwards if she rolls onto the laminate which means she has left her inchworm tactics behind her. Although, she loves using rolling to get around and can make her away across most of the living room. She has recently taken to singing with Mommy and will 'coo' along happily. Sleep is the last thing on her mind as she masters her new skills and carries on conversations with whomever the lucky person may be that is keeping her company. That lucky person also gets to enjoy plenty of cuddles though as she will hold on tightly and snuggle away.

She is very expressive; which makes narrowing down pictures nearly impossible.
(get ready for picture overload...)

 It is so much fun seeing how interactive she is becoming with other children. Her and the other children will be laughing within seconds or chatting like they really understand each other.

 And boy, oh, boy, is she becoming a little bookworm. It helps that she has a big brother who jumps at any opportunity to "read" books to her.

This little bookworm still needs to be supervised with her books though, as she has quite an appetite....

There is definitely a love for music that is starting to shine through, especially for the Christmas music that is increasing in playing rotation these days. She will tap her foot, smile and sing along.

We thank our lucky stars every day for this little girl of ours. She is so joyful, genuine, loving, determined, patient and mischievous...definitely mischievous...

And all that patience of hers definitely pays off when Momma pulls out the camera!

"no more pictures, please!"

Now that she has hit the 6 Month benchmark solid foods will soon make an appearance!

Phone upload

Had a chance to upload photos from my phone - here are a few of the kids (with Mommy sneaking into a frame).

Milayla drifting off for bed time

Atticus "smiling" and Milayla trying to figure out what exactly the big orange thing in front of her is while Mommy and Daddy try to figure out the auto-timer on the camera.

That's more like it- smiles!

Stealing some cuddles with Mommy

Smiling at herself in the iPhone - the 'high-tech-baby-mirror'

laughing at the funny baby on the iPhone (herself)

Freimarkt

As promised, here are some photos from our afternoon at Freimarkt.

When we arrived home from the Freimarktumzug it should have been nap time, but the kids were just too excited to sleep. So we bundled them up and off we went.

Freimarkt was close enough to our apartment that we were able to walk there, which was great. 
(That also meant that we got to watch the fireworks from the warmth of our living room.)

Atticus was immediately interested in the large Ferris Wheel.

There was no shortage of sugary food, meat and bread...

We steered clear of the 1/2 metre wurst and Hawaiian Pizza Kebap, but did indulge in a little ice cream and pretzels. 

Milayla didn't know what to make of all the sights and sounds - so she became the target of a cheesy photo opportunity. She looks pretty happy about it too ;). Really though, she was all smiles (or sleeping) for the whole outing.

That's a Lebkuckenherzen (gingerbread heart). A staple at German fairs.  They will have different things written on them, depending on the particular celebration. 

Can't say the same for Atticus though (about being all smiles or sleeping). The lack of sleep kicked in part way through our trip and we got some pretty high notes from him. Taking pictures probably didn't help matters, but we are just trying to capture the full essence of the day ;). 

We even managed to fit in a ride before we headed home. It was Atticus' choosing, and the boys enjoyed it so much they went on it twice. 

A few days later, a couple of Jason's coworkers (the same ones that rescued Laura and Milayla during the move. We're pretty fortunate to have them around) gifted us with a Bremen specialty that is popular during Freimarkt - Bremer Kluten - a peppermint fondant dipped in dark chocolate. Definitely the best treat of Freimarkt.

Freimarkt was a fun afternoon outing to check out. Not sure if we'll head down next year, but you never know...

Swimming - Milayla's first time

Well, it took us three attempts but we finally managed to take the kids swimming and...

they hated it.

Perhaps 'hate' is too strong a word. Let's just say that between it being Milayla's first time at the swimming pool and Atticus' first time since Milayla was born, neither of them were too pleased about the idea of sitting in barely warm water and being expected to play. Guess that means we just need to put forth a little more effort to make it swimming regularly.

In any case - we did snap a few photos to commemorate Milayla's first time at the pool. Wish we could have taken her swimming sooner (as 5 months old seems rather old), but better late than never!

pink sea turtles weren't exactly our first choice for a swimsuit, but when shopping in the off season choices  are rather limited...

Milayla sure didn't care what was on the swimsuit though!

Still excited about the adventure ahead...

Not so excited anymore and she's only been through the shower. She has one awesome grip on Daddy's skin too.

Trying to hide in Mommy's arms.... 

In the pool + not crying = best success we had. Only room to improve!

Toes...

They are apparently pretty tasty.

Perhaps she is trying to see if she can fit the whole thing?

Stuck inside on sunny days...

Our stroller is being sent in to be fixed (under warranty, thankfully, but that's a story for another day) and we had to stay home yesterday for the parcel pick up - which never happened. It isn't very much fun spending an entire sunny day inside only to find out you didn't have to.

The pick up was rescheduled for today, we had to clear our plans to be home. In my heart I was kind of hoping it would pour rain and I would not be so bitter about being stuck inside again. But it was clear blue, sunny skies.

I think the kids caught on to my dislike of being inside and they joined in - not a fun result.

After a long morning of teething and tantrums I finally put Atticus and Milayla down for naps.
I will admit - I was tired and really just wanted to sit down with a green smoothie and a book for 15 minutes to recharge before starting on some to-do list items. Then, Atticus asked me to cuddle and sing him a song. He even said "please" accompanied with his cute, wide-eyed, smile. I gave in. And I am so glad that I did.

It was only a few minutes. But those few minutes were wonderful, especially when considered in contrast to the rest of the morning. I am so grateful for two children who constantly remind me to slow down and enjoy the little pleasures that life has to offer. Life doesn't always need to be busy with every minute planned. Some of my favorite moments involve just being together as a family, relaxing at home or the impromptu moments.

True, it would have been nice to go outside and enjoy the sunshine, but I had it pretty good being stuck inside with two great kids to keep me company. Besides, who knows how much longer Atticus will actually ask and want me to sing to him ;).


As for that parcel pick-up...well, it's been rescheduled - again.

Mr. Independent Returns

Atticus needed a hat for winter (aka a touque) so we made a stop to pick one up when we were downtown. Jason was pretty set on Atticus getting one with a nice big bobble on top, but Atticus had other plans. When Jason offered the bobbled hat to Atticus so that he could try it on Atticus flatly refused. Jason chalked it up to Atticus not wanting to wear a hat at all. Boy, was Jason wrong (sorry, Hon... ;).

Atticus very happily put on the hat of his choosing. 

Just check out the pure delight on this face when he got to put his hat on the following morning so that we could walk to church.

Now, that is a happy boy.

 

That blurry hand up there was a thumbs up...

Looking good!