The Story of a Bracelet

This is my mom at 6 months (circa 1944). She is wearing a baby bracelet that her mom lovingly dressed her in. My mom lost her mother as a young child, and her baby pictures have always been a special reminder of how well-loved and cared for she was. For my wedding in 2000, I wore the baby bracelet under my dress as my "something old."
And this past August, Eliza wore the bracelet for her one-year pictures.
Thank you, Edna Walin Bennett, for this wonderful gift.

Three Little Pumpkins

Perfect fall days are hard to beat. Yesterday (one such day) we made our annual trek to the pumpkin patch.
Eliza quickly picked out her favorite,
but found out it was harder to pick UP than pick OUT.

And yes, we do have a hair bow for every occasion.

Soapbox Derby!

Our neighborhood held its first annual soapbox derby last Saturday. A couple weekends ago, Jess and the boys began construction on team "Double-Dare Davises" car.
Eliza wanted in on the power tool action.
The boys take it for a test spin, with Eliza as their hood ornament.

The following weekend, Ben and Noah gave the car a custom paint job. (Before heading out camping. Is Jess campaigning for Dad of the Year?)

Our final derby car!

Race day with our good friends, Sawyer and Jackson.

The super-cool Lightning Lees!

(Yes, that's a hollowed out log. And yes, they won in the creative category.)

Team 3-D fanclub.

Cutest cheerleader ever.

It was awesome that Aunt Julie and Grandpa came to watch the big race.

Getting ready at the starting line.

And they're off!

So, we didn't break any speed records, but we had the BEST time. Can't wait to do it again next year!

Camping ... again

So, as Jess's luck would have it, Ben's class organized another camping trip this fall. With Eliza as a really good excuse for me to stay home, it was just the guys on this adventure. Jess and I had talked about "loose parenting" on the camping trip, which translated into exploring the river fully clothed. What little boy wouldn't LOVE this?

Jess texted me this picture, to which I replied, "Who is this?" His answer: "Your second oldest child." Needless to say, they had a great time.

Look Who's Walking!

Yesterday I was in the office and Ben yelled, "She took a couple steps!" I came running into the playroom and indeed, our little girl took a few more. I ran and grabbed my phone and was so glad to catch these first few steps on video.

Jess and I had just gotten back two days before from our first-ever trip without the kids. I'd wondered all weekend if we were going to miss her first steps. It was so sweet of her to wait until Mommy came home!

First Days of School!

This is a catch-up post, so let's go back to August 15, which was Noah's first day of Pre-K. He was so excited. His school has a really fun tradition of delivering yard signs before the start of school.

And then the following week Ben started first grade.
Wow - how do we possibly have a 1st grader?!

They're both loving their new classes and I'm having fun spending some girl time with Eliza.

Eliza's Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Eliza's 1st birthday with a family party.
Eliza greets her guests.

In Korean tradition, on a child's first birthday, you hold a Toljabee ceremony where different items are placed before the child (book = scholar, knife = chef, rice = wealth, needle & thread = long life, ruler = talented with her hands) and the child's future is predicted upon what she chooses. We did it with both boys at their first birthday parties, and so we did it with Eliza.
She heads toward the items ...
and chooses the rice (wealth)! Jess and I figure this means early retirement for us.

With Uncle Joseph.

After lunch it was time for presents.

I'd underestimated the toll that her one-year shots she'd gotten the day before would take, and she was very sleepy by this point.

Looking like she might want to go to sleep with her new glow worm on her new "scooter."

No bedtime, though, before cake, of course!

So when we gave her her "smash cake," she was really quite preplexed as to why, instead of being put in her bed, she was being set in front of this big strange, round thing.

"Ooohh, I'm supposed to eat it?"

And she'd had enough.

She exited her party early in favor of a nap, but the rest of us continued celebrating for her.

Happy birthday, Baby!