Sophie's First Camping Trip!

Last week we ventured out for two nights at Mauthe Lake in the Kettle Moraine National Forest.

We had reserved the tepee, which meant that we didn't have to bring a tent, and we stayed nice and dry when it rained the first night.  The tepee was super fun!  It even had cots inside.  

Our sweet little cherub liked it too.  

This is how the inside of a tepee looks when it's inhabited by a family with an infant:

 Papa Bear made Swedish pancakes for us in the morning.  He also snuggled our baby while she woke up.  I think they like each other! 

As Good as It Gets

One Month Old!

Our Sophie turned one month old on the 14th!  We celebrated with a  trip to the zoo, complete with a ride on the carousel.  We also managed to fit in a trip to Bagels Forever!

 Breakfast sandwiches for Mommy and Daddy! 

 Of course we chose the badger for her first ride! 

Chilling out with the penguins… Sophie is really into it.

Hanging out at home with Red Dog and Purple Hippopotamus (we took this same picture when she was just a few days old)

We ended the day with a fashion show/dance party featuring the onesies made by Lia and Elsworth for the baby shower.  I also made up a joke: 

What song do they play at baby Halloween parties? 

Boo, Baby Baby!

Ten on Ten: "I Only Take Pictures of My Baby" Edition

More about Ten on Ten here! 

Best Baby Shower Ever!

Karl and I knew from the beginning that we wanted our baby shower to be fun.  As in, no awkward games involving measuring my belly.  And we wanted to invite everyone, not just ladies who happen to love finger sandwiches.  Nothing against finger sandwiches, of course.  And nothing against ladies, but we happen to also like hanging out with children and men.  So we decided on a barbecue picnic in a park.  Our families were gracious enough to indulge our request, and they went above and beyond to throw a picturesque shower that we absolutely loved.  

Elsworth and Lia did all of the decorations and centerpieces.  They could not have been more perfect!  The park shelter was pretty rustic/brown, so we wanted to jazz it up with some color.  Check out these gorgeous tissue paper pom-poms:

 Karl was a natural pom-pom fluffer.  You'll notice that I'm not actually helping in any of these pictures... that's because I was too busy eating cake.  True confession: I ordered a separate cake just to have at home that weekend.  We'll chalk that up to being pregnant, but honestly I probably would have done that no matter what the occasion was.  And it was so worth it.  

Hanna and Chad during a team-building exercise called "hanging up pom-poms." 

Here they are, all hung up!  This picture really doesn't do them justice.  Imagine the most beautiful decorations ever, and that's what these looked like.  

Centerpieces were little beach pails full of candy... and there were adorable striped paper bags for people to fill with treats to take home!  

Speaking of photos that don't do their subjects justice... Elsworth and Lia made these amazing embroidered onesies to hang up.  Here's a slightly better picture, taken at home later: 

 Who doesn't love to predict baby details?

Hanna coordinated this craft station for adults (kids were welcome to jump in, too, but hot glue was involved).  We ended up with a beautiful bouquet of fabric flowers for the baby! 

The set-up crew... Chad, Lia, Elsworth, and Hanna

 Karl's mom and dad grilled brats and did a great job keeping everyone fed!  Did I mention that we had 85 guests?  85 guests x 2 brats per person (hello, this is Wisconsin!) = a lot of work on the grill!

My mom (who took most of the pictures, which is why she's not in them... I think she does that on purpose!) rocked the desserts and drinks, as well as the paper goods, which were super cute but unfortunately went un-photographed.  Next time we have a baby shower I'll have to take many more pictures!  We had cake and ice cream (And ice cream cones!  Super fun.  Every baby shower should have ice cream cones.), lemonade, and beer.  Once again, this is Wisconsin, people.   

 One detail that I loved (and so did our little friend, K) were these sweet polka-dotted nut cups filled with nuts and chocolate.  I've always loved nut cups, but these were the cutest ones ever.

Many thanks to our families and friends for such a perfect shower!  Everyone was so generous and thoughtful, and of course we loved having a chance to see so many of the people we love the most.  

How to Surprise Your In-Laws

We've already covered How to Surprise Your Mother, so let's move on to the in-laws.  I told Karl we could break the news about our pregnancy to his parents any way he wanted  to.  Here's what he decided (I think it's pretty cute!):

He decorated two little white onesies, one for his parents, and one for his grandmother (who recently turned 100!).  His parents had been on vacation in Florida, and when they got back to town, we wrapped up some gourmet hot cocoa as a little "welcome home" gift for them.  Karl, who is an engineer through and through, tied a piece of fishing line to the bottom of the cocoa bag, and he tied the other end to the onesie.  He buried the onesie deep in the bottom of the bag, under layers of tissue paper, so his parents would really have to dig.  

We went out for dinner with Karl's family, and we gave his parents the gift.  They were more than a little surprised when they found the onesie!  

A few days later, we visited Karl's grandmother, and we gave her the other onesie.  She immediately had us hang it up in her sunroom, and she tells us that she looks at it daily.  She's bound and determined to meet her third great grandchild!  

Tub Time

You know how sometimes you see something on Apartment Therapy, and you think, "I totally need that!" but it's like a million dollars and really, you probably don't technically need it?  That happened to me recently with the Puj Tub.  So darling, so practical, but I wasn't about to pay-- or ask someone else to pay-- $40 for a piece of foam. 

I was super-psyched when I volunteered to help set up for a giant children's resale in Madison, where I spied not one, but two of the coveted Puj tubs.  Of course, no shopping was allowed during set-up, so I had to wait until the next day for the volunteer pre-sale.  I made a beeline for the tubs... and they were both gone.  Apparently I wasn't the only one with my eye on them! 

Not being one to let things go easily, I went home and checked eBay, but that felt kind of gross for some reason, so I took a peek on Craigslist... and there was a Puj tub for sale in Milwaukee, still in the box and the plastic and everything, for $10.  I texted my sister, who lives in Milwaukee, and seriously like 5 minutes later she sent this picture: 

I have no idea how she did that so fast, but we'll chalk it up to a Pre-Baby Miracle.

 

 

Here we are at Easter, celebrating the fact that our baby will be bathing in style. 

 

How to Surprise Your Mother

Have you ever wanted to surprise your mother?  Here's a no-fail, step-by-step method: 

1.  A few weeks ahead of time, ask her if she'd like to go with you to a book sale.  Make it sound really amazing-- they'll be selling lots of vintage German children's books, and each volunteer (oh, ya, you're volunteering at the sale) is only allowed to bring one other person to the pre-sale.  She might come up with excuses, so keep making the sale sound better and better.  Also mention that you usually bring your friend Kate with you, but this year she's due to have a baby around the time of the sale, so she probably won't be able to go.  Everything in step 1 is a lie, so feel free to embellish to your heart's content.  It's fun!  

2.  The day of the "book sale," meet your mom early for lunch.  Bring along a little gift bag.  Over lunch, plan your strategy for the book sale and mention that Kate had her baby the day before.  Since the lunch spot you picked is located one block from the hospital, ask your mom if she minds stopping by the hospital really quickly to drop off a gift before heading to the sale.  You won't stay long; you'll just drop off the gift and go.  Don't make it an option for your mom to wait in the car!  Kate would love to see her.  

3.  Check in at the hospital.  Fill out some paperwork.  If your mom mentions that she's never had to fill out paperwork to visit a baby before, say, "Me neither!  They've really tightened up security!"  Have a seat in the waiting room.  

4.  After waiting a few minutes, ask your mom if she wants to see the gift you have for Kate's baby.  Hand her the gift bag.  Watch as she pulls out a little box...

Inside the box, she finds a little hat, folded up... tell her to go ahead and unfold it... 

What's this?  

Wait a second!   

There is no book sale!  And Kate didn't really have a baby yesterday! 

 5.  Your husband pops out from behind the corner with the camera.  The nurse calls your name, and your mom gets to meet her new grandbaby for the very first time...