life lately

I haven't shared bits and pieces of our life for awhile as captured on Instagram. It's always so much fun to go back through the images and remember all those random memories I captured spur-of-the-moment!  Here some snapshots of the ordinary and the lovely in our home:

Enjoying her beautiful alphabet magnets from her grandparents.

I love the ferns and cyclamen in the window boxes in this beautiful house

& post-bath tickles

Everyone in this house loves our new blocks (thank you, Anthony and Laura!)

& goofy girl

Modeling a sweater knit by her Aunt Eden and a bonnet knit by me

& lovely afternoon light over our town

Hours of fun with this reusable sticker pad

& admiring our finished Advent calendar: a tree full of birds

at a restaurant in town, the chef working the stone pizza oven always lets kids make their own pizza

& tired wreath on a worn door in our town

our neighborhood (Vecchia Matrice) wishes you happy holidays

& putting baby Jesus in his manger from our nativity set

I'm trying to use this purse as much as possible before I need to go back to a diaper bag in a few weeks...

& got a little growing to do into the apron her Aunt Jess gave her

my big girl on a playground on base one morning after we took Daddy to work

stories and baby bumps in bed before naptime

& not sure what she thinks of Siena helping her color

first pair of big girl undies! 

& her new favorite breakfast: Greek yogurt and Charlottesville Farmer's Market granola from Aunt Jess

sleepy kitty

& isn't she pretty when she smiles!

IKEA thru Instagram

Around here it seems like people make their IKEA shopping lists over the course of a month or two before braving the store to stock up. My friend Becca and I were in that boat, needing storage bins, holiday wrapping paper, potted ivy plants, plastic kids' dishes, etc.  Earlier this week we joined forces and took off for the endless, winding halls of IKEA, kids in tow.

You know you love IKEA when your kids start playing with amazing toys 

as soon as they walk through the door.

On the right: Lucas prepares a meal for Lena as she patiently waits.

(Of course in reality this scene lasted for about 0.4 seconds, or however long it takes my phone to snap a picture.)

Ah, the toy section, where both parents and kids can spend ever so long.

The ice cream machine in the cafeteria is a huge highlight of the trip.

Anticipation... and joy!

(And the perfect t-shirt.)

Beautiful Christmas decorations, IKEA.  You win.

There's a happy face!  

(I actually don't think she's ever had her own ice cone before... and she would not share with her mama.)

And there's a tired one.  

Time to roll out.

N.B. My husband thought I should inform you that this is not a sponsored post by IKEA or Instagram.
#inmydreams