All the Funny Things

Jamisen and Lily are so ridiculously funny lately. Lily is, of course, fully toddling around. She still has her little muscle twitch, even when she's walking, but we trust she'll grow out of it. She loves (loves loves) to escape out of everything - she opens doors and walks outside, she happily tackles latches and hates to be caged in her crib.

Jamisen is more than fully potty trained now. He is staying dry all through the night! Just this week, he went to the toilet with his toy coffee maker (it actually runs water through it) and was making coffee while he was sitting on his throne. I can already see that he's like his Mama; he hates to be bored!

We have started a new thing with Jamisen - good behavior rewards. The whole "star on the chart when you're good for 4 hours" is still a bit too abstract for him. However, good behavior rewards for 20 minute spans are absolutely doable and work wonderfully. This week, we're going to rachet up to 30 minutes at a time. His rewards are things like new books and theme toys (ant farm is coming up, playdough truck construction activity pieces etc.). It's been working like a charm.

We have enjoyed a lot of time at the lake this week because we've had friends visiting. Jamisen LOVES to fish and is quite adept at speaking his need for a life jacket "so he can go on the dock" clearly.

Jamisen switched from his normal school of Hillcrest to summer camp. The schedule is less convenient for the drop-off parent (Chris) and Jamisen asked to go back to Hillcrest for the week to see his friends. We're lucky Hillcrest knows him and accommodated his one-off, odd request. He'll be at Hillcrest this week.

Work wise, things cookin' right along. We've started a new division at Bramble Berry  - the Handmade Beauty Box - a DIY Handmade subscription box (monthly)  and that's been fun to take up my time. What I really should be doing is writing the manuscript for the next Soap Crafting Book (Pure Soapcrafting, all about natural and organic ingredients for soapmaking) but looking at logos and planning marketing strategies is more fun (go figure).

Jamisen has started the gift of embellishment. "Did you chip the wall?" "No Mama, a bee did!" and it's been fun to see his line of reasoning for some of his more elaborate stories.

Speaking of escape artists, I caught Jamisen going outside the other night at 10 p.m. Well, I didn't catch him b/c I thought the door opening and shutting was Chris but we figured out later, it was Jamisen. We have ordered a door lock for the back door that he can't undo (one that's high up).

Our garden is in full bloom and is gorgeous! We have four kinds of kale, corn, raspberries, marionberries, blackberries, beets, carrotts, potatoes, string beans, tomatoes, bok choy, spinach and all kinds of herbs.

Lily loves her peas from the garden!

Yes, she fell asleep like this. Little monkey ... =)

This is her look after she tried to eat soap for the first time. With how all the soap in this house can look like it's dessert or food, it probably won't be her last time.

Lily Visits Set

Shooting Soap Queen TV is generally exhausting. The days are long, the studio is warm and keeping that high intensity energy up takes serious effort. That's why a little baby play break in the day is extra special.

Chris brought both the kiddos to the set. Jamisen immediately ran down to my office where I have all kinds of treats and goodies stashed so that's why there are no pictures of him: he was trying to get his sugar on.

Lily is fully walking now. She thoughtfully waited until the weekend, in the presence of BOTH of her parents, to walk a full 14 or 15 steps. We were in awe of her hidden skills at walking. And now that she's walking, it's off to the mischief! This girl loves to climb! You cannot leave her alone, anywhere (!).

Jamisen has taken to stealth pinching and hitting Lily. He does this nifty little drive by where he runs by, pinches or hits Lily, and then keeps going. She generally doesn't react but boy oh boy, her parents sure do. Jamisen has seen the inside of his bedroom with time outs a lot lately.
 We trust this is just a phase and Jamisen is learning his boundaries with both his parents and his little sister.

It was great to have the kiddos visit the set - and even better to have such a supportive husband so I could spend the day filming while he kept the home fires burning.

Happy Graduation Erik!

We are so proud of Erik for finishing his degree in Process Technology. The entire family gathered to watch him walk - and then celebrated with not only a lovely dinner but a tasty luncheon at Erik's favorite restaurant (D'Annas).

What a joyful day for all of us to celebrate Erik's accomplishments.

It was especially great that baby Alise could be there to witness her Daddy's big day.

The Renoud babies continue to grow. Jamisen would like to grow wider than he should, having now discovered sugar. He just asks for it outright: "I want some sugar. Sugar is good for me."

Lily is still cheerful and happy so long as she's been recently fed. She still gets a little twitch when presented with delicious food, like a tiny frisson of excitement that just needs to work its way out through the wiggles.

Lily is fighting a sinus infection so she's on some heavy duty antibiotics, despite my misgivings towards over medicating for no real reason.

Jamisen is getting ready to switch schools from Hillcrest, where he has been for 1 1/2 years to a Montessori school system. We're transitioning him for the next two months by sending him to summer camp. Time will tell if this was a good idea or just too many transitions in a row. He is excited about summer camp and has been asking to leave Hillcrest for a couple months so we're hopeful it's the right scholastic choice for our little redhead.

Erik is keeping the kids amused in this photo by juggling for them. Big thanks to Erik and Cheriss for babysitting both kiddos so we could get a date night in.

We cheered Chris on as he finished another triathlon. He finished strong, but tired. After watching him train for the last few months, we're all proud of him for working so hard.

Throwing Baby Alise a Shower

It was such a joy to host a baby shower for Erik and Cheriss ... well, mostly for Cheriss. They've decided on a name (for now). Alise Paige Faiola. What a beautiful name right? Though, I'm not sure that the spelling has been fully decided on so don't quote me on that (Alyse? Alise?).

We did a crafty DIY baby shower, complete with a DIY Mimosa station and a bountiful food set up for lots of Sunday morning nibbles.

 The DIY Oneside Painting station was a hit. We had white onesies of all sizes for everyone to paint, including baby Lily.

Grandma and Cheriss worked hard to get Lily's handprint on the a shirt.

It turned out great!

We also had an advice station - and a DIY Bath Fizzy station for treats for everyone to take home.

Of course, that wasn't it; there was soap to take home for everyone who attended and handmade herb gardens too!

The weather held for us and we were all so happy to give Cheriss positive wishes (and such cute presents) as she starts the next stage in her life as a Mom.

Of course, with all the practice she has with Lily (and Jamisen), we already know that she's going to be an active, happy Mom.

Congratulations Erik and Cheriss. We can't wait to be the best Aunt and Uncle ever ... with the best cousins!