A Sudden Name Change

Suddenly, I wanted to change the name of my blog before I get followers. Yes, I am hoping to build a community with this blog. I liked DoingItDezyStyle,but I've had the urge to change it for some time now, and I have been throwing around other possible names to Andrew including View From the Top, and A Peek Inside, but Perfect Imperfections tops the list over the others to me. Perfect Imperfections mean that our life is not perfect, just like everyone else, but these imperfections are perfect to me, and I wouldn't have it any other way. This blog represents our family's adventure of life and I think Perfect Imperfections sums it up pretty well.

***Using the same URL as DoingItDezyStyle.blogspot.com will get you to Perfect Imperfections. Do not do this: Perfect Imperfections.blogspot.com. This will not get you to my blog. ***

We Went to Maine Again!

Yes, that right we took another trip to Maine. This time we went to a Fair, went to the Beach (Mar's first time at the beach), saw a Duke show, got my nails done, and hit the saltwater pool again thanks to a wonderful friend. It was a wonderful trip, besides the fact that Mar cried the entire ride home (approximately two hours). Suddenly, she hates car rides . She would normally sleep in the car now she just cries, whines, and fusses 99% of the time. It's miserable for everyone(including her) when she does this. I guess we are going to have to tire her out before we go on a trip. Here is what our second trip to Maine looked like:

 Having fun at the Topsham Fair.

 Fair rides.

 Yummy french fries.

 Beach fun. Digging holes.

Mom: "Damien, please don't bury your sister"

Damien: "I just want to bury her up to her neck. It will be fun!"

Mom: "Um, I don't think so Damien. Please don't bury your sister."

Damien: Come on mom, it will be fun."

Mom: "No way!"

Such a silly boy.

 Loving the ocean.

 I forgot Mar's bottoms at Ry and Stacie's place. Mom fail #245.

 Two's gourmet lunch

 What kind of face is that Andrew?

 Picture taken from my seat at the outdoor restaurant. So amazing.

 Who falls asleep at a saltwater pool?

 She does.



Talking

I have never really thought about it before, but it seems that my little Amar'e has taken her time with the whole talking thing. Everything else she has been right on with; smiling, rolling over, crawling, walking, but not talking. I'm not worried by this at all because she babbles a lot and does say a few words now. Lately, she has had a slight vocabulary explosion and this is very exciting. I know that all children reach milestones at their own pace and when they are ready. She has been communicating using other means very well for a long time. Her comprehension is amazingly great too.If I ask her a question she answers me in babbles, which means she knows it's a questions and responds. When she was about nine months old, I made the decision to teach her sign language. This decision was made strictly because I thought the idea was cool. I watched a few videos online of young babies signing and was instantly determined to do this with Amar'e. Overall, this has been awesome. She signs regularly and now at 17 months, she picks up new sign quickly. I think I may be comparing her to Damien, who has been talking since he was 11 months, and hasn't stopped since. I try to embrace this for the most part. I'm thinking he should go to law school to be a lawyer because he loves to argue with everything. He will argue even he knows he is wrong. Gotta love it!

Signs Amar'e can use:
More
Milk
All done
Dog
Cat
Eat
Mommy

Signs we are going to be learning:
Daddy
Brother
Hurt
Up
Down


Words Amar'e can say:
Ma ma
Da da
Hi
Bye
Two
Dat (That)
Brad
Maine
Juice
Wally
Dee (This is Damien's nickname)
Boom
Pa pa
Meow
Moo

Here are some silly photos of Mar:

 

Teaching myself to craft: felt veggies

I love handmade items and have envied people who are talented enough to create such wonderful things for their children and family. One day I decided that Amar'e was in need of some homemade goodness, and thought that felt veggies would be fun for both of us. Fun for me to make, and fun for her to play with. I bought a pattern from Esty and got to work. When I was through I was so amazed and proud that I hand stitched her felt veggies. These veggies have come in handy while I am trying to make dinner and she wants to do what I'm doing. She makes great soup with them in which she sips on and says "mmmmmmmm". Such a cute thing to watch. I definitely want to encourage the kids to cook good food for themselves and their future families, so I guess this is start for her. As for Damien is he old enough to help with the food preparation, in which he does sometimes. I wish he would help more often, but I am working on that.

Farmer's Market

Living in a town with no grocery store is frustrating to say the least, especially being vegan. I don't consider the super Wal-Mart we have much of a grocery store. The closest thing I get to a decent produce section is the local farmer's market. This farmer's market takes place every Thursday between June and September/October. We have gone twice and got some great produce each time. My good friend Sarah and boyfriend Jake (along with his brother) have the best produce by far! They grow organically too and what is better than that?! You can check out the Davis Brothers website here. Below are pictures of what we got on the trips to the market:

 First trip:Beet Greens and Kale

Second trip: Cucumbers, Zucchini, four different types of Garlic, tomatoes, and a homemade dog toy.

P.S. I just figured out how to get my pictures to be larger! Yay!

Life is crazy update

Life around these parts has been crazy busy lately. We've had schedule changes due to Andrew starting a new job, addiction to Lost, more dishes and laundry than normal. It has thrown my routine, and everything else, right off. Yes, the addiction to Lost is totally my fault and I will admit that first. We have Netflix (getting Netflix wasn't my idea, Andrew and Damien insisted on it, and I haven't really  used it much until now. I was perfectly happy with not having cable or Netflix, but I obviously lost 2-1)and I have been marathon watching these last couple of days. Sometimes I feel guilty about this and sometimes I don't. Things are going to get a little more interesting because this is Damien's last week of park program and he will be home in the morning instead of being at a pool/park/field with his peers.Although things have been different and busy, I have cooked more meals for the family (hence, the increased amount of dishes)so that is a plus. My ultimate goal is cook every meal but I am not here for breakfast and I don't see that changing, but it's still my goal. I am home for lunch and dinner. When I don't feel like cooking I usually make pasta (which I don't consider cooking). Another big change for me is that I have started going to gym again. I haven't hit the gym in years. Before Amar'e I was small (underweight) but not in shape or fit. Now my goal is be fit. I have been doing this at 5:30 a.m. before I go to work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This is working out great! I am seeing results and I feel great about it. The best part is that I can go to the gym and it doesn't take me away from the family, because when I go the rest of family is still sleeping. Win-Win! My goal for this upcoming week is to blog more, read more, watch Lost less, try to convince Damien to read more, and keep up the gym routine. Here are a few pictures of what this all looks like:

 Library time

 Baby-wearing

 Deep in thought about basketball.

This is Daycee, our boxer playing frisbee



 For some reason Amar'e thinks that I can take pictures of her while holding her. This is her reaching for the photographer.

 Playing at the park

Random picture of Damien's Cheerio person