picture this

i haven't become totally comfortable w/ our new camera and the whole download process, so i'm behind on my picture posting. here are the highlights... and in a few days i'll cover our most recent trip.
first off-- this is elisha on the morning of his birthday. he was obviously excited about his present! if you are low on storage space for toys, i highly recommend the collapsible tunnels and tents -- big fun that doesn't take up much room when put away... plus they are so fun, everyone wants to play. this is a picture of elisha playing on the tunnel w/ 'big mama' (my mother-- and yes, she chose her own grandmother name! she had a big mama that she loved-- who was actually not quite 5 ft tall!) he thought it was hilarious when she crawled all the way through! we were all amazed!
isn't he a ham! leave it to his aunties to have giant sunglasses for him to try on...this picture isn't great-- i took it myself. it is a wrap stlye carrier that i made for my sister-in-law. i used one like this A LOT when elisha was tiny... i loved it. the moby wrap is the biggest brand that makes ones like this... but they are easy to make for yourself. i embellished this one, but if you make a basic one, it is a no-sew project. you just cut 5 yards of stretchy jersey knit fabric(preferably a mostly cotton) to be about 2 feet wide. so you can usually get 2 or three out of 5 yards of fabric, depending on the width of the bolt.
i appliqued a funky fabric in the 'tree of life' shape onto a lightweight denim square and sewed that onto the center... it is beautiful and gives it a little more structure-- great as her tiny girl gets to be elisha's size!
you can find directions for use on the moby wrap website... if you take a bit of time to practice it will be simple to use... and worth it, because wrap-style carriers are super comfortable! they spread the weight out over your back and shoulders- no pressure points-- and you are totally hands free. you can use them from birth until 35lbs... elisha loves to play the 'give me a BIG hug' game... his daddy thought it would be hilarious for elisha lion to give him an extended big hug... he was actually pretty happy to have a lion tied to him for quite a while!