selma at 8 days old

5MAR - Baby Selma, a set by hollyburkholder on Flickr.

our friend holly was kind enough to ask us if she could take pictures of selma when she was first born. i was so thrilled that she asked us....and even more ecstatic to see the photos. aren't they beautiful?! holly did such a wonderful job. we asked her if she would take selma's pictures each month of her first year of life...so stay tuned for more of holly's work!!

side note....i cannot believe how much selma has changed and grown since these pictures. she was so tiny! and it's so amazing to me that her birthmark hadn't yet made it's appearance.

hanging around

selma sleeps

have i mentioned that selma started sleeping through the night about 2 weeks ago? one of the first nights she did this, i woke up very late and totally disoriented. i barely had time to brush my teeth before feeding selma (who was starving!) and heading out the door to take greta to school. we thought maybe it was a fluke, but the girl has kept at it. she sleeps from 8:30pm or so until 7:30am or so. yes!! and we're talkin' no swaddle blanket or belly sleeper or any of the other craziness that our other kids were doing.
although, this is how i found selma this morning. sound asleep with her legs through the crib rails. i remember greta and otto doing this too.....it's crazy how you put them in the middle of the bed and somehow they end up like this.

school house symphony

this past week was greta's last week of school for the year. it's so funny to think back to those first few days (weeks) of school when she was having such a rough time transitioning. she loved school right from the start, but she did not love all the changes to her routine. in fact, i don't think i ever really blogged about it because it was pretty traumatic for all of us. greta is a lover of all things routine, and she adjusts to changes but it takes her a while sometimes. school was a doozy of a routine buster.....it just took us a while to get used to school as our NEW routine. man, i could cry just thinking back. but she really did love it, even when she was dragging her feet and crying. she would come home FULL of stories and songs. she knew everyone's names right from the start, and she would lay out my yoga mat and pretend it was a rug. and then we all had to "choose work" and bring it to the rug. and she'd give us lessons, show us how to "walk on the white line", etc. there were a few rough patches during the year, especially right after selma was born, but overall greta really blossomed in this first year of school. montessori is such a good fit for her. when we'd go to observe her in the classroom, she was so BUSY. moving from work to work...choosing math work and art work, stamping work and the writing desk (her favorite). over this year she has learned to read (YES, this girl can read)!! and she has learned many things, such as "no one can live on the planet mercury" or "hanukkah is when the oil burned for 8 days". she has made friends and learned how to be a friend. we are excited for the summer, but i'm sure greta will miss school.
anyway, 3 times a year the program school house symphony comes to greta's school and the musicians perform for the children. the first time they came this year, greta had a bit of a hard time because it was a break from the normal school day. the second school house symphony visit fell on one of the days that greta was out of school for selma's birth. so this third time, greta LOVED IT. she has been talking about it nonstop, telling us all about the instruments they played and how they played a "superhero song" and also told a story with their music. in these pictures, greta was being one the musicians. she told me where to sit, how to clap when the song finished, and that i needed to "sit very still and just listen".

selma

selma really is the sweetest thing. she cries when she's tired. or really hungry. or especially when she needs a change of scenery. or if her brother and sister are entertaining her and then suddenly go play where she can't see them any more. she really does love to watch them. she smiles all the time and 'talks' so much. AND she is sleeping through the night. praise the lord.

take good care of my baby

both greta and otto enjoy playing babies, and both are pretty good at caring for their dolls. they feed them, sometimes with bottles and sometimes now they will both (yes, otto too) pretend to breastfeed their dolls by lifting up their shirts and putting the baby to their chests. hilarious. they will change their baby's diapers, push them in the stroller, etc.

sometimes, selma gets included in the mix. see the pictures for examples. in the first photo, selma has been joined in the bouncy seat by a doll and a tiny boppy pillow around her head. oh, and yes that's a dish towel that someone laid on her like a blanket. i'm not sure who set selma up so nicely, but she did not enjoy this. in the second picture, greta covered selma lovingly with a blanket and even gave her a baby doll friend to snuggle with. tucked under the blanket were even a few cincinnati reds baseball cards. again, selma was a bit startled (check out her face) and this didn't last long.....

bumbo

here's selma in the bumbo. first picture is her first time in the seat, which lasted just long enough for me to take the photo. it was about a month ago. the second pic is from this week. for reference, here are some pics of otto and greta in the same seat.

selma gets baptized

we had selma's baptism at st. monica st. george on sunday. it was a great day. selma's grandma joan (my mom) and her great aunt boo are her godparents, and we are thrilled that they agreed to fufill such an important role in selma's life. selma did great for the whole thing. she was calm for the actual baptism and even smiled at father when he poured the holy water on her head. greta and otto enjoyed the day so much that "getting baptized" has become a part of their bathtime.

you might remember that all 7 grandchildren in the hansbauer family have worn this baptismal gown, and all their names are stitched on the slip...what a great tradition.

otto's 2nd birthday

otto's birthday is may 8th, and this year it coincided with mother's day. we held his birthday party at ERPSC clubhouse, or as the kids call it, the "birthday house". the day could not have been more wonderful. it turned out to be a beautiful warm day, so the kids were able to spend most of the party playing outside. otto got some fantastic gifts, including a gapper doll (that he loves) and raingear like greta (that he REALLY loves).

check out the slideshow above for pictures from the day.

otto you are such a delight in our lives. you are so sweet and so hilarious....you say the funniest things and you definitely keep us on our toes. happy 2nd birthday!

the sweet shop

and did i mention we ended our great day with ice cream? we headed to schneiders sweet shop in bellevue for a few scoops before bedtime. the kids were super dirty from playing outside, and ice cream seemed like the perfect treat. yum. selma slept through the whole thing. maybe next time, selma.....

outside time

gorgeous weather (great light) and adorable kids. it was one of those days when everything seems perfect.

chillin'

friday was such a gorgeous day! we had both lunch and dinner outside on the deck, and the kids got lots of time playing in the yard and digging in what otto calls his "yarden" (yard/garden). selma spent some time laying on a towel on the deck, just cooing and enjoying some vitamin D.

please note how FILTHY otto is. that boy loves his dirt.

otto turns 2

we've got a bunch of pictures to post from otto's second birthday bash. heck, i think we still have easter photos to post. having 3 kids keeps us pretty busy.

selma nadine

boppy boy AGAIN