Rhett Hates Piano Lessons

Ask Rhett if he likes the piano, he will say, "No, I hate piano." I struggle weekly to get him to lessons. Other parents ask me why I go through it and why I don't just take him out of piano.

My boy has talent (I'm his mom, I can say that.). He can hear a song or hum a new song and go to the piano and play it. The newest song is the Star Wars Theme song. I'll have to get that on tape. He plays the piano daily at home without us asking him to. Sometimes it is the required piano practice and mostly it is him just playing a new song he had in his head (like the video). During lessons he is quiet, attentive, respectful of his teacher, and he is learning a ton! He is starting to read music, which is farther than I got in 6 years of piano. We have invested too much time and money and he is learning too much to take him out of piano. Please, someone tell me he will get over the "hate" he has for piano.

Mavis and Lucy...(i think that sounds like an awesome children's book title)

When I found out my sister-in-law was having a little girl, due just three weeks after us...I secretly hoped we would have a girl too. The thoughts of cousins who were best friends just got me all excited. As luck would have it, we had a girl! Here are Mavis and Lucy at their first ever meeting. Lucy is one week old and Mavis is 5 weeks.

Lucy is our very first cousin. We waited a long time for a cousin and we are so excited Lucy was born. Not only do we finally have a cousin, but we also have a niece!

Here is cousin Lucy today!
Mavis and Lucy today.

Cousin gazing and toe playing.

Dads and brothers...

Just wait until you see Mavis' five month photos! Cutest baby ever!!!

Mavis Meets Mavis

Mavis went to her second big-time concert in her short four months of life. The first was Fleet Foxes and she loved it. The second was Mavis Staples at the Pickathon. Obviously, she loved seeing her namesake perform. So, I'm going to take this opportunity to talk about Mavis' name and how we chose it. While I'm at it...I'll also talk about our big kids names.

Her name...Mavis Miriam. While I was pregnant we went through a lot of names for a girl that we both agreed on. The only name we agreed on for a boys middle name was Neil, because we found out I was pregnant the day of the Neil Young concert and it is Dan's Dad's middle name. We knew if we had a girl her middle name would be Miriam, because I wear Dan's Grandma Miriam's wedding ring.

The criteria for a first name for a boy and girl was that if the name was shortened...we would still like it. For a long time our girl name was Penelope and she would go by Penny. When we were pregnant with Rhett we were listening to a lot of Old 97's, so Dan asked..."How about Rhett." Rhett Miller is the lead singer in Old 97's. Rhett was on my short list already, so that was that. When I was pregnant with Mavis, Mavis Staples came out with a new album...produced by Dan's man hero...Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.
So, we were listening to a lot of Mavis Staples. One day while listening to We Are Not Alone, I said, "How about Mavis?" We loved all the ways it might be shortened...especially Maeve. So, Mavis it was and Mavis she is.

At the Pickathon someone asked if all our kids names were music inspired. Actually, yes. Even Mezmur. Her name means Gospel song in Amaharic. Below is a photo of how Mavis feels when we protect her ears from the music.

Long story short...we love our kids names and we like Mavis Staples.

Mezmur's Dress

Mezmur's three-year birthday dress was the Oliver and S Popover dress pattern. I've wanted to make this super simple dress forever. I loved this yellow lawn fabric I found at Bolt. Once I got it home I noticed it was a bit see through, so I thought of adding a little ruffled slip. I also had to add a ruffle on the top to balance out the ruffle on the bottom. I also made the straps thinner than the pattern. I love how it turned out!I have plans to make another one with elastic around the middle and another with pockets. The possibilities are endless! The best part...Mezmur thought she was dressed like a princess in her popover dress and the red snow cone she ate washed out of her dress without leaving a stain.

Yes People, Our Baby is Fat

The Big Birthday Weekend...Picture Overload

This is Mezmur's "off" year for a birthday party, so we decided to combine our yearly trip to Enchanted Forest with her birthday. We invited a couple special people and had a fun day celebrating Mezmur Mimi.

This is Rhett's face while he watches the silly Little Red Riding Hood show.

Mezmur and Nana watching the show.

Mezmur's three year birthday dress. Having two girls I have decided to create a new tradition to make a new birthday dress every year. Here is Mezmur's third birthday dress (well, second dress...technically). I'll share more about this dress on another post...

Mezmur got tired at the end of the day and curled up in the stroller for a little rest.

Trying on Nana's old dance outfit...a gift from Nana.

On her real birthday we had a great dinner with friends and a pink, purple, and chocolate cake for the birthday girl...Mezmur's request.

Welcome to your fourth year around the sun baby girl.