Twenty Months Old

Whew! It sure has been a while. I've been meaning to come back and post a little more regularly, but between the end of the school year craziness, getting custom orders done, making items for the upcoming craft show and taking care of Little Bub, I just can't find the time or the energy. Even my household chores have been a little neglected. And definitely my time in the kitchen has been almost nonexistent. Salad for dinner again, dear? Oh well, it's good for us, right?

I'm definitely enjoying my time home this summer. Mostly. We have our days where Little Bub pushes my patience, but overall we are having fun and I've been getting a lot of stuff done for the craft show. It helps when Little Bub takes a 2-3 hour nap. :)

This is how we are spending our time this morning. 

Trying to get away from the TV. Little Bub has been on a Cars kick this past week and brings the DVD case over so we can watch it. Again and again and again.

I just can't believe he is 20 months old today. He is turning into such a little man. He still loves a lot of the same food (he had a whole large slice of pizza to himself last night!) And blueberries are a new favorite. He goes to the fridge and pulls them out for lunch everyday.

He has learned quite a few signs now and regularly signs thank you, even without being prompted most times! We're still working on please. ;) He is talking a little more too. Still words and not phrases, but he does well with the "oo" sound like blue, balloon, shoe, moo, boo, etc. They mostly sound the same and we have to look at what he's pointing at before we can figure out what he means.

He loves Mickey Mouse and Chuggington, and of course Cars. He still likes to be read to and look at books. And magazines like This Old House. Ha. His absolute favorite books are Wake Up, Little One and Why I Love My Daddy. Those often travel up and down the stairs with us throughout the day. He just got his first trike this week and he's already figured it out even though he can't quite get going on his own. He loves to go for bike rides in the pull behind trailer though! And his very best friend is Teddy. 

I am not ready for him to be two years old yet. It's only 4 months away now. Eek!

St. Patrick's Suspenders

Just popping in to say I hope you enjoyed your St. Patrick's Day celebrations yesterday. In honor of the occasion, I made Little Bub his own bow tie and suspender set.

 

He doesn't much care for either, but he was content to let me put them on him if I let him play with the sewing machine. ;)

 

I used the tutorial from Make It & Love It for the suspenders. Super easy to follow directions with pictures. The only trouble I had was that I wanted to include snaps on the front so I could lengthen the straps for next year. It took quite a lot of banging and extra snaps. Oof.

 

For the bow tie, I found another great tutorial at Paper & Stitch. Again, lots of pictures and detailed instructions for a beginner like myself.

 

I hope to have enough time to make a set for Easter. I'm still looking for the perfect fabric to go with the little blue and white seersucker blazer I bought for Little Bub. I can't wait until his Easter pictures!

Sixteen Months

Today Little Bub is sixteen months old. It seems like we just had his birthday! During Little Bub's first year, I took a picture each month as he grew. I thought I would continue that as he grew, at least until his second birthday, but it's hard to find the time. Also, his baby book doesn't have entries for those months, yet I feel like they should because he is still learning so much each month and growing so fast that I feel like I won't remember all of it!

 

 

So this is going to be my baby book entry for 16 months of new things since his last entry.

 

Sleeping patterns: 7/8 PM-7 AM; 1 nap per day about 1.5-2 hours

Eating habits: Breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner; will try just about anything; often eats whole grilled cheese sandwiches, slices of pizza and pancakes

 

 

Favorite foods: peaches, pears, string cheese, yogurt, pizza, pancakes, bananas, lunch meat, grilled cheese, and BREAD (especially garlic bread)

New foods: hot dogs, Chinese food, pulled pork, Chef Boyardee Ravioli

New skills: walking, riding the tricycle, using the potty, shape sorting, following directions, swimming without any adult help, climbing into little rocking chair, flushing the toilet, feeding self with a fork

New words/signs: Nap, bath, blowing kisses, eat, more, drink, mama, milk, uh-oh, hot, brrr, yuck

Favorite activities: playing with Frankie (the dog), helping wash the dishes, reading books, looking out the window, coloring (read hoarding crayons), playing kitchen, throwing balls

 

 

And we can't forget his first haircut!!!



I'm Back!

It's been a little over a month since my last post. Whew! I hadn't planned on such a long break, but I've been so busy launching my little business through Facebook. In the last month and a half I have made over 30 hats and 5 banners. That's just an estimate, I'm sure it's more!!

I'm so incredibly grateful to be able to put a smile on people's faces by making cute hats and other items for their families. I started this to be able to give people an affordable option for quality items that are personal and homemade.

The orders are slowing down a little now, which gives me a chance to start some other projects I have been eyeing up. I have some hat patterns I haven't even tried yet! I can't wait to see how the bonnets and the sun hats turn out.

Little Bub has grown so much since my last post. He is walking up a storm and learning all sorts of new words. He has even been swimming at lessons without parental assistance. He has a "bubble" floaty around his waist and a noodle under his arms and he can swim across the pool!! It's totally amazing and sad at the same time.

 

We were able to play outside a little bit the other day and now that Little Bub is walking, he loves it!! I have to say it was the funniest thing to see him trying to stand back up while bundled up in his gear. He looked like an orange marshmallow! His hair is getting so long. I want to cut it, but Daddy says no. Can you believe it? Actually he says to wait until it's warmer, so it keeps his head warm. As long as he's not mistaken for a girl, I don't care.

 



Valentine Hat

Valentine's Day will be here before you know it, so I decided to make a Valentine hat for Little Bub so he can get use out of it. He probably would tell me that he's tired of his reindeer hat if he could talk.

The reindeer hat in action.
 

I love finding free patterns online that work really well. One of my new favorite blogs is Micah Makes. I bought the frog prince hat for Little Bub's halloween costume from this shop.

 

I love, love, love the free pattern she has offered on her site: Versatile Earflap Hat. Not only is this basic pattern free, but you can adapt it to so many different hats. Micah even occassionally posts ideas about different ways to use the hats and how to make these changes. Some of my favorites are the apple hat, the watermelon hat, the Irish colorblock hat, and the Dr. Seuss versions.

I've used her basic earflap pattern to make a couple new hats to sell. Tonight, I used it to start the base for Little Bub's Valentine hat. Instead of the earflaps though, I decided to make it a beanie.

 

I found this cute little tutorial on how to crochet a heart at Cornflower Blue Studio. It's so easy! I may make a garland out of little hearts if I can find the extra time. Try it out! What a great project for beginners! The pictures will help guide you more easily than written directions.

 

Keep checking back to see my new creations!

Life Lately

I've been having issues with blogger lately. I haven't been able to upload pictures from my computer to the posts, so that's why I haven't been posting lately. It's really no fun without adding pictures! It works in HTML mode, but I'm not very good at that either. No time to learn about it!

My little business adventure is taking off on Facebook. I've had a lot of orders already and we hit 100 likes and did a free giveaway! I'm very blessed to have so many people like my work. My sister-in-law is adding some items too. She makes taggies (or ribbon blankets) and scarves.

I had a logo made from Red Meadow Design Co. on Etsy. I love it! Now I just have to get cards made.

I've been busting my behind trying to keep up with all the orders. Maybe someday I'll venture over to make an Etsy shop, but right now I have enough business from friends and facebook fans. One of my best customers is Melissa from Lissa May Photography. One of my favorite pictures is the one where she used the banner/garland I made with the word "one".

 



 

The little girl is adorable! And I must say, the banner looks amazing here.

 

On a personal aside, Little Bub has started walking! Finally! I never thought it would happen. He only wanted to hold on to the furniture and our hands, but then he just started taking a few steps here and there. He's still not super steady, but he does take many steps in a row! As a first time mom you worry about when they start doing things, but with Little Bub I've learned that just because he isn't doing something doesn't mean he can't. He just doesn't want to! He also has a new tooth! He's just growing in leaps and bounds. I'd like to press the pause button.

 



 

This picture is from the last weekend when we had beautiful spring weather in New York! It was about 50 degrees the day we took him outside. It was his first ride in his little red wagon (a gift from Christmas). He wanted to keep going and going. Whenever I stopped, he would point at the handle. I just love the coat and the hat. Although it isn't one I made for him, it's just perfect for his little face! 

Happy New Year

Long time, no new posts! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and end of 2012. I spent a lot of time working on Christmas gift projects and enjoying time with Little Bub on my break from school.

Today was my first day back at work and I can say without feeling guilty that I enjoy getting out of the house and wearing makeup so I couldn't be a full-time-stay-at-home mom. I love Little Bub to pieces but I start to feel a little stir-crazy after about 10 days at home with him; at least in the middle of winter and in a small town there are not many options besides holing up at home.

Plus, Little Bub is not quite old enough to spend long amounts of time doing activities. His favorite thing to do right now is climb up and down off the couch. Especially with a book! And then he will bounce on his bottom and flip through the pages. But don't try to read to him, he wants to flip through at his own pace! Unless it's his very favorite Brown Bear, Brown Bear book.

When he's done that a few times he will slide down (a skill I'm proud to say he mastered in just a day or two, so I don't have a heart attack when I find him on the couch by himself) and crawl over to the other couch and bang on it until I help him up. Then he'll yank on the curtains and look out the window. That is actually most of our day, besides eating and sleeping.

Yesterday we tried some coloring, but Little Bub was more interested in putting the crayons in and out of the box. Someday he'll get it!

 

My Long Thanksgiving Weekend

Working in a school has its perks, I must admit. One of those is having a five day weekend to spend crafting and loving up Little Bub.

On Wednesday, I decided to take advantage of the unusually mild, sunny weather and take Little Bub to the park.











We brought our dog too. Poor Frankie. He's generally a good sport as long as Little Bub isn't reaching for a handful of fur.

On Thursday, we spent time with both sides of our family. My sister-in-law kindly agreed to snap a few shots for our Christmas cards. She has amazing talent!

 

On Friday, we went to go pick our Christmas tree. The past few years we used a fake one, but with Little Bub around we wanted to start the tradition of having a real one. It was a little colder outside, but still a nice enough day to walk around the tree farm.

The rest of the weekend was pretty normal. I worked on some crafts while Little Bub helped, Little Bub had swimming lessons and we took some much needed naps. I was sad to see the weekend come to an end.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is what I'm most thankful for this year.

 

 

A little man who is healthy, happy and continuing to grow everday.

Look how much Little Bub has changed in just one year! It makes me a little sad to see the difference. But he is still my little baby.

 

I can't forget to mention all the other blessings in my life, including my family, friends, home, job and the countless little things that make my life wonderful.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Favorite Finds

Last night, my husband and I went on a much needed mini-shopping trip and dinner date. We made a couple stops and I am so excited about some of my purchases I wanted to share them!

One of our last stops was at Old Navy. Some of my favorite hand-me-down sweaters for Little Bub are from there, so I though I'd see what they have for this season. Well, it was a bust for the sweaters, but I found some other things for Little Bub.

I love the colors of the bodysuits. I think Little Bub looks great in gray and blue things, so these were perfect! And of course, I just love penguins.













I couldn't pass up the hooded fleece. It's just adorable. And the fact that it's a zip-up makes it even better! We're all about the zip-up hoodies in this house. They keep Little Bub warm without puffing him up like a marshmallow, they're easy to get on and off and the hood adds an extra layer in case of wind or rain.

Finally, I bought the booties for Little Bub to wear as slippers in the house. Any mother of a baby knows how difficult it is to keep socks on a baby's feet. Little Bub is famous for pulling his socks off and throwing them around the house, or even backseat of the car! I'm hoping these little things will stay on his feet better and keep his feet cozy this winter.

Buttons

Soon I hope to be sharing a crochet pattern for a gingerbread man hat, but I still have to find the perfect buttons for the eyes.

 

When I was finished with the crocheting part, I got out my jar of buttons to search for big shiny black ones for the eyes. I don't have any, but Little Bub was very interested in playing with the buttons. At first, I was nervous about him trying to put them in his mouth, but he didn't even try once.

 

 

We did some sorting by colors, but that wasn't as fun as picking them up and waving our hands around to get them off. There may still be some buttons swimming in the carpet, but it entertained Little Bub for about forty minutes!

Mission Accomplished

Little Bub's first birthday party went pretty well. There was a little bit of last minute scrambling to clean the house and finish the baking. I definitely recommend doing an appetizer party or something similar. It's very easy to prepare most of the food (in this case fruit) and the clean-up is also a breeze.



I was surprised at how much people ate! The party was from 2-4 PM and I was only serving snack type food, like what the caterpillar ate in The Very Hungry Caterpillar. By the end of the party, the whole cheese, cracker and salami plate was gone, as well as the pickles and all but 4 slices of pear.

The punch was also a hit! Just a few drops at the bottom of the bowl. We used Lemon Berry Punch and 7Up with raspberry sherbert.

First we opened gifts. Little Bub received so many cool toys, books and puzzles. My family went with a theme and gave him lots of musical instruments, like the Band in a Box.

Then it was time for cake! Little Bub was ready for a nap at this point due to his not napping well earlier in the day. He wasn't very interested in smashing his cake. It would have been a lot of fun, but at least there wasn't a huge mess to clean up! I don't think he likes how sticky frosting is. Once he got it on his hand, he was waving it all around trying to get it off!

Now I'm ready to take a little break from all the planning and the prepping. Just in time to get started on some Christmas activities!

The Birthday Boy

We also spent yesterday afternoon finishing a birthday photo shoot. Here is the little man himself!

 

 

 

Happy 1st Birthday!!

 

 

 

Desserts and Printables

Today is the big day! Little Bub turned one today and we spent the afternoon house hunting. What an expensive first birthday present! :)
Yesterday I spent the afternoon baking. I was inspired by the cake pop caterpillar at Pottery Barn Kids. I made the cake part and plan on dipping them in the chocolate in the morning.

 

I also made cupcake ice cream cones. Here is a picture from Stick a Fork In It. Mine are not finished yet. I still have to add frosting and the sprinkles.

 

 

 

Finally, I made some plain cupcakes that I plan on dressing up as apples. I bought the recipe book, Hello Cupcake, What's New? a while ago at William and Sonoma.  I loved these, but haven't had a chance to make them yet. What better time than a hungry caterpillar birthday party?! I assure you, mine won't be to perfectly shaped, but they'll still taste good!

 

 

 

I also found these labels for free at Polkadots and Puppies. They are perfect for the table and also explain the strange choices for the menu!

 

 

Finally, as an activity for the kiddos, I am going to give them a coloring page to take home. Quick and simple favor!

 







Bunting and Garland

To continue with DIY party decorations, I made a few wall decorations. I was inspired by the month-by-month bunting from The Scrap Shoppe, but I wanted to customize it for the Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. My sister-in-law suggested I do circles for the caterpillars body (why didn't I think of that?)

It was a super simple project. I started with circles cut from green scrapbook paper and cut the pictures a little smaller, then used foam tape to adhere them so the pictures would pop off a little. I wanted to add a little more so I included the head of the caterpillar, added some shiny gold stickers for each month and made some glittery, gold clothespins for some sparkle. I think my guests will enjoy seeing how Little Bub changed over the past year!

I also wanted to make a happy birthday bunting that I could use every year if I wanted to. First I made a triangle template from cardboard and traced it onto the wrong side of the fabric. Then I used pinking shears to cut on the lines, so I could leave the edges unsewn. I used some of the leftover fabric from his shirt and hat (I just love that number fabric - it's so perfect for a birthday!). I used store-bought double fold bias tape and sewed it with metallic gold thread to tie in with the gold clothespins.
I didn't sew down the edges on this yet:
1. the letters are so small they intimidate me
2. I just did this the last weekend before his party and haven't had the time!