elizabeTHursday

This picture says so much about Elizabeth right now.  She has figured out how to put her paci in by herself but doesn't always get it in the right way(she finds this amusing too).  And she loves to watch Taylor.  The love between our girls amazes me and I love watching them interact.  Elizabeth is fascinated with watching Taylor play and just squeals when Taylor stops to play with her.

Taylor Tuesday

For some reason I think Taylor has learned what to do when I get the camera out(when she feels like it).

Doll Shoes

For the first 10-12 years of my life I loved them and then started to love them again once Taylor reminded me of how fun they are.  Barbie shoes.  They complete an outfit, are the perfect accessory, something you can’t have too much of, and come in every color.  I never had a problem with them until I started to think of Elizabeth crawling soon and then I panicked.  Plus, Taylor is not old enough to really keep up with them very well.  After losing Barbie’s shoe during a recent road trip almost sent Taylor into a tantrum, I came up with a solution.  Why not glue the shoes onto the dolls?  Taylor has no desire to take the shoes on and off right now.  In the meantime, I have solved the issue of little sister eating shoes and avoided meltdowns over missing shoes.  So this morning my craft room looked a bit like this as I tested the strength of Gorilla Glue on doll shoes.

Taylor got a set of ALL the fairies(and yes we have two Tinkers) for Christmas and I had managed to get her to keep the clear rubber bands on the shoes.  This worked well to hold the shoes in place while they dried.  They look just like the rubber bands I use in Taylor’s hair, so you could use that too.  I did this in the morning and by bedtime they were dry.  On a couple of the dolls, the glue had seeped out, but it was easy to scrap that off. 

Now we don’t have to worry about lost shoes for dolls, except for Cinderella.  She has been missing one slipper since we got her but I figured it seems appropriate.  Anyone want to come play dolls?

Baby got… giggles???

I think I’ve watched way too many reruns of Friends when I can’t help but think of the episode where Ross and Rachel get Emma to laugh by singing/rapping Baby Got Back because Chris was able to get Elizabeth to laugh the other night, but only by making fake fart noises.  Yes, that’s right.  My sweet little girl loves to hear Daddy make fake fart noises.  Taylor loved it when I made a strange grunting noise and now farting for our other sweet princess.  No matter what it is, I love every second of hearing that sweet belly laugh and seeing her face light up.  It amazes me how a sweet little laugh can make your heart smile!

Now our biggest problem is that she won’t laugh for us again and we’ve tried everything.  Stubborn little girl!   What funny things did you do to get your little one to laugh?  I am out of ideas over here!

elizabeTHursday

My arms get a bit trying to carry Elizabeth while chasing Taylor around the backyard, so I thought I would see how she fit in the swing.  She’s still a bit small, but seemed to like it.  I couldn’t figure out if she was more annoyed when I would push her or when I wouldn’t.  Either way my arms got a break and Taylor was excited to have me chase her a bit more around the playscape.

Taylor Tuesday

Taylor had a blast playing with her cousins over the weekend.  This is one of the few moments I could get her to stop for a picture before she was off and running again.  I always regret not having more pictures of all the fun they have, but it is very hard to capture 3(4 once Elizabeth starts crawling) busy little girls. 

elizabeTHursday

Just a few days behind our regular schedule, but I promise I didn’t forget.  Elizabeth LOVES her exersaucer and just squeals with delight while playing in it. 

Taylor Tuesday

This is what I get to love on everyday, and I LOVE it!

More on the owls

A few weeks ago, I posted pictures about my version of Pottery Barn’s adorable owl bookends.  I finally found a naptime to stop and write the instructions in case you want to make one(or four like I did) for yourself. 

Materials:

3 different fabrics(I used 18” x 24” quilting squares and it was more than plenty fabric)

pattern

a contrasting thread color for belly/eyes/nose

2 big buttons for eyes(If you are looking for good buttons for sewing and paper crafts, try Papertrey Ink.)

polyfill or any kind of stuffing material

beans or rice if you plan to make it a weighted item

needle for hand stitching

Trace the pattern onto your fabric.  Cut out the body(2, one for front and back) and bottom with one fabric, eyes(2) and belly from another fabric, and nose and arms(2 front and 2 back) from the last color of fabric.  If your main body fabric is light enough in color, you can lay it on top of the pattern to see where to pin the belly and eyes on.  This is also a good time to pin the wings, with pretty sides together, to sew.  Make sure you leave the straight side open on the wings while sewing.  Sew the belly and eyes on the front of the body using a 1/4” around the outside.

After you sew the eyes on, then you can place the nose and sew it on.  The bottom tip of the new actually lays on top of the belly on my owls.  Once those pieces are sewn on, then hand sew on your button eyes. 

Sew around the edges of the wings and then flip right side out.  Lay them on the front of your owl to see where you want them to be and then pin them down.  Then lay the back on top with the pretty sides together and pin.  Sew around the edge with a 1/4” seam.  This step is VERY important.  Flip your owl right side out and make sure that all seams are sewn shut and that the wings are securely in place.  Then flip inside out again.  Now start stuffing. 

Please keep in mind that I am not an expert seamstress by any measure, so there is probably an easier way to do this step.  You now pin the bottom of the owl to the rest of the body.  Make sure when you sew that you leave around 1-2 inches so that you can flip the owl right side-out.  I made sure this was on the backside so you wouldn’t notice my hand stitching as much.  After you flip the owl right-side-out, then fill your owl with stuffing.  If you are wanting to use it as a bookend too, make sure you add stuffing first and then beans later.  I used a funnel to get the beans in the fastest.  Then stitch your small seam closed with a simple hand stitch and you are done!

I hope these instructions make sense to everyone.  If you have any questions please let me know.  This really is a fast and easy pattern.  I spent most of my time deciding which fabric to use.  Below you can see how using the same fabric, but for different parts of the owl makes a completely different owl.  Happy Sewing!

elizabeTHursday

Guess who started cereal???  She was trying to figure out if she liked it or not at this point.  Quickly after she cried because I wasn't feeding her fast enough. 

Taylor Tuesday

Oh Happy Day!

(I was on time with my email out to family, but forgot to blog.)

4 months old

I took the pictures on time, but just haven’t stopped long enough to finish the blog post.  Time is already flying by with Miss Elizabeth and love this transformation from a baby that just lays there to a baby that grabs at toys and wants to interact with you.  I am very excited about some of the milestones that are coming up and others I am fine with staying away for a while(teething).  So here are a few things are little Miss has done in the past month:

•   15 lbs. 5 ounces and 24 inches long – this puts her in the 80% for weight and 40% for height, she should get used to being short now
• Wearing size 3-6 month clothes and finishing up the last of our 1-2 size diapers and at the rate she’s gaining weight she might pass 2’s pretty quickly
• Nicknames: Lizzie, Sister, Little One, Pickle
• Favorite song: This Little Light of Mine and whatever the flower toy bar on your carrier plays(that thing works magic for you!)
• Favorite toys: monkey rattle/ring, teether ducky, teether butterfly, toys on your bumbo tray
• After trying a dairy free diet and sensitive version of formula, I believe Elizabeth has some kind of milk sensitivity.  Her baby acne is completely gone and the spit up was greatly reduced(along with my laundry load).  So I have gone back to having some dairy, but have switched to lactose free milk and try to avoid large bowls of ice cream. 
• Elizabeth does not care to lay on her back anymore and tries to pull herself up(like doing a sit-up).  She prefers to be sitting up so that she is see everyone.  Tummy time is now positive and she is happy like this as long as there are toys near her.
• Toys are a new exciting part of Elizabeth’s day and provide both entertainment and frustration.  She is so proud of herself when she gets the toy(or even just my hand) in her mouth but can get very upset when she drops the toy.  It is fun to watch each day as she gets better at this task and holds on to the object for just a few more seconds. 

• You moved to your room and the crib this month.  Within a few days of sleeping in there you were sleeping through the night, but before I could even create a post about this you regressed.  A bad ear infection caused you to stir during the night and decide to have a few parties at 3 am.  The doctor says that you will eventually get back to your sleep routine because right now you are getting up 2-3 times a night and I feel like I’m back to having a newborn again.  Thank goodness for caffeine! 
• I am working on getting you to sleep in your crib for nap time but this isn’t always the most efficient on getting you to take a good long nap.  You end up stirring every 10-15 minutes for the first hour and then settle down, but sleep wonderfully in the sleep so I tend to put you there instead.  There have actually been a few days that you and Taylor have taken a nap at the SAME time! 
• You are the happiest in the mornings and love to stand up in our laps.  You are also starting to ‘talk’ and will have long conversations telling me all about something.  It normally starts when Taylor isn’t around, but if she is you tend to get louder.  It’s almost as if you are trying to compete with her to see who is louder. 
• This month (on the 26th) you were baptized at church by Father Elmer.  It was a beautiful ceremony and even more touching that Taylor did not want to leave your side the entire time.  She was protectively watching as they poured the water over your head.

• We got the exersaucer down from the attic and were surprised to see how much you loved it right away.  When we put Taylor in it the first few times, she just looked overwhelmed.  You immediately started grabbing for toys and have a blast just checking out all the toys. 
• Drool has joined our daily life as you have learned to blow little raspberries.  They started out as something you did as the end of a frustration grunt and have now become a new fascination.  Whoever is holding you has to be fair warned that raspberries can often be a shower of spit from you too!
• Elizabeth experienced her first snow, but spent the 10 minutes we were outside all bundled up many layers of clothes.
• Elizabeth has hair, not much, but gains a little more each month.  Unlike her sister, it is a light brown and doesn’t seem to be changing.  I keep wondering if Lizzie will be my blue eye, brown haired little girl.
• You are a strong willed child already and I am curious how this will play out as you get older.  You like to stay busy when you are awake, but are already starting to show visual signs when you are tired.  You rub your eyes and cover your eyes with your palms facing out.  I have tried to get a picture of this but the lighting is too dim in your room for it to work.
• You have moved away from using the paci as a comfort tool unless you wake during the night.  Sometimes you can find your fists and that will make you happy for a little bit, but I haven’t been able to find a real good soother for you yet. 

Thank you for making it this far in the post!  As I look back on Taylor’s baby album, there are things I wish I would have written down so that later on she could read about them.  So I am trying to at least do that for Elizabeth and make more detailed records for Taylor from here on out. I love you little girl and love watching you grow up being a little sister.  I hope one day you know how much Taylor loved you from day one and never shows jealously for you, but only concern or love.  Looking forward to what this next month holds for us!

elizabeTHursday

Elizabeth has started to get a blank stare when I pull the camera out so now I try to take a picture without the camera in front of my face.  This is a much harder task than I thought it would be and have ended up with some strange angle shots but cute.  As soon as I looked out from behind the camera she gave me this great smile.  I just love this little girl! 

ps.  This was from the day she turned 4 months old! 

Taylor Tuesday

I never know what to expect when photographing Taylor.  Here's a glimpse at a quick few photos before school one day.  I love the energy, excitement, and creativity shining through each of these photos.  Plus let's not forget that 'fairies' is the best way to get a smile out of this girl.