Diaper Cake & Paci Clips

When Chris mentioned that he wanted to throw a diaper shower for a couple on the softball team, I was very excited.  Our friends did one for us when we had Taylor and it was so helpful to have all those diapers already on hand.  I also figured this was a good excuse for me to attempt my first diaper cake.

          

I am always seeing cute creations while looking at craft blogs and couldn’t resist the chance to tryout making my own pacifier clips.  Taylor used the MAM pacifiers and it was impossible to find cute clips.  I ran into a few snags while making them and learned that the sewing machine isn’t the only thing in my craft room that can hate me.  Maybe I can master how to put snaps on before I attempt this for baby L. 

 

If you want to try these out yourself, great instructions can be found at the following blogs:

Create Studio

this and that

Ruffles and Stuff

I have to admit that I also enjoyed making boy stuff.  I love pink and girly stuff, but blues and greens are fun to work with too.  I’m already planning out baby L’s softball version of the blue paci clip.  What shapes would you put on the end of a paci clip?

Sea World

i remember going to sea world years(and years) ago after it first opened with my cousin, mom, and grandmother.

***disclaimer: i started this post weeks ago, but it took me forever to find these pictures and i really wanted to include them so bare with me on my childhood flashback and enjoy the styles of the 80’s for a bit.  no making fun of my hair!*** 

     

a few pics from the 2nd year sea world was open, the strollers do not look like that anymore or taylor would have demanded for the much cooler dolphin!

i guess we also went to lone star beer while on this trip and started a love for texas beer early!

boy has that place changed in the past few years!  chris and i took taylor for her first, of many, visits to sea world.  i didn’t mention this trip to her until the day before since she has not quite figured out what tomorrow means, but she does tell me ‘not yet’ when asked to do something.(i wonder where she gets that from???)

one excited little girl

 

first stop was at the sea lions and taylor was immediately in LOVE!  i loved the 9 day old baby sea lion that was too young to even swim but enjoy sunning on the rocks.

 

the sea lion show was taylor’s favorite.  kisses from a walrus or ‘the big one’ as taylor called it.  she also loved the map and telling us where the different animals were and where we needed to go next. 

one of my favorite photos. 

one of the perks of our trip is that chris’ aunt lives 15 from sea world so we were able to take taylor there for naptime and a chance to cool off.  after a nap and water we were ready to see more.  shamu was exciting for me, but i think taylor was more interested in the frozen lemonade i had. 

        

          

hot, sweaty, happy girl after day one at sea world

     

day two: dolphins, rays

 

checking out the tropical fish with daddy

     

and mommy’s favorites…. sharks!

  

then taylor insisted that we head back to her favorite, the sea lions

       

this time we found the sea otters too, so she spent quite a bit of time running between the two animal exhibits. 

 

we ended the day by watching the new Azul show with dolphins and beluga whales.  it was even better than the shamu show and definitely held taylor’s interest.  i wish i had more photos, but i was too into the show to take photos.  we are looking forward to several more trips down to san antonio and continue taylor’s education/love for sea animals.  it’s been a couple of weeks and she is still talking about the different animals and pointing them out more in her books.  maybe one of these days we’ll get her in the water diving with us too!

Taylor Tuesday

Necessary items to have a dance party with Momma:
- tutu
- wand
- crown
- princess shoes
- and Woody

Sorry for the side shot, but she was not in the mood for paparazzi while dancing but I couldn't resist a picture in this attire.

29 by 30 update

I am down to less than a month before the big 3-0 and just thought I would take a minute to keep myself in check on my to-do list.  If I’ve completed the task it’s marked off and if it’s in progress then an update is in purple.

1. Travel out of state again

2. Take Taylor to a Tech football game - I wasn’t able to take Taylor to a Tech football game so I can’t mark that one off on my list, but she now says ‘football’ when we turn football games on and she cheers for Tech.  I am working on her guns up so that she has it down by the first game.

3. Master the art of snow cone making at home

4. Finally get my craft room organized(it’s been a bit scary in here lately) - The craft room is coming along and I hope to post pictures soon.  We are gathering for a garage sale so some stuff has been piling up in there.  Plus we are currently on a whole house reorganize/complete rooms mission while getting the baby’s room ready.

5. Lie on the beach - Didn’t get to do this one yet, but I’ve done my fair share of lounging in a chair poolside or sitting poolside while my cabana girl(Taylor) dumps cools me off with water.

6. Try to read at least a book a month – I am rocking this thanks to Misty and her endless stream of books. 

7. Paint my dining room purple(I have to convince Chris this is a good idea first) – Not sure this is going to happen now that I have turned the dining room into my craft room.  I might adjust this to be ‘add more purple to the dining room’. 

8. Take tons of pictures of Taylor – completed and then some!

9. Take Taylor to the Trail of Lights - Due to extra travel, sick kid, and just flat ran out of time we did not make it down to Trail of Lights but we took her on several car rides to look at Christmas lights.  Plus I heard they changed the Trail of Lights and it’s not quite what it used to be :(

10. Start holiday traditions with Taylor – I am trying to establish family traditions and also do craft projects with her for each holiday to make it fun. 

11. Eat at Hula Hut(yes I know I’m a bad Austinite for living here for 6 1/2 yrs and never visiting) – maybe I’ll take my mom there while she’s in town next weekend

12. Rub it in to Chris that I’m still in my 20’s while he is in his 30’s

13. Blog more – not sure if I am or not, but I’m trying

14. Create at least 12(one for each month) scrapbook pages for 2009 – oops, better get on that one right away!!!!

15. Knit or crochet a blanket for our living room – I really should read my own blog more and keep up with this to-do list.  Is it bad to add your to-do list to your to-do list???

16. Finish Taylor’s alphabet book(and blog about it)

17. Truly clean out my closet – started, but not quite finished

18. Organize all my holiday decorations and get rid of the stuff I haven’t used the past two years

19. Volunteer with the church

20. Sew a pillowcase dress for Taylor

21. Go on more date nights with the hubby

22. Own a brand new car

23. Recycle more – this gets easier the more you do, now if I could convince the city to give us bigger recycling container for the curb with a cover I would be in heaven!

24. Spend a few days with Tay where we never get out of our PJ’s

25. Go to New York with my Mom and best friend – and my mother-in-law and two of my sister-in-laws came too :)

26. Have a spa day(hint hint honey) – I’ve got the gift certificate, now I just need to pick a day to go

27. Update my cookbook and create a list of our favorites for a quick reference – I am working on trying some new recipes so that will help in our dinner rotation.  Props go to Annalee for providing us with so many new dinner options that are fast, easy, and Chris loves!

28. Take a cooking class – I’ve looking into them and my MIL is going to join me so we are finding a time that is good for both of us.

29. Blog about each of these items as I complete them

So overall I have completed 14, 4 may not be accomplishable at this point, and the rest I have less than a month to complete and intend to do so.  I am in motivation mode right now and wear Chris out with all my tasks around the house lately.  Looking forward to completing the rest of these and curling up with a good book!

Taylor Tuesday

Over the weekend Taylor learned that sometimes when you wish on a penny

  

that your wishes come true!

Headband

Thanks to Etsy I was able to do birthday shopping for one of my sister-in-law’s months ago.  She is so cute and trendy in her own way that I knew one of the fabric flower headbands would be perfect.  Not too long after I ordered one for her I saw a tutorial on how to make your own in less than an hour.  I have always loved these fabric flowers and thought they would be cute additions to Taylor’s hair too.  Plus I had adorable lime green polka dot fabric left over from making this owl dress.  I love that this whole project cost me less than $1 since the headbands were a 3 pack for $2.50 and all the fabric is leftover from previous sewing projects.  I even pulled some tshirts out of my goodwill bag to use, but none were a color that my sil would wear.  I LOVE how it turned out and am contemplating making some clips for Taylor to wear with her owl dress(and if I do some will be on their way to you Annalee) and maybe a black and red version for me to wear during football season.  Hmmm… think of all the possibilities!

 

(Chris got me a slr camera for Mothers Day/early birthday and I am loving the way it takes pictures)

I also made her a card based on this one from kwernerdesignblog.com.  I love her stuff and especially since she does video tutorials for you to see how simple it is to make them yourself.  I used paper on the front that is from the ‘Material Girl’ collection and thought it was appropriate for the homemade gift.

 

Happy 4th of July!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July! 

Taylor Tuesday

I had a hard time picking today’s photo.  We are on vacation right now and I’ve actually had the time to capture Taylor in some funny photos.  This one just made me smile because she was so proud of herself for figuring out how to use this part of the playground.  The other little boys playing nearby called it monkey bars so Taylor thought it was necessary to make the monkey noise while climbing.  I have to say that there is never a boring day anymore with Taylor around!  And I LOVE seeing her face light up when she figures out something new!

Taylor Tuesday

Chris, Taylor, and I spent the weekend in San Antonio going to Sea World.  This was Taylor’s first trip but due to Chris & I’s love for sealife it wasn’t her first time around sea animals.  She had a blast and her favorite part was watching the sea lions.  We spent time watching them both days and she still talks about them.  I was such a pleasure to watch her little face light up with excitement while seeing all the different animals and shows! 

Stay tuned for a full blog post about our Sea World adventures!

It’s a….

the predictions were made

the cake was cute as could be and made by my creative friend Megan at Trendy Treats

we even had my mom on the video chat so she could watch from fort worth

   

it’s a…. girl!

         

the family then proceeded to send out the much awaited texts to those waiting to hear.. how technology has changed the way things happen.

 

taylor still insists that she’s having a baby pickle instead of a baby sister, but we are thrilled to be adding more little girl giggles to our household.  chris keeps saying no to the pink, but i think it’s a little late for that :)  the ultrasound showed that our little bean is very healthy and everything is going great with the pregnancy.  since chris wouldn’t talk names with me until we found out the sex, we are now starting the name game.  any suggestions for girl names(no t first names, too matchy-matchy for me)????

and i’ll leave you with one of the few clear pictures of bean.  she was quite a stinker and kept moving her hands, and even feet, in front of her face today.