Kids on the brain

There are so many well written tutorials out there for kick ass bits for kids. Here are a few I've tagged lately with the hope of whipping up sometime soon.

photo snagged from I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar

I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar is such a fantastic blog. I visit daily now to get my fix. One of her recent tutorials that I'm dying to make for the Rockstar is for the Upcycled Boy Hat seen above. Ear flaps are just too cute and I can totally see the Rockstar in a mini version. I think a trip to Value Village is in order - I need to snag some t-shirts to shred.

photo borrowed from homemadebyjill.blogspot.com

ADORABLE baby jean skirt from Homemade by Jill (love love love this blog) featured on a new for me blog Kojo Designs which is run by two very creative sisters. Too bad Mike won't let me put a skirt on the Rockstar: no sense of adventure. Kim, I'm sending girl vibes your way so that I have an excuse to make one of these teeny tiny skirts.

photo borrowed from Living with Punks

I was hunting for a tutorial for floor cushions and came across another fabulous blog that I have added to my list of places to visit often. Living with Punks: awesome blog with fantabulous tutorials. This kid size floor cushion has been added to my ever growing list of things to make: might whip up a couple for Christmas presents and am definitely going to make a few larger sized cushions for the deck.

photo borrowed from Thimble

Maybe I'm behind the times but I didn't know that wannabe chalkboard fabric existed! If you're out of the loop too yes it is fabric you can draw on with chalk. Genius! Love this little travel roll-up chalk mat found on Thimble. Such a simple project. Hmm, a potential Christmas gift for a couple little ladies I know.

Move over 'Pimp My Ride'

The Rockstar's toy repertoire is slowly expanding and his bouncy chair is a heavenly easy-to-move item that he now tolerates and borders on enjoying BUT I managed to register for the most boring chair imaginable. So boring in fact that I didn't take a photo of it before I tore it apart so here's an image borrowed from the Bright Starts website:

Adorable baby, cute fabric on the chair and fun looking animals for the baby to whack, right? That's what I thought when I chose it but I picked it based off of the photo and didn't have a chance to actually play with it. The rattle in the middle is decent and it is removable - thanks to a bit of velcro on the hanger thingo - therefore it's easy enough to swap with other toys if baby gets bored BUT the other two soft toys hanging on either side of the rattle are B.O.R.I.N.G. They don't do anything, no jingle, no rattle, no squeak: NOTHING. Not only do they not do anything but you can't remove them, they are permanently attached to the bar.

Permanence was what the company had in mind anyways. Yesterday I armed myself with a pair of scissors, a needle, thread and velcro and set off on a mission to Pimp the Rockstar's Chair. The finished result:
Yep, he's winking at me saying "That's my kick ass mom!" Thanks, Baby Boy.

Lessons learned from this experience:
1. the less expensive (aka cheap) toys are often priced that way for a reason *insert husband telling me "You get what you pay for." here*
2. you can fix a boring bouncy chair without spending a cent (the toys I hung on there are some of the Rockstar's favs that usually hang in his play gym)
3. I need to learn how to hand sew, if this picture was sharp you would see the hideous job I did sewing the velcro on, hence the not so sharp image: embroidery 101 here I come
4. thimbles were invented for a reason and I should probably purchase one

Next issue to deal with is the control panel that was installed in the perfect place for a kicking baby to whack their little heels on. Booooo!

Until I fix a bit of foam to cover that sucker, the Rockstar will be wearing his dino slippers for protection. I didn't think of covering the panel until I watched him whack it today so that's next on my to do list.

My second mission yesterday was to improve the Fischer Price Little Lamb Swing (a big ticket baby item worth every penny) that the Rockstar spends a lot of time in. I had big plans for this puppy, I was going to make colourful felt stuffies to hang down to replace the boring muted lambs you see here:

But then I had a thought: why not recycle the 'don't d0 anything' toys from the bouncy chair since these little buddies are just for admiring anyways? And why not jazz up one of the pastel lambs with a bit of ribbon?

I wish I had armed myself with the video camera when I put the Rockstar in his swing after the upgrades, his reaction was priceless. Clearly he thought the lambs were boring too, his face lit up like a Christmas tree when he looked up and noticed the new bits, While grinning from ear to ear he cooed and gurgled at the rotating toys. It certainly doesn't take much to make our munchkin happy. Mission accomplished!

The kids is a...

Yes ladies and gentlemen the 9 week old Rockstar slept from 9pm until 6:15am, woke up smiling, ate and then went right back to sleep. I am sipping a coffee and enjoying the silence while my two boys sleep. A full night of sleep for the first time in I don't remember how long is the perfect start to what is bound to be a fabulous weekend.

Boing Boing

If you have never visited the blog Boing Boing you should. There are loads of interesting articles/photographs/videos submitted by people and of course there are a tonne that will get you giggling.

Two of the posts that had me laughing on my most recent visit included this photograph
that definitely needs to be made into a t-shirt:

HOW TRUE!

And this one titled Women: ask for a Raise, you douche! The title alone kills me, it's perfect for the article pictured below.

Seriously, who gave the thumbs up for this ad to print?! Ridiculous but funny.

Fab Pick of Last Week (or the week before??)

Dicky Bird was featured over at Bloesem (a beautiful blog that makes me swoon on a daily basis) and I immediately fell in love with the sweet designs of these greeting cards. Simple yet sweet!

Blog Love

I dare you to visit Mila's Daydreams and not crack a smile. I'm betting you'll also giggle while you're there. Brilliant!

Time Flies...

We love you, Little Man!

Dynamic Duo

I'm amazed at how fast the days fly by since our boy entered our world, it's kind of scary. I'm going to try to post a little more regularly now that we are getting into a routine around here and now that the swing is the Rockstar's friend. All should bow to the creator of the little lamb baby swing.

NOTE: HA! I wrote that paragraph a week ago, our daytime 'routine' seems to change every day which I guess means it's not really a routine yet. We'll get there eventually!

Today marks the first day of the second week my little man and I are a duo for the day!


It has been such a busy couple of months that I haven't even taken the time to explain that Mike has been home with us since the day the Rockstar was born. He took two weeks off to stare at our boy, went back to work for one day and then had the surgery that he has been waiting 10 months for. It has been a crazy homebound summer with a new baby and a barely mobile husband but it has been fantastic having Mike around so much. He is now working from home until he gets the okay to return to the office. Fingers crossed that his appt goes well tomorrow, assuming it does then he'll move into a walking boot and begin his mobility recovery.

I'm now getting a taste of the reality of weekday mommyhood: so far so good! I've managed to shower most days and slapped three coats of oil on our new deck last week while the Rockstar practiced kickboxing (another shout out, this one to Baby Einstein and their playgym/mat thingo). The little man LOVES being outside and spent the entire time smiling and 'talking' to his toys and me. Yes we FINALLY have a full deck out back (five years after moving in) and it looks amazing - I'll post pics once it is all done..

I'm going to post this puppy now or it may never happen and then maybe, just maybe I'll get to cutting some fabric for one of a million projects I'd like to get going on. Christmas isn't too far away and I would REALLY like to make a pile of prezzies and for the remaining gifts I'm hoping to buy mostly homemade: gotta love Etsy!

Fantastic Firsts

July was a big month! The Rockstar turned 5 weeks old last Thursday and he's so advanced (definitely a genius in the making) he's already had a bunch of 'firsts'.



Boo hoo! My baby is growing so quickly.

Fab Pick of Ages Ago

InkTree Press has beautiful art "inspired by the wonder of childhood." We chose the Cosmic ABCs and Animal 123s designs for Kian's space and had the colours customized to match perfectly: they look fabulous on his walls! The designs are crisp and the colours are bright, they are perfect for a nursery or children's playroom. Pop over to InkTree Press to check out all of the sweet designs.

3 Weeks!!

Something tells me this is going to turn into a place to post a million pictures of the cutest boy on the face of the earth.

Happy Three Week Birthday to the king of our castle!

p.s. I thought Picnik was fantabulous before but I upgraded to a premium account and it just got a WHOLE lot better. Definitely worth considering for those who like to use this awesome site.

No Longer Just a Smidge

I've been absent for a good reason...

We went from giving 'Smidge' kisses like this:


To giving baby Rockstar kisses like this:Our Rockstar was born on June 24th at 1:49 a.m. Our son (I LOVE saying that) weighed 7 lbs 15 oz and was 19 inches long on his birthday. We have fallen head over heels hard and fast. I knew being a mom would be incredible but I had no idea just how incredible "incredible" could be.

As you can see the Rockstar was born with a ridiculous amount of black hair! It hangs over his shirt collar and so far it's staying put and not thinning too much. He's our little werewolf: born on a full moon with a full head of hair and a little patch of fuzz above his bum which sort of looks like a tiny tail. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to read that one day.

In a few hours it will be three weeks since the Rockstar entered our lives but it seems like he has been part of our family forever. Mike is the most amazing dad and seeing him doting on the Rockstar makes me love him in a whole new way.

The Rockstar smiled on his birthday and it wasn't because of gas, it's just one of his sweet expressions. Smiles and his "O" face were the most common expressions for the first week but now he has a whole array of faces that amuse us. He loves kisses, being outside and bath time but doesn't particularly like having his face washed. Being cuddled, carried and swinging in his swing are all good times while laying in his stroller's bassinet is pretty much torture (he obviously has no idea what it took to find that stupid bassinet!! Here's hoping it becomes less of a torture device in the next couple weeks).

Our birth story is a positive one so I'll definitely share it with you in the not so distant future - I think more women need to tell their happy, positive labour stories since women tend to scare the hell out of first time pregnant mamas by telling them their horror stories or by focusing on all the negative parts of their not so terrible experiences.

Welcome to the world Rockstar: Mommy and Daddy love you more than you could ever fathom.

Two Days Past Due

Well the wee man's due date has come and gone... I was hoping he might make an appearance today as a Father's Day prezzie for his daddy but it's not looking or feeling like that's going to happen. Tomorrow is the 21st which is the date that Mike has been 'forecasting' since the beginning so fingers crossed! I see my OB tomorrow anyways and he agreed that he will help the little guy along if I make it in to the appointment.

We just found out that Mike will be having surgery FINALLY on his very broken foot (it has been 10 months now) on July 12th so we would like the baby to be here a few weeks to give us a chance to become somewhat comfortable with this whole new parenting thang before Mike is knocked off his feet for a couple months. Thankfully my OB agreed that this would be a good thing.

Everyone says that nesting kicks in just before the baby arrives and I have definitely had a sudden burst of energy. I'm not a big fan of cleaning but the house has been vacuumed more in the last week than it ever has and the floors have been mopped, the freezers are stocked and laundry is done... I could clean cupboards but I'd rather poke my eyes out so instead I've been sewing.

I finally made a minky blankie for our boy using this super sweet alien fabric. I whipped up a peanut burp cloth and bib to match. I'm hoping to snag some more of this print for future baby gifts - it's so cute! A pile of other little bibs and burp cloths have been sewn this week, a few for our little man and a bunch for gifts.

Oh and I made a mini wet bag for our cloth diapers to tuck in our diaper bag! I'm really happy with the bag: it's lined with white PUL and the exterior is an awesome birdie print (as you can see). I love this print and the sprinkle of pink birds and the bright pink zipper are a girlie addition for Mommy's sake.

Now everyone repeat after me: COME OUT AND PLAY, LITTLE BABY!!!!!!!

The Shoe Collecting Has Started Already!!

Daddy loves shoes and it looks like our little man is going to be competing with with him to see who can own the most pairs. The little bum has yet to arrive and his collection is larger than mine!

I started planning and cutting bits out to make a hanging shoe organizer for the wee man a few months back and let me tell you this was the most frustrating sewing project I've taken on yet. Sewing with this plastic was a royal pain in the butt - my teflon foot worked wonders but the plastic kept sticking to itself and to the plastic casing of my machine: annoying!!

Frustration aside I'm SUPER happy with the finished project and stoked that I completed it before the baby's birthday! I love the map print fabric I found at a local fabric store: our little boy is going to stomp all over the world with his sweet little feet.

Now I'm off to make a baby blanket, hopefully I can finish it before the big arrival!

Belly Pics!

We had belly shots taken a couple weeks ago: I was almost 37 weeks on the day of the shoot. Lorie from Emilly Grayce Photography did a FANTASTIC job, she came to our home and made us completely comfortable during the session. It was fun working with Lorie, we can't wait to see the rest of the photos and look forward to having her take our wee man's newborn photos after he arrives.

Here are a few of the shots she has shared with us so far.



I'll share some more pics once we get our paws on them but if you want to check out a few more pop over HERE.

Recipes

I'm trying to stock the freezer with quick meals and snacks for when the babe arrives, which should be any day now! I thought I would share a couple recipes that I tried this week. The Rotisserie Chicken from Once a Month Mom is AWESOME and super easy, all you need is a crock pot, some balled up tin foil and whatever spices you like on chicken. The result after 6 hours was a super moist and delicious mini chicken, the remains were used to make a yummy chicken soup which has been divided into freezer containers and tucked away for quick lunches. I bought another chicken and put it in the freezer for an easy to make hot meal during the crazy new parents and baby phase.

I froze muffins this week as well (chocolate chip and banana). After reading great reviews of this Banana Sour Cream Bread recipe I decided to make the mix into both loaves and muffins. The big oops of this recipe was me forgetting the SOUR CREAM that is clearly stated in the name of the recipe. Duh. Blaming it on baby brain (once again). Thankfully the final results still taste good! They're a little dense but still yummy. I'll have to try this recipe again but next time I'll add the main ingredient.

Fab Pick of...Too Long Ago

I've been hunting for a shelf for my sewing room and I think I've found the store to buy one from! Check out Old New Again's etsy shop for FABULOUS shelves and other funky old bits made... you guessed it: new again.

Showered with Love Once Again!

Isn't this the most beautiful baby shower cake you've ever seen?! It looks like something from Martha Stewart magazine but it's not... it was the gorgeous cake (which matched the invites) at my baby shower yesterday afternoon! Another day of spoilage, this one thanks to my awesome sis-in-law Joanne and my mom-in-law Bridie!

The ladies hosted High Tea with cucumber sandwiches and cheese sandwiches; homemade scones with cream, butter and jam (recipe coming soon); fruit and all sorts of yummy cookies. Of course there was the fabulous cake and adorable cupcakes (with booties on top) as well! Auntie Phil brought the beautiful teacups pictures above.

Thanks to everyone for spoiling our little man! At this rate we really are going to have to move into a bigger house.

It's Coming Together!

Just four weeks to go until our due date!! C.R.A.Z.Y!

The prints we ordered from Ink Tree Press Art arrived today and we LOVE them.

I made the cloud valence and the gauzy curtains were a steal from ikea. A steal as in a good deal, not as in the five finger discount kind of steal.

You should take a closer look at the prints because they're sweeeeeeet.

We could have purchased two matching print themes (cosmos like you see on the alphabet print or animals like the numbers) but we wanted to mix things up so the artist and owner, Erin, customized the number print for us so that the colours matched the alphabet print.

They look even better in person than they do in pictures, THANK YOU ERIN!!

And just to refresh your memory... this is where things stand in the nursery right now.

Stay tuned for more nursery photos!

Shut 'Er Down

The time has come for Gingham Skies' shop doors to close. Boo hoo! Of course this doesn't mean I won't be sewing and it doesn't mean I won't still be making things for family and friends - there's no tax on bartering yet, is there? No doubt there will be in time.

I've bit the bullet and officially closed shop since I'll be starting my mat leave in a month (if not sooner) and the last thing I want to have to worry about while I'm focusing on my little man is bookkeeping and weighing packages.

I haven't been great at keeping my etsy shop stocked anyways so maybe what I'll do in a few months when I feel like sewing regularly again is start building up inventory so that when I open shop again down the road (I should say IF not WHEN) I'll be able to WOW you with my goods. We'll see...

Thanks to everyone who supported me and my shop over the last two years. Hard to believe it has been that long, but it has! Oh and just because the shops doors have closed doesn't mean my blog will stop - you'll be hearing from me as usual.

Slothy Sweetness

Oh my cuteness! My husband sent me this because they are just too cute for words:

Meet the sloths from Amphibian Avenger on Vimeo.

Fab Pick of Last Week

These futuristic looking AirPlant Pods by mudpuppy would look sweet hanging in just about any room. They're tiny pods so be sure to look at the dimensions before you order - I think they would be best hanging in groups OR sitting on shelves if you're displaying one on its lonesome.

Weeble Wobbles wobble but they don't fall down? Well this one did.

That's exactly what I looked like before landing flat on my arse last night. Lesson learned: at 35.5 weeks pregnant one should bend rather than squat OR spread the feet further apart to accommodate the gino-belly. From the look on Mike's face it was a rather amusing moment, then again I was laughing as it happened too. It was one of those slow motion moments. All of those Judo break falls from when I was a kid finally came in handy, it was a smooth fall (picture someone sitting in a rocking chair without the chair).

Sneak Peek!

The nursery is coming together! Actually it's 98% complete. We took a trip to Ikea last weekend to pick up some shelves and stuff to spice things up in the babe's room and it was a super successful trip. I think the rabbit driving the carrot hook is hilarious - how freaking cute are the little coats hanging from it?! The funky blue shelves match some dressers that we have tucked away for the future "big boy room" so they'll come in handy down the road as well. We were just about out of Ikea when I spotted the two plant pots you see in the first shot; they match the colours in our decal PERFECTLY so I had to buy them. I have no luck keeping plants alive so I bought two that apparently don't need much water; hopefully I manage to keep them alive until the baby sees them... otherwise I'm slamming some fake plants in there.

We've ordered two prints from Etsy (no, not the baby animals) that I'll show you once we have them hanging on the wall. I also made an awesome (I'm so humble, aren't I?) valence for the window which I'll show you once I'm able to get a decent shot of it.

The books on the table next to the turtle lamp are itching to be read; I've picked them up and put them back down at least 20 times now. I know, I know: read to the baby while he's tucked away inside! Yes I could do that but I want to save them for reading while nursing. I was excited to find these at a used book store in town, the owner of the shop said that the red books by Thornton Burgess were his absolute favourite when he was a kid. He has a clear memory of taking a box full of books by Burgess to school for show and tell in grade 3. Who knows, maybe they'll end up being favs of our little guy too. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for more of these gems.

Oh! And I made myself a nursing cover (hooter hider) with boning in it so that I can look down and see the wee man while he eats his million meals a day (here's hoping nursing works out for us) while hiding the ladies from onlookers because well you know people can't get enough of a nursing mother's boobs. hehe. Kidding. The cover is for my comfort, not the comfort of the general public. Like the fabric choice? Me too!

5 weeks and 5 days to go until our due date!!! YIPPEEE!

Spoiled!

Today was AWESOME! My amazingly fantabulous girlfriend Jessy threw me a baby shower. A pile of my favourite ladies and a few sweet little men (under the age of one) + lots of yummy treats including a chocolate peanut butter ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins (this was just the best surprise EVER) + no cheesy games = a perfect shower!!

Thanks, Jess! And thanks ladies for all of the wonderful presents! We were definitely showered with goodies. Sooooo many sweet little outfits and toys and books and... well, just SO many awesome bits!

Two more showers to go... where in the world are we going to put all of this stuff?!

Something for Moi!

I bought this grey fabric almost two years ago with the plan to make something fabulous with it. Mission accomplished.

I love love LOVE our new diaper bag! The inside is lined with a thin blue vinyl which can be wiped out easily in case of spills - there are five elasticized pockets in there too. Two large pockets are found on the front (see the bottom left photo) and another two are on the outer sides of the bag; finally there is a zippered pocket on the back of the bag that is large enough for a cell phone and a wallet. The strap is adjustable so that it will work for me and Mike too. I think I'll make a travel change pad in grey and blue to match, and maybe some burp cloths too.

I've admired bits made with the reverse applique technique (cutting a hole in your exterior fabric and stitching a pretty fabric in behind to peek through) for ages now but I owe a special thanks to Smidgebox for inspiring the circle on the exterior of my bag - I love her peek-a-boo circles! Check out her blog and definitely check out her shop!

Nesting is in full effect. I can't wait to show you what we've done with the nursery!

Fab Pick of Last Week

Adorable beanies on super sweet tiny people! I Heart Baby has an awesome selection of baby head gear. Our little man will be wearing one of the über cool skull & crossbone beanies when he's fresh from his current hiding place: Daddy bought one sized for a newborn and another sized 0-6 months. I will definitely be making additional purchases from this shop, I love the black and grey argyle cap featured in the photo above. Check out I Heart Baby and let me know which beanie is your fav!

Down with the Dandies

I think dandelions have something magical about them, the little fluff balls are beautiful especially close up. I love plucking the biggest and fluffiest from other people's lawns and then making a wish and blowing as hard as I can... The key words in that last sentence: other people's lawns.

I have spent the last week plucking dandelions off our front lawn. I'm in full fledged nesting mode and since it has been so beautiful out I've been taking advantage of the weather and spending an hour after work each day tearing these nasty weeds out of our grass. Before we owned a house of our own I never understood why people bothered to pull them, then we bought a house and ended up with a dandelion infestation and I fully understood why people painstakingly pull the little buggers: they take over and destroy the soft grass I love to walk on barefoot, leaving rough patches of nastiness. Down with the dandelions!!

The backyard needs some serious work but the front is looking fab thanks to my pulling and Mike's mad raking. What a pair we are: Snap Foot with the rake and Preggo with the dandelion torture device. I'm loving this early summerish weather (a very rare treat in southern Ontario), now if only the weather man could be wrong about the prediction of frost this weekend.