Sharing the cuteness, baby shower version.

This past weekend, I got to go to a baby shower. I LOVE baby showers. All the sweet clothes and adorable hand crocheted blankets, burp clothes, cool gadgets....gah! Plus there's something to be said for being around a group of people who are as excited for a new baby in the family as you are. :) This will be the 3rd new little baby out of my cousins and I couldn't be happier. For a long time now, I've been the only one with kiddos, and now there's been three additions in the past year! Yay!

So usually I make baby toys for gifts. You can see some of my baby toys here and here. As I woke up the morning of the shower realizing I didn't yet have a gift, I decided to try and throw together a pair of baby flip flops. Not so lucky, I couldn't find any free patterns that I liked and felt like I could get done in the measly hour I had available. 

They turned out pretty cute for being created as I went along. I just made a simple oval shape and then added the straps and border. Could be improved on, but for a first try that took an hour, I am totally content. They were a hit and I got to talk crochet with other mamas, something I always love doing!!

The sisters of the mama-to-be made some super sweet cupcakes. I bow to their cupcake skills. The baby is a boy and dad's an outdoors man, so they made fish themed cupcakes!

CUTE RIGHT??? This was a banana cupcake with a fondant fishie on the top. Lily and I got in a bet over whether it was fondant (me) or modeling chocolate (her). One of her favorite TV shows in the world is DC Cupcakes. 

These were vanilla cupcakes with fishing poles and gummy shark catches. Clever!!

Finally, my crafty awe was complete when I saw the gift made by the hostess.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. That is a diaper cake. A FROG RIDING A MOTORCYCLE DIAPER CAKE. How adorbable is that? The headlight was a bottle, the fenders were bibs... it was priceless. Mama and Dad of baby-to-be ride dirt bikes. This was perfect. Much squee-sounds were made. I didn't get any other pictures and I was bummed because there was super cute stuff everywhere! I hope you've enjoyed the cuteness as much as I did!!!!

Congrats cousins! You know who you are!

Flowers and teefers. Day in my life.

So it's my favorite time of year again.

The roses at my house are in bloom...making my house look much prettier than it usually does!

Every year, our rose bushes burst into sunny yellow happiness and remind me why I live in my tuna can of a house. For about a week or two, once a year, we're the prettiest house on the block. Provided that we've remembered to mow our yard and kill the dandelions.

There is no possible way to be grumpy when looking at my yard during this time of the year. It's fantastic. The girls wanted their pictures taken. Lily was being a ham, as usual.

She's wearing the tie her dad was supposed  to wear at my sister's wedding. He snuck out of it because I was so busy. Harummph. Lily also likes to smirk somewhat evilly at the camera to warn me that she's about to get into mischief. Or ask my a question/make a comment that makes my brain all explodey. Just the other day she golfed her first nine holes and loved it. She proceeded to tell me that she's going to be a better golfer than Tiger Woods. Seriously, how the heck does she know who Tiger Woods is? She wants golf lessons, so I guess we're adding that to the list of things to do this summer. Lily is interested in everything and that makes summer a crazy time for us as we try to get her into as many activities as possible so she can explore. So far this summer we're doing horse riding, golf, swimming, and art lessons. Possibly a Harry Potter Science Camp. I'm taking donations for all of this. Please be generous. *wink wink* I'm also constantly searching for books for her to read. She's reading faster than I can find book series for her.

Sage Muffin still has the cutest jack-o-lantern smile ever. I am really going to cry when she finally gets another tooth on the bottom.

She just got a fourth tooth and guess where it is? Yup. Still up top. Haha. This is the slowest teething child I have ever met. 18 months and 3.5 teeth. That has to be some kind of a record. Being mostly toothless does NOT slow down her eating. This kid eats. Lily doesn't. I've spent the last 8 years of my parenting life fighting for every morsel of food to go into Lily's mouth. Sage eats her portions AND Lily's portions AND mine AND Nic's. There's no stopping her. The other night at dinner out, she ate calamari, shrimp, bruschetta, brie, clam chowder, my mahi mahi, Grandma's steak, and a couple mouthfuls of pineapple salsa that was too hot for ME. Oh, and she chewed on a lemon wedge for about 10 minutes. We call her our hobbit eater. She has to have first breakfast, second breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, second lunch, afternoon tea (milk), supper, dinner....the list goes on. It's about 90% fruits and veggies, so I don't stop her. I'm going to have to up our bountiful baskets to two a week here soon to accommodate her! She also ate her first mouthful of dirt as we were planting Grandma's herbs. Possibly a bug or two. Heh. 

I can't help but smile at my flowers and my girls. That's what summer is all about to me. Playing hard, getting dirty, and sighing at the flowers. I can't wait to enjoy this sunshine and happy time!!! Just remind me in August when I'm ready for school to start again that I felt this way! By then I'll probably be ready to hide in the spider corner of my laundry room just for some quiet. ;)

While we're on the topic of flowers, can anyone tell me what type of clematis this is? Or if it is a clematis?

It's really pretty! I would love to find this variety to plant in my yard somewhere. Thanks in advance for your help!

Happy SUMMER!!!!!

More baby toys, because they're soft and squishy.

So, my world is full of babies lately! Yay babies!!

I have a brand new itty bitty niece who just came into the world. So very exciting! Finally, I am no longer the only "kid" with kids! A weird thing to be excited about, but it works for me.

I also have a friend who is just about ready to bring her darling boy into the world. She had the coolest shower, which I had to miss to go out of town with my mom and sister to do her wedding dress shopping. Another thing to squee about which I can't get into here because this is a baby post, not a wedding post. Two totally different types of squee-worthy madness.

Anyway, You know how it's now cool to have an activity at your shower instead of games? Or is that only the showers I'm attending? Seriously, crafty is the new mom middle name, because every shower I go to these days has me making a hair bow or some such thing. Well, this shower that I had to miss chose to do the best. freaking. activity. ever. They tie-dyed onesies. HOW COOL IS THAT?! That may be the hippie in me talking, but that is so fantastic. I really wish I could have been there. Ah, regrets.

Even though I missed out on all the fun, of course, I had to make the new mama a baby gift. Baby gifts are so darn happy. I had so much fun with the last baby toy gift I made, I decided to try some new ones.

After much searching and getting sidetracked by pinterest, I found this tutorial from Make It and Love It. It's a soft block and rings. Lily calls the rings a chewy chain. The tutorials are nice and clear with some great pictures. I have been itching to do something in black, white, and yellow. I have seen such cute baby gear in those colors lately.

I added in a crinkle toy because they are so quick and fun. (You can find my post about that tutorial tryout here.) I have started hoarding bits of ribbon from wherever I find it since I started making these crinkle toys. I have a whole ziploc bag full of ribbon bits. Ha.

The block was quick too, until I got to the hand stitching part. I hate hand stitching. It feels like I am cheating on my sewing machine. Plus, I'm no good at it. It took me longer to stitch a one inch whole than it did to sew the whole rest of the block.

I found a genius way to make a rattle at a {day} with lil mama stuart. Take one easter egg, add beads, presto. Instant rattle. Oddly enough, I could find an easter egg, but my bead box had deserted me and so I used pennies. Yup, they were the closest thing I had handy that could make noise. I glued the egg shut so it wouldn't open. So the block makes a rattle sound, but it's surrounded by soft squishy goodness. I stayed up way past bedtime making Sage her own block. She grabs onto it, squeezes it to death and throws it across the room.

The chain was a little more difficult than I anticipated. Trust me, totally worth the effort.

I had a duh moment and sewed a ring shut before I connected it. Try not to do that. Also, keep the rings skinny, you won't be able to sew them shut otherwise. That part is a bit tricky. However, once you're done, you have a washable, chewy toy that is perfect for little hands to hold onto. I'm making one of these for Sagey Poo too.

Instead of a card, I wrote a quick note in a book. Mama and baby will see it each time they read together! Another great pinterest idea. I was going to include a little poem about the gift being handmade, but ran out of time. That's always something to do next time. With three more friends and family who have babies on the way, I'll have lots of practice making toys and gear!


I have linked this post to...

Solid Food Sage Monster, Volume 2

To read Solid Food Sage Monster Volume 1, click here.

So the Saga of Solid Food continues. :) Now if you've met my baby girl, you know she's an eater. It's her favorite thing in the world to do. Since we've started doing solid foods, she's grumpy if people are eating around her and she's not getting any. She's also messy. We gave up trying to feed her in clothes after one shot. I do more loads of bibs than any other laundry. Ha. 

So, in SFSM V.1, I mentioned that we had tried rice cereal. We have since stopped using rice cereal and switched to oatmeal. She was having potty issues, tummy problems, and general crankiness. In searching for the answer, I found info that stated that some pediatricians think that rice cereal is BAD for babies. Apparently, "it's not that different from giving babies a spoonful of sugar." (You can read the article here.) So we waited a few days and tried oatmeal and she loves it. Oatmeal might not be a good idea if there's a history of gluten intolerance in your family, but we're fine there. All of the problems have been alleviated. If you're interested in more info on the rice cereal issue, read this or this or this.

The list of accepted foods is growing. Sage still chomps on sweet potatoes like they're candy. We've also added apples, bananas, avocado, carrots, watermelon, and pears. She wasn't so sure about the avocado alone, but with pears, she loves it. Carrots didn't go over well the first time, but it was an organic jar of food because we were out to Grandma's house. They tasted nasty and bitter. If I wouldn't eat it, I'm not making my baby eat it. 

Luckily, I got my first Bountiful Basket this week and it had carrots so I can make Sagey Poo some yummy fresh food. As a side note, if you don't get bountiful baskets, I require you to immediately click on the link I've kindly provided and participate. 

See this lovely array of fruits and veggies? $15 dollars for all. It's all amazing quality and fresh. It filled up a laundry basket. Bountiful Baskets is a food co-op. You participate by contributing a weekly fee on a Monday and then pick up your produce the following Saturday. Every couple of times, you volunteer and help them sort and what not. Easy peasy. Seriously, go to the website. Learn. Enjoy. You're welcome.

Okay, winding back on topic now....

I've been making baby food like a mad woman this past week. It all started, as good stories often do, when my husband brought me home 9 baked sweet potatoes from his work. I had asked him to bring a "few" home since they throw them out anyway because I wanted to try my hand at making baby food. He brought 9. NINE! So I got out my blender/food processor Bullet thingy, peeled some sweets, and away I went. 

It's a bit of a messy process, but quick enough that in 20 minutes I had two ice cube trays full of pureed sweet potato goodness ready to pop in the freezer. If you're looking for a great set of instructions and pretty pictures, head to Rust & Sunshine's post about it. The picture below is from her blog and gives you an idea of what you'll end up with.

Photo from Rust & Sunshine

Besides sweet potatoes, I have made plums, apples, apples and prunes (dried plums) mixed, peaches, and more sweet potatoes. Tomorrow, I'm all set up to make carrots and peas. I have also spent more hours than I care to admit looking at baby food recipes on Wholesome Baby Food. Since Sage likes her new high chair and will happily watch me while playing with her toys, I can whip up a batch or two pretty quickly.

All together, I have 112 one ounce cubes of baby food prepared. That is over a month of meals for Sage as she usually eats two cubes, twice a day. Overall cost? About 10 dollars. Since the organic jars of baby food run about $.80, I have saved $35.00. Can't beat it. Word to the wise though, use a good sharpie marker to label your bags of food. I had a DUH moment and used a water based marker. Haha. Luckily, I remembered what was what. 

I still had SIX sweet potatoes left to deal with. Honestly, what was the man thinking? I had sweet potato for lunch two days in a row and made a pie. I finally had to admit defeat and throw out the last three. You win sweets, you win.

One last thing, if you don't have one of these nifty food keepers for your baby, get one. Now. I'll wait.

Did you get one? Good.

Sage LOVES when I put one of the frozen cubes of baby food in this. She'll happily gnaw on it until there is nothing left. It's also how we fed her watermelon. Boy howdy, did she like that. She hasn't quite figured out the hand coordination required to hold and eat at the same time, but luckily, she has a patient mama who will hold it for her if need be.

Whew. What a novel. If you made it this far, thanks for reading!!!

Solid Food Sage Monster

So we have started the Solid Food Adventure in my house. Miss Sagey Poo is taking to solid food like her sister takes to chocolate bars. It's a pure love.

I knew we were good to go with rice cereal, because we tried it a month or two back. Her tummy got upset so we held off on trying anything else, but there were no allergy issues. So this week, we've tried applesauce and sweet potatoes so far. It's kind of hard to wait 3 days between each food! It's so exciting, we want to just barrel ahead. Sage is now under the impression that a food utensil going towards a mouth should be heading in the direction of her mouth, so I think it's excitement all around.

I did buy some canned baby food, the organic Albertson's brand. The more and more I think about this new foodie journey though, the more I'm leaning towards making Sage's baby food. Have you tasted baby food? It's nasty. It's bland. I want Sage to like carrots, not something that once upon a time tasted like carrots. Not to mention, even with organic food, do we REALLY know what goes into those jars of baby food? (Now I sound like my paranoid hubster.)

This article has some pretty interesting info on baby food. Namely, that bland, gross canned food may not be the way to go. I love the idea of spicing baby food. On the off chance that it helps to make her less of a picky eater, I will dive right in. We all know how I would love to have a child who isn't a picky eater.

The underlying reason behind me making my own baby food? I want to be more involved as a mama. I made a promise to myself that when Sage was born, it would be different than the mess I found myself in when Lily was a peanut. I was young and had no idea what I was doing! While I realize that's true of all first time parents, my views on parenting from then to now have completely done a 180. I've promised myself to be more educated and less go with the flow because it's popular or EASY type of parent. I'm implementing more art and less TV with Lily as a way to connect with her. Making Sage her morning and evening snacks gives me that same type of connection. It also provides some serious satisfaction that as a mama, I've taken the time to care more and hurry less.

I'll let you know more as I get into this food making journey and we'll see if the costs outweigh the benefits. It could be that I end up scrapping it because it takes time away from both my girls. It could end up actually being more expensive. Who knows?

Here's some more info on homemade baby food:

Rust & Sunshine has a lovely post with easy instructions and pictures regarding her homemade baby food.
Weelicious has every baby food recipe you could ever want.
Wholesome Baby Food has some fantastic tips and techniques.

Tutorial Tryout: Onesie dress with a matching hair bow!

Woo hoo! Look what I made!

So I fell in love with these adorable onesie dresses the first time I saw them. I didn't think they would be too hard to make, but there are SO MANY tutorials out there. I found a few I liked and decided to take the plunge. Unfortunately it's a tent still on lil miss Sagey poo because it's a 6 month onesie, but it was laundry day when I started this project and a 6 month size onesie was the only size I could find.  Also, it's my first attempt at applique and I'm hooked.

I relied mainly on the skirted onesie  tutorial from Running With Scissors because I liked that it kept the bum of the onesie intact. I hate diapers showing and didn't want to take the time to make a diaper cover. While I was cutting out my fabric I decided to try a bow tutorial as well. It's so much cuter when hair bows and outfits are perfectly matched, right? The bow tutorial was SUPER easy and from Momtastic.

I had some adorable paisley fabric and this onesie. The dream on the front was cute, but so light it was hard to read, so I kind of wanted to cover it up. I cut a heart out of the fabric, sewed it on, and used the handy applique stitch on my sewing machine. It didn't quite cover all the green, but for a first shot, I am super impressed with myself. We'll see how it holds together after Sage wears it a time or two.

I tried to add the sleeves as in the tutorial, but they were too small and I was too lazy to cut and sew new ones. When you are cheating on your baby with your sewing machine, time is limited. As it was, this took two days to get done in between mom chores.

I think I have finally succumbed to the hair bow/flower making craze. I have made a few here and there, but the fabric bows and flowers are stinkin' adorable and quick enough that I can actually get them done during nap time. Lily has already requested some. I told her she could pick out some pieces from my fabric stash and help me make them.

Anyway, there you have it! Sweetie pie dress with my first ever applique and a matching cutie bow. Now I have to make one in a size she can actually wear right now!

Tutorial Tryout: Crinkle Toy

Meet my new favorite baby shower gift ever. I am pretty proud of this little darling, seeing as it only took me about 20 minutes to put together and was made from bits and pieces about my house. I didn't get any other pictures of it before I gave it away as a shower gift, but it's composed of the following:

Orange and white butterfly fabric, from my scrap stash.

Pink Minky (on the back), also from my scrap stash.

Rainbow ribbon, rummaged from a bathroom drawer of hair accessories.

Purple ribbon, packaging from a set of baby blankets given to me as a gift that hadn't been used yet.

Cellophane. Here's where I had to get creative. I took the outside wrapper from a bag of microwave popcorn and used that. 

Polyfill stuffing, about a handful. I wanted it squishy, but not too big for tiny hands to grab onto.

I searched around several tutorials for how to make this little beauty. I ended up using the tutorial I found on Simple Things, Sweet Life (sidenote: I love the gifts in a card section!). I didn't sew in my crinkle and I added that bit of poly, but the basics were the clearest on her tutorial. Also, her toy was adorable.

I adore giving handmade gifts and don't want to follow the common crowds by giving baby blankets, so this is a perfect idea. And considering how many babies are on the way in my world of friends and family, the adorable and easy factors of this toy cannot be denied. I've already sewn up a second one for baby Sage to play with. She likes to stuff it in her mouth. 

With this second one, I added a zig zag edge. I also didn't add any polyfill. Just playing around, trying to find my own personal groove. (I really need to work on this picture thing.)

Have fun!