Made By Me Monday (or Tuesday)

It seems the local stork is super efficient, cause he's bringing us a second baby a mere 14 months and two days after the first.

Despite having known for about two months now, we're still relatively shocked, but a baby is always a wonderful thing, and we are happily (if a bit nervously) anticipating welcoming this one into our little family.

So far this pregnancy has been identical to my first, except for fewer taco cravings - probably because I'm already on an iron supplement. I've been very blessed to never experience morning sickness, and sleepiness is my most consistent symptom.

Although I'm only 14 weeks along, it is pretty obvious that I'm expecting by the end of the day. I look about how I looked at 20 weeks last time.

We're brainstorming how to make Charlie's little nursery big enough for two cribs, tossing around ideas of how we'll "boy it up" if this one is of the masculine variety, and are figuring out what we'll do differently knowing what we know now that we have 8 months of parenting under our belts.

Any mom's of two under two happen to read this? I'd love to hear more about what I should be expecting, the good, the bad and the funny.

I'd also love boy names...we got nothin'.

Eight Months Old!

It's hard to believe my sweet thing is eight months old. And giant. She's still a meager 15 pounds, give or take two ounces, but she's a mighty 29+ inches long.

She is currently:

• Giving hugs and sloppy kisses


• Eating solids for breakfast and dinner, as well as her weight in Puffs


• Preferring rolling and "walking" (with someone supporting her) to the trouble of learning to crawl


• Very interested in textures, from suede to embroidery to bald heads


• Wearing clothes ranging from 3-6 months up to 12 months


• In love with Tim's socks


• Despising bath time, unless Daddy is there to play Peek a Boo


• Preferring girls to boys, and preferring long haired girls to short haired


• Thrilled that her favorite toys (her feet) are different every day...sometimes bare, sometimes sock covered, sometimes shoe covered, sometimes knit slipper covered, and her favorite, sometimes sandal covered


• Slowly being introduced to formula. This is not being well received


• Saying "Dada", "Nana", "Hi" and "Blah" indiscriminately


• Working her one tooth...it's almost halfway in now, and she knows how to use it (ouch)

(PS - her adorable rainbow chevron dress is from GAP outlet, and Papa got it at a steal for $4 - only to discover that the romper that came with it is size 18-24 months, so I had to sub a Carter's one in so as not to expose her Blues Clues diaper)

Birthday Brain "Storming"

I'm currently in love with the idea of a "Rainy Day" party for Charlie. Since her birthday is in late September, its likely that the weather will cooperate, so what's more fun than dressing in your best poncho and galloshes and heading to a rainy 1st birthday party?

Bonus that I'm pretty sure I could make most of this myself.

Colorful raindrops

Rainforest Invite

Raindrop Streamers

Umbrella Confetti

Vintage Rain Barrel (for punch of course)

Umbrella Garland

Dirt Pops

Umbrella Toppers

Cupcake Wrappers

Dirt Cups

I love the photo booth trend that's started. Pose under a vintage umbrella (ella, ella, ella) and a raincloud!

Red Trimmed Umbrella

Raincloud

Polka Dot Umbrella

Red Umbrella

The favor bags would be filled with things to do on a rainy day.
Origami trench coat dolls
Coloring page
Tags

What do you think?

So, who wants an iPad?

Yes please. Enter to win one from Design for Mankind! But don't be too disappointed when I win, not you ;)

Ten on 10

My day with Charlie - 10 pictures in 10 hours.
See more here

Made By Me Monday

I made a crayon carrier a few years ago for my nephew's birthday. I used Pirate-y fabrics, since it was, and still is, his favorite, sewed together the squares and folded up about a third of it to make a pocket on the inside. I sewed the pocket into crayon sized sections and added crayons.

I added a ribbon to the outside to hold it shut.

Roll it up, tie it off, and you have a portable crayon holder. Voila.

Happy Mother's Day

Grateful for the blessing of a wonderful mother, and a wonderful daughter to share her legacy with.

Sunshine

"Enjoying" one of the first warm sunny days in Charlie's little life. As you can see by her expression, it wasn't her favorite experience.

7 Months

My tiny is 7 months old! Madness.

She's become a busy little thing, but she still loves to snuggle and now happily gives hugs and kisses (to me, to daddy, to her stuffed animals, and even books if they have faces to kiss in them).

She rolls everywhere, loves to be upside down, and has actually flipped and landed flat on her feet from an upside down position more than once (don't let your guard down with this one).

She'd rather stand than anything, will jump as much as possible, and is constantly talking.

She's eating two pureed meals a day, favoring squash and blueberry pear. She says "Mmmm" while eating. Peas and Squash mixed with apple both make her gag, so those have been retired for now.

She's in the throws of teething, and doesn't especially like being held by anyone but me, though she'll smile and talk with others as long as she's safely in my lap.

She's sooo close to sitting on her own, (she can do it on chairs and couches and laps, but doesn't trust the floor.)

She's grabbing any and everything, as you can see in the second picture she's lunging for the camera.

She's too long for 6 month clothes, but too skinny for 9 month...it looks like she may just sport dresses this summer.

She's started to dance to music, and stays pretty close to the rhythm. She sings along with whatever she hears.

She blows bubbles often, especially while eating.

She spent her first Sunday in the nursery, and didn't cry at all. In fact, she didn't make any noise the whole time, just sat and watched everyone.

She has no interest in crawling, but seems to like the idea of wheelbarrowing, as evidenced by her attempt to get from my lap to her dad's last night.

She's awesome.

What's Charlie Wearing Wednesday Catch up

I started weekly blog features to make sure I continued to blog...but sometimes life gets in the way, and things like "Made By Me Monday" fall by the wayside.

Our lives have been busy with things like sickness, sleep issues, milk supply issues, changes, prioritizing, teething, drooling, broken washers, etc. It hasn't all been bad, but it has all been intense, and taken my focus away from a lot of day to day things...like cleaning, cooking, laundry and blogging.

I have, however, been taking pictures. So, without further adieu:

What's Charlie Wearing last Wednesday (actually Thursday - our new washer didn't get here until Wednesday, so Charlie was wearing a hodgepodge assortment from her few clean clothes that day.)
Here she's wearing:
Carters sweatshirt
Carters cow onesie (part of a four piece set found at Costco for under $10)
Old Navy roll up jeans on clearance for about $4
Carters socks

And, this Wednesday:
It was lovely out, so while she also sported a sweater and socks most of the day, we pretended it was summer.

Old Navy Tank bought on clearance before she was born - probably about $2
Cherokee shorts, also bought on clearance before she was born - I have no idea what they cost.