Trucks and Tutus

After school

2012-02-04T11:31:00.000-05:00

A little chill time after school

Boots

2012-02-03T17:35:00.002-05:00

She could not walk so she squated

and looked around

18 months

2012-02-02T21:39:00.003-05:00

Cate turned 18 months today!!! Here is a little snapshot of her today

She finally got another tooth. Her fifth tooth poked out this week.

Cate has a lot of spunk. She knows what she wants and does not like to be told no. She will do something she thinks she shouldn't and watch for my reaction.

She is a very confident child. When she goes into a room she checks everything out. On Sundays she will stand in the middle of the nursery room and look around for a few minutes and then explore. She does not cry or cuddle up to the teachers. I usually come back to find her in the middle of everything. They usually report that she was dancing for everyone.

Cate loves to dances. She dances everytime she hears music. She also tries to sing. One day she tried to sing along with Celine Dion while we were in the car. Hilarious.

She loves attention when we go out. She waves to people and will look at them and say hey until they say something to her. I think it takes some people off guard. We often hear comments on how friendly she is.

Yes she is riding in the basket. Yes I know it is not safe. Didn't I mention her spunk. Sometimes I do what I have to to keep the peace. Unfortunantly now she tries to "insist" on standing in the basket everytime. Usually she rides backwards with her feet in the child seat with her. She wants to see where we are going.

When she first sees us after being apart, she holds up both hands by her face and screams a happy scream. I love it.

Things she says...
dada
mama
bye
bye dada
nana
kiki
meow meow (she says that as soon as she sees the cats)
shoe
sock
hi
hello (when she picks up a phone)
love you
uh oh
ow (when I fix her hair)
night night (and sign)
milk (and signs)
eeee (signs eat)
done (signs done)
push
go
sssss (snake)
hhhhh (dog)
1,2,3,go (I heard that today)
mine (this is a popular one!)
She still grunts a points to get what she wants at times

Over the past few weeks she has really started to follow directions. She will go to the (door, bath, bed,diaper changing pad) when you ask. She will take things to the trash when you ask her. She blows kisses and gives high five.

She understands her daily routine. That has made our life so much easier. She will get her jacket down when it is time to go. Today it was too warm for a jacket, but she insisted that she wanted to take it. She held it in the car. As soon as we walk through the door she takes it off and tries to hang it up. When she sees me put on my shoes she gets her shoes and brings them to me.

Cate is so much fun and amazes us everyday. We are so lucky to have such a special little girl.

Sand Table

2012-02-02T20:00:00.001-05:00

We have a new toy on the patio thanks to Nana! She was here for a short visit this week.

It is a sand and water table, but I filled the entire thing with sand. Now there is plenty of room for both kids.

Cate enjoys it too

Like the hair? She just got up from her nap.

The boys

2012-01-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

Helper

2012-01-27T11:20:00.001-05:00

Will's class has a helper of the day everyday. He usually tells me who it was when he gets home. He loves to help and so he is really helpful with Cate.

Two seater

2012-01-26T15:52:00.002-05:00

Sharing is becoming more of a challenge as Cate gets bigger...

Here is a flashback from the Summer...

Frigits

2012-01-25T13:31:00.003-05:00

Will got a new toy. It is called Frigits.

Mark and Will have enjoyed playing with it together.

Here it is in action

Signs

2012-01-24T16:00:00.000-05:00

Cate is starting to talk and is using a few signs. She will tell us when she went poopy by patting her bottom. She signs "eat". She makes a clicking sound and does the "milk" sign for milk. I tried to get her to do it for the camera, but she was already done with it by the time I grabbed the camera.

You can see her squeeze her hand (milk sign) and click a few times. She also says "mi" for milk.

She started signing "night night" last week. (you put your hand to the side of your head) It is so sweet. I tried again to catch it on camera and she kind of does it.

She always covers her face with her lovies before she goes to sleep.

Up

2012-01-23T13:48:00.000-05:00

Mark decided to start measuring Will in the laundry room. He started in July.

Will has grown almost 2 inches since the summer!

Grocery Shopping

2012-01-22T21:47:00.000-05:00

We took a family trip to the Grocery store this morning.

Mark kept the kids happy while I worked my way through the list. This is what they did down every aisle.

Yes this is the wine aisle so one mistep to the right would have been bad...really bad. They had a blast.

BOWS!

2012-01-15T22:03:00.000-05:00

I felt the need to clean out this weekend. I pulled everything out of the kid's closets and rearranged. I found stuff to donate and sell too. This is in the middle of the madness.

Cate loved going through everything.

It is much better now. You can really walk into the closet.

When this was Will's room I hung up wall organizers on one side of the closet. I love them and they are perfect for all of the little stuff kids have. Perfect fit for the little shoes.

I also hung up the cute bow hanger that my friend Anna made for Cate. I made a large bow order from etsy a few weeks ago so I needed a place to put them.

Did you see the other bow holder in the closet for the small bows!?!

OH MY! I realize that it is a little much. I needed several shades of pink though. I still need to pack up the baby bows for someone with a little girl.

Some of the pictures were dark because the little sweetie was already in bed. Here she is all snuggled up. We went through all of her sheets when she was sick so she has Will's crib sheet. I love how she always surrounds her face with her lovies. She is usually completly covered in them.

Appetite

2012-01-14T14:05:00.000-05:00

Cate's appetite is back

She loves to feed herself and she is getting much better. Little Miss Independent!

Feeling better

2012-01-13T21:21:00.002-05:00

Cate is feeling better. Her fever broke last night. Today she had a hard time walking. She was very clingy, but so much better.

Here she is cuddling the floor poofs. I finally finished hers.

Here is the close up

Cate is sick

2012-01-12T19:56:00.004-05:00

Poor little Cate is sick. Really sick. The sniffles started a few days after she started back to school. When I picked her up on Monday I knew something was off. Her temp was around 101-102 all day Tuesday. Then Wednesday it went downhill. She was spiking 105 even with medicine. Mark took her to the doc during the day and then I took her to the ER last night. They suspect the source is her ears. One of her ear tubes are clogged. Her strep, RSV, Flu and Chest X-ray were clear. Speaking of Chest x-ray. I had to strap my screaming child into this thing. (this is not my child)

I stood in front holding her little hands while she looked at me and screamed. Exhausting day. We had a recheck today and her temp climbed all day. She hit 105.2 again today. You know it is bad when you get excited to see a temp of 103. She just lays or sits where you put her. She can barely cry. She is so snuggly and sad. I just hope the antibiotic starts to work soon!

Yeah she looks a little rough but that is all I could get. Her temp was down to 101 so she ate a little. I did get a group shot. Will insisted. You know noone can get left out of anything at our house!

I can say that having my own pediatric ER nurse on call was extremely helpful. I called her and texted her throughout the night. She was working so I had to rely on texts after 7. She kept me calm and told me everything that would happen once we got to the ER. I think I would have been a little more frantic if I had not had her to talk to before. She kept telling me not to focus on the number. Don't worry I give Speech advice to her when she asks, but I definitely get the better end of the deal!

Camping

2012-01-07T20:48:00.001-05:00

We had Spring like weather today. While the kids were napping I set up toys in the backyard. We were all headed out and it started to rain. Dang. I had to leave Cate screaming for me in the house while I went out to put some of the toys in the shed.

I bought some window clings after Christmas so we broke them out.

Do you see Pickles photo bombing the picture?

They both enjoyed putting them on the window. Cate put it to her mouth once and looked at me. Thankfully she listened.

Once the rain cleared we headed out and I set everything out again.

Lots of exploring

They both loved the tent from the beach.

Cate was so happy that she broke out her "Elaine dance".

Will found a ladybug while we were playing. We used our bug catcher to get a closer look.

Do you see her?

Then we put her in a tiny observation jar. Will wanted to let her go once she started to try to fly in the jar.

After I snapped the next picture I realized that Will planned to ride in the wheelbarrow down the slide...YIKES...insert scream

Dirty kids equal fun times

This was a nice break and it maybe awhile before we can do this again.

Baby Buggy

2012-01-04T21:30:00.000-05:00

This is not what I expected when we gave Cate this buggy.

Hide & Seek

2012-01-02T21:33:00.002-05:00

Will and Cate love to play hide and seek.

Seems like Cate got a little sick of hiding.

I love it when Will talks to Cate as if he expects her to know what he is saying. He told her "Cate, you are supposed to be hiding". He gets mad at her when she does not "listen to his words".

Swinging at the Park

2011-12-28T22:22:00.002-05:00

We went the school to let Will ride his bike on the playground track. After several laps he took a break on the swings. He loved it

And Cate....

Not so much

Ornaments

2011-12-27T20:19:00.007-05:00

Will's ornament for this year is a Mater ornament. He loved the Cars characters before he even saw the movie. He loves the movie and watches it more than he should.

Cate's ornament is a pair of ballet slippers. Cate loves to dance and is becoming a real girly girl.

Pin It

Christmas Morning

2011-12-25T13:45:00.020-05:00

I thought I would share some pictures from the morning. I know Nana and Papa would love a peek at what happened this morning. The kids are napping now so I uploaded several pictures of our busy morning.

Dress up clothes from Aunt Caryn, Emma and Adam.

THE JUMPING BEAN!!! Will has wanted one so much. Mark's parents got it for the kids for Christmas. I blew it up on the patio and then we brought the kids out to see it.

It is going to get a ton of use.

Will is a pro at his bike. Mark showed him how to break and he has only tumbled off twice. Not bad considering every road by us is a slope.

Cate inherited Will's old bike. Good thing Santa brought her a new Barbie helmet!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T07:30:00.000-05:00

24

2011-12-24T21:00:00.000-05:00

The advent book calendar was a big hit. We loved finding out what the special book of the night was. This is a tradition that will definitely return next year!

Tonight we read "The Night Before Christmas".... of course!

Here they are...

We started off with just the top half of the tree decorated. Cate had a favorite ornament and pretty much just played with that one. Will broke one when he ran through the house swinging it around. Not sure what that was about. I put the rest up a few days ago now that the kids are not as interested in the tree.

We went to church on Christmas Eve. Here are the kids in their Christmas outfits.

Cate went to the nursery and Will went into the sanctuary with us. It was a candlelight service and we let Will hold his own candle. Yes I was nervous, but the guy behind us had a fire extinguisher so the damage would not be too bad. :)

I tried to get a quick picture after church...

This is what they usually look like when I try to get a picture...

We made cookies for Santa. Yep, break-n-bake. Gotta keep it easy. Cate caught on and helped.

MMM.... raw cookie dough

Will ate WAY too many before bed

Now he is looking at his books and checking out his toy catalogs.

I don't think he really understands what is going to happen tomorrow. Boy is he going to be excited when he sees what Santa is bringing!

Crazy pants

2011-12-23T13:51:00.006-05:00

Made this little outfit for Cate last night.

Perfect for our trip to the zoo and then the airport for lunch.

Movie time

2011-12-21T20:52:00.002-05:00

Mark, Will and I enjoyed popcorn and a Christmas movie tonight.

Visit Santa

2011-12-20T20:28:00.005-05:00

Today we visited Santa!

It went exactly as I thought it would.

Will was very shy and barely whispered what he wanted when he sat on Santa's lap. We had him sit first so that I could get a picture of him with Santa.

So sweet.

Then we added the wild child. She immediately started screaming and reaching for Mark and then me.

It was pitiful, but it was something we had to check off of our Christmas to-do list.

What did Will ask for? "A big bike and a dinosaur" "Not a real dinosaur"

In a few days we will find out of Santa was listening!

Tree shirt

2011-12-17T09:19:00.004-05:00

Unfortunantly I never made the cute Christmas pants that I had planned for Cate. I did not make anything. The night before her Christmas Party I decided that she really needed something festive.

So I grabbed an old shirt out of her closet and some fabric. I ironed on the adhesive. Cut out the tree shape. Ironed it onto the shirt. Sewed around the border, very carefully. I tied a little pink bow from some pink grosgrain ribbon. I sewed it to the top of the tree.

Not Jail

2011-12-16T19:02:00.004-05:00

Cate adores her brother. She starting saying "Weeoh" a week or so ago. It is so adorable. She follows him around the house and tries to play with whatever he is playing with.

Tonight Will and Cate were playing together and I heard them from another room. I grabbed the camera and stood outside the door. Will had no idea I was listening.

Table for Two for Legos

2011-12-12T19:57:00.000-05:00

Two many cooks

2011-12-11T19:42:00.003-05:00

I had Will help me make breakfast this past weekend. I decided to let Cate in on the action too. She loved it!

Will was not as excited to share his space.

Cate's first haircut

2011-12-11T15:30:00.008-05:00

Cate got her first haircut today! It needed a shape up. It was looking a little too much like a mullet.

She looked so little and so big at the same time.

She was so good. She just sat there and took it all in.

Here is a little video snip of her in the chair.

Will also got a haircut.

Mark usually cuts it but sometimes it is nice to get it shaped up. It looks great for the holidays!

***I forgot my camera so the pictures are not the best.

At school

2011-12-08T19:54:00.008-05:00

Here are pics that I took when I picked up the kids from school today.

Will was in his favorite spot in his class.....

The block area.

Apparently he spends most of the day there.

Here is a video I took of Cate from the observation room the other day. The teacher's "close" certain areas at different times of the day. Cate did not let that stop her and she went behind the sheets to get what she wanted. Good to see that she is everywhere at school too.

Uncanny

2011-12-06T21:44:00.005-05:00

I just made a photo calendar of the kids for 2012. I made photo collages for each month. Each month had a different "theme". One month had pictures of the kids during bath time.

I was taken back when I saw these two pictures next to each other

Cate

Will

Christmas Parade

2011-12-03T21:58:00.008-05:00

We bundled everyone up and went to the Greenville Parade down Main St. Here is Mark with the kids.

We let Cate roam before the parade started. The problem was that she kept running into the street. She did it several times. Then she tried to run from me and fell flat on her face. UGH. She cried and now has road rash on her forehead. I strapped her into her stroller at that point.

Thankfully she was fine with it. Soon we saw the lights of the parade headed our way.

Will was in awe of the big firetruck.

His favorite part was the bands. The child had permagrin.

Cate clapped, pointed and talked throughout the parade. She was mesmerized.

We saw Santa

Christmas Cards

2011-12-03T11:37:00.004-05:00

This morning we attempted to take the picture for the Christmas Card. It was not as easy as it sounds. I think we can put a few of them together for a cute card, because we are not doing that again until next year :)

I will post the pictures once the card is done.

Until then you can see ones that did not make the cut....

Advent Books

2011-12-01T21:12:00.012-05:00

Tonight Will read the first book from his advent calendar bookshelf. I saw this idea last year and I had to try it. All of his winter books were in the attic. I pulled them down when I got the Christmas decorations. I was surprised that we had so many winter/Christmas books. I only had to buy a few new ones so that we would have 24 books. My sweet mother wrapped them for me while she was here.

I made number labels so that Will would have to find the number for the day.

When I loaded up the bookshelf I started with the larger numbers and worked forward so that the first books are up front.

Mark hoisted Will up once he found the number one.

He was so excited to open a present.

Tonight we read...

Let's try again. Book down and eyes open....

***Flashback. This reminds me of THIS POST (click here)
Oh well.

Will loves books so much so he loves this new Christmas tradition.

The Elf on the Shelf is another story. Maybe I will post about that next.

Turkey Day Parade

2011-11-30T20:11:00.003-05:00

Cate LOVED the Thanksgiving Day Parade. She stood in front of the TV and danced all morning. It was adorable.

When the Rockettes were on Cate held onto the coffee table and kicked along with them. She was all business. I see dance classes in our future!

Of course she had on her Turkey Day shirt

Picking out our Tree

2011-11-28T22:17:00.004-05:00

Here is our tree!

Will enjoyed running through the trees. He was really excited when the guy put the tree on my car.

Cate is looking so tall.

My mom was with us so we got a family shot :)

One last shot of the little princess. She loves the tree....a little too much!

Welcome Home

2011-11-21T21:24:00.030-05:00

This is the mudroom before we bought the house.

I changed the floor with different peel and stick tile. It was still not very welcoming. The cat boxes and laundry were the first thing that you saw. Then there was the odd window that became a holding zone for our recycling.

When we renovated I had them sheetrock over the chimney.

Then we added a wall to make a little nook.

I debated several different ideas of what to do with the nook.

When we moved in it quickly became the perfect spot for the stroller. I added some hooks and we now have a place to put the diaper/daycare bags.

We did not have a place to put the kids jackets. I thought it would be nice to always know where they are in the morning rush. I put up three hooks and their little jackets look so cute.

The blank wall above it needed something. I decided to put pictures of the kids because it is the first thing I see as I close the back door. Then I had an idea. I know scary right! I took the kids in the yard and gave them a white sheet of paper.

A quick edit and I have a sweet little Welcome Home sign.

This is a lot more welcoming than it was a year ago!

Leaves

2011-11-16T21:45:00.006-05:00

Big trees in the yard = lots of leaves

Mark has blown huge piles of them to the street over the past few weeks.

Will had a blast jumping in them

I am sure we will have another pile this big next week

Purses

2011-11-16T21:24:00.007-05:00

Recently Cate started to carry bags around the house. I cleaned out my closet and found a little purse for her. She found it today and immediately started to carry it around.

Recently Will has started to want EVERYTHING Cate has

I gave Cate back her purse

then I got a typical response...

I am really looking forward to dress-up play.

I think we need to add little highheels to the Christmas list!

Little Chef

2011-11-07T18:20:00.011-05:00

Cate does not "play". She tears our house apart. I have to follow her all day. If I leave her and it gets quiet then I know we have a problem. Today I wanted to change the air filters. I came back into the kitchen to find this.

Yummy uncooked spaghetti

I had the awesome idea to let Cate help me prepare dinner.
Here she is signing "more"

Yep that is your name sweetie

Then I put her in the kitchen helper.

She is still a little grabber

It kept her contained and entertained for five minutes so I would call it a success.

Glow Sticks

2011-11-05T21:07:00.003-04:00

I found this idea on Pinterest. Glow sticks in the tub.

The kids LOVED it.

Will is sleeping with the glow sticks now.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:24:00.021-04:00

Today the kids wore PJs to school. Cate's class had a party in the afternoon

Tomorrow she starts her transition into the next class. No more infant room for Cate!

After dinner we took pictures

No candy yet!

Our sweet neighbors always give Will a truck.

One last group shot

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-30T23:07:00.007-04:00

Over the past month Will has admired all of the pumpkins on our neighbors porches. He told me he want a big porch and a big pumpkin. He wants a big porch with chairs so that we can sit and watch the sunset. We can't do anything about the porch, but we could get a big pumpkin.

We carved it.

Cate's teeth were the inspiration. (I love her four little teeth)

Crayon Roll

2011-10-26T06:56:00.000-04:00

This is something I have wanted to try. We eat out WAY too much. I like to have quiet toys for the kids to play with when we are out. I have seen the crayon rolls and thought they were adorable.

There are tons of tutorials online.

I used the one by Skip to my Lou. CLICK HERE

I shortened it by 8 inches. I only wanted 8 crayons in the roll.

I picked out a dark boy fabric. I chose a dark fabric to hide the crayon marks from use.

I bought hair rubberbands

Followed the tutorials and ended up with this

Pirate Vest

2011-10-25T21:24:00.007-04:00

Tonight I made the vest portion of Will's costume. I found an easy tutorial on Dana Made It.

Click HERE for a vest tutorial

I used black fabric for the vest.

I bought shiny gold buttons and metalic gold thread for the buttons.

This was very easy to make. I can't wait to show him in the morning!

Halloween Part 1

2011-10-24T21:16:00.006-04:00

It sure did not take long for me to take a huge pause in my sewing!!! SORRY! I underestimated all the other commitments in my life. My work stuff has calmed down so I am jumping back in. On the advice of Katie I am going to have to share steps of a project. The things I want to make take several days :)

Will said he wants to be a pirate for Halloween. Easy enough. I can make that! Right?!?

The inspiration was Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates show.

I am making several changes to the costume to make it more like my idea of a pirate.

I picked up red and black striped fabric.

I cut two strips so that the stripes were long. Then I sewed them together to make a long sash.

It is too long so I have to cut it to his size.

I have enough fabric for a bandana too.

Slide

2011-10-23T19:31:00.015-04:00

Our backyard is terraced. I was always a little sad that we could not get a traditional playset for the backyard. It just would not work in our sloped yard. The kangaroo climber was fine until this year. Will is just too big. We love going to the park, but I really wanted something for the yard.

Then I learned about creating a natural playscape. Our yard is perfect for it. The idea is to create areas that encourage a child's imagination. It is everything that I enjoyed doing when I was little. I am so excited to start transforming our backyard. It is a slow process, but I hope to have it ready by next summer.

I used THIS and THIS from Pinterest as my inspiration

The first step was to create a slide. We already had a steep hill from the top to the middle level. (IGNORE THE WEEDS)

I purchased a slide from Home Depot. Then I dug out a groove for the slide. I had to add dirt under the top of the slide.

I dug out steps and put stepping stones for the steps.

It was an immediate hit. Will has played and played.

He has gone down on his butt, back, knees, belly, forwards, backwards and sideways.

Cate can slide down it too.

It makes me feel better because there is not the risk of the child falling off the side. Will did fall down it today, but he was not hurt because he just rolled down the hill.

The slide did well through the first round of storms. We will see how the steps last.

Over the winter I plan to landscape the area and add more play areas. I will share them as I go!

Furman Pinafore

2011-10-22T18:00:00.005-04:00

Finding Furman clothes for the kids is extremely difficult. The bookstore is tiny and only carries a few kids items, t-shirts. I decided that Cate needed a dress for Homecoming this year. The only way that was going to happen was if I whipped one up. I decided to go with my tried and true pinafore pattern. It is really flexible.

I bought purple corduroy fabric from Mary Jo's Cloth Shop. It is super soft.

I cut it out. I embroidered it. Pieced it together.

I made covered buttons too. That was the first time I have done it and it was surprisingly easy.

And now Cate has a sweet little dress that is perfect for the game.

*** I wrote this when we were planning to take the kids to tailgate. Then our furnace stopped working so I spent the morning talking to a heating guy instead of friends. Boo :(

Trike-A-Thon

2011-10-21T20:35:00.007-04:00

Will and Cate's school had a Trike-A-Thon fundraiser last weekend. Will had his bike (which is too little, but we heard Santa may be willing to spring for a big one) and his scooter. He went between the two of them for over two hours.

They had a wheel washing tent

I could not believe how long he lasted.

He was exhausted when we got home.

Cate loved it. Mark pushed her in the little red car.

She would sporadically wave to people.

World's Largest Pancake

2011-10-15T20:45:00.000-04:00

We like to make pancakes on the weekend. They are fun and easy for Will and I to make together. I decided that we were going to make the World's Largest Pancake. I had images of the scene from Uncle Buck in my head. It may not be the biggest, but Will was pretty impressed.

Rag Quilt

2011-10-10T06:00:00.011-04:00

Cate loves to snuggle her lovies. She never took a paci so her lovies have always helped her soothe herself. I decided to make Cate a special blanket for school.

I found this great tutorial online.

Mark and I went to Charlotte on our week off in August. I went to Mary Jo's and picked up three different types of minky fabric and a fleece.

Then I started cutting

almost 200 squares

Then I sewed and Will helped a little too

I pieced it together

Then I had to snip, snip, snip, oh my there was a lot of snipping

TA DA!!!!

I embriodered her name on one of the squares

The quilt is so soft. It shed a ton when I was making it. It has a little weight to it so I hope that helps her sleep.

Turkey Shirt

2011-10-09T14:16:00.000-04:00

I did another applique. Cate needed something for Thanksgiving!

I used fabric from my stash. I chose an orange, yellow and red fabric. Then brown minky fabric for the body. I free handed the design once the interfacing was on the back of the fabrics. I drew one feather and then replicated it for the other feathers.

I used a plain shirt from Old Navy.

Arrange. Iron. Sew. Done.

Cute lil turkey!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-08T22:50:00.019-04:00

We spent the morning at Niven's Apple Farm

Will loved the Tractor ride

Mark and Will found a pumpkin

Cute little pumpkin

How big is Will?

How big is Cate?

Nana helped with the jumping

Furman Shirt

2011-10-07T06:00:00.009-04:00

Furman gear for the kids is very difficult to find. I decided to create my own shirt for Will this football season. I appliqued the letters to a simple gray shirt.

How did I do it?

I printed out the letters on a Word Document. I used a font called Blue Highway Condensed

I measured Will's chest to determine the size of the letters. I wanted to be sure that you could read what it says. I hate "urma" shirts.

I cut out the letters.

I ironed the Pellon interefacing on the wrong side of the fabric.

I flipped the letters over and traced them onto the paper on the back of the fabric. (this creates a mirror image)

Next I placed the letters on the shirt and ironed them on

Do you see how the "A" looks different? I ended up making a different one, because that one had the fabric going in the wrong direction.

I sewed down each letter. I kept the stiches on the letter.

Here it is...

Hmmm, the picture does not do it justice. I will have to share a pic of Will when he wears it later.

Floor Cushion

2011-10-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

Have you seen the cute little "one seaters" from the Land of Nod?

Very cute!

I saw this tutorial on Living with Punks and knew I had to make it.

Check out her detailed instructions and the pics of cushions other people have made.

Finding "boy" fabric is difficult. The directions for the floor cushion recommends using home decor fabric. I looked online, but really did not see anything. I went to Hancock Fabrics. I was so excited when I saw this dinosaur fabric on the remnant table. They rarely have cute fabric on that table. The $4 price tag was perfect.

When I cut the fabric for the handle I made sure a dinosaur was centered.

I used bright red piping and it really makes it look finished.

I monogrammed it. I had to. Will loves to read his name.

It is so soft and squishy and a little lumpy.

Alphabet Bean Bags

2011-10-05T06:00:00.003-04:00

Will is really into letters and spelling. I may have mentioned that before. When I saw bean bags with the alphabet on Etsy I thought, "I can do that!"

So that is what I did.

I made each bean bag 5 inches square when sewed together. I used scrap fabric. I put 1/2 cup of beans in each bean bag. The examples and tutorials I found used appliques and freezer paper stencils. Uh no thanks. Sounds like too much work. I used a good old sharpie.

Seriously, why would anyone go through all those extra steps for bean bags? They look homemade, because they are homemade. I like it that way.

I have made half of the alphabet so far. They are going to be one of Will's Christmas gifts.

Pumpkin Applique Shirt

2011-10-04T07:34:00.001-04:00

I had a t-shirt that I messed up when I tried to monogram it. (I did not have the correct stabilzer) I saved the shirt and put it in my fabric pile. I am so glad that I did, because it was perfect for this project.

I used scrap fabric from another project and Pellon interfacing.

I put the rough side of the Pellon on the wrong side of the fabric and ironed it for 5 seconds.

Then I free handed a pumpkin and cut it out.

I layed the pieces on the shirt.

I ironed the pieces on.

Then sewed the pieces to the shirt

The minky fabric is so soft!

I was very happy with the way my first applique turned out. This project was much easier than I thought. Hmmm, what can I do next?

Hooded Towel

2011-10-03T06:25:00.000-04:00

I love using hooded towels with the kids. Will still uses his alien hooded towel from Pottery Barn. It was a baby gift from friends.

Click here for a flashback pic of Will.

I found the tutorial at Make and Take

This was super easy. Will helped me sew it together.

I used this polka dot towel and hand towel.

I cut the hand towel in half and sewed the two together. That was easy.

So snuggly and girly!!! It is not babyish so it should last us for awhile.

Madras Flower

2011-10-02T06:13:00.007-04:00

I had tons of scraps left over from the madras ruffle pants.

I decided to make a flower to embellish a shirt to coordinate with the pants. There are a ton of tutorials on how to make a fabric flower.

This is a great list from KoJo designs.

I used this one as a guide

I already had fabric that was ruffled from making the pants. I cut it so it was about 1 inch wide. I gathered it into a circle and sewed it together. Then I sewed on a red button from my stash.

I sewed it onto a plain white tank.

With a few snips I can move it to another top when the weather cools off. I had to sew it on because Cate would rip off a pin in no time.

I love the way the outfit turned out!

Madras Pants

2011-10-01T06:00:00.007-04:00

I LOVE madras fabric. I bought this fabric months ago thinking it would be great for the Fourth of July. OOPS! Ragsland has it as part of their Fall collection so I decided to make Cate a cute pair of ruffle pants.

I used a pattern for shorts and then added 5 inches to make them pants. That made them wide leg, which I love. After I sewed them together I added the ruffle to the bottom.

They look so comfy.

This time I remembered to add a tag to the back.

31 Days of Sewing projects

2011-09-30T06:00:00.006-04:00

One of the blogs that I peek in on is doing a series called 31 days of ____. I decided that this was a great motivator for me to get back into my sewing. I decided to share 31 days of sewing projects for the kids.

This is the sewing corner I set up in the playroom.

I have a small stash of fabric and a long list of things I want to make. We have made a few trips to Mary Jo's Cloth shop and then I have not done anything with the fabric once it is home. I did not know what to start with.

I have found tons of great sewing blogs and they have sparked my enthusiasm again.

Some of the projects were done before this month. There is no way I could complete a project a day and work. Knowing that I was going to do this pushed me to go ahead and complete a few projects. By the end of the month I hope to have 31 projects (or as close to that as I can get) and the links for the tutorials. Not to mention lots of cute things for the kids!

Over the 31 days I will share:
-Clothes for Cate
-My first Quilt (never thought I would tackle that)
-Christmas presents
-Decorations for Cate's room
-Curtains
-Items for Halloween

This is a pretty big goal. I am excited to see all of the projects that have been on my mind and pinned on my Pinterest boards come to life! Check back everyday to see!

Piggy Tails

2011-09-24T21:45:00.000-04:00

Finally!

Love them

Cate's Motor Skills

2011-09-18T20:52:00.006-04:00

Cate will take 3 to 5 steps on her own. She will try to walk towards objects and will walk into the middle of the room.

Cate loves the little rocking chair. She can make it rock, but her favorite thing to do is stand in it.

Squeeze

She is everywhere!

News worthy

2011-09-17T07:31:00.002-04:00

6 years ago...

Mark and I went to the chapel. It was the perfect day.

Said our vows

And with lots of fun times in between we have our sweet little family.

Just look at those faces!

Patio Preparations

2011-09-14T18:32:00.000-04:00

Now that the weather is cooling off, we can use the patio again. Will asked if we could eat dinner on the patio last Friday night. That was a nice treat. He has also helped me clear out, plant mums and plant bulbs. He loves watering the plants at night.

Wait for a walk

2011-09-13T20:28:00.002-04:00

I set up the stroller and turned around to get Cate's seat to attach it. Little Cate could not wait.

Utensils

2011-09-12T21:59:00.000-04:00

Maybe we should encourage her to at least try to use a utensil...

Zoo Trip

2011-09-10T21:47:00.008-04:00

We took a family trip to the Riverbanks Zoo today.

Feeding the birds was just as much fun this time.

I don't have and pictures of Cate with them because if they go too close she screamed and hit them.

The train was a big hit. He smiled the entire time

Will told Mark "That's not a real train. It has wheels and no track. It's a pretend train"

Will was a little nervous feeding the giraffes

Cate fed the giraffes too!

EWWW

Puppy

2011-09-09T22:11:00.001-04:00

Cate can drink out of a cup. She only drinks out of a cup at school. She still LOVES her bottle though. She gets a bottle before bed and for snacks. She will carry it around the house in her mouth while she crawls. It cracks us up. Someday we will give up the bottle. Not today, but someday.

Big bath

2011-08-31T19:30:00.009-04:00

Sometimes I forget the tricks we used with Will when he was small. I just expect Cate to go with the flow. Today I had the bath all ready for her. I had toys and her anti-slip gator with nice warm water waiting. She yelled once and then sat and played

and played

and ate toys

bath water is clean right?

showed off her 4 teeth

Then Will joined in

Football Season

2011-08-30T17:51:00.001-04:00

Mark's parents brought over Mark's childhood football helmet this weekend.

How cute is he!!!

R U smarter than my 3 year old?

2011-08-29T21:25:00.005-04:00

Will loves his wall map. It has become part of our night time routine. Mark does bathtime, I read books, we give hugs and kisses and then we do "countries". We have slowly introduced different states, countries, and continents. Will loves it and thinks it is a game. We are trying to introduce a new one every week now. This week we introduced Japan. We only talked about it the past two nights. Tonight we were watching the news and the announcer mentioned the little league team from Japan. Will sat up from the blocks that he was playing with and said "Japan, they said Japan". We told him that is where the kids on TV were from. Got to love it when connections are being made :)

Here is Will doing his "countries" tonight

We try to tie them to people/things that he is familar with. He knows Arizona and Italy because of the Cars movie.

Next stop.... National Geographic Bee :)

Nana N's birthday

2011-08-28T22:04:00.000-04:00

Will made a banner the night before

We had dinner and desert to celebrate Nana's birthday.

Sprinkler

2011-08-27T12:29:00.008-04:00

This is one of my fondest memories from my childhood

Nothing flashy

Just our yard sprinkler on a hot day

Fire Station

2011-08-26T22:24:00.000-04:00

happy

2011-08-26T18:47:00.001-04:00

I am happy that it is the weekend too.

My Eye

2011-08-23T20:21:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I started to feel a familar feeling around my left eye. I checked in the mirror and the puffiness had started. This happened about a month ago, but it also happened again one and a half weeks ago. I was put on a different antibiotic the second time and like the time before the swelling was gone by that night. Yesterday was my last day of the antibiotic. I could not believe this was happening again. I was nervous. I called MD360 to ask for a referal. That was 11am. At 4pm I called and they said they were making referals then. At 5:30 a nurse called to see what the problem was and tell me that there was no note for a referal. UGH. She said she would talk to the last doc I saw and make the referal. Great. My eye continued to swell. When I woke up my eye was swollen shut. I had to submit my first absence from work. As the morning went on the swelling went down. By 9am I decided to make my own referal. Periorbital Cellulitis can be serious and I was starting to have headaches.

My appointment was at 1:30. Mark took me which was handy since they dialated my eyes. The Doctor said that I do not have an infection! What!?! Based on my history and the eye exam he said that there was no way that the antibiotic would have worked that fast. Check out the before and after. He said I have something called idiopathic orbital inflamation. HMMM. I have to go on steriods for a few weeks and hopefully that will knock out the cycle. My immune system is on overload. I also had to have a CT scan of my head. I will get those results tomorrow.

My eye is already starting to heal without any medicine.

BTW I never heard from the urgent care again. I guess that is what I get for not using a primary physician.

When the earthquake hit today I had a lady poking me in the eye to get my eye pressure level. Fun times.

Sweet smile

2011-08-21T19:52:00.000-04:00

Couch snuggle

2011-08-20T21:30:00.005-04:00

Tonight when I brought Cate in to say goodnight...

Will could not be left out. This one cracks me up because he is using every muscle in his body to hang off of the side of the couch

No doubt. They love their daddy!

Cool Fridge

2011-08-19T19:45:00.000-04:00

Cate loves the fridge. As soon as I open the door she makes a bee line for it. Then she sits on the bottom ledge while I take out dinner or put away groceries..

She would stay in there all day if I let her. Not that I blame her.

She is also starting to climb it.

Bath time

2011-08-18T19:31:00.007-04:00

Giving Cate a bath has become EXTREMELY difficult. She hates the big tub. She has a white knuckle grip on the side and cries. She does the same when I put her in the sink. Now she is back in her baby tub. That is getting difficult too! Now she keeps trying to look out the window.

And to think that the contractors thought we should get rid of the bay window nook when we renovated. I love that window!

daddy time

2011-08-15T23:26:00.002-04:00

Playing with daddy

Organize

2011-08-10T21:19:00.009-04:00

First day went well but was a little hectic. I found my office and attended meetings. I had a few hours to look through my new office. Love the window.

Here is the common area. The other therapists are only there one day a week so it is going to be a little quiet.

I was so excited to see all of my new toys. They have every switch and adapted toy that you can think of. They have it set up as a suite with a common area, three offices and a storage room. Lots of places to store stuff. I opened up all of the storage cabinets and was a little overwhelmed.

I decided to take everything out and see what I have.

It went from this

To this

There is still a lot of crazy going on in the room. I have not made a schedule or planned my therapy, but this little bit of order makes me feel so much better.

18 Summers

2011-08-09T20:49:00.000-04:00

After graduate school I moved home and worked in my old school district. It had it's pros and cons. I did it because I did not have any other plans. I saved tons of money which later went towards the house I bought. I loved growing up in Summerville, but I needed a change. I had a few friends that lived in Greenville and they encouraged me to look into moving there. I attended the state speech conference in Feb and met two ladies from Greenville county schools. They told me about a school that they had for their most involved students, the Washington Center. I loved the sound of it and wanted to work there.

I set up an interview with them for a few months later. It was the begning of Spring when I headed up to Greenville. I had never been before and as soon as I drove into town I felt at home. I stayed with a friend and went to my interview on a Friday. I was very disappointed to find out that they were planning to fill the position with another therapist. I would end up at multiple random schools. Not what I wanted.

I met my friend at her house around lunch. She wanted me to see a special a local TV station was doing about the therapy group where she worked. They also highlighted a new program in Easley called the Medically Fragile Children's program. I was so excited. I did an internship at their Columbia site. Yadda Yadda Yadda. I took a position with them. I spent two years there. I loved it and learned a ton.

Then a position closer to home with more time off came available. I have been at the Meyer Center for six years. I love the girls I worked with. They are an amazing group of women that work miracles everyday. I have also worked with children that have taught me a thing or two. I laughed everyday. I grew up there. While I was there I got married, lost my father, had two kids, sold a house, bought a house, renovated it, and so much more. I am a better person and therapist because of my time there.

When I was on maternity leave I realized that I wanted more time with my kids. I started to weigh my options. I contacted the school district and started the process. It was a hard decision but I am really excited. I am looking forward to my summers with the kids. A relaxing time off to just enjoy each other. Instead of a week to get a to-do list done. As nester so nicely pointed out I only have 18 summers with my kids.

The ironic part is that I have come full circle. I will be full time at the Washington Center. The place I wanted to work nine years ago. Kind of funny how things have a way of working themselves out.

Cate's Birthday

2011-08-02T20:39:00.029-04:00

She woke up with a huge smile as usual. I love getting her in the morning.

We spent the morning at the Children's Museum.

Will got a little daring

During nap I got ready for her party.

Will brought in Cate's present. I love this retro buggy that I found online. It reminds me of one I had as a child.

I think Will loved the Elmo

First baby doll

I said I would never make the birthday cake and I did it again.

Family Pic

Happily waiting

Here it is and now what?

Well not much smashing went on. I tried encouraging her, but she was not interested.

After a quick bath she snuggled Nana and tried out her new buggy.

The buggy is so chunky that she can easily push it around the house.

Fun Moments

2011-08-01T15:34:00.000-04:00

Will spends a lot of time yelling at Cate. She is not even phased by it. She loves his toys and wants to be with Will all of the time. Will loves to hug on her and she can make him laugh. I had to tape this to so that I will remember that sometime the screams were happy screams

BRRRR

2011-07-31T23:22:00.002-04:00

Cate has a new sound. It was only a matter of time before she started making car noises. She loves Will's cars. Here is a video of them playing together.

Spelling

2011-07-31T22:56:00.004-04:00

This evening Will went into the playroom and pulled down the magnet bag. He unzipped it and dumped all of the letters on the floor. He searched through them and put four special ones on his board. Then he called me into the room and said W-I-L-L that spells Will.

When I asked him to show me each letter he pointed to the correct letter. He just put them in a different order. Not bad!

He is really into spelling everything. He is constantly asking me how to spell things and spelling is my least favorite thing.

I think sharing the video of how proud he was is also needed.

Brown bear flashback

2011-07-28T23:54:00.003-04:00

I found this video on an old memory card. It was taken a little over a year ago. The fact that Will was in a sleep sack cracks me up. Cate loves her sleep sacks too. She does not sleep as well without it. When we would read Brown Bear Will would always say Whacha Whacha SEEEEE.

20,000 +

2011-07-27T20:45:00.006-04:00

That is the number of pictures my husband added to our external hard drive. NO JOKE. Lots of duplicates or slightly different versions of the same pose. I need to purge. I have not been very good about backing up files to the external hard drive. You would think I would have learned my lesson after losing EVERYTHING before Will was born.

Yesterday I had a virus on the computer that is very sneaky. It hides your files and then asks you to go through steps to "fix" your computer. Thankfully Mark took care of it and I have once again learned my lesson. It is also a reminder to me that I need to finish the kid's photo books.

This picture would have been gone forever

Pics from the Serpentarium

2011-07-26T15:31:00.001-04:00

I finally pulled these pics off of my phone.

Threes

2011-07-25T13:50:00.017-04:00

Isn't it a saying that bad things come in threes? Well I had three mishaps over the weekend.

1) After an awesome girl's night at the lake, I was heading home down a rural highway. I saw a girl stoped at a stop sign. Apparently she did not see me. She pulled out and hit my rear tire and bumper. Everyone was ok. When the officer and I were looking at my car I realized that she hit my wheel. It appears to be bent. I had a tow truck take my car and had to wait for Mark, Will and the screaming baby to pick me up. I am not sure of the damage, it was not my fault, everyone is ok, but it is just annoying how much stuff you have to do for a little wreck.

2) Mark discovers a small puddle of water at the base of our door frame leading to the bathroom. I call a plumber on Monday morning. When he comes he starts quoting hundreds of dollars of repairs. When he opens up the wall we see this...

When the construction guys were installing the awesome new baseboards in our bedroom they drilled a nail into the pipe. Now we have a small leak that has destoyed my beautiful baseboards.
I immediately called the contractor and he assured me that he will take care of it.

3) On Sunday morning I notice that my left eyelid is drooping. I get a little concerned that I am having a stroke (over reaction). Everything else seemed fine. An hour later it looks worse and I say something to Mark. We decide that it is swelling. Maybe I have a sty. I put heat on it. As the day progressed it got worse. Soon it looked like this...

PS: Don't you hate pics that people take of themselves. I think the ones I dislike the most are the ones people take half clothed while looking in the mirror. It is just odd. I digress.

I decided to wait until the morning to go to the doctor. In the morning I could not even open my eye. The whole left side was puffy. You can tell if you look by my mouth that it is even drooping.

Mark took me to MD360 our urgent care center.

Great place. The Dr. said I have Periorbital Cellulitis. YIKES! If it gets worse, does not respond to the antibiotic or starts to hurt I had to go to the eye doc so that I do not have vision problems or have my eye pop out. That is never a good thing :). Well it appears to be getting better. Now it looks like this...

That is one powerful antibiotic!

It has been crazy around here, but it looks like everything will work itself out. Mark and I both have off next week and we are looking forward to our staycation. Although now that I think about it we have already filled it up with plans too. Mostly fun stuff. Most importantly our sweet girl turns ONE!!!

Cars

2011-07-23T19:51:00.004-04:00

After dinner on Friday night....

Snack Trap

2011-07-22T18:13:00.003-04:00

Cate knows how to get into the Snack Trap now.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-07-20T23:13:00.000-04:00

Dancing Machine

2011-07-18T17:29:00.000-04:00

We ended up taking Will to the wedding. He was so excited when we told him there would be a band. He went up to the stage to check them out when we got to the reception. When the band was on a break one of the guys let Will strum the guitar.

Made.his.day.

He also loved dancing.

I need to get a video of Will playing the air drums. Pictures do not capture how funny it is.

Wedding day

2011-07-16T13:00:00.013-04:00

My friend Clare got married!!!

I had the privlage of being the Matron of Honor.

Here we are at her bachelorette weekend a few weeks ago.

Clare and I have been friends for 15 years. We met the summer before college at cheerleading camp. We both cheered for the Citadel. I would say that that experience bonded us for life. Ha.

We were in the same sorority in college.

Will was born on her 30th birthday.

She is a labor and delivery nurse now and was a great resource during my pregnancy.
(This is the day she met Cate and the day after she got engaged)

Here we are the night before the wedding

The rehersal dinner was held at the pavilion on Daniel island and it was the perfect place. It was great weather too!

The wedding was at cute little a church on Daniel Island

The cake was just as good as it looks.

The thought and details made everything perfect.

My mom came to the wedding. She took Will home at bedtime.

I did not take many pics because I was having too much fun.

I loved my hair so I have to share a pic of it.

I am so happy for them.

I totally stole those pics off of facebook. Love it!

Years and years ago she told me that a beautiful Saturday was a "wedding day". I had a "wedding day" the day that I got married. I was so excited that Clare had a "wedding day" too. It was breezy and in the 80s with blue skies. The days leading up to the wedding were nothing like that.

The photographer was a friend of ours from college. I am sooooo excited to see the pictures!

C of C

2011-07-15T20:19:00.000-04:00

I am in Charleston for a wedding this weekend.

Today the kids and I went downtown to pick up my transcript from the College of Charleston. While we were there, we walked through campus. It was so nice and tons of fun memories came back to me. I love that school.

I took a few shots at the Cistern.

This is what Will does when I ask him to smile

blurry!!!

Will looks so tiny in this one

I did not know they had a live feed or I would have had Mark watch us play!

Here

Mark's faternity was founded at CofC. Here is a gate they purchased for the school.

Then we met Caryn for shopping and lunch.

Wish the visit was longer