Baby Girl is 1! {Happy Birthday}

On July 19th, my baby girl turned 1! On July 20th we celebrated her birthday with friends and family. :) Over at GYCT Designs I'm sharing the sheets I made to help me with planning and organizing the birthday party as part of her Sizzlin' Summer Organization Series.

Enjoy some of the pictures here of the party, her cake Hubby decorated and her 'eating' it, and the dress I made her. :)

We used a Koala theme for the birthday cake and invitations. It also happens to be the mural that is on her wall in her bedroom! :) We used the Koala from the Create a Critter for the  (affiliate)for the Cricut Expression Cutting Machine (affiliate) , cut it out from cardstock and used it to make an impression in the frosting.  Hubby then filled it in with frosting once removing the cardstock.

She was shy listening to happy birthday

Baby girl, just like her brother, was not a fan of the frosting!

And some more cake eating pictures, mostly because I missed the first bite...

We had family and friends over, and I am so thankful for them celebrating with us. I was too busy to take too many pictures, but here are a few good ones.

Cousin's helped open presents. They are such good helpers.

I made her a dress for the day too, in a very thin material to help stay cool. It's the Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop's Sweetheart Halter (affiliate). I just extended the shirt to make it a dress. 

Don't forget to head over to GYCT Designs and check out the sheets I made that help me plan birthday parties (and other parties). 

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! May you have many more!

Track Your Yells and Work on Stopping {The Orange Rhino}

Ever since I joined in the challenge back in January, I have been working on becoming yell free. It's hard. It is very hard. I am still working on it and I still slip up. More often then I would like to admit...

Like yesterday and today. I had quite a few slip ups. Why? 

• I wasn't feeling good and just wanted to sleep
  
  
• The computer wasn't working and I had things I *needed* to get done (not really, it could have waited)
  
  
• Truth?     I just didn't want to be bothered
  

Sad? Yeah, but that is life sometimes. Day in and day out we are a parent. Just doing things we want to do is no longer an option. It makes it harder when all you hear is the same question over and over and over again when you are just trying to think!

I CanNot handle all that Noise!!!

Well, they are just trying to get your attention. They are just responding the way you are showing them to respond...

Hard, I know... Especially when you just want to do things you enjoy, just for you. When you haven't had the opportunity to do those things in several weeks.

The Orange Rhino is such a helpful tool to make those times between yells easier. Like taking the time out to track the yells (head here and scroll to 4)... Honestly, I might not have noticed those three things bulleted above if it weren't for the tracking sheet.

I did so much behavior tracking for the purpose of modification while I was working in special education. Who would have thought to do that for myself? It's amazing what you can find out about yourself. And learning to handle the yells; hold them in, redirect them into a pillow (my personal fave), is something that is going to help them later. I know I don't want my kid to be the kid that yells at there sibling or at their friend on the playground.

I watched a kid throw shoes at my son while on the playground at the park. I have no idea what went on and I know my son is not innocent by any means. I am glad it wasn't my son that through those shoes, I just hope that he doesn't turn into one that will...

I am working on not yelling.

Check out her site. Follow along, take the challenge, and give it a try if you feel you yell too much. You might be surprised what you find out. 

Little Man's 3-Year Dinosaur Birthday Party

I cannot believe that my little man is now three years old! Crazy!

Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop's Classic Polo (affiliate link) Repurposed from an old shirt and fabric!

We celebrated with a dinosaur cake, a '3' on his shirt using dinosaur printed flannel, and making hand-print stegosaurus' with family and friends! What more could a 3-year-old ask for in a birthday party? I don't know, but I do know that my little man had fun!

I cut triangles from felt for the kids to use as the back plates. I think it added a neat texture element to their hand-prints. :)

cousin's looked awesome using the triangles to create a tail!

name letters tutorial here.

The chickens seemed to be a main attraction! :)

Pants were pattern flip blogged about here.

Images cut with cricut, pressed into frosting to imprint, then outlined with frosting... Love how it turned out! Brandon does such a great job!

I think he was a little embarrassed 

My sister-in-law took the pictures! She does such a good job! :)

*affiliate link

Now to start planning Samara's first birthday... Only 7 months to go! :) Hahah, right...

Until next time, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My Craft Space

I am excited to show you my craft room, though right now it isn't nearly anywhere I want it to be. But hey, it's a craft room and it's usable! :)  And, it is a lot better than what it used to look like. Isn't it just the way that things seem to go, the craft room or spare room seems to turn into a catch all for stuff around the house when trying to clean... Maybe if we had spots for everything it would be easier, or not as much stuff.... ;)

So when you first walk into the craft room, to the left is the desk where my sewing machine is located. I love the size (though a little big for the room). We acquired it in the move into this house 5 months ago. Brandon wants to cut a portion off the table to set the sewing machine down into it, but I don't think that is going to happen and now I am not sure if I want it to. The red chair was an acquisition with the house too.

The drawers are filled with scissors, sewing notions, thread, bobbins, old eye glasses and other crafting supplies, even baby food jars!

On the other side of the desk is an old couch that folds out into a bed but I am not totally taking a picture of that as it is in need of reupholstering, not to mention is has a box of carousels in need of a home and my yarn supplies for crochet work.

One more look at my Huge desk... It's awesome...

I have my ironing board set up in front of the window. That window gets so hot during the day. I think this room is one of the hottest in the house! I would show the view, but it is of the broken trampoline and the chicken coop. Granted the mountains are awesome, but not the other things...

My one bookcase is crammed with fabric in photo boxes, books, papers, albums, crayons and markers... I think I need more bookcases, but there is no room for them. The small plastic containers holds my scraps and WOF cuts organized by size. I very much prefer having these sorted by size than by color. If I need something 1.5" then I go into that container. It's so easy! The photo boxes are organized by color. :)

Then it is my craft table. Brandon made it when we lived in the old house. It's great for scrapbooking when I am putting my layouts together. I like to spread out. Course now it spans almost the full length of the room! The unpainted top was supposed to be a second table, but I am not sure the plans with it now...

I like my little cork display above the table... and my music notes...

This just makes me happy...

My grandpa made this, and my grandma painted it. It will always be special, and hopefully the current children can keep all the pieces together!

My project wall. A simple fleece blanket pinned to the wall. It works for what it has been used for. Right now it is sporting the blocks I got from the baby shower. I am still waiting on a bunch and trying to figure out the layout which has changed many times and probably will again before it is actually pieced together...

Last but not least, my music notes above the door... :)

I am linking up at Ellison Lane: Studio Spotlight Linky Party! :) Check out the craft/sewing spaces of others for some inspiration, admiration, or just to snoop... ;)

A Baby in the House

"It's just nice having a baby in the house... Again..."

Baby Shower, Swimming, and Other Things...

This last Sunday my good friends Beth and Arlene threw me a baby shower for Samara. I am just so thankful for all the people that came out, and sorry we missed the ones who couldn't make it (it's ok, we should get together later!)...

Nikolai and I went swimming on Monday in a blow-up pool that we bought last year (and hardly ever used) He is so cute and had so much fun!

I had a doctor appointment on Wednesday, and I have some news about that too! So... Here we go...

36 Weeks and 5 (now 6) Days...

Yesterday was the ultrasound appointment to determine if Samara is in the head down position! About 2.5 years ago, in November 2010,  I had to undergo an External Cephalic Version in order to turn Nikolai from a breeched position ( I talk about that here, here and the actual Version here). I have to say that once the wand was showing what was in the pelvic region I was extremely...

relieved!

Hello, Summer!

It's done. School is over and so the summer has begun! It was a good last couple of weeks of school, full of meetings, IEPs, and getting everything of mine out of the classroom and home. I will miss it there. I will miss the kids, the teachers, the people. I will have to go back and visit them when I can; show off the baby. I am sure that if I do not, I will hear about it!

 

It has been a while since I last posted! Nikolai and I went to the zoo, not this past weekend but the one before, with my friend Meghan and her two kiddos. It was the first time we tried to feed the giraffes and the ducks. Nikolai did well with feeding the ducks. I think he was a little scared to feed the giraffe!