Say Cheese!

I cannot tell you how much I love these children. I love them like they are my own, and I miss them So much! I made them these ties and skirt to be all matchy matchy cute, and I know Lily loved the skirt, she wore it to school and church, and loves how it twirls, Ollie and William are probably lukewarm about their ties, they did think it was cool to have matchy ones, adn that I made them, and that they have an owl on the back (the PLaY logo) and I guess that's pretty good for a little boy, maybe thats as much enthusiasm as I can hope for :) They sure look cute in them though, am I right? However, these children are the most difficult to photograph! This could be a conversation with any of the three:

Me: Look at me

them: (with a cheesy smile staring out to the side but they are facing me, so they think they are looking at me) "I AM"!

Me: No LOOK at me, with your eyeballs! LOL!

Them: (exaggerated wide open eyes) I. AM!!!!(but their eyes, while wide open, are still fixated on something off to the side somewhere...)

Me: okay now just relax, and tell me something funny

Them: "I don't know"

Me: Okay guess what? Stephanie farted! Gross! ( I know, I stoop to their level, but I wanted a real smile, not a cheesy one!)

Them: No she didn't, I didn't think that was funny

So, these are a few of the best ones, even though they are stinkers, they are still the cutest!

Tottle-bug, poor thing, it was SO windy, and the wind was cold!

Ollie, this doesn't do his eyes justice, they are dazzling. really, dazzling.

William, so smart, and such a sweet boy, he still likes to snuggle :)

I think they are saying "Pancakes!"

A little blurry because she was so far away, and I had to crop in quite a bit

Stephanie was a my partner in crime, she was in charge of keeping hair combed-ish and doling outt treats for obedient kids! And also chasing Ollie when he decided he had enough! LOL

LOVE this one of Lily, her arms are doing something special, but the look on her face is priceless, beautiful!

And this little man, happy and cute and charming...

Thanks kiddos, for letting me torture you, I love you.

My birthday and My EIGHT MONTH OLD

All I wanted ofr my birthday was to visit Arizona, well, Nate's family in Arizona. It was THE BEST!!! We drove all night Thursday Night, and got there just as the kids were headed off to school Friday morning. We slept a good long while, and Amy and Everett got in some good bonding time :) Ollie wasn't too sure about that though, when Everett was on her lap Ollie kept saying "move him." LOL!!!

These pics are backwards, but whatev. We had DELISH taco salad for dinner, my FAVORITE, and Amy made me a GF chocolate cake with ganache topping...mmmm

This top row of pictures shows me and Tootle-Bug, she made me a card with polka-dots, and birds, and a drawing of me that looks JUSt like my school picture from last year, it was SOOO cute, you can see how she got my hair just right if you click on this pic to make it bigger :)

Amy made me a pendant, Nate MADE me a hair stick on his lathe, and a CRAVED a wooden spoon for me, it's beautiful and I'm going to use it all the time. Steph ordered my the cutest shoes that we found together one day at the mall, and John got me a book, and socks :) and some cricut software! My parent gave me a fiesta ware bowl...SPOILED much?! yes. William made me a card with a bird on it, if you don't get it, watch the clip on you tube called "we put birds on things" from portlandia...so funny!

When we were singing to me, Ollie walked by, saw the candles on the cake and without even thinking stepped up and blew them out, hahhaa, it was so funny, it didn't blow them all though, so I had him help me finish the job when everyone was done singing...that kid is so funny and cute!

We went to the park-er, I mean grass patch to play around... in Arizona no one has a lawn, so in neighborhoods they have parks and little grassy patches around the neighborhood. There are wold rabbits too!

My Eight Month old...

When did you get so big???

Everett doesn't crawl yet, but he talks alot, he scoots if I make him have tummy time, but he doesn't like it. He eats more food, and loves playing with toys, especially ones that make noise or light up, he currently has a double ear infection :( so he's a little clingy. He's the center of attention wherever we go, and he is the best baby, and sweetest ever.

John was spinning him around in his stroller, or as Ollie says, his Yol-lie

Love this child. He is the most loving sweet two year old I have ever met, gives tons of kisses and hugs, always says I love you, and calls me Gurt-ney Pin-tess (Because once when he asked me what my name was..which he does all the time...I said it was Princess Courtenay...now he thinks thats my name...am I going to correct him? No way.

Love my sassy sistee!

John is the ninja master, william LOVES it :)

Cutest boys, William was SO cute always trying to get Everett to smile...cute

Ollie and Steph playing Airplane, it's cute.

A birthday sunset?! Lucky me!

"I puss, a Yol-lie?" Sure Ollie...anytime.

My Review of Graco Direct Connect Monitor - Two Receiver

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

Gracos Direct Connect Digital Baby Monitor lets you see, hear and feel babys call with sound lights and exclusive Graco vibration notification technology. Featuring crystal clear connection with secure digital technology for optimal clarity, performance and privacy

• 100% digital t...

Graco Direct Connect Monitor - Two Receiver

Mostly Satisfied

By First Baby Mom from Salt Lake City Utah on 3/1/2011

 

4out of 5

Pros: Reliable, User Friendly, Simple

Best Uses: Preemies, Infants, Naps, Sleep, Newborns

Describe Yourself: First Time Parent

Graco sent me this monitor to review, and asked me to give my honest opinion about it. My favorite features are the vibrating feature, and larger distance than other monitors. I use it in my sewing room while my baby naps, and when the sewing machine is going, I can't hear the monitor as well, but the vibrating on my sewing table from the monitor gets my attention right away. I've also used that feature while mowing the lawn! LOL!
The sound is slightly less static-y than other monitors I've used, but that is MUCH easier on my ears...it's so clear that I can hear the clock ticking in the nursery!

I tried out the "2000 ft range" and went to the neighbors house while baby was asleep, but I kept getting the out of range beeping, the neighbors house was across the street, maybe 500 feet at the most, so I put the monitor on the window sill, so there wouldn't be any walls to interfere, and I put the baby monitor in the nursery next to the window, and still the reception was hit or miss. It works great in the front or back yards though when I am working outside :)

I would recommend this monitor, based on the fact that I have used 3 different ones, and this is my favorite by far.

(legalese)

Improv Family Photos in Arizona

Didn't mean for this spur of the moment walk in the San Tan Mountains in Arizona to be a family photo shoot, just a few snapshots on our hike/walk/sunday stroll, but the when I brought them home to look at them, lighting was so gorgeous, just at sunset, and I am so in love with how they turned out! I even love that John is wearing his baseball hat, and Everett isn't dolled up, and I have sunday after a nap hair, and (you can't see in the pictures but I was wearing pj pants under my dress, and my teal converse lol :) I'm framing these!

Do you like the tweedle-dee tree that looks like it's sticking out of my head? I removed it in the above photo, and I'll have to for this one too...looks like a very "special" hair accessory

hahhahahhahaaaa, I LOVE THIS!!!! The look on his face is priceless!!! Sorry kid, your parents are obnoxious...

I'm in the process of editing them ALL, I took like 500, and that doesn't include Amy's camera, or my dads...

More on that trip, and my birthday to come :)

A Skirt for Lily, and Celebrate the BOY pants

I'm going to arizona this weekend, well for a whole week, it's all I wanted for my birthday, so I'm going to visit Nate and Amy and William and Lily and Oliver!!! And Steph and Jarom and Mom and Dad are meeting us there!!! (Well Steph and Jarom are driving with us)

I am SOOOO excited!!!

This skirt started as a "Hmm, The ties I'm making are so cute, I should make matchy ones for William and Ollie!" Then I thought, "I should do a skirt for Lily too, so she won't feel left out" All matchy matchy. So here I am with a frilly "fancy" ruffly and super fun skirt (that I wish I had made in my own size!) for Lily, and no ties...yet. But they will be out of the same fabric. CAYUUUTE!!! I love it! Let's hope it fits her! We'll see this weekend and I'll be taking some darling photo's of them all matchy, can't WAIT! My own kids are doomed to be matchy all the time! :)

The fabric is from Hobby Lobby, it is always on sale, like permanently on sale, for 4.89 a yard or something! One yard was plenty for this skirt and 2 ties!

Added ball fringe that I found on an 18 yard bolt for TWO DOLLARS!!!! (at a discount store, that I LOVE)...(I'm selling the rest on Etsy for .50 a yard, which is a steal for this stuff...gotta support my habit somehow!)

Next project, CELEBRATE the BOY!!! YEAH!!!! Okay, Dana from MADE is my all time favorite blogger of all all all time. Really. I adore her bold simple style. Well, she and "made my Rae" had been saying they were going to do another Celebrate the boy this february. I was SO excited, I would think about it all the time, looking forward to it, saving up[ TONS of fabric expressly for this month...

Wel, Feb 1st rolls around, and the night before I am ancy, wondering what project I'll be doing the next day with Celebrate the boy. Everett was up at 5:30 for his breakfast, and I was so excited after I fed him, I was up on the computer waiting for the festivities to be posted/begin...I know, I'm kinda lame...

Well, Rae posted something about Valentines, and Dana posted about being sick and a trip with her kids or something...WHAT?! I commented on Dana's (MADE) blog and asked WHERE THE HECK IS THE BOY STUFF?!?!!? and also, I hope you're feeling better...

Well, she commented on MY LOWLY LITTLE FAMILY BLOG and said it would start the day after Valentines. Oh. Okay. I'll stop freaking out.

So, the first project for Celebrate the boy, is the basic Kids pants, she teaches you how to make a pattern form an existing pair, and make you own pants! It works for any size, even adults!

So this is my first project: Basic Loungey Springy boy pants.

I love putting my own labels on stuff, just like Dana does, I mentioned she's my idol right?

They are smidge long, but at the rate he's growing, I'm totally okay with it!

I made these blocks a long time ago, they match his banner and bedroom decor :) They spell out different things :)

I'm, hoping to keep up with the projects on Celebrate the boy, so stay tuned. (And no, this isn't turning into one of those fancy crafter blogs, just a few projects I wanna share :)

Valentine's Day, February Dates

For our February date, we went shooting...yep like to a shooting range...it was special, and SOOO romantic. *wink*wink*

We used john's dad's gun, which is pink...cute. I shot a rabbit, and I'm not too bad, John said he was surprised how well I did, me too, the poor rabbit didn't stand a chance. John was laughing because at first I held the gun like it was gross, or like a venomous snake or something, well what do you expect? Hard cold metal in my hand, there's LOUD shots firing all around me, I didn't want to do something wrong!

John was a great teacher, the gun we shot was a 22, that's the size of the bullet...I was son confused because I had hear a rifle referred to as a 22 before...I know NOTHING! hahhaaa

notice my tongue sticking out...I had to close one eye...if we ever live in a time where we have to eat food that we kill, I'll starve. It took me forever to actually shoot each shot.

John of course was a PRO, seriously, he's really good.

John shot a "ninja" who is holding a girl hostage, he said that the girl was me, and he killed the ninja to save me...ummmmm...thanks??

Did I love shooting...no. DId I love spending time with my sweetie doing somehting that he likes to do? Totally.

In my mind I'm like, okay now that's over with, I don't ever have to go again! It wasn't too painful, and I am a good wife for going on a ""shooting date" with my hubby, and I never have to do it again! But on the way home, john was like, "okay honey, I'm going to show you some things when we get home that you can practice for next time"

great.

I told him, I want a bb gun, a red ryder bb gun. That way when he wants to go shooting (he usually goes outdoors somewhere, much nicer, not so loud, pretty, etc) anyway, I could go shooting with him, and shoot soda cans, and he can shoot his big guns. He said no way, but I really would much rather shoot a bb gun...if I have to shoot anyway, right? plus ammunition is expensive, but for a bb gun, it's SO cheap. Anyway, I'll be totally fine if I never touch a gun again! :)

Love you honey...

The other date we went on was a Jon Schmidt (and Steven Sharp Nelson) concert! He is AMAZING!!! He's a pianist, and is totally famous around these parts, the concert was a benefit for an orphanage in Afghanistan, so double good, and tickets were a great deal! I loved the concert, below is my FAVORITE song they do, and they preformed it that night. They are both great entertainers, dancing while they play, telling jokes, the whole bit, It was such a fun show, I even liked it better than the Jack Johnson concert. For reals.

I could listen to this song all. day. long.

John surprised me today for Valentine's Day and took a half day off of work and met me at the front door with a really thoughtful gift, the bbc romance collection! Pride and Prejudice, Emma ,Jane Eyre, Ivanhoe, Tom Jones, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Lorna Doone, and Victoria & Albert, I've only seen a few of them, the more familiar names, I'm so excited!

Happy LOVE day!

*also, Everett's bottom 2 teeth came in!*

Seven months and a Valentiney Robot

Everett is 7 months old. Why does 7 months sound so much older than six months? I don't like it. Okay, I like some of it, but I don't like him growing up so fast. John doesn't let us talk about it, he says he's practically graduated high school and moved out. Oh brother.

At seven months, Everett...

-still snuggles! In the morning when he's in bed with me, sometimes I wake up to his soft hands petting my back, like he's gently waking me up to feed him. it's tender.

-he's LOUD! he yells and screams at the top of his lungs, not becasue he's mad or anything, but becasue he discovered that he can! LOL, it's pretty funny, I'll hear a shrill scream, and rush to him, but he looks up at me like, what? nothing to see here...he sings along at church...he is loud! It makes everyone laugh

-likes to chew everything, and his front bottom teeth are close to coming in

-likes to look at/be read to/ eat and chew books. He especially likes "five little monkeys", he kicks his feet in excitement when I read it to him

-LOVES when Daddy comes home, when he sees John, he laughs in anticipation of what Daddy will do to make him laugh

-eats cheerios and little finger puffs, and he's getting really good at eating them all, and using his thumb and forefinger to pick them up

-HATES being put on his tummy, I wonder if he'll ever crawl. He throws a pretty stellar tantrum about it.

-Will smile at anyone who will talk to him, I hope he doesn't ever get scared to strangers, I like that he can go to anyone, and be happy

-loves music, on the radio or us singing to him, he loves it

-hair is growing! he's getting a mullet in the back, lol, and he has these cute little curls behind his ear, I'm hoping and dreaming he will have hair like William's, super curly and cute!

And...I love being a mom. who wouldn't? Have you seen this face?

This is the Robot Valentine onesie I made him. I cut out the grey and green with my cricut, (Birthday Party Cartridge) I love how the little dial was already pointing to his heart area, so when I put a heart there, it was just right. I printed out the words onto print n press transfer sheets (You print out in color in mirror image, then when you iron it down it's just right) but it looks kind of green ironed down, I printed it in grey, oh well, it still goes :) I stitched around the outside, but I was too lazy to stitch the circles and eyes and mouth and dial, so I really hope they don't come up in the wash! I zig-zagged the heart, it's cute.

By the way, when I showed it to John he said "Um, is this for our future daughter?" no honey, why? It is not girly, the heart is for Valentine's! "Oh, okay, cool, well after valentines could we take it off and put like, a skull there or something?" PAh-leese. I would not put this on a girl, it's totally boy-ish! Do you have my back on that? Please validate me.

You really should click on this collage to make it bigger, so many freaking cute faces!!!

No, I didn't pose him, at all, he just naturally put his hand up there, and looked at me, it cracked me up!

So, anyway um, Happy Valentine's!!!