Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!



Are you scared by this year's Jack-O-Lanterns? 

Mark's is the scary one on the left.  Jack's is the one in the middle with the one tooth like him.  Mine is the one on the right.  The eyes were much cooler before the pumpkin started to deteriorate.

Jack dressed up as a dragon for Halloween.  ROAR!  The cutest one I've ever seen!  And he really enjoyed handing out candy with us.  Well, he more supervised than anything.




And then we had a fun Halloween Party to go to on Friday with Jack's playgroup.  He had a lot of fun!



I think his first Halloween was definitely a success!



Thursday, October 28, 2010

Santa Baby


I've been an awful good girl and if Santa really wanted to reward me, here's what he'd bring:

A Sihouette



And the creative talent to use it properly to create super cool crafts!


Jewlery, of course:

Maybe a cute Mother's-style Necklace to go with the braclet Mark gave me when we had Jack.




Or a monogram necklace




Or, how about this cute little guy?



I like the owls!




A cupcake necklace




Anything by Dogeared




Some ultra-luxious handmade, good for you soap

Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey Olive Oil & Shea Butter Soap - YUM!


A detoxifying facial masque




Pumpkin Spice Cupcake Organic Body Sugar Scrub




Now that we're all clean and smelling good we should turn our attention to the home. 


Soy Wax Melts



Maybe in Butter Rum Cappucino, Pumpkin Pie Spice, or Cinnamon Vanilla

And for a more warm, cozy feeling Sugar 'N Spice Candles



I've personally tried her candles (the Pumpkin Spice is the best Pumpkiny/Fall scented candle I've ever tried!) and not only are they quality, but she's local and they're a good price.  I highly recommend and I can't wait to get my hands on some more of her goodies!


Now, to the kitchen!

Every baker needs a cute Cupcake Apron



I die.  I just die!  I've been drooling over this adorable thing for a while!



Or this one.  It's super cute too!


A Roul'Pat for handling doughs



I have a Silpat, which I love, but a whole set of them in varying sizes would be awesome!



And of course, some more quality Baking Sheets to put them on



An awesome Stoneware Pie Plate



And a Loaf Pan



And as long as we're making a wish list here, I could really use a full set of Stoneware :)


A large Pizza Stone for bread and pizza making!



And a Pizza Peel to go with it.




And a few other miscellanous things:


An adorable Gussy Wristlet



Or anything Gussy really, I love the ruffles!


A super cute, 2011 Planner




A darling Camera Strap




To be used with a Canon Rebel DSLR



That will come to me along with the talent to utilize such an awesome camera!


And of course, if Santa really did bring me all this, I'd also need a new house to keep it all in!




Merry Christmas to ME!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

7 Months!


I suppose it's about time I get Jack's 7-month pictures posted considering he'll be 8-months-old in just a couple days.

Jack is growing up much too quickly for my liking!  Every day he wakes up a little bit older and wiser than when he went to bed.

He can roll from tummy to back and has been doing so for quite some time now, but still isn't showing any desire to roll from back to tummy.  This means he's still a back sleeper, which is a-okay with me.  No real progress with crawling yet, but he is starting to become interested in laying on his belly and kicking his legs a mile a minute so I'm sure it's in our near future! 

He's finally interested in purees!  We first introduced "solids" with a few bites of rice cereal when Jack was about 5 1/2 months old.  He was not a fan.  We also tried avocado, applesauce, carrots, and peas and nothing was very pleasing to him.  He'd take a bite, maybe two and then refuse anything further.  One day I guess a switch just flipped and now he's really enjoying exploring purees! 

He likes butternut and acorn squashes, yesterday we introduced green beans, which he seems to like and his favorite by far is sweet potatoes.  He has also had some nibbles of apple when I was eating it and some yogurt, which he really liked.  I picked up some yogurt for him at the grocery store this week so we'll see how he takes to that! 

I've been making all of his food from produce that we purchase at the local farmers market and I've really enjoyed doing it.  I'm also going to be making him some applesauce, pears, and carrots very soon! 

Jack has been enjoying some veggies for dinner nightly, but yesterday I introduced the green beans at lunch, which he seemed to enjoy and then he also had some sweet potatoes and squash for dinner.  We're all really enjoying this time of food exploration.



Jack is finally(!) sleeping in his own bed!  He had been sleeping in our room because despite our attempts to move him to his crib he just didn't like it.  We were okay with him taking the lead because I actually really liked having him so close during the night and he was sleeping well.  Eventually, he seemed to outgrow wanting to sleep in our room though and started getting restless overnight so we again tried moving him to the crib. I guess he was ready because he took right to it and slept straight through the night the very first night!  Again, with that switch flipping thing, I suppose. 

He's been happily sleeping in his crib for several weeks now.  He mostly sleeps through the night.  He will sometimes wake up a night or two during the week for an overnight diaper change and bottle, but he goes right back to bed.  Jack usually goes to bed around 8.30pm and wakes in the morning around 8am for a bottle and then goes back down until maybe 11am.  He's a good sleeper! 

Also a recent development, he doesn't want to be rocked to sleep anymore!  I already miss this time that we had of him falling asleep in my arms, warm and snuggly, but I guess he's a big boy now and wants to do it himself!  He typically goes down for naps and bedtime without crying at all.  Sometimes he'll fuss for a few minutes, but it rarely even escalates to true crying.  He'll often just babble/sing himself to sleep!  We put him down with his Mr. Seahorse, which glows and plays a few tunes



 and we also have a white-noise machine that plays quiet rain sounds to help him sleep.


In addition to his marathon overnight sleep, Jack will usually go down for an afternoon nap as well as a short early evening nap (usually just an hour or so) that gets him through to bedtime.

Jack loves to play and his favorite toy right now seems to be the battery-less remote control that we've given to him.  I think he wants to be like Daddy!  Although, Daddy doesn't chew on his remote.  At least not that I know of. 

He also really loves to be out and about!  We've been taking a weekly Saturday morning excursion to the farmers market.  I usually wrap him in the Moby facing outwards so he can see everything and he quietly takes it all in, kicking his legs as we walk and occasionally trying to grab things within his reach.  He happily comes along on any errands and sometimes when he's fussy a quick trip to the store seems to calm him down.  Mark calls him The Mayor and says that Jack just likes to get out and see his people! 

The newest development for Jack is his very first tooth!  I first noticed it barely peaking through mid-October (10/11 to be specific!) and since then it's been working its way through.  It's about 1/3 or half-way visible now.  He'll be ready for some steak soon!  ;)

Whew!  That's a long update!  But I kinda missed his 6-month one so it's really 2 months in one.  I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next month!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Menu Plan Monday - Week of October 24th





Sunday:  Parent's house to celebrate my niece's 2nd birthday!

Monday:  Lasagna

Tuesday:  Salmon Patties with Cheesy Green Bean Skillet

Wednesday:  Chili-Rubbed Pork with Apricot Glaze with Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Thursday:  Apple-Cheddar Stuffed Chicken with Roasted Butternut Squash or Butternut Squash Puree

Friday:  Asian Chicken Wraps with Garlic Butter Broccoli

Saturday:  OUT


I'm linked at OrgJunkie.com

Thursday, October 21, 2010

DIY: TuTu Tute!

How to make your very own TuTu!

First, you'll need some supplies:

A ribbon, cut to length and tied off.  You'll want to make it the right size for the waist you're making it for, also accounting for some extra length so it can be tied into a bow.  You could also make this using an elastic waistband, but I didn't so I have no advice about that!


Tie the ribbon off towards the ends to give you a guide on the placement of the tulle pieces as well as to keep them from sliding off the end of the ribbon once they're on there.  The space between the two knots will become the actual waist-area (if that makes sense) and the ribbon outside of the knots will be what's used to tie the tutu on.

Next, you will need some tulle.  This kind, which can be found in the wedding area at both JoAnn Fabrics and Michael's is handy because it's already cut to width.  With this, you only have to worry about cutting length.  You could also use tulle by the yard (you would likely need several yards), but then you'd have to worry about rolling and cutting by width and length.  Just buy the rolls if possible!  I used purple and pink and needed the majority of both rolls to complete this tutu which I'm making for a 2-year-old.  The amount of tulle you will need will ultimately be determined by the size of tutu you're making. 


Now, cut A LOT of pieces of tulle!  I think I cut nearly 100 between the two colors.  I measured the pieces to be approximately 18-inches in length because they will be halved once tied to the ribbon making 9ish-inch pieces in the skirt.


Take your pieces of cut tulle and begin tieing them onto your ribbon.  Fold a piece in half and then loop it through itself around the ribbon.


Pull it tight and you'll have something that looks like this:


Now push your knotted tulle down to join the rest of your knotted pieces:


And see, I just alternated colors.  Every so often I threw in a skinny ribbon that I had in my craft stash using the same knotting technique as I did with the pieces of tulle.  It added an extra little splash of color and a different texture.


Keep knotting and squishing the tulle close together - remember I did this about 100 times! - and you'll end up with this:


Cute, right?  Perfect for a little girl or toddler's party dress, or a fun dress up prop! 


And, the possibilites are endless!  You could make holiday themed tutus - black and orange for Halloween, red and green for Christmas, red, white, and blue for 4th of July - or you could even do princess themed ones - baby blue and white for Cinderella, royal blue, yellow, and red for Snow White.  I think it's a great addition for any little girl's dress up wardrobe! 

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

A Few Projects

I've completed a few crafty projects over the last couple of weeks so it's time to brag about them! 

First, 2 crocheted hats for Jack!

A Buckeye-inspired Toque (Yep, that's right, I busted out some Canadian, eh?):



And an adorable Pumpkin Beanie that was great for a breezy, Fall day at the Pumpkin Patch:




The first hat may have a few holes in it, but I'm quite proud of my sophomore project - the Pumpkin Beanie.


In honor of Halloween it was time to change out our OSU Football-inspired wreath for something a little more festive.  Enter this Woman's Day inspired Candy Corn Wreath:



And last but not least, a Tutu worthy of a 2 year old princess!  I made this to give to my niece for her 2nd birthday:


Please note the creative use of an accent lamp in this photo :)  I'll post a tutorial on how I made this tomorrow!


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Pumpkin Picking!

This past weekend we took advantage of some great Fall weather (fleeting in Ohio) and hit the Pumpkin Patch after our weekly Farmers Market excursion.



We traipsed through the fields in search of the perfect pumpkins.  Here, Jack is pictured with his very first Halloween Pumpkin!


A good choice, I say.

And the whole fam:


 Can't wait to carve these into some fun Jack-O-Lanterns, but for now they're decorating our front step!