April Photodump

Happy last day of April. Hard to believe that tomorrow is already May. (Which happens to be Peachy's birth month, so someone is pretty excited!) Nothing too big around these parts. Just trying to be patient and wait for warmer nicer weather to arrive. The few nice days that we have had have been awesome! This week has been pretty rainy, so lots of inside time.

Cream being Cream.

These two usually get some play time together while Cream takes her nap.

Peachy picked out both of their outfits on this particular afternoon.

This kid can make some great faces. The eyebrow furrow is heavily featured.

You can almost see the wheels turning.

Shortcake's DIY Birth Announcements

When Mr. Shortcake arrived I was on the hunt for a birth announcement to send out. With Peachy I made a more elaborate paper announcement with a picture added in. I went a more simple route with Cream and designed an digital announcement that I printed out as 4x6 pictures.

Shortcake's announcements were somewhere in the middle, some DIY, but nothing too complicated. I found the idea on the blog Be different Act Normal. I used two of the pictures from Shortcake's hospital shoot and slid them into the glassine bag back to back. I tried printing directly onto the bags, but the ink smeared, so I ended up purchasing clear labels to print on and put on the front of the glassine. I used washi tape to seal the envelopes and I was done. I really like how they turned out, minus the fact that I put the wrong month for his birthday. Ooops!

Great Children's Books

We are blessed to have several outstanding libraries to choose from in our area. (And since we live in a border town, we have two library systems!) I like to take the kids to the downtown library that was completely rebuilt about 5 years ago. The children's area there is awesome with lots of great books to look through and bring home. I try to steer the girls in a good direction when selecting books, but we don't always end up with my favorites. However, the last time that we went we found six excellent books, three of which I am really loving reading (and looking at the totally awesome illustrations) again and again! (Which if you have children, you know you have to do with library books!)

1) for just ONE DAY by Laura Leuck Illustrations by Marc Boutavant

This sweet story talks all about how much fun it would be to be different animals, but only for a day, because in the end you would want to be yourself. The story is great, but I really love the illustrations! Each picture has a great retro feel with fun details.

2) Pepi Sings a New Song by Laura Ljungkvist (Can you tell we were in the L section?)

This is a quirky fun story about a parrot names Pepi. Again, Laura's illustrations totally make the book. The mod designs and details are so much fun to look at. You find something new each time.

3) Follow the Line Through the House also by Laura Ljungkvist

Laura uses one continuous line to draw large portions of the pictures throughout the book. She also uses fun patterns to accent each page. As an added bonus, every other pages includes some eye spy sort of questions.

What about you, have you found any good children's reads lately? What are some favorites in your house?

Foodie Friday: Bacon, Cheddar, and Green Chili Pinwheels

I love a good appetizer. In fact, I would choose appetizers over most gourmet meals. Recently I made a batch of these Bacon, Cheddar, and Green Chili Pinwheels from Yellow Bliss Road and they were delicious. And bonus, they are very easy as well. I substituted diced green chilies for the jalapenos to tame the spice a bit. The smooth cream cheese with the kick of green chilies and the taste of bacon? You can't go wrong! Head over to Yellow Bliss Road for the yummy recipe!

Shortcake's Easter Outfit (Handmade Button Down Shirt, Pants and Bow Tie for Baby Boy)

I decided a few weeks before Easter that I wanted to make Shortcake an outfit for Easter. Originally I was just going to make a bow tie, but after getting a pattern at JoAnn Fabrics decided to make a shirt and pants as well.

I headed to my favorite fabric store and selected the fabrics. I just couldn't resist the mice fabric and made the other choices based off that one.

McCalls #6779

I cut and sewed the shirt and pants in the newborn size. The shirt fits well, but I forgot how much work a button down collared shirt is! Yikes!! The pants were easy, but were way too big. I ended up cutting them down using a pair of pants that currently fit. I also cut the tie using the pattern, but decided I liked the version in this tutorial better. So, I used the neckband from the pattern and the tie from the tutorial.

Andover Fabrics: Mousey Mouse

Robert Kaufman: Architextures

All of the work was worth it in the end, though. Loved how my little man looked in his Easter duds.

Easter 2014

Despite Peachy's protests, I nabbed a family photo after church on Easter Sunday.

We had a thoroughly wonderful last four days celebrating Easter with my husband's side of the family. Since my husband is one of six children, getting together over holidays always involves lots of people and lots of fun.

Shortcake got to meet his uncle and godfather.

This Easter was no exception. The trip there took us five hours and Shortcake was an awesome traveler. The girls also did well with both of them sitting in the back seat of the van.

Snuggle time with grandpa.

We enjoyed worshiping with our family on Friday evening and Sunday morning celebrating the death and resurrection of our Savior.

These two are only three months apart and had so much fun playing together.

There was plenty of cousin, uncle, aunt, and grandma and grandpa play time. The weather was springlike and so nice.

Napping with grandma.

And of course the food was delicious and plentiful. We are so blessed to be able to get together with our family and enjoy every moment of it.

Old Frame to New

Did you notice the frame Mr. Shortcake modeled in his 2 month pictures yesterday? Here is a picture to refresh your memory:

Would you like to see what it looked like before it got the spray paint treatment? (Of course you would!)

A winner, no? I spotted this picture for sale on a local Facebook buy/sell page and grabbed it for $3. I didn't so much care for the wine picture, shocking, I know, but I knew I could have fun with the frame. A couple of coats of spray paint later, and viola, a great frame is born.

For now I am going to use it in Shortcake's monthly pictures, but I might turn this into a bulletin board some day.

Shortcake: Two Months Old

And just like that, we have a two month old. I really like snuggling newborns, but something magical always happens when you hit that 4-6 week mark. Our little man smiles, talks, and most recently laughs! So much fun to interact with and see that recognition. In other milestones, he has found his hands. No longer are they clenched tight 24 hours a day. They explore the space around him and make it to his mouth for some sucking action. He has also developed the important skill of making spit and drool. Bibs here we come. We had his two month appointment on Friday and not surprisingly he weighs 12 pounds and 9 ounces (62%) and is 24 inches long (73%) with a head circumference of 40 cm (87%).  All in all, a very healthy little man.

He still sleeps a lot throughout the day and is only waking up around once per night. While he has had some more crying spells, he is still a fairly calm and relaxed baby. He nurses well about every three hours and takes a pumped bottle when needed. His sisters love to be all over him and he tolerates it pretty well, but at times just gets overwhelmed and need momma to come to the rescue.

We are so blessed to have our little Shortcake in this family. And while I can't wait to see who he grows up into, I kind of want to bottle up this time as well.

Here is Cream at 2 months.

And Peachy at 2 months.

Not Too Late for Handmade Easter Bunnies

Did you know that I use Priority Shipping to ship my Etsy items? 

You know what that means? 

It isn't too late to order one of these sweet bunnies for your little bunny's basket! 

Head to my Etsy shop and order today!

Foodie Friday: Overnight Cinnamon French Toast

I came across this recipe shortly after Shortcake was born and have made it no less than four times since then. It is a yummy cooked breakfast with bonus of being able to be prepared the night before. Head on over to The Baker Upstairs for the recipe. The custardy middle is delicious, but the cinnamon crumb top is what does it for me.

kiki b omi designs: Easter Bunny Softies

I have been working on some fun Easter friends over the past couple of weeks. I added the finishing touches and they are now listed in my etsy shop. Each bunny comes with its very own carrot to munch on.

Five are made from linen and the other five are made from chambray. I had so much fun picking out the fabric for their shirts, dresses, and ears. I really love putting fabrics together. Each boy's shirt is topped off with a little felt bowtie and each girl has a bow on top of her head.

Whenever I make a softie, my favorite part is seeing them all put together. I have a vision in my mind and then seeing that vision is always very fulfilling. Be sure to stop by my shop and check each one out!

Most Eligible Bachelor

Don't worry, his mom won't let him date for another 20 years.

Peachy's Projecting

You all know that Peachy has a love of all things projects. The girl can't keep her hands and mind away from art or creating for very long at all. Recently she decided that she and her father needed to make a box to collect scrap wood so that she could make things with it. They sat down together and made some sketches. She plans on putting the box outside for others to contribute to once it is completed.

Fun Modern DIY Oneises for Boys

When Mr. Shortcake came along, I knew I wanted to make some new fab onesies for him to enjoy. (Okay, lets face it, really for me to enjoy.) I had seen the untied bow tie and the aviators several times and always liked them.

He is obviously less than thrilled with the look of the untied bow tie.

When I spotted the mustache bonjour in my Pinterest feed, I fell in love and I added it to the que. These onesies were a quick afternoon project using my Silhouette to cut freezer paper stencils. (There are lots of great tutorials out there if you do a quick search.) To make the untied bow tie and the aviators I searched for the images on the internet and imported them into the Silhouette Design software.

The Bonjour Mustache gets a much better review.

I had never used the trace method before, but it was quick and easy. I purchased the mustache file from the Silhouette store. And also used the purchased font lw sunshine. After cutting the freezer paper and ironing it onto the onesies, I used fabric paint to make the images. Super easy and super fun! I like to think of them as his 007 Onesies, sophisticated with a side of danger.

But the aviators take top prize. Feeling cool!

When the Weather Outside Is Frightful

We were supposed to get a blizzard here on Monday, but it ended up just being a dusting. (It looks like we might be getting more tomorrow.)

So what is a family to do when the weather just isn't allowing you to get outside? Pretend! That's what!

It might not get you the vitamin D, but it does change things up a bit. (And don't worry, the girls were having fun. They are engrossed in a movie.)