Hello Again!

Yikes! Four months since my last post. Well, you know a lifetime has happened. During our nearly six year journey with infertility I used to think about all the things I could blog about once I had a baby. All the beautiful little dresses I could sew, the nursery, the funny and sweet things the baby did. Going back to teaching at 10 weeks pretty much kicked my crafty butt.

Just one day into our summer vacation we embarked on a three week tour of NY & NJ to see friends and family. Lots and lots of friends and family. It was an awesome trip. So yes, it's summer, but again, no time to craft or blog.

I guess the biggest news is that Marilee can crawl!

We left for NY on her 7 month birthday and the very next day she started crawling. She crawled for the first time to my grandfather and it was a miracle.

So back in 2005 my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. Wanting my future child to know him, we actually started "trying" earlier than planned. We even hoped to surprise him with pregnancy news at his 80th birthday party that year. Ha! Let's just say I have learned a lot about control and timing in the last six years.

My grandfather used to say, "If you are worried pray, and if you pray don't worry." Wise but very challenging words. I wish I could say I followed that advice. Oh sure, I pray, but I also worry plenty. Fortunately, many others prayed for us too- including some of you dear friends!  The cancer came and went, and came back again. Then I was told that he was starting to have memory problems. And, like the rest of us, he just wasn't getting any younger.

God truly does know the desires of our hearts and this summer Marilee crawled for the very first time to her great-grandfather! It was a moment I will always treasure. He was an excellent coach and spent a lot of time on his hands and knees demonstrating the proper form and offering encouragement. Encouragement indeed! The picture says it all, they are buddies!

On my husband's side of the family, Marilee met dozens of relatives at a huge family reunion. She poured on the charm and was a perfect baby Betsy Ross. We had a wonderful traditional small town 4th of July. Best of all we even got to see Great Aunt Kate who was born just 100 years and 11 days before Marilee.

We also had lots of time to get to know our two nieces who are each 16 months old. It was the first time we met either of them and watching our girls play together was an incredible sibling bonding experience for both Cliff and I.

Other updates:
I am still nursing. Surprised to say that I do love it. It has overall been a great experience. I am both ready and sad to start a slow and gradual weaning process. For many reasons it's time, but I just can not believe how fast this year is whizzing past me. Someone on TV mentioned that there are only 3 1/2 months left in the election campaign and I nearly started crying because that means I only have 3 1/2 months before Marilee turns 1. That simply can not be accurate?

I did love co-sleeping for the most part. There was nothing sweeter than watching my babe sleep and wake up together as a family. It also worked pretty well for me to both nurse and sleep at the same time while working, but gradually she began to drink less and less pumped milk from a bottle and rely on the night feedings more and more. By the end of the school year we had regressed to feedings every two hours all night long. The last week of school she went on a bottle strike. In addition, when I would nurse her down, I often fell asleep myself. I would wake at 11 or so having "wasted" my whole evening and all my free time. While traveling our accommodations, schedule, and the fact that she could crawl made co-sleeping mostly impossible and unsafe. So we strapped her into a swing, stroller or "rock and play sleeper." This worked pretty well and set the stage for transitioning to her crib.

So we crib trained her this past week upon our return home. It was absolutely horrible and just fine at the same time. The key was to finally move her out of our room and into her own room. She raged a bit and that nearly killed me, but after a few days in her own room she is doing great at self soothing. Guess what! I have rediscovered my husband! He was so afraid of rolling over on Marilee that he stayed strictly on his side of the bed. And, for my part, I was more often than not asleep at 7:30! We were both very committed to co-sleeping and tried to make time for each other so that it wouldn't adversely affect our relationship, but it wasn't ideal.  Now, we actually get to chat or watch TV together at night without fear of waking up the baby. 

This weekend I started pulling out a bunch of stuff that I had saved for a nursery. Soon I will have pictures. Nothing fancy, just a DIY, thrifted and gifted space.

I look forward to being here a bit more now that I have some free time in the evenings.
Thanks for reading!

Reading Nook

We have this strange little corner nook in our living room. When we first moved in, my father thought it was just crying out for a statue. Lots of ideas were suggested, but we left it blank until this weekend. It took me two weeks to get some ten minute Ana White $10 Ledges built, but they are done now and I am thrilled with the results!

I have made a bunch of these ledges and I love them all. They are easy, affordable, and quick. Especially true if you don't have a baby afraid of the drill. Imagine that! My kid afraid of the drill. Maybe it's for the best. Probably so.

I got the idea for the planter thing from this pin. The adorable lamb rug is from Aunt Piper via Red Envelope.
Of course, I have all sorts of geeky teacher plans to thematically arrange the bookshelves. In the meantime, board books it is. 

I think she likes it!

Tired Little Rabbit

Little Bunny Foo Foo is all tired out and so is her mama. Parenting "Duh" #432- Time off from work does not mean free time anymore!

We enjoyed a pretty quiet Easter, but the week before hand was a bit hectic. I tried to accomplish a long to-do list saved up since Marilee's birth. (I told myself, "April break, I'll get that done during April break.") Of course, you veteran mama's know that the word "break" is well, no longer applicable. So, I have a bunch of half finished projects.

Also in the mix are a few "pins" that were complete busts. I'll share those tomorrow.
In the meantime, we are going to walk down to the grocery store to pick up some 50% off Easter candy. I am looking to use it for Marilee's baptism which is coming up in two weeks. In just one week the first set of grandparents arrives! Whoo hoo! Send in the reinforcements!!

Happy Easter!

The story of Easter is the story of God's wonderful window of divine surprise. ~Carl Knudsen

Getting My Crafty Feet Wet

So, it's not so easy to craft with a baby. I know that many of you are probably thinking, "Duh!"

With so many blogs named things like "While She Naps" and "Nap Time Crafts" etc... I kinda thought there would be more time. Maybe if I had a designated space to craft in, it would be easier. Much of my craft energy is sucked up just thinking about the time it would take to set up and clean up. That's when I just say, "Nah" and go on Pinterest instead. The weekends fill up so quickly now too. It really is a whole new world. I knew it would be. I just didn't know in what ways.

Anyway, I have made three things lately that are blog worthy. Probably even worthy of their own posts, but as they say, "Those were the days."

Project 1. Cookies for my niece Ava's first birthday. My sister in law stayed home this year. Awesome opportunity! No paycheck. Womp, womp, womp. So when first birthday time came around I offered to help with the party in lieu of a birthday toy or outfit type gift. The cookies that I made were the party favors.

This was a whole family effort. Cliff watched the baby while I worked pretty much round the clock. Marilee did get in on the action during some of her feedings though. The party colors were pink and purple and timing was perfect to get Easter m&m's for the "cherry" on top.

 I had grand packaging ideas courtesy of Pinterest.  In the end, I stapled the bags shut and hot glued a scalloped cut out over the staples. I mailed out 60 of these babies and only 11 broke in transit. Not too bad. My SIL needed about 40 for her party.

Project #2 My other niece, Elle, also turned one this month. (Both nieces are only a day apart in age!) While I would have loved to do something just as grand for my little Elle, I simply didn't have the time or energy.
I decided to give them something sentimental. The inspiration pin:

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via J on Pinterest

Cute right? There are so many changes in the first year that I thought it would be great to capture them in one place. Also, what do you do with all the cute snapshots other than put them in an album? I wanted those little moments to be available for more frequent glances.

Here is my version:

I am not even going to apologize for the photography. It is what it is these days.

I chose a shadow box frame. I used the scalloped punch that I already had and mounted the photos with thick mounting stickers that stand out a bit. Elle's room is pink and white, so I used pink and white scrapbook paper for the background. I had planed to make a flower for one space similar to the star above, but I couldn't vote any of the pictures off of the island. This Auntie loved them all too much.


Sleeping, crying, the little hands. I know I want to remember all these little things!

I spy a Molly Monkey! Yes, it turns out it's a favorite!

This project was quick and easy to make. I lifted the pictures from my brother's flicker and facebook accounts. That took the most amount of time. The rest was a breeze.

Project #3 hardly deserves to be called a project. It comes from one of those pre-printed panels and was sewn together in minutes. Although, I would like props for dragging out the ironing board. That thing hasn't seen the light of day this year.

I was super psyched to find this panel because Marilee is going to a birthday party this weekend and I needed something extra for the gift. My colleague volunteered at the LA Zoo for quite a while and was especially involved in the new elephant exhibit. So this is perfect for them.

I had emailed my friend about sizes and such and she told me:
They like primary colors and especially spring green. The baby is thin, so elastic waistbands are a must. They prefer gender neutral stuff and they love animals.

Source: crazy8.com via J on Pinterest

I am pretty excited about the gift. I found this adorable spring green panda sweater at Crazy 8 and paired it with some black leggings.

Animals- check!
Spring green-check!
Elastic waistband- check!
Gender neutral- well, c'mon how cute is the bow?

Crazy 8 is my new favorite kids store. I haven't bought Marilee anything from anywhere (except for socks) because we have gotten tons of  gifts and  hand-me-down motherload from my niece Ava and a few other friends. But, I have gotten a few things for Ava as thank you treats and the prices are fantastic! Also, I like that the clothes look like they are for children. Baby Gap can be hit or miss. Sometimes it's awesome. But I went there once when I was pregnant and everything looked like a shrunken version of Banana Republic. I don't need my babes to look like they are going to a cocktail party after a full day at the office.

It feels good to be back in this space. Summer is just around the corner. We have grand travel plans, but hopefully, I'll get back to crafting too. It really is part of who I am and I miss it! How have all of you been?

A Quick Note of Thanks

Sara made us this wonderful quilt that looks like a piece of notebook paper.

I think it's safe to say that both Marilee and I love it!
What makes it extra special is that we had picked out her name years ago after we were first married. That first year here in LA I had to take a bunch of classes to get my CA credential. During the dull moments I would write all our initials, and write out her name dozens of time. Cursive, print, you know, just like in high school. Only I was 32. I have to dig up those notebooks. I bet I could find the pages.

So, in other news, this Tuesday feels like it should be a Friday already. Nothing serious or bad, just seems like I've already put in a full week. How about you?

Mama Can Multi-Task

 I read somewhere that a woman's brain becomes more flexible after having children because of all the multi-tasking.

Who's the Cake Cookie Boss now?!  Sixty cupcake cookies for my niece's first birthday. Ready to be shipped to NY.