ineeda ikea

I have to admit right off the bat that I haven't gotten good at shopping at IKEA until the past year or so. Before, I'd enter, become overwhelmed by the ridiculously low prices, and leave with some vases, paper napkins, and my fifth cheese grater - all things I don't need. I mean, how can you pass up a $10 lamp? A $4 cereal canister? A $14 throw rug? Now, I scour the website before going and write a list, trying my best to stick to it. Admittedly, the new pillow wasn't on the list. Neither were the duvet or duvet cover, but those were gifts for Grandma and Paw Paw to celebrate their new digs.

Our major issue lately has been organization, when it comes to the office closet. This is the closet where I store my sewing stuff, craft supplies, wrapping paper, and the like. And it was starting to look like this:



Everything thrown in, no organization and no way to find what I already had. So, tired of it, I remembered these bins that I saw last time I was at IKEA. And while the whole system was more pricey than those you can find at Target or Wal-Mart, the quality is top-notch so I know I can use it for years to come. I didn't have a huge problem putting them together, until I realized I had to do it three times!





Trusty label maker...



To the right of the units is a $4 wastebasket from IKEA, which now holds all of my wrapping paper! Love it, and I can't believe it took me so long to think of it.

We also picked up some shelves. I have been coveting a forward-facing bookcase for Britton, so she can actually see her books. But they are all pricey beyond belief and/or huge and bulky. The one below retails for $90, not to mention $25 for shipping! Ridiculous!



The cheaper canvas ones I found wouldn't hold up to her book collection. So I found a blog online wherein the author used IKEA SPICE RACKS on the wall to make forward-facing shelves. GENIUS!!! And these cost all of $3.99 each. I've got two extra in the garage in case Britton needs them for her room. Britton loves her new book shelves and gets a hoot out of getting books for us to read to her. And she's developing favorite books, so seeing the covers is helping her find them. Don't you just love her little reading nook?




We also got some magazine holders (as seen on top of my organizers) and a bookcase for the hub's "man room" upstairs, which now holds his sports memorabilia. I started putting it together last night and it wore me out in no time. I would go upstairs and take a picture, but the bookcase and I are no longer speaking since I called it some pretty nasty words.

bubble baby

Britton is physically unable to bathe without a heap of bubbles. I seriously believe that she would rather that we ran out of apple juice than bubble bath. And sometimes, when the day has just been too taxing and she turns ornery, we get her into the bath by going "bubble hunting."

So it shouldn't have been much of a surprise when Britton decided to lean over and cover her face in bubbles. I couldn't believe she was doing it (we don't go swimming so I don't see her submerge her face much), but she emerged laughing with a beard of bubbles. And she did it again. And again. Each time we cracked up more. Hope you can see the bubbles in the pictures - here is our bubble baby.

cowboy baby shower

Yesterday I put on a baby shower for my coworker who is expecting a little boy in July. He and his wife are decorating the room in a very Texas-appropriate cowboy theme, so I decided to run with that and extend it to the shower. I've been collecting items for decorating since I began planning back in March, mainly because the shock of one huge bill at the Hobby Lobby would have had me canceling the thing altogether! But a few mason jars here, gingham ribbon there, and the whole theme started coming together.

I made this pennant banner from cardstock, with light blue on the front, backed by alternating red bandanna print, blue bandanna print, and a beautiful paisley. I used miniature clothespin to hold the pennants on kitchen twine.



Can you believe this cake started as a "Toy Story" cake? The bakery tweaked it, removed the cartoon characters, and it turned out fantastic. Not to mention delicious - I highly recommend the HEB grocery store bakery!



All "BBQ" foods - BBQ meatballs, deviled eggs, lemonade, turkey pinwheels, watermelon, pasta salad, and a veggie platter. My friend Tiffany let me borrow her Southern Living platters, which you lace ribbon through. I had never seen these before, but believe me I am ordering some soon.



My sister and I made a signature mat for Britton's first birthday party, and it is such a treasured keepsake that it hangs in her room to this day. I bought the plain mat, then added sticker letters and scrapbook decals for decoration.



Red-and-white tablecloth, cowboy hat, and the mason jars with bows of raffia (to look like hay) and daisies. Plus a couple of "official" sheriff's badges for good measure. I mean, we have a THEME here people!



The gift table. The lady at the balloon store vetoed my color selection. I asked her if she thought it would look good and she said, "Well, you asked, so I'll tell you - no." Ummmmm, okay. So she suggested equal numbers of my three colors (I had wanted 3 red, 2 medium blue, 1 light blue) and you know what? She was right. These looked great. I love balloons for a party. So cheap and easy and they liven it up so much.

That's my gift to the far left - the basket o' goodies. Since becoming a mom, I no longer load people up with itchy baby clothes and off-brand baby wash. I stick to the things I like - boogie wipes, Boudreaux's Butt Paste, stacking cups, safety Q-tips, diaper bags, then I add in something fun. Here I added a stuffed dog which looks exactly like their dog Balto. And of course the quilt.



The future mommy and daddy had a great time, as did we all. And there was almost no food left over! I'm counting this one as a success.

And do you remember the quilt I made them? It had vintage -styled cowboy fabric, with bandanna prints and a cow print.



Yeah, this is their bedding! I just found out last week and almost peed myself since the quilt matches it perfectly! You would have thought I had planned that, but no - just luck.

it's the end of the world as we know it

Ever since I learned last week that a preacher was predicting the rapture for Saturday, May 21st, I've been on edge. I know enough of the Bible to know that Christians believe that one day there will be the rapture, where all believers go to heaven and all non-believers are left to rot it out in hell on earth. But I don't know how much I believe, or rather how much credence I can give a story in the Bible, as if interpretation makes it a factual prediction. My soul is a questioning, inquisitive, stubborn soul.

The preacher even predicted the time - 6:00 pm. My first question was - which time zone? But turns out he had that covered too. First an earthquake in New Zealand (6:00 pm New Zealand time) with devastation to follow from the earthquake, affecting each time zone as it turned 6:00 pm. The hub and I agreed to go out as little as possible Saturday, in case some nuthead saw this prediction as carte blanche to turn a machine gun on at the park, or some other horrendous act. As I learned as a public defender, people convinced there are no repercussions are apt to do the worst acts towards others.

And once the clock struck 5:01 pm, I called my sister (seeing as she is on Eastern time) to see if she was still here. She answered the phone. But that wasn't enough for me - I had to make sure Emily was still there, and she was. See, I don't hold religious doctrine to my heart like others, but I knew that if it the predictions were true, babies (and dogs) were the only ones guaranteed to be taken to heaven.

Finally, 6:01 pm at my house, and we all stayed. I looked up internet stories to see that some people had abandoned their houses, mortgages, even pets because their belief in the rapture was so strong. And all these people will return to their lives wrong. Accordingly, some people took pictures of clothes they had laid out on sidewalks and in streets, as if the people wearing them had been taken to heaven. I got a hoot out of those photos.

Because I have to. I have a fear of 2012 that sometimes consumes me, like trying to understand death or the infiniteness of space. Some things I just can't think about too hard or I'll think of nothing else. In a world where we can look up anything on the internet, learn any fact we need at the press of a few buttons, where science has taken us beyond what could have been imagined even fifty years ago, there are still unanswered questions. And once I became a mom, it became less of what would happen to me, and more about what world I would leave Britton in. I hope with everything in my being that she lives far and long past me, but the whole uncertainty of disaster removes completely the notion of dying by natural causes. Whether it's the rapture, or a tsunami, or world war, or the eruption of Old Faithful in Yellowstone, or the end of the Mayan calendar, it's something I don't control. And no google search will answer.

So I have to remember to let go and control what I can. Happy to have the world as we knew it, Britton and I made cupcakes on Sunday. She even insisted on putting on her apron I made her.



And today the hub and I picked Britton up early from daycare, got her home, and tickled her nonstop (in her WVU overalls no less!). Because if anything comes out of these end-of-the-world predictions, it's that all I need is for Britton to be safe and happy. The rest? It's just a bonus - my heaven on earth.

the longest week ever

It's always a long week for me when the hub is out of town on business. And this week was no exception. It's not that I can't handle Britton on my own or that she is so terribly behaved that handling her solo is an excruciating chore. It's just that taking care of a toddler, after a long day at work, can be draining and I like to not feel that it's all on my shoulders. I find that when the hub and I can switch off, playing or venting, it makes for an easier day all around.

And this week wouldn't have been so bad if not for Tuesday evening. I showed up at daycare to get Britton, who was less than thrilled to see me (she pulled this same shenanigan all week, and let me tell you - it makes you feel like you have a sign on your head that says "my kid doesn't like me"). I grabbed her bag and attempted to grab her, when I noticed Winnie was gone. I asked her teacher, and she was unaware of Winnie's whereabouts. This set into motion a thirty minute search for a security object that could not be found. The director and teacher apologized profusely and offered to call if they found it, but I pointed out that with the hub out of town, how was I going to come back up to the center? I also, to make sure they felt really bad about the whole thing, announced that Winnie had no replacement and that they no longer make that particular lovey. You know, just to bring everyone down to the level of frustration I was feeling. Immature and unfair, yes.

We left the daycare Winnie-less and the minute we got into the car I started crying. Here's the thing - Britton wasn't. She didn't even notice we didn't have Winnie. But I just couldn't stop crying, even though I wasn't sure what exactly I was crying about. I think maybe I needed the release. And while I normally would have taken it all in stride, I was unsure how Britton would react to a nighttime without her companion. Luckily, once Britton had finished dinner, the daycare called and Winnie had been found in the microwave of the play kitchen. We ran back up there and got Winnie and once again, all was right in the world.

Additionally, my boss at work is leaving to accept another position in another city. I don't do well with change, and the changes going on constantly at work have made me irritable. Add to that our reviews are coming up, and if a promotion is not offered I may begin to feel less loyal than I have shown in the past. And my boss's replacement was announced today. My place of employment has a strict "social media" policy which makes it a terminable offense to in any way bad-mouth workplace shenanigans. So I'm going to leave it to your interpretation as to why I will not tell you how I feel about who will now occupy the corner office.

What could make this week of Mondays disappear? First, the hub comes home tonight, which always makes me sleep better and feel better.

Second?

SCHOOL PICTURES CAME IN!!!! I won't begin to whine about the cost of them (as in, the same amount I pay to fill up my tank?!?) because it is a great picture. That's how they suck you in to begin with - you know if you don't buy them, the picture is gone forever. So enjoy the beautiful photo of my beautiful daughter, and celebrate with me that tomorrow's Monday is finally Friday!

take me out to the ballgame!

On Friday night, the hub and I got a bona fide date night. He got tickets through work for the Rangers game, and since neither one of us had ever been to a Rangers game, we jumped at the opportunity. His company even set up a buffet for before the game. Our seats were in the left field, which made for some squinting, since the sun was setting right in front of us. But once the sun was set, the seats were awesome.



And I got to meet some people the hub works with. We called it a night at the seventh inning since Grandma and Paw Paw had had a long week and probably didn't want to be up all night babysitting. Britton of course decided to ignore her sleeping shenanigans and went to bed without a peep.

crafty me

I've been really into sewing lately, and I think it has something to do with not being able to bake as much as I used to. My coworkers aren't interested in eating sweets and I don't want dozens of cupcakes sitting around my house, so I have found more creative projects to satisfy my need to be crafty. To that end, Jessica and I are taking advantage of having our entire families in one place at the same time, and doing a big family photo shoot when she comes to visit in June. I have hunted high and low for a cute outfit for Britton for the shoot, and I'm just coming up empty. We've decided on a blue/white/tan theme, and even my go-to for classics BabyGap has been disappointing me lately. So I figured I'd just make her a dress...



And while I'm at it, why not make Caroline a peasant top for the shoot? This fabric just grabbed me, as it is little flowers and butterflies and just seems so happy, like Caroline. She is going to wear it with jean capris.



And why put the sewing machine away then? When Grandma was over a couple of weeks ago, she put on an apron. That means Britton wanted an apron too, but we don't have a little one. So Grandma improvised and folded up a big one to put on Britton. She loved it but quickly grew tired of dragging the strings around and tripping. So, some cute cupcake fabric and pink ruffles later, I had her apron.



So what does Britton think about her mom's burst of sewing creativity? She'll get back to you when she finishes her ice cream cone...

Happy Mother's Day!

Lucky for me, Mother's Day began on Friday! The hub was stuck in horrendous traffic, so he called me to see if I could pick up Britton from daycare. Little did I know that I was getting a Mother's Day gift from Britton! Her teacher showed me the flower Britton planted for me (all by herself) and the flower painted on the pot, with each of Britton's fingerprints as a petal. Britton was beaming she was so proud of her gift. And I was so proud of her for making it and my heart just got full.




And Britton made me a card too, where the flower was placed in a box lid and they rolled marbles covered in paint over the flower. It's currently on the fridge, where it will stay until, my heart breaking, I take it down to put in my jewelry box for safekeeping.



Now, I had no dreams about breakfast in bed this morning! Truth be told, Britton would have probably eaten all my breakfast and gotten the sheets covered in bits of scrambled egg! But the hub did get her up and they conspired in their little way over my presents.

The hub had Britton bring me my gift, and she got such a kick out of having the gitftbag over her arm, like a purse. They got me a beautiful sand dollar necklace charm from James Avery.



And a dogwood flower pendant! I think of them as my calls from Virginia. And since I have a habit of playing with my necklace pendants while I'm working, I know that they will always remind me of my beautiful second Mother's Day.



Writing courtesy of the hub, artwork courtesy of the daughter.



"A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take." -Cardinal Mermillod

Thank you to my beautiful family for a special day. Happy Mother's Day!

giving a go at the pinwheel

I got a bee in my bonnet to try out the pinwheel design of a quilt. Since no one I know is having a baby (who doesn't already have a quilt in the closet waiting to be gifted) I decided that my niece Emily would love one. She is at the active stage right now, so even if all she does is roll around naked on it or drool Cheerios all over it or stack blocks, it will be serving its purpose.

I had to buy quarters of fabrics since I seriously overestimated the amount of different designs I had in my scrap pile. I figured out the arrangement, then cut the triangles out with a template. Here, the stack of triangles to the right is actually extra, as the size I originally cut out was too big. So, I cut each of those triangles in half and got the right size, but twice the triangles I need. Just less prep work for the next one.



Once sewn together with the white triangles to create the pinwheels, I laid them out on table and had a giddy fit when I realized how cute it was going to be!



I also decided to throw in some pink ric rac, because who doesn't love ric rac? This double border was a logistical nightmare, and in the future I will have to remind myself that attempted shortcuts just makes the process longer in the end. And while I intended to sew the ric rac and borders on by hand, I got tired of it three inches in and grabbed the machine!



I quilted around each color triangle, so the whole quilting process took about three weeks. Finished!


This is the backing fabric and binding. I love this fabric, and even made a dress for Britton out of it. I am not a big believer that boy stuff must be blue and girl stuff pink, and I think this quilt will be timeless and match anything Emily decides to throw it on. I can't wait to give it to her when Jessica and the family come to visit this June!

sleep and my own over-reaction

Since Sunday night Britton has been pulling major shenanigans at bedtime. She started out standing in her crib for hours, only to have to be rocked to sleep. Fast forward to 1:00 am the same night and she was in bed with me and the hub was on the couch. She wanted to share my pillow, and touched all my facial features while whispering "eye," "cheek," "nose." It was so sweet, even though I was so tired I didn't know what was happening. She insisted that the only way she would fall asleep was laying on top of me. So I embraced the snuggle session and let her. We thought it was a fluke, that she'd been scared by the picture day outfit I hung on her closet door or a nightmare or the raging thunderstorm.

But no. It was the same last night. She bucked back and screamed upon finishing her bottle, fighting to keep out of her crib. The hub and I were set on her crying it out. But lo and behold, she pulled a fast one and threw Winnie out of her crib. We figured returning it to her would calm her down. In fact, it was the exact opposite. She went into hysterics and we couldn't just leave her in there. Britton came out to the couch and snuggled with every single stuffed animal and pillow. As she was tracing my cheeks and eyelids (I couldn't mad about that!) the hub frantically searched the internet to see if there was some magical scheme we could pull to get her back to bed. There isn't, in case you're in the same boat. We decided to put her back in the crib with the hall light on in case she was afraid of the dark. Upon placing her in the crib, she was mad. So the hub and I, frantic as all get out, laid on the floor while loudly proclaiming we were going to sleep. It didn't work. She just looked at us - at least she wasn't crying! - and then threw her pillows and blankets on us. Then she started making these weird noises with her mouth on the crib. We got up, told her goodnight, left the door open, and went to our room. Britton stood in her crib, and cried out for us both. We figured she'd get tired soon. We figured wrong. 11:24 pm is when she finally went to bed. After two hours of standing there, falling asleep and then waking before buckling down, crying out, and again and again.

So tonight, scared and exhausted and certain our incredible sleeper would never sleep again, we decided to play in her room to get her comfortable in there again. I also cleared all her shelves in case anything was casting odd shadows. We also showed her the inside of the closet, which she seemed a little nervous about. Finally, I put a night light in her room for good measure. Then we set out to wear her out. After playtime, dinner, bath, and bottle, Britton wanted to snuggle and rock. I did, and it wasn't until I got her in the crib - progress! - that she was upset. I told her goodnight and left the room. To get us back in there, she threw out Winnie. Then she cried for Winnie, Momma, Daddy, I think she even threw in a "Sadie!" for good measure. But try as she may, she wasn't going to train us. Not one hour after being put in bed did she finally give up and go to sleep. I'll sneak in there later and give her Winnie.

My evenings are very important to me. It's when I balance the checkbook, write bills, cruise internet gossip sites, update this blog, sew, bake, and everything else. I admit that when Britton threw a wrench into my routine, I was a wreck. I always go to worse-case scenario: it's not that I won't sleep tonight, it's that I won't sleep ever again. I was actually nervous at work all day because of what I feared may happen tonight. But I'm calming down now, getting some perspective, and shutting down the baby advice sites. All that matters is that my little girl is sleeping.

twenty-one months

Oh, last night was a doozy. Britton decided, after being a champ about the croup AND pink eye she got last week, that last night would be the night that 21 months of sleep training would fall apart. She was up for hours and when I finally went in she fell asleep on me while rocking her. Fast forward to 1:00 am, and the thunderstorms or a nightmare got her worked up again in a clingy frenzy, to the point where I had to take her to bed with me. It was a first. And the only way she would fall asleep was laying on me. She's started tonight the same way, though by all accounts everything was normal until I put her in the crib. It was then that the screaming, crying, jumping, and general tantrum-ness began and it is breaking my heart. But we can only assume that the recent break in her otherwise incredible sleeping habits is due to development and/or her recent sickness, so back to the old "crying it out."

Other than that, Britton is doing very well! She can say tons of words, even stringing together 3 word sentences. She likes to sing with us and read books, though her version of "reading" us books is to flip the pages but not say anything. Her canine teeth have all poked through (of course, all at the same time). And she is learning her colors, numbers, alphabet song (she always chimes in with "Y"!) and animal names and noises.

Her eating is about the same, though after Easter she discovered she loves sugar treats like cookies and candy, so we have to make sure she doesn't fill up on those. She is still eating a wide range of veggies and fruit, and meats like chicken, beef, and hotdogs. She is now wearing mostly 3T clothes, and size 6 shoes. She weighs 31.8 pounds and I'm not sure of her height.



Britton got a recent gift from Grandma and Paw Paw - a deer shirt and Crocs! She loved them both, as well as the blue fleece. Which is turning out to be a timely gift with the cold temperatures we've had this week.



And I of course forgot to update on the remainder of our Easter celebration tradition - the cake! Britton enjoyed eating the cake this year, which is a first!




Likes: helping us out with shutting doors and general her-size chores, singing, anything about ducks, puppies, Curious George monkey doll, trying to jump, tumbling, coloring, anything to do with water, lemonade

Dislikes: apparently it's going to bed!, not being able to do something she wants to do, having her hair combed, riding in the car without fruit snacks