Projects, projects everywhere!

I go through spurts of productivity. At times I'm happy to just "get by", taking care of Betsy and Ben and keeping the house clean. Other times I want a million things to keep me busy and give me a chance to express my creativity. I'm in the 'million things to do' phase right now.

Ben's birthday party is full-blown in the works. Last night I half-way completed the invitations. I usually do some sort of printable invite, or photo card but I'm actually taking a picture, cutting paper, using card stock, etc. These are taking longer than I thought, but I hope to get them wrapped up and in the mail this weekend, and they are SO fun, work the additional effort. The decorations are mostly done, and the menu is planned. It's a month away and in the back of my mind often.

I also have a few other projects I want to work on.

First, I'd like to sew some bedding for Betsy. Namely, a flat sheet and pillow case for her crib/toddler bed. I bought the fabric yesterday, I'm going with a simple pink and white stripe that should match her other pre-made fitted sheets. A side note, WHY is it so hard to find reasonably priced toddler sheets? I mean, they are half the size of a twin bed but the least expensive set I can find is $30 (and not of great quality). Not to mention at least half of the bedding I've seen for a 'toddler bed' is character stuff, Disney princesses, etc. That's not what I'm going for. I bought some decorator fabric to start working on a larger quilt for Betsy's bed. As the kiddo has grown she needs a bigger blanket to accommodate her tendency to roll ALL OVER the bed at night. I love the fabrics, pink and brown brocade and polka dots and another girly design. I've never made a quilt but I'm ready to try!

The next project I'm SUPER excited to try to sew is a camera strap cover with a pocket. Something like this...




We'll see how it goes, I'm sure there will be some trial and error involved but I find that the be fun. Not to mention how easy and quick this should be. If I get it figured out expect a camera strap in the mail if I know you have a dSLR camera (it might even have your NAME sewn on it!)

Current obsessions

I'm loving lots of things lately.

1. My new haircut. Stylist added lots of layers and it dries faster and looks better curled.

2. Picture groupings, or displaying family pictures. I love that we're adding family pictures on the walls around the house. It make look less like a picture out of a magazine, but it feels more like a warm home.

3. Communicating. For weeks I've been wondering 'how much of what I say does Betsy understand?'. I've learned it's a LOT. Maybe everything (that's a little scary).

4. Benny. What a keeper! Friday he did lots of cleaning before I got home so I didn't have to do much of that this weekend. Saturday morning he woke up early, made an excuse about needing to run to his parent's house but he ACTUALLY went to Wal-mart to get New Moon for me. Love that man. I feel like we've had so much fun together the past couple of weeks (he's been home more) and I'm eagerly anticipating our time together this summer.

5. My humidifier. Between this late cold snap, the heater running in our house, and my need for Claritin I'm a much less stuffy girl because my humidifier ran all night. Bonus points for my husband filling it, plugging it in and turning it on while I was asleep.

6. Leggings. Please don't think less of me, I've donned this uber-80's trend as a way to start wearing my sundresses early.

7. Sewing baby clothes. It's an opportunity to challenge myself to try something new. I love making sweet Betsy clothes that one day I can pull out of a box and show her 'I MADE this for you'.

8. BABIES! Lots of family and friends are having babies and I love hearing about them, anticipating their arrival, and sending them baby goodies.

9. Baby rocking chair. Our sweet friends the Osborns loaned us a rocking chair that was used by all three of their kiddos. Betsy LOVES sitting in it and watching Barney or reading a book.

10. Sonic happy hour. No explanation is needed.

A few weekend pictures

I made some minor enhancements in the nursery this weekend. I took some extra fabric and added it to a plain dust ruffle I already had to give the crib some more color. I love the fabric but it was a bit awkward to sew because the dust ruffle is already a lot of fabric to work with. I don't anticipate Betsy being in her crib for much more than another year so it'll work for that short period of time. I found these light switch plates at Hobby Lobby and added them to the room. I added the tulle to the 'BETSY' letters and replaced Betsy's changing pad cover with this pink and brown polka-dot one. I really love the new additions.






Such a happy girl as soon as she wakes from her nap.

Post peanut butter sammich, Betsy ALWAYS needs a bath.

The Princess and the Potty

We bought Betsy a pink princess potty chair three months ago. We've had her sit on the chair to get used to it, and she's gotten comfortable with sitting herself in little people sized chairs. Today Betsy surprised both Ben and myself by walking herself to her potty (after her bath) sitting down and USING the potty without any prompting from us. In turn WE got super excited, I gave her a high-five and Ben gave her a Nilla Wafer.

To be honest, my first reaction to Betsy's 'accomplishment' was 'What am I going to do with the 10 boxes of size four diapers I've been hoarding?' I think REAL potty training is a ways off, but we're going to let Bets take the lead with it if she feels ready to.

More Betsy talk.

Here's a list of Betsy's vocabulary to this point. I read recently that at 18 months children start to learn an average of nine new words a day. We read a couple books each night, as well as listen to audio books in the car to expose Betsy to as much language as possible. I think I need to pick up a couple of kids books in Spanish to read to the nina as well.

These are the words I remember hearing recently. I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting.

Geen (green)
Uh oh!
Ungee? (hungry)
I yike (I like)
Cup
tocks (socks)
Sit
whassat? (What's that?)
I do dat (I do that)
Ober der (Over there)
Moh! Moh! (More, more)
Ninnie
Mine
Nauzer (schnauzer)
Baw (ball)
Book
Burrdee (birdie)
Pup eeee (puppy)
Oh yeah
Bye bye
No
Ohhhh
Daddy
Mama
GiGi
Hewhoah (hello)
Yum yum mmm
piddy (pretty)

St.Patty's in the park

I got home from work at 12:15 yesterday. Ben and I went to Target so I could make a return, and Old Navy, then to the movies to see Green Zone. The movie was OK. I had high expectations that it didn't live up to.

After the movie we picked up sweet Betsy and headed to the park for a while! I knew it was going to be a good day at the park when we got out of the car and saw a small herd of Schnauzers being walked by a family! Betsy had a blast on the swings and slides. We spent almost an hour at the park before picking up baked potatoes for dinner and heading home.

We had a great night at home. After dinner all three of us played in the playroom. Betsy can sit herself at her table now and she loves having tea parties with her Daddy. We played 'bawl' for a while and once she started getting quiet we got her in PJs and ready for bed.

Once Betsy was asleep Ben and I watched Julie and Julia, a Netflick we've had for a while but hadn't had a chance to watch. I really enjoyed it! I didn't have high expectations because it's about cooking, and I don't much enjoy cooking, but I loved it.

Today Ben dropped my car off to have the pedal fixed (my car fell under the Toyota recall). He's golfing with a friend, and enjoying his day off. I'm working all day but I'm thankful the weekend is almost here :)























It's fun watching Bets learn new things. She wanted to walk up and down, up and down over the curbs figuring out how to climb without falling.




And once it was time to leave this was the reaction we got...Mama! I don't wanna leave the park!!

Behavior tendencies

I'm starting to ponder (i.e. dread) the upcoming 'terrible twos' lots of children go through. As Betsy has become increasingly verbal in the last couple weeks (she surprises me daily with words I didn't teach her, she just picks up on her own) I'm thinking the terrible twos are coming sooner, rather than later.

Last night we made a trip to the grocery store as we were out of the staples of our household (milk, Diet Coke, dog food and toilet paper). Betsy isn't BAD but she doesn't want to be confined to the seat in the cart. She wants to hold and try to open everything I put into the cart. At this age I'm not ready to 'discipline' Betsy, I think the re-direct is so much more effective. I've got my hands full when grocery shopping and entertaining Betsy.

Betsy understands what we are saying. She sits down when I remind her to. She stops when I say 'No'. She comes and brings things to me if I ask her to (does it sound like I'm talking about a puppy?).

She's very well behaved, and as long as she's not hungry or tired she's a happy little girl. I'm just blogging about this because I want to have a game plan before I'm in the midst of a bad behaviour issue.

For those with toddlers, how do you handle tantrums? Do you use discipline? What has been your biggest struggle and most effective responses in dealing with behaviour issues? Thanks for any feedback :)