Discouraging beaver behavior

Our daughter gnaws on the crib railing and I'm afraid this project is too little; too late since most of the paint, and even some of the wood, has been chewed away. 

I realize there are probably fancier ways to do this out there, but I went for quick and easy. First I took an old crib sheet and sewed a long hallow tube. I stuffed it full of batting and sewed up the edges. Then, I glued it right there on top of the crib rail. Yep. Just glued it. Damage was already done so why not? Next, I hemmed a long rectangle and draped it over the top of that fluffy tube. I sewed buttons to hold it in place and voila! At least our little girl won't be eating any more paint, or wood... from the front railing. I wonder if she'll find a new rail to chew, or if she'll end up with a mouth full of stuffing...

Monogrammed spring wreath

In honor of the first day of spring (yesterday) I made a monogrammed spring wreath by using modge podge to paste floral fabric on the letter M. I fastened some yellow polka-dot yo-yo flowers on the sides and draped a strand of pearls at the top. Easy. Sunny. Happy Spring Everyone! Hope warm weather and sunshine is finding you.

Healthy by the numbers

Little one had her 12 month check up the other day. At 30 1/2 inches tall she measures in the 88th percentile for height, and at 21 pounds she's ranked 47 percent for weight. Mostly she's healthy, the only concern is that she's had a heart murmur consistently throughout the year. Doc sent us to the hospital for an EKG. We needn't worry though, everything is fine! But, boy did she hate laying still for that exam!

Colorado

My daughter and I drove back to CO with my mother in law for a whirlwind of a trip before flying home only a couple days later! The trip was way too fast but, it was lovely seeing so many people and much to my relief our flight home was booked rather sparse. The passengers on the little plane (when I say little plane, I mean that I think it held 25 people) had to be rearranged to balance out the weight and this allowed for my little girl to have her very own seat!

Hiding Grandpas phone under his shirt.

First time at a park!

So far not impressed by the slide or the swings

We sure loved the warm weather!

She hated the grass!

Hello, my cute toddler!

Her uncle helping her get ready to go to sleep.

Awwww, such love!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

A year ago on March 11th, Japans most powerful earthquake ever recorded was sending life threatening waves outward into the ocean. That isn't what woke me up in the middle of the night though, the repetitious contractions squeezing my pregnant belly and threatening to crush my spine can take credit for that. I tried to distract myself by nibbling crackers, cleaning the refrigerator (nesting?) and even soaking in a bath. The pain would not lessen however; while I called my midwife, my husband and mother in law were anxiously calling our family in Hawaii.

My husband and I drove to the hospital. The earthquake caused tsunami waves that swelled up to 133 feet and traveled up to six miles inland on Japan. Even though I was only dilated to two centimeters, my contractions were coming steady enough and fast enough that we didn't dare leave the hospital. The tsunami caused nuclear accidents and explosions making numerous civilian evacuations necessary. A meager 45 minutes later I was being led to the delivery room where I flopped around desperate to find a position where I could escape the horrible pains of back labor. I arrived determined to have a natural birth, and so instead of calling out for pain medication I was begging for a C section. The midwife only laughed at me, and it was too late anyway as it was time to push my daughter into the world. It would later be reported that 15,854 people lost their lives to the earthquake that day. Our family gained a life. "The World Bank's estimated economic cost was $235 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster in world history." After only a three hour labor we were holding a healthy, beautiful little girl who was and is priceless beyond compare.

A year has gone by and my heart aches for the families who lost loved ones during that terrible storm. It also rejoices in the birthday celebrations of our precious one year old. We were lucky enough to have my mother in law with us from out of state over the weekend.

The visit really wasn't this painful!

Grandma is so good at making her laugh!

Finishing touches on her M&M cake!

One year old, six teeth, walks like a champ, loves to dance!

Made chocolate caramel cake balls to dip in whipped cream and M&Ms

Forget that flame! Gimme my favorite candies!

Emmmm hmmmm

How old is she today?!

That face.

We got her a birthday chair; Grandma got her fun toys!

Love her fairy princess outfit (a gift from grandma gumgum)

Enjoyin' her first picnic

You put a duck in front,

You put a cow behind,

Put 'em together and what do you find-

A duck cow?

Quack, quack, mooooo

That's silly!

* Credit goes to Wikipedia for filling in the details of March 11th 2011.






 

Camera Straps

My friend just had her birthday and I wanted to make her a little something to celebrate the day. She's extremely talented as a photographer, and is always eager to take our family pictures or portraits of our little one, so this is what I came up with:

Ta-da! A camera strap! I've made plain camera strap covers before, like this one my husband uses.

But, today I improved upon it by adding ruffles. My husband wouldn't like it for himself, but I hope my friend will!

My flowery day

I thought I was done blogging about our birthdays, but I'd feel truly ungrateful if I didn't make this additional post. I was expecting an ordinary day since we already had a party, but good things just kept on coming! I got a phone call from my bestie in Colorado despite how incredibly busy she is. Her toddler wished me a happy birthday; how cute is that? Then, I got these beautiful flowers from one of my favorite people in the whole world. She's my idol; I admire her for all the places she's been and all the lives she has bettered and I felt so special knowing she was thinking of me!

My husband took the afternoon off from school so he could take us out to lunch for more of those delicious gluten free burgers at Red Robin. Remember how I thought it was so funny when they tied balloons around his ears and sang to him on his birthday? Pay backs...

Since we were already in town, we stocked up on groceries. I know I could have skipped that little detail in the birthday post, but I truly enjoyed the experience because I saved $17 dollars with coupons and I also bought a lot of meat that was really discounted as it was approaching its expiration date... Good meat from grass fed animals that haven't been injected with hormones and without added preservatives. Hey- it'll keep in the freezer! Saving money makes me giddy. Anyway, when we got home our neighbors came over to hold our little one while we put groceries away. They even brought me a present! Three cookie sheets! I was just telling her that I was kicking myself for not having taken my dads when we moved here because I don't have any and I'm sure his aren't getting any use! Well, now I have three! *Happy dance* They also delivered flowers that had been dropped off while we were away. Beautiful yellow and white flowers from "my favorite cousin." Ah, I love her!

 Isn't the vase fantastic?

In addition to all this goodness, I received so many calls, texts, and facebook well wishes. Thanks everyone for being so good to me!