Shame On Me

We skipped another week! 

We had to take a road trip to NJ for a funeral. Your great grandfather passed away. I wish that you could have met him little bean, your father was very close to him. 

You did so well my little one. The twins were obsessed with you and you were such a good sport about everything!

Your first Thanksgiving was wonderful! On Thursday you tasted one of mommy's favorite combos: mashed potatoes and spinach at Mamy's. On Sunday, you had mashed potatoes and sweet potato souffle at Nana and Papa's. You have become such a wonderful eater! Making you try new foods is definitely not a problem. 

Weeks 21 & 22

My little bean is getting bigger and bigger by the day! Pretty soon you'll be out of your car seat. You've started on purees already - you can't get enough of those carrots! You're such a good eater, I have a feeling that feeding you different dishes won't be a problem. 

Your first Halloween was a blast. Mommy didn't pass out candy since she wasn't sure you'd be able to handle it (OK, she wasn't sure SHE'D be able to handle it) but we had a good time at the Halloween parade downtown. I can't wait until next year when we can take you out trick-or-treating.

So terribly far behind

I really have to start posting some DIY project updates. I promise, promise, promise. Here are the little bean's latest pictures. You can probably guess what's putting me so far behind ;)

The 15 and 16 week photos had to mesh into one. I suppose that was bound to happen, what with the hubby traveling and all. My little bean has started rolling over!

You are such a happy baby. Always laughing, always giggling. I love waking up every morning to see what you'll do next. 

Fall has officially begun. It's one of my favorite seasons and I can't wait to share it with you. Maybe by Thanksgiving you'll be able to have your first taste of mashed potatoes!

This week you started cereal. And you are really digging it! I can tell you are going to be quite the eater. 

I think you're going to crawl any minute now. Right now, you get around by flipping over and over. I'm starting to have to be more careful when I leave you on your play mat. You can move around pretty well on your arms but you're not quite there yet. But you are obsessed with the dogs and I can tell you'll get going very soon so you can catch up to them!

Catching Up

I've been behind on so many things lately, blog posts included. For very good reason of course.

These days you require a lot more attention. We have a system for the day: eat, play, sleep. eat, play, sleep. etc. It's a very fun system :) Mommy thinks you are beginning to get teeth - you drool a ton and anything you can get a hold of goes into your mouth. 

This week is hate week for mommy and daddy. Well, more so for daddy. Mommy could really care less about football - she just does it to annoy daddy. Daddy still hasn't paid up for the bets he's lost in the past years - I'm owed several breakfasts! Once you're older you'll hear all about football season from daddy as I'm sure he'll try to convince you to join the ND team. 

Bumbo Domination!

This week, little Juniper, you sat in your Bumbo chair for the first time! You love sitting in it and nibbling on your giraffe. Mommy's beginning to think that you might be teething - although she's not feeling ready for that! You are talking and moving so much more now. You are this close to rolling over!

String bean baby

11 weeks old. Little Jude, you are 24 inches long and almost 13 pounds. You certainly have your mother's height! I cannot get over how big you are getting. 

This past week you've really found your hands to play with. When you get really upset, you put your whole hand in your mouth and use it as a pacifier. Whenever I carry you around, you grab on to my shirt and pull it toward you. You've started cooing and giggling more and it melts my heart every time. We even have this little game that we play where you put your face against mine and let out a teeny tiny growl :) 

10 Weeks

Soon, my little burrito, you will be 3 months old. 3 months old! I can't even grasp that thought. Soon 3 months, soon 6 months, soon you'll be a year old. Soon you'll be trying solid foods, soon you'll be scooting around the house. As excited as I am for the day that you can crawl around the house and explore things, as thrilled as I will be when you can finally express yourself, I'm a little heartbroken that you are growing so fast. A little piece of me wants you to remain my little bean forever :) 

A Minute To Breathe

Things have been terribly hectic around here. So hectic, that I've fallen behind on Jude's weekly photo postings. Some days I am amazed that I can remember or find time to brush my teeth. 

Weeks 8 and 9 are a perfect example of how things have been going around here. Some days are good days, some days are grumpy days. But every day is a new, different, and exciting day for us.


Week 8's photo shoot went fine. Our little bean was nice and calm. 

Week 9, however, did not go as well. You know it's bad when these are the best shots! :)

This week...

Jude is 7 weeks old!

AND, the final Harry Potter movie comes out! Of course, we won't be able to see it just yet :( Unless...Jude can make it through a drive-in viewing. Cross your fingers for us!

I'm sad that this will be the last Harry Potter movie. Not as sad as I was when I finished the last book, but sad still. It's tough to accept that there won't be anymore books like it. I can't wait to introduce Jude to them when she's old enough. 

I Heart Ohdeedoh

Ohdeedoh recently featured Jude's nursery on their "My Room" posts. This makes me incredibly happy, given that Ohdeedoh is one of my favorite blogs to obsessively stalk for new updates read. 

You can view the full post here. Just promise you won't tell me when you find spelling mistakes ;)

While you're at it, go check out the other beautiful nurseries they post - I found so many inspirations for Jude's nursery there!

Happy 4th Of July!

Baby Jude's 1st Fourth of July! Weekly pictures are getting a wee bit more difficult to take - you'll notice more blurry appendages due to the wiggle worm. She's also not entirely thrilled with Ralph's fur anymore. 

Dressing up Ralph as Uncle Sam was my husband's idea. We used dollar store construction paper to make his hat, facial hair, and bow tie. Here he is in all his glory:

P.S. - Check out her awesome peacock hair!

5 Weeks Old

And the mood is slightly less than cooperative :)

My sweet Jude, you are changing so quickly. When we practice tummy time, you keep your head up on your own and you can turn your head to follow my voice. You can even push off with your legs and move on your own! Your sweet little face is also changing - you are starting to look more and more like your father. Even though we're still working out our schedule and mommy has very little time to do much else, spending my days with you makes me happier than I have ever been. I love you my little Judiper.

The 1st Day Of Summer

And my baby is already 1 month old!

Ralph dressed up for the occasion :) You can't see it in this picture, but he's rockin' a pretty awesome grass skirt!

3 Weeks

Doing some tummy time. She really likes being on Ralph. This time she was chewing on his fur ;)

Jude - 2 Weeks

Here's baby J's 2 week old picture. We decided to keep the little bean dressed this time, she's having a rough day :( Looks pretty similar to last week's shot (except for some nodding off) since she's so tiny and so limited right now. I'm sure eventually she'll start moving around some more and making funnier faces up there.

We had planned to dress Ralph up as Number 2 (think Austin Powers) but the day got away from us. Poo.



My! How Time Flies!

Baby J is already more than a week old. Incredible. She's changing more and more every day. It's amazing to watch.

Since I'm sure it'll all fly by in a blur of happiness, I wanted to make sure we captured her growth spurts and changes. I was inspired by weekly and monthly photos from Young House Love, Making It Lovely, and many others found on ohdeedoh. I knew we'd have to come up with our own way of capturing Baby J on a weekly basis. We decided to take her weekly pictures with Ralph, our over sized stuffed animal gorilla. Given his size, it's a great way to chart her growth. Plus, we can dress him up for holiday weeks (I'm already having visions of a giant Santa hat).

Here is Week 1. You can barely see the little bean!

Once she grows a bit more, she'll be able to sit up and eventually sit with/in Ralph rather than on top of him. She did pretty well for her little photo shoot; I think she liked the feel of Ralph's fur :)

My Latest DIY Project

Jude Elisabeth. Born May 24th at 9:23pm.

You have made me happier than words can ever explain. No matter how little sleep your father and I get the night before, I wake up every morning ecstatic to see your little face. I am blissfully happy.

My Favorite Room In The House

Baby Z's nursery is finally done. So now she can show up whenever she pleases!

*You hear that Baby? You're officially 1 week overdue and your mom is terribly uncomfortable. Any day now would be swell!

The nursery has become my favorite room in the house. Not just because of the fun colors and patterns, but because so much of it is handmade. Every piece in the nursery has a reason and a meaning and Chris, my mom, and I worked so hard to bring it all together. It's great to be able to look at a room and know how much love was put into it. I cannot wait to see Baby Z grow up and play in this bright and beautiful room!

It's crazy to think that a room that started out like this:

Has been turned into this:

Now let's go for a little tour!

Here is Baby Z's crib, our Christmas present from my mom. The Ugly Doll blanket is courtesy of our friends, the Smiths.

Hung above the crib is one of the DIY mobiles I made.

On the wall above the crib, we hung the colorful collage that I made for Baby Z.

To the left of the crib, a little mushroom stool hangs out. My mom got if for us at Meijer, scored on sale for only $15!

In the corner of the room, we set up the reading nook. I made the wall decoration with phonic cards and clothespins and the forward-facing bookshelves are spray painted spice racks from Ikea.

The rocking chair is a $25 Salvation Army find that my mom painted white and re-upholstered with fabric that we chose from Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts. She used leftover fabric to add brown accents to the white roman blinds that we already had in the room. We were lucky to have a very sweet neighbor donate tons of books for Baby Z, and I stacked the extras behind the rocking chair in a brown bin that we received at the baby shower. The little guy on the chair is the biggest Ugly Doll we had. I got the brown footstool at Target on sale for $20 and it's currently hiding burping cloths and bibs. I figured it would be convenient to have those on both floors of the house, especially if I plan on feeding Baby Z on the rocking chair.

To the right of the reading nook is a little bookshelf area. The ABC poster was a gift from a friend and we bought the white bookshelf at Ikea. The bookshelf holds two more plush ugly dolls, some Ugly Doll figurines that used to be on my desk at work, a humidifier, and a frame that I painted at a pottery studio. 

We got the bins for the bookshelf at Target. Technically they are monkey bins, but I think that they look more like monster bins. Right now, we have Baby Z's rattle toys and stuffed animals in the bins. Later on, we'll probably establish a "once the bins overflow it's time to donate some toys" rule, to avoid a cluttered room.

On the right, below the larger window, we placed the changing table. The window has another piece of brown fabric that my mom added to the white curtains. The rug that we placed in the middle of the nursery was probably the biggest splurge, discussed during The Great Rug Debate post.

The changing table is actually an old dresser that we repainted. I bought a changing pad and cover and another brown bin for all of the changing supplies (can you tell I love bins yet?). The little knit doll was a gift from Chris' brother and his wife and we scored the little lamp from Ikea for just $5! We figured it would come in handy for late night changes that would require a little less lighting. Best of all, it's plastic! So if the little one accidentally knocks it over by kicking, there's no need to worry about broken glass on the floor.

Above the changing pad, we hung another DIY mobile to keep Baby Z entertained while we change her.

We hung the rest of the Ugly Dolls on the wall to the right of the window, using different shaped shelves I found at Target. They all look like they are standing on their prize pedestals and it makes me smile :)

The last part of the nursery is the closet.

I really didn't like the closet doors so I decided to remove them and replace them with curtains. They were just too bulky and curtains were a cheaper and better option than purchasing new doors. I bought a rod and two sets of white curtains and my mom helped hem the ends and add more brown fabric detail. We used clip-on rings for the rod so that if she ever decided to hang from the curtains, the rod wouldn't come crashing down on her head - a little bit of advice I got from Young House Love. 

And just to show you that I'm not hiding any massive messes in that closet, here's a glimpse of the inside once the curtain is pulled back.

On top, we have more bins for items like hats and blankets. I also put some of her other stuffed animals up there, until she is old enough to play with them. The tiny clothes that hang are separated by size with the help of these homemade closet dividers. On the floor is a blue plastic bin I picked up from Target for only $5. I plan on using it as her laundry hamper. It's not your typical laundry hamper, but I wasn't willing to spend $20 or more on a laundry hamper and figured it would do the trick while her clothes were still itty bitty. Other items like her activity mat and her backpack (a gift from grandma) have their temporary residence on the floor. To the right of those, I have several plastic bins that I picked up on super sale at Target. The large bin is for the clothes that people have been kind enough to loan to us. The smaller bins are for the other clothes that she eventually grows out of. Having the bins in the closet will force me to stay on top of putting things away once she outgrows them and that way I can make sure I return things to people in a timely manner.

One last thing: the little bird hanger that we put behind the door at "kiddo" level - a present from grandma from Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts. Once she's tall enough, she'll be able to hang her little things up there.

And that's it!

Now we just patiently await her arrival!

DIY Mobile

Bear with me while I explain the reasoning behind the Ugly Doll nursery we set up for our baby girl.

More than a year ago, my husband started traveling to NJ every week, Monday through Friday. It sucked. But every Friday when I picked him up from the airport, he always had a present for me :) He started getting me Ugly Dolls because he said they reminded him of me. Hopefully not in a "you're ugly like they are" kind of way but more of a "you're true to yourself" kind of way. Some weeks it was medium sized Ugly Dolls, other weeks it was the mini versions, the Clip On kind. In the end, we ended up with 30+ of them. So when we found out about baby Z, the nursery theme was a no-brainer. I knew that I wanted to have the larger Ugly Dolls up on the walls, but I thought 20 or so mini ones would seem cluttered on the wall. So I decided to make mobiles with them - they were the perfect size!

These are my instructions for the DIY mobile I made for baby Z's nursery. I used Ugly Dolls but you can pretty much use anything you can think of: mini stuffed animals, paper cutouts, felt flowers, etc. You'll need the following:

-Yarn (I chose two different colors but you really only need 1 regular sized ball of yarn)

- 2 wood embroidery hoops (one smaller than the other)

- Scissors

- Glue gun

- Needle

- Embroidery floss to match (again, I used two different colors but you don't have to)

- Your choice of hanging objects

-Hook to attach mobile to ceiling

You'll only be working with one part of the embroidery hoop; the part without the clasp. Attach one end of the yarn to the embroidery hoop with a knot. Very slowly, start wrapping the yarn around the embroidery hoop and continue to do this until the whole hoop is covered in yarn. Finish it off by tying a knot and use your needle to gently tuck the knot in between the yarn so that it is hidden. Do the same for the second embroidery hoop. It will look like this when you are done:

Then, use your embroidery floss to attach the two embroidery hoops together. I chose to put the small hoop on top, but you can really do it either way. Cut a piece of the floss that will give you a good distance between the two hoops and tie a knot at the end. Using your needle, thread the floss through the yarn on the hoop and pull it through until it attaches with the knot. Attach the same piece of floss to the other hoop pulling the floss until you are happy with the distance between the two hoops.

Finish that one with a knot as well. You'll want to do this 3 more times spaced evenly around the hoops. At this point it becomes more of a guessing game. You'll have to hold one hoop up and play around with different floss lengths until the two hoops are attached at evenly spaced points.

Figure out the distance between your ceiling hook and the crib and cut 4 identical pieces of embroidery floss to match that distance. Using your needle, attach the 4 pieces of floss to the top hoop, evenly spaced. Once your mobile is done, you'll use these four pieces of floss attached together at one end to hang the mobile from the hook on the ceiling.

Now you're ready to attach the Ugly Dolls (or other hanging items). After threading your needle with a piece of embroidery floss, poke it through the top of the Ugly Doll. Then tie the Ugly Doll around the bottom hoop with a couple knots.

Do the same for the other hanging items.

To make sure that none of the knots would ever come loose and cause the plush dolls to fall into the nursery and become a choking hazard, I used my glue gun to add a good amount of glue to every knot on the hoops. That way, each knot, thread, and doll was secured to the yarn hoop and wouldn't risk coming undone. It's not the prettiest option, but once the mobile hangs, you can't see the glue.

And there you have it! A DIY mobile!

I ended up making two since I had so many little Ugly Dolls; one for her crib and one for the changing table. 

Hopefully my instructions weren't too confusing. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section!