Easter Dress

A few weeks ago, I made Kira a dress.  I saved it to have her wear as her Easter dress.  Here are a few pictures that we took on Easter morning.  She wasn't bad but she definitely wasn't cooperative.  We would try get her to stand a certain direction in the early morning light and she would inevitably get distracted by a bird or something and turn 180 in the opposite direction.  Aaron took all the pictures which means he didn't take all the ones that I would have taken.

Overall, I'm rather pleased with the way it turned out.  It is a little on the large size but the pattern only came in 12-18 mo and 2T-3T.  Kira is more of 18-24 mo so I made her the larger size so the dress would last for a while.  I also wish that Kira's nice sandals fit her but they are just a little bit too large.  If you would like to make out this dress, just use this straightforward tutorial.  

Thirty-One Knockoff

A facebook friend of mine is a Thirty-One Bags sales rep.  A few weeks ago, she posted this picture:

While technically it is a coupon clutch, she said that it would work great for the envelope system.  The envelope system is simply a way of keeping on budget.  It involves taking out a certain amount of cash for a given period of time (i.e. a week, a month, etc.) and then putting it into individual envelopes for different areas of your budget.  For instance, you might put $100 into an envelope marked "food" and then when you go to the store you know exactly how much money you have to spend without having to do any math or worry about accidentally going over budget.  We've been using this system since we got married and it has worked wonderfully for our family.  Aaron has told me that I can use a credit card for all my purchases as long as I stay on budget but that is way too much work.  I prefer the envelope system.  The only problem with this system is that I constantly have several paper envelopes of cash floating around my purse and the envelopes inevitably get really beat up looking and torn after a little while.  I never thought about using anything besides paper envelopes until my friend posted this picture.  I wanted it.  No, I was pretty convinced I needed it.  It even went on sale...for $28.  Um, no.  I can buy a whole new purse for that amount of money.  So I started looking on the internet for some diy tutorials.  If found this super helpful one and got to work.   

I decided to only use scrap material to cut down on my remnants in storage and to keep the project cheap.  I'm not sure if it all matches but it was super cheap.  I even had two of the zippers.  My total cost was less than $5 for the 4 zippers I found on clearance.  Here are some pictures of the finished project.  

The button + elastic keeps it all closed and tidy.

There are 6 pockets complete with zippers.  

I put white tabs on each pocket so I can write each category to keep things straight.  

At this point, my child insisted that I take a picture of the "baby" and show it to her.  This is her fake smile. 

I also put a pocket on the back for coupons and such. 

I have yet to actually use it as I just completed this project yesterday, but hopefully it will be helpful and last for years.  I'm excited!

Green Time!

Spring is officially here as of today!  And so is spring weather with all of its ups and downs.  As exciting as the 70 degree weather may be, I k now that it could easily start sleeting on any given weekend.  

To celebrate the first day of spring, I would like to share with you some of the "green" things that have been going on around my house.  Every day I seem to become just slightly more of a crunchy mama.   I keep wondering if it is just a fad that I'm going through since I have lots of free time and if I'll gladly shove handfuls of goldfish and hot dogs down my children's throats someday when I have multiple children all of a young age.  I'll keep you updated. 

• I made soaked pancakes this week and they actually tasted ok.  As you may or may not know, soaking your grains before eating them is supposedly really good for you.  Read about it here.  However, the bread I made wasn't very good and the dutch baby was ok but not remarkable. Needless to say, I was rather skeptical about the pancakes but decided to give it a go.  I was pleasantly surprised that they actually tasted edible.  Now they weren't as good as my favorite banana blueberry pancakes and they aren't as light and fluffy as some others, but definitely good for a plain jane weekday breakfast.  I hope to experiment a little more with the recipe and possibly post a variation of it at some future point. 
• I have officially started my seeds!  So far my lettuce and some flowers have come up but the tomatoes and peppers are still a no show.  The tomatoes and peppers are what I really want so they'd better hurry up!  I also have plans to buy some rhubarb plants and start some squash, cucumbers and herbs a little closer to the summer. 
• On a gardening note, we are getting our tiny raised beds ready!



Aaron just set up this one and after this picture was taken, I put down wet cardboard boxes in the bottom and am now using it as a compost heap.  



The bed closest to the camera has been my wintertime compost heap and now just needs some dirt to top it off.  The other bed is currently hosting some garlic and will hopefully will soon be filled with lettuce as well!

• I just decided to try and start the switch from plastic tupperware containers to the pyrex glass dishes for leftovers and such.  I won't throw out all my plastic ones right away.  Supposedly, chemicals can leach into the food from the plastic and you aren't supposed to heat them up in the microwave.  I don't know if all this is true but Aaron uses the plastic containers every single day at work and even heats up his food in them.  I figured it was worth a few extra bucks to switch over since we use them so much.  Better safe than sorry...
• Our cow is coming this MONDAY!!!!!  I am one of those crazy people who accepted a job a couple hours a week with the sole purpose of paying for 1/4th of a meat cow! The flavor is so much better than most store bought beef, it is significantly cheaper per pound, and much healthier!  We hardly ever eat beef due to the price but now we will be getting several hundred pounds for less than $3.00/lb. I think it should be enough to last us for about a year. So excited!  
• The last point is more about spring than about green practices but I've finished Kira's dress...well mostly.  I'm considering adding an embellishment to the front of the dress and possibly making a hair bow to match.  I will post a picture though it may take a while as I'm considering saving this dress for Easter.  

What are you excited about this spring?  What steps have you taken to become healthier?

I'll just leave you with this last crazy picture.  Since I'm pregnant, I decided that I should be able to get away with wearing my husband's gray flannel shirt.  Super comfy and it reminds me of him.  I sent him this picture at work so that he would know that I invaded his closet (ok so he actually left it on a chair in the living room when he took it off last night to workout).  Who wouldn't want to come home and see a wife dressed like a lumberjack smiling like a crazy person?

Cuteness Overload

All day long, I am forced to look at this.  Oh, the suffering.  Oh, the woe.  

She is officially 19 months old! Here are some of the things she has been up to. 

• Talking, talking and more talking.  This kid seriously learns about 5-10 new words a week and she repeats something new everyday though sometimes she forgets it.  Her vocabulary is probably around 100 words but I don't even try to keep count.  
• She loves being outdoors in the warm weather and watching for doggies...and birdies and anything else that might move.  
• She is technically walking though not proficient.  She is about to be evaluated for walking physical therapy though we are not sure whether or not she would even qualify.  
• We went through a few days where every time I did something that displeased her, she would stick her hand up towards my face and say, "Stop!"  It was funny and seriously naughty at the same time.  She's stopped doing it for the most part.  I don't know if it is because we worked on it or if it was just a phase.  
• She recently found a tiny baby doll that had gotten "lost" at our house and it is now her second favorite toy.  

Spring Break!

We are officially on spring break!  To a stay-at-home-mom, this doesn't mean much but we are still taking full advantage of it!  We have two less commitments this week but I am still trying to jam pack the calendar.  Today, a sweet friend is bringing me a yummy pizza that we are going to eat on the deck so we can enjoy the 60 degree weather and sunshine.  Tuesday, we are having mom/kid play date.  Hopefully, I'll get to volunteer at one of my favorite non-profits for a few hours and then go their fundraiser banquet on Thursday.  Friday is still yet to be determined but I've been thinking about having a pizza party.  I also plan on starting some seeds and starting a spring dress for Kira.
Here are some inspiration photos for the dress:

Buy it 

Buy it here

And I plan on using this tutorial:

Here are my three chosen fabrics.

Let's hope it turns out ok! Check back in a few weeks for the results (hopefully).   

Life

What's going on with us?  Stuff, lots of stuff.  We found out that we're having a boy, celebrated the anniversary of our engagement, I attended a gardening class, Kira has been working on learning how to walk, and I accepted a small job just to earn the money needed to buy 1/4 of a meat cow.
Since I have very little of interest to say, here are a few pictures of our life.

My friend Jennifer came over and made play dough with me!  It is so much fun actually having friends now.  I've struggled to make friends ever since graduating but now I actually have a couple.  They definitely make life more fun!

My big girl loved the play dough.  She started out by barely touching it, then smooshing it, stacking it, and then finished by tearing it into little pieces.  

I told her to smile and she did this.  Amazing when it works.  

I was trying to capture my pregnant self on Sunday.  I guess I should have turned sideways.  The boy child is really starting to blossom though I suppose it could just be the fact that I love my bread...and dessert...and did I mention how much I love things like cheese, cream cheese and sour cream?  

Since it is Valentine's Day, I'm stuck home sick and everybody else is posting about love, here is my lovey dovey story for the week.
We have never celebrated Valentine's Day.  In fact, I usually forgot about it being a holiday.  Aaron proposed on February 11th and that is lovey dovey day for the year.  This year was no different.  We had been wanting to try a new pizza joint in town for a while and it seemed like the perfect opportunity.  We dropped Kira off at the grandparents and headed to the restaurant.  As you may have noticed, food is a huge part of our relationship.  Scratch that.  Food is a huge part of my life.  My priorities go something like this: God, family, food.  They didn't have a huge menu but the kitchen was right in front of the bar so you could watch them make your pizza after ordered it.  We decided to try getting pizza by the slice so that we could try more varieties.  We tried pulled pork with fresh mango, a pizza that was loaded with all kinds of meat and no veggies, the mashed potato, bacon scallion, and finally a plain old, boring chicken and basil.  Super yummy!  We enjoyed talking about the flavors and discussing what we would change about each pizza.  The other big thing we did was find out our baby's gender together!  I had had an ultrasound earlier in the day and Aaron was unable to make it so I asked the technician to put the gender revealing picture with a caption in an envelope.  I enjoyed not knowing the gender with Kira but it was also special to get to find out with this one.  If we have more children, I can easily see us going back to not finding out.
We will be announcing the gender hopefully tomorrow night at a little party for family.  Unless Aaron gets sick or the roads become impassible with all the snow we are predicted to get today.  So keep an eye on facebook.
After we left the restaurant, Aaron said that he had an idea of something that he wanted to do.  He started driving down the street but I really didn't know where he was taking me.  He pulled up into the Hobby Lobby parking lot and presented me with a gift card.  He told me that I had to spend at least part of it tonight and I could buy whatever I wanted.  This is where things got really weird.
After being in the store for only about 5 minutes, the store manager approached Aaron and asked to speak to him in his office.  When Aaron asked him what it was about, the manager replied, "I'll tell you in my office.  It will only take a minute."  Aaron asked if I could come too and we set off to the back of the store.  The whole time we were walking there, I was sure that either we were 1. going to be accused of stealing something or 2. going to be given a huge prize since were the billionth customer.
When we got to his office, the manager pointed to his desk and said, "Can you explain this?"  Sitting there was a huge bouquet just like the ones Aaron gave me when I proposed.  I couldn't believe it!
After that excitement, our evening was rather uneventful.  We just took the flowers home since we were only a couple of minutes away and then went to Lowes to look at faucets and freezers before picking up Kira.  My biggest regret is not being able to take pictures since our camera battery was dead.