Last night my wonderful husband threw me the best party of my life. I told him I wanted a backyard party with BBQ burritos and our friend’s band playing. The rest was up to him. He went crazy and almost all my friends came, it was brilliant.
The set up for the band:
Jettison Bend. Really it was just Brian going solo since his bandmates had commitments, but it was so great! His music is awesome, please clicky click on their link.
Looking back up at our house (reusing the garland from Tutu’s party). I guess since tomorrow is my birthday I can tell Bj that I really want french doors, ha (groan the house will never be done… :)!
I have been excited about my 30th birthday since I was nearly 8 and my mom turned 30. Of course what I remember and what really happened might not be lined up just right but in my eyes then nothing was cooler than the shindig my dad planned. A limo came to our house, but it was a funny limo with a sign that said my mom only looked “29 1/2”. I don’t even know where they went, but they didn’t come home until we were asleep and my mom was dressed all glamorous. I’ve told Bj that story lots of times so he triple checked that I didn’t want to go some where. I didn’t though because I love our yard and our friend’s music and thought this would be so fun.
But guess what? It was even more fun than that! Tuesday had a blast over at Donna’s house with William and his grandma and aunt. She stayed their for three hours until ten, when I brought her back to the party and then she stayed up until 11 saying hello to everyone.
What can I say about my lovely husband? He put up lights, and made food, and even squeezed 30 organic lemons and brewed lavender lemonade for his favorite non-drinker (me :). Sciarrino and Sarah helped too, making signs and picking up three of my favorite desserts (peanut butter pie from Big River in Corvallis) on the sly.
I felt like the luckiest girl last night, nothing could have been better. Tomorrow I’m 30 on the 30th!
That speedy thing called summer
Well, we got a decidedly late summer start here and I’ve had no desire to welcome fall anytime soon. With temperatures looking high into the next week I don’t think I’ll have to. We have not necessarily been super busy, just having a good time loving life. Helping this is the fact that I really truly think I kicked my diet coke habit. I don’t know what came over me really, the day before I decided to stop I bought a 12 pack! Overall we have been eating local and organic (and yummy summer fruits and veggies, yum!) so I think I knew it was coming. I just started thinking about the chemicals and processing and I snapped, quit cold turkey halfway through a can. It’s crazy because I only ever quit one other time, while pregnant, and I’m not pregnant now and I can really tell this time the difference in how I feel; so much better. I eat so much less, I have so much more energy. I know that doesn’t seem right since it’s supposed to give you energy (and it was my only source of caffeine), but I do! I’ve been working out again and I’m hoping by my 30th birthday (on the 30th—cool, huh?) that I’ll be at pre-baby weight (totally doable I only have 1.5 pounds to go).
Now a photo recap. We’ve been visiting Hazel and William:
(my favorite shot from a photo shoot I did over there).
We visited another newborn. Tuesday was a fan:
The newborn (who I’d like to point out has more hair than my 19 month old daughter) was not so sure about her:
Hehehe, such a cutie.
I started collecting things for our new play kitchen:
It will be no problem getting picture of Tuesday playing with it because she love, love, loves it (that should tell you how bad I’ve been about snapping things around here).
Tuesday and I went Blueberry picking for Salem Neighborhood Harvest. Her second time, my third. What a great program. We pick bushes/trees that have been donated and half the harvest goes to the food bank. The other half we get to keep. I was informed by another picker that if you want 1/2 cup of blueberries a day you need 70 pounds a year! (My breakfast of late is 1 cup cereal, 1/2 cup soy milk and 1/2 cup fruit)
I would not recommend letting a toddler go nuts in a blueberry patch unless they are potty trained, I think they’d get a terrible rash… no self control. Every time I looked over she was stuffing handfuls in her mouth.
We had a play date with crew girl babies toddlers:
Soon this shot will be impossible, such busy little people! Tuesday’s been growing I think, she looks as tall as other kids her age now (she was never that short though, just skinny). And I’ve gone through her clothes three times in the last month!
Tuesday has probably 50 signs she uses (we taught her ASL). I started writing them down, but she picks them up so quick! She also says mama, papa and nana in the sweetest little voice. Other words like Seana (our neighbor), dirt, and yes come and go. She does do a mean firetruck impersonation though.
I’ll leave you with a video I shot on my iPhone during dinner, man I love this kid!
And a few notes: I updated the side bar with more dailies, updated reading list, and some fun links. If you ever want to check in between posts my twitter status is over there too (here is a direct link). I’m guessing posting will be light the rest of the summer!
Summer Sewing
I’ve been adding lots of stuff to the Ribbon Jar lately in anticipation of fall (and dare I say it holiday!) crafting. I am loving this super wide ric-rac so I thought it would be fun to do it around a big pillow.
I might go back around it and sew it a little closer together so just the points stick out, but I like it!
The back is a combo of vintage sheets from the swap I participated in and some kona cotton.
I am working on re-organizing the basement and I want to do a little pillow full reading area for Tuesday. I’m also thinking play kitchen and big set of blocks. Plus these awesome drawers for mama that I am picking up tomorrow. Wait… back to the sewing.
I made Tuesday this little dress from another vintage sheet (actually I cut apart a pillowcase). I used a pattern out of this book, it has so many cute little things in it!
I wanted to highlight some of our new pom pom trim (speaking of this could you please tell me what you think of how I took the pictures for the trim. I was trying something new since pom poms can’t be scanned).
I found it much easier to sew on with a zipper foot. The other two ribbons are herringbone and pinstripe. Now it’s almost 100 outside so I think I’m going to go back to the sewing zone (aka the basement!).
And the back:
Yes we did do the back yard! Remember what it looked like before (here is the full before):
I know, right?
I love our yard!
The before looking back at our house:
and after:
And if you “zoom out”
Here is a picture standing up on that landing for our garbage/compost/recycling cans:
To the left of our small deck (more like a landing for the BBQ and to transition out of the house):
Bj made all these boxes, even this round one for our herbs:
Which is right outside my basement window, finally I have some wonderful things to look at!
The other side. My favorite parts are well, everything, but espically our “fire pit” area:
We were originally going to do an in ground fire pit, but decided it would be cheaper and safer to get an above graound pit (which we are going to get later when we have a shed, that we are going to make later, to store it in). I love how our landscaper (the awesome Guy Countryman) did the rock. The fence also turned out awesome:
We found the design in a Best of Sunset Outdoor Living and the carpenter copied the design. My neighbors went in on it and then they did the back of their fence area as well.
Isn’t their yard wonderful! I can’t wait until our yard is as filled in as much as this. I love that we can see their roses and greenery coming through the top of the fence.
The front yard is even starting to fill in better:
I’ve only had a few mishaps, including mildew on one of my rose plants:
Boo! But I looked some stuff up and I’m going to try and tackle it tomorrow.
All in all sucess!
Among other things
I am still alive. 🙂
Gardening
Playing
Visiting
Picture taking
Sewing
Scrapbooking
Being outside
And loving life.
How about you?
Ladies sewing day!
I had such a fabulous Saturday at my friend’s house sewing with three of my crew girls.
I worked on a long suffering project:
Someday I will finish this quilt.
This is Kristen, her house is so awesome.
and welcoming:
And she has a new craft room built by her husband:
A special tall table for a tall lady:
There are so many great details in this house. And don’t get me started on the awesome huge drafting drawer things that her husband got for free at his work. I begged him to get me some… I hope there are some left!
When I get the okay I’ll link up to her new venture—all I can say is I have some awesomely creative friends!
Mini love
I made a great little mini for my god-daughter, who is FOUR! Handmade gifts can be tricky for little kids I think. There are so many
toys and things out there for kids. I thought a little book she can fill
out for herself would be fun. I made a little “all about me” for my
step sister when she was younger and she loved it.
The cover uses some cardstock I had Tuesday paint, and my favorite Heidi Swapp letters, the elementary ones. If you have some you don’t want send them to me! Sometimes I hate how fast scrapbooking products rotate through. I digress…
I cut down some Paper Source envelope things so she can stick things in there.
The favorite colors page is my favorite. I want to make one for me!
I love the idea of giving her the camera to take some shots!
Because she’s so sweet 🙂
And the back:
So much fun to put this little thing together. That plus some treasure jars (that I stayed up way to late making, and thus, no pictures) and a huge stack of stickers rounded out her gift. I let Tuesday yank some stickers off the rounder at the store so she got a very unique assortment, including some celebrating Jamaica 🙂
So remember when Tuesday and I painted?
I scrapbooked that (surprised?). I spelled emerging with out an “R” so I had to pop off the letters, only they don’t pop off without breaking, so it was a bit of a disaster.
I love, love, love these pictures of my BFF Ceara. I took a ton while I was there, but was recovering from flying cross country with a toddler and I don’t think I ever posted many. Anyway it’s all about how we’re supposed to live next door to each other and stuff. Just happy to get some of these delicious baby pictures on a page.
Thanks for the front yard love. I need to get myself together to stain things in the back, but paper has been calling my name… Oh plus, did I mention that after Tuesday spent the night at my mom’s she was like, “no more diapers for me.” So I have to sprint up to her crib when I hear her wake to take her to the potty. Plus she’s only napping for like an hour at a time. See, I’m justifying here, but it really doesn’t make sense for me to get all crazy messy and dirty.
Wanna see the front?
Ok so I still have to stain things in the back and finish up some bits here in there so I want to save those pictures. But check out the front!
Same view last summer:
Curb in the same place and it looks so much bigger to me!
Bj and my step dad made this super cute little picket fence.
I can’t wait to see my yard next year; especially this front part. Just image big bunches of lavender in the front with roses spilling over the top. I think I’m going to do tulip bulbs in front of the fence and crocus in front of the lavender for early spring. Try not to look too closely at the dogwood, it is the sickest of all our plants 🙁
I can’t say enough awesome things about our designer Tina. I never would have thought we could have a wider driveway, or plants in front of our picture window. Next year you’ll see clematis growing up one side of the porch and a climbing rose up the other.
We are eating out on the porch almost every night, just like last year. Tuesday loves to use sidewalk chalk all over the driveway and walkway. She digs in the dirt and picks up the little gravel. She hasn’t tried to shred the plants yet, she goes up to them and does a very dramatic show of smelling them. Speaking of plants we could never have gotten all of these in the ground on one of the hottest days of the year without our awesome friends and family! Seriously we were freaking out that they would all die and for the most part they have come through great. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
Squeezing in Scraping
A couple weeks ago (or maybe last week—it’s all running together!) Sarah and I had an online scrapdate 🙂
Look at me using thickers!
This next one is a scraplift (and then switched up a bit) from an old book I forgot how much I loved: Scrapbooking Life’s Little Moments.
I hope it goes without saying that these are straight in real life 🙂
If I ever run out of those vellum stickers I will cry at least a little.
This actually started by looking at this inpiration page. I veered… alot.
I love brads!
That last one was from today. Hopefully with the yard mostly done (pictures soon!) I’ll have some more crafting soon.
A year in a half of Tuesday
Oh sweet Tuesday, how much do I love this girl? A lot!
At 18 months she:
-Says two words “yes” and “dirt” we have been outside in the yard a lot lately, obviously.
-She also has this questioning sound she makes, like a “huh?” but way cuter. I must get this on video, she does it all day long.
-Saw a train and now it’s all she “talks” about (by talk I mean use the sign for train combined with help or please, I think that means she wants me to please help her find the train!). She even kissed the train in her picture book.
-Speaking of signs, she knows a lot: help, please, thank you, more, hat, coat/jacket, milk, love, plane, potty, eat, finished, bedtime, phone, book, train, shoes
-At 19 pounds 5 ounces she is still in the 0% for weight (but the doctor did point out she is less of a zero percent!)
-She is 31 1/2 inches tall, which is average height.
-Size 6-12 month tops, 12-18 month bottoms (if they are thin enough), size 19 shoes (4 US). I admit I still put her in a few 0-6 month size things (shorts, and a few tops)
-She eats so many different things including kale chips, big hard pretzels, full fat greek yogurt, any type of fruit, toast with cashew, almond, or sunflower butter, cooked carrots, frozen peas, rice and beans, curry… did I mention fruit?
-She nurses 4-5 times a day, plus she often needs a super quick bit of milky for comfort
-She’s in big girl undies all day every day and they are mostly dry. She tells us when she needs to go by signing potty (thankfully not so much of the crotch grabbing any more). Biggest hurdle left here is to get her to realize she needs to poop before she starts 🙂 Also just started undies at sleep time, we’ll see how that goes.
-We have no problem using potties when we are out and it’s liberating traveling with out a diaper bag (I have a pair of clean undies in my purse). She knows she has to pee before we leave the house. Often Tuesday will squeeze out a little bit of pee at any new place just to see the bathroom.
-Learned to twirl and will spin herself around until she can’t walk any more and falls down giggling.
-Likes to be in on the joke and when she hears us laughs starts in with this funny fake laugh of her own.
-Waves goodbye to everyone and everything (teddy bears, random cars, her pee when we flush, the room she is leaving).
-Likes to give kisses… on the lips.
-Had her first sleep over at grandma’s house. It went pretty well. She woke during the night and grandma brought her into the big bed (mama is jealous because she will never sleep in our bed with us). Apparently she woke up at one point, stretched, leaned over and kissed grandma and went back to bed.
-Her 12th tooth is just popping out.
-Favorite “toy” right now is dirt. It’s also her favorite snack.
I know I’m forgetting a lot. I love her so much right now. I keep saying I love her more than ever, it doesn’t seem possible, but I do! She is so funny, loving and inquisitive. There is nothing about this age I don’t like. Well, maybe the occasional poop in the pants, but we’re working on it.
