Helping Daddy

This was the first weekend in way too long that Keith didn't bring work home.  So, with the beautiful weather, he got a ton of work done in the yard.

Even more impressive when you consider how much help Parker was giving.

Here, he's helping his Daddy move the pavers from the backyard to the driveway where they built a patio for our trash cans.  Now, the trash cans don't roll down the hill into the fence every time you try to open them.

Photo Time!

Last year, about this time, we took Parker in for some family photos.  After forking over our life savings for the prints, we got a "free" one-year membership to their Portrait Club.  Our membership expires at the end of the month, and we still had a few perks left unused, so I thought I'd take Parker in for a few shots.

I will say, the photographer this time must have been some sort of miracle worker to get this many good shots, seeing how cranky Parker was for most of the process (as evidenced by blanky's frequent appearance).

Here's Parker right before he fell off the stairs & conked his head.  After that, all the smiles we got were by giving him his binkie, then pulling it away and taking the photo really fast.

He is a cute kid, though, isn't he?

Sewing for baby(s)

Between the nausea, fatigue, and 19-month-old, I haven't had much time or energy for sewing.  But, over the past few months, I have completed a few projects.

For Parker:

One more changing pad cover.  We started with three, but at some point, one of them went into hiding, so we really needed a spare.

I've also made Parker several more blankies, currently he has three, with two more cut out, just waiting on the ribbon.  The plan is to make enough that we never have to worry if we lose one.

For baby sister:

I'm especially proud of these diaper clutches, they turned out way cuter than I'd even imagined.

There's even a label holder on the back, so I can put her name on it, instead of putting a sticker on every time we put her in the nursery.  I'll make the label if & when we ever come up with her name.

And for my friend from high school, who is having a baby this spring:

I always feel a little self-conscious giving home-made gifts, since if you don't like it, too bad.  But, these are pretty generic, so hopefully they'll go over well.

I got the pattern for the diaper clutches here, everything else, I pretty much made up myself.

Sunny Day!

Tuesday was a beautiful sunny day!  Parker & I spent most of the day outside, we're ready for summer!

23 weeks:

This is a shadow, it's what happens when the sun is shining without any clouds.  I'd forgotten what they looked like.

I've been trying to get a good shot of my silhouette at this point baby-wise.  But, either I'm WAY bigger than I think (which is entirely possible), or I need to keep working on it.

Today's Project ~ Springtime wreath

Actually, I probably should have titled this post "Last Month's Project", since that's when I made it (and it's about all I made last month, too).

I'm not actually a huge wreath person, I don't really care either way about them.  But, if you spend any time on Pinterest (which I don't recommend if you want a remotely productive life), wreaths are everywhere.  And, since we have this big, ugly wreath hanger permanently affixed to our front door, I might as well go with it.

I stole this idea directly from this pin on Pinterest.  But that little daisy trim is expensive, so I came up with my own version.

So far, it's doing pretty well.  It even survived Keith's roof-cleaning last weekend, although I did have to pick a few pine needles out of the "grass".  It makes a nice little spring-time welcome to our door.

Floral Beads

I seem to spend more time than I probably should reading blogs of other mothers, with all these creative, active ideas for their little ones.  Usually, I look at them and think, "Wow, that would be fun, maybe some day I'll be that energetic".  But, occasionally, I try them out.  What the blogs neglect to mention usually is that their kids are 2-3 years older than mine, and almost without exception, girls, who don't see any small object as a ball useful only for throwing across the room.

But, I digress.  So, after seeing a blog about using these hydrated floral beads as sensory toys for kids, I found a bag 1/2 price at Joann's and thought it would be fun for Parker.  And he did love it, for as long as it took to scatter them allover the entire kitchen nook, kitchen, and dining room.  Then he was over it.

What the blogs also neglect to mention is that these slippery little balls pulverize if you step on them, leaving a slippery gooey mess all over the kitchen floor.  (Seriously, we used to use something very similar for our messy-events back in my youth work days)  Which, if you happen to be a none-too-sure-on-his-feet-19-month-old, means a lot of slipping and bonking your head.

So, that was an all-around disaster, but I'm not yet ready to give up.  Today, I plunked Parker & all the balls down in the bathtub (facing the wall, I'm starting to catch-on to him).

It was a huge success, and only one of those little buggers tried to make a break for it, all the rest stayed in the bathtub.  Actually, they're still in the bathtub, guess I'll have to clean them up eventually, but it's much less urgent than say, the kitchen floor.

Ten-on-Ten ~ April

I'm participating in the 10-on-10 this month, here's our day: