Mason's costume

So I was so excited to make Mason's Halloween costume this year.  Last year he was only 3 months old and so little that I just bought him a costume but this year I was ready to bust out the sewing machine and make him something special.  If any of you know my kid you know that his comfort item is a little sock (read about it here) so what better costume that a sock monkey costume. 

I think it turned out pretty well since I haven't really sewed since Jr. High Home-Ec class!  I even learned something working on this project, don't try to sew through sticky velcro, but hey we made it work. 

Mason had so much fun at his toddler group playing with his friends he crashed on the way home. 

Mason is at such a fun age right now.  I am excited to see what he thinks of trick or treating.  We also took him to the pumpkin patch again when Grandma and Papa were visiting.  Here are some of our favorites from that trip.

We took him to the same pumpkin patch last year but he was all swaddled up in those pictures.

This time he enjoyed walking on his own and checking everything out.

But daddy's shoulders are always a safe place to rest when he gets too tired.


Happy Halloween~2011


Linking up to http://www.skiptomylou.org/2011/10/31/made-by-you-monday-73/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+skiptomyloublog+%28Skip+To+My+Lou%29

Exploring

Look at this cute little angel boy!  Isn't he sweet!?!

Little man sure is keeping me busy now a days.  He is almost walking and getting into everything.  The other night we were visiting my parents overnight he was having a hard time going to sleep.  After letting him try to go to sleep on his own for awhile I finally went in when he started crying pretty hard.  Lo and behold he couldn't fall asleep because he had gotten into the diaper stacker that hangs on the side of his bed and pulled all the wipes out of there case! 

I wish I would have gotten a picture of this, he looked so innocent standing there in a pile of wipes.

When I turned the light on to pick up all the wipes I noticed just how wet his sheet was!  That little stinker, must have wanted to visit with grandma and papa a little longer because we had to stick his sheet into the dryer before he could go back to bed

What is it with kiddos and wipes, you would have thought I learnt my lesson but no this is what I found him doing today when I walked out of the room for 2.2 seconds! 

Little man also had some fun with an old pot at grandma's house.

Its back to school time!

 Ok, not that I am going back to school but around this time of the year I always feel the need to buy school supplies and get organized (and don't even get me started on calendars).  I think it is my inner teacher trying to come out. 
So with my husband's next semester starting Monday (as well as working full time)  I know that I need to get this house in shape since most of the household tasks will fall on me. 

What are the things you do to keep your family organized? 


Here are a few simple things I am doing each day to try to stay on top of my household chores

1. Wash, dry, fold, AND put away at least one load of laundry a day.
2.  Keep the dishes picked up, sink clean, dishwasher unloaded when clean.
3.  At end of day pick up toys and books and rotate to keep my little guys interest.
4.  Before bed repack diaper bag and make sip cups for the next day.

Today I am going to tackle some laundry, I know I have some stuff that needs to go.  So I am going to be ready for that with a trash bag and a bag for donations. 

What is your least favorite chore?  How do you deal with that?

Not your momma's notepad

Growing up my mom always carried a plain ol steno pad with her wherever she went.  I never really understood her obsession need to have a notepad with her wherever she went.  That was until recently... Seems like lately I have been scratching notes or making lists on whatever I can find.  Then I find out I have lost them or grabbed the wrong notepad on my way out the door.  My solution to this was to grab a jar of mod podge and some scrapbook papers and go to town.

1) I started with this plain manila steno pad but you could really do this to any notepad, folder, etc

2)   Next decide on the scrapbook papers you want - fold and crease them around the sides of the cover.

3) Now paint on some mod podge and smooth the paper over (this stuff dries fast so you should work quickly).  Do this on the back of the cover as well.

4) Once you have all the papers and elements the way you want them paint a thin layer of mod podge over the top,  this acts as a sealer and makes the papers smooth and keeps them in place. 

There you have it a personalized cheap notepad.  Now I can go to the grocery store in style!

I'm linking up at the following sites:
http://www.littlelucylu.com/
http://www.whipperberry.com/

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Monogram shirts & Rosette hair clips

Check out what I made for the little guy!  I was shocked at how well it turned out and I think I fell in love with Heat n Bond.  I stitched around the edges but then realized that I may need to brush up on my sewing skills but I am still happy with it. 

I had so much fun with this new project that I decided to make shirts for a friend who recently adopted 2 little girls.  I loved picking out girly fabric and then I decided to make some little hair clips using the left over fabric, I can't wait to see how they look on the girls.

Rosette hair clip

I am already thinking of some things I can make for my nieces b-days.  I know they will love some personalized goodies.

I am linking up at

http://tidymom.net/

On the move

Wow things sure have been busy around here lately.  My little guy has started crawling this week and that sure changes things around here.  He isn’t great at it yet but I know it won’t be long before I turn my head and he is gone.  It is actually quite funny now because he army crawls with his head down and he is even starting to get a rug burn on one side of his head…poor little guy.  I must say it is amazing what those little eyes can find and those fingers can pick up. 

Over the weekend we enjoyed a nice relaxing day outside and went walking all around town and to the park.  The little guy loves the swing.  I took lots of pictures but this is one of my favorites, I think it really captures his innocence.

And this one reminds me of just how quickly my baby is growing up!

I hope all of you take some time this week to do something fun or relaxing, I sure am glad I did.

What's your me time?

Since having the baby I have soaked up every moment of motherhood, all of my attention, every waking thought, and most dreams focused on that little bundle of joy.  Coming from a working environment to being a SAHM has been a hard adjustment I love being able to stay home and count my blessings that I am fortunate enough to be able to do that but the hardest part has been the lack of community.   Living in a town where your main source of social interaction on a personal basis is through work and suddenly being cut off from that was hard.  Here I was with my new little baby and I couldn’t have felt more alone.  I remember so clearly sitting here the day before my husband had to go back to work and bawling my eyes out.  I do have amazing friends who were and still are a great support but there was this strange feeling that the little guy and I were just “2 lost souls living in a fish bowl” or something like that.  We went to the grocery store where we never know anyone, attend a huge church that we don’t have any sense of community or involvement in (something we need to work on).  So I pretty much just poured everything I knew into being the best mom I knew how to be.  Nine months later I don’t feel so lost, I think it was the hormones and the stress of being a new parent that made me feel so homesick .  These last few weeks I have started to do a few more things for myself and man it feels good.  Just this week I went out with a friend who is moving away and spent a few hours out with just her doing girly things!  I also started being crafty again and that has been fun.  Actually I have spread my wings a little and have been doing some things that I have never done before (I will be posting pictures soon of some more projects).  But mostly I think having some me time or de-stressing doing something I want to do has been good for me and has helped me care for the little guy even better because I have taken the time for me.  Taking the time for me has never been something I felt I wanted to do, I haven’t felt the need to be away from the little guy but now I know that even if you don’t feel the need – you do need to get away even if just for a few.  It really does make you a better parent.