Sunshine and New Crayons.

It was a gorgeous sunny day out.  Perfect for coloring on the porch in new Cookie Monster undies. 

I love Sundays

I remember once upon a time saying to Brendan that although I wanted kids, I would really miss the lazy Sundays we had.  I used to get up, walk the dog to the gas station to buy the Sunday paper, and then we'd make a pot of coffee and lay around reading all morning.  All I could think of with kids was up early, chaos, noise, chaos, noise.  Brendan said we would just have to raise our kids to enjoy a lazy Sunday with us.  And wouldn't you know it, we have!  Ingrid loves to come into our bed and read her books in between us.

This weekend she did this while wearing her new spring pjs

Then after getting dressed we played with Fletcher:

And baked oatmeal cookies.  Ingrid is obsessed with licking the beaters now, what have I gotten myself into??  "Bake cookies, mama, and eat it!" she says. 

We had the best lazy day!

The Easter Bunny

I took Ingrid to the local Easter egg hunt ordeal today.  Normally I wouldn't have bothered, since it was cold and Ingrid was crabby as hell this morning, but Brendan had to work and a couple friends were going to be there so we went.  The big event is a helicopter flying overhead and dropping tons of marshmallows into the park, so Ingrid kept asking where the helicopter was about an hour before it was scheduled to show up.  We tried to meet friends at a restaurant but the place is tiny and not very child friendly (only one high chair and there were like ten kids there this morning!) so it was kind of tough to wrangle her into a chair and not get in everyone's way. 

We went over to the park and found our other friends and then chased the kids around in the freezing cold weather for awhile.  Ingrid met the Easter bunny (and his wife?)  She was okay, but very cautious.  She would sneak up and give him a hi-five and then run away giggling, so the only pictures I could get of her were the back of her head. 

Then the helicopter came, dropped the marshmallows, and flew away.  All the kids busted out trying to find them and it was a madhouse.  I have to say, I am not fond of the clusterf*&k aspect of these things.  The marshmallows were on the other side of the park so by the time we got there they were all gone and we saw all these big kids with baskets full.  The socialist in me thought there should be some limit so every kid could get one.  But it doesn't matter anyway, all you did was turn in your marshmallows (aka throw them in a big garbage can) and then you got a cheap plastic toy. 

Ingrid had fun, though, so I shouldn't complain.  And we are going to an Easter party on Friday where they'll have a little egg hunt.  Without big kids.  Or muddy marshmallows. 

A Shout Out to My Homegirl!

We got a care package in the mail from my good friend Brooke yesterday.  How exciting!  She sent this adorable little purse for Ingrid.  It's got a nice little bunny ribbon trim just in time for Easter.  Ingrid has already dragged it around all over the house, stuffing it with her animals and dollies.  Also included was a bag of gummy shamrocks, which Brendan ate in one sitting and then said "ugh, they didn't settle well."  Yeah, you think?  That's a lot of gummies in your belly... 

And my girl sent me some scraps of fabric from her stash!  I just love having friends that craft and sew.  I get to send out scraps I know I won't use, they send me their scraps and we're all happy!

Brooke has an etsy shop and I am amazed at her talent!  She makes different purses and bags and they are all so cute.  I have my eye on a few of them.

And just to test myself, I tried sewing today with my hurt thumb.  It worked much better than I had thought it would!  I had this little 0-6 month size dress cut out and oh my god, after sewing 3Ts it looks so tiny!  It looks like a doll's dress.  Are babies really that small?? 

As usual, the more of these I make the better they get.  I still have to figure out that neck, I always have to go over one or two parts to make sure both sides are sewn right.  But I have three or so more to make for friends that agreed to be testers, hopefully by the end of that round I'll have mastered it and I can add some to the shop.  

A Bad Night, A Better Day

Last night I was happily chopping up veggies for our salad when WHAM, the knife came down--hard--on my thumb.  Youch.  It bled profusely and I knew I'd need stitches.  Luckily Brendan was on his way home from work.  Why do these things happen when I'm by myself with Ingrid?

Being the good wife I am, I finished up the salads with a dishcloth wrapped around my thumb, doing things one handedly as I raised my thumb above my heart.  Do you know how hard it is to make hamburgers with only one hand?  But I managed, and was very proud of myself.  Brendan came home and we ate dinner, as I figured I'd be waiting around awhile and would get hungry, so I should eat before I went to the emergency room.

Now, here's a sad thought:  I was happy to go have a couple hours to myself.  At the ER.  Because I was bleeding and would need stitches.  Brendan offered to come with me and I jumped up and ran out the door before he could catch up.  Not really, but I wanted to!  I put a book in my bag, told him to take care of the wee one, and hopped in the car on the way to the ER.  And had two blissful hours of non kid time.  And stitches.  I got three stitches and a comically big bandage, and then I was home.

This morning I woke up to a huge throbbing pain, but so far ibuprofen has done me well.  Ingrid seemed to sense I didn't want to do much today so she happily played with her kitchen and blocks and books.  I finally managed to get out of my pajamas at 11am and we went to splash in the puddles.  Ingrid loves her puddles, she loves rainy days!

After that we did some painting, on paper, the table, Ingrid's arms, legs and upper lip.  Thank god for washable paints. 

We also had our squirrel friend come visit.  He would have come inside if I'd opened the door, he is so curious!  Our cats hate it.

And now it's nap time, and then we have a doctor's appointment for Ingrid.  It's been a nice mellow day, which is exactly what I needed. 

Another sewing project yesterday, another circle neck shirt.  I love these but man are they a test of my patience.  There are so many little tiny things to check before you can sew, so in my haste I always manage to make a mistake.  They're still cute though, so I will make tons more to practice and hopefully learn the tricks to making them easier to sew. 

And Yet More Sewing.

I go in spurts of sewing, I find one thing I get obsessed with and I make a million of them in a few weeks.  Then I get bored of them and hop to the next thing.  Baby shoes became tiresome so now I'm onto summer dresses!  I made another from the vintage pattern:

And I have had this pattern for some time and only now got around to trying it.  I got it from this etsy shop.  It's a bit time consuming but I think the overall result is pretty cute.  This turned out a bit shorter than I was expecting, so it will be a tunic.  Or I could get some ruffly bloomers, that would be sweet, too!

Ingrid loves her dresses, she oohs and aahs when she sees one and says "pretty dress, mama!"  Yep, pretty dress that she will spill, drool, and get mud all over.

Summer Dress for Ingrid

I always get vintage patterns when I find a good one at the thrift store, thinking someday I will make something out of them.  I never do.  However, last night I cleaned out my fabric closet and found a pattern I wanted to try.  It's from 1976, I believe, since the lady who had it before me cut out the pattern from newspaper dated May 10, 1976. 

I modified the dress pattern and used the front bodice piece as the back, too, instead of the two pieces they had cut out.  I couldn't figure out how to sew them together and as it turns out, it didn't matter at all.  I lined the toile-ish fabric with purple gingham and man, it turned out so cute!  The skirt part is huge and circular, perfect for a little girl that likes to twirl around! 

I'm looking forward to making tons of these for the summer, it was really so much easier than I thought it would be.  I just can't seem to follow pattern directions, that's my problem.  So I cut out pieces and sewed them together how I thought they should go.  Next time I'll switch the side the button holes are on--that's right!!  I did buttonholes for the first time!  But I will have to work on the placement of buttons because it looks kind of funny.  Overall, though, I am quite pleased with how it turned out.  So's Ingrid!

St. Patrick's Day!

Today was so much fun!  We went to a playdate party at our friend's house, where we ate rainbow cupcakes, fruit, and to Ingrid's delight, sausages.  That kid loves sausages! 

We mamas drank coffee and tried to tune out the din of the kids, and when that didn't work, we unleashed them outside.  It was gorgeous today, sunny and in the 60s.  Too bad there is talk of snow next week.  Stupid midwest spring...

Ingrid had fun playing with her pals, and I had a great time chatting with my ladies.  Good times!

Springtime This and That

I am so happy it's nice out lately!  We have been doing a little of this and that lately:
Wearing rain boots and splashing in puddles.

Making flowers out of Ingrid's paintings.  We did this with her coloring pictures at Christmastime, making them into snowflakes and a paper chain.  Since it's spring, I thought we should make butterflies and flowers.  I love how they turned out!

Dragging out every single toy she owns and bringing it out to the porch.  She loves doing this!  All her kitchen ware and stuffed animals have enjoyed some sunshine the past few days.

It  has been completely enjoyable the past couple days, just lounging around with my little one, basking in the sun, and going for walks to the park.  It is so nice to just hang out and not have to entertain her, as I had to in the winter.  Everyone feels so much better with all the daylight and sunshine!!

And tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and we are off to a party at Jami and Ben's house.  Hooray! 

A Fun Weekend

Our weekend was pretty fun.  Saturday morning I went out with my friends Jami and Heather.  We met at the Kiwanis sale, where I got some good finds.  A couple Health Tex tshirts, a pair of overalls, a super cute vintage kid's pillowcase, and this:

I love it!  Isn't it perfect for a baby's room (hint, hint, Brendan!)  It's kinda dirty and the frame needs to be painted, but I love it.

Other highlights from this weekend:  new crayons for Ingrid!  She is so hard on her crayons, they only last a week or so before becoming tiny little shards...

Eating yogurt while wearing a crown.  Of course.

And this morning Ingrid read her books while wearing Daddy's hat.  She loves hats, the bigger the better :)

Today we are off to go to gymnastics and hopefully stop by the store and get some goodies for care packages we're making.  It seems strange, now that Brendan's car is working again and we have the car all to ourselves, we're out and about all the time whether we really need to or not.  Why can't I just stick around home even if I have a car to use?  I have to work on that!!

Park Playdate

Another gorgeous day, another trip to the park.  This time our friends joined us and Ingrid had a great time.

Ingrid enjoyed the swings and the slides.  She about gave me heart attack, though, as she really wanted to go on the huge big kid slide all by herself.  This thing was seriously almost scary to me, it was high and there wasn't a lot of anything on the side of the ladder, meaning she could fall out at any time.  And at one point she looked like she was going to fall off the side of the slide, about 8 feet up...But I spotted her and let her do it and she was amazing!  I love how confident she is--she wanted to try it out, she knew she could do it. 

She also had fun playing with her best bud Benny. 

We also got her rain boots in the mail yesterday:

They are adorable, no?  However, they fell off her feet every two seconds.  So, tell me, how do you get your kids' wellies to stay on?  Is there a trick?  Or is that just the nature of the boot?  I see all these pictures of kids in cute wellies playing in the muck and mud, I want Ingrid to be able to do that, too.  But these damn boots wouldn't stay on!!  Oh well, they are pretty cute, I'll keep them and they can be a fashion statement if nothing else...

Thrifting with my Lady

Ingrid and I went thrifting yesterday and had the best time.  Usually she's very whiny and just wants to go, but yesterday she was into it.  We pretty much stayed in the kid's section, as I was scouring the racks for some vintage finds.  A friend is starting up a kid's vintage shop and I love a reason to buy the things I don't have a need for.  Ingrid found lots of toys to play with and they even had a ride on horse that kept her entertained, so I was able to do all this pretty smoothly.  So, we spent about an hour going over ever little piece of clothing in the kid's section, piling up things in our cart, looking them over, decided what was worth the money and what wasn't.  Here's what we came up with:

Pretty cute indeed.

Yesterday was a good day overall.  We started out by painting out in the cold morning, which didn't bother Ingrid in the least.  Mama, on the other hand, needed a hot cup of coffee to keep her warm and kept asking "are you SURE you don't want to do this inside?"  After lunch we took a nice long walk to the park, let Cody run, let Ingrid swing, and we all got to enjoy the weather.

I was just telling Brendan last night how funny it is that every year at spring time I get so unbelievably overjoyed at the first nice weather.  It's like over the winter I forget that there can ever be a day over 25 degrees, that the sun can shine and actually make you warm!  You'd think it would be old news after 33 years of living this way, but alas, each spring it's like I've never experienced it before.  I love spring.

And, one more funny anecdote from Ingrid:  This morning she had a glass of plain milk.  She asked for pink milk, I said not right now, she asked a few more times, I said no a few more times.  She left the room, rummaged around in the kitchen, and brought back the can of strawberry powder!  And then she asked again "pink milk, please?"  That kid does not take no for an answer!  I have to respect that!

You Know What's Awesome? Spring.

Yesterday was bee-yoo-tiful!!  Our balcony is nicely sheltered from any wind so when the sun shines it's nice and warm.  And boy did the sun shine yesterday!  I opened the sliding door and Ingrid and all the animals went inside and outside at their leisure.  Ingrid had so much fun yelling and hearing the echo.  That kid likes to yell--"Fletcher!  Come back here!  Cody!  Sit down!"  I wonder where she gets that from...

In the afternoon we went to the park to go swinging. 

It's spring.  Thank god!

I also finished the felt book I had been working on.  Just in the nick of time, I had to send it out today and I wasn't sure it was going to get done.  But, thanks to the novelty of being outside on the balcony, Ingrid let me work on it all morning.  Whew.

Milwaukee

We got back late last night after a great trip and a very long train ride.  Here are some photos from our weekend, most of which are from a crazy little department store called Dretzka's.  This one is my friend Katie and I looking goofy.  We also have a picture like this from when I was pregnant with Ingrid and she was not... 

And these are from Dretzka's.  I cannot say enough about how awesome this store is.  Dusty shoes from the 60s?  Check.  Gogo boots and American flags?  Check.  Boxes of souffle cups from 1972?  Check.

Gramma's Here!

In just a little while Brendan and I are off to the train station!  We are going to visit friends and family in Milwaukee--without Ingrid!  It's been a year since we've done that, we are so looking forward to it!  My mom came a couple days ago and it's been nice to spend time with her and watch her and Ingrid together.

Gramma came with a silly outfit that actually looked quite cute on Ingrid:

We also took advantage of the sunshine to go splash in mud puddles-one of Ingrid's favorite things to do.  She and Gramma looked around for "treasures" (sticks, rocks and dead leaves!)  They are going to have such a good time while we're gone :)

I ordered a birthday present for Ingrid's birthday already and it came yesterday!  This girl is obsessed with Gabba and there's a woman on etsy that knits little finger puppets of the characters.  Oh my god, they are so adorable!!  I can't wait to see her face when she opens them!

Well, time to go catch a train with my husband!  Yay!!