Broads with Bunnies

When I moved back to Milwaukee a couple years ago, I started a Facebook group for local moms, called Broads with Babies.  It was originally intended to be a way to get together for play dates.  Little by little it grew, and now it's at 700 some moms!  Obviously we don't all get together, but there is a good core group that is always on there, and it's nice to have a place to ask a question and get some good answers.  Don't know about you, but I usually hate online mom's groups.  People get so judgy and bitchy!  Luckily these ladies are pretty rad and no one gets too preachy.  So far it's been a good experience, and I've met a lot of new friends through there!

Anyway, yesterday I had two baskets full of stuffed bunnies I'd finished.  I thought "boy, I sure don't want to have any of these things left like I did last year.  God knows we don't need more stuffed animals in our house."  So I posted a picture on my Broads with Babies group, seeing if anyone wanted one. 

Within a few hours I had sold all of them!  And now I have a list of orders to make more!  And people had gone to my etsy shop and asked to buy bibs, too.  It was completely overwhelming! 

I am so thankful that I can sit here in my basement with lovely fabric and sew things people actually want.  I am so thankful that Otis will sit here with me and let me do this.  I am so thankful I get to buy more fabric when I want, lol!  Today is a good day, despite the 5" of snow that is supposed to fall.

Giveaway!

Hey guys!  There is an Applesauce Crafts giveaway over on my pal Becky's blog Preparing for Peanut.  A three pack of bibs AND a stuffed owl could be yours!  Check it out here!

Mustache Party!

Yesterday was Otis' second birthday party.  And since he's such a little man, we had a little man/mustache party for him!  They are so trendy right now, really, so it was easy to find fun things to add to our party.  All I had to do was peruse Etsy and type in "mustache party" and I found a million fun things!

I chose mustache crayons as party favors.  I got them from this etsy shop, she was so kind and shipped very quickly!  And they were a hit!  (Although honestly most kids thought they were candy and tried to eat them...)

 I also got some mustache cupcake toppers for our ridiculously red and green cupcakes, from this etsy shop.  We also got some thank you stickers from them for the favors.  My mom and I found this cute snowman cake with cupcakes around it, so we got them, never really thinking about how messy the frosting would be with a bunch of littles running around!

 Otis was a very lucky little boy and got many fine new toys for his birthday!  We got him a wooden camera from Little Sapling Toys, which ended up being SO CUTE!  I just love it!  I think it might be my new go-to present for kids 2 or 3 years old.

 Since we had a breakfast party, we had tons of yummy breakfasty foods like quiche, cheesy potatoes, coffee cake, apple bread, and, of course, bloody maries!  The kids were in good pre-nap moods, and once everyone left, all of us crashed and took naps.  I say that is the perfect time for a two year old's party!  I can't believe Otis is TWO! 

Mother's Day Weekend

I totally forgot to post about our amazing weekend!  It was seriously the best.  Saturday was the neighborhood rummage, so we went out to look for some bargains.  It was kinda drizzly so it wasn't that great, but I did score some vintage kid's stuff for Toadstool Vintage.  Then it cleared up and we spent loads of time in the yard.  Ingrid is perfecting her baseball swing, that kid can really hit the ball!  No tee for her, she is hitting pitched balls and will not stop begging someone, anyone, to pitch the ball for her! 

After nap time we headed to the zoo.  As a family!  Usually I bow out of outings like this and let Brendan have kid time by himself so I can have mom time for myself, but I went and it was amazing.  The perfect weather, the kids were in good moods. We saw the goats, our favorite.  Ingrid couldn't stop hugging them.  My girl!

 Ingrid was super excited to go on the carousel, so of course we had to do it.  She was giddy waiting in line and she kept trying to decide which animal she'd ride.  She chose the ostrich.

 And to end the trip we took a relaxing ride on the train.  It was a perfect trip to the zoo!

Sunday was great, too.  I got to do a boat load of gardening in the new yard.  The people before us did not care about gardening.  They planted a few things but not with much planning.  For example, there are about five peony bushes by the garage, just sprouting up amidst the grass.  No flower bed, just tall grass and weeds all over the place.  So my goal is to get the grass pulled up and make a flower bed, add a couple more plants there, and attach it to the little garden on the other side of the garage, which so far has strawberries and asparagus and tons of weeds.  So  many ideas!!  But the grass is not coming up easily and it's been about three days of trying to chop away at it.  I am going to be so proud of the end product, I should go take before pictures so I remember how terrible it looked before!

Something that will help me in this endeavor is the fact I hired a babysitter!  Alex comes two mornings a week for a few hours, it's awesome.  She is a local college kid and she just jumped right in and took over as soon as she came.  I quietly went downstairs and did some work and she just played with the kids, took them to the park, changed poopy diapers.  Heaven!!  At first I felt a little decadent for hiring a babysitter being a stay at home mom, but screw it.  I am running two etsy shops, and I have two more craft shows lined up for this summer.  Instead of fighting every weekend with Brendan to watch the kids so I can get shit done, I'm gonna have someone play with the kids while I do it and thus have my weekend free for family.  It is amazing.

Also, gramma is coming today for Ingrid's birthday!  She'll be here a few days, allowing Brendan and I to go out for our six year anniversary.  God bless grammas.  It's gonna be a great weekend!

Kids, Thrifting, Sewing, Life.

Four words that sum up my life.  Well, the word life itself sums up life, but you know what I mean...

Kids are good.  Otis is getting a buncha molars at once and has been crabby.  Like this:

Ingrid has been busy drawing again.  She just loves her drawing board!  She'll sit there and talk to herself and tell stories as she draws pictures.  The other night she drew herself and Otis holding hands.  Oh jeez, that's cute.

I have been sewing like mad to get ready for a craft show coming up the week after we close on our house.  And I started selling at this cool local shop called The Waxwing, and she already sold most of the bibs I'd given her.  I really cannot wait to have my space to sew and organize all my junk, but right now having it in the middle of the dining room can be pleasant--look at all the sun that pours in!  I had to hang this bunting up so Otis couldn't get to it while I finished the rest of the order.  It just looked so cheery and bright!

And we popped in a thrift store I never go to, because they try to only put out current stuff it seems like.  And they don't even have a baby section, they just have boys and girls stuff and they toss the baby stuff in a big bin and you have to literally dig through.  So we just looked at toys today and found this gem!  A 1979 Chutes and Ladders game!  This is totally the one I remember having as a kid.  Awesome.

And that's life.  (I do have a husband, too, I swear.  He's busy working and by the time the kids are in bed we both crash with the ipad watching Battlestar Gallactica.  You don't really want to see that picture.)





Happy

Life is so good around here, I just feel so lucky to be where we are right now.  For years it seems like Brendan and I were in limbo, never knowing what the years ahead would bring us.  Not that we know now, but we have a better idea.  He has a job he loves, we are in Milwaukee for the long haul, we have our two munchkins that make us happy (even when they wake us up at 5am, li'l bastards!) 

We went to the bank yesterday to see about home loans.  It went so well, we have good credit and can most likely get a loan with an affordable down payment.  That was scaring me, we heard all these horror stories of needing 20% down and that is just not feasible for us right now!  But luckily we found out we are sitting pretty and once we get a couple more thousand saved up we'll be golden.  There is a huge possibility we can be in our own home this summer like we wanted!!!  I am so geeked.

Both etsy shops are going well.  At first I thought maybe it would get overwhelming but I think I've found a good balance.  Toadstool Vintage goes pretty easily--we go thrifting and then wash and iron all the clothes.  Take pictures of the items, then edit, then list as I get time.  A couple things here and there, until our laundry basket of vintage goodies is listed and hung up.  Then we go thrifting again!

Applesauce Crafts is also doing well.  I have a sale going on if anyone needs a baby shower gift!  Use code NEWFABRIC20 to get 20% off all items in the shop (including sale items!)  I have a stack of new fabric that is sitting there waiting to get sewn up into fun stuff, I need to empty the shop to make way for new things!  I applied for a craft show in May, it's at the botanical gardens and seems like a pretty fun one.  I'm hoping to get into it so I can get another show under my belt!

I know I say it all the time, but it is so amazing how far we've come in the past year!!  Otis was so tiny and we were moving to another state, into a duplex we'd only seen four pictures of online.  Brendan was starting a new job.  And now here we are, Otis is walking and we're house hunting and thinking about schools and where we'll be in ten years, and actually kind of knowing we'll still be here.  Sigh...I'm so happy!

Big Stuff Happening!

First of all, look at this guy:

Standing like a pro!  He refuses to move his legs, but he's got the whole balance thing down pretty well.  I remember how strange it was with Ingrid to see her upright with no one holding her, and it's the same with Otis.  He doesn't seem big enough for this, but he's 13 months today, so I guess he is.  Some kids are honest to god walking at this age, so...I'm in for it.

Speaking of in for it, I got out of the shower the other day to find the roll of toilet paper shredded, a box of tampons strewn about, and a babbling baby doing this:

First the cat box, now this.  He is going to HATE me for these pictures later in life!

The other big thing around here is my new Etsy shop!  For awhile now I've been buying things when I find them and sending them to my pal Heather at 3Ring Circus.  But, she also finds a ton of stuff, and I'm not always the best at sending them out to her.  So, Toadstool Vintage was born!  I now have a vintage kid's clothes shop on Etsy, and I love it!  I've had it open two days and already sold three things, it's so fun.  There are so many supportive vintage sellers, I love it.  Instead of thinking of another shop as competition, all these lovely ladies have completely welcomed me into the fold.  I love it!

Art Vs Craft

Saturday I had my first craft show.  It was so much fun!  I had been stressed because I had no idea what it would be like, if I would be totally amateur or just fine, how much to make, how to price my stuff.  Turns out everything was fine. 

I had a great time with an old friend, we just sat and chatted, saw more old friends, sold some stuff, drank coffee, ate popcorn.  It was a wonderful day!

Brendan brought the kids to visit and Ingrid thought she was going to stay the whole day.  She was very intent on "helping" which consisted of shoving an item in someone's face and saying "you gonna buy this?"  She knows how to do it!

So now it's back to the somewhat leisurely life of an etsy shop, where I list as I please, I make a few sales here and there, and I do it on my own schedule.  It's nice not to have a deadline hanging over me, I prefer a more laid back atmosphere!  But I will definitely do this again, maybe two or three shows a year if I can find good ones.  It was so fun!

Growing up: Crawling and School Pictures

Yep, Otis is crawling now.  Like full on, hands and knees, makes it across the room in 0.3 seconds crawling!  It's so strange to think that he was so tiny and I worried so much about him and now he's just like any other little nine month old, crawling and teething and drooling and being cute.

Today Ingrid has her school pictures so she didn't have to wear her uniform.  I, of course, had to use this opportunity to bust out her new vintage dress we just got from Fuzzymama Vintage.  When I saw this dress on her facebook page, I had to snatch it up pronto.  So glad I did!!  It is adorable and fits her like a glove.  When I went to take pictures of Ingrid, she couldn't just smile normally, could she?  Oh no, she had to jump and give me coy little looks and dramatic faces...

Busy Week, No Pictures.

I realize if I don't have pictures I tend not to post.  We have been doing lots this week!  Ingrid loves her school still, although I am a little tired of having to do the drive every day.  Just one year, then we can go to the neighborhood school and walk every day.  I cannot wait!

Otis is teething.  Again?  Still?  He has two bottom teeth and it looks like he's getting two more bottom teeth.  And the snot.  Oh my god, the snot.  Will it ever end, or is it just going to hang on all fall and winter?  Good thing we use cloth wipes as tissues, otherwise we'd probably be going through a forest worth of trees for kleenex.

I participated in a blog hop baby shower for Lishyloo this week!  Today was actually my day, over on my Applesauce Crafts blog.  It was great to contribute to such a fun thing with such talented women.  I felt a little out of my league, their blogs are so fancy, mine are just basic!  Check out day one here, and you'll find the schedule for the week with links to the other blogs.  Cute stuff!!

I have been trying to get tons of work done for Art Vs. Craft.  I just have no idea how much stock to bring to a craft show, how big it really is, and I feel like it's better to just way overshoot and then sell whatever's left over in the etsy shop.  But between the school run, nap schedules, crabby babies, and I don't know, sleep--it's hard to get anything done.  I got four blankets done yesterday and today, which is awesome.  I just wish I could get a babysitter one or two days to just get shit done. 

Brendan and I are leaving next week for DC!!  I am so excited to fly again, it's been like two years.  And I am way excited to be without kids for a few days.  And nights.  To be with my husband, no football on tv, no computer games being played, no distractions from actually spending time together.  Bliss. 

We went to the zoo today and I got some really cute pictures on my phone.  I can't figure out how to get them anywhere but my phone, so once I figure that out...what is the point of having a camera on your phone if you can't do anything with the pictures??  Sheesh!

A Lovely Weekend

It was a perfect weekend of sun and family.  Otis has been crawling...backward.  He ended up under the couch and got mad.  Ingrid got new tennis shoes and wore them to bed Friday night.  Silly.

Otis decided not to take a nap Saturday morning, so we walked over to soccer with Brendan and Ingrid.  That is hilarious-- tons of preschoolers running around, a coach trying to get them to listen.  Ingrid is so social, just runs right up to the other kids and starts talking.  She loves it!

We had a good day yesterday, too.  A sunny afternoon outside with the family when we know the sun is going to go away soon, we have to take advantage of it!  Otis was having fun chewing on leaves and sticks.  And snotting everywhere.  Still.  Are we destined to have runny noses all fall and winter??  He was on a no nap streak and stayed up all afternoon, which does not make for the happiest baby around. 

And now it's back to school, and back to sewing.  My halloween felt garland got onto the front page of etsy yesterday morning so I've had orders for them like crazy!  I will be spending Otis' naptime watching last night's Breaking Bad and cutting out orange and black felt circles!

Why Am I So Boring?

I want to have something interesting to say, but I feel like there isn't much going on lately.  Ingrid was sick and now Otis is, too.  Sleep has been hard to come by, and I have felt completely unmotivated.  Blah.

But I have an awesome family!

This dress is from Fuzzymama Vintage.  Is it not the cutest thing you've ever seen?  I love it!!

Sunday we went to the birthday party of a little girl I used to nanny for.  It was great to see the family again, it's been a few years.  I whipped up a fall fairy crown for the birthday girl and I love how it turned out.  I'm amazed Ingrid gave it up so quickly, she really liked it!

Okay, that's it.  Not much else.  I'll be back next time anything moderately interesting happens. 

Little Helper

Ingrid helped feed Otis his dinner last night.  It was a messy adventure.

Otis did not seem to mind the mess.

And in other news, Ingrid being in school during one of Otis' naps is amazing.  Yesterday I put on Mad Men (streaming through Netflix, yay!) and sewed up some of these little owls.  I haven't made any in a long time but I thought they would be a good fall thing to put in the shop.  I love the light blue and orange one, I may have to keep him for Otis' room...

Labor Day

We took another trip to the cottage this weekend to see Brendan's cousin and his family.  It was COLD!  I loved it!  The kids played, I sat around and read the Help, we all enjoyed each others company.  Another lovely weekend with family. Ingrid loves her other set of cousins. 

Otis was awesome and just sat there playing with toys, watching all the big kids run around.  He got a tooth (finally) so his tongue is constantly running over it.  He looks so silly.

And now this week is another short one, as we've decided to leave Friday to go join Brendan's parents up in Door County for another camping trip!  So three days of finishing up laundry, packing, and sending out Etsy orders.  Yay!