world's greatest dad award goes to...

being a dad came naturally to my hubby.
he was so calm.
and loving.
i was always anxious about everything.
he'd soothe me.
and soothe suri.

the breastfeeding was so hard.
suri woke up every half hour to an hour to eat.
night or day.
the doctor called it 'cluster feeding.'
this lasted for 3 months.

my hubby was my biggest cheerleader.
and my biggest whipping post.

he understood how exhausted i was.
but, he was exhausted too.

he'd wake up with me every time she cried.
he'd change her diaper.
he'd help me sit up and make myself comfortable.
i'd feed her and lay her down.
and we'd we start all over again. again. and again.

now that suri's almost 11 months, she's a lot easier.
and she is definitely a daddy's girl.

he lets her take naps on his chest.
he holds her and they chillax and watch sports together.

they watch youtube music videos and he sings to her.

he washes off all her "blow-out" clothes that
come back from daycare loaded with poop.
(and makes gagging sounds the whole time. LOL.)

he is an amazing father.
and a wonderful husband.

when we were guessing the sex of the baby,
he was adamant that it was a girl.
i was certain it was a boy.
i said it was mother's instinct.
he said it was father's instinct.

well, i guess he was right.
i suppose i can say that on father's day. :)

for his first father's day,
i wanted to make him something memorable.
so, here it is ...
a scrapbooked shadowbox display:

i found this at a thrift store for $2.99 and decided to scrapbook it.

this is borrowed from a poster i saw at hallmark.

see the cute, cut-out suri peeking out above the circle? ;)

i put a family photo into a tim holtz vial.

more tim holtz vials: one with a piece of paper that says 'wish'. one baby photo of suri and one with music.

YUM YUM. pretty irresistible, right?

haaaaaaaaaaaappy father's day
to all the dads out there.


especially suri's. ;)

that's my babygirl

this week has been
m o n u m e n t a l
for suri.

1. she got her first tooth (at 10 1/2 months!)
2. she pulled herself up to stand!
3. she started crawling!

(i'm going to have to refrain myself from using
too many exclamation points in this post.
it's been exciting!!!!)

teething has made her pretty grouchy.
only one tooth so far.
the second one is not quite showing yet.
her grandma says that if your teeth come in one-by-one,
instead of as pairs, you are going to be naughty. LOL.
let's hope not.
trust me, her grandma has a million superstitions.

suri actually stood up before she crawled.
all the sudden i look over and she's standing in her playpen!

i think it's time to put the playpen down.

i had to inch my way to the camera,
hoping not to distract her and cause a fall.
i was seriously holding my breath
and gliding like a crazy trapeze person.
LOL.

suri has NEVER been a fan of crawling.
we thought she was just going to skip it.

she'd occasionally get on all fours
and rock back and forth.

here she is rocking.

then, we picked her up from daycare the other day.
they said she crawled across the room!
Eeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!

as soon as we got her home,
we called her grandma on skype
and were ready for a show.
and boy, did we get one.
cutest baby crawl ever.
here's a little snippet.

bravo, babygirl!
you did it.

p.s.
yes, that's me towards the end of the video freaking out.
dontcha just hate listening to the sound of your own voice?
always sounds weird.

baby rosettes + baby bowtie = love

isn't everything that comes in baby-size so stinkin cute?!
this weekend, i have two baby showers to attend.
one for a baby boy.
one for a baby girl.

i got them the usual from-the-registry-gifts.
but, i wanted to add a little something with a handmade touch.

so, i made these cutie-pa-tooties:

swoon
baby stuff is just so precious.
gets me every time.

the rosettes i've seen done via the internet.
the bowtie i made up on my own.
i actually saw an iron-on tie for a baby boy online,
but i figured out this bowtie on my first attempt.
hooray for me!!
who doesn't love a baby with a bowtie on? :)

let's start with the bowtie:

1.) Start with a fabric piece that is 5.5w x 2.5h. Thicker fabric is better:

2.) Fold lengthwise to meet in the middle and hot glue - should be about 1"h to 1.25" now:

3.) Fold in sides now to meet in middle. Should be about 2.25"w. This is the back:

4.) Flip over. This is the front:

5.) Cut  another piece of fabric that is 1" x 2" (you'll cut most off the 2"). This is for the middle of the bow:

6.) Fold lengthwise to meet in the middle. It should be now a little more than 0.25":

7.) Hot glue on end to the back of the bow and bring it around to the front:

8.) Make it really tight and "scrunched"-looking. Hot glue on the back and cut off the excess fabric.

9.) Hot glue the bow to the onesie, just under the collar "lip". Keep your hand behind the fabric and press, so the hot glue doesn't bleed through that first layer.

now for the rosette tutorial, my dears...

(you'll have to excuse some of the blurry photos.)

1.) Cut 3 strips of fabric 3", 8" and 11"high and all 1"wide. (I snipped the fabric and tore up for a frayed edge:

2.) Fold one end of each strip of fabric in half and roll it for approx 1.5". Use dab of hot glue so it stays. This is your rosette middle:

3.) Twist the fabric and add a dab of hot glue for a "petaled" look. Twist again and again. Use a dab of hot glue with each twist. (It doesn't have to be perfect, you can "adjust" later.):

4.) Secure the end of the fabric on the back. Here is a blurry example: (sorry!)

5.) This is the finished product. I usually add dabs of glue here and there to adjust it accordingly to look more like a rosette:

6.) Attach all three rosettes using hotglue. Keep your hand behind the fabric and press, so the hotglue doesn't bleed through that first layer of fabric:

all done! supercute, right?

the instructions look extensive, i know.

but, it's REALLY simple.

i'd estimate about half hour for the entire project.

no sewing + easy on the pocketbook.

happy friday, loves!

a girly necktie

oh yeeeeaaaaaaa, i'm excited for june. woot! woot!
so many fun events to look forward to.
but, you will have to wait and see, my loves.
my goal is to post lots more,
so you'll forgive me for slacking in may. ;)

let's start it off with a crafty project.
here is what i would describe as
a girly + modern version of a man's necktie.
i adore this project and i found it at: Crazy Wonderful.

i decided to make this for my little sis, skyler.

she turns 21 this month + she landed a full-time job
at her company, which means no more weekends +
a raise + a set schedule. yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!
i could go on and on about how wonderful this is,
but when it comes down to it:
i'm hoping she gets to visit des moines more.

i picked out a purple and gray tie for spring.
(burlington coat factory @ $7.)

i changed it up a little from her instructions:

1. i used hot glue instead of sewing. (i won't kid myself that i actually know how to sew.)
2. i made it shorter because i thought it looked cuter "bib-style" -  more like a necklace/accessory rather than part of a shirt.
3. i did not add a button. i like that you can clearly tell it's a man's tie. i prefer the layered look - like with strings of pearls shown. 

adding some stacked bracelets and high heels would be perfect.  definitely one of those just-for-fun projects.

suri is a fruit loop

suri's auntie sky said:
"suri is a fruit loop in a world of cheerios."
hehee. yer darn tootin' she is!

miss out on a week with suri and you miss out on A LOT.
just this past week:

1. sunday: we realized suri knew how to wave bye-bye on cue.   i was a proud mama. (still clapping too - even when she's crying. LOL.)
2. monday: suri moved from the little baby room to the "big girl" baby room at daycare. they are mobile in there and she is learning by leaps and bounds already.
3. tuesday: suri is a master at rolling over - before she would cry bloody murder after two minutes of tummy time!
4. today: suri is skyping. 

here she is skyping with my mom and grandma.
she sat so still when her great-grandma got on the screen. 
i think she liked her glasses.
and probably recognized her voice.
seriously melts my heart.

and, of course, her grandpa got in on the action.
no, that's not a thai movie star, that's my dad. LMAO!
(he calls it "sky cam".)
i gotta say, i've been quite impressed by how tech-savvy
my dad's been with his new laptop.

suri's absolute favorite food right now are superpuffs.
she cannot get enough of them!

they come in various flavors.
the super purples are blueberry and purple sweet potato.
super greens are spinach and apple.
super reds are beet and strawberry.
i tasted some - they are delicious!

(we get them at babies-r-us.)

 

here she is being a good sport while we force her to

try on a two-piece swimsuit.

i cannot wait to take her to the water park.
she has so much fun splish-splashing at bathtime.
(btw, it was a bit snug and i ended up taking it back.)

one of  favorite toys right now is this reese's bunny.
she got it for easter from her grandma.
when you push the belly, kids sing:
"reeses give me some, reeses want one now."
nestle, you are geniuses.

she also still LOVES books.
i'm very proud of this because i hope to
instill in her the love of reading.

next week, she turns 10 months!
time just flies.
i'm guessing that any day now, she'll decide she wants to crawl.

my baby girl, you are definitely a fruit loop.

the perfect pella tulip time

my absolute favorite "fair-type" event is pella tulip time.
it even trumps iowa state fair in my mind. triple-time.

hubby is from pella, so we try get back every year.
the weather was gooooorgeous.

they have tulips in every color imaginable:
yellow, pink, orange, purple, black-ish, red...

i'm still on my yellow kick.

it was a big crowd, but people are mostly friendly.
must be a small-town requirement, even if you're visiting.

in the town square, the entire crowd stopped and turned

for the star-spangled banner and the dutch anthem.

it was surreal - it went from crazy-noisy to silent.
the singer did a fabulous job.

of course, we has to take a family pic in the wooden shoes.

for sweets, we always eat poffertjes, dutch letters and the
most delicious funnel cake anywhere...because of the fresh strawberries!

i had to sneak a visit to the local scrapbook store.
(conveniently located at the town square.)

i purchased these journaling cards.
these ended up costing me $8. yikes!
(i am not ashamed to be a frugal scrapbooker.)

but, the store was super cute and had tons of
unique nostalgic and vintage-y stuff.

suri was a dream baby and loved people-watching.
she chillaxed in her stroller and munched on her feet. lol!

auntie sky joined us too.
(my baby sister.)

if she didn't have her rockstar shades on,
you could tell we look a lot a like.
matching dimples. hehee.

hubby's favorites are the shishkabobs and
pella bologne on a stick, of course.

yes, we came for the food.
but, the tulips, dance performances, dutch traditions,
parades, and shops were a definitely plus.
it was a wonderful time.