Homemade Framed Calendar

I'm finding it harder and harder to get a good block of time to work on my thesis during the week (keeping the baby wake and entertained), so I'm working piece-by-piece on my short list of craft projects (until the weekend when my husband's extra set of hands can help alleviate the babysitting responsibilities so I can work on my thesis).

For Christmas, my father gifted us a homemade calendar (my father is the owner of BSArts Photography...and, yes, the name is intended to be ironic).  We always appreciate his beautiful photography, but I don't always have a great way to display his calendars, a fact that I really wanted to change.

Along with my very random collection of craft items, I had a large picture frame that I was hoping I could somehow convert into a calendar display case of some sort.  I also had an excess of muslin (which I discovered while organizing my crafts in the basement earlier this week), some wire (left over from when I made my wedding crown and veil) and some little clothes pins from baby shower gifts.

I stapled the edges of a fitted piece of muslin to the perimeter of the cardboard that came with the frame.  I then cut a piece of wire to drape across the board lengthwise.  I then clothes-pinned the February and March picture calendar months to the wire.  I put the cardboard into the frame, cleaned off the dusty plastic, and hung it on a wall.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about the finished product.  I was trying to go for a look that resembled pictures that were drying on a line after being developed.  The real pictures were digital and printed from a computer, but I thought maybe I could  portray the developed picture feel.  Please feel free to comment on the results and let me know what you think (seriously, be truthful - my feelings will not be hurt).

I've temporarily hung it in the kitchen, where we are most likely to need to review it.  The finished product might be too childish (with the strange 'developed picture' theme and baby shower clothes pins), so it might end up in Ivy's room.  We'll see what the boss (ha, ha), my husband, has to say.

 

Chair Seat Cushion

When I was little, I had this cute little rocking chair.

I only vaguely remember sitting in it when I was little, but I definitely remember it being in the house.  Apparently, sometime during my teenage years, my mom submitted it for entry in a neighborhood rummage sale.  It did not sell, and ended up in the basement of my best friend's parents' house.  Ten or more years later, my friend's mom cleaned it up and gifted it to me at my baby shower.  Is that not too cool?!?  I'm so grateful and excited to share the story with Ivy when she is old enough to understand.

The rocking chair did have a pretty old and worn seat cushion, which I decided I wanted to replace.

I took this drawstring bag in which the animal print shower curtain (which I used to make Ivy's window curtains from) was dressed. 

I ripped all the seams, removed the drawstring, ironed the fabric flat, measured and cut the fabric to approximate the dimensions of the original cushion with a 1/2 inch seam allowance, and found ribbon of coordinating colors for the tie strings.  I pinned the right sides together, pinned the ribbons in the corners, and stitched the perimeter with the allocated seam leaving about 2 inches open to be able to stuff the cushion with padding.  Then I used some excess quilting batting cut into small pieces to stuff the cushion.  I stitched the opening closed and then used matching yarn to pull the two sides together.

I then fashioned it onto the chair.

Now some pictures just for fun....
Sometimes when she is talking and smiling in her bouncy chair, she does this motion that reminds me of a 'punching nun doll'.

We bundled her up for a winter walk around the neighborhood.

Here she is napping in the trusty baby carrier that never lets us down when she's tired and refuses to fall asleep.

Ivy's currently recovering from her Dr. appointment yesterday, where she got 3 shot vaccines.  She's doing really well - little fussing but lots of napping.   She's getting so grown up (tear).

Diaper Fail

Second time I've been peed on today.

Rocked the baby to sleep standing up.
Sat down on the couch.
Let her stay on my chest for about ten minutes.
Moved her to her bouncy chair.
Still asleep.
Walked to the kitchen to see what I could have for lunch.
Felt a slightly cold sensation on my lower abdomen and found a surprisingly large wet spot.
Not sure how I didn't notice it when she was on my chest, but I guess her diaper failed to retain the monumental amount of fluid that she is capable of.

Chain Reaction

Yes! - I am one of those mothers who occassionally talks about her kid's bodily functions (example: Blog Post entitle 'My Little Artist'), and
Yes! - I will be speaking in the third person, referring to myself as Mom hereafter.

Cause: To turn a phrase the way my father would say it, my daughter 'filled her drawers' just after waking from a 2 hour nap.
Effect: Mom takes baby to change her diaper.

Cause: Mom changes baby's diaper and uses very cold homemade baby wipes.
Effect: Baby creates a pee fountain nearly hitting mom in the face.  (Yes, she's a girl, but wow can she get some height on that pee....Ok, so maybe only a couple inches, but it still was surprising).
Effect: Mom thinks 'Wow, that was a lot of pee' and proceeds to disrobe said baby from head to toe (as the pee fountain has now soiled all of the clothes - except for the socks which were soiled when Mom had to retract from the pee fountain, thus dropping baby's feet, which then flailed right into the baby feces....sigh...)
Effect: Mom decides she needs to pick up the baby to remove the wet clothes from under her and make sure the area is dry before proceeding with new diaper and onesie.  Mom lovingly picks up now naked baby and holds her carefully to her chest as she throws the clothing in the clothing laundry.
Effect: Baby relieves the rest of her bladder.  (Apparently we're working with a 2-stage bladder here, and it's very well hydrated).
Effect: Mom's shirt is soaked with pee, in addition to the front of the changing table drawers, which were in close proximity.  One drawer of which was open and which contents selectively got wet, as well.
Effect: Baby starts to wail at the top of her lungs because (1) she is not cold and wet and (2) she is famished after her 2 hour nap.

Not to worry - baby was clothed, Mom was re-clothed, baby was fed, and baby is now playing on her musical playmat with Mr. Giraffe.

All has ended well.  And, yes, this will likely be the highlight of me day.  Sad? You may say.  Not to me.

Sleepy Happy Baby

It's pretty late (at least, it's late to the parents of a newborn - both of whom aren't getting much sleep) but I wanted to get to the posting that I was intending to post all day.  Today I worked on my thesis during baby nap times, so I do not have any crafts to post.  Rather, I wanted to post pictures of my baby girl - only a few of the lucky moments I get to experience everyday.  At this age, here are two sides of Ivy that I really love.  (I love them all, but here are just a couple I captured today on camera).

(1)  there's the sleepy baby...

Entitled 'Any bats in the cave?'

I like to call this one - 'Look at my crazy-after-bath-fuzzy-baby-hair mohawk'

And - the view I get most of the day while she is riding in my front baby carrier...

(2) and the happy playful baby...

She loves spending her free time reaching at and talking to her buddy, Mr. Giraffe.  She flails her left arm in his direction and bellows out a 'Wha-ah'...

 

She gets really excited when she accidentally gets ahold of the flower in the giraffe's mouth and surprises herself when she pulls him near to her.

Check out that E.T. neck (like from that scene in E.T. where Elliot and E.T. first meet in the corn fields and E.T. elongates his neck to be the same height as Elliot.  That scene used to scare the bejesus out of me).  She seems to have had a really strong neck since birth.  Here she is trying to look around to see where her puppy dog, Chuck, is.

Here she's demonstrating her coy charms as a photographed model.  (She learns this one from her Grandma Philps, who also likes to close her eyes during pictures).  :-)

And, to finish off for the night, here she is with that smile - one you can't get enough of.

Good night.  Sweet dreams.

Finished Craft Projects

Disclaimer: The pictures in this post are really poor.  I am boycotting the digital camera because I took all of my pictures and they appear to be corrupt when I load them onto the computer.  Therefore, I've taken all of these pictures with my camera phone.  So, I apologize for the poor images.

I wanted to display my completed 'Hippo' art for Ivy's room.  I finished it yesterday but haven't put it on the wall yet.


Here are my completed burp clothes.

And some baby slippers that aren't yet finished.

I also promised my friend, Sarah, that I would help her by hemming a flannel piece of fabric for a baby blanket she is making.  She's a master knitter who also had knitted a beautiful blanket for baby Ivy.

Sarah knitted a beautiful XOXO blanket and picked out some really cute flannel with which to back the blanket.  To prepare the flannel for backing the blanket, I started by measuring the knit blanket and cutting the flannel to the proper measurement plus seaming.  Then I measured 1/2 inch along all sides and ironed it to make stitching the seam easier.  Had it been a project for myself, I'm sure I would have skipped on the meticulous measurement of the seam and ironing and approximated.  But, as this was for Sarah, I felt pressure to make it as perfect as I could.

I measured the seam and ironed it down.  I even mitered the corners properly (not like I usually do for myself).

 Then I stitched the seam down using a zigzag stitch, which I'm hoping is sufficient for Sarah.  I thought it looked a little nicer than a straight stitch, but, if Sarah wants a straight stitch, I am more than happy to restitch it to meet her needs.  (Grrr...sorry, bad picture.)

I then pinned the flannel to the knitted blanket.  Sarah didn't ask me to do that part, but I figured it would help me make sure my measurements were correct and it would save her time (hopefully) in the long run.

 

 

Sarah - you can pick up the project whenever you want to see Ivy and me again. (You can also refuse the project and send it back for fixes, if necessary.)

Burp Cloths

So, another fault of mine is my overwhelming knack for procrastination.  Rather than finish my thesis defense presentation, I've decided to spice up some burp cloths for myself.  Now, I figure my thesis defense will practically write itself - I already have several update presentations from which to pull content and I've already finished the thesis paper.  (Whatever makes me sleep at night, right?)  Also, I figure I am in a great need of additional burp cloths - due to the overactive fire hose and regurgitating baby.

I had several cheap terry cloth hand towels and fat quarters left over from another baby bib project that I did for a friend last year.  So, I took a similar idea from Chickpea Sewing Studio and modified it for hand towels.

Started with the towel and fabric, and cut the fabric to measure about 1/3 of the length and the full width of the towel.

Then I pinned the fabric to the towel in the center of the length.

 

I used my very fancy sewing machine (thanks to my husband!) to zigzag stitch around the edge.

 

Now, the edge of the fabric didn't always match up as well to the edge of the towel as in this picture AND I sewed the fabric on the tag side (wrong side) of some of the towels - not my best attention to detail; I admit.

To which I say - Seriously, the kid's going to be puking on this thing; it doesn't have to be perfect...

To which you might say - Then why don't you just use the towel instead of taking the time to sew some nice fabric on the towel, if the kid's just going to puke on it...

To which I might say - Toche, good point, but remember it's either do this or work on my thesis.  So, there.

So, I repeated the process on six towels.

Hurray!  But now what do I do to procrastinate my thesis?!?  Hmmm, perhaps I'll clean the office which I've now trashed with my fabric projects.

Happy Day!

Fussy Baby

As my baby is being somewhat fussy today and not allowing me to get much done, I thought we could all use a reminder of just how cute she can be when she's not in the need of a long nap (but won't go down for one without kicking and screaming, quite literally).

Ok...She's pretty cute...

 

Even when she's pouting...

 

Ok, ok - super cute...

 

Maybe uber cute...

 

Ah, yes - that makes it all worth it.

Baby's Room Decorations

As I get closer to going back to work and having Ivy sleep in her own room, I've been trying to spice up her room to get ready for the transition.

Her crib sheets are blue themed animals from DwellStudio.  I couldn't find any matching fabric or curtains, but I did find a shower curtain online with the same theme.  I cut the shower curtain in half, hemmed the seams and draped them on the new curtain rods we bought for her room.  The curtain rods have leaves on the ends - the closest thing we could find to an Ivy themed curtain rod.

Whenever we lie her down in her crib, she stares and smiles at the hippopotamus.  I had a large canvas left over from a previous intended craft project and a huge stack of blue card stock from my handmade card projects and I started some decopage 'artwork' to fill her barren walls.  It's not finished yet, but I'm waiting for my muse to tell me how to finish it.

Finally, we wanted to have some sort of bookshelf for her large library of books (provided by friends and family - Many Thanks!!!).  I didn't want to buy an expensive children's bookshelf, so I figured I could find something to repurpose in the house.  In our last house, we had some furniture that we used to use to hang coats when we came in the back door (partially displayed below).

I flipped it over, removed the coat hooks and put furniture pads to protect the wood from the floor. 

When she starts walking in several months, she'll be able to pull the books off the shelf by herself.  In the meantime, we'll be able to easily reach them from the rocker during her bedtime routine.  The rocker will soon replace the folding chair in the picture below.

Christmas Recipe

My mother-in-law's family has this great tradition of a recipe exchange of sorts during Christmas time.  This year the entries had to fill the theme of 'the best thing you ever tasted'.  I've decided to post our entry here for all to enjoy.  To those of you who will be seeing it in the family cookbook, sorry to spoil the surprise.

Classic Macaroni and Cheese
Cooks Illustrated Published May 1, 2004.

Makes 6 to 8, or 10 to 12 as a side

Bread Crumb Topping
6 slices white sandwich bread (good-quality, about 6 ounces), torn into rough pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 6 pieces
 
Pasta and Cheese
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon table salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered mustard
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
5 cups milk (see note)
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese , shredded (2 cups)
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese , shredded (2 cups)
1 teaspoon table salt

For the bread crumbs: Pulse bread and butter in food processor until crumbs are no larger than 1/8 inch, ten to fifteen 1-second pulses. Set aside.

For the pasta and cheese: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat broiler. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in Dutch oven over high heat. Add macaroni and 1 tablespoon salt; cook until pasta is tender. Drain pasta and set aside in colander.

In now-empty Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and cayenne (if using) and whisk well to combine. Continue whisking until mixture becomes fragrant and deepens in color, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk; bring mixture to boil, whisking constantly (mixture must reach full boil to fully thicken). Reduce heat to medium and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened to consistency of heavy cream, about 5 minutes. Off heat, whisk in cheeses and 1 teaspoon salt until cheeses are fully melted. Add pasta and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is steaming and heated through, about 6 minutes.

Transfer mixture to broiler-safe 9-by 13-inch baking dish and sprinkle evenly with bread crumbs. Broil until crumbs are deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes, rotating pan if necessary for even browning. Cool about 5 minutes, then serve.

Arrived at the hospital at 5:45am; registered and in the birthing room by 6:00am. Numerous IV attempts and Pitocin started by 7:10am. Slow morning. Water broken at 12noon. Pain free by 4:00pm. Started pushing at 6:00pm.

With husband, nurses, and doctor cheering me on, I started the process of delivering baby Ivy. In the 20 seconds between 30 second pushing spells, jokes from the medical staff about how I 'really meant business,' and quick quips between myself and the doctor about how I was planning on getting her home by 8pm - around 6:10pm the lead nurse happened to mention, 'I don't know if this is a convenient time, but the kitchen closes at 6:30pm.' Without so much as a pause, my husband held the menu up for me to select my meal, I chose a turkey sandwich, mac 'n' cheese, and a lemonade, and then returned to the serious business of delivering my baby. Ivy arrived around 6:35pm, just as the very uncomfortable kitchen staff member handed the meal into the room.

After all the excitement calmed down and the new family was left alone to enjoy each other, we ate the cold meal. Mom fed baby, and Dad and Mom shared the Mac 'n' Cheese and sandwich.

...and that's why this is the best meal we ever had.

Gaming Safety Precautions

Jason, Ivy and I recently were lucky enough to acquire a Wii gaming system.  We've been a bit preoccupied with baby duties, but have had time to utilize the Wii Fit application to set fitness goals for ourselves (Jason and me - Ivy has no body issues) and play a couple games of bowling.

We found we may need to add our own safety precautions to the already existing Wii safety instructions.  (Note: These instructions are for our personal use only and are not endorsed by Nintendo).

Wii Baby Wearing Precautions:

1. Use the Baby Carrier. Make sure that all players using the Wii Remote are wearing a baby carrier and that it has been tightened using the strap lock. When sharing the baby between multiple players, please be sure each person using the baby carrier takes the time to properly put on the carrier. Wearing the baby carrier will help prevent the baby from flying across the room if you accidentally let go of it during game play.
2. Hold the baby firmly and do not let go. Even while wearing the baby carrier, make sure you don't let go of the baby during game play and do not use excessive motion. For example, in Wii Sports bowling (pictured above), the proper way to let go of the ball while bowling is to release the "B" button on the Wii Remote—DO NOT LET GO OF THE BABY ITSELF. If you are having so much fun that you start perspiring, take a moment to dry any sweat build up on your baby's head. If you use excessive motion and let go of the baby, you could lose control of the baby. This could injure people nearby or cause damage to other objects...oh, yeah, and to the baby. 

Additional Information on Using the Baby Carrier

Wii gameplay with the baby can involve rapid or vigorous motion. Please use the baby carrier to prevent losing your grip on the baby and causing damage to the remote and surrounding objects, or injury to other people or the baby.

Jason's the Winner...

Went to myheritage.com today to see if the site still had the face recognition software that I remember playing with sometime ago, and it did.  Turns out that the baby looks more like Jason than myself (thank goodness) but only by 3% (not sure how that is calculated).

The site also has determined the celebrities that Ivy looks most like.  Not sure how I feel about Danny DeVito being in the top 8....Luckily he only beat out Gwyneth Paltrow by 1%...er, ok....

My Little Artist

Ah...some paint with oil, or watercolor, or draw with pencil, or pastels....  My daughter, too, has a knack for artwork - something reminiscent of a Jackson Pollock.  I think we will call it 'Number 2' from her Yellow collection.

Our New Addition

No, I'm not blogging as a New Year's resolution.  It just so happens that I've had a life changing event that is keeping me home for the next few weeks, giving me more time to finally start the blog that I've had setup and waiting for me for over a year.

After the interesting experience of being pregnant, we were blessed with our first child.  Now we've started the very strange experience of parenting.