Pinterest Perfect

     My Pinterest is full of friends and family pinning perfect things. Pinterest seems to be a place where thumbs are more ambitious than actual motivation. Sometimes, I get inspired and attempt to make things. Sometimes, they turn out and other times, they don't. However; I sometimes get depressed.
    
     The prefectly decorated rooms. The sparse magazine look, that is not me. I have no idea what my decorating style is, but I feel like sometimes, if my house looked magazine quality that I would have hit the "grown up" milestone.

     Living in a magazine is not the proper environment for a toddler that loves to touch. We love to craft. We love to pull out all the toys and make messes. We love glitter, paint, and paper scraps.

     To me, a happy home is lived and loved in. Everyone is alive and the sound of toddler laughter bounces off the non-immaculately decorated walls. There are leftover toys on the floor come bed time, crayons stashed away so she can secretly colour and dirty dishes can wait til after baby bed time.

     As much as a perfectly clean, decorated, white house would be..heaven forbid someone finger paints with the free reign of happiness.

Pinch to grow an inch

     With Kaelynn's birthday 11 days away, I got my butt in gear and worked on her growth chart. I already have a keepsake of her feet, with the cedar plank piece cut.off from my chart I am planning on making a hand print each year.

     A piece of cedar fence plank-$7
     A can of mis-mixed paint - $3
     Dollar store stickers and paints- $3
     Keeping track of growth - Priceless

     The day of her family birthday dinner, when everyone is around, I will record her height.

     I plan on adding to it: underneath the 1 ft I am going to put her birth stats (since she is taller than a foot).
     I got the idea from Pinterest, but of course I feel like it's not as good as the ones I saw online. I am hoping that she grows up to love it still. <3

    

"That" mom

     I always knew I would be "that" mom, the sentimental mom that wants to remember everything. I just never knew to what extent it would do.
     We are 14 days away from Kaelynn turning one. Time really has flown and I am trying my best to make sure I have things to physically hold from when she was little.
     When she was 10 weeks old, I made a salt dough ornament of her foot. Every 10 weeks after, I made a new one. Today we just did her 50 week (give or take a bit) foot print. I bake them, finish letting them dry in the air, paint them alternating colours and glaze them.
     Everyday, I feel like I take a million pictures of her. I ordered a SnapFish photo book for her birthday: a book of firsts. I hope to order one every year. Picking 20 pictures out of 2,000 is hard.

     I feel like everything I do will make a great keepsake for her as we both grow up.

Little Big Girl

     We're a week away from being 8 months old. There are so many smiles from this little girl that I can barely contain my love for her. Every day, I see so much growing up in her.
     She loves to stand and crawl. If there is something she wants and isn't supposed to have, she can crawl super fast. She recently has started to growl at everything - mostly the kitties. She's even taken a few steps while holding onto fingers or a laundry basket.
     Yesterday morning, we had a lovely play date with a friend that moved to Ottawa. Kaelynn played with a most adorable 11 month old girl. Daddy was even social, and this was his first time watching his daughter interact with other babies. "She's a good little player", he said after everyone was gone home. During the visit, we received a walking toy. She loves it. She plays with the knobs and spinners on the front, even if she still is too short to walk with it (that's what laundry baskets are for).
     Speaking of laundry baskets, they are the best baby toy ever. They make boats for when they decide the floor is lava and don't want to be put down. They are walking tools. Flip them on the side and they are caves. Place a blanket under the meshy part and the child is confused and determined to get the fabric. Plus, they are awesome for bath time, when you don't want to worry about your kid falling over or toys escaping.

     Hallowe'en is coming up and mommy loves dressing up and making things. I got crafty and made her 2 costumes. She will be a Moogle and a mermaid. I purchased an H&M suit and added my own details of wings, larger ears and a pom pom. I crocheted the mermaid costume (tail, bra, netting hat with starfish). For her 8 month photos, she is going to be fully dressed up.
     With Hallowe'en approaching as well, we have a move coming and are looking for some place to go.

Sept 21st, her grandpa John passed away from cancer. We are looking for some place to house us 3, sister in law and their dads BFF (who is basically family). We've already started packing yesterday, until we ran out of boxes. Kaelynn slept the whole time. We'll see how the rest of packing goes. 

5 Months Old

     Five months already. Pretty soon she is going to be all grown up, but I won't think like that.
Kaelynn is getting to be such a big girl. Even in her 5 month Mommy picture, she looks big.

     She is increasingly becoming more vocal & more personality is growing. She has become WAY more interested in food, but I'm waiting. She's getting to the staring/grabbing/angry/feed me too stage. As her Aunt Sarah said on Thursday (while eating Menchie's), "she's making me feel bad". She's been playing with her new Munchkin spoons, and sometimes even gets the right end in her mouth. She hates when it's empty, so when it's time for homeopathic allergy "meds", I place a small bit on her spoon.

     Her sleep has definately changed in the last little while. Recently, she has been trying to roll from her back to her front, and this has carried over into sleep. I lay her on her back to sleep, and she will roll over half way, wake herself up and have a freak out. She's also got the skills now to pivot herself. I place her in the bed facing in one direction, and in a few minutes she will be the farthest thing away from the first position.
     For the past 2 nights, I have brought back the bassinet and she's been in there. She JUST fits. Lastnight, she was in there until 4am, but then from 4-9am, she was in bed because she didn't want to be in her own bed/or tired me didn't wait long enough to put her down.

 

 

     She's become to get more interested in her toys. I was at Toys R Us picking her friend up a birthday gift, and of course we had to walk out with something for her. I got her an OBall. She loves it. I also got her a rattle a few days ago, and she's just getting into that too - with lots of head smackings.

 

     As in the previous Torticollis post, she now is able to sit by hersel unassisted for a little bit. She is even able to sit up, and not in a tripod position. I am always close by, but it makes me happy - even if sometimes she almost topples over on top of Bandit.

     There are the beginnings of tooth nubs in her gums too. Tiny teeth for a tiny baby. Yet, they cause her big stress. I feel so bad that I can't really do anything to help her. She doesn't like her teething toys, she spits out fingers now, teething homeopathic liquid doesn't seem to help. I am so glad that adults don't remember teething.

 



    ...and now for a touch of cute...I love making cute lil baby leg warmers now, pity it's Summer time.

Happy 2 Months

  

 

     Congrats kiddo! We have kept you alive for two months! Today is your 2 month birthday and you get a fox hat.

    

     Lately, she has been getting a bad case of the Angries and Screamies. I have no idea what to do. It seems like everything we try to do does not work. She's clean and dry. She's not cold or hot. She's been burped. She's been cuddled. She had a bath. She has been bounced. She's been fed. Nothing but screaming. The best part is it comes out of nowhere. There's nothing I can do sometimes but just to put her down and still hold her hand. I am hoping it's a growth spurt. Otherwise, she's a freakishly happy baby. I think it's because she's not napping. She will be awake and just stare, she's even been awake on bus/stroller rides now. Her poor eyes are getting baggy, puffy, and red.

 

     Yesterday, we went to a consignment sale and picked up a Snugli so Daddy can wear her. She doesn't like it yet, because her legs dangle instead of folded in, like with her wrap. With use, I hope she likes it. While there, I noticed a lack of baby hats at the booths. I know baby hats are all over the place, but I would like to think that I could be able to make some extra money by selling some hats. If I could make at least one a day, then by the end of the year, I should have lots. A whole army of hats is my goal. Now, I am seriously wondering if people will buy them.

 

 

     On Thursday, she goes in for her 2 month doctors appointment. I am worried about her height and weight. Hopefully, they look at her neck lump, since her ultrasound is a month away still.

 

     She is a lover of Bath Time, even Emergency Bath Time. She is starting to drool lots. She is starting to become Mrs. Grabbyhands and interested in everything. She is starting to fit in her cloth diapers better, even if some of them have giant leg gaps still. She has super neck control. She is still hating Tummy Time and has not rolled herself over. She won't burp if you try, but leave her alone & she's like a trucker. She's going to be super independant like her mama.

 

 

Blurbs from the Boyfriend

"She's moody because she's a girl. She's just practicing to be a woman"

 





Hats off to you Kid

     Yesterday, I was invited to a Parent/Infant/Toddler group. It was 3 blocks from my house so I decided to go. The woman that invited me was a friend of my boyfriend's in highschool. On a whim I Friended her on Facebook and she invited us out to play. It was awkward. Apparently there are usually more babies there, but due to the weather it was mostly 8 month olds. It was a strange expericence. At Mother's Circle, we sit and talk about topics. At this PIT group, they started off by singing interactive songs with the child and then drinking tea while the toddlers toddled about. Kaelynn just sat on my lap watching and being curious. I didnt sing because I didn't know the words. Eventually, she got really fussy and upset. *sad*. The group runs every Wednesday 2-330. I don't know if I want to go back, I might have to push myself to, to make friends.

     Yesterday, I also picked up my crochet hook. First time in a long while. I started off making a Yoda hat and then a boobie beanie and then a bonnet. The sizing is for a 6 month, but they mostly fit, and she will grow into them. Better things be too big than too small. I posted the pictures up on Facebook and a friend's sister wants an adult Yoda hat. I started on that this morning and the base is almost finished. I had to improvise the sizing, I doubled it. Hopefully it works. The yarn is stretchy though.

     Bed time has gotten so much better. We have been putting her in her bed awake and turning on s mobile. She watches it until she falls asleep. When it's feeding time, we go to CouchTopia and fall asleep together. She is currently dozey as I blog - cooing and randomly crying in her sleep. Her arm is up in the air, and I want to make her a WonderWoman hat.

     It's lunch time (homemade mac n cheese with salsa). Then time to vaccum and finish the hat. Making baby hats seems to be addicting. I have so many ideas in my head - and I don't like to wear hats.

Going for Walkies

     Yesterday, I attempted to cloth diaper Kaelynn. Fail. It was an attempt anyway. I was posting my attempts on Facebook, and some lovely friends helped me. I even went for coffee and Cris showed me how to use the Kawaii diapers (the majority of what I have). We then went for a walk up to Go Green Baby so she could pick up a super hero diaper for her child's Easter present. She then flaunted the pictures of my attempts. I am man enough to know when I need help. Today, she is all cloth to see how she likes it. So far, we've had a poosplosion, but no leaks- she just needed a bath.

 

 

     Today, she is wearing her cow print AMP diapers, after Cris told me how to use all the snaps on the front.
     After Go Green Baby, we went to the Dollar Store & huzzah! I walked away without buying anything. However, I did go into The Rocking Horse and found out that the toy store had Piggy Paint. I picked up a light pink, so it would be less noticable. I did her toes today & you cant even tell she has polish on *sad*. My dad then got me and we went to Canadian Tire for ant killing stuff (stupid bugs in my bathroom) and then Play & Learn so I could see if they had a specific Easter present for a friend of mine's daughter. They did! Huzzah! We went to the Tim Hortons by Jake's work and I told him to come over & we could give him a ride home.

     Easter is this weekend and I wanted to get Kaelynn something for Easter, but then I remembered she is a baby and wouldn't even notice -her nailpolish can count as her present. I did however make her a tutu to wear to Easter dinner in Harrowsmith with Jake's family.

 

     This afternoon we went on another adventure so she could meet her in utero friend Finn. We went for a walk to the dog park to meet up with my old co-worker and her son (about a month ahead of Kaelynn). We sat talking (in some hail) while her dog ran around like a psycho. Due to it being coldish outside, we walked to Tim Hortons and took the babes out of their stroller seats. It was time to say good bye just in time for the bus to take us home. I was going to ride the bus the whole way home, but instead got off downtown and decided to walk. When I was less than a block away from my house, I saw the bus pass me. I would have been no farther ahead & this way I got some extra exercise. C'mon baby weight, I need you off me...even if now it's just Annie weight (since I am thr same size/shape pre pregnancy, but it would be nice to be skinny for once).