It's Been Way Too Long!

Well, this blog has certainly been neglected over the last few months.  So, I thought I would take the time to give a little update.  My first quick update is from my roman shade project.  I had posted here about feeling crafty and working on a few things.  So, finally here is the finished product!

The only problem I have found is that the fabric had to be pulled away in order to install them properly.  Because of that they don't quite fit over and hid the plastic installation pieces.  I really need to go back and glue them down again.  I am also wondering if I should do one long valance across the top, but at this point I don't think I would be able to find the same fabric.  

And the hunt still continues for some artwork/decor for the blank wall left in the room!  

Twenty Months

A little summary of the month:

* experienced his first big blizzard 2/8

* loves his new learning tower so he can help out at the counter 2/6

* walks up the stairs on his own while holding onto the wall

* break through with finger painting and Braden does not cry/scream anymore

* made valentine's for friends & family and actually held out his hand for more paint 2/11
* had fun sledding in Brewer 3/3

* uses the front facing car seat sometimes

* So many new words I KNOW that I am not thinking of all of them:  hockey, hockey stick, cold, horse, sheep, bird, airplane, bus, downstairs, upstairs, toast, cereal, milk, stuck, pants, shirt, grandma, grandpa, tractor, candle, sorry, bike, button, puck, guitar, pick, bear, frog, hoop, seat, heart, fan, big truck, knock knock, light, soap, cup, swing, orange (fruit), jump jump, lunch, drink, pancake, beep beep, Eva, tissue, trash, catch, purple, yellow, blue, green, orange.

* started saying friends names and identifying them in person or in a book/picture

*  Putting two/three words together in a phrase  "Go Bruins", "oh gosh", "oh man" "mommy's shirt" "daddy's shoes" "all done car"

* can count up to 5 (skips 1) and working on up to 10

* has learned the "clean it up" song from music and will help clean up his toys

* will sometimes catch him attempting to sing abc's and does not like others to join in (says no no no)

* had fun with Sarah at Seacoast United kicking soccer ball while mommy played field hockey

* working on some colors, can usually pick out "yellow" and "purple"

* points to himself in pictures and says "you"

* predicts what is coming next in his favorite stories (repetition)

Nineteen Months

A little summary of the month:

* last incisor finally broke through (TR - 1/20)

* learned a few new animal sounds: pig, horse, duck, cat, dinosaur

* still working on correctly identifying family members & friends

* he talks so much I am having a hard time keeping up with new words & phrases:

       "football", "basketball", "mimi", "vroom vroom car", "let's go", "there it is", "love you", "help", "hurt", "up", "down", "excuse me", "come" (when calling the dog), "spot" (stuffed dog), "sit", "paw", "high five", "pee pee", "water", "spoon", "fork"

* puts a tissue up to his nose and says "achoo" 
* identifies more body parts "knee", "shoulders", "foot", "toes"

* more comfortable in the bath tub - splashing and pouring water on himself

* new signs: help & hurt

* working on sitting on the potty for short periods of time

* will say "excuse me" at appropriate times

* had his first haircut 1/22

* doing great with family babysitting - date night & Scentsy event

* he loves to help with measuring and pouring ingredients when baking/cooking

* still working on catching the ball

* prefers to walk up and down the stairs with help

* went sledding for the first time (front yard) 1/9

* becoming more comfortable with paints & getting his hands dirty
* affectionate loves giving family, Sage, stuffed animals hugs and kisses say "muah" and "awh"
* will sometimes catch him attempting to count or say abc's

Project Life

I love to scrapbook, but just do not have the time to be as creative as I would like to be with each page.  I have looked into and even tried a few digital options, but creating each page takes just as much time.  I came across this blog, which introduces Project Life and I have decided to give it a try.  More information can be found on the website as well: Project Life.

I wanted to make things as easy as possible, so I ended up ordering Project Life products.  But, it can easily be done with photo album pages and scrapbook paper.  I have decided to do a general family album for 2013.  Each week I am taking little notes and saving specific pictures using both Evernote and Memento apps.  Then every Sunday I order and pick up the pictures I want to use.  One day a week during nap time I am putting the pages together for the previous week.

First Page cards included in the Core Kit

January - Week 1 & 2

I know that there will be some weeks when nothing exciting really happens, and there inevitably will be weeks where there will be a lot.  But, so far I have completed the first two weeks of January and am happy with the way it has turned out.   I am even thinking about trying to get caught up with Braden's 1st year scrapbook using this method.  I may be ordering the baby edition from Project Life soon.

Week 1 - close up

Week 2 (just missing one photo)

I love that the process is almost as easy as putting together a photo album, with a little more creativity like scrapbooking.  I can be as detailed or as simple as I want to be.  Here's to being able to do something I enjoy in 2013, with out taking too much time!!

Feeling Crafty

Now that things with Watching Me Grow have slowed down after the holidays I have been working on a few projects of my own.  Thank you Pinterest!

New curtains for the living room window!  I found a great tutorial on how to make my own roman shades and there is NO sewing involved!  I have only finished one shade, so I will post a complete picture (hopefully soon)!

I also put away the Christmas decorations and needed something new for the mantle.  So, I made these cute little snowmen (found here) and then added some winter subway art.  I am still waiting for my sign "Let it Snow" from It's The Thought to complete the look.  

In the next couple of weeks I will be trying some new things with Watching Me Grow.  I need to add the ruffle bum options for girl onesies and I am brainstorming some ideas for the boy option!  I am also hoping to make Braden his own alphabet set, including lower case letters which I attempted just before Christmas!  

Eighteen Months

Another 6 months has passed already, and Braden celebrated another 1/2 birthday!  Time needs to slow down...

A little summary:

* 3 new teeth have come in (incisors - 12/26 TL, 12/30 BR, 1/2 BL).

* made his first trip to Farmington, drove by UMF campus 12/14

* he loves making all kinds of new sounds: "choo choo", "vroom", monkey "aahhahha"

* working on learning pig, horse, and sheep sounds

* loves to find and point to different objects in books

* He will respond, "What does Santa say?" "Ho, Ho, Ho"

* allergist appointment and everything came back negative (just eczema)

* says "cheese" when having his picture taken or he sees the camera

* will put an object in one hand and hold them out to play the "which hand is it" game

* enjoys going to open gym time at Saco and the Portland Children's Museum

* is beginning to correctly point to/identify family members in pictures

* new vocabulary: "hot", "cold", "love you", "Sage", lots of "no", "baseball", "where'd go?" "na night"

* first time actually playing out in the snow 12/27

* loves to give everyone goodnight kisses

* will sometimes airplane food into his own mouth, making his own sounds

* Height - 33.75 in (88%), Weight 24 lbs 13 oz (57.9%), Head Circumference: 19.25 in (86.5%)

More Christmas Projects

As promised here is my "13th Day of Christmas" post.  I didn't want to ruin the surprise, so I waited to share this one.  This particular gift would also work great for Valentine's Day, anniversaries, or birthdays for those of you planning ahead.  

My final handmade gift was for Mike. I pre-planned 12 date nights, one for each month of the year.  I gave him a sealed manila envelope with each month labeled on the front.  Inside each envelope there is a location for the date, an explanation and any other necessary items (gift cards, money, directions, etc).  On the outside I wrote little notes as to whether it would work best day or night and if a babysitter is required.  Some dates are planned as "a night in" so a babysitter is not necessary.  

I came upon this idea through the blog The Dating Divas and that is also where I found some fun, creative ideas for dates.  I was trying to think outside the box, instead of going with the typical dinner & a movie.  Another great resource for date night ideas is the blog Love, Actually.  

The dates are kept a secret until the first of each month, so I will only be sharing my idea for our January date.  The plan I made was based on the Bookworm Date, which was found on the Dating Divas site.  Now we just have to pick a date and enjoy our time together!  

Bonus: here are a few other handmade things that I created for Braden last week!  

A Felt Board

I stapled a large piece of blue felt into a bulletin board.

Then cut out some shapes to create a snowman!

 Bean Bags!

Braden helped me fill them.

Then I used a cardboard box and cut out three holes to create a bean bag toss game!