Getting Crafty

Larry got me Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts for Mother's Day and since then I'd been itching to try one of those lovely crafts. She makes it seem so do-able, with beautiful pictures and step by step instructions. I had already picked out by first one- the one that seemed the simplest! It went pretty well, so I'm ready to try another... or maybe it's safer to just stare at Martha's lovely pictures!

Potato Stamps

My friend Diana is a talented seamstress and has made a couple of adorable things for my kids, so when it was time to "shower" her for the soon-arrival of her 2nd sweet girl, I wanted to make something special. Maybe Potato stamped onsies would be cute?

Starts out easy- potatoes, cookie cutter & knife...

Add fabric paint; carefully "stamp".

A few more dots of paint turn stamps into a fishy, monogram & bird!


I also got crafty for Father's Day. My little hippos helped me make shirts for daddy and Grandad- an idea I got from doing the potato stamps, but I thought hand prints would be cuter. You have to do hand print crafts now, while their hands are still so little and adorable! Too soon they'll be as big as mine!! I also got an idea for making some sweet bookmarks, which we gave to our special dads each with a fun-read book.

Photo Bookmark

This one is also easy- start with a length of wide ribbon, cute pictures, needle & thread.

Sew the pictures back to back, with the ribbon running between them. Make sure the edge of your stitch catches the edge of the ribbon to hold them all together.

Present wrapped around your loved ones' favorite bestseller!


How to make a "Custom T" for Father's Day
1) Have willing helpers with adorable hands.

2)Pick your paint color and shake it up!

3) Paint hand. {"I do it, mommy!"}

4) Carefully place hand print on shirt. (not as easy as it sounds...)

5)Wipe paint off crying baby boy's hands, face, head, etc. (So maybe not all of my helpers were "willing"!)

6) Present adorable "Custom T" to special dads, made with love!!

Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

I'm not sure my little boy is going to make it... if there was ever a perfect fit for a personal slogan, Lincoln's would certainly be "Cruisin for a Bruisin". He is now not only crawling, but crawling fast, pulling to his feet, and, recently, cruising from one piece of furniture to the other. He'll also stand and only hold on with one hand- very daring!

All this activity is made even more exciting by his many MANY daily falls on his head! Since he's more interested in getting UP than DOWN, he often reaches for something too far, or just lets go all-together, and falls, like a tree falling in the forest- timber!! Seems every time a bruise on his forehead begins to heal (like the ones in the top pic) another takes it's place.

So- how many times can a 6-month baby fall on his sweet, fuzzy little head and still make it thru the day? I'll keep you updated!! :)

Note: these pictures were taken all in the same morning; this little boy keeps me busy! :)

Hi, mom! Ready? Let's go!!

Hey- look- one hand!

Hey, mom- since you're right there, how 'bout giving me a hand so we can keep movin?

Hmmm, how come I always seem to end up down here?

I'm ok- I think...

I'm going for it...

Oops. Mom is thankful I'm starting to learn to land on my soft, squishy behind!

How do I get out of here? Better question- how did I get IN here??

When it comes to being a Great Dad...

...my husband is doing a Great Job! And the three of us enjoyed telling him so this Father's Day. We know it's not easy being our Provider, our Leader, our Referee, our Disciplinarian, our secondary Chef and chief Bottle-Washer, our Maintenance Man, our Home Improvement Contractor, our Comforter, Snuggler, Tickler and Kissy-Monster. And just putting up with us in general!! We appreciate him for wearing all these titles, daily, and so many more!

After breakfast (which ended up being NOT in bed, since my noisy helpers lured daddy out to the living room), Georgia led us in singing Happy Father's Day {"papy otters ay!"} and helped open our crafty gifts (more on the craftiness to come)...

And Fuzz-Top took care of the discarded tissue paper...

We are thankful for you, Larry, and love you so much!!

Georgia's Gym

Every Monday morning Georgia has Gymnastics class at Legacy Gym in Pelham. It's more playtime than performing and Georgia's not exactly the next Shawn Johnson (she's probably already as tall as Shawn Johnson, anyway!), but she likes the running around and I like that it wears her out!
Her class has 6 kiddos, and a little sis that tags along with the class- you'll see her going ahead of Georgia on the "train" in the video- learning to "wait out turn" is one of the biggest skills we're learning! The class has 3 boys & 3 girls, all 2 to 3 years old. Oh yea- and 6 mommies or daddies trying to keep everyone in line, and 3 babies (Lincoln being one) making up the cheer squad from their strollers on the sideline. There's chaos, inevitable meltdowns, squabbles, and lots of fun! Maybe we'll have a little gymnast on our hands one day... or I'll be happy if she just learns to walk on the balance beam right! :)
If you have a minute (or 3) to spare, check out our highlight video!



Double click the video for a larger view

Feel the Love

Not much going on... I had a few "too cute to not share" pictures laying around! Enjoy!
Kisses on the fuzz-top

"Don't worry mom- I've got him!"

Snuggly Smiles

Goober 1 and Goober 2

Little Whales!

Welcome, Summer

Since it is now June, and the air is already a hot, sticky 90+ degrees, I have to accept the fact that Spring is gone and Summer is here. I love Springtime- everything turns green, flowers bloom, the air outside is just warm enough and just cool enough, we leave the windows open and play outside lots. But here in the south, Summer quickly takes over and soon you're breaking into a sweat just from loading the kids in the car.

Growing up in Florida, where Summer is a year-round season, I don't remember it bothering me so much. Maybe because we spent most of our childhood in the pool or with barely any clothing on?! Or maybe because we didn't have AC in our house till we moved to Tampa when I was 15 so we just didn't know any better?! But now, when I take my own kiddos outside and their cheeks turn bright pink and the sweat runs down their faces, I'm quick to usher them back in to the cool AC. Maybe Mommy's the one that's "gone soft" and can't stand the heat!

Anyway, Georgia and I decided to officially Welcome Summer this week by dragging out our little pool, cleaning it out and filling it. She had a blast being in charge of the hose and splashing around! I literally had to drag her out to go inside with me when brother woke up from his nap. I think we'll be spending a lot of time in this little orange oasis this summer!

Lincoln: 6 Months

Dear Lincoln,

Half a Year!! Wow, time is flying by!! I told you it would come up quick from that 5-month update. But you've been a busy boy and I have lots to report:
~You are MOVIN! You worked hard on that inchworm crawl for, oh, about 3 days, then just got up on your knees and got going! Now you crawl all over- you're like a little bulldozer that just keeps pushing forward, even when something's in your way or you've hit a stopping point- like a wall! You have a hard little head...

~thank goodness, because you're also pulling yourself up! You started just pulling up to your knees a couple of weeks ago, but now pull up to standing on your toes. Of course, you're still very wobbly so you fall over a lot- onto your head! You like to pull up on your sister's pink chair, to play the bongos, or in your bed to turn your fishies on and off, but you'll try it anywhere else you get the chance too (which is why you may see your first lump-on-the-head bruise in some pictures!)

~The rest of your motor skills seem to be improving leaps and bounds too, as you go after toys, grab them, put them in your mouth, go after them again... Daddy & I find it crazy that we're already having to stop squabbles between you and Georgia over toys! I hope you learn how to share at an early age, too.

Going up...

UP...

And OVER- onto your head!

"I'm ok, mom!"

~You still love your jazzerciser, or "the bounce-bounce" as we call it now, since when you get in it all you seem to do is bounce, bounce bounce... Maybe all your time in there has helped your legs become so strong for all your standing and crawling?

~You're still eating great to keep up your energy for all this activity- we're down to 4 bottles per day (~8oz each) and you've started eating cereal 3x per day. While being sick you've gotten to try yogurt (for your tummy) and you love it!! Your schedule also includes 2 good naps, morning & afternoon, and sometimes still your dinnertime siesta. And you've started going to bed earlier- about 8:30pm, after your last bottle. Mommy & Daddy love the quiet house after you're both in bed! You almost always sleep on your belly, with gigi (the giraffe). The sweet drool puddle in the pic below means you're sleeping hard!

~On a down note, you've had TWO ear infections this month- one at the beginning of May and one this past week. This last one was awful! You had fevers up to 103.7, a terrible rash that sent us back to the doc and made you switch medicines, and the fussiness, upset tummy & diaper rash you always get from antibiotics. But, thankfully, we {finally} seem to be on the downside and you actually woke up with smiles this morning. We missed our smiley, giggly boy!

~At your 6 month checkup today, your stats were: 27.5 inches (90th %) and an ounce shy of 17 lbs (16lbs/15oz- 50th%). Doc was impressed by your new skills and sympathetic towards mommy for having to keep up with you so soon! Of course we talked about your ears and how to get you all better.

~Georgia is learning how to play with you more and interact with you. It's so sweet to hear from the backseat, "look, ink-in, choo choo chrains" as we drive thru Helena. And she likes to include you in our everyday activities- "ink-in eat, ink-in diaper, ink-in nite nite". Now, if only you two could figure out how to share the toy basket!

While it would have been nice to not worry about you on the move for a few more months, we're proud and amazed at your determination and strength! And I love that you can still set all that energy aside, lay your head on mommy, and snuggle to sleep. Your bright smiles and infectious giggles brighten our home, and makes Georgia call you "silly ink-in!" We thank the Lord for you, sweet boy, and have so enjoyed this first half-year with you!

love, Mommy

Waters, Good Eats & Ear-aches

So, apparently I'm so behind in blogging, that I've forgotten how to do it! I know I just blogged a blank post about Memorial Day weekend... I'll fix that later. I'd already started this one about this past weekend when I remembered I never did one about our fun Memorial Day weekend so I was going to do that one, but now I'll just do this one then go back and fill in that one.... whew! So please don't mind if these are short on words and long on pictures! (Note to self- not good to get behind on blog!)

So- this past weekend we had a great visit with our good friends, the Waters. It had been a long time since our last visit with them (Georgia was just a baby! And the ONLY baby!), but thankfully they also are the kind of friends you just pick back up with! And I say "thankfully" b/c they arrived on Friday in the midst of chaos.
Lincoln had been to the Dr on Thursday to find an ear infection (again!!) and then Friday his fever shot up to 103.7 and stayed around there all day. So he was miserable and I was trying not to panic since the nurse told me they don't consider it a "serious fever until 105"! My house was still a mess, my groceries barely put away, and my baby screaming, but we were all still so glad to see each other!
They were in town for a family wedding, so their 2 beautiful, sweet, funny, smart kids, Eli (4) & Alee (3) hung with us Friday night while Melanie & Steve went to the rehearsal dinner and Sat night while they went to the wedding. It was a bit crazy having a 4, 3, 2 and 6-month old to ourselves for 2 nights, but fun too! Eli & Alee are SO well-behaved and played so great with Georgia. They had a blast together!
Saturday morning we all went to the McWane Science Center, which is like a big children's science museum, and played and saw an IMAX movie called Under the Sea that even Lincoln enjoyed. That busy morning, then running around in the backyard together, and a fun, splashy bath wore them all out for us!
Playing at McWane-


Eli & Alee play on the giant Lite-Brite wall.

Playing in the backyard: Georgia & Alee, SHARING!

Eli is a good driver!

Isn't this little girl so beautiful!? And SO grown-up, just ask her! ;)
Rub a dub dub, 3 monkeys in the tub!

After bath time, they settled down with a bit of Curious George. They snuggled together like this on the couch on their own, no prompting! Too cute!
Steve & Melanie all dressed up for a fun night out!

It was a busy weekend, but we also managed to sneak in some cards where Melanie & I {practically} beat the guys, and also try out some yummy new treats (see below!).
Waters: We wish we were closer so we could see ya'll more often, but will come visit your new home in Hattiesburg soon and love you guys lots!

Frosted Banana Bars: recipe from this blog that I follow, and definitely heed Darby's warning at the bottom of the recipe to "try not to eat the whole pan"! SO yummy, especially if you like banana bread... and cream cheese frosting! In fact, I got the camera out to take a picture of them, when suddenly...

another one disappeared! ;)

And Peanut Butter Fudge Swirl Pie, as yummy and rich as it sounds! After Steve ate his first slice, he declared PIE to be his best friend!