pumpkins and gifts

Normally I'm so excited about Christmas that I give very little thought to Halloween, but I saw cute little pumpkins at Trader Joe's and Seth seemed fascinated, so we just had to get one for all of us.

(Of course I tied them with ribbons!)

(And isn't he just the cutest kid you've ever seen?!)

On another completely different note, my husband got me a just because gift:

I saw this arrow bracelet on Pinterest and showed it to my husband in passing.  Little did I know he would actually get it for me!  He's so wonderful to me!  I love it!

seth update

I realize it's been awhile since I last wrote about my beloved child.  It seriously seems like he's doing new things every day!  For example, as we were walking out to the car this morning, Seth saw a lady walking a dog across the street and he pointed to them saying, "Da! Da!" ... I'm interpreting that as "dog".  Here are a few other things he's been up to:


1. He is no longer afraid of our laundry room, and now will go back there, shut the door and run in circles.

 

2. He has learned how to use his step-stool to get up on the couch.  Probably his favorite spot in the house.  He has also figured out how to open up doors.  Bring on the locks!

3.  He loves food.  Strangely enough, he loves food in "stick" shapes ... i.e. bananas, cheese sticks, french fries.  So, to get him to eat things, I now cut them up into long rectangles (yesterday I cut up a turkey and cheese sandwich that way).  And then he will scarf them down.

4.  He got this car/stroller thing for his birthday.  We have succumbed to just leaving it on the front porch because, rain or shine, we take walks in it multiple times per day.  In fact, he threw his first tantrum over it because he wanted to go for a walk even though it was pouring down rain.  Oh - that's another thing - Seth now throws tantrums.  Yay.

5. He has become quite a cuddler ... with his stuffed animals. It's actually really cute to see him playing all rough, throwing stuff around, and then grabbing a soft stuffed animal, he'll curl it under his neck and place his cheek down on it and just pause for a moment of cuddling. Super cute!

newest project

So the most recent project I have going (and almost completed) is and idea I found on Pinterest.  Can I just tell you, once again, how much I love that website?!  Anyway, this project is a creative way to display and store children's books.  Take a look:

(No, his walls are NOT neon yellow.  I don't know why it came out this way ...)

Using $4 IKEA spice racks, I painted them the same wall color as Seth's room, mounted them securely onto the wall and can now lean his books in them ... at a level he can reach.  And he loves it!  Before, we stored his books up on top of the armoire in his room, so unless me or my husband pulled them down, he didn't really get to play with them.  Now they can be stored in a neat and tidy place and yet still be accessible by my kid.  Plus, it's super cheap, and doesn't take up valuable play space on the floor (like a regular book shelf would).  We still have two more shelves to install, but need to get better mounting hardware to keep them up securely.  Great idea!  Thanks, Pinterest!

Oh ... and I just had to post this.  When Jack was putting up the shelves, Seth just had to be with his dad in the middle of the action!

new nieces

Five days ago my sister-in-law gave birth to identical twin girls!  Isabella Frances and Siena Marie.  How exciting!  I remember when I was little it was my dream to have twin girls.  I think that's what every little girl dreams of!  Their wedding, and having twin baby girls.  Why?  I'm not sure, but it was definitely my dream.  So when our sister told us she was pregnant with twin girls, we were ecstatic for her and her husband.

To honor their coming into the world, I got an idea for making a piece of all art for each of them to hang up in their nursery.  I love how they turned out!

Isabella Frances Crandall

Siena Marie Crandall

Super easy to make too!  What I used was:

-$9.99 mated frame from IKEA

-craft paper

-textured hemp fabric (any type of textural fabric would work ... I found this in the reminent basket at JoAnn's)

-alphabet stamps and ink

-craft label holders

And here's how:

1) Design and print out the initials you want to use (I did mine in Microsoft Word, using the Art tool and chose the outlined letters option) onto your craft paper.  You could also use old piano sheet music or old book pages to print your letters out on.

2) Cut out your letters ... carefully!  I ended up wanting an outline to the letters, so I glued them onto a piece of regular printer paper and then cut along the outside of the letters, leaving an even space.

3) Glue your letters onto your background paper (making sure to leave space for placement of the label holders).

4) Cut the background paper down to the desired size.  I ended up cutting mine 1/2" smaller than the opening (leaving 1/4" inch all around).

5) Glue the background paper onto your textured fabric, which should cover the entire opening, leaving extra for overlap onto the back of the mat.

6) Stamp out the child's name onto regular printer paper (or a velum or other desired paper).  I actually wanted to stamp out the meaning of each of their names, but #1 I didn't have enough room within the size of the label holders I got, and #2 The name Isabella has a beautiful meaning, but the name Siena, though a beautiful name, didn't have as much of a beautiful meaning.  I also thought about stamping their birth dates, but I don't have number stamps, so I ended up just stamping their names spelled out.

7) Attach the stamped paper to the label holder and attach the label holder to the background paper and fabric.

8) Place in frame opening and tape in place (to avoid sliding down).

Wallah!  A beautiful, personalized piece of wall art!

OH.MY.GOSH.

Target has the beginnings of their Christmas items in stock!  What a glorious day!  I absolutely love Target at Christmastime!

seth's first birthday

What a fun day it was!  When Seth went to sleep the night before his birthday, Jack and I went to work putting up one too many paper chains, moving around furniture and getting things ready for the big day.  That way, when Seth woke up the next morning, he would have a surprise of a fun house followed by many more surprises throughout the day.


So when we heard him talking to himself the morning of his birthday, Jack and I went into his room, and sang him "Happy Birthday," while he stood in his crib, laughing at us.  Haha!  Then we brought him out to the living area and he couldn't stop looking all around at his birthday decorations.  Later that day, we had Jack's delicious homemade burgers with our families and then had birthday cake and opened presents with our close friends later in the afternoon.  A delightful day!  


My baby is no longer a baby, but a little boy.  A toddler.  Oh dear ...

Cups

Seth's dog cake (from a cookbook that was originally my Grandma's, then my mom made me and my brothers cakes out of the same book, and now I am!)

Seth garland!

Paper chain galore (and there was still more outside!)

Eating lunch with Grandma, Grandpa, Lito and Lita

Almost ready to eat!

Seth was so excited to see his cousin, Naya!

Haha ... apparently he adores her!

Reading with Grandma

This is one of those sound books where you push buttons to make noises while you read ... Seth was grabbing my mom's finger and making her push the buttons.  Haha ... creative way to do it!

LOL

Singing to Seth ... he didn't know what to make of it

... and still didn't even after we were done

Blowing out the candle

He also didn't know what to make of the slice of cake in front of him ...

... but soon figured it out

Opening presents!  He got so many awesome gifts!  What a blessed kid!

Still opening gifts ... (with helpers!)

Opening more ...

"Tickle Monster" gloves

Uncle Joel got him his first bat

Uncle Max pitching to Seth

Seth currently has an obsession with hoses ...

With Uncle Joel and the hose

I can't quite remember why everyone was laughing in this picture ...

Playing already!

Putting together a new toy!

The new toy!