November Update

Apparently it's November.  Mid November.  And we packed so much in the past two months, that including it all in one post will be a challenge.  

We celebrated K3's baptism.  It was the first time we had all our friends and family over to the house, and thankfully we had some great help with set up and food!

We went to Disney and Great Wolf Lodge.  Traveling with an infant is a lot easier than it looks, and K3 was certainly the easiest to please no matter where we went.

O turned 4!  We celebrated by going to the aquarium with our family and then hosting a scientist party for his classmates and friends.

I had a tough time handling my emotions when my baby turned three, but four has been pretty awesome.  He's grown into such a thoughtful, sweet, and silly big brother, and so far I'm loving this age.

We enjoyed Halloween. I bought their costumes as soon as Party City put them out in August to make sure they had their favorite turtle in their size.  I should have bought out all the Elsa costumes they had at the time and sold them on ebay. 

This baby is growing and growing and growing.  He started rolling over the day of his 2 month well visit and hasn't stopped.  He is constantly trying to roll, no matter where we put him or how he is restrained.

And the biggest time suck of all is that I've been dealing with some health stuff and had open abdominal surgery last week, which required fitting in lots of doctor appointments and scheduling help with the kids.  
After birthing three kids and thinking that I'm pretty much a super hero, I vastly overestimated my pain threshold and underestimated the seriousness of the procedure.  I still cannot wrap my brain around how much my incision hurts.  We planned to bottle feed K3 during and after the procedure until anesthesia was out of my system and I could switch to safe-for-breastfeeding pain meds.  It seemed like a sensible plan- for someone who didn't understand exactly what I would be feeling like after surgery.  I didn't know how hard it would be to sit up, (I HAD to pump. WHY can't the pump do it's job while I'm lying down?) and the okay-while-breastfeeding pain meds made me woozy and the baby drowsy.  So I chose stabbing pain over nausea and guilt. The mom guilt never ends.
I'm still technically not supposed to be lifting more than 10 pounds, but with a 14 pound baby, that isn't realistic.  I'm very thankful for the awesomeness of my mom and Keith for keeping everyone alive and entertained and clean, and hopefully I'll be walking upright by my return to work this month.
There will be a lot written about this return to work, but that's it for now.

Hurricane Halloween

This post is late.  Last week was a blur.  My school is still closed due to the absolutely devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy, and I have been staying with my parents since they have important things like heat.  I am so blessed to have no major damage to my home, and I've been enjoying a lot of extra time with my boys.  However, the images I have seen of nearby neighborhoods is heartbreaking and surreal.  Just today I learned that JD's teacher is among the many who lost everything.  Please keep those affected in your prayers for the next few months as families struggle to find housing and begin rebuilding.  Many of my favorite places are just... gone, and that will take a while to sink in.
  
But having two little guys means that the fun still continued.  They enjoyed watching the small cleanup projects in my parents' backyard, and we did our best to celebrate Halloween.

"You do realize that this isn't working, right?"

Woody wanted a pic by himself.

An amazing friend hosted a Halloween party, even though she didn't have power, so that the kids didn't miss out.  She's the best!

We tried trick-or-treating.  O was way more interested in collecting rocks.

VERY few people were home or were prepared for trick-or-treaters, but this group brought smiles to faces.

Buzz + Woody = BFF

A Halloween we won't forget!

O's 1st Birthday Costume Party

Every time we have a party, I tell myself that I am going to be ready early so I can take fabulous pictures of everything before the party starts.  I am now just going to accept that it will not happen.  I try to do too much, I wait too long to start putting it all together, and I will never have pretty pictures of a food table because my guests are already here when it comes out of the oven. (If you ever get to my house early right on time, you will be frosting cookies or plating food.)

But I refuse to be disappointed about the ribbons that were never tied around the centerpieces, the chocolate covered pretzels that didn't happen, or the nasty storm that kept us all inside.  We had a great time!  Our friends & family all arrived with some awesome costumes, we enjoyed too many treats, and everyone had a blast at O's first birthday party!

Here are some of the highlights:

I have to share the adorable invites from Kottage on 5th.  I got a ton of compliments on them.

I wrote about some of the treats here & here, and you can see details about a lot of the others on my "O's 1st Bday Ideas" Pinterest board.  Pictured here are the favor pails and lollipop spiders on web fabric, hanging decorations & my mantle decorated with mummy lights & containers of candy, goblin brownies, pumpkin pie dip, chocolate covered marshmallow pumpkins, and the centerpieces.

The favor pails included a mini pumpkin, spider rings, a ring pop with a silly mouth, a monster finger puppet, and Halloween rubber ducky, lollipops, pencils, stickers, & bubbles.  I also put some of the chocolate covered marshmallow pumpkins in take-away bags and offered lollipop spiders to the grownups.

Way too many adorable costumes, and I'm so sad I didn't think to get a group pic of the dozen munchkins we had.

The big kids got in on the fun, too!

The craft table was a hit, and they also entertained themselves by running in circles & showing off their muscles.

Happy birthday to my baby!  I am still in denial that you are one.  (And I have no idea why Hubby wanted to wear his mustache on his chin.)

Whew!  That was a lot of pics. Now that that is all done, I'm going to go get out the leftover cake & brownies (Leftovers are THE BEST part of hosting a party. Besides all our fun family & friends of course!) and enjoy the rest of nap time!  

Did you have a great Halloween?  If you posted about your Halloween celebrations, leave a link in the comments!

Halloween Party Crafts

Now that we know Saturday is going to be FREEZING and possibly rainy, I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how we're going to keep all of these toddlers occupied in a crowded house.  I'm hoping most of them hang out in the playroom (with the babysitter & a parent or two of course), and to keep them there once the toys lose their luster, I bought some crafty stuff today and set up a station.

JD "helped" set it up.  He couldn't tear himself away from the stickers. Stickers! Sparkly! I was actually impressed with his ability to sort the colors & shapes.

On our old coffee table, I set out craft paper, googly eyes, streamers, random shapes cut out of construction paper, a glue stick, paper plates, and glittery foam stickers.

JD created this mummy & friendly ghost.  We're going to make them some friends to decorate the room & inspire our guests.

Please share your easy, not-too-messy ideas!

Healthy-ish Caramel Apple Muffins

I'm still practicing all the food for O's birthday party, and these are too cute not to share.  They come from a big mix of ideas & then I winged it.  Putting caramels in the center came from a Gordan Ramsay recipe, the frosting came from a Disney Family Fun article, and the muffin itself is a basic apple muffin with some healthy substitutions.

This is all you need + plain yogurt. (I was not getting it all out again for a new pic.)

For the muffins, you will need

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoons baking spice
• pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 large-ish or 3 small-ish apples, peeled and chopped
• 6-8 soft caramels, chopped

Preheat oven to 400.

Wisk together the dry ingredients.

In another bowl, wisk the eggs, applesauce, & yogurt.

Mix it all together with the apples until blended.

Fill muffin cups 1/2 way. Sprinkle caramel pieces, and then fill the cups the rest of the way.  (Makes 12)

Bake for 15 min (until a toothpick comes out clean).

While they are baking, prepare the frosting.

You will need

• 8 oz. of softened cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon of maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• food coloring
• chopped nuts
• craft sticks

Mix cream cheese, maple syrup, and vanilla extract with a mixer.  Add food coloring to achieve a caramel color.  

I played with yellow, red, and bit of blue.

Frost each muffin, coat the edge with chopped nuts, and push a craft stick into the center.

mmmmm

Super Easy DIY Baby Lion Costume

Our family is going with old school Circus-y themed costumes for O's 1st birthday Halloween party, and I knew from the start that JD would be the strong man.  Hubby wanted to be the ring master, and I will be a tightrope walker.  I had a really rough time with O.  It had to be something cute because it's his party, and it also had to be something comfortable that he wouldn't mind wearing all day.  We decided on a lion, but any costume I found in a store was either a) cheap looking, b) super expensive, and/or c) thick fuzzy material that he would sweat his little butt off in.


So I decided to make my own.  A DIY baby lion costume was exactly what I needed to be working on instead of cleaning my house!  I used a pic from the Good Housekeeping's Halloween issue as inspiration, but didn't follow their brief tutorial because it just didn't make any sense to me (honestly, they lost me at turning over hems and abutting strips). I think mine came out cuter than theirs, and it seems to be much simpler.

The ears are a little big, but so are O's, so it's okay.

Materials:

• Brown hat with ear flaps 
• Fleece (I bought a 1/2 yard of brown, tan, and gold and still have a lot left.)
• Polyester fiberfill
• Brown clothing (Good Housekeeping used a sleeper- I didn't feel like hunting a brown one down.)
• Pinking shears

(Good Housekeeping also made paws on the feet of the sleeper & mittens, but O doesn't keep socks on & I wouldn't bet on him keeping mittens on either!)


I started with this hat from The Children's Place

I turned it inside out (so you couldn't see the dog) and removed the tags.  After Halloween, I can remove the mane, flip it around, and use it as a winter hat.

Liking it so far.

I cut 3-inch strips from the fleece and fringed it with the pinking shears.  Then I tacked it on to the hat, going from ear flap to ear flap around the face.

Nothing needs to be perfect here, so I could totally watch Grey's while sewing.

I pushed the fringe forward and tacked the next strip on.  I alternated colors and put on 6 strips total to finish the lion's mane.

Then I cut out 2 ear shapes from the brown fleece, tacked a smaller tan ear shape (cut with pinking shears) to 1 of them, turned them right side in & sewed them together.  I turned it right-side-out, pinched the bottom, and attached it behind the mane.  I repeated for the second ear.

For the tail, I sewed a tube about 1.5 feet long out of brown fleece, stuffed it with fiberfill, and attached some fringed pieces of the three colors to the end.

His brown shirt had a design on the front, so I made him a tan belly out of fleece. I cut the edges with the pinking shears so it went with the hat.

ROAR

on the prowl

It's the cirrrrrrrrcle of life.....

All that picture taking wore him out. Time for some lion around.  haha

He wasn't a big fan of the hat at first, but once I distracted him, he forgot about it.  I'm going to put it on him as much as we can leading up to Halloween to get him used to it.  And I'm going to fix the ears.  This homemade lion costume is perfect for him because it's comfortable, easy to crawl in, and really brings out his little personality.

An Easier DIY Toddler Strong Man Costume

I first got the idea for JD's strong man costume from Good Housekeeping's Halloween issue.  But the article was brief, and the directions were confusing.  I knew I was in trouble when the people at the craft store didn't even know what "adhesive hook-and-loop tape" was.  And I knew I didn't want to open & resew seams.  So I used the patterns and the materials list and winged it. 

Materials:

• 2 long-sleeve T-shirts dyed to a flesh color (I looked all over the internet & couldn't find them already this color.  Also, I used turtleneck onesies.)
• Polyester fiberfill
• Gym shorts (We used an old, size 12 mo. pair to get the right look)
• Red-white-and-blue stripe ribbon
• Adhesive craft foam & letter stickers
• 2-inch diameter suction cups
• Garden shears
• Two screws
• 1.5-inch-diameter wooden dowel
• Plastic Epoxy
• 2 rubber balls (I found them on clearance at Toys R Us.)
• Black matte spray paint

I traced the muscles onto one of the shirts and cut them out.  (I can email you the patterns if you want them, but the muscles are pretty simple shapes.)  

I pinned them on to the other shirt (I tried the shirt on JD to mark where his belly button was & took it from there) and then spent FOREVER hand stitching them on.  I wanted to keep the seam as close to the edge as possible, so I had to pay close attention to each stitch.  The Good Housekeeping article called for opening the sleeve seams, but I sewed the arm muscles right on top, and it turned out fine.  I stuffed each muscle with fiberfill before closing it off.

I used the ribbon, craft foam and the sticker letters to make the belt.


For the barbell, I cut the nub off of the suction cup with garden shears and screwed it on to the end of the dowel.

Then I used plastic epoxy to attach the balls to the suction cup and spray painted the whole thing black.  (The balls were a little droopy when it dried, so I used black ducktape to support them.)  I looked into just using big styrofoam balls, but they're pricey and wouldn't have the same smooth finish.

And lastly, JD practiced his muscleman poses.

The first time I tried it on him, he looked at me and said, "don't like it."  I'd be lying if I didn't say I held back tears.  But once the barbell was done, it was love.  Now he keeps asking to play strong man.  It's going to take everything I have to not be the psycho mom at the Halloween party with a smock trying to keep this thing clean until O's party (which is before actual Halloween, but who cares about stains when you're trick-or-treating).

I also finished up O's costume and will hopefully post it later today if he cooperates for some pics.