It has been a while since the last post, but I have a pretty good excuse... I have been EXHAUSTED!
Eva is getting a new sibling!
Showing posts with label Baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baby. Show all posts
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Monday, December 28, 2015
Christmas 2015
We have been having a wonderful Christmas, and festivities are scheduled to continue through to the New Year. The best part of it is taking time off to spend with family and friends.
One of our gifts was a huge hit: a wookie pajama suit for BroP!
Believe it or not, he had a Chewbacca t-shirt on before he even opened the gift. He hammed it up and sported it for most of the night, certainly giving us a Christmas to remember.
We also got to spend a bunch of time with our sweet NieceM. This was her first Christmas and you could tell she was in aww of this magical time of year. (Amazing photo courtesy of BroJ.)
Even Eva got in the spirit with her Christmas outfit. There was a lot happening, and she didn't appreciate being distracted for pictures.
Christmas Eve also happens to be MomB's birthday! While it is great to all be together every year to celebrate, I always feel a bit bad that it gets overshadowed by Christmas festivities.
I usually make or help make a cake, but this year I wanted to try something a little more special.
I think it took me three hours, and about half the dishes in the cupboards, but I made a Yule Log cake (a.k.a. Buche de Noel). It is actual an old European tradition you can read more about.
This is the Yule Log Cake recipe I used, but I added a chocolate ganache frosting.
The cake doesn't have any flour or leavening ingredients (stuff to make it rise like baking soda, baking powder, or yeast.) Instead it relies on eggs whipped into a stiff meringue and folded into the batter. This is much more technical than most of the recipes I attempt, but it is a special occasion. It's not difficult but does take a lot of focus, time, and attention.
Overall it actually turned out much better than I expected. It even kind of looks like a log!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
One of our gifts was a huge hit: a wookie pajama suit for BroP!Believe it or not, he had a Chewbacca t-shirt on before he even opened the gift. He hammed it up and sported it for most of the night, certainly giving us a Christmas to remember.
We also got to spend a bunch of time with our sweet NieceM. This was her first Christmas and you could tell she was in aww of this magical time of year. (Amazing photo courtesy of BroJ.)
Even Eva got in the spirit with her Christmas outfit. There was a lot happening, and she didn't appreciate being distracted for pictures.Christmas Eve also happens to be MomB's birthday! While it is great to all be together every year to celebrate, I always feel a bit bad that it gets overshadowed by Christmas festivities.
I usually make or help make a cake, but this year I wanted to try something a little more special.
I think it took me three hours, and about half the dishes in the cupboards, but I made a Yule Log cake (a.k.a. Buche de Noel). It is actual an old European tradition you can read more about.
This is the Yule Log Cake recipe I used, but I added a chocolate ganache frosting.The cake doesn't have any flour or leavening ingredients (stuff to make it rise like baking soda, baking powder, or yeast.) Instead it relies on eggs whipped into a stiff meringue and folded into the batter. This is much more technical than most of the recipes I attempt, but it is a special occasion. It's not difficult but does take a lot of focus, time, and attention.
Overall it actually turned out much better than I expected. It even kind of looks like a log!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Revived Landscaping
Goodness it has been a long time since I posted!
Most of that is due to the sheer magnitude of the project we just finished up.
It all started when I had our trusted contractor come out to take a look at the siding and see how soon it needed to be painted.
The good news is that it can wait a year, maybe two, but the bad news is that our soil level had to be dealt with first.
See how the mulch comes up above the siding? Yeah, that's bad. The siding should end, then there should be 4-8 inches of concrete foundation, and THEN below that the soil level.
Because the dirt is above the siding, things like bugs and moisture can get under the siding causing damage and rot. Not good.
See above, how the wall juts out? That is our front window. As the landscaper was digging the soil down, he discovered there was no foundation under it. That is normal for a bay window but you do NOT want dirt packed underneath which is what we had. This rotted out the sub floor and could have caused structural issues had we discovered it too late.
So just dig the dirt down around the house, right? Nope. If you do that, when it rains all the water will drain toward the house and down along the foundation. This has the potential for causing erosion or flooding.
So instead you have to lower the level of the soil, AND make sure it slopes away from the house.
Since we moved in we have been battling the overgrown weeds, but since we knew we would be having everything scraped away, we didn't even bother to try and keep up with them... so here's the before and after's!
Before:
After:
Of course it looks a little sparse now, but I'm hoping the plants will fill in after a year or two.
We had them move the too-big hydrangeas and had them plant ones that would stay smaller. We also had them put in some holly bushes, a couple knock-out roses (they are low maintenance), and a couple other things. We also decreased the size of the bed a bit so it would be less to maintain.
Before:
After:
This one is a big difference... that overgrown tree-bush is some sort of weed left over from when we had the busted plum tree removed. We had them remove all the prickly bushes, but kept the rhododendron.
Before:
After:
Before, this was just a mess of weeds. I think there was maybe one or two plants that were good ones.
We had them plant a bunch of low maintenance plants. That tree on the corner is a red-bud tree that won't get very big, and will have pretty flowers all spring.
Such a huge difference! This was a much more intensive project than we anticipated. SOOO glad we hired someone to do a majority of the work. It took about 2 months from start to finish.
Now our front bay window has room to breathe underneath free of moisture and rot!
Over this time it was also my birthday and let me tell you, I am such a lucky girl. My Dear Husband (DH) knows the way to my heart is through power tools! Lol! He got me just what I wanted: a more powerful corded drill! The wimpy battery one I had is good for hanging pictures and that kind of thing, but not for more construction-like projects. Yay! I was thrilled when I opened it.
After opening my present, we headed right up to Wisconsin for labor day to visit our new niece! She is absolutely precious! But since I know NOTHING about babies, I volunteered to help out the new mom by cooking and cleaning.
I cleaned the bathroom, made two chicken pot pies, two meals worth of chicken tetrazzini, hung a shelf in the nursery, and helped take 1-month photos. (It was the least I could do, since I can't change a diaper to save my life!)
New mom, SisD, is doing a fantastic job with the new one. To the right is DH with Maddy. She is a month here.
To the left, she is with me is a few weeks later when we went up for her baptism. Look how much she grew already!
She makes some of the best faces. So many expressions!
Don't worry, Eva is going to be my only baby for a while yet!
(She sleeps in with me, AND there are no diapers to change!)
Most of that is due to the sheer magnitude of the project we just finished up.It all started when I had our trusted contractor come out to take a look at the siding and see how soon it needed to be painted.
The good news is that it can wait a year, maybe two, but the bad news is that our soil level had to be dealt with first.
See how the mulch comes up above the siding? Yeah, that's bad. The siding should end, then there should be 4-8 inches of concrete foundation, and THEN below that the soil level.
Because the dirt is above the siding, things like bugs and moisture can get under the siding causing damage and rot. Not good.
See above, how the wall juts out? That is our front window. As the landscaper was digging the soil down, he discovered there was no foundation under it. That is normal for a bay window but you do NOT want dirt packed underneath which is what we had. This rotted out the sub floor and could have caused structural issues had we discovered it too late.
So just dig the dirt down around the house, right? Nope. If you do that, when it rains all the water will drain toward the house and down along the foundation. This has the potential for causing erosion or flooding.
So instead you have to lower the level of the soil, AND make sure it slopes away from the house.
Since we moved in we have been battling the overgrown weeds, but since we knew we would be having everything scraped away, we didn't even bother to try and keep up with them... so here's the before and after's!
Before:
After:
We had them move the too-big hydrangeas and had them plant ones that would stay smaller. We also had them put in some holly bushes, a couple knock-out roses (they are low maintenance), and a couple other things. We also decreased the size of the bed a bit so it would be less to maintain.
After:
This one is a big difference... that overgrown tree-bush is some sort of weed left over from when we had the busted plum tree removed. We had them remove all the prickly bushes, but kept the rhododendron.
Before:
After:Before, this was just a mess of weeds. I think there was maybe one or two plants that were good ones.
We had them plant a bunch of low maintenance plants. That tree on the corner is a red-bud tree that won't get very big, and will have pretty flowers all spring.
Such a huge difference! This was a much more intensive project than we anticipated. SOOO glad we hired someone to do a majority of the work. It took about 2 months from start to finish.
Now our front bay window has room to breathe underneath free of moisture and rot!
Over this time it was also my birthday and let me tell you, I am such a lucky girl. My Dear Husband (DH) knows the way to my heart is through power tools! Lol! He got me just what I wanted: a more powerful corded drill! The wimpy battery one I had is good for hanging pictures and that kind of thing, but not for more construction-like projects. Yay! I was thrilled when I opened it.
I cleaned the bathroom, made two chicken pot pies, two meals worth of chicken tetrazzini, hung a shelf in the nursery, and helped take 1-month photos. (It was the least I could do, since I can't change a diaper to save my life!)
New mom, SisD, is doing a fantastic job with the new one. To the right is DH with Maddy. She is a month here.
To the left, she is with me is a few weeks later when we went up for her baptism. Look how much she grew already!
She makes some of the best faces. So many expressions!
Don't worry, Eva is going to be my only baby for a while yet!
(She sleeps in with me, AND there are no diapers to change!)
Friday, September 11, 2015
Blank Baby Scrapbook
You may have noticed a lull in my posts...
This is because I have been focusing my efforts on two labor intensive projects. You already know about the Wallpaper Paste Removal Frustration. I have to scrub every inch of the wall, three times! Time consuming, but not very interesting for a blog post, huh?
The other project took over a month, but I haven't been able to reveal it because it was a gift.
I made a baby scrapbook for our new niece's first year!
(Sorry in advance for all the pictures.)
I filled out the first few pages that I actually had pictures for, but all the other pages have blank areas to place pictures or write notes/text.
The first page is the sonogram with the introduction of "It's a Girl!"
The next are some beautiful maternity photos she had taken.
Then of course a very busy page for the baby shower:
From here on, the new mom can now fill in her favorite photos as she takes them. This page is for hospital photos and details:
"Tiny eyes, tiny nose, tiny fingers, tiny toes!"
Some pages aren't for anything specific, just pictures of any kind.
Here is a page just for Mom and baby:
And of course one for Dad and baby: "Daddy's Little Girl"
So then we must have one for Grandmas:
Then naturally Grandpas:
This one is for her monthly photos... you know, her at One Month, Two Months, etc.
I'm sure she will be dressed up cute for Halloween!
And there will be family photos at Thanksgiving.
Couple more extra pages.
Then of course we have Christmas photos...
"A girl and her dog! ... and cat"
Baby smiles! (or was that just gas?)
Bath Time!
Extra page...
Page for months 7-12.
More bonus pages...
And the final page is for her 1st birthday.
I hope this is a sweet keepsake for years to come for our sweet niece.
Speaking of our niece, Dear Husband (DH) did great with her and held her for over an hour while she napped.
Eva was curious but respectful and did very well with her.
I also got to take her One Month photos and family photos while I was there. I think they turned out pretty good!
This is because I have been focusing my efforts on two labor intensive projects. You already know about the Wallpaper Paste Removal Frustration. I have to scrub every inch of the wall, three times! Time consuming, but not very interesting for a blog post, huh?
The other project took over a month, but I haven't been able to reveal it because it was a gift.
I made a baby scrapbook for our new niece's first year!
(Sorry in advance for all the pictures.)
I filled out the first few pages that I actually had pictures for, but all the other pages have blank areas to place pictures or write notes/text.
The first page is the sonogram with the introduction of "It's a Girl!"
The next are some beautiful maternity photos she had taken.
Then of course a very busy page for the baby shower:
From here on, the new mom can now fill in her favorite photos as she takes them. This page is for hospital photos and details:
"Tiny eyes, tiny nose, tiny fingers, tiny toes!"
Some pages aren't for anything specific, just pictures of any kind.
Here is a page just for Mom and baby:
And of course one for Dad and baby: "Daddy's Little Girl"
So then we must have one for Grandmas:
Then naturally Grandpas:
This one is for her monthly photos... you know, her at One Month, Two Months, etc.
I'm sure she will be dressed up cute for Halloween!
And there will be family photos at Thanksgiving.
Couple more extra pages.
Then of course we have Christmas photos...
"A girl and her dog! ... and cat"
Baby smiles! (or was that just gas?)
Bath Time!
Extra page...
Page for months 7-12.
More bonus pages...
I hope this is a sweet keepsake for years to come for our sweet niece.
Speaking of our niece, Dear Husband (DH) did great with her and held her for over an hour while she napped.
Eva was curious but respectful and did very well with her.
I also got to take her One Month photos and family photos while I was there. I think they turned out pretty good!
Saturday, May 23, 2015
A New Nibling: Onesie Decorating
Nibling
(noun) : the child of one's sibling : a nephew or niece
That's right, Dear Husband (DH) and I are getting our first nibling! We have a niece due in August.
As part of the baby shower, I was in charge of creating a onesie decorating area. I didn't want just plain white outfits, so here is my first adventure in dying fabric.
Gather material: liquid dye (Rit brand), dye fixative (also Rit), onesies in various sizes, salt, rubber gloves, stir sticks, buckets. Check!
I am all about starting gender equality from the very beginning, so I didn't want to do everything pink. I picked out purple, yellow, and black (gray).
Follow the directions on the bottles of dye!
Some fabrics, like polyester, don't absorb the dye. The thread on the onesies was polyester, so it looked like white thread on a colored fabric which turned out to be a pretty cool effect.
I added about 1/2 cup of salt to HOT HOT water and stirred in about half of the bottle of liquid dye. Stir, stir, stir for about 3-5 min to make sure the pigment is distributed.
Wet the fabric in HOT HOT water, then add to the dye. Wetting it first helps prevent dry-spots not absorbing dye.
(noun) : the child of one's sibling : a nephew or niece
That's right, Dear Husband (DH) and I are getting our first nibling! We have a niece due in August.
As part of the baby shower, I was in charge of creating a onesie decorating area. I didn't want just plain white outfits, so here is my first adventure in dying fabric.
Gather material: liquid dye (Rit brand), dye fixative (also Rit), onesies in various sizes, salt, rubber gloves, stir sticks, buckets. Check!
I am all about starting gender equality from the very beginning, so I didn't want to do everything pink. I picked out purple, yellow, and black (gray). Follow the directions on the bottles of dye!
Some fabrics, like polyester, don't absorb the dye. The thread on the onesies was polyester, so it looked like white thread on a colored fabric which turned out to be a pretty cool effect.
I added about 1/2 cup of salt to HOT HOT water and stirred in about half of the bottle of liquid dye. Stir, stir, stir for about 3-5 min to make sure the pigment is distributed.
Wet the fabric in HOT HOT water, then add to the dye. Wetting it first helps prevent dry-spots not absorbing dye.
I stirred all the buckets, intermittently switching back and forth, for an hour.
Add the Rit dye fixative to hot water according to it's directions, and submerge the dyed fabric for 20 min. You guessed it... stir yet again.This time, rinse in cold water, squeeze (never wring... it distorts the fabric), and hang dry. They will dry to a lighter color than when they are wet.
In order to make the decorating process easy and non-messy, I created little applique's. (This was by far the most time-intensive part of the project.) It's easy enough if you are just doing 3-5, but I had to make enough for 32 onesies!Wonder Under - it's a roll/sheet of paper with one textured side. The texture is a web-like material that melts when ironed, effectively "gluing" to your fabric.
Cut a square of the Wonder Under, place ROUGH SIDE DOWN on the BACK of your fabric. If the rough side is up, it will just glue itself to your iron (guess how I know!) Make sure your fabric is larger, or you will melt glue onto your ironing board.
You can now draw your shape on the paper side, and cut it out. Just remember this is the wrong-side of the fabric so your image will be reversed. So if you want something facing right, draw it facing left. This includes letters of the alphabet!
Peel the paper off the back of your shape (sometimes tricky), place where you want it to be applied, and iron it on. (No steam, just heat.) You can put them on onesies, shirts, pants, blankets, basically anything fabric that you can iron.
Because I used the Heavy Duty version, there was no need to sew around the edges of the shape to keep it down.
I packaged the appliques in individual baggies so people could easily pick what they wanted.
I think they turned out super cute and I got some great feedback from the ladies!
While it was completely worth it, this was much more time-intensive than I expected!
Not a DIY to be taken lightly!
Peel the paper off the back of your shape (sometimes tricky), place where you want it to be applied, and iron it on. (No steam, just heat.) You can put them on onesies, shirts, pants, blankets, basically anything fabric that you can iron.
Because I used the Heavy Duty version, there was no need to sew around the edges of the shape to keep it down.I packaged the appliques in individual baggies so people could easily pick what they wanted.
I think they turned out super cute and I got some great feedback from the ladies!
While it was completely worth it, this was much more time-intensive than I expected!
Not a DIY to be taken lightly!
The rest of the shower was a great success and so cute!
Being book-themed, there were a few cute ideas that Mom-in-Law (MIL) came up with.
Like "Green Eggs and Ham" (deviled eggs with parsley on top.
And the game prizes were jars of home made cookies, in homage to "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie."
The custom cake was designed around "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" with some other favorite storybook characters on it. It was both adorable AND super tasty!
Our friend HAND MADE the sign-in book as a gift, which was beautiful.
Speaking of gifts... my goodness there were so many cute and helpful gifts for SisM, the mom-to-be!
Our gift was a print for the nursery that I commissioned from SisX. I asked SisM's favorite color and animal. A purple tiger it was! SisX drew a tiger cub sitting on a pile of books, then used some graphic design to shade and color it. It is adorable, just like the new mom!
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