Sponge Seedlings

Toddler Project #2

Sponge Seedlings

In our fabulous book of toddler activities...I went to the holidays section to find a St. Patrick's Day themed project. There was a relatively easy one called Sponge Seedlings in which you took an everyday household sponge and spread seeds evenly across the top. Sprinkle on a little water and place in a sunny window...voila...your seedlings should sprout in no time at all. Now what was supposed to make this St. Patrick's Day themed was cutting the sponge into a clover shape but we left them rectangular for more surface area. I guess the growing of green sprouts also makes it St. Patty's Day project, idk...it seemed simple enough and so Sebastian and I took the challenge. 

I found some dirt looking sponges at good ol' Wally World and a packet of Black Eyed Susan seeds. 

We placed all the sponges on a cookie tray to ensure no leakages and then sprinkled all the seeds on top of them. No, I didn't get any pictures of the sprinkling process as it was hard enough to manage tiny little seeds and a 16 month old...the camera was out of the question, but I did get a shot of the finished project. 

Now, I am assuming that they will take a few days to sprout as they don't seem to be instantaneous seedlings! I will keep you posted on their progress. 

Carseat Glamified!

I was torn between buying a new carseat or trying to beautify Sebastian's...sure, there was nothing wrong with his, it just had a boy feel to it. Plus, we had all new stuff for him, it feels weird to give her all handy-me-downs! On the other hand, we has two bases for his old one and it really suited our need...not to mention how expensive new ones are or the fact that they all seem to be boy or gender neutral colors.
So, I found a win-win solution! Small Spouts is a cute little company that hand makes carseat covers in a plethora of adorable designs for both girls and boys AND they are different then all the other stuff out there! I placed my order and cringed at the 7-9 week processing time, since they hand make each piece to the specification of your carseat brand, but all good things are worth waiting for!

It finally arrived yesterday!!!! I loved it right out of the box and tonight I finally had time to put it on...took me a little while to figure it out but brains prevailed!

It looks fabulous!!!! And so, so girly...exactly what I wanted! It looks cute with and without the cover!

Baby Nursery....so happy!!!

I was finally able to put everything up on the walls in the nursery! It is complete minus the curtains, which shouldn't take too long to get up. I think it turned out great...the pictures don't do it justice. It is a very shabby chic, princess room...and I love how it is a make-up of things that I have found in a million different places. No two things can from the same store, lol. The knobs on the dresser are a clearance find at Michaels but the handle pulls on the bottom draws are from a guy in Canada! The lamp shade is from Lowes but the hardware/stand is from a local artist who hand crafted it. The bunny on a swing is from PB Kids and the crib bedding is all handmade by Mama and Myself! The rug is from Sam's Club, the bookcase from Target, the pink shelves...Amazon, the lamb, Grandin Road, the pink blanket was hand crocheted by Mamie. World Market, Anthropologie, Babies R Us and some other local shops were all useful tools in creating the perfect baby girl nursery!

3-D Ultrasound at 31 weeks 4 days

This was my favorite shot from the whole ultrasound...it shows her budgy nose and plump little lips!

Once again, she had her hands all up in her face the entire time!

Her baby foot...which is actually quite large!

Long fingers.

Her foot is 6.59cm long!!!

According to her measurements...she is still predicted to arrive on 4/30/13 and is the perfect size! She currently weighs 3.90Lbs. Now, while we were at the doctor on Wednesday, she set our c-section date for 4/25/13, so we know she won't stay in there until 4/30 but she looks perfect. It took awhile to get some shots cause she liked having her face up against my uterus the entire time!

Soap Crayons

Toddler Activities Project #1

Soap Crayons

Okay, so I cheated a little on this first project...not a good start, I know! However, I just didn't see the need to make bath crayons when they are a whopping $3 at Target! We have tried a few different bath activities this past week...crayons, shaving cream, water color changing tablets and good old fashion bubbles! Sebastian loved the bubbles (figures), he has recently figured out that they are fun to play with and not really that scary. He also enjoyed the tablets that changed the water color...unfortunately, 1 tablet doesn't seem fascinating enough and he wants to put in several...by the end of the bath we had some pretty yucky looking brown/black water. 

The shaving cream was pretty hilarious! I took one of Jonathan's travel cans and set it near the edge of the bath....immediately, the grunting and reaching began. I got the usual, ADORABLE, "yeah" and head nod when I asked him if he wanted to try it. He so politely stretched out his palm for a dollop. The blue, cold blob was excitedly greeted with a "whooooaaa" and a cheesy grin. He examined it for a bit and then realized it looked a lot like soap and did his thing by working up a lather and smearing it all over his tummy.....then into the hair we went! I never let him wash his own hair because we do not use tear-free soap, his porcelain skin just doesn't do well on anything but Dove, but that does not mean he doesn't try to 'help'. So, we had a blue tummy and blue hair and smelled quite strongly of men's cologne/musk....so we embraced it and proceeded to cover his perfectly round butt cheeks, arms, legs and chest...he was a shaving cream monster for a bit!

Anyhow, we did play with the bath crayons too...I believe they are Crayola brand. We actually tried them in the shower first, I figured the glass door was a perfect canvas. He got quite creative with his scribbles, very cute. Then he tried to eat them!!! We lost a few noble crayons...he didn't swallow, don't worry. I was quick to fish them out of his mouth, he was just so darn quick in biting the heads off! 

In general, he has not shown a lot of interest in coloring, so the bath crayons lasted about five minutes. It was a fun project though and I recommend trying all of the different variations of bath time fun: bath crayons, shaving cream, water color changing tablets, and a great bubble bath!

I don't have any bath/shower photos for you :) but get a load of this one!

Sebastian                                                                                Jonathan
Any doubts as to who his Daddy is?

Telluride Winter Vacation

Telluride, Colorado

Ski Vacation

February 21-25, 2013

We started off our skiing adventure bright and early on the morning of February 21st...3:45am to be exact! We had to be up, packed and out the door by 4:45am to make it over to my parent's house by 5:15am. We had to drop off Dory and then head out to the airport to check numerous bags, go through security (at Charlotte Douglas can be a nightmare) and be sure all 11 boarding passes were correct! We had two flights to get to our destination...Charlotte to Houston and then Houston to Montrose. Each flight was 2.25 to 2.5 hours long and we had an okay layover in each city. Once in Colorado, we had a 1.5 hour drive to Mountain City/Telluride. 

Let's just say that I would much rather travel with an infant then a toddler any day! Infant's sleep, toddlers want to play!!! Thank you to the wonderful makers of the movie "BOLT," it was our savior...I have now seen it about 50 times IN A ROW! We also relied on smarties and various toys to keep the booger busy...it worked okay. He was really patient and compliant on the way there and seemed happiest when we were allowed to use electronic devices! It is just very difficult to wrestle with a 16 month old while being 31 weeks pregnant...he used my tummy to climb on quite a few times! Actually, all in all he was a saint on the way there...he didn't really find flying intriguing but he sat nicely and watched his IPad and ate his goldfish snacks like a pro.

In his own seat!

Waiting for our next flight!

Playing around on the luggage with Mamie.

We didn't arrive at our lodge until about 5:15pm on Thursday...a whole day of traveling! The house was nice, there were a few set backs but nothing too severe. The biggest problem with the lodge was it was located on a nice hill....when you are already having trouble breathing at a new elevation, trekking up a huge hill is not ideal. I was not about to try to tackle that one by myself while pushing Sebastian in a stroller...I knew already that it would be impossible. Jonathan had trouble doing it so I was not going to risk over-doing it with baby on board and baby in stroller.

Therefore, Friday...Sebastian and I spent lounging around the house watching TV and napping while everyone else hit the slopes!

Just doing a bit of weight lifting.

Watching Bolt with his new headphones.

We did venture outside for a bit to see if Sebastian would play in the snow, he more enjoyed walking/waddling up and down the sidewalk in all his gear then actually playing in the stuff.

I take full credit for how adorable this child is...his dad contributed some I guess :)

So happy to see Daddy back from skiing.

Lots of hugs and kisses.

Enjoying a snack with Pops...fascinated with his beard.

We spent our evenings in the warmth of the lodge and went out to ride on the Gondolas to get a bite to eat! Sebastian enjoyed the gondola rides but LOVED playing with his cousins more! He would get quite vocal and demanding every time they would get up to leave or get tired of playing with him.

Headed out for dinner.

Lilly and Emma.

Getting the baby into the stroller was quite the ordeal.

Walking to the Gondola all bundled up...I guess wearing white wasn't all that smart on my part.

Uncle Kamerin on the Gondola.

 

Pops and Lilly.

Emma and Aunt Katelynn.

At La Pizzeria.

Uncle Sam and Pops.

How quickly the mood changes.

Mamie stayed off the slopes and hung out with Sebastian and I on Saturday and Sunday, we explored the sidewalk again, just to be sure we didn't miss anything! He was QUITE mad after the clan left for the slopes and he wasn't allowed to go with them, so Mamie and I bundled him all up and went out to play.

Out on our adventure.

Mamie trying to get Sebastian to play in the snow.

We caught the rest of the clan getting ready to take off down the slopes.

Daddy waving bye.

Later that afternoon, Aunt Katelynn and Lilly cut their skiing expedition short due to cold toes so we convinced them to go to Telluride with us for a bit of window shopping!

Giving Mommy a "Cheese" for the picture.

Aunt Katelynn and Lilly on the Gondola.

Yes, that is a pink blanket but it is all we had with us! 

So adorable all bundled up!

This was the 4th try at this picture...Lilly just wasn't having it!

The town of Telluride, view from the Gondola.

We had to be up bright and early again to make the trip back home. We left our lodge at 6am to drive back to the airport and once again we had any number of plane problems! We had three flights on the way home: Montrose to Denver, Denver to Houston and finally Houston to Charlotte...NIGHTMARE! Sebastian was good for the first flight, which was supposed to be a 30 minute flight BUT with sitting on the dang runway, turned out to be more like 1.5 hours! The second flight we struggled a bit because they were having some sort of door seal problem so we sat at the ramp for 45 extra mins and then were 10th in line to take off! When we were finally able to use electronic devices, nearly an hour after boarding, he watched Bolt for about 4 mins and finally fell asleep for the remainder of the flight. The final flight made me want to cry so you can image how he did! The pilot came over the speaker while we were waiting to take off (once again a 45 minute escapade) and prefaced the flight by saying Charlotte had some bad weather so it was going to be a bumpy ride, oh wonderful! By the end we were all going stir crazy and were crawling out of our skin when we finally made it to Charlotte at 9:30pm...picked up our checked bags and eventually made it home around 11pm.

It was a wonderful vacation away from work with a taste of winter weather...I just wish someone would invent a teleporting machine already so we can avoid the travel part!!! Well that was a picture overload but hopefully you got to see some of the adventures we had this past weekend. Unfortunately, I cannot give any pictures of the skiing since I did not partake in any of it and men just don't think to take a camera along for the ride :)