Update

For the first time since Jude was born I forgot to take his monthly photos! At first each month was so exciting and he felt so old. Now I guess its all beginning to blend in a little more. Here are a few 7 month shots:

A new 7 month milestone for us is first teeth! He has cute his two bottom teeth. This has means we have had to make several adjustments including not putting our fingers in his mouth to let him chew on, and brushing his teeth.

He thought he could do it by himself

Please ignore the mess on the counter

Unfortunately this month his night waking has resurfaced. Any one have any tricks up their sleeves for getting a baby to sleep well through the night? Even waking only 1-2 would be wonderful. We tried the cry it out method one night, for 10 min, it did not go well for us.

We are also excited to have been accepted into the Queen Bee market for a 2ND time! The marked it in Del Mar the weekend before thanksgiving. We are busy and excited preparing our normal shop items as well as some fun Christmas and fall themed baby hats and boots. Once we are done with them I will share a few photos.

Our shop is also doing pretty well. We are getting a ton of views on our items and have now sold a decent number of items. We are hoping that with the holidays coming up and all the new supplies we have that things will pick up even more!

3 years

This week was our 3 year anniversary.

I cant beleive how fast time passes.

We celebrated by going away for the weekend with some friends of ours. We went to a place by the beach and enjoyed good company, nice walks and Judes first swim trunks.

One year ago we celebrated in a small way, wanting to save in anticipation of the arrival of baby.

Two years ago we celbrated with a weekend away in Oxford UK. We walked around historic places and went paddling on the rivers.

Three years ago, we stood under a tree, before a priest and our friends, and made a commitment to love each other and stand by each other always.

Happy Anniversary Tyler!

rolled rose party and tutorial

Over the weekend we threw a rolled rose craft party. We invited a few good friends over and provided the craft, some lunch and mimosas. It is so fun to be able to have a project to work on while you catch up with old friends!

There are tons of online tutorials for how to make these roses, but i decided since i have never done one before to create a little tutorial of my own to go along with the pictures from the party set up.

Rolled Rose tutorial:

Supplies:

• fabric torn into 2-3 inch wide strips
• glue gun and glue sticks
• felt square
• fixing (headband, earring backs or pins)
• scissors

Find some scrap fabric and tear into 2-3 inch wide strips

Fold fabric in half lengthwise twice

begin to roll fabric tightly until approx. 1/4 inch and secure with glue

Now begin to twist your fabric and continue rolling, dot with glue along the way

after a few twists and rolls your rose should begin to take form

once you have reached desired length, fold fabric under rose and secure with lots of glue, cut extra fabric off

completed rose!

once you have made however many roses you want for your project, simply glue to felt. Cut felt around shape of project and glue felt directly to your fixing. Below is a headband but you can also do earrings, pin backs or really whatever you feel like

Materials needed for party:

Craft supplies (see rolled rose instructions above)

large tables, cover in paper to protect from lots of sticky glue

mimosas (orange juice and champagne)

iced tea or other decaf non alcohol drink

lunch (we did a simple salad and rolls)

We layed out all the project items on one table with instructions:

scrap fabric torn into 2 inch strips

Fabric and findings ( headbands, earring backs, pins, buttons)

The next table was the assembly table where we had people plug in their glue guns and start crafting!

a lot of glue

assembly instructions

I was having such a good time chatting with the ladies that i did not snap any photos of the craft party or the food. It is such a simple project and really easy to do while carrying a conversation. Hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

long long weekend

It is rare that my husband gets any extra time off work so when we get a long weekend we try and savour every moment of it. This particular weekend was filled with ups and downs.

The down, my family dog of 13 years passed away on Sat. night. She was old and not doing well, she went in her sleep, so it was a good thing when you look at the big picture, but still hard. She was the dog that stood by me through those tough and awkward adolescent years. Since I went to college I would come home each christmas or summer and see her slowly change from the energetic and wild dog to a calm and slow moving dog. I know its just a dog, but she will be very missed.

The ups, we were able to spend time as a family up in the mountains. I nearly teared up when we first began walking on the trail as I walked behind my husband carrying our son and though of how long it had been since we had been out in the mountians. Living near the beach and the city for so long was wonderful, but there is something about the quiet of the mountains that just cant be beat.

On top of that we were able to spend the day at the zoo with some very dear friends of ours. It is always so refreshing to have friends with whom you can feel relaxed enough to be yourself while also being challenged just by being around them to be a better person.

We ended the weekend with at an old family friends house for a bbq. I was able to see some friends who I have known since I was 5 years old, many of which had not yet met my son.

As if that wasnt enough, I have my page up and running on Embracing Labor doula site! You can check out my page here. I am over the top excited about getting started in this new venture. Embracing Labor has also agreed to put some of our Hope And Heritage items in the shop section of their website! After meeting my sister Emracing Labor doulas last night I feel pumped up and ready to start doula-ing!