DIY Subway Art

Are you anything like me in that you have a running mental list of projects you'd love to do except that you'd have to learn a new skill in order to do them? I'd love to learn to knit, to crochet a beanie so that I can make a sock monkey and owl hat for Natalie (I barely know how to crochet an afghan!), to embroider without it looking like a 5-year-old got a hold of a needle and thread, and to be able to fix things around the house without calling my dad or father-in-law to come to the rescue. Another project that I've seen all over Etsy and Pinterest that I've wanted to try is making subway art. There are so many different versions and variations to cater to nearly anybody's taste. Lucky for me, I stumbled across this tutorial on Pinterest that explained how you could design your own 'word art' using Picasa. If you're not familiar with Picasa, it's a free photo editing software that you can download from Google. I use it to crop and 'edit' (ie: remove red eye from) our photos. The tutorial was easy to follow. She included a blank high-resolution white background to download to make getting started fast and easy. From there, you use Picasa's text tool and the fonts you already have on your computer (I went to Dafont to download a few more to make things interesting), to create your 'masterpiece'. After working on this for a few hours (Natalie was soooo cranky, then it was dinner, bath, and bedtime!), here's how mine turned out. I think I want to print this out and frame it to go on Natalie's bookcase/mantle:

Several of the fonts were already a part of my font library from Microsoft Word and a few others had been downloaded months ago, so I'm not sure if they are still available, but here is a list of all the words and which fonts they were typed in, in case you'd like to use them in a project or download them for yourself:

Just The Way You Are (wonderful)
Footlight MT Light (heaven-sent)
Goudy Stout (miracle)
Constantia (adorable, strong, cuddly)
Curlz (playful)
Janda Curlygirl Serif (child of God)
Gigi (lovely)
French Script (happy)
Berlin Sans FB (kissable)
A Yummy Apology (unique)
Traveling_Typewriter (mommy's girl)
Harrington (bundle of joy)
Servus Text Display (daddy's girl)
Cinnamon Cake (light of my life)
Always Forever (huggable, sunshine, giggly)
Gold Plated (blessing)
Grenouille (one-of-a-kind)
Airplanes in the Night Sky (wiggly, sweetie pie, beautiful)
Avanti (Natalie Grace)
Angsana New (courageous)

I found a couple other fonts that I really loved (one called Cast Iron, comes to mind), but I felt like they didn't fit in with this particular project. Now I want to create more word art so that I can use those awesome fonts! There are more than a few empty walls in my house crying out to be decorated!!! Oh, and dingbat fonts also work well if you want to incorporate shapes and flourishes along with words. I downloaded Frames'n Riboons (yes, that is riboons, with one 'b' and two 'o's), which would be super cute for something! I'm thinking of art for Natalie's first birthday...and what a cute baby shower gift, or wedding present! Oh, the possibilities!

Kindle Cover

I'm linking up with Table for Four's monthly PINspired feature today! I just finished sewing a Kindle cover for a birthday present and now I'm ready to make one for myself!

I used this tutorial that I came across on Pinterest and it was really easy to follow, although I did change it up just a little. The tutorial includes an inside pocket, but I didn't really see the need for one and a friend said she never used the pocket inside the cover that she had made for herself, so I skipped that part. I also sewed the hook-and-loop (velcro) closure on instead of using iron-on velcor, for added durability.

The main fabric is from Hobby Lobby and the brown with aqua polka dots is Chocolate Dumb Dot from Michael Miller. This was my second time sewing with batting and I must say, it's really not hard at all. Trying new things when I sew is always intimidating at first (probably because of the fear that I'll have to rip out stitches!), but it's not so bad once I get the hang of it. If you have a Kindle, Nook, ipad, or some similar device, you should try to make one of these covers! So cute and SO EASY!

Projects and Picnics

I've done some of sewing and embroidery recently and I must say that it feels good, albeit a little hectic, with a baby around who tries to put everything in her mouth. And I mean EVERYTHING. Just yesterday I had to fish a plastic wall anchor out of her mouth. Praise God she didn't choke! Here are some of the projects I've been working on:

A bib and burp cloth set for our local MOPS group to give away:

A skirt for my oldest niece's birthday:

A onesie for a friend's little girl, announcing some big news for their family!

Crazy-colors back-to-school skirt for our niece:

I'll be sewing a Kindle case for a birthday gift this weekend, too. I hope it turns out as cute as the one in this tutorial that I'm following!

The reason I was sewing skirts for my nieces is because they got to come to KY for a week to visit us all by themselves! My mom has been looking forward to hosting "Camp Grandma" for a long time, and her dream finally came true! While the girls were here, we had a few picnics at some local parks. The weather was gorgeous for August. Not unbearably hot and humid like usual, but just breezy and warm. After one picnic, we took a short little walk down to Lake Cumberland where the kids enjoyed throwing rocks into the water. A friend's two boys also came along and showed the girls the ropes.

Caitlin (7), couldn't resist the urge to go 'swimming' and jumped in.

Bella (almost 5) and Grandma

Me, Natalie, and Ashley (9)

A beautiful view from the shore!

The week went by so quickly, but we had a lot of fun and look forward to them coming back next summer!

Eight is Great!

So, I think this blog has turned into an online baby book for my first born. It seems as though I can't think of much else to write about other than her life. Every once in a while I think about writing about something more personal, and then I doubt myself and don't write anything til it's time for another monthly update on Natalie. One of these days I'll get back into writing about other stuff...

Here are a few things that have happened during Natalie's eighth month of life:

-Started saying "dada" and "mama", usually when she's upset and needs one of us
-She loves to take steps when you hold her hands

-Tried prunes, green beans, navy beans, puffs (which she has mastered at this point), oatmeal, baked apples and asparagus
-Started using the convertible car seat
-Has become much more sociable, but also bashfully smiles at everyone who talks to her
-Started crawling very slowly on her hands and knees
-Pushed herself into a sitting position from laying down on 8/15
-Pulled up to standing in her crib on 8/16/12

-Claps her hands (so cute!!!)
-Traveled to another state (Ohio) and met her Aunt Kim and cousins, Ashley and Caitlin for the first time

-We had to lower her crib mattress so she didn't fall out when she stood up in bed

I'm so excited to watch my baby girl grow up. It's sad that time has gone by so quickly, but every day brings new joys and adventure with it. I can't imagine life any other way. We are so blessed!!!

Seven Months

I must say that having a baby in December makes it very easy to keep track of how old she is. One month old in the first month of the year, seven months old in the seventh month, etc. A friend's first born just turned a year old last week and it served as a reminder of how quickly these babies grow up!

During this last month, Natalie has changed so much (what else is new?!). Here are some of the things she's been up to:

-Rolling from back to belly and belly to back (as long as she's on a soft surface, like the bed or the couch. This child will NOT roll over on the floor!
-Pulling up on us or a dresser drawer. She LOVES to stand and has even started taking a few very wobbly steps like she's trying to cruise.

-I gave in and decided to let her sample a few foods here and there and have really liked my Munchkin baby food grinder to make small portions of food for her to try. She has tried zucchini, watermelon, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, and peaches, in that order. So far, it looks like watermelon has been her favorite and carrots are her least favorite. I might not have gotten the texture of the carrots smooth enough for her liking though. We don't feed her solids every day; usually it's only when we happen to be eating something that we could also puree and give to her. I'm just not that into giving her solids yet. Baby-led weaning is sounding right up my alley about now :)

-She sticks her tongue out when Layla tries to lick her face. Gross, I know, so now we're extra attentive to keep their mouths away from each other! *Shudder* She also sticks her tongue out when we try to wipe her mouth off with a paper towel after she has eaten. Silly baby!
-Natalie has finally started saying a few syllables again. So far, she is saying "ma" and "ba". She also does this adorable thing where she curls her lips inward like you do when you're saying an "m" word, but she smacks her lips together over and over and it sounds like bubbles popping. Or, at least that's the best way I can think of to describe it!
-She now naps on her belly about half the time. The first time that this happened, she cried out and I went to check on her and her legs were sticking out through the slats in her crib, underneath the bumper and she was stuck! I really wanted to run and grab the camera before I rescued her, but I resisted the temptation and helped her out. Silly wiggle worm! The past 5 days have been horrible as far as naps go. I don't know if it's because of teething or what, but Natalie will.not.nap. She has gone from 3 naps a day (two long naps and a short nap) to two really short naps. On Saturday, she took two 30-minute naps. Has anyone else's child gone through this? She just lays in her crib and coos or she lays there and cries. Either way, no sleeping is happening. Ugh. I hope it's just teething.

-Socially, Natalie has grown by leaps and bounds. At just two months old, she literally screamed when anyone other than Alex or myself held her. The grandparents were devastated, to say the least. Now, she lets them hold her during church and when we visit with them. It's still not usually for extended lengths of time, but she's getting there. I hope we can work up to her staying with her grandparents for a couple of hours between feedings without her having a meltdown. All in time!

Growing Up!

Natalie had her 6-month check-up last week. She weighed 17 lbs (70th percentile) and was 27.25 inches tall (just above the 90th percentile). Despite having her nap cut short, she was really content during our time in the waiting room and during the check up. She really enjoyed playing with the paper on the exam table :)

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I've been putting off introducing solids to her because of a family history of food allergies, but we have given her just a taste of a few things here and there. While we were visiting my parents recently, they had a little too much fun letting her sample some blackberry juice from a cobbler my mom had made.

After her check-up, we decided to give her a little more than a taste of veggies for the first time. I pureed some zucchini that we ate for dinner and Alex let her have at it.

By the end of dinner, she'd had enough and was ready for bed!

A friend was feeding her daughter some "puffs" the other day and gave me some for Natalie, but she kept gagging and nearly choking on them, so I decided to steer clear of them for the time being. I know the whole gagging thing is normal since they aren't used to having anything with texture in their mouths, but watching your beloved child react that way is kind of scary for a new mom! Natalie loves to mooch water from your cup, so I kept dropping water in her mouth from a straw, much to her delight. These days, sippy cups with water are good entertainment for her while I try to cook dinner, too.

She's quite a ham. Everything within her reach is fair game. She spilled ice water on me at Cracker Barrel yesterday morning and then slapped her hand on some chocolate dessert that Alex was trying to eat today. There's never a dull moment in our house! It's a lot of fun to experience all of Natalie's firsts with her and not miss anything. She's changing so quickly and I'll have a mobile baby on my hands before I know it! I don't think I'm quite ready for that!

Never-ending Faithfulness

I am a planner. I've had my life planned out from the ripe old age of, oh, seven or eight:) Go to college, graduate, get married, have babies. Well, maybe that's a very general plan, but it's all come together quite nicely so far. Sometimes things don't go as we plan, and it's really frustrating for someone like me who doesn't handle change very well. When things don't go the way I thought they were going to, I get all stressed out and my thoughts are consumed with figuring out how to get things back on track so they fit nicely into the compartments of my mind (men aren't always the only ones who compartmentalize!).

Recently, I was asked to pray about a part-time job opportunity that I had been hoping might come along. After praying for a week, I felt like God clearly told me to accept the opportunity, so, that's what I did. Lots of details were still up in the air, but God was providing for our finances and I was going to be challenged to grow in Him more than ever before. In the weeks since, details have changed and I've been stressed out to the point that I don't want to pursue the job anymore. But, then the thought occurred to me that I can't give up simply because I don't feel like dealing with change. God told me to do this, so I have to follow through. His will doesn't change along with my moods. And His plan is bigger and better than anything I can think up anyway! So, I'm sticking it out to see what's in store. I'd rather be obedient and experience a few growing pains than be selfish, take the easy road and miss out on the blessing of the Lord. God is faithful, He knows my needs, and He has a plan to meet those needs.

Proverbs 3:5: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."
Isaiah 55:8-9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

Speaking of faithfulness, recently I have seen first-hand how faithful God is. Eleven years ago, divorce ripped Alex's family apart. His parents were devastated and helpless to watch as their ex-son-in-law moved across the country with his 3 sons - their only grandchildren at the time - cutting the boys off from the rest of the family. Last summer was the first time in ten years that Alex had seen his nephews. It almost seemed like too much to hope for that they would be allowed to come back again this summer for a repeat visit, but, God is faithful and He made a way! The boys just left after another wonderful two-week visit. I thought it would be really special to get pictures taken of all 8 grandchildren together with their grandparents so we could always remember that God will grant us the desires of our hearts and He is always working things out even when the situation seems hopeless. The timing couldn't have been more perfect either, because my in-law's 39th wedding anniversary is this Saturday, and we're getting this picture framed for them as a gift.

One more reminder of God's faithfulness is this precious little bundle of joy:

I've waited for her since I was that little seven year-old girl making big plans for her life, and boy was she worth the wait!