Juliette is Two!

As of two Thursdays ago, our teeny baby is two years old! I'm sure you all know that we are absolutely reeling over this, because wasn't it just a few months ago that we started residency, moved in to our sweet little house, and brought this tiny thing home from the hospital?

Apparently not. :)

She had an ear infection on her birthday (sad) but she still enjoyed herself (just with a little more crabbing and an extra nap) and we were happy to celebrate her. She chose to watch Wall-e for her birthday movie, so when Daddy got home from work and Gracie had finished her homework, we put that on.

We dined on Papa John's pineapple pizza (a family fav), though some of us found it hard to focus on the meal because Wall-e was still having lots of on-screen adventures.

Next was gift time, of course. Grace handmade a sweet little card and a "lift-the-flap" book, using post-it notes as the flaps. Beneath them were little surprises like a bird in a nest. She was very proud to present her gifts to baby sis.

Mommy's favorites were gifts of cute clothes from the grandparents. Most especially this coat. Because look:

Big sister supervised the gift-opening and hair-tousling.

When it came time to open the gifts from Mommy and Daddy, I was feeling pretty invested. I wish we had gotten on video her response to opening this doll stroller. She just said, "Mommy! Mommy! MOMMY!" in the most breathlessly excited little voice. It totally melted us and made us giggle at the same time. :)

And her final gift needs a little introduction.

For the past few months, Jules has been obsessed with a Wyldstyle minifigure (from The Lego Movie). We have two--one is Steve's and one is Gracie's--and Juliette systematically swipes whichever one she can get her hands on and carries it around to her various activities.

Like, for example, her birthday dinner:

Steve and I had been talking about getting her a doll to play with. And why not skip the baby doll in favor of her true favorite? But after a little internet searching we discovered that there was no plush or doll-sized version of Wyldstyle. So I picked up a copy of Wee Wonderfuls from the library, and modified one of their doll patterns to make a baby-doll version of Wyldstyle.

And I have to admit, I teared up a teeny bit when Juliette opened (and liked!) it. It's always a gamble to make something for a toddler--they tend to have, you know, opinions--so I was pretty thrilled that my little girl liked the gift I made her.

She stuck her right in the stroller and took her for a walk.

A really really really long walk.

She basically went around the couch again and again and again without ceasing until the siren call of birthday cake interrupted her. :)

We opted for a Coldstone ice cream cake this time around, and it did not disappoint.

The only problem we faced was how to get it into our mouths fast enough. :)

Happy birthday to this cute thing. She's a little bit of walking sunshine and we love her like an Oreo ice cream cake.

We ♥ fruit (& moms)

The day before Mother's Day Steve and the kids mysteriously disappeared in the van for an hour or two. When they came home, they paraded upstairs with armloads of something (I wasn't allowed to look) and closeted themselves in Gracie's bedroom for another hour or so. I had no idea what they were up to, only that it was in some way related to my present.

Well. Check it out:

Yes! Steve enlisted the kids to make me a full-fledged fruit bouquet! Complete with star and flower shaped melons and pineapples, cantaloup beads, and strawberry rosettes! It was the cutest and most delicious bouquet I have ever received, and I got to work enjoying it immediately.

(And also, if you were wondering, melons taste EVEN better when they are cut into shapes.)

Happy Mother's Day to me. :)

Pinterest Challenge #4-7: Gracie Things

I'm trying to group these Pinterest challenge things together for continuity's sake. And so you don't read about nail polishing Barbies and freezing fruit in the same post. Weird. So this time I've got a bunch of small and simple Gracie-related things I've worked on over the past couple of weeks. :)

(If you're confused why this starts at #4, see the rest of my Pinterest challenge stuff here.)

4. End Nagging and Negotiating with Three Simple Words

source: Positive Parenting Solutions

worth doing again: Ohhhhh yes.

I saw this charming little title pop up on Pinterest (captioning a little girl with clasped hands and a sad puppy face) and I had to take a peek. NO MORE NAGGING?! What?!?!

And the solution was so simple. When your kiddo starts to re-ask the same question or beg pleeeeeease or otherwise negotiate, you just say, "Asked and answered." And make that the end of the conversation. You already asked, I already answered, and that is THAT.

I tried this with Miss Gracie, and I was shocked that it worked. Sure, she hates it--usually she her brow gets all furrowed and sometimes she pouts a little. But no more whining/begging; she knows its not worth the effort.

The only pitfall, is that it just sounds so motherish. I usually just say, "Already answered." As if that is much better. Still, worthwhile for the peace it brings to car rides, dinner tables, and etc.

5. Mommy and Me Journal

source: Mama Jenn

worth doing again: yes

I've been looking for ways to connect with Grace and make her feel special, and this is right up her alley. We started by choosing pictures of things we like, and Gracie cut them out and glued them to the front of our journal. I like that she chose the chocolate chip cookie and Target on her own. That's my girl.

The original poster made this up as a sort of letter-writing exchange with her daughter, but since Gracie girl is mostly just writing short sentences, we also draw pictures in ours.

We've been trading back and forth for a couple weeks now. We usually each do a picture or two each week, and I always leave it for her to find after she's fallen asleep. So far it is a big hit with both of us. I LOVE the sweet things she draws and writes to me, and I can tell she likes having something special between just me and her.

6. Nail Polish Clothes for Nude Barbies
source: Good Ideas and Tips
worth doing again: yes

I will be the first to admit that when I saw people posting Barbies with nail polished shorts and t-shirts on Pinterest, I thought it was a little much. Who cares, right?! They are plastic dolls. But then Gracie started wanting to change all her princesses' clothes, which meant that usually they all ended up in some stage of undress. And it kind of weirded me out having all these naked (and, hello, totally unrealistic! Are you telling me Belle would have NO muffin top after eating those French palace feasts every night?) bodies laying around ALL THE TIME. Like, they were literally never clothed.

I wanted them to still be fashion forward and able to wear their ball gowns, so instead of shirts and shorts I improvised some nail polish bathing suits instead. Gracie was okay with it and very excited to pick the colors herself--she even watched me paint them and insisted on checking on them several times during the 24-hour drying period. Now the girls (Snow White, Belle, and Rapunzel from left to right) spend a lot of time swimming, and we no longer have to send them to a French beach for that to be socially acceptable.

7. Perler Bead Patterns
source: EK Success Brands Perler Gallery
worth doing again: yes

Steve and I grabbed some perler beads and their matching pegboards at Ikea last time we went (only at Ikea they are called Pyssra or something) and Gracie immediately fell in love. When I was looking up ironing instructions (the Ikea pictographs didn't do it for me) I came across a Pinterest board of patterns, and tried a Hello Kitty for my little HK fan. (She takes it to bed with her!)

Then I copied a rainbow.

Then Steve started hassling me, so now I do my own original bead art, too, when we have our post-lunch crafting sessions. But the copied ones always turn out better. And go much faster. :)

How our little artist kept busy during Saturday Conference.

Butterfly and a robin red breast. :)

via Instagram, April 07, 2013 at 10:19AM

We really like babies.

So we thought we'd have another one.

:)

Walton baby #3, due October 2013!

(And we're blogging about it here.)

Gracie's Art.

Gracie loves to draw. When she was 18 months old we got her an easel at Ikea (of course) and put it in her room. What started as scribbles and swirls has turned into intricately detailed figures--mostly princesses and the people she loves. She loves to color, but when she finishes with a coloring sheet she always flips it over to draw something of her own on the back. Give this girl a blank book and a pack of crayons and she will be happy for hours. :)

She is very talented, too! She already is already starting to show a natural grasp of proportion (her drawing is all her own--Steve and I don't show her how to do anything) and she has great attention to detail. I'm pretty proud of this sweet girlie--who is only 4! She is incredible. :) Here are some of the drawings from her most recent sketchbook:

Rapunzel, with trees in the background.

Rapunzel with floating lights.

Mom, Dad, Gracie, and Charlie (with correct eye color!)

Gracie & Mommy.

Snow White.

Ariel.

Mom & Gracie. (I love when she draws us together!)

Strawberry Shortcake.

Rapunzel. (She's a fav around here.)

Gracie and her bestie, Abby.

{home} Our Room.

Every room in our house has gotten love and affection, except our bedroom. The kids' rooms are adorable (if usually very "lived-in") but ours was just the place we shoved everything we didn't want company to see. Clothes, clutter, the works. So it has been looking a little sad.

The last week that Steve spent in San Antonio I was home alone with the kiddos. To keep myself busy, I tasked myself with fixing up the bedroom. I had a budget of about $150, and a couple of DIY projects to work on. It took me the entire week of naptimes and hours and hours of staying up after the kids went to bed, but I started with this before:

And got to this after about an hour before I picked Steve up from the airport:

Let's break it down. (I hope you're dancing right now.)

I snagged two euro sham filler pillows at Target for $10 a pop, and put them in $5 Ikea covers. The leaf pillow was $15 at Marshalls, the large white coverlet I already had, and the ruffle blanket at the foot of the bed was another Marshalls find-$19. The lamp bases I got for $10/ea at a garage sale last year. They're from Pottery Barn! Their shades are also from Tarjay. Curtain rod (Target) $15 (the Baileys came over to put it up because guess who has two thumbs and can't operate a power drill? This girl.) and curtains from Ikea for I think $10? I also covered the box spring with a fitted sheet, which made the bed look a lot more polished (the box spring is extra tall so it always peeks out from under the blankets). The thing that made the biggest difference was rotating the orientation of the room to put the bed in front of the window. And yes, I moved the bed myself.

Most of my time went to making this chandelier (to cover the charming bare bulb that was there before). This took up more time than anything else--hours and hours of cutting out circles, sewing them together, and stringing them. But it softens the whole room. That said... I probably wouldn't do it again. It took forever.

I got some 2x3 foam board at Michael's and blew up some wedding photos at Kinko's (just on their B&W drafting printer, which I learned about from a post on Pinterest, of course). They're high contrast and a little stripey; I like how they fill up the wall space. And how cute we look. These cost $14 total for all three. :)

Then I just cleaned, vacuumed, organized, dusted, popped some candles on the dresser and went to pick up my man. I think it was a good surprise.

Another before/after:

{made} comfy floor cushion

I don't know what it is about spring that gets me in the mood to make things, but we've made a bunch of stuff lately. One of them is a super cute growth chart I did with Steve. It's not on the wall yet, but I love it. I've also been refashioning thrift store dresses so I've got some new (cheap) stuff to wear for summer, because the humidity out here calls for one layer only! And no jeans!

But on to the cushion! This weekend I saw this on Pinterest, and I decided I wanted to make one. So I did it while watching copious amounts of college basketball with Steve. :)

Though it was made for Grace, Charlie will model it for you. (He will get his own soon.)

I learned a couple of important things from this project.

1. You can buy piping pre-made! And it is like a dollar if you use a Joann's coupon. Cheap, and so much easier than making it myself (and much better looking, too).

and

2. There is a practical application for π in my life! It took me 26 years to find it, but now boy am I glad somebody worked it out, because otherwise I wouldn't have known how long to cut out the side piece of this baby after I enlarged it to be 22 inches around.

...is it bad that I think the piping thing is more important?

Oh, and funny sidenote. I'm really enjoying Pinterest, and here's how you can tell. Steve asked if I wanted to watch a show with him during the kids' naps on Saturday, and I said yes and asked him if he minded if I "pinned" while we watched. I meant literally pinning this pillow. He thought I meant "pinning" stuff on Pinterest. :p