sack-o-spuds

 

 

Happy Halloween!

 

This was Cora's first halloween, so... of course she had to be a homegrown sack-o-spuds. You might have seen it on pinterest (I pinned it back when I was pregnant). It was a must do for our little idaho spud.

 

Pretty simple costume...

• Make a few spuds- This is how you make a panty-hose spud...with eyes! So fun.

• The body is just natural canvas that I had lying around from our wedding tablecloths.

• Draw some brown lettering on the sack with brown sharpie (hers said- homegrown spud pacotti farms idaho est. 2012)
• Then a brown outfit underneath

• An adult brown headband, sewed down to size with a spud sewn to it.

Ta-da! Homegrown Spud!

She is no sack of potatoes though, I assure you. She is more like a wiggle worm- but that costume would have taken me a bit longer to make.

 

 

We thought her outfit was hilarious.... she tolerated it surprisingly well too! I guess bring on the headbands with big flowers. Little spud is down. I also had a blast making it... no wonder so many moms make halloween costumes. Totally fun first halloween!

ooo....banana chocolate chip muffins.

[Ok, I may be cooking today which is a huge feat...but I didn't quite manage to put on make-up....or clean the house. But I did shower- that counts for something, right?!]

 

I mentioned a little bit ago that we moved. We now live in a subdivision....which means...while all of our neighbors have the exact clone of our house....we also all have a dishwasher, a microwave, a decent sized kitchen, carpets....the list goes on. It's phenomenal. I never thought I would love living in a subdivision so much...I now know why people do. Houses are new and nice. It's wonderful. It makes life easy. Anyways. I have been cooking, seeing how I have a semi-sleeping baby and a dishwasher...and I am not hooked at the boob to my little sweetie 24-7. I am sooo excited to share with you this awesome recipe.

And, I was wondering how to make good muffins. Mine are always flat and ugly. So I stumbled upon this post- so helpful! "the muffin method" talks about how to combine ingredients, letting muffins rise, good stuff.

[banana chocolate chip muffins]

Amaaazing. (modified from allrecipes)

 

Ingredients (for 24 muffins)- 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 6 large bananas, mashed 1.5 cups white sugar 2 eggs 2/3 cup butter, melted 1/2 bag of mini chocolate chips Sprinkle of white sugar Directions- -Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (read muffin method talked about above for reasoning). Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, then use paper liners- so that if the muffins overflow they pop out of the pan easily. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt; set aside. -Combine bananas, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Add chocolate chips. Scoop into muffin pans. I sprinkled on a little white sugar on the tops to get a crispy top. -Bake in preheated oven. Bake muffins for 20ish minutes. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.

 

six months

Oooo.... 6 months. We made it! Sure, cora is growing fantastically well. But this was a benchmark for us that I was holding onto in the early days. If we could just make it to six months. Why? I don't know. But we did it, and this time is grand just as I expected.

What you have been up to this past month...

• sitting un assisted. This was almost spontaneous. One day- totally supported, the next BAM! sitting like a big girl, reaching toys and balancing.
• working on crawling each day...little legs pulled up under your body, rocking back and forth ready to lounge into a crawl.
• sleeping 11-13 hours a night. We moved your bedtime to 6:30pm... you sleep until 7:30am sometimes. Dad and I have time together, alone, in the evenings- it's great for all of us.
• started on vegetables... sweet poatoes and carrots- a new favorite.
• you like to drink from mom's glass. You stick your little head out and drink/ blow bubbles. Its fantastically cute.
• you babble and talk to us and the dogs...and your toys. "bbb" seems to be the sound when you are trying to tell us something really important. We hope you're not trying to say poop. We should really stop talking about your poopies so much.
• you love to walk places- whether its holding our hands...or in your walker.
• You also love to do a full-body pull, an army crawl. You are rather efficient between that and rolling over and over to get where you want to go. With more independence your frsutrated fussies have diminished, just as we hoped. You're an active baby, that's for sure. Baby-proofing is coming up in the next month to prepare for your explorations.

first rain...fall is here.

 

Oh boy, there is snow in the mountains... we have beautiful fall leaves everywhere. I love this season. I wish for endless rainy days and snowy days...so dreamy. So perfect.

Cora experienced her first real rain last week. I thought about it, as I saw a dad clenching his babe and running indoors... I want cora to love the rain, take it in. I don't want to completely protect her from these beautiful natural elements... I want her to embrace them. Love the rain drops. Love her cold nose and the shock of frozen air in her lungs when we go outside to feed the dogs early in the morning. I want her to love seeing lightening and hearing the thunder. It's powerful and amazing. I want her to be fearless. Is that trainable? I don't know.

These mom thoughts... they engulf every "free" second of my day. At the pediatrician 6 month check they asked if Cora could pull herself to sit up on her own. I almost crapped my pants- shit, we forgot to work on something! Sitting up all by herself?! Sure she sits now unassisted, but to go from laying down to sitting- no way. Turns out there was a miscommunication and they meant pull up on our hands to get to sitting. Phew. See?! Mom thoughts. What we need to be working on next to help our little to grow and become independent... how she rocks our very new world...how to focus on being ever so present and in the moment. I love these mom thoughts.

Matt said the other night as much as he jokes around about the life we used to have... he wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world....not even watching football with a few pints like the old just-grown-up days. Cora is awesome, our little family is sensational. Sitting on the ground, watching cora almost crawl, having ambition of her own to do a rapid full body-drag to get to her books, full of laughs and smiles. Its awesome. I think this is my favorite stage so far. Parenthood is grand.

Oh, 6 months old...

 

Oh sweet cora. She turned 6 months.... a half of a year... this week!! This is what we have been doing all day... um...every day. Trying to find new things that give us that sweet laugh.

And she currently does a plank-style push up. Or a rocking motion on all fours. I think she is on the verge of crawling. We can't wait.

 

Monthly picture coming soon.

DIY jogger drink holder!

I am on a crafty roll. Nap time today I made a DIY jogger drink holder! It's awesome. It's not perfect. But I love it so much I am going to try it out when little miss wakes up. I try to go for a walk with cora in our lovely Bob stroller once a day. It doesn't always happen, but I try to. I usually bring my coffee (or water if I am feeling uber healthy). I always want to place it in a cup holder for when we go up and down curbs. Ta da! DIY stroller drink holder.

I had a blast making this. I have never done the snap-thing. It was really fun, and looks great. This now opens up a whole new world of crafty things to make.

[sew can do's DIY cup holder...so cute!]

I used this tutorial from sew can do. Super easy. She made it out of laminated cotton- great idea, but I didn't have any today.

[yup, water bottle fits!]

I traced the top of my travel coffee mug that I often walk with... make two circles. Then cut out two 12"x7" rectangles. And one 10"x7" rectangle for the handle piece. Do some fancy circle-side-sewing...and place some snaps.... sew on the handle piece- done! You'll have to read her tutorial. I can't do this project justice, and she had a beautiful way of explaining it with pictures.

I made mine out of cotton... but next time I will reinforce the handle piece with an additional layer sandwiched in between. One of the snaps wants to pull out of the fabric when I go to open the snap- sucky. So I will probably have to remake it sometime.

Cora is our homegrown spud?!

[our sweet cora laughing at dad...4.5 months old]
 

Sometimes we get caught up in... holy cow- Cora was that little "spud" we were watching grow inside my belly?! We called her spud for 9 months- but in actuality the second she was born, she just didn't look like a spud to us. She was cora, our little human we made.

When we watched her on the ultrasound- she had a ton of hiccups all through pregnancy and still does to this day. She was always moving her little bottom around flopping from side to side in utero...and even now she is constantly eyes wide open...observant, trying to crawl, walk... anything active. We saw her little feet, with her big toe sprawled at the 20 week ultrasound... they look exactly the same!

But now, in retrospect trying to think of our little cora as the same baby in my belly just blows our minds. We had no clue what we were in for, what being parents would be like, and how much she would rock our world. Now we can hardly picture what life was like before her. Life has forever changed. Every single daily activity, thought, action, feeling- it's all new, it revolves around Cora. And we love it.

pinterest wednesday!

liquid sidewalk chalk / petshop scavenger hunt / snowday painting

 busy board / close your clothes book / chalkboard fence

 

Well, I have had some time to pinterest-around. Little sunshine (aka cora) naps pretty well and sleeps through the night for now- which means I have some free time on my hands! I have been dreaming of what I can do with Cora when she is a big girl. Oh, I can't wait for the craft time we can share. So much fun! But for now I do the crafts for her.

So I jumped on a pinterest find.... taggy blanket. Cora loves tags on all things. They are silky, smooth...and unfortunately, I think, rather ugly. Initially I cut the tags off of all things cora-bound. I love using my seam ripper to take all of those tacky labels off of Cora's toys and clothes. Whoops. She loves them. Bad mommy. So, in lieu of her tag obsession I made a taggy blanket last night. She also loves sucking on wash cloths- like in the bath, or burp rags....so what a perfect combo- I think.

I had some left over flannel fabric from her fitted sheet project and some fleece laying around. I bought $14 worth of ribbon- what a rip off. Anyways. The ribbon is turquoise... and green... and it makes me happy. I sewed it all together- first sewing it improperly- so I re-did it....and voila! A tiny pretty taggy blanket, that happens to match her room. She likes it so far, but we shall see if it lasts.

 

Next on my craft-to-do list:

- artwork for Cora's plain-o room. yet to be determined, but pinterest will definitely be involved.

- fall wreath for our front door...yay... i love the holiday season!

- recruit matt to help with a "busy board" from above

- ribbon octopus to keep cora's toys from hitting the ground when we go out to eat

five months

At 5 glorious months old Cora you are...

• rolling over tummy to back and back to tummy.
• you reach for everything...and sometimes you out-smart us and knock over our drinks, salsa bowls, and put things in your mouth you probably shouldn't.
• you just learned to walk/jump/move in your baby walker.
• you love to hear your name and certain key words...like mama or dada or toes.
• you have learned how to hold the bottle on your own
• toes are your favorite, holding them at all times.
• sleeping is getting easier... mostly through the night, naps, and without a swaddle!
• dogs are hilarious to you...especially cora-sized ones (grandma's dog) and white ones (Colby our yellow lab)
• standing is your favorite activity- it really always has been. you take steps towards toys when we hold your little hands.
• sometimes when dad makes a whimpering/crying sound or sings a sad tune you start to frown and begin to cry...you are a sympathetic soul. good thing we are happy parents.
• you had your first cold and your first days at daycare.
• you are a happy baby, still high maintenance.... but willing to smile at us being silly and we love that.
• we can't wait for you to be able to sit up on your own and crawl. But right now we see a lot of blanket swimming- arms flailing, while you try to figure out how to get somewhere. But once you do... we know it's going to be fast!

oh crafts.

Guess who is crafting?! It's me. Craaazy. I thought this day was a million years away. When would I have enough time to get back to being crafty?! Well, that day has come....and in the form of fitted crib sheets. Yes, I may be sewing in my bedroom on a collapsible table so that Cora can sleep peacefully across the house. And yes...I may be staring constantly at the little green light on the monitor. But it happened. And it was glorious.

Project: 2 flannel fitted crib sheets
Estimated time to complete: 2 nap times
Materials:
      2 yards flannel fabric per sheet
      3/4" wide elastic - 4' per sheet
Outcome: 2 adorably soft and more importantly completed fitted sheets

Yes, I have made DIY fitted sheets before with my mom when I was pregnant [back here]. I used an amy butler twin sheet to make two fitted crib sheets back then. They have held up really well too! Well now it's fall and cora needs a cozy little flannel fitted sheet to lay her head on. She sleeps through the night (hooray!!) and we are in the process of de-swaddling her. She flips over to her tummy each night, and nuzzles her little head into the sheet...so it's got to be cozy.

I used Dana Made It as a reference for my first fitted sheet project, and Prudent Baby as a reference for this project. I made my own dimensions that I thought would work well. Their explanations may make more sense...but I will try to explain my method.

[these are my two fabric choices to match her turquoise themed room]

I went to the quilt store and bought 2 yards each of super cute material. This wasn't cheap. But it was the colors I was looking for. I had my dimensions from the last time I did this project, but I wanted to do the elastic a little bit differently. I chose to sew the elastic onto the fabric, instead of making a casing for it. I thought it would take less time, maybe look less polished.... but I also hate, ok strongly dislike, threading elastic through casing. It frustrates me. So, I chose a new method.



My steps for a standard 52" x 28" x 5" crib mattress:

1. Cut out a 68" x44" rectangle from material. My material ended up being 43" wide... but it was just fine.

2. Then cut an 8" square from each corner.

3. Sew those two remaining edges of the square together inside out....at each corner. This makes the corners of the fitted sheet that will go down the side of the crib mattress and under.

4. Sew a hem around the whole edge of the sheet. Did I wash the fabric before sewing? No. Was mine perfect? No. Did I cut off the selvage? Um. No. Could I have spent more time with this making a more refined double hem? Yes. But did I mention I got this project done in 2 naps?! Amazing.

5. Anyways, cut four 12" lengths of 3/4" elastic.

6. Mark a half-way point on the elastic at 6".

 

7. Sew that half way mark at each of the corner's seams with a zig zag stitch.

 

 

8. Start sewing half of the elastic length starting at the center with stretching out the elastic as much as possible, zig zag stitch.

9. Sew the other half starting from the center line again and going out holding the elastic stretched out....zig zag it up.

10. When you let go you have a scrunched up corner! Yay!...Now keep going for each corner. Not bad, right?!

[our new house with a new spud room... lacking a little luster... so I need to pinterest some decor ideas and craft some more I suppose]

[she, however, does not lack luster.... not ever]

 

oh, toes.

 

11. Test it out... perfect!

Verdict on elastic techniques: It took close to as long sewing a casing and threading through the elastic as it did to pull the elastic taut and sew down. It does look a little worse than the casing- in case you cared what the bottom of the mattress looks like (I don't). Is the sheet as taut with just the corners having elastic as elastic the full length of the sheet?! Not really. If you tuck under the edges, it looks/acts the same. I think depending on my mood with elastic I could go either route- I think both are comparable.

the end of breastfeeding.

I mentioned last post that I stopped breastfeeding. I did... or we did... and it is wonderful. I loved breast feeding, and I felt incredibly guilty for a while that I stopped, but ya know what?! We needed it to be done. I stopped when cora turned four months. I tried to research on google the right way to wean off breastfeeding. But it only made me feel worse about choosing to stop. Guilt trips galore. Oh my. Sure four months may seem young...and she seemed so tiny, and wanted a boob more than anything. And I loved our connection, how she nestled perfectly into my body...a tiny little spoon. But she was starting to bite, fuss, and not sleep so well. She always fell asleep while eating but didn't sleep too soundly.  I work 3 night shifts in a row- so by the end of my last 12 hour shift I was almost drained. My pumping would be near to nothing then I would ramp up again the next 4 days I was off. Talk about not natural.

I have to tell you stopping wasn't easy. My hormones were all over the place, snapping at Matt for really the silliest things ever (sorry matt).  Each time I would pick up cora she'd try and suck on me.... my arm... shoulder... anything and everything. She was getting smart. Mom=boob. Poor little person. I was shaking up her world, so we just did it cold turkey style. I would breast feed about once a day for a week... 5 min session then down to 1 minute. That way it would relieve the intense pain/pressure. And it worked.

It also made things easier that we have had cora on formula and bottles since the beginning. I had to supplement due to her latch issue for the first month while we were going to lactation meetings and working with her short tongue / tongue tied. It was hard work to get her to breastfeed, which is also why I felt like we had to keep going. All of that work we went through together....to just stop?!

After the engorgement ended, cora figuring out that I could also give her a bottle just like dad, and my own guilt subsiding... it was really okay. I was lacking energy from keeping up with breast feeding, so now I feel like I can do so much more with my day- which is good for all of us.

I also haven't lost a pound since having cora- wtf. I mean I lost about 25 pounds in the first week post partum. But that was all water/cora weight. But the last 25 lbs. Nope, nothing. I have it all still. Breast feeding didn't shed the pounds for me. Sucky. So either my metabolism is slowing down- and I have to work harder at losing weight now or my hormones have been holding onto this weight. I am bummed... but now with my new found energy I can do something about it. Ha... maybe I have to work out or eat less crap-food like every other human being to lose weight?! Weird.

So, Cora now takes a pure formula bottle... and rice cereal... and... peaches, pears, and applesauce. It's a hoot. We love having her try these baby foods...and she is probably just fine without the breast milk. I just won't ask google's opinion on the matter.

life after the move.

Sweet little thing after her morning nap. Aren't naps great?! Refreshed babe... refreshed mom and dad. Just wonderful.

 

Well...I have been a bit vacant these days in the blog world. We just moved houses- oh my, what a job. Moving with a baby in tow is tricky. Everything had to be spotless-OCD-clean in both our old house and new one for Cora. Plus it was hard to get anything done when you have a babe who needs to be held.

But, we did it! And life is much less stressful now. Our last house had no dishwasher, no microwave, one bathroom, and squeaky but beautiful hardwood floors. Geez, what were we thinking?! So now with a dishwasher, microwave, clean carpet, more space, new washer/dryer, and a nice big garage for the dogs to sleep in- life is wonderful again. It's funny how those little things make a HUGE difference in day to day stress levels.

So we are getting into the swing of things again. Matt is back in classes for the fall, I am working nights...and getting to spend 4 precious days off with Cora a week. And big deal for Cora this week... she starts up at daycare (4 hours/week so that matt can do HW and I can sleep for my night shift)! I think she is going to love seeing other little babes. And I am feeling like a mom finally, and enjoying it immensely. Oh yea...I even cooked dinner this week, went grocery shopping, and cleaned the house. CRAZY! I also stopped breast feeding- which gave me a huge surge of energy that I didn't realize I was lacking. Life is good. Now I need time to craft and talk with my girlfriends....so very soon!!

And little miss is now waking up. Gotta go!

four months

 

This past month has been a blast. I can finally say that when people ask me about motherhood, parenthood, having a baby... I say positive things first, instead of the negative ones. Horrible, right?! It is. But it's also true (sorry, Cora). When Matt and I think of cora and it brings a genuine smile to our faces. Our hearts, lungs, whole body ache when we are not around her. I sometimes feel like an elephant is crushing my chest- I know, classic symptom of a heart attack.... but I think it's just extreme love. We want to enjoy every second of this baby... our very own baby... and just immerse ourselves in it. This is wonderful.

 

What you've been up to this past month, our dear cora elm...

• you like to put everything in your mouth and chew. No more sucking on pacifiers, just chewing (gumming) on all things.
• you also usually have your hand in your mouth- anywhere from 3-4 fingers at a time. Sometimes you suck on your thumb, but your other fingers stab your eye. You are working on curling your fingers...but it's not quite mastered yet.
• you flipped over from back to belly all by yourself! You do it all the time now, it cracks us up. You gather enough teeny tiny momentum and right over you go.
• your giggle is precious... you don't do it very often but when you do it melts our hearts
• you are a big girl riding in your BOB stroller, no more infant carseat for you- you love walks now being able to see the world
• you are so alert, always watching and learning with your big blue eyes.
• your dad works with you daily on "work outs"... like sitting up, rolling over, standing, laughing, crawling. The baby basics.
• and most surprisingly....you sleep in your crib for 8-10 hours at night!!! AMAZING!!! We attribute this to you getting rice cereal at night (but don't tell the pediatrician). We have a nightly routine- rice cereal, bath time, swaddle, and bottle. It works like a charm so far.

[see our spud's monthly posts here]

baby carriers galore.

[ha, I just realized I have been putting cora's arms in the wrong place...whoops!]

I think I should mention here that we have way too many carriers for our babe. It's rather silly. Does she like all of them?! Nope. Do I like all of them...not really. But, we still have 4 of them- regardless of my attempt to be a minimalistic-mom. I think we *might* have been happiest with the ergo... but gosh, it was so expensive I tried to do without. And now if you add up my totals from the four listed below, it would have been more cost efficient. Oh, being a new mom is tricky.

1. the boba [here] This carrier is hands down the most adorable one I've ever seen... Cora protests getting into it, but usually falls asleep once we start walking. It was about $75, from ecomom.com- cheapest I've found it for sale. The downside, which led me to purchase #2, is that she can't face outwards in it. Big bummer.

2. the infantino [here] This was super cheap at Babys R Us...$21.00..amazing! It's comfy, simple,  and lets Cora sit outwards...the picture of us above. She could also sit facing towards me- but she loves observing this world- so outwards is her happiest right now. I am able to get things done around the house while she just contently watches.

3. the moby [here] This one our pediatrician recommended, to help Cora in her early weeks. She was and still is a fussy baby. His thought was to help her feel more like she was still in the womb. She hated it, I don't care for how tricky/time consuming it is to wrap. Cora doesn't like feeling confined, but likes to be close to us- so not a winner for this babe. Maybe the next baby will like it more. It was about $40 at target.

4. the sling [here] This one we have yet to use. It's super cute and simple. Also about $75. However, I have a large (the biggest size) and only recently does it actually fit me. I was too big post-pregnancy. I also had some worries about her suffocating in it if used improperly. But now that she is bigger I am looking forward to her sitting it with her upper body out. I think it will be that extra support for when she likes to sit on my hip.

flying with a babe

[on the plane]

Well...we went flying with a baby. Just typing this makes my heart jump. Yikes... what the heck were we doing?! A three month old... on a plane... craaaaazy. We successfully flew to california a 1 hour and 45 minute direct flight to see the grandparents. Let me tell you it was worth it. A time for them to bond with Cora- she is a completely different baby than she was when she was born- thank goodness, and it gave us some time for us to relax and catch up. Oh, the alternative to this flight, would have been a 12 hour road trip. Considering she doesn't like her car seat, we thought it would be cruel (for all of us) to do a road trip.

Don't get me wrong, flying with a baby is way more stressful than flying by yourself and a complimentary glass of wine that's for sure. But Cora only had one 5 minute burst of crying each way. This 5 minute outburst felt like eternity... but it wasn't.

My dear blogger friend meghan (we ski slow) couldn't have posted a more timely piece on how to travel with a baby. So from her list -here-, I made my own.

My tips for what made this flight okay...

• We brought bottles of formula. The flight to California we only brought 1 bottle- big mistake.The flight home we brought two...it was perfect (one for take off and one for landing). And FYI you're allowed to fly with as much breast milk/formula as you need for a babe. Cora wouldn't breastfeed on the flight, too many distractions... so I'm glad we brought bottles.
• The flight home we had to get up out of our seats...use them as a flat surface and swaddled cora. It worked, just like at home.
• We brought tons of toys.
• We had her as a free "lap infant"...and didn't bring on her car seat, it was checked at the gate. Boise really only does small airplanes... so this worked well for us.
• Cora was handed back and forth between Matt and I the whole trip... it would be utterly gutsy to do this flight alone without a support person.
• Let's be honest here though....we got lucky. Good timing for Cora, short flight, and pure luck. Will this be smooth again, probably not. But I will take what we can get.

can you see the disbelief in my eye?! sleeping cora... amazing.

We also had a few other firsts with our dear cora... first time swimming *gasp*.... and get this... first time eating rice cereal. I know, I know... we are living on the wild side with our 3 month old. But gosh, these firsts were fantastic. Once we started throwing out the "shoulds" and starting following our new parenting instincts we have been a bit more relaxed.

...adorable naked baby. She loved swimming at the grandparent's house.

oh yea... i think she likes it folks.