big birthday treats, oh my!

very first birthday cake, strawberry with cream cheese frosting.

and a sweet birthday sundae ends our celebration dinner at our favorite diner, complete with skatresses and a dj to play the birthday song for us to sing along with.

five, at last!

glad to see you finally grew into those cheeks!

happy, happy birthday baby girl!!

just what i need

my new tea cup, i found it while thrifting yesterday.

creativi.tea: noun~ having more creative ability while drinking tea

what could be better than that?

stitch by stitch

i am sewing through my continuously growing fabric stash this month... and next! no buying fabric. no thrifting for fabric. just using what i already have.

here is esme' in her new birthday dress that she will wear this weekend. when she turns 5 years old! baby girl is not really a baby anymore!

this dress will grow with her by uncrossing the straps and buttoning them on the last button hole~ so hopefully it will fit her next summer too.
i sewed these little bags for the girls last night. the green one was the first one i made and it is really pretty sloppy. notice how i didn't match up the flower pattern on the panels? oops!!
and this little pink bag matches esme's birthday dress!
i have this stack of fabric pulled out in hopes that it will be turned into beautiful, usable items by the end of next month. i also got my hands on some lovely bamboo velour that is asking to be dyed in pretty colors and sewn into something special.

now, if i could just figure out how to add more hours to the days so i can get all these projects done...

shutterbug!

esme' behind the lens~ self portraits can be tricky!

finding these images on my memory card this morning made me smile big~ thank you for that esme'!

thrifted treasures!

new shoes for mama!

home decor weight fabric~ approx 2 yards
more fabric in the sweetest little print ever! i am seriously in love with this! it looks like i have about 1 yard. any suggestions on what it should become?
a twin size sheet that is going to be summer skirts for the girls and i.
a spool of pretty ribbon (29 cents!!)
a lovely pumpkin wool sweater that i plan to felt and cut up and sew a wool diaper cover out of.

and a cute new denim skirt~ it is hard to photograph an article of clothing while wearing it...

celebrating harper's first year

really?? a whole year has passed since we welcomed this sweet, little boy into our lives? it is amazing how quickly time slips by. baby's first birthday is always so bittersweet. i am already missing those days snuggling with a fresh from the womb baby. but i am also looking forward to the what is still to come. the first words, the new favorites, the slobbery kisses and tiny hugs. we have already been incredibly blessed... and this is only the beginning!

happy, happy birthday, sweet harper! the past year has been an amazing journey and i cannot wait to see where our journey takes us next!

xo, mommy

celebrating our mother's

this is me with my beautiful mom, circa 1974. i assure you she is still just as beautiful today, but i could not find a recent photo that she would allow me to post!

a beautiful day for a beautiful woman~

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM!

i love dirt.

i got the rest of my vegetable plants in the ground today with a little help from the kids. as you can see in the pics i still have a good size bed behind me that needs plants... once i pull all the weeds out of it *sigh* i think i will tackle that tomorrow and maybe put a little herb garden in. i have an herb garden out front and i love all the fresh, fragrant herbs that it supplies. i started an asparagus bed this year. i am not sure why i haven't planted asparagus in the past. tony grew up eating wild asparagus that grew on their property.

harper was pretty content on my back, but i suspect that the dirt was calling to him. it won't be long and he will be out there digging for worms right beside his big sister.
happy harper!
tomorrow for mother's day the kids and i are going to buy and plant flowers. i have my eye on a pretty little bird feeder at cost plus world market too. and esme' is planning a little backyard picnic and i heard a rumor about cake being served...

this baby carrier is a BabyHawk Onbuhimo. she no longer makes them but you can get Onbus from other manufactuers. or start stalking the for sale or trade forum at The BabyWearer and you might come across a BabyHawk Onbu!

feeling lucky?

as i have mentioned before we are avid babywearers. we carry our not- so- little guy everywhere. we have a carrier for every occasion. here is your chance to win your very own carrier. visit along for the ride for a chance to win an ergo baby carrier to keep your little one close to your heart. for more information on babywearing check out The BabyWearer forums.

and just for fun, a photo of newborn harper in our beloved BabyHawk mei tai.

that's better!

everything is back to normal here. esme' feels better. mama feels better. it has been a good day! we all have those days where we just feel crummy. the days when we can't deal with anything, or anyone. i can totally understand. after her huge public meltdown and a good cry followed by hugs and kisses and cuddling she emerged from her bedroom and ate her favorite peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich then put her barbie roller skates on and went outside. just like that, she is fine.

i think the whole tantrum would not have been a big deal to me had we not been in the grocery store. it is hard to deal with such things with people, strangers present. i feel like my parenting skills are center stage for all to see and critique. it feels so raw and exposed. then i wonder what people are thinking. are they smiling to themselves thinking about times that their own child has had a breakdown in the cereal isle? are they feeling bad for her and the thought of her being in trouble, because i have felt this way for crying kids in the store. or maybe some of them are thinking "man, what a brat!" here is my plea to you~ the next time you see that mama in your store give her a smile, a hand if she needs it, something to let her know she is not alone. it may be just the thing she needs to keep her sanity that day...

some day it is hard...

...to be a mama, and today was definitely that day for me! esme' has been, to be honest, pretty bratty for a few days now. that on top of little harper getting into everything is exhausting by the end of the day.

we are out of absolutely everything and friday is our normal grocery shopping day but i decided that we'd better go get a few things so we don't starve. so as soon as niko came home from school and finished her homework i packed everyone up and we went to fred meyer. usually esme' loves freddy's playland so when i asked her if she'd like to go play for awhile and she said yes i thought it would be great for her to have some time to play... away from mama! we went over and signed her in and then she decided that she did not want to go in... then yes she did, then no, then yes... then after she said yes for the final time she wouldn't go in the door that the nice playland lady was holding open for her. so i told the nice lady (who knows us pretty well) that maybe it was just too late in the afternoon for her. the nice lady said yes, she sure didn't seem herself, and we walked away. then the screaming started because of course, she had yet again changed her mind and wanted to go to playland, but i was done with that game and calmly told her no, she would be shopping with us. she proceeded to SCREAM, so we went out by the shopping carts where i tried to talk to her and explain why she would not be going to playland. still screaming. and when i say screaming i mean SCREAMING... you know where everyone in the building stops and looks at you. so when it was very clear that she would not be calming down i decided shopping was out of the question. so now, she refuses to walk out of the store. so i, with harper in a baby carrier on my back, have to pick up my nearly 5 year old SCREAMING child and carry her out and to the car. i was shaking mad, but i drove us home, sent her to her room and spent the next 20 minutes sitting in the bathroom (the only place to be by yourself around here) listening to her cry in her room for her daddy. because he is the good guy... the nice parent... the one who works full time so it breaks his heart to have to disipline her when he is home.

anyway, the kids had soup and pb&j sandwiches for dinner (2nd night in a row) and esme' feels a little better after some hugs and kisses and being held for awhile. but i am SO looking forward to bedtime tonight! and i might have to switch grocery stores for a few weeks until they stop talking about the worst tantrum in history at our regular store.

it's time...

to vote for your favorite Mothers Day Photo! there are some sweet photos, some heartwarming and some just silly fun~ a visual reminder of all that motherhood is...

could it possibly be?

i can't believe may is here already! it snuck up on me in a huge way! our family has a lot to celebrate this month. it is finally time to put all of our plants in the ground. i have been looking forward to this for weeks. i can almost taste the home grown salads, squash and pickles.

saturday is the midwife appreciation picnic at the park, but we are unable to attend. instead we will be enjoying ourselves at a good friend's birthday bash! i have decided to extend my support to our local midwives by donating a prize for their raffle. i am giving one of each of my products from inspired mama creations as well as some cloth baby wipes and a couple hand sewn bibs.

and, most exciting of all, we will be celebrating some very special birthdays this month. esme' is turning 5 on the 23rd and harper will be one year old on the 12th. in fact, my "due date" was may 1st, 2007. one year ago today. of course harper had his very own agenda and came out when he was good and ready! i can hardly believe how big my babies have grown. it is very bittersweet indeed.

the begining of a new month has brought my stash busting to an end. i knit my little heart out and i gifted many skeins of yarn and as a result my load feels a little lighter. i visited a local yarn shop today and walked out with only a pretty shawl pin and not a single skein of yarn. so, as promised, here are my knitted goodies from april~


simple shawl, knit from partial skeins of wool in my stash.

noro arm warmers~ same colorway, same dyelot, totally different anyway! very colorful though, i like them!
new shorts for harper!

a felted bag i made for a friend's birthday. the handles are a little crooked so i made a whole new bag. it left the house damp from the washer (it was also felted) without being photographed. the pretty hand painted yarn was also part of her gift,
a sweet little wrap sweater for a sweet new baby.

little mary janes for the same sweet baby!
a felted bird nest and eggs
and a couple big beaked birds to live in the felted nest!

little longies for harper's dolly. notice how the longies also serve as a shirt! they are a tad bit high waisted, i know...
a bracelet bag for esme' knit from leftover soaker yarn.


this was going to be another felted nest but i ran out of yarn. it is a hot pad/ pot holder/ plant cozy thingy...
a boring but very handy dishcloth.

and a zoom swiffer cover! love this!!

so, there it is! mid may i will put my knitting needles away and start fabric stash busting! i have some very fun projects planned. a crafty mamas work is never done...