I’d be remiss if I didn’t share a big milestone from last week. It was a certain young lady’s first day of “school” (Mom’s Day Out).
Cute outfit? Check.
Monogrammed lunch box? Check.
New, non-sandal PINK! shoes? Check.
Crash-course for Dad in “little girl hair-fixin’”? Check.
Here’s our refined little lady on her first day:
Fortunately for her teachers, she’s doing much better AT school.
I relish the two year-old birthday party. A one year-old doesn’t really give a rip about the cake, the guests, the decorations, or even the presents. And a three year-old tends to want to have input on the cake, the guests, the decorations, and especially the presents. A two year-old will enjoy with enthusiasm whatever you pick out. It’s kind of the chance to plan the childhood birthday party you’ve romanticized in your head as the one you always wanted but never had.
Or maybe that’s just me.
I had envisioned something along the lines of this. But instead I asked Bug (a child who rarely listens to my words), “What kind of cake do you want?”
Her answer, “PINK!”
(It was also the answer to, “How old will you be at your party?” and, “What kind of present do you want?”)
So, may I present PINK! Party 2010:
This cute shirt was made by my good friend, Courtney. (May I suggest you make friends with creative people? Ones with children too old and/or too cool to wear their mama’s creations, if you can find one of these jewels. Friends like this are also most likely to respond to a “help! I need bubble-gum pink nail polish” DM by dropping off a baggie of four polishes from which you get to choose.)
An unused dining room makes a great place for a party set up. With all the work I put into planning the perfect tablescape and making sure the various shades of pink tulle were hung just so, do you know what the hit of the party was? Those balloons in the floor. Seriously, blow up balloons and leave them in the floor. Even the teenagers couldn’t keep from enjoying them.
Mini “candy bar” (I don’t suggest going the whole “candy bar” route if you’re trying to be frugal. You see those pink M&M’s? Those cost me twelve big ones. Plus tax, people! I still might keel over from the unfrugalness of it all.) You see that empty bowl right there? Don’t think that wasn’t filled with homemade ranch-type dip that I dyed pink. Yep, I went there. I even had to whip up another batch before the party was over. Because I am awesome had a good recipe.
My mom made the cake. I didn’t get a picture, but the layers were tinted pink, too.
My mom also sewed this gorgeous banner.
Is it even a birthday party without the sibling gifts from the grandparents? I think not. (Although I don’t remember getting these as a kid. Did you?)
I think it’s fair to say that she enjoyed herself.
I promised more on this back in my 52 New catch up post. I had a for real photographer photograph the kids. I’ve typically used a chain studio here in town. I’ve been pretty pleased with their pictures, but I’ve been coveting all those gorgeous outdoor shots that people have of their kids. But I was so afraid of the cost.
Kelly (aka @kellymerrill) is the photographer behind Spindle Photography. She is one of my Twitter buds and I had fallen in love with so many of her pictures. These were my fave and were the ones that kind of sealed it for me. I was so excited when she agreed to shoot the kids (that’s funny, shoot the kids) even though she’s not a “children’s photographer”.
Kelly has posted the pics of my kids on her blog and I am so excited to get to show off these gorgeous images of “Wog” & “Bug” (which most folks know are not their real names). So click on over to Kelly’s blog & soak up all the super-duperness of it all.
I apologize for the amount of time you’re going to spend pouring through all of her posts and photos.
1. Madame Poopypants (Several. Times. A. Day.)
2. Helga (If she likes something, she deems it “goot”.)
3. Maltilda (My mom calls her this. It just fits.)
4. Boodle (Short for Buggyboodle, sister of Woggiewoodle)
5. Little Lady (She just is.)
6. Sassypants (Yeah. We’re pretty much in trouble for the next 20 or so years.)
7. Butternut (As in the squash)
8. Punkin Pie (This one just flows?)
9. Little Angie (Angie is my mom. They are too much a lot alike.
10. Bug
Check out more Top Ten Tuesday posts, over at Oh Amanda.
As I bent over to kiss Bug goodbye this morning before leaving for work, this sweet little face looked up at me and asked,
”Wif you?”
I’m quitting tomorrow.
Subtitle: A Good Excuse to Post Some WAY Overdue Pics
Since I bade farewell, although temporarily, to my trusty, crusty excuse for a laptop, I’ve struggled to get pictures onto my blog. You remember my frustration with the Mac and uploading pictures, right?
The truth is that I’ve struggled for a years to get pictures just like I want them on this blog. I read so many blogs with amazing pictures, so when I go to post one on here, I feel somewhat lacking downright inadequate. HH put a version of Photoshop on my computer over a year ago. He pretty much told me an idiot could use it. Well….
I signed up for Flickr almost two years ago as part of a Christmas gift swap, but only uploaded pics for that swap and then another one that I helped host. I didn’t really take the time to explore it. I knew some of my favorite bloggy peeps used it religiously, but I didn’t see much use for it since I take pretty crappy pictures. When I really wanted to post a pic of Bug’s new dress, I decided to upload my shots to Flickr and play with the colors. I wanted the picture to be as pretty as my Bug and her dress.
Well, that’s when I discovered Picnik. I’d seen many folks tweet about it, but, again, crappy photographer here… hello! Picnik is now the editing software used in Flickr. (Did I say that right?! Photo-editing newbie, party of one!) It was a dream! It was so easy and something about it makes me want to upload pictures and edit them every. single. day. As recently as two days ago, I even learned how to add text to (kinda) watermark my blog pictures.
Examples, you request? But, of course! Let’s start with Bug’s First Birthday party:
My Sweet Bumble Bee
The Cake
My Proper Lady Eating Her Cake
While I’m still a pretty crappy photographer, a few borders and some text sure make me a little happier with the pictures I post. Now, to get a house with some natural light…
And, yes, I know that most bloggy pros have been using of Flickr and Picnik for a while, but it’s new to me (I’m even thinking of springing for the Picnik Premium Upgrade)! So, if you use Flickr and/or Picnik, I’d love to know some tips & tricks!
(Totally forgot to add that Bug’s bumble bee pillowcase dress came from here– totally affordable, and even with special measurements made it here in record time!!)
Ok, the title is making me giggle a little. I know what you’re thinking of, you sick-o, and I am SO not going to talk about THAT.
But this is almost as special.
My first internet purchase. (*Dreamy sigh*)
Picture it. 1997. My friend wears this awesome tank out to a bar. I covet it the entire night. She tells me it was a STEAL at J Crew. (The nearest one of which is four hours away.) I pout. She says no, she bought it ON THE INTERNET. What?! What is that?! The next day I march into my techy boyfriend’s place and demand that he show me what that there internet is all about and did he know that one could buy things on there. He typed some weird words, “.” and “com” and VOILA. Within minutes, I’d staked claim to a darling teal blue striped, spaghetti strapped tank.
I wore the heck out of that thing.
But styles change. The look has gradually changed to longer tops (THANK GOODNESS), and over the years the tank got shorter. (Ok, I got wider. To-may-to, to-mah-to.) I just couldn’t get rid of it. I loved the color. It was still in such good shape. And it was my very first internet purchase.
A few weeks ago, though, I took it out of the drawer and put it in the mail. And, yesterday, I got this:
I was speechless.
Prairie Mama sewed it up for me. She takes your old tanks and tees and turns them into stylin’ dresses, rompers, or tops for your little one. Obviously, there wasn’t enough tank to make an entire dress for Bug, so she asked if it was ok to add some purple fabric. It turned out so great! I’ve already pulled aside two more tees from the yard sale pile to send to her.
And, yes, I’m totally lame and forgot to take a picture of the tank before I sent it to her.
Check out Prairie Mama’s etsy shop here.
Hat tip to Steph, who did this first for her Ivy. You can see her dresses here.
Yeah, I just tweeted that. I figured it’d be a good working title since I’m not even sure right now what this post is going to be about.
I guess I could explain the title/tweet. That’d be a start. The Shoe family has been in what I call “hurry-up-and-wait” mode for a long time. A few weeks ago, that shifted to “what-the-heck-is-going-on-can-we-please-get-some-closure” mode. And that’s still where we are. Today is the day we’re supposed to get some answers. Of course, Friday two weeks ago had the same promise. Today could be pretty darn uneventful.
I’ll bet you are feeling super duper clued in now, huh?
Let me help get your mind off of all that.
My dear sweet, potty-trained in days (I know, that’ll get a post of it’s own once I’m not so put out) Wog has been replaced. Living under my roof is a perpetually dissatisfied, contrary litle boy. He wakes up mad and goes to bed highly ticked off. The span of time in between finds him pushing his sister, throwing his toys, and hitting his mommy. Disobedience and defiance are his super powers.
And Bug… dear Lord, please let it be more teeth coming in and not just a personality disorder. I’m just sayin’.
I’m really not sure who cries the most each day. I’m pretty sure it’s me.
Yeah, sure, there are little bright spots when the two make each other laugh. Or Wog tells a joke or does an impersonation– I so love seeing his sense of humor develop. Or Bug tackles me for a kiss– that little chunk has some strength and likes to use it to spread love.
But right now, all the drama is just draggin’ me down, man.
Maybe it’s just the rain.
Which I am SO over, by the way.
The Bug went for her three month check up on Wednesday. At 14 lbs and 14 oz, she has more than doubled in size!
And that’s a lot of Bug to love!
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