Sewing for my girls & their dolls :)

So, I have an addiction. It's called sewing. I like to find patterns & sew cute stuff for my girls. With the leftover fabric, I'm sewing their babies clothes too. This shirring top I made was a bit of a disaster. The instructions, although good, wouldn't work all that well w/ my big gun sewing machine. Betty Brother doesn't like elastic thread. Not at all.

Thankfully Sally Singer doesn't mind it so much. I still haven't gotten the hang of it. I need more practice. But for now, the girls have a cute top to start with & their dolls match them.



Can you see the babies tucked under Sofi's arms? She was dancing w/ them! So cute!


Now, I need to figure out something for Ian. Maybe cute shorts? He's getting jipped!

Planting our Victory Garden

I've always wanted to have a green thumb & grow a garden. I'm no expert & can't say that I'm really any good at it but I try. I've never tried to grow anything that would result in us eating any of the products but this year, I have decided to tackle my dream. Why not?

There seems to be a resurgence of victory gardens & I'm joining the movement. Cheesy, maybe. Worth the trouble, we'll have to see. The fun we had putting the plants in our new garden, worth it again & again & again.

See, I decided to make this a family event. Why? B/c I want my kids to start learning about the world in general, starting in our backyard. Off to Home Depot I went. I bought a few veggies, nothing too crazy, being that it is our 1st garden. Then we go the kids ready for outside. Lots of mosquito repellent now that the heat has arrived.

Meme, Abu, Oma & Katy were over hanging out when we started the project. The kids were so excited!


They each wanted their own tool & loved the wheelbarrow.


Sofi was hard at work, helping me.





The kids really got in to it, crouching down like Mommy & putting plants in the ground.


One of our cherry tomato plants.


Some lettuce!


Our cucumber plant, 1 of 4.


The finished product!


We will hopefully be growing the following:

1. Tomatoes (regular & cherry)
2. Onions (sweet white & yellow)
3. Cucumbers
4. Bottleneck yellow squash
5. Lettuce (regular & Romaine)
6. Banana peppers
7. Carrots
8. Pumpkin

I promise to show the "fruits" of our labor!

Pink Eye & a Fever

That's what's going on in this house. No time for anything as Ian seems to be SUPER clingy. I couldn't even eat today until my inlaws came over. Seriously. That bad.

It all started 2 days ago. Ian's eye was watering, chalked it up to allergies or a scratch b/c only God really knows, right. Sunday rolls around & by mid-morning, he had gook coming out of his eye. Not really yellow or green but gook all the same. We suspected pink eye & called the nurse hoping they would call in the antibiotic drops but NOOOOO. They made us come in.

All to be told it was pink eye. Then today at about 11, I noticed he felt warm. Took his temp & it was 100.6. Low grade fever. Wonder if he picked something up at the pedi's office yesterday since they MADE us go in. Yeah. I'm pissed.

Thankfully it has only gotten up to 100.6 & quickly lowered w/ each dose of Tylenol. It sucks. Pink eye & fever. I'm hoping it passes quickly b/c momma is going to be waking up every 4 hrs to check on Mr. Ian.

Oh, & let's not forget about Miss Crankypants, Sofi. Since she is in the throws of cutting her bottom 2-yr molars, life is grand. BUT, I rather stop everything & cuddle her or Ian or Gabi than anything else.

Bye-bye!

There is a game that the kids love to play. Well, it's not really a game, per say. What it really is, pretend play. The love pretending to leave. It is the funniest thing ever. Ok, so maybe it isn't so funny to all of you but to me, I crack up every time.

For real, they get totally in to it. Seriously in to it. First, they gather all their belongings. Everything they can grab in to their little hands. It is soooo cute. Any bucket, bag or otherwise mentionable that can be carried from the shoulder or arm is grabbed.






Then it is time for goodbye hugs & kisses. So adorable! If they miss someone, they go back around & kiss/hug them.

Finally, they say "bye-bye". In Gabi's case, she says "Bye-bye! See ya soon!" or "Bye-bye! I wub you. See ya soon!"

All of it makes my heart melt. Every single moment.

To the Paci Nazi, with Love

And the lyrics...tee-hee!

Time after school play on my computer my nuki never leaves my mouth even on the playground or on the rollercoaster I never take my nuki out.

Nuki nuki nuki how I love my nuki I'll smile with it to the end nuki nuki nuki sweeter than a cookie I'll share it with you all my friends.

Nuki nuki nuki how I love my nuki I'll smile with it to the end nuki nuki nuki sweeter than a cookie I'll share it with you all my friends.

All around the world places that you are my nuki never leaves my mouth big and strong I'll be when I'm older but I'll never take my nuki out.

Nuki nuki nuki how I love my nuki I'll smile with it to the end nuki nuki nuki sweeter than a cookie I'll share it with you all my friends.

Mama nuki mama nuki I can see you on the paws grandma nuki grandma nuki simple man or mickey mouse.

Nuki nuki nuki how I love my nuki I'll smile with it to the end nuki nuki nuki how I love my nuki I'll share it with you all my friends.

Nuki nuki nuki how I love my nuki I'll smile with I to the end nuki nuki nuki sweeter than a cookie I'll share it with you all my friends.

Nuki nuki nuki how I love my nuki I'll smile with it to the end nuki nuki nuki sweeter than a cookie I'll share it with you all my friends.

PS ~ Thank you Renee for sharing this. The kids absolutely LOVE it & have been dancing to it all morning.

Our picnic table!

When we are outside, the kids are playing. Sitting really isn't an option unless they are using the sidewalk chalk or sitting in the adult chairs. Oh, sometimes in their wagon & definitely sitting happening on the swings but you know what I mean. Right?

Hot weather is coming & that means early morning time outside b/c it will just be too damn hot otherwise. Yes, even w/ sprinklers it will be too hot after their nap. For this reason, I am trying to get them & me in the habit of going out at about 9:45. It is still cool & the mosquitoes, although ever present, seem to be a bit more tame at this time.

It just so happens that snack time is at 10 so this means snacks outside. The perfect excuse to get them practicing how to sit down at a big kid table & eat w/o getting up. They did fairly well although they didn't eat as much as they normally do. I have a feeling that will change once they get use to the new eating environment.

Now, I would have had some really cute pictures but somehow they got deleted. Not my fault. Ok, totally my fault. I don't know where the hell they went! Ah, poo.

Let me share some really cute pictures of the kids in bed w/ Daddy on Sunday morning instead. I always wanted the kids to crawl in bed w/ us on Sundays to watch tv. They can't exactly get in our bed since it is too high & they really would have been happier exploring the bedroom over sitting in the bed w/ us.



Maybe one day soon they'll settle down long enough to cuddle w/ us. Maybe.

2 Year Well Baby...Toddler I should say.

This morning we went in for the kids' 2 year exam. Um, I think we did good. There was some crying. Ok, lots of crying during the actual exam but otherwise the kids did fairly well. Dr. N told us they won't be bothered at all next year but that the 18 month & 2 year exams are the worst. I would agree. 100%.

Just for fun...here are each kiddo's stats when they were newborn, 1 & 2.

Miss Sofia:
Weight ~ 4lb 9oz (newborn), 20lb 13oz (1 yr), 31 lbs (yes, that is 90%)
Height ~ 17.5" (newborn), 30.5" (1 yr), 37" (eh, you read right, over 100%)

Miss Gabriella:
Weight ~ 4lb 4oz (newborn), 22lb 6oz (1 yr), 32lb 9oz (yeah, chub chubs...95%)
Height ~ 17" (newborn), 30.5" (1 yr), 36" (95%)

Mr. Ian
Weight ~ 4lb 1oz (newborn), 18lb 15oz (1 yr), 28lb 8oz (50%)
Height ~ 18" (newborn), 30" (1 yr), 35" (75%)

We have us some ginormous children. I don't mind. I'm 5'10" & Todd is 5'11". I'm just glad they got the height. YAY for big, healthy babies!