3 months

Oh, my little baby. Bowen is already three months old. I can't believe this could be true, but I checked the calendar, and yes, it really has been three whole months. 

 

He's super strong and likes to kick his legs up in the air. He loves to go outside and look up at the trees. He tries to roll over. He loves to watch his sister. He studies our faces as we talk and smiles all of the time. He is a joy.

little ballerina

Spring brings so many spring-y things. Everything's blooming and the sun is shining. We're already dreaming of days at the pool and summertime finally feels like it's almost here. At our house, spring brings special events like preschool graduation and a ballet recital for little Lo. These are fun times.

Lo performed onstage over the weekend at a beautiful local historical theater with her little ballerina friends. It was so sweet to watch them dance together one last time, and they did a fantastic job. Her ballet school teaches all levels and it was so exciting to watch the older girls dance en pointe.

This past week or so, it all started to hit me. She's five. And she'll only be five once. All of these little milestones are adding up. This has been her first year of ballet, and I as I sat there watching her in her last class of the season, I took note. I wanted to remember her tiny little feet in those tiny pink shoes.

I'm a proud momma these days, and although I'm definitely keeping busy with a certain baby brother and all of his milestones, I want to be sure to remember hers, too. I recently stumbled upon Darcy Miller's scrapboxes (which are kind of like photos + shadowboxes) and I'm in love with the idea of putting one of my favorite recital photos of Lo together with her ballet shoes, once she outgrows them. I just feel like I have to document the sweetness of this little girl.

the finals!

Woah! My design made it to the final round of Ravelry's project bag design contest! I can't believe it and I never expected to make it this far. A huge thank-you to everyone who voted! There are some fantastic finalists in this last round, so be sure to check them out. Voting ends on Monday, May 21st. Pick your fave and cast your vote here, one last time!

mom's day

How was your Mother's Day weekend? Mine was busy ... but I have to say, the best ever. This is the year that I became a mom of two. I'm feeling pretty happy and pretty grateful. 

We spent Mother's Day celebrating Bowen's baptism. (That's where the busy part comes in.) 

His little baptism gown and slip has been in Bo's family for 65 years, and I feel so lucky that both of my kids have had the chance to wear this sweet little hand-embroidered heirloom. It's still in such fantastic shape!

Bo's grandma dressed all eight of her children in this gown, including Bo's mom. Bo and his sisters (and cousins) have worn it, and now our two kids as well.

At first, this little guy wasn't exactly thrilled with wearing a dress, but I explained that his dad wore it, too. And then he was cool.

I knitted Bowie this little sweater in white cotton with gray buttons. And my mom crocheted a white blanket that we used for both kids' baptisms. So the day was full of handmade love.

We celebrated after the service with a quick brunch and spent a lot of time outside in the gorgeous sunny weather.

My friend Beth made these adorable cookies for the party. They were pretty much too cute to eat. But we ate them anyway. Because they were delicious.

And we had to have Jones soda. I'm a sucker for the packaging and I love the berry lemonade.

After the festivities, I put Bowie in something a little bit more comfortable and had to try on his new pair of Tiny Toms that Bo's sister and her family gave us. They are so insanely itty-bitty. Too. Cute. We took a nice little walk to the 'Bux for the last day of Frappuccino Happy Hour.

It was a good day spent appreciating my little family of four. It's still surreal at times to realize that I have two kids. Like when Bo or I say 'the kids.' That's still weird. But the mom life is good. I feel loved. I hope my little fam does, too.  :)

what mom said

I've talked about this before, but I am fortunate enough to be part of a fantastically cool mom's group. We do some of the normal mom-group things, like meet for coffee and schedule playdates. Many of our kids have grown up together since they were wee babies, so when they play we kind of let them do their own thing. Sometimes they put on elaborate talent shows. Sometimes they all end up in a closet with flashlights. (See above.) And while our kids are priority number one 99% of the time, we support each other in not completely giving up on our own lives and interests for the sake of being super-moms. We understand the importance of taking care of ourselves. And taking time for ourselves. We know we're better moms because of it. Us moms have become as close as sisters, and when our kids play, they watch out for each other. We're family. My 'mom friends' brought us dinner for three weeks straight after I had Bowen. We have had each others' backs through all kinds of family emergencies and major life events, good and bad. We take care of one another and it's a beautiful thing. We try not to take it for granted; we know what we have is quite special.  

This past week after dishing some particularly solid parenting advice, these girls started compiling a list of things their moms taught them. Things they hated at the time but were thankful for later. I've learned time and time again what a great resource these women are. I trust them; I trust their advice. And when we compile everyone's wisdom together, it's golden. Some of us looked at that list and said, 'Wow, I need to print this out and put it on my fridge.' So here it is. Click on it, download it, print it, cut it out.

This weekend, I'm celebrating the Moms. Sisters. Daughters. Friends. Celebrate yourself. Do whatever makes you happy, whether that means spending time with your kids or taking the day off with girlfriends for brunch, pedicures and margaritas. Word to the mommas.

it's a celebration, stitches!

Ravelry is having a celebration. And a design contest. It's Ravelry’s 5 year anniversary (and it has been 7 years since the idea of Ravelry was shared with the world.) Pretty fantastic, huh? I started knitting in 2008 and my friends made me join Ravelry right away, so it has been a huge part of my knitting journey.

To celebrate their anniversary, Ravelry is having a competition for a design that will be screen-printed on project bags, and there are a ton of great entries. If you happen to like mine (above), I'd love your vote. If not, that's cool too! Just vote for somebody.  :)

The entries are shown in a random order, and every voter sees a different order so I can't link you up to a specific page, but here's the link to the contest. Voting is only open to Ravelry members, and it's one vote per person. Thank you, knitting friends!

cocoon

So mom, you're a knitter, huh? And you made this for me? Tell me more. You're so smart and funny. I could listen to you all day.

 Go on, I'm just smiling. In a woolen cocoon. In May. Whatever.

No, I totally understand. You knitted this last winter, but forgot to take pics of me in it until now, so ...

... yup, better take them now. Before I get any bigger. Yes, babies sure do grow up fast.

Oh MOM! That's hysterical. You are so funny. 

 No, seriously. You are hilarious. I'm almost ROFL here.

(So, anyway. What is this thing exactly? A sleeping bag? You're not going to make me wear this outside, are you?)

Latest knitting project: Chunky Pea Pod (pattern by Paige Marecle.) 

Knit with Rowan Biggy Print. Details here.

dude.

They're ba-ack. Does anyone remember these? I used to make these paper tags a few years ago and some of my papercrafting/scrapbooking friends have been asking me to make more. I have to admit, they are fun to use. Stick them on a journal page or a photo or a card or a notebook or what-have-you. Get some here.

a sad day.

Call me mushy, but when I heard the news today that MCA had passed it was ... heartbreak. MCA was kind of my favorite. Like so many other people, License to Ill was one of the first cassette tapes I ever owned. I thought it was brilliant that you could look at the cover in the mirror, and the 3MTA3 on the side of the plane said EATME. Check Your Head and Paul's Boutique provided the background music to my teenage years. In college, I got to see the Beastie Boys on tour.  I truly hope that Lo will be listening to What'cha Want in her room when she's in high school. Maybe Bowie will fight for his right to party. We'll definitely do our best to pass down the love. RIP, Adam Yauch. So sad.

7 days of bento on a plate

This past week, I've been practicing with my bento supplies. Little Lo starts Kindergarten in the fall, and I've been wanting to get faster at packing lunches. It's an acquired skill. No lunchboxes yet, but soon enough. So here we go again ... bento on a plate. (You can see more lunches like this here and check out the supplies I use here.)