Seb | Personality

The proof is in the pudding, as they say.

Create | DIY kits

In the mood for a creative project? These kits are bound to brighten any rainy weekend.

Goose Greese DIY kits

Goose Greese Undone

Lucy Patterson sock toys

I Love Paris doll by Miko Design

Image credit  via

Home | My boys this week

one | seb with a new book from noni
two | bruno had put himself to sleep in the car by gently shaking that rattle
three | seb waiting for daddy to bring the christmas tree outside
four | helping daddy carry the christmas tree to the car
five | bruno still isn't very steady on his bottom, but we're getting there!
six | mama and bruno doing what they do best: photo booth pictures!
seven | "what do you mean, 'that is the dirtiest place in the house?!'"
eight | showing off the cookie he got for having a very successful trip to the potty.

tomorrow will be another normal day, except for the fact that megan and i are going to try our best to finally make it to a spinning class together... i got a gym pass this week!!!

and in a completely unrelated vein, what do you think of these shoes? call me impressionable, but i love nearly every pair.

The story on a 40-year-old sealed terrarium

This is so neat! I am amazed at the success of this terrarium. I've made a couple attempts, myself, but I never dreamed to hope that one could last this long.

Where do you begin and end your gardening endeavors? Cody bought me a new 5 foot tall corn plant for Christmas to replace the small one we had that was boasting just two lonely leaves. I'm really pulling for this new one. And now I've got my terrarium bug back.

image

Thanks, Liz, for sharing it!

Create | Quilt dreaming

I have this dream to make each of my children a twin-sized quilt for their beds. It's a lovely dream, but the task of making a quilt, especially considering that I've never made one, is so daunting that I've put it off until now. And even now, I'm still in the planning/dreaming stage. I'm hoping the fact that we will be moving Sebastian to a twin at some point this year is enough motivation to get me off my rump.

And since I was awesome today and cleaned my crafting half of our den, which was previously abominable, I was able to sort through my fabrics, and start thinking about actually making one of these quilts happen. I have a few vintage flour sack fabrics from my grandma, and I have been saving them for the perfect, sentimental project. Unfortunately, they're not quite what I'm looking for for the boys, so I'm going to hold off using them, and perhaps buy a few vintage prints from Etsy as my inspiration.

And if you, too, have the quilting bug. Check out these tutorials from The Purl Bee: Broken Dishes Baby Quilt, Windowpane Wholecloth Quilt,  and Sunny Tied Quilt.

Lastly, I would be forever indebted to you for any quilting tips. I am a bit overwhelmed trying to decide  the particulars.

Images: 1/2/3/4/5

Food | Basil and barley chicken soup

I'm a very experimental cook. I find it's less expensive to work that way—at least I think. I try to simply buy wholesome, delicious foods, and throw them together in whatever way I fancy. Every once in a while I hit upon something really delicious, and this was one such occasion.

You'll need...

Chicken broth

Chicken (optional)

Several handfuls of basil

Barley

Fennel

Mushrooms

+

Pepper

Salt

A favorite soup seasoning. 

(I used a Cajun seasoning called Uncle Joe's made by a family friend. 

I'm sorry I'm not sure where you can get some unless you live in my hometown...) 

As with all of my recipes, they are endlessly customizable. Use whatever amounts seem good to you, and add more ingredients if you wish! I think carrots would be fantastic.

Enjoy!

Little One | Shops

Goodness gracious there are so many creative people in this world. As much as I get terribly annoyed with technology sometimes, I'm so glad to be able to have such easy access to the amazing talents of those near and far. Here are a few shops that I've come across that you should check out.

SweetKM makes the most lovely pixie hats. Recently Cody and I were watching Christmas in Connecticut, and one of the babies wore a white pixie hat with red ties throughout. I fell in love and have been searching for something similar ever since. I wonder if she does custom orders...

My friend Kaite started InfinityMOM, where she sells her ingenious infinity scarf style nursing covers. If you are a nursing mama, you're going to want to check these out.

Have you visited Catherine's blog, Lucy and I, or her clothing shop, Playland? I am so inspired.

Enjoy, my friends! Credit for this post must go to my husband who has given me time to finally share these with you. Love that man.

P.S. Image is of SweetKM's pixie hat.

Bruno | 7 months

This boy is beautiful. He pulls himself dizzy across the floor, and is drawn particularly to the bathroom and the kitchen trash can: two places that I will not vouch for the cleanliness of. He screeches when he gets excited about something, says "da da da da da" contentedly after nursing in the middle of night, and loves nothing more than trying ever so earnestly to get as near as possible to his big, oh-so-cool brother. He is wary of new situations and new people, but warms up quickly. Mama is still his favorite, duh, but dada has THE coolest glasses, which Bruno would like to have for himself, and let's face it no one can compete with Sebastian, who readily makes him giggle and guffaw like no one else.

So I guess you could say we're pretty happy around here, and delighted beyond comprehension over this growing boy.

P.S. For the curious, he's now nicely in the 75th percentile, so hefty in a moderate way now. Naturally, mama still affectionately refers to him as "fat man" at least once daily.

Brothers | January at the park

This morning was everything a morning in the life of a stay-at-home mom should be. I'll be the first to admit that I have a serious case of feet-dragging most days. It's a challenge for me to be proactive about getting my kids outside and doing things, and it's a challenge for me to engage them in indoor activities as well. Goodness, could I be any lazier? At least this is what I'm thinking about myself most days.

This morning was different. It was Cody's first day of class, so we drove him to school just before 10 a.m. and stopped at the park on the way home. It was the first time taking both boys to the park since Bruno was an infant swaddled in my Maya sling. It was amazing to see him watch Sebastian closely as he scaled the larger-than-life blue staircase, followed by a speedy descent down the spiral slide.

Then Bruno got to try the swings for the first time! Mostly he just watched Seb again, but I think he really loved hanging out and getting a chance to be on his own for a few minutes. Next, we tried the teeter totter—Bruno on one end and Seb on the other.

It was perfect, and these two guys never cease to amaze me. I never thought that watching my children be siblings would be this cool.

P.S. More brothers.

Mama | Dear 2013, here we go!

As this new year begins, I am filled with a mixture of excitement and despair—excitement about starting anew, changing bad habits into good ones, loving better, and accomplishing goals. And then despair inevitably follows when I remember my constant failings in all of those areas.

On January 1st, I couldn't help but ask myself, "What's so special about this day? Why the sudden urge to change our lives around, get fit, and live lives full of purpose? After all, today is just the day after yesterday."

So my "resolution" is to wake up each day and live it with purpose, like it's January 1st every day. I still have goals and ideas about what I want to do this year, but even if none of those things happen, I know that something will change within my soul if I simply look to Jesus and run. This year I want to stop looking to myself for fulfillment and change. The good news is that I can't do it on my own. And the better news is that Jesus can, and will.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Hebrews 12:1-2

Seb | Orange hat in the snow

This evening I looked over at Seb and said, "Seb, do you know how much I love you?"

He responded, "I love you! Merry Christmas!"

Obviously, I can't think of a better way to start the year.