Crafting for a good cause!!

So I've been crafting like crazy lately, and I finally finished everything I wanted to make this past Monday. Then I shipped it all to my sister Hailey for something really fun that she's doing!

Hailey and her husband Steve are hoping to adopt another baby! She has two good friends who wanted to help her, and suggested a fundraising boutique to help them spread the word. So Hailey asked me and other friends and family if we could help her make items to sell.

Other girls have made burp cloths, car seat blankets, binky clips, and many other flea market treasures!! Hailey has made gorgeous cupcakes and diaper cakes, and my mom has made divine marshmallow brownies. Katie Waltman Jewelry will also be there, so that's really fabulous!

Here are the details:
It will be held

Saturday, July 17
10 am-4 pm
in the parking lot of a shop in sugarhouse called "Abode"
1720 S. 900 E.

It's an outdoor flea market/boutique featuring all different vendors, and should be lots of fun....so please go and shop!!


Here are the items I made: Headbands, little girl hair clips, and wipes cases!

(just in case people want to get Christmas accessories early)

Here are the items Hailey has made: cupcakes and diaper cakes!

"Abode" wanted to feature Hailey's story on their blog, so here's the link if you'd like to read more about it. Also, (since I don't have a direct link on my blog) if you'd like to check out her personal blog, her address is threemenandalittlehailey.blogspot.com.

http://abode-abode.blogspot.com/

Yankee Doodle

Years ago, my hilarious sis and I made up obnoxious dances (while singing) to "perform" for our fam. I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy was one of our faves, and we also did a great rendition of You're A Grand 'Ole Flag. It made each holiday fun, dressing up in full costume and lashes!
Happy 4th everyone!

Today's Walk

Gretel has had a cold lately, and has had a rough time sleeping. Yesterday morning and this morning she woke up screaming at 5:45. I am not a morning person-I just hate mornings, and I tell Johnny that every day!

Anyway, she fell asleep on our walk today at 10:30, so I wanted to take a picture.

What a little angel!

Lately when Gwen gets hot and tired, I scoop her up and put her in the bottom of the stroller! She loves it!

She's such a pampered little pup!!
I have the two sweetest girls in the whole world-I just love them!!

Here are some other random pics I took last night:

I want to remember what kinds of things she loves to say and what she's learned recently, so this is more for me to look back on later.

Right now Gretel's favorite book is "Princess Baby." She wants to read it all day-over and over. It is so torn and beat up, and I've scotch-taped every single page. It is well loved to say the least! She says "baby" in a desperate, high-pitched voice when she wants to read it.

Also, her favorite song is "If you're happy and you know it" and she also says "happy" in a high squeaky voice when she wants to sing it.

She counts to ten if you start her at 1 & 2. She is so good at all her colors and shapes. She knows oval, circle, heart and triangle. She also knows blue, green, orange, pink, yellow, purple and red which she calls "reddy." She was adding a Y to the end of a bunch of words for a while. Like "foody" and "trucky." But now she's just shortened it to "truck" which unfortunately sounds exactly like the naughty word. She says it several times a day, very loudly-whenever she hears a truck drive by outside.

She tries to say everything, and she's at the cute stage where I can tell her to say whatever word I want and she does it.

Her favorite things are books, and she falls asleep with them tucked all around her body, so when I check on her before I go to bed I take them all off her bed so she's not uncomfortable rolling around on board books all night.

She also loves to say "The End" when we finish each story, so..... THE END!!

Groucho Marx

Some days Gretel's nickname is "Groucho Marx" because of the grouchy faces she pulls like this:


She has been extra sweet lately, but a while ago when I took these pictures of her I'm pretty sure it was a teething day. I blame it on that anyway...

This is not a leg lift-she's throwing herself around while having a little tantrum.

She also hits herself on the forehead when she gets upset, or she'll find the nearest wall to bang her forehead against.

There's lots of high-pitched shrieking and whining...

followed by more dirty looks directed at me because I'm taking pictures of the whole thing!!

But the good thing about Gretel is that she does recover very quickly from these moments, and is back to her sweet self! I think I've been seeing less of "Groucho" lately because she's getting better at communicating with me, so I'm glad she's less frustrated!!

Gretel's new sleeping arrangements!

A couple of weeks ago, Johnny took off her crib railing (good suggestion Hab) and he removed the springs so her mattress would just rest on the drawer of her crib. (Her crib wasn't a convertible one) It has worked out really well! We cleared out her room so there was no bookshelf to climb on or books and toys to play with. It looks very empty and also very clean!!

Johnny put a soft blankie on the floor the first couple of nights just in case she didn't make it back in bed and happened to fall asleep on the floor. But she didn't end up needing it, so that was nice.

She LOVES this "No No Yes Yes" book-thanks mom!

After we lay her down in bed, she will sometimes run toward her door trying to follow us while crying. But other times she's really good and just stays in bed.

If she's ever out of bed because of playing/running around her room or because she's upset, she always makes it onto her bed to sleep. So that makes us feel good!! I can't believe it...our baby is growing up!

No Bedtime for Bonzo

Now that she's officially out of her crib due to climbing out, this is what she does now every naptime and bedtime. Kill me now!!

Devil Child

I was a real devil child when I was younger-from the time I was a baby through maybe age 5 or so I'm guessing. My mom and dad always tell me these awful stories about myself and the things I would say and do, and I feel bad for them as parents! I was mean to a handicapped child that was in my primary class, and I made a couple of my primary teachers cry: I said to one of them, "I've already heard this story, YOU OLD BAG!!" I was very young, but definitely old enough to know better.
Gretel is following in my (climbing) footsteps, so I hope she doesn't take after me in all the other ways as well, or I am in for it!!

This was me when I was about 1 year old, but my mom says I started climbing in and out of my crib before I'd turned 1. Crazy!! She'd say, "Climb in your bed" and I'd do it. I guess I didn't realize until talking to her just a second ago that I'd climb in...I thought I only knew how to climb out.

Two nights ago, Gretel was crying really hard at 4:30 am, and when I went to check on her she was sitting/straddling her crib railing-sitting right on top of it with one leg on each side. I got her some milk and Motrin because I think she's teething, changed her diaper, and rocked her for about 20 minutes, then thought I'd put her back in her bed. I knew she wouldn't be happy about it, but I didn't know what else to do. There are pillows beneath her crib, but I was still in bed listening for a thud. I didn't hear anything except for her bedroom door being shut and her sudden screaming. I ran to go get her, and sort of bumped her with the door because she was on the floor right by it, just as I feared.

We brought her back to bed with us, but that was a disaster. I think it was about 6 am when I decided to set up the portable crib in her room, even though she's really close to pulling herself out of that, too.

Anyway, until I can get a crib tent for her that is where she's sleeping! I just really don't want to move her to a toddler bed & lock her in her room yet-it just doesn't feel very safe to me right now. So I guess I'll make her some s'mores, because pretty soon, she'll be campin' out!!!

(an old picture of me again-I need to take some pictures of the little hellion in her angry bedtime mode soon)