Month 7

Week 31

Week 32

Week 33

Week 34

Month 7 was an up and down month for us. Lots of mood swings. One second Ollie is happy and laughing and the next he is sobbing. Who knows. He is certainly moving all over the place, and these weekly pictures are getting harder and harder to take. 

But, all in all, he has become the best kid. Our lives are starting to feel like they are finally coming back to normal. Date nights have resumed and we are actually attempting to try new things. 

He loves his swim classes and learned to pull himself up this month. 

Now it is all he wants to do. That and eat!

Such a ham. 

Weekly Pictures.

I finally got around to updating Oliver's weekly pictures. I am by no means a professional photographer (all of them were taken with my iPhone) but I am happy with how they turned out!


Week 21 is my favorite.

You can see the rest by clicking on the tab above. Or by clicking this link. Enjoy my ever changing child. I can't believe he is 33 weeks already. 

Cheers!

Teething 101

Ahh teeth. No fun for the baby, no fun for the parents. Like all baby things, there are a million and one products that claim to fix everything. And, like most parents, we tried them all.

Teethers fall into basically three categories: cooling, chewy, or nubbly. Or some combination of all three.

Here's what we thought: (clockwise from the bottom left)

• Hand (from the drug store)
• Pros: cooling and nubbly which Oliver seemed to like
• Cons: The fingers were too close together to just get one in his mouth

• Razbaby RaZ-berry Teether
• Pros: cute and pacifier like. I could clip it to him using the pacifier clip and it didn't fall all over the place.
• Cons: He kept thinking he was supposed to suck on it and was confused by the texture. He got the hang of it eventually but more as a novelty than a soothing device.

• Ring Teether (from Whole Foods)
• Pros: Classic cooling beads. Easy to hold on to.
• Cons: The beads are huge and don't really "fit" in baby's mouth. 

• Mam Cooler Teether
• Pros: Long fingers you could put in the fridge or freezer to cool. Easy to grasp handle
• Cons: Doesn't stay cold long, but the fingers have texture that is nice

• Sophie the Giraffe
• Pros: Cute, natural rubber, easy to chew on
• Cons: horrible squeaking noise and expensive

• Silicone Ring (Life Factory from Whole Foods)
• Pros: Easy to grip, no plastic, four different textures to chew on
• Cons: not cooling

• Silicone Chew beads (from Mama and Little)
• Pros: Baby can wear them, you can wear them. Super easy for little hands to grab and manipulate. 
• Cons: Once Oliver learned he could pull the clasp apart he is constantly tearing them off his neck

Conclusion? I would find one that cools, and one that is chewy. Oliver loves the chew beads and Life Factory ring as a general fun thing to put in his mouth. When the teeth are really bothering him he prefers the Mam finger teether or the classic ring teether (he sort of sucks on it). 

Though really he loves to chew on everything. 

Cheers!

Baby Gates and Baby Steps

Man, blogging is hard. I have to find my camera and then download pictures (and take pictures). Getting back in to the groove is proving more difficult than I though. Add in a 5 month old who has decided he no longer has to sleep through the night (seriously kid!) and you get one tired and distracted momma.

But, we did finish a project!

May I present our new baby gate. 

Isn't it pretty? I knew I saved the door we took down for a reason! I didn't bother to do much to it- just stripped, sanded and stained, letting all of the 112 years of imperfections show. I rather like the result. It is making me want to strip every wood surface in the house. 

In bad blogger form I have no progress pictures or befores but let me tell you, this door was disgusting. Covered in at least 5 layers of paint and stain, including the beautiful hardware. 

We used a new (for us) technique for stripping that is safe and easy (two important factors with a kid in the house). A heat gun! I have another door to strip so I will be sure to include all of the details when we get there, but it is the easiest way to strip paint. Like butter under a hot knife. 

Much better than those metal things and hopefully less likely to cause major accidents. Oliver isn't crawling yet but knowing how long it took to get around to this project I'm glad we are just done.

How did you approach baby-proofing? We are going for the one little step at a time. 

Cheers!

Not So Much of a Honeymoon

Every year, Daniel and I go on a self described "honeymoon" to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We pick a new island in the Caribbean and enjoy a week together. This year, we had a baby, which resulted in a very different kind of vacation.

My parent's graciously offered to come along for the ride so, this past June, the five of us rented a house down in the Florida Keys.

There was some fun, some swimming, and some celebrating; but mostly there was lots of baby.

I'm glad we went but I am already looking forward to next year's honeymoon, just Daniel and me.

Oliver's Weekly Photos

I loved Young House Love's weekly photo with their first daughter (and now their son) and thought it would be a fun project to do with Oliver. I've been taking a picture each week with Ollie laying on one of the quilts I made before he was born.

Week 1:

Week 21:

How fast they grow... I still need to get them all edited and in the right order but I thought I'd share the project as it is now. If you follow me on Instagram (under englishgrams) I post one every week.

Cheers!

Emily 

The Past Seven Months

Ok, so I didn't mean to take quite such a long blogging hiatus but sometimes life happens. Most specifically this happened

Oliver Rex was born at noon on 4/4/14 (an auspicious date) and it's been crazy ever since. A few house things have happened as well as trips and crafts but things that don't involve nursing or changing diapers have dramatically declined. 

Hopefully I won't fall off the bandwagon again but I may be slow. I've missed you blog land!

Cheers!

Emily 

Taggy Blankets- Do I need them? Who knows???

But now I have two.

I whipped these up quick with some leftover ribbon, quilting fabric, and minky.

Even if the baby doesn't enjoy these they are satisfying my nesting urges.

Cheers!

DIY Baby Gym

Obviously I have been having fun making baby things, and this project is no different.

Supplies needed:

• 1x2x8 foot pine board
• 3/4 inch dowel (at least 30 inches)
• Round wood ball (mine are 1 1/4 inches from Joanns)
• Eye Hooks
• S-Hooks
• Chain

I started by cutting my 1x2 down in to 4 equal pieces about 2 feet long. Using my miter saw I cut one end at a 30 degree angle. This provides a stable foot for the gym.

I don't think this is necessary but it looks better in my opinion. 

Next, I marked 1 1/4 inches down from the top of the now 2 foot board and taped two pieces together (just to make sure they are at equal spots on each pair of legs)

Using a 3/4 drill bit I drilled a hole through both boards.

I also drilled a 3/4 inch pocket in my wood balls. 

This was really hard. At first I tried holding with one hand and drilling with the other but all that did was cause bodily harm (so don't do it this way!). After taking a chunk out of my hand I clamped the ball and then drilled. You don't need to drill very deep, this is just to keep the legs from sliding off. 

Thread the dowel through the holes and glue your wooden balls to the ends.

Once everything is dry, measure down an equal distance on each leg (on the inside) and add your eye hooks. 

Attach the chain and S-hook. You don't have to use an s-hook, you could just attach the chain to both sides but the hook makes the whole thing collapse flat. Like so:

There you have it. A simple wooden baby gym: no bells or whistles.

Even better the whole thing cost around $20! I whipped it up over two afternoons (I let the glue dry overnight) and completely by myself. Even 7 months pregnant, it was a pretty easy project.  I hope I was clear enough to help you make your own.  

Cheers! 

Baby Quilt #2: Critter Patch

I couldn't very well stop with the bunny fabric. The whole line is adorable.

Again, my inspiration photo didn't have directions but here's the way I built it.

• The three main rows are made up of 12-3x6 patches. (36 total)
• These three rows are attached with a strip of 2.5 inch white fabric and then bordered with the same. 
• The thin strip is made of 2 inch wide strips of varying lengths pieced together in one long strip. 
• The whole thing is bordered with a 6 inch wide strip of white. 

I backed the finished quilt with some blue minky I got from Pick your Plum a few months ago.

My little one may not have a name, but he is going to be warm! I am so happy with how both quilts turned out. This one was by far the easiest to piece together, lots of straight lines.

Cheers!

Baby Quilt #1: Mid-Century Modern

The color scheme started with the Critter Patch Organic cotton quilting fabric in Orange Bunny Toss and grew from there. 

My inspiration photo didn't have any real directions (in fact it was a link to an item on an Etsy page that didn't exist anymore) but I figured it out as I went.

If you are feeling inspired, this is how the quilt works out:

• 42 squares made up of 3 pieces. 
• Each square is made up of 2- 2x5 pieces of fabric of your choice and 1-2x5 piece of white. 
• Each square is bordered in strips of 2 inch white (I used muslin but cotton would work). 

I built each row one at a time joining the squares with a piece of 2x5 white and then attached each completed row with one long piece of 2 inch wide fabric. 

For a backing I used a Moda pattern called Fairy Tale Friends. 

This would be a great scrap busting pattern. I could easily see this in a monotone all blue or pink, or even a fun rainbow. If you can sew a straight line you can make this quilt. 

Cheers! 

DIY Changing Mat Clutch

I don't know if it is nesting, but I've been going a bit crazy with sewing projects. I'm hoping this one comes in handy (haha).

I found a great little fabric shop in Ballard that has some of the best fabrics. Made by Marzipan's tutorial was super easy to follow, even for the novice seamstress that I am.

The one change I made to her plans was that I used a laminated cotton for the mat pad to make it wipeable (she uses a clear vinyl over the fabric instead).

Cute for something that will see a lot of not so cute stuff right? So tell me, was this a waste of time? Did any of you veteran mommies use these? I feel like I am riffling around in the dark with the whole baby item thing. There are so many lists with all of the "must haves" that seem silly to me that I wonder what I really need to be focusing on.

In other news, we started painting the nursery this weekend and I'm loving how it is coming together. I have a feeling it will be my new favorite room in the house!

Cheers!

Floorboards and Caulk

Hands down the worst part of a project for me are the little details.

I spent yesterday on my hands and knees filling nail holes in the trim and preparing to paint. My Ikea chair (an $8.00 thrift store find) is my first and only piece of nursery furniture. The rest is still to come. I've been emptying the room slowly to get ready to start putting it all together. I can't wait to start!

Cheers!

Craigslist Score: Baby Things!

We've been tossing ideas around about how we want to deal with the sleeping arrangement once the little guy is here. Originally I thought we could just move in to the guest bedroom for a few months (it's right next door to the nursery). Then, as I was sitting in bed worrying one night I casually mentioned to Daniel that I didn't know how I was going to be able to sleep without constantly checking that he was still alive. Daniel thought it might be a good idea to room in with the baby.

Of course that lead to all other problems of logistics. Do we buy a bassinet, a pack & play, keep him in a hamper on the floor. Luckily Craigslist to the rescue!

One rainy drive and $40 later it was mine. I'm in love. It is the most quintessentially baby thing I own (besides onsies) and it is just so adorable I could die.

Did you get a bassinet? If I had to pay full price I probably would have just sucked it up and dealt with my separation anxiety but for $40 I don't mind that it will only get 4-6 months of use. 

Cheers!

Nursery Walls: This or That

Decisions, decisions... 

Do you like it better with dark walls?

Or a dark ceiling?

The dark walls contrast nicely with the floors and give a good grounded feeling to the room but... the dark ceiling would look fantastic with the brass chandelier and gold stars I was originally envisioning.

Think this room with a dark ceiling instead.