Makin' it

Dolly Training Pants

2012-01-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

Bunny, now fully aware of my capabilities and talents, has begun to put her orders in. Last week, it was an order for this pair of Elmo training pants for her Baby Alive doll (who she has named Jessica). I dutifully created this tiny pair while she napped. I disliked making it because it was so small and difficult to maneuver on my sewing machine, so I don't know that I'll ever include them in my shop, but maybe one day, if I ever figure out how to attach my patterns, I'll include a pattern so you can make your own. In any case, now Bunny's favorite baby doll has matching training pants. If Bunny's happy, then so am I.

Snow Day

2012-01-23T12:22:00.000-05:00

I was very surprised this morning when I went out, fully dressed and ready for work, to heat my car up to find that all surfaces were covered with a thin, slippery layer of ice. Thanks to a thick fog that's been hovering for about 12 hours (I guess it's called freezing rain) we got ice everywhere and school was cancelled. God knew this was an answer to prayer for my little family. I'm only just getting over a nasty head cold that both Dave and Bunny got this morning. I didn't want to leave my sick little family to their own devices, but honestly, getting a substitute teacher for just half a day is more hassle than it's worth so I was just hoping they would be fine. But a snow day means that I get to stay with them, nurse them back to health, and recover a bit more myself!

Bunny's running around and playing like life's normal, but complaining here and there about a runny nose and a "yucky" stomach. Also, she doesn't have much of an appetite. I'm cramming liquids down her throat and she's taking them happily, thanks to her great desire to always drink from my cup with the big straw! Ha ha! This means, though, that she's peeing every hour and getting fruit snacks (the reward for peeing voluntarily that she know's she's entitled to) just as often. That's more sugar than I would like, but today I'm not going to fight it. She's also eaten some pretzels, but not many. Poor little Bunny!

We're working with her on cleaning up her messes these days. She likes to start one project and then, with the pieces of that strewn everywhere, she pulls out another, and another until my house is a maze of toys to trip on and step on. So we're not allowing her to pull out the next toy until she's put the first away. This usually means that halfway through the clean-up process she gains interest in playing with it again, but that's okay.

The family time of a snow day is unparalleled. I pray for a couple every year just because it means that I'll get un-interrupted time with a family with very disperse schedules--well, Dave's and my schedules are opposite--they're not fully opposite, but mostly, when I'm home with Noelle, he's working, and vice versa.

But today, we're home together-sick, but together, and I'm happy with that. Content.

Dave got a second job, too. I don't know if you read my last post, but his full time job at the church had to be cut to part time for financial reasons and we've really been trusting God about giving us a job. Actually, this job came almost immediately after the news, but we didn't settle down into trusting that it was the job for us until recently. It's a job that will pay Dave ONLY with commission and so it's risky. But we fell that Jesus is calling us, like Peter, to walk on the water and trust him. If the storms come we only need to look to Him and we won't sink. With this whole, frustrating situation, we've found that as we let go of circumstances that weren't really under our control in the first place, God gives us amazing peace! In two weeks Dave will no longer receive the paycheck from the church that we need to support us and he has yet to actually start his second job and we should be worried but we're not because God has promised provision and we are at peace with that. Let me tell you, this is an amazing place to rest--trusting in God and His provision rather than in your own, futile attempts to provide and/or control a situation. When this "storm" hit and we were thrown into the decision of either trusting and finding peace, or freaking out and finding...well... stress and worry, we decided to trust and found ourselves so close to the Lord's bosom that I almost wished we could be in the midst of a storm and/or fiery trial all the time just to be so close to my God, and in such a sweet place of rest near his heart! Weird, I know. Anyway, that's were things are with us...a place of resting in the Lord because He knows our future, and we don't, and we've given him the reins of our hearts and our lives.

Changes

2011-12-30T09:11:00.000-05:00

For awhile now, I've felt limited by the Etsy shop name that I chose without much thought a couple years ago. I chose it while trying to sign in and buy something, not really envisioning a shop later on. Etsy has given shop owners ONE chance to change their shop name and I have eagerly decided to do so. Clothdiapermommy is no more (although the links will still work for awhile. My shop is now called "Making All Things New" and the URL is www.makingallthingsnew.etsy.com or etsy.com/shop/makingallthingsnew

I'm not changing what my shop offers. I'll still be doing cloth diapers, diaper covers, training pants, and more, but I don't want to be limited by a name including cloth diapers if I decide, one day, to change my product. I feel this name makes my shop open to a wider audience. :-D

Of course, the name Making All Things New really has to do with my faith. My faith and I are really inseparable and I want others to know a little of the reasoning behind that. So, here's the new description of my shop and explanation of my name as found in my Etsy profile:

When I create, I am often inspired by old things, such as T shirts, to make new things, but not always. Sometimes, new fabrics and materials inspire me as well. I mostly make things for children--cloth diapers, diaper covers, fleece training pants, and knit wool play food--but occasionally you'll find an adult hat, pair of knit socks, or a Christmas ornament here as well.

I'm inspired by my faith in Jesus Christ and by what he can do with old, tossed out things. My friendship with Him and the work He did for me on the cross define me as an individual. At the end of Revelation, after John describes the Apocalypse, God shows him heaven and says, "I am making everything new!" In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." It gives me hope to know that even when I mess up or when life gets bad, God can make a beautiful new creation from my mess and rags.

I hope that in my life, as well as in my Etsy shop, I am a reflection of the God who went through death and hell so that I wouldn't have to.

And now that the holidays are over, I'm back at it, making more things. My training pants seem to be a hit--as a couple of people have requested custom orders--and any time I put knit play food up for sale, it never lasts longer than a week (too bad it takes so long to make them!) I'm needing a new foot on my sewing machine before I go back to making cloth diapers so you can expect them again as soon as I get that.

You Asked For It: Sesame Street Cloth Trainers

2011-12-15T06:52:00.001-05:00

For sale in my Etsy Shop: Bert, Ernie, and Elmo cloth training pants!

First of all, I have to apologize because I promised templates/patterns for the Sesame Street monster faces and I tried but couldn't get them to show up right. I since lost one of them and will have to re-draw it (which isn't a big deal since I never use a pattern anyway). But I do apologize if you were banking on those. I'm thinking of just selling fleece face applique sets on Etsy anyway. What do you think? All the fleece pieces of Elmo's face for $3 shipped? Bert's and Ernie's for $4?

This is all beside the point. Sufficed to say, I'm sorry about that.

So, I've been neglecting my blog and my Etsy shop for awhile because I was putting my family first and settling my priorities. For someone who only works part time, I'm SUCH a busy girl! I'm always knitting something for someone, working with my husband in the church, doing piles of laundry or making dinners for the week, writing my book (it's my secret passion), sewing, writing for Diaper Junction's Cloth Diaper Blog...and on top of all of that I want to be the best Mommy possible. So, my blog and my Etsy have been on hold.

Well, our church just realized that they can't pay my husband full time anymore and reducing him to part time is almost worse than firing him because we can't support ourselves on that income. I know, it seems awful, but it's not. God's given us amazing peace and we're really okay with it! Now, Dave's looking for another job and I've decided that I should step it up with Etsy again to help supplement his income. Since the Sesame Street trainers

When I posted my tutorial on how to make these trainers, a couple of people asked if I'd be selling them. I didn't have plans to up til that point, but they're such a hit with my daughter and really pretty simple to make so I've decided to do so. I didn't go out and buy fabric for all the monsters--sorry. I only had the right fleece for Bert, Ernie, and Elmo. And I have an Oscar in the works, too.

Oh, and by the way, I also made a new listing for some wool fruit--fruit that I knit AGES ago and then never listed because I kept giving sets away as presents instead :-P

A White October

2011-10-30T06:55:00.000-04:00

I had a delightful surprise when I looked out the front door at about 5:30 on Saturday morning. Snow! I thought the first picture would be the end of it--that it wouldn't amount to anything more, but an hour later we had this:

By around 1pm, we had really good coverage on the ground, and when it was all over we had maybe about 4 inches of wet, heavy snow.

My husband was saying that had it been a bit colder we would have even more but since it was so wet, it really packed down hard.

That was perfect in my opinion, though, because so often snow is too powdery to do anything with. But not this snow! We did all the wonderful things that one is expected to do on a snow day and we have the piles of wet boots and outerwear to prove it!

I hope those of you in the path of this weird storm enjoyed it as much as we did! :-D

Tutorial: Insert for Fleece Training Pants.

2011-10-26T09:00:00.003-04:00

If you read my blog post on Tuesday, then you already saw the tutorial for fleece training pants. However, the training pants are not done until there is an absorbent layer in them. In my opinion, with out the absorbancy, it's sort of silly to make training pants out of fleece, since fleece contains moisture. So, without further ado, here is a SUPER easy tutorial to put the absorbency in these little training pants.

First, I pulled out an insert I already had--a non-perfected one from one of my first pairs of training pants. But, if you want to measure, then you can measure the width of the crotch of the training pants, and then make it the length you want.

Then, I cut one, long strip of fabric that was the length I want, and the width multiplied by six. If you do not have a strip of fabric long enough, you can cut out two pieces that are the length of the insert and the width multiplied by three.

If you have only one strip of fabric, sew it together at the one end. If you have two, sew it together at both ends.

It will look like this.

Now, turn it inside out.

And fold it into thirds.

The ends of this folded insert are rough. You're going to sew them together.

Your insert now looks like this.

Clip the corners and trim the edges...

Then, turn it inside out.

Voila!

Now, all your rough edges are hidden, but you don't have six layers of fabric to force a snap through either.

Pull out the snaps (or the velcro) that you want to use. Since I didn't want my snaps to stick out, I chose the colors of Ernie's skin and his nose---which is where my snaps ended up.

Pinch the insert in half hotdog style to find the mid point, then mark where you want your snap/velcro along that line.

Fold it in half hamburger style (see below picture) and match your first mark or snap to where you want the second snap/velcro to be. Mark it and add the snap or velcro. If you are using snaps, make sure you put the STUDS on the insert. That way, if you decide to use the training pants without the insert, then the snaps won't irritate precious little skin.

And if you're doing velcro, you might want more than just two. You might want to consider doing a lenghwise strip of velcro, or just three or four little squares. THat's up to you.

Now, you need to mark where your snaps are going to be in your training pants. Fold the insert in half again, hamburger, and stick it inside your training pants.

Like so.

You'll be able to feel the studs of the snaps on the insert. Mark where they touch your training pants, making sure it's centered. Since I've already centered the nose I don't actually have to measure the center for this part of my training pants. If I hadn't put a nose, I'd be making sure that I was putting the snaps in the midpoint of the butt.

Mark the spot.

Add your snaps--the socket--to the training pants, being sure that the socket faces the inside of the underwear. If you have no applique here, you might want to consider adding a little extra square of fleece for snap stability.

Now, we ant to do the same thing to the front of the training pants. With the insert still inside so you can feel the snap, measure the halfway point of the front of the training pants, and then mark your point.

I have no applique on the front, so I"ll add a square of fleece to make my snap more stable.

Now, attach the snap and you're ready to insert your soaker pad and put the whole thing on your baby!

Tutorial: Fleece Training Pants

2011-10-25T09:00:00.001-04:00

I made the most amazingly successful fleece training pants for my potty trained little girl, and I would love to share them with you! I haven't yet had the time to talk to you about my potty training endeavors with Bunny, but sufficed to say that after laying the groundwork since she was about a year old, we put her through what we called "potty training bootcamp" just after she turned two where we basically stripped her from the waist down and reinforced good potty habits. We were amazed when she caught on after not quite two weeks! She's now in underwear or training pants full time, and actually sleeps through the night without accidents better than she does in the day!

Part of the success--a small part--is due to the Sesame Street training pants I sewed for her. She was very concerned about peeing on Ernie's or Herry Monster's face. When I realized that, I made five different Sesame Street Character's faces. She loved them so much that she was quite cognizant of keeping their faces dry.

Right now, I'm just going to teach you how to sew the body of these little guys. Later, I'll attach a pattern for appliqueing their faces (and if you want to do the applique, it happens before you sew the pants together)

First, let me explain why I'm sewing my own training pants. I do not want training pants that are just a fancy diaper, which is what Pull-ups and even the cloth diaper varieties sometimes are. I also did not want to spend an arm and a leg on cloth ones when they weren't quite what I wanted. I wanted training pants that were absorbent enough to stop huge puddles in my floor, but not so waterproof that my little cloth diapered Bunny, who was quite accustomed to having a wet diaper against her little bottom, wouldn't feel the need to go to the potty. I bought some Gerber training pants, which are great for home, for this reason. They make it necessary for Bunny change clothes, which lets her know that something is wrong. The fleece pants a little more absorbent than my Gerber pants, and much more waterproof, but they also necessitate a change in clothing when accidents happen, so they're great for going out of the house.

You'll need:
*The Pattern. I've never done this before so bear with me! The top piece of the pattern is upside down so you'll have to turn it around to connect it. Also, there is no overlap with the pieces of paper.

* about 1/2 yard of blizzard/polar fleece. This fleece will pill when washed, but it's slightly waterproof so it's worth it. I also used non-pill fleece for some of mine, but urine goes through it like it's cotton.
* Thread.
* Your sewing machine.

You'll start by cutting out your pattern pieces. I've attached the pattern for the body of the pants, but the waistbands and leg bands depend on the size of your baby's legs and waist. Mine are four inches wide, and the length of Bunny's legs and waist minus 1 or 1/2 inch. All four of these pieces need to be cut with the stretch going horizontally or it won't work. If you are going to add applique to the butt of your underwear, now is the time to do it.

Take your leg and waistbands and fold them in half.

Then sew them together using a very slight zig zag stitch.

Now fold the body of your pants in half vertically, and stitch together on the sides, also using a zig zag stitch.

Now, you're going to fold each of your leg bands, and your waistband in half horizontally. Like so:

1. Lay flat inside out.

2. Press seams down.

3. Pinch seams together.

4. Fold bands all the way around.

Now, all your pieces should look like this in preparation for putting them all together.

I like to start with the legs. Open one of the legs up keeping the body of your underwear inside out.

Insert one of the leg bands, and pin the seam of the leg band to the seam of the underwear, pushing the seams flat.

It's ideal if the leg band is slightly smaller than the leg of the underwear. If it isn't, you might have to size up in your underwear by adding to the sides of your pattern. Now, fold both legs in half to find the middle of each, and pin them together at that spot.

I only use two pins for the leg bands because it allows me the liberty to stretch them as I sew, but you can use more than that. Stretch the leg band over the arm of your sewing machine and sew with a slight zig zag stitch. Keep your stitch length on the longer end, too.

Your leg band should look like this when sewn into the underwear.

Repeat for the second leg band.

Now, it's time for the waistband.
Note, if your material is stretch enough, you will not need to insert any elastics here or in the legs.

Keep your training pants inside out. You will insert the waistband upside down on the inside of the inside out training pants.

First, though, fold the pants in half so the two side seams touch in order to find the middle of both the back and the front. Mark those with a pin.

Now, pin your waistband to the training pants putting the seam in the middle of the back of the pants.
I like to pin it four times in this case. Again, your waistband should be slightly smaller than your training pants. If it is not, you might need to size up in your training pants by adding to the sides of the pattern, or make the waistband slightly smaller.

Sew this up the same way you did with the leg bands--stretching the waistband as you go to fit the body of the underwear and using a slight zig zag stitch.

Now, turn your training pants inside out and the body of them is done! Note, if you want to add an absorbent layer, now's the time to do it. We're going to do that using snaps--though velcro would also work.

Here are some of the training pants I made for my daughter and for one of her friends. Some of them have appliques, which we'll get into sometime later on this week. Bunny LOVED them and went around for weeks telling people that she had "a monkey on my butt" or "Bert is on my butt." People looked at her like they thought they were hearing things wrong until I took it as a wonderful opportunity to pull the waistband of her pants down and show them my handiwork. However, this backfired because while we were at a bridal shower, and people were exclaiming over her Bert panties, she thought it was only fair if she could see all of their panties, so she went around bending over to look up people's skirt. I told her she shouldn't do that and I gave her a time out when she continued to do so, explaining that this behavior is inappropriate. But then my Dad interjected that it's only fair if I'm showing off hers then she should get to see everyone else's! Good point, Dad! I'm working on not showing off her panties anymore!

Stay tuned later on this week for a tutorial on the insert of these pants!

Melissa and Doug on Zulily

2011-10-24T06:53:00.002-04:00

Hey, guys! I wanted to give you a heads up that Melissa and Doug will be on sale at Zulily today at 6am PT which is a bummer because I don't live in that time zone and I"ll be at work when the sale starts :-(
Their stuff goes fast so if you love that brand of toys as much as I do, then you might want to act quickly. I'm planning on getting something for Bunny from the sale as soon as I get access to a computer this afternoon. I'm pretty much done with her Christmas presents already, but I can't help myself! Besides, I could always start stocking up gifts for the next big day in her life--say Valentine's Day or her birthday? Anyway, I digress. Go check it out!
Happy shopping!

Senior Photos of my Sister

2011-10-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

My large family is a family full of talents and we all kindly share them with each other. One of my sisters is a cake decorator, and she makes everyone's cakes. Another works for a phone company, and gets the younger ones phones. Yet another is a hairdresser and cuts and styles all of our hair. My job is generally to do the artistic things such as sew things and take photos. With my youngest sister graduating this year, she asked me to put the latter of those things to work for her senior portraits. This is some of what we came up with together.

Bunny's Village Frock

2011-10-18T07:13:00.000-04:00

I saw this dress on one of the sewing blogs I was perusing the other week and fell in love with it. Problem is, that it is not longer available, as you'd know if you just tried to click on the link.

So, I googled it, sure to find SOMETHING I could go on to make it for Bunny, since I had decided upon first sight that it was a dress I MUST make for her.

I came up with lots and LOTS of pictures of cute Village Frocks (that is the name for it) made by many sewers who were lucky enough to get their hands on the pattern, but no pattern.

So, I decided I'd draft my own. I've done it before and it seemed feasible enough. So, I sorted through all the google images I found looking at shapes and construction as I started drawing plans for my own version of the Village frock.

It was while doing that that I discovered this, similar pattern.
And I even found a tutorial--that might be helpful to someone.

With these resources and a tutorial on making your own Bias Tape, I made Bunny her little Village Frock using fabric I'd found years ago on clearance at Walmart that I'd been dying to find a use for ever since. I'm pretty pleased with the results. And she got more compliments on this dress than she ever gets. It was especially a hit at my sister's bridal shower.

Thank You, God, for Blessing Me (Book Review)

2011-10-10T07:05:00.000-04:00

Lately, at bedtime, I’ve been teaching my two year old daughter to pray. We started with simple things—just thanking Jesus for all the things in her life that she loves and she really grew to look forward to that. She knows exactly what to do now when I say, “Let’s pray.” Now, we’re moving on to learning how to just talk to God about her day and all the things she did and experienced in addition to thanking Jesus for every blessing she enjoys. Teaching a child about prayer and their relationship with God at such a young age is imperative in my opinion, because it’s when their faith is the most simple and uninhibited. "Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (Matt 19:14)

Thank You God for Blessing Me by Max Lucado is a lovely little board book that does just what my daughter needs most right now—it teaches about prayer. With beautifully water colored illustrations it takes children through little Hermie the caterpillar’s simple prayer to God, thanking Him for all the blessings in his life. It not only gives a great model for prayer, but teaches the reader to really be thankful for all God has given them, and to count their blessings. It’s also a simple enough book with clear enough pictures that my daughter can pick it up and narrate it herself—either by making up her own story, or repeating the words it contains because she’s heard them so often. This is definitely a book I’d recommend for parents of small children who are just learning to appreciate books for the first time, and who are also old enough to start to pray on their own.

Booksneeze gave me this book for free in exchange for my un-biased review. The opinions expressed here are all my own.

Faith like a child

2011-10-06T08:24:00.002-04:00

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me."
--Matthew 18: 1-5

Last night, Bunny and I went through our typical bedtime routine as usual. We laid down in her big girl bed together and we cuddled, and sang, and prayed. As I normally do, I said, "Bunny, do you want to pray?" and she responded with,
"Thank you Jesus for Mommy and Daddy, and thank you Jesus for..." and she went through the whole list of people that she is thankful for. We've been doing this for a long time, now and she seems to really get excited to thank Jesus for all the people that she loves. And sometimes, she remembers or I remind her to thank Jesus for her house and her food and her toys because not every little girl in the world has all of those things. Last night, however, I wanted her to more fully understand what her relationship with Jesus can be like, so I made a suggestion:
"Bunny, do you know that you can tell Jesus about everything? You don't have to just tell him what you're thankful for. You can tell him about your day because He loves you and He really cares about those things." So I guided her through that prayer and we listed all the things that she'd done today.
"Jesus, I really liked playing with my friends today. Jesus, I liked the new Mickey Mouse shoes Mommy got me today. Jesus I had fun watching Sesame Street in Spanish today," and then she added all on her own, "And I have my baby." Then, she suddenly looked up into the room and pointed.
"Jesus has long hair, Mommy," she said as she seemed to be tracing his long hair in the air. Immediately I felt goosebumps everywhere as I watched my innocent and faith-filled daughter point up in the air at Jesus. Was she really seeing Him? I know that He is right there in the room with us--that He always is--but as an adult who is polluted by so many skeptical ideas, it seemed so unfathomable that His image would be so palpable to her. As I lay there speechless, looking at my wise little two year old, she tried to snap me back to attention, continuing to point up towards the ceiling:
"Mommy! Jesus has long hair! He has long hair!"

Whether or not Bunny was actually seeing Jesus--which I think is definitely possible--or whether she was remembering pictures of Him in her Bible story books, I don't know. But I am brought immediately to stories of Jesus with the little children. He loved little children and if you read the gospels you'll see that He spent lots of time pouring into them. As I watched my little Bunny, I suddenly saw her from His eyes--innocent, pure, and full of perfectly uninhibited faith. I realized that Jesus expects me to come to Him in the same way, with the same faith that truly believes that mountains can be moved and that mustard plants can come from a seed.

Matthew 19: 14 says:
"Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

$12.99 for Fuzzi Bunz OS Diapers!!!

2011-10-05T13:29:00.001-04:00

Dude, so did you see the sale on Zulily? The one where they're selling Fuzzi Bunz one size diapers for $12.99 apiece, and a few of their perfect sizes for 9.99? This, in my opinion, is an unprecedented price. I've never seen FB diapers sell for so low! And, Fuzzi Bunz, which is my ALL TIME FAVORITE cloth diaper for leak protection, absorbency, fit, and durability. They're amazingly awesome diapers! If I would have found them first, my stash would be exclusively Fuzzi Bunz. Unfortunately with Bunny potty trained (yes, potty trained, I'll have to write a post about that soon!) I don't need any more :-( But I might have to splurge and get some of the "Does this diaper make my butt look big?" diapers anyway because how cute is that? Go on over and check it out!!!

Melissa and Doug on Zulily!

2011-09-30T14:53:00.000-04:00

Did you know that Doug asked Melissa to start a business with him because he was too afraid to ask her to marry him? That's what it says on Zulily today, on Melissa and Doug's page of discounted toys!
Check it out here. I LOVE Melissa and Doug toys because they're high quality and all natural. Bunny already has many of them! So I'm super dee duper excited that they're on zulily today. Go check it out! They're discounted up to %45 :-D While you're there, you can check out some other things that are on sale there.

%75 off Fleece!

2011-09-30T07:37:00.000-04:00

So, I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I will be writing a post about the fleece training pants I made for Bunny. She is now, officially, potty trained even at night--though we still put a diaper on her at night--and so I find it necessary to make something somewhat accident proof for when we're out and about (though when we're in the house we stick with Gerber training pants--the non waterproof kind--because they absorb a little but they don't stop Bunny from realizing that she just had an accident. Anyway I went to Joann's Fabric yesterday with my %50 coupon that I got in the mail and a %20 coupon that I printed in a google search (actually, I think you can find both of them if you google search it) and I discovered that Fleece was %50 off. My %20 off coupon was good for even sale items so I bought 1/2 yard of fleece in pink monkeys--per Bunny's request--and some coordinating purple to go with it. Those went on the coupon. Then, I went to the remnants bin. There were LOTS of fleece remnants, and remnants are always %50 off the current price of the fabric which means that they were %75 off! IT was such a sweet deal I got about 6 or 7 large fleece remnants (they're almost always just under a yard long) and a couple of flannel remnants for my soaker strip in the training pants. What a deal!

And in case you're wondering, here's a sneak peek of what Bunny's Pull-up cloth trainers look like. It'll try to post a tutorial soon, so keep bugging me if I don't :-D

The fleece is for some waterproof-ish protection, and then there's a snap in soaker. The best thing is, I can take the soaker out and use these either alone when we feel confident enough, or I can put them over her Gerber trainers. Either way, they're sweet.

Bunny's 2 Year Old Portraits

2011-09-26T06:33:00.000-04:00

So, my hubby and I took these photos on Saturday and now we're having a hard time choosing which ones to frame. I guess that's a good dilemma to have, right?
Do you know what the best thing is about these photos? It's what you can't see! Bunny is wearing training pants under that pretty dress--training pants that she kept dry ALL day long! I love my cloth diapers, but I don't love them enough to want to keep using them with Bunny past two years old. Ha ha!
So, do you think you can help me choose which one to put on our mantle? Which one would you pick?

30% off at Victoria's Secret

2011-09-25T07:15:00.001-04:00

Hey, guys! I just got Victoria's Secret to send me a 30% off coupon! It wasn't on purpose, actually. I went into their store to get fitted for a bra for the first time since my boobs became unusually large with pregnancy and nursing (they went up to a 36G) and was thrilled with the wonderful service there. I'm sure you're all familiar with this, but they'll measure you and fit you with the right bra and they're all so helpful and knowledgeable about bras. Really. It was such a positive experience for my poor, neglected boobies that have had to shove themselves into sizes way to small because 36 Gs don't exist in the regular world where Mommies don't have lots and lots of money for expensive lingerie. Anyway, they fitted me with a 36DD which fits better than a bra has fit in a VERY long time (though I suspect I'd do better with a 34DDD), so I contacted them through the Victoria's Secret website and told them what great service they had and for my time they're sending me a coupon via the mail! Yes, I think another bra might be making its way into my house sometime soon!
So, yeah, if you have the time, comment on VS's service after a visit to their store. You might just get offered a coupon like I did! :-D

Check out my little model!

2011-09-21T09:09:00.007-04:00

Saskia over at sunflowerradiantlove has made a new button and it features a photo of my little Bunny from over a year ago! It's a sweet button. You should check it out:

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Wool Play Pizza

2011-09-19T21:04:00.000-04:00

I found this little toy rolling pin at Michaels and grabbed it for Bunny because she loves working with me to make pizza dough. In fact, she so associates the rolling pin with pizza dough that she calls it "pizza dough."

So, I decided she needed pizza dough. I'm a very new crocheter and I looked up a pattern for pizza and didn't find what I was looking for but I did find a pattern for oreo cookies. I added a couple of rows to it and voila! Bunny had her pizza dough. But then, she needed toppings so I added some cheese and tomato sauce. Later, after these pictures were taken, I added a pepperoni and pepper topping. Each time I got a little better at figuring out how crocheting works so I could make a pizza topping that stopped ruffling.

In any case, Bunny loves it--though it isn't a thing of beauty or anything--and she rolls out pizzas for Mommy and Daddy all the time now! Best thing, is that since it's wool, it's completely safe for her to chew on!

Hermie: A Common Caterpillar; book review

2011-09-14T22:06:00.000-04:00

Hermie is a common caterpillar. He has no spots or stripes, he is just plain green with a few freckles. Wormie, his friend, is also common and plain. Every day, these two friends talk to God about the characteristics that they wish they had such as spots, strength, or a cool house like their friend the snail and God says to them each time, “Don’t worry, I love you both just the way you are and I’m not finished with you yet.” In the end, they discover that though it seemed that everyone else had gifts and they’d been left out, God really did have something beautiful in store for them.

In this story, Hermie: a Common Caterpillar Max Lucado writes a simple children’s story that simply illustrates truth about who we are in Christ. Through Hermie and Wormie’s example he encourages his young audience to accept who they are and to be content with whom God has made them. He also urges them to trust that God has amazing plans in store for them if they only just wait and lean on him.

I loved this story! It was beautifully and brightly illustrated and very well written. The theme was something that people young and old can easily relate to and it was well presented and easy to understand. I’m eager to read more of Max Lucado’s Hermie series based on how adorable this little book is! I highly recommend this book to anyone with small children who like to listen to stories, or grade schoolers just learning how to love reading for themselves.

I was given this book for free by Thomas Nelson publishers in return for my review. The opinions presented here are my own.

Bunny's Birthday Outfit (Plus pattern links)

2011-09-12T07:27:00.000-04:00

So, it didn't occur to me to take a photo of Bunny's Birthday outfit until after she'd worn it and wrinkled it, but I wanted to share it with you anyway.

Eager to find something easy, without having to reinvent the wheel, I googled toddler dress patterns and found this awesome list compiled by Prudent Baby (one of the best sewing blogs in my opinion).

After perusing the list, I decided on this simple dress (It's just a rectangle!!!) for Bunny.

Then I wanted a shrug. I only found one shrug-like pattern, but it was good, so I used it. Since this pattern was for knits, I added a little bit of extra seam allowance to Bunny's size. It worked out well!

For the bloomers I used a shorts pattern--well, actually, I traced one of Bunny's shorts and added an inch or two around the edges, and then sewed it together and added elastics in the legs. So the bloomers are really only shorts that are gathered at the legs. I'm sorry, I don't have more details than that for you.

And finally, I bought a party hat, cut it out, and used it to make a hat pattern. Then I sandwiched some stiff interfacing in between the layers and sewed this party hat. I didn't do it well, but I learned enough to do it perfectly next time. But since I'm not a huge perfectionist, I'm happy with good-enough version that I already made and Bunny loves!

And here is Bunny with her adorable birthday outfit. How cute is she???

Bunny turns TWO!!!

2011-09-11T07:15:00.001-04:00

Bunny turned TWO on Friday the 9th. She's such a big girl! We had a birthday the Sunday prior to her actual birthday with ALL of my huge family over PLUS tons of family and friends. I just wanted to share with you some photos of the whole ordeal in case you're interested :-D

Bunny's currently obsessed with cows, so we borrowed a bunch of cows from a friend who collects them and donned the house with them.

Of course, I made a cow dress for Bunny complete with shrug and bloomers. I'll share where I found the patterns for those in a different post.

Even her baby doll dressed up like a cow!

I have a large family. Here is me with all my brother's and sisters and our parents, plus one fiancé and one husband, and Bunny. I have six siblings altogether. My parents are going to have ONE FULL HOUSE when the rest of them start pairing up and making babies!

We had a slideshow going with about 50 pictures of Bunny throughout the past year. Do you know how difficult it is to narrow a slideshow down to 50 pictures when one takes 10,000 easily in one year?

My sister is a cake decorator, so she made the cake--a cow--and the cupcakes--the cow's pasture.

She did a great job despite the fact that the icing I made for her melted just a bit.

One of my beautiful sisters.

Another with her fiancé

And another...

My husband's grandmother.

My father--Bunny's Nonno (Italian for Grandpa)

My husband's mother...

My HANDSOME husband. I just want to eat him up!

His dad...
And yes, there are people missing from these portraits. I tried to go around and take photos of all the guests but with 32 people crammed into our little ranch home, I missed some.

Bunny's cupcake.

We had to blow the candles out for her. She didn't quite get it.

I made her this birthday hat. She likes being a princess lately so I figured I'd make her a birthday hat that could double as dress up. Don't look too closely, you'll find LOTS of mistakes. I made this on the fly and would do it much better if I had it to do over again.

She wasn't even interested in her cupcake. She knew one of her friends had just arrived and was anxious to go play with him.

Ah, the presents. She doesn't know how blessed she is!

Playing dress up later with her aunts and uncles.

Even Daddy played...

...somewhat willingly...

Me and my two year old! I didn't get in many pictures because I was behind the camera most of the time, but I made a point to get in at least one!

My little princess playing with her new Hotwheels and a baby doll. She got a considerable amount of boy toys--for which I was extremely grateful--at her party. She loves that kind of thing but people don't normally think to give her anything that's not pink!

On the morning of her actual birthday we gave her a present in our bed first thing when she woke up. She did not sleep in our bed, but she likes to toddle in there first thing every morning to look for Mommy and to nurse. Yes, she still nurses :-D.

"What else in there, Mommy? Mommy's going to get me another present!"

She wanted another present at first, but then settled in on loving the duck (all natural rubber from Ecomom.com) when we told her that was it.

Before I went to work, she dressed us up like princesses.

I only work three hours on Fridays as opposed to four, so when I got back around 11am, we gave her another present.

A bilingual book since I'm working hard to teach her Spanish.

We would have gone to the park but as we were getting rains of flood like proportions, we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then let her play on the playscape there.

Family Portrait!

Then, she and I went home for her nap while Daddy officiated a wedding rehearsal. After the nap, we braved the rains again to take her to a mall to play on the playscape there--again, since the park wasn't an option.

She enjoyed the carousel for as long as we had the quarters.

And then went on the playscape where a little girl kindly helped her get to the big kid places, since she isn't really big enough to do them herself. S

We said hi to Ronald McDonald.

And then went home for our private family birthday celebration. It's so important to me to have that quiet time together as a family to reflect on our daughter. Mommy and Daddy took turns saying some of our favorite things about Bunny, and then we gave her cake.

She actually did help me blow the candles this time!

Then it was time for presents. By now, she knew the drill. When I came out with an armful of them, she said, "Oh, thank you, Mommy!"

She loves munchkins at Dunkin Donuts so I knit her five of them in chocolate, powdered, and glazed, and then sewed a little "paper bag" for them.

We love Sesame Street so these board books I got at a ridiculous sale price at Ollies were great!

And I handknit her Telly Monster. He was TOUGH and didn't QUITE turn out the way I wanted, but she recognized him immediately and that is all that matters!

A Xylophone from Michaels that had two badly flat notes...

A Melissa and Doug puzzle from www.buncovereddiapers.com

A Llama Llama book from the Scholastic book sale at my school. She has Llama Llama Mad at Mama already and loves it so when she saw this one (Llama Llama Misses Mama) she immediately exclaimed, "Llama Llama!" and then moved on to, "Give me another present."

A book about Creation that she thumbed through for awhile.

And her biggest present was this Schoolhouse that I got from Zulily with some of my credits.

It was her favorite. She loved it so much, she stopped asking for presents, which was a good thing since we had no more.

And here I am adjusting my bra, but since it's the only picture of me playing with her and her new toys, it has to stay.

Daddy is planning on making her a loft bed about 3 feet high with a ladder up and a slide down. But we just ran out of time to make it for her before her birthday. So, that would have been her last present. But it's being pushed back to Christmas. Hopefully he'll be able to pull it off before then! He is VERY talented but also very VERY busy.

For the first year of Bunny's life, we took weekly progress pictures and I blogged about her developments from the week on my personal blog and accompanied those blogs with the pictures.

For the second year of her life, we did that monthly. We turned both of those into pretty thick baby/photo books that I printed out and then bound at Staples

Now, I think we'll do it twice a year.

This was our last of the monthly pictures. She's grown up SO much! Check out what she used to look like as a newborn:

...and as a one year old:

It never ceases to amaze me how fast she grows up. If I could slow it all down, I would.

Tiny Tush Cloth Diapers at Zulily

2011-09-09T05:38:00.000-04:00

Hey, all you cloth diapering Mommies! If you're in the market for some cloth diapers, Tiny Tush is selling them at Zulily for $13.99 apiece (down from $20). They're available in both snaps and velcro.
Go on over and check it out!

If only I needed more cloth diapers...I think I've topped my stash off at over 100. There's simply just no excuse to buy any more... :-(

Family Portraits

2011-09-03T20:18:00.000-04:00

Me and my friend decided to save money on family portrait and exchange the service of taking pictures of each other's families. Here are two of my favorite pictures that resulted from that shoot.

Free Breastfeeding Products

2011-09-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

Uddercovers.com and Sevenslings.com are running a promo for a free product with the code "Breastfeeding." All you do is pay shipping and handling, which was about $10 for me. Since their products are $30-$40 each, it's like getting them for %60-%75 off.
They actually ran this promo when Bunny was a newborn (or maybe shortly before she was born?) and I bought a nursing cover from them. It wasn't a scam, no one hacked my credit card, and I got a pretty nursing cover in the mail. I don't use it much because I'm clumsy with nursing covers and I decided I won't cover when nursing. Nursing has to happen in public sometimes, like it or not, so I do so unashamedly.

Uddercovers.com offers breastfeeding covers, nursing bracelets, and breast pads. Sevenslings.com offers slings, baby leggings, and cute bracelets to match the slings. Overall it seems like a good deal to me! My one question is whether or not the breastpads are absorbent and waterproof. I leaked like a faucet for two or three months after Bunny was born, and I leaked through some breast pads like they weren't there. Even then, I occasionally leaked around the Knickernappies Large breast pads (they're my fave, btw!). So, the fact that I can find no reviews on them kinda bothers me.