Magazines for Children

Greta loves it when the mail comes and generally requests something to look at. Usually I hand her whatever junk mail we get and she's pretty content with that. Lately thought I've been thinking about getting her a subscription to a magazine geared towards her age probably as a Valentine's Day present. I know she'd love getting mail just for her - especially something with neat pictures, coloring pages, etc. Please send me any and all suggestions for magazines she might like. Bonus points if it's something that's tried and true at your house!

Fluff Fridays!

Over on The Cloth Diaper Whisperer they are having an awesome giveaway for Gro Baby diapers including Biosoakers. I was privileged enough to be able to test the biosoakers for Gro Baby and was very impressed. I love using cloth and the Gro Baby diapers are my favorite. Biosoakers make cloth diapering away from home so easy. The pads have adhesive on the back and allow you to just stick the pad into the shell. Once the soaker is full just pull out and put a new one in. A nice combo of cloth and disposable diapers. But the best part is that these biosoakers are good for the environment. Almost all the materials in the biosoaker is made with biodegradable and compostable materials. Try doing that with most other disposable diapers.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to The Cloth Diaper Whisperer and enter for your chance to win. There are 10 chances and here's a list of what you will win:

1 - Gro Baby Intro Pak (1-Gro Baby Shell & 1-Gro Baby Biosoaker 50 pk)

1 - Gro Baby Organic Cotton Soaker Pad

1 - Gro Baby Organic Cotton Booster

Free Stuff, Yes!

A friend of mine is having a giveaway on her awesome deal blog. She's giving away LilyPadz which are generally used as reusable nursing pads. What I didn't realize is that they can also be used in a thinner bra to cover "CWIs" as we called them in college or under a strapless dress.

Head on over to The Budget Mommy and enter her giveaway! It ends Oct 5th.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for free groceries!

Okay, pardon the cheesy title but would you like to win free groceries for a year? Ronzoni is giving away 8 grand prizes for free groceries for a year ($5200) and 42 first place prizes for a mini shopping spree ($200).

Just go here to sign up!

Sewing

I have spent the last week or so doing a lot of sewing. Several projects had been lagging around for a while in my sewing bin and if I didn't finish some of them soon Greta would grow out of them before she ever got to wear them! The less exciting items on my todo list were: fixing the hem in 2 pairs of pants, fusing down facings in an outfit for Ethan, sewing on a button on a romper Greta wore last year, putting new leg elastic in a Bum Genius diaper.

The more exciting items on my todo list:

Simplicity 3802 Size 2

This was a pretty straightforward pattern although it did encompass about 10 yards of double fold bias tape. I used Michael Miller fabric coordinates for all the fabrics (including the bias tape). I also put the bib of the apron together differently than the pattern suggested because of bulk where all the bias tape came together. If you are interested in making this and want to know the specifics, let me know.

Sewing with Whimsy Simply Summer Pinafore (Dress) 18m

Simplicity 4203 (pants) Size 2

This top probably looks familiar. I made it last fall for Greta to wear this spring but was never satisfied with the ribbon shoulder straps. They came untied so easily and that annoyed me & Greta. I redid the straps to have hook & eye closures and a bow tacked on top. I also added pants to the ensemble as the dress was now a little short on her. It will now serve her several years as a swing top. The dress is made with fabric finders ladybug pique and black gingham. The pants are solid black pique. I made the pants identical to the pattern except for adding the rick-rack trim.

Sewing with Whimsy Spring Fling (dress) 24m

Lydia by Bonnie Blue (bloomers) 24m

This dress was made identical to the pattern (including fabrics (Pink, Blue, Green Mosaic & Blue Stripe) except for the same change to the straps as above. I loved the pattern for the bloomers. It was very straightforward and easy to follow. I'm going to try some more Bonnie Blue patterns to see if they are designed as nicely.

Simplicity 3512 Size 1 View D

This dress is a gift for a cousin who is having a baby this fall. I wanted to give something for a little down the road vs. the usual first year clothing. This was a fun dress to sew and I was able to make the entire garment with notions & fabric I had in my stash. The fabric I bought at Hobby Lobby last year, lining was leftover white broadcloth from a blouse I made for Greta, ribbon was also a leftover, and the zipper was bought for making bags as gifts for my bridesmaids. Just goes to show you shouldn't throw away stuff you don't use in a sewing project. Never know when it'll come in handy....7 years later! I made extensive changes to this pattern based upon comments on pattern review.

1) The original pattern had the ribbon ties sewn into the side seam of the bodice but otherwise not tacked down. I opted to wait until the garment was done except for zipper & hem and sewed the ribbon to the dress centering it on the seam between bodice and skirt. Doing so at this point allowed the ends of the ribbon to be caught in the seam for the zipper. Once the dress was complete I tacked the bow to the front. The ribbon is not functional in the original pattern and not tacking it down allows it to come untied which I imagine would be frustrating to mom and child.

2) I sewed the sleeves in flat vs. in the round. I've sewn in sleeves both ways and really prefer putting them in flat, particularly in a childs garment where the completed sleeve is so small and may not fit around the arm of the machine.

3) Because I sewed the sleeves in flat I changed the side seams of the bodice to be french seams. I felt like this gave the inside a much cleaner look.

What's New with Lil G!

A Greta post is long overdue. She is growing and changing so fast that I know I'll have a hard time remembering all of her accomplishments and activities.

Greta's vocabulary has really expanded of late. She's really starting to get the hang of picking up new words and it takes her only a few tries to master a new word. I'll try to list some of her words: Cook, Book, Rock, Play, Mow, Go, Sit, Please, Monkey, Milk, Baby, Drink, Eat, Cupcake, Pancake, Spicy, Pool, Fun, Pink, Yellow, Green, Blue, Nudie (and accompany Woop, Woop, Woop), Slide, Swing, Sing, Round, George, Toothbrush, Towel, Jane (her baby doll), Train, Plane, Car.

I have bemoaned for so long that Greta does not like to be read to and within the past few weeks that has changed dramatically. She now loves to be read to and usually wants to sit and rock while reading. I get asked many, many, many times each day to "rock" and "book". She has 3 or 4 favorite books that she wants to read over and over again. One week it was "Harry the Dirty Dog" and this past week it's been "The Wheels on the Bus" complete with two additional verses: "The Dollys on the bus go Bow Wow Wow" and "The Annies on the bus go Ahhhh-Oooooooo". Her other favorite books are old fashioned children's books about God. In all her books she loves to point to people or items in the pictures and have us name them. She'll point to the mommy and daddy over and over again and also name them out to us. She also loves the picture of the train in Harry the Dirty Dog and will flip forward to it so she can talk about it and make train noises.

Greta is always wanting to go these days. If I take a shower and do my hair and makeup she takes this as a sign we are going to go...even if I wasn't planning on going somewhere. Since she loves to go so much we've taken quite a few trips over to Jack & Julie's to visit Aunt Julie while she is on bedrest.

I feel like we are on the cusp of understanding about going potty but we're just not there yet. She still only tells me after the fact and wants to sit on the potty then. Several times she's also gotten distressed over tinkling in her diaper and actually cries about it.

Greta has recently shown some interest in a few TV programs. I do try to limit her TV time so we occasionally watch Curious George, Clifford, & Martha speaks. These are the programs she enjoys and I can easily tolerate. She's not one to sit for 30 minutes so her TV watching involves lots of getting up and down and playing with toys while watching.

Greta has developed a love for several of her toys. She has 3 soft babies in her crib, a mommy and me doll (Jane), stuffed elephant (Ella), stuffed Dog (Annie), a frog lovie (Miss Lilly), and a hoodede towel (bow). Before taking a nap she must holding Jane, Miss Lilly, bow, & one baby. She also must have a crocheted blanket with her. During the winter months I would put it on her for warmth but during the summer I lay it beside her so she doesn't get too hot. She's also recently graduated to a real pillow and seems to really like having something a little more substantial to lay on. We still lay her silky pillow on top because she likes the way it feels.

These past 22 months have gone by fast. In some ways too fast but I'm also enjoying having a more independent & interactive little girl.

Finger Painting

Reading to Miss Lilly with her "bow"

Crazy girl right before a bath.

Wearing her new apron

Running around on the deck

New pool

Sunday Dress

Pretty girl

Mia Behaves...Ethan Doesn't

Mia was feeling photogenic yesterday so they snapped a few 3-D shots. Ethan was not cooperative so no new pictures of him...except for his foot. Notice the toes up by Mia's cheek?...yep, that's him!