March 31st

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cherry blossoms are happening // so pretty! //magnolias against the sky, with guest appearance by the back of the hospital // she’s like “take me out take me out take me out for walkies!!!!!” // rhododendrons & soon-to-be-bluebells // idk what this one is but it’s really pretty // backyard dog // it was a pajama kind of day // guess what, I finally took pictures of my new items // in Ol’ Yeller, my giant bright freakin yellow double stroller // down by the cauldron // sky mountains water // Digital Orca // Gwen wore: coat for Zara, pants from H&M, boots I made // shiny // she’s chasing me // baby hits the bricks // bless this mess

2014 goals update…

1. Putting my laundry away regularly instead of leaving it piled all over my room: still doing this, still forcing Taylor to do it too.

2. Growing out my hair: this is going very slowly. I’ve mentioned this recently but it is seriously the most annoying length in the entire world right now: long enough that it’s always in my face/eyes, too short to put it back in any way that doesn’t look idiotic. I decided I’m 100% sick to death of the purple so in the past week I took real steps to fade it, doing two soap caps. I actually have enough bleach left to do a third but I’m pretty happy with where it’s faded to now. This was the colour on the 23rd:
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… and this is it today:
Sunny day selfie

3. 3. Stop eating potato chips during the week: I haven’t had any potato chips, I don’t crave them AT ALL anymore. I definitely need to pick another terrible food item to eliminate, but I’m not sure what. Pop? Probably pop.

4. 4. Be consistent with wearing sunscreen (especially on my feet): I actually wore sunscreen today! It’s really sunny and I was going out with Gwen and her baby friend for a couple hours, so I sunscreened my feet, face and neck. YAY ME, maybe I won’t get a dumdum tan this year.

March 28th

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tiny landscape // I planted four of these ground cover plants (I forget what they are called) a few years ago and two are still alive and covering the ground as advertised // raindrops on baby bleeding heart plant // little bun // tiny tiptoes // coffee & crafts // yawn // sprawl // tractor tea party 1 // tractor tea party 2 // making some important calls // sweet face // cranberries // failed mini lemon cranberry loaves, they are very delicious but distinctly lacking in structural integrity, possibly due to mini size or maybe I just didn’t grease the pans enough 🙁 recipe here; for mini loaves bake 30-35 minutes

After that thing with Gwen’s new teeth and the cat barfing on the bed on Monday I thought this week had nowhere to go but up. HA HA NO. On Monday night someone (not me) accidentally shut Claire in Gwen’s bedroom closet all night and of course she peed in there, on the carpet. OF COURSE OF COURSE. Once I opened the closet door the cat pee smell quickly drifted out and filled this rest of the house, and I just had to live with it until Taylor came home from work with some vinegar*, like I couldn’t even go buy some on my own because I am completely broke and the chip on my credit card is malfunctioning AGAIN. The vinegar is working and the cat-pee smell seems to be gone (or at least, replaced with a slightly less offensive & rapidly fading vinegar smell), but that was not the end of my woes. I have a cold, Gwen has a cold, Taylor and I got in a fight, Sym and I got in a fight. Why is this week so difficult?

Gwen has two new favourite things right now that she’s very into; walking on her tippy-toes, which is cute, and wanting me to pick her up all the time, which is cute until I can’t/won’t pick her up or I have to put her down and then she screams at me with her terrible new scream until I capitulate. That scream, you guys. It’s the worst! The other night it was actually nice out (it’s been pretty rainy recently) so I suggested to Taylor that we take Gwen for a walk with the little dogs. She was fine for a while, trundling along in a super-adorable toddler fashion but then she decided she was finished with walking (after about 20 feet), and that’s when the screaming started. We were in the middle of the park and you should have seen the dirty looks I was getting (lucky Taylor was up ahead with the dogs and got no such looks). I wanted to tell everyone “she’s fine, she’s fine!” but eventually I just gave in and carried her the rest of the way.

My favourite thing that I’m very into is something I call trollcasting. Sounds magical, but it’s actually very scientific. Okay not really, we have a Chromecast hooked up to our tv in the living room and I discovered a while ago that it was possible to troll Taylor and Sym with it. If you send youtube videos from your phone or whatever to the Chromecast it’ll override whatever other media device they are currently using. They’ll suddenly be confronted with Sandstorm or the true nightmare that is Alan Thicke singing Sweaty and Hot (click that link at your own risk). Tragically this only works because it’s hooked up through the receiver, so it won’t work with the one in the bedroom because it’s hooked directly to the tv. Boo!

Sym is leaving today to go on vacation with her dad & grandma. Remember when I used to go on vacations? Then I had a baby and now I have no money lol oopssssss. Anyway while they are gone Dougal will be staying here all next week, which would normally be ndb but the timing unfortunately coincides with our dogwalker being laid up with a back injury. Somehow I’m going to have to get up early enough to take him for a walk before Gwen wakes up, every single day. I seriously have no idea how I’m gonna pull this off. I have this long standing fantasy that suddenly we’re rich and can afford a house of our very own with a securely fenced yard and in the mornings I can let the dogs out to run around and do their business and I can stand out on the deck and watch them while I drink my coffee and MAN would it ever be great to have that next week!

*Blot up as much of the cat pee as possible using paper towels or old rags. Mix 1 part white vinegar with 2 parts water and pour on the affected area of the carpet, saturating it completely. Allow to dry. Repeat as necessary until the cat pee smell is gone.

March 24th

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I put Gwen in jeans for the first time in forever and she was like WHAT THE HECK // the space under Taylor’s work desk is perfectly Dougal-sized // baby eats: sweet & sour pork (bonus game of spot the scavengers) // before // after // running everywhere always // “pick me up!” // she was very proud of this bag & her ability to carry it // brunch bound // Sinful Colors in Hottie & Pinky Glitter // cherry blossom babies // she’s very well behaved in restaurants // SOON I SWEAR // all embroidery, all the time // this would have been a nice picture if these two weren’t so impossible // little sweetheart

Gwen woke up today with two more teeth than she had last night. Those premolars are real sons of bitches, let me tell you, and they are making her a real delight to be around. Combine that with the cat waking me up an hour before my alarm by barfing ON THE BED and I’m having a suuuuuuuuper fantastic day.

I’ve been super into embroidering things recently. It started with adding detail to some of the felt mountains, clouds and trees I’ve been making, but now it’s just like… FULL ON EMBROIDERY. Since I’m super broke right now I decided to make a set of super-cool patches as an anniversary gift for Taylor. It took every last spare moment I had to finish them- except I didn’t ACTUALLY finish all of them in time. In fact I only finished one, OOPS. But I mean, I was working all week, plus I couldn’t work on his gift when he was awake, ie in the evening, ie my most productive crafting hours. I made a couple little embroideries for myself in the evenings, a tiny mountain that I made into a patch and put on my jacket and a tree that is still on the hoop while I finish up Taylor’s anniversary patches.

I made five, since it was our fifth anniversary (I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S BEEN FIVE YEARS). The ~traditional~ fifth anniversary gift is wood, so I made them loosely wood-themed: an evergreen tree, a pair of crossed axes, a campfire, our initials in a heart carved into a tree and a banner with our wedding date on it. The only one I finished in time was the date banner. The others were all done except for the borders, which I mostly finished over the weekend.

I was given all the embroidery supplies I used a few months ago, and at the time I was like “cool, but I’m so busy with banner orders, when am I ever going to have the time to do any of this???” Then last week I had an order on Sunday night that I made and shipped with the rest of my other outstanding orders on Monday, and then I didn’t get another until Friday night, AFTER I gave Taylor his gift. So serendipitous.

Other than our anniversary the big event this weekend was Gwen’s first haircut. We took her to the salon to get bangs cut, and even though I was worried it would be a disaster she was actually really good. She sat in my lap without fighting to get down and only flailed her head when my stylist had scissors near her face a couple times (ARGH). Since her haircut it’s been nice to not have to unstick her hair from her face in the mornings, and give her breakfast without having to wrestle her into a hair elastic first. Plus she looks so cute! I’m kind of like “why didn’t I do this sooner?” but I’m glad I waited for the rest of her hair to grow nice and long first.

My own hair is at the LITERAL WORST length right now. It’s long enough that’s it’s always in my face, but too short to tie back. Barrettes and hair clips don’t really work because it’s too thick and besides, Gwen is always pulling them out. I can only wear a headband for a short amount of time (they hurt my head for some reason) and anyway, they make my hair stick up weird. I’m also reallyyyyyyyyy sick of the purple, so I’m thinking of attempting a soap cap in the near future to get rid of it.

A few other things we did this weekend…

Celebrated our anniversary on Friday night with frozen pizza and champagne. Taylor suggested going out to dinner but the time between my finishing work and Gwen needing to have her dinner is extremely finite, and I didn’t want to be rushed.

On Saturday night Jenn came over to very belatedly celebrate my birthday. She’s moving to Berlin soon so if anyone is interested in the soon-to-be open position of My Friend please submit your friendship resume to me.

Sunday we took Gwen for brunch for the first time since Christmas. She was very good, as was the plate full of fried grease I ate. That afternoon we finally (FINALLY) mounted the old tv to the bedroom wall. It’s only taken me like… two months to get it done, which bodes super well for me ever getting around to photographing all those little things I’ve been sewing and getting them up in the shop, haha. Soon, you guys. SOON.

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March 18th

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baby’s first crayons // baby’s first time trying to eat crayons // stomping around // salmonberry blossoms // I found 5 billion leaf skeletons in the backyard // quince buds // the yard is a gross mud pit but dogs don’t mind // sunlit ponies // morning snack // afternoon nap // flowering plum // she woke up like this // borrowed woodland friends // Dougal

When Gwen and her baby friends want more snack they smack the table, like tiny blackjack players asking me to hit them, except for instead of cards it’s little cheese crackers. It’s pretty much the cutest thing.

What ISN’T the cutest thing is Gwen’s new scream. The other weekend when she had a fever she invented all kinds of new ways to scream and cry and she kept her favourite. Now whenever she is hungry or mad or tired or frustrated or hurt she screams this horrible, horrible scream at me. NOT COOL, GWEN.

I kind of have a lot of stuff going on right now, I’m slowly figuring out how I’m going to photograph all my new little things for my shop and the branding and the pricing. Here’s a test set up I threw together the other night:
Testing out some stuff, idk if this is a cute enough tableau #unicornparadeshop #unicornparade #littlemountain
Cute, right? Maybe this week I’ll finally get the real pictures done, haha.

March 11th

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very interested in my skirt // she has a sassy lil walk // the face of a fever // sunbeamin’ // purple crocus // Sinful Colors in Pinky Glitter + Sally Hansen in Disco Ball + Deborah Lippmann in Stairway To Heaven // in the fresh air // blue sky // halo // I get a lot of compliments on this wolf pin from Sketch.Inc // plum tree & evening sky // moon // city over park

How was your weekend? Did you have a nice weekend? I did not, because this weekend my baby was sick. She developed a fever on Friday and was a toasty little hot pocket of a human all weekend long. Happily she was better by Monday morning, although she is still quite emotionally fragile. Here are three thoughts on my baby when she is sick:

1. What is it about kids when they are sick that makes them seem so very small? Gwen is a very tall toddler but give her a fever and it’s like she’s a teeny tiny baby again. How. How???? Is this weird size perception some kind of evolutionary instinct to make you want to look after babies even though they are gross and diseased?

2. Another thing about kids when they are sick is OH MY GOD BABY ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND???? You are sad and sweaty and your whole body aches and you feel yucky, so why don’t you come lay down in this comfy blanket with your cup of nice cool water- oh what’s that? You’d rather stumble around the house whining and tripping over things (or nothing…) so you fall and and start howling? Wow, great plan! Let’s do that for the next two days!

3. While she’s been sick we’ve let her have her soother whenever she likes, all day even. Usually we just give her a pacifier in her crib (and sometimes her stroller), and her having it all day made me think of that Vanity Fair article on RIE Parenting. The part I was reminded of:

“No pacifiers. ‘The pacifier is a plug,’ Gerber once wrote. ‘It does stop a child from crying, but the question is, Does an infant have a right to cry?'”

I invite anyone who actually believes that a pacifier necessarily stops a child from crying to come over and witness the miracle of my kid screaming and crying her face of with one in her mouth. Truly, she must be some kind of crying savant to have achieved such skill.

Of course I can’t have a post like this without a silver lining, and it’s this: if I could pick any weekend when it would be best for Gwen to be sick, up in the middle of the night, having short naps, second naps, sleep schedule all over the place, it would have been this weekend, spring ahead daylight saving weekend. The time change always messes up babies and kids, but with Gwen already being messed up we didn’t even really notice.

March 7th

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#nailsandnetflix if cavemen and astronauts got in a fight, who would win? Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet + A Hole in the World ie THE SADDEST EPISODE OF TELEVISION EVER BARRING ONLY THE BODY
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Storm cloudsFluffy lil white clouds
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blood oranges, cara cara oranges, pink grapefruit // grinnin’ // Sally Hansen in Mint Sorbet // super cool pins from The Disaster Life // lemonade, peach & strawberry smoothie // clouds & clouds // signs of spring // lil ginger // these are all gonna be bluebells // snackin’

A great snack for babies is Cheerios*. I mean everyone knows that, babies & toddlers are given Cheerios all the time. Just plain ol’ Cheerios can get a little boring so I like to mix them with lil cereal puffs and crackers, like goldfish or bunnies or whatever is cheap.

This snack mix (which I keep in a fancy pink ice bucket on my counter) is great because it is actually a double snack: babies will eat it sitting in their high chairs, but they’ll also throw it everywhere and after you get them out they’ll eat it off the floor (before you get all judgey like EW YOU LET YOUR BABY EAT OFF THE FLOOR I want you to remember for a second that babies will pick up everything they find on the floor and put it in their mouth so why not make some of that everything food? and I’m pretty sure it helps to build a healthy immune system). This also functions as a snack for dogs.

*or a giant club pack of store-brand toasted oaty-os

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things I want to accomplish this weekend…

• put the tv up on the bedroom wall! I bought a bracket for it ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND YEARS AGO, I really need to get this done
• get my nails filled
• retouch my hair
• finish the tree/mountain/cloud sewing projects I’m working on so I can photograph them properly and get them up on etsy!

Lil leprechaun #17daysofgreen

March 3rd

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just woke up // toesies // the former changing table is now her toy shelf // lil blueberry muffin loaf // what Gwen wore: top, Joe Fresh (I undid the knot); leggings, Old Navy; boots made by me // the aforementioned boots, all finished with snaps and everything // latest project // baby was here // choco-nose // blue mood // Quo by Orly in Night Sky // mountains-cloud-trees // helping

This morning Gwen threw up for the first time in her life. Like not just baby spit up, actual semi-digested food barf. In spite of the grossness, here are some blessings:

– she was wearing leggings with really stained knees that when I put them on her I thought “I should really soak these in some OxyClean”
– even though she was wearing her lil baby friend’s cardigan she didn’t get any throw up on it
– she was standing on the linoleum NOT the carpet when it happened
– there were also no toys or books nearby so nothihng got splattered with puke
– she doesn’t actually seem to be sick, I think she just had too much bouncy fun
– Taylor was still awake to clean up the floor while I cleaned up the baby

See? #barfblessed