Friday, May 20, 2011

Neat freak in training

A few weeks ago, I noticed Clara pick up a paper towel I had dropped and use it to wipe up some milk that had leaked from her sippy cup onto the floor.

I squealed with delight! I might have a natural-born neat freak, I thought.

Isn't it the hope of every mother who hates cleaning that she'll have a kid who loves it? Well, it's mine. I pray that one day one of my children will rather vacuum and dust than play dolls. I can dream, at least.

Shortly after the spilled-milk incident, this lovely lady posted something on Facebook about her daughter cleaning, and I decided I had waited too long to have Clara pick up after herself. Her only real experience with cleaning thus far was when we sing "Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere..." as we wipe her hands and face after eating. And let's just say it's not exactly her favorite time of day. There's a good chance she'd rather be water-boarded.

So I started having her pick up her books and toys and put them in their respective baskets. She took to it beautifully and now we do it every day. And for every item she places in a basket you'll hear a little baby voice say "good girl". Melts my heart.

Then today, as I was on my hands and knees wiping filth off of the kitchen floor as she sat in her high chair, it occurred to me that she could help and she might even think it's fun.

And she did.


I swear I even noticed her wiping extra hard at a little bit of dirt on the dish washer. We might have a little cleaner, after all!

She moved on to the cupboards all on her own...


I didn't tell her that soap and water doesn't work too well on windows. She was just so excited.


Even if she's not a natural-born neat freak, I can always turn her into one, right?

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Okay, one more...

I couldn't resist the sewing machine that was still sitting on my kitchen table. I had to keep sewing while it was out, because who knows when I'll ever get it out again? That hall closet is a long walk.

So I took an old J. Crew tank top (our dryer ate the straps years ago) that was in my old-clothes-I-might-want-to-make-into-pillows-someday fabric stash and went to work.

Being a hoarder finally pays off!


A perfect project for a lazy/busy mother of two - half the seams were already stitched for me.


It turned out a little big, but that's actually a good thing. It's long, and stretchy (and soft and comfy!), so I think she'll be able to wear it next summer too.



NO sewing today. Maybe Sunday. But not today.

Today we are just modeling dresses for Mama's photo shoot, and playing (and cleaning up after Urine Armageddon. The babies hatched a plan to pee all over everything the last 12 hours... the crib, our bed, the floor...notice the missing couch cushion...)


Poor Luke. One second Clara's reading him a book...


And the next, she doesn't want him to touch it.


Girls are moody, little guy. It's better you learn this lesson now.


Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Creative burst

I was searching the internet for a cute dress for Clara to wear to my sister's bridal shower in a couple weeks and became discouraged at the selection. So what did I do? In a move very unlike my unmotivated-self, I got my sewing machine out of the coat closet, fabric from under the guest bed, and thread from the shed (not the most well-thought-out storing of my sewing supplies, I know). 

Not wanting to sew anything with buttons (I've never done it) or a zipper (I didn't want to go to the store to buy one), I came up with the idea to sew a skirt onto a onesie. Little did I know that's a popular sewing project! Oh well. It was very easy. And when I made a mistake and sewed the front of the onesie when I didn't mean to, which left a big hole, I added a ribbon to cover it up. 

She was NOT getting up, so I went with it

This was pre-mistake embellishment:

Not bad for my cell phone. Looks like a shot for the Etsy shop that I don't have.

My second attempt went a little better. I used the last of some of my favorite fabric.

Got any guesses where the only good light is in my house?

Don't you just love rick-rack? Although it needs some ironing here

So those were pretty easy and weren't very difficult to juggle with taking care of the babies. I just gave Clara some chalk (we don't have crayons, believe it or not) and put her to work in her high chair. Today was a different story.

I, again, was looking online for dresses and came across this site. Actually, I came across one of their dresses selling on ebay for $300. I can make that, I thought (right after I thought, $300??? For a baby dress??? On ebay???)

Well, I didn't exactly make that dress by any means, but I dug through my fabric, pulled out a few selections, and went to work. This time, though, it greatly disrupted the babies. It was just one of those days. I don't think I'll be doing it again for a while.

The result was worth it, though...

She was much easier to photograph in this - I think she knew she looked pretty

I had no pattern (and no cutting mat - I couldn't find it so I had to use scissors!), so I was pretty surprised to see how it turned out. I think I got lucky.


The strawberry fabric on the straps is another of my favorites. I used some of my last scraps for this

It fits her great, just a little tight going on since this too has no zipper or buttons. I'm going to alter it once it doesn't fit over her head anymore, maybe add a zipper. I have big plans.

I didn't set out to make it a halter, but that's what we ended up with

I'm spent. Even though those dresses took, maybe, a total of five hours over two days, I'm putting the sewing machine away for a while. I like being with the babies without thinking about getting back to my project. But I am super-excited Clara has a few new dresses. That last one will be making an appearance at her aunt's rehearsal dinner.

And so he doesn't feel left out (because all I make is dresses.. sorry Luke!), here's a picture of Luke in his big boy (12 month!) pj's...

No, he's not super-advanced! I just propped him up to see his pajamas better.

Has anyone seen my little, tiny baby?