Nicknames

Everyone has 'em. Some are nice. Some are...not so. Here are some of Kendall's.

Sweetie. Sweetie pie. Angel.

Bubee. Baby girl.

Shenanigans. Shenaners (pronounced like bananers).
Gorgeous.

Trouble.

Mr. Kendall.

Bill Murray.

What are some of the nicknames you've given your loved ones, or been given? I would love to here.


And on a side note, of course I have been crafting!! Here is a decoupaged picture frame I made using the Tomkat Studio as my inspiration. Aren't her frames shamazing? The one I made turned out pretty good- I like it for a couple reasone. 1) rhinestones. 2) damask print paper 3) flower 4) $1 picture frame from Michael's means this project was cheapy-cheap. But doesn't it look expensive?





Aly

True.

photo by emdot via Lifehacker

Percolating in My Own Inefficiency...

Let's start with this...


Notice how, on our wedding day, my husband is making the "grand entrance" into our reception waaaaaay ahead of me. I must have been royally lagging, right?


Yes, I grabbed his arm like I was yanking a toddler away from the street- what of it?

Seriously though, I had to "remind" him that we should enter together. Of course, they were playing my favorite song (You Sexy Thang by Hot Chocolate), and I may have been dancing a little. Ok, a lot.

That little story is what I like to call a "precursor" to this next one.

So, today as we were all getting in the car to schlep off to work and school and the Goodwill store (more on that at a later time, but I do love me some thrift shopping!), there was a moment where we were all set to go. I had actually backed out of the driveway with myself, my daughter, son, and husband (his car is broke. BMW- go figure) all buckled up and ready for the day. Then I stopped.

There was a blinding glare in my eyes. What had I forgotten?

Yep, sunglasses. It's totally bright and I really need them. And they are not in my car. Babydaddy gives me this look. It was an I-know-you're-not-going-back-inside-for-your-sunglasses look. Have you ever seen that one before? It usually comes with an eyeroll. At least, from my husband or 8-year-old.

But, so not a big deal, right? Right? These were the exact words that came forth from my beloved's mouth, "I'm not going to sit here percolating in your inefficiency."

Exsqueeze me?! Percolating in my inefficiency??!!

Puh-leeze. I mean, what is the big deal? But I couldn't be too mad. He had good word choice. If there is one thing I love it is a well-spoken person.

And later when I thought about it, I have to admit that I do a lot of percolating myself. In my own inefficiency, of course. And dancing...

Babies Rock!

What a fun weekend! First the baby shower and then a friend's first birthday! I couldn't resist making our friend a bowtie. I just know he will look so cute in this! I have to thank RufflesNStuff for her amazing tutorials. She is truly inspiring. Here is a link to the bowtie tutorial on her website.

I used the bowtie as the bow on top of the gift. Inside was an applique'd shirt and bib in the same guitar themed fabric I used for my nephew's gift (as seen below).

Soooo, how much fun did I have making this gift for my nephew? TONS! I got this awesome designer fabric on etsy.com- it's called, "Groovy Guitars." Cute, right? And perfect, given that my bro has been playing since we were knee high to a leprechaun (??)

Anyways, once I started making things I couldn't stop! Thanks to all the wonderful tutorials on various websites I was able to come up with some pretty cool stuff.

Here is the complete gift (minus the cute applique shirt that I did last-minute and don't have a pic of!)

Going clockwise and starting in the back you can see the diaper wipes clutch with Velcro diaper strap and diapers, 2 burp cloths, bib, booties, and pacifier clip.

Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Awesome diaper clutch tutorial found here.
I added a strap to the top to hold some diapers. I did this because my diapers and wipes are always all over the place in my diaper bag. I thought it would be nice to pull out the clutch and have the diapers right there, too. There is a lot of velcro to hold a little or a lot of diapers.

Pacifier clip



Awesome kimono booties made with a great tutorial found here. What an amazing and easy-to-follow tutorial! So nice of her to give the pattern away for free. Love it!

Once again, here it all is together. I hope they like it...I certainly had fun making it for little Dean.

All this from one yard of fabric. And I have a lot left, too. I am planning on making something for Brandon out of it next... :)

Have a Wild Birth, Dean!

We're a good team, her and I. Did you know she is a professional clown by the name of "Scrappy?" Or that she is the most wicked face painter I have ever seen? (Seriously.) Or that she was homecoming queen, her high school school mascot (her mother made the Ram costume she used to run around in to entertain the crowds), an Emergency Room nurse for 30 years, a Nurse Practitioner, a quilter, and probably the world's greatest grandma EVER. Love ya, Mom!

My mom and I threw a baby shower for my nephew this Saturday. What fun we had planning! Who knew that I would stress out even more than she does when planning? ;0)

We used a "Where the Wild Things Are" theme and built the party around that. I think everything turned out really well. One thing I was especially proud of was the diaper cake:




And the blue and green tissue paper poms (marthastewart.com):



For the guest book we bought a hardcover book and had people sign the inside white pages with a note to Dean. They can keep this forever! I still have the hardcover book from my own childhood!

And then I saw this awesome picture on flickr of these cute little puppets out of toilet paper rolls!

The boat was $1 at Michael's. I just used the paints it came with and added the flag on top and painted Dean's name...

Party favors were blue organza bags with peanut m&m's and pails with shovels. Although, it was raining so nobody got to use the sandbox outside! Oh well!

Party was held at the clubhouse in my mom's condo association. We added the blue tablecloths and centerpieces were flowers from Costco inside short rectangular glass vases.

Have I told you how much I LOVE these poms??

Diaper cake says, "Wild Thing."



Guests of honor (with my son, Brandon) Shelly & Derek...

Cute couple!


The cake was from Costco and we added a cake topper we found on ebay:



Everyone loved playing with Kendalls toys at the party. Kendall enjoyed practicing her (assisted) walking skills...

My good friend, Anna. Friends since junior high school! We won't talk about how long ago that was...


My nephew, Chris. So handsome and such a great guy. I just love this kid!

My dad and Brandon, giving each other an evil look. The competition for those baby bottle necklaces (you can see each of them have some around their necks) was cut-throat!

Here is Brandon at a happier moment when he had a lot of necklaces...

My lovely niece, Eden, showing off her collection of necklaces! I just love this girl, too! She was such a help at the shower. What would I have done without her?

Kendall had a good time!


Shelly is so cute!! (Chris, get out of the picture! LOL)

Opening some of their loot...

Don't you love pregnant women!! They are so adorable!


The end. What fun we had celebrating the impending arrival of Baby Dean! And as his balloons said, "Have a Wild Birth, Dean!" ;0)