Christmas Countdown

Last December, I purchased a felt Christmas calendar kit from overstock.com. I started working on it last month, because I'm sure it'll take me about six months or so to complete. It is actually more time consuming than I thought; you have to cut out each individual piece of felt, add the decorative stitches, sew on the sequins, then applique the pieces together. I started with the tree 'ornaments' - here are the first 6, and more to come... I work on them as I am waiting for Cole to fall asleep in his crib at night :)

Mom's Best Friend

The baby swing; what a great invention. Buckle him in, turn on the music, turn on the rotating birds, and set it in motion. Works like a charm almost every time.
Before:

After:

Let's Go

Lauren still enjoys all things 'baby'. She got herself all snuggled up into Cole's infant car seat, tucked his blanket around her legs, pulled the chime toys to the side, and said 'Take me to store, Mommy.'

Ready. Set. Scrap.

Armed with a bevy of new craft supplies, courtesy of Mom, I'm now ready to scrapbook. Here is my first layout. I'm not sure how my style will evolve over time, but I think my designs will be relatively simple with clean lines. I can't wait to use all my new embellishments and papers; just need to find a few spare moments....

Veg Out

Since there were still plenty of veggies from our 'bountiful basket' last weekend, I made some vegetarian chili. I've made this Cooking Light recipe before - and it's pretty versatile. I normally cut back on the chili powder (1 tsp vs. 1 Tbl), omit the jalapeno, and this time I swapped carrots for the bell peppers, and pinto for the kidney beans. I ordered another bountiful basket for this week - good timing too, our fruit/veg stash has run out. However this time I will be splitting it with someone :)

Bubble Boy

Play-time on the gymini was apparently growing a bit dull, so Cole decided to liven things up with a few saliva bubbles. It was like an endless bubble fountain... And check out that double chin!

Happy 4th!

Hope everyone had a great 4th! Here Lauren models her 'All American Girl' shirt that she picked out to wear to the 4th of July celebration at our local park. She had a blast there, snow cone and all. Upon returning home, she and Daddy cooled off in the pool with a leisurely swim. Then later, she helped decorate cupcakes for a special ending to our bbq ribs and corn dinner. In a year or two, we may even round out the 4th with some fireworks, but for now we'll settle for viewing them on TV. And finally, here is Lauren's 3rd exhibit 'Red, White, & Blue' on display at the new art gallery which opened a few weeks ago in our kitchen :)

Stickin' to the Curve

Cole had his 2-month check-up yesterday. He's steadily gaining in height and weight - now up to 11 lb 4.5 oz (25-50%) and 23 1/4 in (50-75%). He did pretty well with his 4 shots too (didn't react until the 2nd one hit). When Lauren got home she noticed his band-aids and exclaimed that 'baby Cole has owie; two!' and surmised that 'baby Cole fell down, on the floor'.