Showing posts with label Little Mister. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Little Mister. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Changing Nicknames

Since I started this blog 6 years ago (wow, has it really been that long?), I've always used nicknames for my husband and daughter. When I was pregnant with our son, he got a nickname too.

I've decided the time has come to change up the nicknames a bit. I want to simplify them and do away with the acronyms. They're convenient when typing, but I think they end up just being confusing.


Little Miss Sunshine (LMS) isn't as little as she used to be (she was 2 when I started out), so from here on out I'll just be calling her Sunshine.

The Little Mister (TLM) was a useful name when he was first born, but his personality is showing now, so River will be his new nickname. Rivers keep moving and never stop, just like him :)

I was going to change Mr Mellow's (Mr M) nickname since I am getting rid of initials for the kiddos, but I think I'll keep it. It's convenient and makes it fairly obvious that he's my husband as opposed to one of the kiddos.

And then there's me. I'm still Jen.

On a side note, I posted my 1000th post last week and I missed it. If I were on top of things I'd celebrate, but it's summer vacation and that's not going to happen :)

How about a picture of the cake our Primary President made Sunshine for turning 8/getting baptized? Two layer, gluten free chocolate cake with chocolate icing. It was delicious! Though it didn't survive our bumpy driveway unscathed...

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Sunday Funny

When I was working on the flagpoles for my Cub Scouts, I originally just got one pole for our new pack flag, then decided to go back and get a second for a new US flag. While I was at Lowe's, I managed to catch some cute pics of TLM being super-cute.

helping mommy by making sure that pole doesn't go anywhere

Lest you think that it was a fluke for him to grab onto the pole, he did the same thing when we went back and got the second pole.

As I slid it into the cart: "put it right there, mommy"

"I'll hold it for you!"

Thursday, June 12, 2014

DIY Baby Boy Vest and Bow Tie {Stash-buster Project}


What's cuter than a little boy in a vest and bow tie? Not much! Though the tiny baby teeth peeking out in the picture below certainly up the cuteness factor :)

While I was making a dress for LMS for her baptism (I'll post it soon, I'm just waiting on an old picture from my mom), I was thinking about a new outfit for The Little Mister as well. I decided he needed a vest and bow tie, and I'd make them for him.

I've seen little boy vests in blogland, so I just had to do a little search to decide on a pattern/tutorial. I ended up using a pattern I found here and combined it with a tutorial I found here. I shortened the length of the pattern since it was intended for a one year old and adjusted the angle from the shoulder to the first button to make it a little longer (I wanted the first button to be a little lower).

The tutorial that went with the pattern called for topstitching the lining to the outside fabric at the armholes, but that wasn't working for me, so I ended up using the tutorial I found here, instead, which called for handsewing the shoulder seams closed. I admit to taking the quick route and machine sewing them, but it turned out well enough that I'm leaving it as-is.


The outer fabric came from a pair of pants I found at Goodwill, the lining was fabric I already had, and the buttons came off an old pair of Mr M's khakis. The fabric had a bit of stretch to it, which is why topstitching the armholes didn't work out. You can see that I couldn't get the pocket flaps to line up right either, but it's less obvious, so after a couple re-dos I left them alone.

You can't see it, but the back of the vest utilizes the hem and side seam of one of the pant legs, which made less work for me :)

The second part of this project was making a cute bow tie. Most of the tutorials I found were for cotton fabric, though I did find some for turning a grown-up tie into a little boy tie. I knew I wanted to use real tie fabric, and I was able to make this tutorial work.

We don't have any extra ties sitting around right now (we're not sure where all Mr M's old ties disappeared to), so I found a clearance tie at Kohls. I meant to get one at Goodwill earlier that day but got distracted by LMS and forgot. Though honestly, I doubt the ties there were as cute as this one :)

I cut off the narrow tail of the tie and carefully took it apart and ironed it flat. From there I was able to use this tutorial. Instead of sewing snaps to the tie and shirts, though, I attached some elastic.
modeling the first version 

TLM wore the vest and bow tie twice while we were in Colorado, and while the vest didn't have any issues, the bow tie did. It ended up getting kind of smooshed, instead of keeping its shape.

When we got home, I took the bow tie apart and ironed some narrow strips of stiff Pellon to the inside back of the fabric to help the edges keep their shape better. I also changed the center gather a little, which should also help the bow tie keep its shape.

After wearing it during church on Sunday, it still looked as good as new:

Such a handsome little boy!

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

June 5k Results

Saturday I ran my June race.

This is the 3rd year I've run this race, which benefits a great cause: all proceeds go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

In 2012 I finished in 39:23, pushing the Little Miss in the jogger.
Last year, in 2013,  I finished in 40:02, while pregnant with The Little Mister.
This year I finished in 38:11 while pushing TLM in the jogger. Somehow I managed to finish the race almost 2 minutes faster than last year, which is very encouraging since my training to this point has been pretty minimal and my energy levels are still not up to snuff.

It was a great day for running. It was cool, but not too cold, at the start, though it did warm up as the race progressed and we moved away from the shade. Even then, it wasn't as hot and muggy as it's been in the past.

This is a challenging course. You're either going up a hill or down a hill- there's really no flat parts. At least none of the hills are super steep, but they are long enough to make you tired and winded, especially when pushing a kiddo in a jogger. Though TLM weighs significantly less than LMS, so at least there's that :)

A week and a half before the race I managed to spend some time on the treadmill doing hills and running hard, so I think that helped on Saturday. That's the only reason I can think of to explain why I was more than a minute faster than my May race, which had fewer hills and more flat spots.

I'm still not training as much as I should, but I'm gradually getting there. With the half marathon rapidly approaching I think I'll be adding extra races in July and August. In July I'm planning on a Fourth of July 5k plus another 5k a couple weeks later. I'd like to do a 15k trail run in August, but I'll have to see how I feel and how much running I'm able to do in the next few weeks. If I'm not feeling up to the 15k, I'll back off and do the 7k option, but for the sake of training I need to do the 15k. At the end of August I'll do the 4 Mile race I've done the last four years.

TLM hung out in the jogger. He stayed awake all through the race again (just like during the May race), finally falling asleep right at the end.

LMS ran the kids race again. She doesn't yet love running, but I keep hoping :)



2014 Race Results:
June 5k: 38:11           Ran with jogger
May 5k: 39:23          Ran with jogger
April 5k: 37:40         Color Run
March 5k: 37:33  
February 4.5 miles: 1:49:55  Mud Run
January: ---

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

8 Months


This was the month where The Little Mister became mobile.

The month began with him starting to pull up on low items (so not into an upright standing position) like the fireplace and LMS' doll cradle.

Little Miss Sunshine is determined to teach him how to walk and will hold his hands and help him walk around the room.

Halfway through the month he had a massive jump in his development.

During one week: He started full-on crawling (short distances) one day and the next day he cut his first tooth. A few days later he was pulling himself to a standing position in his crib (we had to lower his mattress quick!) and the next day his second tooth broke through.
you can just see a glimpse of a tooth :)

so pleased with himself!


The following week: At the beginning of the week he started pulling himself up to a standing position while standing on the couch, using the couch back cushions to hold onto and by the end of week he was pulling himself up on the couch while standing on the floor, and he was using the couch as support while he walked sideways to get what he wanted at the other end of the couch (aka cruising).

he likes to chew on his blanket (I talked about them last month)- I'm sure it feels good on his gums

Now he crawls/scoots/pulls himself around on the floor quite rapidly and is pulling himself up on anything he can: toys, furniture, baby gates, you name it. He seems quite fearless, so I'm expecting him to walk on his own sooner than LMS did. That was at 14 months, despite the fact that she was cruising long before she started crawling.


I caught him licking the baby gate. Gotta investigate everything. 
Maybe it's because it was smooth and cold?

TLM had his first plane ride this month. LMS had hers at one month old when we went to Mr M's great-grandmother's funeral. The first two flights were red eye flights and he slept through most of them. When we came back it was morning and he was awake for a lot more of it and wiggly. But he only fussed on one descent because he wasn't nursing/sucking his thumb/sleeping. Not bad statistics overall, and while those around us might not have appreciated his fussiness, at least he wasn't all-out screaming.
hanging out with Aunt J before the baptism started

We flew to Colorado for Little Miss Sunshine's baptism and he got to meet a lot of relatives, who all wanted to hold him because he's so stinking cute :) He's old enough to realize when people aren't mommy or daddy, so he showed some reluctance to allow others to hold him. He did warm up eventually and allow most people to hold him for a few minutes, though he didn't appreciate all the cousins who wanted to hold him and carry him around like a doll.
he did like swinging with cousin K

being smothered by LMS and cousins N and A

I say this every month, but TLM really is a happy baby, and such a cutie. He lights up when he sees any of us: he gets this great big smile on his face. He giggles at the funniest things- one morning I had the hiccups and he sat and giggled after every one. He likes funny voices. I was reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears to LMS, using different voices for the bears, and he giggled each time I changed voices. It's fun to see just what tickles his funny bone.

He's learned how to roll his tongue. Mr M and LMS both have long tongues and can touch their noses with them. I expect TLM to follow in their footsteps. Mr M can even fold the tip of his tongue backward (which looks kind of icky, but hey, it's not something I can do). TLM has started rolling his tongue and slurping his saliva, which is funny to listen to- you don't expect someone his age to be able to do that.
overexposed photo (still don't have the camera settings figured out yet) of him playing with his tongue

He's eating more and more solids. Most of the time I put his food on his tray and let him feed himself, which is what I did with LMS, too. For some reason he likes it when I spoon-feed him, which I find interesting. It's like it's too much effort for him to feed himself, or it's too messy- I'm not sure which one. I'll feed him a few bites then leave him to it and he'll usually be good to continue eating.
I don't regularly give him packaged foods- but I'm ok with the occasional applesauce mixed with apple juice (which is what's in the GoGo Squeezes), and he thinks he's such a big kid when he gets to hold the packet himself

He has a funny way of sitting up- first he'll get up on his hands and feet with his bum in the air, then he'll kind of roll his hips and plop on his bum.
getting in position to sit down...

He thinks he's so grown up:


He was excited when he found Nanny lying around the other day. 
If LMS likes Nanny so much, she must be something special, right?

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Baptism


I've been so busy lately I haven't been posting much. One of the reasons? I was preparing for Little Miss Sunshine's baptism. This past weekend we flew to Colorado so our families could be a part of it, and she was baptized at the same time as her cousin I who is just a couple months older than her.


In future posts I'll share some of the sewing projects I was able to finish in time for the baptism. I'm particularly pleased with how three of them turned out. The fourth, not so much (it's not horrible, but it's not quite what I intended). But three out of four is pretty good, so I'm happy. See if you can guess what the projects were- all of them are being worn in the picture below.

We had a good time visiting with our families and it was nice to have so many of them at the baptism. It's hard to believe she's eight years old already and old enough to be baptized. She's growing up so fast! She loves being a big sister and is a great help with The Little Mister. We're so proud of her for making the decision to be baptized!



While we were taking pictures, we made sure to get a three generation picture of TLM with Mr M and Mr M's father. Don't they all look alike?

Things should be calming down a bit so I plan on catching up on my posting. I still haven't finished my posts from our Boston trip....

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

May 5k Results


Saturday I ran my May race. It was a small fundraiser 5k for a local elementary school and was held just down the street from our house. If I hadn't had TLM in the jogger, I would have walked there. I don't like taking the jogger out on the main road, though, since it's narrow and there's no shoulder. So I decided to be safe and drive.

Mr M was still out of town on business, so I dropped LMS off at a friend's house and pushed TLM in the jogger. He was traumatized last time I left him at someone's house for a dental appointment so I decided to keep him with me and spare our friends a couple hours of screaming.


I ended up finishing in 39:23, about 2 minutes slower than the last two 5ks I've run. But since I was pushing TLM in the jogger, I'm completely ok with that. I really haven't run much (though I did walk all over Boston) since last month's 5k, so that makes me even happier with my time :)

I've run this course before, since it's in our neighborhood, so I knew to expect the several hills that we encountered. I managed to run up the first fairly steep one, but ended up walking up most of the later, less steep ones. I definitely need to get some hill work in. Despite the inability to run up all the hills, I felt good and wasn't too sore afterwards, so that's a win. I felt a lot better running this race than I did the last couple races, which is encouraging.
We were the second jogger to cross the finish line, but I claim first place since I ran the entire race pushing the jogger, and the lady who finished before us didn't. She left her kiddo with one of the race volunteers at the beginning of a mile long loop and picked her up at the end of the loop. So yeah, I won. Too bad they didn't have a stroller category....

I thought TLM would fall asleep while I was running, but he stayed awake the whole time, just to fall asleep after I finished.

The race organizers arranged for some skydivers to jump and land right next to the race staging area. That was pretty cool, though I honestly don't know why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. I'm not sure if this race will be put on next year, but if they do, I'll definitely run it again.

2014 Races:
May 5k: 39:23          Ran with jogger
April 5k: 37:40         Color Run
March 5k: 37:33  
February 4.5 miles: 1:49:55  Mud Run
January: ---