Super helper

Super helper, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew has been a super helper lately.... did I mention that already? His favorite new task is to help with the dishes, which of course, always results in a wet shirt for the little guy.

This morning in Church- Father said something along the lines of "Brothers and sisters, let us join hands as we pray together..." Matthew's little head perked up, his eyes sparkled and he looked at me and whispered "A sister!!"
"yes" I responded, "a sister..."
"a sister in dere- mommy's belly!!"
He's starting to catch on... It'll be funny to see what he does when his sister is no longer 'in dere mommy's belly'.

butterflies

butterflies, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew catches on FAST. Each and every night (well, most every night...) Erik has to help me do some butterfly exercises for our class we're taking to prepare for the birth of this new little one... and so when we're finished, it's Matthew's turn- and if during the day he catches me sitting indian style (which is often because THAT is something else I have to do to prepare...) he'll grab one of my knees and move it up and down, up and down. Too too cute. He's such a big helper these days (even if sometimes his helping isn't so much help).
I can only hope that this streak of big boy-ed-ness lasts, and carries over to the days of being a big brother. That's not usually how it goes though, right? I'm expecting that really there will be wonderful sweet moments that will help me though the madness... and that most days will be madness. :)

When you wish upon a star...

I'm calling this my baby WISH list, because over the past two years, I've learned that a lot of needs are really wants... if you think long and hard and creatively about it. A lot of items sold now-a-days make caring for a baby easier, and us new(er) moms wonder how moms before us lived with out all of the doohickeys and whatya macallits... But then again, they sell things like this. When in the heck do you use THAT? and Gross. It was never that big of a problem- cover it with a diaper people.

Any how- my wish list, yeah, that's where this was headed...

a changing pad
a changing pad cover- off white, light green... pink?
a car seat protection mat
a night light- any kind at all, even maybe one for the big brother so the one in his room isn't so 'baby'.
a baby bath tub- we borrowed one of theses before and it sure does come in handy when washing a little squirmy slippery thing... wonder if the person we borrowed ours from still has theirs...
a laundry basket- I really like this kind- because you know, little people make a lot of messes. Man- I'm looking forward to those blow out sipaers- let me tell ya...
Also- these patterns are ADORABLE

and goodness, how quiclky one can forget... it's always good to have infant medicnes on hand for those middle of the night fever/ sickness outbursts, I imagine even more so when you want to stop any fits quiclky before the baby wakes up the toddler...

diapers are always good- I think I have my eye on some of these this time too, though I know me and I'd have to go all or nothing, I think... maybe not.

Erik and I are also researching sit n stand strollers, though we haven't quite decided exactly which brand and style are for us.

and man oh man- we'd be lovin' a DOULA... which we're also in the process of searching out... or, well, we will be soon.

I should add that I'm totally cool with used stuff too- it's environmentally friendly- and we all need some of that these days!! :)

And the winner is...

small dress, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

So when I'd told my mom that I was going to go get some fabric, and she responded by "I'm just going to go and look in my stash in the basement"... I thought she meant like 'NOW I'm going'... and so once I got started on this, I could not, did not stop. It helped that Erik was up until 11:30 also- playing World of Warcraft.

Again, FREE pattern here, found via here.

The race is ON

Itty Bitty Baby Dress, originally uploaded by madebyrae.

So, from sew mamma sew I found this FREE pattern from Made by Rae for a small baby dress. I showed the pattern to my mom, and now we're in a race to see who can finish first. I may win since I've been excited about making something, ANYTHING for some time now- then again, she is a more seasoned seamstress, who has actually MADE clothing before... and I'm planning on trying to make it reversable. Hey- if you have to sew a lining as well, it may as well serve some purose other than to just be comfortable... :)

a pop-kul-kul-kul

a pop-kul-kul-kul, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew's newly found favorite summer treat.

Luckily, he's finally got the hang of holding it and eating it all by his big-boy self. Look out summer, here we come.

freshcut chair padding

fresh cut chair padding, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

To go along with the lamp, I took this wicker chair that I rescued from the trash. I've had it since back in the portrait studio days, and have just been unable to let it go. There's something so appealing to me about small furniture- such a cuteness to it that I can not resist.

The chair was scratched pretty badly, and as you can see, is missing the decorative wicker trim that once was across the bottom (or can you tell that it's missing...?). It also had a warning sticker on the seat of it- you know, one of those silly things companies have to put on there "no standing, this is a chair, this is a prop" sort of thing. After a new coat of spray paint, I think she looks pretty good, don't you?

I made a pattern for myself by tracing the shape of the seat on some newspaper, and then by giving myself a 1 inch seam/ stuffing allowance. I added in some ribbon on the back to make it able to attach to the chair. It's a bit puffy now, but after a few good sits from a little bottom (mine is too big, or I'd be hanging out here often) it should flatten out a bit.

another task to check off the list... 9 more to go... for this room.