Ruby Slippers

I've been thinking a lot about how fast time goes by. 

I just cannot believe that my baby will be two this summer! Yesterday she found a headband and did her hair all by herself. She is so awesome.

It makes me a little sad, but I love me some party planning! I have a bunch of ideas running around in my head, but I'm just not sure what to do yet. Do I give into the character thing? She is loving Dora and Minnie Mouse at the moment, but I despise all the typical character/themed party store stuff. I want to do something pretty and girlie, but the hubs keeps saying, "That's a party for you not Liza" and silly things like that :) My argument is that she won't really remember and I should probably wait until she can tell me what she wants. So the debate continues. 

But, seriously, look at this party. How gorgeous is that? I will totally win this fight.

In the meantime, I thought I would share with you Liza's 1st Birthday party. We decided on a Wizard of Oz inspired party. Mostly because of my mild obsession with Judy Garland, but I really do think it was fate. I mean, Liza's due date was Judy Garland's birthday. I couldn't argue with that :)

 I love that although it was a Wizard of Oz party some people didn't even notice the theme. Alright, these people I'm referring to were guys. I guess that solves that. 

Here's some fun stuff to look at. The party took place at my parents' house. It ended up being the perfect place for it since our yard was being worked on.

I loved her Poppy Field cake. My friend Amanda made it. Check out her other work here!

I sprinkled some Lemon Drops on for fun.

The cake looks a lot brighter in this picture than it actually was.

I wanted a way to display Liza's pictures of her first year so I bought some frames from the Dollar Tree and printed out some pictures. Here's what we ended up with. 

It wasn't perfect, but it did the job. I bought the banner and the cupcake toppers from The TomKat Studio. Her Wizard of Oz  party really inspired me!

My mom made these Cowardly Lion cake pops. I thought she did an awesome job! 

I wish I had more food pictures. I named all the food after references to the movie. It made me a little giddy. Of course, I ended up rushing the food signs, but no one really cared except me.

Here are the cupcakes I made. They are topped with the cupcakel toppers that I purchased through The TomKat Studio Etsy store.

Here is the party hat I made. Nothing fancy. I covered a clearanced party hat from the Party Store with blue gingham scrapbook paper, glued on some lace, and cut out a red, sparkly one.

The birthday girl wore a cute blue gingham skirt that I found at Target and some ruby slippers that a friend found for me at Walmart. She did have an adorable shirt from my cousin's awesome shop, but it got a little dirty before the party.

She didn't love her ruby slippers as much as her momma did :(

Ruby Slipper...it might be on the wrong foot.

It's a little hard to see, but here is a picture of the banner my aunt made and of the favours. I made rice crispy treats on a stick and dipped them in yellow chocolate. They were called Yellow Brick Road Treats. I put them in little plastic bags and tied them with little thank you cards.

That seems to be all the pictures that I have. I recommend designating someone to take pictures for you. It was hard for me to take pictures, run the party, and take care of the super tired baby who didn't take a nap all day and the hubs was busy grilling and hanging with the party guests. 

I'll leave you with a few more pictures from the day. 

The best family picture we have from the day. It's also a good idea to make sure that people know how to use your camera :)

Birthday girl & mommy

My tired girl.

And now my girl has discovered a new pair of ruby slippers. They are glittery and pink. She calls them her "Peensess Shooz." 

Princess Shoes

XOXO Sarah

Why I started Cloth Diapering with baby # 3

Cloth diapering is a loaded topic both literally and figuratively! Haha! I would like to share little bit of my experience. On future Wednesdays, we will go into more detail.

I had never come across anyone who cloth diapered until my sister, Melissa, started doing it when my nephew was a year old. My nephew Caleb and my middle daughter Madisyn are only three weeks apart. So when she began to talk to me about  cloth all I could think about were the old fashioned diapers with the safety pins that my Mom used on my brother and sister and it sounded like a lot of hard work and aggravation. Disposable diapers were easier to use, all you had to do when you were done is throw it in the trash. Melissa showed me the pocket diapers she used and explained how modern cloth was a lot easier now than it was 20 plus years ago when Mom did it.

Caleb in a fuzzibunz one size pocket diaper

Not too long after Sarah started cloth diapering Liza. Hmm.. another person I know using modern cloth. Then I found out I was pregnant with baby # 3 and I would have two kids in diapers. Which meant we would be shelling out about $80 or more a month just on diapers,This does not include wipes! Throughout my pregnancy I silently began to contemplate whether or not to use cloth. I asked questions,and did research but it all seemed so overwhelming. There are so many different types all in ones, pockets, all in twos and the list goes on.  Where do I begin?

My husband wasn't completely on board, but when I told him he wouldn't have to change many diapers he was all for it! LOL I decided the best time to start was on Earth day 2011, a few weeks after my son Jacob was born, I decided to place my first cloth diaper order.  I developed a small obsession with them for a while because there are so many different types. I wanted to try them ALL!!

I have found my favorites to be Grovia All in Ones for quick changes

Jacob in a Grovia All in One Nature


and Baby Kicks pocket diaper which are a bit more abosorbant for naps and taking trips

Super cute eh? ( Like my Canadian flare? lol) 

 At night my system is a Bumgenius Pocket stuffed with a hemp babies little weeds and a prefold.

This diaper 's pocket is fabulous for stuffing!

That is my story in a nutshell. Although I didn't know the greatness of cloth prior to my third child, it is certainly never too late to get started!

Hugs,

Katey

Liza's first time in cloth

I'm with Katey on this one. I never in a million years thought that I would use cloth diapers. I didn't think that anyone did it anymore. When Liza was a newborn, I spent quite a bit of time nursing and had some time to play around on the internet. I started seeing all kinds of references to cloth diapering and I was totally intrigued. They were SO cute! I wanted some. I really wanted some. I just couldn't figure out how I could get the hubs on board with the idea. I knew he'd be be worried about money and that he would be a bit intimidated by the whole scooping poop into the toliet thing. Luckily, I found some wonderful resources that I shared with my hubs. Then I sorta let him think the whole "let's try cloth diapers" thing was his idea :) I'm bad like that.
I'll share my favorite cloth diapers and resources next Cloth Diaper Wednesday!

xoxo Sarah

So tell us, what are your thoughts on cloth diapers? Leave a comment!!!

Creating Experiences

I fell into a rut for a few weeks and I found that we were watching a few too many Dora the Explorer and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes. It was the only way I could get things done. Shower, cook, clean, and so on. I am sure all moms (and dads!) have experienced this at some point. I live in a small house and since we are in New England it's a tad bit cold to get outdoors all the time. Although, I will not complain about the winter we have been having.

 I will complain about the Patriots losing the Superbowl though! Ugh! We were so ready for a win! Even Liza was excited...

Ah, well. There's always baseball. Go Red Sox! Liza's cute headband is from my friend's Etsy shop. Check her out at HeadsOrTailsBoutique. Pssst...I also have an Etsy shop :)

Anyway, sometimes I just have to stop and think about what kind of experiences I can create for my 19 month old. This morning I threw together a little sensory tray. It took me 3 seconds to put together and it kept her busy for a good chunk of time. I dumped out some glass beads I had in a vase and created a mini Valentine's Day sensory experience. She scooped the beads, transfered them into the mini heart ice cube tray, put them into the mini mailbox, and dumped them out. They are a little small so I had to watch that she didn't put anything in her mouth.

Since she loved it so much, I decided to put a little more effort in and create her something a little bit better. I grabbed her water table from the basement, dyed some rice, and added a few more gems from the Dollar Spot at Target. Here's what we ended up with.

With her post-nap hair she is having a wonderful time dumping the rice on the ground (this is why I put a plastic table cloth under the water table/sensory table), transfering it from bowl to bowl, and scooping with different spoons.

Scooping

How do you like my hair?!

I hope that this post helped to spark a few of your own ideas. There are TONS of simple and easy experiences that you can create for your toddler and I look forward to sharing with you some of the activities that I do with Liza.

In the meantime, know that I am not a photographer in any sense of the word so you will have to excuse my simple, unedited pictures :-)

xoxo Sarah


You can visit my Etsy shop here.