DIY Halloween Costume - Lil Birdie Emma

Since this is Emma's first Halloween, you know I couldn't stand idly by and get a store bought generic costume did you? Did I peruse the newborn and infant section in the party stores online? Of course I did, but mostly was fairly unimpressed by the selection and really wanted her first costume to be special. My mom made almost all of my costumes and I had some really cute ones as a child. My favorite was a Maleficent costume that was the Best! I was also a playing card and a pumpkin....she did not make the devil costumes, but my cousin and I are just too adorable not to post!

So in true form I had to follow in my mom's footsteps and make my baby girls first costume. I know I know, it's one of those things that I just needed to do. I didn't really make her anything while I was pregnant so I am making up for it now!

Since my nickname for Emma is Lil Birdie, I knew I wanted her to go as a bird. I google searched for

bird infant costumes and found a ton of owls, some peacocks and various other birds, but nothing made me jump up and say yes, until I saw a photo of an adorable little boy dressed in a blue bird costume.

Little Starling Photography made a Martha Stewart pattern blue bird for her son's Halloween costume. I instantly fell in love with the look and how adorable her son looked in the costume. I knew that between my mom and I we could totally pull off this look and do it on the cheap because it is made with felt! Of course when I went to buy the materials, lovely Martha's pattern was so vague that I just guessed how much I would need. Little did I know that I would buy YARDS too much felt and now have so much left over.....oh well. I have my sights on another project for Emma's nursery to make with the leftovers.....more on that later!


On a girls trip to my parents; Emma, my mom and I sat down to make this adorable costume. I knew I didn't want it to be blues, because of the people that would comment and ask about "him" so I picked girly colors and she is going to be dressed in pink. Instead of sketching the wings out, I printed them in a large format and cut out the templates, pinned to the felt and cut them out. I pressed all the seams, and that was all I did. Emma decided to protest her naps that day, making it impossible for me to do any sewing. My mom completed the rest of the costume and it turned out better than I could have imagined!

 

We can't wait to take her trick or treating, yes you heard me. My hubby is more than excited to parade her around in her outfit to a couple of houses and reap the candy.....I guess I can eat Skittles. (since I am still off dairy) Hope to get photo's and to do a follow up post with her in her costume tonight!

Happy Halloween!

Watch Emma Grow - Month Three

I fear that we keep getting pushed farther and farther back into the month. I went back to work so my time is spent playing with Emma and spending time with Darin. I am so sorry to neglect you all! So for posterity and to remember what happened for her baby book I need to write these things down! At least I take lots of photo's to help me remember!

Little miss' personality really started to come out this month. We really started to smile big at things that excite us. Kicking our legs in excitement and waving our arms. She started to take notice to her toys, especially if they play music. I have been singing and playing music to her forever now and she really lights up when we put Pandora on or any Disney song. Her favorite is "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. When I say that this child LOVES music it is the truth, she will wiggle and move her head back and forth like a little Ray Charles! It's so cute!

She loves singing and reading books and has started to find her own voice. Sticking out her tongue and mimicking our movements trying to talk and . She loves to grab, and has started to notice things like her Sophie teether or the toys on her bouncer. I looked over at her one day and she was staring intensely at the rattle on her bouncer and then slumped over to try and grab it. She loves being outside and shade bathing on her quilts, but bath time is her favorite time of day. This is when she bonds with daddy. He bathes her and then lets her kick in the water and relax. We usually have some soft music playing and then we put her in pj's, read a book and then we go to bed. We visited my parents and the pups all loved bath time also! She a new toy that she loves! It talks and plays music and shes all about it! It's so cute. We started to assist her in sitting up and she loves it. She holds her head up so well. She's becoming such a big girl! On September 25th we got our first official giggle! We had been babysitting a cousin of mine so she had a long day. We gave her her bath and once we got her in her pjs we started to sing "If your happy and you know it." Daddy was clapping her hands and I was being all sorts of silly. She thought that this was hilarious and started to giggle. We both stopped in shock and then I started to cry! It was so wonderful! We have yet to catch it on camera! She still loves to be swaddled and her pacifier, but we switched to her wubbanub, and she loves to grab and feel his texture. Everything is changing and she keeps growing larger and more alert. She still hates tummy time, but trying to keep up with it so she will learn to roll over and crawl.  

Since we didn't have a doctor's appointment this month here's her stats from last.

Last Month Stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 10 ozs (43%)

Height: 22.25" (44%) 

Head: 15.74" (80%)

Eat: We are still exclusively breast feeding. We are still going about 2-3 hours in between each feeding, including nighttime. I do have to pump because our doctor put Emma on an antacid that she refuses to take, so I mix it in with a little breastmilk and then bottle feed her. This accomplished two things.....starting a supply for when I went back to work and also go her used to eating from a bottle. She really would rather have it from the source, but we gotta do what we gotta do.

Sleep: Naps are better when I can get it dark in the room. She will usually take one 30-45 minute catnap in her swing around 11am. Then around two we go upstairs to eat again. I usually close the drapes and feed her in the soft glow of the sun in the hallway. We then rock with the pacifier until she drifts off to sleep. I lie her on our bed and we both can get a decent nap in about an hour and a half usually. Then we take another catnap, 30-60 minutes around 5pm. We started a bedtime routine this month as well. Since we discovered that baths helped to relax Emma and help her to nod off into dreamland easier we implemented a bathtime. Between 8-815pm she gets bathed, then lotion and pj's then we read a book or two or three. Then if she hasn't nodded off yet I rock her asleep and she snoozes on our bed until I dream feed her at 11pm and she goes in her co-sleeper. She will wake to eat from 2-3.5 hours and then is up for the day by 9:30am.

Diapers: Still in size ones. Our favorites are still the Pampers Swaddlers, but are looking into trying the Up and Up brand and Kirkland once we blow through our shower stash. My favorite wipes are the pampers brand. They don't pill or fall apart and have just the right amount of moistness in them. We also still love our Desitin for diaper rash.

Milestones to date:

Bringing her home: July 2nd (1 day old)

First Bath: July 4th (3 days old)

First Holiday: Independence Day (3 days old)

Held Up Head: July 11th (1 week old)

Lost Belly Button: (8 days old)

First Walk (2 weeks old)

First Smile: (3 weeks old)

First Trip: Lake Tahoe/Carson City (5 weeks old)

Found her hands: (6 weeks old)
First Swim: (6 Weeks old)
Laughed Out Loud (12 Weeks Old)

Here's a photo dump from month three:

 

Listening to The Little Mermaid

Tummy Time

Wearing daddies shades..."I wear my sunglasses inside"

"Shade bathing!"

Little coy smile!

Trying to watch tv even though I'm supposed to be sleeping

Loving our taggie blanket!

Bathtime with daddy and the pups at grandma and papa's

Supporting daddies team! Go Chargers!

We haven't lost yet!

Three generations of "Jean's"

Love this gummy grin!

Anniversary Subway Art

I have dabbled in wall art for a little while here. When I learned that Photoshop does more than edit photos I knew that I wanted to make Subway Art for our friends and families. It's really popular and its a great addition to your home. I have done Disney inspired art, music lyrics and of course anniversary art for my sister and brother in law.

When my dear cousin asked me to make one for her ten year anniversary, I took to Pinterest to get some inspiration and we talked wording and we came up with this:

The quotes "The art of married life is in the journey." and "It takes faith to go forward together without knowing what the future holds." are verses from their wedding vows. We used dates, various cities and other items that were important to their relationship and we included their little ones name also. I used vintage inspired fonts to keep with their retro theme that is in their home. I put it on a chalkboard background and sent it over to Costco for printing. Three days later and it was ready! It's so fun to make these and I hope to make one for my own family one of these days!

 

Happy Anniversary to my favorite cousin and her family!

3rd Month Favorites

Month three really allowed Emma's personality to come out and it showed with her interest in certain things. We of course still have our favorites, but Emma certainly has shown interest in many things.....one of which includes trying to watch the television....bright lights, music, etc....who wouldn't love it!

1. Wubbanub: Since day one this child loves to comfort suck. We have always had a pacifier on hand otherwise she would be attached to me 24/7. I love this little guy because she can grab onto him and feel the different textures on his body, look at the different colors and get the sucking motion that she desires. He also lies next to her so if the pacifier happens to fall out of her mouth its pretty easy for her to find her way back to it.

2. Avent Bottles: We got several of these guys for free when we registered for the baby shower. Since we switched over to a new antacid, it was really difficult to get her to take it, because she hated the taste. So what did I have to do? Pump breast milk and feed it to her mixed it. It actually helped me to establish a supply of breast milk for when my return to work happened and got her used to a bottle as well.

3. Sleep Pillow App: This free noise machine app has been a life saver for the past two months. Emma loves to fight her naps and sometimes we need white noise to push her over the edge into dreamland. Her favorite sound is the rainfall.....must take after mommy!

4. Coverall Pajamas: Since Emma hates having her arms swaddled we have been concerned with her getting chilled overnight with bare arms while she sleeps, especially with the night getting progressively cooler (YAY!) We wanted to make sure that she was comfortable and warm to ensure good sleep. We bought a couple new pairs in 3 months, 3-6 months and 6 months to get us through the fall. The fact that she looks so adorable in them is a bonus!

5. Wherever You Go My Love Will Find You and Goodnight Moon: We started a bedtime routine this month and it has worked out like a charm. Bath, read books and ready for bed by 8:30pm. This seems to be the best way to make her nod off into dream land. Does it work every night? No, but most nights it does. These two books are my favorite to read to her because of the content and great pictures. 

6. Baby Einstein Ocean Exploration Play Pad: She LOVES this thing. Anything with bright colors and music is totally up her alley. I sing to her and she gets a big smile on her face. This thing gets her kicking her feet and bright eyed staring at it. Really great for development. Sorry Grandma....she bought Emma this toy to give to her for Christmas but because Emma loved it so much, we got to keep it.

7. Sophie the Giraffe: This is a new introduction, but were suspicious of teething and decided to give this a whirl. She loves staring at Sophie, but not necessarily using her for her intended purpose. She will attempt to reach, but hasn't quite gotten the hang of reaching and grabbing her just yet. It's very soon though.

8. "Part of Your World" This is her most favorite song. I put this on and I get big time smiles and her attempt to sing along is absolutely heartwarming. Again, anything with music makes this babies day. Daddy is super happy that this is her favorite song because he intends to take her on the Little Mermaid ride in December when we make our first trip to the Magic Kingdom.

Custom Quilt for Baby Emma

This child is going to be a blanket baby just like her momma and daddy. With the amount of blankets that she received at her baby shower you would have thought that I would have decided to make her something else. I was feeling guilty that I never made her anything but I couldn't figure out something to make her that she didn't already have being store bought or made from my family. I had started a diaper bag, that has yet to be finished, but will be similar to this bag I made for my dear friend's son Aidan. That will be her overnight bag and I will post that when I have it completed.....seriously it just needs snaps and velcro and its done.

So that left me with making her a blanket. She didn't need another one, but I needed to make her one and especially one with her name on it. I took to Pinterest and found this pattern. I was in love and made it my mission to make this quilt!

Here's how to make it:

What You'll Need:
(4) Fat Quarters
1 yard white fabric per quilt for the center
1-1/4 to 1/2 yard fabric per quilt for backing (We had to piece the back because the original pattern said 1 yard and it wasn't enough
1/2 yard fabric per quilt for binding
Batting
Heat N Bond Lite
Colored thread for applique

Directions:

1. Cut the fat quarters you want to use for the border so that they are 5″ x 10″. You will need a total of (14)  5″ x 10″ blocks.

2. Sew (4) 5″ x 10″ pieces together along the short sides. Press & set aside. Repeat.

3. Sew (3) 5″ x 10″ pieces together along the short sides. Press & set aside. Repeat.

4. Cut your white fabric to 29 3/4″ x 29 1/2″

 

 

5. Sew one of the 3 block strips to the 29 1/2″ side of the white fabric. Repeat by sewing the other 3 block strip to the other side. Press.
6. Sew the 4 block strips to the other 2 sides of the white block. Press. Trim off excess if necessary.
7. Quilt as desired.

8. I used my mom's Cricut machine to find a font I liked. I also liked the idea of having all the letters lowercase. Trace the letters backwards onto the slick side of a piece of Heat n Bond Lite. Cut out roughly and iron onto wrong side of fabric. Cut out. 

9. Iron onto fabric according to directions. Hand stitch around all the letters.

Simple, straightforward and absolutely adorable. She loves to lie on it during tummy time, or nap in her pack and play with it!

If your interested in seeing the original head on over to Polka Dot Chair and give her a shout.