Bat

Piglet's really into blocks these days. She can play with them for hours... which is great for me. The other day I came out of the shower in the morning to a very proud Piglet who had just made this. Guess what it is? A bat! Pretty realistic looking, don't you think? And she wanted a picture before breaking it to make something else.

Meeting Santa

Today we took Piglet to see Santa with a few of our friends. To be honest, I have always been a little freaked out by people in costumes. Little halloween costumes are alright but I still can't go near Snow White or Cinderella at Disneyland. Even the thought of being close to Santa creeps me out a little bit. But I didn't want to project my fear onto Piglet so we took her. Well, she didn't seem to mind. She gladly sat on Santa's lap for a good amount of time and conversed with him. I wondered what they were talking about while snapping away these pictures. Funny but even going through these photos made me feel a little queasy but I won't go there...







Piglet and a friend

Christmas card

The past few years I've designed our Christmas cards. It's one of the things I look forward to every holiday season. Nothing fancy, just something simple which is my preference when it comes to most things. Well, this year, I've been too tired to think about it. And with Christmas quickly approaching I was even contemplating not sending out any Christmas cards. Then I started playing with Piglet's gingerbread house photos a few days ago and ended up ordering these through Shutterfly.



Although I'm impressed with their quality and turn-around time, I could've easily done this at home. For some reason I believed that their photo cards would have some kind of a card stock backing. This is not true. The back is like that of any photo papers and I don't like writing on it. Yes, I'm one of those people who need to include a handwritten message with every card. So now I have to go and cut out some card stock paper to attach it to the back just so I could write on it. Guess I'm pretty hard to please. Next year I'll be designing our cards.

Conversations

2.5 is a great age. I love being able to have real conversations with my daughter. Almost every day there is something that I explode into laughter about. Here's what happened today over dinner while I was explaining to Piglet that my husband will be back home by tomorrow morning from his business trip.

Me: "Guess what Piglet, when you wake up in the morning, daddy will be here."
Piglet: "I wanna show him [something, I can't remember what] right now!"
Me: "Well, he's not here yet. He's in San Diego trying to catch a plane."
Piglet: Looks at me with a wide-eyed, shocked face, "But an airplane is too big to catch!"

Did I mention this is a great age?

Fun facts- almost 30 months, oh my.

I had a cute idea for a family holiday gift that included some fun facts about Piglet but it didn't really work out. So I decided to keep the list for myself for some self-amusement years from now. I like asking Piglet for her latest favorites, often to distract her from boredom in the car, and thought it'd be fun to keep it around. When she was born, I actually created her an email account. Yes, I'm dorky. And I [try to] send her an email on her birth date every month, just a little something from mama. I used to be much more consistent... and want to keep it up for as long as possible. At least now she/I can look back on this little blog, hopefully. Anyway, here goes the list.

fun facts about Piglet [as of this moment!]

height: 3’ 1”
weight: 30 lbs.
favorite color: purple
favorite book: mouse shapes, poetry
favorite food: pumpkin pie, oatmeal
favorite fruit: yellow raspberries
favorite vegetable: broccoli
favorite shape: rectangle
favorite animal: bats
favorite tv show: blue’s clues
favorite toys: blocks, playmobil, little people
favorite number: 10
favorite letter: A
Favorite drink: any juice except for tomato
favorite saying: i don’t like it!
favorite movie: mary poppins
favorite flower: peony
favorite song: jingle bell rock
favorite city: waikiki, hawaii
favorite restaurant: hakatamon [japanese]
favorite ice cream flavor: mint chocolate chips
goal in life: to touch the ceiling
cannot live without: my pink blanket
dislikes: loud noises, spicy food, sleeping
if i could name my baby sister, it’d be: Gulia
What i want from santa: an airplane toy

Piglet's going to be a big sister!

I am 10 weeks pregnant. It sorta explains my absence here the last few weeks. I'm tired but I'll take that over constant nausea any day. It's been a little more difficult to feel connected to this baby since Piglet gets all my attention during the day. When I was pregnant with Piglet, I remember talking to her [aka. my belly] a lot. Sometimes I wonder if that's why she talks so much. Anyway, I got to see the baby for the first time a few days ago and it was just as exciting as the first time. I'm very grateful for that.

Gingerbread house

Today Piglet and I [along with a few friends] made our very first gingerbread house. It was from a kit which included everything- the house, icing, and candy. Very convenient! Piglet did this for over an hour. I'm amazed at her concentration and attention span! I got tired before she was done.

A toothpick is a great tool [according to my perfectionist mommy]...


And I agree!


I'm so good at this I don't even need to look in the candy bowl.


SEE?


Love this gooey stuff!


Back to work


What do you think?


This is so fun, can we make another one? [She really asked this...]


That's enough pictures, mommy!

New hat

I've always adorned little kids in pointy hats so I gave it a try. It is supposed to be made from wool felt but I felt that a softer material like fleece would be cozier on Piglet's head. The hat is too big on Piglet. The girl's always had a small head... should've remembered that. And my husband keeps laughing at the giant purple star so I keep looking at that too. Oh well, not too bad for first try. And it only took a morning to make. I think I'll make another one with a smaller and a more muted color star. And a few more for gifts...



A funny conversation took place today. I was watching Piglet play and asked her, out of nowhere, "what do you want to do when you grow up?" She immediately put down her toys, looked at me, paused for a moment, and with a serious face said "touch the ceiling." Then she went back to playing. I was dying. Then again, she's been talking about touching the ceiling when she gets big and tall like daddy for months.

Halloween 2007

Oh my, where to start? I've been gone for too long. Again. In my attempt to catch up, I guess I should start with Halloween. We took a trip to the local pumpkin patch and took a few photos of Piglet in her costume, a skunk, which she picked out herself. It turned out to be a good thing because we ended up taking a totally last minute trip to the east coast and missed the actual Halloween day. It was a good trip although not under the happiest circumstance.





Me with a skunk and a llama... excuse the funny faces!


Searching for the perfect pumpkin


Cute and cuddly


And my fave... a baby chick in my husband's gentle hands

First school picture

Gray skies, drizzly days... fall is definitely here in Portland. Though I'm not too bothered by it, lack of sunshine means no photographing for me. And no photos, no blogging. At least that is my excuse for being gone for a while.

But this week's been gorgeous. I felt guilty for having cool, fresh air to breathe as I thought of all my friends who are dealing with nasty smoke down in Southern California. I was glad to hear that much progress was made today. The past week I've kept busy trying to stock up the shop before the holiday shopping season. I had so many different product ideas in my head and had to take some time to think carefully so as to not lose focus. I've been really wanting to make some paper products so I may do that for the holidays if they turn out the way I envision them.

Anyway, Piglet's doing great in school. Her very first school pictures were ready today. As I looked for her envelope, I got that same feeling in my tummy as I did back in junior high/high school when my school pictures came out. You know the feeling of anticipation and hoping for no closed eyes or funky smile that meant retakes. I'm sure that's not even a concern these days with digital cameras and all, but still I was delighted by her big heartwarming smile. Wouldn't you agree?


And here is her lovely class picture. It is a mystery to me how they get seven 2-year-olds to look so composed!


I've also been doing more sewing projects. I was getting sick of the same ole summery green tote I've been carrying around all summer so I made this out of fabrics from Bolt. Once again, instructions were out of Amy Karol's book, and I just am so pleased with the way it turned out. I've actually been using it for a few weeks and it's holding up great too. I was sure a strap will fall out or something. I still can't believe I made it... it's very encouraging and I feel as if I can sew anything. Okay, not really...


A closeup of the fabric


I also made this little diaper pouch for carrying around diapers and wipes. I don't know why I never had this. It is such a good thing opening my bag and and not seeing a big diaper that's all scruffy on the outside from carrying around for so long. I love this fabric and the swirly detail on the button just can't be more perfect.

5 minute bob

Lately Piglet has been pulling out anything I put in her hair. I hope it is a phase because I love making her hair clips and ponies... But her hair could use a trim and I felt ready to part with some of her hair for the first time. So we went to this kids salon. My thought? Geez, it's great to be a kid these days, for the most part. Piglet had a lot of fun playing with all kinds of toys in the waiting area and then sat in a little car and watched her favorite show, Blue's Clues, while the stylist went to work. 5 minutes later she ended up a cute little bob. It's more than a trim I had been looking for, but now we won't have to go back for a while. We left with a little baggie of her locks attached to a certificate to remember her first cut.

Doing great at first...


Then started getting antsy... thankfully before we knew it it was done!


So what do you think?

Before:


After:

My wish list... why not?

I've already begun to think about what I want for Xmas... just for fun!

A toaster/convection oven for quick meals. I love this beauty...


A new purse. In my favorite color, green.


And some new UGGs to go with Piglet's version. We're hoping for baby #2 next year so I'm not even really thinking about new clothes right now.




For Piglet, I love this modern doll house. It has sliding plexiglass doors. How cool is that?


Totally off topic, but I'm so saving this tutorial on how to hem jeans. I'm a little more comfortable with my sewing machine now and have to definitely give it a try.

Yumminess

The big news around here today is that for the first time, Piglet did not cry for me at preschool. I knew once she got over the initial separation anxiety, she would have a great time. And that's exactly what her teachers said she had today...

While she was in school, I headed over to check out what's new at Bolt. I love this store but usually convince myself that it is too far of a drive away. This is not really true- only took me 20 minutes- but perhaps it's a good thing that I don't go there often. I would buy the whole store if I could... they have the most yummy fabrics you could imagine. I ended up with these.

Smallish prints for creating for my little shop:


Thinking about making another toddler duvet cover:


And envisioning either a bag for me or some cushions for our white white couch:



Check out these new Crocs! They're so darn cute I could just scream... Love love love the cozy insert. I made a big funky flower out of felt and button, my version of this. These and baby UGGs should keep Piglet's little feet warm for the next few months. Lucky ducky.

Reading time

Spent all morning cleaning up. [Still have a long way to go. ] Came upstairs to find Piglet reading, along with the rest of her "friends." Love living for this kind of stuff...


Meet Cindy. She is Piglet's newest friend. I like the idea that she'll be Piglet's "baby" soon. On the other hand, her former love piglet is increasingly getting neglected around here. Anyway, I made Cindy a smock from Amy's book. The best part? No pattern enlargement. And it fits perfect. I hand sewed a felt front pocket and attached velcro on the back for ease. Piglet picked out the fabric. She's amused by the sewing machine.

Deceptively delicious

Loved yesterday's Oprah show on kids and nutrition. The thought of adding pureed veggies to whatever I'm cooking has crossed my mind on more than one occasion. I'm sure I'm not the only one here... Anyway, I guess because she is Jerry's wife, Jessica Seinfeld could write a cookbook about it and appear on Oprah. Nonetheless, I love the idea and I'd do anything to get Piglet to eat more than broccoli and cucumbers these days... Anyway, I want to check out the book because it looks pretty cute. Til then, some recipes to try out here.

Japanese loot

I squeezed in a trip to this fabric store in Waikiki during Piglet's last naptime. I was curious what a Hawaiian fabric store might carry. The answer? Lots of Hawaiian prints! Plus lots more [Japanese] cuteness...


Came across these Hello Kitty cookie cutters at Shirokiya. I've never been into HK... that is, until Piglet came along. Maybe because I really want to throw her a HK birthday party one day? These cookies will be perfect.


Not from Hawaii, but loving these Japanese craft books. One on the left is all about patchwork, center one contains photos/patterns of amazing children's clothes, and the last is a whole book on smocking. Yummy yummy yummy... I wish I had more time on my hands.

Aloha!

We're back! Well... we've been back from our wonderful vacation for almost a week and I finally have some energy to get back to my life. Somehow I managed to catch a cold in Hawaii [!] and have been dealing with that. It felt like, eh, just a little runny nose and scratchy throat in beautiful Hawaii but Portland's rainy, dreary weather made everything feel so much worse. Looking at these photos makes me wish I could rewind my life 2 weeks and relive our lazy days... Actually I don't even have that many photos. We were that lazy.



We really didn't do much. Hubby and I usually like to pack in as many things as possible whenever we go away but this was a little different. And it was nice!

Beach [morning] + Pool [afternoon] + plate lunches + shave ice + a bit of attractions and shopping = whole trip!

Piglet working daddy.


Piglet's favorite thing about Hawaii? The hotel! Whenever we went out she said "let's go back to the ho-TEL!" Her favorite thing right now is swiping a credit card in every gap she could find around the house, like in between the cabinet doors and under the coffee table top, pretending to open hotel rooms.


Liking this photo:


Sea life park. I don't think we'll return unless Piglet wants to swim with the dolphins one day. The leeward side of the island is my favorite though.


How many dolphins do you see? [4]


Chillin' out in Waikiki, looking a little tanned. We slathered her in SPF 50, promise.


Taking it all in for the last time.


And the only photo of all 3 of us, at the Dole plantation.


I feel as if my body has gone into a shock as we returned to a chilly, rainy city. The weather has cooled considerably since we left. I've been really behind with my little business but I'm planning to catch up a lot this week.