cousins

I almost forgot to post these pictures... let's rewind back to my 30 week baby bump at Christmas time. My sister-in-law, Valerie, took these at a farm near her house.

It was also the first time all of the cousins on the Hart side of the family were together at once so we took the opportunity to get a group shot - easier said than done with so many young kids with different nap times! But I think she did a great job. If you happen to live in Southern Utah she is doing a special right now, go here if you want to learn more.

playing dress up

 We've been having fun playing dress up around here. This little girl is discovering her inner fashion diva and wants to try on every dress and pair of shoes she sees - even if they are for tiny babies. She got in trouble today for taking her sneakers off in Target four different times because she, "needed to walk on her feet" over to the sandal section. I swear she would be entertained for a whole afternoon with a just pile of shoes to try on! Which is actually not a bad idea.

I remember loving to play dress up when I was little. My mom had (still has) a big old steamer trunk full of vintage dress up clothes, hats, gloves, glasses, shawls, shoes, purses... you name it. We always had so much fun digging through it, so I don't blame the Little Miss for wanting to dig through my vintage kids closet!

This little dress will make another appearance soon as I have plans for it, but first I need to mend some seams. And those cowgirl boots are too big but she likes to wear them around the house anyway.

This sweet dress is in the shop. The shoes are some of my favorites ever, also too big for her! I think she was pretending to go to work with her lunchbox - she says she works at the farm :)

And this dress is from her own closet. I have a feeling playing dress up will be in our regular routine from now on. Maybe I can convince my mom to lend me some of her old dress up accessories because I think these (pretty horrible, sorry) pictures are lacking some Mary Poppins hats, kid gloves, and granny glasses!

shop update

Here is a peek at part of the shop update for this week, head on over to take a look at some more you want! Thanks!

mary blair

The Little Miss is fast becoming obsessed with the Little Golden Book I Can Fly. She has me read it to her multiple times in a row, although she ends up practically reading it to me as she has all the words memorized. And I love it too, how can you not adore Mary Blair's sweet illustrations?

So I decided to search for some more of her work and now I think I'm the one with a new obsession. I'm so glad I came across her work, it is truly inspiring!

source

images found here

nursery report

A report on our slow but steady progress of freshening up the nursery...

The dresser redo is almost done! I can't wait to have a place to put all of the baby girl clothes that have been sitting in garbage bags in the hallway. My sister-in-law loaned me so many baby clothes that combined with the ones I already had, I don't think this little girl will have to wear the same thing twice before her first birthday!

I am slowly but surely gathering some nursery decor. I never finished decorating the nursery for the Little Miss, but this time I want the room to feel complete. Here is a new-to-me vintage mobile I just acquired. I am in love with those sweet little faces!

And a look at the paint colors (not stirred hence the white swirls). A much more soothing color pallet than the current two-tone yellow walls in there. These next couple of weeks we are planning to say goodbye to the yellow, and paint the toddler bed my sister gave us white to match the crib. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but it's nice to feel like its all coming together! Yay!

some silly

Who knows when it started... it could have been last week when she decided it was a good idea to take off her pajamas and diaper and wet the bed at 2 am three separate nights. Or when I just wanted to fold the laundry in peace and she wanted me to cram my pregnant self behind the door with her to hide from the cat and was yanking on my leg. Or maybe it was when I was making her lunch and she wouldn't stop chanting, "I want juice, I want juice!" and I kept telling her to hold on because I could only do one thing at a time...

But I just needed some silly.

shop update

Hello! Here's a peek at some of the new items in the shop this week!

thrifting maternity

(33 weeks)
We ran a few errands today and at one store a lady exclaimed to me, "You must be ready to pop any day now!" To which I replied that I actually have seven more weeks to go (thinking am I really that big yet?)... And instead of stopping there she went on to say, "You do? Really? No way, are you having twins?!"

Um, no, but thanks for making me feel like a blimp.

I actually thought it was more funny than offensive, but there are just some things you probably shouldn't say to a pregnant woman :)

So I've been meaning to talk about maternity clothes. Like how other than my maternity jeggings pretty much everything I wear does not come from the way too expensive maternity section. In these pictures the blazer, shirt, and belt are all thrifted, as is a lot of what I wear in my baby bump pictures. I don't believe it is necessary to spend a lot of money on clothes to fashionably dress a growing belly, and I'm always searching for a vintage gem too!

Some things I like to look for when thrifting 'maternity' are skinny belts (say hello to your waistline again!), loose fitting blouses (like above), dresses a size or two bigger than I normally wear (if I really love them I can take them in post-baby), long cardigans (they can help cover up zippers that won't zip all the way up in back or shirts that are too short), and comfortable flat boots and shoes.

bonus: If you want some outfit inspiration the lovely Melissa has been documenting her thrifty non-maternity maternity fashion here. 

small beginnings

This is the Little Miss when she was one month old. It seems like forever ago and yesterday that she was this small. Last week I found a newborn diaper stashed away in her closet when I was cleaning and stared at its minuscule size in shock. I think reality is slowly starting to sink in that I am actually going to have another baby. 

And she will be tiny. And fit perfectly into my arms and our family.

a is for apple

If you ask the Little Miss to sing the alphabet she will burst into song (maybe mumbling a little through the LMNOP section), but if you ask her to recognize specific letters it's touch and go. So, I thought it would be fun for her and I to do some alphabet art projects together to help her learn all the letters.

And so we started with 'A' is for apple.

I cut out all the pieces ahead of time and put one together for her to look at and copy....

...then let her have at it with the glue stick.

 I pointed out where Mommy put the pieces on hers, but let her put them wherever she wanted - they ended up being pretty close to the right places!

Tada! She was really proud of herself, saying she wanted to show Daddy when he got home.

We are going to hang them up in her room and create an art wall. I'll be curious to see how her glue stick and placement skills improve throughout the year. I'm glad she had fun and I hope she learned the letter 'A' too!

shop update: little fella

I'm going to try and have a shop update ready every Friday - we'll see how it goes. Here are some fun clothes for a sweet little fella. Go here if you want to take a closer look!

I'll be back later with an easy art project I did with the Little Miss - we are focusing on the alphabet this year!

our new cat

Meet Tiger Lilly

I spotted a coyote out the kitchen window today and was reminded that we have a new cat to introduce (can you tell where this is going?). Our poor Petunia went missing the very beginning of December and as much as we would all like to think she got lost and another nice family has taken her in, it is more likely that she became a midnight snack. Tear.

During this same time my sister had a stray cat turn up at her house who was very friendly and obviously lost from a good home, but the owner could not be found. So, to make a long story short Tiger Lilly soon joined the family (we decided to stick with a flower-themed name in Petunia's honor). She is very sweet and cuddly and we couldn't help but love her right away.

As for Petunia, I thought it was fitting that this loving embrace was the last picture I ever took of her... 

Update on the nesting front: I raided all the dressers and closets, went through and refolded everything, and now have a big pile of clothes to donate. Now I am thinking it's finally time to finish that dresser redo started last summer (or I should say for Husband to finish it - wink).

baby bump: week 32

32 weeks down, 8(ish) to go! I feel like the days are speeding up as my belly grows. This weekend I suppose I realized just how little time I have left and as a result I cleaned the bathroom with a vengeance - and a toothbrush. Then I proceeded to inform Husband of all the house projects I wanted to get done before the baby arrives and he didn't turn and run, so I was once again reminded how lucky I am to have him. If all goes as planned I should have a freshened up shared nursery to show you in the coming weeks.

This was my Grandmother's old choir dress from the sixties. I've only ever worn it once before because it is a bit big on me normally but it fits pretty much perfect now. She passed away two years ago this month so it feels kind of special to be able to wear it. 

As far as baby girl goes, she has decided to plant her little bum in my right ribcage which can be a bit uncomfortable at times, but she is doing well and so am I so I can't complain. I just need to start getting ready to meet her! Did you have any crazy nesting urges?

shop update

I updated the shop for the first time this year. If you want to see more go here - there are some really cute new additions!

resolutions

(pic)

This year... I resolve to listen to more music. I tend to like quiet moments and can even drive in the car for hours with just my thoughts for company (Husband is opposite so we have battles over volume control). But I have a little girl that is undeniably an up-and-coming music lover, and so I am committing to help her burgeoning love grow by putting on some tunes more often (have any good recommendations for kids?).

(pic)

I resolve to get out of the house, gulp, even with soon to be two kids in tow! As part of this, I would like to discover more local vintage and thrift spots. There are so many that I've wanted to go to forever - like The Green Ant - but never seem to find the time for the forty minute drive. I know Husband wants to discover some more good eats around town, so the combination of the two sounds like a fun date night to me!

 (pic)

I resolve to get organized! With another child on the way my nesting instincts are starting to kick in and I really want everything to have a place. No more toys stacked up in random corners just so they are out of the way. And since the girls will be sharing a room this will be vital so their space isn't cluttered, but clean, happy and restful.

(pic by my sis-in-law)

I resolve to give more blankets rides, say "What do you want to do today?" more often, and make sure to take the time to get down on the floor and play everyday with this little girl...before I blink and she's all grown up.

And so many other things that are more personal. When I look ahead at what's in store this year I know it is going to be challenging for me making the switch to mother of two, but I am looking forward to taking it on.

doll suitcase

UPDATE: Since posting this I have made two more interchangeable rooms - a kitchen and bedroom - and posted a step-by-step tutorial on how I made it. Would you like to make your own?

Come check out the full tutorial!

I already showed you Dolly, but now she has a place to call home, and some cute new clothes to boot! I had so much fun making this, but I have to say that I got majorly burned out whipping this up so quickly for the Christmas time crunch. I had even grander plans but they will have to wait for when I get another burst of motivation. But I digress, let me show you inside...

Welcome to the living room! The only room in the house for now. I made the back panel interchangeable so eventually I can make a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, etc. and the panel would just need to be switched out and voila! you are playing in a different part of the house! 

Everything was sewn onto one big piece of fabric which was glued around a piece of poster board cut to fit. My vintage suitcase (which I bought at the thrift store for $2) had this handy ruffle edging to pop the panel behind.

But is Dolly home you ask?

Why, yes! She is tucked away in the basement with her wardrobe waiting to be dressed up and played with! The 'floor' lifts up to reveal her hiding place. I used foam board for the floor to make it more sturdy.

        You may notice I never gave her a face..truth be told I was scared to mess up and then several people told me they liked her without a face and I tend to agree with them. This way she isn't just sleepy or happy all of the time, but any emotion you want to imagine!

I managed to make her four dresses, a coat, a purse, a scarf, and a pair of moccasins before my big burn out (I still need to add little snaps on the dresses and coat). I'll probably end up making some more summery things when the weather gets warmer, and if I get my act together I'll share my patterns with you since that is the part that takes the longest. 

Here she is showing off her favorite outfits:

Dolly is already getting lots of love and it will be fun to add to her house and possibly get her some furniture bit by bit. If you want to try this out the possibilities really are endless... 

I am really happy with how it turned out. And the fun part is that if the Little Miss wants to take Dolly with her to Grandma's house she is already packed up and ready to go!