6/52 + 26 weeks

I haven't been feeling well all week. I am SO done being sick but I don't really feel like there is an end in sight quite yet. It seems like I always get sick more often and for longer periods of time when I am pregnant. Because of this I didn't get my big camera out much at all this week (these are iphone shots) and I don't have a picture of myself to include. That's okay though, my bump pretty much looks the same as last week ;)

1 - When we were little my mom used to dress my sisters and I in matching capelets for church (I think she crocheted them herself? I'll have to ask.). This week I looked at the girls and realized, though they aren't matching, that I am continuing the Sunday cape tradition.

2 - They fight every day, but they sure know how to love each other too. Watching their relationship grow is the best gift. 

3 - I know this shot is blurry, but there is something about Lark's expression that I love. She is almost three and is really growing up in her vocabulary, sense of humor, and contribution to the family. I think I am getting sentimental that we only have a few more months of her being the youngest and I am trying to soak in all of her remaining littleness before she looks so big next to the baby.

heart face hair clip valentines

For Valentine's Day this year I decided to give the girls a gift handmade with love. I found these felt heart shapes that we used a few years back for a Valentine's tic tac toe game and thought they could use a little more personality, so I embroidered some cute quirky faces on them and turned them into hair clips. They loved them! I had so much fun making them a little token of love l that I think a small handmade Valentine gift tradition has been started.

I am thinking about making a little different version of these for the shop, so you might see these and other quirky heart-faced characters again sometime soon. They were just too much fun, I am not done with them yet! :)

5/52 + 25 weeks

I meant to post this at the end of last week, but with a busy Valentines Day and then getting hit with a sick bug over the weekend I find myself playing catch up...

1 - I have pretty much given up any kind of control when it comes to what LM wears. She picks out her own outfits these days and on this particular day even did her hair herself. She was so proud! I didn't count, but I think there were about 5-6 clips throughout her hair. So, that is how she went to school, fancy vintage dress and all.

2 - Lark will often dress herself too. Her uniform of choice always involves one of her sister's skirts. This polka dot skirt is her favorite. It may as well just be hers because she wears it more than LM. I love that it is almost always on backwards.

3 - As far as my wardrobe goes, I am having to get creative. Layering a dress with a shorter shirt I sort of bunch up with a belt is my latest comfy outfit that still feels put together.

You're Sweet, Valentine! Free Printable

If you are like me and tend to wait until the last minute to put together Valentine's this free bag topper printable may help! 

I found these darling Japanese ice cream puzzle erasers at my local party store (you can find them online too) and knew it would be the perfect way to give LM's Kindergarten class a fun 'treat' without being a treat at all! Since they pull apart and put back together like puzzles my girls have been playing with them almost non-stop, so I think they will be a hit with the younger age group. 

I like to give candy-free Valentine's, but with this printable you can fill the bag up with any little 'sweet' thing you can think of so it's totally versatile. It is the perfect size for 3"x4" treat bags which are big enough to hold 1-3 little treats. Just print the toppers on cardstock or other heavy paper, cut them out, have your little one fill up the bags and write their name after the xoxo, then help them staple on the bag toppers. Super easy!

You can download/print the bag toppers 9 to a page here. For personal use only, please.

Have a sweet Valentine's Day!

4/52 + 24 weeks

1 - Going...

2 - Going...

3 - Gone! They played on the couch like this for most of the afternoon one day.

4 - The view looking down at 24 weeks. Feeling really good at this point. The baby was kicking the heart rate monitor like crazy at my midwife appointment this week. I am so grateful for every one of those kicks.

3/52 + 23 weeks

One of these days I'll need to play catch up for the first week I missed...

1. LM loves to dance. She has really improved since starting her new class last Fall.

2. This might be my favorite picture of Lark ever. She has me wrapped around her little finger, that girl.

3. Watching the snow fall and starting to feel kicks higher up.

diy: geometric heart pillow

Every once in a while LM will come up to me and ask to sew. Most of the time this means I give her an embroidery hoop with a piece of scrap fabric and let her practice going up and down with a needle and thread making her own pattern, but this week she had a specific project in mind - a heart pillow. I was game and so we started to collaborate.

I fully admit that I kind of took over as the idea for a geometric color-blocked heart got me all inspired, but she approved the design with excitement. I quickly got to work drawing out a pattern based off of this one. Then I let her sit on my lap and help guide the fabric through the machine and stuff the pillow insert inside. The smile on her face was definitely worth all of the effort, but we also ended up with a really fun pillow for our living room that never would have been made without her!

We used an old pillow we had on hand for the insert and backing which helped speed things along nicely, so those were the measurements I used for the finished size. I didn't have to worry about adding any sort of closure since the back piece on the old pillow already had a zipper. This is an easy way to give a pillow you are tired of new life!

Below are some pictures of how I pieced the heart together. Using a 1/4" seam allowance you will end up with a heart about 9 1/2" x 10".

I scanned the geometric heart pattern below for your personal use. You can put all of the pieces together using the letter key on the picture above (you will need to cut 2 of a and f). Just click on the scanned images, save them to your computer, and print them out on a full sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper (if a shape is missing an edge that means it is the edge of the paper). Happy heart-making!