{Recap} April 2016

April we got our first snow storm. Yes. April. In Upstate NY.

It lasted maybe a day, and was melted and gone. 

Now, just because we didn't get the usual amount of snow this winter, doesn't mean it wasn't cold. 

Because it was.

And what do you do when its cold and you can't leave your less than two month old inside when you wait for the bus?

You wear him, under your jacket of course!

Love my mock moby wrap!

Carter always loved getting off the bus and seeing if I had Everett waiting with me!

Once the snow melted, it was time to get started on the garden.

I had little expectations for the garden, knowing it would be 3 kids and an infant this summer. 

So I tried to plant the easiest things I could, when I could.

One of the first things I planted was potatoes.  

This was an "out with the old and in with the new" situation. 

I've had the raspberry canes (in the bucket on the right) for years. And I have never gotten a berry.

So they were taking up space, and not producing. So out they went.

Putting the potatoes in the barrel was something new for me.

And since I am writing this post months later, I can tell you it was perfect! 

The dirt was rock free, and so easy to find the potatoes when it came time to dig!

In years past I've always done a potato tower of sorts, and haven had the greatest results.

So this year I planted, and didn't worry about them and got my best crop!

I probably should have left them alone, but the bunnies (yes bunnies) trampled them and I was scared they would rot if I left in much longer.

Ah, remodeling. 

Remember I told you we were redoing a half bath into a craft/office space.

Well. I swear I had it done by April, but guess not. Or I didn't take pics! Ha!

But I did take this pic.

Did you know Paint Thinner looks like milk? I swore it was clear, and it made me very nervous that it looked like milk. Good thing I only needed to wash my brush when staining my new desk!

Ah. Sweet. Ellie. 

We haven't used this room, in years. We literally stopped using this bathroom when we built the new bathroom, and Ellie's bedroom when I was pregnant for her in 2012. 

Once we cleaned out the half bath for the office project, the kids wanted in. 

Well. Ellie decided permanent marker on the door was appropriate. 

Ellie, You are lucky you are cute.

That's all for April!  

Nothing too exciting, but we needed that after March!

{Recap} February 2016

February is here!

That means Carter's Birthday and Baby Boy's Birth...and you'll never believe it! 

Read to the end to see what else happened!

My sister did it again! Blew me away with another amazing cake. We've been telling her for years to go into business! But she won't! And you know what...  I'm okay with that! More time for my kids' awesome cakes!!  This is 144 mini cupcakes! Talk about a labor of love for a nephew!

Whipped up these shirts the day before my pre op appointment.

When we had Ellie both boys wore Big Brother shirts, but I thought this lineup fit us perfect!

Baby Brother, Big Sister, Bigger Brother and Biggest Brother!

When I went to my pre op appoint I found out the kids could not come to the hospital to meet baby!

I was devastated! Anyone else ever have this happen?

NYS put an age limit on visitors because the flu was high in the region.

With all my babies that has never happened!

Here he is! Practically perfect in every way! 

Baby boy was nameless until after he was born!

Mommy and Daddy could not agree! 

Mommy and some of the kids wanted Nolan. While Daddy didn't

Once baby was born Daddy came out with Everett. 

I had mentioned once after we found out he was a boy, and Daddy wasn't in love with it.

But clearly he let it sink in, and that was that. Once he saw him, he said He looks like an Everett.

So Everett it is!

Now onto the "fun" of the month.

This is my kitchen. This is my kitchen just days after having baby Everett.

That hole in my cabinets? Used to hold an ancient oven. It finally died.

We guessed it was from 70's but upon taking it out there was a date of 1954 behind the cabinet.

So your guess is as good as mine.  

Either way, because of the age of the oven. New wall ovens are not the same size. 

Our opening for the oven was 28" wide. We were able to find one oven that size, on clearance because it was discontinued. I knew it wasn't going to work. But was hopeful since the price was right, so I came home. Picked out my largest pans (turkey roasting pan and biggest cookie sheet) and went back and sure enough neither fit.  

Back to the drawing board.

With that said, we had to take out the cabinet the oven was in, plus the cabinet under the stove because we now had to look for a one unit stove/oven.  

A little irony for you.When we bout the house in 2007 I though "oh no! This setup is so dated." 

And over time fell in love with it. No bending over to pull turkeys, cookies and casseroles out of the oven. So when we had to get a one unit, my husband and I were a little bummed!  

Now, about that one unit...

Ah. A five burner gas unit.

I am in cooking heaven. 

My husband knows I love to cook, and can.

We went back and forth over electric vs gas quite a bit. But in the end gas won.  

A huge factor was my All American Canner. It is very heavy and it is recommended to not use on an electric glass top stove. Most electric stoves are glass topped now. And if they aren' they are super cheap in price and look/feel.

Now that I have been coking on gas for a couple months, I can say I'm not sure I would go back to electric.  If we bought a house with electric, fine. But eventually I would switch it over to gas. It definitely has its perks!  

So there it is... what a month! 

Don't worry, my kitchen does not look like that anymore! 

Even with a newborn we made progress!  

{Recap} December 2015

Ah! December! Tis the season, to not feel like Christmas?

This year, the weather has been so un-winter-like that it never felt like Christmas to me.

Yes, the decorations were hung and Christmas activities where happening, but no snow? Boo.

Friends down south? How do you do it? 

Just like it doesn't feel like Christmas without snow here, I bet you would feel the same if there was snow on Christmas! Right?

 And yes, this is how I felt of most of December and January! 

Pregnant with baby number 4... Is hard!

To help being "busy pregnant" I made baby boy this awesome center out knit blanket. 

It's so squishy I want to make a giant one for me! 

Just a little something I put together for Carter's teacher for Christmas.

Fun glittery pencils, an insulated cup and then filled with gel pens!

Simple yet adorable, and I know she would use it all!

My boys LOVE Lego Star Wars, and my husband remembers seeing the movies when he was a kid and started watching them with them. So when we needed cookies for a school Holiday party, and I saw how easy these were.  Chewbacca cookies it was! 

These are chocolate sugar cookies, not gingerbread men. They were a hit at the party too! 

A simple gingerbread man cookie cutter, and fork make the hair. Chocolate frosting and sprinkles! 

And yes, I was that mother using tweezers to pick out five sprinkles of one color! 

Lastly, the table is almost complete! 

My husband really took his time with the table because the wood was no kiln dried. 

So he wanted to let the wood acclimate a day or two in between steps to try to prevent warping and pulling. Hence, the table upside down in my dining room!

Where have I been?

If you follow me on Facebook... 

(which you totally should follow over there! I tend to share snippets not worthy of individual posts there!)

then you already know this....

On February 22, we welcomed our fourth baby to the family, Baby Everett!

So that is where I have been lately! 

Snuggling, not sleeping, breastfeeding and changing diapers!

I'm starting to feel like we are in a good routine, so hopefully I can share some things soon!

Gifts:Baby C Gender Reveal Onesie

I've got to say, I definitely patted myself on the back for this one!

Baby C is meant to make his/her arrival any day now, 

and I wanted to send one last present before the big day!

I gave them their blanket and hat at their shower!

It hit me out of the blue, that they were going to have the baby and most likely text a picture to everyone. But then I thought about our kids first pictures. White onesie, generic baby blanket and hat.

None of my hats were gender specific in the hospital! 

Carters was pink and blue striped. 

Wyatt's was rainbow, 

and Ellie's was pink but didn't fit! 

So instead of making two hats, one pink and one blue (because I was tempted!)

I went with this:

Adorable right?!?!?!

The name will say it all. No matter what color hat! 

This was such a perfect craft for me! All I needed was an onesie (I used long sleeve), some Tulip Fabric Markers from Joann Fabric's! Then, I free handed the name "sticker".

I had thought about freezer paper stenciling, and painting but this was so much faster!

With three kids, fast is my speed right now! 

Crochets: A Gift for Baby C!

A friend of mine is due with her first baby at the end of August.

Let me tell you, her nursery is gorgeous! 

Not too babyish, but trendy, modern and adorable!

Grey, White and Yellow gorgeous.

So as soon as she let me know that Chevron was in the works for the nursery, I knew a chevron baby blanket would be the perfect handmade gift! 

It took me several tries, with several patterns and several yarns to get it just right for Baby C! 

In the end I ended up using a pattern that only had 5 stitches up, then create the zig or zag. 

What I liked the most about this pattern was the first and last stitch had two stitches in it, so it was much harder to mess up the edges ( definitely one of my downfall with crochet at times!)

I can't remember where I found the pattern since I tried at least five! 

But this is what it was

Chain width of blanket in multiples of 12+2. Turn.

SC two in first stitch. *SC in next five stitches. SC 3x in next stitch. SC in next five sts. Skip 2 stitches. Repeat from * to end, SC two in last stitch. Turn

Repeat until desired length. 

Now that I got the pattern down I will definitely be doing again! 

Once I finished the blanket, I made a matching yellow hat (using this pattern) for Baby C, 

and can't wait to find out if Baby C is a he or a she!

Crochets: A Gift for Baby C!

Things have been so super busy since I started teaching a couple weeks back! 

I'm hoping to wrap up some projects this week so I can photograph some of the amazing pieces my students have created!

But in the meantime, I wanted to share this baby blanket I made for Baby Boy C! 

I have to say this might be my favorite that I have done in a while!

I am loving the navy blue and white combo! It's just so classic to me!  

This was a great project to work on since it was rows of HDC (read: no thinking/pattern involved), until it was the size I wanted. Then I went around the edge to create a border. The key to the border was to do one round of SC in blue first (I tried jumping right into the white, and it didn't look great). Then two rounds SC in white. Then two rounds SC in blue. 

Then using HDC I crocheted a matching hat! I love baby hats, they are so quick to whip up!

Baby Boy C had an adorable Dr. Suess shower, and I loved that instead of a card you include a book, and to sign in the book so they could keep it and know it was from you! Such a great idea! 

Sews: Embroidered Onesies

The baby boom has begun! 

Everywhere I look there are pregnant women and babies! Me included! 

Remember I made these cuties? 

(Huh. I can't find them, have I ever blogged about these???)

Anyways, here are pictures of the onesies from a couple years ago that I did.

The uncle and aunt from the first two of onesies are now becoming the daddy and mommy!

For the nephew!

(Made Fall 2010)

For their little guy!

Gotta love when people come up with clever sayings!

Can't wait for pictures of Baby R wearing these!

She's Here!

Here's the newest addition!

 

Ellie Margaret

November 19, 2012

12:17 pm

8 lbs 12 oz

(my biggest baby!)

20 1/2 inches

Now that she's been here a week and a half, I can't imagine her not here! 

She is by far my best nurser! I don't know if it was because Carter was my first that I struggled, and then Wyatt was tongue tied so I felt we struggled. While Lil' Miss hasn't had any issues! Yay!

So, if your wondering where I have been... Most likely it's been cuddling on the couch, keeping the boys from trying to pick her up, or just adjusting to being a family of five!

I'll post soon... Promise!

My Baby Wrap

If you "like" All Things Fee on facebook, you knew this was coming!

Over the weekend I made  myself a "moby" style wrap.  It was super simple! And I am so glad I did. I used it twice already, once to go to an apple orchard and once to go to a pumpkin patch birthday party. Both without my husband, so I needed both hands to take care of Carter.

Just like all the other great tutorials out there, I bought my fabric (5 yards long) and then came home to cut it.  You cut it so that the width goes from 45" or 60" ( depending on your fabric) and cut  it down to 20-22 inches wide. I cut mine at 20" as I am not the tallest. And that's it! Unless you want a support panel, like this tutorial, or a pocket, like I did.

So all your wrap is: a piece of jersey knit fabric 20" x 5 yards long.

(You normally don't have to hold baby, it truly is handsfree when baby has full neck control. 

Wyatt doesn't yet! But loves to look around.)

(See? Hands free!)

Now, over on facebook a friend asked about the length of the fabric. The length of the fabric is how you make your wrap work. If you buy too short, you won't be able to tie it properly, risking a slide out with baby. So, I got thinking about it. If you are super teeny tiny you won't need as  much fabric, but if you are not teeny you will need more. 

I would suggest taking a piece of yarn 5 yards long and wrap it as you would the baby wrap.
Then if your tails are long, cut off some and rewrap.  Then your not wasting fabric or money!

Need help putting on a baby wrap? Watch this.

Super simple, no sew ( if you want) project.

The best part? I got enough to make two (maybe even three) wraps for the price of one in store!
But, I also bought the most expensive knit Joann's had. It's super stretchy and soft.
They did have some cheaper knits, but they were also not as wide ( would only get two)
and weren't as soft!

It's a Boy! or It's a Girl! Toppers

I'm hooked on designing toppers!

Throwing a shower? Is it for a boy? Or a girl? 

 Need toppers? Tags? Labels?

If your interesting in purchasing the files to make your own, visit here (boy or girl).

Once you purchase the files you can print as many as you need.

Enjoy!

Baby GoGo

If you've visited my space for a while, you know my big boy ( can you believe I can call him a big boy? I can't!) loves Yo Gabba Gabba! I really thought when he first started to show interest at 16 or 18 months old he would outgrow it. Nope. At 2 1/2 he is still into it!

Anyways, when we started to tell Carter we were having a baby he was just about 2. So it was kinda hard to explain to him. 

Well, after realizing that we owned the Meet My Family episode of Yo Gabba Gabba, we figured out how to break it to him. Muno has a baby brother and his name is Baby GoGo.

Well, long story short. Baby Go Go has stuck. If you ask Carter where Baby GoGo was, he would come right up to my belly. If you asked him what his brother's name was it was GoGo. So when I was planning on getting Carter something to give him once his brother was born, (who we did not name GoGo on his birth certificate, it's Wyatt) I got the idea of his own Baby GoGo.

But here's the hard part, I googled GoGo doll and got some girly doll. Not the Yo Gabba Gabba one. 

But what I did find was this great example and mimicked my GoGo from there.

After a couple hours and some ripping out here and there Carter had his own GoGo complete with diapers and blankie!

Not bad for not having a pattern, and was made out of 8 pieces!  

All Things Baby Roundup & Giveaway!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
I cannot Thank all my Guests enough! 


They have helped me not have to think about blogging over the last couple weeks!  Each and everyone one of you have been a pleasure to work with, and I hope that this is just the beginning of many wonderful blogging relationships!

AND to round up the last couple weeks, I have another giveaway!

Have you ever been over to visit Julie at Build, Sew, Reap?    

 Another great blog!

And she is currently filling it up with great nursery and baby things 

since she is due in December with her second little boy!

(So make sure you stop by for a visit, and wish her Congrats!)

Plus she has an etsy shop!

AND offered up a 40% off coupon code for her Etsy Shop  in honor of our little man's arrival!

 How sweet is that?

Here's how you can enter:

Stop by EILUJ and come back and tell me what you would buy with your discount!

Become a Follower of All Things Fee! (leave a comment letting me know...)

Become A Follower of Build, Sew, Reap! (leave a comment letting me know...)

Giveaway ends Friday September 9th at 12 noon EST!

Now for a recap!

In case you missed any of the All Things Baby posts, here they are:

Quilted Euphoria: Diaper Bag Tutorial


Tea Rose Home: Ruffled Baby Top





La-Dee-Da Creations: Established Sign & Baby Bump Tee



Seven Dwarfs: Baby Sling Tutorial
 

       

The Autocrat: A little bit of everything baby!



Me Sew Crazy: Onesies to Hat Tutorial

luvinthemommyhood: Roundup of Roundups!



C.R.A.F.T: Beach Baby Shower




Creating a Family Home: Knit Lovelies for Babies & Toddlers




Happy Together: Maternity, Baby & More!




Pursuit of Happiness: Nursery Reveal


Again, I cannot thank my guests enough and also Julie of Build, Sew, Reap for offering up the giveaway!