A First Birthday Party, Seuss Style

I cannot believe my baby is 1. He's walking. (He's been walking for at least 2 months). He walks backward. He tries to run, (although it's really more like a speed walk). He has four teeth, and a fifth one that finally cut through just days before his birthday. He likes applesauce. He hates mommy's homemade peas. He enjoys clapping. If you point at him, even from clear across the room, he'll hurry over with his little index finger outstretched and come up and touch his finger to yours, like he's straight out of ET. We totally should have had an ET themed birthday party. That would have been hilarious :)

But instead, I opted for Dr. Seuss. Jonas likes the PBS show, "The Cat in the Hat Knows a lot About That." We read "Green Eggs and Ham" almost nightly. It's my oldest son's favorite book. I also figured that since we don't own all the Dr. Seuss books and/or movies, that would be a good gift idea to tell the relatives. No one knows what to get our boys because We. Have. Everything. They always ask, "What do the boys need?" Um, nothing. We have toy boxes, filled to the brim, in every room. We have totes of clothes that they boys are waiting to grow into. Seriously- I have totes of clothes that go up to size 6 (my oldest son currently wears a size 3). I have a thrifting problem, but that's for another day :)

I scoured the internet and amassed quite a Dr. Seuss party pinterest board. I found recipes that weren't necessarily Dr. Seuss, tweaked them, and made them for the party. We had The Grinch's Roast Beast, One Fish Tuna Fish, Green Eggs, Ham & Cheese Pinwheels, Fish in the Pot Goldfish Crackers, Thing 1 and Thing 2 Blue Tortilla Chips with Salsa, Pink Yink Drink (Tampico has a really good pink punch!), The Lorax Orange Sherbert, and Orange Jello Poke Cake.

Most of my photos didn't turn out very well because of the lighting, but I will share a few with you.

I thrifted this fish bowl last December in order to put Christmas ornaments in it. 

 I almost donated it back to Goodwill, but then something made me keep it.

The sherbet bowls are from Dollar Tree. They were two for a buck, and they included two matching spoons in the set.  I added some Lorax mustaches and gave them away as favors.

Brotherly Love in "Green Eggs and Ham" attire :)

I dusted off the cobwebs pulled out my trusty Wilton cake decorating set 

and went to town on these deviled eggs.  

Big Brother trying on one of Jonas's presents

The food table before the food came out-- after the food came out, most of the pictures didn't turn out. The first birthday decorations on the wall were thrifted back for my oldest son's birthday party. I dragged them out of storage and then added some Dr. Seuss bulletin board items from Michaels.

The Grinch's Roast Beast sandwiches :)

The little orange frames all contained a picture from a Dr. Seuss story, depicting what that particular food was.  The frames didn't do any good, because everyone ended up asking me what everything was anyway!

Thrifting a Third Birthday

I cannot believe Joel is almost three. Wow, how time flies. He has turned into this little person with his own wants and likes and dislikes! One of the things he really likes is construction equipment. (I have an old thrifted "Bob the Builder" VHS tape that he loves to watch for hours on end on occasion because of course we don't let him watch that much tv. Oh okay, you got me).

I was actually going to go with a John Deere party because that's his other love, but I hit the thrifting jackpot with construction party stuff, so construction it is. I found 50c construction cups, bulldozer thank you notes, and 90c Bob the Builder favor bags all still new in the package... I already had yellow streamers and napkins leftover from last year's Curious George party... coupled with some awesome cakes I saw on pinterest, I can do this!

I'm trying to decide what to do as favors. I like the idea of yellow/black M&M cookie mixes in a mason jar, but black M&Ms are super expensive since they're not one of the normal colors. Can you think of anything to substitue that would be black, or do you think the brown ones would be okay to use? I also like the idea of these little frames, painted yellow and black:

Source: kellehampton.com via Jodie on Pinterest

Source: parenting.com via Jodie on Pinterest

Source: fredellicious.blogspot.com via Jodie on Pinterest

Kids in Thrifted Clothing!

The sweatshirt was a gift, but the jeans were thrifted :) ALL his jeans are thrifted, in fact. He has 8 pairs of jeans for a total of $3. And they're all in good condition with no holes or signs of obvious wear, and are good brands like Gymboree, Old Navy, Wrangler, etc!


Here Joel is wearing a totally thrifted outfit. I sewed down the skeleton tee from a thrifted adult tee, and the thrifted orange onesie underneath goes well with it to keep him warm.


The romper Jonas is wearing here was a bit of a thrifting splurge at $1 but it sure is cute :)


Jonas's romper was a gift, but Joel is wearing a thrifted outfit. At 40c, this shirt was a steal!

A Precious Toddler Conversation about Sewing

Today on TV, Curious George was learning about spider webs. George decided he was going to build a monkey web and used thread to weave his web.

My 2 1/2 year old got very excited when he saw the thread and exclaimed, "Mommy uses fred on the sewing big 'chine!" and he ran over to the dining room table and pointed to my sewing machine.

And I said, "I do? What do I make with my thread?"

And he said, "Uh.... shirts!" :)

Recapping 2009 in Photos

January- when did I become old?!


February- what a great Valentine's Day gift!


March- Joel is a month old already!


April- His first Easter


May- Maid of Honor in T-2's wedding


June was a bad month for my son's scalp, but he eventually got better!


July- Joel's first trip to the beach. See his little t-shirt? That started out life as a long sleeve shirt but I made it short sleeved since it fit him in the middle of summer.


August- Joel's first vacation (Chattanooga & Lynchburg, TN)


September- Joel's getting to be a big boy!


October- Joel's first trip to the pumpkin patch.
He's wearing a completely thrifted outfit!


November- Hubby turned 30 this year too. I baked him a sweet cake! And I bought him a sweet thrifted birthday sign :)


December- Joel's first Christmas

Baby Puke and Carrot Poop

Is it just me or did the past month fly by? Wasn't it just Memorial Day last weekend?! Somehow I missed the whole month of June. I can't believe the Fourth has come and gone. There were so many blog posts that I wanted to get to but didn't get the chance. For example, there's the Guy-Fieri-is-the-coolest-dude-on-the-planet post. I wish I had his job. I'd love to go around the country and eat at diners, drive-ins, and dives. (And get paid to do it).

There's also the Hubby-Gave-Me-His-Hand-Me-Down-Old-Navy-Flag-Tee post. Isn't he the sweetest? I needed something red, white, and blue to wear to the community orchestra concert I was playing in on Saturday. I don't fit into any of my flag tees because of the extra five pounds I've put on since this time last year.

Fine. You got me. It's a little bit more than five pounds.

Anyway, he gave me his 2006 tee, which is an XXXL I might add. And what was he doing getting a triple X, anyway?! He so graciously donated it to me so that I could sew it down to my current size. I dragged out the sewing machine beast, cut it to size, and sewed it to fit me. I tried it on, and it was a pretty good fit. I then picked up the baby because he was crying, and he promptly puked his guts out onto my newly fitted shirt. Motherhood is the best. The concert ended up being rained out which is a good thing. Otherwise I would have had to go to the concert topless because I wasn't about to sew myself another flag tee.

Speaking of motherhood, I also wanted to post about solid carrot poop. I've been busy making my own baby foods these past couple days (which prompted my father-in-law to ask why in the world was I putting mashed sweet potatoes in the ice cube trays?!) So far, Joel has enjoyed bananas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. His poop is really nasty now. I just thought you'd like to know.

He's also developed a very cute yet annoying habit. He's learned to blow spit bubbles. He's not even five months old, folks. Isn't that a little early to be a human whoopie cushion? He thinks it's quite funny. He and my husband take turns... it's all fun and games until baby blows spit bubbles while mommy is trying to feed him carrots. Spit bubbles + pureed carrots = big mess.

As I think I'm baby fluided out, I'll leave you with some photos of my little monster.
Spit bubbles in action.


Not bad for an entirely thrifted outfit for the babe. I think the whole outfit (red vest, white dress shirt, and blue cords) cost me $1.50.

Seal of Approval

I think he likes it!

Baby Pics

I'm in the mood to post baby pics of my little sweet pea. Please bear with me, this will only last a moment!

The cousins, born 2 1/2 months apart. Mine is the shrimpy one!

The cousins again, after Joel had gotten a little bit bigger.

Mother's Day Freebies

I am so glad I went through nine months of pregnancy hell followed by a torturous 23 hour labor complete with 2 hours of pushing, a vacuum extraction, and third degree tearing! Those battle scars have earned me the right to take advantage of several free offers these past few days! (Can I get a "Hell yeah!" ?)

On Wednesday, Walgreens gave free 8x10s to mommies. I got a pic of me holding my four-day-old Joel. Across the street at KFC, they were unveiling their new grilled chicken meals. I figured I would drop off the photo, grab some finger-licking goodness, and then go back for the photo. Little did I know that the entire east side of Columbus was gathering in that tiny KFC for some free food. I was in line for almost an hour. I can't believe I stayed in line that long for a measly meal. To top it off, I was supposed to get a thigh and drumstick or a breast and wing, but they gave me a drumstick (and a puny one at that) and a wing. Hmpf.

But just so you know, it was pretty tasty. I devoured it promptly.

Today I got myself a free Mother's Day meal from Captain D's, and what a meal it was. I got some kind of uber-sensational seafood platter. I have never felt so fat in my life. There was enough greasy fried food in that take-out container to feed an army. A fat army.

As for my eating from the pantry challenge... I didn't do so hot. To my credit, I began mid-week and so everything I spent before I decided to join the challenge doesn't count, right?

I spent about thirty dollars at Target today, but I got ten dollars in gift cards to use at a later date, so really it was like I spent twenty. I got six boxes of Fiber One bars and two more boxes of Fiber One cereal. If you like Fiber One bars (they're delicious) or have a hard time "staying regular" and need some extra fiber in your diet, then you should go to Target and stock up! There's coupons online that you can print off for the Fiber one items, but my Target gave me a hard time about using them. The cashier called over her boss who told me that they're not supposed to accept printed coupons but that since she had already rang them up, she would allow it this time. I am pretty pissed about this because everyone else in the other corners of the globe gets to use computer printed coupons. *throws temper tantrum, rolls on floor screaming and pounding fists in the ground*

Ok, I'm putting on my big girl panties now and moving on...

I got some other things at Target like Wet Ones, Ban deodorant, Kashi Waffles, Quaker True Delight granola bars... all with coupons, coupons, and more coupons :)

The night before I made a run out to Meijer. I miss having Meijer right down the street. I now have to drive 15 minutes and pass four other grocery stores on my way there, so I don't make the trek that often.

Last night I spent a little less than fifty bucks but got meat. Lots and lots of meat, my friends. I got several packs of pork chops, steak, a roast, some sausage... all for cheap, cheap cheap! I also got twenty containers of Yoplait yogurt because of the awesome deal going on. For every ten you buy, a catalina for one dollar prints at the check out. I also used three coupons.... one required you buy eight ($1 off), and the other two required you buy six (80c off). With the doubling, that's an extra $4.20 off! Couple that with the two dollars of catalinas and the fact that the yogurt was on sale for 50c each, and I am quite pleased with my haul.

Maybe next week I'll do a little better with the whole not shopping thing and using what I already have. Maybe. I wouldn't hold my breath though if I were you.

For Girls' Eyes Only

Hello ladies. Today I want to talk to you about breast pumps. If you aren't interested in breast milk and don't want to hear how I think I broke a world record in milk production today, then you can scroll down and read about a blanket binding I sewed yesterday.

I heart my Lansinoh double electric breast pump. If you're in the market for one, this one's the one to buy. My son won't latch on to the breast, so I have to pump the milk and feed him in a bottle. I really don't mind because that means my husband can partake in some of the middle-of-the-night goodness. I just jab him in the ribs, tell him it's his turn about three times, and voila, he's up and at 'em.

Today I slept in a little later than normal. I didn't get up until 8-something, and I hadn't pumped since 10:30 PM. About 11 hours of not emptying the breast is not a good thing. They felt like bricks. I think I could have broken a window with them. I couldn't pump right away either because Joel was hungry and crying, so I had to feed him first. Then I realized the pump parts had been rinsed last night but not washed thoroughly. By the time I started pumping, it was 9:05. In twenty minutes, I had pumped 12 ounces. 12 ounces in twenty minutes has to be some kind of world record, people. And that's not even taking advantage of the fact that I have a double breast pump. I broke a part the other day so I can only use one flange, so I can only pump one breast at a time.

Speaking of broken parts... I got on their website, and the part I broke was 90 cents. I about fell out of my chair with disbelief. But don't worry; they made up for it in shipping and handling. They wanted over 7 bucks to ship something just a little bigger than a quarter. I decided to buy several extra parts for the pump just in case I break or lose something else. I ended up buying five bucks worth of parts, and the shipping stayed the same.

Just in case you're totally enthralled with breast pumping and would like to see graphs on my progress, you're in luck. (Yes, I am one of those moms). Below is how much I have pumped each day for about the past month. Each color represents a pumping session. You can see that lately, I usually have pumped only four times a day. I figure if I am getting the right amount of milk in just four pumping sessions, why pump more?



The other graph is how many ounces my son eats in a day (what's going on with that sixteenth day?). During the first month of his life (not shown), I had to give him more formula, however as you can see, he barely needs to eat formula at all now. I am still using the free sample cans, though I am on the third and final one. (Luckily my sister-in-law gave me two, and my hospital gave me one so I have plenty).


Ok, as promised for those of you who just want to read about sewing... another blanket binding project. My mom kept all my thirty-year-old blankets, however they were in sorry shape. She gave me four big boxes of my and my brother's baby stuff when she found out we were pregnant, but alot of it needed a facelift, like this striped blanket below.

I didn't know that they actually sell blanket binding already made until about a month ago when I thrifted a bag of vintage sewing stuff, and several packages of it was inside. Woot, woot! That made it a heck of a lot easier, and it turned out so much better than the one I did a few months back.

Here's some of the blanket bindings I got in that thrifted bag o' goodies.

The finished product.