31 July 2012

pen pals.

**edited- Alright, I now officially have over 40 pen pals :)  I am so excited about this!!  In order to be a good pen pal, I will have to cut it off now.  I am definitely always loving mail though so if you are interested in writing to me anyways, let me know!!**

So, I am totally serious about wanting some pen pals.  I miss the "Happy Mail" group a lot.  I love writing letters and receiving letters.  I want to send fun packages and make cute things for my friends.  
So...
I'm excited!!
In other news, I am completely obsessed with watching the olympics :) 
I have medaled my favorite events from this week that I have watched.


xo
janel

30 July 2012

5 months.


5 months
the best 5 months of my life, seriously.
*  she is rolling over
*  she is creeping
*  she is scooting
*  she is eating solid foods and loving it.  2 oz. every day
*  she is up to 8 oz. of formula every 4 hours (but only 6 oz. when she is eating her meal with the solid food)
*  her laugh is my favorite thing
* she still smiles all of the time
*  she is using consonants with her vowels, saying things like "ba" and "ga" 
*  she loves playing with toys
* she can move objects from one hand to the other hand, across the mid-line.
*  she loves to practice sitting up.
*  she tries to sit up on her own and it looks like she's doing baby crunches.  It's precious.
* she is 14.11 pounds and 25 1/4 inches....so big!!
*  the pediatrician says she's perfect :)
*  She brings us so much joy and happiness and my heart literally fills with so much love every second I am with her.
I love this girl with every ounce of my being.


xo
janel

27 July 2012

wrapped


This Week I:

*  was featured on Apartment Therapy
*  made two different embroidery pieces for two adorable friends
*  continued to knit up Adam's fall scarf
*  completely re-did my dad's studio space
*  built a shelving unit in the toy-room at my parent's house
*  started using fountain pens again
*  decided I wanted a pen-pal (seriously, who wants to be my pen-pal?)
*  watched the first episode of "I'm Having Their Baby"
*  spent so much time just loving on Amelia
* had a sleepover with my mom, Amelia, my sister and Jack at my sister's house
* realized that I only have two more full weeks left of summer break (sad face)
*  bought a LOT of school supplies
* watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics.

a lovely week was had.

xo
janel

Adventures with Baby Food Making

For Amelia's very first foods we went ahead and purchased the Organic Gerber First Foods in sweet potatoes, carrots, and butternut squash.  
Here is why:
 1.  We were so excited to feed her "real food" the second our pediatrician told us we could.
2.  It is our very first time with solid foods and a baby
3.  It was super easy, convenient, and we knew it was the perfect serving size and everything.
We only bought a few of each to get her started because Adam and I are both super excited about making her food :)
Yesterday, I decided to head to the grocery store, and bust out the Baby Bullet.

(image from site)

Another item that I purchased for this expedition was the Beaba Multiportion Freezer Tray.  I love that it has the perfect portion sizes for the baby so that I didn't have to guess with ice cube trays.  Ice cube trays would be another easy (and cheaper) way to freeze your baby food though!


Sweet Potatoes seemed to be Amelia's favorite so far so I decided to whip up a batch of those and a batch of pears.  She is ready to start on the "white fruits" next week so I wanted a batch of pears to start her with!!

Here are two very simple recipes to get you started:


*Pears for Baby*

What you will need:
*2-3 ripe medium-sized pears
½ cup water

Here is what you will do:


*  Chop pears into squares, discarding the peel and core. 



* Place pears in sauce pan with water and simmer on medium heat until pears are soft
approximately 10-12 minutes


*  Once pears are tender, empty all of the contents of pan (including liquid) into your food processor. Puree until smooth. Add water if necessary.

*  Pour your pear puree evenly into trays and freeze until solid.

*The Sweetest Potatoes*

What you will need:
*2 medium sweet potatoes
*1/3 cup water

Here is what you will do:
*Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

*  Place washed sweet potatoes directly on a baking sheet, lined with aluminum foil. 

*  Bake for 45-50 minutes. 

*  Set aside to cool.

*  Once sweet potatoes are cool, peel off skin and cut into large chunks.


* Place sweet potatoes in your food processor, add water, and puree until completely smooth. 


*  Distribute mixture evenly amongst your freezing tray!

This was so easy, and fun and way cheaper then buying your baby's food at the store.
We now have two weeks of food and it cost me under $3 for the sweet potatoes and pears :)  I am so excited to start her on fruits next week!
She is getting so big!!

xo
janel

26 July 2012

little pins.

Good Morning lovelies and welcome to another edition of "Little Pins."
This week I have been super inspired by little interiors and accessories.  I have seen so many adorable things that it's making me want a house more and more.
My next home needs to have at least 40 rooms so that I can decorate them all (yeah right).
Obviously, when I post photos that aren't mine, I am not going to have the "pin it" button because then it wouldn't link to the original source.  Under each photo here, I have the two stars (**) and if you click on them, it will take to you to the original source of each photo. 
Alright, are you ready for the cuteness?




So much loveliness, I can barely contain it. 
 I already have plans for a nursery re-vamp for Amelia and she is only 4.5 months :)
sad but true :)
Have a blessed day!!

xo
janel

25 July 2012

apartment therapy!



Yay!! Amelia and Jack's Playroom was featured over at Apartment Therapy today!!  Stop by and check it out.  Here's the link :)
This totally made my day!!

xo
janel

art for amelia

I still have one blank wall in Amelia's room that needs to be filled.  
I have been looking all over the online world for a few prints that I can use to make a art display for her.
Here are some of my favorites.


(with her colors and information obviously)

These are just a few and I definitely think that I need more for what I want to create in there.  There is so much amazing art out there.
Do you have any favorite prints? I would love to see some of your favorite online art pieces.

xo
janel




24 July 2012

book worm.

Last year, I was 18 books shy of my 100 books in 2011 goal on Goodreads.
This year, I decided to reduce my goal to 50 books in 2012 so that I knew I could accomplish it for sure.
I just checked in with my goal page and realized that I am already at 56 books for 2012!!
Sweet!
Here is what I have read so far:
So much chick lit!!  I am actually pretty surprised at that :)  I think with all of the stress that we had in the beginning half of this year, fun and light reading was just what I needed.  I am officially bumping up my goal to 75 books in 2012 and we will go from there.
What are some of your favorite books or series?  I would love to add some more books to my "must-read" list!!

xo
janel

23 July 2012

the sari scarf


A few days ago, I told you about my new sari silk yarn.  I was so ready to get started on making a scarf for the fall (what else would I do on a day when it was 106 F, right)  After attempting to knit this fiber, I knew it wasn't going to work for me.   I wanted something fairly loose so that the loveliness of these two silks were really shown off.  I saw a photo of on scarf that was "drop stitched" and it looked amazing, but I had no idea how to do that.
I decided to just use my largest crochet hook and crocheted both types of silk together at one.  This made it thick, and loose, and lovely.

Before:
After:


I seriously love the way that it turned out!
Plus it was super easy.  I had Adam pick out a skein of yarn so that I could knit him up a scarf next!


Now, we are ready for fall :)
xo
janel

20 July 2012

wrapped


This week:

*  I had an amazing time teaching crafts at VBS. I worked with a ton of great friends and a lot of sweet sweet kiddos.  
*  Amelia is eating her sweet potatoes like a champ.  
*  I got a ton of washi tape that I ordered from Freckled Fawn
*  I also scored some adorable little vintage things for Amelia from the CUTEST pop-up shop ever.
*  my heart is saddened by this.  please pray for everyone involved in this horrible tragedy.
*  I got two spend two whole afternoons with my sister and Jack.  That, on the other hand, makes my heart very happy.
*  I decorated my mom's bedroom for her.
*  I painted like crazy, and I loved every second of it.
*  I crocheted a scarf
*  I began knitting another scarf
*  I started brainstorming ideas on how to re-decorate our little home.
*  I focused on the fact that God is so good.

This week was FULL, in the best sense of the word. 

xo
janel

loved it.

Let's see....
How did I like Script School?
Here is my answer...
I loved it.
I am a scripting fool.
My husband says I am "the boss of scripting."  I'm not too sure about that but I am sure that I love it, and it's so addictive and relaxing and fun.
Thank you Kal for an amazing experience.


xo
janel

19 July 2012

she's so big!

This week has been huge for Amelia milestones.
She has started eating sweet potatoes.
She is holding her own bottle.
And then, she started rolling over.
This girl is getting soooo big so fast.





I am so proud of her and I am so glad I got these on video (albeit my phone).
She's such a blessing.
xo
janel

18 July 2012

Project Life Weeks 24-28

I think it's about time for another Project Life post!! We are officially on Week 29, which is more than halfway through the year.  I still love this project so much. I love looking back on my pages.  I love that Amelia will get to look back on this someday and get a REAL feel for who we are.  
I love it.
So, here we are with Project Life, weeks 24-28.
I will let the photos do the rest of the talking :)

Week 24






Week 25




Week 26







Week 27





Week 28





This project is such a blessing :)
love it love it love it!!
If you would like to see my past Project Life pages, you can click on the Project Life tab over on my new side bar!!

xo
janel

Would you like to know more about Project Life? You can read all about it here. You can also check out more of my Project Life pages right here!