A positive beginning, a frustrating ending

I crawled out of my hermit shell the other day and set up a play date on one of the mom groups I'm a part of.  I had it all planned out, we would go to the park next to the library that way if it rained or was too hot we could just go into the library! It was perfect.  I posted about my little idea, and got "Yes! see you there!", "can't wait!", and other phrases that usually mean "Yes, I will be at said place at said time."

I was excited. Then I was nervous, I've never been good at meeting new people or making small talk, but I was determined.  I was going to meet some new people and Kian was going to have some babies to play with.

On Monday morning I WOKE KIAN UP FROM A NAP and drove to the park.  We were a few minutes early so I set out our blanket, and checked to see if anyone had commented on my post saying how they could identify us, no one had but that didn't mean anything...right? Kian and I played on the swings, watched big kids play four square, tried to eat wood chips, and eyed up every mom & child (all big kids)  that came into the park.

Forty-five minutes later I realized that no one was going to come and even if someone did happen to show up at this point my child who had been woken up from his nap was getting grumpy and didn't have sunscreen and I was over it.

When we got home, still having a little bit of hope, I checked the message board to see if someone had commented something along the lines of, "sorry we didn't make it!" But no.  Nothing.  Nada. Zilch.  And I'm still mad that I woke Kian up from a nap just to be stood up.

But don't worry, Kian had fun and I haven't retreated into my hermit shell yet, however I have decided I will not try to organize any meet ups. If someone else organizes it, at least it will be me and someone else.

the nursery

I am very happy to share baby boys room! I absolutely love it!! It is the only room in our apartment that is completed and it just feels so warm and cozy.  It is also Izzy's favorite room in the house as he is constantly trying to sneak in and hide in the crib, or the teepee, or the closet, or under the bed, or on the changing pad. Everything is his.

Originally we started with a whale theme, then moved to a nautical theme, which eventually became a blue and grey room with nautical touches.  We were very inspired by Hawaii and as such the gallery wall above his crib is almost all Hawaii photos.  I love it! It really makes me want to finish hanging all the photos in our apartment...

Aside from the gallery wall my next favorite part of baby boy's room is his library! I have been collecting children's book for about three years and now I finally have a place to put them all. In addition to the books I've been collecting we also inherited many books from a family friend and bought some new Spanish language books as we are determined that this child will speak Spanish.

I love books, so when the author of My First Books contacted me about reviewing some of her books I was thrilled! As soon as we received the My First Books series I immediately flipped through the pages looking at all the bright and colorful photos that I know baby boy will love.  There's even a pineapple page in the fruits book! I am so glad to have these books as part of our collection and I can't wait to read them to baby boy.

Sewing for baby: bibs

Woo bibs! We made two types of bibs, the traditional bibs, and bandana bibs.  When I showed Brenden the first bandana bib he didn't really like them. But they're hip babe, I swear.  Just look.  Also it's a whole lot easier and faster to sew a triangle then a bib.

All of the bibs were made from leftover fabric, t-shirts and old towels.

Sewing for baby: muslin blankets

When I decided to make sewing for baby a series I thought I would get everything done really quickly.  Then, we moved and I didn't get much done, until recently. This first project is muslin blankets that were actually quite easy to make.  I bought a yard of gauze fabric and bright blue dye from Joann's and got to work.  

I dyed one solid blue and tried to do the other one with an ombre effect, which sort of worked. The dye would of stained the bathtub so either I had to sit there and hold the blanket up for 30 minutes or just do it a little faster and hope for the best... I still like them.

I also hemmed the blankets before dying them but I did each one a different way. The one on the left I just filed over and sewed and you can se the little strings coming off of it from being washed.  The one of the right I fold over twice and sewed and it is SO much better.  If I make any more of these I will definitely fold is twice and sew. I hate the shredding.

Izzy's new hiding spot

Izzy thinks baby boy's crib is the perfect lounging spot.

Nursery Inspiration

We are going with a whale/nautical theme for the nursery. Brenden and I thought it was a good way to tie in our time in Hawaii, our love of the ocean, and the color blue.  Now I just want to keep it from being too kitschy. Trying to stay away from nursery sets and every single thing being whale related.

Sewing for Baby: Burp Cloths

Burp cloths! We live right down the street from Joann's Fabrics and I have already made many a trip there during our short time in Tennessee.  When I decided to make burp cloths I headed straight for the bundles of fabric and tried to find the most gender neutral, non-holiday fabrics that I actually liked. These chevron prints ended up being the winner!

Sewing burp cloths isn't very difficult and these are by no means perfect (they are meant for spit up...) but I had a fun time and plan to sew a few more in the future. For this set I did one side of cotton fabric and one side of flannel.  I have two other burp cloths I made out of flannel only and I really like those ones so I plan to use just flannel in the future. 

In case you are wondering how I made these, here are some really simple directions:

1: pin correct sides together and sew leaving a hole big enough to pull itself through

2: pull it through the hole so the correct sides are now the outside

3: iron (or don't) and topstitch all the way around

TADA!  (there are many more detailed directions on the internet like,  this one or you could go super absorbent and make these)

Sewing for Baby

from here

I used to sew when I was younger.  I mostly made simple things like pillows, and skirts and now that we have a baby on the way I want to make more simple things and maybe even a few complicated things.  I've put together a list of all the things I definitely want to make before this baby comes.

1. Bibs: These look pretty simple to make and I love all the creative fabrics that they used.

2. Blankets,  blankets, and more blankets: You can never have too many blankets. 

3. Playmat:  Honestly, I'm fine with using a blanket as a play mat. But, the idea of having something a little thicker than I can sit/kneel is probably the only reason this looks appealing.

4. Hooded Towel: This one is gorgeous.

5. Burp cloths: You can never have too many of these either right? 

I have many more things on my pinterest board that I'm considering making, and even more things  I want to make once we know if we're having a boy or girl!

an announcement

Very excited to share that Baby Johnson will be arriving this September! We shared our news with close friends and family several weeks ago but decided to wait a bit longer before sharing it with the world.  But now, we can share all about how this pregnancy has been going. I have several posts in the wings that I've been waiting to share, so they will be on the blog soon.