shutterfly: grady's birth annoucement

i know it's been a long while since i have been here.  three months to be exact.  i can't guarantee if i will be back again soon, but for right now i am going to post this link for grady's birth annoucement.  yes, i know it's been three months since his birth and i am just getting around to his annoucement, but what can i say... he's the third kiddo.  not that he is not just as important as the others, but there's days i am lucky to get a shower and remember to brush my teeth. (this is not a lie).  so here's to good hopes that i will be back again soon and start this little blog of mine up again.

and lets see if this link will work, so i can get $10 off my next order:

 

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

little brother... 2 week bliss

 i can't believe it has been two weeks since our precious little boy has entered the world.  he is the perfect addition to our family.  we are all so in love with him, as you will see in the following pictures.  meet...

Grady Everett 

august 8, 2012

11:06 am

8lbs. 8oz.

20 1/2 inches

ready to go home.

big sister made this welcome home sign.

of course, we came home on the hottest day of the year.  why my kids are in long pj's, i don't know? but, the mister doesn't do well in the heat.  can you tell?

big sister love.

big brother love.

lots of sleeping going on over here.

1st chiropractor visit.

cutest little baby feet.

my most favorite portrait of the mister and i.  (drawn by avery)

garrett is convinced that grady looks like a football with arms and legs.

the boys.

music time.

smiley boy.

this is me... a little over a week ago

a little over a week ago i decided to have the mister take some impromptu pregnancy photos of me.  i haven't religiously been documenting this pregnancy like i did with my others.  with the other two i did weekly photos of myself as i got bigger and bigger.  that was fun and i loved doing it, but in reality this time around weekly pictures were always an after thought.  knowing that this is probably the last time i would be pregnant, i thought i would try to get a least one decent picture of me so this kid (and me ) for that matter would have proof that he truly does belong to this crazy family of ours.  here's how it went and a few of my favorites...

out of the 87 pictures the mister snapped i found these few that i like the best.  it was kind of hard to be serious because, (a) i don't like having my picture taken and (b) the mister kept being silly and saying things like "roar like a tiger" and what not.  he's so weird.  i'm telling you grady is (has) entered one crazy family. 

 i think this is my favorite.

i like this one because even though we are crazy we have lots of love to offer around here.

 and then we started to get silly.  this is my "what i will look like when i go into labor face".

then, the dog decided to get into the picture.

so, he decided if the dog can get in the picture, he can too.

 "i don't think so little mister.  get out of my preggo picture."

since everyone else was getting in the picture, the mister decided he needed a picture of himself in there too. 

next thing we knew avery wandered in and had an idea (doesn't she always) to take one of the mister and i together.  nice.

"let me try again." she said.

then, we she was finished taking pictures garrett had to give it a try too.  which was just too hilarious and we couldn't stop laughing.  nice tummy shot.

he kept pointing the camera to the left.  nice shot of the dog and half of my tummy this time.

so, we decided just to move into his space.

obviously, we couldn't stop laughing. 

it was fun times and i was able to get two decent pictures out of it and a whole lot of memories.  

p.s. grady arrived a few short days after these pictures.  he's here and healthy and i will post about him asap.

the clubhouse tour

i think i promised a clubhouse tour a very long time ago and never got around to it.  but, since i have been having some sleepless nights and early morning cookie cravings, i've been able to catch up a little.    

 our original clubhouse was built when we lived in our tiny apartment, so it was built tiny.  the kiddo's (basically just avery) never wanted to play in it because she said it was too small.  so, we added a few feet on to it and gave it a makeover.  here's what we came up with...

the clubhouse

the house was originally half this size, with one door and one window.  the right side of the house is the new addition.  two new windows and an extra door.

come on in and take a look at what we did to the inside.

the whole inside (and outside too) got a new coat of paint.  we used green chalkboard paint for the inside walls and a light blue paint for the trim.  for the play food storage i purchased these yellow buckets and the mister attached them to wall to keep the floor free from clutter.

this is the kitchen.

we hung pots and pans and attached this fold-able wooden stove ($1.50 at the thrift store) to the back wall.

avery drew a faucet and sink so she could clean-up after cooking.

this is their view and also the eating nook.

 every home needs a fireplace, so again avery drew one.  love that chalkboard paint.

finally to complete the tour and makeover the house needed carpet (per you know who - avery)

i was looking for an inexpensive rug, but couldn't find one within my budget,  so we decided to buy indoor/outdoor carpet by the foot from home depot and paint it with red and blue stripes.  i think it cost around $7.  to keep it from bunching up and from the kiddo's tripping on it we taped it down with yellow duct tape.  the paint and duct tape we already had, so not bad for 7 bucks, huh?

it's a fun place to play house, but garrett likes to use it as a hideout and

storage for all of his pistols and swords because i'm learning, that's how boys play.

and, when their play is all finished, it closes up nice and tight and awaits the next days adventure.  

i can't finish this post without thanking the mister for all of his hard work and putting up with all of the crazy projects i think up for him to do.  so, thank you my love for all that you do for our family. :)

baby fiesta - papel picado tutorial

to make a papel picado (tissue paper banner) is pretty basic and easy, which means you probably don't need a tutorial on how to do it, but what the heck i took the pictures, i'm here so, let's do this thing!

what you need:

tissue paper

scissors

paper cutter

twine or string

stapler

step 1

 take 3-4 full size sheets of tissue paper (it's easier to cut on the paper cutter with more paper)

step 2

fold the tissue in half.

step 3

turn the tissue so that the folded edge is at the top and cut to your desired width.  i think i made mine 8" wide.

step 4 and 5

fold the tissue accordion style and cut out the design of your choice.

step 6 and 7

unfold paper,

place string or twine in between the fold of each tissue and staple at the top on both ends.  repeat with remaining tissue paper until you have your desired length.  

viola! see it's that basic and that easy!