Just Wait . . .

This may be a little personal here, but since we're all friends, I'll tell you that I just came out of the bathroom. I was taking care of business when I saw a hole in the top layer of the toilet paper. Earlier in the day, I needed to "take care of business" and doing so while Zachary is awake is rather tricky. He crawls at rapid speeds now and has also developed a new fascination with toilet paper. He loves to pull on it so it unrolls all over the floor, and he loves to pick pieces off and . . . eat them. I know, it's so gross, but this kid puts everything in his mouth and most of the time he is too fast for me, which means that I have to go "fishing" in his mouth. I have found all sorts of non-eatable things; dirt clumps, small wood chips, grass, paper, dried up cheese from his last meal which he threw on the ground and somehow Bruce missed, etc. 

Discovering the kitchen cabinets

This kid is definitely all boy. His new favorite game is climbing up on his chair in his room and then flinging himself off so that I will catch him. He doesn't really understand that I need to be aware that we are playing this game. I have - thankfully - caught him each time, but sometimes it is with more fragile body parts . . . like my nose. Ouch! I may or may not have cried after his big head nailed me in the schnoz . . . okay, I did cry and do you know how hard it is to cry and still sympathetically tell your son that Mommy is okay? He didn't know what to think!

It is amazing how quickly these little babies grow in their first year. A few months ago, Zachary was content just sitting up and a few months before that he was just rolling over and a few months before that he didn't move at all! (I should have reveled in "taking care of business" without an audience then.) I have loved each stage of Zachary's development because it is revealing more of his personality. I love watching him internalize everything because he gets that from Troy and I love watching him adjust objects with precision because he gets that from me. 

That being said, this afternoon, when I saw that hole in the toilet paper, in my head I could hear mothers who have gone before me say "Just wait until he starts moving, he will get into EVERYTHING!" Are they right, well yes, but honestly, I don't hear that voice with cheerfulness. These are the mothers who are trying to devalue the difficultly of the developmental stage of your child. Clearly, they have a more strenuous stage, ergo they are the better mother. What bologna! (By the way, did you just read that the way it is spelled? I always do!) Even if you're not a mom, you have heard these people too. Your voice may sound like, "Just wait until you get married...." or "Just wait until you buy a house..." or "Just wait until you get in the 'real world'..." These are people who see you enjoying your life and want to rain on your parade. These people are . . . butt-heads. Yes, I just said "butt-heads" mostly because it is true and also I dare you to read that word without smiling.

As I was looking at that hole in the toilet paper, I decided to hush up that gross, condescending, voice and focus instead on the cute, chubby little fingers that tore that hole and those fantastic cheeks that accompanies the smile of the face that sees the door to the bathroom is open so that he can wreck havoc on the roll of toilet paper. I don't care what those moms say. I can wait until the next stage because I am so much enjoying the current stage. When Zachary moves onto the next stage, I will love that too. So essentially, I guess I am taking their advice. I will "just wait."

Hibernation

Troy and I miss some parts of our Minnesota lives. We miss our friends, Calvary Church, a delicious Juicy Lucy from the 5-8 Club (yeah that's right all you Matt's fans, we have sworn our allegiance to the 5-8!); but there is one thing that makes living in Cincinnati so fabulous, and it is the weather. We have been enjoying above freezing temperatures for weeks now. Our grass is green, our trees are budding and I have beautiful white flowers on my magnolia tree. Our season of hibernation has ended with the renewal of spring!

Many people have a ritual of "spring cleaning" once Old Man Winter leaves. I have never done that because I can't stand to have needless clutter in my house, so "spring cleaning" happens almost every week. However, I do have a ritual which is performed each spring. My ritual is shaving my legs. You read that right. Shaving throughout the winter seems pointless. Ladies, can I get an "Amen!"? Once I get out of the shower, I get cold and the goosebumps run rapid all over my legs, pushing the hair back up and out on the surface of my skin. Sometimes my goosebumps get goosebumps! So, during the winter months, (I am going to get personal with you here) I will shave about once a week - that is about how long it takes for the hair to rub against my jeans and gross me out. Once the weather starts to get nice, I want to pull out my shorts or don a dress, and the fur that once kept me warm through the winter, is somewhat unappealing and unnecessary. 

Another thing that is unappealing are the extra pounds that seemed to have taken up residence on my body without even signing a lease first. I tell Troy that it is harder to lose weight in the winter because your body is trying to stay warm by holding on to extra fat. I know that is a bunch of malarkey, but doesn't it sound nice? And it would explain why all those movie starts are so skinny, living in sunny L.A. Once the weather warms up and I am no longer able to hide under my bulky sweaters, I realize that I need to shed the pounds as well as my furry stems and if we are being honest, I am hoping that my hairy legs are the culprits for the scale showing are larger number.

Of course the final part of coming out of hibernation would entail my wardrobe. Spring is a tricky season. You wake up in the morning to temperatures in the upper 40's or lower 50's, but then by the afternoon it is in the 70's so essentially you need to plan two outfits for the day and they need to be layered. This leads every woman to look at all her clothes hanging in her closet and bemoan that she has nothing to wear, much to the confusion of their male counterpart.

This spring has not only brought me the tri-fecta of issues coming out of hibernation but I feel like they are exponentially more challenging. This is my first spring with my sweet baby boy, who will be turning one at the end of May. Shaving my legs while trying to figure out how to take care of a baby seemed even less worth the effort during the winter months. Despite my daily cardio routine, baby fat has not only signed a lease, but also gave me first and last month's deposit. (I am told these pounds will melt off after I wean Z from nursing - that had better be true.) And due to this post-prego body, my wardrobe isn't really thrilling me these days.

However, even as I type this, I am looking out my window and seeing a gorgeous sunny day, our pear tree full of leaves and flowers and my cloth diapers swinging in the breeze as they dry in the spring sunshine. With my laptop resting on my furry legs, a muffin top spilling over my frumpy clothes, these woes don't seem so bad when I look out the window. Halleluiah! We are out of hibernation! Welcome Spring!

Loving the Spring Sunshine!

The Look

Troy's sister, Tricia came to the Queen City to visit us during her spring break. Considering she was

Trying to unpack Aunt Tricia's things. Z didn't want her to go.

coming from Minneapolis, we teased her that she was flying south for spring break, unfortunately, we don't have any palm trees in Cincinnati.  She flew into the Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky Airport but was flying out the Dayton International Airport because she found a good deal. I had never been to the Dayton Airport so the night before Tricia's departure, I punched the address into my GPS so that I wouldn't have to fumble with my phone and a baby at the same time when we needed to get out the door. Google Maps has a feature which also allows users to write comments and I read many comments about how the Dayton Airport is a convenient and small airport with lots of shops and vendors after you pass through security. I suddenly had mixed feelings because on the one hand, I love looking at the little shops and on the other hand, I always feel like a criminal with an ankle bracelet when I walk into one.

I remember when I was a kid and would go into stores without a parent or wander away from my grown up to look at the merchandise on my own, I always felt the eyes of the store clerk on me. I am sure that it was just because I was a kid and they wanted to make sure I wouldn't steal or break or wipe a booger on something, but I always felt their eyes burrowing into my neck. I remember as a young adult still feeling that way and thinking, "I can be here! I am a grown up!" However, as I have gotten older, these stares have faded (sadly along with getting carded when I order a glass of wine) but there is one place where 'The Look' is still going strong, regardless of age/gender/race/creed. Airport shops.

Tricia and I were talking about this on the way to the airport and how these airport shops with their beady-eyed cashiers are such a stark contrast to places like Barnes and Noble. Troy and I have made Barnes and Noble date nights. We would go to the book store, stalk the people sitting in the comfy chairs, snag said chairs, get a coffee and read stacks of magazines. Then when we read everything we wanted or the store is closing, we would leave. Barnes and Noble expects you to do this, that is why they have the chairs and the coffee bars because some people will go ahead and make purchases, as I have done in the past. Airport shops are not like this though.

The airport shops have snacks, traveling crap that you think will come in handy on your next trip but you'll never use again, books, magazines and sometimes clothes because when you go on a business trip and you forget to get something for your wife, picking up a Cincinnati Red's T-shirt at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport is convenient......hypothetically speaking, of course. I personally love to look at the books and especially the magazines. I am a sucker for the trashy celebrity magazines, with US Weekly being my favorite. However, every time I go into one of those shops, the cashier looks at me like I have been finger painting and am about to sit on her white couch. I always feel like a 5 year old, who wandered away from my mommy and shouldn't be touching anything, let alone my vice, US Weekly.

Am I alone here? Does anyone else feel like the cashiers at the airport shops are waiting to tackle you if you touch their merchandise without waving your credit card that them first? I don't fly too often these days, but I think for my next flight I will make a sign that says;

"My flight is delayed. I am not planning on purchasing any of your overpriced crap. I do however plan on reading it and then walking out of here. If you are nice, maybe I will buy a bag of Combos....but only if I work up an appetite from reading your current issue of US Weekly.  

Be warned: if you come at me, I know Kung Fu. 

Have a nice day."

I hope I can fit that sign in the overhead compartment.

In Your Face Fabric Lady! (Part III - Burlap Monogrammed Frame)

Well, well, well. I see you're back for more. I knew you would want to see my victory lap as this is the last installment of the "In Your Face Fabric Lady" **series. Don't worry, I'll have more creative blog posts in the future, but this is the last project I made with the stuff that I bought from that particular Jo-Ann Fabric shopping trip and burlap was one of the fabrics that the Fabric Lady cut for me.

This project all started with our friends Paul and Brooke Berg. For a wedding shower gift, they bought us a black frame that held twelve 4x6 photos and I put our wedding pictures in that frame. When we moved from Minneapolis to Cincinnati, I had unpacked all our frames and had them resting against our hutch. One morning before church, I accidentally knocked the Berg frame over and the glass broke. I immediately started crying because even though it could be replaced, when I looked at that frame, I always thought of Brooke and Paul and I was really missing our good friends. Anyway, Troy gave me a big hug, we swept up the glass and replaced the frame, but I kept the original frame without the glass because I just knew I could do something crafty with it.

I saw on Pinterest that someone had wrapped the inside of a picture frame in burlap and then put their initial in the middle of the frame. I thought that was so cute and I love monogrammed stuff, so I thought I would make my own with the Berg frame. First I removed the dividers for all the pictures. (Don't worry, I saved it in case it comes in handy for a future craft project!) Then I opened up the back of the frame and took out the cardboard insert. I took my burlap and wrapped it around the cardboard and then stapled the burlap into place along the edges of the cardboard. This was a little bit tedious. I had to remove staples and then re-staple in some places after pulling the fabric to make sure it would be tight.

The back doesn't have to look pretty. It gets covered up, but you get the idea.

I put the backing back on but when I flipped the frame over, I realized that even though I stapled the burlap as close to the edge of the cardboard as possible, you could still see some of the staples and that drove me crazy. You should have seen me assess this problem. I literally put the frame on my desk and walked past it a bunch of times to see if it was noticeable. It was. I had left over cord rope from my nautical flags project, so I decided to hot glue the rope along the edges and then tie a knot in the middle where the ends meet. I loved how it turned out! Good thing those staples were being stubborn! Otherwise, I wouldn't have even tried the rope! See, sometimes mistakes can be awesome and lead to cool realizations. (Cue the Full House, "we have fixed all of life's problems" music)

I love me some nautical rope!

I bought a large wooden letter 'C' (for Carlson, obviously) and then a small wooden plaque. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of these next steps so you're going to have visualize with me. First I painted both the 'C' and the plaque black. Then on the plaque, I used scrapbook stickers and put "est. 2007" (that was the year the hubs and I got married.) I wanted the wooden signs to look a little distressed, so then I painted both of them white. That's right, I painted right over the stickers. I was a little nervous how the plaque would look when I pulled the stickers off because they looked like they weren't going anywhere after being painted. However, the stickers were easy to take off using a pair of tweezers. Then I lightly sanded both the letter 'C' and the plaque. You only need to sand in areas where you want the background color to show through. After I distressed the plaque, I realized that the lettering didn't pop as much as I would like. So I got a very thin paintbrush and painted the letters black so they would pop.

All distressed and ready to go.

After the wooden pieces were dry, I placed them on my burlap frame, but I felt like there was too much negative space. The project needed something else. I decided to paint our last name on the burlap and then have the wooden pieces glued above and below the name. However, I already hot glued the rope to the frame, so I really couldn't mess up. I decided I should do a practice run to see how the letters would turn out. I cut a small piece of burlap and sponged my paint over the stencil. When I pulled the stencil off, I thought it looked great and was ready to proceed to the real deal.

This picture is brought to you by the letter 'A'

I grabbed my trusty blue painter's tape and put a long piece of tape going horizontally along my frame where I wanted my letters to be. This was going to be my guide. I always lined up the top part of my stencils with this piece of tape. I measured the frame and found the middle, so I started with the letter that was in the middle of our name, 'L.' I thought it would be easier to work out both sides to ensure the name would be center.

Maybe I have a future as a hand model?

I took a sponge brush and sponged black acrylic paint over the stencil and then slowly peeled the stencil off the burlap. I let the letter mostly dry before I painted the next letter; it doesn't really take too long because you aren't saturating the burlap with the paint. For the rest of the letters, I wanted to make sure there would be good spacing. I would put the stencil under the painted letters to see how closely I wanted the letters to be. Then I would put a little tick mark on the top of the stencil and then carefully follow an imaginary line up to the blue painter's tape and put another tick mark on the tape. Then I would bring the stencil up to the tape and match the tick marks. Be sure that you pick the stencil up and not drag it up because you don't want to smear any paint that may not have dried on a previous letter.

Matching the tick marks to make sure there is even spacing between letters.

After I finished all my letters, I took a minute to exhale because this whole time I was sort of holding my breath. I was nervous that the lettering wouldn't look good and I had already stapled the burlap and hot glued the rope to the frame, so I had little wiggle room for mistakes, like none. I liked the outcome! I plugged in my trusty hot glue gun and glued the wooden 'C' and the plaque to the burlap.

I loved it! I thought my final product turned out even better than what I had seen on Pinterest! I hung that bad boy up in our foyer and then took a picture and sent it to my sister, Laura who agrees that this craft was the bomb-diggity.The Berg frame has been reborn! Hurray!

Wow, I feel like so much has happened since the Fabric Lady openly challenged me to a craft off. (I may have made that up in my mind.) So many crafts; so much sewing, so much paint, so much fun. With that, friends, I would say it's time to put up the final score and run a few victory laps.

Pam 4, Fabric Lady 0 . . . . . Boom-Sha-ka-la-ka!

** For previous posts from this series, see the following:
Fabric, Glue and Macaroni
In Your Face Fabric Lady (Part I - Pennant Bunting)
In Your Face Fabric Lady (Part II -Nautical Flags)
More Nautical Nursery Decor