we've got a lot to learn, God knows we're worth it

Dearest Sloane,

I have gotten a lot done for the wedding (which you call "mommy and daddy's party!) lately (out of pure necessity) as it is coming so quickly.  But the most interesting thing that I've encountered lately isn't on a blog, or on pinterest it's right in my face.

Every evening while I make supper (admittedly it's usually your fave toddler foods of the moment which make me cringe wondering if I am giving you too many nitrates -- in the form of hot dogs, or too much processed cheese in the form of Kraft) I watch The View.  I always talk to you about it because it's important to me that you see these women with their own talk show (a field that during my lifetime has always been dominated by males). 

On 9/12/12 I came home and got my daily dose of The View as I always do (even though I've had a love- hate relationship with it since it's inception...here I describe it as my 4th circle of hell, and here I write an open letter to it's wishy-washy never completely pro-woman women co hosts). 

Sometimes though I just LOVE what I hear on the show.  On 9/12/12 one of my favorite actresses was visiting the ladies: Amy Adams.  She is currently on tour for her new film Trouble with the Curve, which her costar is Clint Eastwood (who is currently abuzz with his empty-chair speech at the RNC).  They asked her if she saw the speech and she said she had not and that she was on a bit of an "internet diet". The co hosts inquired about this and she told them that only a few minutes into Facebook perusing she finds herself feeling sad about other people's vacations and time they spend together as a family as she is working a lot as of late.

Even though it's illogical I assumed that Amy Adams would be the one provoking jealousy on Facebook not succumbing to it. 

Then a few days later I got together with some friends and one of my close friends admitted to me that she is no longer reading any blogs (including mine) because it was causing her to compare herself to other people and making her feel like she was a bad parent (which she isn't, she's phenomenal, I made sure to tell her this in person as she is no longer a blog reader). 

Then I thought about all of this together, and about parenting you.  I do not want you to be like me.  I do not want you to be riddled with anxiety over every choice you make, trying to make everything PERFECT.  I do not want you checking into social media only to feel less than, or to feel like a failure that your child isn't eating quinoa and whole-wheat bagels happily while learning french.  Instead I want to enjoy our evenings together so that you will enjoy your time with me and that you will enjoy your time with your own child someday. 

I am sorry that I sometimes try to capture the perfect moment instead of living in the one we are given.

Here's to all the imperfection in our lives.  Mommy did not edit, or censor these in any way.  These are real...here's what we've been up to in month 20. 

Instead of focusing on what makes these pictures imperfect, I am just going to tell you that we had so much fun watching you be the flower girl at Uncle Matt's wedding, you loved the reception and cried when we finally put you in bed signing "more" party.  We took you to the mountains and let you dance all night at aunt Heidi's wedding.

You also had a blast going to Brielle's birthday party and playing with your cousins. 

We love all our moments with you, even when they aren't picture perfect,

mommy

title courtesy of Jason Mraz, I won't give up

a material, a material, a material girl

I have been scouring for all the perfect last details for the wedding...One thing I really wanted was a sense of vintage on the tables, I have borrowed some plain white tablecloths from my cousin but it just wasn't the effect that I wanted.  Then I saw this while browsing the net.  And fell in love...

via

So I began my own search to mix in with the plain white...and I found these, and since this picture was taken about a dozen more.  Hooray!


Vintage sheets & a tablecloth 1.00 each

And a few other finds as well...

Yard sale finds-- 10 cents each

vintage spools, stamps and lovely little milk glass

1969 Southwestern Bell logo cup... I can't resist weird orphans

linking up to Apron Thrift Girl

title courtesy of Madonna: Material Girl

nothing you confess could make me love you less

I want so desperately to not be one of those manic brides.  The ones who can't think about anything else.  But with only 48 days left and lots to do, I feel a little manic maniac.  In the midst of this wedding planning, I have a toddler and life is happening.  So much beauty and so much pain.

looking forward to making him my official Mr.

totally free printable from Wedding Chicks

My step-sis Heidi got married this last weekend in lovely Winter Park.  Here she is with her dad (my step-dad)
They danced to The Pretenders: I'll Stand By You
....still makes me sob thinking about it.

My awesome former boss Micaela finally earned her rest from 3 years of a fight with cancer
She taught me so much I cannot begin to express the amount of savvy and spunk she possessed.

My mama and step-dad at the wedding...awesome parents, fabulous grandparents



My brother and very soon-to-be sister in law (Sept. 8th) & my nephew Ledger
Excited for their wedding but know that it makes my wedding seem to come even sooner!





Working on the invitations this weekend just waiting for a few little lovelies to make it in the mail...

via 100ProofPress

via Somerset Memories

via Annie42

and a little something for the Mr.

via GalloGrotte

title courtesy of the aforementioned song-- The Pretender's I'll Stand By You

Baby you light up my world like nobody else

Hello Sloane,

You are 20 months old!  How can it be? 

You love lots of new things this month.  Luckily when you turned 1 your birthday guests were so insightful about what you would like throughout the whole next year.  You have recently discovered coloring and stickers.  You are in love (a girl after my own heart).  One day you and Daddy spent a long time painting on newspaper.  I like seeing your love for art growing.

Another thing you love lately is music.  You like your cd from the drum safari group that you saw at the River Festival.  You request that by saying "nomp nomp" which is Sloanecode for one of the songs "Elephant stomp stomp."  You love Baby and Boyfriend by Justin Beiber.  If you want Baby you say "Beebs!" then you say "mine mine mine".  If you want Boyfriend you simply say "waggy" Sloanecode for Beebs code- "Swaggy".  Like lots of little girls around the globe you also enjoy One Direction: What Makes You Beautiful and enjoy various YouTube parodies of Carly Rae Jepsen's Call me Maybe?.  And you will dance to anything. Literally, anything: including the sound of your aunt Tay's breast pump (TMI?) this tidbit will mortify you one day. 

New words...lot's of names, including putting "eh" in front of your aunt's names.  "eh Tay" "eh Pies" (Aunt Pesha), "eh Ma-eee" (Aunt Maddy) "eh Abril" (aunt April). You say "Elbow" for Elmo instead of just "oh". You can also name other Sesame Street inhabitants: Abby, Coo-ee, Scar (Oscar), and BeeBeed (Big Bird).  To request Curious George you sign "more" and then say "eee-eee" like a monkey.   

You enjoyed the Olympics this month cheering for Gab-Gab (Gabby Douglas) and Awy (Aly Raisman) and waving your "fwag" while dancing to the Star Spangled Banner.

You say "chicken, cheese, hah-haw (hot dog) abaca (avocado) fies (fries) and coo-ee (cookie) and ays (eggs)".  These are about all the foods that you will eat.  You are pretty finicky lately.

You are in an aggravating phase where you refuse to smile for the camera.  I hope that passes before the next two weddings, we would like to have some good shots of your toothy grin all dressed up.

No smiles Sloane

We all wore Sesame Street stickers at the wedding

you love a good hat

Looking forward to more adventures on this 20th month...2 ("tuewww") is coming up soon! 

love you,
mama

One Direction: What Makes You Beautiful (for Sloane)

road rules apply

We are about to embark on one of my worst fears since having a child of my own.  Family vacation/road trip.  For 4 glorious days we will be in Winter Park with beautiful scenery and mild weather.  But before we get there we have to survive the 9 hour car trip. 

When I asked friends and family members how to survive such a dreadful experience they had one common solution: the IPad.  Unfortunately I don't have an IPad.  Unfortunate for me, that is.  I know myself and if I had anything worth 500ish$ my toddler's little grubbers wouldn't come anywhere near it. 

So I sat down to research and work out how to take a toddler on a trip without an IPad (Iphone, Ipod, anything with a touch screen).  And here is what I am going to try. 

I don't need statistics to tell me how short of an attention span my child has at 19 months.  But it is nice that the research backs up my anecdotal data. 

Ages 16 months - 19 months

Your child might be restless, but is able to sustain attention to one structured activity for 2-3 minutes.

This road trip without stops is 540 minutes.  That is roughly 216 intervals of attention paid to one thing.  This bit of math told me that this was serious.  This would require a multi-pronged plan. 

 
Before the trip, make sure you have rested.  You need to be able to outsmart the toddler at all times, if this sounds easy to you, you haven't had the pleasure to spend much time around a wily spry toddler. 

If you slip and accidentally show them a stray box of mac & cheese you've packed for later, you will no doubt have a request (think of this as a list of demands from a terrorist) that you cannot fulfill at a reststop. 

1. Variety is key-- I suppose with the prior math I blew my own mind with, this is a given.

2. Use things they didn't know existed...this means new or something you've hidden for a long time, this can be challenging because you cannot be sure that they will really be interested in it if they've never seen it.  Try to pattern the new things off of things they have.

3. Don't break the bank.  I read a blog post about this same topic where she linked all the toys she bought and it would have equalled my budget for the entire trip.  The key is finding things ahead of time, utilizing thrift and yard sales and the dollar store.  I am pretty sure Sloane will love the 1.00 stickers that I bought more than if I got her a new toy for her 2-3 minute attention span.  You can also check out books/videos at the library.  If they don't like them there is nothing lost (unless of course you lose the book). 

4.  Do not sacrifice your own sanity-- you need it: to drive and outsmart them at the same time.  Therefore limit toys that make annoying & loud sounds like the Dora guitar that your brother bought them for Christmas (thanks for nothing).   5.  Save something for the return trip.  Obviously the toys you use on the way there will not have the same sparkle on the way home.  So plan accordingly.  I have packed a lot of things with hidden compartments jam packed full of things for said toddler to root through (she has similar interests as a rodent).  

plenty of junk to lose in the rental car & in the mountains-- the lot of it was a garage sale steal for 1.00

  6. Plenty of snacks (duh). I tried to make the snacks entertaining as well by utilizing my good friend Pinterest. And found these...

She likes to shake out her "feesh"

and this for you more ambitious mommas and poppas (link for credit was broken)

 7.  This is where I would say "have fun you are creating precious memories"...but that doesn't sound like me at all.  So instead I leave you with this...don't forget your __________ (insert anti-anxiety med of choice) and your camera.      title courtesy of Dashboard Confessional: Road Rules Apply

And I see love/When the world's on a string

I took a slight break from creating for my own wedding to do a little DIY for my step-sister's wedding next week.  At her bridal shower I volunteered to make the "ribbon bouquet" or "bow-quet" for the rehearsal night.  The tradition is that it is good luck to save the ribbons and paste them to a paper plate and carry them down the aisle on the rehearsal.  I am not sure how long this tradition has been going on, but it has hit a speed bump:  the gift bag.  Hardly anyone truly wraps presents anymore.  We are a gift-bag and gift card culture. 

I still wanted my step-sis to carry something fun and full of sentiment down that practice aisle-walk.  So I enlisted the help of one of her favorite things:  candy.  I used blow-pops as stand-ins for flowers and deconstructed the few ribbons that she did get and curled them, attached a small loop of floral wire and stuck the ribbons into the premade bouquet form I purchased at JoAnn fabric (with a coupon of course). 

It turned out fun...and bonus: edible!

I let those ribbons cascade down from the center and cut them into different lengths

I also worked on my own wedding a tiny bit, repurposing more baby food jars into little vintage favors.  I have had fun filling each and every one.

This filled me with joy recently....

Hooray!  My invitations are designed, now just to print and send

Meanwhile, this filled my tiny tot with joy as she screamed "Beebs" in the mall and was all too happy to pose with him.  She also told everyone later who she saw at the mall. 

I thought the corny paint drawing complimented the poor mall lighting and huge flash just right

linking up to my Wednesday favorites: Ginger Snap Crafts Family Home & Life  My Girlish Whims   Crafty Texas Girls

title courtesy of Our Lady Peace: World on a String

You finally took my hand, it took a nip of gin

I found this little guy at my local Goodwill for .49...but I knew he had the potential to become a lovely cake stand.  For the reception I am hoping to have a fabulous dessert table full of vintage and vintage-inspired serving dishes filled with family favorites.   This isn't my first rodeo  DIY-cake plate.  They are so easy.  I sanded and spray primed and used some heavy duty glue and viola!

finished product, ready to hold delicious desserts

Another recent decision concerning the reception was barware.  Although I live in Kansas, and my reception is in a tent, I didn't want the environment of my sixties inspired soiree being corrupted by the "red solo cup".  For one, red is not in the color palate and two I am not a Toby Keith fan.  Therefore, I used some time to online price plastic barware and realized using real glasses would be more cost effective and that they could be kept, gifted or resold.  Then the great glassware hunt began.  I found these two gems. 

Vintage lowball glasses with a strange character, (anyone know who?)
these will definitely stay in our family bar cabinet --.29 each

I couldn't resist stopping at a few yard sales this weekend and found 3 pairs of shoes for Sloane.  Those gold Trumpette mocs are my favorites (they retail for 26$).  Total cost- 2.00 for the lot of these. Her feet grew recently so I was happy to add a few choices to her shoe supply.   






linking up to Her Library Adventures, Apron Thrift Girl and Cap Creations

title courtesy of the anti-Toby Keiths themselves: The Dixie Chicks: White Trash Wedding