Playing with letters and making "bird food"

H&J are so into learning letters that I found some printables online for them to play with. Here they are using the pom pom alphabet cards, but instead of pom poms, they are using magnets that we made using wooden discs from Michael's, glued to heavy duty 1/2' magnets. I gave them each a stack of cards on a metal tray and a pile of magnets, and they had tons of fun building letters.

The kids have been loving watching the birds eating from the birdfeeders, and are surprising me with their bird identification skills! Last week we decided to make pinecone birdfeeders, hoping to entice even more birds to the yard. We changed the recipe a bit, adding peanut butter and millet and the birds seem to be enjoying it. The other day we saw a bird on the feeder that I didn't recognize, and I wondered aloud what kind it was. I was quite matter of fact-ly informed by Henry that it was a grackle. Google determined that it actually was! We will definitely be learning more about birds.

Toddler art and OCD don't play well together -or- Oh No!! They are mixing the colors!!!

 

I'm pretty good about letting the kids explore a new material on their on own terms, but I did bristle when the dough colors started mixing. I know it's my own hang up. They would happily smash all the colors together and make brown. I also know that I'll eventually get over it and give them more than two colors at a time and let them have at it. But, for the time being, they each choose a color and shred it to bits with the dough scissors, and then mash it back together and make snakes cadapidders. There was a lot of kneading and pinching and flattening too. This is only their 2nd time with play dough (I was nervous about the wheat, and the w/f dough that we tried to make was terrible) , and we'll have many more chances to experiment with it. I'm guessing that right now, it's more about playing with motor skills anyway. I'm wondering what other parents do with dough. What happens to the dough that is all mixed together? Do you just pick the dominant color and store it in that container? Do you have a separate container just for it? What's really interesting to me is that I have no problem with paint being mixed in the paint pots.

A Long Year

I can't believe it's been a whole year since I've last updated this blog. Now that Blogger has updated the way that photos can be loaded, I'm hoping that it's a little easier to integrate pics into posts. The old way was really frustrating and contributed a ton to my lack of posting.

As can be expected, the kids have changed a ton in this last year. They are really creative, and have such cute and funny ideas. We have started doing some homeschooling/unschooling, and lots of crafts. Lately, we are working on winter crafts and holiday decorating, and I hope to soon have a bunch of photos of all of our projects.
 

Buy Handmade

It was a good day. I made some pants for the kids. Reversible flannel ones with penguins on one side and owls on the other. They are a big hit, and after every diaper change, the kids demand that they are put back on immediately. In fact, they must hold the pants during the diaper change, presumably so they don't get away.  After finishing the pants, we all went to COSI and finally got a membership. I've been meaning to for a while, but our friends kept inviting us as guests so we didn't need to. We can have a guest on our membership too, so I'll be able to do the same for someone else now. At COSI, we went to the Sesame Street Presents: The Body exhibit and the kids had a blast running around pushing buttons and exploring. They particularly liked the little grocery store setup. I was pretty impressed with their food selections. 

Almost everything that the kids are wearing is WAHM-made. Their new penguin pants are somewhat visable in the photos, then they have on long-sleeved onesies dyed by Janessa of Maple Leaf Designs who is a local dyer and good friend. On top of that they are wearing advocacy saying shirts made by SaySumthing. One of the shirts says Tree Hugger, and the other says Think Green. Both shirts were also dyed by Janessa. We are waiting for a couple more SaySumthing shirts to arrive in the next week or so and I'm excited to be able to have the kids wear them. They say Buy Handmade, and I think I'm going to try to make that our theme for the coming year, regardless of the proposed CPSIA regs. 

Busy all the time, yet still a to-do list a mile and a half long?

I haven't updated in over a month!! How did that happen? 

I feel like I'm working all the time, and getting so little done. My days are all toddler, evenings are dinner, bath, and night-night. That just leaves the night for all things Bootie. And I try to fit some sleep in there too. I think that I was expecting to be able to get a little more done during the day as the kids get older. My expectations are changing constantly as reality trumps my guesses. But, when I stop to really think about it, I am helping two really amazing kids learn and grow, and I'm pretty sure that doesn't count as slacking.

I've been trying to work a bit each night on things for the upcoming (Dec. 6th)  Holiday Craft Fair at Sprout Soup. I'm planning on having a nice selection of green/reusable holiday items and some cute gifty things in all price ranges.  It's a little bit of a departure from my usual products, but I'm feeling the need to help reduce the amount of disposables in my community and offer a more sustainable alternative.

I've also been working on some really fun custom orders, for some of my favorite customers. Which I should get back to. 

Potty time! and COOKIE!

There has been no interest in the potty what so ever, until last night. Before the kids got their bath, the girl asked to have her diaper taken off so that she could sit on the potty. Up until now, neither kid wanted anything to do with it, and would hop right off if I sat them on it. So, she sat, and we talked about the bath and she looked at the little book that she found in the bedroom. Then after a little bit, she hopped off and pointed to the tub. I just figured that she was ready for her bath, and she was, but there was also pee in the potty! How exciting! She loved waving bye bye to the pee as we flushed it.
This has been a big week of firsts. Both babies are signing like crazy and signing things I had no idea they knew. We are also hearing a bunch of new words. They have been talking for a while, but it takes a trained ear to have any idea what they're talking about. And even then it's not always that coherant. Two nights ago I was working in the other room and the papa gave the kids each a cookie. I was snapped out of my train of thought by a little voice that very distinctly and loudly said "coo-kie". I walked into the living room to see the boy proudly holding up his cookie with a huge grin on his face. I then was treated to another round of "coo-KIE", and the corresponding sign.
Today's word of the day is "OK", but it sounds more like "aah-KAY!" I'll have to try to get it on video.

Looking for comfort?

Recently I blogged about the Blog Party, and mentioned that one of the prizes that I was interested in was an underwear set from Karen Neuburger. I didn't win, but a few days later was contacted by Daisy, one of their PR reps who asked if I was interested in trying and reviewing the set. I was, so she sent a couple of sets out to me (I wasn't sure which size I would need). It's the KN Cool daywear cami and hipster panty. I gave one set to a friend, and have been wearing mine for the past two weeks (not in a row, that would be gross). The fabric is incredibly soft and light. The cami has enough stretch to it that it doesn't loose shape by the end of the day, but still is comfortable and non-restrictive. It's also stretchy enough to nurse in! It's a great underlayer since it wicks and helps regulate body temperature, I also love to wear it to sleep.
Daisy also sent me a few other things to try from their sportswear collection. I was surprised how much I like the embroidered cropped pants. Not my usual style, but the are super comfortable and easy to wear. They are great to wear when playing with the kids, but still look put together enough to run out to the library or the grocery. The only complaint that I had with these, is that the pockets seemed to be a bit bulky to me, but I'm not used to wearing non-woven pants so it may just be me. She also sent the matching 3/4 sleeve zip front jacket which I've only worn for a few minutes since it's been getting so warm here. The short time that I had it on was uneventful but cosy. It will see more use in the fall. Last to talk about are some super sweet and soft baby socks that Daisy sent for the twins. They are as soft as the softest thing you've ever touched, and maybe even a little softer. Like little kitten feet. They are perfect for bedtime, and the kids like to pet them. They are really into socks lately, so anything sock-related makes them happy. When they are happy, so am I.
Thanks, Daisy and Karen Neuburger!

From now until May 31st, take 15% off your total online purchase at www.karenneuburger.com using discount code MOM2008

Blog Party, anyone?

Hi there fellow Blog Partiers!
I'm Karma, a Work-at-Home mama of 1 year old boy/girl twins. Whenever I'm not playing with babies or sleeping, I can usually be found at my sewing machine or on the couch knitting. I love making and designing kid's clothing, but even better is seeing my designs in action. I have a gallery of my work (including some action shots) over at my website, Pirate Bootie Baby.
The next 2 months is a really exciting time for me and Pirate Bootie. I'm doing a Pirate-themed guest stocking at Necessitae on March 15th (so excited!!). Then, in April, is the Columbus Attachment Parenting Village's Open Market, a cooperative event organized by local parents supporting and encouraging mama-owned/operated businesses. If you are anywhere within 100 miles of Columbus, Ohio, mark your calenders and come. It's going to be great!


There are great prizes to be had at the Ultimate Blog Party, and some new Blogs to be found.
I'll be poking around over the next couple of days, how about you?
My favorite prizes are;
137 — Go BPA Free Sippy Sampler Kit
Provided by: The Soft Landing

19 — Klean Kanteen Sippy Cup
Provided by: Non Toxic Tots

141 — I make milk. What’s your superpower? t-shirt
Provided by: Crunchy Domestic Goddess

Other Favorites are the $20 Lush GC from After a Cup of Coffee , or two,#114
A pink box of Legos from Lego, #103
A webcam from This Full House, #72
A sweet tutu from LiveLoveDance, #34
Underwear from Karen Neuburger, #109
GC to Uncommonly Cute, #28

There are tons of other really great prizes too, you can see them on the Prize Page.

happy birthday babies!

Happy Birthday Babies!!

Cleaning, birthday, parents

I know I haven't been updating much. I've been so busy with the kid's birthday coming up, and molar teething insanity. The birthday itself isn't what's eating my time, it's the self-imposed cleaning goal with the deadline of the birthday party. Which is tomorrow!
We're having it early because my parents were able to come for an extra day this weekend due to the holiday. So far, the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom are clean. I still need to do the dining room and the kid's room. My sewing area is in the dining room, so I've left that for last. When my folks get here, I'll hand the kids over to them and then tackle the remaining areas. My sewing stuff will just be shifted to another area during the party and then brought back the next day. Then I won't have to worry about kids getting into things.

A hard week, but fun to come

Again with the sickies. This winter has been harsh and the kids are getting over sniffles again. It seems like a lot of the families we know are getting over another round of yuck. Not sure what that's about. They are also still teething and wanting to nurse a lot. Made it really hard to work on customs. I finished 3 of them today though. I'll start the last one tomorrow, and then I'll start working on stuff for the Open Market. The Open Market is a WAHM business event that a friend of mine put together last year. It was so successful that it's going to be an annual thing. I wasn't able to participate last time, but I'm really excited to be a part of it this year. There are so many talented people who will be selling their wares there. There are a few others who are fiber-related, but there will also be handmade bodycare items, jewelry, paintings, wooden toys, baby carriers, and others that I'm not remembering. It was fun to see what my community had to offer last year, but I know that it will be even more fun to be on the other side of the table this year.
The countdown begins; 3 weeks until the twins are a year old!!

One of Us, One of Us

I finally joined one of the online twin parenting forums. I've been meaning to for a while, but between starting the business and breaking my ankle, the local mama's group was all I could handle. But, not that the babes are getting really mobile (and so am I), I think it will be nice to be able to have somewhere to turn for twin-specific advice and commiseration.
I prepared a bunch of wool to sew today. I'm hoping to get the custom orders finished by the weekend so that I can spend a little time working on 1st birthday things for the twins. I'd like to make them some special outfits, a set of playsilks, and a Waldorf doll for each of them. I have a month, so in theory it should be doable. I so rarely take time to sew for the family, that my own kids only have a single outfit each that I've made. I imagine that it won't be all that long until they won't want to wear mama-made clothes, so I should take advantage of their "willingness" now.

Oh, and there are only 10 more days to vote for Cafe and Play! Go vote, and give Central Ohio a super-cool, family-friendly, healthy and fun place to eat and play! Go team Aderouch!!
Click here to vote!

New teeth, walking, sleeping

My baby girl seems to be working on her 1year molars. At 10 1/2 months! I shouldn't be surprised, the kids both got their first tooth at 4 months. It's making her a bit of a cranky pants, but only for little chunks of time. I'm glad to have found Hyland's Teething Tabs.
She's also taken some steps. It's cute, she'll take 2 or three robot steps and then collapse into my arms or squat down. She gets a big goofy grin and I know she's proud of herself. The boy hasn't taken steps yet, but he's having a blast getting there. He'll stand up, raise his arms up high, smile the biggest smile ever, and then belly-flop onto whoever is closest. It's accompanied by screams of laughter. He's having way too much fun to try walking yet.
We're attempting to get bedtime a bit more manageable with The No Cry Sleep Solution. It's worked so far to get the babies in bed earlier (8pm instead of anywhere from 10:30p,-2am), but we've still got a long way to go. I think that they are waking up a little bit less in the night than they had been, but the past two nights have been particularly brutal. I think the boy is having a growth spurt or something, because he wants to nurse all night long, almost every hour or hour and a half. Hopefully he calms down soon because it's a bit maddening.

Internet Frustrations

I've been having issues with my wireless connectivity for the last couple of days. Hopefully I've able to resolve it quickly, and inexpensively. It's so annoying to be replying to an email, hit send, and get an error message instead of the satisfaction of a sent message. Crossing fingers and toes for a speedy recovery.
Thanksgiving with the family was nice. Good food and a good visit. My brother hadn't seen the kids since they were pretty fresh, and my dad hasn't been here in a few months. They had so much fun seeing all the new tricks that they do. The babies had a great time too. Fun for all!

I may just walk before the babies do

I'm single-crutching! The physical therapist said to keep working on balance with one crutch and when I'm good at that I can try to walk without them, just with the boot. Then I can start wearing a smaller brace and real shoes. I think that I'll still have to do at least another month and a half of PT before I'm really walking normally again, but I'm getting there. My next doc appointment is in 6 weeks, so he thinks I'm healing fine on my own. He did say that I'll likely have some sensitivity for 6 months or so. The coolest thing? I took some crutch-less steps!!! It was fun, but I did hurt a bit afterward and needed to ice my ankle for a bit. But, it wasn't the ankle that hurt, it was the muscles that I haven't been using. I'm so excited to get back on my feet and to be able to carry the babies again, and clean the house, and drive. My goal is to walk without crutches by Thanksgiving.
I'm feeling winter starting to set in. My sewing has all been with wool and flannel, and I've been wanting to knit the kids sweaters and overalls and hats. I'm hoping to be able to use the woodstove this year, but we first need to come up with a good way to keep the kids safe around it. Learning to walk around a chunk of hot cast iron could be scary. I'm sure we'll figure it out though, and will be all snug and warm with cups of tea and the kids playing happily and safely nearby.

The Big Day

It's finally here, the big doctor appointment where I'll learn if I can start sewing again and what the next step (hee hee) is in regards to my treatment. I've been a bit terrified that I'll go in there and he'll say that there's been no progress and that I'll need surgery. I guess that's better than being convinced that he'll tell me to start running, dancing and jumping. Better to be pleasantly surprised than disappointed and depressed. Updates later...



Well, no walking yet. But, the doc wants me to gradually put a little weight on it, within my comfort level, until I can walk a bit without the crutches. Still no carrying babies though. It will probably be the next appointment (in a month) until I can really walk without the boot or crutches and he stressed that no driving was allowed. I'm supposed to take the boot off sometimes when I'm just sitting around, and after a few weeks he wants me to try walking a little without the boot. I start physical therapy next Monday, and I have absolutely no idea how that is even feasible. I'm supposed to go 3x a week. How that's going to work with no driving and the babies is still to be determined. But, he said that if it doesn't hurt to sit with my leg unelevated, I CAN SEW!!! Now I just have to convince the babies to let me.

A great start to the weekend

My mom and I took the babies to the zoo for the first time yesterday. We had a great time. It's always nice for me to get out of the house, but it was especially nice to spend so much time with my mom, plus it was a beautiful day. The boy seemed to like the fish and turtles in the aquarium, and the girl loved the monkeys. They both napped well, and were happy in the stroller. I rented one of those electric wheely carts, and both kids liked riding in my lap as I zoomed around. There were lots of cobblestones though, and by the end of the day my ankle was a bit sore, but it was worth it to have such a great family outing. Next time my husband will come along. I think that next year we'll get a membership and go a bunch, the kids will be the perfect age.
Last night we went through the kid's toys and bagged up everything that was made in China that had paint on it. There isn't much left. They are young enough that it's not a big deal to take their things away, but I am so glad that they aren't older. I think we purged about 80% of their toys. We kept the HABA, some handmade things, cloth books, 2 Waldorf dolls, and a couple of Tupperware toys. I'm feeling so upset about all the lead paint reports and I don't really understand why it isn't more of a priority of the toy companies to insure the safety and quality of the items they sell. Especially when they are intended to be chewed on and played with by infants and children who mouth everything.
I've been looking for a baby doll for the kids, I haven't found one yet that I like and that I know is safe. I think I have a lot of research to do. Or some sewing :) I don't have a ban on Chinese-made toys, I just want to know that the company and manufacturer has the health and safety of my children in mind. Documented independent testing maybe?

A visit

My mom will be here tomorrrow!! She's coming to see the babies and help do the things that I can't do because of my ankle. I do normally have tons of help, friends come every day to baby wrangle and make sure that I'm eating, and do dishes and stuff. There's just some stuff that only a mom can do. Like hunt down and destroy every dust bunny in the house or fill the fridge with food for a week. I'm always so sad to see her go.
This evening the babies ate pears! They loved them and were grabbing the spoon to shove it in their mouth. We had four spoons, we'd fill one and give it to a baby while simultaneously taking the empty one away. It worked pretty well until the boy discovered what happens when you bang a spoon full of pear mush on the highchair tray. Hilarity and baths! It was a fun night. Their first food was sweet potatoes last week, and while the girl liked them, the boy made lemon face and quickly stopped opening his mouth for the spoon. They did enjoy smushing them around on the tray though. We'll stick with pears for a bit and then try something new next week.

fabric, nursing, teeth, and crawling

My hemp fleece came yesterday. It's so soft, I'm excited to get it washed and start using it. I'd love to have a hoodie made from from it, it would be like a big warm hug on a chilly day. I bet it would look great dyed, too. Hmmm, I'll have to look into that.
We all went to the park today. We were trying to go to the Breastfeeding Challenge, but were late and missed the latch on time. Why were we late? Because I had to nurse a baby before we left so that he wouldn't scream in the car. Ironic, no? But, we had fun at the park seeing our friends and meeting some new ones.
Exciting news. We now are a 5 baby-tooth family. There are 2 in one mouth, and 3 in the other. The extra one popped out yesterday after a very cranky week. The scary part is that there are what looks like two more on the way! We also have a real, hands-and-knees crawl!! The boy has been working on it for a couple of days now, and he's starting to get good at it. He'll still collapse into the sea-turtle shuffle, but he's spending more and more time off of his belly.

A new day

No sewing yet, but I did get this photo in my email today. It's an outfit that I made about two months ago for a friend of mine to give as a gift. The model is the recipient. There was also a hat, a huge and floppy sun hat that I call The Cupcake Hat. The photo with the hat being worn is pretty dark and didn't take kindly to Photoshop lightening.
In ankle news, I'm still crutching, and am beginning to feel like I'm going to be like this forever. In reality, it will be another month and a half to two months, which will be difficult but I'll get through it.
The babies and I spent the day at a friend's house today. It was nice and broke the monotony a bit. I think the babies liked the change in scenery, although towards the end they got cranky. Me not walking is hard on them and I think they're ready to have their mobile mama back.