chew chew chew gnaw and chew some more

If it's not her fingers....

It's one of her favorite teethers.

Sophie the Giraffe. Yes, she's pricey, but it's less expensive if you add up all the $3-5 teethers that you're not going to buy because your baby doesn't care a thing about them and only wants this one.

Marina the Mermaid. This is her favorite toy OF.ALL.TIME. If you have a girl, you need this toy. It has seriously kept her occupied for about 90% of her awake time since she was about 2 weeks old. Now, she loves chewing on her tail and the green piece is a seahorse shape that doubles as a teether.


And, now just some random photos that make me happy.


This is Claire's best angle.
Yes, even at a young age, you need to know your angle and how to catch the light. Just ask Tyra.


awww...a cute chubby hand.

Something to remember: Messy hair that hasn't been washed in about 3 days photographs just fine.

Headband by littletownboutique. I love this shop and the owner is so nice. Proud to say I found it before seeing her on the front page of etsy the other day.

new happenings.

Why didn't someone warn me that she'd grow up too fast?

Wait...they did. Lots of people did. And you know what, they were right.

It seems like just yesterday she was a tiny baby and today she's practically asking for her driver's license.

Not quite, but she has started doing this:

In massive amounts.

It's epic the amount of drool she produces.

SUPERBABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!

This was a move I used to do in Pilates class, but I usually didn't have a smile on my face when it was me strengthening my core.


She's a master at tummy time now. Lots of times when she's fussy, all I have to do is lay her on her belly and she's perfectly content.

Almost a wardrobe malfunction there.

We're just enjoying life and hanging on to every coo, gargle and shreek that comes out of her cute mouth. Who knew having a kid would be this fantastic?

(Thanks to Aunt KP for teaching me how to batch resize on PSE. My life is much simpler and you all will be seeing many more photos on my blog because of it!)

1000 times

If you kiss Claire's neck 1000 times, she wouldn't get bored with it.

It's a good thing because I could literally kiss it 1000 times.

And I could watch her daddy kiss her 1000 times as well. Just melts my heart.

Sketchbook 3 Winner

And the winner of the Sketchbook 3 class is..............

Rebecca said...

I have taken classes through Jessica Sprague and Big Picture Classes. I am taking "Finding Your Way" right now, and I am really enjoying it.

Kelly's class looks awesome! I would love to win a spot!

March 21, 2011 9:33 PM

Please send an email to april@studiocalico.com to claim your prize.

sneak peeks

Wow, I'm late this month posting my sneaks and I've only got 3 for you. I wanted to do sooooooooo much more with this kit because it's one of my favorites in a long time, but I just didn't have the bandwidth this month.

"bandwidth" - that's a Greg-term. Doesn't it sound so corporate?


This sneak uses 100% the main kit: SINGIN' IN THE RAIN. If you're not signed up to get this, we again expect it to sell out. Hopefully not as fast as the main kits have in the last couple months, but you never know. Trust me, you don't want to miss out and as it has papers that are exclusive from Studio Calico AND Cosmo Cricket. Isn't that exciting?

So, email waitinglist@studiocalico.com if you want to start your subscription with this kit. Christine will set you up right, I'm sure. Then, on the 27th, you'll get to order add-ons early, which you can see in the sneaks below.

This sneak uses the main kit + Make 'em Laugh + Tap Dance.

And, this one uses Moses Supposes + the main kit. I think this is my favorite layout this month, although it's kind of a toss up between this one and the first sneak I showed. Both have Claire pictures, so they're obviously cute!

Best wishes and fast fingers on getting the add-ons you want this month!

sketchbook 3

I'm incredibly excited to participate with Kelly's new Sketchbook 3 class. I've already gotten my sketch to work on and am itching to create. There's so many amazingly talented scrapbookers and cardmakers in this bunch that it'll be well worth your money to sign up. I'm sure of it.

You can find all the information you need here, but in the meantime, Kelly is letting me give away a spot to one of my blog readers. Just leave me a comment here letting me know if you've ever taken an online class and if so, which was your favorite.



Some additional info:

Join Kelly Purkey and friends for Sketchbook 3! This is a self-paced four week class filled with fresh sketches, easy instructions, beautiful examples, and lots of fun. From April 4th to April 29th a PDF will be delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. By the end of the class, you'll have a complete sketchbook of 12 original sketches, 38 layouts, and an additional 38 sketches based on those creative pages. All of the examples are brand new layouts, exclusive to this class... you won't see them anywhere else. The best part is that you will be receiving an example layout from Kelly for each of the sketches, along with two (or more) example layouts from a very talented contributor. Each PDF for Sketchbook 3 will also include a card designed by the amazing Jennifer McGuire based on the daily sketch.

The class will also include a private message board for questions and sharing ideas on the Studio Calico website. Visit Kelly's blog (http://www.kellypurkey.typepad.com) for more information and to see the full list of contributors.

determined

This is probably another one of those don't-judge-me posts, but hey, why not? I'm on a roll.

I'm determined that Claire will like animals. Specifically dogs. Next cows. But, I don't want her to get too attached to them in case we need to eat one.

Addy: Yes mommy. Please tell me exactly what you would like me to do and I will pose for you.
Claire: These round things...could they be EYEBALLS???? I like eyeballs. Hmm...no, definitely not eyeballs.
Jett: Doh. I'll do every trick in the book and hope I get something right and end up at the treat jar.



From the time we brought Claire home from the hospital, we've allowed the dogs almost 100% (supervised) access to her. They can sniff her, nuzzle her, lay next to her, as much as they want.

Sometimes that means an occasional lick takes place, which causes Claire to bat her eyes and open her mouth wider, which incites more licking, to which I have to step in.

Already, I can tell they love her so much. All my worries about them being jealous of her have flown out the window. They care for her and protect her. When she cries, it bothers them (probably more than it does me...).

I love that I can measure her growth next to them. I just wish I could get all 3 of them to stay still long enough for the shutter to close. Any tips there?

4 months

I said "good morning" to my 4-month-old precious girl and thought about how I want to press the pause button and make this wonderful experience as a mommy slow down.

I mean, look at THAT face!

Why can't she stay this way forever?

And while I was talking to her, she rolled over and I thought, "hmmmm did she hit puberty already?"

This photo makes me laugh so hard.

At 4 months, Claire enjoys chewing on her fingers, and occasionally gagging herself.

She's started sleeping with a little blanket and loves wadding it up and burying her head in it while going to sleep at night. I'm trying to keep her from getting attached to just one, so we have 3 we rotate.

She's been consistently sleeping through the night, but this past week has stretched that to 12 hours. And, before you comment on how lucky I am, let me say, I've worked HARD for that. And, I'm sure there's some luck in there, too.

She's mastered the push-up and is rolling over occasionally.

She loves to "fly" and do anything that involves motion.

And, she's loved more than ever.

is she breathing under there?

This is the photo I received via text from Greg.

p
a
n
i
c
!
!
!

Let's just say it's a good thing we have a video monitor. It paid off.

ETA: We're good parents and she was being supervised. Just thought I'd add that.
After reading (and deleting) some of the comments, I think some must think we allow Claire to sleep this way. We don't. I repeat, she was being supervised. She wasn't in danger and I know the guidelines for what to put in a baby's bed.

one year ago, today

I found out I was pregnant with this cute baby.

I remember clearly, but read my earlier post anyway, just for the fun of it. I didn't want to wait until Greg's birthday (3/12) to find out, which is when our beta test was scheduled. I was terrified it would be bad news and ruin his birthday, so I tested myself a day early and thankfully it was good news.

It's strange how I can still remember how scared I was taking that pregnancy test. I remember sitting there shaking in fear.

What a difference a year makes, though. Today I got to hold and kiss and wipe slobber off our cute baby.

And tomorrow? Well, Greg gets to celebrate his first birthday as a daddy. What a precious gift that is...and totally makes up for the fact that I haven't bought him a thing.