Design Hop

There is this group of ladies that I know from church that have a club called Design Hop. They go to eachother's houses and decorate a room. The founder of the group is Dana King who is a professional interior designer. This week they all came to my house to decorate my guest bedroom in the basement that needed help. Here are the before pictures:

They came over and shopped around my house for stuff and some gals brought things from their house that they weren't using anymore and we created this beautiful living space that is now the best room in my house.

Pictures don't do it justice. Thank you all! We did a great job.

MAGIC pass

We bought a year pass for the family to go to The Magic House, a children's museum in St. Louis. Dennis LOVES it and will be entertained for hours on end by a simple exhibit. When we went as a family on Saturday, It was Ryan and me that kept Dennis moving from room to room. It's so big--we at least wanted to see a good chunck. Above, Dennis is lifting himself up with daddy's help with a pully system. Below, they are attempting to make a bubble cage around them.

Here is a Lewis & Clark camp fire where Dennis is eating fish.

He also helped them paint a fence.

He had to say hello to the mice that live in their little house.

And, making music with a ball that rolls down the shelves.

We are so happy to be able to go there any time now and let Dennis just explore. Maybe next time I will let him just go at his pace.

names

When having a baby, picking out a name can be a daunting task. Is it too popular? Do I like others of that name? Is it a name? Will I get sick of it in 5 years- or 2 months? Will he get teased? ...and the list goes on. I am very happy that I decided that I would let Ryan name our first boy. If it were up to me, his name would have been Oliver or Henry. Oliver is just a little wierd and Henry is becoming too popular for my taste. Dennis is a perfect name for our little guy.

After picking out a name, my next task was to put wooden letters of his name above his crib... a project that just didn't get done. I finally was inspired enough to make a different kind of sign for Dennis- more of a banner. Inspiration came from that same friend that makes the reusable snack bags. My version of the banner isn't perfect but its cute.

and now I can say that that project is done!

reusable snack bag

So, I have so many people that I totally admire via blog... and I am so impressed with their ability to be a mother and yet make so many cool things. I read on their blogs phrases like, "mother by day-designer by night" and every night I think, "I am way too tired." And then I go to sleep around 8ish. pathetic. I know. But, recently I guess I have been getting plenty of sleep because around 4:30 or 5 am Dennis makes a little noise and goes back to sleep. Unfortunatley, I don't. I lay in bed until 6 when my alarm goes off thinking of all the things that I would like to do hoping that I will fall asleep again. Well, today I decided to get up and do something.

This morning I made a reusable snack bag for Dennis. I found the idea and tutorial here on my friend Emily's blog. She is so talented and fun.

Now he can bring this with his cereal inside for breakfast to daycare everyday. I feel very accomplished today! :)

better of two evils?

So, when looking for a daycare we asked our friends and got a great reference from another mom whose child got diaper rash at a different daycare and so they looked everywhere and LOVED this one. I visited and agreed that it was a nice, friendly, organized, clean environment. And, after a week of adjusting, Dennis also agreed that it was a nice place to spend his day. Now, Dennis is not getting ignored or mistreated or neglected and I am soooo thankful for that. But- he is not without side effects.

Recently, I have noticed that Dennis has been really cranky with me. He is so opinionated about EVERYTHING. One of those things is me sitting down. Whenever I sit down on the couch or on his chair in his room he will come over whining at me and pull me with all of his might out of the chair. Then when I am standing he will want to be picked up. Ok. Then I sit down and it all begins again. When I am holding him-standing up, he then directs me to where he wants to go. ALL THE TIME.

After a conversation with one of the ladies at the daycare I found out that it is because everyone at the daycare LOVES Dennis. (I can't blame them for that) But, they all take turns holding him and letting him direct where they go. So, Dennis is getting spoiled at daycare. rotten. By 10+ different workers. Well, at home its just me, and I have things to do. The day when Dennis cries when I come and pick him up from daycare might be coming soon.

From what I hear, when I was little I would go to preschool with my brothers way before I was the age for preschool and the teacher, Mrs. Scott would carry my around everywhere because she just LOVED me. So maybe its not that big of a deal. I think I turned out okay and I don't think I am spoiled rotten. anymore at least.

And, when I think of the alternative-neglected or ingored, I'm happy that he is loved.

Art Show

Today was the art show for my painting class. It was so fun to see everyone's work together. I have made some pretty good friends through this class and it's fun to come together and show off our work a little. There were 77 painters that contributed to the show all of whom are Ann Croghan's students (not all in the same class). My paintings ended up being really close to eachother. I wish I could claim the one in the middle but that's not mine.

This picture of the painting of Dennis didn't turn out very well. The flash bleached out his skin.

Dennis knew right away which painting was his. He pointed at it several times. You can see in this picure-he is touching it.

Now I have too many ideas and not enough time to paint them all.

What a gentleman.

Dennis has a new favorite thing to do, carry my purse! Sometimes he will even snatch it out of my hand as we are walking in a store and then carry it for me for quite some time. These next two pictures are at the science center. A passerby said, "that's what you do... train them young. I wish I had someone to carry my purse."

And at home if he sees it he will carry it around the house. One day, he grabbed my purse and started waving goodbye to me as he headed to the front door.

I just can't get enough of this kid!

Snow Days

Day 1: Thursday, January 7th.
3-5 inches of snow.

We had so much fun coloring and playing. It sure is getting harder to be at home with Dennis all day. He is going through a stage where I have to be playing with him ALL the time. Hats off to stay at home moms! I almost went insane.

But, I can't get enough of this little face. I LOVE him.

Day 2: Friday, January 8th.

"dangerously cold temperatures" (5-10 degrees)

We chuckled at these reasons to cancel school because where we are from it would take whole lot more than that to cancel school--but hey, I'm not complaining. I got a 4 day weekend! And, when I think about it... they don't have snow plows or sand on the roads and it rarely gets that cold so most people don't have clothes fit for the weather. On the radio the broadcaster said, "It's dangerous out there, you might want to limit your outdoor exposure." Again, Ryan and I chuckled.

climb on

Dennis loves climbing. In fact, he has begun climbing up onto the dining room table, and the most recent one has been the rocking chair. He was so proud of himself. I was too-until he stood up and started dancing on the chair as it rocked back and forth. Yikes. Grandma and Grandpa got Dennis a table and chairs for Christmas! We put them together and we love them! Dennis really enjoys playing at the table.

Thank you!

Christmas Craft #2

Earlier this year I noticed a quiet book at church that my friend had for her daughters and I fell in love with it. So much that when I decided that I was going to make one for Dennis for Christmas, I also decided that everyone needed one of these. So, guess what?! I made 5 of them. Not really realizing what I was getting into. But they were just so darn cute-
So, I made one for Dennis, one for my brother Reed's kids, one for my brother Randy's baby who is on the way, one for Ryan's brother Taylor's kids, and one for Ryan's sister's future kids. Really. Why? I don't know. Are they even planning on having kids? I have no idea... but hey I was already making 4... why not 5? So, you are getting these in the mail... surprise! I know... way late for Christmas. oh well. As you can see it totally took over our lives for a good month.
I was so proud of my made up pattern for book covers!

Here are the pages:

each page has pieces that go with it but I didn't take pics of those.

This family tree page you will have to finish yourselves. Just add laminated pictures of you, and your parents and your child/ren with velcro like the first page people. It will make more sense when it comes in the mail.

There are a couple of insert pages coming but I didn't get them done in time. The nice thing about these quiet books are that they are in a 3 ring binder so you can take out and add pages. Brilliant.