Life with a 16 Month Old

AR continues to grow in so many ways every day and it's so fun watching her change and learn.  I have to say that while I'm usually one for not "rushing" children into growing up, I will be thankful for when she can talk.  The most frustrating thing for me is when she wants something and I don't know what it is or why she's upset.  She's learning to "show Mama" what she's wanting and her vocabulary is growing at a good speed.  Her favorite words at the moment are "bo" (bow) and "ba" (ball).  Try taking her into Target where they have all of those red "ba"s outside... she freaks out!  She is repeating more and more which we love hearing.

One of my favorite things to do is to just watch her when she's in her own little world.  Let me give you a glimpse!

At my sewing table.

She caught me!  All smiles even with the runny nose.

A game of peek-a-boo with Daddy!

If you look closely, you can see her eye looking through the hole.

Silly girl!

Testing out her backpack.

My big girl has starting trying to use a fork.  She's pretty good at it!

AR is quite the little hoarder.  She gathers up about 4-8 things and will put them in her buggy and push them around.  This collection almost always includes 1 (or 2) pocketbooks, a remote, a baby doll, and a set of keys.  Today she found a few more items to add to it.

Filling up her buggy

All her loot.  I have found that a good way to distract her when you need to (like when you are cooking) is to give her an item she's not used to... hence the dish towel.

Eventually she decides she's done with the buggy and tries to carry all her goods in her arms.  This often leads to some frustration.

  We just love this girl!

My Etsy Shop

Let me start by saying that things have been out of the normal lately.  I wish I had a 16 month update for you but I don't.  AR started refusing her afternoon naps last week, making for very, very long days.  So we are in the process of trying to skip the morning nap and some days are good and some days (like today) she can hardly make it.  Had I had my SD card in my camera you would see a picture of AR falling asleep in her highchair during lunch today... but I didn't.  Hopefully a routine will fall into place soon!

Last week I started my Etsy shop!!  I make ruffled socks for little girls and have started by doing Clemson and USC ones.  If they sell then I will do other colleges.  I'm not sure how well it will go or how I'm really suppose to be using any money I make.  Lately, the Lord has really been convicting me of how I spend His money.  I've always had a desire to adopt and I would still like to one day.  I know that this would only be done w/ God's providing as it is very expensive and honestly, if it is His will I cannot wait to see Him work through it!  With that being said, this site may turn into a way for us to raise some of that money.  For now though, I will continue to pray about it.

IF we ever get a more consistent routine around here and I can get my ducks in a row, then I'd like to add a few more things like onsies, burp clothes, ruffled jeans, and so on.  It's hard b/c I don't have a place to just leave up my sewing machine.  When I do have it up, I normally have a few projects to knock out. 

Here are some of the items for sale and please feel free to tell others!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SouthernBabesandTots

Bathroom #1

This post is long overdue and I'm sorry for that.  We've been in the "new" bathroom for well over a month now and are LOVING it!  I am completely impressed with my husband and what all he was able to accomplish.  He never ceases to amaze me with his building skills.  I know that I gave him a hard time about it taking so long, but the wait was well worth it!

It all began November 2011...

Here was the view looking in (excuse the mess).  The shower was on the right and the sink on the left.

 The work begins:

The shower was removed.

Even the window was removed and then repositioned.  I didn't even know you could just move a window!

The new placement of the window.

William grouting inbetween the tiles.  He laid every bit of tile himself and it came together beautifully!

You have seen this picture on a previous blog but here he is using one of my icing bags to grout with.

 

 The finished product, or I guess I should say the almost finished product.  I haven't gotten everything hung on the walls yet as I'm still not 100% sure what all I want there and where I want it.  I really want to do this above the toilet but I will have to be on the lookout for some shelves at the thrift store.  I may just go another route though, who knows?!  I'm trying not to spend a ton of money and have patience on waiting until I know/see what I want.

I should also mention that we love this bathroom so much so that we are all three sharing it!  Wait, that's because our other bathroom is now completely gutted with the exception of the tub.  So please look over AR's bath toys and plastic bin that is now her bathtub.  I should have taken pictures right after it was done but I didn't.  I was also planning to buy new towels but now I'm keeping what we had and trying to match the art to include the same colors.

The view looking in... remember from the first picture that the toilet used to sit right there!

This is the 3rd, and hopefully the last valance I have made for this room.  I haven't made up my mind to whether it matches or not.  The first two were the same style but burlap.  And take it from me, the rule "measure twice, cut once" can save you a LOT of time!

A view looking out from the shower.  I got "His" and "Hers" towel holders so that William and I wouldn't get our towels mixed up and right now he is having to share his spare hook with AR.  I'm also a huge believe in that the back of most doors should be used to maximize storage space.  It's not the neatest right now as I keep stuffing stuff in it from the other bathroom. 

The new vanity and I absolutely ADORE it!  It is 2,342,358% better than the pedal stool sink that was there.  We have storage and a place to set my hair straightener... life is just so much better now!

More storage... you may have seen this idea one Pinterest which is where I was going with the baskets.  The reason I didn't was b/c they were right in your face when you walked in so William built me this platform and then ziptied the baskets together so they wouldn't fall off!  I also intend to try making this for the toilet paper with the same fabric as the curtain.

Another view looking into the shower.  William came up with this bench which is very helpful when shaving your legs!

 I can't tell you how much I love our new bathroom.  It's by far the nicest room in the house!  I can't wait to see what he does with our other bathroom.  And then maybe he can finally take a break... well after he builds AR's play kitchen and whatever else I add to the "honey do" list by then!

I Can't Think of a Title

So as promised I have a post full of pictures of AR and of some stuff we've been doing around the house.

First, I want to show you my new coat rack!!

It's beautiful isn't it?  Oh, you want to know where I bought it?  My handy husband actually made this for me based on a picture I found on Pinterest and two baskets that I bought.  I just LOVE how it turned out!

 I mentioned a few posts ago that I'd been working on a carpet stain in AR's room and here at the pictures I finally took.  This was probably my second or third attempt on these stains.  All I used was a mix of vinegar and blue Dawn and a stiff brush.  The brush "revived" the carpet so much that I did pretty much all the carpet you could see.

The stain... though this picture doesn't do it justice.  It made me hate walking into her room.

It's gone!  (or so it is for now... hopefully it won't show back up much as the carpet flattens again)

 And now for some AR!

She is really into books these days, though most of the time she doesn't sit still for an entire reading.

Daddy obviously needs help changing light bulbs!

 

I've told you how much AR loves the infant bouncy seat, but I got some more pictures of her in it the other day to compare to her in it from this time last year.  Take a look!

A toddler at 15 months! :(

Who is this baby?!  I can hardly remember!  2 months

Around 4 months here.

Legs are completely hanging off. (15 months)

4 months

15 Months

Playing with Daddy

Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon face around here these days.  AR is constantly trying and learning new things and this often comes with some frustration when something isn't going quite her way.

Daddy went a little camera crazy the other night and here are a couple of my favorites:

This past weekend we also had a yard sale with our new neighbors and did pretty good.  I didn't take any pictures though. :(  AR had a fun-filled long weekend with her Lovey and Grand Daddy which allowed us to get all our yard saling done with!