I threw a baby shower for my friend B the other week. And while I didn’t get as crafty as I would have liked, I did make a couple new things.

I made this diaper cake ->

(No, I did not make the cute stuffed owls on top. They are from an etsy store – unpetitelapin)

I was not in love with the diaper cake. But it was first. Perhaps my last? But it was cute and the diapers are useable (more important than cuteness, if you ask me). Especially when the shower guest of honor is having TWINS. Yes, B will need as many diapers as she can get from people.

I also strung up some banners that doubled as a shower gift – buying clothes, bibs and little stroller toys to hang up with clothespins, mixed up with some paper pennants that I made. There were about 3 different banners strung up in the dining and living rooms.

(The clothespins were decorated with scrapbook paper and decoupaged on…the colors were blues and greens. While I know how to do this, I didn’t have the time to make these. So I got them from another etsy shop -gigglesapu).

We played a couple games but I’m not a fan of game after game after game after game at a shower.  No thanks. Two games – quick ones – and we were done.

So instead, if peeps were feeling crafty, I set up the kitchen island with blank bibs and fabric paints. And I wanted to make sure that the twins’ big sister wasn’t left out – so I had a shirt for peeps to design for her as well. Some guests came up with some really cute designs!

There are times in life when you have to keep quiet. When you have to keep your mouth shut.

That is not easy for me. I’m opinionated, for one. But I also like to spew advice, for the two cents (or less) that it’s worth.

I see a train wreck a’comin. And it’s not going to be pretty.

Two people whom I like, whom I care about, are headed down a road…”mostly” paved with good intentions. But they are both so obtuse to the other person – their needs, their wants, their opinions – it’s mind boggling. And I can’t say a damn thing.

Absolutely nothing.

So I don’t hog the hair goodies all to myself. Baby girl has to have some too.

And while I think some of the flower headbands out there are ultra cute, I’m not a huge fan of a fabric (or other substance) flower basically engulfing my child’s noggin.

So I avoid HUGE flowers for Miss T. And instead, after drooling at the cutie-patootie items over at My Sweetie Bean, I bought some little corker bows.

They are tiny.

And I love them.

Babies should have some tiny little pretties for their noggins.

I want to see the babies. Their eyes. Their sweet little cheeks. Their cute little faces. Not some crazy flower hogging up the atmosphere.

Ivy of My Sweetie Bean told me her barrettes would hold the barely-there wisps of Miss T’s hair and she was 110% right.In her item listings she even has pictures of her lovely daughter at various ages (and hair lengths) wearing the barrettes. (Mind you, I get a little jealous because Ivy’s daughter has some serious hair going on…even as a baby. Miss T is not so well endowed in the follicular arena at the moment. And we’re talking 7 months here.)

Ivy also threw in this lil goody which is AWESOME because it’s bright and orange and looks especially fun on Miss T ->

So now I’ve ordered more because I need some more colors. Of course.

I haven’t tried them in my hair yet. But I will. Especially if I decide to cut my bangs again

I live in the HOT HOT desert.

Did I say it’s HOT?

Well, it is. And yet, I still keep my hair long.

Why, you ask? Because about 4 years ago some drug-addled (I swear she musta been on drugs) hair stylist gave me a shullet. That’s my term for a cross between a shag cut and a mullet.

It was bad. And it permanently scarred me. I now go to the hairstylist (a different one) very rarely.

So what’s a long haired girl living in the hot desert supposed to do?

Pull her hair back, of course!

But it’s more fun to do so with cute little buttons in your hair! So I indulged over at Rotifera and bought a few lil goodies. They are ultra cute, ultra affordable. And Rose always puts a few little goodies in your package to make it fun. (Not to mention she is also very eco-friendly, using cereal boxes and whatnot to help package her hair doo-dads.)

It’s a little difficult to get a decent pic of yourself with a dslr, and I was too lazy to set the tripod up. So you will have to just believe me when I say these look oh-so-cute in the hair. I’ve been using the bobby pins a lot. But the pony tail holders went PERFECTLY the other day when I had a light blue top on and needed to get my hair off my shoulders.

Even if you have short hair, Rose makes up headbands and whatnot that will give your hairstyle a little oomph.

I think I’m going to try out one of her awesome Rotifera rick rack roses next…

So is it a child’s right of passage to take some scissors and give himself a haircut?

Because my 7 yr old did just that.

You’d think he would know better at his age. But yet, he did it.

In the living room. With the purple handled scissors.

He left tufts of hair on the floor. And a couple of lovely almost-bald spots on his head.

Student photos are in three weeks.

Yay.

Baby girl and I have had the cold that keeps on giving. You know, giving up lovely coughs and raspy voices (well, it’s given me the raspy voice…baby girl doesn’t talk yet…she just babbles). But it seems like it’s on it’s way out. YAY!

So in the meantime, I’ve been of course still working on all sorts of stuff. You know those flowers I repurposed out of food boxes and whatnot? I used some to pretty up a gift bag —>

And then there are the other paper flowers I sell in in GoFoInFa etsy shop that I used to add a little somethin’ to some gift wrap…

We have been under attack. For a couple months now. And there is no end in sight.

Miss T is drooling, drooling, drooling. And there is no stopping the spit. She blows raspberries. She gives drool-laden kisses. She can’t help herself.

But it’s outta control.

I never really got into bibs with D. I don’t recall him drooling like this. And believe it or not, here we are YEARS later and yes, I still have bibs I kept around. Except they seem menacingly too small. Baby bibs are typically small and cute and practically strangle their teensy little necks. It’s creepy. (Or maybe I just have big-necked babies). And the bigger bibs are usually the toddler, wipeable ones.

I don’t need a bib to catch food dropping out of my baby’s mouth. I need a bib to wipe the constant spout of drool dripping down the poor kid’s chin and wetting her whole front. Just because it’s hot in Arizona it doesn’t mean that drool is the way to cool down.

So I found the most awesome shop on etsy that has perfect sized bibs AND at the most insanely affordable prices. It’s practically a travesty. But if you need a baby bib and you want it to be cute and reversible and priced fantastically, then you must must must check out: Sew Adorable Creations.

Miss T loves how cute she looks in them. I do too.

I use that phrase a lot. “Behind the 8 ball.” Meaning, I am behind things. Playing catch up.

And that phrase is never truer than now.

Let’s see…it’s been two months since I last posted and much has happened. Most importantly, I gave birth to my little miracle girl, T. She is a dream. Truly. And her big brother D is in love with her. Life is good.

A few people know my background. But many do not. The reason I call T my miracle girl is that after D, I suffered 5 miscarriages. All different. All devastating. And yet I still had faith. I knew that I was meant to keep trying. And I have been rewarded with the cutest baby munchkin ever. But that story is a long one, and best left for another day.

In fact, a memoir of sorts is in the works…the rollercoaster of tests, crappy doctors and wondering why, if crack hoes can have babies, I was having such a hard time.

So that memoir is one reason I am behind the 8 ball.

I haven’t written anything in a couple months. I got so wrapped up in all the doctor appts leading up to her birth. (Not to mention over-committing myself on a couple of volunteer projects). And now I am wrapped up in just enjoying my daughter (and trying to get a little sleep here and there). So writing on that has hit the backburner.

My other writing – like the fictional stuff, Woof – is also taking a backseat to things like cleaning up constant spit, singing off key and coming up with new words to call a pacifier.

Then there is the craft thing. I am OBSESSED. Obsessed, I tell you. With many things craft. I peruse craft sites. Get inspiration. Ooh and Ahh over all the cool things out there in craft world. And then I wonder…should I take a nap since T is sleeping? Or should I make something beautiful?

Lately, I’ve been opting for the nap.

So, crafting is also behind that evil, annoying 8 ball.

I will probably always be behind the 8 ball. But at least I have a really, really good reason for it.

When I was younger, my sisters used to tell me how I was such a yuppie in training. (I know, the term “yuppie” seems so 80′s). They envisioned my future as a workaholic, money-hungry, status-driven wife and mother. Okay, so they didn’t mean it as a compliment. I knew that at the time they were saying it. But by college I was a Poli Sci major planning on heading to go to law school, so I figured they might not be too far off the mark. Though I didn’t appreciate the “insult” at the time.

Fast forward a bunch of years. And now, it’s funny when I think of what their crystal balls were telling them. Because it has turned out that I am much more “artsy” (“bohemian” seems a little TOO over the top) than they ever would have imagined. Nope, not a fruit and nut cruncher. If I buy organic, it’s because it’s on sale. And while I know that processed foods are bad…a lot of them also taste so freakin’ good that I doubt I would ever give them up (let’s just say that today’s lunch consisted of formerly frozen jalapeno poppers and a couple of Oreos…YUM!). And while I am an avid recycler, I am sure I fail to a large extent, to REALLY use things to their fullest potential. I am sure I am a wasteful person at times.

But when it comes to arts and crafts…I have been totally sucked in.

I have “favorited” about 20 different craft blogs and check up on them every week. I may never try out some of the crafts that are shown on these sites, but they do give me some ideas and in general, make me in awe that some people have this innate ability to create some really cool stuff out there.

One project I do plan on trying (and suggested as a Cub Scout activity for the munchkin, until I came to the realization that it IS a bit of a girly craft) is this one that turns an old t-shirt into a shoulder bag. Even pitiful ol’ me can make this. Now I just need to find the shirt I wanna use.

One of my favorite craft sites is Dollar Store Crafts. I love the Dollar Store. Well, not as much as my husband does, but I do like it a lot. And now I look at everything there with a different set of eyeballs, thanks to the craft blog that shows you various things you can do with stuff you find at the dollar store. In fact, the other day I picked up a couple of ugly wooden plaques for $1 each and then repurposed them…using left over paint I made them into a couple of cute paintings to hang in the kids’ bathroom.

I will also admit to becoming absolutely addicted to Etsy. If you like handmade items, anything from jewelry to baby bonnets to fine art, then this site is a must see.  I am actually in the process of starting my own Etsy shop…which will sell notecards and art work. Soooooo not yuppie. I think my sisters will think I’ve gone off the deep end. But that’s okay.

I’m not sure where or when it started. But I used to tell (actually, still do) the munchkin that I love him SOOOOO MUCH that he has no idea. He could not possibly fathom how much Mommy loves him.

Of course, the munchkin professes that he DOES know. Because, a 6 year old munchkin knows practically everything, right?

Somewhere along the line we started up the “I love you more than…” game. We would start coming up with statements that clearly indicated how much we loved each other. (Note: it’s an especially good game to play when you are in a fussy mood. You can’t possibly stay in a fussy mood when you are hearing how much your munchkin loves you, or thinking up wacky ways to tell your munchkin how much you love him. You just can’t. Not possible. I dare you to play it and stay fussy.)

Some days we come up with more serious statements. Like the time when munchkin said, “I love you more than Steve loves golf.” (You’d have to know munchkin’s stepdad to truly appreciate this statement. Because my husband LOVES golf. Even he admitted that it was a particularly astute statement made by the munchkin that day).

But today was a goofy day. My very proper mom would be horrified to know that I told the munchkin that I loved him more than a dog likes to pee on a fire hydrant. But, hey, munchkin loved it. In return, munchkin told me that he loves me more than a trash can likes to eat trash. We came up with a few more goofy ones on the way to school. They involved pirates, our dog Zeus, elephants, and Super Heroes.

A good way to start the week.