Memorial Day Weekend

It was a much needed three day weekend and I fully enjoyed every second of it.

After work Friday, I packed up my girls Cora and Cloverson and we headed to our favorite dog park.  Clove found the only mud puddle in the whole park and splashed through that, then proceeded to get in a 'fight' with a small very vocal dog.  Super awkward moment where I was trying to break up the dog fight, everyone stares at me, Cora is on my back in the carrier, and a bunch of dogs are running at the fight.  Apparently the other dog has gotten in lots of fights, but I still heard some judgmental crazy lady telling her dog how other dogs don't behave well as I walk-of-shamed out of there.  We hadn't spent enough time at the park so we walked along one of the paths until Cora fell asleep.

Saturday, I got lots of morning cuddles, reading, and playtime with Cora.  She loves putting the sheets over her face while I say "Wheeeeere is Coooraaaa?!" then she pulls the sheets down and laughs her head off.

I needed to do some stuff at the bank near my parents house, so I dropped Cora off at my parents while I ran my errands.  They love any time they can get with her and I love how fast I can get errands done when I don't have to put a baby in and out of her carseat.  We hit up Sam's club on the way home and spent the afternoon taking naps and playing.  Ben spent the afternoon grocery shopping and got everything we need for the week.  We had a great evening of movies and dinner (steak, mashed potatoes, and roasted veggies).

Sunday morning we woke up and spent a couple lazy hours around the house.  We got lunch ready, headed down to Theodore M Berry International Friendship park, and walked along the river through Sawyer point and Serpentine wall.  I love that walk for the view and people watching.  I didn't get any pictures, but the weather was amazing and all four of us had a great time.  

Cora and I spent the rest of the afternoon being lazy.  Ben headed to the gym then we met up for dinner.  Since I was near my parent's house, I swung by for them to get some Cora cuddles.

Monday, I went over to my parent's house (are you noticing a theme this weekend?) and did a couple loads of laundry.  I took Cora out on a walk through the woods near their house and around their neighborhood.  I happened upon this side table that was set out for the garbage man.  It was at our old house so I figured that was fate and and I should pick it up.  It just needs a nice coat of paint and it's good as new.

Sunday evening, we had a memorial day weekend cookout with family.  Great food, great company! We had Cora practicing her walking a little, but she is not a fan of grass.  She kept trying to crawl, but would only go on her tiptoes because she didn't like the feel of the grass touching her legs.

It was a nice relaxing weekend getting some walks in, having lots of family time, watching Cora practice walking, and being lazy around the house.   Hoping for a quick work week so we can do it all again this weekend.

1st Birthday Onesie

A little late on sharing this since Cora's birthday was three weeks ago, but this was such easy DIY that I thought I'd share.  This took me less than 30 minutes to make two.  Definitely make two if you have time/materials.  Cora wore hers the whole day and had an accident on the first one when we were getting ready for the party.

Needed:

+plain onesie

+fabric (yes, I used my Africa fabric and no, I will never run out)

+sewing machine

1.  Cut out the number 1 from the fabric.  You could use a template if you print it out, but I found free handing it was easier for me

2. Pin 1 to the shirt

3. Sew using the zig zag stitch.  Stop frequently to make sure you are not sewing through both layers of the onesie.  This didn't happen to me, but I could see where this could easily happen when you're working with something so small.

photo credit to Jazz at Coffee + Cleveland

If I were making this again, I would make the 1 a little shorter so it stays above the pants.  I wised up on the second onesie, but would still go a little shorter.  This is a such an easy DIY that I'm dreaming of all the other shapes Cora can rock on her onesies.

Weaving And The Weekend

Thursday evening, Ben took Cora to visit his Dad.  I found myself home alone for probably only the second time since I had Cora.  I made some seafood (Ben generally doesn't like seafood), watched Grey's Anatomy, cuddled with the puppy, and enjoyed the silence.  I usually like to keep my hands busy while watching TV and was a little burned out from sewing, so I picked up a piece of cardboard and made a makeshift loom.  I've been inspired by Smile and Wave's weavings lately so I thought I'd try my hand at it.  I'm no pro, but I enjoyed the relaxing pace and trying out different patterns.

1st, 2nd, and 3rd pieces

Friday morning, I got a text from my landlord letting us know that he had a report of bed bugs in the building.  I left work early cause I was so grossed out and couldn't stop thinking about it.  I looked around our place and didn't find anything so I felt a little better, but I knew we still had to wait until the bug guy inspected the building.  We spent the rest of Friday nervously laughing about the situation and listening to Cora say "bed bug".  Luckily the bug guy came Saturday morning and found nothing in our building.

Cora and I went over to my parent's house to hang out.  We visited the local nursery to pick up some flowers and spent the afternoon planting flowers and hanging out outside.  There is a stray cat on their street and he kept following us around watching us garden and trying to become part of the family.  Ben came over later in the afternoon and we spent more time outside and had some delicious dinner.

Sunday was spent being as lazy as we possibly could... We didn't even change out of our pajamas.

How was your weekend?  Aren't lazy pajama days the best?  Anybody else garden over the weekend?

Mother's Day

Cora decided she wanted to spend every second of Mother's day with me, so she woke up around 7:30 with me.  I normally get 2-4 hours of free time before she wakes up, so the day started off a little exhausting.  We made a quick trip to the dog park for Clove to get some energy out.  Cora loved pointing at all of the dogs and saying her version of dog, which sounds something like "gddoggddd".  After the dog park, Cora played while we prepped for Mother's day lunch at my parent's house.  We headed over to my parent's where we ate, played croquet, and chilled around their place for the rest of the day.  Not much else to say about the day so here are a bunch of pictures:

I'm excited we finally got a picture of the three of us even if we aren't all smiling.

Cora Jean and her Aunt Celia

...and her Uncle Rob.  She is normally smiling/flirting with him.

Cora's cousin and Gus

Lots of cuddles with Cora's Honey (grandma)

Happy Mother's Day to all you awesome Moms out there!

PS. I finally opened my Etsy shop since I was getting some traffic to the coming soon 'shop' tab on the top of the page.  I only have a couple things listed and there is lots more to come!  I thought I'd share in case people want to check it out and leave me some constructive criticism (or compliments).  You can get to The Golden Skies Etsy shop through the 'Shop' tab on the top of my page or by clicking here.

Ten on Ten

1 errand buddy / 2 stocking up / 3 sassy baby

4 etsy shop prepping / 5 feta dip / 6 napping

7 sneaking snacks / 8 new decoration / 9 nature walk / 10 dandelion

Cora's First Birthday

Heavy photo post coming your way...

We had Cora's party on Friday night so I could get a couple last minute things done during the day. My sister and brother-in-law had the party at their new house.  They have a great screened in porch/outdoor entertaining area so people went in and out throughout the party grabbing appetizers and checking out their new place.  There were even a couple games of croquet going on.

We had dinner (chicken and pasta in a vodka sauce) and then cupcakes and singing.  Cora was surprised by all of the singing and pretty much just sat there wondering what was going on.  She really wasn't sure what to do with the cupcake.  She poked the icing then shoved her face in.  She was being kind of timid so we decided to give her one of the chocolate cupcakes.  She basically inhaled the chocolate cupcake, and would go back to the carrot cake for a bite here and there.

Phew... Eating all of that cupcake was rough!  When she finished up, I changed her into her pajamas and she just laid there without a fight (not something that happens often these days).  Everyone finished up their desserts and we started opening presents.  We got a lot of help from her cousins and Cora mostly just observed everything going on.

About halfway through the presents, Cora got tired of sitting on my lap so she climbed down to play with her cousins.  Uncle Rob helped her unpack the big stuff.  I love her curious face watching him unpack her scooter.

Cora had a great time at her 1st birthday party!  She especially enjoyed the balloons, cupcakes, and playing with her cousins.  She was extremely exhausted from all of the activity, but still managed to wake up early (before noon) on Saturday to play with all of her new toys.

Check out some of Jazz's pictures of the party on her blog Coffee and Cleveland!