Wesley is 17 months old!

My big boy turned 17 months old this weekend! I feel like I say this every month, but where o where did the time go. He is truly turning in to a toddler before my eyes. His vocabulary is expanding everyday and it is so nice that he can communicate with us now. He is a constant talker, all   day   long. He has started putting two words together like Hi NeeNee (Nukie), Bye Mommy. Last night he was telling everything bye bye. "Bye Bye moon" "Bye bye elcoper (helicopter)"  So cute.  He also loves to dance and sing and can't get enough of Elmo, The Fresh Beat Band, and Yo Gabba Gabba. He can now walk up and down stairs without crawling and surprised us when he jumped off the last step with two feet and stuck the landing.  Is it crazy how in awe I am of every little developmental task he accomplishes?  Welp, I am.

We were also lucky enough to take professional family pictures with my side of the family a few weeks ago and got a sneak peak of the photos this weekend as well.  Here are a few of them.  Our photographer Tira J. was awesome. Please go to her blog HERE and comment on our post.  If we get ten comments, we get a free brag book!  So go and comment and check out her work.

Five Friday Finds v.1- a day late

Today (and hopefully every Friday) I'm going to share with you a few of my favorite finds this week.

1. Wesley's best friend turned two last week and her mom threw her a super cute garden party with some fabulous details. Head over to her blog to check them out: The Creative Side.

 

 

2. I'm not quite ready for Christmas but these free printables from Jones Design Company will help me get in the mood. This girl is so talented I love everything she does.
 

3. Jeff's birthday is coming up soon so this gift guide for men (under $25) came at the right time for me.
 

 

4. A really flattering and easy t-shirt refashion tutorial can be found HERE. I can't wait to try it.
 

 

5. Do you love baker's twine? This blog is having a giveaway this weekend. Can't believe I just shared that because I really want to win it for myself!

 

 

A family zoo day

On veterans day the three of us went to the zoo and spent some much needed quality time together, just the 3 of us. Wesley loved the snakes of all things and kept asking for "more!"

My Thanksgiving Wreath

I whipped up another cute fabric wrapped wreath, this time using neutral colors, lace, a tiny "give thanks" banner to remind us to be thankful.

And while we are on the subject of being thankful...I have much to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my Jeff who has been working so hard at his day job that his projects around the house have been stalled.  However, he still makes dinner almost every night. I am thankful for his humor, creativity, ingenuity, tasty cooking, kindness, and unconditional love.  Awe.

I am thankful for my sweet Wesley who impresses me every day with how much he is growing and learning.  He is the sweetest kid, so happy, and flexible.  

  

I am thankful for my family and especially my mom who drives 2 hours one way each week to watch Wesley for us.  Then she cleans our house and does our laundry.  Really?!  Yes!

I am thankful for my friends!  It took Jeff and I such a long time to find good friends after we got married and it was worth the wait.  We have some of the most amazing friends that would do anything for us.  Its nice to know that you have people to call on in a pinch!

I am thankful for my job!  I wish I could stay home with Wesley, but I am so thankful that I have a good job doing something that I feel is important and worth while. And I get to work with great people.

Lastly, but most importantly, I am thankful for a powerful God who loves me and knows me and sacrificed his son so that I can have everlasting life with him in Heaven.  The greatest gift of all.   AND he blessed me with all this other great stuff!

Free Thanksgiving Printables

Today I am sharing my favorite free Thanksgiving printables from blogland and I whipped up a couple of my own as well.  

My prints are both based off of one of my favorite scriptures, Psalm 107:1: "Give thanks to the LORD for he is good, his love endures forever."  We are so blessed to have a Lord and Savior whose love is everlasting.  

The first print goes perfect with my yellow fall mantle.

Here is the second one I created based on inspiration from one on my favorite printables below.

You can download both of my free printables HERE to help get your home ready for thanksgiving. I'd love to hear what you think.

Here are a few more resources for you.  Go to the source to print them out.

This first one has everything you need to host your own thanksgiving dinner, well all you need for decorations anyway :)

{source} click order then enter code GIVETHANKS to get it free :)

These cute Thankful cards are so cute (my inspiration for the second print) and perfect for getting your family to think about what they are thankful for.  Then you can decorate your home with them.

{source}

And who doesn't remember making (and loving) paper chains?  This spoke to my fifth grade self and I think I will get busy making me some grownup chains.

{source}

What is your family doing to get in the thankful spirit?

Having fun with new photo app

I discovered a cool photo app on my iphone today called Afterglow.  I love that it gives you shapes to frame your pictures in. It also has like 20 different filters.  Here is Wesley all dressed up for family pictures this past weekend.

 

Wesley is wearing shoes, jeans, shirt, and bowtie from H&M; hat from The Children's Place

And a family pic from the pumpkin patch.

Here is the original first picture, next to the edited version from Afterglow.  I didn't think it was possible, but Wesley looks even cooler.

Baby Shower Banner

My cousin contacted me a couple weeks ago and asked if I could make her a fabric banner/bunting for her friend's baby shower.  She also wanted me to put the baby's name on the banner.  This is what I ended up with. 

I started by picking out four different fabrics in coordinating colors.  She requested pink for the baby girl! 

Then I found a template HERE so that my flags would be the perfect size.  I grabbed my rotary cutter, mat, and fabric and got to work cutting flags.

After I cut out my flags, I pinned two together back to back so that the bunting would be double sided.  Then I sewed around the sides using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. 

Then I trimmed each flag with pinking shears to add a cute detail and strength.

Then I pinned the flags to double-fold bias tape approximately 2-3 inches apart and then sewed the flags to the bias tape.

To add the name, I first found a font online that I liked.  I used Marcelle Script. Then I printed her name on card stock and cut out the letters. 

Then I traced the letters onto a small piece of fabric that I ironed onto a Heat n Bond iron-on adhesive.  

Once all letters were traced, I cut them out, peeled off the paper and ironed on to the flags. 

Cheap and Easy DIY Dinosaur Costume

 

Wesley had a cute hand-me-down dino costume for Halloween so I wasn't planning on being super mom and DIYing his costume this year.  And I wasn't planning on dressing up either, until Halloween approached and I got in the Spirit.  Luckily for me, I was able to DIY the cheapest and easiest dino costume for Jeff and I.  It cost me $4 for both of our costumes and I was able to complete them both in about an hour.  Want to know how???  Here are the directions.

 

You Need:

A Sweatshirt

4-6 squares of felt

Scissors (I used pinking shears)

Pins

Sewing machine or needle and thread

Hot glue gun and glue

 

 

Start by folding your felt in half and cutting spikes (triangles) using the folded edge as the bottom of your triangle.  So when you unfold your triangle, you have a diamond shape.

 

 

Then pin your diamonds in place (where you want your spikes).  FYI- if i did this again, I think I would have put the spikes right next to eachother. 

 

 

Next, cut out your tail and pin it to the bottom edge of your sweatshirt.  Mine is a little off, but what dinosaur has a perfect tail, right?

 

 

Then cut out an oval or circle for the front of your sweatshirt. If you are using a zip-up like mine, cut your circle in half and pin it to your sweatshirt.

 

 

Then sew a staight line up the middle of the back of your sweatshirt, catching the center of your spikes.  If you plan to remove the spikes later, set your stitch to the longest length and start and stop sewing at each spike so you have less holes.

 

Sew on your tail and tummy as well.

 

Then using hotglue (or you can sew), glue the spikes halves together and watch them stand up.

 

 

And you are all set!  Seriously,the cheapest, easiest, and fastest homemade costume I have ever attempted.

 

 

Here's Jeff sporting his sweatshirt with our little dino.

 

 

And our little dino family.