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If you have any small children in your house, namely boys, please check all pants pockets before putting pants in washing machine.

Brought to you by the biggest little saylor:

11 Months

Well I am about 2 weeks late with this post. Little C was 11 months old on Sept. 28th. We celebrated by going to the zoo as a family and this was the first time Carolena really noticed the animals, and she loved every second! I can no longer get her month by month pictures in the crib because she thinks I am putting her down for a nap and, well, she wants no part of that! Her first steps were taken on Saturday, September 25th, just short of 11 months. It took me as a surprise as we were over at my friend B's house, outside chatting and out of the corner of my eye I see Carolena just stand right up and walk. And I am not talking just one or two steps, she cleared the whole patio! Way to go, Baby Girl!
We have finally gotten into some sort of routine with her, and I am loving the planned nap times. One in the morning, one in the afternoon, I think we might finally be getting the hang of things with three small children! Right now she loves to eat, but is very picky about what she likes. Loves fruit, hates vegetables. Loves spaghetti, hates pasta salad. Loves couscous, hates rice. But she eats way more than my little Joe Finney so I can't complain!

So the big first birthday party is a mere two weeks away and I am having mixed emotions about it. I mean, this is my baby, and this year has gone by sooo fast. Faster than any other year. I am trying to relax and enjoy every single second, but with kids getting older, that means more activities and more to do. Sometimes I wish we could just slow down, take some time off from things. But such is life. And I am blessed, so very very blessed.

Take a look

at my little princess! We just got pictures taken for Carolena's birthday invites and they are precious! Click here to see them. They are under "client viewing", and then "C's Birthday".

Many more posts to come this week! Lots to talk about!

10 months

Well this was the best picture out of the bunch. I promise she was a smiling, happy, ball of sunshine before I set her in the crib for her picture. I guess she associates "crib" with "sleep" and she wants no part of that! And yes, she is in her bathing suit. We were on our way out the door to the pool when I realized it was our 10 month picture day. And if I don't do something right when I think of it, it is destined to end up in the bottom of the "forgotten thoughts" pile. Does anyone else get that? I guess they call it "mommy brain", but they should really warn you before you have kids. I wish someone would have told me "hey - you will get dumber with each kid you have. Your memory will get worse and worse and just try to have an intelligent conversation...impossible." Seriously.....but I digress...

Carolena - you are 10 months old today, but most people think you look like you are at least a year. I don't know what to think about that, because to me you are still my sweet little baby girl. I took you to the doctor on Friday and they told me you weighed 20 pounds! No wonder my back has been hurting! You are quite the little rover right now. You are standing on your own and can cruise between furniture. You are also crawling all over the place, and it is time for mommy to put the safety gates back up for sure. You are starting to want to talk and are trying to say "dog" and "ruff". When we were in Florida a couple of weeks ago you LOVED watching the birds and would try to "tweet tweet" with them. You couldn't get enough of the ocean and would sit in the water so that the waves would splash on your legs. Mothers Day Out starts up next week but I am very nervous about taking you because you have been such a mommy's girl (and grandmas girl) lately. I tried to put you in the childcare at church the past two weeks, but have been called out of church to pick you up because you wouldn't stop crying. Do I dare say you are spoiled? Well you are my little princess and I can't seem to help it if I spoil you! You are still the sweetest little girl who smiles all the time. But I think you have developed a mischievous side as well. You are quite the biter, and if you are not biting you are pulling my hair or pinching. But it's all in love, and you and your brothers have made me feel more love than I ever thought was possible!
Love you darlin. So so very much.

It's Official!

Well, sort of official at least. My clothing tags came in the mail on Friday and I am SUPER excited about them! Check it out, what do you think??




I dusted off my Adobe Illustrator skills (that have not been put to use since my "retirement" almost 5 years ago) and designed these babies myself. Simple, but cute, I think. I am wondering if I should have put a website or something on them, but since I don't have one set up yet, I guess that wouldn't work anyways. So I guess my "business" will be word of mouth for now. Which suits me just fine as long as I still have time to make things for my little Carolena (who is 10 months old now, by the way!).

And I am sure you are wondering who is the proud owner of my very first official saylormade dress......my best friend B's daughter Kenize who is 5 years old. I was actually supposed to make a dress for her birthday, but that was back in June. So I owed her big time. Enjoy your saylormade dress, Kenzie. Rock on with your bad self!!

P.S. For this dress, I used this tutorial from another local blogger The Polka Dot Chair.

9 Months

So this is a milestone, right? 9 months, what can I say? Amazing, just amazing. Amazing how fast it goes, amazing how big she is, amazing that just 9 short months ago I was pleading with my doctor to induce me because I was in such misery. And just look at us now. I have a beautiful , sweet, perfect little girl. And I have mastitis but that is a whole different story!!

My sweet Carolena, you are getting to be so big! You are crawling all over the place now, and you can even stand up all by yourself. Sometimes you even think that you can walk and try to take a few steps to mommy, but usually end up falling down. I have to make sure I am near you at all times because you are such the little daredevil. You love climbing over things, giving your brothers hugs, and giving your mommy little love bites (which are pretty painful, by the way!). You are eating all sorts of things now, but I think your favorite is pretty much any kind of fruit. You like when mommy cuts up peaches and watermelon into little bites so that you can pick them up with your fingers. You still smile all of the time and love cuddling in bed with mommy in the mornings. One of your favorite things to do right now is to take a bath in the kitchen sink, although I am not sure how much longer it will last because you are getting so big!

I love you so much my precious girl!

P.S. Did you check out the outfit in the top picture? My most recent creation!

My New Favorite

I think every time I make a new outfit, it becomes my favorite. This one was made for a friend of mine who has a two year old. I love the fabric and I love the way it turned out. This was my first time making "fancy shorts" and they are so sweet.


Close up of the dress...


Close up of the "fancy shorts"....

And matching hair accessory (of course)!

Our Free(ish) Summer - Hubers Orchard and Winery

Last week my mom and I decided to take the boys out to Hubers to do a little picking. We had been talking about going for a while, but once I heard it was blackberry picking time, I knew it was time to go. You see, Hubers has the most delicious blackberries I have ever had. Straight off the branch, there is nothing better. So we packed up the kids and headed out on what was quite possibly the hottest day of the year. I thought we would probably be the only ones crazy enough to go on such a hot day, so imagine my surprise when we ran into my friend B and her family out in the blackberry fields! Guess we both were craving those berries!

There are quite a few fun activites here besides just the picking fields.

You can talk to a talking tree...

pretend to be vegetables...

hang out with (and feed) the ducks...

go on a tractor ride (but hold on tight!)...

there is also a petting zoo, mountain slide, pony rides, a cheese/ice cream shop, market/gift shop, and winery/restaurant. We like to grab lunch there and cool off after all of the picking. They also have various festivals throughout the year which are fun and family friendly. So my advice to you is: Go, go now while the blackberries and peaches are in season, but try not to go on the hottest day of the year!

Fun - 4 (out of 5)

Cost - well you have to purchase everything that you pick, I think we spent about $40 on blackberries, bluberries, and peaches

Mom Stress Level - 1 (easy to keep track of everyone, but takes a while for the tractors to come back to the fields to pick you up)

Then go home with your delicious fruit and whip up a blackberry peach cobbler!

A Big Blur

The nephews were in town all last week. And, oh, the fun we had. We went swimming, jumped off diving boards, went to the movies, went to Noah's Ark, Henry's Ark, played in basements, had other neighbors over for get togethers, went to Wild Eggs (the most delicious place around), wrestled around, laughed ( a lot), cried (a little), fought ( some), played at grammys, made cookies, fed carrots to zebras, made big messes, built castles and forts, and much much more. I am sad to see those guys head home, but boy am I tired! To next time!

Our Free(ish) Summer - Louisville Waterfront

I'm back (I'm back in the saddle again). Sorry, that song has been jumping into my head all day. Can't make it stop! Anyways, we have had an AMAZING and BUSY summer so far. I can't believe we are halfway through July already! We have done lots of free things and lots of not-so-free things. I would like to say that this has been a great summer for not spending a lot of money on activities, but honestly, that would not be true. We have saved money on some things, and then spent it the next day on other things. But we sure have had fun doing it. I am going to try and get caught up the next few weeks, starting with today's post - The Louisville Waterfront


Cost - Free (we did pick up some ice cream afterwards for a total of $8)
Fun - 5, lots of fun, lots to do
Mom Stress Level - High, very very HIGH

Although this place is great and we had a fabulous time, I do not recommend anyone going there alone with 3 kids. You definitely should have a 1 to 1 kid to adult ratio. I can not stress this enough. Luckily, my friends B and B joined me with their kids, but it was still very hard to keep up with everyone. This place is huge. There is a big splash area with spray hoses and fountains; and there are also 3 (or maybe 4) other playgrounds. The kids had a blast. They went from one thing to the next and then back and forth, back and forth. It was sort of like a whirlwind of activity. We started out in the splash area



where you can let the water spray you in the eye...


or you can crawl under the water tunnels...

but then make sure you go to the first playground and look for your friends coming down the slide.

Then decide maybe you would rather be back at the water area...

and run under some more water tunnels.

Then you spot another playground in the distance, this one even bigger than the last, so you run over and climb the mountain a few times, walk across the bridges, go down the slides...

and then it's back to the water area again.

And it wouldn't quite be a perfect visit to the water park without a drink from the fountain!

All in all, a great time. Free, fun, and fabulous!

Stay tuned for more FREE Activities!

To tide you over

I've been busy. I am sure you have too. I promise to get back to posting soon. Hopefully this week. Until then, enjoy this picture of my girlie wearing a bathing suit her grammy made her. Super cute if I do say so myself!

8 Months (and I'm back!)

I am feeling a little sentimental today, not only is my baby 8 months today, but last night I went through all of our (little) baby stuff and took it to the consignment store today. I had three bags of clothes, a swing, a chair, a highchair, bumbo, etc. Don't get me wrong, I am always happy to get rid of clutter, but it made me sad to think that this is the last time I will have any of this baby stuff around. Oh well, I am sure we will soon be filling the house with barbies, ponies, and American Girl dolls, right?

To my sweet Baby C: You are 8 months old today. Since you came around our lives have been filled with more joy than we could have imagined. Your bright and beautiful smile melts my heart more and more each minute of each day. And it's not just me, your brothers are under your spell as well. They would do anything for you and love taking care of you and playing with you. Joe Finney calls you CaraBeana, and B4 calls you LenaGirl. And you love them too. You are really good at giving "kiss attacks" right now and love when your brothers spend time playing with you. As of today, you have four teeth, two on top and two on the bottom. It's a good thing too, because you are LOVING trying new foods now and don't want mommy to cut anything up. Just tonight you ate a whole banana without any help!

You are starting to scoot around a little and will probably be crawling in the next week or two. We took you to the beach for the first time last week and you loved it. Your favorite part is when we would sit down by the ocean and let the waves hit our legs. You would splash around and try to eat the sand. You would also fall asleep in my arms every day and we would take naps on the beach. Oh, my girl, how I love you! I am trying to take it slow and cherish every minute.

More tomorrow on our trip to Fripp Island. See the dresses I made her (above) for our trip last week? Didn't wear them once. I WAY over packed and she wore about 1/3 of what I brought for her!

Crafty Business

So I made this little outfit last night for the daughter of a yoga friend of mine and I am pretty sure it is my favorite thing I have made so far. This picture doesn't do it justice, it really is so adorable and was fairly easy to make. Or maybe I just like it because I didn't use a pattern (I strongly dislike reading patterns) and because the top is sort of Matilda Jane-ish.


So I am looking for opinions...is this something I should make for the Bazaar we are doing in December? Should I do a variation on it to make it more winter-y? What do you think? This will be my first shot at selling this stuff so I don't really know what to expect! Would love any advice/opinions for any of you who have experience with these craft shows!

P.S. The Beatles Fabric featured in the last post was purchased at Ben Franklin here in Louisville.

Our Free(ish) Summer - Abbey Road Festival

I have been wanting to write about this for a while now. 2 weeks to be exact. The Abbey Road on the River Festival. You can read more about it here if you want. I love this festival, we have gone the past three years and it gets better every time. Here are the stats:

Kid Fun Level - 5
Mom Fun Level - 5
Mom Stress Level - 2 (maybe even 1)
Cost - $25 for my ticket (kids were free); $4 parking; $10 ice cream

Okay so this isn't exactly free and it really isn't even that cheap, but it is lots and lots of fun, and sometimes that is all that matters when looking for an activity to keep the kids (and you) happy. If you live in the Louisville area, this festival is a "must do". I usually go every year with my friend B, but since she has a brand new baby this year, I had my dad and sister tag along with us. Basically, this festival is where a bunch (and I mean a BUNCH) of bands get together and play Beatles songs. This goes on for like 4 days. I would describe it as a very small kid friendly version of Woodstock. Or of what I imagine Woodstock was probably like. All different types of people sitting (and dancing and laying) around listening to really great music. So was it kid friendly? Yes, and it gets more kid friendly every year. There are so many things the kids can do here. You can listen to music


Or you can enjoy some ice cream


You can relax with your family

Or maybe you want to dress up like a Yellow Submarine.

Or maybe you would prefer to be a robot

And since you are on the river, let's check out the view

And draw some pictures with sidewalk chalk

But please don't forget to dance with your Aunt

and hang with your grandpa.

Did you notice those specially made Beatles outfits the kids were wearing? You can't go to a Beatles Festival without those! Thanks, Mom!

Busy

I have to take a minute to apologize. I know I have been M.I.A the past couple of weeks, but I have a good excuse. We have been busy. Extremely busy, but it has been the fun kind of busy so I can't complain. That being said, we have been doing all sorts of things that have good "blog" potential, just no time to write it all down. So, in an effort to clear my mind of all of these blog posts, I am committing myself to a post a day the next week. I know, I know, I am setting my standards high, but I really want to get back into a good routine here. So I am sure you are wondering what we have been up to. Well, we have been hanging out a lot with these guys:


and going to this place:



and checking out this festival:

and making these dresses:

and also this dress:

and celebrating birthdays, going to aquatic centers, hanging out with friends and neighbors, and visiting family out of town, and making more dresses and hair accessories....whew, sounds exhausting! Lots of free and not-so-free activities to share with you all. Looking forward to our Week of Posts!

Our Free(ish) Summer - Week 2

Where do I start? Week two was filled with so many free (and not so free) activities!! The beginning of the week brought us to the Louisville Nature Center, so we will start there...

Louisville Nature Center
Cost: Free
Fun Level: 4
Mom Stress Level: 1

On Tuesday afternoon we made our way to the LNC in the early afternoon. This was sort of spur of the moment, so it was just me and the kids. I wasn't really sure what to expect; I had checked out the website, but it didn't really show many pictures or give too much info so we kind of went into it blind. Basically, it is just what the name says it is, a Nature Center. Everything you do here revolves around nature, being outside, looking at birds, bugs, flowers, plants, things like that. Good, if you have a kid who is "nature -y". Bad, if you have a kid who doesn't like getting dirty or who doesn't like walking or bugs. I happen to have one of each (plus one who is too little to know yet). When you pull into the parking lot this is what you will see:





a small cinder block building surrounded by trees and "nature". They have a lot of the plants and trees labeled in case you are interested in checking that out. Once inside the building you can...

check out your wingspan. Joe Finney happened to have the wingspan of a mallard. Or you can...

stick your hands in small boxes to figure out what sort of "nature-y" things are in the box. The boys loved this. I, however, am a little creeped out by sticking my hands into dark boxes. There is also a (very) small library inside, and that is about it inside. Then you walk through the building to the outside of the center. Here you have a couple of options; you can walk on the trail, which happens to be 1.5 miles long, or you can go into the bird blind. We did both. Well, we didn't actually walk the whole trail since it was just me with all three kids, but we did walk some of the trail. On the trail you could...

look at worms and bugs. Here joe Finney was attempting to step on a worm, which I quickly put a halt to. As much as I dislike bugs, they are God's creatures too and I don't need my kids trying to stomp them! Sidenote: if you go here, bring bug spray. Lots of it. The bugs are rampant here. We all came out with our fair share of bug bites each. You have been warned! You can also look and listen for different types of animals, birds, etc. They have signs around telling you what sorts of things you should be looking for. We ended up seeing some sort of woodpecker.

Next you can...

try to walk the trail. Or you can walk for about 5 minutes and then turn around like we did! Next time I will bring help so that we can walk the entire trail, which runs by Beargrass Creek.

After your trail walk, you can check out the bird blind. The Bird Blind is a small building (sort of like a shed or something like that) with a big window where you can watch birds. There is also a notebook where they want you to record what you see. I am assuming this is what the serious birdwatchers do. We, however, are not serious birdwatchers and actually did not see one single bird while we were in the bird blind. The boys were very interested in why the building smelled and looked the way it did, though.

There is also a gazebo and picnic tables, so this would be a great place to bring a picnic for after your hike. So, all in all, a good trip. Will I go back here? Absolutely. Will I bring help with me next time? You bet. That way we will be able to go on our hike!

Also this week we checked out Beef O Brady's on Tuesday for kids eat free night. We live right down the road, but for some reason, have never been here for kids eat free. We will be going back. They had a kids movie playing on the big screen t.v., the food was quick and the portions were generous. We were in and out in under 45 minutes and $20. Two thumbs up from the Saylor Camp!

More activities to come!