Embracing the Big Head Picture

(iphone pic so it's a tad grainy)

Don't you just hate those pictures where you are the closest one to the camera so your head looks HUGE like you are  going to eat everyone else in the picture?

Yeah, that's this week's pic. 

It's the only pic I have from myself this week, so I'll embrace it.  It was a jillion degrees outside, so we thought a refreshing dip in the neighborhood pool would cool us down.  However, when we stepped in the water, it was like getting in a hot tub- the water had to be at least 90 degrees, which was SO not refreshing.  Delaney wasn't even loving it, until we gave her some cheerios and then she was fine. 

Oh, and BY THE WAY, I know my sunglasses are not cool.  I could do a whole blog post about my sunglasses though.  I have had them for 7 years now, which in sunglass language is an eternity!  But, they are amazing Maui Jim glasses and make everything in my world rose colored, so I will not get rid of them until they are broken or lost.

Hope you're staying cool this week and embracing the camera!

        

rookie mama

I'm feeling like a total rookie mom lately (especially while I'm currently typing trying to ignore the fact that Del is screaming bloody murder 'cause she wants me to be a sucker and hold her all evening instead of fall asleep). 

Anyway, Mr. H and I went to an evening wedding last weekend, leaving my parents to babysit Del until about midnight.  I don't think we've left her during bedtime since she was a few months old, so I felt it necessary to write a 2 page note memorandum thesis paper to my mom in case she needed the assistance.  It had important information about Del, such as
-she likes to walk with her new walker toy, but if she comes to a corner, she gets frustrated turning and will cry.
- after bedtime, if she cries, she probably needs her paci and it's probably laying right by her mouth.
-if she cries, rock, lay her down, let her cry it out, rock, lay her down, let her cry it out, repeat ....

And the list went on...

When my sister (who is SUCH a veteran momma with all 2 of her kiddos) saw my list, she laughed and told me that this was her list for the sitter.

1. Don't forget to feed them.

2. If the house is on fire, get them out quickly.

Hmm...okay well that's important too. 

Last night, I was rookie mom again listening to stories at our church's girl's night out (which was also a surprise diaper shower for a dear friend and a super fun night!).  Sometimes you just need a night out with other mommas to tell you you're not losing your mind and that if your kid isn't bleeding, then that's a good day.

It also didn't hurt to relax by the pool until after dark.   I think it was one of the first nights I've been out past 7 in a while, so I actually saw some mosquitoes (i live off the schedule of a one-year-old).  I will definitely  need some more of these nights before the summer end.

  

Fun at the Fair

It has been hot here. 

Like Satan's armpit hot. 

 (borrowed that phrase from Jami's blog 'cause it always makes me laugh). 

I've really been content just hangin' out in my A/C, but on Sunday, I convinced Mr. H to go the 4H Fair so that Del could see the animals.  In other places, you go to the ocean for free fun.  Take a trip to the beach or maybe to a nearby lake.  Well, in the middle of Indiana, you go look at sweaty pigs and cows that look like they are dying of heat stroke in a hot non-conditioned barn that smells like poo.  I know, try not to be jealous of the luxurious life of an Indiana mom. 

I totally knew how the pig felt that day.  It was easily 100 degrees there.

Actually, we had a great time.  Yes, it was hot, BUT we made it in time to see the children's animal parade.  Seeing a 3 year-old boy in overalls taking his baby goat for a walk is probably the cutest thing ever.  Delaney did enjoy looking at the animals, although she was more fascinated with the giant cooling fans than the bunny rabbits.   

Mr. H actually wanted to go back later in the week for more barnyard fun, but we didn't make it back.  We DO have the State Fair to look forward to in a few weeks though, so you can look forward to some pics of much larger pigs.

A Mommy Confession

Okay, it's time for some mommy confession time. 

When it comes to getting Delaney to sleep, I am a BIG FAT FAILURE.

It's true, and don't try to make me feel better about it.  What's crazy is that before I had her, I was dead set in my ways.  I worked at a daycare, worked as a teacher, and in my mind, when it was time for an infant to go to bed, come hell or high water, they were going to bed.  If that meant they had to scream for an hour, so be it because I was a firm believer in the "cry it out" method and don't even TRY to talk me out of it.

And then Delaney was born.

Darn you with your cute adorable toes

This girl is what you would call a "cuddler". 
Big time.  And guess what?  I love it.  Love it, love it, LUV it. 

Until naptime and bedtime roll around and then it gets a little old (I know, I KNOW, I will miss these days of cuddlethons and trust me, I embrace it as much as humanly possible until it is time to put her in crib, and she still wants cuddle time.  She would be perfectly content sitting on my lap with her paci watching Elmo until about 11:00 at night, and then if I just want to hold her while she slept all night, she'd be perfectly fine with that. 

Right now our current evening routine looks a bit like this:

5-6 Daddy's home!!!!  Play, play, play, Show daddy all the exciting new tricks of the day like walking all the way across the room with her little walker.

6-7: DINNER time and bath time



This is your bath picture- no nudie patoodie baby pics

 on my blog, thank you very much

7:00- Bedtime routine begins, including diaper change and pj time.  Everyone gets a little nervous trying to perceive how the evening will look, including the dog.

7:15-7:30- Bottle time.  This is it.  Will she fall asleep while taking the bottle?  This works about 1/3rd of the time.  It used to always work.  Always.  Now she's outgrown it and when she's done with the bottle, she's ready for more playtime.

7:30-9:00  This hour and a half is usually a blur that I block out of my mind until it rolls around again the following day.  It consists of some rocking, some cuddling, some intense screaming when I attempt to let her cry it out, checking in, soothing, unpeeling her hands from the top of the crib since she's standing up screaming, and laying her back down in her bed, finding the paci she threw across the room in anger and putting it back in her little mouth and usually some more rocking.  It also includes a lot of singing hymns and Bible songs to her in order to keep my sanity.

Del sleeping on her great-grandma's lap...as long as she's being held, she's a happy girl

Now, if we're lucky the rest of the night is as follows as told from Delaney (I'm guessing):

11:00 pm- "4 more ounces of bottle, please...."

3:00 am- "HELP!! MY PACI CAME OUT OF MY MOUTH AND EVEN THOUGH IT'S LAYING RIGHT NEXT TO ME, I CANNOT PUT IT BACK IN MY MOUTH BY MYSELF.  I NEED HELP!!!  Oh, okay, thanks..."

If we're not lucky, the 3:00 routine happens about every 45 minutes and often results in more snuggles.  This only happens about once every two weeks.

It kind of shocks me a little that this her evening routine.  Now, I will say, I think it could be worse.  She is not up every hour (with an exception now and then) and she DOES sleep in until about 8 am, so she usually gets 12 hours of sleep a night. 

It just shocks me that I can't just throw in her bed, give her a kiss, and tell her I'll see her in the mornin'.  We don't really go on date "nights" because I'm afraid if we're not home by 7 for the evening routine, everything could be thrown off and she'll take longer to go to sleep. Not that any of this is her fault- she cries for her mama and her mama comes running in like a sucker ready to snuggle with her little chubby arms and legs and calm her baby down. 

And although I have failed at bedtime, I do have plans for the next baby (no, I won't be preggers anytime soon).  With the next baby, I will just lay them down every night and they'll go sound asleep 'cause they have been sleep trained and have cried it out enough times to know I'm not coming in to save them. 

Unless they are also a cuddler...

Secret Sale!!!!

We have a new necklace!!!  The 1 1/4" pennant heart necklace is now in our shop!

In honor of our newest design, we're having a 2-day SECRET SALE of

20% OFF

everything in our shop that you only know about because you read our blog. 

 Thank You!!!! 

This secret sale is quick as lightning and will end Wednesday night (okay, I know lightning is quicker than that, but you get the point).  NOW is a good time to get some Christmas in July gifts because we might not have another sale like this before the holiday season rolls around. 

The super secret coupon code is: SECRETSALE20

Embrace the Camera

Okay, today's embrace the camera is a BIG DEAL.  You might not realize why, but for me it is a first.  It is a picture of me WITHOUT MAKEUP.  I know, for some of you, it's like "What's the big deal?"  "Seriously, is this girl THAT vain?" but you have to realize I am a BLONDE.  very blonde.  Therefore, my eyelashes are also blonde. 

In high school, I told a guy that my eyelashes were blonde, and he looked at me for a minute and said "huh.  I always just thought they were naturally black." 

Um, no. 

They are not.  They are blonde.  I tend to wear a lot of makeup, especially in the eye region.  Now this picture is as brave as I get for now.  You probably can't even tell...I'm looking down, I even put it in black and white to mask it.  But for me, it is a big step that I'm letting you see me without eye makeup. 

 So there.

This was a picture of Isaac doing his first stamping job.  Don't worry, we won't let him work on actual orders.  Yet.  (haha). 

He wanted to stamp a copper bracelet for himself.  He wanted it say

Transformers Optimus Prime

(with rockets on each side of course)

Of course. Not his name or his family, but Tranformers Optimus Prime. 

He did almost all of the stamping himself and when he hammered, he hammered hard.  I was genuinely afraid he was going to hammer his finger, but he didn't.

He's determined that he's an actual employee of Tag...You're It now and will probably be asking for a paycheck soon.

Craft Show Tips

A few weekends ago, we had a 2 day outdoor craft show.  This is only our second year for craft shows, but we have learned SO much in one year.  I was inspired to include some tips for outdoor craft shows from a fellow artisan over at Two Seaside Babes blog.  I'm going to keep my tips brief and base them off of the pictures I took, so if you want more details, let me know!

Keep yourself organized during the packing process before and after the show.  We used to not have lids to any totes and we'd just kind of throw stuff in totes at the end of the show.  This resulted in repacking everything before every show and never knowing where anything was, which was annoying and time consuming.  It is also a lot easier to stack things in the back of your truck/suv if EVERYTHING that fits is in a container with a lid.  Also, if you buy a bunch of totes after Christmas, you can get them pretty cheap!

Be weather ready if you're doing an outdoor show.  This includes having weatherproof WALLS on all 4 sides of your tent, and weights on every corner of your tent when you leave it overnight.  We usually stack our tables in the center of the tent, place totes in the middle of the table AND cover it with a tarp just in case.  It only takes one bad storm to blow away a lot of money and hard work.  You would also feel horrible if your tent blew into someone elses!

Pennants.  They make everything look better. Always. Also, make sure you use different heights to draw the eye to all of your gorgeous stuff.  We also put a large outdoor rug we found on clearance at Target in the middle of our booth.  It makes it look like a little shop and pulls the look together.

We have never used the same set-up twice.  We look at our space, traffic flow, location, etc. before we decide on a set-up.  At this show, we changed our set-up MID SHOW.  The vendor next to us left, so we changed our set-up to a corner booth, which ended up being a great decision.

This has nothing to do with the picture, BUT don't forget a calculator, ink pens, business cards, a receipt book, change, and if possible, take credit cards.  It's really easy- go to propay.com, sign up and you can either purchase an inexpensive microcard reader or a projack if you have a smartphone.

Make friends with other vendors and get to know them!  We have learned SO much from other vendors and you will find that you will run into the same vendors at various shows throughout the year.  At this show, the booth next to us was Caroline's Boutique, who made tutus and gorgeous hair accessories, including this headband that looks adorable on Harper!

Again, this is not everything, but just some tips if you are a newbie to the craft show world and need some help starting out.  Although craft shows can be exhausting, they can also be a lot of fun and very beneficial to your business!

Farmer's Market Saturday

We woke up early on Saturday and headed to a local Farmer's Market. 
I have to be honest- I was expecting a Farmer's Market with booth after booth of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and more, but then Mr. H. reminded me that "This isn't Seattle" and I was hit with the reality that I was in a small Indiana town, so a few booths of vegetables and bread was the entire market.  I did end up with some gorgeous tomatoes and green pepper, so I would consider it a success. 

It was SO hot, and we ended up swimming all day at my grandparents house, where Del's mood depended on whether or not her great-grandma was feeding her vanilla wafers and how quickly she could shovel them in (which explains the upset picture).  And we ended the day with break-off chocolate chip cookies {delicious} and homemade pizza. 

I rolled out my homemade dough after letting it rise and made a fresh sauce with the farmer's market tomatoes and I'll soon post the recipe.

...oh wait, no, I buy the premade crust and the $1.04 can of Hunt's pizza sauce, but I still consider it homemade pizza and it still tastes way better than the frozen ones.

New Summer Designs...

Our new summer designs are here!!  I am in LOVE with our new stamps, including a kite, hot air balloon, rocket, ASL I love you sign, and castle {sorry, but the castle has not yet debuted because the picture was a bit fuzzy-wuzzy}.  Although these designs are not yet personalized, you can add a name or date to any necklace, since that IS our specialty! 

By the way, now is the PERFECT time for a new summer necklace.  I've been wearing the hot air balloon necklace with my summer shorts and tanks and it is the perfect accessory- simple and fun. 

You can WIN a $40 shop credit to Tag...You're It! over at Lillypie's blog. 

Um...you can also win some killer swag from 10 other shops, including A Line Design Studio, aisle to aloha studio, Two Seaside Babes,  and The Lovely Poppy.  Oh, and did I forget to mention that you could also win a $100 shop credit to Lillypie?  Yeah, I'd say it is worth the five minutes to enter to win! 

Embrace the Camera Time!

It's already Thursday- which means it is time to embrace the camera!  You may have taken July 4th pictures, but I hope that you got in front of the camera, so that YOU are part of the memories also!  I'm still not a champion at this- I probably took 150 pics on Monday, and there are 2 with me in them. BUT at least there are 2 records that I was there celebrating Independence Day with my loved ones in 2011. 

{Linking up with Emily}

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Oh...and don't forget...

July 4th Celebrations....

I hope you all had a great 4th of July celebrating our nation's freedoms!!  It started off a little rainy here, but we ended up having a beautiful day including a parade, delicious food, swimming, and fireworks. (ok, we watched a movie while our neighbors shot off fireworks, but when you're daughter goes to bed at 7, your festivities are limited). 

{By the way, I hope you noticed the alligator in the first picture because that is my favorite part.  Two adorable cousins in their 4th of July pillowcase dresses, sitting in green grass, Harper giving Delaney a kiss, with an alligator in between.  Too funny.}

 

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Delicious Summer Cobb Salad

I am the first to admit that I am not a big salad fan.  I enjoy Taco Salad, but if I have the choice I would rather have a sandwich.  However, Mr. H mentioned making a Cobb salad the other day, and I thought it sounded pretty delicious.  I happened to have all of the essentials in my fridge, so for lunch today, I whipped this up just like Martha Stewart.

My ingredients included:

one head of lettuce, 3 boiled eggs, half a bag of Tyson pre-cooked chicken slices, 3 Roma tomatoes, an avocado, and bacon-o's (also croutons, but I didn't want them to get soggy, so I added them when it was served).

The reason the lettuce is all over the place is because I am a little obsessed about clean lettuce.  I have been trying to save money, so I've been shopping at Aldi, which does not sell organic lettuce.  Therefore, my lettuce process involves chopping it up, putting it a large ziploc freezer bag, filling the bag with water AND vegetable cleaner, rinsing, laying it out and blotting the water up with paper towel.  I know...the process seems pretty time consuming, but I feel much better about rinsing off some pesticides.

I can't live without my Veggie Wash.  Again, when I'm too cheap to buy organic, I feel like this at least helps a little bit.  Right?

And the finished product...



I swear I did put some lettuce underneath.