one + one = really hard

i recently ran into a neighbor who just had her second child.  her older son is 3.  she is exhausted, not sleeping and trying to cope.

i was quick to say that parenting is really hard.  she smiled and looked relieved that someone else struggles too.  

i shared with her how it basically kicked my butt for the first seven months of harry's life, trying to figure out a new baby while raising a 3, now 4-year-old, and making even more adjustments to married life and home.

fortunately kids are cute.  who can resist smiley boys with chocolate ice cream faces?

harry's first chocolate ice cream. jude with sugar high

we have reached the age where jude and harry giggle and entertain each other.  it is mostly jude entertaining, and harry trying to crawl, cruise or grab jude.

brother share a laugh

i am glad to share these fun moments on the blog and facebook.  i am also glad you don't see how often i feel so tired i want to cry, get frustrated or even yell.  but after connecting with my baby-raising neighbor in our struggle,  i want to make sure you know...it happens.

these days are long.  in a twist, having a lot of time with the boys comes with extra pressure.  pressure to plan activities, help them learn and force...i mean help...jude write his letters or do a craft.  sometimes i wish mary poppins would pop in and i could be the flighty but passionate mom-with-a-cause, while someone else fixed my kids and cleaned my house.  but then i'd be jealous that i wasn't a part of the big musical numbers. so that's not happening.  guess i'll have to keep praying, learning, and practicing responding like a grown up..

a quick plug for a book that is helping me:

Mom Connection by Tracey Bianchi:   my favorite tips from her- eat simple dinner on the porch one night a week to  see the neighbors, chat with the dog owners, etc.    Another one- when you're in tears or about to lose it, listen to yourself and stop. put the kids in the crib or their room and take 5 minutes to recover.  helpful for me to silence the guilt of taking a mom timeout. 

enjoy your own difficult but amazing days.  bedtime is not that many hours away, right?

birthday outfit recycle

here's a quick idea for recycling a cute but used birthday outfit.  first birthdays are all about the birthday boy or girl trying their first cake with lots of pictures right?  a friend handed down this cute onesie. but it had a few spots on the front my re-washing didn't get out.  Harry's birthday theme was shake, rattle, and roll so i decided some felt music notes could fix the stain and fit the theme. 

previously worn with love

I pulled out the Heat n Bond Fusible webbing and traced a few notes.  I used lightweight because that's what i had but next time i'd grab one of their heavier weight products to make them stick longer.  (i didn't have time to stitch them down.)  by party's end the felt was starting to pop.  but back to the outfit...

drawing notes on the webbing backing paper

If you're not familiar with fusible webbing, it is super easy to applique things onto outfits.  You need an iron, fusible webbing and fabric. trace the design backwards on the paper backing.

Here's the finished product:

harry's first birthday music onesie outfit

the spills began only a little way into the party. as you can see harry is now obsessed with watermelon. yes he wants the whole chunk and eats right down to the rind.

watermelon birthday boy

i knew the outfit was a goner when the chocolate musical note cake came out.  but letting him get messy is part of the fun for me in birthday number one.

first birthday cake

i snapped a quick after photo before tossing the special outfit in the trash.  no need to launder this one! glad we got to enjoy it for harry's special day.

birthday onesie post cake and watermelon

harry turns one

our youngest oak park baby is one!  

we celebrated on a lovely friday afternoon...seriously the weather was 82 degrees after days in the hundreds.

how many fingers old am I?

Harry loves music and always stops to listen to new tunes.  So we decided to shake, rattle and roll with an ice cream social for his birthday party. 

harry took two good naps and was ready to party when friends, family and neighbors arrived.

ready for my first birthday

friends and family arrived at 3:30 for the backyard bash.

grandpa chuck and grandma carole

Here are a few highlights if you missed it:  we created a shoe free baby zone in the shade.  it was cute how many big kids wanted to sit and play with the simple toys we brought outside.

in the baby zone

The ice cream lines were short thanks to the excellent service of greg and andy.  

jude and annabelle enjoy their cones.  notice all the blue waters

This fabulous kids water turned out to be the hit of the party.  the crayola water is blue and berry flavored.  but the grown-ups like that it was sugar free. another bonus- it costs less than $2 for eight bottles at aldi.

We had a busy day preparing for the party.  Thanks to Greg for taking several hours off in the morning to help the setup.  We managed to pause for a second during the festivities and get a picture.

proud mom and dad

for three years i stored the candle from jude's first birthday cake in our dining room drawer. jude was thrilled to have a chance to put it on his little brother's cake.

birthday brothers share a candle

but harry was not very interested in the whole cake and candles routine.

After a few finger licks with frosting he got down to business.

You can see the sugar rush setting in, or perhaps its birthday joy? nah...sugar rush for sure. but very cute either way!

first birthday first cake consumed all by myself

after the friends and neighbors said their goodbyes, we had a nice time opening gifts with grandma carole and grandpa chuck, uncle todd, grandpa scott, aunt jan and uncle burt.  i say we, but harry was pretty uninterested in the gifts.

birthday presents

grandma carole got the same card for harry that she gave jude 3 years ago. fun!

thanks to all the friends, family and neighbors who sent well wishes or came by for harry's festivities. he did great and this was the happy one year old at the end of his day.

older and wiser?

the birthday photo

family tradition- our annual birthday photo at-the-time-you-were-born- 4:57pm July 19th-  Harry turns one!
In this photo Jude is four. George is 11.