endless possibilities

Last weekend was a busy one, complete with lots of face time on both sides of the family.  Not only did this make for an occupied (and the thoroughly exhausted) two-year-old at the end of it all, but it also left a bunch of offhand comments ringing in my head ...

Nothing bad, necessarily.

Nothing even all that memorable.

Harmless, probably, to anyone else besides me ...  The (sometimes) over-thinker.

I guess I should just come out and say that, thanks to an array of childhood/adolescent development and psychology classes, I dislike when people project various expectations on my children, benign as they may be ... 

I don't want Malcolm or Pearl to be saddled with labels.

The smart one.

The crazy one.

The active one.

The shy one.

While, at face value, none of these things are bad, I want my kids to see (and know) that they can be whomever they want to be. 

They can be smart, and crazy, and active, and shy if they want to.

There is no "either/or" involved.

I don't want them to hear something about their sibling, and by default, think that it can't possibly apply to them, too.  But, I guess I come by these feelings honestly ...

Coming from a family with three daughters, I don't think I was ever referred to as "pretty" when I was growing up (at least not excessively). I was skinny, freckled, bespectacled, and something of a tomboy. My hair was always on the shorter side, certainly not long and flowing like my middle sister's hair (the one who got the "pretty" label).  I didn't care, though, I somehow had it in my head that I was pretty anyway and, even better, I was smart. That word, smart, would probably be the one I'd throw out there if a psychologist asked me to pick a word to describe myself (pretty would be at the end of the list), but I'd also venture a guess that that's what I heard the most of growing up ...

"Look at Emily, lost in that book. She's such a smart girl."

"Ask Em. I'm sure she'd know the answer to that."

"Emily is getting straight A's again this quarter."

Most compliments from my parents and/or other adults revolved around my brain ...  And while that's just fine (I like being perceived as smart!), I find it very interesting that it's embedded itself into my thinking on into adulthood. When with my sisters, I never feel like the "pretty one." I'm a little more self-conscious and end up secretly wishing I had cooler, more trendy clothes and/or accessories and a better hair cut.

I'm just Emily, the frumpy (but very smart) one.

Which, isn't bad ...  But isn't the whole picture, either!

I truly, truly hope that Malcolm and Pearl do not fall into the same trap and sell themselves short because of what (often well-meaning) people say.  I want them to grow up knowing that they can be whatever they want to be, liking and doing the things that they want to do ... 

They are still so young, with endless possibilities spread out before them. 

I don't want any of those possibilities to disappear before they even have a chance to explore them ...  Especially because of a few offhand comments.

then and now (boppy edition)

Just for fun ...

Then (December 2009):

Now (June 2012):

Where has the time gone?!

hamster time

Remember that song "The Hamster Dance" that was really just a bunch of noise with a dancing beat in the background?

The pajamas that Pearl is sporting in today's post totally remind me of it.

Pajamas: Gymboree (thrifted for $0.50)

There's nothing like a bunch of somersaulting hamsters to brighten your day (or night)!

how to make a turtle-shaped diaper cake

My husband's cousin is having her first baby (a boy) in August and is a bit of a turtle enthusiast ...  So, for her shower, I wanted to get creative and make her a turtle-shaped "diaper cake."

As I searched the internet for inspiration, I noticed two things ...

First, although there are many great pictures of finished turtle "cakes," I could not find a free turtle tutorial anywhere.

Second, from reading the descriptions of finished turtle-shaped "cakes" and tutorials that could be purchased, it seemed as if all of them were meant to become keepsakes ... That is, they were held together with glue, ultimately making the diapers and other components unusable.

Since I'm up for a challenge (and I've been feeling crafty lately), I decided to give my own "turtle diaper cake" a try ...  And, in the spirit of practicality, I made sure that all the baby items used to assemble the turtle could later be used by my husband's cousin and her newborn son.

On with the tutorial ...

Making the upper shell: 

Starting with the open end of the diaper, I rolled seven diapers and secured them in the middle with rubber bands.

 

Next I arranged those rolled diapers in a circle (with one diaper in the middle and the remaining six around it) and held that configuration together with another rubber band.

To create the top of the upper shell, I opened and flattened out another diaper and covered the top of the seven rolled diapers.  I used another rubber band to secure it in place.

Next, to give some depth to the shell, I took four more diapers, fully opened them, and then rolled them lengthwise.  I layered and wrapped them around the bottom of rolled diaper shell piece and secured them with a large rubber band.

To complete the upper shell, I opened folded diapers (six in total) and fed them up to the crease under a rubber band that was stretched around the top of the central shell piece.  With the rubber band securing the crease of the inside of the diaper, I folded the rest of the diaper back down.

 

 

Four more diapers (folded lengthwise), were added on top of the original ring of folded diapers to help "pad" the very bottom of the shell even more and to make it protrude a bit more than the very top ...

 

Once in place, and working in a counter-clockwise fashion, I used the tabs on the diapers to secure them to the central piece, thus completing the upper shell.

 

Making the lower shell (including the head, tail, and feet):

In order to avoid gluing any pieces, I started by taking a basic paper plate and taping three diapers (opened and rolled lengthwise) along the edge ... I played with this a bit, making sure that the final upper shell would sit nicely on top of the plate, with the rolled diapers protruding from below.

 

At the front, I created a large arch with the diaper so that the turtle's head (a styrofoam craft ball wrapped in a baby washcloth and secured with straight pins) could be attached (via safety pins) to the paper plate underneath.

I also secured the tail (a rolled baby washcloth) on the plate opposite of the head.

For the feet, I used four baby socks (stuffed with plastic from some baby socks I had received for Pearl) and secured them with embroidery floss to the plate from below.

Putting it all together:

Lastly, to hold the upper and lower shell pieces together, I embellished the turtle with ribbon and other various craft items (as well as some additional small baby gifts).  This was also useful in covering up any "flaws" or portions that did not look as nice as I would have liked ...

 

 

Overall, I was pretty pleased with my final "turtle diaper cake."  It was fun to try and figure out how to make everything work (and stay together), while creating something that still looked good and was, ultimately, usable.

Definitely a fun little weekend project!

big and little

There are way too many colors and patterns happening ... 

And Pearl looks a little nervous ...

But I love this picture all the same.

As predicted, Malcolm is shaping up to be a great big brother!