Caterpillar Bug Jars

I created the centerpieces for the four tables in the party room for Olivia's birthday party. I continued the theme and made caterpillar bug jars. Here they are!

If you're interested in a tutorial, check out my crafting blog: Olive's Originals.

Playground on Groundhog's Day

Today was so nice out I decided to take Olivia on a walk down the street to the playground. We've been down there before, but not since the summer when she was a tiny baby. Back then we just sat on a blanket in the grass with some other babies and their mommies. Today was different. We met up with a friend and his mommy and headed straight for the baby swings.

This was her first time on the swings. She was way too little over the summer. She actually really liked it. She hung on like a big girl and kicked her feet back and forth. I don't think she was trying to pump her legs or anything. She was just so excited, and when she's excited, she can't help but move her feet.

After the swings, we checked out the slide.

And finally we went over to the big-kid area. Over there they have some cars that you can "drive" and they rock back and forth. Olivia wasn't sharing the steering wheel, so it was a good thing there were two cars!

I can't believe how warm it has been this winter. If it were like today, I'd have her birthday party outside! I'm sure we'll have more snow by then. But glad we were able to take advantage of the sunshine and warm weather today.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Invitations

Olivia's birthday party invitations went out in the mail yesterday. I'm so pleased with how they turned out.

Since her party theme is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, I decided to make some caterpillar invitations. I think my favorite part might be her cute little thumb prints on the envelopes and in the caterpillar's eyes.

Here is a picture of the supplies you will need:

The paper on the top I created in Microsoft Word. I used the dots from the book as a watermark inside a 3-inch circle text box and added the text myself. Then I printed out enough copies and cut out the circles.

You will also need an assortment of red, green, and yellow card stock, scissors, a fine-tipped Sharpie, red and green stamp pads, envelopes to fit 4-inch circles, glue, and mini brads. I found the mini brads in the scrapbook section of Hobby Lobby.

Here is what the invitations say:

Once I gathered the supplies and created my invitation wording, I got to work.

First, I cut out 3.5-inch circles from the red and green card stock. You will need one red, two dark green, and two light green for each invitation. I used my Cricuit to make them perfect. Then I cut out the circles that I created on the computer. I used scissors for these, so they are a little rustic.

Once I had all the circles cut out, I cut out small ovals out of the yellow card stock. These will be the caterpillar's eyes. I glued them onto the red circle.

After that I left Olivia help. We used a green stamp pad and her cute little thumb to make the centers of the caterpillar's eyes. I made sure the ink was washable and child-safe. And I wiped her hands as soon as we were done. It didn't take very long, and it wasn't as messy as I thought it would be. I think I may have a little crafter on my hands!

When we finished, I decided they needed a little something else. Turns out the caterpillar in the book has a nose. So we used her little thumb and gave our caterpillar a nose too. Here are the faces all finished.

After finishing the faces, glue the printed circles onto the green card stock circles. Make sure to do it in the right order, alternating between dark and light green.

Once the glue has dried, it's time to assemble them. I pushed the mini brads through edges of the cards stock circles and attached them together. I found that taping the brads to the backs of the circles made them a little more durable, since they will be moving when the invitation is opened and closed.

Here is a closeup of each of the four circles.

And here is what they look like assembled and finished. The circles are meant to be swiveled together to fit inside the envelop and then unswiveled to view.

Once we finished the invitations, Olivia and I made the envelopes to go with them.

I took Olivia's cute little thumb again and dipped it into green ink. Then we made the green wings on the butterfly and green circles on the caterpillar. Once those dried, we dipped her thumb in the red ink and made the red wings and red circles. I used the Sharpie to draw on the antennae and little feet.

Now I'm inspired to make some decorations for her party too!

Crawling

It's official. We have a mobile baby. And with that came a lot of changes. It's been a bittersweet couple of days. I'm excited to see her grow and change, but at the same time, she's not a little baby anymore. Because she can now get from place to place (what?? the baby isn't where I left her??) we have to actually baby-proof some of our home. We're not going crazy and baby-proofing the whole house from top to bottom, but there are a few things we need to get done.

One of the first things we did was lower her crib mattress to the lower setting. So sad. I know it will never be on that high position again. She's a big baby now. It's really hard to get her in it now too! I'm so short, I have to stand on my tip toes and bend all the way over. We need some kind of pulley system! :)

Luckily, we foresaw this new mobility and ordered 3 baby gates last weekend. They arrived on Tuesday, and now we need to install them. We are going to corral her in the kitchen/living room downstairs (keeping the dining room, office, half bath and stairs baby free). And then upstairs she will have access to her room and our room. But a gate will keep her out of the bathroom, the craft room and the top of the stairs.

I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the bird. I knew we needed to get a new table to put him on. One that has a cabinet to hold all his food/dishes/toys, etc. And the cat brushes and other pet paraphernalia. But it didn't occur to me (until she did it) that if she were to pull up on the table, she is tall enough to stick her cute little baby fingers inside the bottom of his cage. First of all: GROSS! Bird poop! Second, he might bite her. He's a nice bird, but he has been known to bite, especially if you stick our fingers in his cage. He is a bird after all.

So we noticed she was getting ready to start crawling a few days ago. She went after the TV remote on the floor. She crawled a good six inches. When I put the remote 12 inches away, she whined, and then put her head down on the floor in defeat.

Yesterday, however, she crawled from the middle of the living room to the kitchen (a good 15 feet) without so much as a whimper.

We have a plan for baby-proofing the house. And I guess we'll just have to work on it a little at a time as she discovers what she can get into.

Amazing how fast it happened. I was sure she'd never crawl.

Bear Crawl

We've hit a mile stone today.


Olivia officially started bear crawling and scooting around the house. She moved several feet to get Daddy's flip flops. We're in trouble now!

I think it's time to order the baby gates and put in some electric outlet covers.


Pretty soon (like this week) we're going to need to lower her crib mattress too. She hasn't figured out how to go from laying down to pulling herself up, but it is only a matter of time. I'd prefer she learn how to do that AFTER we've lowered the mattress.


Since the weather was so icky today, we decided to meet up with a few of our friends at the library this afternoon. Olivia practiced pulling up on the ballet bar in the infant area--showing off her new skills to her friends and the pretty baby in the mirror.

I'm so glad we have such a great place to go play FREE! And it's nice to get out of the house and play with some of our friends.

Planning Olivia's Birthday--Already!

Time is totally flying by now. In fact, this week I realized that it is time to start planning Olivia's first birthday party. WHAT??? Where did the year go? What is happening to my baby? Pretty soon she'll be a toddler. Unbelievable.

We decided to give Olivia a family pass to the Children's Discovery Museum here in town as her birthday present from us. It will give us lots to do when the weather is crummy, and the programs start at 12 months. Perfect. It worked out that they also have a party room. Her party will be the weekend after her birthday at the Discovery Museum.

I THINK I have settled on a theme. Of course, with it being 6 weeks away, I could still change my mind. Right now I have settled on The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, It was one of my favorite books growing up, and I hope it will be one of Olivia's too.

I've been searching all over for ideas. And there are tons. Adorable cakes, decorations, and even crafts for babies. Yes, I realize I might be going overboard. But she will only turn one once, right?

Again, I'm amazed at how fast this year has gone. To see just how far we've come, here are some photos of then and now.

Christmas 2011

So I finally have a minute to write about Christmas. It was wonderful!

We got a live tree again. This year we couldn't get it from the tree farm and cut it down ourselves. They had some sort of fungus infect their trees, and they didn't really have any good ones this year. Maybe next year. We got our tree at a local nursery. It was beautiful--even though it leaned a little.

Olivia loved the tree. She loved the ornaments and she loved the fact that the cats liked to play underneath it. She even learned how to roll across the room to get to the tree. Of course we put all the breakable ornaments up high so she couldn't reach them. We've been doing that for years because of the cats anyway.

On Christmas eve, we let Olivia open one present, just like us. It was so cute to watch her try to figure out what to do with the present. Once she realized that she could rip the paper, she was all about it.

She got Christmas pajamas! As did the rest of us.

On Christmas morning both YaYa and Grandma came over to open presents. It took FOREVER! Olivia is a very lucky little girl. She received toys, clothes, books, stuffed animals, and more.

 

Olivia was very tired after all the gift giving and receiving. So she took a nap while we made Christmas brunch. We made a BLT Frittata and French Toast Cups with Berries and Cream. We also had mimosas. Once Olivia woke up from her nap, it was time to eat. Except for the mimosas, she tried and loved everything!

After brunch we spent some time playing with Olivia's new toys. She loved the walker her Popeye sent. And the dragon puppet from Mommy and Daddy. The outfits from YaYa, Grandma, and Great Aunt Jenny are so adorable.

Like I said, Olivia is a very lucky little girl. And we are very lucky to have her!

It was a wonderful first Christmas. It turned out almost as perfect as we'd hoped. Almost. It was not a white Christmas. And Santa did not bring Olivia her two front teeth. Or any teeth for that matter.