We took advantage of the golden hour at sunset and took some pictures with our babe. He wasn’t very happy about my photo op plans. The thing is, his golden hour is about 3:18 am. Too bad it’s completely dark outside and I can hardly see straight at that hour. Thank goodness we can adapt… even to the hardest situations. Even when yesterday I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed momentarily and shedding some tears alone in the bathroom… there’s still nothing I would rather be doing. Well, sitting on a beach in Mexico sounds heavenly… but taking care of a baby boy that’s entrusted to me is pretty spectacular.
I’m glad to know that my one-handed skills are still very intact since my last baby. The other day Collin had something at night and I made dinner with one hand (grilled cheese sandwiches with a side of blueberries and baby carrots) while bouncing our sweet, yet fussy, Myles in my other arm. Have you ever buttered bread with one hand? Serious talent right there. ; )
I’ve taken a lot of pictures of Myles on his own but I wanted to capture how tiny he is. Whenever Collin is holding him I am startled at how bitty he looks in his arms. Such a little peanut.
I like this journey so far. It’s stretching and thrilling and each day we are learning from each other… figuring this out together. Love you Myles
Do you die at that sleepy babe?!! xoxox0, Lizzy
These days have been a blur… what day is it anyway? My main goal in life right now is teaching Myles when it is day & night. He was completely opposite a couple nights ago and I could’ve sworn I got hit by a train in the blissful hour sleep I got. But despite the zombie-esque swagger in my walk there’s definitely something wonderful about having a baby in our home. Just the overall peace and love he brings… I mean I literally stare at him all day. How is that possible?! He’ll smile when you graze his cheeks or he grasps my finger or hair. He’s very alert and loves to eat… like all day. I’ve gone off dairy since his tummy was really hurting a couple days ago. I’ve done this with all my kids for the first few months. It’s worth it to avoid crying where you can tell it’s their tummy hurting. And seriously that is true love right there… because this girl loves her cheese and cereal. But my girls drink enriched rice milk so I use that. Has anyone else gone on a special diet while nursing? Please share…
Today I wanted to share how to make some of your own chevron and triangle print baby leggings and baby blanket. The baby blanket above was made using a maxi dress that I didn’t want anymore. I cut it to the size that I wanted and then folded and ironed the unfinished edge then sewed a quick seam. It was super easy and I love the bold stripe.
The red and green striped pants below I made using one of his pants as a pattern and sewed two pieces together and added elastic at the waistband. The grey with triangles are leggings I picked up at Target. I sewed the legs to fit 2 inches smaller (they were super wide). The red chevron pants I share the steps of how to make them below.
I made these chevron leggings by starting with the 5 minute leggings steps on Small Fry blog. It started as a skirt from Forever 21 I got on clearance for a few bucks. Since he is so tiny I could get 2 pairs out of the one knit skirt. Then I used my Silhoutte and diecut a pattern from freezer paper. Next, I ironed the shiny side to the pants and painted it white. Last peel off the pants and enjoy your one of a kind pants.
Follow the same steps to make a triangle template for the grey pants below.
If you missed the KNOTTED BABY HAT TUTORIAL click here.
Thanks for reading! Have a great day…! xo, Lizzy
Despite my 5th grade level sewing skills, thanks to Mrs. Thompson for teaching me all I know in Home Ec., there were a couple reason as to why I decided to make some cute stuff for our baby Myles. For one, I had absolutely no baby boy clothes and unless I dressed him up in pink I had to get everything brand new. Yes, I love shopping but not that much shopping… especially for things he’d grow out of quickly.
And the other reason is that there’s not a huge selection of stripes and solids for boys. I’m okay with the occasional truck or dog “I ruff you” but it’s nice to have some basics too.
I started collecting some striped knit fabric & during all the nesting that went down before the baby arrived, I found some clothes I was going to get rid of but would be perfect to reuse.
While this sweet babe is sleeping I wanted to post an easy tutorial for making some knotted baby hats.
For this hat, I used fabric for a maxi skirt that I never wore. I got it on clearance at Forever 21 but it just fit weird so I never wore it. In the end, it was cheaper than buying that color knit at the fabric store. It also has a finished edge so I use that for the bottom of the hat.
I used this knotted hat template for the hat but cut off the bottom dotted line portion because I didn’t want it to fold over. Then sized it down quite a bit to fit an infant. If you use a hat you already have as a template then just add the top part for the knot. That would work just as well.
To get the triangle print:
I used the triangle background Silhouette cut by Loni Stevens and cut it out of Freezer Paper. Next you iron the shiny side onto your fabric. Then paint with fabric or sometimes I use acrylic paint… and peel the paper off. It works like a charm!
Tomorrow I will share the pants and blankets… Thanks to my babelicious model… kisses…
Hey there! Just wanted to pop in and share some of my most recent, favorite photo editing apps you can use on your smart phones, ipads etc. I use them specifically for photos I post to Instagram. Since that’s my social media drug of choice. And, yes, I am addicted.
I shared Part 1 of my fave photo editing tips last summer and thought I would add some to the mix.
AFTERGLOW: (.99) Afterglow has some awesome filters and is super easy to use. But I mainly downloaded it for the shaped frames. There are a bunch to choose from including the above heart, circle, triangle, and geometric shapes. Super fun and much easier then opening up something in photoshop to get the same effect. You can also adjust the size of the frame and have a bit of space to move the photo around inside.
PIC TAP GO: (.99) Pic Tap Go is an app from the masterminds behind Totally Rad Actions that I have been using for… ever. They recently developed a photo editing system in app form which made me think… why didn’t they do this sooner?! But it’s here and that’s all that matters for a photo junkie like myself.
PHOSTER: ($1.99) This is a recent one I found and I love it. The name of the app is Phoster (poster + photo) where they have some cool, modern templates for making your own photos into posters. There are square and portrait options and you change the text in all the posters to customize it to say what you want. Can we also just say how cute my Myles is here!!! sigh…
I mentioned this app last time: PICFX ($1.99) but they have some new, interesting lens flares and light leaks so I thought I’d share.
OTHER FAVORITES:
FOR VIDEO: 8mm is such a rad video app with cool filters that make it look like you’re using an old school 8mm camera.
Rhonna Designs: My spunky friend and amazing designer has some gorgeous and inspiring quotes and phrases. Also, all sorts of overlays and graphics to jazz up your photos! Plus, she’s the best!
Square Ready: Is a great little free app for when you want to share for of the photo then a square and still have a white background or you can change the background to any color.
Bokehful: Another app to add some lens flares and bokeh effects to your pics.
Bubbleframe: A whimsical app where your photo looks like it’s a scrapbook page in a few seconds. Just cute circle frames and chevron and other patterned backgrounds.
View the FAVE PHOTO APPS VOLUME 1 HERE
Connect on Instagram @DearLizzy
xo, Lizzy
He arrived on April 24th at 3:55 pm. Weighing 8 lbs 9 oz and 21″ long.
For each pregnancy in my family we text our guesses for the weight of the baby. I won, of course. Nice to know I still have some mother’s intuition left. ; )
Myles Cassan Kartchner
Cassan- named after my dad who’s in heaven… Myles was probably with him just a few short days ago.
So much to tell you about our little guy’s journey, for now, I just wanted to share his sweet face. I can’t believe he’s here… my angel boy.
Myles latin meaning is soldier… that sealed the deal for Collin as we were debating between a couple options. That… and the fact that it’s a great name to cheer while he’s playing baseball.
Above photos I took a couple days ago when he was 3 days old. It was the first time he was really content and calm so I jumped on that. Look at him. Already such a poser… haha
Thanks so much to everyone comments and wishes on Facebook and Instagram the past few days! Means so much to us!
XO, Lizzy
There’s some fun posts over at Lizzy’s PAPER PARTY for scrapbooking lovers like you. Including video tutorials for tips to make both of these layouts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The past couple days I’ve found myself not quite ready to say goodbye to my baby bump. I know some of you reading this think I am beyond crazy-but it’s true. Besides the first half of pregnancy when I literally want to die. By the second half I actually love being pregnant. It’s funny though how this whole creating a baby thing works. Because suddenly things get progressively more uncomfortable and painful replacing the nervous delivery thoughts with c’mon baby let’s do this! That’s when you start to do crazy things like jumping on the trampoline and drinking castor oil.
Even with the aches and pains. Even with the acid reflex that I’ve slept sitting up. Even with the growing belly and my shrinking wardrobe. (Yes, I wear this shirt every other day… and I will burn it once the baby is born.) Even with the insomnia that leaves me laying awake at night with the soft kicks of my baby. With each movement of his I am reminded of this tiny miracle inside me. I take all the good and the bad and am encircled with such love for being a mother that it’s hard to say goodbye to this baby-bumpalicious chapter. But then begins a new one. With even more hard moments and even more rewarding ones.
The other night in a warm bubble bath with my newly pedicured toes & belly poking out of the bubbles my eyes filled with tears thinking that this could be the last couple days of being pregnant. Possibly ever. Maybe. ; ) I don’t know why this is weighing so heavy on my heart. I told Collin how I can’t believe I am one of those people who enjoys being pregnant. (To the point that my doctor said he would induce me last week but I wanted to wait… he literally thought I was crazy turning that down.) Then that night I had the absolute worst night sleep… a combination of a bad, lingering cold plus pregnancy congestion that I finally fell asleep when the sun was rising on the couch with my head between a couple cushions while sitting straight up. And you enjoy this Liz?! That was a mean trick. But hey, we have to get so uncomfortable that the delivery begins to sound like a dream. ; )
The past couple weeks or even months feel like a blur to me… I guess even though I’ve been blabbering about this time not ending, in a way, I am also eager for this new chapter to begin. And again you can see how I am indecisive in all areas of my life. haha!
xo, Lizzy
I have shown Lola pictures from my pregnancy app of the baby in a mommy’s tummy but I still think she has no idea what is about to rock her world. Lola will love him, of course!
She is my independent girl. I will ask all the girls to get ready… yelling, “We need to go!” across the house. And Lola is the first one dressed, shoes and even a coat and hat. The coat is upside down and the pants are backwards, but still. She even (pretty much) potty trained herself, such a gift for me! I’m serious too-I can’t take much credit. She just wanted to be like her big sisters. She would have been trained sooner but 3 trips to the potty at Target is a shopping buzz-kill 
so I would put a diaper on her when we went out. I guess I was the one who wasn’t ready to be potty trained. But now we are. And we are crossing our fingers that she keeps moving forward.
The baby boy is still cooking in my tummy. This Friday is my due date but a little bird told me he will be here before then. eeeek!
My sisters and mom put together a rain theme celebration for our baby boy. My growing/kicking/keeping me up all night baby boy and I definitely felt loved and supported by the lovely women in our lives.
The rain theme was cute for the shower and she made darling decor to go with it.
Including a rain drop cloud pillow below. Cloud tissue paper puffs with rain drops sewn and hanging down. Guests wrote their name suggestions on the rain drop. We all know I’ve needed all the help I can get with that.
There was a Baby trivia game my sister in law, Allison, put together. The winners got some fun prizes.
The brunch menu was delectable… but that’s no surprise because my sister Camille always goes above and beyond!
\
We didn’t get a pic of the whole group but managed to snag this one with Avery’s six year old photo skills!
xo, Lizzy
Yesterday I got some great news from the doctor about the progression of baby boy’s arrival… Let’s just say next week I’ll (most likely) be holding him. Which makes me freak out and do the happy dance at the same time. Although my dance moves are pretty awkward right now so don’t even picture that for your own sake.
I still need to get lots of stuff for him. But I’m picky because some of the boy stuff out there are dang cheesey! Here are some of my favorite things I found today browsing online. And I was browsing online sick in bed with my laptop. Pregnant with a cold… not cool! Actually it does force me to relax… and do some retail therapy.
Instead of staying up late at night trying to figure out a boy’s name for our little guy who’s due… let’s see, T minus 13 days, Collin and I sit side by side looking at Pinterest and getting camper renovation ideas. For some crazy-awesome reason we thought this was a good time to buy a camper and renovate it. Something we’ve been wanting to do for years. Well, Friday we picked up our new home on wheels and spent every spare second over the weekend working on it. We got tons done. Or… ummm… Collin got tons done. But I am so excited! This crazy idea is going to be the source of insanely fun ‘glamping’ memories. I can’t wait! Here’s some dreamy campers I saw online and posted some of our process below.
Lots of helpers if you count Tuque-who is great at watching paint dry. Quincey is very skilled at painting herself and everything in sight. Nothing is safe.
Can’t wait!
All photos via Pinterest
