Our Biddle is Two!

So Jaxen's 2nd birthday came and went this year...it happened so fast! Unfortunately it was overshadowed by the death of our furry son Stinkemus Pete. But we still had a great time celebrating our big boy! And it helped us to take our minds off our sadness too. Luckily I had started weeks prior to that making some special items to help round out the party for our roly poly 2 year old.

1. Matching shirts for the family. So...they weren't 'matchy matchy' but we definitely all matched the theme. OWLS! Not sure I'd want one as a pet, but they sure do make for cute party decorations! Freezer paper, fabric paint & an iron are all you need to make these cute puppies. I also did this for a baby shower, lots of cute onesies were the result. Y-E-S!


















Jaxen's shirt said 'I HOOT, I TOOT & I'M 2.' My shirt said 'I'M ONE HOOOT MOMMA.' And good ol' dad's shirt said 'SMART OWLS SAY 'WHOM'.' Anyone who knows Jeff knows how appropriate that shirt was for him! The graphics are super easy to make and anyone can do it. I totally ripped this idea off and so can you! Here's the tutorial I followed.

2. Owl Cake & Cupcakes. I wanted Jaxen to have his own cake and I wanted cupcakes for the guests. And of course, I wanted them to be owls.

Now...all the moms out there - if you don't already have a subscription to 'Family Fun' magazine...stop what you are doing, run out and get one immediately! Your cute and 'awe'some future birthday cakes depend on it! I got this cake idea from there and adapted it to what I could find in the store. I hate ordering candies/cookies online just to pay more for shipping than for the actual item. Grrrr!!! Ok...back on task. Jaxen had his own owl cake which he was delighted to eat...that day and for the next 3 days. And all the guests loved the cupcakes.

Sidenote: these called for coconut and I've learned that MOST people do not like shredded coconut. Just saying. Here's how you too can be a cupcake rockstar.






3. Owl garland. These were easy to do but rather tedious. I cut out all the working parts from scrapbook paper I had lying around and hot glued all the pieces together. I then hung them with some twine. They turned out cute...but sadly they ultimately found their final resting place in the trash can. But hey, who can put a value on themed decor??




4. Party favors! Of course a party wouldn't be complete without party favors! I made owl wrapped Hershey bars. Now...these did take the longest to make. But totally worth it! How often do you get to send home chocolates with guests that are magically disguised as cute and lovable owls? Again, I just used paper I had around the house...and some googly eyes I happened to have. My hot glue gun is my best friend!! Until it scalds the skin right off of my fingers and then I curse the day it was invented...and then I love it all over again.


Jaxen seemed to really enjoy having all his favorite people gather and sing in his honor. He politely waited, hands in position, until the end of the Happy Birthday serenade and began to clap very excitedly. He still hasn't blown out candle one, but he doesn't have to! When you're that cute, you can just skip right to the gifts!! He loved all his new toys. So much so that every time we come home now...he runs inside and yelps 'New Toys!'

We had a great time celebrating the 2nd anniversary of the most painful thing I've ever went through....errr, the most joyous day of our life. Happy 2nd Birthday Jaxen!

Ode to a Stinkem Pete

I usually like to put upbeat, funny or handy posts on here...but this one will have to be in remembrance of our wonderful Stinky Pete. His given name was Spartacus but over the years he became Sparky, Stinky Pete, Stinkems, Tink tink, and so on. He loved his people so much and his people loved him. He did everything with us. And now that he's gone, it's just so very hard to put into words how very much we miss him and wish he were with us still.

He was the best dog one could have. He was our best friend and he knew us better than anyone. He kept all of our secrets safe and still loved us despite of all of our flaws. It's so hard to lose a pet, especially when you don't even think of them as a pet. We loved him as if he were Jaxen's brother. We often told Jaxen that Stinky was his older brother...a much furrier brother. I won't drag this on too long because frankly, it's too hard and tears are welling up as I type.

We just hope that Stinky knew how much he was loved and how dearly he will be missed. There is a hole in our hearts and despite today being our less furry son's 2nd birthday, we are a little gloomy. A lot gloomy.


And in honor of Stink, I'd like to share some very special things that we used to do together that will be oh so hard to do now without him.


1. Eat breakfast or any other meal.
He used to finish my milk for me and it became kind of a ritual. He'd eat Jaxen's left overs and devour any crumbs in Jaxen's high chair. He was our furry vacuum cleaner.

2. Go to bed or wake up.
He would fall asleep in his tiny little bed right next to ours every night. But some time in the middle of the night...he'd bounce up on to our bed (unbeknownst to us) and make his way under the covers. He'd curl up right in the crook of my knee and growl if Jeff tried to move him. And in the mornings, as I sat on the side of the bed or at breakfast...he'd come and push on my feet for his morning back rub.

3. Watch TV.
No Pete didn't watch, but he kept us company and curled up as tight as tight could be in my lap and stay with us until the end.

4. Bike rides with Jaxen.
Jaxen would carry Stink's ball and Stinky would run with us for 5 miles or more. He loved bike rides because he could run as fast as he could and take periodic dips in the ponds around the neighborhood.

5. Play ball or tug.
This dog was crazy about balls. If you even said the word ball...he was on 'go.' He loved to play and never got tired. He kept us in shape! And Jaxen loved playing with him too. It kept Jaxen busy!

6. Coming home.
Stinkems would always very excitedly greet us at the door and jump, jump, jump. He loved greeting his daddy at the car door and playing in the yard before dinner. He'd give us kisses all night and hugs galore. He loved us so much and we loved him just as much.

Stinky Pete...we love you. We hope you are somewhere that makes you happy and you have lots of balls and lots of open space to run until you need a cool dip. We love you. We miss you. We will always miss you.

It's Decorate Your Door Time!

Yeah so I promised this post before 4th of July...but hey, things happen! Better late than never. I made this wreath to serve as my 'spring' wreath. I couldn't make it too springy or Jeff would be embarrassed to come home. So I chose a nice blue and cream color scheme.


Here's what you need:
14" Plastifoam Wreath
2 yds Felt (one color)
1 yd Felt (another color)
Ink Pad
Jar Lid (for stamping)
Straight pins
Ribbon

Here's what you do:

Get you a large amount of felt that you will spend hours cutting circles out of. Just kidding! Ok..I'm not kidding. I think I bought about 2 yards of blue and 1 yard of cream felt. I didn't end up using it all, but I wanted to be sure to have enough. I took a lid from my salsa jar to use as my guide. I happened to have this blue ink pad already so it kind of just worked out! I took the lid and stamped blue circles as close together as possible all across the blue felt. I recommend an ink color close to the color of your felt so you don't see the ink on the edges if you don't cut exactly right. Then I started to cut the circles out. I cut and cut and cut and cut. I think I cut around 300 - 350 circles out of the blue felt.

I didn't have a guide for the cream felt, but I just folded it in half and cut out some circles a little larger than the blue circles. This did take me a couple of hours all together...but it isn't as bad as it seams. Just cut on a movie (one you've already seen is probably recommended so you don't miss anything!) and just start cutting. I don't recommend having snacks all around you either. You'll find that you've eaten the whole jar of M&M's by the time you get done cutting if you aren't careful. I'm not saying that's what I did....I'm just sayin'. So I cut out my hundreds of blue felt circles and my handful of cream felt circles a little larger than the blue. I thought I'd make a section that sticks out a little further than the blue and popped, hence the cream!

Once you've got a substantial amount of felt circles cut out...start pinning them onto the wreath! I got a 14" plastifoam wreath from Michael's. They are usually about $5.99...but I always use a 40% off coupon. So now what you do is take the felt circle and fold it in half...and then in half again. Stick a straight pin through the folded corner and pop that bad boy right into the wreath. I pinned them all pretty close together to make sure it looked full. I didn't want to see any of the green wreath between my ruffles. And repeat this until you run out of felt circles or until your wreath is full, which ever happens first. If you run out of circles before your wreath is full...you guessed it, you must cut out more circles! I recommend pinning your larger circles of a different color on first so then you can fill in the rest all around it and complete the rest of your wreath.

After I pinned them all in and ruffled it up a bit, it was a masterpiece! I decided it needed a little something extra so I decided to add a bow beneath my cream circle and I used that same ribbon to hang the wreath. I folded the end of the ribbon and pinned it onto the back of the wreath.

Hang that puppy up and BAM! You are the envy of all your neighbors! Sidenote: After removing my spring wreath after hanging outside for several months...I noticed that it was a hotbed for tiny little pests. Mainly spiders. Yuck! Most of them were dead no doubt from the horrible Florida heat...but still. I don't even want to touch dead spiders. I didn't want to store the wreath with dead bugs on it though. So I took my handy vacuum cleaner and sucked all the yuck off of my beautimus wreath and voila! Brand new again. Just be careful to not suck up one of your felt circles in the vacuum cleaner. I mean, they are only pinned on...not cemented!















I decided to do this same 'motif' for my 4th of July wreath but with regular fabric and squares this time. So I hopped over to Joann's and bought 1/2 yard of red, white & blue fabric (each)....1.5 yards total. I cut 3" squares out of all the colors and did the same routine as above....pinned on fabric in random order until I was tired of pinning. And poof! You have a firework of beautiful patriotic colors bursting from your front door!

Time is of the Essence!

Anyone who has a toddler knows how easy it is for them to make things exponentially harder for you. Little tasks, easy things, chores that used to take minutes.....now take all day. Why? Let's take a glimpse into the few things I accomplish in a day:

1. Loading/Unloading the Dishwasher: First of all, no one LIKES to do this. I personally loathe it. But...someone's gotta do it! Well, that is, if you want a dish to eat out of. Before Jaxen came along I could do this with great skill and make good time. It's an easy thing to do, right? Well...now that Jaxen is quicker than lightning and more curious than any cat known to man...it makes for an interesting chore. As I'm loading, he's unloading. As I'm unloading, he's loading....with toys. Who knew that a pot lid was sooooo interesting? Or a fork? Or a huge knife?? Jaxen thinks anything and everything in the dishwasher is his new favorite toy and he must have them. If you tell him 'NO!' as he goes to grab that breakable coffee mug...it does not hinder him. Rather, it's like the yellow light that we all try to speed through. He just goes for it even faster! So, now this chore that previously took 5-10 minutes can take up to 30 minutes.

2. Makeup/Hair: Ok, I just recently got to where I could do this in less than 10 minutes because you have a limited amount of time to spend on yourself when a toddler is running a muck. But now, he likes to spend this time in the bathroom with me. Good thing, right? Hmm....let me explain. While I'm trying to keep from getting mascara on my cheeks he's turning the bath water on and off, full blast, and placing his hands under the glorious flow of water and spritzing the floor. He's opening all the drawers and cabinets and taking out the rubbing alcohol, mouthwash, and dog shampoo and immediately putting them in his mouth. He's turning on and off the light since he can now reach the switches. He's looking curiously at the toilet...keep a close eye!! Oh and taking your make up from the counter top and wielding it at the glass shower door. Oh...how privacy IS such a luxury!! So...in short, this now takes close to an hour. And everyone who knows me, knows the end result is still always a ponytail.

3. Folding Laundry: Another one of our beloved household conquests. Jaxen loves to throw clothes in the washer. He LOVES to help start the washer and dryer by pushing the buttons. He loves to dip his fingers in the dog's water bowl housed in the laundry room....oh wait. Amidst guarding the mini vacuum, the steamer and the dog bowls....I somehow manage to throw the dry clothes in a hamper. Drag it into the living room and proceed to fold. Well Jaxen likes to 'help.' I fold and fold and stack and stack...and Jaxen comes and ransacks. That rhymed, just saying. He'll grab a pile of the newly folded clothes and run as fast as he can and drop them piece by piece on the floor....where all the dog hair resides. Yay, clean clothes!

4. Doing ANYthing on the Computer: Checking a quick email, putting in that highest bid on eBay, making sure nothing exciting has happened on Facebook without your knowledge...all things that take mere moments, right? Wrong!!! Dare I touch my computer in Jaxen's presence. One of a few things could happen immediately after my palm rests on the mouse:

A. He screams uncontrollably as he is no longer the complete and utter center of my attention.
B. He runs as fast as he can to his room to retrieve as many books as he can carry so that he can throw them at you while you type. Ouch!
C. He screams 'Mickey, Mickey, Mickey!' until you give in and go to DisneyJunior.com to play online episodes for him. My how young they learn!!
D. He grabs the newly installed window blinds and shakes them uncontrollably until you are forced to get up to raise them. He now uses this quick second to run back to your seat and climb up to bang on your keyboard. How he gets YouTube pulled up so quickly is a mystery!
E. He disappears and you hear nothing for an extended amount of time...and then it dawns on you that he is probably now sabotaging something sacred and valuable.

Moral of the story here: save your computer time for when he is contained in his crib and snoring, preferably.

5. Grocery Shopping: Ahh....the dreaded trip to the grocery store. My most hated past time. And that was before I took Jaxen with me. Now I have to come armed with treats, water cup, dog (his woobie, if you will), toy cars, and anything else that may suppress embarrassing screams that are loud enough to make the hair stand up on your neck...three aisles over! Heaven forbid that we get to the store and the 'race car' grocery cart is already taken...this is a tragedy, things of horror films I tell you! You will learn to list your needed grocery items according to how the aisles are arranged in the store to save time. You will practically run down the aisles and grab what you can as you fly by and NEVER, no matter what you do...go down the toddler snack aisle! The rest of your trip will be haunted by loud 'SNACK!!!!' chants as you go down the remainder of the aisles. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE having Jaxen with me all day. He's my traveling companion and pretty much my bestie. He loves me when I have no makeup on, when my crazy hair is down, when the dishes are dirty and piled in the sink, when we share books while I'm on the computer, when he shows me how to really fold laundry and especially when I buy him snacks from the store. You know how I know? He says 'I love you!' And that makes the long day of chores totally worth it!

Dealing with the Dirt...

As many of you know...we were recently tasked with the huge project of getting our front yard ready for new sod. Those of you who have done this before, realize it's a daunting task. I now realize why people pay others to do this for them! It was absolutely brutal! And to top it off...we had to do it with a toddler on the prowl. This is our hideous yard from before:

He wants to be in the thick of things, you know. If you are raking, he thinks 'I want to rake.' If you are bagging dead grass, he thinks 'I want to bag dead grass.' If you are covered in dirt, he thinks ' I want to be covered in dirt.' Oh wait...he already is!

The bad thing about tilling up your front yard is...you and everything you own is now covered in dirt. Dirty dirt. The kind that you have to shower to get off. And even then....it is embedded in your nails and you still look dirty! It sticks to you like it's part of your skin! Well Jaxen didn't seem to mind this at all. Here's our dirt galaxy...after bagging over 20 bags of crud and leveling it out a million times:

Jaxen LOVES...L.O.V.E.S....double heart...thump thump thump...being outside. So if you are outside working in the yard...Jaxen is in heaven! Especially since you are trying to get something done and can't chase after his every move. Well when you have to work in the front yard...it's a harder task since the street and passing cars are now a factor. Jaxen thinks its real fun to run fast as he can toward the street as you barrel toward him yelling his name. This is a treat!

He also loves to frolic through the huge piles of dirt and grass you have gathered in multiple spots. Let's see how much we can cram in our mouth before mommy or daddy get wind of it!

Jaxen likes to stand right in front of or hand on top of the sprinkler head while it sprays away. Giggles in delight even.

He likes to pick up the newly laid lava rocks and throw them into the dirt abyss as he yells 'ROCK!' Trying to explain the difference of lava rocks from ordinary rocks is not as easy as it sounds when the person on the receiving end doesn't yet understand what 'those cost money' means yet.

Enclosed in a play pin on the driveway, with no dirt nearby and clean toys to play with.....even then, Jaxen can manage to get filthy. And wet??

Long story short...yes, we got the yard done. We see all of our neighbors with out kids get theirs done in a week or so...but yes, ours took a month or so. But in toddler time, that's a week. Now our yard is a work of art. Beautiful!

So....now the task at hand is trying to explain to your almost two year old why he can't run on this new grass yet! Good luck to all the parents who have yard work to do. I feel...err...felt your pain! Glad it's over!

Potty Training 101

Since I'm home all day and am still changing 3+ diapers a day...I thought I'd look into potty training a bit. I remember before I had a kid I used to tell myself "When my kid turns 1, he's getting on the pot, and that's it." Well apparently it's not that easy!

So I decided to look up 'How to know when your kid is ready to potty train.' And my favorite site babycenter.com gave me some handy dandy tips on how to know when this marvelous way of life would be upon us. Well as it turns out....Jaxen is not ready. So sayeth the babycenter potty training checklist.

What's on this 'how you know' checklist, you ask? Well here we go:

PHYSICAL SIGNS
1. Is coordinated enough to walk, and even run, steadily. Yes, yes and yes. Jaxen sprints most everywhere in the 'you can't catch me' fashion, but it's not real coordinated.

2. Urinates a fair amount at one time. I'm sure he does. However I've never made him pee in a cup and measured it. How would one know the real answer to this???

3. Has regular, well-formed bowel movements at relatively predictable times.
Hmm...I would say a big fat NO to this one. Constipation has plagued Jaxen since day one. Laxatives, prune juice, suppositories...nothing supersedes this kids bowels. The poo does NOT know the password to get out. So when it does manage to 'break free' it's not regular, it's not well-formed and it's never predictable...unless you call a blowout of epic proportions at 6 am every 3-4 months predictable.

4. Has "dry" periods of at least three or four hours, which shows that his bladder muscles are developed enough to hold urine. If I wait 4 hours to change this kids diaper...he'll give new definition of the 'soggy bottom boys' we all loved from O Brother, Where Art Thou?

BEHAVIORAL SIGNS
1. Can sit down quietly in one position for two to five minutes. Hahahahhahahah. Is this a joke???

2. Can pull his pants up and down. Well after I read this...I decided I'd see if Jaxen was able to do this. The short answer is no. The long answer is....after pulling my pants up and down 15 times to demonstrate to Jaxen how it's done...no. He does know how to give himself a wedgie though. Does that count?

3. Dislikes the feeling of wearing a wet or dirty diaper. He dislikes getting his diaper changed...so I'd say he quite enjoys wearing a wet or dirty diaper.

4. Shows interest in others' bathroom habits (wants to watch you go to the bathroom or wear underwear). When he first paid attention to us doing this...he was interested. Now it's old hat and 'nothing to see here.' I think he thinks of it as a mini-moment of freedom. We can't get up to catch him!

5. Gives a physical or verbal sign when he's having a bowel movement such as grunting, squatting, or telling you. How about shaping his body in such a way that only a contortionist could and turning red to only produce a poo-poo pellet as I like to call it?

6. Demonstrates a desire for independence. Only when in public. When we're home he's more like a leach, who has attached himself to my leg for the duration.

7. Takes pride in his accomplishments. Look what I can do Mommy! I can eat the dog food!

8. Isn't resistant to learning to use the toilet. Well if you let him hold a ball while he sits on it, he's good. But what happens when he's 16? Will he still have to hold a ball?

9. Is in a generally cooperative stage, not a negative or contrary one. I don't know ANY 'cooperative' toddlers. I do, however, know some contrary ones!

COGNITIVE SIGNS
1. Can follow simple instructions, such as "go get the toy." He understands them....but does he follow them? Sometimes. And when he gets tired of doing that...he just picks 'the toy' up and wields it at the fireplace. Ahh....love him!

2. Understands the value of putting things where they belong. Value? No. Things 'belong' somewhere?

3. Has words for urine and stool. He doesn't flinch when he pees. Not even when you've just taken off his diaper and are about to put him in the tub...and then he wizzes all along the side of the tub. None the wiser, I tell you. But when he poops...and you're changing him, he usually yells 'Yuck' or 'Fpoo, Fpoo.' So that's progress, right?

4. Understands the physical signals that mean he has to go and can tell you before it happens or even hold it until he has time to get to the potty. Jaxen can't even tell me where he hid my keys...doubt he'll share the deep dark secret of when the poo is coming.

So all in all, I've decided we'll have to wait. But the thought of changing a 3 year old's dirty diaper frightens the heck out of me. This is how life will pay me back for all my 'dirty deeds.' Oh...the irony!!!

It's Make Your Own Art Time!

Sorry for the looonnggg delay between posts. Who knew being at home all day means you will be busier than ever?? Yes, so as many of you know...we are still trying to decorate our house. Well with one less income...it makes this a hard task. Art costs so much money! So...do like I do. Steal ideas and replicate!

We had this ghastly blank wall (hallway) that needed SOMETHING. I mean, it practically mocked me. Here I am supposed to be a creative person...and my walls are bare, naked, so alone! Something had to be done. So...I found this lovely idea online and decided to give it a whirl. So, here's my take:





1. Start by getting your fantastic father to cut up some of his free wood that is taking up space in his garage. He will say yes because he loves you! I got my dad to cut me 12" x 12" boards. And some 8" x 8" ones also (for another project which I finish up with here).




2. Take said wood and sand the edges so that your Palmolive hands won't get any splinters. Yes, those are gardening gloves. Don't hate! Be sure to clean off any sawdusty stuff left on the boards from sanding.






3. Paint the edges of all the boards black (or whatever color you choose). I let this paint dry until the next day's nap time. Besides, I spend time with the hubby at night. And what's the rush? The wall has been bare for this long!

4. I chose some neutralish scrapbook papers that were 12 x 12 to use on some of my boards as well as got some photos printed to 12 x 12. I was only able to get those printed at a scrapbook store. Go figure!


5. Take those lovely papers and photos you've chosen to grace the walls of your home and Mod Podge those puppies. If you are like me when I first starting ripping off ideas...err....finding inspiration from other crafty folks' blogs, you're probably wondering what the heck Mod Podge is! Well, it's a glue and a sealer. All wrapped into one lovely package. You can buy a big jug of it from Michael's for about $8. If you have their trusty 40% off coupon...then you are doing even better! I applied a generous coat of Mod Podge to the board and to the back of my paper using some foam brushes. Then I pressed it down onto the board and positioned it as square as possible...and smoothed it out. No bubbles. Voila!



6. No, you're not done yet. Day 3 naptime: I applied a coat of Mod Podge to the top of the papers to seal them. Once that was dry....(day 4 naptime) I applied another coat of the Mod Podge. Trust me. Wait. Don't glob it all on at once. Do nice even coats.

7. Once that is done and completely dry...you enlist the help of your handy hubby. Have him hang them on the wall since this is not your strong point. LOL And then you get something that looks like this!

Now...back to that little mention I made earlier about the 8" x 8" boards that my father also cut for me. I decided to do something similar for our master bedroom. So you have your 8" x 8" boards...and you have lots of scrapbook papers that coordinate well together, right? Well, what do you do next?

Follow steps 1 - 6 above, but obviously you'll have to cut your 12 x 12 papers down to 8 x 8 using an Xacto Knife and ruler.


7. Now that all of your 8 x 8 boards are Mod Podged, sealed and dry...we are going to take the advice of our 'lovely idea' blog from above and grunge them up. I used some brown acrylic paint...raw umber I think it was. Took an old rag and dabbed some of that brown paint on the corner of it and then rubbed it around on the edges of all the boards. I just kept rubbing it around and taking some off until it looked like something I could live with. Towards the last board or two...I could live with a lot less perfection than when I started. Hah

8. Once that dried...we decided to group all these boards together as one piece but was afraid that it'd be too flat. So we glued on some small cuts of wood (also compliments of dad) to the back of random pieces that had varying thicknesses.




9. After those dried...we glued all the boards to one thin piece of MDF, essentially connecting them all together! Note: We were a little afraid of 8 x 8 wood panels falling on our heads as we blissfully sleep...so we decided to use an air staple gun adhering the boards to the MDF as well. Added security, you know.

10. Again...have the hubbs hang it up and you got a beaut!