High Chair Remodel

A couple of months ago I saw this awesome picture idea in a baby magazine.  The photographer got an old high chair off of Craigslist, painted it, and let the cake fly.  Looking at the picture, I realized that chair seemed a little TOO familiar.  In fact, it appeared to be a cleaned up version of MY old high chair!  So I made my dad unearth my 30 year old chair from the basement.

It was in pretty rough shape--30 years of basement life will do that to you.  I cleaned it several times with Murphy's Oil Soap and made sure all the pieces were tight and it wouldn't fall apart.  I decided not to sand it because the finish appeared to be gone.  Also I figured sanding it probably would be difficult with the design. 

I spray painted the heck out of it... and I'm not sure if I needed more paint (two cans down, more to go?) or I really needed to sand it, but I had small parts of the wood showing through, especially on the detailing.  When it dried after the second coat, I decided to leave it.  One, I didn't want to paint it AGAIN.  Two, I kind of liked that it looked "aged" (as it was old).  Three, I figured it'd take good shots anyway and only someone as picky as me could tell. 

I was right about everything!  Claire took her cake smash photos and looked great in the chair--and hey, bonus!  Now we have a weird, clean, antique high chair if Claire ever wants to play real "house" someday!

Claire Turns One!

Claire at one... adorable photo by Heather Lynn Photography.

 Claire turned one this past Thursday.  We have no idea where this year went, but now I realize all I have to do is blink and she'll be an adult, so I am happy to have such a wonderful year of memories.

One of the better family photos--except my neck is being torn to shreds by Claire's death grip on my necklace!

 We had her party today because on her real birthday, she had a doctor's appointment (and four shots) instead.  We also did a one year photo shoot with Claire last Sunday so we'd have some good photos to show around at her party (or eleven minutes of photos, to be exact).

I love Claire's cute Abby hair bow!  I can't believe she just wore it and left it alone!

Claire has a record of walking five steps.  She was at three all week, and then she really stepped it up last night and would have made it farther than five, but my big feet were in her way.  She's really into feeding herself these days, but not always so handy with her fork and spoon--unless it's sticky she has trouble getting it to her mouth without spilling first.  She also started eating "big kid food" at daycare.  We no longer pack her meals (turns out we never needed too, but apparently the day care thought we were crazy into organics or something and never offered their baby food to us... drat!)

Claire's cake smash photo shoot--I have to post about my chair remodel.  The chair she is in is actually my high chair from when I was a baby!  I had to do a lot to it to make it usable.  Gotta say I like the newfangled ones with dishwasher safe trays, though!

Mmmm CAKE!

For Claire's birthday we decided to go for an Abby Cadabby theme from Sesame Street.  It's her favorite character and even the pediatrician loves the fact we watch the show with her and since the songs and ask questions--she says that's great! (take THAT folks who say I'm wrong for letting her watch!)  But anyway, she really recognizes Abby.  She even took off from playing in her room when she heard the song come on TV once.  We also got all of the Abby party supplies on clearance, and you can't argue with that logic!

Is it strange every time I look at the pictures we took of the cake my hand starts to hurt?  I need to work on my finger strength!

I decorated the Abby cake myself--it wasn't even the cake she was going to eat!!  I used to do cake decorating once upon a time, and my grandmother was an accomplished cake decorator who even made wedding cakes for people.  In my family we have a standard birthday cake that is of her creation with homemade everything (this cake takes like a straight two hours of making--cake by scratch, homemade custard, strawberries, cream, and royal icing and coconut--wow!).  I thought about making it, but I realized she wouldn't have a cake smash with just a slice of cake!  So I'll save that for when she can truly appreciate the deliciousness, and I decorated an Abby cake instead.  More cake for everyone, too, so thank GOODNESS I made this cake!  I've definitely got this one down--my first one looked like Abby had a bit of a tan.  I think I really nailed the colors this time, if I do say so myself.

Claire's special cake for birthday smashing.

It's not a successful birthday until you have cake from head to toe, literally.

Claire on her way to her bath--she grew tired of eating cake and tried to paint the windows instead.

Claire had a lot of wonderful family and friends come to celebrate her first year.  I was overwhelmed (in a good way) by how many people came.  I forget we have friends sometimes with how much we stay home with her, but it's nice to know everyone is still here for us.  I'm hoping as she gets bigger, it'll be easier for us to get out a little more.  Maybe I'm just selfish with my time though, but I can't think of anything better than being around her.  I'm probably the most boring person in the world.

The only present Claire attempted to open.

Matt and I agonized over what gifts to get Claire because we wanted this year to be special.  Well, Matt did console me that really the first birthday is all about parents showing off and not for the kid (true, I think, but at least we did all Claire-centered activities).  Unfortunately Claire's favorite presents ended up being a Sesame Street lunch box holding a DVD, some plastic fish for bath time, and wrapping paper.  After her big nap post-party though she really was exploring the new toys.  We have a teapot, fridge/oven, clock, blocks, shape sorter, puzzles, a sock monkey and this cat thing that I find strangely mesmerizing (and so does Claire, apparently, she's been dragging it around), and she got some other stuffed stuff--including a pug (thrown aside) and an Abby (thrown aside... blast!).  Great Grandma Duckett also got Claire a beautiful diamond cross necklace.  I'm a little jealous, but will keep it safe for her until she's reliable enough to wear a necklace of that caliber! 

Sesame Street lunch box with DVD.  Who'd have guessed she was that excited.

The gifts.

The fish--the big hit from the birthday loot--again... why didn't I think of that!?

She also got a lot of wonderful clothes and her first two pairs of shoes.  I don't care if she can walk or not, she's wearing shoes the next time we go anywhere!  My mom also bought us a new shelf for all of Claire's goodies.  We've been excited about this for a while.  It's a nice way to keep the living room a little neater with her (giant) collection of toys.

Finally, Matt got Claire a 3/4 Strat Hello Kitty guitar.  Granted she can't play it yet, but we're calling it a legacy gift--a gift of "talent" that we'd like to pass down to her.  And as far as talent, guitar playing is a lot cooler than me giving her some crochet hooks and cake decorating tips.  :)

We are just so thankful to have our family and friends--they've been 100% supportive for this first year.  And of course we are thankful for our (not so) little Claire.  She brightens every day and makes us laugh a hundred different ways.  It's been an amazing year, and I miss every minute of it.  But I have so many more minutes to look forward to, it's hard not to be excited about what's to come.  Happy birthday, Claire!

The Owl Hat Saga

Hat on your left is mine, hat on right is Claire's.  The eyes and beak are the same size for both (smaller for the other ages).  I'm jealous of her hat--but I guess if I had a head that small, I wouldn't have enough room for all my "smarts," right? 

Everyone knows I have a serious love for crocheting hats.  Claire is unfortunately at an age where a hat might be wearable or not--meaning she'll rip it off her head if it's not a hat day.  How I long for the days where she was too young to know better!  This hat pattern is from Etsy, where I get most of my patterns.  I love buying patterns because I get them in PDF form usually the same night or day after I order in my email, so I can start work on it right away.  With this hat, however, I waited a bit (I've had this pattern probably since last winter).  I wanted to make a hat for this winter, since owls appear to be all the rage right now. 

I started the hat back in September when I had my surgery.  I figured since I'd be useless and stuck on the couch I could at least make the most of my time by working on something productive that required little thought (I can fall asleep crocheting and not screw up stitches... it's a gift).  Unfortunately, my reasoning skills were a little muddled by the wonderful pain killers, so when I selected a size (1-5+ years... seemed reasonable considering she'd be one this winter and the smaller size was only 6-12 months) I didn't think anything about it and never stopped to say to myself, "Self... does this look Claire-sized to you?"

I made the hat itself minus ear flaps and owl accessories the weekend of my surgery, but everyone knows you can't keep this girl down, so I was back to work on Monday and back to life and I ignored the hat since I didn't need it right away (and I still never thought about the size).  Well, that's a lie.  I put it on her, but with no flaps, it was a little big, but didn't seem huge. 

With our one year photo shoot coming up, I wanted to have the hat for cute shots since I have a thing about making sure those pictures always showcase not only my adorable kid, but also all those adorable things I make for her.  So this past week I sat down and finished the hat.  Then I realized, hey, this is pretty big.  I put it on my head and to my horror, it went right on.  I hoped (at that point Claire was asleep for the night) that somehow she had the same size head as me and I just had a small head, but in the morning I realized that no, she was NOT going to fit in this darn thing--and pictures were only two days away!!

I did check my gauge again just to make sure the error wasn't on my part (it wasn't), so I quickly grabbed the yarn and started to work on the 6-12 size hat.  I was careful because I didn't want TWO huge hats, and again my stitches were spot on, so I didn't have to worry any more that my skills were off.  I finished the hat in a record two days (I stayed up pretty late, I won't lie) and on Sunday for pictures the hat was finished, fit, and was adorable.  And now we have matching owl hats! (trust me, it wasn't intended.  I'm sure I'll wear it, because I too love hats, but I think I'm a little old for a purple owl hat ;)  )

 I have another hat, this time with bubble crochet stitches, that I absolutely am in love with.  It'll be Claire's Christmas present.  This hat was technically a birthday present (oh, we'll wrap it, don't worry).  After that I'm pretty much hatted out for her.  A lot of people keep asking about me making hats--I'd love to, but I'm so worried I won't ever get them finished or they won't be as nice as what they want.  I'm a perfectionist like that, I suppose.  I never really thought my crochet skills were good enough for other people to want!  I have some family who I feel "deserve" hats... I also don't know the resell status of these hats--I buy patterns from some folks who let you sell the work and some folks who won't let you sell them.  I don't see the point, because I find it unfair--I made the darn thing!

I have thought about actually researching this and opening an etsy shop of my own to sell the hats.  I have a gift for a friend's newborn and I just love the hat and would make them all day if I could.  Just don't know what I'd do with all those newborn hats, because I'm not having a ton of babies just to fill them (oh, but if I could... ;)  shhh don't tell Matt!)

 So the short answer is, if you want a hat I'm pretty nervous to make people buy them, but I'll see how the gifts are received first (like if my cousin throws it away?)  and then I'll branch out.  It's gonna be a long winter.  You know I won't be doing anything but hiding under the blanket on the couch anyway. 

Hope you like the owl hats.  A lot of love and percocet went into the first one, just a lot of love in the second one.  It's Claire's birthday today.  I find it fitting to talk hats because the first thing we did was try on all the hats I made last year and I remember thinking how adorable she was and that she was alllll mine... I don't think that thought had anything to do with hats in particular, but she's been our baby doll all year.  In a lot of ways today I felt my heart was breaking because she's not a little baby anymore.  But watching her do real people things and eating real people food and having a personality (and last night she "read" me a book--how sweet!!), has warmed my heart.  I'm a proud momma.  Every milestone is bittersweet, but today I'm trying to remind myself of how many wonderful things we have to look forward to and how many wonderful memories we've made. 

Happy birthday, Baby Claire.  You'll always be my baby, no matter how many birthdays go by!

It's the Great Pumpkin, Claire Bear!

Mommy's Lil Pumpkin

 Today was Claire's first Halloween!  I kept forgetting all day and asking her if she remembered last year... just to have to remind myself of course not, she wasn't born yet!  I'm unfortunately in all sorts of first birthday mode, so I can't remember little details like, uh, it hasn't happened yet!

M-I-Z-Z-O-U!

 Claire was a very important girl for Halloween.  In fact, she had day care to dress for (the "Mommy's Lil' Pumpkin" shirt), a Halloween party this weekend, and of course, the big day itself.  She couldn't be caught wearing the same costume twice, so she dressed up differently every time.  Unfortunately for us, Claire is on the move these days!  She's crawling everywhere (silly me, I thought the grass would stop her), and now she's standing all the time and starting to take steps all on her own!  It sure made taking pictures a real challenge!

...and I'm done posing

 So Claire decided she wanted to wear her MU cheerleader uniform to the party this weekend.  She has cute Mizzou tights from Grandpa Larry and she's had this uniform since... before she was born!  The tiger ears, too!  The taggy blanket is the one I made last spring and her tiger was given to me at my Master's ceremony.  Costume complete! 

Is THIS the Great Pumpkin?

 Claire wears this get up to go to the MU games, which means it's technically an outfit she's already been seen in (gasp!) but we didn't have any good pictures of her all decked out, so we thought this would be a good photo op as well.  Besides, we didn't want to do a reveal on her actual costume early!

She's so curious about everything; it's almost impossible to get her to smile at the camera!

This reminds me of a senior picture pose for some reason

 For real Halloween we didn't actually do any trick-or-treating since Claire can't eat the candy, and I thought it seemed greedy to take her out just to eat all her candy when we got home (oh, we still got candy, don't worry about us!)

Who is outside now??  Are they coming to take my candy away?

 Our first stop was Grandma and Grandpa Duckett's house.  She crawled around their newly remodeled house, enjoying the splendor of their new padded carpet!  I really thought she wouldn't be able to crawl in this costume so I was hoping for good pictures--turns out yes indeed she can crawl as a pumpkin.  Capturing her in it sitting still was impossible!

Peeking out the door for trick-or-treaters!

...and she WORE THE HAT!  For all the trouble I've gone through to make her lovely hats, this cheap thing stayed on her head for a long time.  Rats!  Double rats!  At least it was cute for pictures!

So determined!

The hat disappears--it got too hot for a hat, anyway.

 And Claire even went so far as to show off her newest trick, standing and taking a few steps all on her own.  She's been standing and cruising on furniture for what seems like forever.  But now she's finally been brave enough to try a few steps.  We can't wait for her to really start to walk!

Little steps!

 We also went to visit our Auntie Anne where we got to see trick-or-treaters (which she smiled at).  We couldn't stay too long because it was getting close to bed time, and Claire does NOT let you forget she's getting sleepy!  She really didn't seem to mind the costume, which was impressive since we thought it would be a terror.  She smiled and patted it a lot; I think she liked how shiny it was.  Overall Claire had a pretty fun first Halloween.  I can't wait until she's a little older and can actually trick-or-treat, or at least appreciate all the fun of Halloween! 

Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Carving

This pumpkin is all mine!

 A few weeks ago, we went as a family to pick out our very first pumpkin!  Claire was very excited checking out the pumpkin patch, and even though she probably would have loved to walk away with a huge pumpkin, we went for something a little more Claire-sized.  She also got a mini-pumpkin (not pictured) that she will use in her year one pictures next week.  However, when I tried to explain the jack-o-lantern concept, she was clueless. 

You are NOT going to hurt this pumpkin!

I am just addicted to trying to capture Claire's small, curious, detailed hands. 

I love how she points and examines the smallest details.

It seems so funny that something as simple as a pumpkin can bring her so much joy... and yet... her face just lights up playing with it!

Hold up, hold up.  You're gonna do WHAT to my pumpkin?

 I haven't carved a pumpkin in a long time.  Some of my fondest memories of pumpkins past have been carving them with my family, sprawled out on some newspaper on the kitchen floor.  I was going to go hardcore for our very first Halloween and get a carving kit and use a pattern, but we decided that we should go retro and make our own jack-o-lantern face.  It kind of made sense, since I think Claire would register more with a face than with a whole scary design (although I was quite attracted to the Sesame Street carving kits... maybe next year). 

The mayhem begins... not sure what to think yet.

 So I tried my best to draw a happy face on the pumpkin.  I did all the slicing far away from tiny fingers up on the counter, but Matt helped Claire always keep the action in her sights.  I was so nervous I'd chop my finger off or something right in front of her (that carving kit sounded better all the time, right?).  No humans were injured in the making of this jack-o-lantern, I'm proud to say.

The first handfuls... I realized she could eat the pumpkin, since it's just a squash.  I had a total "oh no" moment before it registered she wasn't going to actually eat it anyway... haha.

Little hand sneaking in for more while Mommy does the "real" dirty work.

I love this photo... both girls looking into their "bowls"

Claire was very concerned about the process. 

 Claire was definitely interested in the process.  She was all about pumpkin scooping.  I was really worried I'd be picking pumpkin off of the both of us for days, but I managed to make it out clean and even with all her playing, she remained pretty clean too.  I just love how much attention she can show now.  She really understood there was something awesome going on.  She watched me and played with pumpkin goo the whole time.  I'm impressed she didn't just grab a chunk and crawl off or something!

She was so interested in what was going on inside Mr. Pumpkin.  I bet next year she'll really get a kick out of pulling out the goo herself!

Wonder what pumpkin tastes like...

Oh man... pumpkin is gross!  (see, I KNEW I wouldn't have to worry about her eating some and choking)

A few times Claire really worried me.  I thought she was going to face plant in goo--or throw the goo and bowl!

Love this shot!

Love these action shots--she certainly had a lot of fun today!

She even knew what to do with the spoon!

I was waiting for her to get a big spoonful and stick it in her mouth, since she knows what spoons are for.  Too bad she already found out that pumpkin isn't tasty!

Mommy and Claire enjoying the goo!

 I don't know why, but for some reason I've been looking forward to this pumpkin carving since she was born.  I have such happy memories of being little myself, watching my own parents clean out our pumpkins and carve them.  It was almost surreal being on the other side of things and being the "pumpkin expert" for Claire.  I've had a lot of "mommy" moments this past year, but this meant a lot to me.  I was even more excited that Claire had so much fun and was so interested in the process.  It's funny how the simple things like carving a pumpkin for our first Halloween could mean so much in the long run, but I'm glad we're making these memories.  After her bath, we lit the pumpkin in the dark bathroom so she could see the result of all our hard work.  She smiled so big and pointed right at it.  I think our happy face was a big hit!  I'm excited to stick him out on the front porch for trick-or-treaters!  Can't wait to do it again next year!

Happy Halloween!