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Most of the second half of August has rushed past in a very temperamental weather range, and I didn't manage to get a daily photo every day... but here goes!  (excuse the raw photos, with a head full of a cold I simply haven't had the energy to crop or fix any.  *le sigh*!)

18-19 August: Getting the last few 'wears' out of the green kimono top.   And check out that fat cloth nappy bum!  Love it!

 20 August - off to a friend's engagement party (and celebrating us Shorty parents being married for 6 years ... where did that time go!).  The little hoodie is a Squidgyums one, it's very sweet but sadly not made for bigger-than-average heads!  It is a size 2 but we still had to perform an episiotomy of sorts to fit it over his head. 

 21 August... and it was that much effort to get it on that we left it on for another day.

 22-24 August oooh spooky shot!  We enjoyed the odd bit of sun but it was still fuh-reezing outside, so the cable knit grey cardy got lots of wear and the little kiddo stayed nice and warm.

 25 August: The little kimono top.  Paired with some matching natural coloured pants and it was like a little lounge suit.  Lovin' it!

26 August... now where is the picture of the stripy Suz jersey?!  Gahh!!

 27 August: Ooh I do love Hipstamatic prints from the iPhone app!!
This is a bib I found during my 40 bags in 40 days challenge - a little imba bib tucked down the back of the wee guy's wardrobe!  I love that it's so close to cow print...

 28 August: and another app I love: Instagram!  Chowing down a lovely Cruskit with a little retro bib - I just had to try and capture it with a retro-look/feel shot.  Love that blonde hair and those gorgeous cheeks!

 29 August: We rocked the chocolate brown overalls mostly, and lots of bibs (including this brand-newie dribble bibble with rubber duckie flannel!).  Then lots of spilling happened, along with plenty of outfit changes.  Hmm.  Maybe too soon to take him off the reflux medication?  I hope not!

30 August: and still more outfit changes.  A bit more of the green cardy (which is just delicious but I'm sure he'll hate me later for putting it on him!) and a lot more of blanket changes, bib changes... groan.

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12 August: no photos.  Was just another nappies and bibs day, nothing exciting.

 13 August: the stripy set from Suz's mum.  The weather was turning a fair bit so it was definitely wrap-up-warm (and matching!) climes.

14 August: Before the snow arrived... just for a change I put the kid in a teddy bear suit for church (drove all the young'uns nuts with cute overload I think) and bibs from goshorty.  We were visiting our friend's new little puppy Gizmo, she is a little bichon/tibetan spaniel and cute as a button so I think he was a bit worn out from some cute-overload himself!  

 14/15 August: SNOW!  I have been SUPER excited about it!  30 years living in this city and there has NEVER been snow that has actually settled on the ground in that time.  We had HEAPS.  So the knitted hoodie and orange beanie came in handy for checking out the white stuff.  While the new kid napped, we took his older brother out and made Roman the Snowman - Mr Shorty lived in the USA during the blizzard of 1995 so he was our resident pro.  (and remarkably unfazed by the snow.  bah humbug I say!)

 16 August: While big fat snowflakes fell down outside we stayed close to the window and checked it out!  Handmade stuff for the day was the hoodie, bibs, nappies, blah blah blah.  Not as excited about PHB because outside it was SNOWING!!!

17 August: Cabin fever had well and truly set in, and we were a bit over being indoors for long, long days.  So to mix it up I pulled out a pair of blue overalls (with an old-school hand-embroidered horse-with-straw-hat panel on the front) for Project Handmade Baby.

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August so far...

 1 August: my first crochet effort!  I've since learnt that what I thought was an 'hdc' stitch I was doing was actually 'sc' so this hat ended up a bit, well, munted.  But I love the little monkey hat and am working on some more little crochet things now that I know how!  Also in the pic are the handmade bib, dolly and blanket.

 2 August: Dribble bibble with monkey muslin

 3 August: Charcoal grey cable knit cardigan and matching beanie, knitted by my mother-in-law for the wee guy.

 4 August: the matching stripy beanie which was knitted with leftover wool from this cardy I knitted while pregnant and not sure if I was having a blue or pink baby.  It's miles too big even now!

 5-7 August ... the weekend of the fever.  Poor kid was bouncing between 38-40deg temperatures and he spent the weekend in nappy and muslin, and little more.

 8 August: nappies galore!

 9 August: these are some little slippers knitted by the boys' great-grandmother, they now have a couple of pairs each and in lots of beautiful colours!  And she must know how fussy I am, they are all in 100% wool.  Thanks Grandma!

 10 August: still not feeling too well (hence the dummy, I think it soothes his poor sore throat) we headed out to visit friends and kept the little head warm with the monkey beanie.  and the Dr Seuss bib caught a bit of the baby chuck.  poor little kid doesn't respond well to the new drugs.

11 August: handmade galore!  monkey beanie, brown overalls and cowpokes kimono.

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31 July - another day hanging out in the chocolate brown overalls, lined in blue/brown striped NZ merino.
... and I lurve instagram.  The old-school look and feel warms the cockles of me heart!

Pimp My Noticeboard

Item #2 in the 'Pimp My...' series: my noticeboard!

I love this material.  It's light cotton, a beautiful print that I love, and if I was material I would marry it. 

So one of the lovely projects I've enjoyed doing is pimping my noticeboard:

Pretty new noticeboard!  Love!!!

 I cut it to size and glued under and over the material with Mod Podge to attach it securely to the corkboard.  I also had some lovely clear, purple and dark raspberry pink drawing pins that coordinate so well with it!  Love it.  I had ideas that it would be an inspiration board, but I found I had more inspiration 'stuff' than space and it was swamping the pretty fabric.  So for now it's just a here's-that-voucher and there's-a-cute-pic board.

And a gift from my brother - a medallion of St Gerard, the patron saint of mothers, particularly those with tough pregnancies.  He gave it to me when I was in hospital early in the third trimester with Mr T, and I really treasure it.  If it's not around my neck, it's on my noticeboard.

Five Loves #2

After last week's Five Loves effort (linking to Paisley Jade) I noticed the positive effect doing Five Loves had on my daily life.  I notice the 'little things' more and it maketh this mama smile.



So here goes!  Five things I'm loving this week:

 Mini tracing cars.  $10 Buy Now set from Trade Me.  Mr T loves lining them up and letting them go all at once, or staggered like his Nanna does.. it even gets The Excited Dance!  (big seal of approval in our house)

 Organic cotton bib - I made 2 megamess bibs from a fat quarter ordered from Sew Pretty.  Looove it. 

 Another $10 Trade Me purchase.  LaFawnduh is hanging out in her new stroller and I love that my 2 year old SON loves to push her around.  Boys can play with dolls too.  So there.  (Just that she will be pushed around in the stroller and hugged more, but dressed up and re-dressed less than if I had a daughter I think!)

 My crochet hook!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have been confidently 'hooking' for a week now, I love it!!

 Good magazine.  It's really good.
I only discovered it 2 issues ago and I love it more than YH&G for homely advice.  Less gloss, more sound advice.  'sgood.

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Almost the rest of July ... and I'm realising that I've missed a few PHB items, argh!  There is a little lime green and aqua blue beanie which has been on PH Baby's head half a dozen times this month but I haven't managed to get a photo of it yet?!

So... almost the rest of July goes like this: every day was pocket nappies (no pictures 'cause it was too cold to capture!) and bibs, and the rest:

 23 July: bibs galore!  A friend loaned me a Bumbo seat as I was thinking of buying one - good thing I didn't as it's great for all of 2 minutes before Mr B starts sliding around, leaning one side then the other, arching his back and getting a right little grizzle on.  (I love this little face!  Also looking at that slightly spiky hair at the back, it looks like he might be like his big brother and have a Mini-hawk where despite all efforts it still sticks up in the middle.  Lovin' it!)

 24 July: Brrr, a chilly day calls for some lovely JK snowbaby merino, a thick cotton Country Road jumpsuit, and the beanie crocheted by Ches.  (PS Ches, Mum gave me a crochet lesson!  You're right, it's so portable and quick!)

 25 July: lots of bibs, the chocolate brown overalls, and the blue sideways knitted vest. 

 26 July: the final wearing of the grey hoodie my friend Catherine made.  I say final as he's smiling in the shot, but had a scarlet-faced tantrum while I squished his body around to squeeze him into it.  I think it's bound for storage now!

 27-28 July: It's all a big joke!  Wedged into the highchair again, I forgot to give him a bib but the little cowpokes kimono's 3 layers kept him dry enough.  If you haven't seen them yet, the Mocka highchairs (designer?) are seriously easy to wipe clean - award-winning even - and the tray is nice and big for spreading food around.

 29 July: this lovely pair of booties were knitted by Mr B's great-grandmother.  She made them nice and long thank goodness, so he'll get plenty of wearing time!

 Ummmm... Mum gave me a crochet lesson so I embarked on a new project (more on that later) but as you can see, I had to frog the first attempt as it was going to be miles too big!  FAIL!!

30 July: Doing a bit of IT stuff with Daddy, all snuggled up in the blue pattern-knit hoodie.