Progress

so we got some cool rubber stuff to put around the trampoline. Like the stuff they have at most parks these days. We put it down last night. Gus loves it, look at him making progress. He only lasts a few moments, but hey we can let go! Love his face in this pic.

Gus is already enjoying the trampoline. I lay him on there while I do yard work and he loves it.

doesn't the stuff look so cushy. Kdiddy's feet just sink into it

this is Gus and his cute new cousin Taya(Sandy and Colby's baby) ain't she a cutie!

I made lots of apricot jam one day last week and this is what Gus did the whole time. We call it his bitter beer face(you know like the old guy on the commercials). He loves to suck on his bottom lip

soccer cheeks

cousin Coco playing soccer

The above two pictures are proof that the kid does have some fat on him. Look at those cheeks:)

Grandma Becky and Gus

somedays the runt doesn't look like a runt! We went to another soccer game. This time it was soooo cold and windy. Gus had at least 6 layers on, poor kid.

the runt

4 month stats

13.2 pounds 15th percentile (thats with his diaper on:)

24 inches 33rd percentile

Luck Of The Irish

My Grandpa Collins was Irish.

That is why this kid brings me such joy and luck.

Gus is lucky because his mommy was right there when he decided to roll all the way over on our kitchen island the other day. I know I said three posts ago that his days on the counter are over, but it is such a convenient diaper changing spot. Luckily I have learned my lesson before someone gets hurt! He looks at me like yep just did that, watch out!!

HAPPY IRISH DAY

check my food blog here later I am making a cake that I have been wanting to make for at least a year. St. Patty's day gave me just the reason to make it. I just pulled it out of the oven, can't wait to frost and cut into it:)

what do you think?

I found a tutorial on how to make the below pictured antique glass insulator pendants. Do they fit the kitchen or not?

or would you buy the ones below from west elm?

or this kind from west elm?

we would hang them here(below)

quiet book ladies

I added a link below my header for the quiet book pages. I will post any new info there. fyi

**one girl dropped so now we have 10 pages instead of 11**

Spring Happenings

you know you are sick when your mother tells you to try a to keep down a Tbsp. of Gatorade every 5 minutes.

while I was doing a little spring body cleanse(having the flu rip through me) kyle and gus were having fun. I hate being sick when it is good weather, why can't I get sick when its yucky outside... oh well. Anyhoo Gus was having a grand ol time outside with his dad. They trimmed the trees together!

I'm 4 months

Hi my name is Augustus Kyle Ballard and I am FOUR months old!

I decided for this months pics I would capture his cute body during and after a bath.

This month little mister you have conquered so many things.

You found your thumb and fingers. Finally! Although you haven't figured out that shoving them to far down your throat will cause you to gag.

You can roll onto your side, like in the pictures above. If you are on a blanket, you can roll onto your belly by rolling off the blanket. You are so close to rolling over!!

You have absolutely mastered the art of grabbing at things. You love to hold all your fun toys that rattle and you especially love bitting on them. You bring everything to your mouth, my hair, your toys, your blankets, anything you can grab.

Sometimes I think you are teething, but every time I check I don't feel anything.

You went on your first vaca this last month to Hawaii and you were such a gem on the 6 hour flight there and back!!

Everyone that sets eyes on you says you are such a little man. One lady in Hawaii said you had such refined features (I agree)!

You love bath time, water, and being outside in this beautiful spring weather!

Your bed time routine is a little unconventional! You don't go to bed until 12 or 12:30 which isn't fun most nights:) You will sleep "most" nights until 6 or 7 then you get your belly full and will sleep until 9 or 10. Hopefully this will change this next month, but only time and you will tell me:)

Two Words.

flu sucks.

QUIET BOOK GROUP

**UPDATE** THERE WILL BE 10 IN THE GROUP NOW ONE OF THE GIRLS DROPPED

I haven't heard back from everyone, but I think we are going to have 11 in the group!! So excited:) I have had some questions on the binding. I left some ideas below.

Summer had a good idea for binding. she said to do a zipper all the way around so nothing falls out!

Below are some pictures of Mary's quiet book. She is the girly that headed our last quiet book group. She did 2 button holes on each page and bound with yarn. You could also buy those silver rings at michaels or any other craft store to bind the book together. Or however you would like to bind your pages you can do it, that is why we are leaving them unbound. We make our own cover and back page as well. She had a neat idea of putting a pocket on the inside cover for snacks, activities, and extra stuff you might have. (pictured below)

Button-closure and two button holes on each page, bound with yarn make it easy to add to the book.

so far I have

Emily-potato head(zipper and velcro) (shoe lace tying)

Mindee-piggy bank (money) (counting)

Nicole-circus monkey (colors)

Andrea- road with cars

Leslie- counting

Summer- elephant that eats peanuts (since we have an adding page already:)

Tara- caterpillar (buttons or snaps) OR moms bag (with misc. items)

Jen

Lindsey

Dallas

QUIET BOOK GROUP

Okay ladies and gents I am putting together a quiet book group. Who wants to join, we want you? (Mindee, Nicole, Lisa, Dallas, Andrea, Summer, Lindsey) you guys already said you wanted to so I am holding you to it!!!

Here are the specifics.

Completion Date: End of April

# of pages: However many girlies sign up will be the number of pages you will need to complete

Rules for the Quiet Book Collaboration:

these are the rules from my last quiet book group (thanks Mary)

1. No criticizing others' work; accept that handmade=imperfect which is perfectly fine.
2. Pages should be 12"x12" unfinished, but please keep the outside 1/2" clear for seams.
3. Pages should be left unbound, allowing participants to put them in the order they prefer. More about binding and covers later...
4. Comment with a brief description (hyperlink photos if you'd like) of two or three pages you could possibly make. Rank them in order of preference. This is to avoid redundancies in the book. We don't want every page to be a velcro activity--boring.
5. I will contact you with your page assignment within a week so we can get started...I can hardly wait! In the meantime, spread the word if you have any friends or family who might want to be involved. This isn't meant to be exclusive.

Recommendations:

1. Use washable, preshrunken fabric like muslin or other woven cotton for the 12"x12" backgrounds(I've used old sheets and pillowcases). Felt is great for the cut pieces and doesn't need to be preshrunken.

PAGE IDEAS

http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/07/quiet-book-templates.html

http://quietbook.blogspot.com/

And it has links to about 20 other blogs that have quiet book pages on them, but you have to look for them on some of the other blogs. Some are religious, some are not. Here's a few links from the main page:
http://naptimejournal.blogspot.com/2009/05/quiet-book-pagesyou-asked-for-them.html

http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/2010/09/quiet-book-makes-its-debut.html

http://theherbfamily.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-quiet-book.html

http://thecraftingchicks.com/?s=quiet+book

http://sewingbelle.blogspot.com/search/label/Felt

http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_query=childrens+quiet+activity+book&search_type=handmade&ref=auto

shhhh.

finally finished my quiet book pages, well its been a week. I was happy with the way they turned out!! My page was a fishing page. I sewed (by hand) four fish out of felt, stuffed there little bellies full of fiberfill, put a washer in their bellies, and hot glued googly eyes on them. I cut a fish bowl out of grey felt, then cut water and a sand bottom out of blue and brown felt. I then attached the water to the bowl. The last step for the bowl was to apply the vinyl to the outside. I made a huge mistake by throwing away the paper backing that comes with the vinyl. The paper allows the vinyl to feed through your sewing machine, so without it the vinyl sticks to the foot of the sewing machine and wont sew. To solve this problemo I cut out MORE bowls using parchment paper then sewed the entire bowl together. The fishing pole is paintbrushes with the bristle snapped off. I heated a needle and made holes at the end of the pole for the fishing line to go through. The worm was created by Kdiddy. He used his fly tying skills to make us those, I used wire cutters to cut off the hook and barb. Then I hot glued those babies on the magnet and I was done. phew:)

Fútbol

we have a wiggle worm on our hands now. I left him for two seconds on the bar and when I came back his little feet were dangling off the counter. I think the days of laying on the counter are over!!

We took Gus to his first soccer game last night. He watched his cousin Colton play. He loved every second of it. It was blasted cold though.

pretty cute

Gus thinks its pretty funny how cute he is:)

Untitled from Emily Wright on Vimeo.