Lauren's 3rd Birthday Party...

The birthday party went very well yesterday and I think everyone had a great time. The theme was Ni Hao Kai-lan and I had lots of fun making all the decorations. I used the printables section on the Nick Jr. website to make the lantern cut-outs for the banner and the cut-outs for the hanging lanterns...

The Martha Stewart tissue balls are super easy to make and really went well with the little lanterns...



I also made this bean bag toss game with patterns from the Nick Jr website. The bean bags are felt and assembled with fabric glue...


The game was a hit with the kids and they had fun tossing the bean bags and selecting a prize...



We borrowed the bounce house from my brother (it was a Costco purchase years ago). It's smaller than a regular one and the perfect size for toddlers. Lauren loved it...








I topped the cake with Kai-lan figures and fondant flowers...

Lauren was so funny while we were singing Happy Birthday. She just stood there with her hands behind her back while everyone sang. Here's a little video...



After everyone left we opened the gifts and she had a blast playing with everything...




Here's all the wonderful gifts she got. No duplicates and everything is great!


Here's a shot of the stuff from the goodie bags I put together. I made little Kai-lan coloring books and got some plastic tubes for crayon carriers. Also, I found Kai-lan beach balls, which I thought were pretty cute. I didn't want to use candy, so we added Goldfish and Yogobites.


I would say all in all, it was a big success. As soon as everyone left and the gifts were opened, Lauren and I collapsed in the chair for a much needed nap!

Next project and a creative train ride...

I already have my next sewing project lined up. I used to sew a lot of clothes for myself and I've been wanting to make a dress for Lauren. I wish I was the kind of sewer who can pull a dress out of her closet and make a new pattern based on that, but that's not happening here! I'm making the peasant dress on this pattern (view A).


I'm using the pink for the top, then the print for the first ruffle, the blue for the second ruffle and then the print again for the bottom ruffle...


I need to pre-wash the fabric, then I'm good to go.

By the way, here's a little video of Lauren from tonight...

Notebook Makeover...

Now that I have my sewing machine set up in my craft room, I've totally been in the mood for making little projects. I'm starting out small and will eventually work my way back up to larger projects some day. Since I made that cute little skirt for Lauren, I've been itching to make something else.

Following Vanessa's tutorial at V & Co. I made a cute cover for these thrifty, but not so cute, composition books.


Don't you think it turned out cute? She uses a ponytail holder for the elastic band that hooks around the button.


I used coordinating, solid fabric for the inside...


and just happened to have a button that matched perfectly...


I'm so happy with it and will feel much better carrying this cute notebook around for jotting down lists and notes. I've been feeling so scattered lately and I find it helps a lot to jot things down instead of having to remember everything.

Pigtails and bed-time...

Saturday morning we tried pigtails for the very first time and they looked SO cute. She loved it and kept them in all day. She spent some time in the bathroom mirror checking herself out...



It was beautiful here on Saturday (about 74 degrees) and we spent some time at an outdoor shopping area nearby that has a great kids play area. Here's Lauren after she ate her own ice cream sundae then kidnapped my shake...


That evening we took the railing off her crib and put on a new toddler bed comforter set from Target. It came with the fitted sheet, flat sheet, pillowcase and comforter all for $23 on sale.


We had made a big deal all day about Lauren having a big girl bed and having her sleep in there all night. We've been having trouble with bedtime, so needless to say, this big smile didn't last long...


Our usual routine has been to read books with her in my lap on the chair. After reading, it's lights out and music on. I've been holding her until she falls asleep and then transferring her to the crib. Trouble has been that she wakes up when I try to put her down in the crib and then she clings on for dear life. It takes at least two attempts to get her down, then when she wakes up (around 2am or so) she comes in bed with us. I know, VERY bad habits. All I can say is that I couldn't bare to just put her in the crib when we first got home...it just never felt right.

Saturday night and last night she went straight into the bed and we read books with me sitting on the floor next to the bed. Once the lights were out and music was on, I sat there with her until she feel asleep. The hard part came the first night when she woke up in the middle of the night and realized that she wasn't coming into bed to snuggle with me. By the time I got to her room she was already at the door ready to walk to our room. I picked her up and brought her back to her bed to tuck her in and she didn't like that one little bit. She cried and screamed and I ended up sitting with her for at least an hour before I could get her back to sleep. The last two nights have been REALLY hard, but I'm going to press on. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Productive day...

Inspired by the sewing and craft blogs on my sidebar, I made a birthday outfit for Lauren's Kai-lan party at the end of March. I repurposed a $5.00 t-shirt from Walmart to make the skirt and borrowed some clip-art off the web for the iron-on. I think it turned out darn cute...



Here's a couple of pics I posted on Facebook, but didn't post here. They are from Saturday afternoon...I told her to give me a cheesecake smile and I certainly got one!

This and that...

I've been off work for four days and we had a great weekend. It's back to work tomorrow, but at least it's just a three day work week!

We got Lauren's bangs trimmed on the eve of CNY. I think she looks a little older with bangs. Here she is on Valentine's Day morning...


Her hair is finally starting to grow in on the sides. It took a full year to go from the super short cut she had in China to this...


My super splurge for Lauren's b-day next month just arrived today. Kai-Lan is the theme and these plates just came out and only a couple of places on the web carry them. I wanted the plates and tablecovers and finding them both in stock at the same time was a chore. I was checking the party web site every morning and finally they were both available...


I'm making most of the decorations myself. Thank God for the Nick Jr. website and all their printable crafts. Here's a sneak peak of what I have planned...

Happy Chinese New Year!

We had family and a couple of friends over for dinner to celebrate CNY. It was a really nice night and I wanted to share some pics.

We picked up some decorations at a Chinese supermarket. For you locals, it was Mekong Plaza at Dobson & Main. It was just like being back in China...the smells, the food, etc. They had lots of fun New Year decorations.





Here's Lauren with Uncle Jim and Josh...


Lauren wore an outfit we brought back from China. It was different than anything else we saw there. It's cotton instead of silk brocade and has a really cute print...



On the menu for dinner was shrimp with white sauce, pea pods and edamame...


kung pao beef...


and sweet & sour chicken...



Here she is showing off her red envelope stash for her piggy bank...


She LOVES having Josh over to play with and he is great with her...


All in all, it was a really nice night! I'm exhausted and ready to hit the sack!