Project 1: Dry Erase Weekly Calendar

I'm sitting here, drinking my Monster and feeding Elizabeth scrambled egg, her favorite. I've been going over the layout of this particular blog, changing, editing, etc. I've come to the conclusion that not only will I be writing about Bean and her "accomplishments" but I will now include some sort of craft project. I think this will give my blog more of a purpose. I know, there is a lot of Mama's out there already doing this but I plan to write about the entire ordeal of the project and how I did it... WITH Elizabeth. Hopefully it will give my blog a little more of an "edge" and people will want to read it. :) Specially new Mama's who want to do something other than sit with baby for hours! Don't get me wrong though, anyone is welcome to read! Holla!

If anyone is curious, I now get most my ideas from my Pinterest. If you follow my link it will take you to my page. Go to my board " Tried Out!" and you will probably see different things I've done with Bean over the past few months! 

My Pinterest!
Don't forget to "Follow" me!!!

DRY ERASE WEEKLY CALENDAR

SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED

- Scrapbook Paper
- Collage Frame with at least 7 openings
- Printer with Ink
- Pencil and eraser
- Scissors
- Elmer's glue or glue stick 

- Ruler 

- Dry Erase Pens/ Markers
- Cricut Machine ( Optional)
- Butter Knife ( Optional) 

If your anything like me, you don't have the money or time to just go out and buy a frame, scrapbook paper, etc. to do crafts with! Fortunately for me, it was my birthday and Christmas weeks ago, so I had some extra money! I also already had some scrapbook paper from Christmas gifts I made this year. I'm always sure to pick a project that I have the most supplies for already so I don't have to go out and buy anything. For this project all I ended up having to purchase was the frame; which was on sale ( Brand new!) at Micheal's Arts & Crafts for $10!

I started off making sure I had Bean in a secure spot. Somewhere I could get to her easily yet not worry that she was getting into something she shouldn't be. In this case, it was next to me in her high chair at the dinner table. I have a craft table but when I started the project Bean happened to be in a snacky  mood and the high chair seemed to be a good spot for the time being. This project took me 2 different days to complete. If your significant other is like mine, they're not interested in watching the children and would rather play on the Xbox. The picture above is normally what I see of my husband 90% of the time he is home or awake. As with most children, Bean only lasts a good 15-20 minutes in a confined spot, so I was forced to stop the project and tend to her. Overall, I'd say the entire project took about 45 minutes.

K. So, obviously this picture doesn't show all the supplies you need but make sure before you sit down, you have everything needed, wherever you are. I made the mistake and on top of picking things Elizabeth kept throwing from her high chair, I also kept running and back and forth grabbing a pencil, or scissors.

 Go ahead and pick out 7 sheets of scrapbook paper you'd like to use inside the frame. In my case, I chose 8 cause I had 8 openings. I'm using the extra opening for a " To Do:" area which I plan to point out to my husband each time he comes home. XD

Then grab a ruler and cut out your pieces to however big your opening is. My openings were 4x6's. For some reason, I decided instead of using a ruler ( Which I have!) I used the back of the frame and traced it out on the back of the scrapbook paper and then cut it out. If you do this, make sure it's on the back of the paper; just in case you need to erase or don't cut perfectly.

Again, I'm pretty poor and don't own a Cricut Machine to cut out perfect little letters and shapes. Nor do I have a working printer at the moment. Whoo for being poor and awesome! I had my husband print out some  days off the week at his work. He printed off 3 different types for me so I could choose. I had originally planned on cutting each letter out, and gluing it down but after cutting 3 letters, I found Bean AND myself do not have the patience for that. I ended up just cutting them out in a big rectangle which didn't look to bad! 

I used Elmer's glue to adhere the days of the week onto the scrapbook paper. If you take this route, make sure you don't use to much, specially if you're using cheap printer paper like I did. I'd advise a glue stick if you have one. You don't need a lot, remember your sticking them INSIDE the frame; so they won't be able to come off, as the glass will hold it together. 

This is what I used the butter knife for. I'm a weakling and have NO nails so opening the frame up was pretty difficult for me. 

I did one day of a week at a time and stuck them inside the frame as I went so Bean wouldn't get a hold of one and ruin it before I finished. You don't have too do that, it would probably go faster if you did them all at once then stick them in. It's all up to you! 

When you're all done, make sure you have a spot to put it and that's readable! It's made so you can erase and reuse over and over so you would want it easily accessible! 

This is my finished product!

Ciao!!!

Bebe fever!

Bean spinning in Frank's computer chair .

So now that I'm almost done nursing and will be able to drink again at my own freewill (not that I will or ever did but the thought of being able to is really exciting.) I'm having bebe fever. Go figure. I can't help it. All these new babies were born and Bean isn't a bebe anymore, SHE'S A BIG GIRL!

What my fridge reads most days. 54 degrees INSIDE. NBD.

 It also doesn't help that people keep asking me when Bean #2 is coming. Frank and I have discussed more babies and for sure would like to wait till:
- Elizabeth is out of diapers. I don't want 2 babies pooping their pants. I don't think I could handle that.
- We have a nice, warm, home. One that isn't covered in black mold and preferably more than 2 bedrooms. :|

We definitely want more kids it's just not the time right meow. Of course when Bean decided to come it wasn't the most ideal time.

Not sure if anyone has caught on yet but I normally post a icanhascheeseburger photo that relates to my life in some way. This is how I feel right meow. 

Weaning : present participle of wean (Verb)

Elizabeth: 11 months 

The time has come, the time to wean. A few weeks ago, Elizabeth turned 1 and I had already begun to wean her then. Bean actually started to do it herself. For those of you who don't know, when I say wean, I mean wean from my boobz. Not from a bottle, pacifier, or anything else. Bean never did take a bottle or anything other than my boob; making it really difficult for me to do anything for myself.

I've got a lot of crap from other people about nursing this long. It really disappoints me that people can be so cruel and hateful towards something that is so natural and meant to be. I feel that people who aren't nursing, don't truly understand how hard it is to just stop nursing cold turkey. Elizabeth and I have been gradually taking a feeding out for a few weeks now and she's slowly but surly, moved onto solid foods. I still can't get her to drink much of anything unless it's water. She also hates anything pureed. We now only nurse at night and bedtime which is a huge accomplishment for both me and Bean. Since we've been gradually doing this, it's been easier on myself as well. My warlocks haven't become engorged and sore with milk as much as I feared.

At Elizabeth's 1 year old check up, a day before her birthday, I mentioned to the doctor that I was still nursing but had planned on starting to wean and blah blah blah. Before I could finish my sentence, he had replied with " That is just fine that you're still nursing. Although if your still nursing at age 5, it might be a little embarrassing for Elizabeth."  It really bothers me that just because I'm nursing my daughter at age 1, most people are quick to assume I'm going to do it until shes 5! He wasn't the first one to assume that! She is barely a toddler at this point. Again, I'm just so sad people can be so weirded out over nursing.

Bean climbing over her bean bag

Anyways, Elizabeth is thriving and almost walking completely now. Her record is 6 steps!

As you can see in the picture to your right, I can now put her hair in little piggy tails!

I had made a little play area in the living room for her and instead of buying baby gates to gate her off with, I used bean bags as she couldn't climb over them. That didn't last long. She is now a free roaming 1 year old!

Birthdays!

The 3rd was my 24th Birthday! The 29th was Elizabeth's 1st birthday! 4 days before that it was Jesus' birthday! A day before that, it was Joana's birthday! So. many. birthdays.

My in-law's Christmas tree. :| 

I'll start off with Christmas ( and Joana) since it came first. Joana, who is Frank's sister, gets to enjoy her birthday on Christmas Eve. She takes it rather well. I always hated my birthday being so close to Christmas.

We started off by going to Frank's parent's home Christmas Eve to celebrate there. Dinner was, but of course, full of different foods from the Filipino culture which are pretty common on Frank's side of the family. I had never heard of dishes they regularly have until dating Frank. I've actually really learned to enjoy a few! I know! Me, picky penny!
After dinner, we made our way to the "tree" to open presents. Joana opened up her birthday presents at the same time. For the past few years, Diane ( mother-in-law) has decided not to put up a tree and do something like put up a giant angel instead. I'm not really sure why but I've got a hunch she's done decorating and undecorating trees since she gave us 548957489 ornaments. This was the first time in weeks Elizabeth had actually got to touch a present. I had been telling her "No touch! No touch!" Her first Christmas present opening! She held the present and kept looking at me. Her eyes kept saying " I can rip this apart, Mam? For real?!" She was a little confused at first but Frank helped her and soon it was all fun and no worry about being told "No."

Another Pinterest craft! 

We all were so spoiled, I can't remember what we all got but am totally thankful! We're pretty poor this year and couldn't do presents. Just way to many people in our family. I ended up making chocolate covered pretzels for my co-workers and Frank's side of the family. My Mom always makes these as well and didn't I think people would want double on our side.

We then headed to a dessert my Grandma has been dying for us to go to for years. Her and her neighbors always have a dinner/dessert thing Christmas Eve and I never go. Just more people I have to put on a smile for. By the time we got there ( 10 minute drive) Bean was asleep and I had to wake her up. She was happy to see her Papa and some people she knew but still couldn't cover up the fact it was now past her bed time and she was past the point of "cranky." I had decided to call it a night around 8:30 and go home. Which was literally just up the hill. For those of you who don't know, not only do I live a block away from my parents, I also live a block away from my grandparents. I live basically in between them.

That night, Bean was out for a good few hours, a record for her. Frank was out in a matter of 2 minutes. I was so tired. I could feel my brain turning off but not let me sleep. The whole night. There's something about Christmas morning that gets me so excited, I can't sleep.Ever since I was little. I used to wake up at 3AM to see what Santa brought me in my stocking then sit for hours, waiting for everyone else to wake up so we could open presents. I'm an adult now, with my own child, and still get super excited, but don't get up and lay in bed wishing I could sleep.

Frank and I woke up around 6 to open the few gifts we had got for each other. I was a tad bit more spoiled this year. :) The large present in the picture was mine. An "artists" desk! Which both my parents, and Frank bought me. I ended up returning one for a lovely shopping spree at Michael's Arts & Crafts. 

We made our way up to my parent's home around 7 for an annual silly string fight and present opening. This might of been the last year we head up there that early. Bean didn't like the silly string fight. She clutched to me the entire time and the whole family thought I was using her as a shield  Not true!  
The rest of Christmas was the usual. Went to the grandparents. Had dinner. Blah.

My parent's tree! So many presents! 

Christmas Eve.

Elizabeth's 1st birthday! 

Taking a bite of her cake - she didn't really want too.

I wanted to do something for her birthday so I made party favors out of baby food jars my Grandma gave me. Her cat eats baby food on account of bad liver/kidney problems. Poor kitteh. He eats more baby food than Bean does. Ha ha! 

Final product. I put M&M's on the inside.

Her cake and cupcakes! I didn't make these. 

My parent's got her a little scooter thing. She loves it.

Helping her open presents.