Shoe Monster

Daddy loves shoes and it looks like our little man is going to be competing with with him to see who can own the most pairs. The little bum has yet to arrive and his collection is larger than mine!

I started planning and cutting bits out to make a hanging shoe organizer for the wee man a few months back and let me tell you this was the most frustrating sewing project I've taken on yet. Sewing with this plastic was a royal pain in the butt - my teflon foot worked wonders but the plastic kept sticking to itself and to the plastic casing of my machine: frustrating!!

Frustration aside I'm SUPER happy with the finished project! I love the map print fabric I found at a local fabric store: our little boy is going to stomp all over the world with his sweet little feet.

Now I'm off to make a baby blanket, hopefully I can finish it before the big arrival!

Feelin' the Love!

Isn't this the most beautiful baby shower cake you've ever seen?! It looks like something from Martha Stewart magazine but it's not... it was the gorgeous cake (which matched the invites) at my baby shower yesterday afternoon! Another day of spoilage, this one thanks to my awesome sis-in-law Joanne and my mom-in-law Bridie!

The ladies hosted High Tea with cucumber sandwiches and cheese sandwiches; homemade scones with cream, butter and jam (recipe coming soon); fruit and all sorts of yummy cookies. Of course there was the fabulous cake and adorable cupcakes (with booties on top) as well! Auntie Phil brought the beautiful teacups pictures above.

Thanks to everyone for spoiling our little man! At this rate we really are going to have to move into a bigger house.

Sneak Peek!

The nursery is coming together! Actually it's 98% complete. We took a trip to Ikea last weekend to pick up some shelves and stuff to spice things up in the babe's room and it was a super successful trip. I think the rabbit driving the carrot hook is hilarious - how freaking cute are the little coats hanging from it?! The funky blue shelves match some dressers that we have tucked away for the future "big boy room" so they'll come in handy down the road as well. We were just about out of Ikea when I spotted the two plant pots you see in the first shot; they match the colours in our decal PERFECTLY so I had to buy them. I have no luck keeping plants alive so I bought two that apparently don't need much water; hopefully I manage to keep them alive until the baby sees them... otherwise I'm slamming some fake plants in there.

We've ordered two prints from Etsy (no, not the baby animals) that I'll show you once we have them hanging on the wall. I also made an awesome (I'm so humble, aren't I?) valence for the window which I'll show you once I'm able to get a decent shot of it.

The books on the table next to the turtle lamp are itching to be read; I've picked them up and put them back down at least 20 times now. I know, I know: read to the baby while he's tucked away inside! Yes I could do that but I want to save them for reading while nursing. I was excited to find these at a used book store in town, the owner of the shop said that the red books by Thornton Burgess were his absolute favourite when he was a kid. He has a clear memory of taking a box full of books by Burgess to school for show and tell in grade 3. Who knows, maybe they'll end up being favs of our little guy too. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for more of these gems.

Oh! And I made myself a nursing cover (hooter hider) with boning in it so that I can look down and see the wee man while he eats his million meals a day (here's hoping nursing works out for us) while hiding the ladies from onlookers because well you know people can't get enough of a nursing mother's boobs. hehe. Kidding. The cover is for my comfort, not the comfort of the general public. Like the fabric choice? Me too!

5 weeks and 5 days to go until our due date!!! YIPPEEE!

Spoiled!

Today was AWESOME! My amazingly fantabulous girlfriend Jessy threw me a baby shower. A pile of my favourite ladies and a few sweet little men (under the age of one) + lots of yummy treats including a chocolate peanut butter ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins (this was just the best surprise EVER) + no cheesy games = a perfect shower!!

Thanks, Jess! And thanks ladies for all of the wonderful presents! We were definitely showered with goodies. Sooooo many sweet little outfits and toys and books and... well, just SO many awesome bits!

Two more showers to go... where in the world are we going to put all of this stuff?!

For Moi!

I bought this grey fabric almost two years ago with the plan to make something fabulous with it. Mission accomplished.

I love love LOVE our new diaper bag! The inside is lined with a thin blue vinyl which can be wiped out easily in case of spills - there are five elasticized pockets in there too. Two large pockets are found on the front (see the bottom left photo) and another two are on the outer sides of the bag; finally there is a zippered pocket on the back of the bag that is large enough for a cell phone and a wallet. The strap is adjustable so that it will work for me and Mike too. I think I'll make a travel change pad in grey and blue to match, and maybe some burp cloths too.

I've admired bits made with the reverse applique technique (cutting a hole in your exterior fabric and stitching a pretty fabric in behind to peek through) for ages now but I owe a special thanks to Smidgebox for inspiring the circle on the exterior of my bag - I love her peek-a-boo circles! Check out her blog and definitely check out her shop!

Notice my toes in the bottom right pic? My mom and I went for pedis last weekend and it was a BLISSFUL experience. I purposely included my toes in this pic so that I could admire them since it's a little difficult to do so these days without feeling like I'm going to topple over.

Nesting is in full effect. I can't wait to show you what we've done with the nursery!

The nesting instinct is creeping in and when I'm not curled up in a ball on the couch I'm trying to get some things in order for our little guy. This weekend I finally made use of one of the bib patterns I've had bookmarked FOREVER. Chickpea Studio's pattern is perfect for tiny people and it's free so if you're looking for a pattern check it out.

Here are the bibs I whipped up for our guy, they were a SUPER easy and SUPER quick project.
The girlie bib is part of a shower gift.

The other little bit I made for Smidge is this change pad thanks to Homemade by Jill's easy to follow tutorial. I made some changes which I explain in more detail over at Gingham Skies if you're interested.

I'm looking forward to creating a few other things this weekend. Sewing for baby is the best kind of sewing.

Daddy's First Baby Buys

Dear Smidge,

Your Daddy discovered the wonderful world of online baby shopping last night. I'm afraid. VERY afraid. Your daddy has a slight sneaker addiction (we really should be part owners of Nike) and he was hunting online for shoes for you last night. I think we might have to buy a bigger house so that you and daddy can have your own room just to house sneakers. Fifteen years from now when you want a ridiculously expensive pair of sneakers and Dad is saying NO you can print off this post and stick it under your dad's nose to remind him that he told Mom his son would have the SICKEST shoes ever. Granted he didn't say ALWAYS but he did say EVER.

Daddy did find some sweet duds for you last night in the shop Lowleepop and we can't wait to see you sportin' your new gear this summer!

The only difference is that the green onesie in the set Daddy ordered will have headphones like the white onesie instead of the stereo.

The second thing on your daddy's shopping list is this freaking awesome baby beanie!

We're waiting to hear whether they ship to Canada but assuming I Heart Baby does then you'll have one of these super sweet skull beanies for when you first join us on the outside and another to wear in the fall. ADORABLE!

Oh little man, you are going to be one stylish little dude and Daddy is going to spend a small fortune to make sure of it.

Love you baby boy,
Mommy & Daddy too xoxo

Groovy Tree

The walls are painted and the FANTABULOUS decal we purchased through Bubba & Doodle is up! The colours are more vibrant than they look in this photo but you get the idea:

Yes, each of those cubes is a single decal and yes it took us a little over 2 hours to lay out the design and then get it up on the wall but believe it or not it didn't seem like 2 hours and we actually had fun doing it! We used the photo on Bubba & Doodle's etsy site as a guide which saved us a lot of time and frustration. Jennifer (owner of the shop) was awesome and super patient with me and my 8.9999 million questions. We were excited about the decal before it was on the wall and agree that it looks even better than we had hoped it would.

There's Mike resting in our new glider/recliner in the shade of our cube tree. Now the decal hunt continues... we want another one for the wall behind Smidge's crib - no danger of it crashing down on him while he sleeps. Stay tuned!

Prezzies for Smidgie

I thought I had posted this already but a quick look through the blog showed that clearly I thought wrong!

On the evening of the big reveal we made a stop at Smidge's Granny and Grandad's house to tell them the news and my fabulous mother-in-law pulled out these adorable handcrafted bits just moments after being told she has a new grandson on the way. Of course she was well prepared and had tiny bows ready to attach had Smidge been a girl.


Yes our baby will be wearing cashmere hats and booties come fall... and there's a beautiful tiny sweater to go with the blue set, I'll share once the buttons have been added.

On the weekend my girlfriend Jess gave us a tiny pair of Robeez for Smidge to enjoy. Everyone knows that Robeez are the best baby slippers: the little nuts can't kick them off. I love these little funky monsters!

Can't wait to see them on Smidge's mini feet.

Today a colleague and friend handed me a congratulations gift. I knew we would end up with some of these adorable Pee Pee Teepees eventually. These kill me, so funny and cute!
How well will the teepees actually work? I'm guessing there's a good chance they'll only do the trick if we have lightening fast reflexes but I'm willing to be peed on in order to test my theory.

Smidge is one lucky little man, lots of fabulous gifts and he's not even on the outside yet!

Smidge on the Move

I'm feeling Smidge move more and more, he loves the sound of Daddy's voice and seems to like driving in the car. Mike has felt him twice now, once tonight. I wish I had had a camera the first time he felt belly movement, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. It won't be long now before we'll be feeling him on the outside more often.

After months of research and "test driving/folding/clicking/wrestling" we've decided on a travel system for our wee man. We're going with the oh so fabulous Baby Jogger City Elite. This puppy is super awesome. My favourite part is the fact that to fold it all you have to do is grab a strap and lift: perfecto!

There are a pile of other perks: magnetic closures on the peek-a-boo windows found on the shade so we don't have to worry about waking Smidge up with the awful sound of velcro, a hand operated brake, a shade that's longer than most, a cushy seat that lays back nearly flat for our tiny peanut when snoozing and just three wheels which make it uber easy to maneuver. We're going with the green:



A car seat adapter is an optional accessory that we are adding to the mix so that we can use a snap and go car seat when shopping while Smidge is small enough to fit in one. Another accessory is the bassinet/pram seen below. The car seat is great while running errands but it's not ideal for lengthy walks so we are looking at getting the bassinet so that a) Smidge can face us while we are walking and b) he can lay out flat. Of course the bonus is that we can use the bassinet in the house and when visiting friends and family. Right now the pram only comes in a couple colours but as of February 20th (oddly enough my birthday) it's going to be available in all of the colours the Elite comes in soooo we're going to stick with green to match the stroller. The pram also comes with a car seat adapator so we won't have to buy that separately assuming we do get the bassinet.


The car seat we've decided to go with is the Graco SnugRide 35 in the Lemongrass design. The SnugRide 35 is a rear facing snap&go that Smidge can ride in until he is reaches 35 lbs or 32 inches long. I love the Lemongrass design - it will look super cute with the green stroller.

We have seen each of the components apart but I can't wait to see them altogether... with our baby boy sitting in them!!

DJ Smidge

Mike had a crappy day yesterday so yesterday when I was at Walmart picking up some little goodies for a certain someone's (Jessy) baby shower and I spotted these little gems I couldn't leave the store without them. I knew instantly that these would bring a smile to Mike's face and I was soooooooooooo right.


Yes our child (boy or girl) is already being exposed to a plethora of musical selections and there's no doubt daddy will have him/her working the turntables as soon as they're old enough to steady a needle.


A future DJ indeed!

First Baby Gift

My girlfriend Kim gave us our first baby related gift before Christmas and I absolutely love it! I've snapped a picture because an explanation won't do it justice.


This beautiful little frame sums up how we're feeling while we anxiously await Smidge's arrival. Thank you for the beautiful gift, Kim!

Baby Pottery

Check out this stunning pottery set for wee ones. It's gorgeous isn't it?! Well lucky Smidge, it was made by Auntie Cara for baby Smidge.

I love the colours; the blend happens down the sides of the plate and bowl as well. They are the perfect size for tiny people.

I watched Cara's beautiful daughter Rosie eat from a similar set the other day and couldn't help but wonder what our little peanut will look like when they are approaching their second birthday. *sigh*

Baby's First Book

I was in Chapters today looking for books for a few little nuts I know and what did I spy on the shelf?


Yes it's a little board book titled Smidge, can you believe that? Obviously I had to buy it. I have a tonne of kids books but this is the first I have bought specifically for our baby and I think it's the perfect choice. Oddly enough our tiny Smidge probably looks a little like the monster on the front of the book right now - the awesomely fabulous BabyCenter.ca told me Smidge is about the size of an avocado right now and the Smidge on the cover looks like he would be about that size

I'll change the words on the final page of the story when I read it because I think the ending is booooring but I love the fact that there are words like "shmorgeous", "hyper-fizzy" and "mega-funky" found all on one fabulous page! The little oinker Smidge eats a tonne of yummy candy and turns a plethora of colours in the 10 pages, I love the simple yet colourful illustrations.

The book is written by Beth Soshan and illustrated by Jenny Arthur - check it out at Amazon.ca if you're interested in seeing more of the book.

Mommy's First Purchases

I lied. I said I wasn't going to buy anything for Smidge until we find out whether Smidge is a boy or a girl and then I went into Tadpole (an awesome children's boutique uptown) and just HAD to buy a couple little bits for my Smidgie.

Sophie is the one baby toy that I have found myself setting back on the shelf time and time again for the past 4 years. I knew we wanted babies and knew that we would have a son or daughter one day no matter what it took but I also knew that buying baby goodies years before the babe is born is a dangerous path for a bargain hunter like myself.

I have now given myself permission to buy: uh oh.

Sophie is now tucked away safe and sound for baby Smidge. Isn't she sweet?


And this freaking adorable baby kimono in blue is waiting for Smidge to model it. Super cute huh? Mike's first question was "Is this for a girl or a boy?", when I told him "either" he just raised his eyebrows. hehe


I love baby stuff.