For the Boys: Bath Paint

 Back in October, I wrote about how much fun Liam & Jack have taking Glow Baths-- I surprise the boys with them about once a month. They still love them, but it was time for something new!

I used an 88¢ can of sensitive skin foaming shaving cream & mixed it with a few drops of Wilton gel food coloring that I had left over from cookie baking. 

So easy, so cheap, so fun!!

I'll use slightly less food coloring next time-- I wasn't sure how much it would take to saturate the shaving cream and I found out that it didn't take very much! There was a little bit of color left on the tile once I sprayed off the "paint," but it came off immediately with Clorox Cleanup.

The boys had a blast and we'll definitely add this into our rotation of fun baths!

Happy ♥ Day!

I had so many sweet friends reach out to me yesterday, concerned that Valentine's Day might be a difficult day for me-- but honestly, it really wasn't. The love I celebrated with my boys overshadowed any lack of romantic love, by far.

The boys and I put together some gifts for their Marmi & Poppy (my parents) to celebrate yesterday afternoon. After seeing this flip book on Pinterest, I HAD to attempt a similar book with Liam. I made a few changes-- I added the hearts in Photoshop instead of photographing post-it notes (Liam never would have stood still for that!) & I had my wallet size books printed at My Publisher instead of printing photos and stapling them together. Instead of leaving the back of the pages blank, I asked him, "What do you love, Liam?" and put each of his answers on a separate page. I love how they turned out.

Here they are!

While I would have loved to have involved Jack in that project, it just wasn't happening. So, I decided to take a series of Valentine's themed photos of him to frame. (You simply can't go wrong with pictures as a gift fo grandparents!) A special thanks to my friend Sarah over at Dear Emerson for the idea of using wrapping paper as a photo backdrop!

My parents showered the boys with sweet treats at the their house, then I brought them home to a pizza dinner, followed by some lovey-themed gifts from me.

New books, wooden cars, zoo animals, m&ms and chocolate hearts.

And speaking of books, I *may* have cried when I read this to Liam last night. Hormonal/Emotional moms beware!

Happy ♥ Day, All!

Instagram Photostrips

I  ♥ Instagram.

I downloaded Instagram when I had my Droid, but I started using it regularly once I got my iPhone. I have an amazing DSLR that I use on a very regular basis, but the camera on the iPhone is pretty impressive and it's much easier to carry around while I'm chasing after the boys than a clunky camera bag.

I love it because, almost always, I see things that make me smile: Moments in my friends' lives while they're on the go. The drama of FB is absent, the commentary of twitter is gone and it's usually just sweet snapshots of people I care about.

I take TONS of pictures of the kids each week, and almost every day, I'll post a pic of one or both of them on IG. The problem is that just like any other digital camera, those pictures don't usually see the light of day. They live on my phone and I don't give them another thought after I post them. 

There are some great ideas on Pinterest about what to do with your Instagram pics-- some companies make books out of them, others make magnets. My favorite idea was photostrips like you would get from a photobooth-- the square shape of the pics lends itself to that kind of formatting. I came across a few blogs that had photo tutorials of how to make them, but none of them had a template available for download. So, I made my own & I'm sharing it with you!

 I created two templates. The first is of one photostrip-- It's 1.5"x6", holds 4 pics and all you need to do is open the file in Photoshop, insert your pic as a new layer and resize it so that fits into the boxes. The second is a set of 3 of the photostrips centered on a 5"x7" document-- these are great for printing at local photo places. I uploaded mine to Walgreens as a 5"x7" photo, had them print it, then just trimmed it down.

Here's how they looked when I picked them up:

 

I used my paper cutter (you could use scissors) to trim them:

 

   And here they are!

 

    You could print these on photo paper, card stock or anything else that you like! I love how they turned out and can't wait to hang them up at work.

I have one other project in the works for an Instagram Photo Display-- the next time Silhouette offers a 40% off coupon code, I want to order the Limited Edition Advent Calendar from 2012-- its clips are perfect for a photo arrangement and it would be easy to swap out the pics!

 

 How do you display your Instagram Photos?

   

Click here to download the .PSD template for one Photostrip. 

Click here to download the .PSD template for three Photostrips. 

**Because these are Photoshop files, you will not see a preview in Google Docs when you click on the link-- however, if you save the file, then open it in Photoshop, you shouldn't have any trouble viewing/manipulating the file.**

 

Memories.

The first weekend in November, we had a fall family photo session to take pictures to use for our Christmas cards. Lauren was amazingly patient with two little boys who refused to take naps that day & ended up in sour moods. Not only did she extend our 45 minute session to almost an hour and a half, but she also managed to get some really nice shots.

I didn't know it at the time, but this would be the last time that we would pose as a family of four. It makes these photos incredibly special to me & I know they'll be special to our boys one day.

The two family shots we used for our Christmas cards:

I'm always the one behind the camera, so having shots of me and the boys together melts my heart.

 

 And one last sweet shot of baby Jack... I wish I'd gotten a few more of Liam but he was go! go! go!

 I know that money will be tight when I'm on my own, but I hope to be able to splurge and capture my growing boys each fall. Next year's photos will be a special way to show how much we've all changed.

A reminder to myself

~ Marilyn Monroe

Four Eyes.

A few months ago, we noticed that Liam was squinting when he watched tv. Our couch is only about 10ft away from our 40-something-inch tv, so we knew it was something we should keep an eye on. He would relax as he moved around the room, but the second he looked at the tv, his eyes would scrunch up:

I made a call to our pediatrician & he said that with him still being so young, Liam couldn't read the basic eye chart that they keep in the office-- instead, they recommended we make an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist. Our appointment was today.

Don't let that happy face fool you. The appointment was NOT FUN. (He was happy before it started and after it was over.) I gave Liam a pep talk about the eye doctor & even tried to show him a YouTube video about it. I told him he'd be getting some eye drops and that it might tickle but it would be over quickly. We talked about how the doctor would shine a light in his eyes to take a look. He repeated what I said & I thought we were good.

(For anyone wondering, HOW exactly do you examine a toddler's eyes? The eyes are dilated, then the doc shines a light into the eyes and is able to tell if the child is nearsighted, farsighted, or has astigmatism based on the reflection. Different lenses are held in front of the eye and the one that corrects the reflection is the right prescription.)

The eye drops? I had to pin him down while the nurse forced his eyes open. The lights in his eyes? He started crying hysterically and clamped his eyes closed. When she tried to hold lenses up to his eye to look, he tried to smack her hand away. She had to call a nurse in to help hold him still. It was traumatizing for all of us.

BUT, I'm glad we went, because mama guessed it-- He's nearsighted & has astigmatism in both eyes. Nothing severe,  but enough that he needs glasses.

WHY aren't there more options for toddler glasses?! 

There are a million options for kids' glasses but very few for babies/toddlers beyond colored wire rim & flexible rubbery frames. We tried on a few pairs today and decided that subtle was NOT the way to go... If he's going to wear glasses, he's going to rock them!! Check out this cool dude:

A little too big, but you get the point.

See what I mean?

Dork (ok, the expression may have something to do with it) vs. hipster adorable.

 The frames in the pics are several sizes too big so I'm on the hunt to find something similar in the right size. I hit up several local places this afternoon with no luck, but tonight I found these:

 

The frames are more oval than square, but the size should be just right & the cable earpieces are great for toddlers! I think I'll probably order them without lenses so that Liam can try them on, then get the lenses here if we're committed! They'll take a few weeks to come in-- we just need to order as soon as possible because we have a follow up appointment in 8 weeks.

I'll be sure to post pics of the bespectacled boy once we get them!

He's a huge McCartney fan...

Liam & Rob's duet of Silly Love Songs: