Sew Inspirational - Catherine Deneuve
I was browsing my favorite blogs the other day (or year depending on when I actually try this one) and came across this post at poppies & posies. I've never seen Les Demoiselles de Rochefort either, but this short clip got the wheels turning. Isn't the dress adorable? I love the piping down the princess seam that opens into a kick pleat. It feels really ambitious, but I'm going to try it.
Experiments in baking
Puree 3 ripe bananas
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp melted coconut oil
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon (and a dash each of nutmeg, all spice and ground cloves)
1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups shredded carrots
3/4 cup fava bean/garbonzo bean flour (Bob's Red Mill; for some added protein)
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup Good Life semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)
Blend the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately and then fold together. Scoop onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 12 minutes.
I think they turned out really good! Which is kind of amazing because I just kind of made it up as I went along.
Dear Izzy...
Five more months have flown by and now you are ONE!! Can you even believe it? I sure can't. I think your daddy will agree with me when I say this has been the best year of our lives so far. You have brought so much love and joy with your infectious laughter and friendly personality. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father that He is letting me be your mama!
In these last few months you have grown up so much! You prefer to walk as much as possible and though you have taken a few steps on your own, you will cruise around any room holding onto whatever you can: walls, furniture, toys, laundry baskets, my legs. You started crawling full force at 8 months. That same week, you started to pull yourself up on everything and climb on anything you could pull your little legs onto. This last month you have started stacking and nesting and "putting things away." You're getting close to being able to do puzzles. You can put rings on sticks and you even placed the cap back on one of your squeazy baby food pouches. You looked at me and said, "all done" just so pleased with your accomplishment.
Yes, you've added so many words and phrases to your vocabulary. Now you say, "nigh nigh" (good night), "ay yone" (all done), "dun non" (turn on), "tan too" (thank you), "ditta ditta ditta" or "gitta gitta" (for tickle or I'm gonna get you) and you try to mimic just about everything else we say. When you aren't saying words I recognize you are jabbering in your own tongue. all. the. time. I bet you're telling some pretty great jokes and stories!
You are obsessed with lighting fixtures and ceilings fans (hence the "turn on" phrase). You're constantly asking us to turn on the fans either verbally or by turning your little hands in circles. It's the cutest! For awhile you were whistling at the birdies any time we entered a room with an open curtain.
You have six teeth: four on top and two on the bottom. I think you're working on one more on the bottom right now too. You're starting to really like food. Avocados, chicken, eggs, french toast (dipped in "sauce" aka: pureed baby food) and carrots are some of your favorites. You also like bananas, but they don't like your tummy very much. You seem to have a dairy sensitivity so we don't give you anything from a cow, but you still love your "nuh nuhs"!You still love to be tickled and love to laugh. In fact, tickling you has become part of your bedtime routine. It seems you don't want to settle down until you've had a good laugh! And, oh, your is laugh a good one! You also have a hard time going to bed if you haven't gotten to say nigh nigh to Daddy. When I wear my hair in a bun on top of my head, you think it is the funniest thing in the world. You also think my hair is yours to pull and play with whenever you want (ouch!).
You already are such an amazing little person. I am thrilled to watch and help you grow! You have changed my whole world. Israel, you are loved beyond measure!
xoxo forever,
mommy
Dear Izzy...
After you were born, I had fully intended to write you every month and here you are, seven months old! I can hardly believe it. You have grown so much and we are having so much fun being your parents. I love you so so so much!
When you were four months old, we moved away from Brooklyn and spent about five weeks visiting your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in California and Utah before coming to Tennessee. Now we've been in our new house for almost two months! We still don't have very much furniture, but you love rolling around on the new carpet. In the last week or so you have started to get frustrated that you can't crawl, but you have started to rock back and forth on your hands and knees and will launch yourself forward onto your tummy. You're so close! You are sitting up so well and hardly ever fall over after we sit you up now. You've also gotten really close to pushing yourself up to sit on your own a couple times. You crawl all over me and your dad; we're your personal jungle gyms! Instead of a chair we have a blow-up mattress in your room and when you and I are sitting on it you'll pull yourself over to the edge and (on a couple occasions) off the bed if I let you. You are very curious.
At your six month check up, you were in the 95 percentile for your weight (20 lbs), were off the charts for your height (29 inches) and you continue to have an average size head :). You are wearing 12-18 month size clothes and wear a size 4.5-5 shoe! You are a big boy and look and act several months older than you are. But, even with your size you have lost some of your baby chub (oh, you were a yummy, chubby 3-5 month old!). You also got a couple shots and I braced myself for a melt down (for both of us) but you didn't even flinch! I am so amazed at how brave you already are. You still haven't really cried after you bonked your head or done something that I expect to hurt and bring out the tears, you will just look startled and frown a little. You are still very easy to soothe. People comment everywhere we go on what a "good baby" you are, so calm and content to just hang out with mom.
You love water! Both to bathe in and to drink. Bath time is one of your and our favorite times of the day. I take a bath with you usually, in our big tub. It's like your own little swimming pool. You love to splash and swim around (with my help, of course). You started reaching for my water bottle a couple months ago and I would let you chew on the hard, square plastic spigot. One day, several weeks ago to both of our surprise, you got it to work and started slurping up the water! It was game over after that and you've wanted a sip every time you see water in a bottle or glass and you especially love drinking out of a straw (it keeps you entertained when we go out to eat). I finally bought you your own sippy cup with a straw. I'm not sure how much water actually ends up in your stomach, but you sure love to practice!
We have started giving you some solid foods. You've loved everything we've given you: avocado, cucumber, squash, apples, applesauce, sweet potato (and little bits of bread when we're out and you're desperate for entertainment). You are emotionally and dexterously ready, but we wonder if your little gut is prepared to handle it yet. The day after you eat solids it will take you hours and hours to push it back out, making it hard for you to nap at all and a little grumpy. Still, you hardly every cry (only if you are exhausted and hungry at the same time).
You have always been a very vocal baby and would have "conversations" with us as early as seven weeks. A couple weeks ago your repertoire of sounds started to take off. You started saying "Hi" at five months and since then you've added (in order of appearance) "Up", "Poop," "Mama," "Dada," "Buh" (when you hear a bird), and "Isth" (which I think is you trying to say your name). Last night we were at your cousins' house and I swear you were trying to say Adam (Ahum) and Max (Muh, Muh)! One thing I don't love is that you've started yelling at the top of your lungs. Sometimes when you want something, sometimes it seems you do it just to test out your vocal capacity. And it's always, "MA MA MAH MAHHHEEEE!!!" with a screech at the end. Wow! Kid's got pipes!
You have always been interested in interacting with your world, especially the people around you. You make friends where ever we go. Partly because you're such a looker! And partly because once you've gotten someone's attention you'll stare them down and smile at them until they are entranced by your charm. You love to FaceTime and video chat with family far away. And you've just started to become really interested in people your own size (other babies) and will try to talk to them in stores and at church.
It is very easy to get you to smile. When you are playing and you realized we are watching you, you burst into a big grin. You are very ticklish everywhere and love to be tickled. The other day you put my hands on your feet and started to giggle, inviting me to continue to tickle your toes while you laughed and laughed! You already have a sense of potty humor, crack up when we smell for a poopy diaper, with laugh when we even say the word "poop," and have laughed after you burp.
You still love music and have widened your appreciation to artists other than your mama. When you were younger you would cry if I turned on any pop music unless I was singing along. We can still calm you down just by singing primary songs. Your favorite song is "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" and you love songs with hand actions. Speaking of hand actions, you will give us a "high five." I've been teaching you that one since you were a little babe and started to put your hands up to grab at my face and arms when I feed you, which you still do all the time. We both love your meal times.
You are just the sweetest baby and love to snuggle and nuzzle and be kissed and to give monstrous, wet kisses in return. Oh how I love you! Sometimes I think I don't ever want you to grow up! I want you to stay my squishy baby forever! But then I think about all the amazing things you will do when you get older and how many people you will love and help with your sweet, fun personality and I think that I cannot be that selfish to want to keep you all to myself. I LOVE being your mama. Israel, you are loved beyond measure!
xoxo forever,
Mommy
At your six month check up, you were in the 95 percentile for your weight (20 lbs), were off the charts for your height (29 inches) and you continue to have an average size head :). You are wearing 12-18 month size clothes and wear a size 4.5-5 shoe! You are a big boy and look and act several months older than you are. But, even with your size you have lost some of your baby chub (oh, you were a yummy, chubby 3-5 month old!). You also got a couple shots and I braced myself for a melt down (for both of us) but you didn't even flinch! I am so amazed at how brave you already are. You still haven't really cried after you bonked your head or done something that I expect to hurt and bring out the tears, you will just look startled and frown a little. You are still very easy to soothe. People comment everywhere we go on what a "good baby" you are, so calm and content to just hang out with mom.
You have always been a very vocal baby and would have "conversations" with us as early as seven weeks. A couple weeks ago your repertoire of sounds started to take off. You started saying "Hi" at five months and since then you've added (in order of appearance) "Up", "Poop," "Mama," "Dada," "Buh" (when you hear a bird), and "Isth" (which I think is you trying to say your name). Last night we were at your cousins' house and I swear you were trying to say Adam (Ahum) and Max (Muh, Muh)! One thing I don't love is that you've started yelling at the top of your lungs. Sometimes when you want something, sometimes it seems you do it just to test out your vocal capacity. And it's always, "MA MA MAH MAHHHEEEE!!!" with a screech at the end. Wow! Kid's got pipes!
It is very easy to get you to smile. When you are playing and you realized we are watching you, you burst into a big grin. You are very ticklish everywhere and love to be tickled. The other day you put my hands on your feet and started to giggle, inviting me to continue to tickle your toes while you laughed and laughed! You already have a sense of potty humor, crack up when we smell for a poopy diaper, with laugh when we even say the word "poop," and have laughed after you burp.
You still love music and have widened your appreciation to artists other than your mama. When you were younger you would cry if I turned on any pop music unless I was singing along. We can still calm you down just by singing primary songs. Your favorite song is "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" and you love songs with hand actions. Speaking of hand actions, you will give us a "high five." I've been teaching you that one since you were a little babe and started to put your hands up to grab at my face and arms when I feed you, which you still do all the time. We both love your meal times.
xoxo forever,
Mommy
Dear Izzy...
I wanted to give you the very best start to life possible. I tried to prepare my body to be a place where you could be conceived and grow unencumbered. I even stopped highlighting my hair and switched to natural deodorant and hair products (though once we were well into your pregnancy, I couldn't stand certain smells, so I relapsed back to deodorant that worked. Sorry!). When it took longer to get pregnant than we expected, I started to really long for you. The month I stopped charting was the month that it happened. I waited several days before taking a pregnancy test and when I did and it showed a blue plus sign I wasn't sure if I could trust it. In my heart I already knew that it was true. Your dad didn't want us to get too excited just in case it didn't last but we were in our way to visit family and once one person found out (your aunt Bethany guessed) it was too fun to tell people in person to leave it a secret.
When I first laid my eyes on you it was as if you've always been mine. Of course you look like you because this is how you've always looked. And of course you look familiar because you are made from me and your daddy. Sometimes you look exactly like him and I see you making the same faces. Other times I think you look just like all the other babies on my side of the family, especially as you get chubbier. Speaking of, you are so lucky to have three cousins born within a couple months of you and two of them are boys like you! I can only imagine the fun you three are going to have as you grow up. 
You are very strong and have been able to hold up your own head since we were in the hospital. When we put you on your tummy, you already try to do little push ups and you push your little feet off of everything they touch, launching yourself forward. You are a really cute baby! When you show us your sleepy smiles, you have a dimple in the middle of each cheek and a couple smaller ones around your mouth. We are surprised that your eyes have stayed blue so far and your hair is growing in blonde! You're little personality has started to show through the newborn sleepiness. You are very vocal! You grunt in protest when we move you and you don't really want to be disturbed. You make a lot of noise when you sleep! Oh my goodness, your dad has to sleep in the other room, otherwise we would BOTH be sleep deprived and you don't need two grumpy parents. You've already earned yourself a few nicknames in addition to the one we intended when we named you Israel. "Grunty McGrunterson" and "Toots Magoots", to name a few. 
You have been a very good baby with a mild temperament and have only just started to get a little fussy in the evenings or when your tummy hurts. We found out pretty quickly that you don't like it when I eat dairy (or broccoli!). So, I've cut out a few different foods and it seems to be making a difference for you. Being a new mommy has not been as easy and natural as I imagined and I'm sure being a new baby isn't easy either, but we're figuring it out together. Your dad has been so helpful and loves taking care of you in the ways that he can. When your tummy hurts he helps you "march it out" to the cadences he learned in the Army and you calm right down. 
You love to snuggle and will bury your head wherever you can, in the crook of my arm or my neck or under a pillow (we have to be careful with that one!). You also love to eat and are pretty insatiable. You really enjoy your meals and let us know with your "nom-nomming" and head bobbing (I'm already suffering from a bad case of, what the lactation consultant called, "nip lash"). 
You love music, especially when we sing to you. We sing lots of primary songs and church hymns--they are your favorite.
You did not like your first bath. Gigi was here staying with us while daddy went to a work conference in Hawaii (I know, rough huh?) and we gave you a short sponge bath but you got too cold. You love to be warm and you love light! You love the time you get to spend nakey in the sunlight! You love to stare at any light area of any room you may be in and spend a lot of your wakeful times looking at the windows.
In your first month you were visited by your Aunt Emily who got to come to New York for work and your Gigi and Papa Scott. You've already been to the Hamptons and have already made one trip on the subway for a quick shopping trip in the big city. You are an urban baby and can sleep through almost anything. We hope that continues!
Izzy, words truly cannot express how humbled and grateful I am to have somehow been found worth of being your mama in this life. You were born to do great things and Heavenly Father will use your strength for great good! I could not be more excited to watch your life unfold. You are loved beyond measure!
xoxo forever,
Mommy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)